that our wild hazel drove the cows out of the pasture. It is a worthless
weed with us in Connecticut and it is an important thing for us to
transform our hazel pasture lands that are full of thickets of this weed
over into good bearing propositions. I grafted a lot of hazelnut bushes
with European scions. There are Chinese hazelnut trees that grow to be
more than a hundred feet in height and six feet in trunk diameter. The
Jacquemont goes to one hundred feet, and the Colurna frequently grows to
fifty feet. I believe it is going to be a very important matter to top
work these large kinds of hazel trees which do not send runners out from
the root and which are not inclined to send large suckers up from the
stock. So the kind of stock upon which hazels are to be grafted is a
very important matter for nurserymen. But we can also use the worthless
pasture bushes profitably.
THE PRESIDENT: In order that we may keep the business of our program up
to the minute we should complete the naming of the Nominating Committee.
In order to quickly bring it about and in order that all may have a
voice in the matter I would suggest that five be nominated from the
floor for the positions, that the nominations then close and that the
Secretary cast the ballot for the members of the nominating committee.
The names suggested were: Mr. Olcott, Mr. Littlepage, Dr. Morris, Mr.
Reed and Professor Close.
The nominations closed and the Secretary cast the ballot for the above
named persons.
THE PRESIDENT: We still have a few minutes and might take up the
proposed changes in the constitution that were suggested at the Battle
Creek meeting almost one year ago. I will request Mr. Bixby to state to
you what the proposed changes are.
THE SECRETARY: At the meeting at Battle Creek last November notice was
given for proposed changes in the constitution, as follows.
At this meeting it was voted that Article IV, OFFICERS, be presented to
the members at the next meeting for the purpose of voting on a change to
read:
There shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer and a
Secretary, who shall be elected at the annual meeting; an Executive
Committee of six persons of which the President, the last two retiring
Presidents, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary 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 VII. QUORUM, to be changed to read:
Ten members shall constitute a quorum but must include two of the four
elected officers.
By Laws:
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.
THE SECRETARY: I make a motion that the changes in the constitution as
read be acted upon now.
PROFESSOR CLOSE: I second the motion.
MR. FOSTER: May I offer a suggestion in connection with the proposed
change. It is relatively an immaterial one and I presume will be
included. As a member here from the District of Columbia I think the
District of Columbia should be included with the states.
THE SECRETARY: I think that has been done. Grouped among the states
appears the District of Columbia.
THE ACTING SECRETARY: That is, you would have the words "District of
Columbia" inserted in connection with state, dependency or country?
THE SECRETARY: I accept that.
The change in the constitution, as recommended, was carried.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: As we have another minute or two there is one matter
that we might dispose of. There was a committee appointed once upon a
time on incorporation. It was thought by some of the members that if
this association were incorporated, making it thereby a perpetual,
tangible organization, it might be to its advantage. There might be some
man who would be good enough to bequeath some funds to the Association
for investigational work. As we are just a voluntary organization
without any particular responsibility, it was thought by some that an
incorporation would be desirable. I was appointed as a member of the
corporative committee. The committee consisted of Mr. Webber of Ohio,
and I do not recall the other member but Mr. Webber and I had several
conferences. It seems to me that perhaps the best and most feasible way
would be to incorporate under the laws of the District of Columbia. The
code of the District of Columbia provides for incorporations of this
kind for educational, scientific and benevolent purposes at a very
nominal expense. For commercial corporations they must, of course, have
a capital stock and ten per cent of it must be paid in in cash, but
there is no such requirement under the code of the District of Columbia
for scientific and benevolent corporations. There is a provision in the
code for an incorporation of this kind by having the proper articles
drawn up, setting forth the purpose of the organization, its line of
work and its membership, naming for the time being three trustees, two
of which at that particular time must be residents of the District of
Columbia, and filing those articles with the Recorder of Deeds. It is
approved and that becomes the charter. The Association is then a body
corporate with all of the rights and privileges of any other
organization of that kind.
A great many organizations have been formed in the District of Columbia
under that provision of the code. It seems to me about as simple and as
comprehensive as any of the laws of any of the states, and about as free
from any burdens or obligations of reports or matters of that kind. If
it is the sense of this meeting, and I think you have quite a
representative membership here, that this organization be so
incorporated I shall take pleasure, after this meeting, in drafting
proper papers, presenting them to some of the members for signature and
perfecting a corporation.
THE PRESIDENT: That seems to be an excellent suggestion.
DR. MORRIS: I move that this recommendation be adopted.
MR. FOSTER: I second the motion.
The motion was carried.
The convention adjourned at 12 o'clock.
