I always wondered why the drawings of Daniel Boone and early settlers showed giant trees. They seemed to by in an area that was nothing like the Appalachians that I understood. I always chalked it up to greedy lumber companies. But this is amazing history and a warning of the damage one could create by importing foreign plants and seeds. We are even carful with taking cut wood across state lines these days. We have many foreign species in the great lakes. Pine beetles everywhere now. For as tough as this planet is, it's eco system is sometimes very fickle.
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The great tragedy of the American Chestnut tree.
- Thread starter Dave...
- Start date
jakethebaptist
New Member
The good news is that there has recently been some breakthroughs in developing American Chestnut trees that are resistant to the disease.
Restore the American Chestnut
A revolutionary approach to saving chestnut trees from extinction
On a side note, a couple of weeks ago I had roasted chestnuts for the first time. Now I get the appeal and the Christmas song!
Restore the American Chestnut
A revolutionary approach to saving chestnut trees from extinction
On a side note, a couple of weeks ago I had roasted chestnuts for the first time. Now I get the appeal and the Christmas song!
When I was in Germany I always looked forward to the Christmas marts and the roasted chestnuts.
I've heard about this. I think I seen a video about a field somewhere where they are growing them and trying to break through and find one tree that can withstand the fungus. Something like that. Eventually they'll have a seed that can take on that fungus that killed the original ones. The Appalachians would have been a sight to see back in the day.
They say that the American chestnut was amazing for railroad ties, constructing fences, houses. Very durable. Some guy got the idea to import some Asian Chestnut tree seeds for some reason. Maybe they grew faster, I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure it's in the video. With those Asian seeds came the fungus that the Asian Chestnut was immune to, but the American Chestnut was wiped out by it.
Thank you. Seems like a lot of our "good ideas" were not so good.
Back in the 80s I planted 7 Dunstan Chestnuts on the back of our property. Hybrid vigor, excellent soil - most bore nuts within 4 years. I selected from the ones with the most American traits and planted those seed, and again selected nuts from those offspring, and now have three very American looking trees that I had actually forgotten about until the recent pond excavation I had done brought them to light. Nuts are American sized, but have weevils.
When i was 20, we cut down a Black Oak Tree that was 7.5 feet in diameter
My other grandparents had a Black Oak Tree that was just over 4 feet in diameter.
Crazy. They were the largest of that species I have ever seen
Crazy. They were the largest of that species I have ever seen
IIRC, some Chinese chestnut trees were imported early in the 20th century for an arboretum or park in New York. Some records state that within the hardwood forests east of the Mississippi, one in every four trees was an American chestnut. Whether true or not, the loss of the species is probably the greatest ecological disaster (so far - Amazonia rain forest might be close) in the Americas.
As a kid, I spent many, many hours digging Johnson Grass. It had been introduced as a grass (by someone named Johnson) to graze cattle and sheep in the Central Valley of California. It was very invasive and took over orchards sucking up valuable water needed to water fruit and nut trees.
The only way to rid your orchards of it was to dig it out making sure you didn't miss a single piece of the root system. It would still be a terrible nuisance had it not been for Roundup. Roundup obviously has it's own problems.
IMHO, a lot of the reasons why California's Central Valley is saturated with pesticides and herbicides and the cancer rate astronomical, is because of insects and plants brought into the Valley by people who thought they were improving the farming environment
This is why Australia has the toughest quarantines in the world. Even then nasty things still get through. Cane toads, cats, foxes, and rabbits have been the most destructive legacy pest animals.
Dieback tree fungus let in many years ago has killed large areas of Forrest.
We have very little old growth forrest but they are a sight to behold when you see them.
Most of the hardwood is regrowth, Jarrah and Wandoo was logged for railway sleepers in India. Wandoo was prized because of its anti termite qualities extreme toughness.
Western Australia is the last holdout from certain bee diseases and we export a lot of bees to the States to support orchards each season.
We are trying to keep out certain Asian mosquito species from our northern wetlands. They are a good vector for many exotic diseases and can survive in colder southern states. We could see malaria and dengue fever in our cold southern states if this gets away.
It’s much easier dealing with pests at the boarder than eradication efforts once they are in.
Dieback tree fungus let in many years ago has killed large areas of Forrest.
We have very little old growth forrest but they are a sight to behold when you see them.
Most of the hardwood is regrowth, Jarrah and Wandoo was logged for railway sleepers in India. Wandoo was prized because of its anti termite qualities extreme toughness.
Western Australia is the last holdout from certain bee diseases and we export a lot of bees to the States to support orchards each season.
We are trying to keep out certain Asian mosquito species from our northern wetlands. They are a good vector for many exotic diseases and can survive in colder southern states. We could see malaria and dengue fever in our cold southern states if this gets away.
It’s much easier dealing with pests at the boarder than eradication efforts once they are in.