harveyc

Being a commercial chestnut grower for 13 years and a member of the American Chestnut Foundation for quite a few years and know quite a bit about this matter.

The Dunstan are more Chinese than American so they sure don't meet the needs of restoring the American Chestnut. I've grown some myself and don't consider them to be particularly good varieties either and somewhat over-hyped. For your location I'd suggest getting grafted trees or seeds from Greg Miller at Empire Chestnut Company.

The American Chestnut Foundation isn't trying to restore pure American chestnut as they have no resistance to the blight. They are pinning their hopes on two lines (if I remember correctly) which have been crossed with two old Chinese introductions and then back-crossed to achieve trees that are 15/16 American.

Rob, know Hill Craddock that works with chestnuts in your area very well. I've sent him scions and he's bought chestnuts from me and I've been at a couple of chestnut conferences with him. Nice guy.

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