Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21

now ON through the Winter the shrin whistle
of the chestnut vendor may be heard through.
out the confines of the city. But not for long
unless science can find some method Of COM
batting the disease that has been sweeping the
Eastern forests Of this tree for number OF
years. Richly endowed, the forests as they
sweep from New England to Alabama and west
ward to the Mississippi are to be denuded OF
this magnificent timber tree If something 10
not discovered before long to stop the devasta-
ton now under way.
About 1900 q shipment Of japanese trees ar.
rived ON Long Island, bringing with them .
disease which was not suspected or known. That
disease began to spread shortly to American
and European species with great swiftneSS and
with practically 100 per cent fatal results. It
passed all the way UP into New England, down
into Pennsylvania and the South, killing and
destroying as it went. 1t is stiTl spreading,
though it has not as yet wiped out all the
chestnut trees in Ohio Kentucky, Tennessee,
Georgia, the CarolinaS and West Virginia.
For Is. years very little has been accomplished
with chestnut trees in the East because Of the
blight. An the energy Of chestnut growers has
been taken up with this fight. Only further
west and south are profitable orchards and
nurseries now maintained where different va
rieties are grown. For Is years, along with
other efforts to combat the disease, the De-
partment Of Agriculture has been procuring
chestnuts from the Orient, China and Japan,
which are known to be more or less resistant to
been disseminated by the department.
A T the same time that the Department Of Ag-
riculture has been laboring to preserve this
nut tree to America by the introduction of Chi
nese varieties so have individuals Within the
last few weeks the department has procured nuts
from chestnut trees in the Orient for exam
nation and out Of several hundreds, q number
have been found that are large and very sweet
i'm some cases more so than the native Amer
lean nut Today there Is no important orchard
production Of chestnuts in this country. But
in all probability varieties will be developed by
individuals or the Government which win re-
place production Of chestnuts again in the
East.
Another native nut worthy of mention is
the butternut. This Is native in the North
eastern States. Although little more than
forest species to date, I'm 50 far as improvement
by horticultural methods is concerned it has
certain features greatly in its favor. 1t grows
farther north than the black walnut or any OF
the hickories. The young trees are rapid grow
ers and come into bearing early. Butternut
trees thrive best in fertile moist soils, such as
usually found in valleys and lowlandS adjacent
to streams throughout the North and North
lively high and the supply is limited. s
The Persian or English walnut, as we know
It, has never gained foothold the East
though as outlined at the beginning Of this
article, it has been native of this part Of the
country ever since the days of the colonists De-
spite this fact, paintings of dozen or more
trees around dooryards Is not an unfamiliar
sight Put out on proper soil and cared for
properly, they yield profitable return and
serve an ornamental purpose well. In the
immed iate vicinity Of Washington and the Dis
trict of Columbia the trees are more often to
be found, perhaps, in the towns and on farm
residence grounds from the Chesapeake and
Delaware Bay region westward into Northern
Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania to the
Aleghenies, than elsewhere in the country east
Of the Rocky Mountains.
Today, through its foreign plant introduction
office, the Department Of Agriculture is scour-
ing the world in the search Of nut-bearing trees
that may be transplanted to American soil and
win thrive here. Only last year two scientists
of this ONCE, II. L. Westover and w. E. White
house, travelled extensively through Southern
Russia, TuFkestan and Persia IN the search
Of nuts and fruits for introduction into
America