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|DISCLAIMER |
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|The articles published in the Annual Reports of the Northern Nut Growers|
|Association are the findings and thoughts solely of the authors and are |
|not to be construed as an endorsement by the Northern Nut Growers |
|Association, its board of directors, or its members. No endorsement is |
|intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not|
|mentioned. The laws and recommendations for pesticide application may |
|have changed since the articles were written. It is always the pesticide|
|applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current |
|label directions for the specific pesticide being used. The discussion |
|of specific nut tree cultivars and of specific techniques to grow nut |
|trees that might have been successful in one area and at a particular |
|time is not a guarantee that similar results will occur elsewhere. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING
WASHINGTON, D. C. OCTOBER 7 AND 8, 1920
CONTENTS
Officers and Committees of the Association 4
State Vice-Presidents 5
Members of the Association 6
Constitution and By-Laws 11
Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Convention 13
Report of the Secretary-Treasurer 13
Chestnut Work at Bell Experiment Plot,
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, Glendale, Maryland 16
Report of Prof. Close and Discussion 22
Constitution and By-Laws Amended 26
Report of Committee on Importation, Mr. Littlepage 27
Excursion to Dr. Van Fleet's and Mr. Littlepage's Places 29
Nut Culture in the United States, C. A. Reed, Washington, D. C. 33
Address of Dr. David Fairchild 42
President's Address 56
The Place of Nut Trees in Our Northern Nut Culture,
Dr. William A. Taylor, Washington, D. C. 66
Address by Charles Lathrop Pack,
President American Forestry Association 70
A Nursery of Improved Filberts,
Conrad Vollertsen, Rochester, N. Y. 73
Nuts Needed as Supplementary Foods,
Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Battle Creek, Michigan 83
Propagated Hickories, Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. 93
Selecting and Handling Scions, J. F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa. 99
Address of F. E. Brooks on Some Insects that Injure Nuts 101
Top Working Hickories, Dr. Robert T. Morris, New York 105
Selection and Propagation for Improvement of Pecans,
Theodore Bechtel, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 112
Georgia's Pecan Industry, A. S. Perry, Cuthbert, Ga. 118
Appendix 131
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
_President_ WILLIAM S. LINTON Saginaw, Michigan
_Vice-President_ JAMES S. MCGLENNON Rochester, New York
_Secretary_ WILLIAM C. DEMING Wilton, Connecticut
_Treasurer_ WILLARD G. BIXBY Baldwin, Nassau Co., New York
COMMITTEES
_Auditing_--C. P. CLOSE, C. A. REED
_Executive_--J. RUSSELL SMITH, W. C. REED AND THE OFFICERS
_Finance_--T. P. LITTLEPAGE, WILLARD G. BIXBY, W. C. DEMING
_Hybrids_--R. T. MORRIS, C. P. CLOSE, W. G. BIXBY, J. G. RUSH
_Membership_--JAMES S. MCGLENNON, H. R. WEBER, R. T. OLCOTT,
W. O. POTTER, W. G. BIXBY, W. C. DEMING.
_Nomenclature_--C. A. REED, R. T. MORRIS, J. F. JONES
_Press and Publication_--R. T. OLCOTT, W. G. BIXBY, W. C. DEMING.
_Programme_--W. C. DEMING, J. RUSSELL SMITH, C. A. REED, R. T.
MORRIS, W. G. BIXBY
_Promising Seedlings_--C. A. REED, J. F. JONES
STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS
Alabama H. M. Robertson 2026 1st Ave., Birmingham
Arkansas Prof. N. F. Drake University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
California T. C. Tucker 311 California St., San Francisco
Canada G. H. Corsan 63 Avenue Road, Toronto
China P. W. Wang, Kinsan Arboretum Chuking Kiangsu Province
Colorado C. L. Cudebec Boulder, Box 233
Connecticut Francis A. Bartlett Stamford
Dist. of Columbia B. G. Foster 902 G. St., Washington
England Howard Spence Eskdale Knutsford Cheshire
Georgia A. S. Perry Cuthbert
Illinois E. A. Riehl Alton
Indiana J. F. Wilkinson Rockport
Iowa D. C. Snyder Center Point
Kansas James Sharp Council Grove
Kentucky Sam C. Baker Beaver Dam, R. F. D. 2
Maine Alice D. Leavitt 79 High St., Bridgton
Maryland C. P. Close College Point
Massachusetts James H. Bowditch 903 Tremont Building, Boston
Michigan Dr. J. H. Kellogg Battle Creek
Missouri P. C. Stark Louisiana
Nebraska William Caha Wahoo
New Hampshire Henry B. Stevens, College of Agriculture Durham
Nevada C. G. Swingle Hazen
New Jersey C. S. Ridgway Lumberton
New York Dr. G. J. Buist 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn
North Carolina Dr. Harvey P. Barrett 211 Vail Ave., Charlotte
Ohio Harry R. Weber 123 E. 6th St., Cincinnati
Oklahoma Dr. C. E. Beitman Skedee
Oregon Knight Pearcy Salem, R. F. D. 3, Box 187
Pennsylvania Elam G. Hess Manheim
South Carolina Prof. A. G. Shanklin Clemson College
Texas J. H. Burkett Clyde
Vermont F. C. Holbrook Brattleboro
Virginia John S. Parish University
Washington William Baines Okanogan
West Virginia Fred E. Brooks French Creek
Wisconsin Dr. G. W. Patchen Manitowoc
MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION
ALABAMA
Robertson, H. M., 2026 1st Ave., Birmingham.