AFTERNOON EXCURSION OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION
OCTOBER 7, 1920, 12:45
The members of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, in convention at
Washington, D. C., October 7, 1920, made an excursion which included
visits to the thirty-acre bearing northern pecan plantation of T. P.
Littlepage; Dr. Walter Van Fleet's Government Station for the production
of blight-resisting chestnuts and chickapins and other new hybrids, at
Bell Experiment Plot, Glendale, Maryland; and the old Jefferson pecan
trees at Marietta. The following notes were taken at points along the
route:
DR. VAN FLEET: These are hybrids between the chinkapin and the Japan
chestnut showing the blight even after thirteen years immunity. We do
not do anything to check the disease at all.
There is a Japan variety said not to take it but you see how it affects
it. It girdles it and the new wood builds it up. The tree is doomed. It
is gone now but it has made a tremendous attempt to recovery. You see
the new growth that has tried to come out there trying to bridge it and
make it up. Of course even that is hopeful. In view of that we feel
justified in breeding. The Chinese resist it much better. They take it
more readily but they resist it far better. The efforts at self-bridging
are quite successful.
This is one of the hybrids we have at Arlington. The parent tree got
along for thirteen years without a sign of blight. By artificial
inoculation we have given it the disease but it does not get it in the
trunk. This is a Chinese chestnut seven years old and has had three
crops. We took the most virulent virus and made a few inoculations and
with absolutely no care the wound is closing up. The tree is apparently
quite healthy. This is the Chinese Molissima, not of real good quality.
These are only seven years old and have already borne three very good
crops. The nuts are somewhat larger than the wild native and ripen about
six weeks earlier.
There are 1,100 trees here and I think about a hundred have been killed
outright and probably 75 per cent of them show infections but there are
a few individuals that do not seem to get it. It seems almost impossible
to inoculate them. We are letting the disease run its way purely
through elimination. It is only those that can stand it through a series
of years that are supposed to be worth anything at all.
Probably no species is immune from it; I do not think we can use the
word "immunity" in connection with it.
The party then visited the old Jefferson place at Marietta, and viewed
the immense pecan trees which were given to Judge Duval by Thomas
Jefferson. Thence to Mr Littlepage's plantation.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: These trees are set 100 by 120. The Butterick is a good
grower. There is a great difference in the growth of the cultivated and
the uncultivated ones. I would quit working about the first of August.
The first of August here they are growing actively.
Question: Is that the habit of the pecan to set a crop and then drop
off?
MR. LITTLEPAGE: Yes, young trees will do that. This is a typical
Busseron. They were all sprinkled with nuts; this tree had fifty nuts on
this spring. There are some caterpillars on the Stuart. This is the work
of the caterpillars on the Stuart. It set a number of nuts. This
Greenriver is a little larger than the Major. It is one of the prettiest
nuts, one of our medium sized northern pecans. The Greenriver grows in a
forest in the Green River district in Kentucky. This is the first
transplanted pecan tree this far north that has grown nuts.
DR. MORRIS: In two or three years you will have a crop on them.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: That is a Major, they grow like the Cedars of Lebanon.
You don't see a winter-killed twig on a tree. They were full of nuts
this spring.
MR. MORRIS: That is so thrifty and so hardy that it might have some
species of hickory in it.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: The Stabler black walnut is much better than the Thomas.
All black walnuts are reasonably easy to propagate. I have them all
around over the farm; I stick pecans around the fences, or wherever I
have a space. This chestnut is a European variety. It bears a big
striped nut. It tastes a little better than the sweet potato.
DR. MORRIS: It is good for cooking. It is the same as the Marron.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: They are the Indiana hazels, and this is an European
filbert.
EVENING SESSION
THURSDAY OCTOBER 7 1920 8 P. M.
The convention was called to order by the President, Mr. Linton, at 8
o'clock.
THE PRESIDENT: The presentation of the next speaker will be made by Mr.
Littlepage.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: I want to take just one or two minutes in introducing
Mr. Reed, the next speaker on the program. The Department of
Agriculture, as we all know, is an aggregation of many of the very
brightest men in this country. Those of us who are here in Washington
know that at times it is sadly in need of organization. It is perfectly
apparent to anybody who has judgment enough to make observations that
there is a great deal of very valuable material down there going to
waste for the lack of organization. Perhaps it will always be so. I do
not know. Institutions are not perfect because the individuals
constituting these institutions are not perfect. The Department of
Agriculture is, taken as a whole, a most wonderful institution. I do
wish, however, that the Department officials would not always wait until
they think they know exactly all the facts about a thing before they
publish it. I sometimes wish they had enough nerve to say: "Now, this is
what we found out today. We may change our minds tomorrow and if we do
we will tell you so," the same as any other honest citizen. Why in the
world they collect all the data they do, file it away day after day,
month after month and year after year, and publish it after it is of no
use to anyone on this earth, I never could figure out! I know it is a
difficult problem because if the Department of Agriculture should say
today that Winesap apples grow beautifully on Maryland hills some fellow
would promptly capitalize that and go to selling the Maryland hills, the
water underneath, the air above them and everything around them for the
modest sum of ten times what it was worth. So that is the other side of
it. It makes it necessary for the Department of Agriculture, of course,
to be cautious. I know, however, that you all think as I do because you
have said so to me but you do not all have the nerve to get up here and
say as I do that the Department of Agriculture ought to give us more of
these data; that they ought to give it to us for what it is worth today
and in this lifetime, leaving it to us to have a little common sense to
know that what they say must be taken as they say it. However, I did not
get up here to say all of those things. My purpose is to introduce the
speaker.
