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[Illustration: A S Fuller]
THE
NUT CULTURIST
A TREATISE
ON THE
PROPAGATION, PLANTING AND CULTIVATION
OF NUT-BEARING TREES AND SHRUBS
ADAPTED TO THE
CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
WITH THE SCIENTIFIC AND COMMON NAMES OF
THE FRUITS KNOWN
IN COMMERCE AS EDIBLE OR OTHERWISE USEFUL NUTS
By ANDREW S. FULLER,
_Author of the "Grape Culturist," "Small Fruit Culturist,"
"Practical Forestry," "Propagation of Plants," etc., etc._
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1896
COPYRIGHT, 1896,
BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
PREFACE
Believing that the time is opportune for making an effort to
cultivate all kinds of edible and otherwise useful nut-bearing trees
and shrubs adapted to the soil and climate of the United States,
thereby inaugurating a great, permanent and far-reaching industry,
the following pages have been penned, and with the hope of
encouraging and aiding the farmer to increase his income and
enjoyments, without, to any appreciable extent, adding to his
expenses or labors. With this idea in mind, I have not advised the
general planting of nut orchards on land adapted to the production
of grain and other indispensable farm crops, but mainly as roadside
trees and where desired for shade, shelter and ornament, being
confident that when all such positions are occupied with choice
nut-bearing trees, to the exclusion of those yielding nothing of
intrinsic value, there will have been added many millions of dollars
to the wealth of the country, as well as a vast store of edible and
delicious food.
This work has not been written for the edification, or the special
approbation, of scientific botanists, but for those who, in the
opinion of the writer, are most likely to profit by a treatise of
this kind. Unfamiliar terms have been omitted wherever simple common
words would answer equally as well in conveying the intended
information. There being no work of this kind published in this
country that would serve as a guide, I have been compelled to
formulate a plan of my own, and to describe all the newer varieties
from the best specimens obtainable, and these may not, in all cases,
have been perfect. Under such circumstances, this work must
necessarily be incomplete, and especially where the possessors of
claimed-to-be new and valuable varieties have either refused or
failed to give any information in regard to them. On the contrary,
however, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to many correspondents,
who have so generously placed specimens of both trees and nuts of
rare new varieties in my hands for testing and describing, as well
as assisting me in tracing their history and origin.
That this treatise may become the pioneer of many other and better
works on nut culture is the sincere wish of
THE AUTHOR.
RIDGEWOOD, N. J., 1896.
CONTENTS.
Page.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION, 1
CHAPTER II.
THE ALMOND, 12
CHAPTER III.
THE BEECHNUT, 44
CHAPTER IV.
CASTANOPSIS, 55
CHAPTER V.
THE CHESTNUT, 60
CHAPTER VI.
FILBERT OR HAZELNUT, 118
CHAPTER VII.
HICKORY NUTS, 147
CHAPTER VIII.
THE WALNUT, 203
CHAPTER IX.
MISCELLANEOUS NUTS--EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE, 254
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Fig. Page.
1. A California almond orchard, 18
2. Budding knife, 24
3. Yankee budding knife, 24
4. Prepared shoot, 26
5. Incision for bud, 27
6. Bud in position, 28
7. Hard-shelled almond, 36
8. Thin-shelled almond, 37
9. Beechnut leaf, bur and nut, 51
10. Leaves and nut of Castanopsis chrysophylla, 56
11. Castanopsis bur, 57
12. Chestnut flowers, 61
13. Splice graft, 75
14. Splice graft inserted, 75
15. Stock, 77
16. Cion, 77
17. Two cions inserted, 77
18. One cion inserted, 77
19. American chestnut leaf, 88
20. Spike of burs of bush chinquapin (_Castanea nana_), 89
21. Spike of chinquapin chestnut bur (_C. pumila_), 90
22. Single bur, nut and leaf of chinquapin
chestnut (_C. pumila_), 91
23. Japan chestnut leaf, 92
24. Burs of Fuller's chinquapin (one-half natural size), 97
25. Fuller's chinquapin, five years old from nut, 98
26. Bur of Numbo chestnut, 101
27. Spines of Numbo chestnut, 102
28. Numbo chestnut, 102
29. Paragon chestnut bur (one-half natural size), 103
30. Spines of Paragon chestnut bur, 103
31. Paragon chestnut, 104
32. Four-year-old Paragon chestnut tree, 105
33. Open bur of the Ridgely chestnut, 106
34. Japan Giant chestnut, 110
35. Spines of Japan chestnut, 110
36. Chestnut weevil, 114
37. Large filbert, 119
38. Large seedling hazelnut, 120
