NORTHERN NUT GROWH"' ASSfSeiATION REPORT OF THE PR0CEI5DINGS AT THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAI. MEET J , ,-/• 1,' ROGHE^ER, NEW YOM SEPTEMBER 7, -8 and 9, NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING ROCHESTER, NEW YORK September 7, 8 and 9, 1922 CONTENTS Officers and Committees of the Association 4 State Vice-Presidents 5 Members of the Association 7 Constitution 15 By-Laws 16 Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Convention 17 President's Address 20 Dr. Waher Van Fleet, Biography of 23 Chestnut Blight, Letter from G. F. Gravatt 27 Manchurian Walnut Industry, Letter from C. A. Reed 28 Report of the Treasurer 32 Almond Possibilities in the Eastern States, R. H. Taylor 43 Opportunities for a Woman in Nut Culture, Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger 46 The Plane and Screw in Grafting, Dr. R. T. Morris 48 Nut Growing in the South, Address by J. M. Patterson 53 The Blight-proof Filbert, Conrad Vollertsen 61 Nut Culture in Canada, J. A. Neilson 69 The Experimental Nut Orchard, W. G. Bixby 80 Pioneer Experience and Outlook, Dr. R. T. Morris 85 Tree Planting Ceremonies at Highland Park 108 Nuts the Source of Proteins and Fats, Dr. J. H. Kellogg 112 Chinese Nuts, Walnuts, P. W. Wang 120 Resolution on the Death of Dr. Walter Van Fleet 122 Resolution on the Death of Coleman K. Sober 123 Attendance and Exhibits 126 President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION James S. McGlennon Rochester, New York J. F. Jones Lancaster, Pennsylvania William C. Deming 983 Main Street, Hartford, Ct. WiLLARD G. BixBY Baldwin, Nassau Co., New York COMMITTEES Auditing — C. P. Close, C. A. Reed Executive — J. Russell Smith, W. S. Linton and the Officers Finance — T. P. Littlepage, Willard G. Bixby, W. C. Deming Hybrids — R. T. Morris, C. P. Close, W. G. Bixby, Howard Spence Membership — 'James S. McGlennon, H. R. Weber, R. T. Olcott, W. G. Bixby, W. C. Deming, J. A. Neilson, H. D. Spencer, J. A. Smith Nomenclature — C. A. Reed, R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones Press and Publication— R. T. Olcott, W. G. Bixby, W. C. Deming Programme — James S. McGlennon, W. C. Deming, R. T. Olcott, C. A. Reed, R. T. Morris, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson Promising Seedlings— C. A. Reed, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS Alabama H. M. Robertson 2026 1st Ave., Birmingham Arizona Fred W. Heyne Douglas Arkansas Prof. N. F. Drake University of Arkansas, Fayetteville California T. C. Tucker 311 California St., San Francisco Canada James A. Neilson Guelph China P. W. Wang Kinsan Arboretum Chuking Kiangsu Province Colorado C. L. Cudebec Boulder, Box 233 Connecticut Ernest M. Ives Sterling Orchards, Meriden Dist. of Columbia B. G. Foster 902 G. St., Washington England Howard Spence Eskdale Knutsford Cheshire Georgia J. M. Patterson Putney Illinois Henry D. Spencer Decatur Indiana J. F. Wilkinson Rockport Iowa D. C. Snyder Center Point Kansas James Sharp Council Grove Kentucky Frank M. Livengood Berea Maine Alice D. Leavitt 79 High St., Bridgton Maryland P. J. O'Connor Bowie Massachusetts C. Leroy Cleaver 496 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Michigan Dr. J. H. Kellogg Battle Creek Mississippi Theodore Bechtel Ocean Springs Missouri P. C. Stark Louisiana Nebraska William Caha Wahoo Nevada C. G. Swingle Hazen New Hampshire Henry B. Stevens Durham New Jersey C. S. Ridgway Lumberton New York Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger 510 E. Ave., Rochester North Carolina C. W. Matthews N. C. Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh Ohio Harry R. Weber 123 E. 6th St., Cincinnati Oklahoma Dr. C. E. Beitman Skedee Oregon Knight Pearcy Salem, R. F. D. No. 3, Box 187 Pennsylvania F. N. Fagan State College South Carolina Prof. A. G. Shanklin Clemson College Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin J. W. Waite • J. H. Burkett Joseph A. Smith F. C. Holbrook W. N. Roper Richard H. Turk, Fred E. Brooks Dr. G. W. Patchen Normandy Clyde Edgewood Hall, Providence Brattleboro Petersburg Washougal French Creek Manitowoc MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION Alabama Robertson, H. M., 2026 1st Ave., Birmingham Arizona Heyne, Fred W., Douglas Arkansas *Drake, Prof. N. F., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Dunn, D. K., Wynne California Cajori, F. A., 1220 Byron St., Palo Alto Cress, B. E., Tehachapi Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco Tucker, T. C, 311 California St., San Francisco Canada Bell, Alex, Milliken, Ontario Corcoran, William, Port Dalhousie, Box 26, Ontario Corsan, G. H., Address 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. Corsan, Mrs. G. H., Address 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. Haight, P. N., St. Thomas Neilson, Jas. A., Guelph, Ontario China *Kinsan Arboretum, Lang Terrace, No. Szechuen Rd., Shanghai P. W. Wang, Sec'y. Colorado Bennett, L. E. Cory Butterbaugh, Dr. W. S., Engleburg, Las Animas Co. (via Trinidad) Cudebec, C. L., Boulder, Box 233 Hartman, Richard, Kremmling Connecticut Barrows, Paul M., Stamford, R. F. D. No. 30 Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford Benedict, Samuel L., 98 So. Main St., So. Norwalk Bielefield, F. J., South Farms, Middletown Bradley, Smith T., Grand Ave., New Haven Craig, Joseph A., 783 Washington Ave., West Haven Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Alain St., Hartford Deming, Mrs. William, Litchfield Glover, James L., Shelton, R. F. D., No. 7 Gotthold, Mrs. Frederick, Wilton Hardon, Mrs. Henry, Wilton 8 Hilliard, H. J., Sound View Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. F. D. No. 2, Box 76 Ives, E. M., Sterling Orchards, Meriden Leroy, Peter, 1363 Main St., Hartford Lewis, Henry Leroy, 1822 Main St., Stratford Morris, Dr. R. T., Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95 Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Albert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol Southworth, George E., Milford, Box 172 Staunton, Gray, 320 Howard Ave., New Haven White, Gerrard, North Granby District of Columbia Beatty, Dr. Wilbur M. L., 4027 Georgia Ave. Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Dept. of Agriculture Foster, B. G., 902 G St., N. W. *Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Bldg. Reed, C. A., Dept. of Agriculture England Spence, Howard, Eskdale, Knutsford, Cheshire Georgia Bullard, Wm. P., Albany Killian, C. M., Valdosta Parrish, John S., Cornelia, Ga. Box 57 Patterson, J. M., Putney Perry, A. S., Cuthbert Steele, R. C, Lakemont, Rabun Co. Wight, J. B., Cairo Illinois Brown, Roy W., Spring Valley Buckman, Benj., Farmingdale Buxton, T. C, Stine Bldg., Decatur Casper, O. H., Anna Clough, W. A., 929 Monadnoch Bldg., Chicago Falrath, David, 259 N. College St., Decatur Heide, John F. H., 500 Oakwood Blvd., Chicago Illinois, University of, Urbana Marsh, Mrs. W. V., Aledo Mosnat, H. R., 7237 Yale Ave., Chicago Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion Powers, Frank S., 595 Powers Lane, Decatur Rickelman, Harry J., Weed Bldg., Effingham Riehl, E. A., Godfrey, Route 2 Shaw, James B., Champaign, Box 644 Spencer, Henry D., Decatur Sundstrand, Mrs. G. D., 916 Garfield Ave., Rockford 9 Swisher, S. L., Mulkeytown Wells, Oscar, Farina White, W. Elmer, 175 Park Place, Decatur Indiana Clayton, C. L., Owensville Grain, Donald J., 1313 North St., Logansport Jackson, Francis M., 122 N. Main St., South Bend Redmon, Felix, Rockport, R. R. 2, Box 32 Reed, W. C, Vincennes Rowell, Mrs. Geo. P., 219 N. 5 St., Goshen Simpson, H. D., Vincennes Staderman, A. L., 120 So. 7 St., Terre Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport Iowa Bricker, C. W., Ladora Finnell, J. F. C., Hamburg Pfeiffer, W. F., Fayette Skromme, L. J., Roland (Skromme Seed Co.) Snyder, D. C, Center Point Snyder, S. W., Center Point Kansas Bishop, S. L., Conway Springs Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Sharpe, James, Council Grove Kentucky Baker, Sam C, Beaver Dam, R. F. D. No. 2 Livengood, Frank M., Berea Maine Leavitt, Mrs. Alice D., 79 High St., Brighton Maryland Auchter, E. C, Md. State College of Agri. College Park Keenan, Dr. John F., Brentwood Littlepage, Miss Louise, Bowie O'Connor, P. J., Bowie Massachusetts *Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Boston Cleaver, C. Leroy, Hingham Centre Jackson, Arthur H., 63 Fayerweather St., Cambridge Johnstone, Edward O., North Carver Mass. Agri. College, Library of, Amherst Scudder, Dr. Charles L., 209 Beacon St., Boston 10 Michigan Beck, J. P., 25 James, Saginaw Charles, Dr. Elmer, Pontiac Cross, John L., 104 Division St., Bangor Graves, Henry B., 2134 Dime Bank Bldg., Detroit Guild, Stacy R., 562 So. 7th St., Ann Arbor Hartig, G. F., Bridgeman, R. F. D. No. 1 tlouse, George W., Ford Bldg., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek *Linton, W. S., Saginaw Mac Nab, Dr. Alex B., Cassopolis McKale, H. B., Lansing, Route 6 Olson, A. E., Holton Penney, Senator Harvey A., 425 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Smith, Edward J., 85 So. Union St., Battle Creek Mississippi Bechtel, Theo., Ocean Spring Missouri Crosby, Miss Jessie M., 4241 Harrison St., Kansas City Hazen, Josiah J., Neosho Nurseries Co., Neosho Rhodes, J. I., 224 Maple St., Neosho Spellen, Howard P., 4505a W. Papin St., St. Louis Stark, P. C, Louisiana Nebraska Caha, William, Wahoo Thomas, Dr. W. A., Lincoln, R. R. No. 3 Nevada Swingle, C. G., Hazen New Hampshire Stevens, Henry B., N. H. College of Agriculture, Durham New Jersey Brown, Jacob E., Elmer, Salem Co. Franck, M., Box 89, Franklin *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V., Cranbnry, R. D. No. 2 Marshall, S. L., Vineland Marston, Edwin S., Florham Park, Box 72 Phillips, Irving S., 501 IMadison St., West New York Price, John R., 36 Ridgedale Ave., Madison Ridgway, C. S., Lumberton Salvage, VJ. K., Farmingdale Stover, Evan W., Riverton Westcoat, Wilmer, 230 Knight Ave., Collingswood 11 New York Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Adams, Sidney I., 418 Powers Bldg., Rochester Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Babcock, H. J., Lockport Bennett, Howard S., 851 Joseph Ave., Rochester Bethea, J. G., 243 Rutgers St., Rochester Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin, Nassau Co. Borchers, H. Chas., Wenga Farm, Armonk Brown, Ancel J., 418 W. 2.5th St., N. Y. C. Brown, Ronald K., 320 B'way, N. Y. C. Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Clark, George H., 131 State St., Rochester Coriell, A. S., 120 Broadway, N. Y. C. Crane, Alfred J., Monroe Culver, M. L., 238 Alilburn St., Rochester Diprose, Alfred H., 468 Clinton Ave., South, Rochester Dunbar, John, Dep't. of Parks, Rochester Ellwanger, Airs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Ford, Geo. G., 129 Dartmouth St., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stuart, Bklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Gilgan, Pat'k. H., 358 Lake Ave., Rochester Gillett, Dr. Henry W., 140 W. 57th St., N. Y. C. Goeltz, Mrs. M. H., 2524 Creston Ave., N. Y. C. Graham, S. H., Ithaca, R. D. No. 5 Haggerty, Susanne, 490 Oxford St., Rochester Hall, L. W. Jr., 509 Cutler Bldg., Rochester (L. W. Hall Co.) Harper, George W. Jr., 115 B'way, N. Y. C. Hart, Frank E., Landing Road, Brighton Haskill, Mrs. L. M., 56 Oxford St., Rochester Haws, Elwood D., Public Market, Rochester Henshall, H., 5 W. 125th St., N. Y. C. Hoag, Henry S., Delhi Hodge, James, 199 Kingsbridge Rd. W., Kingsbridge, N. Y. C. Hodgson, Casper W., Yonkers, (World Book Co.) Hoffman, Arthur S., 36 Church St., White Plains ♦Huntington, A. M., 15 W. 81st St., N. Y. C. Jewett, Edmund G., 16 S. Elliott Place, Brooklyn Johnston, Harriet M. B., 15th St. & 4th Ave., N. Y. C. Kains, M. G., Pomona Lattin, Dr. H. W., Albion Lauth, John C, 67 Tyler St., Rochester Liveright, Frank I., 120 W. 70th St., N. Y. C. Mac Daniel, S. H., Dept. of Pomology, N. Y. State College of Agri- culture, Ithaca Masseth, Rev. John E., Dansville Mayer, Norman, 30 Avenue "A", Rochester McGlennon, J. S., 28 Cutler Bldg., Rochester 12 McGlennon, Norma, 166 N. Goodman St., Rochester Meyers, Charles, 316 Adelphi St., Brooklyn Motondo, Grant F., 198 Monroe Ave., Rochester Nolan, Mrs. C. R., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Nolan, M. J., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Olcott, Ralph T., Ellvvanger & Barry Bldg., Rochester Piehler, Alois, 706 Commerce Bldg., Rochester Pirrung, Miss L. M., 779 East Ave., Rochester Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Rawnsley, Mrs. Annie, 242 Linden St., Rochester Rawnsley, James B., 242 Linden St., Rochester Richardson, J. M., 2 Columbus Circle, N. Y. C. Ritvhir, John W., 2 A. Beach St., Yonkers Ryder, Clayton, Carmel Schroeder, E. A., 223 East Ave., Rochester Shutt, Erwin E., 509 Plymouth Ave., Rochester Smith, Louis R., 145 Merrimac St., Rochester Snyder, Leroy E., 241 Barrington St., Rochester SoUey, Dr. John B., 968 Lexington Ave., N. Y. C. Stephen, John W., Syracuse, N. Y. State College of Forestry Teele, Arthur W., 120 B'way, N. Y. C. Tucker, Arthur R., Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Tucker, Mrs. G. B., 110 Harvard St., Rochester Tucker, Geo. B., 110 Harvard St., Rochester \'ick, C. A., 142 Harvard St., Rochester Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester Waller, Percy, 284 Court St., Rochester Whitney, Arthur C, 9 Manila St., Rochester Whitney, Leon F., 65 Barclay St., New York City Wile, M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester Williams, Dr. Chas. Mallory, 4 W. 50 St., New York City *Wissmann, ISfrs. F. de R., Westchester, New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora North Carolina Hutchings, Miss L. G., Pine Bluff Matthews, C. W., North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh \'an Lindley, J., J. Van Lindley Nursery Co., Pomona Ohio Burton, J. Howard, Casstown Dayton, J. H., Storrs & Harrison, Painesville Fickes, W. R., Wooster, R. No. 6 Jackson, A. V., 3275 Linwood Rd., Cincinnati Ketchum, C. S., Middlefield, Box 981 Pomerene, Julius, 1949 East 116 St., Cleveland Ramsey, John, 1803 Freeman Ave., Cincinnati Truman, G. G., Perrysville, Box 167 13 *Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6 St., Cincinnati Yunck, Edward G., 706 Central Ave., Sandusky Oklahoma Beitmen, Dr. C. E., Skedee Oregon Frost, Earl C, Route 1, Box 515, Gates Rd., Portland Marvin, Cornelia, Librarian, Oregon State Library, Salem Nelson, W. W., R. No. 3, Box 652, Portland Pearcy, Knight, 210 Oregon Bldg., Salem Pennsylvania Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St., Reading Balthaser, James M., Wernersville, Berks Co. Bohn, Dr. H. W., 34 No. 9 St., Reading Bolton, Chas. G., Zieglerville, Pa. Bomberger, John S., Lebanon, R. F. D. No. 1 Chapin, Irvin, Shickshinny Clark, D. F., 147 N. 13 St., Harrisburg Druckemiller, W. H., 31 No. 4th St., Sunbury Ewing, Chas. A., Steelton Fagan, Prof. F. N., State College Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Heffner, H., Leeper Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Hoopes, Edwin A., Pocono Manor, Monroe Co. Horst, John D., Reading Irwin, Ernest C, 66 St. Nicholas Bldg., Pittsburg Jenkins, Charles Francis, Farm Journal, Philadelphia *Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527 Kaufman, M. M., Clarion Leas, F. C, Merion Station Mellor, Alfred, 152 W. Walnut Lane, Germantown, Philadelphia Minick, C. G., Ridgway Murphy, P. J., Vice Pres. L. & W. R. R. Co., Scranton Myers, J. Everitt, York Springs, R. D. No. 3 Negley, C. H., Greencastle, R. D. No. 2 Patterson, J. E., 77 North Franklin St., Wilkes Barre *Rick, John, 438 Penn. Sq. Reading Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Lorane Robinson, W. L, Fort Loudon Rose, William J., 413 Market St., Harrisburg, "Personal" Rush, J. G., West Willow Russell, Dr. Andrew L., 729 Wabash Bldg., Pittsburgh Shoemaker, H. C, 1739 Main St., Northampton Smedley, Samuel L., Newtown Sq., R. F. D. No. 1 14 Smedley, Mrs. Samuel L., Newtown Sq., R. F. D. No. 1 Smith, Dr. J. Russell, Swarthmore Spencer, L. N., 216 East New St., Lancaster Taylor, Loundes, West Chester, Box 3, Route 1 Walther, R. G., Willow Grove, Doylestown Pike Weaver, Wm. S., Macungie Whitner, Harry D., Reading Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion *Wister, John C, Clarkson & Wister Strs., Germantown Wolf, D. D., 527 Vine St., Philadelphia South Carolina Kendall, Dr. F. D., 1317 Hampton Ave., Columbia Shanklin, Prof. A. G., Clemson College Taylor, Thos., 1112 Bull St., Columbia Tennessee Waite, J. W., Normandy Utah Smith, Joseph A., Edgewood Hall, Providence Vermont Aldrich, A. W., Springfield, R. F. D., No. 3 Holbrook, F. C, Brattleboro Virginia fDodge, Harrison H., Mount Vernon Harris, D. C, Capital Landing Rd., Williamsburg Hopkins, N. S., Dixondale Jordan, J. H., Bohannon Roper, W. N., Petersburg Washington Baines, William, Okanogan Turk, Richard H., Washougal West Virginia Brooks, Fred E., French Creek Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Charleston, Box 693 Hartzel, B. F., Shepherdstown Mish, A. F., Inwood Wisconsin Lang, Robert B., Racine, Box 103 Patchen, Dr. G. W., Manitowoc fHonorary member *Life member 15 CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association. Article II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Article V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the follow- ing year. Article VI Meetings. — The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee Article VII Quorum. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each mem- ber thirty days before the date of the annual meeting. 