ARKANSAS
* Drake, Prof. N. F., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Dunn, D. K., Wynne.
CALIFORNIA
California, University of, Berkeley
Cress, B. E., Tehachapi
Thorpe, Will J., 2198 Geary St., San Francisco
Tucker, T. C., 311 California St., San Francisco
CANADA
Bell, Alex., Milliken, Ontario
Corsan, G. H., 17 Rusholme Park Crescent, Toronto
Sager, Dr. D. S., Brantford
CHINA
Kinsan Arboretum, Chuking, Kiangsu Province, P. W. Wang, Sec.
COLORADO
Bennett, L. E., Cory
Cudebec, C. L., Boulder, Box 233
CONNECTICUT
Barrows, Paul M., Stamford, R. F. D. No. 30
Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford
Benedict, Samuel L., 98 So. Main St., So. Norwalk
Bradley, Smith T., New Haven, Grand Ave.
Cajori, F. A., 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven
Craig, Joseph A., 783 Washington Ave., West Haven
Deming, Dr. W. C., Wilton
Filley, W. O., State Forester, Drawer 1, New Haven
Glover, James L., Shelton, R. F. D. 7
Hilliard, H. J., Sound View
Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. F. D. 2, Box 76
Ives, Ernest M., Sterling Orchards, Meriden
Lewis, Henry Leroy, Stratford
McGlashan, Archibald, Kent
* Morris, Dr. Robert T., Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95
Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor
Sessions, Albert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol
Southworth, George E., Milford, Box 172
Staunton, Gray, 98 Park St., New Haven
White, Gerrard, North Granby
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Department of Agriculture, Washington
Foster, B. G., 902 G Street, N. W. Washington
* Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Building, Washington
Reed, C. A., Nut Culturist, Department of Agriculture, Washington
Taylor, Dr. Lewis H., The Cecil, Washington
+ Van Fleet, Walter, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington
ENGLAND
Spence, Howard, Eskdale, Knutsford, Cheshire
GEORGIA
Bullard, William P., Albany
Patterson, J. M., Putney
Perry, A. S., Cuthbert
Steele, R. C., Lakemont, Rabun Co.
Van Duzee, C. A., Judson Orchard Farm, Cairo
Wight, J. B., Cairo
ILLINOIS
Buckman, Benj., Farmingdale
Casper, O. H., Anna
Heide, John F. H., 3917 Grand Blvd., Chicago
Librarian, University of Illinois, Urbana
Poll, Carl J., 1009 Maple St., Danville
Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion
Riehl, E. A., Godfrey, Route 2
Sundstrand, Mrs. G. D., 916 Garfield Ave., Rockford
Uran, B. F., Mattoon
Wells, Oscar, Farina
INDIANA
Crain, Donald J., 1313 North St., Logansport
Jackson, Francis M., 122 N. Main St., South Bend
Reed, W. C., Vincennes
Redmon, Felix, Rockport, R. R. No. 2, Box 32
Simpson, H. D., Vincennes
Staderman, A. L., 120 S. Seventh St., Terre Haute
Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport
IOWA
Bricker, C. W., Ladora
Finnell, J. F. C., Hamburg
Skromme, L. J., (Skromme Seed Company), Roland
Snyder, D. C., Center Point (Linn Co. Nurseries)
KANSAS
Bishop, S. L., Conway Springs
Sharpe, James, Council Grove, (Morris Co. Nurseries)
KENTUCKY
Baker, Sam C., Beaver Dam, R. D. 2
Livengood, Frank M., Berea
MAINE
Leavitt, Alice D., 79 High St., Bridgton
MARYLAND
Hoopes, Wilmer P., Forest Hill
Keenan, Dr. John F., Brentwood
Littlepage, Miss Louise, Bowie
O'Connor, P. J., Bowie
MASSACHUSETTS
* Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremont Building, Boston
Cleaver, C. Leroy, 496 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
Poynter, Horace M., "The Farrar House," Andover
Scudder, Dr. Charles L., 209 Beacon St., Boston
MICHIGAN
Beck, J. P., 25 James, Saginaw
Cross, John L., 104 Division St., Bangor
Graves, Henry B., 2134 Dime Bank Bldg., Detroit
Henshall, H., 1276 Brush St., Detroit
House, George W., Ford Building, Detroit
Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek
Linton, W. S., President Board of Trade, Saginaw
McKale, H. B., Lansing, Route 6
Penny, Senator Harvey A., 425 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw
Schram, Mrs. O. E., Galesburg, Box 662
Smith, Edward J., 86 So. Union St., Battle Creek
MISSOURI
Hazen, Josiah J., (Neosho Nurseries Co.) Neosho
Mosnat, H. R., 3883 East 62 St., Kansas City
Spellen, Howard P., 4505a W. Papin St., St. Louis
Stark, P. C., Louisiana
Ward, Miss Daisy, 2019 Allen Ave., St. Louis
NEBRASKA
Caha, Wm., Wahoo
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Stevens, Henry B., N. H. College of Agriculture, Durham
NEVADA
Swingle, C. G., Hazen
NEW JERSEY
Brown, Jacob B., Elmer, Salem Co.
* Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Heights
Landmann, Miss M. V., Cranbury, R. D. 2
Marshall, S. L., Vineland
Marston, Edwin S., Florham Park, Box 72
Phillips, Irving S., 501 Madison St., West New York, N. J.
