are 7 seedling pecan trees some 50 years old, which not only show no
signs of winter injury outwardly visible, but have the reputation of
bearing fairly well on alternate years. The present (1924) being the
favorable year, the trees had a good sprinkling of nuts in clusters of
as many as 5 each, when seen on July 23. A few miles farther north, in
the town of Mont Alto, at an altitude of about 1000 feet, near the
location of the State Forestry School of Pennsylvania, another tree said
to be 65 years old, and having a girth at breast height of 65 inches, on
the residence grounds of Mr. H. B. Verdeer, is apparently as hardy as
are the indigenous species of the neighborhood. It is claimed to have
recently borne three pecks of nuts in a single season, and it now has a
very good crop. Numerous other instances of pecan trees in the North
might be cited, but these suffice to establish not only the uncertainty
of hardiness of the pecan in the North, but also the probability of nut
crops in occasional years or oftener, well beyond the generally accepted
range of the species.
The hardiness of the Persian walnut is difficult to define. To again
quote Dr. Waite, "_Juglans regia_, as we know it in the east and north,
frequently succeeds over long intervals of time under conditions of
climate, soil, elevation, and general environment suitable for the
peach. It is perhaps a trifle more subject to injury by radical drops in
temperature, but it recuperates with decidedly greater difficulty." Dr.
Waite points out that there is a striking similarity between the
requirements of local environment of the Persian walnut and the sweet
cherry. It develops that this is a familiar comparison in southwestern
British Columbia. Both require good drainage of air and soil, or the
benefit of moderating influence such as is afforded by large bodies of
water. Also both are endangered by warm spells during the dormant
months.
These statements cover the situation quite correctly, as it is seen by
the writer, although it might be added that beyond or west of the Ohio
River, in the middle portion of the country, this species is seldom able
to survive for more than one or two winters. Many trees have been
planted in Michigan, but the great majority have passed out entirely
even where peaches normally succeed. However, it is the experience of a
few growers in Sanilac County, bordering Lake Huron, that within a half
mile of the lake, there is a greater profit in Persian walnuts than in
peaches. One grower at Lockport, New York, has found Persian walnuts to
pay better than other orchard crops which he has raised at equal expense
or upon equal areas of land. An orchard at East Avon, widely known at
one time and visited by the Northern Nut Growers' Association in 1915,
practically succumbed entirely after having borne but one good crop in
about 35 years. Mr. F. A. Bartlett, of Stamford, Conn., who knows
intimately many dozen trees of this species within a radius of 50 miles
of New York City, finds that few bear significant crops except at long
intervals. From Stamford, Conn., near the Atlantic Seaboard, south to
Norfolk, Va., Persian walnut trees are not uncommon in door-yards. They
are fairly frequent in southern Pennsylvania west over practically half
the length of the State and through Maryland west to Hagerstown. There
are perhaps more productive trees in Lancaster County, than in any other
county in either Pennsylvania or Maryland, with the possible exception
of some county of the Eastern Shore of the latter state, which section
already has been referred to. In Lancaster county yields are sufficient
to give considerable profit from trees not occupying expensive land.
The Japanese walnut affords a curious analogy in regard to hardiness.
During normal years, it succeeds over practically the same range as that
of the black walnut, yet it freezes in early fall, mild winter or late
spring when conditions are adverse, even when black walnut and pecan
nearby are not visibly affected. Mr. Jones finds the Lancaster heartnut,
a variety originating in his county, to be subject to injury by spring
freezing to such an extent that he has largely discontinued its
propagation. Mr. Edwin A. Surprise, of Boston, reports that this variety
grows well in summer but freezes back in winter about as much as it
grows in summer. Mr. Bartlett regards it as one of the most valuable
acquisitions in his nut planting at Stamford, Conn., as it is a
handsome, vigorous grower, and promises to bear well. As a safer variety
in the Lancaster district Mr. Jones has substituted the Faust from
Bamberg, S. C., which vegetates later in spring and thus far has proved
less subject to injury.
The twigs of young black walnut trees are occasionally injured by
freezing in winter, but recorded instances of such damage are rare. This
is a field which should be investigated, as there is evidently no data
showing even the regularity with which the black walnut bears in any
section, much less the extent to which fruiting is restricted by
destruction of the buds or spurs as a result of severe temperatures in
winter or spring. This also applies to hardiness of the butternut, the
hickories and of introduced species of chestnut.
