written a whole volume. But a few points are essential. Most nut trees
require a deep, well-drained soil that is not swampy or seepy, and over
which there are no overflows during the summer season. Pecans grow along
the river bottoms where there are heavy overflows in the winter, but
such an overflow in the summer would probably kill the trees. Nut trees
seem to flourish well on land that is underlaid with clay as a subsoil.
In fact, almost any kind of good farm land is suitable for some of the
different kinds of nut trees, provided it does not come within the
restrictions above mentioned. The better the land, however, the more
successful will be the growth of the trees, and I very much doubt
whether it pays to put any kind of desirable tree on undesirable land. I
have heard it said of pedigreed stock that about ninety percent of the
pedigree is in the corn crib, five percent in the man that does the
feeding, and five percent in the blood. Perhaps these percentages might
be subject to some variations. I shouldn't reduce the corn crib
requirement, and I think about ninety percent of the success of our nut
trees will depend upon the land.
The next point to be considered is the question of varieties and, in
this connection, it is essential to remember that nuts are produced to
be sold and eaten; therefore, it is important to keep in mind the
requirements of the consuming public. Upon this question also have been
written many thousands of pages which, when all summed up, simply
amounts to this: get the best varieties that will bear in your
particular locality. This can be determined to some extent by what
native trees are growing in your particular locality, although not
entirely so. In many sections of the country, there are no native pecan
trees, and yet these trees flourish very successfully when brought from
some other section. On this point the prospective planter of commercial
orchards should seek the best advice obtainable.
The third requirement for a commercial nut orchard is cultivation and
attention. Many of the nut trees will grow and bear without any
attention whatsoever, but they will take your time for it. I have seen
wild pecan trees that were not over twelve or fifteen feet high at
twenty-five years of age. I have seen cultivated trees larger than that
at eight years of age. A tree responds to care and cultivation the same
as corn or potatoes or any other of the cultivated crops. The lack of
cultivation is just as detrimental to them as to these crops. Young
pecan trees should be hoed five or six times each summer, and when they
get to be four to seven years of age, there ought to be a constant,
clean cultivation, from early spring until late in the summer, followed
by a good cover crop to be turned under the following spring at the
beginning of the cultivating period. They should also be given plenty of
good, commercial fertilizer.
If the prospective planter of commercial nut orchard has enough faith
and hope and follows the suggestions given above, he will not be
dependent upon charity in his old age.
DR. JORDAN: I am interested as an amateur pecan grower, and I would like
to ask what varieties will be of most profit, commercially, that can be
grown with a reasonable hope of success in the northern latitude.
* * * * *
MR. LITTLEPAGE: The question is a very difficult one to answer, but the
important thing is to stick to the kind that grows the best in your
locality. The Posey is grown in Lancaster County, Pa. The parent Posey
tree grows in Indiana, and I had the pleasure of naming it. That tree is
a good bearer, and it is the thinnest-shelled northern-grown pecan with
which I am familiar. It is a very beautiful nut, with the exception that
frequently one side of the kernel will not fill out as it does on the
other sides. It is not defective, but simply deficient. It will have one
full sized kernel but it is not perfect in shape. I myself do not think
this a very serious objection.
The Major is a fine bearing pecan, but the question is whether it is
large enough to be good commercially. The Niblack is the highest
flavored pecan.
The following letter from Mr. J. F. Jones, vice-president of the
association, was then read:
I am very sorry not to be able to attend the meeting this year. My son,
who has the overseeing of the outside work and, in my absence, the
general work, is incapacitated, due to an operation for appendicitis
last week and, with a number of men at work on particular jobs, I cannot
get away.
I am sending a few nuts which may be of interest to visitors. About half
of my young pecan trees are bearing this year and a few trees are quite
full. So far, Busseron shows up the best in bearing, with Posey second,
and Niblack third. The English walnuts are a good crop. Mr. Bush has a
big crop of these, and older trees in general have a good crop. The Rush
hazel is bearing a big crop as usual. So far this is the only variety in
any species to bear heavy annual crops here. The weather, seemingly, has
no effect on the setting of the nuts. Last spring we had it down to 10
above zero when this was in bloom, but it set a full crop from both hand
and natural pollenization. Hybrids of this and the best large fruited
Europeans which have come into bearing are very promising, but it is too
early to judge as to their bearing.
