Present Extent of Planting
With few exceptions the known plantings consist of small numbers of trees about residences. Occasionally there are one or two hundred trees in orchard arrangement. Production is not large and in most cases all sound nuts are either consumed locally or used by nurserymen and others for planting. The quantity that has reached the wholesale market is known to be small although a beginning in that field has been made.
Future Outlook
Extensive expansion has not appeared possible in the near future until the 1946 crop was harvested. This was unexpectedly large and a number of tons are known either to have been planted immediately or set aside for planting in the spring of 1947. It is conceivable that annual production of nuts available for seed purposes will increase rapidly. In this case, the extent of planting within the next few years will be entirely a matter of guesswork.
Extensive planting in the early future cannot be considered economically safe for in addition to the usual number of problems that must be solved in establishing any new horticultural enterprise, chestnut growers must expect keen competition with imports from both Europe and Asia. At the outbreak of World War II, an average of more than 16 million pounds of chestnuts were yearly being imported into this country.[6] These imports will doubtless again appear with the return of normal international relations.
[Footnote 6: Computed from Table 541, p. 413, Agricultural Statistics 1938. U. S. Dept. Agr. 19]
Furthermore almost an exact half-century ago, the chestnut outlook was regarded as being so bright that it could hardly go wrong. During the middle and late 'nineties extensive chestnut developments were established in certain eastern districts mainly by use of Paragon and other varieties of European parentage. Thousands of small plantings were developed about home grounds and occasionally there were large orchards. The greatest developments were conducted by top working suckers that sprung up from stumps of native chestnut trees on cutover mountain land. Hundreds of acres were handled in this manner. Without exception, all ended in financial disaster.
Summary
The nut of the Chinese chestnut is an excellent product. It is unexcelled in sweetness and general palatability by any other known chestnut. The tree bears well and is about equally as hardy as the peach. It appears to require much the same conditions of cultural environment as does that fruit. It is practically the only species of chestnut now being planted by informed growers in the eastern part of the United States.
It is thus far grown in this country almost entirely as seedling trees. Variation is about what was to be expected, with the majority of bearing trees proving to be poor producers and, in most cases, with nuts too small to sell well.