Price, John R., 36 Ridgedale Ave., Madison
Ridgeway, C. S., Floralia, Lumberton
Westcoat, Wilmer, 230 Knight Ave., Collingswood
NEW YORK
Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn
Adams, Sidney I., 418 Powers Bldg., Rochester
Andrews, W. S., Newburgh, R. D. No. 2
Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton
Atwater, C. G., The Barrett Co., 17 Battery Place, New York City
Babcock, H. J., Lockport
Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin, Nassau Co.
Brown, Ronald K., 320 Broadway, New York City
Buist, Dr. George J., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn
Crane, Alfred J., Monroe, Box 342
Diprose, Alfred H., 468 Clinton Ave., South, Rochester
Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester
Gillett, Dr. Henry W., 140 W. 57 St., New York City
Goeltz, Mrs. M. H., 2524 Creston Ave., New York City
Hall, L. W. Jr. (L. W. Hall Company), 509 Cutler Bldg., Rochester
Harper, G. W., Jr., 115 Broadway, New York City
Hicks, Henry, Westbury, Long Island
Hodgson, Casper W., World Book Co., Yonkers
Hoffmann, Arthur S., 36 Church St., White Plains
* Huntington, A. M., 15 West 81st St., New York City
Kains, M. G., Pomona
McGlennon, James S., 528 Cutler Building, Rochester
Meyers, Charles, 316 Adelphi St., Brooklyn
Olcott, Ralph T., Editor American Nut Journal, Ellwanger and
Barry Building, Rochester
Pomeroy, A. C., Lockport
Solley, Dr. John B., 968 Lexington Ave., New York City
Stephen, John W., New York State College of Forestry, Syracuse
Tallinger, J. F., Barnard
Teele, A. W., 120 Broadway, New York City
Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester
Whitney, Arthur C., 9 Manila St., Rochester
Whitney, Leon F., 65 Barclay St., New York City
Wile, M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester
Williams, Dr. Charles Mallory, 48 E. 49th St., New York City
* Wissman, Mrs. F. deR., Westchester, New York City
NORTH CAROLINA
Barrett, Dr. Harvey P., 211 Vail Ave., Charlotte
Hutchings, Miss Lida G., Pine Bluff
Matthews, C. W., North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh
Van Lindley, J., J. Van Lindley Nursery Co., Pomona
OHIO
Burton, J. Howard, Casstown
Dayton, J. H., Storrs & Harrison Co., Painesville
Fickes, W. R., Wooster
Jackson, A. V., 3275 Linwood Road, Cincinnati
Ketchum, C. S., Middlefield
Ramsey, John, 1803 Freeman Ave., Cincinnati
Truman, G. G., Perrysville, Box 167
Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati
Yunck, E. G., 706 Central Ave., Sandusky
OKLAHOMA
Beitmen, Dr. C. E., Skedee
OREGON
Marvin, Cornelia (Librarian), Oregon State Library, Salem
Pearcy, Knight, Salem, R. F. D. 3, Box 187
PENNSYLVANIA
Allaman, R. P., Bedford, R. R. No. 4
Bolton, Chas. G., Zieglerville, Pa.
Clark, D. F., 147 N. 13 St., Harrisburg
Druckemiller, W. H., Sunbury
Fagan, Prof. F. N., Department of Horticulture, State College
Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata
Heffner H., Highland Chestnut Grove, Leeper
Hess, Elam C., Manheim
Hile, Anthony, Curwensville National Bank, Curwensville
Irwin, Ernest C., 66 St. Nicholas Blvd., Pittsburg
Jenkins, Charles Francis, Farm Journal, Philadelphia
* Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527
Kaufman, M. M., Clarion
Leas, F. C., Merion Station
Murphy, P. J., Vice President L. & W. R. R. Co., Scranton
O'Neill, William C., 328 Walnut St., Philadelphia
Patterson, J. E., 77 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre
* Rick, John, 438 Pennsylvania Square, Reading
Rife, Jacob A., Camp Hill
Rose, William J., 413 Market St., Harrisburg, "Personal"
Rush, J. G., West Willow
Russell, Dr. Andrew L., 729 Wabash Bldg., Pittsburgh
Smedley, Samuel L., Newtown Square, R. F. D. 1
Smith, Dr. J. Russell, Swarthmore
* Sober, Col. C. K., Lewisburg
Taylor, Lowndes, West Chester, Box 3, Route 1
Walther, R. G., Willow Grove, Doylestown, Pike
Weaver, William S., McCungie
Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion
* Wister, John C., Wister St. & Clarkson Ave., Germantown
SOUTH CAROLINA
Shanklin, Prof. A. G., Clemson College
TEXAS
Burkett, J. H., Nut Specialist, State Department of Agriculture, Clyde
Trumbull, R. S., Agricultural Agent, El Paso & S. W. System Morenci
Southern R. R. Co., El Paso
VERMONT
Holbrook, F. C., Brattleboro
VIRGINIA
Parish, John S., University
WASHINGTON
Baines, William, Okanogan
WEST VIRGINIA
Brooks, Fred E., French Creek
Cannaday, Dr. John Egerton, Charleston, Box 693
Hartzell, B. F., Shepherdstown
Mish, A. F., Inwood
WISCONSIN
Lang, Robert B., Racine, Box 103
Patchen, Dr. G. W., Manitowoc
* Life member.
+ Honorary member.
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I
_Name._ This society shall be known as the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS
ASSOCIATION.
ARTICLE II
_Object._ Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nutbearing
plants, their products and their culture.
ARTICLE III
_Membership._ Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who
desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence
or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on
membership.
