our climate as they do in
the southern states, and whether the kernel will be as sweet and have as
good flavor as those grown in upstate New York. I have yet to see a tree
growing in the Rochester area bearing as large a nut as those grown in
the southeast, and all the large nuts I have tasted did not seem to be
as sweet as ours. Probably the old saying "the smaller the nut, the
sweeter the nut" is true. Of course these are all seedling trees, but by
this time we should know whether size of nut and sweetness of kernel are
determined by climate or individual trees.

Our largest trees are eleven-year old seedlings of unknown origin. One
is, I believe, outstanding. It started bearing when four years old and
has consistently been a good producer. The nut is real chestnut in color
and good size, running about seventy to the pound. I have not found a
tree in this area bearing a larger nut. The kernel is sweet and the
flavor excellent. The tree has good shape and limb structure, always
sending up a central leader. This is the tree I would like to propagate.

Small Nuts Sell Better

Last fall, I tried a selling experiment with chestnuts for eating, and
sold small quantities of small and medium sized nuts at the rate of
$1.50 a pound. However, no one seemed interested in the larger ones.
They thought they were European chestnuts that sold here for $.25 a
pound. I did not have many for sale, but I am convinced there is a
market for good sweet chestnuts. It seems useless to compete with those
imported from Italy. Ours are far superior, and many who remember the
American chestnut, will, I believe pay a luxury price for good quality
chestnuts.

In 1946, we purchased a 10-1/2 acre piece of land, 16 miles southwest of
Rochester for the purpose of planting a chestnut orchard. This land had
not been worked for about twelve years. The soil is heavy and fertile,
typed as Poygan clay loam. Bed rock is sixty feet below the surface. The
following spring, we planted about 300 trees and each year more are set
out. There are now about 700 trees from two to five years old, and most
of them are growing well.

The rows are twenty feet apart and the trees stand fifteen to twenty
feet apart, in the row. I know this will be too close when the trees are
full grown, but we have the trees and I want to bring as many into
bearing as possible, searching for the ideal tree. We also expect to
lose some trees through wild life and other causes.

Man