American Chestnuts and Hazelnuts

[Curmudgeon]

I have about 6 acres I am keeping open for the eventual release of the genetically modified American Chestnut. The resistant tree was developed here in NY at SUNY ESF. It holds great potential for efforts to restore a species that produces large quantities of mast annually. The loss of this formerly dominant species resulted in a huge loss of food energy. Other mast trees do not produce good crops annually.

 

I have been growing some for years. They die back from blight but I get nuts each year from the sprouts IF I can beat the squirrels to the nuts. They are the sweetest chestnut I have ever eaten, not big though. This size is just right for wildlife. My current trees will be used as a pollen source for the day when I can get a transgenic tree. While I generally oppose genetic engineering, this is about the best use I can imagine for the technology. The number of genes that were changed in the transgenic tree is only a handful, much fewer than the back crossed hybrids.

 

Once the transgenic trees are approved by the feds, they will be made available first to members of the American Chestnut Foundation (large donors first). It may be 5 years before I can get my hands on one, and another 7 years until it produces seed. At that point I plan to grow as many as possible as a seed source for my area, seeds to be spread by bluejays.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141106082032.htm

 

http://www.acf.org/mission_history.php

 

I found an earlier message asking about hazelnuts. A really good source is http://www.badgersett.com/. They have a number of hybrids developed for everything from wildlife to human consumption. Be careful to protect the trees. Deer browse them heavily.

[Carbonelement]

use a systemic fungicide such as agri-fos mixed with pentra bark and spray the lower 4 ft of trunk and it will help with chestnut blight.  Very cheap and not hard to use, can be done with a 1 gallon home depot sprayer

 

[wildcat junkie]

"Genetic engineering" has been around for years. Seedless watermelon, hybrid sweetcorn, etc are examples of that & are not harmful.

 

It's when they develop corn that produces toxins that kill pests that eat it or engineer grain crops that encourage more use of pesticides that things get scary.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2015 by wildcat junkie

[G-Man]

The American chestnut are amazing trees, my largest now has blight bad and is dying, but made it to 12 in in diameter, the game literally waits under it for seeds to fall...

[growalot]

We Had 2 at the old house and I have several Chinese and some Dunstan planted here....I love the8 hazel nuts we have..

[Two Track]

My granddparents had chestnut and black walnut trees on their farm. Chestnut was gone before I was born, but we shelled a lots of walnuts growing up. Now those trees are gone too and the farm sold off 20+ years ago.

 

Had to keep the german shepards away if we wanted walnuts.  They would crack them open and eat them too.  Competition from my grandparents dogs to get the walnuts.

 

Would love to see a comeback of the American Chestnut trees - not just for the nuts, but it produced some nice lumber too.

 

 

[ATbuckhunter]

When I get a piece of property, i'm going to plant a ton of American Chestnut and some hazelnut tree's. 

[G-Man]

Hazelnuts or filberts get hit hard by squirrels and deer, have yet to find a way to protect them , maybe grows knows .

[wildcat junkie]

Hazelnuts or filberts get hit hard by squirrels and deer, have yet to find a way to protect them , maybe grows knows .

I once red a book written by a biologost about Gray Squirrels.

 

In then book it said that Hazelnuts were the most nuticious mast there is for Gray Squirrels

[jjb4900]

I once red a book written by a biologost about Gray Squirrels.

 

In then book it said that Hazelnuts were the most nuticious mast there is for Gray Squirrels

really gotta wonder how animals know which is the most nutritious and best food is..but they somehow know.

[growalot]

Wrap that fine poly Bird netting around the base out to "drip line"...they don't like it.

PS mine are shrubs not trees

[Berniez]

If we can get the Chestnut growing again in quantities the wildlife population will explode.  Unlike oaks which are susceptible to late frosts the American Chestnut flowers around July 4 assuring a stable crop.  Its been said that a 10 mature chestnut trees could supply enough food to support 1 person for an entire year.  Imagine what a wildlife population (deer bear turkey grouse a forest could support. it  Its a shame that most of us will be dead before we can get those trees to be the dominant tree like it was 120 year ago.

Join the NY chapter of the Chestnut society and get in on restoring this great tree.

http://www.acf.org/Chapters_ny.php 

[ATbuckhunter]

chestnuts are far superior to acorns and Oak trees in many ways. My bio professor's adviser works at Suny ESF and we a had a little discussion on it today. Fascinating stuff really. 

[G-Man]

Have over 2 dozen chestnut planted and they are further reseeding themselves. My 2 largest are dying from.blight but have reached 12 in in diameter in 15 years and have produced for over 10, they were considered a weed tree because they grow anywhere and grow fast.

Edited March 20, 2015 by G-Man

[Paula]

I have about 10 Americans going, not sure what i will do with them all

[Berniez]

Have over 2 dozen chestnut planted and they are further reseeding themselves. My 2 largest are dying from.blight but have reached 12 in in diameter in 15 years and have produced for over 10, they were considered a weed tree because they grow anywhere and grow fast.

