years from planting and at nine or ten years were giving good crops.
Yields have fluctuated considerably from year to year, and also between
varieties and different bushes of the same variety. Yields obtained from
individual ten-year-old bushes and size of nut are given in the
following table.
Quarts[2] Pints, nuts Size of nut
Name (with husks) (without husks) No. per pint
Barcelona 11 8 101
Bixby (1) 11 9 130
Bixby (2) 22 12 148
Daviana (1) 10 6 94
Daviana (2) 11 7 90
Du Chilly (1) 20 11 93
Du Chilly (2) 17 12 92
Medium Long 11 8 115
[Footnote 2: Canadian measure.]
Higher yields have undoubtedly been obtained from other plantations and
from other individual bushes and certainly lower yields, also, may be
expected. Those given above are for 1946 from the best ten-year-old
bushes in a plantation of forty plants.
Yield and size of nut while of major importance are not the only
criteria for appraising the value of a nut variety. In filberts, such
points as ease of husking, amount of fibre and, of course, quality must
be considered. Also, as in other nuts, thickness of shell and
proportions of kernel to shell are quite important. Vigour and hardiness
of bush and hardiness of flower, male and female, are assumed, as
without these high yields are not to be expected.
Most of the filbert varieties in bearing at the Horticultural Experiment
Station with a few of their outstanding qualities are noted below.
Barcelona has a rather thick shell and too much fibre. It matures early,
first week of September, and the nuts drop out of the husk fairly
readily. The plant is strong and vigorous and somewhat spreading in
habit of growth. It appears to be hardy.
Du Chilly is not always hardy and it is difficult to husk. Some bushes
of this variety have given quite low yields.
Medium Long is a useful nut. It is not as large as the former two, but
it fills well and there is very little fibre; also the shell is thin. It
ripens somewhat later than Barcelona and is easy to husk.
Bixby is of medium size, somewhat pointed with a medium thick shell but
almost no fibre. It is late in maturing, first week of October, and does
not husk readily.
Daviana is a large, attractive nut with a moderately thin shell and has
very little fibre. The quality is good. The nuts are mostly borne singly
but with some pairs and they are apt to cling to the husk.
Cosford is a very nice nut. It is similar to Medium Long, somewhat
smaller and of good appearance. It has a thin shell and is of good
quality. It ripens early and separates readily from the husk. Perhaps
not always hardy.
Bolwyller is hardy, yields moderately well and has nice quality.
Buchanan, much like Bixby, but a more vigorous grower. Rather difficult
to pick. The nut has good quality and very little fibre.
Italian Red, one of the best but not hardy.
The filbert plantings have been added to from time to time. In 1942, 200
open-pollinated seedlings of the hardy seedling (3R1AT 10, 11, 12--1922
planting) were set out and are now (1947) beginning to bear a few nuts.
The main purpose of growing these seedlings is to find a larger nut of
good quality with the vigour and hardiness of the female parent.
In 1944 a bush each of Beethe, Buchanan, Luisen and Volkugel varieties
were set out, also bushes of the following hybrids:
Rush x White Aveline No. 21
Rush x Kentish Cob No. 110 and 111
Rush x Barcelona No. 157 and 159
Rush x Bolwyller No. 200
Rush x Red Lambert No. 394 and 398
Rush x Du Chilly No. 485 and 555
Rush x Daviana No. 529 and 521
This material was supplied by the New York State Agricultural Experiment
Station for test purposes. So far none of these has come into bearing.
The seedling Carpathian walnuts (1937 planting) are nearly all bearing a
few nuts. Some began in 1943 while other bore nothing until several
years later. One tree in 1946 gave six pints of nuts, without the husks,
another four pints and several two pints, but most of them much less. As
in other seedling trees there is much variation in this lot of walnuts.
They vary considerably in habit of growth and vigour, also in nut
characteristics. They have shown little or no winter injury. It is too
early yet to pass judgment on these seedlings. Undoubtedly many of them
are worthless, others are on the border line, and a few may be better
than seedlings already growing in the Niagara fruit belt. It is possible
that some may have sufficient hardiness for planting in the less
favoured sections of Ontario.