Put me down for new memberships or cash as last year, or for my part in
any arrangement that may be decided upon to take care of the
indebtedness of the association, or to advance its usefulness. I shall
also be glad to extend the offer of two nut trees as last year, to new
members, if it is thought this will help in securing the new members.
Offerings this year would be Stabler black walnut seedlings, Chinese,
Mayette, Franquette, Eureka, etc., in the English or Persians. Also
seedlings of the Rush hazel, if wanted.
Having been nominated vice-president of the association two years ago,
it may be understood that I am in line for the presidency this year upon
the retirement of our honorable president Mr. McGlennon. If so, I wish
to ask the nominating committee not to consider my name as I cannot
accept this responsibility. With the vast amount of correspondence
incidental to supplying information to those wanting to engage in the
growing of nuts or nut trees, and growing and selling nut trees,
experimental work and breeding new types and varieties, I have my hands
full and could not do this position justice. We also have members in the
association better fitted for this position who can give it better
thought and attention, and who can advance the association and the
interests of nut growers more than I can, while I can be of more benefit
to the association and the nut industry in general without taking on the
duties imposed by any official position.
NOTES BY MR. BIXBY
Thursday, Sept. 27
Trip by automobiles to Mr. Littlepage's farm at Bowie, Md., and to the
U. S. Experiment Station at Bell.
Mr. Littlepage has an orchard of 275 trees covering thirty acres of
pecans and Stabler black walnuts, the first pecan trees being set in
1914, and the Stabler black walnuts some three years later. Now both are
starting to bear, a few nuts having appeared last year, and a very few
nuts the year before.
The trees are growing finely, the leaves have a fine dark green color,
and nuts were noticed in clusters, the pecans being in clusters of 2, 3,
4 and 5; and the black walnuts in ones and twos.
That the orchard has been given good care is evident. Commercial
fertilizers and green manures have been used. A winter cover crop of rye
was grown last fall and plowed under this spring, and a summer cover
crop of soy beans was grown this summer and will be plowed under this
fall.
The varieties noticed in bearing were the Major, the Greenriver, Stuart,
Busseron and the Indiana. Of the above, all are northern varieties,
excepting the Stuart, which is a southern variety which has given
evidence elsewhere of being able to grow and to bear further north than
almost any other southern variety.
The pecans are set in blocks, the earlier ones being set 60' x 60'. Mr.
Littlepage became convinced after his first plantings that this was too
close, and the last planting of pecans was 100' x 120'.
The black walnuts are planted along two fence rows, the trees being
fifty feet apart, the total length of the rows being about
three-quarters of a mile. The peculiarity of the Stabler black walnut of
bearing some nuts where the kernel is in one piece, that is where one
lobe of the kernel has not developed, was noticed in some of Mr.
Littlepage's trees. There is going to be, in future years at Mr.
Littlepage's place, an opportunity to study this peculiar behavior of
the Stabler black walnut, that could be carried on at the parent tree
only with great difficulty, because of the inaccessibility of the tree,
in the first place, and the inaccessibility of the flowers, owing to
their great height above the ground, in the second.
At Bell Station was seen Dr. Van Fleet's work on chestnuts. Some ten
years ago Dr. Van Fleet began this work for the purpose of getting
something that should be blight proof, or at least strongly blight
resisting and that would furnish the nuts which the chestnut blight is
rapidly making impossible of production. With this end in view, some ten
years ago Dr. Van Fleet planted nuts of the Chinese chestnut, Castanea
mollissima, and planted out the seedlings. He also procured from the
place of J. W. Killen, at Fenton, Md., nuts of Japan chestnuts that had
withstood the blight up to the time the nuts were planted. The first
thing to be found out was how well these would resist the blight. None
were found to be immune, although the trees are still alive after ten
years exposure. Dr. Van Fleet's ambition was to get a blight-resistant
chestnut the size of the Japan chestnut with the delicious flavor of the
chinkapin. This, as yet, has not been accomplished, although some very
good nuts much larger than chinkapins were seen. One interesting fact
noted as to resistance was that the Japan chestnut, which is not
generally supposed to be as resistant as the Chinese chestnut, was at
Bell Station apparently standing up just as well.
