Chapter C: A. REED, Washington, D. C (4)

The next instance of successful hickory grafting and the one which is best known is the work of the late Henry Hales of Ridgewood, N. J. When he purchased his place some fifty years ago, he found on it a fine shagbark hickory tree. This had been standing longer than the oldest inhabitant could remember and it is supposed to have been one of the original forest trees of that section and spared on account of the excellent nuts it bore. It came to the attention of the late Andrew S. Fuller, author of the "Nut Culturist" published in 1896, and was described by him in 1870 in the Rural New Yorker. Shortly after this description, Mr. Hales received many requests for scions to which he generously responded and any propagator who thought he could propagate this hickory was given a chance to try, the conditions being that one-half of the successfully grafted trees should belong to Mr. Hales in payment for the scions sent. During the next ten years orders for scions were so numerous that the old tree was kept pretty well pruned. Mr. Hales received during the period only about two dozen trees from the thousands of scions which he sent out. According to Fuller's "Nut Culturist" these were largely grafted by Mr. J. R. Trumpey of Flushing, N. Y., now a part of New York City. Information which I received at the Hales place was that the trees growing there were grafted by Jackson Dawson of the Arnold Arboretum about 1891. Inasmuch as there appear to be trees of two different ages there it is probable that some trees were from one propagator and some from the other. The trees grafted by Jackson Dawson we know were on bitternut root and it seems likely that the others were also for one tree is not like the others and I was informed that that was a grafted tree, but the graft died and a shoot came out at the base of the graft which was thought to be from the graft but, after the tree had grown it became evident that it was not. The buds of this tree show evidence of the bitternut. The nuts, however are not pure bitternut and the tree is seemingly a bitternut x shagbark hybrid. All of the trees grafted by Jackson Dawson were bench grafted in the greenhouse on especially grown stocks. I have two trees on my place from Thomas Meehan & Sons, Germantown, Pa., propagated in the same way and, when received, the long tap roots were coiled up like springs showing that the trees had been grown in pots. These trees, however, have grown well since I planted them out though they were very small and feeble when set out. These grafted Hales trees at the Hales place bore nuts in eighteen to twenty years after grafting. They bore for about five years and then ceased bearing. I went to see them for the reason that I was informed by Miss Hales that the trees were not looking satisfactorily and she was afraid there was some disease on them. I requested the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture to allow Mr. S. M. McMurran, who has made a study of pecan rosette, to come and look at the trees for it seemed to me that they were similarly affected. He took specimens of the leaves and reported that he could find no evidence of insect or fungus trouble. He also made a careful examination of the soil, and the farm was gone over carefully looking at the pecan and hickory trees growing there of which there are a large number. Most of these did not seem to be in good condition although a few did. Tests made of the soil seemed to show that it was not the kind of soil in which hickories and pecans do their best. It was also ascertained that while Mr. Hales senior was living the trees had received an application of manure every year. Since his death they have not. This, in connection with the poorness of the soil for hickories, seems possible may be the reason for the cessation of bearing. It also seems likely that bitternut root is not a good stock for the shagbark. I have on my place two grafted Cedarapids trees, each of which when received was four years from the graft and four feet in height above the graft. One was on bitternut stock and one on shagbark. The one on shagbark stock had made about six inches the first year, a foot the second year, a foot and a half the third and two feet the fourth while in the case of the one on bitternut root the growths were reversed, two feet the first, a foot and a half the second year, a foot the third year and six inches the fourth year. Mr. Jones has also had the experience of grafting the Vest hickory on the bitternut, had it bear in two years, and then die. While the evidence we have on this subject is not conclusive as there may have been other factors which might have caused the trouble outside of the stock, it shows that the stock on which the different hickories are to be grafted is a matter of importance. Mr. Henry Hicks of Westbury, L. I., who a number of years ago became enthusiastic on the Hales hickory, has four grafted trees or those which he purchased for grafted on his place. One he has had twenty-seven years and it has not borne. It has been twice transplanted. He has two or three others which have not yet borne. Inasmuch as the buds of these trees are not all alike, it is very evident that they cannot all nave been grafted from the original Hales tree. The finest looking Hales hickory of which I know is on the place of Frederick E. Willets, Glen Cove, L. I. Mr. Willets could not tell me how many years it had been set out but it was quite a good many. It bears a few nuts but the tree has been disappointing in its performance. I examined it during the past summer and the nuts, of which there were not many on the tree, were dropping off. It was evident that some insect was attacking the husks which may account for the rather unsatisfactory bearing record.

