Kenneth James will give a talk about efforts to bring back the American chestnut tree at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, March 3, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road (County Route 26) in Stephentown. The program is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-0010.
When Europeans began to settle the American colonies, they found a tree that possessed very useful properties growing throughout the forests. The American chestnut tree had high tannin levels that made its wood rot resistant and valuable for homes, outbuildings, fence posts and poles, and, eventually, railroad crossties. In the forest it grew straight and tall, making excellent lumber and beams. Its nuts were an abundant and nourishing food for both wild creatures and a farmer’s pigs and family. However, in the early 20th century Asian chestnut trees were imported, and they carried a blight to which the American species had no resistance. By 1940 the American chestnut was destroyed as a commercial species and no cure has yet been found.
Ken James is one of many searching for a disease resistant strain of American chestnut. He moved to southwest Stephentown in the 1970s and planted 200 small trees thirty years ago. He has been growing them and grafting the most promising scions onto root suckers, looking for the strongest and healthiest results. His largest tree is now 60 feet tall. He will tell about his quest for a disease resistant variety as well as some history of this tree.