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NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING
EVANSVILLE, INDIANA AUGUST 20 AND 21, 1914
CONCORD, N. H. THE RUMFORD PRESS 1915
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Officers and Committees of the Association 4
Members of the Association 5
Constitution and Rules of the Association 10
Proceedings of the Meeting held at Evansville, Indiana, August 20
and 21, 1914 11
Report of the Secretary-Treasurer 17
Proposed Score Card for Judging Nuts 20
Status and Possibilities of Nut Culture in the North,
T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C. 23
Discussion on Cultivation and Fertilizers for Nut Trees 31
Personal Experiences with Hybridization of Nut Trees,
Dr. Robert T. Morris, New York 37
The Use of Dynamite in Tree Planting, C. D. Evans, Delaware 43
Demonstration of Grafting and Budding Nut Trees, R. L. McCoy,
Indiana, and Paul White, Indiana 47
Discussion on Seedling Trees 52
Seedling Nut Trees. The Nomenclature of Northern Pecans,
Dr. J. Russell Smith, Pennsylvania 54
Practical Suggestions on the Production of Nut Orchards,
Dr. C. A. Van Duzee, Georgia 61
The Function of the Class Journal, Ralph T. Olcott,
_Editor American Nut Journal_ 65
Discussion on Top Working Large Nut Trees 68
Report of the Committee on Nomenclature 73
Report of the Committee on Exhibits 74
Report of the Committee on Resolutions 74
Session at Enterprise 75
A Plea for the Planting of Nut Trees, Colonel C. K. Sober,
Pennsylvania 85
Discussion on the Hazel or Filbert 88
Appendix:
The History of the Persian Walnut in Pennsylvania, J. G. Rush,
Pennsylvania 93
A Comparison of Northern and Southern Conditions in the
Propagation of Nut Trees, J. F. Jones, Pennsylvania 96
Top Working Large Walnut Trees, W. C. Reed, Indiana 101
Interest in Nut Growing in the Intermountain States,
Dr. L. D. Batchelor, Utah 104
Report from G. H. Corsan, Canada 105
Distribution of Persian ("English") Walnut Seedlings in
Michigan 107
Examples of Some Recent Correspondence 109
Preliminary Report on the Persian Walnut, by the Secretary 114
Correspondents and Others Interested in Nut Culture 118
Some Recent Literature on Nuts and Nut Growing 124
Present at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Northern Nut
Growers Association 126
Annual Meeting in 1915 127
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
_President_ J. RUSSELL SMITH University of Pennsylvania
_Vice-President_ W. C. REED Indiana
_Secretary and Treasurer_ W. C. DEMING Georgetown, Connecticut
COMMITTEES
_Executive_
T. P. LITTLEPAGE
R. T. MORRIS
AND THE OFFICERS
_Nomenclature_
W. C. REED
R. T. MORRIS
E. R. LAKE
C. A. REED
R. L MCCOY
_Membership_
W. C. DEMING
LEON D. BATCHELOR
C. H. PLUMP
_Hybrids_
R. T. MORRIS
J. R. SMITH
C. P. CLOSE
_Promising Seedlings_
T. P. LITTLEPAGE
C. A. REED
J. RUSSELL SMITH
_Press and Publication_
RALPH T. OLCOTT
T. P. LITTLEPAGE
W. C. DEMING
STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS
Arizona C. R. Biederman Garces
California Claude D. Tribble Elk Grove
Canada G. H. Corsan University of Toronto
Connecticut Newman Hungerford Torrington, R. 2, Box 76
District of Columbia T. P. Littlepage Union Trust Building, Washington
Florida H. Harold Hume Glen Saint Mary
Georgia J. B. Wight Cairo
Illinois E. A. Riehl Alton
Indiana R. L. McCoy Lake
Ireland Dr. Augustine Henry 5 Sanford Terrace,
Ranelagh, Dublin
Kentucky A. L. Moseley Calhoun
Maryland C. P. Close Department of Agriculture, Washington
Massachusetts James H. Bowditch 903 Tremont Building, Boston
Michigan H. L. Haskell 209 North Rowe St., Ludington
Minnesota C. A. Van Duzee Minneapolis
Missouri Alfred E. Johnson McBaine, R.1
New Jersey C. S. Ridgway Lumberton
New York Dr. Ira Ulman 213 West 147th St., New York City
North Carolina W. N. Hutt, State Horticulturist Raleigh
Ohio Harry R. Weber 601 Gerke Building, Cincinnati
Pennsylvania J. G. Rush West Willow
Tennessee Egbert D. Van Syckel Trenton
Utah Leon D. Batchelor, Horticulturist,
State Agricultural College Logan
Virginia John S. Parish Eastham
West Virginia B. F. Hartzell Shepherdstown
MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION
ARIZONA
C. R. Biederman, Garces
CALIFORNIA
Tribble, Claude D., Elk Grove
Tucker, T. C., Manager California Almond Growers' Exchange,
Sacramento
CANADA
Corsan, G. H., University of Toronto
Crow, J. W., Professor of Pomology, Ontario Agricultural College,
Guelph
Dufresne, Dr. A. A., 217 St. Christopher St., Montreal
Fisk, Dr. George, 101 Union Ave., Montreal
Henderson, Stuart, Victoria, British Columbia, Box 77
Saunders, W. E., 352 Clarence St., London, Ont.
