be the Oldest Chestnut
in Connecticut

Progress Report from Connecticut Experiment Station, Dated November 15,
1943

Many years ago, at a time when the American chestnut was still the king
of the woods, a farmer set out a small orchard of nut trees on the bank
of the Connecticut River flood plain north of Hartford. Now, some 60
years later, one lone Japanese chestnut survives. Dr. Donald F. Jones of
the Agricultural Station in New Haven, who recently investigated the
tree, believes it is by far the oldest living chestnut in the State. And
the most interesting thing about the tree is that it shows no signs of
blight, the disease that destroyed all the native chestnuts.

Dr. Jones' attention was called to the tree late last fall by a hunter
who noticed a deposit of chestnut hulls in the river bank. On
investigation, the man discovered the tree and was impressed by its
size. This fall the tree was visited in search of nuts. There, rising
above the brush and brambles of what is now a tobacco field, stood the
chestnut, 30 foot high and 18 inches in diameter. The men were able to
rescue only six nuts, their visit being a little late for the main
harvest. The nuts were among the largest Dr. Jones has seen. They have
been planted at the Experiment Station farm in Mount Carmel.

Inquiry in the neighborhood of the chestnut revealed that two or three
people knew about the tree and had gathered the nuts that are produced
profusely every other year. One of the neighbors recalled that 60 years
or more ago, when he was but 12 years old, a man named John P. Jones had
set out the nut trees. But the original source of the trees is unknown
and it remains a question whether the planter got the trees from a
nursery in this country or directly from the Orient.

Though the lone survivor is somewhat neglected, with several dead
branches that have been left untrimmed, a neighbor was interested enough
in its possibilities to plant some of the nuts. This resulted in one
six-year-old seedling tree. Unfortunately, this already shows blight and
is apparently the result of pollination by some blighted American
seedling or sprout in the neighborhood. The nuts collected this fall may
also give disappointing results but should transmit to later generations
the blight-resistance of this Japanese parent. In addition to planting
the nuts, Dr. Jones will take scions from the tree for grafting on young
trees at the Station's Mount Carmel farm. Those s