In distinction from this rather unsatisfactory record of Hales trees we have great promise of something worth while in the only other bearing grafted transplanted hickory of which I can give information, Mr. Rush's Weiker tree. This was produced by. Mr. J. F. Jones when he was living in Monticello, Fla. A southern pecan nut was planted in 1902. It was root-grafted below the surface of the ground in 1903, sent to Mr. Rush in the spring of 1904 and planted out at that time. Mr. Jones says that the tree was not over eight inches high when sent. It bore its first nuts in 1917 and has borne a few every year since. This year the tree set full and had a good crop when I saw it last. The nuts borne by this tree are considerably larger than those of the parent Weiker tree. Inasmuch as the original Weiker tree has given us our best hickory bearing record, it seems not unlikely that this grafted Weiker tree may also be an unusually good bearer.

Against this slow record of grafted transplanted hickory trees, we have some remarkably quick results with top worked hickory trees. Mr. Jones has a bitternut tree now about five inches in diameter which was top worked in the Spring of 1916 to Fairbanks variety, ten grafts being put in, two of which blew out that summer or fall and were replaced the next spring. In 1919 all the grafts, the two year ones as well as the three year ones bore nuts, about 120 maturing. The tree set full of nuts in 1920, but caterpillers got on it, unnoted, and practically the entire crop dropped off. Mr. Jones also has a smaller bitternut tree top worked at the same time to Siers. It bore two nuts in 1919. He also has a mockernut tree top worked at the same time with Kirtland and which set some nuts in 1919 but which dropped off before maturity. It set quite a number in 1920. Mr. D. C. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa, has a shagbark hickory some twenty-five or thirty years old which was top worked shortly after it had begun to bear. In 1913 the four top limbs were top worked to Fairbanks hickory, the rest of the tree being undisturbed. In 1915 these grafts bore nuts and have borne every year since. In 1919 they bore two quarts. Inasmuch as this was a year when the hickory crop in that section was a failure it was thought to speak well for the bearing of the Fairbanks hickory. In 1916 four grafts of Dennis hickory were put in and three of Cedar Rapids. The Dennis grafts bore four nuts in 1918 and over a dozen in 1919. The Cedarapids bore one dozen in 1919 besides a number more which a squirrel got before Mr. Snyder did. Mr. William A. Baker of Wolcott, N. Y., top worked a bitternut tree to Fairbanks in 1917 and the tree bore ten nuts in 1919. Mr. Harvey Losee, Upper Red Hook, N. Y., grafted the young shoots of cut back hickories and out of three shoots so grafted had them bear in three, four and five years respectively. Dr. Morris has grafted a Taylor hickory on a small tree which bore five years after grafting. Dr. Deming on his place at Georgetown, Conn., has probably a greater collection of top worked hickories of various varieties than anybody else. These trees are growing finely and give promise of bearing early. A Taylor hickory on stock 1-1/4" diameter grafted, April 26, 1918 had ten nuts on it on June 27, 1920. A Griffin hickory grafted in 1915 which is now 2-1/2" in diameter had 81 nuts on it on the same date. There seems to be no question but that anyone who has land with hickory trees one to four inches in diameter can easily and quickly change them into orchards of hickories bearing fine nuts by top working.

We next come to the relative merit of the various hickories of which we know. I was fortunate in securing for the 1919 contest enough specimens of the greater portion of those hickories which have been propagated experimentally to a considerable extent so that some information on this point can be given. The printed slip which I will pass around gives the results of these tests and will give a better idea of the different nuts than can be done in any way except by passing around samples. It will be noted from the slip that the nuts run very close indeed and it is very probable that another year these nuts would not show exactly the same results for it has been clearly shown that nuts vary greatly from year to year. There are other characteristics of hickory nuts which are of great importance which are not shown in the annual contests. These are the bearing records of the tree, its ability to stand various diseases and most of all how it will work out when grown in orchard form. This can only be told by experience. From the fact that, in the 1919 contest, of the ten varieties of the experimentally propagated hickories there was only a difference of five points between the highest and the lowest, it shows that the merit of each nut is sufficient so that all of these should be tested out in orchard form. In other words we should not for example select the Vest and Manahan as the best that we have and propagate them to the exclusion of the others. It is probable that there will be great differences in the orchard behavior of these various hickories shown as this is done and that then we shall be able to select the most desirable varieties. Some tests made recently on nine standard southern pecans the Schley, Burkett, Moore, Alley, Delmas, Moneymaker, Pabst, Stuart and Vandeman show a great difference between the highest and lowest in the number of points awarded, this difference being 10 points as against 5 in the cast of the hickories. The Hatch bitternut and Stanley shellbark noted on this slip are here not because it is believed that, as market nuts, they will compare with the first ten mentioned but because they are the best nuts we now have which are not shagbarks or of which the shagbark is not one parent. It is believed that those nuts will be valuable for hybridizing purposes.