CONNECTICUT
Barnes, John R., Yalesville
Deming, Dr. W. C., Georgetown
Deming, Mrs. W. C., Georgetown
Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. 2, Box 76
Ives, Ernest M., Sterling Orchards, Meriden
Miller, Mrs. Charles, 32 Hillside Ave., Waterbury
Morris, Dr. Robert T., Cos Cob, R. 28, Box 95
Plump, Charles H., West Redding
Pomeroy, E. C., Northville
DELAWARE
Evans, C. D., care of DuPont Powder Company, Wilmington
Lord, George Frank, care of DuPont Powder Company, Wilmington
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Department of Agriculture, Washington
Lake, Prof. E. R., Pomologist, Department of Agriculture, Washington
+Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Building, Washington
Kinsell, Miss Ida J., 1608 17th St., Washington
Orr, Herbert R., Evans Building, Washington
Reed, C. A., In Charge of Nut Culture Investigations, Department of
Agriculture, Washington
*Van Deman, Prof. H. E., Washington
FLORIDA
Hume, H. Harold, Glen Saint Mary
Prange, Mrs. N. M. G., Jacksonville
Simpson, Ray C., Monticello
GEORGIA
Wight, J. B., Cairo
ILLINOIS
Aldrich, H. A., Neoga
Heely, Dr. O. J., St. Libory
Poll, Carl J., 1009 Maple St., Danville
Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion
Riehl, E. A., Alton
Spencer, Henry D., Room 1, Opera House Block, Decatur
Webster, H. G., 450 Belmont Ave., Chicago
INDIANA
Baldwin, C. H., State Entomologist, 130 State House, Indianapolis
Burton, Joe A., Mitchell
Hutchings, Miss Lida G., 118 Third St., Madison
Knapp, Dr. A, J., Evansville
Lockwood, E. E., Poseyville
McCoy, R. L., Lake
Niblack, Mason J., Vincennes
Reed, M. T., Vincennes
Reed, W. C., Vincennes
Schmidt, Hugh C., Evansville
Simpson, H. D., Vincennes
Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport
IRELAND
Henry, Dr. Augustine, 5 Sanford Terrace, Ranelagh, Dublin
KENTUCKY
Matthews, Prof. C. W., Horticulturist, State Agricultural
Station, Lexington
Moseley, A. L., Bank of Calhoun, Calhoun
MARYLAND
Holmes, F. S., Agricultural Experiment Station, College Park
MASSACHUSETTS
+Bowditch, James II., 903 Tremont Building, Boston
Hoffmann, Bernhard, Overbrook Orchard, Stockbridge
Knight, Charles F., Rowley
Mason, Harry R., Falmouth
Rich, William P., Secretary State Horticultural Society,
300 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
Smith, Fred A., 39 Pine St., Danvers
Vaughan, Horace A., Peacehaven, Assonet
White, Warren, Holliston
MICHIGAN
Haskell, H. L., 209 N. Rowe St., Ludington
MINNESOTA
Powers, L. L., 1200 Lexington Ave., N. St. Paul
Van Duzee, Col. C. A., St. Paul
MISSOURI
Johnson, Alfred E., McBaine, R. 1
NEW JERSEY
Dietrick, Dr. Thomas S., 12 West Washington Ave., Washington
Foster, Samuel F., Secretary North Jersey Society for the Promotion
of Agriculture, 100 Broadway, New York City
Marston, Edwin S., Florham Park, Box 72
Mergler, C. W., Hackensack Road and Mt. Vernon St., Ridgefield Park
Putnam, J. H., Vineland
Ridgeway, C. S., "Floralia," Lumberton
Roberts, Horace, Moorestown
Steele, T. E., Pomona Nurseries, Palmyra
Walter, Dr. Harry, Hotel Chalfonte, Atlantic City
NEW YORK
Abbott, Frederick B., 419 Ninth St., Brooklyn
Ackerly, Orville B., 243 W. 34th St., New York City
Baker, Dr. Hugh P., Dean of State College of Forestry, Syracuse
Baker, Prof. J. Fred, Director of Forest Investigation, State College
of Forestry, Syracuse
Brown, Ronald K., 320 Broadway, New York City
Bruce, W. Robert, Brick Church Institute, Rochester
Church, Alfred W., Portchester
Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester
Fullerton, H. B., Director Long Island Railroad Experiment Station,
Medford, L. I.
Hickox, Ralph, 3832 White Plains Ave., New York City
Hans, Amedee, Superintendent Hodenpyl Estate, Locust Valley, L. I.
Haywood, Albert, Flushing
Hicks, Henry, Westbury, L. I.