 

 

GMan- The NY chapter of the Chestnut foundation is actively looking for  Chestnut trees that flower so they can collect the pollen and cross it with the Chestnut trees that are blight resistant.  Those nuts  will become the foundation of our local trees using the genetics of the trees that grew here.  This is a great way to grow trees that are use to this climate.

Contact . Fran Nichols, 607-263-5105 [email protected]  he is a great guy and wants Chestnut restoration to succeed.  

This is something we can do to get a jump on having blight resistant trees ready for local planting as soon as we get government ok

[2012_taco]

I saw an article in the Sunday news a couple of weeks ago about the Dunstan Chestnut; does any one know anything about it and is it worth trying to get some and plant them? G-man do you know the  difference between these and American?

[growalot]

here you go..explains history...

 

http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/store/pg/35-The-Dunstan-Chestnut.aspx

[G-Man]

Dunstan chestnut are 99%American and 1 % chineese, this makes them blight proof but also causes the tall woodland American shape to become more of an orchard tree, I have several Dunstan and if you can find them are a good food source in a more open area, the nys chapter has genetically modified an embreo to still be 100% American but be blight proof,this is imo a much better option,as it can take over the woods as a dominant tree again (1 of every 4 trees you see in the woods were chestnut in the late 1800's) although man get the blame for shooting off the passenger pigeons the loss of this food source to blight and clear cutting was a much bigger factor.

[ATbuckhunter]

Dunstan chestnut are 99%American and 1 % chineese, this makes them blight proof but also causes the tall woodland American shape to become more of an orchard tree, I have several Dunstan and if you can find them are a good food source in a more open area, the nys chapter has genetically modified an embreo to still be 100% American but be blight proof,this is imo a much better option,as it can take over the woods as a dominant tree again (1 of every 4 trees you see in the woods were chestnut in the late 1800's) although man get the blame for shooting off the passenger pigeons the loss of this food source to blight and clear cutting was a much bigger factor.

Hmm I always thought they were 50 percent american and 50 Chinese. Id rather wait for the transgenic tree's.  

[IRL]

As stated, the Dunstan and other hybrid varieties are best suited for an orchard style planting and will not do well in a forest.  I have a number of Americans on my land, mostly stump sprouts but also several 40+ ft straight stems that we are watching closely.  I was very enthused about the ESF/ACF restoration efforts and had hopes to bring the giants back to my woods.  I remain optimistic but I have removed chestnut planting from my current management plan as the "ready in 5 years after FDA approval" is a moving target and the press releases of the past year were premature (or to raise money).

[Fantail]

Still considering the Dunstan's or trying a few of them. As an alternate though, what's wrong with the Chinese chestnuts? Not like I'm planning to eat them. 

[G-Man]

Chinese are short orchard trees, nothing wrong with them and they are good to eat, they don't want them to cross with American and pollute the gene pool is all. Make sure you plant close enough and several to ensure polination.

[ATbuckhunter]

Nothing wrong with a Chinese chestnut, but the only problem is that they are an orchard tree and are easily out competed unless taken care of. An American would be like a set it and forget it tree. Although the chinese prodices some giant chestnuts and they do produce quite a bit of them. 

[Curmudgeon]

Chinese are short orchard trees, nothing wrong with them and they are good to eat, they don't want them to cross with American and pollute the gene pool is all. Make sure you plant close enough and several to ensure polination.

 

If you want pure American, listen to G-Man. Do not plant Dunstan, Chinese or any hybrid. They hybridize very easily. 

 

The GE tree is the most pure tree able to resist the blight. I am personally very wary of transgenic organisms. However, this tree has only a few individual genes that have been changed. It was not developed for profit - such as the Roundup Ready products which are all about increasing herbicide use while denying farmers the right to save seed. It is not a tree that will be grown in monoculture for fiber - monocultures that are a sterile environment for wildlife. It is a tree whose resistant genes can find their way into crosses with all those small but flowering American trees out there.

 

Comments to the National Research Council are needed to help move the approval of the transgenic American Chestnut forward. http://nas-sites.org/ge-crops/2014/06/15/provide-comments/

 

The message below is from Allen Nicols, President of the American Chestnut Foundation's New York organization. Please comment.

 

Hi,

I am contacting all the TACFNY members and asking if you could post positive comments about the American chestnut to the NRC at http://nas-sites.org/ge-crops/2014/06/15/provide-comments/ .  We just found out that the "Stop GE Trees Campaign" is asking their membership to send in negative comments and we need to balance their message with a positive one. The silent majority needs to be heard from.

 

Can you specifically mention the American chestnut and in your own words state how you have directly supported the SUNY-ESF research for many years and that you think everyone should have the choice to plant our transgenic American chestnut trees on their own property.   

 

Positive or negative public feedback will determine how long the federal regulatory review will take.  So if more people respond positively, we will be able to offer our blight resistant American chestnut to the public sooner. 

 

So please leave positive comments and try to get others to do so also.  It only takes about 5 minutes to leave a comment.

 

Feel free to forward this email to anyone you think would like to see the American chestnut reintroduced back into the forest.

 

Thanks, Allen Nichols

President, TACF-NY