The future chestnut of the north?

[chummer]

I had to call on this customer today and got a chestnut education. These trees are the new Darling Chestnut. A GMO tree they are producing to be blight resistant and grow in the north. These trees are two years old. I asked how I could get one, not a chance. They are in an enclosure and each tree is numbered. The government doesn't even let them go to seed. They must remove the calkin before a nut is produced. There is no time table for them to be available to the public.

 

[homegrownbucks]

Very cool, I hope this process goes smoothly. Gmo won't go over with some people, I bet lawsuits will delay release

 

[wiscwhip]

The likely reason for having no timetable for release is that it will probably take 10 years or more to test the blight resistance. Even young genetically unaltered full American chestnut trees can appear to be resistant and show no signs of blight for many years before they actually get cankers and exhibit signs of blight.

 

[chummer]

It is part of Syracuse University forestry program. They have been growing them for many years. Each enclosure is a new or improved strand. I could see 4 enclosures. I think the largest were 8 years old and looked to be 10-12' tall. The guy told me he was having trouble with mice in the tubes, I had a piec of screen in my truck from my apples so I showed him how us Apple nuts do it. He was impressed, maybe we will see window screens on them in the future.

 

[chummer]

NH. I bet that is the program they are part of.

 

[wiscwhip]

That makes sense NH, they either survive high incidences of fungal infection without signs of blight at a young age or they contact blight and they move on to the next strain. I do know our chestnut grove in West Salem has 20 year old trees that show no ill affects at all even though some of the much older trees show signs of infection.

 

[Native Hunter]

Surely someone here has a brother-in-law we could get to break in and get us some of them.

 

[wiscwhip]

WI

That chestnut grove must be an awesome sight. I often wonder if the researchers carry blight around on them and accidentally infect trees. Many trees here in the northeast seem to be fine when they are found. Many 50+ years old. The ACF comes and checks the tree. In many cases they pollinate and bag the burs. Then a few years later the tree dies. Yet it lived fine for 50+ years.

Here's Dr Powell injecting blight into the young ones.

Yeah they are actually pretty neat trees. 90'-100' with 40 to 50 feet of branchless trunk, loggers wet dream for sure. Standing in the middle of 20 or 30 or them is an impressive sight, and to think that these trees are really just juveniles compared to the 100's of years old trees that the blight took out in the eastern forests. Your thought on the spread of blight could hold some merit, but it is hard to say when the fungus travels through the air. The Chestnut Hills stand has been getting treated with the hypovirus and finally after years of treatment and apparent assumed failure, many of the largest trees are starting to regrow limbs at the lower edges of the canopy and the tops of the canopies are starting to grow good amounts of foliage again.

 

[chummer]

Surely someone here has a brother-in-law we could get to break in and get us some of them.

If it helps the enclosure is not electrified...I asked

 

[Shedder]

That chestnut grove must be an awesome sight.

Maybe like these C Dentata in Belgium.