In general, Asiatic chestnuts, when grown for timber purposes, are best adapted to northern slopes, above frost pockets on cool protected sites, on deep, fertile soils having a covering of leaf litter and humus in the top soil, a soil that is permeable to both roots and water, and that has a good water-holding capacity. The plant association, above mentioned as indicating ideal sites for Asiatic chestnuts for best timber development, occur in rich soils of slight hollows in moist hilly woods and on the mountains in cove sites. Improved Methods of Storing Chestnuts By H. L. Crane and J. W. McKay Plant Industry Station, Beltsville, Maryland Trees of the Chinese chestnut, Castanea mollissima, are quite resistant to the chestnut bark or blight disease. The heavy bearing of the trees together with the good quality of the nuts produced has stimulated planting of trees to replace those of the American species largely killed by that disease. Although a few horticultural varieties of Chinese chestnuts have been introduced and propagated, the great majority of the bearing trees are seedlings. In seedling plantings seldom do two trees produce nuts of the same size, color, and shape. All of these nuts when properly harvested, treated, and stored are sweet and edible and nourishing as food either raw, boiled, roasted, or combined with other foods in poultry dressing, salads, or pancakes. Then too, there is a big demand for Chinese chestnuts as seed for the purpose of growing seedling trees to be planted in orchards or to be used as rootstocks in propagating horticultural varieties. In either case, it is often desirable to store the nuts for several months before using them. Chestnuts are not like the oily nuts, such as pecans, walnuts, almonds, filberts, or peanuts, that must be dried to a moisture content of 5 to 8 per cent to store well. Chestnuts are starchy nuts, containing about 50% moisture when first harvested, and on drying they become very hard. In experiments conducted at the U. S. Horticultural Field Station, Meridian, Miss., it was found that the loss in weight of chestnuts ranged from 16.2 to 30.5% when stored for 4 months in open containers at 32 deg.F., and 80% relative humidity. In an experiment in which chestnuts were stored 4-1/2 months at 32 deg.F., they lost 18.8% in weight when stored in burlap sacks, 3.7% when stored in waxed paper cartons with tight-fitting lids, and 2.0% when stored in friction-top cans. Furthermore, chestnuts on drying lose their viability and become worthless. Chestnuts lose moisture rapidly and become subject to spoilage due to molds and other fungi and therefore must be considered as highly perishable and handled accordingly.