* * * * *
At the evening session, Thursday, Sept. 27, a rising vote of thanks was
given to Mr. and Mrs. Littlepage for their hospitality of the afternoon.
The president then introduced Mrs. W. N. Hutt, editor of the Progressive
Farm Woman, of North Carolina.
Mrs. Hutt quoted H. G. Wells as saying, "The primeval savage was both
herbivorous and carnivorous. He had for food hazel nuts, beech nuts,
sweet chestnuts, earth nuts and acorns." She went on to say:
In Spain and Southern France, the chestnut is now used much more than in
the past. You should know in what appetizing forms they are cooked. It
is a question how you should cook the chestnut if you do not want to
spoil its flavor. Should you steam it, boil it, or what? When you want
it in bread, or when you use the tasteless forms, it is first steamed or
boiled, and later is mashed up and made into bread, or mixed with
cheese or tomatoes. But if you want to develop the flavor, then roast
it, pick it out from the shell and crush it, using almost no other
flavor with it.
Have you ever realized how much we depend on the walnut in cooking? Take
the pecan, or perhaps almost all of the nuts; the flavor is diminished
by cooking. But the walnut is the one nut that gains in flavor by being
cooked. This means a great deal for the popularity of the walnut.
A friend of mine was captured by the Germans, and was sent out each day
into the forests to gather acorns to be used in the prisoners' food. The
friend said that many a time he thought he would rather die than to have
to eat or gather any more acorns.
Farmers' Bulletin No. 712, "The School Lunch," by Caroline Hunt, has
been especially valuable in the preparation of the school lunch with
nuts. There is a man who comes to North Carolina every winter, who will
tell you that he lives on ten types of nut oils and nut butter.
The great mass of people out through the country are not yet ready to
comprehend this; but once they are educated to the value of nuts, the
demand for them will be unlimited.
As to the question of economy, the prices should not go up any farther;
they will not be used enough until they become cheaper. With many boys
and girls in a family, a dollar's worth of nuts, at $1 a pound, will not
go far. If we could get nuts at more reasonable prices it seems to me
that women would consider them more than they do for food. They want
them not only for their parties, but in everyday life.
We should popularize nuts through newspapers. It pays to advertise, and
little notices in the paper are much more far-reaching than any other
way of telling the story of the nourishment to be found in nuts.
As to the value of nut trees in landscape work, a real estate man told
me that when he wanted a good price for a house he planted fruit trees
at the back of the house, and nut trees on the sides. He would talk
about those trees to the people who came to buy, and has sold many
houses in this way.
Then take Arbor Day, and we have one in nearly every state in the Union.
If we could get the papers and the forest magazines to talk about Arbor
Day, and urge everybody to plant something, and particularly to plant a
nut tree, it would not be long before we got results. I could not think
of anything much more patriotic than planting avenues of memorial nut
trees. Nut trees are better to look at than are many of the monuments
erected, and the patriotic societies do not realize the truth in this.
There is a case where with a stroke of the pen, the nut trees could be
increased all over the country.
Then consider the home demonstration agents in the country. They have
the women organized and are in touch with the men of progressive thought
and feeling everywhere; and it seems to me that we could make more use
of them. It would seem that if this organization could in some way raise
the money to have someone talk at these demonstration meetings, it would
not be long before the value and the beauty of nut trees would show the
use of doing this splendid work. What more effective methods could there
be than to go to the state meetings held by home demonstration agents
twice a year, and talk nuts to those people? They go home and talk these
same things to all of the women in their little organizations and
communities. There is no rapid transit method more effective than that.
Then, when the women are taking up a subject like that, men are apt to
read it also.
