and they start pretty early in the spring.

MR. GIBBS: Chinese chestnuts are hardy from Maine to Florida. I think
they winter kill because of unhealthy condition of the tree. The place
that I did live, at McLean, Virginia, was low in a frosty place, and the
first spring they killed back three times before they took off. Where I
live now in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which is orchard country, the
Chinese chestnut killed back in the spring, but there is nothing the
matter with their winter hardiness. They stand winter cold as good as a
walnut tree.

DR. GRAVES: I want to make the point that it is in part a question of
age, to my mind, as to whether these trees get winter killed. I know we
had some trees from the Department of Agriculture, Division of Forest
Pathology, back in 1925, and in the very cold winter, 1933-34, they
killed back almost to the ground. Again in the severe winter of 1943
Chinese chestnuts were killed. But I feel that when a tree is of good
size with its roots down in the ground, it's not so liable to winter
kill as are the small seedlings.

DR. CRANE: We have spent enough time on this matter. The question of
growing seedlings as compared to grafted trees is up for discussion. Mr.
Wilson is a big operator growing chestnuts in Georgia. I would like to
have him tell what he thinks of this matter of seedlings versus
varieties for nut production.

MR. WILSON: Dr. Crane, I am fully convinced if we ever make an industry
out of this chestnut business it's going to have to be based on grafted
trees of good varieties. I have one block of approximately 200 grafted
trees of Meiling and Kuling. Those trees have a nice crop on this year.
They have different age tops, but we have a nice crop of nuts on them.
I have another block of some 260 seedlings that were planted in 1948.
The crop on these trees, with the same fertilization and cultivation
ranges from no nuts to a heavy crop of nuts. You can't have an industry
on that kind of yield. There are probably only 30 trees out of 260 that
have a paying crop of nuts. That won't go as a paying proposition. You
have got to have nuts on all the trees, and I am fully convinced if we
ever make an industry out of it, the grower has got to produce nuts.
Trees are not enough, he can't sell the tree; he wants to keep his tree.
He wants nuts to sell, and you can't get them on the seedling trees. I
am fully convinced you can't do it.

DR. MACDANIEL: Have any of your grafts go