Holden, E. B., Hilton
+Huntington, A. M., 15 W. 81st St., New York City
Keeler, Charles E., Chichester and Briggs Aves., Richmond Hill
Miller, Mrs. Seaman, care of Mr. Miller, 2 Rector St., New York City
Murphy, P. J., 115 Broadway, New York City, care of Ford, Bacon &
Davis
Olcott, Ralph T., Ellwanger & Barry Building, Rochester
Pomeroy, A. C., Lockport
Reynolds, H. L., 2579 Main St., Buffalo
Rice, Mrs. Lillian McKee, Adelano, Pawling
Stephen, Prof. John W., Assistant Professor of Silviculture, State
College of Forestry, Syracuse
Storrs, A. P., 117 Front St., Owego
Teele, A. W., 30 Broad St., New York City
Teter, Walter C., 10 Wall St., New York City
Tuckerman, Bayard, 118 E. 37th St., New York City
Turner, K. M., 220 W. 42nd St., New York City
Ulman, Dr. Ira, 213 W. 147th St., New York City
Wile, Th. E., 1012 Park Ave., Rochester
Williams, Dr. Charles Mallory, 48 E. 49th St., New York City
+Wissmann, Mrs. F. deR., Westchester, New York City
NORTH CAROLINA
Glover, J. Wheeler, Morehead City
Hutt, Prof. W. N., State Horticulturist, Raleigh
Van Lindley, J., J. Van Lindley Nursery Company, Pomona
OHIO
Dayton, J. H., Storrs & Harrison Company, Painesville
Denny, Mark E., Middletown
Ford, Horatio, South Euclid
Johnston, I. B., Cincinnati, Station K
Miller, H. A., Gypsum
Rector, Dr. J. M., Columbus
Weber, Harry R., 601 Gerke Building, 123 E. 6th St., Cincinnati
Witte, O. F., Amherst
Yunck, E. G., 710 Central Ave., Sandusky
PENNSYLVANIA
Ballou, C. F., Halifax
Doan, J. L., School of Horticulture, Ambler
Druckemiller, W. C., Sunbury
Fagan, Prof. F. N., Department of Horticulture, State College
Foley, John, Forester, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 513-A,
Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia
Hall, L. C., Avonia
Hildebrand, F. B., Duquesne
Hoopes, Wilmer W., Hoopes Brothers and Thomas Company, Westchester
Hutchinson, Mahlon, Ashwood Farm, Devon, Chester County
+Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527
Keely, Royal R., 1702 Mt. Vernon St., Philadelphia
Knipe, Irwin P., Norristown
Lovett, Mrs. Joseph L., Emilie, Bucks County
Martz, Walter C., Lebanon, care of Lebanon National Bank
Meehan, S. Mendelson, Thomas Meehan & Sons, Germantown
Moss, James, Johnsville, Bucks County
Preslar, C. F., 524 Grand View Ave., Pittsburgh
Rush, J. G., West Willow
Schmidt, John C., 900 So. George St., York
Smitten, H. W., Rochester Mills, R. 2
+Sober, Col. C. K., Lewisburg
Thomas, Joseph W., Jos. W. Thomas & Sons, King of Prussia P. O.
Twaddell, E. W., Evergreen Nurseries, Westtown
Webster, Mrs. Edmund, 1324 So. Broad St., Philadelphia
Wister, John C., Wister St. and Clarkson Ave., Germantown
Wright, R. P., 235 W. 6th St., Erie
TENNESSEE
Van Syckel, Egbert D., D.D.S., Trenton
UTAH
Batchelor, Leon D., Horticulturist, Utah Agricultural College, Logan
Pendleton, M. A., 3 Mozart Apartments, Salt Lake City
VIRGINIA
Crockett, E. B., Lynchburg
Parish, John S., Eastham, Albermarle County
Roper, W. N., Arrowfield Nurseries, Petersburg
Shackford, Theodore B., care of Adams Brothers-Paynes Company,
Lynchburg
Smith, Dr. J. Russell, Roundhill
Von Ammon, S., Fontella
WEST VIRGINIA
Hartzell, B. F., Shepherdstown
+ Life member
* Honorary member
CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION
_Name_. The society shall be known as the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS
ASSOCIATION.
_Object_. The promotion of interest in nut-producing plants, their
products and their culture.
_Membership_. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who
desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence
or nationality, subject to the approval of the committee on membership.
_Officers_. There shall be a president, a vice-president, and a
secretary-treasurer; an executive committee of five persons, of which
the president, vice-president and secretary shall be members; and a
state vice-president from each state represented in the membership of
the association.
_Election of Officers_. A committee of five members shall be elected at
the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the
subsequent year.
_Meetings_. The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected
by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made
at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time
for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may
seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee.
_Fees_. The fees shall be of two kinds, annual and life. The former
shall be two dollars, the latter twenty dollars.
_Discipline_. The committee on membership may make recommendations to
the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member.
_Committees_. The association shall appoint standing committees of three
members each to consider and report on the following topics at each
annual meeting: first, on promising seedlings; second, on nomenclature;
third, on hybrids; fourth, on membership; fifth, on press and
publication.
Northern Nut Growers Association
FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING
AUGUST 20 AND 21, 1914
EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
The fifth annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association was
held in the Evansville Business Association Hall at Evansville, Indiana,
beginning August 20, 1914, at 10 A. M., President Littlepage presiding.
THE PRESIDENT: The fifth annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers
Association will now come to order, and I have the pleasure of
introducing to you Dr. Worsham who represents the Mayor of Evansville.
DR. WORSHAM: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Northern Nut Growers
Association:
Some men are born to greatness and others have it thrust upon them. I
stand in the position this morning of a man that has had his greatness
thrust upon him. The secretary of the Evansville Business Association,
who frequently takes liberties with me, told me a few minutes ago that,
in the absence of our Mayor, I was to welcome you.
We extend to you a most cordial welcome to our thriving city. We are
always glad to have associations of this kind meet with us, because they
bring to us new ideas and new thoughts.
