Chapter IV: Part 4

This strain of Juglans regia was introduced into Canada by Rev. P. C. Crath of 48 Peterboro Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, from the Carpathian mountains in southeastern Poland. In this part of Europe the winter temperatures are reported to go to -20 degrees F., and occasionally lower. In the winter of 1928-29 a vast amount of injury was done to fruit trees and the less hardy English walnut trees in Poland, but a number of English walnuts came through without serious injury. Scion wood of some hardy selections was sent in 1932 to the writer by Mr. Crath, who was then in Poland. This material was grafted on vigorous growing black walnuts in the spring of 1932 and good results were secured with two varieties. These varieties made a vigorous growth, but notwithstanding this they showed not the slightest injury in the spring of 1934. The growth made during the summer of 1934 has been remarkable and if this unusually vigorous growth survives the coming winter it would seem as though we have an exceptionally hardy strain. The nut characters and productiveness of these varieties have not yet been determined in Michigan, but if they are equal to some of the trees of the same origin, then we will have very valuable trees. These strains have been named Crath and are distinguished by Nos. 2 and 5.

About 100 small seedlings of Polish origin were purchased from Mr. Landega of Toronto, Ontario, an associate of Mr. Crath, and planted at the Kellogg Farm in 1932. These trees have been subjected to trying conditions through drouth, competition with alfalfa, late growth and severe winter temperatures. As a result some have died, but a number are growing nicely, and it is expected that some of these will eventually become established. Seedlings of this lot suffered only slight injury near Sparta, Michigan, but grafts from these same seedling trees set on a vigorous young black walnut were very severely injured. Another tree from this group endured the severe cold at Madison, Wisconsin, during the past winter and made a rapid growth this season.

Scions from another fine tree of Polish origin growing at Mr. Crath's place in Toronto were set on several trees in this state in the spring of 1933 and in every case endured the lowest temperature without much injury to the new growth. A very unusual condition was noted, though on three young black walnut trees top-grafted to scions of this tree. On these trees the vigorous grafts appeared to be uninjured in the wood, but the bark at the point of union on both stock and scion was so severely injured that the grafts died. An examination showed evidences of bark splitting and this was undoubtedly caused by a severe and sudden cold spell following a very late and extremely vigorous growth. Scions of this strain were grafted on a medium sized black walnut at Caro, Michigan, and these endured -30 degrees F. without serious injury. A small black walnut tree at the Kellogg Farm top-grafted to scions of another Crath seedling showed bark injury on the lower half of the stock, but fortunately the extent of the injury was not great and the graft was saved. It also made a vigorous growth this season notwithstanding the hot dry weather and injury to the bark on the stock. Scions of this strain were grafted on a vigorous black walnut on the farm of F. Wilde at Wayland in 1933. These scions made an extraordinary growth that season and were subjected to a temperature of -20 degrees F. last winter. Some killing back occurred but no permanent injury was done as the grafts have made a good growth this season.

_Pomeroy Seedlings_

This strain of walnuts originated on the farm of Mr. Norman Pomeroy of Lockport, New York. Trees from this plantation, or seedlings of these trees, are grown at various places throughout Michigan with the heaviest concentration near Lexington. There are also a number of Pomeroy seedlings on the farm of Mr. Grant Fox at Leamington, Ontario. All of the trees in the Lexington district were more or less severely injured by killing back of the branches and occasionally by bark splitting or bark killing. At St. Louis one very fine tree was nearly girdled by bark injury and will undoubtedly die. Near Ithaca another tree showed moderate killing back and in the city two trees were killed to the ground and one other so severely injured as to be useless. The trees at Leamington, Ontario, were also severely injured, especially those that bore thin-shelled nuts. Some of the larger trees in this plantation which bore nuts with moderate thick shells were not as severely injured, and this would seem to indicate that there may be a relationship between thickness of shell and resistance to winter cold.

In this plantation it was also found on another occasion that the trees which bore thin-shelled nuts produced long vigorous succulent shoots with a large pith and loose, spongy buds. On the other trees that bore thick-shelled nuts the shoot growth was shorter and firmer than on the trees with thin-shelled nuts. In contrast to these trees the buds on the Crath trees Nos. 2 and 5 were short, rather broad and very solid. The wood also was very hard and well matured with a small pith even on vigorous shoots. This seems to indicate that there may be a relationship between density and maturity of wood and buds and winter hardiness.

_Other Seedlings_

At various places in Michigan there are English walnut trees that originated in England or which are seedlings of trees that came from England. An exceptionally good tree of English origin grows near Ionia and is called Larson after the owner of the farm on which it grew. The Larson tree is at least 50 years old and bears nuts of large size and excellent quality in favorable seasons. This variety was propagated for the college by the Michigan Nut Nursery and some of these trees were planted at the Kellogg Farm in 1933. Unfortunately the past winter killed all the young trees and so severely injured the parent tree that its recovery is doubtful. Beck is another good variety of English origin that grows near Allegan on the Monterey road. The original tree of this variety was very severely injured and much greater injury was noted on seven-year-old grafts of this variety which had been set on a black walnut. At Vassar there is a tree of English origin that yields very fine nuts, but this one was also severely injured. Near Conklin there is an old tree of German origin and this was likewise severely injured, but not so much as the trees from England.

