Researchers Hope to Bring Back American Chestnuts — VOA Learning English
Topics: наука й природа
Beginning
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping at your nose…”
This classic song written by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé in 1944 has long brought to mind the image of Christmas for generations of Americans.
At one time, the American Chestnut was among the most common and largest trees in the eastern United States. The wood was used to cover the walls of homes and schools. The leaves helped add nutrients to the soil. And men on street corners sold chestnuts cooked on open fire.
However, in the late 19th century, some East Asian varieties of chestnut trees brought to the U.S. carried a fungus that killed almost all American chestnuts.
Efforts to bring back the chestnut
The American Chestnut…
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