ARTICLE IV
_Officers._ There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary
and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting;
and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the
two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the
treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from
each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the
association, who shall be appointed by the president.
ARTICLE V
_Election of Officers._ A committee of five members shall be elected at
the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the
following year.
ARTICLE VI
_Meetings._ The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by
the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at
this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for
the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem
desirable may be called by the president and executive committee.
ARTICLE VII
_Quorum._ Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but
must include two of the four elected officers.
ARTICLE VIII
_Amendments._ This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of
the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment
having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the
proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member
thirty days before the date of the annual meeting.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I
_Committees._ The association shall appoint standing committees as
follows: On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and
publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an
auditing committee. The committee on membership may make recommendations
to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member.
ARTICLE II
_Fees._ The fees shall be of two kinds, annual and life. The former
shall be two dollars, the latter twenty dollars.
ARTICLE III
_Membership._ All annual memberships shall begin either with the first
day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the
Association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding
that date as may be arranged between the new member and the Treasurer.
ARTICLE IV
_Amendments._ By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members
present at any annual meeting.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NORTHERN NUT
GROWERS ASSOCIATION
Washington D. C. October 7 and 8 1920
The Association was called to order at 10 a. m. Thursday October 7th by
the President, Hon. William S. Linton, of Saginaw, Michigan, in the
auditorium of the New National Museum.
THE PRESIDENT: It has been something of an effort for me to reach here
at ten o'clock in order to meet the obligations of the program as it was
only a few days ago that I was in lower California very near the Pacific
Ocean in old Mexico. As I turned about to come back toward the East the
thought came into my mind that I must be in Washington D. C. at the
annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association at ten o'clock on
Thursday morning October 7. Traveling over three thousand miles I was
fortunate enough to get here just two minutes before the ten o'clock
hour so the connections you will see were close. The paper that your
president is to present comes at a later place on the program so we will
proceed with the business session at once. The first thing on the
program is the report of the Secretary and Treasurer.
RECEIPTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Dec. 1,1919|Jan. 1,1920| |
| to | to | Total |Balance
|Dec.31,1919|Sep.30,1920| |
----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-------+-------
Balance on hand date of last | | | |
report, Dec. 1, 1919: | | | |
Special hickory prize $25.00, Life| | | |
membership $25.00, For regular | | | |
expenses $106.53 | | | |$156.53
From annual members including | | | |
joint subscription to the | | | |
American Nut Journal | $ 25.25 | $368.10 |$393.35|
| | 9.00 | 9.00|
Reports | | 25.00 | 25.00|
Contributions for prizes: | | | |
Contribution for special hickory | | | |
prize | | 25.00 | 25.00|
Bulletin No. 5 | | 57.60 | 57.60|
|-----------+-----------+-------|
| $ 25.25 | $484.70 |$509.95| 509.95
| | | |-------
| | | |$666.48
EXPENDITURES
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
American Nut Journal, their portion| | | |
of joint subscriptions | $ 22.00| $ 98.00| $120.00|
1919 Convention | 8.75| 137.68| 146.43|
Printing Bulletin No. 5 | | 63.50| 63.50|
Clasp envelopes for Bulletin No. | | | |
5 and for reports | | 30.20| 30.20|
Stationery, printing and supplies | | 116.45| 116.45|
Postage, express, etc. | | 46.04| 46.04|
Prizes 1919 contest (not all sent | | | |
out before Oct. 1) | | 13.00| 13.00|
Special hickory prize Eugene J. | | | |
Clark, Ludlow, Mass. | | 25.00| 25.00|
Advertising 1920 Nut Contest | | | |
(not all paid before Oct. 1) | | 30.60| 30.60|
|--------+--------+--------+--------
| $ 30.75| $560.47| $591.22| 591.22
| $ 30.75| $560.47| $591.22|
Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1920 | | | | 591.22
Special hickory prize | | | | 25.00
Life membership | | | | 25.00
For regular expenses | | | | 25.26
| | | |--------
| | | | $666.48
Verified by
C. P. CLOSE,
C. A. REED,
Auditing Committee.
The above are records of receipts and expenditures for 10 months and are
about 82% of those for the period covered by the previous report, 2
years 3 months. There has been an earnest attempt to carry on the work
of the Secretary-Treasurer in a more aggressive manner than before. A
bulletin aiming to give up to date information on nut growing, Bulletin
No. 5, has been issued and has gone well. While it has been sold, no
attempt has been made to make money on it but simply to make it pay its
way and apparently it is going to do that and assist in spreading
information about the work of the Association.
Sixty-six new members have joined the Association since the date of the
last meeting, making 476 since organization, of which we have 199, and
of whom 277 have dropped out. A few former members have joined since the
date of the last report which apparently accounts for the strange fact
that increase in membership (128 to 199) is greater than the number of
new members.
Following out the plan outlined at the Battle Creek Convention, the work
of the Secretary-Treasurer has begun to be divided, the undersigned
taking the duties of Treasurer and the Nut Contests and Dr. Deming
taking the Conventions and the work of the Secretary proper until the
expected action of the present convention shall formally divide the work
of the Secretary-Treasurer and create the offices of Secretary and
Treasurer.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLARD G. BIXBY.
Secretary-Treasurer.
THE PRESIDENT: This is a very good report, complete in every detail, and
unless other action is desired, it will be received and recorded in the
minutes of the meeting.
Mr. Reed, you are chairman of the committee that had in charge the
tree-planting bill in order that it might be made uniform throughout the
country. Have you a report to make?