Other types of nuts growing at the Horticultural Experiment Station are
of general interest. The chestnuts and most of the pecans are very young
and so are not bearing. Several hickories, =Carya ovata= and
=C. laciniosa=, and Japanese walnuts bear some nuts occasionally. The
Persian walnut x black walnut hybrids bear a few nuts sometimes but are
worthless; the trees however, are nice as ornamentals. The Japanese
walnut x butternut hybrids usually have a nice crop but the nuts are of
questionable value. The trees are nice ornamentals although subject to
wind injury.
Several seedling Chinese chestnuts were topworked to selected Chinese
chestnuts, grafts of which were obtained from the Division of Forest
Pathology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately these
were all destroyed at the result of construction work.
In addition to plantings made at this Station, nuts and nut seedlings
have been distributed to people who wished to grow a few nut trees on
their own places.
Cultural practices have been very simple at the Station. After planting,
the trees were cultivated for a year or two, then the space between sown
to grass and clover and the space just around the trees was mulched with
manure, hay, etc. The grass is cut several times a year and placed
around the trees as additional mulch. Small quantities of a good
commercial fertilizer such as 4-8-10 have been applied occasionally and
some nitrogen also has been used.
Pruning has been reduced to a minimum, a light thinning out of branches
being given as required. Very little attempt has been made to keep
filberts to a single stem, but the walnuts have been kept to a single
low-headed trunk.
There has been a marked increase in interest in the planting of nut
trees in Ontario since the first plantings were made at the Station.
These Station plantings serve to demonstrate in a small way that nut
trees can be grown in the Niagara fruit belt of Ontario. The
feasibilty, however, of growing nut crops in a commercial way, even in
this district, is still open to question, although it is felt that
farmers and others should be encouraged to plant a few nut trees on
their property both for the sake of the nuts and because of the
ornamental nature of the trees.
Soil Management for Nut Plantations in Ontario
J. R. van HAARLEM, Horticultural Experiment Station, Vineland Station,
Ontario
Fruitgrowers with high priced land, such as we have in the Niagara
Peninsula, are not much interested in using such land for a crop not yet
proven commercially sound. Plantings, whether large or small, are likely
to be made on low-priced marginal land needing good care. It is doubtful
if these locations are best suited to proper nut culture since most nut
trees are deep rooted with extensive root systems requiring the best
soils.
At the Vineland Station we have three plantations made up of 110
walnuts, 240 filberts, 14 chestnuts and 6 pecans. These comprise named
varieties and seedlings of black, Carpathian, and other Persian walnuts,
filberts, chestnuts and pecans.
During the first years of the life of these plantations we maintained a
clean cultivation program during the spring and early summer followed by
the planting of a green-manure crop about July 1st each year. Such crops
as buckwheat, millet, rye, and weeds, have been used on occasion. We
soon found that the treatment was not good enough for the trees and we
then changed to a grass sod with mulch around each tree within the
spread of the branches. Since this sod-mulch treatment was applied the
trees have done very much better, making fine growth and maintaining a
large leaf area of good color. This treatment is fairly representative
of the many trees planted in dooryards under sod conditions, where the
grass is cut and left on top.
Most of our Ontario soils are deficient in organic matter and, depending
on location, deficient in phosphate or potash, or both together. The
mineral deficiency should first be corrected by liberal applications of
the required fertilizer before placing the plantations in sod, in fact
it would pay to do this several years before setting out the trees,
growing alfalfa on this land and returning all the hay back into the
soil. For plantations already set out these minerals could be placed in
a furrow cut just under the outer spread of the branches. Our soils have
a high fixation factor for phosphate and potash and we have found that
the best practice is to place the fertilizer under the surface either
with a deep-placement machine or as outlined above.
After the plantation is in sod an application of 500 to 1,000 lbs. of a
4-8-10 fertilizer every fifth year should take care of the mineral
requirements. However, our experience with fruit in general where
planted in sod is that not sufficient care is taken to keep the trees
well supplied with nitrogen, many growers laboring under the mistaken
idea that just the sod is sufficient. Liberal applications of either
manure or nitrate in the spring is necessary to make sure that the tree
gets its required nitrogen and not just the sod alone. Mineral
fertilizers should be applied in the late fall, for under our conditions
fixation of phosphate and potash is considerably less at that time. The
plantation may be seeded down in the early spring but mulch should not
be added until late fall. Applying the mulch in late fall will allow the
material to fill up with water from the fall rains and winter snows, and
so prevent the serious withholding of water from the trees during dry
spells in the summer, because the light summer rains are seldom
sufficient to soak through the dry mulch material. We have had several
instances where a summer-applied mulch has seriously robbed the tree of
needed moisture during dry weather. Do not look for immediate
improvement from sod-mulch, it will take at least two years to become
well established. Improvement should begin to show up the second year
after applying.
