SAVE THE CHESTNUTS

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It's believed that the blight was introduced into this country at the turn of the century probably carried by imported species which were themselves resistant —and spread rapidly among the American trees. Starting in New England and moving southward, the disease wiped out virtually all of the large chestnuts from Maine to Alabama.

Edgar Huffman has never forgotten his childhood days when all the world seemed to depend upon the American chestnut, and—for the past 25 years—he has worked to find a cure for the killer fungus. By keeping precise records, taking notes, and—most important simply observing with common sense and intuition, the Virginian has come up with a black, rubbery liquid concoction which, he claims, has been successful in protecting chestnuts from the blight.

The patented formula is made up of such common ingredients as shoe polish, glue, gasoline, ether, and powdered iron ...and both the commonwealth of Virginia and the EPA have run tests on it to ascertain its safety to the buyer.

HOW IT WORKS

American chestnuts grow quickly and because of this rapid development the bark will often split open, exposing the inner part of the tree. Huffman works from the theory that microscopic parasites get into the sap layer and act as the vector for the fungus. (Some hard evidence supports this assumption.)

Edgar first reasoned that he could prevent the blight by keeping the broken bark covered. He tried to paint over the splits ...but found that the coating cracked open as the trees continued to grow. Huffman then experimented, over the course of many years, with various mixtures ...trying to develop one that would adhere to and expand with the bark until the tree's wound healed.

One day the busy entrepreneur was called to the telephone, and—while the workman was away from his bench—his young grandson accidentally spilled liquid shoe polish into a test mixture. Huffman was all set to throw the batch out and start over ...but then he stopped and thought, "Why not try it?" He gave the formula a trial run, and was pleased with the results.

The treatment is applied with a brush — much as is any other tree coat—over the damaged portion of the bark. Once it's on, it seems to allow the chestnut to survive long enough to develop an immunity to the fungus. A one—time coating should suffice, but if the tree is heavily damaged before being treated, second and third coats may be required in subsequent years.

Although the cure isn't considered a practical one for use by the National Forest Service (painting each blighted tree would be too labor-intensive), Mr. Huffman's concoction could be an ideal solution for individuals who have just a few new saplings coming up from old roots that are still struggling for survival. The inventor himself has a back yard and a nearby mountain lot full of healthy chestnut trees which, he maintains, have been saved with his formula.

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