MR. REED: Mr. President, the committee members have been over that
individually but have not had an opportunity to discuss it together. If
a full report can be had a little later I think that would be more
satisfactory. So far as I have been able to go into it the law seems to
about cover the ground. I could not make any suggestions as to how it
could be improved. I happen to know that the author of the bill, who is
our president, has been called upon by several other states to discuss
such a law for those states, and I think he is in the best position to
tell us if there are any holes in it. If we can have the consent of the
house we will defer a full report until we can discuss the matter with
our president and with our committee as a whole.
THE PRESIDENT: We will take that course unless there are objections.
The communications received by the acting secretary will be filed and
printed in the proceedings. If there are no vice-presidents present who
are prepared to make reports that order will be passed. At this time
should come the appointment of committees but I think it would be well
to defer that business until we can consult as to the membership of the
committees. The next in order will be some remarks by Mr. Littlepage
about the proposed afternoon excursion.
THE ACTING SECRETARY: The speakers are Dr. Van Fleet, Mr. Littlepage and
Professor Close. I have here the resume of Dr. Van Fleet and I think
that it would be better perhaps to read the report of Dr. Van Fleet at
once as it may have some bearing on the remarks of Mr. Littlepage and
Professor Close.
CHESTNUT WORK AT BELL EXPERIMENT PLOT
DR. WALTER VAN FLEET, GLENDALE, MARYLAND
Our breeding work with chestnuts began as far back as 1894 when
pistillate blooms of the Paragon variety, then a novelty just coming
into use, were dusted with pollen from a native sweet chestnut bearing
good-sized nuts. The Paragon stigma were protected from the influence of
other pollen by bagging and gave a good set of fruits. The idea was to
improve the quality of the Paragon nuts even at the expense of size. The
resulting seedlings were grown at Little Silver, New Jersey, and rapidly
ran up into good-sized trees, coming into bearing twelve years later. In
fruit and tree characters they proved a complete blend of the parent
species, the nuts being double the size of the wild parent and of sweet,
rich quality. The trees were very shapely and bid fair to become
extremely productive but a year or two later were all attacked by the
dreaded blight or bark disease, then spreading from its original
starting point in Long Island. The work of destruction was very rapid
and by the third year all were hopelessly crippled, but a few
individuals continued to send up suckers as late as 1916.
The success of this pollination experiment encouraged the writer to
attempt breeding the dwarf early-bearing chinquapin with the
large-fruited foreign varieties in the hope of securing hybrids with
nuts of fair size and good quality that might come quickly into bearing.
As the chinquapin does not naturally grow in Northern New Jersey, and
plants were rarely offered by nurserymen, recourse was had to growing
them from seed and a quantity of newly collected nuts were furnished by
a friend in Washington in 1899. It required three years time to bring
the seedlings into fruit and it was not until 1903 that a start was
actually made in the work of hybridization. A selection was made of a
compact dwarf bush that bore very sweet nuts of a good size for the
species and gave promise, which was later fulfilled, of becoming very
prolific. The male, or staminate tassels were carefully removed each day
before maturity and, to ward off undesired foreign pollen, a cloth tent
was used to cover the bush in addition to bagging many of the flowering
branches. Pollen for crossing was secured from Paragon and Numbo, of the
European species, and of several named varieties of Japan chestnut
including Parry's Giant, Killen and Hale, and in addition a few blooms
were intentionally fertilized with pollen from local sweet chestnut
trees. Nearly one hundred hybrid seedlings resulted from the work in two
succeeding seasons, some of which came into bearing in 1908, just as the
_Endothia_ blight began to invade New Jersey. The hybrids between the
chinquapins and native and European chestnuts were quickly infected, but
those with Japan varieties appeared far more resistant. All work with
the susceptible native and Europeans ceased, but crosses with Japans and
the Chinese chestnut, _Castanea Molissima_, have been continued until
now there are over eight hundred in existence. In late years we have
used the Southern creeping chinquapin, C. alnifolia_, as a seed parent
to some extent, as it appears more resistant than the common species,
_C. pumila_, though it cannot be considered immune. The southern
chinquapin is hardy in the North, bears good-sized, sweet nuts for its
type, but is very late in ripening.
The Rush chinquapin, and other large-fruited, tall growing varieties
have also been used to some extent. The resulting hybrids make handsome
trees of rapid growth and bear profuse crops of very attractive nuts,
but are greatly injured by blight. As experience accumulated it was
found that the extreme caution used in the earlier trials to keep out
foreign pollen were scarcely needed and that merely covering the
pistillate blooms as soon as they could be distinguished with cotton
batting is all that is necessary, and also that hybrids may be produced
with considerable certainty in open pollination if the tree or branch is
kept entirely free from staminate tassels and the selected pollen is
promptly applied as soon as the stigmas become receptive.
Quite a number of chance or self-pollinated seedlings from choice
hybrids have been raised in the hope that their good qualities might be
perpetuated and the trouble and expense of grafting largely obviated
but, as with most other hybrids between distinct species, the seedlings
lacked sufficient uniformity to be of especial value. A few individuals
turned out superior to the parent but on the whole degeneracy, from the
nut-producers standpoint, appears among seedlings of hybrid chestnuts.
In 1909 the unfruited chinquapin hybrids, 68 in number, were transferred
to Arlington Farm, Virginia, and two years later Bell Experiment Plot
was established near Glendale, Maryland, largely for the purpose of
developing blight-resistant varieties of chestnuts as far as this can be
done by breeding and testing of wild forms. There are now over 2000
hybrids and seedlings of species at Bell ranging from one to ten years
of age. Of the original trees planted at Arlington about 20 remain.
