of creating the Boone chestnut. About 1888 Mr. Endicott conceived the
idea of producing a cross between the American and Japan chestnuts and
getting one combining the sweetness of the native with the large size,
early ripening and young bearing habits of the Japan. He encountered an
obstacle in the fact that the Japan blossomed before the native and it
was not until seven years later that he found a native blossoming early
enough to make the cross. In the spring of 1895 he carefully hand
pollinated some Japan Giant with the pollen of this early flowering
native, sacking the same to prevent other pollen reaching them. The seed
so produced was planted in the spring of 1896 in rich soil that had been
used as a vegetable garden. One of the seeds so planted bore six burs in
1897, eighteen months after planting the seed and has produced crops
every year since as follows: 1898, 1 pound of nuts; 1899, 3 pounds of
nuts; 1900, 5 pounds of nuts; 1901, 6 pounds of nuts; 1902, 8 pounds of
nuts; 1903, 12 pounds of nuts; 1904, 17 pounds of nuts; 1905, 25 pounds
of nuts; 1906, 31 pounds of nuts; 1907, 43 pounds of nuts; 1908, 50
pounds of nuts; 1909, 56 pounds of nuts; 1910, 5 pounds of nuts (early
bloom killed by late freeze); 1911, 80 pounds of nuts; 1912, 76 pounds
of nuts; 1913, 140 pounds of nuts--a grand total of 568 pounds from the
time of planting the seed seventeen years ago.
This nut is of very good quality, has large size, ripens early and comes
into bearing very early. Has been well tested and proven to be one of
the best chestnuts we have. It has but one fault, it is very hard to
propagate by either budding or grafting. Mr. Endicott and others have
grown many seedlings of Boone, but none are in all respects as good as
the parent.
Mr. Endicott did a good work in producing the Boone chestnut and
deserves the thanks of the nut growers of this country.
LETTER FROM G. H. CORSAN, TORONTO, CANADA
My place of 15-1/2 acres just west of Toronto, is in a small valley
containing sandy, gravelly and clay soils, while the creek bottom land
is rich black humus. My efforts are purely experimental and the losses
do not worry me as I simply wish to know what will succeed in this
district. Peaches and grapes grow on my place.
Last winter I bought twelve Paragon chestnut trees from Colonel Sober.
All twelve are alive and looking well and this fourth day of November
are just turning color and dropping their leaves. You will probably
remember that of the three samples that Colonel Sober displayed at the
convention last year I took the walking stick. I had to go to Columbia
and other South Carolina points for three weeks afterwards, so that it
was well into January before I finally got the "walking stick" planted.
Well, it is also alive and has that well-known Paragon form, five
fan-shaped shoots above the graft.
I planted seeds from all over the world, in rows, and of ten bushels of
black walnuts only five nuts sprouted. On the other hand, every pecan
came up. Hickories and English cob nuts behaved a little better than the
black walnuts. I slip a little collar of tar paper over each little tree
to protect it against field mice, rabbits and ground hogs. Red squirrels
trouble me the least of all the pests as I cannot keep them out of my
double section wire rat trap, and the pet stock men give my boys 30
cents apiece for them.
I also bought a dozen Pomeroy walnuts last winter for experiment. They
are all alive but the extraordinary late and early frosts were hard on
them and nipped them down three inches from the top where they again
sprouted out. This occurred to all but one tree which positively refused
to take any notice of either the late or the early frost. I consider
this one tree worth _many_ times the money I paid for the dozen.
My experiments are only two years old but I will mention that my English
filberts or Kentish cob nuts are doing well, also my Battle Creek
persimmon seedlings that I planted in an exposed position two years ago.
Seeds from those Battle Creek persimmon trees can be procured from Dr.
J. H. Kellogg by writing him. They are the two most northern persimmon
trees which I have discovered so far. The fruit is good to the taste and
the trees have lived through terribly cold winters. I mention this as
many of you are fruit growers also and want to get persimmon stock in
order to graft the Japanese persimmon on. The female tree every second
year is loaded to the point of breakage and should do well for stock.
