The man who boasts about gathering chestnuts as a barefoot boy is usually owning up to getting on in years. Nearly all U.S. chestnut trees were destroyed by a fast-spreading fungus disease which started in New York City before 1910. Since then there have been many attempts to find or breed blight-resistant chestnuts. Most of the new or introduced trees were unsuited to the climate, or they required too much care, or they produced poor nuts or low-grade timber. None had all the qualities of the old trees.
Last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture had good news for barefoot boys and...
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