As I looked upon those nuts this morning my mind returned to the time
when I was a boy, when my father, although a splendid business man who
took advantage of most of the opportunities that presented themselves to
him, neglected one of the best he had in selling one hundred and
twenty-five acres of land across the Ohio River here, upon which there
grow a number of native pecans. The only time we ever had any pecans
from that place was when we got a German over there, direct from
Germany. He couldn't speak a word of the English language but my father
said to him, "Keep the boys out and get some pecans." He went down there
with a dog and a gun and we got more nuts that year than ever before or
since.
This city has the distinction, as I have learned since I came into the
hall, of being the center of the nut growing district of the northwest.
Another honor that our splendid city has. As you know we are here in the
largest hardwood lumber market in the world; we have the cheapest and
best coal of any place in the world; we have the greatest river
facilities of any city along the Ohio River; we have six main arteries
of railroad into our city, so it is easy to manufacture, easy to ship
and easy to dispose of the products of our business in this grand,
beautiful and well situated city.
Now gentlemen, remember that Dr. Worsham's telephone is 213, that I am
representing the Mayor and Business Men's Association, and that we are
perfectly delighted to have you with us. I hope you will have a good
time. I thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Robert T. Morris will respond first to Dr. Worsham
and afterwards Mr. Potter.
DR. MORRIS: Mr. Chairman, Representatives of the Business Men's
Association, Ladies and Gentlemen: In Chicago, I met an Englishman who
told me he was going to "Hevansville." I did not know just where he
meant but after hearing Dr. Worsham's speech, I understand.
This is no doubt one of the coming cities of the world. You have here
the field that was fought for by the early settlers and the Indians, and
the field that is to be the scene of many wars in days to come.
In the days to come, perhaps a thousand years from now, there may be
four or five people to the acre living under conditions of intensive
cultivation. This is just the sort of land that will support a
population to the best advantage, and you have here conditions suitable
for the crop that is to be the crop of the future. People do not fully
utilize nature's resources until there is need for doing so. We have
depended upon the cereals and the soft fruits and things of that sort,
just as the early Indian depended upon the deer and the beaver. The time
came when his beaver and his deer disappeared. We, like the Indian, take
up first the development of simplest things in plant life. Later, under
intensive cultivation, we shall be enabled to support a very much larger
population on fewer acres.
We find that nuts contain starch and proteids in such proportion that
they will fairly well take the place of meats and of other starches.
Now, this is not an opinion which is individual alone, but is the
conclusion of authorities after examination of data. Chemical
examination of nuts has been made by our Department of Agriculture at
Washington and by chemists elsewhere. The nut crop, then, is to be
perhaps the staple food crop for the people of the United States one
thousand years from now, when we are depending upon methods of intensive
cultivation for the annual plants.
It is true, of course, that three thousand years before Christ, the
Emperor Yu developed in China a system of agriculture that is better
than any European or American system today both as to production and
transportation--perhaps including distribution. At the present time
China is supporting a larger population to the acre than any other
country.
All this comes to mind in response to the address of welcome by Dr.
Worsham. Here at this point of our United States, there is already a
center of the new movement for the development of the great future food
supply of the world, a nut nursery center. Here we find also another
feature of great consequence from the economic and politic side. We find
honest nurserymen. That is a very important matter. As nations advance
in culture the moral side develops, and as the ethical side develops
there will be better representatives in the trades and in all callings.
The nursery business is near to nature and for that reason simple people
have assumed that nurserymen were nearly as white as snow. Those of us
who have had some experience with them, know what it means to find
honest ones. We deeply appreciate the fact that in this part of the
country honest nurserymen are making a name for themselves and for
America.
I know Evansville not only in this way that I have been speaking of but
also in a professional way because of its doctors. There are two or
three or four of the Evansville doctors--you do not know that as members
of this Association, but I know it as a member of our great
profession--who have placed Evansville upon the map. This city is best
known throughout the United States in the medical profession because of
some three or four Evansville doctors of the present and past.
Therefore it is with a double pleasure that I respond to the address of
welcome given by Dr. Worsham.
THE PRESIDENT: We will now hear from Hon. W. O. Potter of Marion,
Illinois.
MR. POTTER: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: This meeting to me is
something out of the ordinary. I can remember that when I was a boy I
knew every good hickory nut tree in the community where I was raised,
but after I left my native heath and went into the practice of law and
got into politics, I forgot all about the hickory trees until just a few
years ago when, by accident, I picked up a nut journal. I don't know how
it came into my possession but I got it and I read some article on the
Indiana pecan, and I read an article on the development of nut trees in
the south, and I got interested and commenced studying the subject. I
wrote to the Department of Agriculture and got some articles on nut
culture from Mr. Reed and others and became still more interested.
However, nut culture doesn't mix well with politics or law, and,
therefore, it is more or less of a side issue with me. I have gone into
nut culture only on a small scale. On my lot in the city of Marion where
I live I have set out some pecan trees, and after a hard battle in court
all day it is quite a pleasure to get home in the evening and to pull
off my coat and to get on some old clothes and go out among my trees.
There is nothing better to get one's mind off the daily combat of life.
I was very much impressed with Dr. Worsham's address of welcome and also
Dr. Morris's response. I believe that this country is beginning a new
era; we are going to experience a metamorphosis. I think we will shed
this old shell, take on a new dress and start afresh.