There is one matter suggested by the slip on which I will touch although it is not properly within the scope of the subject set for this paper and that is the possibilities of hickory breeding. Of the ten hickories noted on the slip as receiving 70 to 75 points, four, it is agreed, are hybrids. The examination which I have made of the others leads me to believe that more of them are, but four out of ten with the possibility of more is sufficient to cause us to take notice. There are some nine hickory species native in the north eastern United States and they hybridize to a considerable extent. Some of these species show most remarkable differences in characteristics. The shagbark is unexcelled for quality of kernel. The shellbark bears nuts as large as the largest black walnut. The bitternut bears nuts with a thinner shell than any of the finest southern pecans and with a larger proportion of kernel. What we know about practical plant hybridization leads us to believe that we can combine the good qualities of these various species of hickories. Think of what it would mean to have hickories equal in quality of kernel to the best shagbark, of the size of the largest black walnut with a shell thinner than the thinnest shelled pecan we have even seen, and with a larger proportion of kernel.

While the hickory is the nut which has given as the most trouble in propagation and gives us the most trouble in transplanting and grows the slowest, it is certainly difficult to find one which gives more promise either in growing the fine hickories we now have or in breeding up better ones. I am convinced that as soon as we can furnish the fine hickories we now have in commercial quantities they will command prices equal to those paid for the finest pecans.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: I will call upon Mr. J. F. Jones, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who has the subject of "Selecting and Handling Scions."

SELECTING AND HANDLING SCIONS

J. F. JONES, NUT SPECIALIST, LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

In the selection of scions of nut trees for grafting the propagator should keep in mind the fact that the wood selected must be full of vitality and must be of solid, well matured growth, that will stand the maximum amount of exposure and hardship after being grafted, as the grafts and stocks of nut trees callous or heal very slowly in comparison to fruit trees, and the scions must be of solid, well matured growth if good results are to be obtained. These requirements usually go together however and if we select scions of solid, well matured growth, we usually get scions in which the tree has stored the maximum amount of "starch" or vitality.

HOW TO JUDGE SCIONS

The experienced propagator of nut trees can quickly distinguish between good and poor scions for grafting, but the beginner, not knowing the ear marks of good scions, often fails to select the best scions for grafting. The common mistake made by the beginner in the selection of scions of nut trees, is in selecting the smaller growth. The smaller growth is usually more pithy and lacking in vitality and gives poor results in grafting. Poor scions are usually characterized by pithy wood and a light colored, thin bark. The buds are usually farther apart than they are on good scion wood, though this is not always true, as good scions sometimes have the buds set well apart, except near the terminals. The distinguishing marks of good scions are solid, well matured growth, and a thick, dark colored bark. The buds are also larger and usually set closer together.

WHEN TO CUT SCIONS

Scions must be cut while the tree is still dormant and, in the case of trees that the wounds bleed when the tree is cut, as do the English and Japan walnuts, under certain conditions, we must guard against cutting scions soon after severe freezing weather and before the tree has fully recuperated. This semi-sappy condition of the trees following low temperatures that freeze the wood, seems to be a provision of nature to restore the moisture or sap lost from evaporation, and although more noticeable in some species of trees, notably the English walnut, this condition undoubtedly exists in other species of trees to a greater or less extent and we always try to avoid cutting scions of any kind soon after hard, freezing weather. I have found scions of the English and Japan walnuts, cut from trees in this condition, to be practically worthless for propagation, although the scions may have been cut in late winter, long before the sap gets up in the tree, naturally.

HANDLING AND KEEPING SCIONS

Scions of nut trees for grafting should be handled carefully to avoid rubbing off the buds, although this is not so important with nut trees as with fruit trees, for the reason that the more important nut trees such as the various walnuts, pecan and hickories have compound buds and if the larger buds should be destroyed the secondary buds may be counted upon to grow. The scions should be tied in bunches of a convenient size to handle and, after being well tied and carefully labeled, should be packed in paper lined boxes that will prevent evaporation of moisture in the parking material. Any material that will absorb and hold moisture and that will not heat when bulked, will answer the purpose for packing scions, but we have found sphagnum moss to be the best material for this purpose. This material can be obtained from the local florists or dealers in cut flowers usually. Sphagnum will absorb a good deal of moisture without actually becoming wet and will also hold this moisture and give it off more slowly than any other packing material with which I am familiar. This is especially important in keeping scions of nut trees in good condition for grafting, because, if packed too damp, the scions are soon spoiled for grafting, even if kept at a low temperature.

As a precaution against fungi, we usually use bordeaux mixture, two thirds standard strength, to dampen moss for packing scions, especially if they are to remain in storage several months.

Our rule is to use moss only slightly damp to the touch and if used in sufficient quantity, say two or three times as much bulk as we have of scions, we find no trouble in keeping scions in perfect condition for months. In fact, as an experiment, we have carried pecan scions in cold storage and without re-packing for fifteen months and then get a fair stand of grafts to grow.

We usually advise putting scions in cold storage where convenient, especially if they are for use in late May or June, but this is not at all necessary if the scions are packed in moss only slightly damp. In fact scions kept in an ordinary cellar at a temperature around 50 degrees have given us better results on the average the past two years than have those from cold storage.

* * * * *

The association adjourned until 2 p. m.

AFTERNOON SESSION, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1920, 2 P. M.

THE PRESIDENT: We very fortunately have with us a gentleman from the Bureau of Entomology, Mr. F. E. Brooks, who will talk to us about nut insects for a time and we will be very glad to listen to him.

MR. BROOKS: I believe your program is full for this afternoon and I shall keep you but a few minutes.

A little more than a year ago the problem of insects affecting the nut crop of Northern United States was assigned to me by the Bureau of Entomology. I wish to say the work has been very delightful to me from several standpoints. In the first place, it has brought me into association with a delightful group of workers. I want to express to you the pleasure I have had in meeting the various nut growers of the northern part of this country and noting the hearty way in which they are ready to co-operate in solving the nut insect problems. The field of work is interesting because there appear to be in sight no insect pests that promise to embarrass or overwhelm the nut grower. We have a few quite serious insect problems, perhaps none more serious than that occasioned by our old acquaintance, the "chestnut worm." That problem, however, is being solved rapidly in many localities by the chestnut blight.

Thus far in the work, I have devoted most of my time to a study of the species attacking the fruit of nut trees, and I may mention three groups that have been given special consideration. First, the group to which the chestnut worm, or chestnut weevil, belongs. There are two very similar species of these weevils which attack chestnuts, one which attacks hickory nuts and pecans, one which attacks hazel nuts and numerous species which attack acorns. The adults of these weevils are medium-sized beetles, yellow, brown or gray in color, and all have enormously long snouts. The mouth is located at the point of the snout and the beetles use these snouts to bore through the covering of the nuts after the kernel is partially or fully formed. When the puncture into the nut is completed one or more eggs are inserted by means of an extensile, thread-like tube, or ovipositor, of the same length as the snout. The eggs hatch into the familiar worms found in ripe chestnuts, hickory-nuts and hazel nuts. The large hole in the shell of the nut is made by the full grown worm as it escapes to enter the ground, where it completes its transformation into a beetle. An interesting thing in connection with these weevils is that each species confine its attacks to one particular kind of nut. Even those species that attack acorns show a decided tendency to distinguish between oak species and confine themselves as groups very largely to particular species or botanical groups of oaks. There is, therefore, no danger that any of these weevils will multiply, for example in an oak forest, and then migrate into nearby plantations of chestnut, hickory or hazel. Hazels might be used for interplanting among chestnut or hickory trees with no danger that the hazel nuts would become infested by the weevils that develop in the chestnuts or hickory nuts. This habit of the weevils is greatly to the advantage of the person who would plant a particular kind of nut outside its natural range, or at a considerable distance from any other trees of its kind. He could do so with reasonable assurance that the weevil attacking his species of nut would not occur upon his trees until brought into the locality by artificial means.

There is another group of weevils, nearly related to the common plum curculio, the species of which attack immature nuts. In this group the snout is much shorter than in the group just described, and the insects are considerably smaller. There is one species, _Conotrachelus juglandis_, that confines its attacks to the young fruits and shoots of walnuts of the butternut group, another, _Conotrachelus retentus_, that seems to attack exclusively the black walnut fruits from the time they set until they are half grown, still another, _Conotrachelus affinis_, that appears to attack only half-grown hickory nuts. Another species, _Conotrachelus aratus_, feeds abundantly in some localities within the leaf petioles of hickory. At least two other species of the group commonly attack acorns. Those injuring walnuts lay their eggs on the concave side of crescent-shaped punctures which they eat in the husks of the young nuts. The larvae developing from the eggs cause the nuts to drop within a few weeks and the larvae enter the ground to complete their transformation. There is a divided tendency with some of these species to attack the young wood and leaf stems of the introduced species of walnut. Dr. Morris states that he has had young Japanese walnut trees killed by _C. juglandis_ feeding in the grub stage within the branches. He has, however, found that the pest succumbs to an arsenate of lead spray.

Species of this group are apt to have alternating periods of increase and decrease and a year of great abundance may be followed by a year of comparative scarcity. This variation is due, at least in part, to the fact that the larvae, as they feed within the tissues of their host plants, often become rather heavily parasitized by certain two-winged and four-winged flies, the parasitized larvae dying before they reach the adult stage. Nature in this way does considerable toward holding the pests in check, but artificial means of control will often need to be considered.

The third group referred to is represented by a two-winged fly, about the size of the common house fly, known technically as _Rhagoletis suavis_, and commonly as the walnut husk-maggot. The fly is light brown in color, with broad, irregular, dark brown bands on the wings. It appears when walnuts are nearly grown and deposits clusters of small, white eggs within punctures in the husks. Maggots hatch from the eggs and at the time the walnuts drop these maggots are often found converting the inner parts of the husk into a blackened, pulpy mass. Infested nuts are disagreeable to handle and the husk does not part readily from the shell. I have found the fly attacking black walnuts, butternuts, Persian walnuts and Japanese walnuts, within the states of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It probably occurs over the natural range of the black walnut and butternut. It is proving to be a rather serious pest, especially of the Persian walnut. Some of the infested walnuts appear to drop prematurely and others adhere to the branches beyond the regular harvest time. The shell of infested Persian walnuts parts poorly from the husk and the nut is discolored, soiled and unmarketable.

The fly has rather interesting habits. I found that by pricking a nearly mature black walnut with a pin, the wounds would almost invariably be used in a little while by the female flies for depositing their eggs. In one such wound, 180 eggs were laid within 24 hours. When the husk was pricked a slight flow of juice would take place and the male flies would soon find the spot, and, recognizing, I suppose, a suitable place for the females to come to oviposit, they would stand guard at the puncture awaiting the coming of the female. On one occasion I made minute punctures in the husk of eight black walnuts and in a little while a male fly was located at each puncture. Pairing took place usually as soon as the female came and began to lay eggs. Sometimes a male would be found at a puncture in the early morning and would hold its position against all coming males throughout the entire day. When another male would come to the nut the two flies would rear up facing each other and engage in a brief sparring bout with their front legs. Usually, the original occupant of the nut would be the victor. In some experimental spraying of Persian walnut trees in Maryland and Pennsylvania the past season with a sweetened arsenate of lead spray apparently good results were obtained. In one case it seemed that the spraying was about 75 per cent efficient in controlling the pest. In in another case, whereas last year 75 nuts in 100 were infested, this year, after spraying only four nuts in 100 contained the maggots at harvest time.

I desire to state to the nut growers that I am interested in any nut insect problems that you may encounter and shall always be glad to receive reports and specimens. Your co-operation in this work is greatly appreciated and I hope we may continue to work together and that before long we may have more definite knowledge of the means of preventing, to some extent at least, the various forms of injury by insects to the nut crop.

* * * * *

MR. RUSH: I cannot help but express a word of gratitude and appreciation to my friend Mr. Brooks in helping me out of a serious difficulty that I had in connection with walnut culture at Lancaster. A year ago I was ready to throw up the sponge. In fact I might say that my whole crop last year was destroyed by this husk-maggot. This year I have a very fine crop. Last year it was practically worthless. This year I have very few walnuts that were affected by the maggots, largely owing to the successful spraying that he gave the trees at the proper time. I think the future has a bright prospect for making walnut culture more profitable.

THE PRESIDENT: We are certainly under obligations for the very interesting talk and glad that Mr. Brooks could be with us.

The first thing on the program for the afternoon session, according to the published program, I know will be of a most interesting character, Top-Working Hickories, by Robert T. Morris.

TOP WORKING HICKORIES

ROBERT T. MORRIS, NEW YORK

At the present time when our views on the subject of top working trees are based upon incomplete knowledge and experience perhaps it is unwise to present a paper upon the subject which might be taken as authoritative. On the other hand my experience to date is worth recording for its face value, subject to change of view subsequently.

Different species of hickory act differently when subjected to top working methods. The bitternut may be cut back severely without giving evidence of any great degree of shock. The shagbark on the contrary makes slow recovery and many years are required for a cut-back shagbark hickory to regain normal equilibrium between top and root. The pignut and mockernut apparently stand midway between the bitternut and the shagbark in respect to the trimming of the top. My experience with shagbark includes the top working of trees ranging from a few inches in diameter up to fifteen or twenty inches in diameter, and the cutting back has included all stages from actual felling of the tree to cutting off half of the top or less than half of the top. The idea of felling trees completely was to graft stump sprouts or to insert the slot bark graft into the stump near the ground. When this has been done the larger hickories do not send up stump sprouts at all and the root dies excepting in cases in which a slot bark graft has been introduced. The graft grows slowly without a great degree of vigor and requires so many years for balancing the root that the method has not been practical up to the present time. The same statement is true of the shagbark hickory which has been trimmed back very severely leaving nothing but the stubs of large branches to be grafted immediately or for the purpose of grafting sprouts in the following year. The bark of the shagbark hickory is so hard that new shoots are choked severely and many years are required before they have a secure hold upon the stock. My final conclusion is that we may cut shagbark limbs having a diameter of three inches or less for the purpose of leaving grafting stubs. If a large number of grafts are inserted in such a topworked tree or in stock sprouts which start and are grafted in the following year the work is successful. In order to avoid the labor of topworking a large shagbark tree in its entirety we may graft only one or two limbs and allow stock sprouts to grow on other limbs until both stock sprouts and graft sprouts have become well branched. Branches carrying stock sprouts may then be removed a few at a time year after year, leaving the graft sprouts in charge finally.