We sometimes see a chlorotic condition of the foliage, different from
the pale yellow foliage due to nitrogen deficiency, which occurs on
marginal or shallow soil and often where the soil remains too moist, as
along a water course or low spot. We frequently see this same trouble on
grape foliage in such locations. This is probably due to a lack of
sufficient iron intake caused by a deficiency of manganese. It can be
cured by either spraying with a 1% solution of magananese sulphate or
applying the dry salt under the spread of the branches. The spraying
method seems to give better and faster results.
It has been reported from British Columbia that some die-back is due to
deficiency of boron. Perhaps some of the die-back we see on nut trees
during the summer is due to this cause and not all to winter injury. The
very erratic results from ground application of borax would indicate
that borax should be incorporated with one of the regular sprays as a 1%
mixture.
Our conclusions therefore are that nut plantations should be placed in
sod as soon as possible and a mulch established the fall of the year the
grass is sown. Each year cut the grass and draw in around the tree to
supplement the mulch. If not enough material is gathered in this way it
can be supplemented by straw or old hay. Manure or nitrate should be
applied each spring and trace elements where needed can be incorporated
in the regular spray program.
* * * * *
Discussion after J. R. van Haarlem's paper.
Dr. MacDaniels: "I realize that there are more trees which are starving
to death than are being overfed."
Silvis: "Do you recommend that freshly cut hay be used as mulch?"
Van Haarlem: "Any crop refuse can be used as mulch. Anything that will
rot down. The pH of the soil should be 6.2 to 6.5."
O'Rourke: "Would you use clean cultivation for the first year?"
Van Haarlem: "There is nothing against it. We use sod mulch at Vineland.
The reason that our growers are not growing nut plantations is that good
land, that is good soil, sells for $1,000 per acre. Nut trees grown on
poor land, cheap land, do not produce."
McCollum: "I am surprised that rain would not go through loose straw and
will go through old straw. Where does the rain go when it falls on the
loose straw?"
Van Haarlem: "It is absorbed before it gets through the straw. Dry mulch
should be 18 inches deep."
Member: "How would you prevent erosion on rolling land?"
Van Haarlem: "Plant on the contour."
Dr. Crane: "How often do you renew mulch under trees?"
Van Haarlem: "After first application additional may be needed but after
that enough is grown under trees which when cut and raked will
suffice."
Report from Southern Ontario
ALEX TROUP, Jordan Station, Ontario
Here in southern Ontario we find that most of the northern nuts do well
in most seasons. Among black walnuts the Thomas, Ohio, and many others
do well. The Thomas does not always fill. The Ohio seems to be the
favorite among Persian (English) walnuts. Franquette, Broadview and a
few others are satisfactory but sometimes do not fill well. Of Japanese
heartnut walnuts nearly all do well. The Mitchell, Stranger, Bates and
others are satisfactory.
All the shagbarks and shellbarks are doing well, although only the young
shagbarks are bearing, and then only lightly.
Chestnuts have done well at times but some trees have been killed by the
blight. We have Japanese, Chinese and some other seedlings. They are
sometimes winter injured.
Filberts are satisfactory and usually bear well. We have Barcelona, Du
Chilly, Troup, White Aveline, Italian Red, Kentish Cob, Daviana, Mosier,
Guy Smith, Nonpariel and Brixnut. The Barcelona drops nearly free of the
husk and is a fine nut. Most are of this variety. We do not have hazels.
Pecans will grow and bear but do not fill.
Nut Trees Hardy at Aldershot, Ontario, Canada
O. FILMAN, Aldershot
During the past nine or ten years I have planted a few trees of some of
the better known varieties of northern nut species, some of them chosen
from the lists of promising selections in the annual reports of the
Northern Nut Growers Association, some on the recommendation of reliable
nut nurserymen. These trees have been planted here and there in various
locations where space permitted on a small fruit and vegetable farm, not
in orchard form nor in a solid nut tree planting.
Editor's Note: Anyone reading this paper should remember that it applies
to an area of intensive growth of peaches, pears, and other fruits in a
bit of Canadian land west of Niagara Falls and protected spring and fall
from extremes of temperatures by Lake Ontario on the north and Lake Erie
on the south. The paper by H. L. Crane in this report should be read in
connection with it.