_Chinese Walnuts_

The Chinese walnut is a geographic form of the so-called English walnut. It occurs over a large area of central and northern China, and it is believed that trees from the northernmost range of this species in China are somewhat hardier than the average English walnut from western Europe. The number of trees of this species under observation is very limited, but those that have been seen appear to be promising. The largest and best tree observed grows on the property of Mr. Geo. Corsan at Islington, Ontario. This tree was subjected to -26 degrees F. last winter and was somewhat injured. The growth this spring was delayed longer than normally and some killing back was noted. Eventually the tree started to grow and made a normal amount of growth. Scions from this tree were grafted on two black walnut trees at the Kellogg Farm in 1933 and a vigorous growth was made in that season. These grafts were carefully examined in the spring of 1934 and were found uninjured. Subsequently a very large graft on one medium sized black walnut tree died, but this was due to injury at the point of union rather than to the graft above. The remaining scions made a good growth this season. Seedling trees of another strain of Chinese walnut showed some variation in their hardiness. Some came through in good condition and made a vigorous growth but others were more or less injured. The limited number of trees under observation scarcely justifies definite conclusion, but it would seem as though this form of Juglans regia is worthy of a wider trial in southern Michigan.

_Types of Winter Injury_

The following forms of winter injury which have been referred to in the preceding notes are given special attention hereunder.

(1) Killing back of branches.

This type was found on every tree except the hardy varieties of Polish and Russian origin. In some cases the large branches were killed outright, but usually the injury was confined to small branches, and the degree of injury varied from slight to very severe killing. Branches so injured were attacked by fungus diseases and some were beginning to decay and fall off when examined in October. Killing back of the branches was also noted on one excellent heartnut at Scotland, Ontario. This tree was subjected to -30 degrees F. but was less severely injured than many of the English walnuts noted above, and when examined in September showed a vigorous new growth throughout most of the top. There were also several vigorous seedlings from this tree growing near by which were only slightly injured in the bark or which were uninjured. It was interesting to observe that the seedlings of the old heartnut tree that were apparently of hybrid origin were not injured in the least and bore good crops of nuts this year, but the seedlings that were pure heartnuts were injured slightly. This point suggests the desirability of crossing the finest heartnuts with the best butternuts to get a combination of the hardiness of the butternut with the good qualities of the heartnut.

_Bark Killing_

Bark injury is often found on fruit trees following a severe winter and is occasionally found on nut trees. It may be due to bark splitting or to desiccation or both. In severe cases of bark splitting the bark splits vertically and laterally from the ground up for several feet, but in milder cases the bark is only split away for a short distance. Where the bark is loosened for some distance around the tree or vertically it dies shortly thereafter, but where only a small amount of splitting occurs, the tree may recover if given attention. In such cases the bark should be cut back to the living tissue and all particles of dead or injured bark scraped off. The exposed area should then be coated with a good tree paint or asphaltic emulsion.

The severest case of bark splitting observed was on a vigorous young heartnut seedling at Guelph, Ontario. On this tree the bark was completely split away entirely around the trunk from the ground up for several feet and the injury was so great that the tree died early in the summer. Within a short distance of this tree was another tree of the same origin that was quite uninjured, but this tree, however, was a hybrid between the butternut and the heartnut. On this hardy tree there was a heavy crop of nuts that were intermediate in form between the heartnut and the butternut, this indicating its hybrid origin. Practically all of these hybrids escaped injury even though the temperature was -30 degrees F.

Bark injury was also noticed at the Kellogg Farm on several black walnut trees that had been grafted in the nursery and which were planted in 1932 and 1933. On these trees the scion variety was uninjured but the bark on the stock was more or less affected from the ground up to the point of union. All trees thus affected came out into leaf, but shortly afterward the leaves withered and the top died.

Bark injury from splitting or desiccation was more prevalent on young vigorous growing trees, and on older trees that had been stimulated into a strong growth by fertilizers or late cultivation.

_Suggested Means of Control_

Since it is impossible to control temperatures and precipitation, it is perhaps a vain hope to expect complete immunity from winter injury to the English walnut. It is possible, however, to lessen the degree of injury by certain measures of precaution. These are as follows:

(1) Plant only the hardiest varieties.

The past winter showed very clearly that the commercial varieties of English walnut or seedlings as grown in this state are not hardy enough to endure the severe cold that periodically occurs in Michigan. This limits the choice of varieties to those from central Europe or north China where rigorous climatic conditions prevail. As already pointed out, the varieties that endured the past winter were from the Carpathian region in Poland or western Russia and north China. These varieties have not been widely distributed in this state and it may be found that even these will have a limited range in Michigan. Their behavior, however, shows that they are somewhat hardier than varieties from western Europe or England. Unfortunately the supply of trees of these apparently hardy kinds is limited and it will take some time to work up a stock of the best strains. In the meantime, those who desire to plant the English walnut had better wait until a supply of the hardier kind is available or plant some other hardy species such as the black walnut.

(2) Thoroughly drain all soils intended for nut trees. Well drained soils favor good root development and seem to lessen late growth, thus reducing to a slight extent at least the severe killing back that is noticeable on such growth.

(3) Use nitrogenous fertilizers in moderation.