I presume it is here as in Illinois where I was raised. Our farmers came
from the south principally, and about all they knew of farming in those
early days was to raise corn and some tobacco, but mostly, through our
section, corn, and in a few years they corned the land to death. You can
go through our country and see old hillsides red with clay and farmers
barely eking out an existence. Those people will never be much better
off than they are now, but as they pass off and the newer generation
comes on, departments of agriculture and horticulture will be organized
in the universities, where it has not already been done, and the farmers
will be a class of people right up to date. Modern civilization tends to
drive the sons back to the farm and that is overdone sometimes. People
think they want to go to farming when they don't. We ought not to take
up this idea "back to the farm" too largely at once but gradually grow
into it. I know what it is to be on the farm and work hard day after
day; there is no chance for us under the old conditions; but in higher
forms of agriculture or horticulture the American people will find the
greatest benefits and pleasures. It gets monotonous for a man who has a
profession to stick to that all the time, day in and day out without
change, week in and week out, year in and year out, and he gets to
driving in a rut. If he will take up a side line it will do him much
good. I have gone into nut growing for recreation, not profit, and I
think it is an occupation most conducive to a strong mind and a healthy
body.
This country is getting to a point where we are going to have more
producers. We have too many consumers in this country. We talk about the
tariff and whether it raises or lowers the price of articles. That is
neither here nor there. The thing that will control the prices of foods
is the amount of food produced. As Dr. Morris said awhile ago we don't
need so much meat as we used to think we needed nor so many other kinds
of foods. All the food elements that keep man alive and his body in a
healthy condition are contained in nuts, fruits and things of that
character, and this to a great extent will eliminate the need for meats.
Meat is getting scarce and high. Beef steaks and pork chops are a great
deal higher than they formerly were and some of us who are not making as
much money in our professions as we need will have to find something
else to take the place of them. It seems to me that the solution of the
problem is in the production of nuts. The peanut is being manufactured
in a great many ways and we are using them on our tables daily, and it
will only be a few years when the pecan will be fixed up in as many
different ways.
The hickory nut I think is another great nut of this country and great
attention ought to be paid to it. Its culture is still in its infancy. I
believe that in a few years the hickory nut and pecan will help solve
the food problem.
I would not know how to graft any kind of a tree. What trees I need I
buy from some good responsible nurseryman and let him do the work of
grafting.
I am glad to be a member of this association, although this is the first
meeting I have ever attended. I get a lot of enthusiasm from the other
members and I have had lots of information from being a member of this
association.
I want to thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for listening to my remarks
which I had no thought of making. What I have said has been at random.
DR. MORRIS: When I was speaking a minute ago I left out one idea that is
clever, and I want to get it in although it belongs to Professor Smith.
When we get to the point of intensive cultivation we are to have the
two-story farm. We will have the tree which will be the second story and
will furnish our meat, and underneath we will have our small crops. In
that way we will have a two-story farm.
THE PRESIDENT: That is a very good idea, Dr. Morris, and I am glad you
got it in. We are very glad to have the remarks by Dr. Morris and Mr.
Potter. Mr. Potter has been in the legislature and we are pleased to
know that there is one member of a legislature in the United States who
does not know how to graft.
MR. POTTER: I am sorry you said that. I wish you had left that out. I
was there when Lorimer was elected.
THE PRESIDENT: There is nothing that would cure a legislature of
grafting quicker than horticulture.
The chair desires to make an announcement of the program. This morning,
there will be the usual talks and papers. We will adjourn at 12 o'clock
and meet again at 1 o'clock for the afternoon session until 5 o'clock,
at which time the members of the Association and visitors are invited by
some of the citizens to take an automobile ride to see the city and the
different industries, which I am sure we will all be glad to do. This
evening at 8 o'clock there will by a lecture by Mr. C. A. Reed of the
Department of Agriculture and he will us show one of the best
collections of lantern slides in existence. Everybody is invited,
whether members of the Association or not, including the ladies and
children.
Tomorrow morning at 7:15 we will take the Rockport traction car here,
getting off at Sandale, at which place we will be met by wagons and we
will go to Enterprise where you will see a great number of seedling
pecan trees of all ages. They are bearing, the limbs hanging down close
to the ground, and there will be an excellent opportunity to see the
nuts on the trees at close range.
A gasoline boat will meet us at Enterprise between 12 and 1 and we will
return to Evansville tomorrow evening, via the river, stopping at proper
points, and be in session again at 8 o'clock, finishing up the business
of the Association with a lecture by Col. C. K. Sober of Pennsylvania,
the great chestnut producer. He has a great many lantern slides and will
tell you many things of interest. He is one man who is working earnestly
and tirelessly to combat the chestnut blight.
The next thing on the program this morning will be the report of the
secretary of the Association, Dr. W. C. Deming.
THE SECRETARY: I have the honor to report as follows:
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER
Deficit, date of last report $105.05
Expenses:
Washington meeting 10.46
Reporting convention 45.00
Printing report 217.58
Miscellaneous printing 23.25
Postage and stationery 42.84
Membership A. P. S. 2.00
Stenographer and multigraphing 7.20
Express, carting, freight 3.36
Exchange on checks .90
Telephone .25
-------- $457.89
Receipts:
Dues $273.00
Postage 5.07
Advertisements 69.05
Contributions 104.00
Sale of report 4.00
Bills receivable 10.00
-------- $465.12
Balance on hand $7.23
It was necessary to take out a membership in the American Pomological
Society in order to be eligible to receive the bronze Wilder medal
awarded for meritorious exhibit of nuts at the Washington convention.
