great hardiness such as the Rockville hiccan. Of course the native
butternut is perfectly hardy and prolific but until such time as the
butternut curculio ceases to be a major pest we cannot expect to have
good crops of them.

Growing American Chestnuts and Their Hybrids Under Blight Conditions

ALFRED SZEGO, _Jackson Heights, N. Y._

An interesting group of young American chestnut trees growing on my land
near Pine Plains, N. Y. has been under observation since 1946. As they
are growing closely together which suggests a common parental origin, we
have named this group the "Dutchess Clone" for reference purposes. This
name was chosen merely because Pine Plains is situated in Dutchess
County.

Their reaction to the deadly chestnut blight was studied at great length
and at different seasons. Sometimes branches were inoculated with the
fungus to test resistance more precisely. It was learned that blight
resistance, in this group of trees, was at an apparently low ebb from
March until May. After this period the fungus seemed to make almost no
progress at all. This might suggest that the resistant substance was
manufactured by the leaves. Of course, such conclusions cannot be
accepted in a scientific sense without an involved system of checks and
measurements.

Pollination problems are exactly the same as with our Chinese Chestnuts
that we are more familiar with today. Unlike the latter, in the
American, species the bloom is concentrated near the top of the tree.

The burs are so high up as to create difficulties if we intend to
anticipate nature and harvest our crop prematurely. The burs open during
the month of October with or without frost. High temperatures in 1953
did not interfere with the harvest. The best method of harvesting is to
use a long slender pole with a metal hook at the extreme end, and by
gently pulling and twisting, remove the burs from the tree.

Unless this is done promptly before the nuts fall, the rodents will get
almost every nut.

Tree growth is about 2 to 3 feet per year in height. At present some are
nearly 40 feet tall. Bearing starts at about 12 years of age. The nuts,
three in a bur are somewhat wedge shaped and average 5/8 of an inch in
diameter. One tree has nuts almost an inch in diameter. This is
definitely worth propagating and I will gladly furnish scions in the
spring free to anyone who is interested. These are probably
incompatible with Chinese understocks, but may be