Return of the American Elm

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"Valley Forge and New Harmony elms will be the first commercially available, Dutch elm-tolerant American elm trees," says Elias. However, they are not the first Dutch elm disease-tolerant American elm trees to be distributed in the U.S.

In 1983, a third type of Dutch elm disease-tolerant American elm, called the Liberty elm, was developed through genetic breeding by the University of Wisconsin under a grant from the Elm Research Institute. Since 1984, the institute has propagated and distributed over 250,000 Liberty elms to its membership, which comprises individuals, communities, schools, and universities.

"A hundred million trees have died from Dutch elm disease, and in many towns it continues to be a problem," says Yvonne Spalthoff, assistant director of the Elm Research Institute.

"The Liberty elm is very resistant to Dutch elm disease;" she says. "The loss rate stands at .01 percent, which is minimal."

The internal structure of the Liberty elm is slightly different from that of the original American elm, Spalthoff says.

"Due to its unique cell structure, the new elm is capable of walling off the fungus. Phytoalexins restrict the growth of the fungus.

" Though many researchers have created Dutch elm disease-tolerant hybrid elm varieties from Asiatic and European elms, Spalthoff says, "Hybrid trees differ in appearance from the classic American elm that people remember.

The appearance of hybrids is not the same as the tall, graceful, vase-shaped purebred American elm. They tend to be shorter in stature and have smaller foliage:' But with the campaign to restore the elm to towns across the nation, the American elm may very well be saved.

FEATHER DIAPERS? 

Chicken feathers may soon make their way into your home disguised as household products.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have discovered a new way to convert the poultry-processing by-product into a fiber that can be used in place of wood pulp and synthetic fibers, such as plastics or nylon, in some products.

"The new fiber separation process uses less water, energy, and chemicals than for other fibers;" said Dr. Walter Schmidt, a research chemist at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA who started the project three years ago. While studying animal fibers, Schmidt noticed that chicken feathers had very rugged properties.

The Liberty. "Once ground into a powder, it has physical properties similar to wood pulp," Schmidt says. "I thought maybe I could make paper out of it, and it worked.

" "Feather fibers can be used to make paper," he says. But "if all the feathers in the U.S. were used to make paper, it would only make up 1 percent of the paper we use. It would be used more for specialty papers because it has some very nice properties," Schmidt says. "The fibers give paper an unusual texture and dying properties. The fibers are also very strong. Paper made from it can be recycled over and over again, whereas if wood fibers are used, some of the fiber quality is lost.

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