In the first years of the 20th century a cargo of Asiatic chestnuts landed in Albany, New York, from China. This fruit contained a bark fungus which first appeared on trees in New York's Zoological Gardens in 1904. The fungus, easily spread by windblown spores, caused an epidemic disease that completely eliminated the American chestnut as an important timber species in the span of a single human generation. This is one of the two most destructive tree diseases on the planet, affecting related species in Canada, Europe, the Soviet Union and India. The American chestnut isn't quite lost, yet.
Sprouts continue to grow out of old stumps.
The saplings grow, flower and bear fruit, but once they get to a moderate height the bark-shattering blight hits, girdles the trees and kills again. The few unaffected mature trees remain healthy because of their isolation rather than their resistance. As long as studies and experimentation continue, though, a blight-resistant strain may someday be developed. It would be great to have this handsome tree maturing in our woodlands once more, and its handsome lumber once more available in ample quantity. Also, because of its ability to grow in dry, impoverished soil on the rocky hillsides of our forest lands, chestnut's return would make a welcome addition to this country's hardwood inventory.