In conclusion, it is pointed out that planters should not assume that
the presence of a healthy tree is proof of sufficient hardiness to
warrant extensive plantings, neither should they over-look the fact that
an occasional satisfactory crop may be but slim evidence of commercial
possibilities. It requires years of trial before a species or variety
can fully establish its hardiness. Yet, on the other hand, to wait to
find a kind of nut a hundred per cent hardy under all conditions, would
be not to plant at all. No varieties of any species are immune to winter
injury over any great portion of the United States. The planting of nut
trees in the northern part of the country is certain to go forward, but
for the present, east of the Rockies, large orchards of nut trees of any
species or variety must be regarded as fields promising for
experimentation rather than of sound commercial investment.
A common error in the minds of the American people is the assumption
that to be a success, a thing must be performed upon a large scale. To
develop a nut industry, it is imagined that there must be great orchards
of hundreds of acres. It is not realized that a great proportion of the
walnuts, almonds, filberts, and chestnuts annually imported from Europe,
are from roadside, hillside and door-yard trees which could as well have
been grown in this country on what is now idle land in thickly populated
agricultural districts. No one need expect to attain great wealth from
the products of door-yard or waste land trees but the by-product which
could readily be salvaged from nut trees, would likely be very
acceptable when interest and taxes or other bills come due.
WALNUT GRAFTING INVESTIGATIONS
_T. J. Talbert, Professor of Horticulture, University of Missouri,
College of Agriculture_
These investigations are to determine the best varieties of the improved
black walnut for Missouri. Valuable information is also being procured
in reference to the topworking or cleft grafting of the native seedling
black walnut to the improved sorts.
Since practically every Missouri farm contains some waste land upon
which the native walnut and other nut trees may be growing, it is
believed that it is possible to topwork these seedling sorts to improved
kinds which will not only supply a larger quantity of thinner shelled,
more highly flavored nuts for home use, but a surplus for the market.
There is a growing demand for the seedling black walnut.
At the present time Missouri leads all other states in the production of
this nut. The results which are being obtained in this experiment are
proving to be of unusual interest and profit to Missouri growers.
The investigation has been extended to include, besides black walnuts,
pecans, hickories, hazel nuts, chinkapins and chestnuts. With each of
these nuts our object is to determine better varieties for Missouri
conditions, more profitable and economical methods of production and
more satisfactory methods of culture, as well as to stimulate an
interest in the marketing and larger use of these products.
The improved varieties of seedling black walnut have been found to be
exceedingly easy to propagate by cleft grafting the native or common
seedlings. The cleft graft has been used successfully upon seedling
trees ranging in diameter from 1-1/2 inches to as much as 8 or 10
inches. In general, however, it has been found best to cleft graft
branches or limbs of no greater diameter than from 4 to 6 inches. Such
wounds, if properly handled, usually heal over completely within 3 or 4
years. When larger branches are used, decay is much more apt to develop
in the wound before healing over is accomplished.
The cleft grafting work is accomplished in the usual way. The limb or
branch is removed by sawing it off. The end of the branch is then split
with a regular grafting implement used for this purpose; or the work may
be accomplished with an axe. If the branch is large a wedge is driven in
the center to hold the split cavity apart and to relieve the pressure
upon the scions which are to be inserted. Wood of the last season's
growth is procured from the variety which it is desired to propagate and
the lower end of the scion, which is made about 4 inches long, is
whittled to a wedge shape, after which it is inserted in the slit made
upon the stock. Where the stock is more than 2 inches in diameter, it is
usually advisable to place 2 scions; and where the stock is as large as
4 to 6 inches or more in diameter 4 scions should generally be used.
After the placing of the scions all the cut surfaces should be carefully
covered with grafting wax. Paper sacks are often used in our
experimental work to cover the grafts and cut surfaces for a week or 10
days. It has been found that the inclosing of the grafted branches in
paper sacks for this period lessens greatly the evaporation, and more of
the inserted scions are apt to grow.
The scions may grow very rapidly, in which case it is usually necessary
to brace them by tying a stick or branch to the stock and allowing it to
extend for 2 or 3 feet above the point at which the grafting work was
done. The inserted scions are then tied to this support. It is very
important that the grower examine grafts after wind storms in order to
repair damage which may have been done.
