Xcellerator,

I'm originally from Otsego county!!! My best guess (now knowing your locale) would be the blight. It spreads rapidly---once one beech is affected, the entire beech grove goes downhill pretty quick.

Within your area, give your local extension office a call, or place a call to the Cornell Cooperative Extension agency. They should be able to give you a much better reason than I, and will probably be able to give you comments/suggestions if a feasible solution exists. They may require you to obtain both a fruit (nut) sample and a soil sample, with instructions for each.

Also try HCCC, they have both 2 & 4 year programs for agronomy, horticulture and plant science; they should be able to give you pretty answers too.

Godd luck.

S&R



Edited by - Strut&Rut on 10/09/2002 12:04:21