16 BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows: On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on membership may make recommenda- tions to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay two dollars annually, or three dollars and twenty-five cents, including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay five dollars annually, this micmbership including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further dues. Honorary members shall be exempt from dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the Association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new member and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present at any annual meeting. PROCEEDINGS at the THIRTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION Rochester. N. Y.. September 7, 8 and 9, 1922 The convention was called to order at 9 :40 A. M., Thursday, September 7, 1922, by the President, Mr. James S. McGlennon, of Rochester, New York, at the Osburn House, Rochester, N. Y. The President : This is the thirteenth annual convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association. We have been favored by Rev. Dr. Cushman in consenting to give the invocation. Invocation by Rev. Ralph S. Cushman. The President : I believe I voice the sentiment of all present in saying that we are grateful to Dr. Cushman for his prayer and I personally extend to him my sincere thanks and on behalf of the association. I have the great honor and the rare privilege of introducing to you our Mayor. He has very kindly consented to come here and make an address of welcome to this association. Mayor Van Zandt: Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen, members of the Nut Growers' Association : Your President has said I was going to make an address ; I never did such a thing in my life. I am glad to welcome you to the city of Rochester; I hope your meeting will be profitable and so pleasant that you will want to come again. I believe there are very few people in Rochester who know anything about nut growing. We have a splendid exhibit here from our parks and one that I am very proud of and we have a man here, Mr. Dunbar, that we are very proud of; he is a wonder; I confess that I didn't know there were so many nuts to be found in the parks myself — that is no joke. It is a wonderful thing, it is a revelation to me, I never dreamed that you could find such things growing around this part of the country at all. I fancy that most people don't know anything about nuts at all, except the five-cent bag of peanuts. I certainly wish you success in every way and particularly with reference to the plantation that I understand has been started here close to Rochester where they are doing some wonderful work. Most of us have the idea that nuts are used by people to put on the table for dessert at Christmas time and but little appreciate their true food value. I sincerely trust that you will all come again, that you will have pleasant weather and that you will have time after work to see 18 something of our beautiful city. We think it is the most beautiful one in the country. Thank you. (Applause.) The President : If you can wait just a minute, I am going to ask for a reply to your address of welcome. Mr. Patterson comes from Albany, Georgia, and is probably the biggest producer of pecans in the world. Mr. Patterson is a member of this association and has very kindly consented to come all the way from Georgia to be with us. Mr. Patterson : Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentle- men : I wonder if the President in saying I was the biggest nut grower in the world had any reference to my physical proportions. You have certainly a wonderful exhibit here, Mr. Mayor, of the products of your parks and you have reason to be proud of it, as you have for many other things in the city of Rochester. It has been my privilege to make short visits to the city, my wife having some rela- tives here. I said to my cousin this morning, if there is any place outside of the South where I would rather live, it would be Roches- ter. The nut proposition is in its infancy and we all believe, those of us who are wholly nuts, that it will grow into a giant. We have a little giant in the south in the shape of the paper-shell pecan and we are expecting that this Northern Nut Growers' Association will, within the next few years, develop some varieties of nuts, or discover some varieties of nuts, that are adapted to this northern climate and will do for the northern states, the northern, eastern and western, what the pecan is promising to do and really is doing for the South. While not a native of the South I think I may extend the cordial greeting of the South to you in the North. There was a time when a north- erner like myself who moved into the South had just one name and that was a " damned Yankee ", and a good many people through the South thought that was one word, but that time has passed and they are welcoming in the South today the northerner who comes with an honest purpose of helping develop that wonderful country. The day of bitterness is fast passing away, so I bring to you not only the greetings of the southern nut growers, but of the South and I bring to the Mayor, and through the Mayor to the citizens of this beautiful city, the greetings of the membership of this association. (Ap- plause.) The President : I am very grateful to you for your consider- ation of my impromptu request. The Mayor : I will promise to give an order to the policemen to crack no nuts while the nut growers' association is in town. As to the 18th amendment, I think that nuts are about the only vegetable that I know of that they are not making hootch out of at the present time. The President : I feel that we have been particularly favored not only in receiving an address of welcome from our Mayor, but also in having with us the President of our Chamber of Commerce, 19 who has kindly consented to come and welcome us also. It gives me distinct pleasure to call upon the president of our Chamber of Com- merce, Mr, James W. Gleason. Mr. Gleason : Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen : On be- half of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, I certainly want you to know that we appreciate the honor and privilege of having this convention held in Rochester. I don't know of a convention that has come to Rochester that should be more welcome on account of the scientific nature of your work and the magnificent aims and pur- poses of your organization in extending the planting of trees and the culture of your product. I know the Mayor has extended to you a welcome for the city but we have one citizen here in Rochester, Mr. George Eastman, of whom we are very proud because of the unself- ish work that he has done, and in the work that you are doing you can appreciate what he is doing in a larger way than is given to most of us to be able to do. This week saw the opening of the famous new five million dollar Eastman Theater, dedicated to the public, and I believe the motto over the door is " For the enlargement of com- munity life ". Now, Mr. Eastman wants the people to consider this theater as their own, and that means you, that means all of us here. He would like to have the people from Rochester and the people from out of town take advantage of this magnificent structure, the wonderful orchestra, probably the finest thing of its kind in the world. I won't make an extended address but I can promise that if you can come to the Chamber of Commerce we will make you all wel- come. Thank you. (Applause.) The President : Mr. Weber of Cincinnati has kindly consented to make a reply to your address. Mr. Weber : Mr. President and Mr. Gleason : We really know each other as old friends, for some years ago we had our convention here and we are very glad to have it in your city again. Such bodies as yours, the Chamber of Commerce, can further the activities of the Northern Nut Growers' Association and what it stands for in the North ; which is demonstrated by the exhibits shown on the table. I see at both ends of the table exhibits that show what can be done in this community in particular in the way of nut growing. Right out behind us there is one of the largest English walnut groves in this part of the country. I think it has 228 trees. The mistake the gen- tleman made who planted them was that he didn't plant grafted trees. Had he planted grafted trees he would have had a gold mine right there on his farm. Mr. Vollertsen, one of your citizens, has begun an industry which in time may become another one for your Chamber of Commerce to look after. We appreciate your very fine exhibits, we are glad to be here with you and thank you for your address of welcome. (Applause.) The President : According to the program the next feature is your president's address. I feel that it is unnecessary for me to even 20 attempt to add anything to what His Honor, the Mayor and President Gleason have said relative to our wonderful city. It is one of the great cities of the world. The Secretary : What is the population of Rochester? The President : Over 300,000. To Members of The Northern Nut Growers' Association : Greetings : Your President recommends that definite action be taken to the end of increasing our membership, to the still further end of exem- plifying the truth of the old saying that "in union there is strength," More members mean the spreading of our gospel over greatly in- creased areas that should be interested in nut culture. The present membership is approximately 250, an increase of only 24 since the Lancaster Convention in October last year. And while it is also an old and true saying that "self praise is no recommendation," the fact remains that 18 of these new members were secured through my office. It has been suggested at previous conventions that a systematic campaign for members can be perfected through organized co-oper- ation by our State Vice-Presidents. I believe this to be the most efficacious medium through which the greatly desired results can be obtained. Of many, I am sure, systems that can be employed to such end there are two that always appeal to me as most desirable. Doubtless you all have thought of them at some time or other; in fact I have heard at previous conventions casual mention of the sec- ond. But the first I have heard little if anything of, and it is that effort should be exerted to interest women more actively