They have formed handsome trees twenty feet high with tops almost as
wide in diameter and have borne many profuse crops of nuts mostly of
good quality and from three to six times as large and heavy as those of
the parent chinquapin. All have been attacked by blight, the most
promising one only this spring, after thirteen years of resistance to
this virulent disease. All the hybrids carrying blood of native or
European chestnuts were quickly killed, but those with the Japanese
species as a pollen parent are still growing vigorously and bearing
well, though considerably disfigured by blight.
Of the various species used the native sweet chestnut, _Castanea
Americana_, and the European, _C. vesca_, appear entirely useless in
breeding for disease resistance, as the hybrids are destroyed by the
blight fungus as soon as, or even before, they reach bearing age. The
tall, or tree, forms of native chinquapin, sometimes grouped under the
botanical name of _Castanea arborea_ but which appear to be only natural
hybrids between the sweet chestnut and the bush chinquapin, may also be
regarded as useless for the purpose. The hybrid progeny show slight
powers of recuperation but, in our plantings, do not sufficiently
recover to make useful trees. The Rush chinquapin sometimes resists
infection under natural conditions for several years but quickly
succumbs when attacked, but its hybrid seedlings develop practically no
resistance. The common bush or dwarf chinquapin, _Castanea pumila_,
widely distributed over the Atlantic States, is not as readily infected
by blight as the chestnut, many individuals under cultivation and in the
wild resisting attack for an indefinite time, while the creeping species
of Florida and South Georgia, _C. alnifolia_, appear practically immune
in nature but succumb to artificial inoculation with the blight virus
The smooth bark and shrubby forms of these dwarf chinquapins probably
account to a very great extent for the limited damage caused by blight
under natural conditions.
Next in degree of resistance comes the wooly-twigged Chinese chestnut,
_C. molissima_. There are established at Bell Experiment Plot over nine
hundred Molissima trees grown from nuts collected near Tien-Tsin, China,
in 1911. These trees in their eighth year of growth have borne excellent
nuts, rather larger than those of our native species, in some quantity
for three successive years though, owing to extensive locust injury last
season, there is practically no crop this year. The trees average twelve
or more feet high and are thrifty growers when not too greatly afflicted
by blight. No summary of disease injury has been taken, but probably
over 80 per cent of the trees show infection many of which are making
attempts to heal which are often very successful. This species is native
to Eastern China and has long been accustomed to the _Endothia_ fungus,
developing in the course of time a very considerable degree of
resistance to it. From present appearances the Chinese chestnut may be
grown in orchard form with no greater loss from disease than the pear
from its particular form of blight. It hybridizes well with the Japan
chestnut and both of the dwarf chinquapins, but this progeny is not yet
sufficiently developed to warrant judgment.
_Castanea crenata_, the familiar Japan chestnut, appears everywhere to
show greater blight resistance than any other species that has been
tried out and is therefore the most hopeful parent to be used for
developing a useful race of disease-resistant hybrids and cross-breeds.
It has the further merit of bearing very profuse crops of large nuts at
an early age, but they are often lacking in quality, being usually harsh
to the taste in the raw state though palatable when cooked. A few
varieties bear well-flavored nuts, but these appear to be hybrids with
our native species and are notably less resistant to blight. Pure Japan
varieties grown from imported nuts are rarely injured by blight, and by
many are regarded as immune, but those grown from nuts produced in
situations exposed to the effects of native pollen are occasionally
attacked and even killed outright by the _Endothia_ fungus. It has
considerable power to transmit its resisting qualities to its hybrids
with the chinquapins, and a few individuals among the latter appear to
retain resistance to such a degree that we may yet find among them some
of the best nut-producing chestnut varieties of the future.
From the purely horticultural standpoint these hybrids between
chinquapins and chestnut species must be considered as most striking
successes. If this terribly destructive disease, probably the most
virulent that afflicts any tree in the temperate climate, could be
controlled there would be little need to look further for varieties
suited for commercial and home culture, some of which can be as readily
grown as peach trees and come into bearing as young. As the situation
stands we must search further for individuals that combine good cropping
capacity with practical disease-resistance.
At this writing the most promising outlook appears among selected
seedlings of pure _Crenata_ blood, or hybrids of this species that have
again been pollinated with resistant Japan varieties. There are at Bell
many seedlings of both these types of great attractiveness and promise.
Five successive generations of selected _Crenata_ seedlings have been
grown since 1904, quite a number producing their first nuts the year
succeeding germination. This unusual precocity is no indication of
merit, as it tends to stunt the trees. The most promising individuals
seldom bear until three or four years old by which time the trees have
attained fair size. No high quality has yet been attained among the nuts
of the pure strains, but it is quite evident where there is a dash of
chinquapin blood. The nuts are, however, large, attractive and excellent
for cooking or roasting, and moreover, ripen uniformly in September and
early October, practically without the aid of frost. As opportunities
for natural infection lessen from the dying out of our stands of native
chestnut the Oriental chestnuts and their hybrids will be more
extensively planted and may experience little difficulty in combating
disease. Owing to the readiness with which seedlings can be grown
abundant new varieties will arise in time, even though they do not now
exist, that will meet all reasonable requirements of the planter and it
is to be anticipated that the production of edible chestnuts will at no
distant day be placed on a stable basis.
