walnuts, with "soft-shelled" walnuts mentioned by Mr. Gellatly, of West
Bank, B. C. From Ontario, Mr. A. S. Wagner, of Delhi, writes, "We are
collecting (nuts) now to make tests of various types of black walnuts
this winter. There are one or two plantations of 1000 trees which will
soon be bearing, and the future looks interesting."
_Black Walnuts._ Four varieties appear in Canadian reports which have
not been mentioned previously: Impit, Troup, Gifford and Neilson.
Gifford and Neilson are said by Mr. Corsan, of Ontario, to be heavy
croppers in Canada, Neilson "Very heavy." Impit is a splendid,
upright-growing tree which should do well for timber production as well
as for nuts. All trees printed in the questionnaire, Ohio, Rohwer,
Stabler, Stambaugh, Ten Eyck and Thomas, are given "good" ratings for
hardiness except Thomas which is fair. Gibson bears large nuts of good
cracking quality.
Neither Japanese chestnuts nor pecans are reported on from Canada.
Chinese chestnuts and hybrid chestnuts are reported as planted and
hardy, thus far, but have yet to bear.
_Filberts._ Holden, Craig, Firstola, Comet and Brag show up as hardy and
bear good crops of nuts of good quality. Other promising varieties are
Petoka (new variety, small, thin shell,) Daviana,
Churchvelt--significant name! Barcelona, DuChilly, Italian Red, Rush,
White Aveline and Bixby are reported to be not hardy. Winkler is hardy.
Mr. J. U. Gellatly, of West Bank, is working with a number of tree
hazels, Chinese, Indian, Turkish and a cork-barked variety. All are
rated by him as hardy in his area. They are young trees, not yet
reported in bearing.
_Butternuts._ In addition to previously named varieties, Edge is added
and is given a foremost rating in all departments, The rating on others
is not conclusive.
_Persian Walnuts._ No new light is thrown on the performance of
varieties already listed. Broadview is one of the hardiest, a good
producer of fair nuts. Watt produces a large nut of finest flavor.
Geloka is a good nut, and Corsan is hardy but bears a smaller nut of
lesser kernel quality.
_Hickories_ do not seem to interest Canadians. Stratford, first, and
Weiker, second, are leaders. Stratford bears heavily but its quality in
Canada is not up to par.
_Heartnuts_ are a Canadian specialty. Gellatly, of all varieties in the
printed list, is reported as best in all departments. Of the twelve
varieties written in by reporters as worthy of special mention, it is
difficult to make a just appraisal. Okanda, O. K., and Crofter are
reported perfectly hardy through minus 20 deg. of cold. Others, hardy and
good in all departments, are, Mackenzie, Canoka, Walters, Rover,
Calendar and Smyth. Stranger seems not quite so hardy, but Mr. Corsan
calls it "the best heartnut grown", splendid in flavor, thin shelled, a
little small but with a better than usual percentage of kernel.
If heartnuts have a future, which seems almost inevitable, it looks as
though Canada, if it continues as it has started, will be one of the
main sources of supply for varieties. The Canadians are doing a creative
job.
_THE SOUTHERN AREA._ There are no nurserymen who report from the
southern area. Practically all are interested in the production of nuts,
but they are more alive than their northern neighbors to the value of
timber, and more of them count upon it for a part of their profit from
the planting of nut trees.
Interest is about equally divided between methods of propagation,
grafting, budding, top-working, planting seed of better varieties,
artificial cross-pollination, and searching their neighborhoods for wild
trees that show promise of superiority.
The species being planted experimentally or commercially are, in order
of precedence, black walnut, persimmon, pecan, Persian walnut, Chinese
chestnut, hickories, filberts, hazels, heartnuts, Jap chestnuts,
almonds, mulberry, native chestnuts, Jap walnuts, pawpaws and beech.
Species of wild trees found locally follow closely the pattern of
planting mentioned above, which is as it should be.
Climatic conditions are, in-general, favorable. Peaches are in most
places reliably hardy. Lowest temperatures normally expected range from
22 deg. above to 20 deg. below zero; and the highest normal summer temperatures
range from 90 deg. to 115 deg.. Dates of normal late spring frosts have a very
wide spread, being all the way from March 1 to May 12. Normal early
frost expectancy is from Oct. 10 to Nov. 15. All long-season crops
mature well. The chief climatic enemies are drought and hot, dry winds.