39. Constantinople hazel, 129
40. English filbert orchard, five years from seed, 134
41. Varieties of filberts and hazel seedlings, 135
42. Extra large hazel seedling or round English filbert, 136
43. Filbert orchard struck with blight, fifth year from seed,137
44. Hazel fungus, 141
45. Fourteen-years-old pecan tree in Mississippi, 154
46. Leaf and sterile catkins of shellbark hickory, 156
47. Western shellbark, 158
48. Section Western shellbark, 158
49. Leaf of pignut, 161
50. Bitternut branch and leaf, 163
51. Bitternut, 164
52. Large, long pecan nut, 166
53. Oval pecan nut, 166
54. Small oval pecan nut, 167
55. Little Mobile pecan nut, 167
56. Stuart pecan nut, 169
57. Van Deman pecan nut, 169
58. Risien pecan nut, 169
59. Lady Finger pecan nut, 169
60. The original Hales' Paper-shell hickory tree, 171
61. Hales' hickory, 172
62. Section of Hales' hickory, 172
63. Long shellbark hickory, 173
64. Shellbark Missouri, 173
65. Long Western shellbark, 174
66. Fresh Nussbaumer hybrid, 175
67. Nussbaumer's hybrid, 176
68. Crown grafting on roots of the hickory, 189
69. Sprouts from severed hickory roots, 190
70. The hickory-twig girdler, 196
71. Hickory borer, 198
72. Burrows of hickory scolytus, 200
73. Persian walnut, showing position of sexual organs, 204
74. Bearing branch of English walnut, 205
75. Seedling walnut, 216
76. Flute budding, 220
77. Flowering branch of hybrid walnut, 228
78. Hybrid walnut, 230
79. Hybrid walnut, shell removed, 230
80. Juglans Sieboldiana raceme, 231
81. Black walnut in husk, 232
82. Juglans nigra, husk removed, 233
83. Juglans Californica, 235
84. Juglans rupestris, showing small kernel, 235
85. Juglans Sieboldiana, 238
86. Juglans cordiformis, 239
87. Small fruited walnut, 240
88. Barthere walnut, 242
89. Chaberte walnut, 242
90. Chile walnut, 242
91. Cut-leaved walnut, 243
92. Gibbons walnut, 244
93. Mayette walnut, 245
94. Kernel of walnut, 245
95. Juglans regia octogona, 245
96. Cross section, 245
97. Parisienne walnut, 246
98. Serotina or St. John walnut, 247
99. The caterpillar of the regal walnut moth, 252
100. The regal walnut moth--Citheronia regalis, 252
101. Brazil nut, 258
102. The cashew nut, 260
103. Litchi or Leechee nut, 270
104. Branch of nut pine, 277
105. Paradise or sapucaia nut, 279
106. Souari nut, 281
107. Water chestnut, 283
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
No special amount of prophetic acumen is required to foresee that
the time will soon come when the people of this country must
necessarily place a much higher value upon all kinds of food than
they do at present, or have done in the past. In this we are
pre-supposing that in the natural course of events, our population
will continue to increase in nearly the same ratio it has since we
assumed the responsibilities of an independent nation.
The very existence of animal life on this planet depends upon the
quantity and quality of available food, and while some
sentimentalists may assume to ignore and even attempt to deprecate
the animal desires of their race, nature compels us to recognize the
fact that there can be no fire without fuel, and the great and
useful intellectual powers of man are the emanations of the animal
tissues of a well-nourished brain. The brawny arm that rends the
rock and hurls the fragments aside, gets its power through the same
channel and from the same source as those of other members of
society, whatever the nature of their calling; for mankind is built
upon one universal and general plan, varied though it may be in some
of the minor details of construction. We certainly have no cause to
fear that the theories of Malthus, in regard to the overpopulation
of the earth as a whole, will ever be verified in the experience of
the human race, because with necessity comes industry, also the
inventions of devices to enable us to avoid just such dangers, and
if these fail to keep pace with our wants and needs, wars,
earthquakes, drouths, floods, and contagious, epidemic and other
diseases, become the weapons which nature employs to prevent
overpopulation. But we cannot deny that nature does sometimes
encourage or permit a somewhat redundant population in certain
favorable countries and localities, and then follows a struggle for
existence, and food becomes the paramount object in life. To ward
off danger of this kind and keep the supply in excess of the demand,
is a problem which should seriously engage the attention of every
one who takes the least interest in the general welfare of his
countrymen, even though the day of want or scarcity of food may be
very far distant.
