American Chestnuts make a male and female flower. They are not self fertile. Two mature chestnut trees are required to make nuts.

Controlled cross-pollinating to make second generation all-American intercrosses on 3-year-old Miles and Ruth grafts:  volunteers put Ruth pollen on Miles flowers and Miles pollen on Ruth flowers.

Bags keep stray pollen away from the Miles and Ruth flowers.  This all-American intercross has the best chance, at present, of producing chestnuts that breed true for blight resistance.  We plant these for testing.

Meanwhile, this same cross, as well as other interesting combinations, may turn up at random among the open pollinated seednuts we distribute to our growers.