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Class War | 85 comments (85 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Class War - the trigger (4.00 / 3)
A quarter of the trees in much of Appalachia were chestnut, and you could grow about as much pork on an acre of chestnut as you could on an acre of corn ... and the acre of chestnut did not need to be level.

But then the chestnut blight hit.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Aug 25th, 2013 at 11:32:55 PM EST
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Re: Class War - the trigger (none / 1)
I knew about the chestnut blight and have heard an old saying: "Ever so often even the blind old boar will stumble onto a chestnut" but I never realized the importance of chestnuts to Appalachian homesteaders. The blight must have accelerated out migration. It made those who remained even more dependent on coal mining or moonshine.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Aug 26th, 2013 at 12:27:00 AM EST
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Re: Class War - the trigger (4.00 / 2)
Yes, though running hogs on mountainside chestnut is not an activity that encourages investment in agricultural improvement, which is a substantial difference between the chestnut belt of Central Appalachia and the corn belt to its immediate north and northwest.

Still, the chestnut blight put Appalachia into an agricultural depression starting around the turn of the last century that combined with the negative impacts of extraction of mineral wealth.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Mon Aug 26th, 2013 at 05:54:51 AM EST
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Class War | 85 comments (85 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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