t don't pay--free boarders--or why
use run-of-mine seedlings, _if_ we can graft successfully--and some
people like to dispute that--and produce nothing but the best? And you
can check it on any of those tables. [Mr. Hardy's paper.] We have a few
tables in our former Reports. You can check it and figure it out for
yourself.

Dr. Crane: To clear up this situation I wanted to ask Mr. Hardy a
question, and then I wanted to make a statement. In this report from the
1938 and 1940 planting at Albany, Georgia, in the Brown tract in 1947
there were 188 trees that bore crops, but that planting consisted of
274 trees planted in 1938 and 60 trees planted in 1940. Why weren't
those 274 trees plus those 60 trees represented in the 100 with the
yield records of 1947?

Mr. Hardy: Dr. Crane knows the answer, so I will let him ask the
question and answer it, too.

Dr. Crane: In 1936 we planted 1,000 trees of the same Peter Liu
selections on the Station farm at Beltsville, Maryland. They were of the
same number and letter designations as others that were distributed to
cooperators. Out of the thousand trees that we planted on the Station
farm some of them came into bearing at four and five years after
planting. But the nuts were small in size and were not much good. With
one or two exceptions, out of that planting there were none bearing
satisfactorily to suit us after ten years. In 1945 we applied the ax,
because a Chinese chestnut tree, from an orchard standpoint, if it's not
in bearing in ten years after planting is not worth keeping. We haven't
got time to wait. So out they came. And in addition to that we have had
other trees that have done the same thing.

Now, out of this 274 plus the 60 at Albany, Georgia, we have three trees
that we now figure are good enough to be raised to a variety status,
plus possibly two or three more. Now, you can figure your percentage of
good trees when you plant seeds.

Dr. Overholser: Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question, whether these three
seedlings to which they propose to give variety status have been
propagated in sufficient number that they are able to give distribution
in other areas.

Mr. Hardy: Dr. Overholser, they are not available yet in quantity. That
same answer is part of the answer I wanted to make to Dr. MacDaniels.
The present situation in the chestnut industry is that there are very
few nurserymen who know how to propagate nursery grafted trees
successfully. There is going to ha