The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1962-03-01
WildIife Problem?
Sincerely,
F. r.. Corliss, il
To the Editor

To the Editor
! Is Garrett County becoming a
mo mans land for Wildlife? 1t
would seem so. Last Fall. there
was very little mass in the way of
nuts, except in a few scattered To-
cations. AS a result. the shortage
of gray squirrels was markedly
apparent at hunting season.
Wild turkeys, which have been
turned out in numbers in various
parts of the county, from time to
time, have doubtless persisted for
lack of adequate food
Deer are hard pressed to exc
out a winter existence in the coun-
ty. Were it not for the fact that
this has been a comparatively mild
winter, many would have persisted
| by this time. Winters like the two
previous to this. when SHOWS were
deep and of long duration. were
very hard on the Wildlife popula-
ton. Unable to get to the ground
for grass and MOSES, deer foraged
on timber cuttings where they
could find them, often eating
maple and birch tops back to a
diameter of half an inch. Stands
of small spruce seedlings we're
eaten to the ground as the SHOWS
receded
The program underway to pro-
vide grain crops, near woodlands,
for Fall food is commendable. but
| it is not the ultimate answer to
our growing need.
About the only woodland CROP
left for wild animals, in recent
years, has been that of acorns. AS
large oak timber stands become
depleted, the supply of acorns has
become progressively less. But
| even if we had a reasonable sup
ply of acorn-bearing trees, We
could not depend on a yearly crop
! for like all other fruit-bearine
trees, oaks do not produce every
year Coupled to this is the fact
/ that acorns are not the most pala.
table food because of their high
/ fannie content, making them very
| bitter.
Many years ago, our food stu
! alton for Wildlife was very differ.
ent Nut trees of various kinds
were in abundance. Hickory nuts
Walnuts, butternuts. hazelnuts
chestnuts, and beechnuts were tc
be found throughout the county
Today, these major food producers
are practically gone.
Notable among the vanishing
food trees is the American chest
nut which at one time was more
prolific than any other of the nut
bearers The chestnut tree pro
vided almost fifty percent of the
food supply for animals, locally
and had the added advantage. ovel
other nuts, of being soft-shelled.
For the past several years, state
and federal sources have been con
centrating on the planting of pine
! trees by the thousands without APP
parent thought to our greater need
for food-bearing trees. Might il
not be more advantageous to us
! to divert a good portion of this
pine tree planting to the cultiva-
ton of nut-producing trees?
One variety of tree which no.
tably outstands others is the Chi
/ nese chestnut. The Chinese chest
nut has advantages not found in
many other trees. First, although
it is not lumber tree, it bids fair
to replace the native chestnut as
nut producer Second, it is not
subject to blight. Third, it is easy
to grow and quick producer, be-
ginning to bear nuts from five to
six years after planting. Fourth,
the quality of the fruit is COM
parable to our native chestnut and
is almost the same size. Fifth, its
commercial value as to popular
use would fill a void long felt