Among the various sources of acceptable and nutritious food products
heretofore almost entirely neglected in this country, the edible
nuts stand preeminently and conspicuously in the foreground,
awaiting the skill and attention of all who seek pleasure and
profit--to be derived from the products of the soil. For many
centuries these nuts have held a prominent position among the
desirable and valuable food products of various European and
Oriental countries; not only because they were important and almost
indispensable in making up the household supplies of all classes of
the people, but often because available for filling a depleted
purse, and the thing needful for this purpose has, in the main, been
received from far-distant nations, who through indifference and
neglect failed to provide themselves with such a simple and valuable
article as the edible nuts.
Much as we may boast of our immense natural resources and
advantages, we have not, as yet, availed ourselves of one-half of
those we possess, and the remainder is still awaiting our attention.
We also neglect to avail ourselves of the many superior domestic
traits and practices of the foreign nations with whom we are in
constant communication. It may be that the absence of incentives has
made us careless and indifferent in regard to a day of need, which
in all probability will come to us sooner or later; but whatever the
cause, the fact remains that we have been spending millions annually
on worthless articles and sentimental problems and projects, which
have brought us neither riches nor honor; in truth, to use a homely
phrase, we have been following the bellwether in nearly all of our
rural affairs and pursuits. As a natural result we are spending
millions for imported articles of everyday use which might easily
and with large profit be produced at home, and in many instances the
most humiliating part of the transaction is that we send our money
to people who do not purchase any of our productions and almost
ignore us in commercial matters. I am not referring to those
products ill-adapted to our climate, nor to those which, owing to
scarcity and high price of labor, we are unable to produce
profitably, but to such nuts as the almond, walnut and chestnut,
which we can raise as readily as peaches, apples and pears. There
certainly can be no excuse for the neglect of such nut trees on the
score of cost of labor in propagation and planting, because our
streets and highways are lined and shaded with equally as expensive
kinds, although they are absolutely worthless for any other purpose
than shade or shelter, yielding nothing in the way of food for
either man or beast. Can any one invent a reasonable excuse for
planting miles and miles of roadside trees of such kinds as elm,
maple, ash, willow, cottonwood, and a hundred other similar kinds,
where shellbark hickory, chestnut, walnut, pecan and butternut would
thrive just as well, cost no more, and yet yield bushels of
delicious and highly prized nuts, and this annually or in alternate
years, continuing and increasing in productiveness for one, two or
more centuries. Aside from the intrinsic value of such trees, they
are, in the way of ornament, just as beautiful as, and in many
instances much superior to those yielding nothing in the way of food
except, perhaps, something for noxious insects.
I am not attempting to pose as the one wise man engaged in rural
affairs, but am merely recounting my personal observation and
experience, having in my younger days taken the advice of my elders,
and at a time when a hint of the future value of nut trees would
have been worth more than a paid-up life insurance policy. But as
the hint was not given, I selected for roadside trees ash, maples,
tulip, magnolias, and other popular kinds, all of which thrived, and
by the time they were twenty years old began to be admired for their
beauty, although their roots were spreading into the adjoining
field, robbing the soil of the nutriment required for less
vigorous-growing plants. Later, however, the discovery was made that
I was paying very dearly for a crop of leaves and sentiment, neither
of which was salable or available for filling one's purse. When
thirty years of age the very best of my roadside trees were probably
worth two dollars each for firewood, or one dollar more than the
nurseryman's price at the time of planting. The greater part of
these trees, however, have since been cremated, a few being left as
reminders of the misdirected labors of youth and inexperience.
In this matter of following a leader in tree-planting along the
highways, it appears to be a predominant trait of our rural
population and as old as the settlement of this country, for nowhere
is it more pronounced than in the New England States, where the
American elms attracted the attention of the Pilgrims and their
contemporaries and descendants, and even continued down to the
present day. No one will deny that the American elm is a noble tree
in appearance, is easily transplanted and of rapid growth, and yet
it is one of the most worthless for any economic purpose. It may be
that its worthlessness for other purposes made it all the more
acceptable for streets and roadsides, the better kinds being
reserved for firewood, fencing, furniture, and the manufacture of
agricultural and other implements. But whatever the cause or object,
the elm became the one tree generally selected for planting in
parks, villages, cities, and along roadsides in the country, not
only in the older but in many of the newer States. From present
indications, however, the glory of this much over-praised tree is on
the wane, for the imported elm-leaf beetle (_Galeruca calmariensis_)
is slowly but surely spreading over the country, defoliating the
elms of all species and varieties, and it is a question whether we
should bless this insect for the work it is doing or look upon it as
a pest. Perhaps future generations will sing paeons in its praise,
and they certainly will have reasons for rejoicing if better and
more useful kinds are planted in the places now occupied by the
worthless elms.
