North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Clayton/Kim <dnclayton@monad.net>]

> Hope this doen't seem too "off list".  I am ready to try again with 
> chestnuts.  Am disappointed with the yields I am getting from my five
> survivors.    I first planted chinese chestnuts in 1986. I think there were 
> 10 seedlings from Musser Forests and one grafted tree, a "Meader",
> from somewhere.  All but three of the seedlings have been winter killed and 
> the Meader failed as well (the first year as I recall) but the
> rootstock survives.  I think it was about ten years ago that we had -20*F 
> follow right on some balmy warm weather in the first week of December.
> That caught 'em before they had gone dormant and damaged those it didn't 
> kill.  Yes, all the trunks had been painted white; and no, I wasn't
> feeding them late in the season or anything.  After that I bought a few 
> seedlings from Bear Creek.  Only the "Douglass" seedling survives from
> that batch.
>
> So with 5 different trees planted close together I should have good 
> cross-pollination.  I get lots of burs but a low percentage of kernels
> developing.  Also the darn things tend to hang on the tree right into the 
> winter.  There are nuts out there in the tops of trees right now.  What
> am I supposed to do, shoot 'em down with the shot gun?
>
> I have a large collection of pomes and prunus  that I have grafted myself 
> and I guess I'm ready now to try my hand at chinese chestnuts if anyone
> out there has some scion wood they think I should try.  The cultivars 
> mentioned in Nut Trees of North America all seem to be adapted to a more
> southern climate.  Any ideas as to what I should try as rootstock?  To deal 
> with the incompatibility problems these things seem to have, does
> anyone want to send me some nuts to plant, then the scion wood once I have 
> some seedlings growing?  I'm tempted to order more seedlings from
> Musser.  For one thing our climate seems to be warming up!
>
> Incidentally I have just about totally given up on theJuglans.  Many failed 
> Carpathians and Buartnuts.  I have one beautiful big seedling
> butternut and one other seedling obtained from FEDCO  (the parent tree was 
> a suspected cross of Asian Juglans ) but the few nuts these two do
> occasionally produce are worthless.  Have had some luck with the Corylus 
> crosses.  Squirrels are the problem with them of course.  Also I have one
> American Chestnut obtained back in the 80's from a little nursery in 
> Michigan that appears to still be disease free.  I'm sure that won't last.
>
> Will appreciate any suggestions.
>
> Doug Clayton
> Southeastern NH
> formerly zone 4/5 boundary
>


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