is the June bug or May beetle. It works mainly
at night and feeds on the newest leaves. It is seldom seen and usually
disappears about the time when the operator becomes aware of its
presence.

[Footnote 3: Fred B. Brooks and Richard T. Cotton, "Chestnut Curculios."
U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bul. 180. 1929.]

[Footnote 4: C. H. Hadley, "The Japanese Beetle and its Control." U. S.
Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bul. 1856. 1940.]

Diseases

Blight is the disease attacking the chestnut tree with which the public
is most familiar. The Chinese chestnut is strongly resistant although
not immune as few old trees entirely escape attack in areas where blight
is prevalent. In most cases healthy vigorous trees of this species
overcome the disease within a few years after being attacked. The ones
that die are usually those that have been devitalized in some way. The
nuts are subject to attack by any of several diseases either before or
after the harvest. A preliminary report on these has been made by
Gravatt and Fowler.[5]

[Footnote 5: G. F. Gravatt and Marvin Fowler. Nor. Nut Growers Ass'n.
Proc. 31: 110-113. 1940.]

Present Extent of Planting

With few exceptions the known plantings consist of small numbers of
trees about residences. Occasionally there are one or two hundred trees
in orchard arrangement. Production is not large and in most cases all
sound nuts are either consumed locally or used by nurserymen and others
for planting. The quantity that has reached the wholesale market is
known to be small although a beginning in that field has been made.

Future Outlook

Extensive expansion has not appeared possible in the near future until
the 1946 crop was harvested. This was unexpectedly large and a number of
tons are known either to have been planted immediately or set aside for
planting in the spring of 1947. It is conceivable that annual production
of nuts available for seed purposes will increase rapidly. In this case,
the extent of planting within the next few years will be entirely a
matter of guesswork.

Extensive planting in the early future cannot be considered economically
safe for in addition to the usual number of problems that must be solved
in establishing any new horticultural enterprise, chestnut growers must
expect keen competition with imports from both Europe and Asia. At the
outbreak of World War II, an average of more than 16 million pounds of
chestnuts were yearly being imported into this country.[6