Aside from its usefulness as a nut tree the value of our stand of native
chestnuts, though already half destroyed, can scarcely be estimated.
Every one knows the ease with which a healthy chestnut woodland
reproduces itself by sprouts and the extreme value of its timber for
posts, telegraph and telephone poles, for furniture and for tanning
extracts, now made from both bark and wood. We scarcely have a forest
tree as useful, but if some natural handicap, not yet in sight, does not
stay the spread of the blight fungus, our much valued chestnuts appear
to be doomed. A few small colonies of diseased, but living sweet
chestnut trees, numbering scarcely fifty, have been located in New York
City parks and neighboring localities in Long Island, carrying infection
at least eighteen years old, where the accompanying stands have
completely vanished. This affords the single ray of hope amid the
otherwise complete destruction marking the spread of blight. In the hope
that the marked resistance shown by these scarred veterans can be
transmitted seedlings have been raised and scions established at Bell
from the most promising individuals, and on this slender chance for
perpetuating this prized species in its native habitat we must, for the
present, rest content.
Recently there has been brought to light in the interior of China a
chestnut species that may restore our timber production of this most
desirable wood if it should prove immune to disease. Unlike other Old
World chestnuts, which form relatively small trees, this species, known
as _Castanea Vilmoriniana_, grows eighty to one hundred feet high with a
straight, symmetrical trunk well adapted for all timber uses. The nuts,
according to the scant herbarium material that has reached this country,
are of little consequence, except for propagation as they are only
slightly larger than those of our wild chinquapins. This species is now
established at the Arnold Arboretum near Boston, Massachusetts, and
scions worked on _C. Molissima_ stocks are now vigorously growing at
Bell Experiment Plot, making fine upright shoots. The reaction of _C.
Vilmoriniana_ to blight has not been tested owing to the scarcity of
material in this country, but it is fervently to be hoped that the
species will resist the disease. No infections have occurred in several
years exposure either at Boston or at Bell. Should the much desired
resistance be established rapid propagation of the species by seed and
scions, and an extended test for forestry purposes, would be in order.
The breeding experiments at Bell must be regarded as about the only
constructive attempt in existence to replace a most highly prized nut
and timber that is being swept from the face of the earth. Unless
unforseen natural conditions should stay the ravages of blight our
chestnut stands will vanish, most likely within the view of the present
generation. Although our progress in finding and developing
blight-resistants is not as striking as might be hoped something has
been accomplished, and the idea of salvaging useful nut and timber
chestnuts from available material and developing better ones than now
exist should not be abandoned.
THE PRESIDENT: Unless other action is desired this interesting paper
will be received and recorded in the proceedings.
MR. T. P. LITTLEPAGE: Mr. President, Members of the Association. I will
attempt in a few words to give you some suggestions about your afternoon
rambles. There will be a special car assigned exclusively to the nut
growers on the tracks at 14th St. and New York Avenue at 12:45, which
will take you to Bell Station where you will see Dr. Van Fleet's roses
and chestnut orchard. A short walk from there is the old place of Judge
Gabriel Duvall, a former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme
Court, member of Congress and a great friend of Thomas Jefferson. The
unpublished manuscripts of Jefferson show that he took to Judge Duvall a
bundle of "paccan" trees, as he called them. Jefferson was one of our
great horticulturists and gave the first complete botanical
classification of the pecan. Those three big trees that Jefferson gave
Judge Duvall are growing out there today and from them are scores of
other small trees. I was very much surprised when I read these notes of
Jefferson and in looking through Washington's dairy about the same time
I read where he said that Thomas Jefferson gave him a bundle of "paccan"
trees. Now those of you who are to visit Mount Vernon on this trip look
and you will find that three of the most beautiful trees there are pecan
trees. Two of them this year have nuts on them one with a rather full
crop and one with a light crop. They are undoubtedly the western or
northern pecan. They show that in the character of the nuts and bark.
When Jefferson was over in Paris he wrote to his friend Hopkins to send
him a box of pecans and told him to send them in sand. Those of you who
are going to Paris next summer look around and you may find some of
Thomas Jefferson's pecan trees. It was perfectly apparent that he wanted
those nuts for planting.
After visiting at Bell Station we will take the car up to my place where
there really is not much to see. I have thirty acres there of northern
pecan trees, twelve acres two years old and they run all the way up to
six years of age. Most of the six-year old trees this year set pecans
which dropped off about the middle of the summer. They were all full of
catkins. One Busseron tree had fifty pecans on it and a number of Major
and Butterick trees had pecans but I do not believe they stuck. I had a
Stuart which had a sprinkling of pecans on it and they also fell off. I
can show you how not to grow trees. Some of them had no care whatever
and some had pretty fair care. You can see dead chestnut trees up there
showing that the blight is as bad as Dr. Van Fleet says. We find where
they stand in the woods for ten years surrounded by trees with the
blight and do not blight and the next year die. So the fact that a tree
stands in a nursery row and does not blight does not indicate anything.
The only hope we have is the work Dr. Van Fleet is doing.
THE PRESIDENT: Upon the same subject we will be glad to hear from
Professor Close.