in nut cul- ture. We have a few women members. Why shouldn't there be as many women as men? I can think of no reason why there shouldn't. I believe that women are just as competent as men to conduct any feature of nut culture, with the possible exception of specific manual labor. And I can think of no more delightful voca- tion for women who love the great and wonderful outdoors — and where is the woman who does not ? — than nut culture, the cultiva- tion of nut trees and bushes, beautiful things not only for the grace and beauty of trunk and limb, foliage and flower, but for their real substance, their fruit, nuts, one of the most nutritious foods for human beings. More and more nuts are being consumed every day, and I venture to say that their consumption as a leading item in our dietary is only in its infancy. So I feel that here is another opportunity for our women to demonstrate the justice of her recent acquired suffrage in our national affairs. The other possible source of membership I have in mind is a systematic campaign to enlist the interest and co-operation of school teachers. Just think of the possibilities of such a campaign. School teachers, every one, being the high-class people they necessarily are, would respond finely, I'm sure, and serve as a most desirable medium 21 through which that very potent additional force can be reached, namely, the pupil. What parent would refuse a child's request to enable him or her to participate in the planting of a tree ! Recently I cut out the following little poem, by Charles A, Heath, from my old-home-town Canadian paper : THE MAN WHO LIKES A TREE I like a man who likes a tree, He's so much more of a man to me; For when he sees his blessing there. In some way, too, he wants to share Whatever gifts his own may be. In helping others, like a tree. For trees, you know, are friends indeed. They satisfy such human need ; In summer shade, in winter fire. With flower and fruit meet all desire. And if a friend to man you'd be. You must befriend him like a tree. A beautiful sentiment, I know you will agree, and applicable to any tree, but especially so to nut trees, for the reason that they combine all the laudable qualities enumerated plus that of food — food for man — one of the very finest of foods for man. TTiere are, of course, numerous other ways that can be employed to get new members. Another I might mention is that of oflFering suitable prizes ; but I urge you to action, definite and specific, along this line, that our Association may better ably execute the worthy ambitions in which it was founded in 1910. Then, again, more members mean more money. With more money we can get along faster. " Procrastination is the thief of time," you know. I trust that real action will be taken at this con- vention to the end of increasing our membership to at least one thou- sand by the time of the 1923 convention. It can be done — yes, easily. If only each member would pledge himself or herself to get three new members during the year the 1923 convention would find us with the desired membership ; and I am sure that a considerable excess would be found on the roll at that time. Also, increased membership is desirable to the end of increasing subscriptions to, and widening the scope of our official organ, The American Nut Journal, the only publication of the kind in the coun- try. Under the able editorship of that Roman, one of our most earnest and intelligent members, Mr. Ralph T. Olcott, it is a power for good in the interests of nut culture. It can be made an even greater power with a materially increased subscription list, and I know that I speak for my friend, Olcott, when I say that he is ready 22 and willing to expand the Journal's columns as will be required, of course, by the expansion of nut culture — I beheve I voice the gen- eral sentiment of our membership when I say that no more welcome messenger comes to us each month than the American Nut Journal. Another recommendation I am going to offer is, that the asso- ciation consider the advisability of establishing a nursery at a point agreed on as best adapted for the propagating and nursing of such nut trees and bushes as it endorses as suitable and desirable for the area of country naturally governing the origin of our title — - North- ern Nut Growers' Association. This recommendation germinated in my thought from a casual remark made to me recently by our esteemed member, Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, while I was a visitor at her charming summer home, Brooks Grove. Viewing her nursery of several thousand black walnut seedlings she casually mentioned that she would be very happy to present to any one desirous of plant- ing such trees any consistent number he or she desired. As my thought dwelt on the expression of such a splendidly magnanimous nature I began to wonder, if a lady was willing to perform such a noble act, why should not the association elaborate on the worthy plan along the lines I have suggested. And with more members, and, thereby, more money, we can do it. Then The Northern Nut Grow- ers' Association will be doing a real thing, something tangible, some- thing that will attract new members in a way nothing else would, because people would then be able to see the living evidence of the practicability of our ideals. We could start in a small way, and grow. After long and earnest thought on the subject I came to the conclusion that it was worthy of our consideration. From Mrs. Ellwanger's reference to "Johnny Appleseed" I be- lieve that she found precedent for her nut tree nursery initiative in the work of inestimable value to posterity done by that same worthy. If the legend be true, he worked with much happiness of heart, but not more so than that of Mrs. Ellwanger, I am sure you will agree, when I tell you that many of her nursery trees are growing from nuts she garnered from roadside and field trees manifesting some exceptional trait, or indicating rare strain. And I cannot refrain from urging action to the end of influenc- ing our other states to pattern after good old Michigan in our effort to enact legislation, as she has done, providing for planting our road- sides with nut-bearing trees. It is something tangible, like this, that really counts. I believe that it is a fundamental of life, and living, that precedent, pro or con, is invaluable as governing subsequent action along similar lines. Here we have, in Michigan's action, a most worthy precedent, and I can think of no good reason why OUR other states should not do likewise. And I believe that this associa- tion, functioning efficiently, can exert the necessary influence to bring about a similar condition in OUR other states. My emphasis of the word OUR means The Northern Nut Growers' Association's states, you know. 23 I just wish to mention in passing that the author and collabo- rator, respectively, of the Michigan roadside planting of nut trees legislation are our esteemed members, Senator Harvey A. Penny and the Hon. William S. Linton, both of Saginaw, Mich. In closing I desire to refer to our wealth, as an association, in scientific lore. The association is particularly well equipped in hav- ing a faculty, so to speak, than which there is none better in the country — yes, the world — in whose hands our recommendations, to the planter of nut trees, can be entrusted with absolute safety. For genuine scientific research in nut culture of the northern states this association stands singly and alone. This tribute is born of vivid remembrance of the really scientific work done by several of our worthy members, notably, Jones, Bixby, Morris, Deming and Vol- lertsen. Them, especially, I salute. (Applause.) Mr. Olcott : With reference to the suggestions in the Presi- dent's address, why wouldn't it be desirable to refer them to a com- mittee to report upon and take any action that may be desired ? The President : I believe, Mr. Olcott, that is a good suggestion. Mr. Olcott : I move that the President's address be referred to a special committee to consider and report at a later meeting in re- spect to the suggestions made and the plans for carrying them out. Motion seconded by the Secretary and carried. Committee appointed : The President, Mr. Olcott, Dr. Deming, Mr. Bixby and Mr. Jones, to report Friday evening. The President: The next feature of our proceeding is the report of our secretary, Dr. William C. Deming of Hartford, Conn. The Secretary : Mr. President, I beg to say that the secretary has no formal report; but I have a number of items that will be of interest to the association which we can take up at this time if you think best. I think first should be taken up the notices of two mem- bers who have died this year, both of whom were very prominently connected with nut growing, Dr. Walter Van Fleet and Col. C. K. Sober. I will read a notice of Dr. Van Fleet's death which has been especially prepared for us by Mr, Mulford of the United States De- partment of Agriculture. DR. WALTER VAN FLEET In the death of Dr. Walter Van Fleet on January 26, 1928, the United States has lost one of the greatest plant breeders in its his- tory, and garden rose growers an ardent advocate and sincere friend. Since a lad he had been interested in these lines of work and the products of his unremitting and painstaking energy, combined with unlimited patience, are known by garden