Rev. Taylor: Nothing you can do about it?
Mr. McDaniel: On some sites it is not nearly so bad as it is in other locations. A northern or eastern slope with good elevation seems to be best.
Mr. Frye: I have had some trouble and maybe, had a good education about frost pockets. If you get them in high elevations you escape that. I had that trouble two years ago. I got some Chinese trees from Dr. Smith, set them out. They were his best seedlings, three of them, and they started beautifully. I transplanted them. Just about that time they got nipped off. Did that three times and failed to come out the third time.
Pres. Davidson: One other remedy for that that I remember reading about, I am not quite sure in which of our Reports—maybe Mr. Becker was the author, and that is this: He said that he cultivates until August after which he plants cover crops, and he sows cover crops that grow and they hold back this vegetative growth in the late part of the year, and it is really the late vegetative growth that causes the destruction. After he adopted that plan he had very much less winter killing in his plantation. That might be one way of helping the situation.
Mr. Hardy: We have had some killing. Usually in the second year or the first year after we get killing down to the ground, if we will keep the stock pruned back to one shoot that one will make sufficient growth, become hardy enough to withstand any cold, or perhaps sun scald. Also wrapping the trunks of the trees with newspaper helps to prevent the variations in temperature, which in our section is what causes the cold injury. We don't have sufficient cold to cause absolute low-temperature injury, but we do have sudden drops just as you do in Tennessee, apparently, and wrapping with paper does help iron out those changes.
Mr. McDaniel: Wouldn't you suggest the paper wrap in the summer as well as the winter and spring?
Mr. Hardy: Yes.
Mr. Stoke: It is not only the planter of the trees that has sorrows along that line, but the nurseryman does also. I had some nursery seedlings growing on flat land, and they looked all right, passed the winter. When I went out to graft them I found that on these small stocks anywhere from the size of a lead pencil to the size of a finger, the cambium was discolored. It wasn't black nut brown. Any attempts I made to graft those failed, and yet many of those same trees grew on. They were stunted somewhat for a year or two, and they left a brown ring at that annual growth.
I would say that the best guarantee against that kind of thing is to plant your chestnut orchards—and the nurseries—to plant on land that is well air drained. Select the same site as you would for peaches.
Mr. Chase: I will say that we should have allowed more time for discussion. However, we have used up our alloted time for this period. Supper is at six o'clock, and we are due back here at 7:30. I don't know how you folks feel about this little session, but I certainly did enjoy it.