[MassChestnutOrchards] Granville ACF orchard news

Tue Sep 1 12:46:35 EDT 2009

John,

You're quite welcome!

Fred

On Sep 1, 2009, at 11:32 AM, John Meiklejohn wrote:

> Fred,
>
> Ok, so ideally it's better not to reuse the BC3 orchard land for  
> the seed
> orchard.  I do have another field, larger than the fenced one, that  
> would
> not be hard to irrigate if we chose to.  Sounds like I should focus my
> efforts on prepping that field rather than expanding the BC3  
> orchard area.
> Thanks for helping me think through these options .
> John
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Hebard" <Fred at acf.org>
> To: <masschestnutorchards at masschestnut.org>
> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 8:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [MassChestnutOrchards] Granville ACF orchard news
>
>
> John,
>
> The most important thing you have in that orchard right now are the
> BC3s.  Eventually, they would have to be removed when the orchard
> starts coming into production, but you need to be able to count on
> them for 5-10 years after selection, and ideally it would be handy to
> have them around longer than that.  For that reason, it is better not
> to reuse land if possible.  Once your chapter starts to generate B3-
> F2s, the nuts should prompt some people to offer land for planting.
> Are there other parcels near that orchard that might serve for B3-F2s?
>
> Our B3-F2 orchards are not irrigated, although they're fenced to
> exclude cattle.  We don't have much of a deer problem, but there is
> some deer browse.  Our care of older backcross orchards is minimal.
> We only mow B2s, but still weed, mow and fertilize B3s since we are
> still gathering seeds from them.
>
> Fred
>
> Frederick V. Hebard, PhD
> Staff Pathologist, Meadowview Research Farms
> American Chestnut Foundation
> 14005 Glenbrook Ave.
> Meadowview, VA 24361
>
> Email: Fred at acf.org
> Web: http://www.acffarms.org
> Phone: (276) 944-4631
> Fax: (276) 944-0934
>
>
> On Aug 31, 2009, at 7:26 PM, j.johnmeiklejohn at comcast.net wrote:
>
>> Fred,
>>
>>
>> Thank you for clarifying the space required for a seed orchard.
>> This fenced in area once fully cleared will have more than the 2/3
>> acre  needed.  It is irrigated, as well as fenced, and slopes to
>> the south.  I expect to have maybe 7-10 BC3s survive the
>> innoculation process out of the 175 that are in the orchard now.
>> My question to you is:  Will these remaining trees pose an obstacle
>> or not to having a seed orchard replace this BC3 orchard?
>>
>>
>> Gratefully,
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Fred Hebard" <Fred at acf.org>
>> To: masschestnutorchards at masschestnut.org
>> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 5:33:10 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
>> Subject: Re: [MassChestnutOrchards] Granville ACF orchard news
>>
>> John,
>>
>> You need room for 20 plots of 38' x 38', or 2/3 of an acre.  An acre
>> is 43560 sq feet, but most plots aren't even in shape.  You also need
>> a 30-60' border, especially on the south side, to get full sunlight.
>>
>> Fred
>>
>> On Aug 31, 2009, at 12:36 PM, j.johnmeiklejohn at comcast.net wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Kendra,
>>>
>>> Thanks for getting back to me on this important issue.  To be
>>> absolutely certain, I would like a 2nd opinion from Fred or
>>> Charlotte on this issue of seed orchard block size as there is no
>>> purpose in my expanding the cleared area of the fenced breeding
>>> orchard if it won't meet the minimum requirement on size for a seed
>>> orchard.
>>>
>>>
>>> John Meiklejohn
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Kendra Gurney" <kendra at acf.org>
>>> To: masschestnutorchards at masschestnut.org
>>> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 11:36:46 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
>> Eastern
>>> Subject: Re: [MassChestnutOrchards] Granville ACF orchard news
>>>
>>>
>>> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math";
>>> panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri;
>>> panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Tahoma;
>>> panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */
>>> p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-
>>> bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New
>>> Roman","serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99;
>>> color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited,