As to growth conditions, clay soils predominate, but with plenty of
loamy bottom land for nut planting. Acid soils predominate somewhat over
lime soils, growing more unfavorably alkaline in the south-west.
Cultural practices are generally the same as in the north, but with a
greater proportionate use of mowing and mulching, no doubt induced by
the need for protection against greater heat, as well as for
conservative of moisture. A greater proportionate failure of young trees
to start first year's growth is also probably due to heat injury in the
spring and summer following planting. Tree wrapping seems to be the
corrective chiefly indicated.
The difficulties principally mentioned with matured trees are again
mostly climatic; drought, sun-scald, early advent of spring followed by
late frosts, delayed dormancy in the fall, poor filling in dry seasons,
and biennial fruiting.
Insect enemies which damage both trees and nuts are practically the same
as in the north only there are more of them. Rodent damage and squirrel
theft seem less troublesome there owing, perhaps, to protective measures
and to the well developed hunting instinct among southern farm boys.
A larger proportion of growers than are reported in the north sell nuts
commercially, with pecans, walnuts, and chestnuts listed as the most
profitable species. The practice is still limited as an important source
of income, but a much greater proportion of planters look confidently
forward toward profitable operations in the future.
_Black Walnuts._ It is evident that in some of the warmer parts of the
United States, California, for instance, the word "hardiness" takes on a
certain connotation that we should understand better in the north. Its
meaning there is "resistance to delayed dormancy", as one California
report states it. As a matter of fact, it might be advisable for us all
everywhere to think of hardiness in these terms. Delayed dormancy is
hazardous in any tree, whether natural to it or induced artificially by
late summer or early fall cultivation and fertilizing, and whether the
tree is located in the north or in the south. When a tree goes into the
winter with sappy wood, it is injured, and we say it is not hardy.
That this is true in the south as well as in the north is well attested
by the returns on black walnut trees of the south. There, the tree gives
us a picture surprisingly similar to that of the north. In the south, if
the tree's dormancy is delayed, it does not get its proper rest between
crops and it dies or is stunted, in one way or another, for some time
thereafter. In the north, if the following winter is severe, it simply
dies. Perhaps the winter killed it. Or perhaps we killed it with
unseasonable pampering.
Reports show that in the south, Rohwer, Stambaugh, and Ten Eyck lead in
hardiness in the printed list of black walnuts, with a score of 80%
each. Ohio, Stabler and Thomas each average 75%. Of the written-in
names, Sifford and Beck are reported hardy, followed by Creitz. Elmer
Myers has only one report, which is rather unfavorable in this respect.
In yield, Creitz has the best rating, then Thomas, Stambaugh, Sifford,
Stabler and Beck, in that order.
Thomas is the most precocious in early bearing. One report has it that
Thomas kills itself, sometimes, by overdoing it in this respect.
Stabler, Sifford, Creitz and Beck come next. All of these varieties are
reported as having well filled nuts, with Stabler in the lead, which may
come as a surprise to many. Other qualities, such as husking and
cracking, size, and quality of kernel, are reported to be the same as in
the north except that Stabler leads in cracking quality, with Thomas a
rather poor second, owing, perhaps, to a shell too well filled for
cracking without shattering the kernels.
_Seedling Chestnuts._ More Chinese chestnuts are planted than Japs. They
are hardier, yield better crops, are more precocious, and have a far
better quality of kernel. The Japs excel only in size.
_Named Chestnuts._ Hobson is hardy and an extremely precocious bearer of
finest quality. Carr follows. Reports on these varieties, however, are
not numerous enough to enable one to reach a satisfactory appraisal. Two
Marron strains are mentioned as producers of very large nuts; otherwise
this variety's record is not impressive.
_Pecans._ Posey and Greenriver are given top mention for hardiness, with
Busseron, Major, and Niblack next. In the more southern areas, of
course, the more tender varieties are favored, such as Mahan, Success,
Burchett, Schley and Stuart. Mahan seems to be the one most favored for
general excellence in yield, flavor, and cracking qualities. It must be
said, however, that, in flavor, these larger pecans are inferior to the
best pecans of the indigenous northern varieties which are now being
propagated. But because of their size, beauty, and productiveness, they
will probably maintain their present leadership commercially.
