[Magdalen] This is nuts

[Grace Cangialosi]

Funny, Roger, but that's exactly what folks are doing with the Native American Chestnut trees around here! They are crossing them with the blight-resistant Chinese Chestnuts, and it's quite an arduous procedure. They use cherry pickets from the utility companies to go into the tops is the trees and then hand-pollinate and tie small net bags over the pollinated flowers. They go back later and gather the nuts and plant them in nurseries. So far I think they'd gotten trees that are only 1/16th Chinese. Too early to tell of they're blight-resistant or not.
You can still find small American Chestnuts up in the woods that have sprouted from the stumps of the fallen trees. But,of course, they are also infected with the blight, so they eventually die. They may produce nuts before then, however, and those can be used for the hybridizing process.  These folks are really *patient*! (And they can't be afraid of heights!) One of my friends has been hand-pollinating a tree on her property for years--considers it a high calling.

> On Feb 24, 2017, at 7:09 AM, Roger Stokes <roger.stokes65 at btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 24/02/2017 02:44, P. Dan Brittain wrote:
>> 
>> ​ My apricot is in bloom and the buds are swelling on the peaches; and no
>> insects around for pollination yet.
> 
> That'll be a worry for fruit farmers.
> 
>> Our congresscritters are useless.
> 
> Put Congress in recess and supply the Representatives with little paint brushes so they can do the pollination themselves :-)
> 
> Roger