Fertilizers rich in nitrogen may stimulate the late growth and predispose the tree to killing back.

(4) Do not cultivate the soil around nut trees late in the summer.

Late cultivation stimulates late growth and prevents the trees from properly ripening their buds and wood. This late growth invariably suffers more severely from winter cold than growth that is well matured.

Nut Tree Prospects in the Tennessee Valley

_By_ JOHN W. HERSHEY

_Tree Crop Specialist, Division of Forestry._

_Tennessee Valley Authority._

This is a vital question to discuss in the economic welfare of any community, but the sooner the value of tree crops is recognized, the sooner will the agriculturists be on a more simple economic basis and I feel that the members of this association agree with me when I say that the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors should be complimented by this body for their foresight in making tree crops a part of their economic scheme. In my five months of work the points that I believe are of most interest to this body are that I have actually made a cursory tree crop survey of the whole Valley--fifteen hundred miles long and seventy-five miles wide. This is the first time this kind of work has ever been attempted in the world on an extensive scale. The results of this survey have been approximately the following:

(1) A keen interest by all the County Agents in the tree crops question.

(2) I was astonished at the surprising number of County Agents that had been advocating nut trees as a farm asset. It gave me considerable pleasure to note the number who had nuts sticking around their offices they had gathered up because of their interest in trying to find a good cracker of either hickory or walnut. As we all know it would be impossible for me to attempt to fine-tooth-comb an area as large as the Tennessee Valley basin for thin shelled nuts, but with the enthusiasm shown by the County Agents we will have excellent co-operation with them in getting publicity in local papers for the contests that we have run to date on all the tree crops. The announcement of this association's prize contest is going to have an outstanding influence in getting a lot of samples of nuts and you can easily see the stimulant to get two prizes in the place of one is going to make a lot of men and women and children scour the country for the nut that will possibly take the prize in both contests. I want to say that I feel that these nuts, from the few samples and reports I have at hand, are going to give the balance of the United States a run for their money in the contest.

My work, when developed along the lines as recommended, will not only comprise the development of nuts but of all tree crops in general. Not only in introducing selected tree crops to the farmers but in the breeding of superior crops. The tree crops idea like the Authority's power idea will have, in the words of Dr. Kellogg, in a recent letter to me, "It will not only influence the welfare of the farmers in the Valley but over the whole United States." First in showing the farmers on a worth while scale the value of tree crops and second in introducing this health food into the diet of the American people.

Some New Hicans and Pecans in Illinois

_From_ J. G. DUIS, _Shattuc, Illinois_

(_Read by Title_)

I am writing a short account of the new nuts I have discovered in this vicinity, all in the Kaskaskia River Valley and not one fifty miles away. The Duis, Swagler, Joffrey and Carlyle pecans. The Duis black walnut. The Gerardi and Nussbaumer hicans. And the Dintleman hybrid.

The Duis pecan grows about four miles up the river from Carlyle. I claim it as the largest northern pecan in existence, with the Swagler not far second in size. Both have been bearing the two years I have known them, the Duis rather prolifically. However, it was so severely whipped last fall, and the season so dry this year, that I do not expect a crop off either tree, though I have not visited them as they are rather inaccessible. Both graft fairly well, especially the Swagler.

The Joffrey pecan grows alone in a corn field south of Pelican Pouch, a glacial moraine south of Carlyle about six miles. It is the plumpest, thinnest shelled nut of northern variety, and above average size. Fair bearer to the best of my knowledge, but a severe hail storm and a season of severe walnut caterpillars ruined two years' prospects. The Carlyle pecan grows in the State Fish Hatchery and Park at Carlyle, and I have only the word of the "game warden" and caretaker for size and quality. The same hail and caterpillar pest hit that tree. The Duis black walnut is from a scrub tree on Shoal Creek, about five miles northwest of Carlyle and is about crowded out by other trees. My oldest grafted tree from it is about seven years old and has been bearing consistently since two years old. Even this year, after two severe dry seasons, and a late frost that nipped the early shoots, it has a fine crop even though other trees, grafted and seedlings, are mostly barren. The nuts are medium to rather large and readily crack out in halves comparable to the Stabler when properly prepared for cracking. There are so many new walnuts I know nothing about that I presume there are better ones.

