3. With large Japanese like Austin, and their hybrids like "Colossal," for a medium size nut of fair quality and highly prolific for the general market for a cooking or roasting chestnut. Though many people dislike the Japanese chestnuts, they are at least productive and hardy (at my place). Their chief attribute is their possibility as food for stock and wildlife. Some of the same people who dislike them (among nurserymen) recommend planting oaks which certainly do not compare with _C. crenata_. When a very "sweet" acorn is found it is proclaimed to be "as good as Japanese chestnut." The Chinese chestnut has its faults here. It is not very thrifty in growth here and as a rule doesn't bear until late. It is not very productive and the nuts spoil easily. I have since planted much seed from the south and it often doesn't even get here in a viable condition. +Assistance from Beltsville+ My work has lately been facilitated by Mr. Gravatt and Mr. Clapper. I visited them at Beltsville and Mr. Clapper personally toured the orchard with me at Glenn Dale, showing me the kind of helpful courtesy that one never forgets and that is a tribute to these men. Some promising material was given to me which will greatly facilitate my work. Mr. Gravatt suggested the use of "Ammate" as an experiment to poison trees that interfere with any American chestnut growth I wish to save. The experiment is intended to eliminate the resulting sprouts that accompany girdling. Incidentally, part of the experiment is to attempt to give light and cultivation and fertilizer to 100 native chestnut sprouts in a four acre area. I have some information on American chestnut sprouts that may be of interest to the membership. In an endeavor to locate the best American material, I have been combing the woods and thickets on Long Island, in New Jersey, Connecticut, and parts of Dutchess County, New York (the latter not extensively). Many thousands of sprouts were examined to discover the following: _Their present status._ 1. Sprouts occur almost always in woodlands. 2. They reach their greatest height and are most luxuriant at the edge of woodlands or in clearings therein. 3. They rarely exceed 15 feet in height and reach a diameter of about three inches. 4. One in many hundreds, and only where there is light in abundance, will bear flowers. 5. One in many thousands bears female or pistillate flowers which sometimes produce "blind" or empty nuts. [Unpollinated--ED.] 6. Rarely, indeed very rarely, are two flowering trees close enough to produce viable seed. 7. There are a few seedlings that are single stem upright trees (no old stump in evidence) that reach up to 20 and rarely 25 or 30 feet in height with a diameter of 6" or so. (Mr. R. B. Clapper thinks it is probably due to the absence of an old, infected stump that this greater height is reached.)