Speaking about procuring seeds from dealers, I can get here and there
for one cent as much as I have to pay the dealer a dollar for. For
instance, while passing through Phoebus, Va., I asked a lady what she
wanted for Juglans sieboldiana and she said 5 cents a quart or 35 cents
a peck. She only got 16 bushels from a 20 year-old tree! They were
bigger and better specimens than I got from Japan at about five nuts for
one dollar, postage extra.
Then I wrote to a gentleman who had a small tree of Juglans cordiformis
in Ontario and he said that he only had a bushel which he was expressing
to me and to send him a dollar! Think, and the Japs sent me three nuts
for one dollar!! A lady at Niagara Falls, Ontario, told me that she had
a little tree of J. sieboldiana so I asked her the price and she sent me
half a bushel and said to pay the express charges which were a quarter!
And it is the same way with these forest seed merchants, they send me
for dollars the seeds of pinus edulis and pinus Koriensis that it would
take a powerful microscope to discern, and I afterwards bought of a
fruit merchant in Milwaukee a big glassful for a nickel!
Roadside planting is a failure, for, besides rodents little and big,
there are all kinds of animals from sheep to horses to destroy them, so
that I have to plant all my trees at least four feet within my fence
line.
Juglans Mandshurica seed I find impossible to procure so far. There are
two magnificent trees in Toronto planted by an old man who is dead now.
These trees show no sign of ever having been winter killed and are 13
and 19 feet high but have not fruited yet. The leaves are very long and
the trees resemble the stag horn sumach, except that they are distinctly
Juglans in appearance; but the growth of the year's shoots is thick and
long like a coppice growth.
LETTER FROM W. C. REED, VINCENNES, INDIANA
The Indiana pecan tree bore a splendid crop of about 3-1/2 bushels. The
Busseron also had a good crop on all the old wood and some on the new
wood. The Busseron is just recovering from a severe cutting back by the
owner and should be in shape to give a good crop next year. Other pecans
in the vicinity bore a very light crop.
The Niblack bore only a few nuts this year. Butterick had a very good
crop for an off year, some five bushels as reported to me, and they were
well filled. This tree is very large, 4-1/2 feet in diameter, 90 foot
spread, located near Grayville, Ill.
The writer and my son, M. P. Reed, have top worked quite a number of
large black walnuts, ranging from 3 to 9 inches in diameter. They were
cut back last spring and budded in the new growth this summer, setting
from 20 to 40 buds in some of the trees. Buds of the Hall, Pomeroy and
Rush have taken well and look very promising. Of other varieties only a
limited number have taken. We will top work several large trees this
coming summer and should get results soon from these.
Pecans in the nursery have made a very satisfactory growth. The stand of
buds was only fair, in some cases poor. We still have a limited number
of Indiana and Busseron trees but the supply of other kinds is exhausted
for this year.
We have planted 600 pounds of pecans and 50 bushels of walnuts and with
the seedlings we have on hand in nursery hope to have plenty of stock to
work in the future.
We had a splendid stand of grafts of the Major pecan the past spring and
some of these made 4 feet of growth and calipered 3/4-inch, for grafts
set May 1st.
THE LATE HENRY HALES AS A NUT CULTURIST
H. W. HALES, NEW JERSEY
About 1876 he and the celebrated writer and agriculturist, Andrew S.
Puller, made extensive experiments with the large English
filbert,--mostly of the Kentish cob varieties. These proved unadapted to
the climate as the trees seemed to run all to growth and bore very few
nuts. About this time, also, very extensive plans were laid to propagate
by grafting the Hales Paper Shell Hickory. There is probably no more
difficult tree in existence to graft than the hickory as, owing to the
extreme hardness and close grain of the wood there is always an
uncertainty about their uniting permanently, consequently the percentage
of perfect trees was always small. Mr. Hales tried all kinds and methods
of grafting, some were done on stocks that stood naturally in the
fields, others were grafted in greenhouses, then again, others were
tried in frames or sashes, and large numbers were grown in pots, and
success was only attained after years of time and thousands of dollars
were spent. Mr. Hales was also an enthusiastic grower of the English or
European walnut and one tree which grew on his farm at Ridgewood was
grown from seed given him by ex-Mayor Daniel F. Tieman of New York City
many years ago.