I claim only secondary credit for "resurrecting" the Nussbaumer hican and the Dintleman hybrid, presumably king hickory and bitternut. The Nussbaumer is the hybrid mentioned in Fuller's Nut Culturist some fifty years ago. I thought of this for several months and corresponded regarding this nut and finally made a couple of trips down the river to Mascoutah and vicinity. I could hardly find a man old enough to know Mr. Nussbaumer, who was a druggist there. Later he removed to Okawville and from there to Texas, where he died a number of years ago. I was advised to see an old nurseryman by the name of Jacob Leibrock, now deceased. I was told he had two of the trees from seed. He had, but both bore bitternuts and he had cut them down. I did not think till later that they probably were not from the Nussbaumer tree and when I wrote for more information he had passed away. He advised me to see two men toward Fayetteville down the river. The first one did not know where the tree was. The second one did but was too busy to go to it, so I hired him to go as soon as possible and advise me and if possible send me some samples and I would return later. From what he told me I was sure I was off the track of the Nussbaumer, but on the trail of a new and better nut. He said the tree bore "sacks full" and the nuts were so thin shelled you could crack them in your hand. I went farther down the river to Fayetteville, not far from which place east the tree was located, but was there informed the tree was dead. However, the informer told me he had a seedling from it, but upon investigation found he had a fullblood pecan, probably planted by a jaybird from a number of bearing trees in close proximity, for I was satisfied by this time the nut was not even part pecan. The two original nuts probably never grew. The innkeeper advised me that Mr. Dintleman, a nurseryman of Belleville, Ill., had been much interested in the nuts and might have a tree. So I wrote him asking about it and also wrote Mr. C. A. Reed, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Mr. Dintleman wrote me that our well known Mr. J. F. Wilkinson, had a seven-year-old budded tree from buds he sent. And Mr. Reed advised me to write a farm advisor in Missouri. Through him I was informed a Mr. George Miller, near Bluffton, son of Judge Miller, mentioned in Fuller's book, had a tree thirty years old. In short, I found not only the one tree I was after but a second king hickory and bitternut cross with a shell so thin you could "crack it with your hands." Shall we call it a Hickbit? Mr. Wilkinson sent me graftwood and stated he expected we call it the Dintleman. The Nussbaumer, Mr. Miller informed me, is not a good bearer, but it may be due to location or lack of pollinization. I now have several trees of each from spring grafts.

All the above trees grow in overflow ground, sometimes in water for weeks, called slashes. The Stabler walnut also seems to like that, but the Thomas does not and is outgrown by the three-year-old Stablers. I will know more about that in a year or two. However, nearly all grow very well on the prairie land around here and some seem to bear better.

May I add another observation. Cultivation will produce bigger, better and more nuts, same as for corn.

* * * * *

Evening session.

DR. DEMING:

I'd like to speak for a moment about some old friends, one of whom we shall never see any more, Mr. Bixby. If you will take the trouble to go back through our annual reports and see the number of articles he has written and the diversity of subjects he has written on, and see what an important part he has taken in our discussions, you will get a good idea of the ability and broad-mindedness, the scientific knowledge and the honesty of Mr. Bixby. There is one thing that perhaps you don't all know, and that is that his collection of nuts has been sold to the United States Government. There is something fewer of you know and that is that this sale was brought about by the persistent energy, mental and physical, of Mr. Reed.

The other old friend, whom we shall perhaps never see again at a meeting, is Dr. Morris. I've seen him twice this summer, had several letters from him, and lunched with him once. He has with him his devoted wife and his little daughter and he appears to be fairly well. He doesn't look very different from what he has when he attended our meetings. He is up and around and he walked about the place for fifteen or twenty minutes with Mrs. Morris and me looking at his trees.

Some other old friends that I would like to call to your attention are our past reports. I suppose that I have read those reports more times than anybody else, since I have edited nearly all of them. I go back over them occasionally even now and I have been astonished to find the value of the papers and discussions that are contained there. I recommend to all of you who have these reports to make a review of them and see how many things were known during the early years of our association, as Mr. Walker has said, that we are now rehashing. When you go over the names of the men who made up the membership of the association in its early days, men whom many of you perhaps have never seen, or have seen very seldom, you can understand how these pioneers in nut growing would have had something interesting to say.

I've made a little list of names of these men, some of whom are gone, and the rest of whom we seldom see. Dr. Morris, Prof. Craig, Henry Hales, Prof. Close, Prof. Hutt, W. N. Roper, W. C. Reed, Prof. Collins, E. A. Riehl, Dr. Van Fleet, Prof. Van Deman, J. G. Rush, Mr. Jones, Mr. Littlepage, Mr. Bixby, Dr. Smith, Prof. E. R. Lake, S. W. Snyder, Mrs. Erlanger, Col. Sober, Prof. Drake and many others. I think it will pay you all to look back through those annual reports and see what the pioneer nut growers of this country have recorded.

Mr. Reed, I was saying that Mr. Bixby's collection of nut trees had been sold to the Government and that it was through your help that this sale was made. Now I'd like to ask you if there is any information that you could properly release to the meeting about the sale of those trees. I am sure everyone of us would be interested to know where they are going.

MR. REED:

The trees have been bought by the Interior Department with funds placed at their disposal for the purpose of planting trees for the national forests. Their attitude has been rather liberal in this case. They have felt that if they could get trees planted, regardless of whether they were planted on Interior Department land or not, it would be justified expense. When the matter was laid before them, they at once thought of the arboretum which is now being developed within the District of Columbia. The final purchase was made largely in order that the arboretum might be able to start off with the Bixby collection as a nucleus. A complete list of all varieties that are in the collection will go there. Another part of the purchase comes to the branch of the Agricultural Department which I represent, and practically all of the varieties in the Bixby collection which are not now in the plant at Beltsville will be sent there.

It was the original plan of the Interior Department that all of the trees which neither the arboretum nor the branch of the department which I represent needed, should go to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and it was with that understanding that the deal was closed. After the deal was closed and a notice was sent to the authorities in charge at the park that a certain number of seedlings of different species and a certain number of grafted trees would be delivered there sometime this fall, the Shenandoah authorities took the strange attitude that they couldn't use grafted trees. In other words, they preferred mongrels to thoroughbreds. We chuckled in our sleeves. But nevertheless they threw back upon us several grafted trees to find some place for. We immediately took it up with the Forest Service. They have land in North Carolina where all of the trees can be planted fifty feet apart, not cultivated, but nursed and cared for, and available for study by our own department and the state of North Carolina and any individuals.