* * * * *
Now, I happen to know a great deal about Mr. Reed's work. I know that he
is one of the most active men in the Department and one of the men who
has, as much as anybody in the Department of Agriculture, the confidence
of those of us who know about the project that he is working on. Mr.
Reed has more work in the Department of Agriculture than he can do and I
have been trying to lay out some additional work for him. For example,
we have found in Southwestern Illinois a larger pecan than any
propagated in the North. I saw it in a bunch of Schleys which is the
premier pecan of the South. It was larger than many of the Schleys. We
don't know anything more about the pecan but I would like to know about
this and several others. That is one little job that comes under Mr.
Reed's supervision and he ought to have more time and more help. As a
matter of fact everybody in the Department thinks he should have more
money for his particular project. Those of us who are interested in nut
work think the nut people should have more money. The Department was
very fortunate in receiving Mr. Reed who came from Michigan. I have
talked to him many times and I have never found him yet to make a
statement about anything in the nut world that he could not back up. In
an illustrated lecture of this kind you have the good fortune to get a
great many data that you cannot get in any other way. I wish the whole
country that has an interest in these matters could hear it. If I could
think of anything else good to say about Mr. Reed I would say it. He is
entitled to it. (Applause.)
NUT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.
C. A. REED, Washington, D. C.
We are annually importing into the United States from $30,000,000 to
more than $52,000,000 worth of nuts. In this country, production is of
leading importance with but three species,--the Persian (English)
walnut, the pecan, and the almond. Of these together, we are producing
in the neighborhood of $26,000,000 worth of nuts. In addition to these
three species, two others now bid fair to become of considerable
importance within the next decade. These are the filbert of the
Northwest and the Eastern black walnut. In the Northwest, the filbert is
receiving intensive attention at the hands of a considerable number of
skilled horticulturists. The species is making rapid strides and in a
short while will probably rank fourth in importance with reference to
the extent to which it has been developed horticulturally. Possibly
because of the extent to which it is common over the United States, the
black walnut might properly now be rated as fourth as that nut has as
great, if not a greater, range and is of interest to more people in this
country than is any other one species of nut. It remains, however, to be
seen how rapidly it will be developed by the pomologists.
The view before you is one which some of you have seen before. It was
taken in the famous Vrooman orchard of Persian walnut trees at Santa
Rosa, California. This is the largest and most noted orchard of
Franquette variety in the country. It is from this orchard that scions
have been obtained for the propagation of a great part of the Franquette
orchards in this country.
In the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, the walnut has received a
large amount of attention during recent years; its development there has
made rapid strides, and in the better soils, the trees grow rapidly and
ordinarily bear very well. The photograph before you was taken in
February, 1920, in an orchard near Hillsboro. It was situated on low but
rich land and I regret to say that it was practically wiped out of
existence by an unusual cold spell occurring from the 12th to the 15th
of December in 1919. During that spell, the temperatures went down in
some points of the Willamette Valley to 24 degrees below zero. As nearly
as could be told at the time the picture was taken the trees were all
killed to the snowline which was from a foot and a half to two feet
above ground. The owner has since reported that he cut the trees down to
that line.
To some extent, the Persian walnut is grown in the eastern part of the
United States. It was introduced here long before it was on the Atlantic
Coast, but this side of the Rocky Mountains, it has nowhere become of
great commercial importance. The photograph before you was taken in
1911. It shows a seedling orchard of twenty-three Persian walnut trees
in Bucks County in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania. The orchard
then appeared to be in first-class condition with no sign of
winter-injury, but so far as we have been able to ascertain, the trees
have never borne important crops of nuts.
This tree before us is the parent, or original tree of the Nebo variety
from Southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a variety first propagated
by Messrs. Rush and Jones. It is one of the old historical trees of that
section, and while the nut it produces is very good in many respects,
for various reasons, the variety is no longer being propagated to great
extent.