lovers all over the counry, as well as in Europe. Rosarians naturally know him best by his roses, of which there were many, among them that splendid variety that bears his name, as well as such others as Silver Moon, American Pillar, and Alida 2'4 Lovett. Many more are still in the trial grounds of the United States Department of Agriculture at Bell Station, one of which, christened Miss Mary Wallace, will be available in two or three years. The ideal rose for which he was striving, in all his later work, at least, was a garden rose, with foliage that would compare in healthfulness and disease resistance with the best of the rose species, that would be hardy under ordinary garden culture, and that would be a continuous bloomer. His experience taught him what would be likely to give the desired results, but often he could not come directly to the ends sought. For example, when he wanted to combine the characters of some newly found species with the Hybrid Tea roses, he would often find the two could not be crossed directly with one another. He would then seek some other rose that would combine with the new species, without changing the characteristics which he wished to preserve, after which he would grow the resulting hybrids and cross them with the hybrid tea. Sometimes he would need to make another cross before he could get the seedlings for which he was striving. When it is realized that each cross of this kind would take from three to five years before he could take the next step an idea is gained of the patience required. Sometimes the results of these crosses would be infertile, producing neither perfect pistil nor viable pollen, as in the case of a handsome scarlet rugosa growing in the National Rose Test Garden which he was unable to use for fur- ther breeding on this account. His great love of his work is shown in his having given up a successful medical practice in 1891 to devote all his time to plant breeding. He did this, even though he had taken a post graduate course in medicine at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1886-7, after having graduated at the Hahneman Medical College in the same city in 1880. His first work after this change was pri- marily with the gladiolus on a farm between Alexandria and Mount Vernon, Va. The soil was not adapted to his purpose so he aban- doned it and went from there about 1892 to the Conard and Jones Company of West Grove, Pa., then to Little Silver, N. J., and in 1897 to the Ruskin Colony in western Tennessee as the colony physician. In 1899 he became associated with the Rural New Yorker and lived at Little Silver, N. J., where he continued his breeding work on his own place. As associate editor for the following ten years and as writer of the column of " Ruralisms " in this paper he has left much valuable information on plant life and plant growing. From 1903 to 1910 he was also Vice-President of the Rural Publishing Company. While at Little Silver he was breeding fruits, roses, chesnuts, lilies, freesias, azaleas, and other ornamentals. In 1909 he went to the Plant Introduction Gardens of the United States Department of Agriculture, at Chico, Cal. As the climate did not agree with his wife, he remained at Chico but a year and moved to Washington, D. C, where his official work was with drug plants 25 and chestnuts, but his own time was largely devoted to breeding work with a wide range of other plants, a continuation of much of the work he had been doing at Little Silver. The move to Chico, Cal., resulted in a great loss to his breeding work. Some of his material was left at Little Silver, much of it died in the uncongenial climate at Chico, and other promising plants were lost in the long shipment across the continent, both going and coming. In 1916 he was transferred to the office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations where he was permitted to devote himself to plant breeding along such lines as looked promising to him, while at the same time he continued his work with chestnuts and chinqua- pins and a few drug plants. Dr. Van Fleet was born at Piermont, N. Y., June 18, 1857. His early years were spent on a farm but later he lived at Williamsport, Pa. In early Hfe he made a study of birds, his first book being " Bird Portraits," published in 1888, apparently being a reprint of magazine articles, one of which dates back to 1876. He was also a successful taxidermist, having studied under Maynard, and trained several of the leading taxidermists of his generation, including Charles H. Eldon of Williamsport, Pa. At nineteen he spent a year in Brazil, first connected with a party constructing a railroad around some of the rapids of the upper Amazon, and later in connection with the Thomas scientific expedition collecting birds and plants. August 7, 1883, he married Sarah C. Heilman of Watsontown, Pa., who was associated with him in his medical practice and in his breeding work, and has been a sympathetic and helpful companion, and who survives him. His was a most lovable personality. Those who came into con- tact with him day after day appreciated best his sterling qualities. He was kindly and considerate and nothing was too much trouble, and yet he had an intolerance of hypocrisy and cant that was almost violent. He was steadfast of purpose and there is nothing that shows this better than his lifelong work in plant breeding and the ruthless manner in which he rooted out his inferior seedlings as soon as he felt them to be valueless. His likes and dislikes were strong. Above all, he was modest and retiring in the extreme. He not only avoided, but shunned publicity. He avoided the outdoor meetings of the American Rose Society in the National Rose Test Garden as much from the fear of publicity that we, his friends, could not refrain from giving him, as for any other reason. He regretted in his later years that he had given up, during his editorial career, the little public speaking that he had previously done and had gotten so out of practice that, with his disposition, he could not again take it up. He was an amateur musician with a thorough knowledge of orchestral and band instruments, harmony, theory, and orchestration but during the last few years none but intimate frequenters of his 26 home had the privilege of hearing him, although until within the last two or three years he often played the violin. In 1918 he was awarded the George Robert White Medal of Honor for eminent services in horticulture by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, probably the greatest honor that can come to a horticulturist in this country. He had also been awarded three med- als for the rose Miss Mary Wallace, a gold medal by the American Rose Society, a gold medal by the City of Portland, Oregon, and a silver trophy by the Portland (Oregon) Rose Society. He was asso- ciate editor of the magazine "Genetics" at the time of his death. Although he was an honorary member of the association I think very few of us knew that he had such varied activities in his life as this little biography tells us he had. The death of Dr. Van Fleet has been a great loss to American horticulture and nut growing. Also during the year Colonel Sober has died. Colonel Sober, as you know, was a man who had made a very great success of growing the Paragon chestnut. His was the first commercial success in nut growing in the North. Then the blight came along and wiped out his industry. The Colonel was loath to admit for a long time that he had the blight or that his trees were not immune and that his nut growing was going to be a failure on account of the blight. I have no biography of Colonel Sober to read but one was published in the American Nut Journal for August. The PliESiDENT : I feel that we ought to make some record here of our feeling for these two men. I knew them both personally. I met Dr. Van Fleet at Washington two years ago and Colonel Sober seven years ago when the convention was held here. I had a great deal of correspondence with Colonel Sober. I think that we should adopt a resolution now and send copies of it to the families of these two deceased gentlemen to let them know the high regard in which this association held them as members and men. Mr. O'Connor: I make that motion. The Secretary : I second that motion and ask that the Presi- dent appoint a committee on resolutions, which will also cover any other resolutions that may be necessary during the course of the meeting. (See Appendix for Report of Committee on Resolutions.) The President: I will appoint on that committee Dr. Morris, Mr. Patterson, Dr. Deming, Mr. Jones and Mr. Rick. The Secretary : I have still a number of things here that will take up a good deal of time. I don't know that it is particularly in- teresting to any one outside of the association but I have a letter that I think is interesting to the members, especially those who have at- tempted chestnut culture, from Mr. G. F. Gravatt, assistant pathol- ogist, United States Department of Agriculture, in which he says as follows : 27 As you may be asked questions at the Northern Nut Growers' Association meeting at Rochester regarding chestnut bhght work of the Office of Forest Pathology I am sending the following letter : By means of short field trips and correspondents I am keeping up in a general way with the spread of the chestnut blight. The disease is steadily spreading