The Rural Voice, 2019-02, Page 52disease. Key factors to look for are
native trees that have maintained
reasonable health while other nearby
Butternut trees have succumbed to
the disease or are in a severe state of
decline. Scions (small twigs)
collected by professional climbers
from the upper crown of these
potentially resistant trees are then
grafted onto black walnut root stock
and planted in carefully managed
orchards to preserve Butternut DNA
and eventually produce seed from
which seedlings will be grown.
Candidate trees are first DNA
tested to see if they are 100 per cent
native as Butternut does often
hybridize with Japanese walnut.
Leaves or twigs for DNA testing are
often collected with long poles or
specialized sling shots that pull light
twine over the twigs to break them
off.
I offered to help FGCA collect
samples from a candidate tree north
east of Seaforth this past fall. The
tree was hard to access due to
adjacent trees but I figured I could
shoot down some twigs with my
shotgun (with the landowner's
permission, of course). I installed a
super tight turkey choke and a red
dot scope on the gun, then patterned
it (sighted it in) at home in my
backyard. I brought along several
boxes of shells (from my son’s
inventory), thinking I’d only need a
shot or two. Sensing this might be
entertaining, both the landowner and
Dave Pullen (who had reported the
tree) came along to help. With the
first shot, my scope self destructed,
so the best I could do afterwards was
point the gun in roughly the right
direction and hope. After a dozen or
so shots, enough leaf fragments had
been collected for the test and I,
along with my severely sore
shoulder, was suitably humbled. I
mentioned this adventure to my son
afterwards. He said he hoped I
hadn’t used his 3-inch magnum, high
velocity turkey shells as those things
cost about $10 each. Well uh,
maybe? Unfortunately, I also just
found out the tree was a hybrid.
If you are aware of candidate
Butternut trees, let the FGCA know.
Their contact information can be
found at www.fgca.net. ◊
February 2019 49
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