, - -J' ? .F 

FOREST RESEARCH NOTES

NORTHEASTERN FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION 

Upper Darby , Pennsylvania 

A Potential Timber-T.ype Chinese Chestnut 

Fifty years ago the chestnut blight (~ndothia parasitica) was discovered in New York City. Since then the 

American chestnut (~astanea dentata) has practically disappeared from our forests. 

More than 500 importations of seed and scions of 

nearly every Castanea species in the world have been made in 

efforts to obtain a substitute for the valuable American 

chestnut . One importation (accession number P .I. 58602) 

shows promise as a timber type. This conclusion is based on 

Figure 1.--Chinese chestnut P.I.58602 grows like a forest tree when planted on a good site and spaced 15 

feet apart. This 30-year-old plantation is growing 

in Jackson County, North Carolina. The 10 best trees 

average 8.6 inches in diameter and 62.5 feet high. 

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observations of more than 800 test plantings. These planting~ are distributed from Maine to Texas, and as far west as 

Iowa. 

In 1924, and again in 1926, the Department of Agriculture received shipments of Chinese chestnut seed from the 

University of Nanking in China. This was the original source 

ofstockfortheaccessionP.I.58602. Almost10,QOOseedlings were grown from this collection; they were distributed 

in lots of about 100 trees each to cooperators. When some of 

these trees reached nut-bearing age, further seed collections were made. To date more than 45,000 seedlings of 

P.I.58602 have been planted throughout the former range of 

American chestnut. Cooperators testing these Chinese 

chestnut seedlings include Federal and State foresters, tannin manufacturers, and a few interested farm woodlot owners. 

The first clue to the timber-type possibilities of 

the Chinese chestnut P.I.58602 was noted by the writer in 

one of the original plantations in New Castle County, Del. 

These trees were planted in 1926 in typical Chester loam 

soil. In 1936 the most promising trees were about 4 inches 

in diameter and 33 feet in height, and had developed 

straight single-stemmed trunks. They were successfully com- I peting with similar-aged natural hardwood seedlings of 

Figure 2. --Orchard-like crowns develop on open-grown 

trees of the Chinese chestnut ~~1.58602. These two 

30-year-old trees are in New Castle County, Delaware. 

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yellow-poplar, northern red oak, white ash, and black birch. 

Figure 1 illustrates trees of this type. 

In this same plantation other P .I. 58602 seedlings 

were growing in competition with dwarf sumac and broom 

sedge. Under these conditions the Chinese chestnut seedlings were barely 6 feet in height, with many stems and a 

sprawling habit of growth. This condition is typical of 

most open-grown Asiatic chestnuts. Figure 2 illustrates 

trees of this type. 

This discovery prompted a systematic survey of all 

P .-I. 58602 Chinese chestnut plantings established in 1926. 

Three consistent facts were noted: (1) close plant5ng reTable 1.--Comparative performance of Asiatic importations after 

13 nrow5.w seasons in a plantation at Mont Alto State 

Forest, Aclams County, Pennsylvania 

Accession Origin Potential Average Average / numbe$- I forest type I diameter I height I Hortality I 

I I I I I 

Percent Inches - Feet Percent 

P.I. 58602 Chinese 67 3.4 27.1 7 

Japanese 

Henry Chinkapin 

Japanese 

n 

l~ccession numbers assigned by the U. S. Dept. Agriculture Plant Introduction Station. Species are Chinese and Japanese chestnuts, with one foresttype chinkapin. 

sulted in a timber-form tree, but widely spaced trees had a 

sprawling habit of growth; (2) satisfactory growth and survival occurred only when the seedlings were planted on good 

soil, such as the kind that is suitable for yellow-poplar 

and white ash; and (3) Chinese chestnut P.I. 58602 is relatively winter-hardy. 

The comparative performance of Chinese chestnut 

P.I.58602, against eight other Asiatic importations, is in- 
dicated in table 1. This Pennsylvania plantation is typical 

of other similar test plantings made in Indiana, Iowa, and 

North Carolina. The accession groups in the table are 

arranged in descending order of desirability as a timbertype tree. This arrangement was based mainly on the factors 

of form, size, and survival. However, other factors, such 

as relative winter-hardiness and disease resistance, also 

were considered in the ratings where this information .was 

available. 

Although preliminary observations indicate that the 

Chinese chestnut P.I.58602 may be a hardy timber-type tree 

of moderately rapid growth; it is too soon to predict that 

this particular introduction will surpass all others. Other 

importations made in the past, and promising first- and 

second-generation hybrids, also have to be compared with 

P.I.58602 over a wide range of groming conditions. 

Agriculture-Fores t Servic e-Upper Darby