southward and westward. Infections are now known in seven counties in Ohio and thirteen counties in North Carolina. There is every reason to expect that the disease will ultimately cover the range of the native chestnut and chinquapin. In Ohio several orchards have been reported as infected by State authorities. The blight is now present on native and planted chestnut in a number of localities in the Northwest quarter of that state. State authorities have reported one orchard in Indiana as in- fected. It is evident that chestnut orchards located in the middle west are in danger of becoming infected with the blight. The most im- portant means of spread to localities outside of the range of native chestnut are by chestnut poles and lumber products, and by infected chestnut nursery trees. Owners of chestnut orchards should keep on the watch for the disease and any suspicious specimens will be gladly identified. There is some disagreement among pathologists as to the prac- ticability of controlling chestnut blight in orchards located outside of the range of native chestnut or in localities within the range of the native growth where the native trees are very scattering, such as in many parts of Ohio. My personal opinion is that the orchardist thoroughly familiar with the disease who will systematically inspect his trees, properly remove any infection as soon as it becomes visible and who has elim- inated the sources of new infection in his neighborhood has a good chance of success. Control of the disease in some orchards is being tried out and I am desirous of getting in touch with other chestnut orchardists who have infected trees. The chestnut breeding work at Bell, Md., started by Dr. Van Fleet, is being continued. Mr. Reed is looking after points relating to culture, quality of nuts, productions, etc., while I am looking after the hybridization and disease work. The Chinese chestnut seems to be the most resistant to the disease though a number of trees of this species have been killed primarily by the blight. A number of reports of chestnut blight becoming less virulent have been investigated but in all cases the reports were incorrect. Professor Graves is continuing his observations on resistant trees around New York City. That, I think, summarizes the chestnut blight situation very well. I have a letter from Mr. Reed from China ; it is a long letter and I will only read from it one or two extracts which tell why he was sent to China : 28 My task is that of obtaining a summary of the so-called "Man- churian" walnut industry of this country. So many walnuts from here are being delivered in the States each year that our own indus- try is considerably affected. The extent of production, its present rate of growth and its probable character and magnitude ten years hence are things our own people needed to know. So serious is the situation that Thorp, manager of the California Association left San Francisco for over here more than two months ago to get a short general glimpse, then to go to European points for the same purpose. The consuls here have reported that no walnuts are grown in Manchuria, except in half wild, low-grade, scattered product which is assembled in small quantities only and probably not exported. The exported nuts are mainly from the provinces of Chihli, Shan- tung, Shansi and Honan. Tientsin and Hankow are the chief points of export. Mr. Reed expects to be back about Thanksgiving time. We miss Mr. Reed very much here at the conventions because he is the Government representative of the nut industry. He has a wider general knowledge of the nut industry in the United States than any other man. In connection with the suggestions that our President has made, I think I ought to call the attention of the association again to the address of Dean Watts that he delivered at the convention last year in Lancaster. (This address, entitled "A National Programme for the Promotion of Nut Culture," will be found on page 80 of the report of the proceedings at the twelfth annual meeting.) I have brought here a cluster of burrs from some chinkapin bushes that have been growing in Elizabeth Park, Hartford, for 23 years. They are loaded with nuts and although attacked by the blight, the fact of their being there so many years shows how resist- ant they are. I have also some clusters of burrs from chinkapin bushes in my own garden. They bore a full crop the second year from transplanting. Mr. O'Connor: Before I forget it, I want to say a word in regard to chinkapins. Right close to where I live there was a fire swept through the place and burned them down to the roots. But they have come up from the roots and are full of chinkapins at the present time ; I have seen where the blight has hit them and they died back to the ground and they have shot up new shoots again and are bearing. The chinkapin is a coming nut; the school children are looking for them like I used to look for the butternuts in the early days. The President: That is very interesting information, Mr. O'Connor, and I am very glad you have stated it. The Secretary : Mr. Wycoff of Aurora, N. Y., has brought here a little branch containing two well developed Indiana pecans 29 grown on a grafted tree. I think that is the first instance in which a grafted pecan tree of the Indiana variety has borne in the North. Mr, Snyder says he has fruited a Witte pecan at his place. A num- ber of us have been striving to make the record for first bearing of a grafted " Indiana " pecan tree in the North. Mr. Wycoff has won it. Mr. O'Connor, I think, has brought with him a number of branches of pecans grown in Maryland. Mr. O'Connor: I have some hazels and also some chinkapins. The Secretary: Have you any pecans fruiting down there this year ? Mr. O'Connor: Several nights of frost hurt us pretty bad this spring. We have one tree that has got a few pecans on this year; last year the same tree had over a hundred ; this year it hasn't got more than a dozen, but it promises to have a heavy crop next year. The President: What variety of pecans? Mr. O'Connor: If I am not mistaken, it is the Indiana. There are several trees that promise to bear heavily next year. In the spring we had a severe frost for seven nights in succession and that hurt our trees pretty bad. We are in the frost belt down there. Last year we didn't have any apples or peaches ; this year we have some apples and some peaches but the grapes were severely hurt by the frost, also there are very few walnuts on the trees this year. Mr. Corsan : From traveling around as much as I do I can vouch for that gentleman's statement in regard to the frost. I was up in the extreme northern part of the United Sates, northern New York, and I never saw such a crop of hickory nuts in my life and I have gathered nuts since I am able to remember. I have also seen more peaches up in Ontario and even north of Ontario. When you talk about frost and the South having such an advantage over the North, it is entirely wrong; I have had that idea knocked out of me for a good many years. The Secretary : I wish also to say that I brought here a small branch from the Hartford pecan tree bearing two nuts. The Hart- ford pecan tree is undoubtedly the largest pecan tree in the North. It is about ten feet in circumference, over seventy-five feet high and has a very large spread. I will ask Mr. Weber if he will give us the account again of the finding of that black walnut in the river and tell us the result of his investigation. Mr. Weber : Whenever I come across a black walnut I want to open it up and see what it looks like inside. Following that cus- tom when I found a walnut that had lodged against the dyke north of the central part of the city, I was surprised when I opened it be- cause the partitions were very thin, like an English walnut. Later on I found another similar nut lodged against the dyke of the river about a quarter of a mile along. Then through a statement in the paper and an advertising campaign we tried to locate the tree. Finally we got the name of a man in Floyd, Va., who said he knew of 30 the existence of such a tree, but a few years previously they had cleared the land and it had been cut down. So that finished that. But he gave me the name of the man who had owned the place and said that there were some other trees that had originated there and that they were bearing. It is down in Virginia at the extreme western end and off the railroad and rather hard to get to. I thought possibly on my way home I would get there this trip. The Secretary : As an example of nut enthusiasm here is the corporation counsel of the city of Cincinnati, who on his walks abroad picks up nuts that he finds and examines them. He finds one on the dyke of the river that he considers remarkable and in conjunction with the president of this association conducts an advertising campaign in the watershed of the river where that nut was found in order to locate the tree, and succeeds eventually in doing so. Mr. President, here is a communication which I received in July from the Secretary of the American Pomological Society invit- ing us to become a member. I didn't feel that I had the authority to send him a check for ten dollars, but I would like to put before the association the question as to whether we ought not to make this association a member of the American Pomological Society. I would