One stumbling block to the adoption of this idea is the protection of the trees during the period of their establishment. The conventional cattle guard with three or four long posts supporting a wire fence is expensive in both labor and materials.
During the spring of 1946 in connection with my forestry instruction at Ohio State University, I had as one class project the planting of 50 black walnut seedlings of selected parentage in the cattle and poultry ranges on the University farm. Thirty of these trees were planted along a fence row at 32 foot intervals and were protected by a single electric wire connected to a battery charger.
The set-up is illustrated in figure 1 which shows the charger at one end of the line and the wire supported by the line posts and a short single post opposite each tree. The one year old seedlings were planted 4 feet from the fence at alternate posts and the wire zig-zagged along the line to create the guards around the trees. Within a few days after planting and completion of the electric guards the trees were mulched to control weeds and conserve soil moisture.
While this experiment has been in effect for only one growing season, the results, to date, indicate that this method is effective in providing protection from livestock. Growth and survival of the trees has been very satisfactory thus far.
The advantages of this method appear to be the rather low cost of labor and materials and ease of installation.
Within the next decade, we should be able to determine how the nuts from these seedling trees compare with the parent tree and there should be adequate shade for all classes of livestock on either side of the fence.
How Hardy Are Oriental Chestnuts and Hybrids?
By Russell B. Clapper and G. F. Gravatt Plant Industry Station,
Beltsville, Maryland
One of the questions most frequently asked in regard to the Oriental chestnuts is, will they thrive in a given locality? Broadly speaking, with respect to temperature requirements these chestnuts have been found about equally hardy with the peach. Some strains of the Chinese chestnut appear to be superior to the Japanese chestnut in hardiness.
The Chinese chestnut is more widely planted in this country than the Japanese chestnut and more information has been collected on the hardiness of the former species than of the latter. The Chinese chestnut is growing satisfactorily in certain plantings as far south as Orlando, Fla. and the other Gulf States, northward to the southern tip of Maine, and westward as far as Iowa. But many areas within this large zone are unsuitable for growing Chinese chestnuts because of more severe climatic conditions.