Investigations at this station have shown that grafts usually bear fruit
in 4 years after the grafting operation. We receive some fruit,
occasionally, in 3 years after the work is performed. It is also
interesting to note that when seedling walnuts of the same size are
selected, some topworked and others untreated, the grafted trees after 5
years' growth generally grow tops equally as large as the tops of the
ungrafted trees.
The principal improved varieties of black walnut which are being used at
this Station are as follows: Stabler, Ohio, Thomas and Ten Eyck.
(Note by the editor.--The cleft graft described by Prof. Talbert has
been superseded in the East by other methods, chiefly the bark and the
modified cleft grafts).
CARE AND PREPARATION OF NUTS FOR SEED PURPOSES
_By Prof. E. R. Lake, U. S. Department of Agriculture_
A nut is a seed, and a seed, normally, is an embryo plant asleep. To
keep a nut-seed asleep and safely resting against the favorable time
when it may awake, arise and go forth, as a vigorous seedling bent upon
a career of earth conquest, requires no great or unusual attention and
care save that which is necessary to maintain such conditions as will
insure the complete maturing, ripening and curing of the seed, its
protection against the ravages of rodents or other nut-eating animals,
undue moisture and an unfavorably high temperature. In other words
harvest the nuts as soon after they are mature as is possible, insure
their complete curing, store them where they will be kept constantly so
cool that germination cannot take place, and some nuts, as the black
walnut and butternut, may germinate at a temperature just above zero
(centigrade(?) Ed.) and keep them moist enough to prevent undue
hardening of the tissues or enclosing structures (shell), at the same
time prevent them from becoming saturated with moisture and thus
rotting. Summarized, these conditions are: (a) a temperature just too
low for vegetative activity. (b) A moisture content of the nut just
below turgidity. (c) An immunity against ants, rats, mice and squirrels.
_Curing._ A man-devised method for hastening the ripening of a matured
seed or fruit, is usually carried on in a more or less enclosed space
where the moisture and temperature conditions are kept carefully
regulated, or in a place where the seeds are kept away from direct
contact with sunlight and the earth. Ordinarily, the nuts are placed in
trays 2" to 3" deep, 2' to 2-1/2' wide and 5' to 6' long. The bottom
tray is then placed upon a pair of sawhorses or other device, in a shady
place and 2' to 2-1/2' above the ground then the other trays are placed
on and above the first one until all the nuts are in the tier of trays,
or until it is 2' to 3' tall. Sometimes a current of heated,
circulating air is used to doubly hasten the curing process, but this
practice is to be discouraged as too often the undue heating of the nut
germ while in this stage of ripening injures it, and thus the nuts are
rendered unfit for reproduction. The nuts in the trays should be
frequently stirred or turned over during the first week or ten days
while curing.
In the case of chestnuts, the crop should be harvested as soon as
possible after the first nuts fall so that the damage from weevils may
be kept at a minimum. Immediately after the nuts are surface-dried they
should be treated to an application of carbon disulphide, one ounce to a
tightly closed capacity content of an apple barrel; time of treatment
about 24 hours. While this treatment probably will not kill all the
weevils it will insure a much larger percentage of germination than
there would be otherwise.
After fumigating the nuts should be spread out on wire-cloth bottom
trays and placed under a shed or trees, where a free circulation of air
will in a few days sufficiently cure the nuts, so that they may be
stratified and set away in a pit in the ground on the north side of a
building, wall, hedge-row or evergreen trees, thus insuring them ample
moisture and protection against sudden changes of temperatures and the
ravages of rodents and other pests.
Other nuts of the temperate zone may, in a general way, be treated
without any special care other than that required to keep them from
getting moist and warm, or destroyed by rodents or other nut-eating
animals, or by fungous troubles.
On the whole probably the best method of treatment for the amateur or
small grower of seedling nut trees, is to stratify the nuts as soon as
harvested, assuming that the nuts have been fairly well cured by a few
days' exposure to drying air currents.
Stratification consists in layering the nuts in clean, sharp sand, light
loam or sawdust and placing them in a cold, moist place, as a well
drained and shaded north hillside, where their contact with the soil and
protection from the direct rays of the sun will insure complete dormancy
and at the same time prevent the development of fungous troubles. To
this end the common practice is to dig a somewhat shallow trench and
place in it, one layer deep, the "flats" in which the nuts are
stratified. The flat usually employed is a shallow, wooden box in which
the bottom is provided with ample, narrow drainage cracks and the top
covered with wire cloth that will keep out mice or larger rodents. Not
infrequently the bottom is a wire cloth one instead of wood. Dimensions
of the flats vary, somewhat, but a convenient size is 30" long, 15"-16"
wide, 3"-4" deep, sides ends and bottom being made of lumber strips
(creosoted for preservation purposes) 3\4" thick and 3"-4" wide.
In these flats the nuts are placed layer upon layer, with sand, loam or
sawdust between, something as follows: one inch of sand or other medium
on the bottom, then a single layer of nuts, another inch layer of sand,
etc., until the flat is full, when it is covered with the wire cloth,
placed in the trench, covered with a few inches to a foot of leaves,
moist hay, cornstalks or even soil, and left for the winter. At the time
the medium for layering the nuts is being prepared, it will be well, if
ants are present in the section where the nuts are to be stored, or
later placed in nursery bed, to mix a liberal percentage of unleached
wood ashes with the sand, sawdust or loam, say one part in five, more or
less.
Other flats are placed alongside or end to end in the trench until the
stock is all in, when the whole may be covered uniformly. The layer of
leaves or hay next to the wire cover of the flats assists in the work of
uncovering when the inspections are made for the purpose of ascertaining
the state of dormancy or germination.
One step more and the seed stage passes into the province of the
seedling. As soon as the stratified nuts begin to germinate they should
be removed from the flats and planted in the nursery or propagating bed.
The site for this purpose should be one that is well drained, open to
air and sunshine and possessing a clean, fine, mellow and rather light
loamy soil. The size of this plat will vary to meet the needs of the
quantity of nuts in hand and should be prepared, preferably the fall
before, by stirring the soil deeply and thoroughly working into it a
goodly supply of well rotted stable compost.
The rows for hand culture may be 18"-30" apart; for loose hoeing, 3' to
3-1/2' and should lie along north and south lines. The distance and
depth of the nuts in the row will vary with their size. In general, one
may say that a nut should be planted the length of the lateral diameter
below the surface of the soil, when it has settled, or about double that
depth when the soil is freshly worked over it. The distance apart in the
row will vary somewhat with the rapidity of growth of the species; six
to eight inches being a fair average for walnuts and chestnuts, and 4 to
6 for hickories and pecans.
Fifteenth Annual Convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, New York City,
