SECTION X.--AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS

ARTICLE I. These by-laws may be amended at any Annual Meeting by a

two-thirds vote of the members present provided such amendments shall

have been submitted to the membership in writing at least thirty days

prior to that meeting.

* * * * *

Forty-Second Annual Meeting

Northern Nut Growers Association, Inc.

August 28, 29 and 30, 1951

Urbana, Illinois

At the evening session on August 27, Dr. William Rohrbacher presented

Dr. Arthur S. Colby, of the University of Illinois, who informally

welcomed the gathering and set forth in detail the plans for the

convention, with directions for finding different buildings, and

suggestions concerning the several scheduled events. Dr. Colby concluded

his talk by calling for a few remarks from one of our Canadian members,

George H. Corsan, of Toronto, who is probably (with Dr. Deming) one of

two nonagenarians in the association.

Mr. Corsan spoke as follows:

MR. CORSAN: My neck is still stiff. On the 27th of May I was up looking

at a budding and I was coming down a 40-foot ladder, and when I was 22

feet from the ground the ladder had a bad rung and I took a head-first

dive for the earth. I believe my tissues were made out of nuts, fruit,

honey, and grain and I was able to survive. I looked exactly like a man

in the gallows. They said, "You will be in the hospital for eight weeks

or more." In two weeks and two days I was hoeing corn.

On the way here I dropped into various places that were of interest.

Jack Miners. The place is really better than when their father was

alive. I came over across the river and dropped into Battle Creek.

I spent a good time hunting for Kellogg and I couldn't find him. One

person told me he was dead. He was quite peppy over the telephone and I

was amazed because he had been ill and well, then ill and then well. He

says, "Come on over. I am ready and looking for you." He wrote me a

letter scolding me. He asked where I was going and I told him. I asked

him, "Do you know you are a life member of that association?"

He has a monster dog descended from Rin-Tin-Tin and that dog is clean,

intelligent and looks like a human being. He is on the shore of Gull

Lake, a seven-mile-long, one-mile-wide lake. Marvelous looking. He had

abandoned his big house and he gave that to soldiers and sailors and

sick men. I had asked for him and they have never heard of him. That's

how he hides himself. He is back on the lake again. So I hunted and

found a house so unique that no one but he could have a house like that

built. There he was and he was peppy as ever. He has a new man on the

bird sanctuary. He was fully alive.

I don't want to take up any more of your time. I have had call on me an

enormous number of people who are more interested in nut growing than

ever. I can't blame them, with the price of meat so high, and so many

doctors advising the displacement of animal foodstuff by the eating of

nuts.

It was on my 94th birthday that I got a plaster cast and was in it two

weeks and two days. I will tell you a little secret. I was supposed to

have a diet. They had a dietician and I said I didn't need to eat

anything. I drank orange juice and pineapple juice and apple juice and

grapefruit juice. I ate some European black bread with carroway seeds;

it tasted bitter. I don't eat so much as I did before the accident. I am

trying to be careful of myself.

I want to have a talk with Wilkinson on the black walnut. I have four

big trees of Stabler, and hardly a nut grows on them. Down there they

behave themselves and have big crops. How do they have such big crops? I

like them. I don't believe there is a tastier nut in the world. Even my

hybrid Asiatic butternut cross. I have got quite a lot of them here to

show you and the biggest filberts in the world and they are all

seedlings.

Not a hickory nut, butternut or black walnut. I had a ton of black

walnuts. There is a good crop of hybrids, filberts, English walnuts, and

there are some other nuts. I am north of Lake Ontario. When any of you

are going across, drop in and see me.

TUESDAY MORNING SESSION

DR. ROHRBACHER: Will you please come to order. My gavel is in Iowa City,

so I will use my pocket knife. We have to make a little change in our

program. Our leader, Mr. Magill, is not yet here.

First on our program this morning will be Dr. C. J. Birkeland, head of

the Department of Horticulture at the University of Illinois. It's

wonderful to have such a splendid response so early in the morning.

DR. BIRKELAND: It is certainly nice to see such a big turnout and we

certainly welcome you to Illinois. We have been interested in nuts for a

long time and probably will be more interested in the future. We have

one man on our staff who has for years been interested. Now that we have

two, we will be twice as interested. In the past, years ago, the

Endicotts probably pioneered in a new variety of nuts. Later on, the

Caspers and Gerardis and Whitfords and now the Oakes and Best families

are doing a lot of work in the propagation of new and better varieties.

We have a lot of areas in Illinois suitable for nut propagation, with

the Wabash, Illinois, and Mississippi rivers, and we have been working

with farm advisers and other groups to increase nut production and now

we have a new horticultural experimental station in the southern part of

the state. There is a lot of land suitable for that type of production.

Out on the horticultural farm we have, I guess, several hundred

seedlings and varieties of nuts which you will probably see. I hope your

stay here will be a lot of fun as well as profitable.

DR. CRANE: It is a great pleasure for me, and I know from the expression

that I have had from those with whom I have talked, also for the members

of the Northern Nut Growers Association who are here to be able to meet

in Urbana as guests of the University of Illinois. As a matter of fact,

we have tried and wanted to come out here for quite a long while, but

we didn't have a good invitation and we are glad to accept--here we are!

The members of the Northern Nut Growers Association are all good people

and they are very much interested in nut growing, not so much from the

standpoint of making a fabulous income and being able to retire on an

unlimited bank account on ten acres of land in nut trees, but they get a

lot of pleasure out of fooling with them as a hobby, and in order that

they might more or less through their trees respond under God's loving

care.

This is the 42nd annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association,

so it is no longer a baby. It is growing up. I don't know what the

membership is at the present time. The secretary is going to tell us

what the membership is this afternoon. It has gotten to be quite a

sizable organization. We welcome the opportunity of coming out here to

Illinois to see some of the nut orchards and nut trees in this great

state, particularly pecans, although we do see quite a lot of hickories

and also walnuts.

We certainly thank you, Dr. Birkeland, for your welcome and I know that

our pleasure here is going to be unlimited. We thank you.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you, Dr. Crane. We had them bring up some water to

take care of our whistles.

At this time I'd like to present our address.

President's Address

I want to say it is a real privilege and pleasure for me to visit with

you today and to have the honor of serving as your president for the

past year. I have always been impressed with the enthusiasm and optimism

of this group. You know enthusiasm and optimism are highly contagious,

and I look forward each year with great anticipation to my regular

inoculation.

It is particularly fitting that we assemble here with a common goal and

purpose and also with the common knowledge that there is much work to be

done. This society, which was formed 42 years ago, has enjoyed great

progress and I wish to commend the men who had the vision to conceive

this association and nurture it to manhood. Their accomplishments were

indeed fruitful. However, there is still room and need for a program of

expansion. It is our responsibility and obligation to see that this

growth continues. The rings of growth on a tree trunk push outward and

continually expand and grow--so must our association. Sometimes we

become so deeply engrossed in what we are doing or trying to do that it

is advisable to back up and take a broadside view of our objectives and

purpose. In other words, we sometimes cannot see the forest for the

trees.

I should like at this time to review the real intent and purpose of the

Northern Nutgrowers Association. The defined purpose of this

association, as stated in the Constitution, is to promote: (1) Interest

in nut bearing plants; (2) Scientific research in their breeding and

culture; (3) Standardization of varietal names; (4) The dissemination of

information concerning the above and such other purposes as may advance

the culture of nut bearing plants.

We are very happy that the 1951 convention has come to Illinois, which

represents the western rim of this group. Only one meeting was held

farther west, and that was held in Iowa in 1915, when my good friend and

fellow Iowan, D. C. Snyder's brother, was active and contributed so much

to nut culture in this country. The late Sam Snyder's, as well as D.

C.'s untiring efforts, did much to originate and develop some of the

finest named walnut and hickory nuts in Iowa. Through the years many

other good nuts of the black walnut, hickory, pecan, Persian walnut and

chestnut have been added to the ever-growing list. It is my considered

opinion that one of the real questions that must be answered and

answered intelligently, based on actual experience, is what nut trees

shall I plant now?

It is only natural that the list of different varieties has grown so

long in nearly every variety that we should concern ourselves

particularly with point three of our objectives, which I have reviewed

with you--that being the standardization and selection of varietal

names. In order that nut culture be extended and expanded for profit, as

well as satisfaction, I feel this is a real problem. It is my considered

judgment that a definite culling must be done. Those of us who find our

favorite nut tree meeting the axe may propagate it on a personal basis.

The fact remains however that a definite list of approved varieties,

based on actual experience and performance, is needed. We will save many

a heartache, much time, work, and money by knowing more definitely what

to plant. This would enable the nurseryman or the propagator of nut

trees to reduce the number of varieties it has been necessary to carry

in the past. It is imperative that any growing business have a broad

commercial base. The nurseryman is seeking information on the most

desirable varieties because it is unprofitable for him to carry a huge

inventory of varieties he feels are most desirable, yet are called for

the least. It has been my experience that the nurserymen in Iowa are

limiting the number of species for propagating purposes. They are making

a selection of varieties based on their own judgment, which may be good

or perhaps could be better. If more standardization and selection could

be obtained, the nurseryman could and would propagate more of the

varieties that are recommended for their particular localities. In my

opinion, it is our responsibility to help furnish this information.

With this in mind, we have named a committee to work on this important

problem during the past year. The very capable and efficient Mr. H. F.

Stoke has been working with the vice-presidents of our organization to

survey the black walnut through the black walnut belt. I am sure we all

are anxious to learn about their findings and accomplishments later in

this conference. It is my sincere hope that this report and the forum

round table discussion will give all of us a better understanding of

which black walnut to plant in each respective locality. If we can

accomplish this one problem at this meeting, I feel this conference

would be most worthwhile and be a contributing factor to an

ever-expanding production of good black walnuts in this country.