Another form of advertising that is equally important is in men's
organizations. A number of years ago Mr. Hutt went down through the
eastern part of the state on the old farmers' institute work. He took
with him a case fixed up to display nuts. He talked about them, and
especially about pecans. The people had never seen anything but the
little, old, wild pecan, and they became enthusiastic. When you get a
farmer enthusiastic you are doing something. The people became quite
enthusiastic and planted quite a number of orchards. Mr. Hutt left the
department and the new man who came in was not particularly enthusiastic
about nuts. Then Mr. Curran came into the work and decided there was
nothing he could do better than to urge them to plant nut trees. He is
trying to get an unlimited quantity of pecans and walnut trees planted
and he hopes to have a large number of trees put in within a few years.
To paraphrase what Mr. Littlepage said this morning, in connection with
the raising of hogs, in getting the world to plant more trees, to use
more nuts and to appreciate the value of nut trees for both beauty and
use, you need 90 percent of advertising; and let the 8 percent be the
man and 2 percent be the nut.
* * * * *
DR. MORRIS: Last year, when my experiments with the use of paraffin
grafting had apparently been completed, I included what I knew of this
subject in a little book, and this brought out letters from all parts of
the country, in fact from all parts of the world, reminding me that I
had not completed the subject of the use of paraffin in grafting. From
tropical countries men complained that my suggestions about the use of
one particular kind of paraffin, "Parowax," were not applicable to their
part of the country where the paraffin would melt in the summer sun.
Then, from some of the regions where the nights were cold, they said the
paraffin would crack and leave the stocks bare, owing to the change of
temperature.
We are consequently faced with a necessity for extending our information
on this subject. My reason for presenting it, before I have completed
investigations, is to get suggestions from members of the audience here,
and from practical nurserymen. I have written a number of books on
various topics, and have never sent one out without feeling sorry that
it was not time for the next edition.
The theory is that if we cover a graft completely with melted paraffin,
including the entire scion, buds and all, we have accomplished several
things. In the first place, the paraffin prevents the graft from drying
out before new cells can make union with cells of the scion.
In the second place it fills all interstices where sap would collect.
In the third place it provides an airtight covering so that the free sap
pressures, negative and positive, under different temperatures, will be
analogous in stock and scion. When there is low sap pressure we assume
that some of the sap may be drawn out of the scion. This airtight
covering prevents that.
In the fourth place it provides a translucent covering, which allows
action by the actinic rays of light, which brings the chlorophyll into
activity. All plant growth is conducted under the influence of
chlorophyll, and the actinic rays of light activate this. Consequently,
I seemed to have a perfect grafting material in this Parowax, which we
may find in any grocery store. In my locality this wax worked perfectly
and, theoretically, nothing more was to be desired. It melts at 125
degrees farenheit.
I have brought with me a specimen of a pear tree that I grafted in this
way in July of this year. You will see that the Parowax covering is
still complete. The new shoots have grown about eight inches since July
1, and I do not see how you could imagine anything more perfect than
this specimen, from which I wrote my description in the book. As a
matter of fact it is by the use of the paraffin method that I seemed to
have solved the very great problem of making it possible for anybody to
graft anything, and at any time of the year. The most difficult thing to
graft is the shagbark hickory, and we have even done that every month of
the year, except December and January. This year we are going to try
those months, for I believe that the hickory tree may be grafted any
month of the year.
Now the point of my remarks will relate to different kinds of paraffin.
This Parowax, which melts at 125 degrees farenheit, will be satisfactory
in the north temperate regions. We may raise the melting point ten
degrees, if we like, by the addition of the carnauba wax, which,
however, is highly crystalline. A crystalline wax is not desirable
because it cracks and permits the air to enter and we have a desiccation
of the scion. The Standard Oil people will furnish paraffin with a
melting point of 138 degrees, and that will cover all of our needs for
hot countries. But in getting paraffins that melt at 136, 137 or 138
degrees we have a rather definite crystalline element. Mr. Bixby has
suggested the use of the earth wax which is mined in Australia. It is
really a fossil paraffin and is not so granular. I found that it is not
to be had in this country at the present time, however, although various
dealers told me that they had it, and I obtained from a firm in New York
City a misbranded specimen called "Ozokerite," which they said is a
technical term for this particular fossil paraffin. But it was nothing
of the sort; it was something they had made up for themselves. Mr. Bixby
kindly gave me a pound or so of the real "Ozokerite," so I had the
genuine thing to experiment with. We may then settle the question of
obtaining paraffines which have a high melting point, by knowing that
they may be obtained from any of the Standard Oil people.
