Attesting to our great faith in the value of the nut trees for wildlife
conservation and restoration, the Ohio Division of Conservation and
Natural Resources has distributed free of charge, to cooperating
landowners: 132,000 American hazelnut, 1000 European and American hazel
hybrids, 1000 pecans, 1000 butternut, over one thousand shagbark
hickory, 1500 Asiatic chestnut, 2000 black walnut trees, and more than
50 bushels of black walnut nuts for seed spotting. This program has only
been in operation since 1942, and I think a great deal has been
accomplished in spite of the war and difficulties in growing and
shipping of nursery stock. This record would not be so impressive had we
not been able to take advantage of a vast amount of surplus stock made
available when the U. S. Soil Conservation Service closed out a large
nursery in this region.
To show how dependent are certain wildlife species on an adequate supply
of nut mast, I need only mention one group, the squirrels. Much
information concerning the abundance of squirrels in the original
forests is on record. It is also well known that nuts of several kinds
were always plentiful: native chestnuts, walnuts, butternuts, hazelnuts,
hickorynuts, and beechnuts. The supply was so large that an occasional
crop failure was unimportant; much of the production from the preceding
year was still available. Numerous wild animals, including squirrels,
deer, rabbits, raccoons, and others fed on the native chestnut. It was
such an important staple in the diet of many animals that its passing is
one of the most devastating blows to befall the wildlife of this
continent. In order to compensate for the loss of the chestnut, and at
the same time restore some of the food and cover destroyed through
pasturing of woodlots, and the removal of fencerow cover in clean
farming, the Division of Conservation instituted its popular tree and
shrub unit planting project four years ago. In this program, units of
100 or 200 pine trees and shrubs for food and cover are distributed free
of charge to farmers who will plant them as suggested and protect them
from fire, grazing, and cultivation. American hazelnut was extensively
used in this project during the first two years. Since then we have been
unable to obtain seedling plants in the large quantities that are
needed.
The Division also has several other wildlife restoration projects in
which the nut trees are utilized. These are a farm pond project, a small
wildlife refuge program, and a fencerow cover restoration proposition.
In the pond development program, a farmer is assisted in impounding a
small body of water, from which livestock is fenced, if he will agree to
permit hunting on a portion of his farm. The pond margins are seeded to
a grass mixture to prevent soil erosion and silting, and several hundred
trees and shrubs having value as wildlife food and cover are planted in
the area. The land immediately surrounding the pond becomes a wildlife
refuge where no hunting is permitted. Many Asiatic chestnuts have been
planted on these sites, in addition to American hazelnuts, and
considerable seed spotting with black walnuts has been accomplished.
In the small refuge plan, areas are selected, developed for wildlife by
planting and other management measures, and are then closed to hunting
for a period of years. Many hazelnuts, butternuts, some hickorynuts,
walnuts and Asiatic chestnuts have been used in this work. Our own field
men plant the seedlings or assist the landowner in planting them, then
give advice on the culture of the plants.
In the third undertaking, which is research to determine the best
methods of restoring or developing fencerow food and cover strips;
nearly a thousand hazelnut hybrids have been planted. Among these
hybrids are: Barcelona x European Globe, avellana x Italian red,
Barcelona x purple aveline, Barcelona x Cosford, Barcelona x Italian
red, Rush x Kentish Cob, and Barcelona x various other types. The better
sorts of hazelnuts have been used in this project to familiarize the
farmers with them so that they will have an incentive to grow something
valuable in fencerows. We have found that most farmers will not listen
to the argument of growing anything in fencerows purely for the benefit
of wildlife. By using a more subtle, convincing, and practical approach,
we are convinced that success will be attained and that wildlife will be
benefitted in the end.
In addition to these projects which are of a statewide nature, the
Division of Conservation owns some 14,000 acres of game lands on which
experimental plantings of nut trees have been made. From plantings of
Chinese chestnuts established in 1941, we are now beginning to realize
definite returns. On the Zaleski State forest game area, one of these
trees, now about 6 feet high, is bearing 21 burs this year. In
connection with a squirrel research problem, one of our field men,
Robert Butterfield, is carrying on some experiments in fertilizing nut
and other trees which should yield some very valuable information. I
recently saw a plot of Castanea mollissima which had been treated with a
33-1/2% nitrogen fertilizer. Planted on poor, acid, eroded soils in the
hill country, these have barely survived. After treatment, the yellow,
stunted foliage changed miraculously to a striking dark green, the
leaves grew larger, and the entire plants showed every evidence of
healthy growth. It has been suggested that interplanting chestnuts with
black locust might have the same beneficial effect and we intend to try
it.
None of us has ceased to hope that some day the blight which has
stricken our native chestnuts can be conquered. We can be assured that
whenever a resistant variety of chestnut does originate in the wild,
squirrels will find it and give it widespread distribution. In Ohio,
squirrels are still proficient in locating the few sprouts that are
fruiting, burying the nuts and forgetting them in the woods each year,
with the result that we always have a few seedling trees coming on. Last
spring, I found several bushels of chestnut burs cached in a sandstone
cave in southern Ohio by woodrats.
The States which are most interested in the nut trees from the
standpoint of wildlife are usually those in which squirrels or wild
turkeys are important game species. If those who are growing nut trees
commercially would concentrate their efforts in these states which
extend from Pennsylvania to Missouri and throughout the south, I think
they would be helping themselves and contributing in an important
measure to wildlife conservation and recreation. I think many States,
and I know this is true of Ohio, would like to introduce some of the
better named varieties of walnuts, hazelnuts, filberts, and other nut
trees to the landowners of the State through conservation projects which
I have described, but the cost is thus far too prohibitive for stock
which is distributed by us free of charge. I am personally interested in
the fine program of nut tree research which is being initiated in Ohio
and elsewhere. The hill culture experiments are especially interesting
and valuable. However, I believe every grower should give increasing
attention to the possibilities of nut trees in conservation, to the end
that better and more prolific varieties can be made available for this
purpose. States which can use good nut tree stock in their conservation
work should be solicited, their interest aroused in plantings for the
dual purpose of home use and wildlife, and a few select varieties sold
or given to them each year for experimental use. Some growers are
already generous in releasing a few new and promising nut tree varieties
for trial growing in various sections of the country.
Most Conservation departments are financed on an annual basis with funds
from hunting and fishing licenses. This prevents our knowing from year
to year exactly what our requirements are going to be in the line of
planting material. Such stock cannot be contracted for even one year
prior to purchase. We have no Division-owned nursery for propagating
game food and cover plants, and nearly all hardwood stocks are purchased
from commercial nurseries. Most states prefer to purchase nursery stock
that is grown locally, and if nut growers could succeed in lining up
their own state conservation departments, I am sure that they could
expand their production to furnish the stock needed, both at a profit to
themselves and at a price we could afford to pay.