
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 7, 1995                   TAG: 9511070035
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

The 4-H Genesis Team Leader Club, part of the Giles County Cooperative Extension office, is working with the American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation to gather seed chestnuts. The foundation collects seed nuts to establish and expand American chestnut growth in the region. The 4-H project gives students an opportunity to experience how knowledge, leadership, science and technology can make positive environmental changes.

At the turn of the century, the Chinese chestnut, host plant for chestnut blight, was introduced into the United States. Within four decades, the airborne fungus had eradicated the American chestnut. The trees were once a cash crop for all of Appalachia. "A squirrel could have jumped on a tree in Maine and just about made it to Georgia without touching the ground, the trees were so thick," said Charles Lytton, Giles County's 4-H Extension Agent. The strong straight-grained lumber, resistant to rot and water damage, was important to the housing and paper industries. Trunks sometimes reached heights of 100 feet with diameters of 5 or more feet. Logs were so large that one board was enough to make a church pew.

Blight affected plant parts above the ground, but roots lived and generated new suckers. Through the years, trees exhibiting high levels of blight resistance were found. Through careful cross-pollination, an improved strain of resistant American chestnut has been created.

The American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation distributes seed nuts to 17 states and 5 countries. According to Lucille Griffin, executive director of the foundation: "One of the limiting factors is manpower. Resistant seed nuts are like gold to us and candy to wildlife. Each year it is a race to see who gets the most. This year, thanks to the help of the Giles County teens, we won."

The Genesis 4-H Team Leader Club is open to anyone in grades eight through 12. Call 921-3455 for more information.

by CNB