Knowing that we must have, in addition, the elastic feature, I found one
man who had succeeded by adding something to a high melting-point
paraffin. He said that it was a secret, but I soon found that it would
be no secret to a bee. It would seem, then, that this quality in beeswax
would be valuable, since the secret formula from this same dealer has
little more than beeswax in it. Beeswax is a different kind of organic
product from paraffin and I would not expect them to mingle naturally
when in melted solution, but apparently they do. You will find that the
specimens which contain this wax are very smooth to the touch, and
apparently are more homogeneous than paraffin.
The subject for experiment then, for members of this audience, is that
of finding some substance that may be added to give elasticity, but
which will not change the melting point. In the South we may require in
addition something to whiten our paraffin. Some men in Southern
California wrote me that they had fastened white paper about each graft
and put a rubber band over it. I suggested this plan to one or two men
in Australia and in Ceylon, who had complained about the melting of the
Parowax, and I have not yet received their replies. I have been trying,
however, to simplify things in the way of grafting. In addition to the
elasticity that we need, we must have whitening, and for this purpose we
must add something that will not be poisonous to the tree but will mix
with the paraffin readily and give a white paraffin, which will
interfere somewhat with the actinic light. I have found that carbonate
of lead will mix well with paraffin. Carbonate of zinc will also mix
well. They are both heavy, so heavy that they need a certain amount of
stirring. A lighter substance is citrate of zinc, which will give
elasticity, and which will probably also give a white effect. It melts
with the paraffin and, being neutral, it will do no harm to the tree.
I have given you an outline on which I wish discussion, for I hope to
get from this audience the information and suggestions that will enable
me to make my experiments in the right way so that by next spring we may
have no further need for discussing the question as to the correct
paraffin method in grafting.
MR. BIXBY: There is another wax that is not so crystalline as the
Parowax, and that is Candelilla, which is produced in Texas and New
Mexico. It may be obtained from the wax importers in New York City, not
from the Standard Oil Co., but the importers. I will find out just where
it is from. I can easily get samples. Its melting point is not so high
as Parowax, but it is much higher than any of the other waxes.
DR. MORRIS: Then by mixing it with the high-melting point waxes, those
of about 138 degrees, we might get good results.
MR. BIXBY: I think so, and without introducing the crystalline element.
Prof. H. H. Hume of Glen St. Mary, Florida was then asked to speak. He
said that he uses fresh pine gum from the turpentine cups to make
grafting wax stick. This will mix with beeswax and give the elasticity
needed for winter work (in the South). Also it is unaffected by a
temperature as high as 120 degrees. He uses a mixture of high grade
rosin, beeswax and pine gum with which pieces of cloth are saturated.
Gum should be obtained in the spring when it is purest. It is thin
enough to pour out.
Dr. Zimmerman said that he had tried pine gum with paraffine and it
would not mix.
Prof. Hume said that beeswax can be had in various shades up to pure
white.
Dr. Morris said that black grafting wax attracts heat and excludes
actinic rays. He prefers a translucent wax.
Prof. Hume stated that in the country where Jacksonville, Florida, is
there are 100 miles of roadway under construction which will be planted
with nut trees where possible. He added that once when he was ill for a
long time the doctor finally ordered a glassful of milk and a handful of
pecan kernels for his diet. He tried it and it worked.
Dr. Zimmerman said that for grafting wax he had used equal parts of
paraffin, stearic acid and beeswax with good results.
Dr. Morris stated his belief that the simple splice graft is the
strongest kind.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
Sept. 28th.
The chairman of the Committee on Incorporation was called upon for a
report and spoke as follows: