growth, but as Mr. Onderdonk reports was the case in Mexico, it is also
the case here. The species must have ample water. With the proper amount
of moisture, neither too much nor yet too little, there is no way of
predicting to what altitudes or even latitudes it may be taken. Its
northernmost points of native range are near Davenport, Iowa, and Terre
Haute, Indiana. Iowa seed planted in 1887, at South Haven, Michigan, on
the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, at a latitude of about 421/2
degrees, have never been seriously affected by winter temperatures.
However, they have fruited but little. So far as the writer can
ascertain the crops of nuts have been insignificant both as regards
quantity and character. Dr. Deming reports a large tree at Hartford,
Conn., at a latitude of nearly 42 degrees which, judging from a
photograph which he took several years ago, was then 3 feet in diameter
and quite at home, so far as growth was concerned.
Other planted trees are fairly numerous along the Atlantic Coast between
Washington and New York. There is one in the southern part of Lancaster
County, Pa., near Colemanville, but so far as is known to the U. S.
Department of Agriculture, important crops of nuts have never been
realized from any of these northern trees. Crops from the native trees
in the bottoms north of latitude 39 degrees or approximately that of
Washington, D. C., and Vincennes, Indiana, are fairly uncertain.
Northern nurserymen are now disseminating promising varieties of pecans
from what has come to be known as the "Indiana district," which includes
the southwestern part of that state, northwestern Kentucky and
southwestern Illinois. In many respects these varieties compare very
favorably with the so-called "papershells" of the southern states. They
are believed to be of very great promise for northern planting in
sections to which they may be adapted. However, before any northern
varieties are planted for commercial (orchard) purposes, they should be
fully tested as to their adaptability in the particular section where
the planting is to take place. The commercial propagation of northern
varieties of pecans began less than ten years ago; the first attempts
were not generally successful, and as a result there are no budded or
grafted trees of northern varieties yet of bearing age.
Aside from the pecan there are no named Pomological varieties of any
native nut now being propagated, with very few exceptions. So far as
these exceptions are concerned, it is probable that fewer than one
hundred budded or grafted trees of such varieties are yet of bearing
age, and of such as have attained the age at which fruit might be
expected, exceedingly few have borne in paying quantities for any number
of consecutive years. Therefore, with reference to the planting of
native nut species for profit, the truth of the situation is simply
this: In the ordinary course of events, with the exception of the pecan,
years of experimentation in the testing of varieties and in a study of
their cultural requirements must be gone through before any native
species of nut-bearing trees can be planted in any of the northern
states with a certainty of commercial return from nuts alone which would
be comparable with that of many other crops which already are upon a
well established commercial basis in this part of the country.
With reference to two of the foreign species of nuts which have been
introduced, the situation is quite different. In order of commercial
importance of the nuts now grown in this country, two foreign species,
the Persian (English) walnut and the almond, stand second and third,
respectively, the pecan, which is an American species only, being first.
With these exceptions, the foreign introductions are all in the
experimental or test stage, and while possibly the European hazel
(filbert) may now be making a strong bid for commercial recognition in
the northwest, and the pistache in parts of California, neither species
can yet be recommended for commercial planting.
With the exception of a few hardshell varieties of almonds, which are
practically as hardy as the peach and which are suitable only for home
planting, as they are in no way to be compared with the almond of
commerce, there is now no indication that this species is destined ever
to be come of commercial importance east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Persian or so-called English walnut is of commercial importance in
this county only in the far Western States. In the South, it has thus
far failed altogether. In the North and East it has held out gleams of
hope, first bright, then dull, for more than a century. There is no way
of telling the number of trees of this species which have been planted
in the northeastern section of the country, but let us imagine it to
have been sixty thousand. Of these fully fifty per cent have succumbed
to climatic conditions; twenty-five per cent have been but semi-hardy,
and possibly twenty-five per cent have attained the bearing age. A part
of each of the last two classes have borne crops of commercial size for
a number of years. Some have produced nuts of good size and quality. A
great many of all those surviving are now proving susceptible to a
walnut blight upon which Mr. McMurran is to report tomorrow. A liberal
estimate of the present number of bearing Persian walnut trees in this
part of the country would be ten per cent of the original supposed sixty
thousand or six thousand trees. Of these, the writer has positive
knowledge of none which are now bearing crops of nuts in such quantity,
and of such size, and quality and with such regularity and which have so
borne for such length of time as to encourage commercial planting. Few
of the eastern grown nuts are so free from tannin as to be really
pleasing to the taste, or favorably comparable with the best nuts of the
market. The writer is now closely watching the best known varieties
which the nurserymen are putting out, but at the present time there is
no variety which, in his judgment, should be commercially planted
without further testing.
