Mr. McCauley: No, not necessarily. When it gets to that point it isn't

necessary. Sometimes the machine gets too far ahead of them, but the

machinery is fast getting to a point where it is going to be more or

less mechanical. It's an inspection proposition.

Mr. Taylor: May I ask you this question? In other branches of farming

you have what you call seed certification, as with certified potatoes,

and people who certify those potatoes. Wouldn't it be possible for the

same Government agency to certify growers of walnuts so that when you

bought from certain members of this association they would be certified

so you would know what you were getting? Would that be possible?

Mr. McDaniel: Certification has to do with planting stock.

Mr. Taylor: I mean a different type of certification.

Mr. McDaniel: What you have in mind probably is U. S. Grades on fruit.

For instance, if it is stamped "U.S. 1" it should be considerably better

than orchard run, and I don't know why it shouldn't be possible for nuts

in the shell. It is used in California.

Mr. McCauley: It is in peanuts. All peanuts are Government graded, and

that's in the shell. But this black walnut situation is going to take a

little longer than that. But I am sure that there are people in the

shelling business who would buy Thomas variety or the other varieties if

you just go ahead and tell them that's what you have. People are always

looking for something better, and I am sure that your cultivated

varieties are going to be better, but you are going to have to keep

talking them up all the time and getting them to the people who will buy

them.

President Davidson: Right. We'd all like to go on with this, but we must

really go on with the program, too. We will next hear something about

pasteurization. The Production of Bacteria-Free Walnut Kernels will be

discussed by Mr. Pease of West Virginia University. Mr. Pease.

Production of Bacteria-Free Walnut Kernels

ROGER W. PEASE, Assistant Hillculturist, West Virginia University,

Morgantown, West Virginia

Mr. Pease: Before I go into any detail about the construction of the

pasteurizer, I am going to review the bacillus that causes the trouble

very briefly. Most of you will know more about it than I do, but some of

you may know less.

When the farmer takes the hulls from the black walnuts he generally

spreads his hulled crop to dry almost anywhere. Rats will go over them,

and these rats or mice infect the hulled walnuts with an organism called

_Bacillus coli_ that is on the outside of the shell. They go from there

to the cracking plant, go through the cracker which thoroughly mixes up

the infected nuts with the clean ones. They go from there to the

separator, which does a better job at spreading the bacteria. Then they

go on the market. If they are shipped from one state to another they are

subject to inspection by Federal authorities. If they find this

organism in the kernels, they may at their discretion heave the whole

shipment into the river. They don't always do it. They haven't worked

out yet a definite scheme to follow. In other words, they will not tell

us, "If your kernels have a certain number of these _B. coli_ in them we

will let them by." As it reads, there should be not one organism there,

and I can assure you that's almost impossible to get if a rat has

crawled over those things.

Now, to get rid of poison ivy the best way is not to get it, and it's

just the same with this organism. The place to get rid of it would be

for the farmer to store the nuts to dry where the rats and mice cannot

get to them and for the cracking plants to do the same. Unfortunately,

this isn't done and sometimes isn't practicable. The next place to hit

them would be before they are tumbled, that is, before the black powder

on the outside of the shells is shaken off in a tumbler, or immediately

after that to disinfect the shell without hurting the kernel.

That is where we should have started at West Virginia, but we didn't. We

began at the other end after the thing was through and began studying

pasteurization. The Government had recommended, I believe, temperatures

of up to 300 deg.F. for pasteurization. We found out right away--that is, I

didn't, Dr. Colmer and Harvey Erickson, who are now--one of them--in

Baton Rouge and the other one in Seattle, and they would know about it.

They found out that after temperatures of over 300 deg. the nuts tasted

toasted and they would not keep nearly so well or so long as an

unpasteurized nut.

After inspecting what pasteurizers they could get access to they

concluded some work was necessary, so they spent 12 months and found

that at a temperature of 160 and humidity of 80 per cent a more

efficient job of pasteurization was done, and at the same time the

kernel was not hurt at all. The taste was identical with an

unpasteurized nut, and it would keep just as long. At that point one of

them, as I say, went to Louisiana and the other went to Washington, and

the research fell on my shoulders, that didn't know much about it.

We started to construct the machine. Meanwhile, Mr. Erickson told me he

had developed a new strain of bacteria which was much more hardy and 160

degrees at 80% humidity would not kill the thing. So we constructed our

machine to run a temperature of 180 at 70% humidity for 30 minutes, and

that will kill them.

Now, in 15 minutes I can't give you anywhere near all the details of

construction of that machine. I can give you a few of the principles. On

the outside, of course, is a well insulated box. The nuts are fed

through the top with a revolving drum with fins on it. They comes down

to a belt that travels this way for six feet, drops to another, travels

back, a series of five belts. It takes them just half an hour to go

through. The layer of nuts is perhaps three-eighths of an inch thick.

The temperature is kept up with electric coils. It is regulated with a

thermostat.

We had some difficulty with the humidity. Try it and see. As we raised

our temperature it was hard to keep our humidity up. Finally we went

back to the simplest thing, which usually works. We just took a pan of

water, with a solenoid valve and float such as you have in the modern

hot air furnaces and put a magnetic switch on it. As the water boiled it

helped raise the temperature, and it gave off vapors. The automatic

switch and the wet and dry bulb from the thermometer and thermostat will

shut the water off and shut the heat off automatically when you get the

required temperature and the required humidity. In that machine our

nuts start at the top, take 30 minutes to travel through. From the time

they start at the top until the time they get to the bottom they have a

standard temperature of 180 deg. plus the 70% humidity.

Then the second problem, if you want to make one, is to get that

temperature standard in all places. I know one man who made one of these

machines and put four fans in at different places, and when he closed it

up and got it to working, the center of his machine was still cold,

because your hot air acts differently from free air. We put at the

bottom a shelf with a tube in it and a big fan in the middle. The air is

drawn down from the top here, driven through there, hits some baffles

and comes across each belt. In that way it works.

Now, if you want, any of you, to get the details of the pasteurizer you

could write to Mr. Erickson, College of Forestry, University of

Washington, Seattle 5, and he who designed it would be very glad, I

believe, to help with your problems, or you could write up to our

Agricultural Engineering department, and they would do the same.

I will tell you this, that after we drew up the plans, I took the plans

to several manufacturers, and the cheapest bid I got was $5,000 to make

it. We made it ourselves for a little less than $1,200 not counting

labor. Not that they would have made that much profit, but I tell you

that to show you it's a rather inexpensive machine. On the other hand,

you can save considerable money by getting it made up yourselves.

I am going to stop with the thing there. If there are a few questions

that you wish to ask, I will try to answer.

* * * * *

A Member: What is the name of the bacteria you are killing?

Mr. Pease: _Bacillus coli_, that's the chief bacteria, and the others

that cause the damage are similar to that, and they are always spread by

the rats or the mice.

A Member: Do the kernels properly pasteurized show any brownness of

kernel?

Mr. Pease: No, they are identical with an unpasteurized kernel at that

temperature.

Mr. Korn: I buy kernels at the plant in Nashville, and some of them have

been toasted.

Mr. Pease: They have 350 degrees.

Mr. Kays: You mentioned you should have started on the other end a while

ago. Could you treat those nuts before they are cracked and do the same

thing for less money?

Mr. Pease: I believe you could.

Mr. Kays: The other question I have is how about using ultra-violet

light?

Mr. Pease: I have written to a good many authorities, and some of them

say yes and some say no.

Mr. Kays: In pecans that is one of the practices.

Mr. Pease: I believe you could use it in our present machine.

Mr. Stoke: Isn't this heat to remove contamination? After the nuts are

cracked is there any examination of the nuts?

Mr. Pease: No, there is not.

Mr. Stoke: Could there be any possible value in sterilizing the nut

before it is cracked?

Mr. Pease: Yes. You see, the bacteria is on the shell, on the outside.

Then when you crack it, it gets on the nut.

* * * * *

President Davidson: Thank you very much, Mr. Pease. I do hate to cut

these discussions short. You get as much out of them or more, sometimes,

than we do otherwise. There is just one thing I'd like to say before we

take a five-minute recess. Mr. Acker is here. He is another man that you

might talk to in addition to talking to Mr. Mullins during the recess.

(Recess taken.)

President Davidson: The meeting will come to order. The first thing on

the program is a talk by Dr. Cross, Head of the Department of

Horticulture, Oklahoma A. & M., Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Pecan Selection

in Oklahoma. Dr. Cross.

Pecan Selection in Oklahoma

DR. FRANK B. CROSS, Head, Department of Horticulture, Oklahoma A & M

College, Stillwater, Oklahoma

Dr. Cross: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: The present status of the

pecan industry in Oklahoma is the result of close cooperation between

the growers and the experiment station combined with a resource which we

have in that state consisting of thousands of native pecan trees which

may be quickly and economically changed into producing trees instead of

just wild forest trees.

I am going to utilize my time this afternoon to discuss, first, briefly

the present situation as we find it with reference to pecans in

Oklahoma, because there is the important phase of nut growing which we

follow in that state. We do grow some walnuts and we have a great many

men interested in walnuts, but far and away our major interest is in

pecans.

We might divide the work and interest in the state into two phases.

First, but of least importance, is that connected with the planting and

production of varieties. We have a great many men in the state who wish

to plant land to pecans, and, of course, in cases like that the

varieties which are available are always selected for planting, and

nursery trees, of course, are utilized. The latest phase of that type of

development is the planting of apple trees for filler trees with the

expectation that the apple trees will be removed after 15 or 20 years,

thus leaving the pecan trees at a large size to fully occupy the ground,

and in the meantime the apple trees, of course, have produced a

profitable crop.

Our growers, however, and the industry in the state are far more

concerned with the utilization of the native trees. To talk about these

native trees is almost--well, we might borrow a Texas expression--these

trees grow both in Oklahoma and Texas--and the Texans say whenever a

Texan tries to tell the truth everybody knows he is lying. That's the

way everybody knows about some of these native trees. When we think of a

huge, tall tree 20 or so feet in circumference over a hundred years of

age and realize that the white man has occupied that particular

territory for only a little over 50 years, we wonder about the history

of that tree for the first 50 years of its life when wild Indians were

roaming the territory and buffalo were grazing under these trees which

were getting started.

These trees occur along the streams, very seldom out away from the

streams for any considerable distance, as one of the native forest trees

and in sufficient number so that when all other trees are removed the

stand of pecan trees remaining is in many cases more than adequate to

make a complete stand of pecans for commercial production. So that after

having removed the oaks and elms and cottonwoods and willows and the

other native trees, we have the opportunity of making a considerable

selection of desirable native or seedling trees by observing the type of

nut which each tree produces.