In response to an appeal sent out by the secretary for assistance in
defraying the expenses of publishing the report, thirteen members
contributed. There was one contribution of fifty dollars, one of
twenty-five dollars, several of five dollars and others of lesser sums.
Two advertisements are still not paid for.
It is evident that the income of the association from regular sources is
not at present sufficient to pay the expense of printing the annual
report, in addition to the necessary expenses of maintenance. It may be
possible to reduce the expense of printing the report by omitting cuts
and by printing a smaller number of reports, though the saving from the
latter expedient would be small.
It seems to be the opinion of some of our members, and it is certainly a
good business principle, that we should not undertake the issuing of an
annual report until the funds for paying for it are in hand. I would
renew my suggestion of last year that a proper committee be authorized
to take measures for collecting the funds necessary for this purpose.
During the past year a few of the members voluntarily constituted
themselves a committee and succeeded in collecting a considerable sum
from advertisements which appeared in the report.
It would certainly be a pity to interrupt the regular appearance of the
report of our annual meeting.
Seventy-five new members were added during the year, or rather during
the nine months elapsed since the meeting at Washington. Since the
organisation of the Association 212 persons have become members. We
have now 132 paid-up members. I feel certain that some of those who have
not paid up do not desire to sever their connection with the
Association. There have been but three resignations, one of whom gave as
his reason "persistent knocking by members of the Association of pecan
promotions in the South." No death among our members have come to the
secretary's knowledge.
Many new members came in at the Washington meeting. A number of others
joined as a result of the publicity given the Association by several
articles from the pen of one of the members which appeared in various
publications. A still larger number appeared to be attracted by the
offer which the secretary took upon himself to make, of the two first
reports as a premium for new members on the payment simply of the
postage for forwarding them. This action of the secretary was generally
approved by the members of the executive committee, though there was
some criticism from one or two members of the Association. But it seemed
to the secretary better to make this attraction for new members, and to
get out the reports where they might do some good, rather than to have
so many of them sagging the beams in his attic. The secretary would
suggest that in the future he be authorized to offer a complete set of
the reports to all new life members, and to other new members the
opportunity to buy the back reports at a reduced sum, say 50 cents, or
even 25 cents each. This would give a little income toward the expenses
of the Association. The copies of our reports are assets and should be
realized on.
The field meeting held at the farm of Dr. Robert T. Morris at Stamford,
Connecticut, on August 4 was well attended and was instructive and
enjoyable. A full account of the meeting will appear in the _American
Nut Journal_.
The recent establishment of this journal, partly through the efforts of
members of the Association, is a cause for congratulation. We have once
more a high class and attractive monthly periodical in which to exchange
experiences and by which the public may be reached. Every member of the
Association should feel a personal interest in making this journal a
success and should seek the opportunity to send to the editor any items
of interest to nut growers. Anything relating to this subject is of
interest to the enthusiast. The more personal such a journal is made the
better. It should not be monopolized by the so-called experts. Everyone
interested in nut growing ought to feel it a duty, and consider it a
privilege, to communicate scraps of information, little suggestions and,
above all, questions and requests for information and advice. Even a
little controversy would add spice. Too much harmony becomes insipid.
This journal is as much for scrappers as for the men of peace. And, let
me quickly add, the women too, suffragists, suffragettes, and antis and
those who don't care. Twelve women are members of the Association and
women are going to take a large share in nut growing and find in it a
profitable and interesting occupation.
Arrangements are being made with the publishers of the _American Nut
Journal_ whereby membership in our Association may include subscription
to the _Journal_ at a very small increase in the cost of membership. If
we can offer membership and the _Journal_ for $2.50 in advance and the
back reports for 50 cents apiece, or the three reports for $1, and send
notice of this to our list of about a thousand correspondents, we ought
to increase considerably our membership and do good to the world.
Our rule that membership shall begin with the calendar year always gives
rise to some misunderstanding. Those who come in at the time of the
annual meeting, or between it and the end of the year, do not like to
pay another fee along in January. If there is no objection the secretary
will hereafter inform each applicant for membership that membership
expires with the calendar year, that membership may be taken out for the
present or the coming year, and that membership entitles necessarily
only to the publications issued during the year for which membership is
taken out. In other words the proceedings of this meeting will be
published in 1915 and members for 1914 will not be entitled to it unless
paid up for 1915.
The investigation of the Persian walnut trees in the East is still going
on but the results have not been collated.
I suggest the appointment of a committee to revise our constitution and
rules. These have so far served our purpose fairly well but, in the
opinion of the secretary, they now need modification and amplification.
I would recall to the attention of the members our present rule that all
papers read before it are the property of the Association.
In conclusion the secretary would like to ask each member to help
increase the prosperity and the usefulness of the Association by getting
new members, by getting advertisements for the annual report, and by
paying his annual dues promptly. It is a waste of any nut grower's time
to have to dun a lot of careless people.
THE PRESIDENT: The chair will now entertain a motion to approve the
secretary's report.
PROFESSOR SMITH: The Northern Nut Growers Association has been very
fortunate in many things and especially in its selection of a secretary.
The services he has so faithfully rendered are very much appreciated by
the Association, and I move the report be accepted.
[Seconded and carried. Also moved, seconded and carried that the
secretary be authorized to sell back numbers of the reports at a reduced
price.]
DR. VAN DUZEE: I would like to say that a most important thing has been
overlooked, and that is that the chair should appoint a committee to
lift the load of financing the work of the Association from the
secretary's shoulders.
THE PRESIDENT: It is very flattering to suggest that the chair is
competent to appoint that committee. Do you make it in the form of a
motion, Dr. Van Duzee?
DR. VAN DUZEE: Yes sir, I make that as a motion.
[Seconded and carried.]
Professor Close read the following report on score cards prepared by
Prof. E. R. Lake of the committee.
PROPOSED SCORE CARDS FOR JUDGING NUTS
_Score-Card (Plates, Trays or Cartons)--Black Walnuts, Butternuts and
Hickorynuts_
General Values:
Size 10
Form 5
Color 5
Shell Values:
Thinness 15
Cracking 20
Kernal Values:
Plumpness 5
Color 10
Flavor 10
Quality 20
---
100
Note: For insect or fungous injuries deduct 5-10 points.
_Score-Cards--Chestnuts_
General Values:
Size 20
Form 5
Color 10
Freedom from fuzz 10
Size of basal scar 10
Kernal Values:
Flavor 10
Quality of kernal 25
Thinness and quality of inner skin 10
-----
100
Note: For insect or fungous injuries deduct 5-20 points.
_Score-Card--Filberts_
General Values:
Size 15
Form 5
Color 5
Shell Values:
Thinness 15
Kernal Values:
Plumpness 10
Freedom from fibre 10
Color 5
Flavor 15
Quality 20
----
100
Note: For insect or fungous injuries deduct 5-10 points.
_Commercial Pecans_
General Values:
Size 20
Form 5
Color 5
Shell Values:
Thinness of shell 10
Cracking quality 20
Kernal Values:
Plumpness of kernal 20
Color of kernel 5
Quality 15
----
100
_Score-Card (Plates)--Persian Walnuts_
General Value:
Size 10
Form 10
Color 10
Shell Values:
Thinness of shell 10
Smoothness of shell 5
Sealing 10
Kernal Values:
Plumpness 5
Color 10
Flavor (sweetness, nuttyness) 10
Quality (crispness, richness) 20
----
100
Note: For insect or fungous injuries deduct 5-15 points.
* * * * *
DR. MORRIS: I would say that this is a very excellent system as a basis
for judging. We must at all times have in mind the idea of working to
keep the quality very high. The reason for that is because the tendency
has been in the other direction. Appearance has been rated very high,
especially on the Pacific Coast, which is one of the centers in nut
raising today. I observed, while on a trip from southern California to
Washington and Oregon, that people all spoke about the beauty of the
nuts, and said little of quality. They will show you great, handsome,
bleached nuts, and some of the very poorest in quality are the ones
about which they talk the most, and they recognize this fact among
themselves. I haven't been looked upon with favor when telling them
frankly that a certain walnut ought not to be put on the market at all
on account of its quality. They resented that attitude on my part, but
later when I was standing nearby I overheard rival walnut growers
talking to each other. One said to another, "That is a handsome walnut,
but you will have to hire an awful good talker to get it on the market."
They resented my criticism and my judgment but among themselves said,
"You have got to have an awful good talker to get that nut on the
market."
It is this matter of quality that must stand first among nuts as among
men. Many know that there is no better pecan than the San Saba. That is
standard for quality, yet it is not regarded as being so desirable as
some of the others because of its small size. We must always keep in
mind the quality rather than size and appearance. Of course, we like
things that look well but that side will be taken care of incidentally
in the course of the development of the subject.
PROFESSOR SMITH: Dr. Morris, I should like to ask you a few questions.
Is it not the same as it is in the apple and peach market? You know in
that appearance counts for a great deal. Are you sufficiently acquainted
with the subject to say we will be safe in growing a nut that is second
class in appearance but first class in quality?
DR. MORRIS: I am glad Professor Smith brought up that point. There is
just one way to approach the matter. Take a fine, handsome, large
English walnut, that has been bleached, and has lost quality in the
process. Growers have gone to a great deal of trouble to get it on the
market. Put alongside of it a small, thin-shelled, high quality walnut
that has not been bleached, and tell the dealer who is to sell those two
nuts that the great big handsome nut is to sell for 15 cents a pound,
and the ugly little one is to bring 30 cents a pound. That will attract
the attention of people to the good nuts. You can force people into
having good sense, through the exercise of a bit of dexterity in applied
psychology.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Morris's remarks are very well taken, because nuts
are to be eaten and not to be looked at. Is there any further discussion
on this subject? If not, we will pass to the next.
THE SECRETARY: The next thing on the program is the appointment of
committees. The advisability of amending the constitution and rules has
been already referred to. They have served our purpose pretty well up to
now but we have outgrown them. In order to expedite matters and get to
the real business of this Association, as this constitution is going to
be amended anyway, I would like to move that the rules about the
appointment of committees be suspended and that the chair be authorized
to appoint the necessary committees. This includes the committees which
the rules direct shall be elected, but that takes a long time and I
move that the chair appoint these different committees.
THE PRESIDENT: Do I hear a second to that motion?
A MEMBER: I second the motion.
