y that present chestnut breeders are crossing inferior material,
using any specimens that happen to be in flower at the right time as
long as they represent the species to be crossed.

Suppose they intend to cross _C. crenata_ x _C. dentata_. An average
Japanese chestnut is usually pollinated with flowers from a poor
struggling sprout on the edge of the woods that has only one thing to
recommend it. That is an early bearing characteristic which is inherent,
but which, according to experiments and observations I have tediously
carried out, _is not totally due to ringing by the blight_.

The experiment takes place and a few hybrid nuts are produced. They are
termed (_C. crenata_ x _C. dentata_). It is expected that the
characteristics of the offspring will be somewhere between those of the
two parents in blight resistance and nut size and quality. But what of
the grandparents, the many ancestors of the American chestnut sprout
that have not even the slight resistance of the sprout? Can they not
express their characteristics and hand them, down to their
grandchildren? And some individuals of _C. crenata_ are not reputed to
be so highly blight resistant.

Of course the scientists engaged in this work are men of the highest
calibre and no doubt are aware of this, but it is extremely difficult to
obtain, propagate, and care for named varieties of the finest
individuals of each chestnut species.

Apple, cherry, and other fruit breeders would not dream of crossing
common scrub cull fruit trees and expect any degree of success.

My first task when I began, three years ago, on my coppice growth 35 to
40 year old hardwood forest, was to clear a little land and to begin
planting different world species of _Castanea_.

You would be astonished to find that it was impossible for me to obtain
seed or trees, at the time, of _C. crenata_, _C. seguinii_, _C. pumila_,
_C. henryi_ and _C. alnifolia_. I obtained some 24 seeds of _C.
mollisima_ from Dr. A. H. Graves, for which I was grateful. At the time
he didn't have a good crop, I think. Institutions and government
agencies would not or did not like to release their newly developed
hybrids for fear that I was a nurseryman or perhaps would sell them for
"blight resistant" chestnuts, although they were not yet proven.

+Experiment at Pine Plains+

By diligent search I managed to get a few trees and hybrids of _C.
crenata_ and a variety (seedling of) called "Colossal." These thrived