If we can make real progress on the black walnut, and I am confident we

can, the other varieties such as the hickory, Persian walnut, chestnut,

and the lesser grown nuts, can be dealt with in the future.

This matter of selecting the best variety of black walnuts for a

particular locality has been of interest to me ever since I became

interested in the fascinating subject and practice of growing nut trees.

Furthermore, I have become increasingly interested in this during each

succeeding year. If you will pardon a personal reference, we started out

by planting some of each variety that appealed to me that was being

propagated or sold by nurserymen. In the beginning years we experienced

difficulty with two factors: namely, cattle and flood waters. We still

have a number of varieties but have discarded many for a number of

reasons. However, in the next few years the trees will be ready to bear

and will furnish many of the answers concerning production in our own

locality. This single project may save future planters of nut trees many

heartaches and, more important, loss of time--because they will know

what to plant.

That sentence in essence is my main thought for the day--and year. And

as a final example we could read the parable from the book of Matthew of

the man who sowed seed but an enemy sowed tares and the servants asked

if they should pull the tares. But Jesus said, "No, because in so doing

they might uproot the wheat. Rather," said He, "wait until the harvest,

then separate the tares from the wheat."

Earlier it was mentioned that we all like to be identified with a

growing or expanding business or project. It is my firm conviction that

we all should do more to promote more and better nut trees. We need more

planters of a few nut trees as well as a few planters with many trees.

We have recently seen a tremendous rebirth of interest in grassland

farming in this country. This is constructive and sound for the long

pull. Livestock and proper land use are natural companions. Another ally

and companion in this whole movement should be good walnut trees in

every pasture, a few nut trees in every farm lot, in the fence row and

corner of the farm. I am sure that our educational agencies would be

very receptive to putting more emphasis on this sound and fundamental

practice. Good pasture lands, clear streams, plenty of trees for shade

are all important and real assets to any farm. Shade produced by a tree

is incomparable to any man-made structure. Instead of compromising with

any shade tree let us all accept it as our mission to educate the people

to know that nut trees are the most economical and useful. Then, after a

summer of furnishing the finest shade from the summer heat, fall would

bring an abundant harvest of highly desirable edible nuts for the

household and perhaps a few more for a city neighbor who may not have

been so fortunate.

Thus, in closing, may I again emphasize that it is my sincere hope that

the survey, which has been completed by Mr. Stoke through the good

cooperation of the vice presidents, will result in a more intelligent

selection of the best black walnuts for the respective communities and

localities. This will enable the beginner, as well as others, to

purchase black walnut trees with a reasonable assurance that the returns

will be a source of satisfaction rather than a disappointment.

It is a real pleasure to come to Urbana and partake of the gracious

hospitality of people like Dr. Colby, J. C. McDaniel, and others who

have contributed so much to the success of this association. This is a

great fraternity and it is my sincere hope that we continue from here to

a most successful meeting. This common bond and mutual objective of

better nut culture gives us pleasure, profit, pleasant association,

healthful enjoyment, and at the same time renders a genuine service to

our community and country.

At this time, we have to make a change in our program, due to the fact

that our leader W. W. Magill, of the University of Kentucky, is not here

with us. We have asked that S. C. Chandler, of Carbondale, Illinois,

speak on the Control of Spittle Bugs on Nut Trees.

Control of Spittle Bugs on Nut Trees

S. C. CHANDLER, _Illinois Natural History Survey, Carbondale, Ill._

When Dr. Crane spoke about the fact that so many of you grow nuts for

pleasure rather than for profit, I thought that probably explained why I

just knew about this pecan spittle bug June 27 of this year. I never

even heard of it before, although it has been quite serious in and

around Union County, 200 miles south of here. The firm which owns the

orchard where these tests were conducted, Conrad Casper and Son, has 75

magnificent pecan trees besides an apple and a peach orchard. Mr. Casper

didn't say anything about the trouble until then. He lays much of the

loss of his crop to the pecan spittle bug. I want you to know what it is

like. It is a little out of season. The meadow spittle bug works on

grasses and weeds. This is, we have found, a different species. This one

I brought up doesn't show as much as it would if I had collected it

three weeks ago. There is a little nymph of a sucking insect which spits

as it feeds. It doesn't chew tobacco fortunately. I got it from down

here in the bottoms of the Little Wabash River.

I first want to tell you a little of what the grower, Mr. Conrad Casper,

considers the importance of it. Now, as I say, I don't pretend to be a

specialist on nut insects. My work has been mostly with fruit insects.

Whatever I know about this insect I have learned this year, and I am

just passing on that information to you.

Mr. Casper says that in the year represented by this growth here the

spittle bug worked right into the base, and that is the one that would

have produced buds. So, instead of bearing nuts, it acts as if you have

pruned it. It didn't stop the growth, but it stopped the bearing of

nuts. That was attacked by spittle bugs, but at any rate it didn't

produce nuts. That has gone on four or five years and his neighbors all

say the same thing. Here is one year, two, three, in the twig growth.

This year it did make some nuts, in that particular branch. I am not

prepared to back everything he says. Here is a growth here, then

another, and finally had a few nuts all over the tree. So much then for

the importance of it.

My problem was three-fold. I wanted to find out what species was

involved. I found out it was not the same species that works on the

grasses, and I sent in some adults for identification. They told me the

right genus, but couldn't tell me the species. They are either in the

process of determining it or on vacation. It is a different thing from

the Meadow spittle bug and has two broods instead of one. I wanted to

learn something about the life history. All of you know that it is very

important to get the life history of the insect, because then you know

the stages in which they are most likely to be most easily killed. We

know something of the stages and when it would be of use to spray or do

something for them. In order to learn the species, I had to rear it out

and to attempt some control measures when it was first called to my

attention by the farm advisers. This first brood was about over, and I

thought our work was about over. The spittle was drying up. It is

interesting to note that unless it is actually feeding, you can carry it

around in a car for only a short time. The insect seems to stop working

and you can't get a very good sample.

MR. McDANIEL: We have some out there on our pecan trees and on the

walnuts also.

MR. CHANDLER: Down there we found where walnut was interplanted with

pecan, it would be very light on a walnut then. So I thought that maybe

our observations and tests were over before they ever started, but by

July 8 or 10, a new brood had started. Dr. G. C. Decker could hardly

believe it. There is only one brood of the Meadow spittle bug with which

he was familiar, but this was a different species. It was very much more

numerous than the first brood. Ninety-five per cent of the terminals

were infested. If that does anything to nut production it is bound to

reduce the bearing. Now that brood lasted until late August. The adults

continued to emerge for about a month, starting August third, and as far

as I know they were still emerging on Sunday afternoon, August 26.

Now, just before telling about that and showing some of the pictures and

spraying test, I might wind up this part of it by saying something about

the distribution. I wondered if it is in Gallatin County. I found it

abundant there. Mac already says we have some in Urbana. I was wondering

if it was down in the so-called pecan orchards. These orchards are

really just seedling groves. Immense things. I went down there on my way

and they do have it. The first man I met said I think we haven't been

getting pecans because of that spittle bug. It did seem funny to stumble

on the thing. Mr. Casper was really an apple grower. It took him four

years to suffer enough to complain about his pecan insects.

I want to show you some slides. Dr. Kelly will start showing the

pictures.

I tried to take a picture of one of the worst infested branches. Really,

later I found I had taken it a little too soon. This thing actually

hangs down in bags.

This was my attempt to show some of these previous year's growth that

was killed, and there it was. You can see some of this whitish material

here. This was taken after we had sprayed. The new growth is coming

through here.

I must have gotten my finger in the way here. This is the dead part and

the new growth and something working on it.

Another thing that Mr. Casper says is that sometimes it gets bad enough

so that some of these nuts are caused to drop off. They seem to be

pretty well established.

Now there are small things I am attempting to show here. I think our

official photographer is on vacation. He has some that are larger than I

was able to take. I tried to take a picture when the spittle was dried

up, but I don't know whether you can see them.

I wanted to show you some of the cages. They were emergence cages that

cover a branch. The nymphs would develop into the adults inside that.

Here again I wished for my official photographer. These are the adults,

darkish up here and light in the other end. They are about three-eighths

of an inch long and they are a hopper. They have wings with which they

can fly, but mostly you see them jumping about. They look like your tree

hoppers.

I just wanted you to take a look down this magnificent orchard of Mr.

Casper's. He has 75 of those trees. They are 31 years old, planted 55

feet apart. They are 75 feet high. I am going to have to use some of my

boy scout ability and measure by proportion. He claims to have sprayed

at least the lower three-fourths of the tree.

MEMBER: He uses a speed sprayer, doesn't he?

MR. CHANDLER: No, it's another kind. With all the pressure on one gun,

he can get a long way up. One of the materials we used was too strong

and we got a crinkling on the leaves. After that he cut it down to what

I told him.

My data slide. I want to tell you about this. He sprayed first on July

16 in the orchard which I showed you. He sprayed the whole thing with

parathion. He had been using it with his apples and he thought of that

as being such a deadly poison that that must be the thing to do. We

thought so the first day afterward. He sprayed in the evening. At nine

the next morning we could find practically none of those terminals that

seemed to have live spittle bugs, but in about two days we could see

some were surviving that treatment so we came in again. That spray was

applied July 23. At any rate, we sprayed one row with lindane, 1-1/4 lb.

per 100 gallons. When I went through the original parathion sprayed plot

there was well over half that had some live nymphs.