Aldershot is a fruit and vegetable growing district, about six miles
from Hamilton, below the escarpment, on the Toronto-Hamilton lake shore
highway. This district is almost at the western tip of Lake Ontario and
is more or less a continuation of the Niagara fruit belt which borders
the lake. Consequently the climate is not so severe as that of
localities situated a few miles farther from the lake and above the
Niagara escarpment at higher altitudes. Winter temperatures seldom go
much below zero, although, in occasional seasons, temperatures of-20
degrees F., and sometimes even somewhat lower, are experienced.
The soil is a deep, well-drained, light sandy loam, known as Fox sandy
loam, considered a good fruit and vegetable soil, if organic matter and
fertility are maintained with manure, fertilizers and green manure
crops.
Nut trees, which I have planted, include Chinese chestnut, heart nut,
filbert, hickories, butternut, Persian walnut, a few black walnut
seedlings and two seedling pecans.
=Chestnuts.= The native chestnut grew in the woods of this locality before
the blight reached it. I have tried eight varieties of Oriental
chestnuts, and I have trees surviving of five: Abundance, Hobson, Carr,
Zimmerman, and one of Mr. Carroll D. Bush's called Chinese Sweet No. 3.
They all came through a temperature of about-20 degrees, early in 1943
(with the exception of Zimmerman which was planted later) without
showing any sign of killing back or other visible injury. Unfortunately,
I have kept no records of crops but expect to do so.
=Abundance.= One bearing tree, purchased from Mr. Bush of Oregon, and
planted in the spring of 1938. Bore a few burs in 1941. Bore a crop in
1944, missed 1945, a good crop in 1946. It is bearing what appears to me
to be quite a heavy crop this year, 1947. Blossoms in July. Bears a
good-size, attractive nut, which falls free from the bur, ripening in
early October. Abundance has made the best growth of any of the
varieties and appears the most promising.
=Hobson.= Two trees, one, planted in 1940, bore its first crop in 1946;
the other, planted in 1943, not yet bearing. Has been a little
disappointing, in view of the very favourable reports of its performance
in more southern locations in the United States. Probably it is a little
too far north of its natural environment. In some seasons it has made
rather good growth, but not as vigorous as that of Abundance. It bore a
fair crop in 1946, however, of attractive nuts of about the same size as
Abundance. It ripened in late October about two weeks later than
Abundance. These nuts germinated well this spring when planted in pots
in the greenhouse.
=Carr.= One tree surviving, planted in 1940. Two others, planted in 1943,
have died, but I do not believe that winter injury was the cause of
their death. Has grown slowly, bearing in 1944 and 1946. The nut is much
smaller than that produced by the same variety at more southern
latitudes, judging from descriptions of it which I have read. The nut is
much smaller than that of Hobson, as grown here. This small tree bore a
tremendous crop in 1946, more than I thought any tree of its size could
support. The tree was literally covered with burs. The nuts were very
small, not larger than a small native chestnut. They ripened early,
beginning to drop from the burs by September 25th. I stratified most of
the nuts in pots of soil and planted 206 nuts from this little tree,
which is only about seven feet high and not at all spreading.
Germination was good.
=Zimmerman.= One small tree planted spring of 1945. Not bearing yet. Is
not growing fast but appears healthy with good foliage.
=Chinese Sweet No. 3.= Purchased from Mr. Bush in 1938. Planted at the
same time as Abundance, which Mr. Bush at that time called Chinese Sweet
No. 1. He later named No. 1 Abundance, but did not consider No. 3 worthy
of naming. Has grown well, but has borne very few nuts. Mr. Bush
discarded it for the same fault. [See comment following.--Ed.]
I have also tried and lost the following varieties: Connecticut Yankee,
Austin Japanese and Stoke hybrid.
I have quite a number of young seedlings of Abundance, Carr and a few
of Hobson, from seed produced on my own trees, some of which I hope to
allow to bear in order to see if anything promising shows up among them.
The Abundance seedlings seem to inherit the superior vigour of their
female parent.
=Heartnuts.= The Japanese walnut grows vigorously. I have planted a few of
Mr. J. U. Gellatly's varieties, as well as the Wright heartnut. All of
the ones planted seem perfectly hardy and at home. I have only one tree
of each variety.