Japanese walnuts were also grown on the farm at Ridgewood and some of
these are now bearing. A large number of Japanese chestnuts were planted
some years ago, and while these bore heavily for a short time they
nearly all succumbed to the chestnut blight. There is some difference of
opinion among nut growers on the subject, but Mr. Hales was always of
the opinion that the chestnut blight was introduced into this country
with the Japanese trees, and that when the Japanese trees were gone the
disease then spread to the native trees. The Hales Paper Shell Hickory,
it may be remarked, still holds the palm as being the largest and
thinnest shell nut, and it was only by the most persistent and
painstaking efforts that Mr. Hales succeeded in propagating them at all.
A large number of chestnuts were grown by Mr. Hales, such as the Numbo
and other varieties. Some of these were said to be purely American
varieties and others hybrids, or crosses. All of the hybrid varieties
seemed to lack the hardy constitution of the American and although some
of the nuts were very large he did not succeed with them in the long run
as well as with the native varieties. Pecans of all kinds were tried by
him and choice specimens were obtained from all parts of the country.
Like the hickories these were grown and grafted in different ways and
the percentage of good results was always much larger than the
hickories. Grafting the hickory on the pecan was of course tried, and
this proved one of the best ways of propagating the hickory. Everything
that he could possibly think of or do was brought to bear in his efforts
at nut culture and it is some satisfaction to know that many nut lovers
will have the benefit of his work and efforts, long years after he has
passed away, the hickory especially being a very slow growing and long
lived tree.
ABSTRACT OF PAPER BY HUMPHREY
Filbert. Black knot, _Cryptosporella anomala_
HUMPHREY, JAMES ELLIS. Mass. Agr. Exp. Sta., 10th an. rept., 1892, p.
242-243.
The author describes this fungus as killing the canes of the European
hazel, _Corylus avellana_, at Palmer, Mass. The fungus appears in the
form of protuberances with elliptical bases that burst the bark and rise
rather thickly from the affected portions of the branch. The diseased
portion is sunk below the surface of the healthy part. The interior of
the protuberance, which is the fruiting part of the fungus, contains
numerous black, flask-like structures whose tips reached the surface.
Within the cavities of these flasks are formed the very numerous
spindle-shaped spore cells, each containing, when ripe, eight colorless
elliptical spores. The author noticed that the inner bark on the part of
the branch occupied by the fungus is reduced to a narrow black line
between the wood and the outer bark. This reduction in the thickness of
the inner bark explains why the surface of the affected parts is sunken.
If the entire circumference of a cane becomes involved, the result is
that it is girdled, and the part beyond necessarily dies. The attacks of
this fungus on the host-plant are essentially similar in their results
to those of the black knot of the plum, though the immediate effect on
the inner bark is here one of atrophy, while in the latter case it is
one of hypertrophy. The fungus is also related to the black-knot fungus
on the plum, but its life-history is not yet known. There may be other
spore forms in its life cycle, and therefore it is impossible to give
any more definite suggestions for avoiding it than to recommend that
infected branches be cut away well below the point of infection and
burned as soon as they are seen to be infected.
THE TRUTH ABOUT TREE PLANTING WITH DYNAMITE.
[Note by the Secretary.--As planting with dynamite has been
especially recommended for nut trees, on account of their long tap
roots which have the habit of growing down until they reach
permanent water; as there has been some difference of opinion among
horticulturists as to the merits of tree planting, in general, with
dynamite; and in order that nut growers may know how to use this
method as advised by the dynamite makers, in case they may wish to
try it in setting their trees, the following description of the
method advised, from the pen of Mr. George Frank Lord of the E. I.
du Pont de Nemours Powder Company, is here printed.]
During the past two years there has been considerable discussion in the
agricultural press on the merits of dynamite in tree planting. The
majority of orchardists who have tried the new method are enthusiastic
over the results, but now and then we hear someone condemning the
practice, and stating that they have tried it with poor results. It
would appear from investigation that the theory of the use of dynamite
in tree planting is a good one, but that the practice is sometimes
incorrect, and hence fails to produce the desired results.
_Purpose of Dynamiting for Tree Planting_:
In the first place, to secure successful results it is necessary to
understand clearly what the dynamiting is to accomplish. Some
orchardists and farmers have the idea that the purpose of the dynamite
is to excavate the hole for the tree and save them the trouble of
shoveling out the soil. This is a wrong theory.
The object of dynamiting for tree planting is to break up the subsoil at
a depth of from three to five feet so as to create a soil sponge or
water-absorbing area twelve or twenty feet in diameter around and
underneath the spot where the tree is to stand, so that the heavy
rainfalls and melting snow of spring may be conserved in the subsoil to
take care of the tree during the long dry summer.
If the force of the dynamite is used merely to blow out the soil and
make digging unnecessary, it is unreasonable to expect the dynamite to
do this underground work. On the other hand, when the charge is properly
placed at a depth of about three feet and tamped in just enough to
confine most of the force of the explosion in the subsoil, the blast
will not only crack and pulverize the subsoil, but will also break up
the ground around the bore hole clear to the surface, and throw it into
the air, possibly a foot. It is then a very easy matter to excavate the
hole for planting.
_Necessary Soil Conditions_:
There is no economy nor advantage in using dynamite in a soil that is
loose and sandy to a depth of three or four feet. The weakness of this
soil is that it allows water to percolate through it too rapidly, hence
dynamite would be harmful rather than helpful under such conditions, but
no matter how loose the top soil or plowed soil may be, if it is
underlaid by more or less impervious clay, or even a heavy loam,
dynamiting under proper conditions will certainly increase its
water-storing capacity, and also make it easier for the roots to grow
downward and deep.
The proper conditions referred to are that the blasting must be done
when the subsoil is relatively dry, otherwise it will not crack or
pulverize. Every farmer knows the disadvantage of plowing wet top soil.
It is equally disadvantageous to blast a wet subsoil. Of course, some
subsoils are always in a more or less damp condition and never get
thoroughly dried out, but they may be safely and advantageously blasted
when they are in their dryest condition.
Water-logged soil should never be blasted except for the purpose of
ditching it or tiling it so as to get it into a proper condition for
blasting. The ditching may be done economically and quickly with
dynamite, and in many cases this will answer just as well as the more
expensive tiling. When the ditching or tiling has drained this subsoil,
it may then be safely blasted.
_Filling the Pot-Holes_:
In any heavy soil the explosion of the dynamite tends to form a cavity
in the immediate vicinity of the cartridge, varying from one to two feet
in diameter. The heavier or the wetter the subsoil, the larger this
cavity is likely to be. After the blast the top soil should be shoveled
out and laid to one side; next shovel out the subsoil and lay it on the
other side of the hole; continue this excavation until the pot-hole is
reached, then be careful to fill this hole reasonably tight with
subsoil, the object being to prevent the possibility of soil falling
away from the roots of a tree after planting, and leaving it suspended
in the air. This is the cause of the death of trees planted in dynamited
holes which some unsuccessful experimenters report. It takes a little
time to fill this pot-hole, but the many advantages of planting trees
properly in dynamited holes more than offset this extra time and trouble
required to properly prepare the hole.
_Planting the Trees_:
After the pot-hole has been filled, continue to shovel in subsoil until
the proper height is reached for planting the tree, then throw in half
the top soil and spread the roots on that in their natural positions,
then throw in the remainder of the top soil, next get in the hole and
walk around the tree several times, tramping the top soil down tight
around the roots so as to remove all large air spaces that surround the
roots, then fill the hole to the surface with subsoil. Planting a tree
in this way costs a few cents more per tree than the old way, but since
the tree can only be planted once and the comparative records as to loss
of trees the first year after planting, show an average advantage of 30
per cent. in favor of dynamited trees, namely, the loss is cut down from
three to five trees per hundred, a dynamited tree grows so much more
vigorously and produces fruit from one to two years earlier, therefore
it pays to take the extra trouble and do the job right.
