The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1904-09-28
The Bureau Of Forestry Studies
Chestnut in Maryland-How
It's Growth May be I'm
proved.

AuLOuShOu0 4sOl tuCuotCAn
| Sta tes, and as far west as Indiana,
chestnut holds an important place
AS a timber tree. Commercially,
| il is chiefly in demand for ties,
telegraph and telephone poles, and
posts, for all of which purposes.
e5 woi; ss5 f0i some ooii 8 81 Il { ZION q !
uses, it is especially ADAPTED by
it's peculiar power to resist decay
in contact with the soil. 1t is also
largely used for fuel and general
farm purposes. In Maryland
alone, according to the Twelfth
Census, it's annual market yield Of
lumber, railroad ties, and telegraph
and telephone poles amounts to
over 100000, besides large sup
plies OF material for local con-
sumption.
1t happens that chestnut is es-
pecially fitted for. management in
farmers woodlots. Before scien-
tific forestry began to be heard OF
in the United States, and when
forest preservation was not uncom-
monty talked about as a sentiment
tai fad, the thrifty owners of the
small tracts of woodland which
cover so much of Southern New
England, New York, Pennsylvania,
and neighboring States had long
been cutting successive crops of the
hardwoods which sprout rapidly
from the stump, thus practicing
more or less rudely what the for
ester calls the "pure coppice"
method of management. The
superior market for chestnut, COM
bined with it's rapid growth, gave
it, on the whole, the leading place
in the esteem of these woodlot
owners, who by winter cutting were
able to turn to good account time
for which farm occupations gave
no other employment.
Like other trees which repro.
duce by sprouting, chestnut loses
its vigor when the root system be-
comes too old. Trees grown from
seed increase, both in height and
bulk, more slowly for many years
than those grown as sprouts from
the stump. But by the time the
trees are from 80 to 100 years old
the Seeding trees will catch up,
and eventually reach larger size
than the others. For ordinary
uses, however, chestnut is cut long
before this age is reached.
Chestnut is not exacting in its
soil requirements. Its roots spread
comparatively deep, so that it is
not sensitive to fire or humus de-
struction from any cause as most
species. Its sprouts grow so fast
that height of 7 to 8 feet at the
end of the first season is not I'M
common, and its stumps are so
vigorous that one will often pro-
duce forty to fifty sprouts. Not
more than one in eight of these
will mature, but by selecting the
most promising the full vigor of |
the parent stump may be concen
trated on them. Low stumps pro
duce more vigorous sprouts than
high ones, and winter or spring
cutting is followed by better re-
suits than summer or fall. Tele-
phone poles are grown In Maryland,
from healthy stumps in from
thirty-five to thirty-eight years,
and ties may proftably be cut in
about twenty-nine years. Too
early cutting of ties should be dis
couraged as wasteful in the long
run. The practice of permitting
contractors to cut unrestrictedly |
for given sum is one which |
works much injury to the perma-
nent productiveness of the woods.
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