This is the parent Rush tree, another variety now not propagated as much
as formerly, but one which, nevertheless, is a good sort and regarded as
being well worthy of planting about the home grounds in sections of the
eastern part of the country to which the species is adapted.
The Persian walnut is evidently quite at home from the eastern shore of
Maryland up through Delaware and New Jersey to Long Island and lower
Connecticut. From this strip west inland to well toward York and
Harrisburg in Southern Pennsylvania, it is by no means uncommon. To some
extent, it is grown in Western New York and close to Lake Erie in
Northern Ohio. There are some trees in Eastern Michigan and a very few
in what is known as the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, but with few
exceptions, the crops they bear are uncertain.
The tree before us is the parent of the Aurand variety named in honor of
Mr. Geo. D. Aurand of Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The
gentleman in the foreground is Mr. Aurand in the act of examining a
split in the bark caused by winter-injury. This trouble is fairly
prevalent over a great part of the east.
Leaving the walnut industry for the time being, we will take a fleeting
glance at the pecan industry. The greater part of our pecan crop comes
from wild trees in the Southwest. The view before us is typical of
Texas scenes especially in such towns as San Saba, Brownwood and others
where nuts are brought from the country in wagon loads much the same as
are cereals in the northern states. Pecan orchard development has taken
place almost wholly in states east of the limits of the native range. In
sections to which the pecan has been indigenous development has been
very slow. The greatest and most extensive development of any section
happens to be in Southwestern Georgia.
The view before us was taken in an orchard of Frotscher trees in
Thomasville some 20 miles north of the Georgia-Florida state line. The
trees were planted in 1905, set fifty feet apart, and last spring,
because of crowding, the alternate trees were removed. The lower limbs
had begun to die and the nuts from the lower branches had, for several
years, been inferior in both size and filling quality.
The trees in the orchard before you were three years planted when
photographed. This is an orchard in the Albany district of southwestern
Georgia. It is in the immediate Albany district that more pecan planting
has taken place than in any other one district of the whole South. It is
possible to go from Albany in most any direction and to pass through
orchards on both sides of the road with rows of pecan trees extending as
far as the eye can see in each direction.
There is more or less, of a prevailing idea that the pecan is a
California product but it is the exception rather than the rule to find
thrifty and productive trees in that state. The tree before you is one
which bore enough nuts during a recent year to bring $125 in the market,
at 20 cents a pound.
Coming considerably nearer home, we find the parent tree of the
Butterick variety situated on the Illinois side of the Wabash River a
short distance below Vincennes, Indiana. The range of the pecan, as the
most of you probably know, extends well up into Iowa along the bank of
the Mississippi River and also into Central Illinois along the Illinois
and other rivers and north to Terre Haute, Indiana, along the Wabash.
The Butterick has been regarded as one of the most promising northern
varieties. Reports which seem to be fairly well authenticated are to the
effect that this fine tree has since partially died because of having
its roots cut in the digging of a ditch.
Two years ago, Dr. J. B. Curtis (who is present in the audience) and
myself spent a week's vacation in Eastern Maryland. At Easton we were
greatly surprised to find what we agreed was the largest planted pecan
tree we had ever seen. During the past summer, this tree has been
photographed and its measurements taken: It has a girth measurement at
breast height of 15 feet. Its spread is 129 by 138 feet. Its height was
estimated at approximately 135 feet. It is not one of the largest pecan
trees of the country as larger trees are not uncommon in many sections
from Southern Indiana, south and west to Texas but they are native and
not planted trees. We know this to be a planted tree as there are no
native pecans in the state of Maryland. This tree bears with a fair
degree of regularity. We are told that in 1917 it yielded approximately
twelve bushels of nuts which, although small, were exceedingly good and
a delight to the children of the whole neighborhood.
Taking up the almond industry, the view before you is of interest
because of historical reasons rather than otherwise. It is one of the
few remaining large orchards planted by the late Mr. A. T. Hatch known
as father of the principal varieties of California today. Mr. Hatch
planted several hundred acres of almonds in the vicinity of Suisun about
midway between Sacramento and San Francisco but cold winds from San
Francisco Bay prevent almond trees in that section from being
commercially productive, and as result, the section has been abandoned
as an almond center. Nevertheless, this picture is of interest because
it was in these very orchards that were originated the famous Hatch
varieties, the Ne Plus Ultra, Nonpareil, I. X. L. and the Drake. A great
part of this orchard has since been topworked with prunes.
Almond orchards in bloom afford some of California's most beautiful
sights during February. The two trees in the foreground are typical
specimens of I. X. L. while in full bloom. The almond begins bearing at
about the same age as does the peach; at 5 or 6 years from the time the
trees are planted, they begin to pay a little more than the cost of
up-keep, and at 8 years, they are regarded as being in full bearing.