By means of the bark slot method of grafting grafts may be inserted in any part of a hickory tree. The bark slot method consists in using a chisel and mallet for cutting parallel lines the width of the scion in the bark of the stock. The tongue of bark between the parallel lines is pried outward with the point of the chisel until the scion has been inserted next the wood and the tongue of bark is then allowed to return to place, leaving the scion interposed between the tongue of bark and the wood. Rules which apply to the shagbark may be applied to all of the hickories with which I have experimented. When cutting back the limbs in preparation for topworking it is well to leave as many as possible of stubs or branches of small diameter. Branches of small diameter may be grafted by ordinary cleft grafting methods but branches of larger diameter should be treated by the bark slot method. At the present time and in the locality of my country place at Stamford, Connecticut, melted paraffin suffices in place of grafting wax and melted paraffin is brushed over the entire scion, buds and all, as well as over the wound in the stock.

The time for cutting back hickories in preparation for topworking is probably important and in my experience to date, autumn cutting is preferable. The reason is that a good deal of activity is going on in the tree before it enters into a state of winter rest and wounds are pretty well repaired. In winter cutting there is some danger of incomplete repair and in the springtime the free flow of sap invites the entrance of various enemies, bacterial and fungous. Summer cutting according to the laws of plant physiology would cause more shock to the tree than cutting at any other time, although practically I have done this successfully. Without regard to season for cutting in preparation for topworking it is very important to trim cut ends very smoothly with a sharp knife in order to remove ragged tissue left by the saw. It is difficult to persuade employees to do this and it will not be done as a rule unless the owner looks after the matter personally. The smoothly trimmed end of the cut branch should immediately be protected with white paint, melted paraffin, or some other protective covering.

What are the disadvantages of the slot bark method of topworking hickories? The scion does not have such a secure hold upon the stock as it does in cleft grafting and it will blow out in a high wind unless it is protected by braces. I have found it not harmful to a tree to fasten laths to the stock for holding the growing scion, driving galvanized iron nails through the lath directly into the stock. Unless growing grafts are well braced by some method the entire season's work may be lost in two minutes of a gale preceding a thunderstorm in summer. By the slot bark method, in other words, we may catch more grafts and lose more grafts than by any other method with which I am familiar, but the loss may be avoided by proper attention.

The best time for grafting varies with the locality. At Stamford I have grafted hickories from February until September. Very early grafting is largely a failure because of incomplete repair of the wound in the stock and scion. Late summer grafting is not practical because the scions which make a start do not lignify their new shoots sufficiently to withstand the winter cold. In late April or early May when the sap is running very freely we also have a considerable loss of scions because an excess of water causes the scion shoots to grow too rapidly before wound repair has taken place to the point necessary for conducting nutrition for the growing shoots. Grafting after the leaves are pretty well out on the tree has given me best success. Grafting from then up to the last week in July has been found to be practical. Scions for topworking hickories have been employed for what I call "mediate" and "immediate" grafting. By mediate grafting is meant the employment of scions which have been cut while they were dormant and which have been stored in any appropriate way. Immediate grafting means the transference of scions cut from one tree and used upon another in the same hour or day. Mediate grafting is the sort which belongs to all history of the subject and immediate grafting relates more particularly to my recent experimental work.

* * * * *

MR. BECHTEL: What kind of wax did you use if any besides paraffin?

DR. MORRIS: I have given up everything but that. The paraffin has a number of special advantages. In the first place, it seals any wound against infection from bacteria or fungi. It prevents moisture from rain carrying bacteria into the wound. It prevents evaporation from the cut surfaces.

MR. BECHTEL: Doesn't it melt too much in the sun?

DR. MORRIS: It might with you and you might need to use a harder paraffin. There are a great many kinds of paraffin. The paraffin series is a large one in chemistry. The one I find best for our locality is the common parowax that you can find in any grocery store. I use just the pure straight thing but in your country you are further south and may need a different one. It does melt some in the middle of a hot day and will be nearly fluid sometimes but it hardens up when the sun goes down.

MR. FOSTER: Were the grafts kept in cold storage?

DR. MORRIS: I have used two ways of keeping grafts for top working. Some have been kept in cold storage, others have been kept in the ice house. I have been in the habit of kicking up the sawdust and dropping scions in the hole not very far above the ice. Last year I could not get any ice and two years ago I could not get any but the scions kept just as well in the sawdust near the ground. Then I have kept them packed in leaves with two feet of leaves on top of the scions. I have also kept some as Mr. Jones has but the difficulty is in keeping them at the right degree of moisture. The enzymes go to work the minute the cells of the scion have a full charge of water despite low temperature unless it is actually below freezing. Scions of another kind are the ones that I cut off from one tree and put on the next tree the same hour or day. That has only been possible by this method that I now employ. Almost any time in the summer we can do that without keeping the scions in storage at all. I gave some of them a resting period experimentally for a day or two but to no advantage.

PROF. CLOSE: Don't you have to be pretty careful with the melted paraffin so as not to injure the tissue?

DR. MORRIS: Yes we need special apparatus. I took a lantern, cut out the top and sunk a spun cup down in the lantern. On a cold day I turn the alcohol flame higher than in a warm day. I have been trying to have this lantern made so that it could be got on the market. There is nothing else to my knowledge that will allow the grafter to regulate the temperature of melted wax according to the weather. I am going to get it manufactured so you can each have one.

MR. BIXBY: There is a series of paraffines pure paraffines which are known only in chemical laboratories and also a number which can be obtained without much difficulty. The common parowax I think is the grade that is known in the trade as 120. That is it melts at 120 degrees F. but paraffin can be obtained without much difficulty that melts at 125°, 128° and 130°, so if the parowax is too soft for Mr. Bechtel's district I am sure he can get something that will be all right. He might have to send to New York to get it but it is readily obtained there.

MR. BECHTEL: I have used bees wax and find that that melts at a higher temperature.

DR. MORRIS: I want complete transparency.

MR. FOSTER: Would it be out of order for a beginner to ask what type of grafting Dr. Morris uses in his work on these trees.

DR. MORRIS: I think that somebody who was not a beginner might ask that quite as well. I have tried almost all the methods employed by the experts and have gotten down to very simple principles. If I am going to get fifty, sixty, eighty or ninety per cent of catches in hickory as we sometimes do I have to use methods that are very simple. For limbs that are small not larger than one's finger the plain cleft graft is good enough and I like as far as possible to choose a branch that is about the diameter of the scion. If the limb is larger in diameter than the scion I make my cleft to one side so that the cambium line of stock and scion will correspond. It is important to have cambium layers together. By all means the best feature of all in my grafting work is what I call the bark slot. This bark slot consists in making two parallel lines in the stock bark the width of the scion. I turn down that tongue of bark and stick in the scion. I turn back the bark again and bind all with raffia. That is the bark slot graft. The bark slot is by all means the most successful method that I have ever employed. What are the objections to it? Not so firm a hold on the stock as you will get in a cleft. What are you going to do about it? Put on good strong braces for the growing stock. I find it does not do much harm to drive galvanized nails right into the tree to hold the brace, three or four nails right into the limb, and then tie the rapidly growing shoot to the brace. If I do not do that the new shoot blows out very readily when I use the bark slot. In other words you will catch more by this method and lose more unless you give the grafts a good deal of attention.

PROF. CLOSE: How do you trim the scion?

DR. MORRIS: I trim it mostly with one good long cut on one side and sometimes turn it over and make a little nick on the other, but one good long cut is usually all that it needs.

PROF. CLOSE: Supposing the bark does not peel?

DR. MORRIS: If it does not I think the chances are against its catching your graft. I have done all my grafting until this year at times when the bark peeled but this year I carried it up into September after the bark had set and I am trying to see if I can get a catch then. In that case I take a chisel and chisel off the bark where it is hide-bound. The experiment may be a failure but I have had so many failures that they are sort of a pleasant experience.

MR. FOSTER: In the cutting back I understand that you prefer to do so when the tree is dormant. Then in the spring when you start your grafting do you leave that cut just as it is or do you cut it off again?

DR. MORRIS: These are very important questions that are coming out. When you have sawed off the limb trim the end neatly with a sharp knife. An employee will almost always leave the cut end ragged but if you do it yourself and have smooth ends and cover them with paraffin you can graft right squarely on that end. Turn down your bark for a slot and stick in the scion at any time. If the cut end was made by someone who was not careful make a cut down through any living bark with a chisel or a knife until you get down to the wood, then make parallel lines from that point and turn down the tongue of bark. I have put in scions where I had to use a heavy chisel and mallet to turn down the tongue. It was not necessary to put on any binding there where the tongue of bark was so thick.

PROF. CLOSE: I understand you to say that if the end has become dried you go down below the dried part?

DR. MORRIS: When I find the end of the stub dry I go below that point to get live bark for grafting purposes. After my scion is well under way a year or so then I saw off any projecting stub beyond the graft and put paraffin over the cut end. That form of graft works very well except that it makes more work.

MR. LITTLEPAGE: I have been very much interested in what Dr. Morris said. I found it no trouble whatever to get a hickory from four to six or eight inches to grow a great big graft, but I have never seen one live three years. I have my woods full of dead ones. I have one in front of my house now which I slip-bark grafted about the diameter of two inches and it is still growing but I expect an invitation to its funeral next spring. I have never seen a hickory tree successfully grafted over five inches in diameter. I found in my woods that the trees would sometimes die down to the ground. If they lived they would drag along for two or three years. If those of you who were out there yesterday had had a little more time I could have shown you those dead hickories. I would like to know what your experience is in grafting hickories over an inch in diameter.

DR. MORRIS: That is an important point and it relates to the matter of cutting back to such an extent that it causes too much shock to the tree. In very large hickories I have cut them hack to short stubs and have had a number of them die. On the other hand where I have cut back so that the largest limbs cut were not more than three inches in diameter those trees would do very well. I have living shag bark grafts now on trees that are from five inches to more than fifteen inches in diameter.

MR. LITTLEPAGE: Do you cut these back in the winter or spring?

DR. MORRIS: I do not remember about all. Some, were cut back in both seasons. Winter is probably better. Autumn better yet.

MR. LITTLEPAGE: I cut mine in the spring.

DR. MORRIS: That has a lot to do with it if the trees bleed too much.

MR. FOSTER: Are your pignuts native?

MR. LITTLEPAGE: I think most of them are worse than that.

MR. FOSTER: They are familiarly known in my state as pig nuts.

PROF. CLOSE: You could top-work them.

THE PRESIDENT: We will proceed with the next number. We are honored in having with us the President of the National Nut Growers Association who has come to us all the way from the southland to tell us about selection and propagation for the improvement of the pecan. I now have the honor of presenting to you Mr. Theodore Bechtel, President of the National Association.

MR. BECHTEL: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: After having listened to so many good papers and addresses it seems to me that as far as imparting any knowledge to this audience my trip may have been in vain. However I assure you as this is my first visit to Washington it lacks a whole lot of being in vain from what I have already seen and enjoyed. I may be able to add a few points to what has already been said.

SELECTION AND PROPAGATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF PECANS

THEODORE BECHTEL, OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is indeed a great pleasure to meet you all here in the interest of Horticulture, one of the greatest, and, by the way, the oldest industries of which we have any record, since Adam and Eve were engaged in it, and in the interest of one of the greatest branches of that industry, Nut Culture, and this in the greatest city on Earth, because it is the seat of Government of the greatest nation on Earth. We are all here, primarily, in the interest of Nut Culture and I venture to say that these meetings will not be in vain, as a congregation of such intelligence, interest and determination as I see displayed here is certain to accomplish much in the course of time. The very fact that there are many problems in Nut Culture to be worked out makes the industry the more interesting for those who are not looking for an easy get-rich-quick scheme. We have accomplished some things in the line of propagation of pecans which were said to be impossible only a few years ago, and they now seem easy. The problems you will have to work out in the Northern pecan section, as it appears to me, are selection and development of suitable varieties for your climate. This will no doubt be done by using the best hardy varieties you already have, some of which are showing good results, and crossing these just as is being done in the South now by our Government officials and by several private individuals. This great Government of ours has an Agricultural Department which is capable of performing tasks in the way of experimental work in this line on an extensive scale, which would be too great an undertaking for an individual, and we should use every effort to induce this work to be extended to the Northern sections, if it has not already been begun.

The results obtained by Mr. C. Forkert, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, who was one of the first to take up the work, are highly interesting and give satisfactory evidence of what can be done by way of combining the good qualities of two varieties by a systematic scientific method of cross pollenizing and the work of Dr. Van Fleet, whose place we visited yesterday certainly was convincing of the great possibilities along this line of work. The fact that you have not the best now does not indicate that you will not in time surpass in results some of the sections where pecans now abound. Jackson County, Mississippi, had no native pecan forest to start with and yet we now have some of the best and most profitable orchards in the world, and it is the place where most of the standard high class varieties have originated.

In the selection of varieties upon which to build up your pecan industry be careful to choose varieties showing as many of the following qualities as possible: Productiveness, hardiness, early maturity, plumpness of kernel, good flavor and cracking qualities. The varieties selected for cross pollenization should combine as many of the desirable qualities as possible. By grafting from the young hybrids into the top of old bearing trees you may have samples of nuts in a very few years. The propagation of pecans in the Northern nurseries seems to be well under way and will no doubt be stimulated as orchard planting increases.

I might add as a suggestion that seedlings to graft upon be raised from seed obtained as near by and as nearly in the same latitude as possible as these will usually be found best adapted to local conditions of that section.