The topworking of trees in the five-acre block at Philema has been generally successful where incompatibility is not a problem. Bearing-size trees topworked one spring will generally produce a few nuts in the second subsequent growing-season. Growth the first year after grafting will frequently be as much as 12 feet long and very stocky. Both cleft grafting and inlay bark grafting have been practiced, the latter method proving to be the more satisfactory from all standpoints. In this method of grafting scaffold limbs from 1 to 6 inches in diameter are cut off square across. Scions 6 to 8 inches long are prepared by making a slanting cut 2 to 3 inches long and ending about three-fourths through the scion at its basal end. A strip of bark just wide and long enough to receive the scion, with about one-half of the upper end of the bevel showing above the cut surface of the stub, is then removed from the stub. The scion is then nailed into place with 5/8-inch nails and painted over with melted grafting wax. Two or three scions are required for most stubs. This work is done just as growth is starting in the spring and the bark is slipping well. The scions may generally be cut directly from the trees, but sometimes they may need to be cut several days earlier and stored in damp material in a refrigerator to keep them dormant. In south Georgia the Chinese chestnut normally begins growth soon after March 1, but in some years it has started as much as a month after this date. Between south and north Georgia there is a differential in the time growth starts in the spring of one to two weeks. This differential also carries over into the date of blossoming and the date the harvest period begins. In south Georgia pollination generally occurs during the latter part of April and early part of May, and the harvest period begins about 100 days later. The peak of harvest averages 185 days after the initiation of growth in the spring. Dormancy comes only after the first frost sufficiently heavy to kill the leaves, usually about two months after nut harvest is completed. This period between harvest and leaf fall is undoubtedly an important factor in the annual bearing habit of the chestnut in the Southeast since it permits the food reserves in the tree to be replenished after the crop is mature. This is true under favorable conditions but does not hold under conditions of crowding, low soil fertility, or premature defoliation. For best growth and production the tree should be in foliage approximately nine months out of the year. +ORCHARD MANAGEMENT+