FOLLOW-UP: We’ve been telling readers about an apparent re-birth
of chestnut trees in this region and we follow up today with
interesting information from John Lombardi of Bradford.

He writes, “In Italy, our family property included groves of
chestnut trees, which provided a dependable source of yearly
income. We used to sell about 60 tons of sweet chestnuts each
year.”

“The blight disease started in 1950, and by 1960, all those
trees had to be cut down so that at least some of the timber could
be salvaged before they all rotted. The chestnut tree is a hardwood
timber and is especially useful for railroad, furniture, etc.

“The trees can grow tall and straight if they are kept not too
far apart. The trees can sprout from the seeds or the roots of
surrounding trees. They produce a small crop of chestnuts, which
are usually not acceptable for market, but can provide feed for
animals or even some family use.

“The santomanche is the best kind of sweet chestnut for the
general market. The tree needs to be planted in land that not too
steep and clean of all stumps and roots.

“Plant the trees two or three feet high and about 40×40 feet
apart. After a period of five or six years, it is time to graft the
trees. At this point, you can choose the kind of chestnuts you
prefer. This operation should be done during the first two weeks of
May.

“After about eight or nine years of the planting, you will start
to see some burrs. Near the beginning of October, the burrs will
start to open and chestnuts will fall to the ground. By the middle
of September, the ground around the trees should be cleaned so that
picking the crop of chestnuts around the trees will be easier.

“You should never try to open the burrs to free the chestnut
because the sharp burrs can be painful, but you can always use your
shoe to crack open.

“This true story relates to the time before the spread of such a
bad disease, the blight. When I used to hunt in the late 1900s, I
would see chestnut trees in the Sugar Run and Rutherford Run areas.
But the trees did not grow because the blight would destroy the
trees as they would grow about a foot up above the ground.”