In other localities some pioneer or leader in roadside ornamentation
selected or recommended some species of maple, linden, catalpa,
poplar or willow, but it made little or no difference as to kind,
because, as a rule, all his neighbors followed without a thought or
question in regard to adaptation to soil, climate, or fitness in the
local or surrounding scenery, or of its future economic value. The
result of this want of taste and forethought may be seen in whatever
direction one travels throughout the older and more thickly settled
portions of this country.
Had the early settlers of the New England States planted shellbark
hickories, or even the native chestnut, in place of the American
elm, they would not only have had equally as beautiful trees for
shade and ornament, but the nutritious nuts would scarcely have
failed to bring bright cheer to many a household and money to fill
oft-depleted purses, while their descendants would have blessed them
for their forethought. Of course there are other valuable kinds of
nuts which thrive over the greater part of the New England States,
but I refer only to the two, which were so abundant in the forests
that one or both could have been obtained for the mere cost of
transplanting. But it is not fair to prate about the remissness and
follies of our ancestors, unless we can show by our works that
wisdom has come down to us through their experience.
What is true of the New England is equally true of all the older
States, and is rapidly becoming so in many of the newer, little
attention being paid to the intrinsic value of the wood or the
product of the trees planted along the highways. There are also
millions of acres of wild lands not suitable for cultivation, but
well adapted to the growth of trees, whether of the nut-bearing or
other kinds. But for the present I will omit further reference to
the planting of nut trees except on the line of the highways, just
where other kinds have long been in vogue and are still being
cultivated for shade and ornament,--with no thought, perhaps, on the
part of the planter, that both could be obtained in the nut trees,
with something of more intrinsic value added. The nut trees which
grow to a large size are as well adapted for planting along
roadsides, in the open country, as other kinds that yield nothing in
the way of food for either man or beast. They are also fully as
beautiful in form and foliage, and in many instances far superior,
to the kinds often selected for such purposes.
The only objection I have heard of as being urged against planting
fruit and nut trees along the highway is that they tempt boys and
girls--as well as persons of larger growth--to become trespassers;
but this only applies to where there is such a scarcity that the
quantity taken perceptibly lessens the total crop. But where there
is an abundance, either the temptation to trespass disappears, or we
fail to recognize our loss. As we cannot very well dispense with the
small boy and his sister, I am in favor of providing them
bountifully with all the good things that climate and circumstance
will afford. It is a truism that conscience is never strengthened by
an empty stomach.
A mile, in this country, is 5280 feet, and if trees are set 40 feet
apart--which is allowing sufficient room for them to grow during an
ordinary lifetime--we get 133 per mile in a single row; but where
the roads are three to four rods wide, two rows may be planted, one
on each side, or 266 per mile. With such kinds as the Persian walnut
and American and foreign chestnuts, we can safely estimate the crop,
when the trees are twenty years old, at a half bushel per tree, or
66 bushels for a single row, and 133 for a double row per mile. With
grafted trees of either kind we may count on double the quantity
named, presuming, of course, that the trees are given proper care.
But to be on the safe side, let us keep our estimate down to the
half-bushel mark per tree, and with this crop, at the moderate price
of four dollars per bushel, we would get $264 from the crop on a
single row, and double this sum, or $528, for the crop on a double
row--with a fair assurance that the yield would increase steadily
for the next hundred years or more; while the cost of gathering and
marketing the nuts is no greater, and in many instances much less
than that of the ordinary grain crops. At the expiration of the
first half century, one-half of the trees may be removed, if they
begin to crowd, and the timber used for whatever purpose it may best
be adapted. The remaining trees would probably improve, on account
of having more room for development.
There has been a steady increase in the demand, and a corresponding
advance in the price of all kinds of edible nuts, during the past
three or four decades, and this is likely to continue for many years
to come, because consumers are increasing far more rapidly than
producers; besides, the forests, which have long been the only
source of supply of the native kinds, are rapidly disappearing,
while there has not been, as yet, any special effort to make good
the loss, by replanting or otherwise. The dealers in such articles
in our larger cities assure me that the demand for our best kinds of
edible nuts is far in excess of the supply, and yet not one
housewife or cook in a thousand in this country has ever attempted
to use nuts of any kind in the preparation of meats and other dishes
for the table, as is so generally practiced in European and Oriental
countries.
The question may be asked, if the demand is sufficient to warrant
the planting of the hardy nut trees extensively along our highways
or elsewhere. In answer to such a question it may be said that we
not only consume all of the edible nuts raised in this country, but
import millions of pounds annually of the very kinds which thrive
here as well as in any other part of the world.
I have before me the records of our imports from the year 1790 to
1894, but as I purpose dealing more with the present and future than
with the distant past, I will refer here only to the statistics of
the four years of the present decade, leaving out all reference to
the tropical nuts, which are not supposed to be adapted to our
climate.
Of almonds, not shelled, and on which there is a protective duty of
three cents per pound, we imported from 1890 to the close of 1893,
12,443,895 pounds, valued at $1,100,477.65. Of almonds, shelled, on
which the duty is now five cents, we imported 1,326,633 pounds. The
total value of both kinds for the four years, amounted to
$1,716,277.32. Whether this high protective duty is to remain or not
is uncertain, but it is quite evident that it has had very little
effect in stimulating the cultivation of this nut except in
circumscribed localities on the Pacific coast.
Of filberts and walnuts, not shelled, and with a duty of two cents
per pound, we imported during the same years from eleven to fifteen
million pounds annually, or a total for the four years of 54,526,181
pounds, and in addition about two million pounds of the shelled
kernels, on which the duty was six cents (now four) per pound. The
total value of these importations amounted to $3,176,085.34.
I do not find the European chestnut mentioned in any list of
imports, although an immense quantity must be received from France,
Italy and Spain every year, and they are probably imported under the
head of miscellaneous nuts, not specially provided for, and upon
which the duty was two cents per pound in 1890-'91, but was later
reduced to one and a half cents.
Under the head "miscellaneous nuts," or all other shelled and
unshelled "not specially provided for," there was imported during
the period named 6,442,908 pounds, valued at $235,976.05. The total
for all kinds of edible nuts imported was $7,124,575.82. These
figures are sufficient to prove that we are neglecting an
opportunity to largely engage in and extend a most important and
profitable industry. It is true that in the Southern States
considerable attention has been given, of late, to the preservation
of the old pecan nut trees and the planting of young stock, but it
will be many years before the increase from this source can overtake
the ever-increasing demand for this delicious native nut.
Californians are also making an effort to raise several foreign
varieties of edible nuts on a somewhat extensive scale, but all
these widely scattered experiments are mere drops in the ocean of
our wants. Under such conditions I ask, in all seriousness, if it is
not about time that our farmers and rural population generally began
to count their worthless and unproductive possessions, in the form
of roadside and other shade trees--which have probably cost fully as
much to secure, plant and care for during the few or many years
since they were set out, as would have been expended upon the most
beautiful and valuable nut-bearing kinds. If our ancestors were at
fault in the selection of trees for planting, we need not expect
that posterity will excuse us for continuing and repeating their
folly, especially when our dear-bought experience should teach us
better.
At the present time there might be some difficulty in procuring, at
the nurseries, a choice selection of nut trees in any considerable
quantity, suited to roadside planting, because heretofore there has
been little demand for such stock; and nurserymen are only human,
and conduct their establishments on business principles, propagating
the kind of trees in greatest demand, regardless of their intrinsic
or future value to purchasers. They will also continue producing
such stock just so long as the demand will warrant it, and further,
it is but natural that they should sometimes recommend and advise
their customers to purchase worthless, and even pestiferous kinds,
such as the ailanthus and white poplar, because the profits in
raising these trees are large and there is little danger of loss in
transplanting. But if purchasers will insist on having better kinds
and refuse to accept any other, they will soon be accommodated; and
if not, then let everyone who owns a plot of ground become his own
propagator of trees. It is not beyond the ability of any moderately
intelligent man (or woman, for that matter) to raise nut trees, and
as readily as one could potatoes or corn.
Where farmers want a row of trees along the roadside, to be utilized
for line fence posts, they cannot possibly find any kinds better
adapted for this purpose than chestnut, walnut and hickory; and
these will give just as dense a shade, and look as well--besides, in
a few years they may yield enough to pay the taxes on the entire
farm, the crop increasing in amount and value not only during the
lifetime of the planter, but that of many generations of his
descendants.
This appeal to the good sense of our rural population is made in all
sincerity and with the hope that it will be heeded by every man who
has a spark of patriotism in his soul, and who dares show it in his
labors, and by setting up a few milestones in the form of
nut-bearing trees along the roadsides--if for no other purpose than
the present pleasure of anticipating the gratification such
monuments will afford the many who are certain to pass along these
highways years hence.
It is surely not good policy to enrich other nations at the expense
of our own people, as we are now doing in sending millions of
dollars annually to foreign countries in payment for such luxuries
as edible nuts that could be readily and profitably produced at
home. There need be no fear of an overproduction of such things, no
matter how many may engage in their cultivation, because in such
industries many will resolve to do, and even make an attempt, but a
comparatively small number will reach any marked degree of success.