The editor of _Successful Farming_ was at one time skeptical as to the
use of dynamite in tree planting, but has been convinced from personal
observation of its use in large commercial orchards, and from letters
from various subscribers, that it is an important and valuable
innovation in horticulture, provided it is used with proper care and
discretion.
CORRESPONDENTS AND OTHERS INTERESTED IN NUT CULTURE
ALABAMA
Carver, George W., Director Department Research, Tuskegee Institute
ARIZONA
Karns, H. G., Karns Bros., Inc., Nogales
ARKANSAS
Shadle, E. A., England
Watkins, J. A., Warren
Hamilton, Ed., Wynne
Meek, W. H., Hot Springs
Jones, Herbert A., Plumerville
St. John M., Wrightsville
CALIFORNIA
Payne, George C., Campbell
Fitzgerald, Dr. W. W., Stockton
Thornberry, Lordsburg
Fuller, L. E., 1643 Sunset Blvd., San Diego
Tribble Brothers Nursery Co., Elk Grove
CANADA
Griffith, H. K., Grimsby
Berge, Miss Alice, 251 Queenston Street, St. Catherines
Neller, Louisa, Grimbsy
Book, Beverly, Grimsby East
Fee, J. J., Niagara Street, St. Catherines
Solvyne, F. D., Carlton Street, St. Catherines
Titherington, James, Carlton Street, St. Catherines
COLORADO
Coryell, P. C., Newcastle
CONNECTICUT
Moore, R. D., Colchester
Osborn, George S., Bristol
White, T. P., Wilton
Clingan, Una A., Robertsville
Rockwell, F. P., Rockfall
Bradley, John T., 180 Prospect Street, Bristol
Bradley, Capt. Ralph, 459 W. Main Street, Meriden
Martin, William, Hull Street, Bristol
Brown, Ronald K., Colchester
Hull, George W., Bristol
Sage, Hollister, Waterbury
DELAWARE
Rumford, Dr., Wilmington
Reed, E. B. & J. M., Frederica
Tisdale, J. B., Magnolia
Ellis, G. L., Millsboro
Marks, Walter L., Smyrna
Matthews, W. C, Room 563, duPont Bldg., Wilmington
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Burkholder, 1820 M Street N. W., Washington
Fales, Dr. W. D., 78 T Street N. W., Washington
FLORIDA
Cuzner, A. T., Gilmore
GEORGIA
Fows, J. William, Adjutant Professor of Horticultural, State College
of Agriculture, Athens
Hardman, Dr. L. G., Commerce
IDAHO
Gehman, S. A., Boise
Coventry, Neil S., Box 95, Coeur d'Alene
Temple, C. E., Agricultural Experimental Station, Moscow
Cattermole, Dr. P. F., Lewiston
DeHaven, James, Probate Judge, Grangeville
Reed, P. O. Box 587, Weiser
Konrad, Henry, P. O. Box 136, Boise
ILLINOIS
Burg, F. W., Dallas City
King, Thomas H., 113 North Hazel Street, Danville
Krause, John O., 1341 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
McCready, James, 1533 Portland Avenue, Chicago Heights
Ricks, R. L., Staunton
Roth, C. L., R. F. D. 3, Chenoa
Newell, Jesse W., Country Life Club, Drawer 418, Girard
Knapp, William, 854 No. Paulina Street, Chicago
Hoffman, Frank H., 712 Federal Street, Chicago
Voight, H. R., Bonfield
Wells, Oscar, Farina
Bunker, Gerald L., 408 So. Spring Avenue, La Grange
Ernest, Otto M., 4238 Randolph Street, Chicago
Reeves, C. H., Jr., 6453 Iowa Street, Oak Park
Dupont, 2911 W. 39th Street, Chicago
Fletcher, Joe, Zion City
Lunak, Dr. Karel, 1662 Blue Island Avenue, Chicago
Miller, C. Lester, Monmouth
Yost, Z. F., 109-1/2 W. Madison Street, Pontiac
Poll, Carl J., 1009 Maple Street, Danville
Warren, Ezra T., R. F. D. I, Atlanta
Holmes, T. H., 2816 Logan Bldg., Chicago
INDIANA
Payatte, Charles, Columbus
Pershing, Henry A., South Bend
Fife, Earl H., Franklin
Fisher, J. T., Franklin
Stevens, S., New Ross
Officer, William, Madison
Sage, Thomas V., Greencastle
Bone, Mrs. C. W., 140 No. Grant Street, W. Lafayette
Mathers, Frank C, Indiana University, Bloomington
Comstock, C. H., 1605 Talbott Avenue, Indianapolis
(Interior Hardwood Co.)
McNamee, H. H., Honeywell Heating Specialty Co., Wabash
Waltermire, Guy, Whisler Block, Marion
Cherry, William, Jr., Clinton, R. F. D. 3, Box 3, Clinton
Shilts, J. H., Columbia City
McGregor, D. R., Marion
Summers, W. R., Georgetown
IOWA
Wilhelm, Roy E., Osage
Haas, Alfred L., Suite 306, Utica Bldg., Des Moines
Garrett, Charles O., Willow Hill Farm, R. F. D. 1, Mitchellville
Rose, Morton L., Box 633, Colfax
Stoddard, Dr. Charles, Boone
KENTUCKY
Ragland, Colby B., Frankford
Pyrne, P. P., 530 Center Street, Henderson
Aspinwall, F. E., Cedar Springs Farm, La Grange
MAINE
Wentworth, Herbert, Skowhegan
Paine, G. S., Winslow
MARYLAND
Onion, J. L., Sharon
Beall, Olin, P. O. Box 19, Frostburg
Landwehr, F. W., Gambrills
Strickland, C. W., Berlin
Myer, E. H., Keedysville
Wooden, Ernest E., 1029 Calvert Bldg., Baltimore
Cox, Mrs. Annie D., Glen Morris
Lankford, Mrs. Ida M., Princess Anne
Bowman, W. E., Snow Hill
Hudson, P. O., Harold
Franklin Davis Nurseries, Baltimore
Evans, H. Cecil, 126 W. 25th Street, Baltimore
Kerr, Dr. Eugene, Monkton
MASSACHUSETTS
Chase, J. S., Maiden
Pressey, C. Park, 8 Beacon Street, Boston
Bridges, Herbert C., Box 246, North Cohasset
Marlborough, James, Topsfield, care of T. E. Proctor Estate
Stevens, Abel T., Wellesley
Smith, Fred A., Director Independent Agricultural School, Hathorne
Wallis, Fred H., 27 Conant Street, Beverly
Schultz, Mrs. Fritz, 335 Cornell Street, Roslindale
Knight, C. F., Rowley
Jenks, Albert R., Hampden County Improvement League, Springfield
Thrasher, Miss Mertia P., Sharon
Crowell, Elkanah, Hyannis
Mason, H. R., Falmouth
Kimball, G. N., 10 Whitlowe Road, West Newton
Graves, Louise B., 8 Chestnut Street, Boston
Jones, Dr. L. A., Falmouth
Bingham, Dr. Russell, Fitchburg
Robbins, A. N., Puritan Fruit Co., 13 Faneuil Hall, Boston
MICHIGAN
Carter, Bert, Middleville
Rhodes, W. E., Maple Street, Albion
Wiegand, Frank J., 970 E. Canfield Avenue, Detroit
Foote, Mrs. W. K., Milford
Miller, Orville I., Augusta
Veith, Alfred C, 56 Haynes Avenue, Detroit
MINNESOTA
Savage, L. H., Red Wing
Guinotte, 653 Lincoln Avenue, St. Paul
Ramer, W. A., 1542 Hillside Avenue, No. Minneapolis
MISSOURI