I have omitted mentioning that there are certain limitations on the ability of the Interior officials to buy trees for Interior Department planting. It is a definite policy of the Interior Department that in all national parks they plant only American species. That automatically eliminated many trees of the Bixby collection. But the arboretum wanted a good many of those trees and so did we.

There are still in the Bixby collection several fine Persian walnut trees. We haven't been able to trace their source, but it is my impression that they are of Chinese origin.

DR. DEMING:

He had a row of Pomeroy trees.

PROF. SLATE:

He also had some trees from Chinese seed, because he sent some of them to Geneva.

MR. REED:

We have the Bixby correspondence. By the terms of the purchase Mrs. Bixby was to deliver to the Interior Department all of Mr. Bixby's records pertaining to those trees, and as far as she has been able to get things together they have been turned over to me.

DR. DEMING:

In addition to our annual reports I want to say a word about the reports of the National Pecan Growers' Association. Twenty-five years ago I took out a life membership in that association for $10.00, and I have been getting annual reports ever since. While they relate almost exclusively to the southern pecan they have also many scientific articles on the development of twigs, blossoms and fruit, on pruning and grafting and on fertilizing and cultivating, which are of importance to all nut growers.

I think perhaps I won't go into the subject which has been talked of so much today, the severe winter and summer we have had. But J. G. Rush in our third annual report has a paper which is entitled, "The Persian Walnut, Its Disaster, Etc.," which describes events twenty-two years ago very similar to those that have taken place in the last winter.

Nut Growing in Vermont

_By_ ZENAS H. ELLIS, _Fair Haven_

In all my life of over seventy years I have never seen a time like the present. We have passed through the coldest winter and the dryest summer ever known.

I raise on my place in old Vermont every kind of tree that will grow there, and try many that will not, or only with more or less protection. I have apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches and figs, with berries of all kinds. I have nut trees of many different varieties, hickories, black and English walnuts, filberts, hazel-filberts, pecans, almonds and butternuts.

Which have stood the cold and drought the best? Strange as it may seem, my nut trees have stood the extreme temperatures the best. My hardiest apples like the Wealthy, Yellow Transparent, Wolf River, and Pewaukee have gone down to their death, or so near thereto that I never expect to see any fruit from them again. Whereas, on the other hand, my hickories, black walnuts, butternuts and hazel-filberts have not even lost a leaf. Wonderful to relate and almost unbelievable my large pecan tree, over forty feet in height, and a foot in diameter, is as hale and hearty as ever.

August 15th last I picked and cracked some of my improved butternuts and hazel-filberts, and found the kernels large, full grown and normal in every way. Whereas I have not an apple or pear fit to eat, no, not even a berry either.

I set out my butternut years ago in the position of honor in front of my house, and it has merited it ever since. The kernels came out in halves and often times whole. I have given away many of the nuts for planting, even as far away as Kew Gardens, England. Money could not buy the parent tree. I would not exchange it for the best cattle ranch in Colorado, the best wheat farm in Kansas, or the best cotton plantation in both the Carolinas. It is self-sustaining, does not require any subsidy from Uncle Sam, or any twenty-five thousand dollars a year official to regulate it. It is better than any dollar nowadays, always worth 100 per cent in gold instead of 61 cents, as is our government kind. The reason is, God rules it, instead of a mere man with any combination of the alphabet you can make.

It is the same with my improved hazel-filberts which grow tall and rank and bend down to the ground with their branches heavily laden with large, well-filled nuts.

My Thomas black walnuts are doing well, as also my Sier's hybrid hickories; both are perfectly hardy but not bearing this year as it is the off year for them. The butternut and hazel-filberts have never an off year but, like the "brook," go on forever. My English walnuts with some protection passed the winter in perfect safety. But the almonds, though protected as well, fared very poorly, showing that they are not near so hardy as the former.

The other kinds of nut trees that I have mentioned, even to the pecan, withstood the rigors of the winter with no protection whatever.

My true filberts fared rather poorly but are coming up lustily from below the snow line and will, I think, be as good as ever if the past winter does not repeat itself.

What does this all mean? It means that we should plant more nut trees instead of so many fruit trees, especially the apple, which has proven more liable to cold injury than even the pear, if we would have any of the delectable valuable products of the tree kind. Why, just think of it, a few nut trees planted around every home in the country would do more to relieve the present depression than all the other agencies and remedies put together. Frost does not impair their fruit. Nuts will keep through the year or longer. Insects do not injure them as they do the soft, unprotected fruits. Squirrels may take their toll but they are far easier to destroy than a bug. To hunt them is grand sport for young people, whereas to chase a bug is no fun at all.

The workman, the professional man, the merchant, should especially raise them as they would take no time from their business. Their children would think it no work at all to gather them, that is if they were like the children of my youth who looked forward to gathering nuts as one of the pleasantest pastimes of the year.