September 3, 4, 5, 1924
Species Variety Exhibitor Address Origin
1. Black walnut J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. St. Thomas, Ont.
2. Black walnut " " " " " Niagara-on-Lake.
3. Black walnut Walsh " " " " " Simcoe, Ont.
4. Black walnut " " " " " Electric, Ont.
5. Black walnut " " " " " Villoria, Ont.
6. Black walnut Ohio J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pa.
7. Black walnut Stabler " " " " "
8. Black walnut Thomas " " " " "
9. Persian walnut J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. Carpathian Mts.
10. Persian walnut " " " " " Grimsley, Ont.
11. Persian walnut " " " " " St. Catherines, Ont.
12. Persian walnut Alpine J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pa.
13. Persian walnut Mayette seedling " " " " "
14. Persian walnut Sinclair " " " " "
15. Persian walnut Wiltz Mayette " " " " "
16. Heartnut J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. Near Jordon, Ont.
17. Heartnut " " " " " Near Hamilton, Ont.
18. Heartnut " " " " " Near Scotland, Ont.
19. Heartnut Faust J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pa.
20. Heartnut Lancaster " " " " "
21. Heartnut Ritchey " " " " "
22. Sieboldiana walnut J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. Hamilton, Ont.
23. Sieboldiana walnut " " " " " OAC Campus, Guelph.
24. Shagbark J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. Electric, Ont.
25. Shagbark " " " " " Norfolk Co., Ont.
26. Shagbark hybrid Beaver J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pa.
27. Shagbark hybrid Siers " " " " "
28. Pecan J. A. Neilson Vineland, Ont. 15 miles N. of Toronto
29. Almond " " " " " Gellatly, B. C.
30. Filbert Tray of mixed " " " " " Gellatly, B. C.
31. Filbert White aveline J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pa.
32. Filbert Barcelona " " " " "
33. Filbert Cosford " " " " "
34. Filbert Daviana " " " " "
35. Filbert Du Chilly " " " " "
36. Filbert Giant de Halle " " " " "
37. Filbert Italian Red " " " " "
38. Filbert Merribrooke " " " " "
39. Filbert Noci Lunghe " " " " "
40. Filbert Rush " " " " "
42. Filbert hybrid Rush x Barcelona " " " " "
43. Filbert hybrid Rush x Barcelona " " " " "
44. Filbert hybrid Rush x Barcelona " " " " "
45. Filbert hybrid Rush Cosford " " " " "
46. Filbert hybrid Rush Cosford " " " " "
47. Filbert hybrid Rush Giant de Halle " " " " "
48. Filbert hybrid Rush Giant de Halle " " " " "
49. Filbert hybrid Rush Giant de Halle " " " " "
50. Filbert hybrid Rush Italian Red " " " " "
51. Photograph--Walnut-cracking machine Black Walnut Company,
509-11-13, Spruce St., St.
Louis, Mo.
52. Budding Knife
[Transcriber's note: No. 41 is missing in the original]
Among those present at the Fifteenth Annual Convention of the Northern
Nut Growers' Association, were the following:
Dr. N. L. Britton, Director of the N. Y. Botanical Gardens.
Dr. Fred E. Brooks, Entomologist, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Dr. and Mrs. Frank L. Baum, Boyertown, Pa.
Mr. Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y.
Dr. A. F. Blakeslee, Cold Spring Harbor, L. I.
Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Bartlett, Stamford, Conn.
Miss H. T. Bennett, Boston, Mass.
Prof. J. Franklin Collins, Providence, R. I.
Dr. John E. Cannaday, Charleston, W. Va.
Mr. G. M. Codding, Mt. Vernon, N. Y.
Prof. A. S. Colby, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.
Dr. W. C. Deming, Hartford, Conn.
Mr. Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vt.
Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, Rochester, N. Y.
Mr. Ammon P. Fritz, 55 E. Franklin St., Ephrata, Pa.
Mr. A. F. Graf, Bardonia, N. Y.
Mrs. B. W. Gahn, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Mr. and Mrs. Karl W. Greene, Washington, D. C.
Dr. M. A. Howe, Assistant to Director, N. Y. Botanical Gardens.
Mr. Henry Hicks, Baldwin, L. I. (Hicks' Nurseries).
Mr. John W. Hershey, E. Downington, Pa.
Mr. Lee Whitaker Jaques, 74 Waverly St., Jersey City, N. J.
Mr. J. F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa.
Mr. M. G. Kains, Suffern, N. Y.
Mr. Thomas W. Little, Cos Cob, Conn.
Dr. Robt. T. Morris, Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95, Stamford, Conn.
Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y.
Prof. Jas. A. Neilson, Horticultural Exp. Station, Vineland, Ont., Can.
Mr. Ralph T. Olcott, Ed. American Nut Journal, Rochester, N. Y.
Mrs. R. T. Olcott, Rochester, N. Y.
Mr. P. H. O'Connor, Bowie, Md.
Mr. C. A. Reed, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Mr. John Rick, Reading, Pa.
Dr. J. Russell Smith, Columbia University, New York, N. Y.
Dr. Oscar Stapf, F. R. S., late Curator of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, London, England.
Mr. Harry R. Weber, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mrs. Laura E. Woodward, West Chester, Pa.
Dr. and Mrs. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa.
Naperville, Illinois. Established 1866
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This space is paid for by Jas. L. Brooke, Pleasantville, Ohio, who is
only too anxious at any time to assist in encouraging and promoting Nut
Culture in the North.
While he has only recently taken up this work, and is therefore a
practical stranger on the roster of The Northern Nut Growers'
Association, he will only be too anxious and willing at any time to
contribute to the cause in any way possible.
He is making a thorough search in his neighborhood where chestnuts,
hickory nuts and black walnuts grow in abundance, for nuts of approved
merit for propagation.
In case anything is found along this line of endeavor the active members
of the association will hear from him and samples of nuts submitted.
NUT TREES