ask, Mr. President, that you put that matter up for discussion, if you think it is of sufficient importance. The President: I do, Mr. Secretary, and think it would materially help in gaining names in our plans for increasing the membership if we were able to say we were a member of that society. What do you suggest relative to the procedure in that con- nection ? The Secretary : I think all that is necessary is the motion by some member that the treasurer be authorized to take out a member- ship for the association in the American Pomological Society. By a Member : I so move. They will know we are in exist- ence and if we take an interest in their work they will take an inter- est in ours. Motion duly seconded and carried. The President: Your reference to Mr. Reed reminds me that prior to his receiving orders to go to China, he and Mrs. Reed both had promised to come and make addresses at this convention ; Mrs. Reed on the subject of nuts as a food and Mr. Reed with a fine exhibit and also an illustrated lecture. He wrote me quite fully just before going saying he was awfully sorry that he could not be here. With reference to the Secretary's remarks regarding Dean Watts, I had the privilege of meeting Dean Watts last year at Lan- caster and I think his ideas are very much along the same line rela- tive to increasing our membership and improving our financial con- dition so that we can do real things. I had a letter from Mr. Little- page early in the season and he expected to be here. Then he finally wrote me and said it would be absolutely impossible for him to come 31 but he was sending his able heutenant, Mr. O'Connor. I was be- ginning to feel a little worried this morning that perhaps Dr. Morris might not be able to get here but I was very happy a few minutes ago to see the Doctor come in and now I feel considerably more comfortable because he is a great aid and help at these conventions. Is there anything further, Mr. Secretary, that you have in mind? The Secretary: I just want to call your attention to the ex- hibits ; they really hardly need any one to call attention to them, but I would like to mention especially the exhibits at the two ends of the table. The one at the further end of the table by Mr. Dunbar of the Department of Parks of Rochester is really a very remarkable exhibit, especially from a scientific point of view. (See list of exhibits in appendix.) At this end of the table is a splendid exhibi- tion of filberts grown in Rochester in Mr. McGlennon's filbert nursery under the direction of Mr. Vollertsen; it needs no word of praise from any one, it speaks for itself. Also I call your attention to these three English walnut trees in pots, each one bearing fully developed nuts, which were grown by Mrs. Ellwanger. Last of all I will mention again the cluster of Indiana pecans brought here by Mr. Wycofif of Aurora. Mr. Dunbar: Dr. Deming didn't tell us about the Chinese chestnuts that are fruiting — the castanea mollissima. The Secretary : Dr. Morris has had them fruiting for a num- ber of years. I don't know whether any others have or not. Dr. Morris : They fruit very well and are a good hardy nut. They are on limestone land. The Secretary : It is a very interesting nut. Mr. Corsan : Out of twelve varieties of chestnuts that I planted on my place it is the only one that died. I got them in Wash- ington. I looked after them probably too well. I will try them again to be certain they had no climatic reason for dying. It is very strange that that chestnut didn't grow. Nobody near me grows chestnuts so I can cultivate them for a good many years without any worry about blight. Dr. Morris : I doubt if the blight amounts to much with you. It is carried by migrating birds. Some birds will take the blight north and our friends in Canada will finally have it, so cheer up, the worst is yet to come, but it will be a good many years. Mr. Corsan : The blight has got to the extreme northern part of the chestnut growth, that is, to the top of Lake George. The chestnut doesn't go a quarter of a mile beyond Silver Bay. Dr. Morris : I have found chestnut trees in Quebec. Professor Nielson : Speaking of the range of nut trees, I have seen the hazelnut in the Saskatchewan several hundred miles north of the international boundary and at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The President : That is very interesting to me for about the time that we started in experimenting with filberts I received a letter 82 from an old friend of mine in Canada, Mr. Edward Kennedy; he stated that he beheved the hazelnut or filbert would do very well in the Canadian Northwest. At that time we were in the nursery busi- ness and were finding it difficult for our general nursery stock to survive the severe winters in the Canadian Northwest. Mr. Ken- nedy thought that from his observation of the filbert throughout that country it was the one item in the nurseryman's list that would do very well there. Dr. Morris : In that connection I would like to say that I have seen the hazelnut growing as far north as Hudson Bay and it is very hard to distinguish it from the elm. The hazelnuts grow to a height of from twenty to twenty-five feet and the elm comes down to about that height. The leaves look so much alike that I found myself look- ing for hazelnuts under an elm tree. The President: Mr. Patterson told me that while fishing on one of the streams near Albany he had found some of the common hazelnuts in fruit. I have sent down to some of my friends at Albany some of our filbert plants to see how they might do there and the reports up to the present time have been altogether favorable. My thought up to the present time has been that perhaps the climate there is a little too hot. The next item on our program is the report of the treasurer, Mr. Willard G. Bixby of Baldwin, N. Y. NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION In Account With Willard G. Bixby, Treasurer Receipts : From annual members, including joint subscrip- tion to American Nut Journal $222.25 From contributing members, including joint sub- scription to American Nut Journal 80.00 From contributions 357.50 From advertising in report 5.35 From sale of reports 12.00 From sale of Bulletin No. 5 8.58 $685.68 From Life Membership W. L. Linton 50.00 $735.68 Deficit September 1, 1922: Balance Special Hickory Prize $ 25.00 Balance Life Memberships 95.00 Deficit for regular expenses 176.87 Net deficit 56.87 $792.55 33 Expenditures : American Nut Journal — their portion of joint subscription $ 74.00 1921 Convention 71.46 Printing report 12th meeting 212.19 Printing and stationery 142.82 Nut contest 111.01 Postage and express 5.00 $616,48 Deficit October 1, 1921 : Balance Special Hickory Prize $ 25.00 Balance Life Memberships 45.00 Deficit for regular expenses 246.07 Net deficit 176.07 $792.55 The work of the treasurer for the past year has not been satis- factory to him. The amount of attention he has been able to give it has been much less than he had hoped. While supposed to be retired with nothing to do except just what he wants to this is far from the facts. While it is true that in 1919 he did retire from business, in which he had spent practically all of his time since leaving school, he has never been able to retire entirely and is still president of one cor- poration and vice-president of two. In the case of one of these the conditions under which it operated have changed so entirely that he has had practically to get back into business and the work of the association has had to be sandwiched in as best it could and at times has had scant attention. Had it not been for Mrs. Bixby's help on the work of the treasurer proper, he would have had to resign. There is a deficit* shown by the treasurer's report although less than that of a year ago. The attempt to induce a rather large pro- portion of our members to become contributing members, paying $5.00 per year as membership fee, including subscription to the American Nut Journal, has been reasonably successful, about one- quarter of our receipts of membership fees being from this source. The real difficulty, however, is that our total membership is not suf- ficient to enable receipts from dues to pay expenses. In every year, for a good many years, receipts from contributions have been about equal to those from dues and apparently that condition will have to continue until our membership is doubled, unless the activity of the association is materially reduced, which course seems inadvisable to your treasurer. The results of the nut contest the past year have been unsatis- factory. The nut crop was a failure over quite a portion of the country covered by the association. The number of nuts sent in was • This was wiped out at the meeting by contributions and guarantee of new mem- bership which more than equalled the amount of the deficit. 