PROFESSOR CLOSE: I will just take a few minutes in telling some of the
things I have been trying to do at home. My work is necessarily on a
very small scale. I am away from home so much of the time that some
things I start I cannot follow through properly. In grafting, for
instance, I get the grafting done as I can do it from time to time in
the spring and then I have to leave on a Government trip and am not at
home to take care of the growing grafts as I would like to be. While my
extension work for the Government is primarily connected with fruit I
look into nut work as much as possible. Dr. Van Fleet has given me a
number of hybrid chinkapins and this year three of them have fruited for
the first time, one being of fairly good size. I have a couple of Japan
walnut trees and the surprising thing is that although they were planted
in 1910 they are fruiting this year for the first time. Usually those
trees begin bearing very early. They have grown rapidly, are probably
twenty feet high and have a breadth of equal distance but have been
disappointing in that they have been so late in fruiting.
MR. LITTLEPAGE. Do they winter-kill any?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: No, they have not winter-killed at all. One was
supposed to be a heart nut but both are Sieboldianas. I think the most
satisfactory and interesting thing I have is one of these large filberts
or hazel nuts. It is a pretty good size for an eastern-grown nut. This
is a seedling from New Jersey. I received the scions four years ago and
was successful in having three or four of them live and last year they
produced for the first time, three years from the graft. They are well
filled and of pretty good quality. I have them grafted on some bushes of
European type secured from a nursery about 1910, and which until grafted
did not fruit at all. After the grafts began blooming last year these
bushes have been producing nuts of small size. While the nuts are small
they are right interesting.
In connection with the blight resistant chestnuts I will say that last
Friday I visited Mr. John Killen of Felton, Delaware. Some of you know
that Mr. Killen has been working with nuts for a good many years and has
many very interesting things there. He finds that the blight has taken
everything except his Japanese seedlings and here (showing specimens)
are specimens of two of the Japanese seedlings. This you see is a very
large nut. I presume the tree must be twenty years old or more. It is
productive and he says it is commercially successful, which means that
it blights a little but not very seriously. He has another seedling, a
smaller one, that is up to the present time absolutely blight proof. He
has planted twenty-five or thirty pounds of these nuts for growing trees
for sale and he believes that the seedling from this parent tree will be
absolutely free from blight. You will be interested to know that up to
the time I was there last Friday he had shipped seven hundred pounds of
chestnuts and was receiving twenty-five cents a pound wholesale.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: What is the variety?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: They are all seedlings. In fact all of his varieties
are dead. He has nothing but seedlings.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: Has that been called to Dr. Van Fleet's attention?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Not that I know of. I doubt if Dr. Van Fleet has seen
this blight proof one. I will be glad to tell him about them when I have
an opportunity. Mr. Killen has one Japan walnut tree that is
interesting. It must be 25 or 30 years old. I do not know where he got
it. One limb we measured extends out 36 feet. The limbs on the other
side of the tree are not quite so long but the tree is nearly 70 feet in
diameter. Two years ago he sold the crop for $54.00, and he thinks he
will get more this year. He has contracted the crop to a nurseryman. Mr.
Killen has quite a number of seedling Persian walnuts and some of them,
perhaps all, blight more or less. He is very much exercised over the
blight. He worries more over this than he does over the chestnut blight.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: Does the blight attack the nuts or the twigs?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Both but mostly it attacks the nuts. At Beltsville 4
miles north of College Park there is one of the best seedling walnuts I
have run across. It fruits every year and sometimes a part of the crop
is injured by blight.
MR. POMEROY: The husks turn black?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Yes.
MR. POMEROY: That is not blight; that is a fly injury
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Mr. Killen thinks that this year he partially
controlled walnut blight with Bordeaux spray. One particular tree stands
near where the spray tank was filled and one side of it was sprayed
every time the spray rig passed it. The nuts from the sprayed side were
really better than those from the other side.
Just below Dover, Delaware, at Woodside, I was at Mr. Sam Derby's place
last Saturday and found something very valuable in the line of Persian
walnuts, I think one of the best I have seen at all in the East. One
particular tree was purchased for a Franquette but it is not. It
probably is a Mayette seedling. Some of the men who tested the samples
think this was one of the most desirable they had seen in the East. Mr.
Derby bought about a dozen trees eight or nine years ago from some
nurseryman. The trees are not alike in shape and size of nuts. They
evidently are from the same bunch of seedlings but were sold for
Franquette and Mayette. They are probably all Mayette seedlings.
Now, coming back to College Park, four years ago Mr. Littlepage was good
enough to give me some pecan scions which I grafted into a seedling tree
in a neighbor's chicken yard. The grafts practically all lived and last
year, three years from the graft, about a dozen Major nuts were
produced. These are probably the first Major pecans produced in
Maryland. This year the Busseron and Major grafts bloomed but we had so
many late frosts that the blossoms were killed and now there are only
two Major nuts on the tree. My own trees are not old enough to bloom
except one Mantura which bloomed this year but did not set fruit. I
presume it was largely due to the late frosts.
In the fall of 1910 Professor Lake gave me some buds of Persian walnut
and I put three buds into a young black walnut tree. During the
following February we had a drop in temperature to 25 below zero,
something almost unknown in this section of the country, but two of the
buds lived through it. After growth started in the spring I cut one out
and the other grew into a tree which produced three nuts in 1915. My
area for nut trees is small so I am planting pecans, black and Persian
walnuts, and hickory twenty feet apart with the idea of keeping them
pruned. I have ten varieties of pecans and several of walnuts. Between
these I have chinkapins and hazelnuts. There are eight or ten varieties
of hazels and about sixty seedlings for grafting later on.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: Did the young pecan trees bloom.
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Only the Mantura and it must be about ten years old.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: What kind of bloom?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: Both kinds.
DR. MORRIS: Which hazels are these?
PROFESSOR CLOSE: They were undoubtedly European.