_Hybrid Pecans, Filberts, Butternuts._ Reports from the south are
inadequate for appraisal. The inference one must draw is that they are
not being planted extensively there.
_Persian Walnuts._ The object of the inquiry, of course, was primarily
to get information about varieties which might be capable of expanding
their range toward the north. In this, so far as the southern reports
are concerned, we have not been successful. Placentia and Eureka are
mentioned in one report but their records, as reported, are not
particularly good. Corroborative evidence is needed. Upon the whole, the
south, strangely enough, seems not to be the place to look for Persian
walnuts for the north. In California, the varieties of Persians, Juglans
regia L., are well rooted to the ground. They object to more northern
locations. This may not be entirely true of another species, J. hindsii,
which in the past has shown a tendency to cross with other members of
the juglans tribe. Crossed with the native black walnut, the hybrid
known as "Royal" was developed, a robust grower which bears little.
Crossed with the Persian, "Paradox" was produced. We are indebted to Mr.
Harry S. Welby, of Taft, Calif., for some interesting J. hindsii
varieties of good size and rather large, well filled kernel capacity.
Upon their exterior, the nuts resemble the Persians, and the kernel has
the Persian flavor. Inside the shell, the structure is that of the
American black, with a substantial woody cross-brace, and the shell
itself calls for a hammer for cracking. Neither Paradox nor Royal have
proved of value except for stocks upon which the growers graft or bud
their commercial cions. Much experimenting has been done in hybridizing
J. hindsii, thus far without producing more than comparatively sterile
"mules", but, the tendency to cross having been demonstrated, this work
should be continued. Mr. Welby's samples have been sent to Mr. C. A.
Reed, at the Beltsville Experiment Station, for evaluation. "Perhaps
someone will know," says Mr. Welby, "the limit of cold J. hindsii will
stand."
Mr. Welby's comments accompanying his report are too interesting to
omit. He says: "On the grounds of an oilfield camp, I have carried on
collaboration with the U. S. D. A. Bureau of Plant Introduction for
twenty years. The importation of graftwood of eastern soft shell black
walnuts has been "on my own." Of black walnuts we have bearing trees
among ornamental plantings. There has been a marked change of attitude
from the early days when I was more or less looked upon as a freak for
working with them. The nuts are valued today. The original objective has
been attained.
"In the meantime, I have purchased, 450 miles north of here, a twenty;
have fenced and planted it to a brand of permanent pasture grasses known
as "Evergreen", furnished by a grass specialist, Dale Butler, of Fresno.
Prior to the grass, black walnuts, grafted and ungrafted had gone in. A
strip bordering the highway was reserved for trees, we hope pistachio.
There are now thirty of that variety, bearing, in an interior block.
"We have for years purchased black walnut meats in the Chico area. That
would be a paradise for a black walnut man. And years ago I visited
Teharna, a deserted village from the storybook, a former pony express
station--wonderful black walnuts! Upon placing my camera upon a stump of
a tree that grew in the street-parking, which had been logged, I braced
the camera with a chip of this four-foot stump and discovered that the
tree had been a curly walnut. The trees there are not _J. hindsii_, but
Missouri blacks planted by forty-niners.
"Concerning pistachio: I doubt, considering the percentage of members
who would be interested, whether I should bring this up, but there is
need for just such an organization as the N. N. G. A. behind this tree.
It does not lend itself to common nursery practice. It should be raised
from seed, potted or in cans, reared without babying for several years,
a horticulturist brought in, and your pistachio vera male and female
blossoms worked to _P. atlantica_ or _chinensis_. Lots of work but it is
worth the trouble. It is deciduous with a hickory-like foliage; clusters
of nuts clothed in pink-cheeked hulls. Bailey reports best nuts come
from Sicily. Perhaps knowledge of them will be more widely disseminated
when the boys return."
_Hickories._ This species seems not to be of great interest to the
south. The old varieties are not mentioned in the reports. Nugget is
mentioned by Mr. W. D. Dockery, of Steele, Ala., as one of the best. It
grows well, yields well, its kernels have a good size and their quality
is unusually good.
Of _heartnuts_, only one is mentioned, the Lancaster, which leaves much
to be desired in performance in the south.
_Suggestions and Requests._ In response to the questions, "Is there any
service that N. N. G. A. could render you not now being met?" and "Have
you any suggestions for future work?", a number of responses were
received which are worth noting.
Dr. O. D. Diller, State Exper. Sta., Wooster, O., "We are thinking in
terms of another state wide nut contest in the fall of 1944." It will be
remembered that the last Ohio contest brought the Brown and Tritton
trees to light. Both are making friends by good production of good nuts.
This is a suggestion for promotion in other states.
Sylvester Shessler, Genoa, O.: "Planted 10 nuts from Tritton parent tree
in 1935. One seedling bore a larger nut than the parent tree. Several
others bore very small nuts but all well filled."
J. Russell Smith, Swarthmore, Pa., "Urge the members to run local
contests for good nuts. It may bring members if not nuts, and you may
find some good new neighbors you didn't know about." (One easily worked
plan is to see the secretary of your county fair board, offer to pay
half or all prize money for best nuts from a single tree in your own and
surrounding counties. See that judging is done by someone who knows how
or do it yourself.)
Alfred J. Frueh, W. Cornwall, Conn., "Have had quite a lot of winter
injury on the south-west side of black walnut trunks grafted near the
ground. Note that seedling walnuts have a ridged, corky bark on the
trunk already the second year, whereas a grafted trunk maintains its
smooth bark for 6 to 8 years. Am now grafting on seedling stock 5 to 6
feet above the ground and much of the winter injury is thus eliminated."
A. B. Anthony, Sterling, Ill., "If they can be had disease free, promote
the planting of a few of the most choice chestnuts in widely scattered
regions where no one grows such trees. Possibly our children can get
back to chestnut growing."
Seward Berhow, Huxley, Ia., "In a separate (pamphlet) or included in an
early report, give a complete list of all named varieties, especially
black walnuts, name of nut, name and address of originator, location of
original tree, north latitude, year discovered, nuts per pound, score
for cracking, kernel, prizes won. This would be very valuable for quick
reference." The T. V. A. has issued a pamphlet giving much of this
information. Also, we believe, Mr. C. A. Reed is at work on a book which
will be worth waiting for.
J. U. Gellatly, Westbank, B. C.: "Could not the Association supply
samples of recommended nuts or perhaps give lists of those who would
sell small (3 or 4) nut samples. I have sent out such samples of 2 or 3
each of varieties I have on hand up to 9 or 12 kinds, at 50 cents per
package, post paid. This is not enough to pay for the time consumed but
is a good advertising practice."
Harry S. Welby, Taft, Calif.: "The ground squirrel is a pest here. Black
walnut as bait will attract them in winter when fruits are scarce. At
that time I have had some success with a box trap treadled by an
electric contrivance instead of figure 4. Can anyone tell me any
experience with scent baits which I believe Biological Survey trappers
sometimes use? It may be a delicate question, but I should be interested
in knowing more if the information is available."
R. T. Dunstan, Greensboro College, Greensboro, N. C.: "I would be happy
if this survey brings to light information on the behavior of the best
and more recently discovered hickories. (If not,) I believe an article
on performance of such varieties as Whitney, Grainger, Bergor, Davis,
Wilcox, Schinnerling, etc., perhaps similar to that by Reed in 1938
Proceedings, would be highly valuable and welcome. Perhaps a report on
T. V. A.'s nut tree work in recent years would also be worth while."
C. H. Parks, Asheville, N. C.: "Would be interested in a chestnut that
will grow in southern Appalachian regions." (See Mr. H. F. Stoke's
report above. Chairman.)
Harold G. Williams, Ramsey, N. J.: "I believe that most useful trees,
both fruit and nut, that are now commercially important, were developed
from selected seedlings grown in the area in which they are being used.
I have a suggestion. How about a concerted breeding program for nut
trees with full membership participation? The best parent trees should
be selected from present plantings of grafted, named varieties. Ship
these seeds, or one or two year old seedlings from them, to each member
on a subscription basis. Let each member make a trial planting of as
many trees as he can. When these trees come into bearing there will be a
better chance of finding superior strains that are adapted to their
environment. Hybridizing by cross pollination requires more time and
skill than many of our members possess. There are, however, members who
now own orchards containing some of the best varieties, such, for
instance (among the black walnuts) as Thomas, Stabler, Stambaugh, and
perhaps Elmer Myers, planted in such close proximity as to allow for
cross pollination. Seed could be purchased from them and resold to
members for their planting; costs to be kept fairly low, with annual
reports required as to care, cultivation, fertilizing and growth.
"An alternate plan would be to turn over such seed to Hershey, Smith,
and other member nurserymen to plant, grow the young seedlings under
best conditions, and furnish to member cooperators whose pledged
subscriptions are to take care of the cost. This would give the
cooperating nurseries a piece of business that could be depended upon
(of a kind that would take comparatively little time as compared with
that required for grafted trees), in return for their support. These
trees could be planted fairly close, since most of them would prove to
be useless as nut producers. If an outstanding variety is found,
everything around it should be chopped down to give it room for
development. I personally would raise and report upon some two dozen
trees of this kind, and if a large group joined in the work, hundreds of
tree could be tested."
Comment: That the chairman of this committee thinks the above suggestion
a good one, and the project a good gamble, is evidenced by the fact that
he has about a thousand of such trees now growing. Seed was bought from
Mr. Harry Weber's, Rockport, Ind., and Mr. C. F. Hostetter's
Bird-in-Hand, Pa., plantations in the fall of 1937 and planted at once.
Most of the seed was from Thomas trees which had been flanked in the
plantations with Stablers and other named trees, and from Stablers
similarly flanked. The trees have now had six years' growth. He hopes
for first nuts in 1944 _from seedlings planted in deep loam only_.
Growth elsewhere has been negligible. If no outstanding nut producers
are found, there will at least be some splendid timber, already assured.
It should be stated at once, however, that those whose object is the
assured production of nuts, rather than the discovery or development of
a new variety, should never plant anything but the best grafted trees
bought from reliable nurserymen. Your decision should be governed by
your interest. If you wish to be sure of nuts of a certain quality for
home use, buy grafted trees of that quality. If, on the other hand, you
have the urge to probe into the unknown and possibly create a new type,
the above project will appeal to you, especially if you should lack
training and time for more painstaking work. The following account is an
example of the latter kind.
Arthur H. Graves, Curator, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, says: "We are
breeding chestnuts for the purpose of obtaining a disease-resistant
timber tree stock similar to the old chestnut tree which has now nearly
disappeared on account of the blight. We started breeding chestnuts here
at the Botanic Garden in 1930, and now after thirteen years of work,
have on our plantation at Hamden, Conn., Litchfield, Conn., where the
White Memorial Foundation is cooperating with us, and Redding Ridge,
Conn., where Mr. Archer M. Huntington and the Connecticut Agr. Exp't
Station are cooperating, about 1000 hybrids, a large number of
combinations of Chinese, Japanese and American chestnuts, many of them
now in the third generation from the beginning of the breeding period in
1930.
"We are carrying out our breeding program in the following way:
"We have selected the Chinese and Japanese species to cross with the
American because the Asiatic species are disease-resistant, and we hope
to incorporate this quality of disease-resistance with the tall timber
growth of the American. We find that the Chinese are in general more
disease-resistant than the Japanese. Other stocks which have been
incorporated in our hybrids are the European _C. sativa_, the southern
chinquapins _C. pumilia_, _C. ozarkensis_, _C. floridana_, and Dr. Van
Fleet's old hybrid, presumably of _C. crenata_ and _C. pumila_, which
goes under the name of S8, and _C. seguinii_. After the hybrids become
old enough, we inoculate the tallest of them with the blight fungus in
order to get an index of their disease resistance. The most
disease-resistant are bred together and of their offspring the tallest
are selected, inoculated, and the most disease-resistant are bred
together again. For example, this year we had 350 hybrids from last
year's breeding experiments set out in a special nursery at Hamden and
carefully tended during the season. Of these 350 we have selected 50
which are the tallest and straightest, that is, 20 inches and over. The
others were sent to Washington, D. C., where the Division of Forest
Pathology, Department of Agriculture, is working along a similar line,
but with more attention to the nut phase of the problem.