=O.K.= From J. U. Gellatly, planted in 1942. Transplanted 1944. Bore its
first nuts, one cluster, in 1946. Cracking and extraction of kernel were
excellent. The flavour was fine. Size of nut about medium.
=Okanda.= From J. U. Gellatly, 1942. Said by Mr. Gellatly to be a hybrid
between heartnut and native butternut. Tree vigorous. Nut has a smooth
shell like a heartnut. Cracking and extraction good. Flavour excellent.
Nut about size and shape of a medium-sized heartnut. Bore its first crop
in 1946 and is repeating this year with a fair crop.
=Crofter.= From J. U. Gellatly, 1942. Also said by Mr. Gellatly to be a
hybrid between heartnut and butternut. Tree vigorous. Bore its first
crop in 1946 and has a few nuts this year. The nut has a comparatively
smooth shell like a heartnut, is somewhat larger than that of Okanda but
does not crack as well, or rather the kernel does not come out of the
cavity nearly so well as that of Okanda. Flavour fine.
=Canoka.= From J. U. Gellatly, 1944. A pure heartnut. Tree very vigorous.
Bearing its first crop this year, several clusters.
=Slioka.= A new heartnut from Mr. Gellatly, planted in 1945. Tree growth
is vigorous. Is bearing one nut, its first, this year.
=Wright.= From Benton and Smith nurseries 1946. Seems to be hardy. Tree
growth has not been very strong but appears healthy.
=New, un-named heartnut.= From J. U. Gellatly, planted in the spring of
1944. A new selection which Mr. Gellatly has not named. The tree has
grown vigorously and it is bearing its first crop of several clusters of
nuts.
=Butternuts.= I have only one grafted butternut tree, a Crax-ezy, from the
Michigan Nut Nurseries in 1940, transplanted in 1942. The tree has been
hardy and healthy but has not grown very vigorously. It is bearing its
first crop this year.
I had one tree of the Sherwood butternut, planted in 1938, which died
last winter as a result, I believe, of a heavy infestation of oyster
shell scale which I did not control soon enough. Sherwood bore early and
heavily. The nut was extremely large but did not crack at all well.
=Persian walnut.= Only one grafted tree, a Broadview, from Mr. Gellatly,
planted in 1942, transplanted in 1944. Has been hardy, but has just
begun to make really good growth, this year. Has not borne.
=Filberts.= I have planted four of Mr. Gellatly's varieties, namely Craig,
Brag, Comet and Holder, as well as Barcelona, Cosford, Medium Long and
Buchanan. Craig and Brag are the only ones which have borne. Trees of
those varieties planted in 1942 bore their first crop in 1946. They have
very few nuts on them this year. All varieties seem to be winter-hardy
in the wood. Craig, Brag and Comet, the only ones which have borne
staminate flowers do not seem too hardy in the catkins however. Nearly
all were killed, last winter, although the temperature scarcely went as
low as zero. Mr. Gellatly states that their catkins survive much lower
temperatures than that in the west. Some other factor than low
temperature probably is accountable. (See paper by H. L. Crane in this
report.--Ed.)
Cosford, Medium Long and Buchanan were planted in the fall of 1946, and
hence it is too early to have any information on their hardiness. They
survived their first winter in good condition and have grown vigorously
this summer.
=Hickories.= Only three grafted trees surviving.
=Pleas hybrid.= One tree, planted in 1938, has been perfectly hardy,
having come through several severe winters without any sign of injury.
It has made good growth and has developed into a fine shade tree for the
lawn but has not borne. It has had many staminate catkins for several
years.
=Barnes.= One small tree, planted in the spring of 1946, has made slow but
healthy growth and appears to be hardy thus far.
=Miller.= One tree, planted in 1946, is still living but very weak.
In addition to these named varieties I have a number of seedling black
walnuts, butternuts and heartnuts, which I hope to topwork to named
varieties; also two seedling pecans which are making surprisingly good,
thrifty growth. The pecan seedlings have been quite hardy.
* * * * *
=Discussion after Mr. Filman's paper.=
Stoke: "Hobson is not as large as Abundance. Abundance is always larger
than Hobson. Carr always produced better nuts than Hobson. Mr. Filman
finds that Carr has very small nuts. I am surprised to see a reversal of
performance between Ontario and Virginia."
McDaniel: "Mr. Bush now reports that his No. 3 chestnut has borne better
crops recently. Abundance has not survived in TVA tests at Norris."
Report from Echo Valley, 1947