The proper place for such partially improved species, as are most of the
nut producers hardy in this section at the present time, is that in
which they may be used for more than the single purpose of nut
production. Most of the species of the botanical family _Juglandaceae_,
to which the walnuts and hickories belong, are slow growers, and as
such, are objectionable to the average planter. In answer to this, it
may be said that among trees, slowness of growth is invariably
associated with longevity of tree and its value when cut as timber.
Also, when due pains are taken, it is possible to select species which
are exceedingly satisfactory in the landscape. Several of the slides,
which are to follow, illustrate the individual beauty of selected nut
trees, and some show their effective use in the landscape.
Foresters are now advocating the planting of trees in waste places in
the country, especially about farm buildings. There are, perhaps, no
conspicuous waste places with a greater aggregate area than the strips
along the public highway. In certain foreign countries, these strips are
planted to fruit trees and the right of harvest awarded to the highest
bidder. The revenue so obtained goes a long way toward keeping the
highways in good condition. It is possible that this practice may
sometime be introduced into the United States, but until public opinion
is radically changed, the planting of fruit trees along the highways can
not be expected to yield any satisfactory returns to the public. The
experience of Dr. Morris who planted cherry trees along the public road
past his farm here in Connecticut, where we have just been, is typical
of what, under present conditions, might be expected in any part of the
country. When the cherries were ripe, automobile parties came for many
miles to pick the fruit, and when that in the highway was gone, the
cherries from the nearby orchard were taken. In both cases, the branches
were broken down and the trees left in badly mangled condition. Dr.
Morris then tried nursery-grown and expensive evergreens, but on
Sundays, automobile parties came again with spades and shovels and dug
up the trees.
The ratio of population to tillable land in this country is not such
that, for a long time to come, the American people as a whole will be
pressed into the using of highway land for the production of crops or
into respecting the right of the public to harvest such crops as might
be grown in its highways. Therefore, for the present, except in densely
populated, or in more than ordinarily well regulated communities, it
would be useless to advocate the planting of ordinary fruit trees along
the public roadways.
Irrespective of the possible value of their crops, fruit trees of most
species are both too small and too short-lived to be suitable for
highway planting. With nut trees, the situation is entirely different.
The native walnuts, most species of hickories and the American beech are
large-growing and long-lived trees. In addition, they are capable of
withstanding severe temperatures; they are tough and strong and not
liable to injury by storm or while being climbed by ordinary persons;
and they readily adapt themselves to a wide range of soil, moisture, and
climatic conditions.
Ordinary species of nut trees can not be recommended for the dual
purpose of timber and nut production, as, for the former purpose, the
trees should be planted close together in order to induce length and
straightness of trunk with a minimum of top or bearing surface, while
for the latter, they should be planted in the open and given space for
the maximum development to bearing surface and a minimum length of
trunk. The great demand for hickory in the making of axles, wheels, and
other vehicle parts and handles for tools, and for walnut in the
manufacture of furniture and gun stocks, makes it not only possible but
common practice to use these woods in short lengths. Therefore, both
species planted along the highways and in other waste places might
profitably be converted into their timber upon reaching maturity, if
their crops of nuts should prove to be of small commercial value.
The butternut, _J. cinerea_, is a less symmetrical grower than are the
black walnuts. The timber is less valuable and the nuts are cracked with
greater difficulty. Nevertheless, it is the most hardy of any native
species of _Juglans_. Its kernels are rich in quality and of a flavor
more pleasing to some persons than that of any other nut. Cracking the
native butternut and marketing the kernels affords the rural people in
many sections a fairly profitable means of employment during the winter
months. Its native range extends farther north than does that of either
the eastern black walnut, or that of the shagbark hickory, _Hicoria
ovata_, and considerably beyond that of the shellbark hickory, _H.
laciniosa_. Therefore, in view of its hardiness, and the merit of its
kernels, it is well worthy of consideration for planting in the most
northern parts of the country.
Were it not for the blight which is now making practically a clean sweep
of destruction over the eastern states, wherever the native chestnut is
found, the American chestnut, _Castanea dentata_, would certainly be
entitled to leading consideration as a highway, an ornamental or a nut
producing tree. Unaffected by blight or other diseases, it is one of the
largest-growing and most graceful species in the eastern United States.
The European chestnut is nearly as susceptible to this blight as is the
American species. The chestnuts from eastern Asia now appear to be
sufficiently immune to offer a practical solution to the situation by
their introduction into this country. However, they commonly lack the
sweet agreeable flavor of the American species and need hybridizing in
order to improve their quality. This, the Federal Department of
Agriculture is now doing, and in due time, there may be something to
offer in ample quantity which will make a satisfactory substitute for
the native species. Exclusive of the Asiatic species and the government
hybrids, there are now no available species which can be recommended for
planting in the blight affected area, and these should be planted only
for test purposes.
The pines referred to at the outset of this article as being important
nut producers are all western species found only on the mountains and
nowhere under cultivation. There are at least fourteen American species.
Representatives are found in most of the Rocky Mountain states. The most
important species is _Pinus edulis_. It is found at altitudes of from
five to seven thousand feet in the mountains of New Mexico, Arizona and
northern Mexico. In favorable years, the seeds are gathered in enormous
quantities under the name of "piñons," or according to the Mexicans,
"pinyonies." The nuts are rich in flavor but small and difficult to
extract from the shells. They are not well known in the eastern market,
but in the southwest they form a highly important article of food for
the Indians and Mexicans. These pines are exceedingly slow growers and
not of graceful form. They could scarcely be considered for ornamental
planting, except at the altitudes to which they are common, and then;
probably, only where some more satisfactory shade trees would not
succeed.
Among all American species of trees, it is probable that in a
combination of beauty, longevity, strength and hardiness, the American
beech, _Fagus grandifolia_, is unexcelled. Although commonly looked upon
as being a northern species, its range extends south to northern Florida
and west to the Trinity River in Texas. It is most familiar as a
clean-barked, spreading tree, with low head, and a height of from fifty
to sixty feet. However, its form depends largely upon environment. The
writer has seen it in the bottoms of southwestern Georgia, in common
with the magnolia, growing to a height of from seventy-five to one
hundred feet and with trunks of two feet in diameter extending upward in
a manner which, with regard to height and uniformity of size, compared
favorably with the long-leafed Georgia pine. The nuts of the beech are
rich in quality and of excellent flavor, but owing to their small size
and the great difficulty attending the extraction of the kernels, they
are not ranked as being of direct importance for human food. Their
principal use in this country is as a mast crop for turkeys and swine,
for which they serve a most useful purpose. Crops which can be used in
this manner to good advantage, thus practically obviating the problems
of harvesting, storing and marketing, are certainly well worth thinking
about in these days of labor scarcity.
There are few large sections of the United States adapted to the growing
of trees to which some nut-bearing species is not suited. Most species
of nut trees are as capable of producing shade and ornamental effect,
and are as hardy and lasting as any others which might be mentioned. In
addition, they produce an edible product which is entering into the list
of staple food products with great rapidity. The present scarcity of
meats and the consequent high prices are compelling the substitution of
other products. The superiority of nuts over practically all other
products which are available, as substitutes, scarcely needs argument.
Already, nuts are being pressed into service as rapidly as production
permits, and perhaps more so than prices and comparative food values
justify. Singularly enough, this section of the United States, which is
the oldest and most thickly populated portion of the country, and that
within which the greatest number of edible species of nuts are
indigenous, is today practically without pomological varieties for
planting. Within this area, individuals have made tests of species and
varieties for many generations, yet little progress has resulted. The
obvious need is for further test on a large scale. A better opportunity
for the making of such a test could scarcely be imagined than that of
highway planting.
Pomologists are firmly recommending the exclusive use of budded or
grafted trees. But this advice applies only to orchard planting for the
purpose of commercial production. Until more and better varieties are
known and their merits established, that portion of the country lying
north of the pecan belt and east of the Rocky Mountains, must await the
development and trial of new varieties. Seedlings must be planted in
large numbers from which to select varieties. The process is too slow
and the percentage of varieties which may be expected to be worth while
too small for it to be possible for the individual to make much headway
during an ordinary lifetime. Our present system of national highways by
which all parts of the country are being connected is perfecting the
opportunity. The general planting along these great national highways of
elm, oak, poplar, tulip, cedar, hemlock, magnolia, pine or any other
species which, unless cut, are capable of producing no crop other than
that of shade, would hardly be in keeping with the present need for
utility. It would be giving a questionable degree of thought to the
welfare of future generations.
To the list of nut trees as utility trees there might be added the sugar
maple, and certain species of prolific-bearing oaks. The former could be
drawn upon for the making of syrup and sugar, and the acorns from the
latter could be put to good use as hog and turkey food. In wet sections,
willows might prove useful from which to cut material for baskets,
furniture, or tying bundles.
A way of overcoming the objection of slow growth of some of the nut
species might be the alternate planting of quick-growing species which
would furnish shade in a minimum length of time, and which could be cut
for pulp or other purposes by the time the nut trees reach maturity.