THE PRESIDENT: It has been moved and seconded that the rules requiring
that these committees be elected be suspended, and the chair be
authorized to appoint the different committees. The chair holds that it
will take three fourths of the members present to suspend the rules. Is
there any discussion about this?
MEMBERS: We are ready for the question.
THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of the motion made by Dr. Deming, make it
known by saying aye.
[Vote taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: Those opposed, by the same sign.
[None.]
THE PRESIDENT: The motion is carried that the chair appoint the
different committees, and they will be announced at the proper time.
The next thing on the program is a paper by the President. I will ask
Dr. Morris to take the chair while I read what I have to say.
STATUS AND POSSIBILITIES OF NUT CULTURE IN THE NORTH
T. P. LITTLEPAGE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
The purpose of the Northern Nut Growers Association is to stimulate the
production of nuts in the North. We distinguish the North from the South
in this regard not because we feel any less interest in the nut industry
in the South. The man who once becomes a nut enthusiast is no respecter
of Mason's and Dixon's Line or any other line that separates him from an
interesting nut tree or from a section in which nuts may be successfully
grown. His local interest, however, will naturally be around his own
dooryard and neighborhood. So we speak of northern nut culture and
northern nut trees because we live in the North and because this is the
section of the United States that needs at the present time the most
intelligent direction. The South has been forging ahead for a number of
years in this field. In fact, pecan culture promises to become second
only to the cotton industry in many sections of that country and
interest in its possibilities has attracted to it many conscientious,
able and prominent horticulturists who are today engaged in pecan
growing in the South and who are doing much to put the pecan industry on
an honest and intelligent basis. These men have become specialists in
the pecan industry and they know more about it than we do in the North.
Consequently they do not need our assistance, even if we were able to
give it, and, therefore, without any fear of our being criticised for
using the adjective "northern" we can limit our investigations and
discussions to nut culture in the northern part of the United States
with a full knowledge that our southern brethren can take care of
themselves, and, in addition, can render us much valuable assistance
which assistance we most cheerfully invite.
At this point, however, in connection with the use of the terms
"northern" and "southern," it may be relevant to make a few observations
as to the possibilities in either section. While it is true that the
South has a long start of the North in pecan culture, yet the North
affords an opportunity for the cultivation of nuts which is not possible
in the South. The South is today the home of the delicious varieties of
pecan which are a delight to the consumer and a source of fascination
and profit to the intelligent producer, but it must be remembered that
the northern pecan belt has many excellent varieties that are "good
enough." In addition to this, the North is the home of the black walnut,
the fine shagbark hickory, the butternut, the chestnut, the hazel-nut,
and the chinkapin, and is also adapted to the hardy varieties of the
English and Japanese walnuts. All of the nuts just named certainly offer
an ample field for our interest and enthusiasm, and, in addition to the
keen delight which comes from the successful growing of these trees,
there is a possibility of profit which I do not think is excelled in any
horticultural undertaking today.
First then, what word of advice or instruction can the Northern Nut
Growers Association bring to the prospective nut grower which will be of
help? For, after all, the success or failure of this association depends
largely upon its ability to help the grower or prospective grower.
Before we undertake to give suggestions about the development and
culture of nut orchards or to make prophecies as to possibilities, let
us stop and take stock for a moment of the present status of the nut
industry in the North and consider what we have to build upon and what
materials we have with which to work. Mistakes have been made in the
past by the prospective nut growers because they did not stop to
consider the possibilities of the nuts that were native in their own
locality, but looked abroad for something else. This is characteristic
of many people. "Distant fields look green," and, of all the imported
nut trees, none except the English walnut have been of any success here
whatever, while, in one instance at least, their importation has
resulted in introducing into this country the fatal chestnut blight,
which probably came in on uninspected stock from Japan. We have better
native chestnuts in this country than any foreign chestnut and the
blunder of trying to get something different is costing the country
millions of dollars through the scourge of the chestnut blight, which
threatens to wipe out the industry. It reminds me of the epitaph on the
tombstone which read: "I was well and wanted to be better, took medicine
and here I am." Therefore, let us consider what nuts we have worth
while.
_The Pecan_
First, we have the northern pecan which is native in certain portions of
a belt approximately 150 miles wide, with Evansville, Indiana, on the
38th parallel, as the center. I do not mean to say that the pecan will
succeed in all portions of the northern half of this belt or that it may
not succeed in many sections farther north. The question of climate, as
modified by proximity to oceans and large bodies of water or as made
more rigid by absence of these protections, may decrease or increase the
latitude at which the pecan can be successfully grown. The orange, for
instance, is one of the tenderest fruits and yet, on the western coast,
orange groves are flourishing at the same latitude as Philadelphia,
which is nearly on the 40th parallel, although it is unnecessary to say
that an orange grove would not survive within four or five hundred miles
of the 40th parallel any place else except on the favored western coast.
The southern varieties of pecans will not flourish in the north and we
do not know whether the northern varieties will flourish in the South.
The pecan is a hickory and the northern trees are very hardy and
thrifty. Many varieties have been discovered the last few years which
are thought to be worthy of propagating. Among them are the "Indiana"
and "Busseron," from near Oaktown, Knox County, Indiana; the "Niblack,"
from Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana; the "Warrick," "Green River,"
"Major," "Kentucky," and "Posey," all from the Evansville section; the
"Norton" from Clarksville, Missouri, and several other varieties.
_English Walnut_