uble row per mile. At the moderate price of $4 per
bushel, we would realize $2,128 for the crop on a double row, with a
fair assurance that the yield would increase steadily for the next
hundred years or more, while the cost of gathering and marketing the
nuts is no greater, and in many instances much less, than that of the
ordinary grain crops. At the expiration of the first half century one
half of the trees may be removed, if they begin to crowd, and the timber
used for whatever purpose it may best be adapted. The remaining trees
would probably improve, on account of having more room for development.

The chestnut thrives best in light, well drained soil, and those
containing a large proportion of sand or decomposed quartz, slate and
gravel; but it is rarely found, nor does it thrive very well, in heavy
clays or limestone soil where the limestone rock comes near the surface.
It is true that chestnut groves, and sometimes extensive forests, are
found on hills and ridges overlying limestone, but a careful examination
of the soil among the trees will show that it is a drift deposit
containing little or no lime. I find in Pennsylvania the chestnut tree
grows from the banks of the Susquehanna River to the tops of the
mountains.

In planting the chestnut tree it should never be planted any deeper than
it was in the nursery rows. If planted any deeper it is certain death to
the tree, as I find that the earth placed around the trees above where
it was in the nursery rows scalds and destroys the tree. Here is where
the great mistake is made in planting out the chestnut tree, and this I
have found out by practical experience. It is far better to plant it one
inch less than it was in the nursery than to plant it an inch deeper.

There has been a steady increase in the demand for, and a corresponding
advance in the price of all kinds of edible nuts during the past three
or four decades, and this is likely to continue for many years to come,
because consumers are increasing far more rapidly than producers.
Besides, the forests, which have long been the only source of supply of
the native kinds, are rapidly disappearing, while there has not been, as
yet, any special effort to make good the loss by replanting or
otherwise. The dealers in such articles in our larger cities assure me
that the demand for our best kinds of edible nuts is far in excess of
the supply, and yet not one housewife or cook in a thousand in this
country has