MEMBER: Does the Chinese chestnut seed have a rest period?
DR. McKAY: For some years we have had a friendly discussion with the Division of Forest Pathology in regard to whether a chestnut seed has a rest period in the same way black walnut, hickory, or some of the others do, and we are not absolutely set in our opinion on the matter. We have the opinion that the Chinese chestnut does not require a rest period. I will tell you that one species, the Allegany Chinkapin (C. pumila) will germinate very readily as soon as it is matured. It will start growing immediately. When you go into the oak species, you have a number like that. They fall to the ground, and put a root into the soil, become anchored, and grow slowly all winter long. We feel that the Chinese chestnuts are of that type. Perhaps the old American chestnut was that way. It fell to the ground in the fall and it sprouted rather promptly within a month or so and grew slowly. Perhaps the Chinese chestnut is not so much inclined that way. We have done this: we have taken them from storage at various times during the winter and planted them, and have never failed to get reasonably good germination. Others have. The results there vary considerably. Perhaps we can't be too sure about the matter. We simply feel that on the basis of what we have seen and observed, they do not have a definite rest period. Many of the failures that have been obtained have been due to poor storage conditions, where the nut started to spoil and perhaps the workers didn't realize it and planted that nut and the nut spoiled immediately. So you fail, not because of the inability of the seed to sprout, but because it was improperly handled and could not grow.
MR. O'ROURKE: Is it not a fact that ... seed has no true rest period as we know it with trees? On the other hand, about 30 days' exposure to low temperature and moist conditions will cause all those seeds to germinate immediately. It may be somewhat the same with chestnut seed.
MR. STOKE: In confirmation, I furnished a man some seed some years ago and we put them in flower pots and they were a foot high by Christmas.
MR. McDANIEL: The growth is normal from the immediate planting, too. You don't get the suppressed growth later, as in prematurely germinated peach.
MEMBER: The chinkapins will often sprout even before they come out of the bur.
MR. CRAIG: I might say this concerning the California Persian walnuts. Take one at harvest and plant it, and that seed will germinate immediately. You hold it in dry storage and plant in the spring and it will come up in a couple of weeks. I speak from experience.
DR. CRANE: The same thing is true with pecan, in west Texas and Arkansas and California. We have lots of trouble with pecans germinating. It is not uncommon to find a pecan germinated with a root as much as ten inches long grown in the hull. If that nut goes through to maturity and becomes dry, then there is an appreciable delay in germination. They won't germinate as quickly. There has got to be a lot of changes in the kernel after they have once dried out and been harvested before germination will be initiated again.
DR. McKAY: In connection with this question of germinating nut seeds of all kinds, we think it is very important to plant the seed in a well aerated medium. I think that is a mistake many people make. If the soil happens to be of a clay nature, it keeps out oxygen and air and the sprout will rot. That is the reason why, when we plant chestnut seed, we like to plant in sand or the same with any nut seed. Coarse sand has a lot of air in it. That nut has a high demand for oxygen.
MEMBER: In the matter of chestnut seed, don't put too many layers of seeds. One is better than two. Even in rather porous soil, they seem to develop gas. Anyway, I found the bottom ones didn't get enough air and they rotted, whereas on top they didn't. It is better to plant a single layer than more.