The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-10-06
CHESTNUT IN CONNECTICUT
AGRICULTURAL STATION ISSUES
 INTERESTING BULLETIN.

Bulletin. 154 of the Connecticut agri- cultural station at New Haven, pre-, pared by A. F. Hawes, the station for ester, bears the title Chestnut in Connecticut and Improvement of the Woodlot" It discusses the natural his- tory of the woodlot and the work of improvement thinning, it's necessity, methods and results, with the aid of diagrams and photoengravings taken in the woods, which show the gain made by such thinning, as no descrip- tion can.
 The subject oof timber estimating is discussed clearly and quite fully, for 1 it is of votal interest to the man who | sells his standing wood to the owner ofo a portable sawmill. While the farmer can sell his standing hay to good ad- 1 vantage, he usually makes a poor bar i gain when he sells his standing wod to the lumberman, because the latter knows pretty accurately It's real value and the farmer usually does not.
 MT. Howes, with assistants from the 1 United States bureau of forestry has made a careful study of the growth of chestnut in different parts of Connecti- cut and of the work of sawmills which have been under observation, and with the knowledge got from this study, he has prepared the tables and directions given in this bulletin which make it possible for owners of woodlots to esti- mate closely, without much trouble, the amount of standing timber. This estimate is not in board feet only, but gives the number of ties, piles, tele- graph and telephone poles, as we'll as boards, into which trees of different sizes may be cut as we'll as the com paratice value of the timber when cut for these different uses.
 It is shown that, at present prices, straight trees pay considerably better when cut into poles than in any other way, while six miles from delivery points there is not profit in piles. Lum- Der pays better than ties, and if this were more generally understood, there would be no sawed ties on the market until prices are raised to correspond with those of lumber. Of course, hewn ties make the most profitable utiliza- tion of crooked sticks.
 Comparing the growth of seeding and sprout chestnut, MT. Hawes finds that up to the age of about fifty-five years, trees which start from the sprouts that spring up from the stumps of felled trees are taller, but from that time on the trees which have grown directly from seed are taller. After the first de- cade the rate of growth in girth is about the same in both kinds. Chestnuts from seed are longer-lived and less subject to disease
 The largest chestnut tree so far found in the state is in Branford, with cir conference of twenty-three and one- half feet at it's smallest point below the branches Its estimated age is 25O years.
 The largest chestnut of known age in Hampton, Conn.,, was three feet in di- ameter at breast height and ninety eight feet high. It was 110 years old and scaled 1925 board feet.
 The oldest tree of known age was in Washington, Conn.,, 125 years. The frontispiece of the bulletin is picture of noble chestnut in Hampton 1O5 years old, eighty-three feet high and twenty-seven inches in diameter.
 MT Hawes believes, on the basis of calculations which he gives, that, at the present price of land in Connecticut. it would pay railroads, which use vast numbers of ties, and large manufaotur- ing concerns which use wood fuel-as some copper and brass works are obIig- ed to do--to grow their own timber, holding enough land to give them an uninterrupted supply.
 In conclusion he says:
 Almost every farmer owns a wood lot. These lots are usually left to care for themselves, the farmer cutting small sections clear when he desires wood. As soon as the trees bear one or two ties he cuts the wood off or sells it, usually for less than it Is worth to a lumberman. He is particularly able to make trimmings profitably, because he can do the work himself at a. time of the year when he is least busy. and because he can use the material re- moved in his own household. Farmers should also appreciate that straight trees pay best made into poles, and that lumber is more profitable than ties and should carefully estimate the val ue of their lots before selling to llm- bermen."
 The station through it's forester. off, fers expert advice on the treatment of woodland to any landowners of the state, without other expense to them than incidental travelling and board.
 The character of the advice given de- bends upon the size of the tract and the class of owner. To the farmer with wood lot of moderate size the forester usually gives few hours of instruc- tion in selecting trees to be thinned marking the trees on a few acres in the presence of the owner.
 For tract of over 100 acres owned by an individual or corporation a, de- taled plan of management is drawn up covering work for a series of wears usually ten years. If the plan is satis- factory to the owner the forester su- pervises each year the making of the trees to be removed.
 This bulletin may be obtained free bv writing the Connnecticut Agricultural station, New Haven, Conn.
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