>>> span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple;
>>> text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-
>>> type:personal-reply; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
>>> color:#1F497D;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; font-
>>> size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in
>>> 1.0in 1.0in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
>>> Hi John –
>>>
>>>
>>> To answer your question on seed orchard block size, you need one
>>> acre of space.  I’d invite Fred or Sara to chime in here if there
>>> may be room to plant a block in ¾ of an acre, but I believe with
>>> the tight spacing there is less “wiggle room” on the size than
>>> there is for a breeding orchard.
>>>
>>>
>>> Kendra
>>>
>>>
>>> From: masschestnutorchards-bounces at masschestnut.org
>>> [mailto:masschestnutorchards-bounces at masschestnut.org] On Behalf Of
>>> John Meiklejohn
>>> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 11:58 AM
>>> To: masschestnutorchards at masschestnut.org
>>> Subject: [MassChestnutOrchards] Granville ACF orchard news
>>>
>>>
>>> Jamie & John Mirick:
>>>
>>>
>>> Re:  developing a conservation easement for the Granville ACF
>> orchard
>>>
>>>
>>> I was glad to see John has started the process of developing a
>>> template for easement agreements.  He and I had talked at past mtgs
>>> about collaborating on this but we had not actively connected on it.
>>>
>>>
>>> Here is the status on my end for developing an easement agreement
>>> for the Granville orchard.  With help from a friend I am slowly
>>> clearing the trees and brush from the remainder of the current
>>> fenced orchard area to create a space that will be about 3/4 of an
>>> acre.  My understanding is that for BC3F2 orchards we want a
>>> minimum of 3/4 acre plots [please confirm that I'm correct here].
>>> Once the new area is cleared the plantable area within the fence
>>> will be .70 to .75 of an acre based on my recent rough
>>> measurement.  If this is too small for a BC3F2 orchard plot then I
>>> need to know and will stop the work of expanding this plot.  Also,
>>> if the plot is not large enough for the next generation then there
>>> is little reason to create an easement unless we want to protect
>>> the 5-10 BC3 trees that will hopefully survive the innoculation
>>> process. [This BC3 orchard should be ready for innoculation next
>>> year.]
>>>
>>>
>>> Since I'm determined to use a portion of our land for a TACF-MA
>>> BC3F2 plot I've measured another field that is at least .75 of an
>>> acre.  That too will take a bit of clean up to be ready for
>>> planting.  It is not fenced but could be.
>>>
>>>
>>> I'd prefer to use the first field for the conservation easement
>>> with TACF-MA because it is set to one side of our main acreage and
>>> it already has drip irrigation installed.
>>>
>>>
>>> Could one of you or Charlotte or Fred confirm for me that the plots
>>> for BC3F2 nuts must be of a certain minimum size.  Before I proceed
>>> with John on the conservation easement I want to be certain that I
>>> have chosen an appropriate area for the easement and for the next
>>> generation planting.
>>>
>>>
>>> On a different subject, I went up to the Granville State Forest
>>> last weekend to check on the Am. Chestnut that the State Forester
>>> had informed us about.  The tree is about 8"dbh, shows no signs of
>>> disease on the main trunk, possible disease presence on an upper
>>> branch, and about 20-30 burrs.  It would be accessible to a
>>> smallish bucket truck in dryer weather.  It's about 50 ft down a
>>> woods road off a main road through the Granville SF.
>>>
>>>
>>> John Meiklejohn
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
>>> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org http://mrsgale.fates.org/
>>> mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
>>> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org
>>> http://mrsgale.fates.org/mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
>> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org
>> http://mrsgale.fates.org/mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
>> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org
>> http://mrsgale.fates.org/mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org
> http://mrsgale.fates.org/mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassChestnutOrchards mailing list
> MassChestnutOrchards at masschestnut.org
> http://mrsgale.fates.org/mailman/listinfo/masschestnutorchards
>