We started our tests over again. On July 30 we sprayed with lindane (25%

wettable powder) with one pound to one hundred gallons of water. Only

three terminals with any live nymphs out of a hundred were left in the

lindane. The parathion has 38 per cent alive. TEPP which is teta ethyl

pyrophosphate is a very quick acting material but doesn't last. Whatever

it does, it has to do in an hour or two's time. It has lost its

efficiency after that. But we know it might kill everything in a big

hurry. There was still ten per cent. We could rule out parathion. We

went back to this one row and sprayed on July 23 and on August 2 and 3.

That would be nine days. There still were only four infested terminals.

That lindane is a refined BHC, which is that material that stinks. It

has been known to produce an off flavor in peaches, and it could very

easily make an off flavor in pecans. In tests before this on Meadow

spittle bugs on crops which might be used for food they did not use BHC,

which would be cheaper. There are four or five different forms of the

molecule that are important in making that and this gamma is the most

important. We used a pound of this 25% gamma lindane and that apparently

was the most successful. I didn't get this idea out of a clear sky. I

talked to Dr. G. C. Decker and read one or two articles showing where

they had been using dieldrin and lindane with the most success.

I guess that is all the slides now.

MEMBER: Do you get away from the bad effects of BHC by using lindane?

MR. CHANDLER: Yes. Now we feel that at any rate in the very short time

in which we have known anything about the thing we have at least learned

something about the pest and the distribution and the species and

apparently we have got a lead on control. Mr. Casper thinks there is no

reason why he shouldn't start in the first brood, although he has had

about four years build up of the thing and no wonder it is bad. If we

should try that another year, I would say we should start about the

middle of June, because when he looked on the 27th of June the show was

about over.

MEMBER: Your lattitude is about the same as Evansville?

MR. CHANDLER: Yes, Carbondale is almost on the due west line with

Henderson, Kentucky, and Anna is 20 miles south of Carbondale.

MEMBER: One hundred miles north would be about two weeks later.

MR. CHANDLER: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't be later. We

thought maybe you might have to spray when the adults were out. We

didn't know whether any material would go through that spittle. We

thought you might have to spray and envelop the tree when the adults

were around.

MEMBER: I saw some spittle bugs in Northern Michigan on wild hazel, and

I am wondering if they are a pest on filberts.

MEMBER: We have no damage on filberts and I think we have spittle bugs

in St. Louis. Our first brood comes between the first of June and the

tenth, and in the last eight years they have been very serious.

MEMBER: Did you say Northern Peninsula of Michigan?

MEMBER: We have reports from Illinois and Missouri and Mr. Armstrong

found it over at Princeton, Kentucky, and I know it is in Indiana.

MR. McDANIEL: I have seen some on pecans in Tennessee, but not as

abundant as in Union County.

MEMBER: English walnuts in Ohio.

H. F. STOKE: I am in southwestern Virginia. I can say that we have

spittle bug in the South. I am not sure it is the same species. When I

get it determined, I will let you know.

DR. CHASE: That occurs in all the southern states. It is quite bad in

Georgia and Florida and Alabama and in fact all the southern states.

MR. McKAY: It is very bad on weeds and grass in our orchards.

MR. CHANDLER: That's another species.

MR. McKAY: I have never seen any on our nut trees.

MEMBER: Just before this attack on the nut trees it was real bad on

clover and grasses in our area.

MEMBER: That comes a little earlier. We ought to be sure that we get

that determined. Dr. Milton W. Sanderson has had to send some specimens

to a specialist in this group in Lawrence, Kansas.[1]

MEMBER: Are there just two broods?

MR. CHANDLER: There might possibly be three. I have another cage in my

check block in which I collected the live ones, and I am going to find

out whether they produce or don't.

MEMBER: There are two broods in Iowa.

MEMBER: Do I understand the common spittle bug is an enemy to nut trees?

MEMBER: That is for young nursery seedlings.

MR. CHANDLER: Did you see these big trees where I told you about having

the crop? I explained for several minutes that there must be two

varieties.

MR. FERGUSON: There is a spittle bug that bothers the June berries.

DR. ROHRBACHER: We have a spittle bug we had a year or two in Iowa on

the elm trees.

At this time Dr. Colby would like to make a few announcements.

DR. COLBY: I just had a call from Tubby Magill. He is over in Danville

and he has burned out a bearing and he is going to get over here for

this afternoon. We will have to pinch-hit the rest of the morning.

DR. ROHRBACHER: We will now have a presentation by Dr McKay on the

Preliminary Results of the Training of Chinese Chestnut Trees.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Dr. Kathleen G. Doering, at the University of Kansas

identified the spittle bug from the Illinois pecans as _Clastoptera

achatina_, a species not hitherto recognized as an important pecan pest.

Spittle bugs from southeastern pecans have been referred to a different

species.--Ed.]

Preliminary Results from Training Chinese Chestnut Trees to Different

Heights of Head

J. W. MCKAY AND H. L. CRANE[2]

Introduction

Many growers of Chinese chestnut (_Castanea mollissima_) want to know

how soon their young trees may be expected to bear their first crops of

nuts. This is determined by several factors, but perhaps one of the most

important is the amount and kind of pruning the trees receive during the

first four or five years they are in the orchard. One reason for the

importance of type of pruning is the characteristic habit of the species

to form branches low on the trunk, so that low-headed and spreading tops

result if trees are left unpruned.

It has long been accepted by most horticulturists that any kind of

pruning of fruit trees tends to be a dwarfing process. Hence, pruned

trees would be smaller than similar unpruned trees. Pruning of young

fruit trees, though reducing the size of the top and the number of

growing points, tends to stimulate the growth of the remaining shoots.

This has a marked tendency to delay the formation of fruit buds. Hence,

unpruned trees come into bearing earlier than even lightly pruned trees.

Tufts (2)[3] reported that lightly pruned deciduous fruit trees, such as

apple, pear, apricot, and peach, came into bearing one to three years

earlier than similar trees that had been heavily pruned. Crane (1) found

that height of head in apple trees had little effect on yield for the

first nine years in the orchard, but at the time the experiment was

terminated the trees were still too young for him to expect much fruit

production. He found, however, that the low-headed trees made more shoot

growth and a larger gain in trunk diameter than the high-headed ones,

and thus the bearing area was larger. Because the tree form of the

horticultural varieties of Chinese chestnut is somewhat comparable to

that of apple varieties, it would be expected that the two might give

similar growth and yield responses to pruning or training procedures.

The experiment described in this paper was initiated for the purpose of

determining the response made by trees of Chinese chestnut varieties

pruned and trained to three heights of head.

Experimental Procedure

The three varieties used in the experiment are Meiling, Nanking, and an

unnamed variety carried under the accession number 7916. The last

variety is characterized by dwarf, heavy-bearing trees that mature their

crops very early in the fall, whereas Meiling and Nanking are vigorous,

fast-growing varieties that mature their nuts in midseason. In the early

spring of 1948 thirty-six two-year-old grafted trees were planted 25

feet apart in the orchard in four short rows of nine trees each. The

three treatments consisted of (1) no pruning; (2) pruning to a 2-foot

head; and (3) pruning to a 4-foot head. Three trees, one of each

variety, were included in a plot or treatment. Thus, the experiment was

arranged in a randomized block design with the three treatments

randomized in each row and the four rows serving as replications. Each

spring the trees received a liberal application of a 10-6-5 fertilizer.

Strips six to eight feet wide on each side of the contoured rows

received frequent cultivation each growing season, while strips of

orchard grass sod were left between the rows to prevent erosion. The

soil is Riverdale (tentative series) sandy loam that had been in orchard

grass sod for ten years before the experiment was begun. It has been

necessary to spray the trees each year with DDT, parathion, or both to

control Japanese beetles and mites.

Pruning of the trees was begun during the first winter following the

planting in the orchard, but only a few of the lower limbs were removed

in order not to dwarf the pruned trees severely. The second winter a few

more lower limbs were removed and at this time the two-foot-head

treatments were complete. A third pruning was necessary before the heads

of the trees in treatment three could be raised to four feet. Detailed

records and measurements were made of the diameter of each tree trunk

one foot above the ground, and of the weight and number of nuts produced

(yield).

Experimental Results

=Table 1. Effects of training to different heights of head on the average

diameter of tree trunk and yield of nuts of three varieties of Chinese

chestnuts at the end of the third season (1950) after transplanting=

===========+=============================+==============================+

| | |

| Average diameter of tree | |

| trunk (millimeters) | Yield of nuts (pounds) |

Treatment +-----------------------------+------------------------------+

| | |

| Meiling No. Nanking Tree | Meiling No. Nanking Tree |

| 7916 average| 7916 average |

------------+-----------------------------+------------------------------+

| | |

No pruning | 43 43[1] 47 45 | .19 .43[1] .05 .16 |

2-foot heads| 25 19 21 22 | 0 .12 0 .04 |

4-foot heads| 27 22 25 25 | 0 .03 0 .01 |

------------+-----------------------------+------------------------------+

=============+==============================+

| |

| |

| Number of Nuts |

Treatment +------------------------------+

| |

| Meiling No. Nanking Tree |

| 7916 average |

-------------+------------------------------+

| |

No pruning | 11 22[1] 2 10 |

2-foot heads | 0 7 0 2 |

4-foot heads | 1 4 0 2 |

-------------+------------------------------+

[1] 2 trees missing.

Data on the diameters of the tree trunks and yields of nuts at the end

of the third year in the orchard are given in table 1. It should be

pointed out first that these grafted trees produced some nuts the third

growing season they were in the orchard. This is very much earlier than

seedling trees ordinarily could be expected to bear nuts. It will be

noted that trees of Number 7916 developed a somewhat smaller trunk on

the average than the other varieties did, but Number 7916 outyielded

them about two to one, both in weight and in number of nuts produced.