If all our city parks, public squares, playgrounds, roadsides, waste places and other like areas were planted with them, all children even to the poorest could have a sufficiency of the healthiest food that would build up their bodies into strong healthy adults who could go out into the country and build it up again as it was years ago, instead of the vast, desolate region it is now.

What makes children so puny and so unwilling to do any real work today? It is because emigration from nut-eating countries being shut off, and our native nut trees cut down or uncared for, there is nothing to keep up the supply of the best food for the body today. The remedy is to raise more nuts so the children and adults as well can again be fed on the most valuable, healthy and strength-giving food God ever made.

Then, too, crime would be greatly reduced, especially of the juvenile kind. The spare time of our youth would be taken up for about three months in a year with a clean, pure, pleasant, agreeable occupation instead of searching for mischief and quasi-vicious adventures. Have no juvenile crime and the adult crime is reduced to a minimum, or obliterated entirely.

God started man on a nut eating diet and kept him thereon for centuries. As long as he stuck to it he was all right. We do not hear much about that era, for happy is the nation that has no history. Then he had no diseases to speak of except extreme old age, no wars and hardly any troubles. But when, in the Garden of Eden, the Devil tempted him to switch off onto some other diet, he has been wrong ever since. So then, let us return to our old diet as far as possible and have something of an Eden again about us today.

Perhaps you people of Michigan would like to know what my town of Fair Haven is. It gave you James Witherell who, while congressman from Vermont, resigned to accept the supreme judgeship of the great territory of Michigan. In the war of 1812 he had command of the troops thereof and, when ordered by the cowardly General Hull to surrender them to the British, absolutely refused. After that war he laid out anew the war stricken city of Detroit.

His grandson, Thomas Witherell Palmer, the son of a native born Fair Haven girl, became your United States Senator, Minister to Spain and, in 1893, President of the World Fair commission at Chicago. He gave to Detroit that large and beautiful park named after him.

So you see Henry Ford is not the whole architect of that great city, as good Vermont blood had to relay its foundations and get it well under way for that great auto magnate to make it the fourth city in the Union.

A Roll Call of the Nuts

_By_ DR. W. C. DEMING

_Connecticut_

In the report of the proceedings at the eighth annual meeting of this association, held at Stamford, Conn., September 5 and 6, 1917, is an address by the Vice President, Prof. W. N. Hutt of North Carolina, entitled "Reasons for Our Limited Knowledge as to What Varieties of Nut Trees to Plant." I quote from that address:

"In 1847 the American Pomological Society was formed as a national
clearing house of horticultural ideas. The first work the society
undertook was to determine the varieties of the different classes
of fruits suitable for planting in different sections of the
country. Patrick Barry of Rochester, one of the pioneers of
American horticulture, was for years the chairman of the committee
on varietal adaptation and did an immense amount of work on that
line. At the meetings of the society he went alphabetically over
the variety lists of fruits and called for reports on each one from
growers all over the country. This practice was kept up for years
and the resulting data were collected and compiled in the society's
reports. A similar systematic roll call of classes and varieties of
nuts grown by the members of this association would be of immense
value to intending planters of nut trees. In northern nut growing,
however, it may be questioned if we have yet arrived at the Patrick
Barry stage."

These were the words of Prof. Hutt in 1917, seventeen years ago. I believe that nut growing has now arrived at the Patrick Barry stage. It seems right, therefore, that we should begin to have an annual roll call of the nuts. To this end I have prepared a list of nuts of the different genera, species and varieties grown in the northeastern United States. This list is long but by no means complete and this, by the nature of things, it can never be. It is evident that there will not be time enough to go over more than a small part of this list. It is, therefore, proposed to have the list mimeographed and sent to all members for their reports. Members are asked particularly to add to the list the names and performances of any varieties not listed of which they may have knowledge. In this way we shall soon be able to make our lists as nearly complete as possible.

In order to reduce bulk and expense it will be necessary to print the names in compact form. It is suggested that the lists be kept for reference and that any report be made on a separate sheet under the proper heading. I will go as far in it now as you want me to. As I call the names of the nuts on this list I will ask the members present to report, as briefly as possible, any knowledge they may have as to the performance of each nut, such as the earliness of its fruiting, size and regularity of crops, growth and vigor of tree and character of nuts.

HICKORIES

THE ANTHONY:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE BARNES (Shag. x Mock.):

Dr. MacDaniels: There are some at Itaca which bear.

Dr. Deming: This is undoubtedly a Shagbark--mockernut hybrid. It is entirely at home when grafted on the mockernut. This makes it of value for there are few of our named hickories that will do well when grafted on the mockernut. In 1933 I top-worked a mockernut with ten grafts of the Barnes. In 1934 it bore 30 fine nuts. It appears to be an excellent nut. There are three other nuts that I know do well on the mockernut. One is the Wampler from Indiana introduced by W. C. Reed. Another is the Minnie raised by Mr. S. W. Snyder. The fourth nut is the Gobble. The Barnes is mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 23, 1932 proceedings. Carl Weschcke has it growing at River Falls, Wis.

THE BATES (pecan x Mock.):

Mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 23, 1932.

THE BEAM:

See Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE BEAVER (Shag. x Bitter.):

Dr. Deming: It grows rapidly. The nuts are not of very good quality, like most bitternut hybrids.

The Beaver is growing in the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek and is mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 19, 1932. Carl Weschcke has it growing at River Falls, Wis. E. C. Rice, Absher, Ky., has one one-year graft on bitternut, height 5 feet. J. H. Gage, Hamilton, Ont., has one Beaver tree planted in 1924 and moved in 1925 growing in light sandy soil on north shore at west end Lake Ontario. Diameter of the trunk is about three inches, tree fifteen feet high, bore first time in 1934. It is growing at the Riehl Farm, Godfrey, Ill., and in the Jones Nursery, Lancaster, Pa.

THE BEAM:

Is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE BILLAU:

Is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE BONTRAGER (Shag.):

Won third prize in 1929 contest, page 53, 1931. Tree owned by John D. Bontrager, Middlebury, Ind.

THE BROOKS (Shag.):

Is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. It won ninth prize in 1929 contest, page 53, 1931, to Mrs. John Brooks, Ottumwa, Iowa. Carl Weschcke has it growing at River Falls, Wis.

THE BURLINGTON (Pecan x shell.):

Dr. Deming: The true name of the nut we call Marquardt. The Michigan Nut Nursery have trees bearing.

Miss Jones: A characteristic of all shellbark x pecan hybrids is that they don't fill well.

Mr. Corsan: Are they in exceedingly rich soil or just ordinary? I find that nuts respond to rich soil.

Miss Jones: They are in ordinary soil.

Dr. MacDaniels: We have two trees at Ithaca about ten years old which have borne but the nuts have not filled very well.

Dr. Deming: Is the Burlington worth growing? Does it fill so badly that it is not a success?

Miss Jones: The kernel fills out about three-fourths of the way. It fills better than the McCallister.

Mr. Corsan: I have never seen such a fine nut in my life.

Mr. Wilkinson: It is a good hybrid and a wonderful bearer.

Dr. Deming: Every year?

Mr. Wilkinson: Yes, and matures unusually early.

The Burlington is in the Riehl plantings at Godfrey, Ill. It is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. Carl Weschcke has young trees growing at River Falls, Wis. Sargeant H. Wellman has some young trees at Topsfield, Mass. F. H. Frey has young tree in yard at Chicago, but it has not borne nuts as yet. Foliage is beautiful, leaves being rather broad but some kind of blight seems to turn them dark and they curl up about middle of the summer.

J. W. Hershey: Of the hybrid hickories the Burlington should be eliminated from the list and a great many others of the hickories should be thrown out as rapidly as possible.

THE BURTON (pecan x shell.):

Mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 20, 1932. It is growing in Riehl plantings at Godfrey, Ill., and on Kellogg farm, Michigan.

THE CALDWELL:

It is growing in the Riehl plantings at Godfrey, Ill.

THE CASPER:

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. Parent tree in Illinois.

THE CEDAR RAPIDS:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report, also Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. It is growing on the Riehl farm at Godfrey, Ill., the Kellogg farm at Battle Creek, Mich., and in the Carl Weschcke plantings at River Falls, Wis.

THE CLARK (shag.):

See Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and Mr. Reed's in 1931 report.

This hickory is growing on the Carl Weschcke place at River Falls, Wis., and in Sargeant H. Wellman's nut orchard at Topsfield, Mass.

THE COMINS:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE COOK (shag.):

See Mr. Reed's paper in 1931 report.

THE CREAGER:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report. This hickory is growing in the Kellogg farm plantings at Battle Creek, Mich.

THE DENNIS (shag.):

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report and Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. This hickory is growing in the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., and in Carl Weschcke nut orchard at River Falls, Wis. W. R. Fickes, Wooster, Ohio, reports the Dennis promises to be a heavy, early bearer of fairly good quality.

THE DES MOINES (pecan x shell.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and by Dr. Zimmerman, page 20, 1932. Is growing in the Riehl and Kellogg farms plantings.

THE DREW (shag.):

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report and his paper in 1931 report.

THE EDABURN:

Mentioned by Mr. Bixby in his paper in 1926 report. Carl Weschcke has it growing in his orchard at River Falls, Wis.

THE EMERICK:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE EUREKA (shell.):

See Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE EVERSMAN (shell.):

See Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE FAIRBANKS (shag. x bitter.):

Mr. Corsan: I had eleven nuts on my tree last year. They are very small trees.

Dr. Neilson: A Fairbanks grafted on a pignut in the spring of 1931 at the Kellogg estate has quite a few nuts on it this season.

Miss Jones: They bear well and regularly.

Dr. Deming: Yes, they do at my place, too.

Mr. Corsan: What kind of a flavor has it?

Dr. Deming: It is bitter when you keep it but not when fresh.

Mr. Snyder: Don't judge them by one nut. They get better as you eat them. The more you eat the better you like them.

Miss Jones: People that try them at our place don't notice much difference between those hybrids and the shellbarks. I give them to people any time during the winter, and they don't notice the difference.

Mr. Reed: Mr. Bixby said at one of the conventions that the Fairbanks was a good grower, easy to propagate, bore well, not so good as to size, thin shelled and had all the desirable characteristics of a good nut except that it wasn't good to eat.

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report and Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. The Fairbanks is mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 19, 1932. It is growing in the Riehl orchard at Godfrey, Ill., the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., in the Carl Weschcke orchard at River Falls, Wis., and in the E. C. Rice plantings at Absher, Ky. Sargeant H. Wellman has some young Fairbanks trees at Topsfield, Mass. Mr. W. R. Fickes reports it is a very poor quality hickory at Wooster, Ohio, but may be valuable for double working.

THE FLUHR (shag. x shell.):

Awarded seventh prize in 1929 contest, page 53, 1931 report, to Edgar Fluhr, Kiel, Wis.

THE FREEL (shag.):

Entered in 1929 contest by Mrs. E. W. Freel, Pleasantville, Iowa.

THE FROMAN (shag.):

Awarded ninth prize in 1929 contest to Arlie W. Froman, Bacon, Ind.

THE GALLOWAY:

H. R. Weber: I notice the Galloway is not listed among the hickory hybrids. The parent tree is growing in Hamilton County, Ohio, and, is supposed to be a pecan x bitternut hybrid.

THE GERARDI (pecan x shell.):

A Member: It is like the Nussbaumer.

This hybrid is mentioned in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 20, 1932. Also see description by Joseph Gerardi, page 45, 1932 report. It is growing in the Riehl plantings at Godfrey, Ill., and the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich.

THE GISSEL:

It is growing in the Riehl plantings at Godfrey, Ill., and in orchard of Carl Weschcke at River Falls, Wis.

THE GLOVER (shag.):

It is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and Mr. Reed's paper in 1931 report. It is growing in the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., the Carl Weschcke orchard at River Falls, Wis., and the Sargeant H. Wellman orchard at Topsfield, Mass. E. C. Rice, Absher, Ky., has two-year grafts on shellbark and bitternut stocks. It seems to do better on the shellbark stocks.

THE GOBBLE (shag.):

Mentioned on page 54, 1931 report. Tree owned by William Gobble, Holsten, Va.

THE GOHEEN (shag.):

Awarded sixth prize in 1929 contest to Mrs. Hamill Goheen, Pennsylvania Furnace, Penna. Sargeant H. Wellman has young trees growing at Topsfield, Mass.

THE GREEN:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE GREENBAY (pecan x shell.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 20, 1932.

THE GRIFFIN:

Mr. Bixby, page 15, 1928, report, states it is an early bearer. Dr. J. Russell Smith, Swarthmore, Pa., reports the Griffin is precocious when grafted on pecan but cracking test by Mr. C. A. Reed shows it to have a very low cracking value.

THE GRUPE:

Is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. It is growing in the Jones Nursery at Lancaster, Pa.

THE HAGEN (shag. x shell.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. It was awarded ninth prize in 1929 contest. Parent tree owned by Mrs. C. E. Hagen, Guttenberg, Iowa. It is growing in the Snyder Bros.' plantings at Center Point, Iowa, the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., and in the Carl Weschcke orchard at River Falls, Wis.

THE HALES (shag.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE HAND:

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. It is growing in the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., and in the orchard of Carl Weschcke at River Falls., Wis.

THE HILL (shell.):

Introduced by S. W. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa, and mentioned by Mr. Bixby in his paper in 1926 report.

THE HUBER:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE HUFF:

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE IOWA (shell.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE KELSEY:

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report. Carl Weschcke has it growing in his orchard at River Falls, Wis.

THE KENTUCKY (shag. x mock.):

Dr. Deming: This is said to be a shagbark x mockernut hybrid but I see no reason for the belief. It is a vigorous grower. One year my trees were liberally sprinkled with nuts. I know that they bear from year to year, but the squirrels get the nuts. I think it is a shy bearer.

Dr. Zimmerman: It bears regularly at my place but at Mr. Littlepage's it isn't bearing.

This hickory is mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and in Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 23, 1932.

THE KIRTLAND (shag.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and in Mr. Reed's paper in 1931 report. It is growing in the Jones Nursery at Lancaster, Pa., and in the orchards of Carl Weschcke, River Falls, Wis., and of Sargeant H. Wellman at Topsfield, Mass.

THE LAKE (shag.):

Awarded first prize in 1929 contest to Mrs. C. Lake, New Haven, Ind., R. R. 1.

THE LEONARD (shell.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

THE LANEY (shag. x bitter.):

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report and Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report.

Dr. Deming: I have never known them to bear anything yet at my place in Connecticut.

Dr. Zimmerman: They haven't borne at my place, either.

See Dr. Zimmerman's report, page 19, 1932. The Laney hickory is growing in the Jones Nursery at Lancaster, Pa., the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich., and the Carl Weschcke orchard at River Falls, Wis.

THE LINGENFELTER (shag.):

Mentioned in Mr. Reed's paper in 1931 report. It is growing in the Kellogg plantings at Battle Creek, Mich.

THE MANAHAN (shag.):

Mentioned in Mr. Bixby's paper in 1926 report and in Mr. Reed's paper in 1931 report. It is growing in the Riehl orchard at Godfrey, Ill., and the Carl Weschcke orchard at River Falls, Wis.

THE MANN (of Michigan shag.):

See Mr. Reed's paper in this report.

THE MANN (of Ohio, shag. x shell.): Awarded ninth prize in 1929 contest to Howard Mann, Delta, Ohio.