Last week, a slightly larger tree was bagged on Mt. Washington Rd. on the Riga Mountain Plateau. This tree is located on a ridge that is among the highest elevation in Connecticut. Because of this, it is likely that this tree was one of the last bagged in the state. At first glance, this smaller tree appeared to have a few decent clumps of catkins and flowers and would likely get a few more bags than the other two trees. However, once the bagging process began, it was evident that the tree had far more flowers than expected. The final tally was 41 bags with 4 controls!
Charlie White, from Bartlett Tree Experts, bagging the tree on Mt. Washington Rd.
The Mt. Washington Rd. tree, in all its glory.
Look how high up he had to go!
Luckily, all three trees had many catkin clumps with several flowers. In fact, two of the bags on the Litchfield tree had six female flowers in one bag! Hopefully this indicates that the trees will have a better harvest than the number of bags might indicate.
Last Friday we were also able to pollinate the Litchfield tree, as its flowers indicated they were ready. The styles on the flowers were fully developed, spread apart, and straw colored. In addition, the male catkins were “bushy” and very aromatic. Bill Moorhead, John Baker, and I worked together to pollinate all of the non-control bags using a ladder. Although there are several methods, we used the “dunk” method which involves dunking the female flower into a small vial of pollen (actually it was a vial of anthers which each have many individual pollen grains). Once it appears as though enough pollen is on the styles of each flower, the bag is replaced and secured. The pollen for this particular tree is from an advanced hybrid in Virginia and will hopefully breed in blight resistance to local American Chestnuts. Other than checking on the tree every now and then, the rest is merely a waiting game until the nuts develop.
Bill Moorhead and I pollinating the tree in Litchfield.
Me assisting with the pollination of a tree in Hamden, CT. This gives an idea of how the "dunk" method works.
Ladder pollination in Hamden, CT
The Warren tree will hopefully be pollinated this Wednesday; although, we are having some trouble scheduling the bucket truck and may need to come up with an alternative. The Mt. Washington tree is set for Monday, July 20th. I only wish I could be there in October to collect the nuts and enjoy the fruits of our labor 
