1. It is always advisable in cutting blighted chestnut to clean up the
ground thoroughly and burn all infected material, for the sake of the
future crop and the community as a whole. Even if financial reasons
make it impossible to treat the stumps properly, the brush and refuse
should be burned, and all merchantable material removed from the tract
within a reasonable period. Where the percentage of blight is very
high, it is advisable to cut all the chestnut trees rather than attempt
to remove only the diseased trees.
2. Stumps should not be cut higher than the diameter of the tree, but
this may be impracticable in sprout growth timber. A low stump saves
the best end of the log, and causes the succeeding generation of
sprouts to be firmly rooted.
3. Where practicable, all timber should be peeled. Poles, ties, posts
and rails, should be skidded to one or more convenient places. The bark
and chips collected at these points should be burned, since this refuse
is very frequently the breeding place of the blight fungus.
4. It is advisable to remove all bark from the stumps down to the
mineral soil, to prevent the further spread of the disease by its
growth on this bark. Unpeeled stumps, even if free from blight at the
time the tree is felled, are very apt to become infected, and the
disease will then eventually destroy the sprouts at the base. Stumps of
trees cut in winter while the bark is “tight” may be left until spring,
and peeled when the sap is ascending. Stumps made in summer should be
peeled at once.
5. All chestnut refuse, including the brush from the tops, bark from
stumps, chips, etc., should be collected and burned at as early a time
as may be done with safety from fire. Green tops of trees felled in
summer can be burned immediately by close piling over a well-started
fire. The danger of infecting the sprouts from the stump is lessened
if the fire be made over the stump after peeling. Stumps can be more
cheaply sterilized, however, by painting them with creosote, and
creosote also appears to be absolutely effective in keeping the stump
free from infection, whereas a fire seldom chars the base of the stump
sufficiently.
6. Woodsmen, while cutting and removing chestnut, should do as little
injury as possible to the remaining trees, whether large or small.
When the work is done by contract, trees carelessly broken in felling
chestnut should be paid for at their market value. Merchantable
chestnut left in the woods, either cut or uncut, when contracts call
for the removal of all of the same, should be paid for at its market
value.
7. Great care should be exercised in burning material so as not to
injure other trees, or allow fires to remain unwatched in the woods.
Forest fires may result, causing much damage. Burning should not be
done when the woods are very dry, or a high wind is blowing.