A practical objection to highway planting of nut trees is that unless
cared for, such trees are in danger of becoming breeding places for
diseases and insect pests which would quickly spread to nearby orchards.
However, such planting in numbers too small to be worth caring for is
not to be considered. Already the country is agreed that the maintaining
of the middle of the road in such condition that it can render maximum
service is a paying investment. The suggestion here made is only as the
next step in highway investment. It is a proposition to make more
comfortable and attractive the present system of roadways, and at the
same time to help develop new varieties of nut trees for orchard
planting. Unless such new varieties are soon to become available, a
large part of the country will presently find itself dependent upon
outside sources for its principal substitute for meat and its main
supply of vegetable fats.
A little thought should be able to work out a sound program for the
planting of utility trees on practically every highway in this country.
Since this manuscript was completed, attention has been called to a
reference to a war use of the horse chestnut, which appears on page 18
of the July number of "My Garden," a monthly publication, with
headquarters at 6 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, London. As the heading
"NEW USE FOR HORSE CHESTNUTS," and its sub-head "Cereal Saving," both
indicate it may be of interest to the American people, although the
production of horse chestnuts in this country is not large. The article
which is credited to The Times, is as follows: "An important war time
use has been found for horse chestnuts by the systematic collection and
transport of all the nuts that can be obtained to the centre where they
can be utilized. Up to the present time cereals have been necessary for
the production of an article of great importance in the prosecution of
the war. Under the direction of the Food (War) Committee of the Royal
Society, which acts for and in consultation with the Royal Commission on
Wheat Supplies, the Minister of Food, and the Minister of Munitions,
experiments have been carried out during the winter to find a substitute
for these cereals, and thus to set them free for food supplies.
Brilliant work has ended in the difficulties being overcome, and the
proof that the seeds of the horse chestnuts answer the purpose
admirably. Except as food for deer and goats the seeds have, in the
past, been practically a waste crop, and they can be used instead of
cereals, essential for human consumption, without interfering with any
existing industry or interest.
"The organization for the collection and transport of all that can be
obtained is being rapidly perfected. When the time comes it will be the
privilege and duty of every owner of a tree or trees to help and to give
facilities for the collection of the nuts. Every ton of chestnuts
collected will set free an equivalent amount of grain. The tree being
chiefly grown for ornamental purposes occurs most freely in towns and
private gardens. In some towns it is the practice to remove the young
nuts from the trees in July so as to prevent them from being stoned and
broken by boys later on when the "conker" demand begins. Urban
authorities and park-keepers must discontinue the practice this year.
Chestnut Day, early in next autumn, will have a far wider observance and
significance this year than any Chestnut Sunday at Bushey, or than Arbor
Day over here, or even in America. For once the small boy will collect
the nuts with the full approval of the owner.
"To prevent any misapprehension it should perhaps be made clear that the
horse chestnuts will not themselves be used as food. They are required
for another purpose altogether, and the only way in which they will help
the food supplies of the country is by setting free cereals which have
now to be consumed in the production of a necessary article."
* * * * *
THURSDAY, SEPT. 6, 1917.
Meeting called to order at 9.30 A. M.
The Nominating Committee reported the renomination of all the officers.
The Secretary was instructed to cast one vote for these candidates.
[Carried.]
Moved and carried that the selection of the time and place for next
meeting to be left to the Executive Committee with especial
consideration of a joint meeting with the National Association at
Albany, Georgia.
SOME INSECTS INJURING-NUT TREES.
BY W. E. BRITTON, STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, CONNECTICUT.
Nut-bearing trees, like other kinds of trees, are attacked by insect
pests. Some kinds are seriously injured by them; others scarcely at all.
Some of these insects are borers in the trunk and branches; some devour
the leaves; some feed inside the nuts and ruin them; some suck the sap
from the stems and leaves.
I shall make no attempt in this paper to enumerate these pests. Time
forbids. I shall only mention a few of the most obvious and most
serious, and where possible, point out control measures.
THE WALNUT CATERPILLAR.
_Datana integerrima_ G. & R.
During the month of August clusters of blackish caterpillars bearing
white hairs, may be seen stripping the terminal branches of black
walnut, butternut and hickory trees. This is called the walnut
caterpillar, and it has been very abundant in Connecticut this season.
Many small trees have been entirely stripped and large ones almost
defoliated. There is only one brood each year in Connecticut, though two
occur in the southern states, and the pupae winter in the ground. The
adult is a reddish brown moth, having a wing-spread of about one and
one-half inches. Clipping off the twigs and crushing the mass of
caterpillars is perhaps the simplest control method on small trees.
Spraying with lead arsenate will prevent defoliation.
THE FALL WEB-WORM.
_Hyphantria cunea_ Drury.