Very informative article! Thank you.
Chestnut?
- Thread starter Rancocas
- Start date
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I have followed the development of the blight resistant American chestnut for a long time, the cross breeding has been going on for over 50 years. There are still a few pockets of original nut producing living American chestnut trees in the east and a bunch of them in the northeast because the blight didn't cross the Rockies.
So far, they have a 90% American chestnut that is blight resistant. From the American Chestnut foundation, the nuts cost $100 each, this money is used to support the foundation and their program. There were three of these seedling's planted near the walking trail I exercise on; one has died but the two remaining are about 10ft tall.
That said, with the advances in GMO, a group had introduced a blight resistant wheat gene into the American Chestnut genome that made the trees blight resistant in one generation instead of over 50 years. I haven't kept up this advancement so I don't know if this will be accepted by the forestry community.
So far, they have a 90% American chestnut that is blight resistant. From the American Chestnut foundation, the nuts cost $100 each, this money is used to support the foundation and their program. There were three of these seedling's planted near the walking trail I exercise on; one has died but the two remaining are about 10ft tall.
That said, with the advances in GMO, a group had introduced a blight resistant wheat gene into the American Chestnut genome that made the trees blight resistant in one generation instead of over 50 years. I haven't kept up this advancement so I don't know if this will be accepted by the forestry community.
When I was a little boy, my Dad was crazy about log cabins.
He first retired at age 54 and bought a place in the Smoky Mountains that bordered the Park. He found a cabin in the Gap, moved it, and he and Mom restored it. It was supposedly built by a man who died in 1782, and was made with poplar logs. He unretired in less than a year to support his new hobby. As soon as that one was complete he bought two Chestnut cabins (NC ~1840) and used a dogtrot to join them. The logs are much lighter than the poplar cabin. What is ironic is that there is a blight resistant chestnut tree with two 12" trunks about 20' away from the corner of the Chestnut cabin. He never knew that. He finally retired after teaching HS for 46 years...one more year than his father. He spent the rest of his days living next to the creek in the poplar cabin. Coffee on that swing is still a family tradition.
Miss you, Pop.
Poplar cabin.
Chestnut cabin.
He first retired at age 54 and bought a place in the Smoky Mountains that bordered the Park. He found a cabin in the Gap, moved it, and he and Mom restored it. It was supposedly built by a man who died in 1782, and was made with poplar logs. He unretired in less than a year to support his new hobby. As soon as that one was complete he bought two Chestnut cabins (NC ~1840) and used a dogtrot to join them. The logs are much lighter than the poplar cabin. What is ironic is that there is a blight resistant chestnut tree with two 12" trunks about 20' away from the corner of the Chestnut cabin. He never knew that. He finally retired after teaching HS for 46 years...one more year than his father. He spent the rest of his days living next to the creek in the poplar cabin. Coffee on that swing is still a family tradition.
Miss you, Pop.
Poplar cabin.
Chestnut cabin.