We are not, in making this selection, concerned so much with the size of

the nut produced as we are with the kernel percentage which will be

yielded by the nut upon cracking and extracting the kernels and by the

ease of separation. Within comparatively recent years many cracking and

shelling plants have been established throughout the state, and the

history of the industry I think will record that the establishment of

these cracking plants in the territory where the pecans are produced

will be a great stimulus to the production of that kind of nuts.

I don't know whether I have made the picture clear or not. Throughout

the eastern part of the state, that part which you in your old

geographies knew under the name of Indian Territory, and particularly

concentrated in the middle of the state there are native trees which if

properly handled, that is, cultivated and sprayed and thinned so that

each tree stands out individually by itself, will produce in paying

quantities.

On the experiment station we have a half mile of such territory lying

between cultivated fields on both sides of a creek which had eroded a

considerable basin. The area was unsatisfactory for cultivation, and so

it was fenced out. Back some years ago the area was cleared of grape

vines and other trees, and we have since that time pastured sheep in

this tract of land. It Is narrow, not over three or four hundred feet

wide at any place and, of course, varying in width from one end to the

other, and the creek meanders along. There really is more than a half

mile of total length.

The potential production of that half mile is now, in terms of dollars

and cents, about $2,500 to $3,000, and before wheat and cattle attained

their present prices that was no mean income for a quarter section of

land. Naturally, with that opportunity prevalent over a great part of

the state, we in Oklahoma are interested in the production of native or

seedling pecans to be sold to the cracker. We feel that the future of

the pecan industry is undoubtedly headed toward the utilization of

pecans as kernels and not nuts in the shell. Such being the case, we are

not interested particularly in large size. We are interested in kernel

yield and in the potential production of each individual tree.

There are a great many problems connected with the industry, and we have

more or less taken those into consideration and classified them under

insects and diseases and marketing and harvesting and varieties. I will

not have time to touch upon very many of these. Our harvesting situation

is completely chaotic. Within the last two ot three years shaking

machines have been developed, and we are indebted to the West Coast

growers for these inventions, which are very helpful. Previous to that

a, long bamboo pole was used to knock the pecans from the trees, and

then they were picked up off the ground. There are two machines now

waiting for the present crop to be harvested which are supposed to pick

up the nuts by vacuum picking.

If the industry can be mechanized in that manner, getting away from

harvesting pecans as we have been harvesting them, it is just like

cradling wheat as compared to the present-day 12-foot, self-propelled

combine that cuts the wheat so rapidly. If this mechanization can be put

into effect, then the native seedling territory in Texas and Oklahoma

will be able to produce pecans at a price which the market will accept.

I don't know whether you know it or not, but the pecan market situation

has apparently reached a condition of saturation. It was very difficult

to sell pecans last fall, not because there is over-production, no, but

because there is under-consumption.

There are two things which will remedy the situation. The pecan is

unquestionably the finest nut that is produced in the United States. If

the people of the North can be acquainted with the pecan, there is no

question in my mind but that it will be possible to vastly increase

consumption. The Oklahoma growers and buyers hope to put before the

legislature a proposition to assess a tax of a quarter of a cent or

something like that per pound, which will be used in an advertising

campaign to advertise pecans outside of the state, so maybe you folks in

New York and elsewhere, if the campaign is successful, will hear more

about Oklahoma pecans in the future.

Well, these seedling trees--I must get on with my story--are cultivated

and sprayed. We are sometimes accused of producing wild nuts at no cost.

This is not the situation distinctly. It costs just as much to produce

these native seedling nuts as it does to produce the varieties, the

advantage being that we start with a large tree which is capable of

producing from 50 to 200 or 300 or even 400 pounds of nuts within four

or five years after the operation is started instead of waiting 20 or 25

years to get good commercial production.

As I said, a selection is made of the trees at the beginning. The

selection is continued with each succeeding year as the trees grow

larger and additional trees are thinned out so that they stand

eventually a hundred or 150 feet apart, giving to each tree adequate

room.

Throughout the state we have a great deal of interest in propagation by

topworking of varieties of pecans. The experiment station made the

serious error for 15 or 20 years in the early development of the

interest in the work in centering on the idea of changing these natives

over to varieties. We now are swinging back to a proper evaluation of

the native nuts, and nobody is satisfied with the present varieties, our

interest of developing and the exploration and discovery of new

varieties being such that the Northeast Oklahoma Pecan Growers

Association arranged two years ago to finance a contest for the

discovery of seedling nuts which could be utilized in that territory and

be more profitable than any variety that we now have.

We don't like the Stuart because of its low quality. We don't like the

Stuart because it doesn't come into production until it reaches a

considerable age. We just simply will not have the Mahan, because it

doesn't fill. We do not like the Success because it has a tendency to

over-bear every other year and does not fill. We cannot use the

Squirrel's Delight which for ten years or so we had at the top of our

list, because a special strain of scab fungus came in and completely

wiped them out, and so on throughout the list of varieties that we have.

Well, these growers decided to take the matter into their hands and in

cooperation with the experiment station have been, during the past two

years, attempting to find some nuts which would be more desirable, and I

thought those of you who are in the walnut exploration work would be

interested in learning how this is worked out.

I don't suppose you can see this. It Is an entry blank for the grower.

Annual prizes of $50, $25, $15 and $10 are awarded. Ten awards are made

each year, and the ten winning growers this year will have their

particular nut automatically entered in a grand prize contest hoping

that some of those nuts will be worth naming, and if any should be worth

naming, after further study, naming and introducing, the grower will be

awarded a prize of $1,000.

Four of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, crackers are financing this work by putting

in $75 each annually. The college is cooperating in this respect, and

when I say the college, I also mean the Extension Division. The

Extension Director is pushing the matter and tells the county agents to

pay attention to these entry blanks when they come, and get as many

growers in each county to send in samples as possible.

The contest closes on November 25th. Those samples are sent to the

college, and in three or four days--and those of you in colleges will

recognize the Thanksgiving holiday--in three or four days' time those

nuts are cracked and evaluated and placed. Last year, the second year of

the contest, there were over 200 entries, and it was no small job to

finish in time to get them on display at the annual meeting and show of

the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association in early December.

We are not content with the evaluation of the nut. It is just one phase

of successful production to have a nut which is satisfactory for

cracking and consumption; unless those trees are free from disease and

productive and otherwise satisfactory we could never think of

introducing a variety. And so the staff at the college, as soon, as the

show is over, goes out and locates each of these trees individually and

puts a tag on it. We visit each of those trees a sufficient number of

times during the year to properly evaluate the tree.

The things that we are looking for, of course, are productiveness,

freedom from disease and other characteristics of that type. If, after

five years of observation, the tree characteristics are satisfactory,

then the nut will be certified as worthy of propagation.

We are getting some place with this program, as evidenced by the data on

last year's cracking contest. Normal seedling pecans yield about 33 per

cent kernel to the packing plant. In last year's contest, as I say,

there were over 200 entries, and I was just looking to see what the low

was. I really haven't paid enough attention. The lowest entry apparently

was about 33 per cent, and the highest entry was 59 per cent kernel.

Over 30 of these seedling nuts yielded better than 50 per cent kernel,

and that is better than most popular varieties.

These nuts are relatively small. The cracker doesn't care how small they

are, he wants a nut that handles well in the cracker, a nut that is the

shape of a football. A miniature football is an ideal cracking type of

nut. The cracking docks come together from the ends. We cannot use a

round nut. About two-thirds of these good nuts which yielded over 50 per

cent kernel were so round that the machinery in cracking would not place

the docks on the ends, but they were apt to hit anyplace. So they had to

be discounted.

It is quite a job to evaluate these nuts. We have been arbitrary about

it. We haven't developed any scoring system, because there are so many

variable factors that it seems to be almost impossible to do so. In our

general plan of operation in the state we expect this native grove

improvement program that I described to continue, and as the trees get

larger the growers will topwork sprouts which develop from the trees

which have been removed so that the thing goes on and on with a constant

improvement in the quality of the nut.

We also have many, many acres of nuts being propagated by topworking to

varieties rather than by letting the seedling continue to produce. That

is the reason why we are so much interested in getting a better type of

pecan.

One man who makes it a commercial practice puts on thousands of scions

every year. We in Oklahoma can't understand why you all seem to have so

much trouble propagating nut trees. It is just as easy to propagate

pecans and walnuts--not quite as easy--as apples, but then it isn't too

difficult. I think it is the attitude and frame of mind in which you go

about it.

Thank you very much, I appreciate the time.

* * * * *

President Davidson: Thank you. Now, then, Mr. Magill of the University

of Kentucky, will give us "A Planned Program for Improving the Pecan

Industry in Southwestern Kentucky."

A Pecan Improvement Program for Southwestern Kentucky

W. W. MAGILL, Extension Horticulturist, University of Kentucky

The production and marketing of seedling pecans in extreme southwestern

Kentucky has been of major importance for many years.

This industry naturally extends into northwestern Tennessee and parts of

Missouri directly across the state line in the Mississippi River bottom.

It might be said that this industry was developed by nature, because in

the Mississippi River bottoms we find seedling pecan trees which

undoubtedly are more than 100 years old. Some native seedling pecan

trees in this area are five feet or more in diameter; some have a spread

of branches covering a radius of 60 feet, and are more than 100 feet in

height.

This industry took on considerable momentum about seven years ago when a

group of local business men at Hickman, the county seat of Fulton

County, developed a cracking plant known as the Roper Pecan Company.

They now have thirty modern cracking machines, with sorting belts,

grading machines, and other complete equipment, so that they are in a

position to receive and process a large tonnage of native seedling

pecans, merchandise the kernels and other by-products and, therefore,

are able to purchase a large quantity of seedling nuts and operate their

plant for eight months each year. Not having sufficient local nuts

("Kentucky Kernels") to take care of their business, they also buy not

only Kentucky nuts but also from Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and

Arkansas.

+Young Native Trees Top-Grafted+

Realizing that this industry is here to stay and that many farmers of

that district have many young seedling pecans growing on their farms,

the Kentucky Agricultural Extension Service, cooperating with some of

the leading farmers of the district, has launched a program of

top-working these native seedling pecans with some of the known,

improved varieties that have a reputation for producing good yields of

high quality nuts. The beginning of this top-grafting program was in

late April of 1948, when some 200 trees were top-worked mostly on the

farm of the late Roscoe Stone, a farmer in this area who had

considerable land holdings. It is highly pleasing to our Extension

workers to observe what we think is an outstanding success in this first

year of development, for we find that over 90% of the five to ten year

old trees that were top-grafted have developed a new growth from the

spring grafting, to the extent of from two to eight feet of new growth.

John Watts, County Farm Agent of Fulton County, who pioneered this pecan

improvement development, tells me that we already have requests for

top-working over 500 other trees in this area for the spring of 1949.

+Northern Varieties Preferred+

The best information available was sought from such pecan authorities as

Ford Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana, Dr. A. S. Colby, chief in nut

culture, Horticulture Department of the University of Illinois, Bob

Endicott of Villa Ridge, Illinois, and others. They are of the opinion

that this southwestern Kentucky area approaches the northern limit of

successful production of known southern varieties of pecans, and that

our success in our pecan grafting program can best be assured by

top-working to the hardy northern varieties of pecans such as the Major,

Greenriver, Niblack, Giles, Goforth, and others.

Thanks to our pioneers of this generation who located some outstanding

seedling pecans in the Ohio Valley, such trees as the original Major,

Greenriver, and others have proved their worth as hardy northern pecans

and they have been used for propagating purposes rather than being

destroyed by farm hands who burned piles of debris left by high water

around many of these early trees.

+Some Superior Local Nuts+

We are of the opinion that other seedling varieties are now growing in

this Reelfoot Lake area, maybe in Kentucky, maybe in Tennessee, or

across the line in Missouri, that are equally as good pecans, and, we

hope, better, than the already named seedlings which have been mentioned

above.

During early August it was my pleasure to spend a day in the Hickman

bottoms with County Agent Watts and Mr. Ernest Fields, manager of the

local nut cracking factory, together with Mr. C. B. Toombs, of Hickman,

at which time we inspected a number of recognized successful native

pecan groves. Mr. Toombs knows that whole area and is familiar with the

pecan trees of outstanding quality and yield history, just as you and I

knew where every tree stood in the old home apple orchard or that of

grandfather, where as boys we made frequent trips to get a pocketful of

those outstanding local variety apples.

Mr. Toombs pointed out to me a tree on his own farm that he said bears a

crop every year of from 300 to 400 pounds of nuts. In his own language

he described the tree in detail but the thing which impressed me was the

fact that he had developed standing orders for private sales to

individuals from the crops of this one tree each year because they are

of outstanding value. He showed us another tree on a neighbor's farm,

one which produced 700 pounds of nuts one year; another tree on which

the nuts were ready to harvest a month ahead of the nuts from other

pecan trees in that region. (Mr. Wilkinson, it strikes me that

propagation from this early maturing tree might well find a place

several miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line where normal fall frosts

often injure the crops.)

We are of the opinion that with organized effort we can locate these

outstanding individual trees, get enough scion wood from them and put it

in the hands of a good pecan grower, and in a few years develop

sufficient grafting wood so that we can top-work thousands of these

young native trees in the district, thereby increasing not only the

number of pounds produced per tree, but have a volume of production of

the very best quality of nuts. They tell me that one of the trees I

observed has a cracking percentage of above 60 as compared to many of

the native seedlings which have a cracking percentage of only 20-30 of

nut kernels.

+First Annual Nut Show in 1948+

In an effort to locate these outstanding seedling trees in an organized

way, our Kentucky Extension Service, cooperating with the Fulton County

Farm Bureau, local civic organizations, the local nut cracking plant,

and the Northern Nut Growers Association, through its secretary, Mr. J.

C. McDaniel, has made plans for a nut show to be held at the county

court house in Hickman, Kentucky, in early December of 1948. The feature

of the show with be the cash prizes offered for the best seedling

pecans. We request that the owners give us a history of the trees, the

age, regularity in bearing, etc., with the nut show management reserving

the right to cut a few sticks of grafting wood from the winning trees.

Prizes will also be offered for hickory and walnut seedling trees. An

educational program is also planned in connection with the day's show,

and it will include a visit to the farm of the late Roscoe Stone, where

a top-working program was started last spring, as well as a visit to the

local nut cracking firm. This nut show is set up to become an annual

affair, and we feel that the sky is the limit for the good that can come

out of such an organized program as it affects the pecan industry in

that area.

There are thousands of acres of excellent pecan land in this

southwestern Kentucky area, that can be profitably developed into pecan

groves. The land is deep, very fertile, and is already well supplied

with moisture. We cannot question its being a natural home for pecan

production, for nature proved this point to the public two generations

ago.

* * * * *

PRESIDENT DAVIDSON: Pecan Culture in South Carolina by Mr. A. M. Musser,

Head of the Department of Horticulture at Clemson Agricultural College

is next. Mr. Senn will read the paper because Mr. Musser is not able to

be here.

Pecan Production in South Carolina

T. L. SENN, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Clemson, South Carolina

In the southern colonies on the Atlantic coast, the pecan was first

described by Thomas Walter in his publication "_Flora Caroliniana_" in

1787. He was an Englishman who had a plantation in St. John's Parish on

the Santee River, South Carolina, where he made an extensive collection

of southern plants. After describing the tree, evidently a nursery

specimen, he ended with the words, "The fruit I have never seen." It is

known now that the native range of pecan did not extend to the present

state of South Carolina. One of the first large pecan plantings in the

state dates back to 1890; This was a seedling planting of 1000 trees

made by John S. Horlbock at Charleston. Some of these trees are still

producing. The planting never proved profitable and has changed

ownership several times.

There are several small plantings of black walnuts, Chinese chestnuts,

and Persian walnuts in various parts of the state. Persian walnuts do

well in the Piedmont soil region and in 1947 the trees there had a good

crop.

+Commercial Pecan Plantings+

The pecan, is one of the most popular tree nuts and is the only one

grown on a commercial scale in South Carolina. Pecans are grown in every

county, although there is a comparatively small number of trees in most

of the Piedmont and Mountain counties, and several counties in the lower

Coastal Plain. Orangeburg County, with the largest number, had 27,528.

Pickens County, with the fewest trees, had 801. The total for the state

was reported as 227,027 trees.

Pecans are an important money crop of the state. During the last five

years the production of pecans has averaged three million pounds, which

brought farmers a yearly average of $500,000. The average yield per tree

of bearing age in 1947 was only about 7 pounds, or 100 pounds per acre.

Eighteen cents was the average price received for improved varieties,

and twelve cents for seedlings, during the ten-year period 1935-1944.

With these prices and yields per bearing tree, it is easily seen that

there is plenty of room for improvement, for the production of pecans in

South Carolina by the average grower has not been very profitable during

the past nine or ten years. South Carolina has ranked fifth or sixth in

the production of pecans of improved varieties during the past several

years. While production from year to year has been up and down, the

general trend is up.

There are two general classes of pecan trees grown in South Carolina:

seedlings and named or improved varieties. The average crop figures over

the ten-year period 1933 to 1942, show that six times as many nuts of

improved varieties were produced as of seedlings. South Carolina

produces about 6% of the pecan nuts of improved varieties in the United

States and less than 1% of the seedlings. The seedling trees are for the

most part given very little attention, receiving neither fertilizers nor

sprays. They produce nuts of miscellaneous size, shape, and quality, and

are usually smaller than the improved varieties. The cost of production

of seedling pecans is small for they are usually grown in back yards, in

chicken ranges, and in pastures.

There are a number of pecan varieties that are adapted to and grown in

South Carolina. The most popular varieties are Schley, Stuart, Success

and Moneymaker. A number of other varieties, including Teche, Frotscher,

Mahan, Pabst, Delmas, Van Deman, and Moore are grown in some sections.

Schley is very susceptible to scab and should not be planted if a spray

program is not carried out. Moneymaker, Stuart, and Success are not so

very susceptible to scab and are satisfactory where a complete spray

program is not used. Some years ago several growers in one county

ordered Stuart trees and these trees, now bearing, turned out to be

Teche, so there is some uncertainty as to the variety names in some

sections.

The planting distance varies considerably, depending somewhat upon

fertility of soil and length of growing season. Most of the plantings

are too close, having as many as 20 or more trees per acre. Because of

the longer growing season in the lower half of the state, trees grown

there will be larger at a given age than those grown in the Piedmont

section.

+Cultivation Methods+

Intercrops or cover crops are usually grown to increase the income of

the farm. Cultivation programs vary according to the intercrop grown.

Pecan trees are grown on various types of soil, which also vary greatly

in their fertility. Different fertilizers are recommended for these

varying conditions. Fertilizer is usually applied late in February or

early in March, several weeks prior to the swelling of the buds. The

exact time of application varies according to the area in the state in

which the trees are grown. Many of the soils of the state are probably

too acid for best growth of pecans and the necessary winter cover crops

that should be grown in the plantings. In some soils that have been

limed, or where the soil pH is 7.0 or approximately so, the application

of zinc, to the soil has not eliminated rosette. Few such conditions

exist in South Carolina, but where these conditions do prevail, zinc

treatment is being tried in the form of sprays, using commercial spray

materials.

Unfavorable weather at blooming time often prevents pollination.

Instances of cross-incompatability occurring between the varieties grown

in this state are practically unknown. Late spring frosts sometimes kill

the male or female flowers or both.

The pecan in South Carolina is subject to attack by numerous insects and

diseases, just as it is in other places. Scab is the worst offender.

Several species of borers are found attacking the trunks, the twig

girdler severing the tips of twigs, the shuck worm and case-bearer

affecting the husk, and the pecan weevil affecting the nuts. Many of the

trees growing in South Carolina are not planted in sufficiently large

groves to justify the expenditure necessary for spray equipment.

Contract spraying has been done to some extent and has possibilities in

South Carolina. Where the number of trees is small this will be the only

way in which growers can afford to obtain the use of high pressure

equipment.

+Marketing Conditions+

South Carolina Circular 301 gives the following account of the pecan

marketing situation in South Carolina. "Most of the pecans in this state

are sold in small lots. The assembling at a number of locations of

these small lots into lots large enough to make handling economical has

been a great problem. It is believed that three auction markets properly

located in the state would be the most satisfactory marketing

arrangement. If each of these markets would have one sales day per week

so that buyers could attend sales at each place, the cost of marketing

could be greatly reduced." There are nine companies in five counties

that handle pecans.

This is a rather brief discussion relating facts about the pecan

industry in South Carolina, and most of the figures given are average

figures. Those plantings receiving good cultural practices give more

satisfactory returns. The pecans enterprise can be made a profitable one

if the grower will carry out a complete program to overcome the problems

of fertilization and control of diseases and insects and not just leave

the trees to fight the battle alone.

+References+

Rawl, E. H. and Nettles, W. C.--Pecan Production, S. C. Circ. 183, 1940.

Musser, A. M., et al--Pecan Production and Marketing in S. C., S. C.

Circ. 301, 1947.

* * * * *

President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Senn. I think this program is just

tops. I don't know how you feel, but I think it is a wonderful program.

The Storage of Shelled Pecans will be told to us by Professor Harris of

the Department of Horticulture of Alabama Polytechnic Institute of

Auburn, Alabama. Professor Harris.

Preservation of Shelled Pecans by Drying and Hermetically Sealing

HUBERT HARRIS, Associate Horticulturist, Alabama Agricultural

Experiment, Station.

Without some special treatment, storage life of pecans at ordinary

temperatures is rather short. Nuts held in common storage from fall

harvest show noticeable flavor losses by spring. Staleness and rancidity

are likely to follow as summer weather approaches.

These facts emphasize the need of a better method that might be used

both commercially and in the home for preserving the pecan over a long

period at common storage temperatures. A satisfactory method might be

used not only for preserving nuts for year-round use, but for carrying

them over from heavy crop years to light crop years.

This report presents the results of experiments conducted at the Alabama

Agricultural Experiment Station on methods of preserving pecans.

+Storage Troubles+

Some of the common pecan storage troubles are staleness, rancidity,

color changes, molding, and insect injury. Molding occurs only when the

product is stored in a moist atmosphere at ordinary temperatures. Insect

infestation usually results when the shelled kernels are held in

unsealed containers under ordinary storage conditions. Rancidity

develops during the summer months when the product is stored by common,

methods at ordinary temperatures.

Rancidity is probably the most common of pecan storage troubles; it has

been considered the most difficult to control. Rancidity is usually

preceded by general loss of flavor followed by staleness of kernels.

Color gradually becomes darker as the typical rancid condition develops.

These changes are associated with and caused by certain chemical

reactions that progress at a slow rate. The oils and fats are slowly

oxidized to aldehydes, ketones, and other chemical compounds (10), which

cause the undesirable aromas and flavors characteristic of the rancid

condition.

+Review of Previous Work+

The period during which pecans will remain free of rancidity and other

forms of spoilage varies considerably with storage conditions and other

factors. Common storage periods ranging from 3 to 12 months have been

reported. Wright (10) placed the common storage life at 3 to 5 months.

Blackmon (1) suggested 6 months as the maximum period. Medlock (11) was

able to keep them in edible condition for periods up to 12 months. The

wide ranges of time as observed by the different investigators are due,

no doubt, to storage conditions, variety, quality of the nuts, and

seasonal variations.

Cold storage was effective in preserving pecans for periods up to 2-1/2

years. Wright (10) reported effective periods of 13 to 30 months, and

Medlock (11) was able to keep them for more than 2 years. Shelled pecans

did not keep as long either in common or cold storage as the unshelled

nuts.

+Methods and Procedures+

Results of preliminary tests made at the Alabama Station in 1937

indicated that pecans kernels might be kept at common temperatures by

drying them in an oven and storing in sealed containers, which prevents

absorption of moisture from the air. Since storage tests reported by

other workers did not include studies of the relationship of moisture

content of kernels to their storage life, it was felt that this phase of

the problem should be investigated.

Preliminary tests were made to determine suitable temperatures and

periods for the drying process. Temperatures of 200 to 225 deg.F proved to

be most satisfactory. These temperatures dried the kernels quite rapidly

without appreciable scorching or discoloration. The drying period was

varied to give desired moisture contents for the various treatments.

Four methods of sealing the jars were used in the experiments. They were

the "cold seal," "steam seal," "hot seal," and "vacuum seal."

The cold seal was accomplished by placing cool kernels in cool jars and

sealing without special treatment.

By the steam seal, air was exhausted from the jars with a small blast of

steam and the jars sealed immediately. Condensation of the steam

resulted in a partial vacuum in the jars and a slight increase in

moisture content of the kernels.

By the hot seal, hot kernels were transferred directly from the oven

pans to clean, dry, hot jars, and sealed immediately. Contraction of the

air as the jars cooled resulted in a partial vacuum.

The vacuum seals were made in clamp-top fruit jars by means of a home

pressure cooker. Filled jars, with covers partially clamped, were placed

in the cooker. The cooker cover was lubricated at the sealing surface

and screwed down tightly. The pressure gauge in the top of the cooker

was replaced with a vacuum gauge. The needle valve was removed. An

aspirator was attached to the water faucet and connected to the needle

valve opening by means of a vacuum hose. After the desired vacuum had

been pulled on the cooker, the vacuum hose was removed from the needle

valve fitting thus permitting air to rush back into the cooker. The

sudden change in pressure automatically sealed the jars.

+Presentation of Data+

Preliminary studies were made to determine the effect of temperature and

time of drying on moisture content, color, and toasting of kernels.

Results of these studies are given in Table I.

TABLE I.--Effect of Temperature and Time of Drying on Moisture Content,

Color, and Toasting of Pecan Kernels.

=================================================

Oven Time in Moisture Change

temperature oven in in Degree of

kernels color[25] toasting

Minutes Per cent

0 3.7 0.0 0

20 2.6 0.5 0

30 1.4 1 1

37 1.2 2 2

225 deg.F 44 1.0 3 4

51 0.5 6 8

58 0.3 8 10

65 0.2 8 10

72 0.1 9 10

-------------------------------------------------

10 3.2

20 3.1

203 deg.F 30 2.9

41 2.4

50 2.2

60 1.9

=================================================

[Footnote 25: The numbers 0 to 10 indicate varying amounts of change in

color or degree of toasting: 0 represents normal color and/or no

toasting. 10 represents considerable intensification of color and/or

development of typical flavor of toasted kernels.]

The first series of the processing and storage tests was started in

December, 1939. The treatments together with results are given in Table

II. The different samples were dried in an electric oven at 225 deg.F to

moisture contents ranging from 0.1 to 3.4 per cent. They were sealed in

glass jars, both with and without vacuum, and stored in a dark room at

ordinary temperatures. Those dried to 2.9 per cent moisture or less were

still good after 2 years in storage, whereas those with higher moisture

content were rancid after one year in storage. Samples dried to

approximately 2 per cent moisture were still good September 1, 1948,

which was almost 9 years after processing and storing. The color was

preserved somewhat better by vacuum sealing. However, the quality of

air-sealed samples was practically as good as those that were vacuum

sealed. These tests did not show how long kernels might have been kept

by drying and storing in unsealed containers.

Table II.--The Effect of Different Amounts of Drying and Different

Methods of Sealing on the Storage Qualities of Pecan Kernels (Tests made

at Auburn, beginning December, 1939.)

=========================================

Per cent

No. min. moisture

Methods of Sample in oven in dry

sealing [28] No. 225 deg.F kernels

Cold-seal (a) 1 0 8.4

Hot seal (b) 2 20 2.9

3 30 1.6

4 44 1.0

5 51 0.7

Steam-seal (c) 6 0 3.4

7 50 0.2

8 60 0.16

9 65 0.10

Vacuum-seal (d) 10 0 3.4

11 20 2.7

12 30 1.0

=========================================

=====================================================================

When canned After 12 mo. After 24 mo.

______________ _______________ _____________

Methods of Sample

sealing [28] No. Color Flavor Color Flavor Color Flavor

[26] [27] [26] [27] [26] [27]

Cold-seal (a) 1 1 Excellent 2 Medium 3 Medium

Hot seal (b) 2 1 Excellent 2 good 3 Very good

3 2 Very good, 2 Very Good, 3 Good,

slightly dry slightly dry slightly dry

4 2 Excellent, 3 Very good, 3 Very good,

slightly slightly slightly

toasted toasted toasted

5 2 Excellent, 2 Very good 2 Very good

toasted toasted toasted

Steam-seal (c) 6 1 Excellent 2 Fair 2 Fair

7 3 Excellent, 3 Very good, 3 Very good,

toasted toasted toasted

8 3 Excellent, 3 Good, 3 Good,

toasted toasted toasted

9 4 Excellent 4 Good, 5 Good,

toasted toasted toasted

Vacuum-seal (d) 10 1 Excellent 1 Very good 1 Good,

slightly

flat

11 1 Excellent 1 Very good 1 Good,

slightly

flat

12 2 Very good, 2 Very good, 2 Medium,

slightly dry slightly dry slightly

flat

=======================================================================

[Footnote 26: Color ratings: Nos. 1 to 5 represent different amounts of

discoloration.

1 = Normal bright yellow color of fresh kernels.

5 = Normal brown color of aged kernels.]

[Footnote 27: Flavor ratings: fair means scarcely edible.]

[Footnote 28: Methods of sealing: (a) sealed without heating; (b)

hot kernels immediately transferred from oven pans to dry, hot jars

and sealed; (c) air exhausted from jars with steam and sealed

immediately; (d) sealed under vacuum by method described under

"Procedures."]

Table III.--Effect of Moisture Content, Container, and Sealing on

Storage Quality of Schley Pecan Kernels--1940.

================================================================

Moisture content Flavor

________________ ________________________________

When[29] After 6 After 8 After 12 After 18

stored months months months months

Covered 6.00 7.00 Not edible Not edible Not edible

unsealed 4.43 6.85 Not edible Not edible Not edible

ice cream 3.50 6.75 Not edible Not edible Not edible

cartons 1.71 6.80 Not edible Not edible Not edible

________________________________________________________________

Covered 6.00 10.45[30] Not edible Not edible Not edible

unsealed 4.43 6.70 Rancid Not edible Not edible

glass 3.50 5.00 Fair Not edible Not edible

jars 1.71 4.50 Good Fair Not edible

________________________________________________________________

6.00 6.15 Rancid Not edible Not edible

Sealed 4.43 4.70 Fair Not edible Not edible

glass 3.50 3.30 Good Good Rancid

jars 1.71 1.85 Very good Very good Very good

================================================================

[Footnote 29: The cured pecan kernels had a moisture content of 4.43 at

the time the tests were made. Samples with moisture contents below 4.43

per cent were oven dried at 200 deg.F for periods necessary to reach

the respective moisture levels. Samples with moisture contents above

4.43 were treated in steam to obtain the desired amount of moisture.]

[Footnote 30: Excessive increase in moisture content resulted in heavy

molding of product.]

A second series of processing and storage tests was started in December,

1940. These studies included tests of effect of moisture content, type

of container, and sealing on storage qualities of Schley pecan kernels.

Table III shows a portion of these tests together with the results

obtained. It is pointed out that unsealed samples regained moisture and

became rancid within 8 months in storage.

+Summary+

Results from the foregoing experiments show that pecan kernels can be

kept for nine years by drying them to about 2 per cent moisture and

storing them in sealed containers. The best results were obtained by

drying the kernels in an oven for about 50 minutes at 200 deg.F. The exact

length of the drying period may vary somewhat with the moisture content

of the undried kernels and the quantity of kernels dried at one time.

The temperature of the oven could probably be reduced without affecting

the drying time by using a fan for circulating the air in the oven.

This method will preserve the fresh qualities of pecans for a much

longer time and equally as well as such common methods as freezing and

canning preserve fresh qualities of other foods. It is felt that the

process offers a practical and effective method that might well be used

in the home as well as in commercial plants for preserving shelled

pecans for year-round use and/or for carrying over surpluses from a

heavy crop year to supplement the light crops that usually follow.

+Literature Cited+

1. Blackmon, G. H., 1927, Pecan Growing in Florida. Florida Agricultural

Experiment Station, Bulletin 191: 86.

2. Kirkpatrick, S. M., 1924. The Pecan. Alabama Pecan Growers'

Association, Proceedings, May, 1924, P. 10.

3. The Encyclopedia Americana. Volume XXI: 461.

4. Bailey, I. H., and Bailey, E. Z., Hortus. Second Edition: 542.

5. The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume XVI: 647.

6. Skinner, J. J.; Fowler, E. D.; and Alben, A. O.: 1928, Pecan Soils of

the Gulf and Southeastern States and Maintenance of their Fertility,

USDA Circular 492: 1.

7. United States Agricultural Statistics for 1941: 279.

8. Davis, P. O., 1924, Some Facts About the Pecan. Alabama Pecan

Growers' Association Proceedings, May, 1924: 9.

9. Salmon, W. D., 1924, Nutritive Value of the Pecan. Alabama Pecan

Growers' Association Proceedings, May, 1924: 38-40

10. Wright, R. C., 1941, Investigations on the Storage of Nuts, USDA

Technical Bulletin No. 770: 1-35.

11. Medlock, O. C. 1931, Pecan Storage, Alabama Agricultural Experiment

Station Annual Report, Volume XLII: 50-51.

12. Blackmon, G. H., 1932. Cold Storage of Pecans. Florida Agricultural

Experiment Station Annual Report, 1932: 102-105.

13. Smith, C. L.; Thor, C. J. B.; and Romberg, L. D.; 1933, Effect of

Storage Conditions on the Germination of Seed Pecans. Texas Pecan

Growers' Association Proceedings 13: 68-71.

14. Harris, Hubert, 1937, Preservation of Pecan Kernels. Department

Annual Report of the Department of Horticulture and Forestry, Alabama

Experiment Station, 1937. (Unpublished).

* * * * *

President Davidson: I wonder, Professor Harris, whether those methods

could be applied to other nuts in addition to pecans. Would your methods

with the pecan be adaptable to other nuts or kernels?

Prof. Harris: I have not tried other nuts, but I have thought quite a

bit about the black walnut, and I would like to run some experiments. It

seems to me that it would be adaptable to other nuts which have

constituents similar to the pecan such as black walnut, and perhaps

peanuts. We intend to work some on the peanuts down there. Now, of

course, in the case of the chestnut we more or less checked it out on

that, because when you dry the chestnut down to low moisture content you

have a hard product that is not palatable and is quite undesirable.

President Davidson: Now comes the follow-up studies on the 1946 Ohio

black walnut prize winners. Mr. L. Walter Sherman has prepared something

on that matter but Mr. Sterling Smith, I believe, is going to read that

to us.

Follow-Up Studies on the 1946 Ohio Black Walnut Prize Winners

L. WALTER SHERMAN, Mahoning County Experiment Farm, Canfield, Ohio

In 1946 a black walnut contest was conducted in Ohio that brought out

roughly 800 samples of nuts from all sections of the state. Judging on

the characters of the nuts only, there were ten selected as prize

winners.

Notice that I say on nut characters only. In 1950 a grand prize is to be

given to the tree selected from these ten trees that has been the

outstanding performer for the five year period. We want to know more

about these trees. Do they produce regularly? Do the nuts fill well each

year? Are the trees young or old? On what kind of soil are they located?

Just what are the factors that cause them to produce such superior nuts?

In order to try to answer some of this type of questions each of the ten

trees was visited in 1947 and a careful survey of each was made. This

was done in August, at which time the crop prospects for 1947 could be

noted. Mimeographed blanks such as the following were used to record the

desired data.

Tree Name

Latitude ____________

Name of Owner ______________________ Address _____________

County _______________ State __________ State Route ______

Telephone ___________________

TREE Isolated [] ; moderately crowded [] ; dense woods []

LOCATION Types of trees in vicinity _____________________

Air drainage ___________________________________

Level [] ; Slope [] ; Direction of slope ______

TREE SIZE Circumference 4-1/2 feet from ground ___________

AND SHAPE Probable age ____ ; limb spread [] ; tall [] ; short [] ;

open-branched [] ; symmetrical [] ; irregular [] ;

SOIL Sod [] ; plowland [] ; bottom [] ; upland [] ; hillside [] ;

CONDITIONS clay [] ; alluvial [] ; loam [] ; sandy [] ; pH [] ;

Distance to subsoil ______ ; kind of subsoil ________

Humus [] ; lack of humus [] .

DRAINAGE Nearness to spring [] ; tile drain [] ; well [] ;

lake [] ; stream [] .

FERTILITY Fertilized [] ; manure [] ; commercial fertilizer [] ;

lime [] ; not fertilized [] .

PERFORMANCE CHART

Resistance to disease and insects:

Blight______; Witches' Broom______; Caterpillars______;

1947 1948 1949 1950

1947 1948 1949 1950

Bearing: G F S F

Good; Fair; Scattering; Failure.

1947 1948 1949 1950

Season: Date of leafing out

Male: Date of blossoming

Female: Date of blossoming

Date of ripening

Date of killing frost

Last in spring;

first in fall

Rate of growth

Moisture; Rainy,

dry, average

Clusters: Size 1947 1948 1949 1950

Range in number of nuts

per cluster

Production: Size of crop in proportion to size of tree

1947 1948 1949 1950

Percentage of unfilled nuts:

1947 1948 1949 1950

R*H

--------------------crop

pounds

* R = 1/2 limb spread.

* H = height; lowest branch to top.

In addition to these data, photographs, both in black and white, and in

color, were taken of the trees and often of the surroundings, and a map

made so that the trees can be located in the future by any one wishing

to do so.

For examination by any one wishing to do so, there are on the

secretary's desk copies of the case histories, as written up, of the

first and second prize winners, the Duke and the Burson.

A careful study of these ten trees has not revealed any single factor

that can be pointed to as essential to the production of a superior

walnut variety. They were found on good and on poor soils, on good and

poor sites, in soils of a wide range of pH values from very acid to

alkaline in reaction. Most of the trees were located in the southern

part of the state at 39 deg. to 40 deg. North Latitude, but it is hard to

imagine that the latitude has any specific effect on the superior

qualities of the nuts.

In all cases where the trees were now standing in impoverished soils,

low in humus, fertility, and in pH value, it was quite evident that the

soil was probably in far better condition when the trees got their start

fifty to a hundred or more years ago.

+Winter Killing 1947-1948+

In 1947 scions of six of these prize winning trees were successfully

grafted into established ten year old black walnut seedling trees at the

Mahoning County Experiment Farm at Canfield, Ohio, location 41 deg. north

latitude. The scions grew nicely in 1947 but all were winter killed

during the winter of 1947-1948 with the exception of one scion of Kuhn

and one of Davidson. Two scions of Duke, two of Kuhn, one of Athens, one

of Orth, seven of Jackson perished during the first winter after

grafting. This severe killing of 1947-48 apparently indicates that

winter injury to these varieties may be expected some years when they

are planted under conditions similar to those at the Mahoning County

Experiment Farm. The one scion of the Davidson variety came through in

fine shape, so this would be the exception.

The winter of 1947-48 was unusual in the severity of the winter injury

to the black walnut trees at the Mahoning County Experiment Farm. Two

ten year old Stabler trees and a ten year old Jansen tree killed back to

the ground level, and one year old growth of Cowle, Havice, Jansen,

Murphy, Mohican, Ohio, Stambaugh, Twin Lakes, and Lisbon was badly

damaged although not always completely killed.

+Winter Killing of Bench Grafts+

Bench grafts that were still in the hot bed and were not transplanted to

nursery rows until spring of 1948 fared much better than the grafts

growing in the established trees. As they had no winter protection but

the side walls of the hot bed it is a little hard to see why they fared

so much better.

One bench graft of the Duke, two of Burson, four of Kuhn, two of

Davidson, three of Orth, two of Williamson, two of Penn, and six of

Jackson all came through in good shape.

Indications certainly point to the conclusion that the prize winning

varieties of the Ohio 1946 contest are adapted to the southern part of

the state rather than to the northern part. The Davidson is a possible

exception to this.

Mr. Smith: I asked Mr. Silvis why Mr. Sherman wasn't here, and he said

he wasn't able to come because he was doing the same type of work this

year, and it is very evidently the reason why he wasn't at the last

meeting because he was preparing this work. Instead of coming and

enjoying the convention, he stays home and does work that helps the

Association, so I think the Association is very much indebted to him.

President Davidson: I think that is true.

That makes it possible for us to close in good time. I think this

program is tops. I think it is by far the best program I remember.

Mr. McDaniel: Let's give Mr. Chase, the Program Chairman, a big hand.

(Applause.)

President Davidson: We will now adjourn.

(Whereupon, at 4:30 o'clock, p. m. the meeting was adjourned to

reconvene for business session after the banquet.)

* * * * *

+Tuesday Evening Business Session+

President Davidson: There is a little business that remains to be done.

In order to let Mr. Slate get away, we'd like to have a report of the

Committee on Place of Meeting.

Mr. Slate: The committee consisting of Royal Oakes, myself and two

others, conferred with each other. We have considered the matter of a

meeting place for next year, and we think, and those we have talked with

think, that perhaps Beltsville would be the best place. It does not seem

feasible to have a meeting in the Middle West. The New York City region

will probably be better for us a year later. The other good places we

have visited rather recently. So we are recommending that the place of

meeting be Beltsville.

Do you wish to consider the time of meeting now, or will we vote on the

place?

President Davidson: Let's act on that now. First, may I have a motion?

A Member: I will move we hold our next convention at Beltsville,

Maryland.

(The motion was seconded, vote taken and motion carried unanimously.)

President Davidson: Now, time of meeting.

Mr. Slate: It has been customary for us to have our meeting early in

September, about Labor Day. Next Labor Day is the 5th of September. Now,

we are not making any recommendations as to time, but if we follow our

past custom we will probably meet about the 6th, 7th and 8th. Some of

you might like to come later to avoid the Labor Day traffic, but that

interferes with some of those who have teaching duties, registration,

and so forth, at that time of the year. Personally, I do not think that

the Labor Day traffic is insurmountable. It is rather unpleasant in

certain areas, but we can make it all right, and we have made it.

Perhaps I should recommend the dates the 6th, 7th and 8th, which are

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

President Davidson: You have heard the report. What shall you do with

it?

Dr. MacDaniels: I move its adoption.

(The motion was seconded, vote taken and motion carried unanimously.)

President Davidson: Next, I should say, we would like to have a report

of the nominating committee.

Mr. Weber: The Nominating Committee reports for the consideration of the

members the following list of candidates:

For president, H. F. Stoke from Virginia. Vice-president, L. H.

MacDaniels from New York. For secretary, J. C. McDaniel from Tennessee,

and treasurer, Sterling A. Smith from Ohio.

President Davidson: You have heard the report of this committee. I

should say that in this case nominations from the floor would be in

order.

A Member: Mr. President, I move that nominations be closed.

(The motion was seconded, vote taken, and motion carried unanimously.)

President Davidson: That was on the motion that nominations be closed.

What is your pleasure, shall we vote by ballot or shall we vote by--

A Member: Mr. President, I move that the secretary be instructed to cast

a unanimous ballot for those nominated by the Nominating Committee.

Mr. Fisher: Second.

(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)

President Davidson: This gavel I should have called to your attention

before. It is called to your attention at the end of our program, and so

you know its story. The other one that has been used in our past

meetings was sent to me by Mr. Reed. It is "An Historical Gavel,

Northern Nut Growers Association." I understand from Mr. Reed that this

was a piece of wood sent to Mr. Littlepage and turned by him and made

into a gavel, and this little metallic name plate sunk in by Mr.

Littlepage, who is one of the very early members of our association. So

we have two historic gavels. Rather interesting, I think.

One other matter. The question has come up in view of the fact that the

next annual report will be larger than normal and also in view of the

fact that the membership dues have been raised to $3.00, whether it

should not be wise and fitting to charge $3.00 for the coming 1948

report instead of the old price of $2.

Mr. McDaniel: $2.00 is the current price for the last two issues of the

report to non-members. If that is allowed to continue the man who

purchases a report without becoming a member will get it for one-third

less than the members do.

President Davidson: What is your wish?

Mr. Weber: Mr. President, I say that they should not be given any more

preference than the members, so let them pay $3.00 like the rest of us.

I make it in the form of a motion.

A Member: Second.

President Davidson: Moved and seconded that the charge for the

forth-coming report of this Association be made $3.00 to non-members. Of

course, that report goes to all members, as you know. Are there any

remarks on this motion?

Mr. Slate: Mr. President, what about the matter of supplying reports to

libraries? In the past we supplied libraries at $1.00 a copy. I don't

know whether Mr. McDaniel has had any special requests.

Mr. McDaniel: I haven't had any orders from libraries during the past

year.

President Davidson: Shall we make a difference for libraries? What is

your feeling?

Dr. MacDaniels: Mr. Chairman, if we have had a differential before I

think that might be continued. I will propose a motion that libraries be

allowed to purchase the proceedings for $2.00.

President Davidson: Do you make that in the form of an amendment?

Dr. MacDaniels: Yes.

Mr. Weber: I accept that amendment.

A Member: It meets the second's approval.

President Davidson: The motion is then that a charge for the

forth-coming report shall be $3.00 to non-members, except that the

charge shall be $2.00 to libraries and similar organizations, if that is

satisfactory.

(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)

Mr. McDaniel: I have a report to read, as follows:

+Report of the Auditing Committee+

The Auditing Committee has examined the records of our treasurer, D. C.

Snyder, for the fiscal year just closed and has found them correct as

reported and commends him for his excellent service to our Association.

[Signed] R. P. Allaman, Royal Oakes, _Auditing Committee_.

President Davidson: You have heard the report. What will you do with it?

A Member: I move that the report be accepted.

A Member: Second.

(A vote on the motion was taken, and it was carried unanimously.)

Dr. Crane: Mr. President, members of the Association: Most of the

thunder that the Resolutions Committee had has been taken care of either

tonight or at various meetings that we have had. These resolutions have

been rather spontaneous at these meetings. However, the Resolutions

Committee, for a matter of record, does make the following report:

+Report of the Resolutions Committee+

The Northern Nut Growers Association in its annual meeting assembled at

Norris, Tennessee, September 13th to 15th, 1948, adopts the following

resolutions:

That, our sincere thanks be extended to Mr. George F. Gant, General

Manager of Tennessee Valley Authority, the members of his staff,

especially to Mr. Willis G. Baker, Director of the Division of Forest

Relations, Mr. Spencer Chase, Mr. Thomas G. Zarger, and others, for the

courtesies extended and for making-the necessary arrangements for

holding the meetings and caring for the needs of those in attendance.

That we extend thanks and appreciation to Mrs. Willis G. Baker and the

other ladies of her committee who provided and served the refreshments

on Sunday evening and assisted in arrangements for the banquet.

That we extend thanks to Mr. Spencer Chase and the other members of the

committee for the very interesting and instructive program.

May we extend our thanks to those who presented papers and otherwise

took part in the program.

We greatly appreciate the very fine work being done by our Secretary, J.

C. McDaniel. _Resolutions Committee_, Stoke, Silvis, Sterling Smith, and

Crane.

President Davidson: You have heard this report, and I think it is well

that we have had it in the form so that it could be a part of our

record. What will you do with it?

Dr. MacDaniels: Move the acceptance of the report.

Mr. McDaniel: Second.

(Vote taken on motion, carried unanimously.)

President Davidson: I have here a telegram that I should like to read to

you, and this is the way it is worded: "Your generously worded telegram

is greatly appreciated. I am grateful beyond all words. My greetings to

everyone present tonight. C. A. Reed." We are glad to have the word from

Mr. Reed.

Our business meeting is now adjourned.

(Whereupon, the program and business sessions of the Thirty-ninth Annual

Meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association were closed.)

[Illustration]

(On September 15, the members were conducted on a tour of the nursery,

arboretum, and experimental nut plantings of the Tennessee Valley

Authority near Norris.)

Odds and Ends

DR. W. C. DEMING, West Hartford, Connecticut

I would like to suggest, especially to the younger members of the

association, three horticultural projects that I believe promise to be

of importance, and on which nobody that I know of is doing any work.

Only one of these projects has to do with a nut.

1. Utterly neglected and wasted, the fruit of the horsechestnut or

buckeye, "said, to have been formerly used as food or medicine for

horses," still might become an abundant food for animals, and perhaps

for man, if a way could be found to deprive it of its disagreeable

bitter taste and reputed, probably exaggerated, poisonous quality.[31]

There is one late flowering horsechestnut, _Aesculus parviflora_, a

dwarf species from the Southeast, and commonly seen in Connecticut as an

ornamental on lawns, which bears a nut entirely free from bitterness,

and is sometimes known as the edible horsechestnut. The possibilities in

crossing this with the bitter horsechestnut tree species are evident and

fascinating. [Several hybrid horsechestnuts are cultivated, but none of

these apparently involves any _A. parviflora_ parentage.--Ed.]

2. In temperate zones there are, so far as I have learned, no

_perennial_ legumes the seeds of which are used as food. All our

immensely valuable edible leguminous seed crops are annually planted.

The only exception I think of is the honeylocust, the pods of which,

under favorable conditions, are sometimes used as fodder for horses and

cattle. But there are thousands of leguminous plants and trees, many of

them hardy. I mention the herbaceous _Baptisia australis_, several hardy

perennial peas, such as _Lathyrus sylvestria_, _L. maritimus_ etc.,

_Caragrana_ the pea tree, and species of _Robinia_, _Cercis_;

_Cymocladus_ and _Wistaria_. A collection of these, with as many more as

one might wish, would be a fascinating group in which to spend hours

with brush and forceps.

3. All over America thousands of "tired business men," and school boys

who ought to be tending to their baseball, have to spend weekends and

holidays pushing lawn-mowers. If an acceptable ground cover could be

found that would have to be mowed only half as often, or one quarter as

often, or maybe only once a year, or even (glory be) not at all, what a

saving of time it would be for good healthy sport and non-depressing

exercise.

There are many promising plants. _Pachysandra_ and _Vinca_, don't quite

fill the bill but have their good points, such as growing in the shade.

There is a little round-leafed plant common in Florida and, apparently,

found in the north. There are many plants that could be grown

experimentally in patches a yard square. Why have we so tamely limited

ourselves to grasses and clover? What a chance for a man to immortalize

himself by discovering variants for grasses and clover for lawns and

thus become a benefactor to millions of lawn-mower slaves!

[Footnote 31: (_See letter from the American Medical Association on next

page.--Ed._)]

COUNCIL ON PHARMACY AND CHEMISTRY

of the

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

Office of the Secretary,

535 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago 10, Illinois

January 5, 1949

Doctor W. C. Deming

31 South Highland Street

West Hartford, Connecticut

Dear Doctor Deming:

This is in reply to your inquiry of December 28, 1948, regarding the

toxicity of horse chestnuts.

All six of the species of Aesculus which are native to the United States

have been reported as poisonous, but specific references in the

literature are infrequent. The species Aesculus hippocastanum has been

studied and has been found to contain saponin, tannin, and the

glycoside, esculin. Esculin is used in patent remedies in the form of

ointments and pastes to protect the skin from sunburn. The saponin seems

to be the toxic component.

Fruit of the horse chestnut is rich in starch and oil and is a _valuable

food for livestock_. The bitter taste of the nut is removed by alcohol

extraction which removes the saponin, thus rendering the nut harmless.

Certain domestic animals, however, seem to be able to eat the untreated

nut without suffering ill effects. [_Italics are by Dr. Deming.--Ed._]

Most of the saponins are markedly irritant to the mucous membranes. They

have an acrid taste and provoke a flow of saliva, nausea, vomiting and

diarrhea. If injected directly into the circulation they produce

hemolysis, diuresis and direct actions on the central nervous system

which may be rapidly fatal. Absorption after oral administration is so

poor that saponins produce only local effects. The toxicity of various

saponins is ten to a thousand times higher by vein than by mouth and is

generally proportional to the hemolytic action. Some saponins have a

different toxicity for different species.

In experiments with rats Hindemith found that the saponin from Aesculus

hippocastanum is not toxic in daily oral doses of 87.5 mg. per kg.

Nonhemolytic doses injected intravenously in cats have no effect on

respiration or blood pressure; hemolytic doses produce a sudden drop in

pressure owing to liberation of potassium from the _erythrocytes_. The

saponin increases the activity of the isolated frog heart, then stops it

in systole. In frog nerve muscle preparations of this saponin reversibly

interrupt stimulus transmission; recovery occurs upon washing.

For a general review of the literature you are referred to Bull. Sc.

Pharmacol. 47:290 (November-December) 1940, which is available at the

New York Academy of Medicine Library, 2 East 103rd Street, New York

City.

Sincerely yours,

[Signed]

BERNARD E. CONLEY, R. Ph.

Administrative Assistant.

BEC:nr

The Birth of a New Walnut Cracker

B. H. THOMPSON

The home of the Thompson walnut cracker is the home of the maker, on the

farm, five and a half miles northwest of Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah

Valley of Virginia. I live in the upland area, 1,500 to 1,700 feet up in

the hills.

A man once said he killed two birds with one stone. I went him one

better in one instance. I went to the back end of the farm and picked up

all the walnuts and placed them on a pile, not too far from the house.

Then the squirrels came to help themselves. I got all the squirrels I

wanted to eat and those that got away retreated so fast they dropped

their walnut. Then I cracked what walnuts were left for cakes and candy,

which we all enjoy so much.

It was while cracking these nuts with a hammer that the thought came to

me: Why should there not be a faster and better way to crack nuts? Later

I happened to see a walnut cracker made by a blacksmith which did a very

good job of cracking, but was entirely too slow for me.

Being mechanically inclined, I have always entertained a desire to

invent something worth while. I set out to perfect a cracker that would

be fool-proof, easy to work, fast, simple, and strong enough to last a

lifetime. This I accomplished in the Model 6. Before reaching this

point, I had designed and tested five different models, made five

different ways, to see which would be best. They all worked, some good,

some I did not like so well. It was discouraging at times but something

seemed to tell me I had the right principle.

This No. 6 walnut cracker is a success, now in its 11th season and going

stronger all the time. You will find it in 37 states, from Florida to

Washington State, from New Hampshire to California, from Minnesota to

Texas.

Most of the crackers are sent by mail, and some of the customers mention

the fact that they are members of the N.N.G.A. Others do not have trees

on their premises, but collect walnuts by the roadside. One I know of

has 2,000 walnut trees on his 1,200 acre farm.

Marketing of Black Walnuts in Arkansas

T. A. WINKLEMAN, Rogers, Arkansas

The Benton County Produce Company has been in the walnut business for 38

years. For the first few years we dealt only in hulled nuts, shipping

carloads of them to Omaha, Chicago, several points in Nebraska, and the

West Coast. About twenty years ago, as I recall, there was a large

cracking plant at Kansas City and we shipped several carloads there.

Eventually we began to receive small orders for kernels. We filled them

and the number of orders increased. This led us finally to the decision

that we should get out of the hulled nut business and sell only kernels,

and with few exceptions, that's what we have been doing for the past 25

years. During this time the production of kernels throughout the walnut

region has gone up tremendously. As you know, many plants using

mechanical cracking machines have become established. We have stuck to

hand-operated crackers; but even so, we were able one year to turn out

13,000 pounds of kernels. At present we ship kernels to practically

every state in the Union.

Millions of pounds of walnuts are available from Arkansas, Missouri and

Tennessee. Here the walnut tree seems to make its best growth. It has

been our experience that the better nuts come from upland trees. Those

produced in the bottomlands along the larger streams lack the rich

flavor typical of those coming from higher elevations. This means we get

our best nuts from the Ozarks in northern Arkansas and southern

Missouri. So far, few walnut trees are grown commercially. Practically

all of the nuts come from wild trees. But recently there seems to be a

trend toward planting grafted walnut trees and grafting native seedlings

to improved varieties. The nurseries in this area now have walnut

seedlings for sale and some landowners are setting out considerable

acreages. It seems like a good investment. The trees grow fast, bear

nuts at an early age, and eventually yield additional income in the form

of logs. We believe walnut offers better prospects for commercial

production than pecan, owing mainly to the value of the walnut wood for

cabinet uses.

Not much has been done here with improved varieties. There are some

Thomas trees in the region and they yield very well. You get about 20

pounds of kernels from 100 pounds of hulled Thomas nuts as against an

average of 12 pounds from our wild native nuts. We anticipate that

within three or four years the Thomas will attain commercial importance

here. In my opinion, however, _Thomas kernels do not have the flavor

that the wild nuts have_; the percentage of oil seems to be less. I have

also been told that wood from the Thomas trees has little value in the

furniture trade. Why this should be true, or whether it is true, I don't

know.

Shells are a problem with us as they are with most concerns in the

walnut cracking business. We sent some samples to Iowa State College for

testing and got a pretty favorable report. If available in sufficient

quantity, the shells apparently can be used for gas production, oils and

for other purposes.

Walnut in this region has few enemies; but one, the walnut _Datana_

caterpillar, does considerable damage. We need federal or state aid in

controlling this dangerous pest.

Further Notes on Nut Tree Guards for Pasture Plantings

OLIVER D. DILLER, project Supervisor, Hillculture Research, Soil

Conservation Service, Wooster, Ohio

In an article entitled, "Nut Trees for Ohio Pastures," which appeared in

the 37th annual report of the Northern Nut Growers Association[32], the

writer called attention to the advantages of nut trees planted in fence

rows and in the interior of permanent pastures and the need for a more

satisfactory cattle guard to protect the trees during their period of

establishment.

[Illustration: Nut Easy Tree to Guard Install]

The writer has for several years studied various types of cattle guards

and in 1946 suggested the possible use of an electric guard along

permanent fence lines. This set-up worked fairly well during the first

growing season, but it was found that a considerable amount of

maintenance is necessary and therefore electric guards may not be

practicable over a period of years.

During the summer of 1947 a prominent wire fence manufacturing company

was contacted concerning the availability of a welded wire fabric which

might be used as a substantial yet economical tree guard. The company

made available for test purposes two 150-foot rolls 72 inches high. One

roll was galvanized, 11 gauge wire, with 2 x 4 inch staves, while the

other was ungalvanized 10 gauge, with 4 x 4 inch spacing between the

staves. These rolls were cut into lengths of 13.7 feet, resulting in a

circular guard 4.36 feet in diameter (shown in picture). The guards were

installed along a permanent fence on the pasture research farm of the

Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station at Wooster during the summer of

1947. Observations made during July, 1948, indicate that these guards

have not been damaged in any way by the dairy cattle on this farm during

the current season, and that the trees are being adequately protected.

No guards have as yet been installed in the interior of the pasture, but

it would seem that only one standard fence post would be required to

support such a guard.

The wire company was not able to give the exact cost of this material to

the farmer, but suggested a quotation of $3.90 per hundred square feet

for the galvanized wire, 2 x 4 inch spacing, 11 gauge, as compared to

$3.00 per hundred square feet for the ungalvanized wire, 4 x 4 inch

spacing, 10 gauge.

Assuming that the ungalvanized wire would serve the purpose for a

period of ten years, the cost would be approximately $2.50 per guard if

it were attached to a line fence; If placed in the interior of a field,

the cost of a standard fence post would have to be added. While this

cost may appear to be rather high, it is believed that it will compare

favorably with another type guard which will provide equal service. The

chief advantages of this guard seem to be its apparent sturdiness and

ease of installation.

[Footnote 32: Diller, O. D. "Nut Trees for Ohio Pastures," Northern Nut

Growers Association, Inc., 37th Annual Report. 1946, pp. 62-64.]

A Pecan Orchard in Gloucester County, Virginia

MRS. SELINA L. HOPKINS, River's Edge Flower Farm, Nuttall, Virginia

Mr. Reed has asked me to tell you of our experience with pecans in

Gloucester County, very near Chesapeake Bay, on North River, a tidewater

estuary of Mobjack Bay. Our house is about 20 feet from the shore, so we

call it "River's Edge," which describes it very well. The pecan trees

are on the lawn, in the barnyard, and in an adjoining field.

The orchard was planted by my late husband about 1915. The trees came

from at least two nurseries as there are two distinct sets of varieties.

There are eight varieties from the North and eight from the South. Of

the northern sorts there are Busseron, Butterick, Indiana, Kentucky,

Major, Niblack, Posey, and Warrick. These came from the nursery of R. L.

McCoy, Lake, Spencer County, Indiana.

The southern varieties are Delmas, Frotscher, Georgia (Georgia Giant),

Hale, Schley, Stuart, Teche, and Van Deman. Hale trees have been the

slowest to come into bearing, and there are several which appear to be

Hale which are not yet in fruit.

+Nut Crops Scanty+

The trees near the house, both on the lawn and in the barnyard are set

irregularly but those in the orchard are in rows, 65 feet each way. They

are beautiful in appearance, being from 40 to 55 feet tall, and are very

healthy.

However, they do not bear well. We had a pretty good crop in 1943, about

500 pounds, which we sold for 30 and 35 cents per pound. Since then we

have had very few nuts, as the flowers have evidently been killed each

year by frost.

Most of the nuts we have had have come from trees near the river, where

the air is tempered by salt air coming in at high tide. At this writing,

early August, there seems to be more nuts than at any time since 1943.

There was no frost that I could detect after the trees flowered, but

there are few nuts on the trees farthest from the river.

The fruit trees back in the county, on what we call "the highlands,"

have no fruit this year. Apparently our northern varieties of pecan do

not stand the cold any better than the southern sorts. In the last few

years, there have been more nuts of the southern varieties. I suppose

the flowers of the northern varieties came out at a time when they were

more easily frozen.

We have several trees that are evidently seedlings, as they grew up from

the ground after the tops died, They usually bear well, producing sweet

nuts, well-flavored but small.

We have six Persian walnuts that have had only about ten nuts in all

these years. One tree has a black walnut coming up from the root on

which it was grafted. It is of the same size as the Persian top. Two

years ago, this tree had about 30 nuts on the Persian side and 50 on the

black. It is not easily accessible and I have not been to it this year.

+Behavior of Pecans+

The Posey trees are in an east-west row about one-third the distance

from the north end of the orchard. Most of the Major and Busseron trees

are farther south, some as much as 200 yards. A few trees of both

varieties are directly south, within 100 yards, while others are the

same distance away off and some farther southwest. It is stated in a

recent bulletin of the Virginia Agricultural Extension Service that

Posey is needed to pollinate Busseron and Major.

Since reading the bulletin, I have been thinking of our crops in the

past. I remember that trees of these two varieties farthest from the

Posey, do not bear as well. Until now, I have attributed this to the

fact that the soil was less fertile and the trees are smaller and less

vigorous. Also the trees are farther from the frost-tempering river. I

am not sure yet that this is not the reason.

We are not alone in our experience of an uncertain crop, as other pecan

growers in the county tell the same tale. There are a number of large

old trees in this general section of Virginia, as well as a good many

seedlings. In addition, there are native, bitter, large-growing water

hickory (_Carya aquatica_), which is not uncommon in lowlands. (These

hybridize freely with true pecans, producing beautiful trees but

astringent nuts. Ed.)

One of the largest orchards was set out a few years before ours, by the

late Dr. Wm. C. Stubbs, on a farm that had been in his family for many

generations. It is on York River, about 15 miles from our place. It was

he who encouraged my husband to set out our orchard. Dr. Stubbs was for

many years Director of the Louisiana Experiment Station near New

Orleans. He spent his summers at his old home. His trees were probably

the best started and cared for during his life, as he knew how to do it.

I drove to see the farm recently, and talked with the present owner, who

bought it in 1942. The next year, when I also had my good crop, he

nearly paid for the place with proceeds from the nuts.

However, like ourselves, he has had practically no nuts since, and is so

much discouraged that he plans to take out some of the trees. The

varieties there are mostly Moneymaker, Schley and Success. The same

varieties are also in a small orchard of another neighbor, who reports

that Success does best. The trees owned at one time by Dr. Stubbs seem

not to be cultivated at all, but are grazed and mowed, and the orchard

is now rather a tangle of briers and weeds.

+We Grow Bulbs with Pecans+

As this is primarily a daffodil farm, and the trees have the best land,

it is also used for bulb growing. The daffodils are a much surer crop

with us than pecans. We sell both flowers and bulbs. The season for

daffodils is in March and April which is well ahead of the pecans. The

pecans do not leaf out early enough to shade the daffodils, and I can't

see that they injure them in any way except in very dry years. Bulbs

near the trees do just as well as those in the open field and sometimes

bloom earlier.

All cultivation and fertilization that the trees get is what is accorded

the bulbs. As soon as the season is ended for bulbs, we begin

cultivating. We go over the bulbs about three times before the tops die

back to the ground, in late May. In late July, we mow the weeds, which

are high by that time. We frequently mow again later in the fall. We

take up the bulbs every two or three years in June, cure them in trays

in airy buildings, grade them, sell some, and replant what we need to

keep up our supply. When a plot is dug, we plant it with soybeans, turn

them under in late summer and replant with a winter cover crop, rye or

clover usually. That crop is turned under the following late April when

the rye is usually waist high. We replant again with beans which are

turned under in July.

If we think the soil needs more humus, we repeat the process another

year. During this rotation we apply 0-14-7 at least twice, usually with

the first two plantings. The land is limed only at long intervals, as

daffodils like a soil rather on the acid side. Of course, during this

cultivation and planting, we plow rather close to the trees, within

about four feet, and sometimes cut the roots. You may well think that

this accounts for their not bearing well, but in this neighborhood there

is the same story with trees that are not plowed around. I have wondered

at times if they are not too near salt water, and maybe the roots go

down to water, yet the trees nearest the river bear best. We have a

Teche tree only about 20 feet from high tide line, and it is our surest

bearer, having never missed a crop.

Our only varieties that scab to any extent are the one Georgia and the

two trees of Delmas, but the man on Dr. Stubbs' place says that both

varieties scab although I forgot to ask which variety was worst. (Delmas

is one of worst scabbing varieties in the South.--Ed.)

Indiana Nut Shows Have Educational Value

W. B. WARD, Extension Horticulturist, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.

A few days ago I had a letter from Professor George L. Slate, of the

Geneva station, requesting that I send you some information concerning

our recent nut shows and a couple of pictures to be used in the current

report.

I am enclosing two pictures--one showing a display of hicans, shellbark,

shagbark, bitternut, mockernut hickories and in the background a few of

the miscellaneous sorts, while the other picture shows mostly the black

walnuts. (Latter picture printed on next page.--Ed.)

If you will note in the pictures, we have used a saw and cut the nuts in

two for display purposes. This has been one means of classifying the

seedlings to find out whether or not they were worthy of further

propagation, although this alone was not the final classification. It

was rather surprising to the number of visitors we have had at our shows

to see the difference in the interior of the nut and believe me it has

done a lot toward the education of the people when it comes to locating

some of the better seedlings.

[Illustration]

The purpose of the nut program in the state of Indiana was for the

betterment of native nuts and we were in hopes that we could find some

very promising seedlings that would be worthy of further work. With the

cooperation of the Indiana Horticultural Society and the Student

Horticultural Show here at the University, we have had this nut show for

the past six or eight years. Sometimes it has been in competition, other

times it has been mostly for display. The show served the purpose which

we had in mind for thus we have located some very nice walnuts, hickory

nuts and a few good seedling pecans. After the show had been visited by

some six to eight thousand annually for the past several years, we have

further made displays at the annual meeting of the Indiana Horticultural

Society in Indianapolis, at the A.P.S. meeting at St. Louis last winter

and at the Indiana State Fair in 1948, with a display going to some of

the other institutions--particularly to Oklahoma and Texas--for display

at their state shows. A new collection was gathered by the students and

the writer this year which, in part, will be displayed at the Indiana

Horticultural Society meeting on January 19, 20 and 21 and another

collection is being shown at Oklahoma A. & M. at this time. The nuts

will be returned and placed in cold storage to be exhibited at the State

Fair next fall and we have sufficient quantities on hand for individual

displays as well as for collections.

Each plate contains from 35 to 40 nuts of seedlings or named varieties

and at our recent show we had 66 plates of hickory nuts and allied

species. We had 41 plates of walnuts including some very fine Persian

walnuts, 16 samples of filbert seedlings, 20 plates of miscellaneous and

all told 141 different plates at our show which was held on November 5,

6 and 7, 1948.

Some of our best contributors have been such as Ferd Bolten, Linton,

Indiana, who sent five good Persian walnuts and one excellent black

walnut. Edward Smith, of Rochester, Indiana, and Henry Buit, of

Lafayette, also have found some wonderful walnut seedlings. Donald Sly,

Rockport, Indiana, has produced the best seedling filberts, about eight

in number, and contributed a wonderful display of the McCallister hican.

Mr. J. F. Wilkinson, Proprietor of the Indiana Nut Nursery, has

contributed largely to the collection of seedling and named varieties of

hardy northern pecan while W. A. Owen, Poseyville, and Clem Seib,

Owensville, have been consistent winners in the large shellbark

hickories. O. W. Thompson, Owensville, and William Seng, of Jasper,

contributed some large size thin-shelled shagbark hickories to our show.

James Stall, of Brownstown, is a consistent winner in butternuts.

Each year more interest is being shown in the planting of native nuts

and some of our Persian walnuts are rather outstanding. Nolan Fateley,

Franklin, Indiana, has a very fine seedling Persian walnut of large size

which we are hoping to propagate. (A large Carpathian tree.--Ed.)

The Importance of Stock and Scion Relationship in Hickory and Walnut

CARL WESCHCKE, St. Paul, Minnesota

Twenty-five years of practical study and living with the hickories ought

to suffice to make a success in growing these trees for their delicious

product. However, it is only in the twenty-eighth year of such work that

I have made an important discovery about the particular hickory with

which I have had the most success; I refer to the variety known as the

Weschcke shagbark hickory.

I began to graft such varieties as Beaver and Fairbanks

(bitternut--shagbark hybrid) hickory on Wisconsin native bitternut

hickory (_Carya cordiformis_) in 1920, and some grafts are doing very

well at this time, 1948, but they are practically barren of fruit.

Since then I have accumulated more varieties to test from many different

sources, to continue the work down to the present day. During that time

I noticed, but did not appreciate, the significance of the relationship

of growth between scion and root system. True, I have been very

cognizant of the so-called compatibility between stock and scion in the

hickory family, and have written about this matter for publication

several times, but I was then more concerned with the stock and scion

living together in a harmonious state of existence and health without

realizing that there was something else necessary to this relationship

in order to promote heavy bearing.

+Experiments in Grafting Black Walnuts+

Parallel to these early experiments, I was grafting in the same family

as the hickories, known as the walnut, or _Juglandaceae_ family, using

wild native butternut (_Juglans cinerea_) as a stock for grafting to

such varieties as the Thomas, Ohio, Stabler and Ten Eyck black walnut

(_J. nigra_). Some of these trees, so grafted, exist today, being more

than 25 years old, and they have never borne more than a hatful of

walnuts to a tree, even when they became large trees. Most of them are

entirely barren year after year. I often remarked to persons who were

interested in this phase of my work, that the black walnut was

non-productive on the butternut root system, but it was very evident

that there was not completecompatibility because the walnut scion

greatly outgrew the butternut stock causing a marked difference in their

trunk diameters just below and above the union. This great difference,

the butternut being so much smaller, was no doubt the cause of a

shortage of food supply elaborated through the bark circumference which

limited the top to a mere growth of leaves, not leaving sufficient

additional supply for the growth of fruit.

My observation among the hickories, with which I did far more

experimental work than with the walnuts, was beclouded by the fact that

many successful, apparently compatible varieties, grew and throve on the

native bitternut stock without bearing fruit, except for just a few nuts

occasionally; and yet there was no apparent difference between the scion

diameter and the trunk diameter, nothing like the overgrowth of the

black walnut when grafted on butternut. So it took many years and a

different growth phenomenon to open my eyes as to what was the trouble

in getting hickories to bear on foreign root systems.

The final solution of the problem was determined by my observation this

year of grafted hickories of several sizes and ages were Weschcke

shagbark (_C. ovata_)[33] scions and other hickory scions, such as

Siers, Bridgewater, Deveaux, Beaver, and Fairbanks have been grafted on

the same tree to act as pollinators for the Weschcke, which is devoid of

pollen.[33] This year particularly, the difference in rate of growth

between two varieties grafted on the same stock was very apparent; in

every case all other varieties greatly exceeded the growth of the

Weschcke hickory, but in many cases, only the Weschcke hickory had any

nuts growing on the graft, and if there were any nuts on another graft,

there were but a few. In practically all cases, the diameters of the

scions of varieties of hickory other than the Weschcke were at least

twice the diameters of the Weschcke grafts, and the growth of all

varieties so grafted was healthy and vigorous and thoroughly compatible

with the native bitternut hickory root system.