Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/562

558 chestnut, not only by reason of their direct effect where they kill the tree outright, but also by exposing its interior to the attacks of fungi and insects. In addition, such fires impoverish the soil by burning out the humus, thus materially lessening its fertility. Reproduction also receives a setback because seedlings, young sprouts, or nuts lying on the ground ready for germination, are easily killed. Forest fires have been abundant throughout the range of the chestnut tree, and it is reasonably certain that they have been much more frequent since the white man has settled these parts of North America. In the southern Appalachians, the deadly work of fire, followed by insects and fungi, is to be seen on every hand. In this connection the following citations give us some conception of the general condition of the chestnut in the southern Appalachians.

Dr. Mohr, speaking of the chestnut in Alabama, says:

W. W. Ashe, says:

W. P. Corsa, states:

Buttrick, in a study of the conditions in North Carolina, says: