species or project is worthy of consideration. In order to get an
expression of opinion as to the merits of the Japanese walnut the
following question was asked: Do you consider the better strains of
Japanese walnut worthy of more extended planting? The answers to this
inquiry were numerous and varied. The great majority were in favor of
increased plantings but a few were somewhat dubious. Nearly every one
agreed that the species possessed marked beauty and was worthy of more
extended planting as an ornamental. Some gave preference to the nuts
over the black and English but the majority thought the quality was not
quite up to the standard of these two species. Some observers reported
favorably on the heartnut for culinary purposes and as an ingredient of
ice cream and candy. With these latter comments I have had personal
experience and can heartily agree.
_Summary_
From the evidence furnished by correspondents and from personal
observation the good qualities of the Japanese walnut may be summed up
as follows:
Rapid growth, marked beauty of form and foliage, early bearing,
productiveness, and more than average hardiness to winter cold. The nuts
from superior trees are easier to crack than the butternut, hickory and
black walnut, but not so easy as the pecan and Persian walnut. These
superior varieties yield nuts with a mild flavor which appeals to the
taste of many people, but others think the flavor is not quite
pronounced enough.
This species crosses readily with the butternut and offers interesting
possibilities for the plant breeder.
The trees appear to be somewhat less susceptible to insects and diseases
than other walnuts, but this may not always hold good.
The defects of the Japanese walnut most frequently mentioned are lack of
flavor and pollination deficiencies. Some trees produce staminate
flowers too early for proper pollination and thus do not yield a crop
unless another good pollinator grows nearby.
Susceptibility to sun-scald and to San Jose scale are some other
weaknesses. Many of the trees commonly grown are undesirable because of
small size of nuts, poor cracking quality and too mild a flavor.
A careful consideration of the good and bad characters of Japanese
walnuts suggests the following program before the culture of this
species can be placed on a sound basis.
1. A systematic and thorough search of the United States and Canada for
productive trees yielding nuts of large size, of good cracking and
extraction quality and pleasing flavor.
2. The propagation and wide dissemination of these superior strains to
members of the Northern Nut Growers Association and particularly to
experiment stations where there seems to be a striking lack of
information on this and other species of nuts.
3. Systematic improvement by means of hybridization with the butternut
and other suitable species.
A program such as this would yield information of great value and would
probably establish the culture of this species on a sounder basis than
it now is. Until this has been done the logical course to follow is to
plant the best varieties in limited numbers in areas where the black
walnut thrives and even in areas too cold for the black walnut.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: I have been connected with experiment stations
and colleges for the past number of years but I was quite surprised to
find such a general lack of knowledge of nut trees, and especially of
this species. The members of the experiment stations who are here do not
need to feel badly. My remarks wouldn't apply to them.
MEMBER: Any varieties of this that bloom late?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Mr. Gellatly of West Bank, British
Columbia, has a variety that blooms rather late. J. U. Gellatly and his
brother David have the best collection of Japanese walnuts in Canada, of
heartnuts especially.
Professor Reed was to give us a paper on harvesting and marketing. We
have just heard that his paper will be here tomorrow. The next paper is
by Mr. F. O. Harrington.
THIRTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN THE CARE OF SCIONWOOD
_F. O. Harrington, Williamsburg, Iowa_
Prof. Colby wrote me some months ago asking if I would not write a paper
for this meeting on "Fifty Years' Experience in Nut Growing." I answered
that I had not been particularly interested in nut culture until within
a few years, and that I believed I could be of more use to our members
by telling them something of the care of scionwood.
I am going to tell you of my method used for thirty years constantly
with only slight changes from the beginning. Any man who has had any
experience knows that it is important that scionwood should be carefully
kept, that it should not be kept in air so dry that the bark would
shrivel to any appreciable extent, or, on the other hand, a still worse
condition, where it is so damp that the bark will loosen and the buds
start.
It is difficult enough in nut tree grafting to obtain reasonably fair
success with the scions in perfect condition, where used in late spring,
and it is something of a heart breaking proposition to try it with poor
scionwood. To the nurseryman, with his winter grafting of fruit trees,
the keeping of the scionwood long enough for his purpose in the cold of
the winter season is no problem at all. It can be stacked in a pile in
any cool cellar (not too wet) and covered over with leaves and blankets,
or what not, and it is all O. K. for that period. It is a far different
matter to hold small amounts of wood absolutely dormant through the
changing conditions from winter to summer, and perhaps as greatly
changed conditions of moisture through several months. And how shall
this best be accomplished?
Ice house conditions are not, I think, generally very satisfactory. The
right cold storage facilities might be satisfactory, but not readily
accessible to most of us. I used to use boxes in the cellar, with
careful packing with forest leaves and somewhat careful attention to
moisture conditions, with penalties for lax attention always enforced.
I know one nurseryman who, beside the regular nursery fruit tree
grafting scion wood, kept many scions of nut trees. He had a deep
outdoor cellar, or cave, which was always cool and not too dry. In this,
in large boxes of sawdust, he kept his scions for spring use. Just how
much attention as regards moisture conditions he had to give this I do
not know, but through his knowledge and experience with it I think his
scions were usually in good condition.
Now I will quote to you on the care of scions from J. F. Jones' paper on
"The Propagation of Nut Trees" in the 1927 Report of the Annual Meeting
of the Northern Nut Growers Association, page 104:
"It is not in the selection of scions that the beginner usually
fails to make his grafting a success, but in handling the scions.
Scions for grafting need not to be put in cold storage. In fact
cold storage at the usual temperatures seems to be injurious to
scions. Cool storage, that is temperature maintained below the
freezing point, is O. K., but in my experience this is not
necessary. We store them in a cellar with a ground floor. This is
damp and cool and the cases the scions are stored in are without
bottoms and set on the damp cellar floor. The cases are lined with
tar paper or light roofing, both the sides and the lid. The latter
is hinged for ease of getting out scions as needed. No packing is
used around the scions and they draw enough moisture from the damp
ground below to hold them plump and in good condition. Good scions
stored in this way can be kept for weeks, or even months if need
be, in excellent condition. Nut scions for grafting are soon
spoiled if packed too damp, even if kept at temperatures
considerably below that required to cause the sap to flow in trees
outside."
Again I quote from Dr. W. C. Deming (1925 Report, page 48), "Top Working
Hickory Trees for the Beginner":
"Scions packed away for any length of time are apt to go wrong,
either by drying too much, by being too moist and starting to grow,
or by heating, molding or rotting. A simple way to keep them is to
dig a hole about three feet deep in the ground outdoors in a dry
and sheltered place where water can never reach them, as under the
back porch. Have the scions in convenient lengths of one to two
feet. Wrap them in a bundle, or bundles, in a light tar paper,
which helps to prevent mold. Leave the ends open for ventilation.
Lay the bundles in the bottom of the hole and cover the top of the
hole with an old carpet, or several newspapers. This description
gives a general idea of the conditions under which scions should be
kept. A man may vary it according to his own conditions, bearing in
mind the principles. It is of vital importance to the success of
grafting that the scions should be in good condition. The usual
mistakes are in keeping them too wet and too much wrapped up. They
should be examined frequently to see that they are keeping well."
I have brought to your attention what have been considered the very best
methods of keeping scionwood dormant and in best possible condition, and
all agree that this is of vital importance for successful grafting. I
will now call your attention to a better method than any of these,
equally simple and inexpensive, and so much better in its action that
scions may be kept by it two and three years in about the same condition
as when severed from the parent tree; and to prove this statement I have
here with me for your examination scionwood of several kinds of nut and
fruit trees that have been kept in the Harrington graft box one year and
two years. At the present time I have no older wood in my graft box, for
the simple reason that in the summer of 1928 the cover of the box, which
had been in several years, rotted so that the top caved in, leaving it
open to too much air, thus in time spoiling what wood was in it; and
before putting in new wood in November I had to dig out the old box and
replace with a new one. For wood will rot in time in the ground. I have
had, at different times in the past, scionwood in my box three years
old, much of it seemingly still good. I have not used any of it for
grafting at three years, but I have with good success the second year
old from cutting. I started experimentally with this method and box
thirty years ago and there has not been a year since in which I have not
used it, so you may readily understand that it is not an untried theory
I am giving you. A much valued member of our society, J. F. Jones of
Lancaster, Pa., now deceased, wrote me at one time, "You undoubtedly
have the best method of keeping scionwood known at the present day," and
Prof. Close, head of the Pomology Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., made the same statement to me.
My own box is located in an evergreen grove on dry land, but a shady
position to the north of a building might answer fairly well. Until the
last eight years my box was for a long period, under and between two
large butternut trees growing out in the open, except at the northward.
In my opinion it is highly desirable to cut and store all scionwood
before severe temperatures of the winter occur, preferably between
Thanksgiving and Christmas because very severe freezing is liable to
produce some little injury to the cambium layer, at least in some years,
and if that injury be even very slight it will usually spell failure
when used.
The graft box, as I am using it, is about thirty inches long by eighteen
inches deep and fifteen inches wide. It has a solid cover but has a six
inch square hand hole through on top in front, covered by a loose board
lying flat and about ten inches square and butting back against a cross
bar nailed across the box two inches back of the doorway opening. No
bottom in the box but it has three cross bars nailed across inside to
hold all scionwood up two inches from the earth floor. Any scion that
touches the earth floor will either begin to grow or begin to rot. The
box is entirely buried two to three inches under the ground except over
the trap door. The spot must be perfectly drained. Over the box a space
about six feet wide by seven feet long is insulated from temperature
changes with straw packing to height, in center, of three feet and
protected from rain by a wood roof of boards, shingles, or prepared
roofing resembling, a little, the old wedge tent. To get into the box
burrow in under by pulling out the straw in front, but not too large a
tunnel, and far enough back to get at the trap door cover where it can
be slipped off and scions put in, the door replaced and all the straw
crowded back into place. Thereafter it is easy to slip the straw out and
back to get at the box. In any case the packing is always carefully
replaced, as the insulation of the earth near the box is of first
importance.
_Graft Box Air Conditions_
The small amount of moisture coming into the box from sides and earth
bottom, in ordinary conditions, seems to be very exactly balanced by the
very small amount of dry air that finds ingress to the box from outside
through the straw packing and the trap door, although after very long
wet spells, at whatever season of the year, it has been my practice to
bring all the scions out into the open air and allow both the scions
and the interior of box to dry out for as long as seems needful. The
reverse condition, that of too little moisture, I have never had to take
notice of. Occasionally a little white mold in box and on scions may
require a little open air treatment. No other condition seems to require
any special care. I do not know how much larger a box than I have used
would give equal satisfaction, for I have not demonstrated that feature,
but obviously there must be at some point a limiting factor between the
desired casualty of moisture and its opposite in the box. I am inclined
to think that a box of double that capacity could safely be used, but
advise that, where large amounts of scionwood are needed, more than one
box be used until a test has been made with less valuable wood to find
the size limit.
* * * * *
DR. SMITH: You speak of airing the scions. How long do you do
that?
MR. HARRINGTON: It depends on the conditions that require the
airing. For instance a thaw in the winter, or a rainy spell. Again in
the summer a long rainy spell. In these cases I open up the box, maybe
leave it a couple of hours.
DR. SMITH: That kills the mold, two hours' exposure? You never
sterilize the inside in any way?
MR. HARRINGTON: I never have. It might be a good idea. The mold
doesn't seem to affect the scions.
EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS IN SEARCHING FOR BEST SEEDLING NUT TREES
_J. F. Wilkinson, Indiana_
Searching for the best seedling began long before the coming of the
white man to America, by Indians and animals and the birds which store
nuts for their winter food. This search has always been continued
through the nut growing territory by the crows, squirrels and other
birds and animals.
Go to a pecan grove early in the fall when pecans are ripening and there
is no better evidence that a tree is an early ripener and produces a
thin shelled nut than to see a bunch of crows feeding from it.
The children living near a pecan grove in early fall will go where crows
and birds are feeding to gather nuts that are dropped by them, and
later, when all trees have ripened their nuts, these children have their
favorite trees to gather from. I have seen the little ones around
Enterprise, of before school age, that would have a preference and could
select from a basket of pecans the ones from their favorite tree. It is
surprising how good their judgment is.
The hunter also watches this in the early hunting season, going to the
earlier ripening hickory and walnut trees, for it is there he will find
the squirrels feeding.
My own experience in gathering pecans dates back to my first school
days, for there were scores of pecans trees near the school building,
and as soon as I was large enough to climb a tree I spent many days each
fall gathering nuts and soon had a fair knowledge of all trees for a
radius of several miles around.
The first trees of the now named varieties, the Indiana and Busseron,
were located and brought to notice by the late Mason J. Niblack.
In the summer of 1910 my life-long friend, Mr. T. P. Littlepage, while
on a vacation, was camping on the Ohio river near my home and was then
very much interested in superior seedling nut trees. It was at that
time, in a talk with him, that I became interested in the propagation of
nut trees.
At this time he took me with him to locate the "Warrick" tree which
stands on Pigeon Creek in Warrick County, Indiana. The next day he, R.
L. McCoy and myself went to the Greenriver grove where the Major and
Greenriver trees were located. These are now being propagated and are
considered outstanding varieties. Also a trip was made to Posey County,
Indiana, where the Hoosier tree was located. This variety was soon
dropped.
From that time on R. L. McCoy and myself kept up a constant search until
he left Indiana in 1918. Since then I have done a lot of work along this
line myself.
This work is carried on by arranging with nut buyers and gatherers in
the nut growing localities to be on the watch for any unusually good nut
and to send in a sample, with the name of the owner of the tree, or the
party gathering the nuts, so the tree may be located later. Hundreds of
samples have been received, the most of which were eliminated on
examination of the nut itself. In the case of any that seem promising a
trip is made to the tree for further information. Each fall I receive
word of trees producing a superior quality nut and in most cases from
the description given, whether it be by letter or a personal talk with
the informer, one would believe that a really worthy tree had been
found. But generally on investigation it proves to be only just above a
good average tree.
A variety to be worthy of propagation must pass a rigid test. First, the
nut must be of desirable size, thin shell, plump kernel, good flavor and
good cracking quality, and last but not least the tree must be a good
and regular bearer.
Accurate records on the bearing of these trees are very hard to obtain
as they often grow in isolated places and their product is known to all
in that neighborhood, and at least a part of the crop is often taken by
some one who makes no report on the amount, so the best information to
be had on this is often incorrect. When a promising tree is located the
surest way is to visit it each fall for several years just before
gathering time and see the crop on the tree.
In almost every instance the size of a nut is exaggerated by the owner
or informer unintentionally. They are honest but their imagination gets
the better of their judgment. Then their knowledge is often limited to
their own trees and those of their neighbors, and the nut they prize may
be the best they know of, but when compared with nuts from a greater
territory is found to be of only fair size.
The usual way one will describe the size of a pecan is to say it is as
large as his thumb and about two thirds the length of his forefinger,
and so thin shelled that two of them can easily be cracked in the hand
with only a light pressure.
I usually carry some sample nuts of the named varieties on these trips
for comparison and it is seldom that the owner or informer of a tree
believes any of these to be larger than those produced by his favorite
tree until a comparison is made, and then he will often declare they are
not as large this season as usual.
This brings to mind many incidents which are very clear in my memory,
one especially, when Mr. McCoy and myself had heard of the Kentucky
pecan tree which is opposite Grandview, Ind. We went to Grandview to get
first hand information on this tree from one who had gathered the nuts
from it and while talking to the party he was trying to tell us how
large the nut was. I first took a Busseron pecan from my pocket and he
said it was much larger than that. I then resorted to some large
southern ones none of which he thought were as large as his favorite. At
last I produced a McAllister. After some hesitation he admitted it was
larger than the Kentucky. At this Mr. McCoy gave a hearty laugh and told
him his imagination had the better of his judgment. Almost every one who
owns any number of nut trees has one that is better than the rest, and
naturally he prizes this one highly and wishes it propagated. I have
traveled many hundreds of miles going to trees on reports of others,
only to be disappointed. Where the tree is found to be promising and no
bearing record is obtainable, then an annual trip for several years is
necessary to determine the bearing record. These trips require time,
expense and labor for very often a part of the trip has to be made on
foot.
Several years ago Claude Luckado, a professional pecan gatherer of
Rockport, spent several weeks one fall in a large pecan grove on the
Wabash river and brought back several samples of very promising pecans,
one especially that I considered very worthy of further consideration. I
reported this one to Mr. C. A. Reed, and a year or two later, when on a
trip through this section in the fall, he suggested a trip to this tree.
I arranged with Mr. Luckado to go with us to show us this tree, which is
about seventy miles from Rockport. We left there on the first traction
car for Mt. Vernon, Ind. From there we went in a Ford touring car
without any top and only one rear fender and drove over nine miles of
the worst roads I ever motored over to the Wabash river where we hired a
motor driven mussel boat to take us four miles down the river. The
remaining three miles we made on foot, reaching this grove about ten a.
m., and searched until late in the afternoon without locating the tree.
This day and trip I am sure Mr. C. A. Reed well remembers.
Two years later when roads and weather were more favorable, Mr. Luckado
and myself left Rockport one morning at four a. m. and drove all the way
to the grove, arriving there early in the morning and searching until
late in the afternoon and again without results. But when one takes into
consideration that this tree is standing somewhere near the center of an
unbroken forest of hundreds of acres in which it has been estimated
there are near 20,000 bearing-size pecan trees, it is some task to
locate a certain tree, though the search for this tree will be made
again.
It is very often that two or more trips are necessary to locate a tree
and about nine times out of ten when the tree is found it is not
considered worthy of propagation. Many amusing incidents and not a few
hardships are remembered in these past experiences. During the past
three years I have made four trips into southwestern Missouri and
southeast Kansas where there are thousands of native pecan trees
growing. Some trees in this section have been brought to notice which
seem promising. I now have several promising new varieties under test
and observation.
The search for new and better varieties must be kept up, for no doubt
there are yet unknown as good and possibly better trees than we have yet
located.
* * * * *
DR. ZIMMERMAN: Have you ever known anything about the Marmaton,
owned by J. E. Tipke at Rockwell, Missouri?
MR. WILKINSON: I have a sample of it.
DR. ZIMMERMAN: Mr. Tipke sent that to me. He told me it wasn't
as good as others but he said it never missed a crop.
THE PRESIDENT: For the benefit of those who have not been down
to Mr. Wilkinson's I would like to say you will find it very worth while
to go there. In 1925 Mr. Wilkinson invited me to go with him through
southern Indiana, to see some of the large pecan trees he had there.
When I got there I really had to take two looks to see the top of some
of those trees. I found one tree that I would have to make three spans,
in this manner, to get around. One tree is said to be 125 feet tall and
16-1/2 feet around. After visiting that section and seeing the very many
interesting trees I concluded that Mr. Wilkinson really hadn't told all
that was to be told. Mr. Wilkinson is a very modest person. When he
tells you a certain thing you can make up your mind he is not
exaggerating in the least.
MR. WILKINSON: Many times in determining the crop we have to
climb the tree. For instance, the Major is 65 feet to the first limb. It
is very often necessary to climb the tree to make an estimate of the
crop.
THE PRESIDENT: Wasn't there one tree there with a spread of 125
feet?