The Winkler hazel failed to bear the past season the first time in 15
years. All pure filberts we have tried in this locality are a failure.
Of the hybrids, Bixby and Buchanan are promising.
Chestnuts
The Mollissima chestnut is very promising in southern Illinois. The tree
requires protection in this locality as it sun scalds badly if not
protected. No doubt many orchards will be planted in the future.
Propagating Nut Trees
This is a fascinating subject full of disappointments. We have our ups
and downs as does everyone else who attempts it. I get numerous letters
telling of their experience and troubles asking for details just how to
go about it. What makes it so fascinating is that in certain seasons we
have fabulous success and them again in others almost complete failure.
Fall of '41 and spring of '42 we averaged 75% catches in budding
chestnuts. Fall of '42 and spring of '43 our chestnut budding was just
about nil, only 3 or 4% catches, and I am at a loss how to account for
this variance.
A budded chestnut tree is much superior to a grafted one as far as the
union is concerned. Grafted trees usually do not knit well the first
season while at two years the union is good. So we also must learn our
chestnut propagation all over again.
I have a letter before me from Brother Borst asking why his walnut buds
took so well and not one of them vegetated in spring. This happened to
us a number of times on both walnuts and hickories. Also, in the same
season, we have had one or two varieties, of which we did not set many
buds or grafts, to show 100% catches, while other varieties set the same
day would be 100% failure. Apparently all scions used were in prime
condition. Why then this great variance? While we used the double-bladed
knife for budding and the side graft for grafting, other methods are
just as successful under skilled hands. The skill of the operator has
much to do with it.
=Fall budding of persimmons.= The persimmon has only about ten days in
which it will fall bud. Before or after this period budding will not
succeed. It also is important that the scions be taken from thrifty
trees a number of years old. The ordinary "T" shield budding gives good
success on the persimmon either spring or fall. The spring bud sticks
should be perfectly dormant.
Butternut and Japanese Walnuts and Their Hybrids
None of these are worth the space they occupy in this locality. 1-18 on
which I reported last year didn't set a nut this season. Of all the
heartnuts I am acquainted with none are satisfactory. There is a siebold
tree in St. Louis that so far we have been unable to graft that promises
to be adapted to this vicinity. It is good bearer, good cracker and
pleasant flavor. This class of nuts is adopted to the north where the
pecan is unsatisfactory.
The Hicans and Hickories
The hicans are numerous in this and adjacent counties. While a number of
them are good, I have located none that can compare favorably with
Bixby, Gerardi, and Pleas for this locality. The Pleas is a bitternut
hybrid and has some bitterness in the kernel, but no more than the
English walnut and people like it. Of the twenty hicans we have tried
the above three only are satisfactory.
In this latitude the hicans are unquestionably the most satisfactory nut
trees to plant. They grow fast, bear young, have a high flavor, crack
well and are unsurpassed as shade or lawn trees. Here the Gerardi and
Bixby are the best so far fruited. The Pleas is very ornamental but
lacks flavor. The Burlington and Fairbanks are adapted to the north but
here are not satisfactory bearers.
I have reports on about 25 Gerardi hican seedlings. They are all
worthless, smaller in nut than either pecans or hickories. The peculiar
thing is that some of the pecans are decidedly bitter in flavor as also
are some of the hickories. Two of the seedlings show shellbark blood.
=Handling the nut weevil and plum curculio.= Two years ago the few nuts
the Gerardi hican had were all wormy. Last spring I cultivated the
ground with a one-horse cultivator and gave our chickens free access to
the feast. They made so good a job of it that not a single nut was stung
this season. Where the ground can be flooded for several days this will
also exterminate the weevil. The same treatment applies to plum
curculio. Cultivation should be done before growth starts in spring, or
quite late in fall.
If anyone ever got a Pleas hybrid nut to grow I would appreciate ever so
much to hear from him. So far all my trials to germinate the nuts have
failed.
I may add that in my estimation no land on this globe is blessed with a
nut flora that equals that of the United States.
Nut Puttering in an Off Year
_By W. C. DEMING, Connecticut_
I did manage to get over to Avon Old Farms, the boys' school, and
topwork a few hickory trees. All grew, about a dozen, except three
scions of one kind that I put in one tree. This is the third year that I
have grafted hickories on the grounds of this school, some three
thousand acres. The school was planned and built by Mrs. Theodate Pope
Riddle, and I was told there that it cost seven million dollars. It is a
beautiful and original group of buildings in the lovely Farmington River
Valley, well worth visiting.
Mr. Sperry the science teacher, is deeply interested in the nut trees.
Dr. Arthur Harmount Graves and I have both given him a number of
chestnut trees, and I have added a variety of others, walnuts,
persimmons, papaws, pecans, filberts and others as well as the topworked
seedling hickories. The trees have been given reasonably good and
intelligent care. Many trees were badly winter killed or injured last
winter when the temperature dropped to twenty-four below zero in
Hartford, official, and is said to have reached forty below in
Litchfield county. Japanese chestnuts were especially badly injured. But
hybrids having an American strain seemed generally to be little injured.
Filberts also showed bad injury. Pecans, persimmons and a papaw seemed
to have weathered the winter, though they should be further observed
before deciding. The nut trees have been set out in orchard form over
tracts of a number of acres and well fertilized. The land is good.
Incidentally Mr. Sperry expressed the thanks of the school with more
than one bottle--of fine maple syrup which he and the boys make every
spring.
The mollissima chestnut tree in my yard at Litchfield, which Dr. Graves
considers remarkable because it bears a moderate crop of fertile nuts
every year without apparent benefit of outside pollination, was stripped
almost bare of branches by an ice storm. It had reached thirty five feet
in height, mainly, perhaps because pretty well surrounded by taller
trees. Now it has to start over again from a much lower height. It bore
a few nuts on the remaining branches this year.
On account of the restrictions on driving I did not visit Mr. Beeman at
New Preston, but he wrote me that he had a few quarts of hickory nuts,
chiefly Glover from one of his large topworked trees. He has a couple of
acres set out to grafted hickories, some of which have been bearing for
several years. Pretty good for a man now 86 who began nut growing less
than ten years ago and who has serious physical handicaps. He is the
man, as many of you do not know, who, when he began with nut trees,
built scaffolds 40 feet high about each of two hickory trees in his
yard, and topworked them almost to the last branch by a method of his
own One reason for his success is that he is a violin maker with a
record of perhaps fifty violins, violas and 'cellos, and he makes his
own tools. He is a modest man whom it is a privilege to know.
I have had some interesting experiences with papaws this year. For the
first time I have succeeded in growing the seed intentionally. The only
other time when I have had seedlings was when a bunch of them came up by
themselves in the yard as thick as hair on a dog. Last year (1942) in
the fall, I scattered a lot oL seed in a perennial bed and poked them in
with a cane and also in a reentrant angle of a house looking to the
northeast, behind some rather luxuriant Christmas roses (helleborus
niger) where there wore also lilies-of-the-valley and
jack-in-the-pulpits and the soil had been rather heavily enriched. In
both places the papaws came up quite freely, especially in the angle of
the house where the sun struck only a short time each day. The chief
reason, however, was probably the rich, deep soil. These seedlings with
taproots 6 to 8 inches long were easily transplanted with their leaves
on. I brought four of them to St. Petersburg, Florida. They are said to
be native in upper Florida.
Dr. Zimmerman, who was our authority on papaws, said that he thought
hand pollination was necessary for good crops. I have been making
observations on this for several years and in 1942 obtained confirmatory
results. Last spring (1943) I hand-pollinated a tree about 18 feet high
using pollen from a number of other trees. This was the same tree on
which I had had good results in 1942 over the limited part of the tree
that I had been able to reach from the ground. This year I used a
stepladder. Also, because the tree was close to a tool house, on the
grounds of the park superintendent, I was able to reach the top of the
tree from the roof of the tool house. From this tree I gathered about
100 fruits, all but two perfect, weighing together 23 pounds. There were
several bunches of three and four and one of six. The quality I did not
think as good as some. But it seemed a pretty good demonstration of the
value of hand pollinating.
In the yard of a house in Hartford, belonging to the widow of a high
school classmate of mine, I found a number of papaw trees, some of them
as big as they often grow, perhaps forty feet high and up to a foot in
diameter. The lady told me that they used to bear abundantly when her
neighbor just over the fence kept bees. Since these are gone she has had
very few or no fruit at all and the squirrels got them, if there were
any. I pollinated a lot of blossoms that I could reach from the ground
and in the fall they were quite loaded with clusters of fruit, but much
smaller than those on the first tree described. They were, however, of
better quality. There was also a small number of fruit in the high
branches of the trees and some of these the squirrels cut off, but
apparently just for fun as I did not see any sign of their eating them.
I am writing this in St. Petersburg, Florida. I boarded first with a man
who describes himself on his card as a tree surgeon doing grafting and
budding, spraying, fertilizing and pruning. This year he took the agency
for the Mahan pecan and has sold quite a number at $5 each, with one
order for twenty trees. These are put out by the Monticello, Florida
nursery. The history of their buying the Mahan pecan tree, and a picture
of the parent tree in its original home, is given in the files of the
American Nut Journal, an index of the seventeen volumes of which I
completed this year. Mr. Stewart sets out all the trees he sells and is
meticulous in doing so. Nearby is a good sized Mahan tree with still
quite a crop of nuts (in November) after a good many have been gathered.
Mr. Stewart speaks well of this pecan tree as a good bearer, with nuts
well-filled and of good quality. I haven't cracked enough of them to
verify these statements but they are offered by the Monticello Nursery
in fifty-pound lots. They sell at Webb's in this city for 65 cents a
pound. Schleys I believe sell for 45 cents at the same place. The Mahan
is, I think, the largest pure pecan, about a third larger than the
Schley and those I have seen were equally thin-shelled. I mention this
because I had supposed that pecans did not do well as far south as this.
Yet I see many trees about the city, some with fair crops on them and
some in good foliage, though many, or all of them I have observed, are
partially defoliated by the fall web worm. I saw one fine tree that I
was told was a Stuart. The Moneymaker also is said to do well here. I
speak particularly of the Mahan because it has not, so far as I know,
had the unqualified approval of the experts. But what has? And I don't
know that it deserves it.
It is a joy to be among the many citrus fruit trees, the guavas,
papayas, avocadoes, loquats, surinam cherries, new and strange fruits
and flowers of many kinds in Florida. The Australian or Queensland nut,
Macadamia ternifolia, grow and bear well here, I am told--but the
squirrels got all the nuts! But the greatest joy of all is the freedom
from ice and snow.
Nut Nursery Notes
_By H. F. STOKE, Roanoke, Va._
The present season has seen an increase of interest in nut tree planting
that is new in my experience. This interest is apparent not only in
retail orders, but is reflected in inquiries received from large general
nurseries, many of which have not been listing nut trees. I do not
believe that this interest in food-producing trees is a passing phase of
the war, but that it will continue if honestly catered to and wisely
directed.
With apologies for personal reference, the demands of my small
commercial nursery on my time and attention have become so heavy that I
am faced with the necessity of either building a permanent organization
of skilled workers or dropping out altogether. Due to advancing years
and other considerations I am choosing the latter course. Because of
this I feel free to make certain remarks as to the future of nut tree
production that I would hesitate to make if I were still in the
business.
Without doubt many of the large commercial general nurseries will take
up the growing and selling of nut trees. We who have pioneered in this
work, should welcome the increased public interest that will result from
the more extensive advertising and cataloging of nut trees. The
specialist who has worked out propagation, pollination and variety
problems should be more than able to hold his own against the
competition of newcomers in his field, however large.
As all old-timers know, there are certain factors in the growing of nut
nursery stock that do not lend themselves to the mass-production methods
of the large general nurseries. Stocks, generally, take longer to
produce. It may take as much as six years to produce a saleable hickory
tree from the time the seed is planted. Failures in grafting and budding
walnuts run high, especially with beginners. A catch of twenty-five per
cent means either selective hand digging must be resorted to or
seventy-five per cent of the seedling stock must be sacrificed if power
digging is used.
Suitable grafting stock for chestnuts is still a matter of controversy.
Good authorities claim that Chinese chestnut is unreliable as a root
stock while others, including myself, as stoutly maintain that the main
need is for proper technique in grafting and budding. These and other
considerations, including the training of workers in improved technique,
offer certain obstacles to the newcomer which, in turn, offer certain
temptations that may result in harm to the whole movement toward nut
tree planting.
To be specific, the difficulty of producing good grafted or budded trees
of named varieties may readily tempt the less scrupulous to sell any
kind of nondescript seedling, while at the same time giving the public
the impression that superior stock is being offered. This is, in fact,
already being done. I have before me the catalogues of three large
general nurseries. One of them offers what are obviously seedling
Chinese chestnuts in these words: "Only two years from now, right on
your own grounds, you can pick up big, fat, tasty chestnuts from the
trees you plant this year."
Of English walnuts--no variety name given and quite obviously
seedlings--the following description is given: "Thin-shelled, large,
delicious nuts, producing heavy crops and demanding good prices". In
both these cases the prices asked are as high or higher than good,
grafted, named varieties can be bought for elsewhere.
The second catalogue offers seedling black walnuts, not so designated,
and also "Thomas Improved" black walnuts at a higher price. Seedling
English walnuts, not stated as such, are offered as having commercial
possibilities and being as good in quality as those grown elsewhere. The
third catalogue is entirely ethical and legitimate. It lists a limited
assortment of well-selected varieties under their true names.
When misguided buyers purchase a seedling chestnut tree with the
expectation of "picking up big, fat, tasty chestnuts in two years from
planting" and realize a handful of nuts after ten years of waiting, or
nothing but empty burrs because of lack of pollination, nut tree
planting gets a black eye. The same is true when the buyer tenderly
nurses a weak-rooted English walnut seedling for fifteen years before he
gets a few small, thick-shelled, astringent nuts.
When nurseries that show honesty in their advertising write me for
information I give them the best I have. When their advertising is
otherwise I do not trouble to answer. One party, after asking many
questions, wound up by saying he wanted "to get in on this nut game." My
impression was that if he had said "shell game" he would have more
accurately stated his case.
Buyers should be on their guard not to be deceived by flowery, but vague
descriptions. If catalogues list nut trees by recognized variety names
it is pretty safe to assume that the trees are as represented. If
recognized variety names are omitted the trees may safely be considered
to be seedlings and that they will produce a wholly unknown quantity,
no matter how alluring the advertising. Of course, this is not intended
to discourage the planting of new varieties offered by nurseries of
known reputation for integrity, nor of such strains as the Crath
Carpathian walnut importations, from which new varieties are emerging.
As a practical note I wish to state that the black walnut is by far the
most satisfactory stock on which to graft walnuts of any species. Not
infrequently seedling English walnut trees take from ten to fifteen or
more years to come into bearing. I have fruited fifteen or more
varieties by grafting on black stocks, and in no case has it required
more than five years for the trees to bear. Frequently they have borne
in two or three years. The English walnut is also a more vigorous grower
on black walnut roots than on its own.
The Sherwood butternut grafted five or six years ago on butternut stocks
has not borne yet; grafted on a small black walnut in the nursery row in
1942 it bore one nut in 1943 and has many staminate buds for 1944
visible at the present time. Walters heartnut bears the second or third
year on black walnut; it has not borne for me on butternut after seven
years. The same holds good for the other heartnuts.
In the grafting of chestnuts, defective (incompatible?) unions can
generally be spotted the first year. They develop with a transverse
fissure into which the bark ingrows. Good unions show new tissue
entirely around the closing wound; the final scar as healing approaches
completion being vertical, i. e. longitudinal with the stock. This
result can be obtained by proper technique.
The members of the Association can do much to further the cause of nut
tree planting by discrimination in recognizing the ear-marks of honest
advertising and encouraging their friends to make their purchases from
conscientious, responsible nurserymen. Our Association nursery list is a
valuable help in this direction.
Report from the Tennessee Valley
_By THOMAS G. ZARGER, TVA, Norris, Tennessee_
_Black Walnut Industry_--in the early fall of 1943, a survey was made of
the black walnut industry in the Tennessee Valley and Nashville Basin.
Four commercial cracking plants had shelled 10 million pounds of nuts
purchased in 1942. This year, cracking plants have offered to buy
unlimited quantities of nuts in the shell at the relatively good price
of $4.50 per 100 pounds. Because of the manpower shortage, especially on
the farm, the collection of nuts has not exceeded the preceding year.
Pasteurizing plants had processed a quarter of a million pounds of
kernels purchased in 1942. This year only three pasteurizing plants will
operate, and a smaller quantity of kernels will be processed. The kernel
supply from the home-cracking industry has decreased because the
sanitation requirements of the Federal Food and Drug Administration are
difficult to meet in the homes.
_Bearing Habits of Wild Black Walnut_--Looking forward to a fuller
utilization of the wild black walnut crop, the bearing habits of the
black walnut tree is being investigated. Four-year records are now
available on tree growth, nut yield, and nut quality of sample trees
located throughout the Tennessee Valley. For 121 trees, with a range in
diameter from 4 to 28 inches total dry nut yield, in pounds, averaged as
follows: 1940, 31; 1941, 24; 1942, 38; 1943, 29. There is some evidence
of alternate bearing, with a heavy crop followed by a very light crop.
How much larger nut crop a larger tree is expected to bear was found to
increase on an average trend from 0 pounds of filled nuts for a tree of
4-inch diameter to 65 pounds for a 24-inch tree. Judged on the basis of
nut quality, only one of the sample trees compared favorably with
standard propagated varieties of black walnut. Filled nuts on the
average, amounted to 83 percent of total nut crop weight, and had a
total kernel percentage of 21. Recovery of marketable kernels averaged
17 percent of total nut weight. In order to learn still more about the
bearing habits of the black walnut, records on all sample trees will be
carried on for two more years.
_Macedonia Black Walnut_--A sample of black walnuts from a tree growing
on the home place of Mr. N. U. Turpen at the Macedonia Community at
Clarksville, Georgia, were sent to us for evaluation in 1939. The nuts
were thought to be two years old--from the 1937 crop. When tested, the
kernel content averaged about 40 percent--the highest on record for a
black walnut. The tree, supposed to be the one which bore the nuts we
tested, had not borne any appreciable amount since 1937. Since the tree
yielded good crops in 1942 and 1943, we are now in a position to report
further on the Macedonia walnut. Based on cracking tests of nut samples,
the average nut weight and kernel percentage were 16.8 grams and 28
percent in 1942; and 16.4 grams and 29 percent in 1943. It is apparent
that the Macedonia black walnut has not exhibited those exceptional
characteristics of thinness of shell and high kernel percent which were
found in the original sample tested.
Report from Minnesota--Letter from Carl Weschcke to Miss Mildred Jones