The tendency of Number 7916 to bear nuts earlier and on smaller trees

than other varieties may prove to be a valuable characteristic that will

justify naming and releasing this clone as a new variety. The fact that

it matures its nuts early may also make it suitable for growing in more

northerly areas than other varieties, because the length of season

required for maturing the crop presumably is shorter than for other

varieties. However, this cannot be determined without extensive tests in

the North, which are now being made by a number of growers.

It will be noted also in table 1 that the trunk diameters of the

unpruned trees were about twice as great as were those of trees trained

to two-and four-foot heads; and furthermore, the yield of nuts was more

than four times as great. This means that cutting off the limbs that

formed below the 2-foot level checked growth so that the bearing surface

of the tops was greatly reduced as compared with that of unpruned trees.

Also, growth of the tops of these trees was etiolated and spindly, and

the shoots produced few or no catkins as compared with the abundant

catkins produced by the unpruned trees. Several of the trees with

four-foot heads became so top-heavy that staking was necessary, and

nearly all the pruned trees leaned to some extent. At the end of the

third year in the orchard, the unpruned trees were much taller than

trees headed at two and four feet, and the spread of branches was also

much greater. Preliminary results from this experiment indicate that

early pruning of young Chinese chestnut trees causes severe dwarfing and

consequent delay in the formation of catkins and the bearing of nuts.

All pruning operations should, therefore, be delayed until the trees

reach bearing age, and from that time on low limbs may be removed

gradually from year to year until the trees are trained to the proper

height.

Literature Cited

(1) Crane, H. L.

The effect of height of head on young apple tree growth and yield

West Virginia Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 214. 1928

(2) Tufts, Warren P.

Pruning young deciduous fruit trees

California Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 313: 111-153. 1919

Discussion

MR. McDANIEL: What age and height were these trees when planted?

DR. McKAY: These trees were grafted on two year old stock and allowed to

grow a year. They were three years old. They have grown in the orchard

three years, so they are now six years old and about five feet high.

They were grafted about a foot from the ground and they grew three feet

or so. They were a good size grafted tree.

MEMBER: May I ask the time of the year when you pruned?

DR. McKAY: In the dormant season.

MR. SHERMAN: I have been pruning some Persian walnuts. Just as the side

branch starts I rub that bud off and I can't see that I am dwarfing it

any.

MEMBER: Maybe you aren't pruning enough to do any dwarfing. We have

removed whole limbs.

MEMBER: I have taken it off and allowed the center to go up.

DR. McKAY: It may have different effects. We actually removed wood from

the tree.

MEMBER: Is that 7916 a pretty good sized nut?

DR. McKAY: It is a smaller nut. The 7916 is a potentially high bearer.

It bears quickly after it is planted and that is one of the things a lot

of us are interested in.

MEMBER: How about eating quality?

DR. McKAY: It is just as good.

Our preliminary conclusion is that early pruning in this species causes

severe dwarfing and delay in the fruiting of Chinese chestnuts. Just let

them alone. Plant them and forget about pruning them until they come

into bearing. Let them alone and you will get nuts two or three years

sooner than if you start taking those lower limbs off. Once you get it

into bearing then start in and take off a few limbs on the bottom. You

could still over-do the thing. The point is to wait at least three or

four years. We will have some recommendations in another year when we

shall know more ourselves.

MEMBER: What do you disinfect those cuts with?

DR. McKAY: We don't figure it is necessary to be too particular about

painting the wounds. Those wounds heal over very quickly. Use an asphalt

tree wound compound.

MR. SILVIS: Personally it appears to me that Walter Sherman's method of

rubbing off the buds or very young shoots just as they start growth is

to be preferred. Your method of cutting off limbs is destructive

pruning. Though you say pruning dwarfs the tree, actually the root is

still there and given enough time will not the tree recover?

DR. CRANE: I carried on pruning experiments for many, many years, with

apples, peaches, pears and cherries. Since then I have been working on

nut trees. As for this debudding, the reason he doesn't know he was

injuring, was that he didn't have checks and experiments. When you have,

you will see that debudding or even pinching the terminals will actually

dwarf the tree, although not as badly if it is not done in the summer

time. If you do it in the springtime, and if you keep on debudding along

in June and July, you are dwarfing your trees.

MR. McDANIEL: In the University orchard you will see some Chinese

chestnuts which have been pruned heavily, and the results aren't good.

MR. CORSAN: I visited a sweet chestnut orchard in Michigan, and the

grower told me that there were two types of Chinese chestnut trees, one

that grew tall and the other squatty. The one that grew shorter was much

later than the tall one. Then I would like to tell you about an

experience I had years ago. I imported from this state of Illinois from

Miss Amelia Riehl, and I also planted about a bushel of seed of Chinese

chestnut trees grown in the Niagara district. These Niagara seedlings

are quite large and the amazing thing is they didn't grow any nuts. So I

came across another orchard in the Niagara district where they were

growing that large pointed type of nut and I got some grafts from that

and I put them on these non-bearing trees and they all took at once. A

bunch of them would all grow up without any failure. That was easy and

now they are growing fine. I just thought I would tell you that peculiar

experience, and that knocked me cold. The trees from Illinois and the

trees from the seeds of the large good sized nuts were equally good.

MEMBER: Did they bear after you grafted them?

MR. CORSAN: They sent out sprouts that far. [Indicating.] The trees were

all right.

MR. STOKE: I think you are both wrong. I think you will take the tree

and plant it without pruning and then it starts and then in the summer

after it is in full leaf pinch off the leader in the lower branches.

That will retain the value of those lower leaves. By doing that and

suppressing the lower you will get better results than either of the

other ways. Nature will remove and make unfruitful the lower ones. You

can help nature in forcing the upper growth and removing the lower.

DR. McKAY: That is one way of doing it. A lot of people want to get

ahead of nature. If you wait for those lower limbs to die, the tree will

have to be pretty large. Lots of people want to get under their trees

before that. You sometimes want to get there after three or four years.

I think it would take ten years for the shade to do it.

MR. STOKE: I didn't mean to let the shade do it. We after three or four

years can remove the limbs ourselves with less shock and much better

results. That will work on any tree.

DR. McKAY: I don't see how you can remove.

MEMBER: You force stronger leaders at the top and hasten the growth of

the top.

MEMBER. You will get a delay of fruiting.

MEMBER: I think you make up for it.

DR. CRANE: That may be true. We have seen very conclusively that when

you prune even a little you are going to destroy fruiting.

MR. STOKE: You will have a larger tree in five years by my method than

by yours.

MR. A. M. WHITFORD: I have trees of that very spreading type of Chinese

chestnut, that are lying on the ground and I should have removed those

limbs five or eight years ago. You should remove them in not more than

five years after planting.

DR. McKAY: I want to make a comment. Some grafted trees are not bearing.

This to us shows the importance of varieties. This difference between

7916 and the two others is so striking it means in the future we have to

pay more attention to the varieties. There is no question that some

varieties will bear sooner than others. We have to talk about grafted

trees because that is the only thing that can be developed. Every

grafted tree is potentially like every other of the same variety.

MEMBER: What factors suppress them? In pinching back, do you mean that

the actual growth rate is changed, or that debudding will suppress the

entire tree?

DR. McKAY: We mean the amount of the top itself. Usually it is the

spread and the height together. When you prune, you tend to hold back

the total amount of the fruiting area of the tree. If you allow it to

develop untouched you have a greater fruiting area.

MEMBER: The chestnut tree often will sprout from the trunk. What are the

processes to check that?

DR. CRANE: It is very largely root pressure. When you have a tree that

is uninjured, all of your water and soluble minerals are going up to the

top. When you have the tree trunk killed or cut off you still have water

in your root system. In some trees you have a lot of adventitious buds

that are still there and never forced out. Nitrogen will force those

dormant buds into growth. At each walnut node or leaf we have as many as

seven buds, all of which are capable of producing growth. Normally it is

only the major bud that grows, but propagators sometimes get a patch bud

back to life even though the primary bud dries up. Keep on forcing it

and you are bound to get a sprout out of that bud. That is just the way

it is with a lot of dormant buds. There are so many that when we cut off

the top these dormant buds are forced into growth. Some trees don't have

them. Tung does not form dormant buds, but will form those adventitious

buds. They will form numerous buds even in a very small area of callus.

It is just a safeguard that some plants have developed to keep the

individuals alive.

MR. McDANIEL: I think what Mr. Craig had in mind was the tendency there

is in Chinese chestnut to form multiple trunks.

DR. CRANE: That is due to these dormant buds and the ability to produce

callus. Chestnut is one of the species that produces abundant callus

very readily. That is one of the reasons this Chinese chestnut is so

blight resistant. When it has an injury it will form callus at the point

of the injury.

MEMBER: Would you tell me how you would start a blind bud growing. It

will not break. It doesn't form. When I come to a wood which is blind I

cut it off.

MR. CHASE: We have had such buds and find if that bud is blind you can

force all you want to but you won't get any new buds to grow from that

bud patch.

DR. McKAY: It does on two-year wood. Perhaps on one-year wood you have

no adventitious buds. When the bud dies, that patch is through. On

two-year wood frequently small adventitious buds will grow.

MEMBER: If you rub the main bud off, it will start on the side.

MEMBER: Do you recommend two year wood for budding?

DR. McKAY: We recommend one year if it is large and vigorous. If you

have to use chestnut wood smaller than a pencil the results will be

indifferent.

MEMBER: What time do you recommend budding?

DR. McKAY: We graft in spring, the first week in May, using dormant wood

the size of your little finger. We wait until the first leaves are open,

usually in May.

MEMBER: Do I understand that most any place along that tree trunk there

are adventitious buds?

DR. McKAY: Particularly next to the root.

MEMBER: Have you had any success in bench grafting of the chestnuts?

DR. McKAY: We have had some success and other times failures. We can't

recommend bench grafting. Perhaps you can do it, but we haven't yet

worked out a satisfactory method.

MEMBER: Wouldn't it do better if you dipped the top in paraffin or

something?

DR. McKAY: Ask Mr. Bernath. He is the authority.

MR. BERNATH: No, none whatever. No, it wouldn't help.

MR. CORSAN: In New York they had weevils. That is the most terrible

thing I ever saw. Has the weevil disappeared entirely?

MEMBER: No, indeed, we have weevils over a large area. It is a very

important pest in the East and in the Ozark Chinkapin range around

chestnut plantings. There is a very satisfactory and easy way of

control. DDT, two pounds per 100 gallons of spray solution or a dust of

one per cent. The trees are sprayed once or twice or three times from

about the last of August on until shortly before harvest.

MR. McDANIEL: That is discussed in last year's annual report.

MR. CORSAN: I fumigated my seed nuts for the weevils and killed them all

effectively, and we have no weevils of hickory or chestnuts now. That

is, as far as southern Canada is concerned. It would matter terribly if

we had any weevils of any kind. Anyone hear about the hickory and

chestnut weevil?

MEMBER: Standard directions are available for the control of weevils

both in chestnut and hickories.

MEMBER: There are practically no weevils in New York. The boundary line

would be about southern New Jersey. It doesn't make much progress

farther north. It's also absent toward the Southeastern and Gulf coasts.

MEMBER: That is an interesting discussion, but it is off the current

subject.

DR. ROHRBACHER: I am sure your project is interesting, manifested by the

questions you have been asked.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: Horticulturist and Principal Horticulturist, respectively.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau Plant Industry, Soils and

Agricultural Engineering, Beltsville, Md.]

[Footnote 3: Number in parenthesis refer to literature cited, p. 25.]

The Filbert and Persian Walnut in Indiana

W. B. WARD, _Department of Horticulture, Purdue University_

The soils and climatic conditions in Indiana are, for the most part,

favorable to the growing of nut trees. There are various types of soils,

ranging from light sand to heavy clay, soils high and low in organic

material and natural fertility. The annual rainfall, 35 to 40 inches, is

fairly well distributed throughout the year. The length of the growing

season is about 150 frost-free days and, oftentimes, another 20 to 30

days of non-killing temperature. The summer and winter temperatures are

average, thus providing good conditions for the development of fruit and

growth to the trees.

There are always exceptions to the normal conditions, and a good test

season broadens the experience of those who want to go to the extreme in

planting nut trees. This past year, 1950-51 season, was a good test

year. The temperature early in November was as high as 85°, tomatoes,

peppers, beans, and sweet corn were growing in the gardens. During

mid-November the temperature quickly dropped to near zero. The cold

later went down to -20° and even -35°, as recorded at Greensburg. This

cold weather, not only killed much of the tender short growth and

pistillate flower possibilities, but destroyed many of the catkins. The

filbert and Persian (including Carpathian) walnuts, suffered and in some

instances the plants were killed to ground level. All of the damaged

plants have survived, and where the top of the tree was killed, new

growth came up from the root. As only seedling Persian walnut trees were

under observation and included in the Purdue plantation, their sucker

growth will be used to form new tops.

The native walnut, hazelnut, hickory, and butternut had little or no

winter injury and many trees are very fruitful all over Indiana. The

improved strains of filberts and the Persian walnuts have only a few

fruits this year. Seedling Persians grafted or budded on native black

walnut survived, but there was some damage to the top growth due to

immaturity of the wood and bud last fall. Before general planting

recommendations can be made, other than for the hobbyist or home-owner

with a few trees, further testing will be required.

Filbert and Hazelnut

The native hazelnut thickets are not as common now as in years past.

Most of the nuts were small and of little commercial value. When

hybridizers and other nut enthusiasts started improving the size and

quality of the native hazelnut and bringing in filberts from other

countries, some impetus was added to the filbert planting program. Only

a few took advantage of these new and promising seedlings, and aside

from a few small plantings throughout the state the filbert is placed in

the ornamental grouping of plants. Several areas in Indiana are suitable

for more extensive plantings. The Jones hybrids have proven satisfactory

and are found growing from the northern part to the Ohio River.

Several crosses were made four years ago using pollen from the Rush and

large fruited seedlings on the native hazel. There are 35 or 40 such

plants, two years old, now growing in the Purdue plot. They came through

the winter in excellent condition. Many of the catkins on the older

plants were killed during the early cold spell, and the nut crop this

year is very spotty. The filbert does have a place around the home as an

ornamental, as a fruit tree, or when used as a hedge for screening.

The Carpathian Persian Walnut

The Carpathian Persian walnuts in Indiana are practically all seedlings.

Many of these seedling trees show great promise, while others under

observation for the past few years are being discarded because of lack

of hardiness and production. Some few seedlings made vigorous growth and

produced fair to good yields for the past 10 years, but some weakness

was evident after the 1950-51 winter. It appears now that those trees

that have survived and are in production this year are worthy of further

study and propagation.

The oldest known Persian walnut in our state is the Haderle seedling. A

few nuts, from a friend in California, were planted in 1924 and 10 years

later fruited. This tree has produced as many as 350 pounds of nuts in a

single year and has survived all test winters since planting. The nut

from the Haderle tree averages 32 nuts per pound, medium shell, good

quality and 44.6 per cent of the total weight is edible. The nut cracks

well. Several other such Persian seedlings have been classified as

existing prior to the general distribution of Carpathian nuts from the

Wisconsin Horticultural Society in 1936 to 1938 and later.

Several individuals in Indiana took advantage of the nut sale and

importation from Poland during the years mentioned and about 10 per cent

of the original seedlings are now alive. Many of the trees planted 10 to

15 years ago are fruiting and classified. Outstanding groups of

seedlings, which are referred to by name, such as Bolten, Fateley,

Eagles, Barnhart, Kraning, Behr, Zollman, and others are found from the

extreme northern area to the Ohio River, and are distributed over nearly

one-half of the 92 counties in Indiana.

The use of eastern black walnut as understock has been practised by

several orchardists and nurserymen, and a few will have trees for sale

in the near future. The fruits from these trees compare with the best.

The largest nut is in the Fateley #1., with some fruits two inches in

diameter, and averaging 23 nuts per pound. The nut is high in quality,

has an appealing taste, and a well formed kernel. It cracks easily and

has a very thin shell for such a large nut. This tree has borne 50

pounds of nuts or more annually for the past few years and has a nice

crop this year after the severe test winter. The Fateley #1 seedling as

well as the #2, #3 and #4 seedlings, are grown on a city lot, under

crowded conditions and provided with only moderate care.

Several crosses have been made at Purdue with the Persian walnut, and

approximately 100 seedlings have been distributed to various persons

throughout a large area of the state. The trees do not seem as

susceptible to insect and disease damage as the native black walnut, and

growing well in sod should make good lawn trees. Some of the nut trees

were sprayed with "Nu Green"--five pounds per 100 gallons of spray

material was used on the orchard crops, and great growth response was

noted for the sprayed over unsprayed trees. As the home owner is forever

looking for new trees to plant, and trees with clean habits, the Persian

and particularly the Carpathian selections may be the answer.

* * * * *

The speaker exhibited photographs to illustrate his talk. They pictured

several of the different trees he had mentioned. The photographs showed

the conditions under which the trees grew, the effects of fertilizing,

and the injuries resulting from the winter cold. The reading of the

paper was followed by a short discussion, after which Dr. Rohrbacher

called upon Mr. Ira Kyhl, of Sabula, Iowa, who talked on the subject

"Nut Growing in Eastern Iowa."

Nut Growing in Eastern Iowa

IRA KYHL, _Sabula, Iowa_

About five years ago, I became very much interested in nut trees and

having hundreds of wild black walnuts and hickories I attempted to

graft, or rather top work, the black walnuts to Persian walnuts and

heartnuts, and the hickories to pecans and hicans.

My favorite, of course, is the Persian walnut, and in addition to top

working them on blacks I planted several grafted trees and several

hundred seed nuts. To my surprise and pleasure, nearly every seed grew

and the seedlings are still doing very well. I now have 35 to 40

varieties.

I have had very little winter injury, except with the Broadview variety.

The tops froze back a little and I had a little trouble with the bark

splitting on the larger trees. I covered the splits with tree wound

dressing and they are all doing well now. I consider the Schafer about

the best and most promising variety I have and the grafts take very

well. Most of the Carpathian varieties are also growing nicely and

especially the Illinois number 10,[4] which is a very rapid grower.

In top working, I use the bark slot method, usually setting two to three

grafts on a three inch stock, as at least one scion is almost sure to

start. These scions are fitted and nailed in place with a seven-eighth

or one inch nail and then well wrapped with one-inch industrial adhesive

tape. This seems to break or deteriorate with the growth of the graft.

I then thoroughly wax the taped part as well as all of the scion,

covering the buds rather lightly. After the scion has started to grow

well, a one by one strip is nailed to the stock. This extends from two

to three feet above the top of the stock. The growth is then tied to the

stick with soft cord. If growths are not tied this way, most of them are

broken off by the wind. After the grafts are set, I cover with a paper

milk bottle, or rather, container, and cut four small holes in it for

ventilation. It sheds the rain well. I use a small tack on two sides.

The containers usually stay there until removed when the graft starts.

This method works much better than paper bags, as they are easily

water-soaked and the wind blows them against the scion, which is easily

loosened and therefore fails to start.

I am also well pleased with the results I have had with heartnuts on

black walnuts. I consider them the most rapid-growing of any of the nut

trees. I have had grafts bear a few nuts the next year after being set.

I now have seven or eight varieties, of which I consider Fodermaier,

Aloka, Rival, Mitchell, and Wright as the most promising, along with

Goettler. Squirrels seem to prefer heartnuts to all other sorts. I have

eliminated this trouble by tacking a length or two of stove pipe around

the trees.

Last summer my attention was called to a tree about 30 miles from my

home, which bore a very large crop of heartnuts. The man that owned the

tree called them filberts. The tree is about 40 feet tall with a spread

of 40 or 50 feet and is 18 inches in diameter. It is perhaps 20 to 25

years old and bears from three to four bushels a year, I am told. I have

heard that the tree grew from a seed brought over from Germany. I have

named the tree Goettler, in honor of the man bringing it to my

attention. The nut seems to resemble the Wright and is one of the best

cracking nuts I have found. I received permission to get scion wood from

the tree and have a few grafts growing well.

Hickories are, of course, a native of this section as is pecan, which

grows wild on the Mississippi River bottoms about as far north as the

mouth of the Maquoketa River. The pecan grafts take off nicely on

hickory stocks but the graft seems to outgrow the stock. I have found,

however, that hican, being half hickory and half pecan, works much

better on a hickory stock. My pecan grafts which seem the most promising

are Major, Indiana and Greenriver, and of the hican grafts the

Burlington and Wapello.

Chestnuts seem to do very well here, as well as filberts and native

hazels. Of the chestnut varieties I have growing I prefer the Nanking,

Kuling and Meiling. Most of my Persian walnut plantings I have

interplanted with dwarf fruit trees and have clover and alfalfa growing

between the rows. This is cut twice a year and used for mulch. The

following spring it is spaded in and a small amount of high test

nitrogen applied at the same time and the trees all seem to respond to

this treatment very well.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Any questions or remarks?

MEMBER: Mr. Kyhl mentioned the Schafer. That is the one for the boys and

girls in a hurry to get nuts. In three years you get nuts. I have

experimented with it and that is the only tree that will do it.

MR. CORSAN: I would like to ask the convention if they have had the

experience with the black walnut and the Persian. Down the valley would

come a good strong wind and break off the tops. I had one that grew 20

feet from a little graft. When I put this on, it had three buds. One bud

threw six feet and 20 feet of wood from that one seeding. I barricaded

it so the ice wouldn't break it. The ice broke through my barricade and

I have one that is growing as high as I can reach. Black walnut broke

off with the wind. Sometime, the whole tree broke down. Not a twig was

broken off the English walnut. The black walnuts worry me to pieces.

MR. DAVIDSON: In connection with this rapid growth, is there any

difference in the quality of the wood? We have some that grow so much

more rapidly. When the wood matures, will it have the same value for

furniture and so on as the slower growing ones? Would they be more like

the softwood?

MR. CRANE: Our highest grade native woods are those which grow more

slowly. We haven't made any studies on the wood in black walnut, in

relation to the growth rate.

DR. MacDANIELS: The strength and value of the wood depends on the

proportion of large and small cells. In a very slow-growing tree you

have a large proportion of the big cells. In rapid-growing wood you also

have an undesirable result. It is between the very slow and very rapid

that you get the best. If you get a rapid growth the cells are thin,

even though they may be small. It is the in-between condition that makes

for good timber. That is based on actual strength tests and evaluation.

MEMBER: Mr. Corsan wrote me about the wind damage. I never had that

experience. I saw the cyclone in southeastern Iowa. Elms were up-rooted

and torn to pieces and I didn't see any black walnut damage. Even the

hickories were damaged and some snapped off. I have never seen any

walnut give away.

MR. McDANIEL: We have wind damage in Urbana, and we can show you some

places where black walnut trees were removed.

MR. CORSAN: Many years ago I was in a train going from Toronto to

Montreal, and this is a section that is full of hickory trees. The

Indians must have planted them. That is the only nut except butternut. I

looked out the window and we had a six-inch ice storm and the oaks were

stripped. Most of the other soft trees were down to the ground. There

wasn't even a twig killed on the hickories. The shagbark hickory. They

were just as sound.

DR. ROHRBACHER: The ladies who want to take a little walk and end up at

Mrs. Colby's home where she is going to serve hot coffee meet at 1.30 in

the main lobby. This is the regular time on which you are eating and

sleeping now. The remainder of the group will meet here at one o'clock.

If we go down to the cafeteria and get in before 11:40 we have a better

chance.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: Now named Colby, this variety is a seedling of Crath No.

10.--ED.]

TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION

(meeting called to order at 1:00)

DR. ROHRBACHER: We will have the secretary's report.

MR. McDANIEL: By count last Saturday, we had 568 paid members plus 21

subscribers--a total of 589, compared with 575 members and a total list

of 596 a year ago and 653 in 1949. Maybe you need a new secretary who is

a more successful salesman, to push the membership higher. Actually we

still have more members than at any time before the late 1940's, but we

need more salesmanship to double or triple the present number. The

planting of hardy named nut trees is going up by leaps and bounds (ask

any nut nurseryman) but membership in the leading organization to

promote their culture is lagging. We need more members among the new nut

planters, and I think we have plenty to offer them for their $3.00, but

we are not getting the point over to enough of them. There are thousands

that we helped to get started. If anyone has some new ideas on the

subject, let him speak up in the discussion period, and we will try to

put the ideas into operation if they don't cost too much--in money or

time of the organization's officers.

Ohio still has the most members, and I think we can say the Ohio group

is the most closely knit and active one in any state at present. There

are 82 members in Ohio now. Several of them are new ones. Ohio is

keeping up its membership percentage and it is always well represented

at the meeting. How many here from Ohio today? Not _quite_ half the

group.

It is nip and tuck between New York and Pennsylvania for membership down

through the years. This year Pennsylvania is one man ahead of New York,

unless George Salzer has brought another new member's name with him.

Pennsylvania is 58, New York 57. Two years ago it was New York 62,

Pennsylvania 57. Then we had the meeting in New York state last year.

Maybe some of the New Yorkers took a good look at us and decided it

wasn't the crowd they wanted to be associated with! We haven't met in

Pennsylvania recently, so the membership there is very steady. Dr.

Colwell moved back home from Ecuador, so Pennsylvania moves from 57 to

58 members.

Will the members from these two states rise briefly? Pennsylvania

first--at least three from Pennsylvania; then New York--three from New

York State.

I might say the decline in New York members is _not_ in the Rochester

area. Mr. Salzer is seeing to it that they don't drop out in Western New

York. A lady in his county won our $25.00 first prize for her Persian

walnut, and George relieved her of $3.00 of it for 1952 dues. We need

more members like Mr. Salzer, and Mrs. Metcalfe, too.

Illinois is fourth now with 38 members. I don't know what it'll drop to

after this meeting. One member changed his address from Chicago to

Indiana, but we are still seven up from the 31 of two years ago. Maybe

Illinois is going to become a nut growing state after all, in spite of

oak wilt, walnut bunch, spittle bugs, and the 1950 Thanksgiving freeze.

Will the Illinois people rise, both members and visitors? Not quite a

fourth of the group is from Illinois.

Michigan is still fifth--32 members now, 30 in 1949. Take a bow, all you

Michiganders--five or six from Michigan. We could afford to take a

chance on a meeting there again before long.

Indiana is going up slowly in membership. It is now sixth with 27,

supplanting Tennessee. It had 18 members in 1947 and 25 in 1949. How

many Hoosiers here? Six or seven from Indiana.

Canada has 26 members listed now, putting it seventh. (There were 26 in

1949 also). Who's here from Canada--at least two.

Iowa is one of only two other states with more than 20 members, having

22 in the book now, compared with 26 two years ago and 30 in 1947. How

many Iowans here?--three besides our President.

New Jersey has 21, Massachusetts has 17, Tennessee has 16, Virginia and

Washington 14 each, Missouri, 13, California and Maryland 12 each,

Connecticut and Oklahoma, 11 each, Kentucky and Kansas 10 each, West

Virginia 8 and Georgia 5. There are fewer than five each in all the

other states, except seven states with no members. Arkansas is a good

nut producing state, but membership dropped from four to none. There are

no members and seldom have been in Arizona, Colorado,[5] Maine, Montana,

Nevada, and Wyoming. I believe we never had one in either Arizona or

Nevada, but the others have occasionally had one.

Hong Kong is a new territory on our list of foreign members, though Mr.

Wang, who now lives there, joined the NNGA from China around 30 years

ago.

We are a _little_ better off on the annual report now than we were a

year ago. It is printed and members who are here can take their copies.

The story is the same as usual with the printers, although they are new

ones this time. Our job got behind some others which moved slowly and

then was put aside for work on school annuals in which this company does

a lot of business. With some more volunteer editorial assistants and

proof readers maybe we can get the copy to the printers earlier, so as

really to get the book printed in the winter I agree with all the

members who said that a year between the meeting and the publication is

too long.

Looking toward this the November 1 cut-off for accepting papers should

still apply, with the suggested addition that no long ones will be

accepted which were not read at the meeting. Composition is too

expensive to permit publication of a book with unnecessary wordage, so I

hope we can avoid as much as possible the duplication of material which

appeared in recent reports. Boil it down, and please, for the sake of

the editor's eyesight, don't try to put too much on a page. The editors

appreciate some space between the lines. But if you have something new

to report, don't hesitate to send it in.

The 1950 report is here. I think it's a good one. In the hope of having

a still better one for this meeting, I'll stop now.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you for your report. Any discussion and criticism

both destructive and constructive?

MEMBER: I thought this 1951 circular of information was a handy thing to

have. I was wondering if more are available.

MR. McDANIEL: Yes, we run off a surplus each year and any member may

have more upon request.

MEMBER: If you were to mail two instead of one to each member, that

member could give the extra copy to a prospective member.

MEMBER: I would like to make a suggestion on that card business. Why not

follow the system of the _National Geographic's_ recommendation

card--you can't become a Geographic Society member any other way.

MR. McDANIEL: We will put a card or blank for nominations of members in

the next issue of the _Nutshell_.

DR. ROHRBACHER: This is the time the secretary would like to have

comments on this to give him help if he gets his job back.

MEMBER: It seems to me it would be a help in not only attracting new

members but a help in stimulating attendance in our meetings if the

annual report of the preceeding meeting could be gotten out something

like two months ahead of the following meeting.

MR. McDANIEL: I believe we can do better than that this year.

MR. DAVIDSON: I do think it has quite an influence in stimulating

interest not only on the part of our members but stimulating attendance

at our meeting. I do think also that the suggestion of following the

example of the _National Geographic_ should be put in the form of a

motion and the Secretary instructed to remind each member to please

nominate his or her friends for membership in the Association. I would

be glad to make that motion.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Do I hear it seconded? (Motion seconded). It has been

moved by Mr. Davidson and seconded by Mr. Wallick from Indiana that we

carry through this new project of securing membership. Any further

discussion?

MEMBER: Please repeat the motion.

MR. DAVIDSON: I would move then that the secretary be instructed to send

to each member a reminder of his duty to nominate friends for membership

in this Association.

MEMBER: What do you mean by membership--members or officers?

MR. McDANIEL: Members first, officers later. If you stay a member long

enough you probably get to be an officer.

MEMBER: I'd like to amend that resolution that the secretary send a card

to each member in which he can nominate a new member. With the secretary

just reminding the members nothing ever happens. I think the card has to

go with the reminder.

MR. DAVIDSON: I accept that amendment.

MEMBER: I think this whole thing clarifies itself if you bear in mind

that the application form and the nomination are one and the same thing.

A card which says in effect "I apply for membership in the NNGA" and the

blank for his name, occupation and address. The card says that

remittance of the annual dues is made herewith and this applicant has

been nominated by the current member of the Association. It is one card.

I receive a couple of these from the secretary and write my name for a

nominee. His name and address and that is sent in to the treasurer

together with his dues and an application of someone who has been

nominated. It is a good screening because you have people interested

definitely in the work of this organization.

MEMBER: I would fear that too many barriers put in the way of it might

tend to decrease the number of new members. It is hard enough to get

people interested.

MEMBER: Mr. President, I don't see how that can be a barrier since one

doesn't know unless a member tells him. One doesn't become a member

until a member said "Look, you should belong, let me nominate you for

membership."

DR. ROHRBACHER: If I want to become a member, this is just another

source.

MEMBER: The _National Geographic_ psychology is good. They have a

circulation of one million, seven hundred thousand. If you want the

_National Geographic_, some member has to sign a card. The psychology of

that is that it makes it a little hard to get in and it works.

MR. RUMMEL: If there is a motion on the floor, I will second the

amendment.

DR. ROHRBACHER: All in favor say "aye"--opposed "no". Motion carried.

Is there anything further to take up under the heading of helping our

secretary? If not, we will go on and have a report from our treasurer.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 5: A Colorado walnut grower joined later.--Ed.]

Treasurer's Report

MR. SMITH: Ladies and gentlemen of the NNGA, our good secretary awhile

ago made the remark that perhaps he wasn't a very good salesman. Perhaps

it is more the treasurer's fault for not being a good collector. The

treasurer's report for August 26, 1940 to August 25, 1941. Annual

membership dues--$1655.00. Among these there are two contributing

members, Arp Nursery and Mr. Howard Thompson. I have two sustaining

members, Mrs. Herbert Negus and Mr. Alfred Szego. Sale of

Reports--$240.51; Interest on U. S. bonds--$37.50; contributions toward

the rental of the hall--$47.25; contributions for the Persian walnut

contest $35. I had hoped that some other states would come forward, but

they didn't. Total receipts--$2,015.26.

Disbursements: Rich Printing Company for the 1949 annual report,

$1,529.26, including the mailing and envelope charges and also the cost

of printing. _American Fruit Grower_ subscriptions--$221.20;

supplies--$65.38; Secretary's 50 cent per member--$270.00; secretary's

expenses--$37.49; treasurer's expense--$96.37. My expenses rose due to

the fact I sent out two notices that dues were due. The two years

previously I had depended upon The Nutshell to let the members know and

a lot of the members don't read the notice. The editor had it up there

in the front lines, but it didn't bring them in too well. That made the

postage bill $37 more than it was the year before. Prizes for the

Persian walnut contest--$75.00; rent of hall, $60.00. You will notice

above the rent was more of a donation. They gave us strong hints that is

what they wanted. G. R. Grubb and Company $47.25 for cuts for the annual

report you just got. We owe $19.00 on the cut that appears on the front

cover. 1000 copies of Ford Times--$10.00. This is their March, 1951

issue with Dr. J. Russell Smith's color-illustrated article.

MR. McDANIEL: I told you about it in _The Nutshell_ and I have ten or

more requests. I still have a large stack and will try to bring some

over. [Still available for 3¢ stamp at the secretary's office.]

MR. SMITH: Membership affiliation with American Horticultural

Society--$5.00; Bank service charges--$1.72; Miscellaneous--$16.50;

Total--$4,320.93. Cash on deposit as of the present time--$1,730.99.

There are still a couple of checks outstanding. One was for a walnut

prize winner. He probably just framed his check. He has had it over a

month. We have $1.97 in petty cash on hand. Disbursements of $2,587.97.

Total on hand--$4,320.93. On hand August 26, 1950--$2,305.67; the

receipts this year to August 25, 1951--$2,015.26 which makes the total

of $4,320.93. U. S. bonds--$3,000.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you, Mr. Treasurer.

MEMBER: I'd like to speak about the pamphlet from the Ford people, an

article by Smith, very interesting. I believe the secretary said he has

a number of copies in his possession. It is well worth having.

DR. ROHRBACHER: I think the treasurer will welcome a vote of thanks for

his report and work. I move his report be accepted with thanks for his

work. It has been moved and seconded that we offer a vote of acceptance

and thanks for this report. So passed.

MEMBER: Mr. O'Rourke has a report and he has a pamphlet. He would like

each of you to have a copy to read and study, so when he comes on the

program it will save a lot of time if you read this pamphlet which he

has provided.

MR. SILVIS: As chairman of the auditing committee, I find two

discrepancies in the report issued by Sterling Smith. The checks that

are uncashed of course I don't believe are found, and while the cash

seems to be going down, in the face of mounting printing costs and

mailing costs, this committee in auditing the books believe they are in

good shape.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you. Shall we have a motion?

(Motion made, seconded and passed)

I have appointed Dr. Crane on the Resolutions Committee. At this time we

will go along with our program.

MEMBER: Mr. Chairman, I believe that a report on our constitution and

by-laws provide that the nominating committee must make a report on the

first day of the meetings. Now, I am not sure about that.

MR. McDANIEL: The nominating committee doesn't have the legal number of

members. We overlooked a careful reading of the constitution and it

should have five instead of three. I think the constitution says it has

to report on the first day.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Is the committee ready to report?

MR. CRANE: I think the nominating committee makes its report as to the

slate of officers that they suggest for the next year. However, the

election of the officers takes place at the closing sessions. That is in

order to give the membership the opportunity to study the

recommendations. Nominations for any office may be presented from the

floor now or immediately preceding the election, if you disagree with

the choice, so you have an opportunity to present additional nominations

just before the election takes place.

Mr. President, the nominating committee desires to nominate our Dr. L.

H. MacDaniels to be our president for the coming year. And for vice

president, Mr. Richard Best of Eldred, Illinois. Our very loyal,

faithful, hardworking secretary has agreed to fill the post for another

year again, so we will nominate J. C. McDaniel to that position. I am

sorry to say our present treasurer has asked and insisted upon being

relieved from his duties, so the nominating committee has reluctantly

agreed to that, feeling that we should not work an officer too long and

too hard. We ought to pass these things around, and we now take Carl F.

Prell of South Bend, who has kindly agreed to serve. This, Mr.

President, is the report of the nominating committee.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you, Mr. Crane. This board looks very good.

Understand that it is open for any further nominations from the floor at

any time, either now or preceding the election. If you wish to present

any other names to this list, you may do so at our meeting tomorrow

evening.

Mr. Best, we haven't heard about your problem, about your project.

Before we make this trip I think we should have a little response.

MR. BEST: You want me to tell you what the trip consists of at Eldred.

After getting through with the Persian walnuts at Royal's, we will

proceed down the Illinois River about 30 miles to our place at Eldred.

We are along the Illinois River. We have a large planting of all the

nuts we can think of, but what we are particularly interested in showing

you folks is our pecan trees, 5,000 pecan trees. Those are grafted

varieties. We have 47 varieties. We are doing some work with seedlings.

We have taken Mr. Wilkinson's Major and Greenriver and then a few of the

hickory-pecan hybrids and we have planted nuts with the idea we will

grow those nuts and let them bear. We will exhaust all the

possibilities. This year we have treated a number of seedlings with

colchicine. We don't plan to show you very much of anything but pecans.

We do have some Persian walnuts.

We should have some notice for reservations. Everyone who has written to

us we have taken care of in the best possible way. If any more of you

want to come, be sure and let us know so we can handle that.

Status of the Northern Pecan

W. W. MAGILL, _University of Kentucky, Leader of Discussion_

MR. MAGILL: I offer no apologies for being late. My car broke down. Mr.

Armstrong is with the car and will be up here most any time. Since three

o'clock this morning I have been trying to get here by bus. I was

stranded over in Danville.

This is the first round table discussion I ever tried to lead without

previously talking to some members of the panel. Mr. Best, Mr. Crane,

Mr. Gerardi, Mr. Weschcke, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Wilkinson.

In leading a discussion on northern pecans, I don't know how well this

group of nut enthusiasts agree. I think we should have an understanding

of what a northern variety is. About all I picked up I got from Ford

Wilkinson, introducer of many of our leading varieties. He knows where

every one of them is standing. I don't know how many times he has been

up there. We owned two of the most valuable. During the floods of '37

when water was over Louisville, Paducah and the original Major and

Greenriver trees the farm hands were sent out to clean up the debris so

they worked it out and ended those two trees. Now this Niblack, that is

from up here around Vincennes, the Posey originated in Gibson County,

Indiana, the Busseron is from southern Indiana. The Goforth is from New

Haven, near Shawneetown, Illinois. The Tissue (Tissue Paper), the Giles

and Johnson are from Kansas. Gerardi has a few from Southwest Illinois.

We can't say north of the Mason-Dixon line; we say "close to the Mason

Dixon."--Is that north or south out there in Kansas?

MEMBER: It's Republican.

MR. MAGILL: I'm not counting that. West of the Mason-Dixon line.

I assume that this group would be interested in certain factors and

maybe we can get it out to the crowd in a more interesting way by asking

questions. What factors would you take into consideration in trying to

make a decision? We recognize the southern varieties would be more

easily killed by certain temperatures. You're from Illinois. Read off

your contribution. What is your observation on these northern pecans?

MR. GERARDI: The varieties that we introduced around our particular area

I could give as much for as any. These others have all been tried and

with close observation there is not so much difference in the varieties

I can see. I will name three or four of those varieties. The Gildig

pecan is a little longer than the Indiana, but the same shape. This

variety I tasted. I think the flavor is better in the Gildig. Soil

variations will make a difference and it is a little longer. That is the

one variety I like very well. A little slow in bearing, the trees in the

nursery have no nuts before five years. After that time, it began to

build up, until we had spittle bug infestation and that has been a

battle. It suddenly appeared. The first I noticed was the native

seedlings with spittle bug and then it moved into these plantings of

these better varieties and it is very bad. In the last four years it is

noticeable on the amount of nuts taken off. Because of killing that

latter twig growth, it destroyed the crop of the future years. We have

had the trees bear at four years old. They have a wonderful set until

the spittle bug gets hold of them. From the first to the tenth of June,

it's around until the 25th of July. And the second brood was active and

of course it doesn't take the nut off. Most of the damage is on the

twig. The first brood insect gets right around where the cluster of nuts

set and it drops off. It seems to girdle the tree. The insect bores into

it. I had a little difficulty telling just what quantity was on this

Gildig pecan.

The next variety is the Fisher pecan, very much like the Major. The fact

is I think it is a little more elongated. The youngness of bearing is

the same. The Major started at three years old. The three-year tree had

several sets of nuts. It keeps building on and the bearing isn't getting

less.

MR. MAGILL: Do you find your bearing earlier? In top working a seedling

tree?

MR. GERARDI: Top working will gain at least two years. Then again

depending on the size of your root stock. You will gain at least two

years. Under adverse soil conditions at least five years.

MR. MAGILL: Do you plant seedlings where you want them to grow and then

later top work?

MR. GERARDI: I haven't because I have been producing them in a nursery.

I don't think we have time for pre-planting these pecan seeds where you

want the tree to grow. I think it is advisable in many areas. If you can

plant a nut tree you can go right ahead and there is no further care to

be given it. After the Fisher and the Gildig is one called the Queens

Lake. (This was called Gildig number 2.) It is a little more round. It

is stubby and heavy in diameter something like the Money-maker among the

southern varieties only not as large. It is a little smaller.

Another variety is the Duis. He had named two or three, including the

Swagler and Duis variety. I noticed two years ago after he had died, the

ground had changed hands. I saw the tree but it had very few nuts. The

tree was apparently ten years old. I don't believe there are more than a

dozen nuts. It was in a creek bottom, growing very rapidly. The Duis

pecan is a nice size. It is a little larger than any of the commercial

northern varieties. As for the bearing, I am a little skeptical. The

Swagler variety I have practically abandoned. It is very much like the

Norton. Clarksville I like very well. The Norton (parent of Clarksville)

does not bear at all for me. I have ruled that one out. The Swagler

gives a little trouble with late growth and winter trouble, winter

damage, from the late growth in the fall. Consequently I haven't had any

fruit until the present time.

MR. MAGILL: We'll come back to you later. I want to present some points

in a letter from Dr. Frank B. Cross, of Oklahoma A.&M. College. They

spent a lot of time on pecans in Oklahoma. They don't all have oil

wells. He makes two or three statements I hadn't thought of. I will just

throw these in to carry this discussion along.

"In comparing the two groups of nuts, namely, northern and southern, we

find that practically all northern nuts require a longer rest period,

than do the southern nuts. This means that the northern nuts for the

most part begin growth later in the spring and begin to mature leaves

and shed leaves and drop nuts before the southern varieties. The Major

and the Greenriver are perhaps somewhat different from others of the

northern varieties in that their maturity date usually falls with the

earlier southern varieties.

"In order of production, I would rate the northern varieties as follows

from highest to lowest: Major, Greenriver, Busseron, Indiana, Niblack,

Kentucky, Warwick, Posey, Coy, Tissue, Johnson. Perhaps a little broader

classification and grouping should be made. In my judgment, the Major,

Greenriver, Busseron, Indiana, and Niblack compose one group which may

be depended upon for fairly satisfactory production. The Kentucky,

Warwick, Posey, Coy, Tissue, and Johnson have consistently been much

lighter producers than those named in the first group.

"In order of desirability for planting I would make a list about as

follows: Niblack, Major, Greenriver, Busseron, Indiana. I list the

Niblack as first choice because it seems to be about as productive as

any of the other varieties, and because of its excellence as a cracking

nut and the quality of the kernel. The Niblack is really a very

desirable nut for cracking, when it is cracked by such devices as the

Squirrel cracker which applies pressure to both ends. The kernel comes

free from the shell. In a good many varieties, such as the Indiana and

Busseron the kernel and shell do not drop free, but the kernel

frequently is wedged in furrows in the shell so that the two must be

pulled apart. This is not true of the Niblack. When they are cracked by

end to end crackers, the shell and kernel drop free. I list Major as

second choice because of its good production. It is a little bit late in

maturing for a variety of the northern group, and will sometimes get

caught by frosts in many northern localities. The nut is not a desirable

one for cracking because of its shape. A good cracking nut must be oval.

The Major is comparatively round and many of the kernels will be crushed

when they are cracked. The Greenriver is a good producer but it is a

little bit late. The Indiana and Busseron are both proved to be good

producers.

"Comparing the general production of the northern varieties and the

southern varieties, as groups, the northern varieties seem never to be

so productive in Oklahoma as are the southern varieties. Much more

dependable production may be obtained from the southern varieties.

"Some data on cracking percentage of nuts and size of nuts might be

desirable. This list is not complete, but contains several different

varieties.

Variety No. Nuts per Pound Kernel Percentage

Busseron 62 47

Greenriver 80 49

Major 57 45

Posey 53 54

Warrick 63 48

"Of the nuts mentioned, the Posey is definitely larger than any of the

others. It is a very fine type of nut, having a high kernel percentage.

It is rather flat in shape, but is attractive in appearance. Were it not

for the fact that the trees are consistently light producers, it would

be a very desirable nut."

MR. BEST: They bear all right up here.

MEMBER: Where would it rank in the ability to bear?

MR. GERARDI: I would say third or fourth. Gildig, Major, Greenriver and

Posey.

MR. BEST: I'd want to put Indiana and Busseron pretty close to the top.

Major as one, probably Busseron and Indiana as second. Then I'd come

along with probably Posey as third or fourth because, while Posey may

not be the best bearer in our section, it does make a wonderful quality

of nut which always matures. This matter of maturity in pecans is

important.

MEMBER: How about Niblack?

MR. BEST: We haven't had too many trees that produce too many nuts. It

is a high quality nut. It would be somewhere near the top. You wouldn't

call it a relatively heavy producer. It hasn't fruited as early as the

rest. We have had trees as old as 15 years. There is another good pecan.

That is the Stevens.

MR. MAGILL: You and I will have to have Ford Wilkinson do our climbing.

You find that to be a good producer. It's early. Getting back to our

first consideration, we are pretty close to the north line. We have

these Cass County pecans. We are just getting our first nuts. Close to

Cass County--Champaign-Urbana still is the United States--not all

Republicans.

MEMBER: How does that compare in Missouri?

MR. GUENGERICH: What little observation I have had about west central

Missouri, it has been satisfactory. I would pick out Major from my

observations. Then probably the Indiana, Greenriver. Beyond that there

is some question.

MR. MAGILL: I have an idea about that Major I have been a crank of

pollination on apples. We had many orchards planted in Kentucky. The

Major for pollination is what Jonathans are to apples.

A week ago we had a couple hundred people at a field day down in

Kentucky. We were going around over the ground and we got five pecan

trees and a lot of the records were lost. I don't know how old these

pecans are. I think they were planted in '17 I don't know what variety

they are. We think there is one Greenriver. We really don't know what

they are. There is many a pecan planting in Kentucky that was a failure

because there wasn't anything to pollinate. If you were to judge the

value of the tree, two and a half feet in diameter, big enough to make a

world of pecans, you would have to remember that just because we didn't

have something to pollinate we didn't have any pecans. I got a few to

graft in Greenriver and they do fine bearing. So things like that lead

me to believe there is something in pollination. We plant them out there

on the bank of the west fork of the Kentucky River. We got the Major,

Greenriver, the Busseron, and one other, and the Major had more crop

every year. The Greenriver is about two years later. I don't know which

are the best pollinaters.