34 not over one-tenth of those received in 1920 and no nuts of notable excellence were received. Were it not for the fact that this year promises to be a great year for nuts in the northeastern United States, one might think that the nut contests had outlived their use- fulness. They have, however, brought us so many good nuts and are so comparatively inexpensive that your treasurer would not want to give them up yet. During the past year an earnest effort was made by the treas- urer to get new members by getting nurserymen to enclose in their catalogs circulars regarding the association as well as membership application blanks, over $100.00 being expended on this item. The nurserymen on the accredited list responded heartily. The results, however, were far from being as satisfactory as a year ago when the literature sent out by the nurserymen simply called attention to bulletin No. 5. Literature regarding the association and membership application blanks were inserted in bulletin No. 5 and between five and ten per cent, of those who received bulletin No. 5 became mem- bers, the number being considerably greater than those from similar efforts this year. This shows conclusively that direct appeals, unless there is per- sonality behind them, do not have much force. A year ago bulletin No. 5 in the possession of one interested enough to purchase it, sup- plied the personality and gave force to the appeal that was lacking this year. Thirty-eight new members have joined the association since the last report, making 561 since organization, of whom we have 249 at present, making 312 who have resigned, or dropped out, or have been removed by death. The additional members obtained this year are largely due to the personal efforts of the president and those in his office. During the past year we have lost by death our only honorary member, Dr. Walter Van Fleet of the United States Department of Agriculture, and one life member, Col. C. K. Sober of Lewisburg, Penn. Respectfully submitted, WiLLARD G. BixBY, Tveas. The President: I feel that we have got to get busy and get some more members and more money. At nearly every convention a deficit is reported ; it ought to be the other way, and it can be. We will all agree, I believe, those of us who are in the habit of attending these conventions, that they resolve themselves largely into meetings of a mutual admiration society. Outside of Dr. Deming, Mr. Bixby and one or two others, there is very little thought given to this asso- ciation during the year except immediately prior to the convention. Of course, we can't get ahead very far that way. Ever since I have been actively connected with this association I have given first thought to the matter of membership and the improvement of our 35 finances. I do hope that at this convention some definite and specific action will be taken so that a year from now there will be a decided increase of members, because I am confident we can do it if we put our shoulders to the wheel. Then we will have a surplus instead of a deficit. As I said in my paper this morning, the association is engaged in scientific work, but we are not going to get very far along unless we have more money, and we can't get more money unless we get more members. We ought to put our shoulders to the wheel and pull this association up to a membership that is worthy of its title. If each member would get from three to five new mem- bers during the year we would have a membership in the neighbor- hood of a thousand another year and that would give us a surplus of money. I hope that definite action will be taken at this convention to stimulate that development of the association. If any of the other members have anything to say on that subject I would be very glad to hear from them. Mr. Olcott : I think that the membership is really one of the most important things for this association to consider. But I do not think it would be well to go away from this convention with only the idea that each member should try to get three or four others. That is all very well and it would mean considerable IF they would do it. I think there are enough business men here and brains enough here so that if this matter were referred to a good big committee that would spend some time on it, and before we go would report some definite way of stimulating interest in nut culture and in this association, that it would bring the membership up to a point where it could accomplish something in a business way. It is not a matter for individual action but a matter for association action. It needs publicity and a good comprehensive plan. The money will come a more members come. The wider knowledge of what this association is doing for an active membership would make a bigger membership. If you will remember President Linton suggested that each state should provide twenty-five to fifty members; it does seem as though there should be twenty-five or fifty members, men and women, in each one of the twenty or so northern states. If there were fifty there is a thousand members in the twenty states. He pledged, T believe, twenty-five names from Michigan on his own account; I don't know whether he made good or not but the plan is good to ain: at fifty members in each of twenty states. Mr. Spencer : I am very much interested in the production of nut trees largely as a matter of curiosity. My home is in Decatur, 111. Illinois has 56,000 square miles, 30,000 square miles of that state are, or were, covered with hard wood timber. In Bureau County the hickory, the hazel, the walnut and butternut grow with a great deal of vigor ; less than two blocks from me' there is an ordinary sweet chestnut brought from the East by a gentleman a great many years ago. I measured it last fall and it is six feet nine inches in circumference, it has a spread of about sixty feet and it is 36 about seventy-five feet high. The neighbors told me that they got a bushel of chestnuts every year off that one tree. I presume if they took better care of it and gave it some fertilization they would get more than that. I happen to be the chairman of the tree committee of the Bird and Tree Club. The city of Decatur purchased 42 trees and planted them in seven parks of the city of Decatur; members of the Bird and Tree Club came to me for advice and last year I placed 114 trees for them. They placed a number of trees with the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, chestnut trees, and they planted them on the campus. I believe that persons who are associated with dif- ferent clubs would take up the matter of nut growing. That means that you can interest the children and if you can interest the children then you get the parents interested. In Macon County alone the county surveyor told me there are 20,000 acres of ground that are absolutely worthless except for pasture because they form bluff land along the Sangamon river. It isn't a large stream, I suppose down here you would call it a creek, but the city has put a dam across the river and trees were planted. I tried to create a senti- ment to have that shore planted with nut trees instead of ash and elm and the various trees that can bear nothing but leaves, but the hardest thing in the world is to start a new idea. An ordinary crop of nuts after a tree commences bearing is worth a great deal more than a crop of wheat or oats and in the meantime you can use the ground under it if you want to. Now these are simply my individual efforts in Macon County to get people interested in nut-bearing trees. It is a hard road and 1 am like some other people, I don't like to be pointed out as a crank, but I am pretty near that on this subject. With the co-oper- ation of Mr. Reed a year ago I delivered an address, illustrated with pictures that were supplied by the Bureau of Plant Industry, on the subject of "The Value of the Nut Trees for Shade and Food," with the idea of having farm homes made beautiful by trees and attractive by the fruits thereof to keep the children home. Last year I delivered an address on "Nut Trees and Roadside Planting," also illustrated by pictures sent me by Mr. Reed and through the courtesy of McMillan & Company I reproduced pictures describing Dr. Mor- ris's new way of grafting. If you will take steps along those lines and work through the Bird and Tree Clubs and get the children in- terested I believe you could do something toward spreading the gos- pel of nut culture. I thank you for your attention. (Applause.) Mr. Corsan : As to getting new members, I am ashamed to say that since I joined in 1912, I just got one new member actually into the club and that was Dr. Kellogg. I interested hundreds of people but he was the only person I got in. The only way to do is to step right up and ask a man for his money as soon as you give him the proposition. Now that is where I fail. I struck Mr. Mac- Donald, the permanent Boy Scout Director, 200 Fifth avenue. New York City. He is very enthusiastic but he hasn't come in as a mem- 37 ber. Then the Overseer of the Boy Scouts, a tall young fellow with sandy hair and a good complexion, I have forgotten his name, but he is a splendid fellow. He was enthusiastic but he hasn't come in as a member. I met Mr. McLean of the Orphan's Home and he is going to have the Orphan's Home planted with nut trees, but he didn't join the society. I suppose I didn't beg them enough. I sup- pose I should say, "Give your money to me right now, immediately, and let me send it over to Mr. Bixby." I think that would be the best method of getting in new members. Then they will read the literature and keep in touch with the association. I must confess downright negligence for not getting members into the association. I thought we were a kind of a rich gang and don't need money. But we have got to have money in order to get people into the idea of growing nut trees. The President: What seems to be the objection? Mr. Corsan : No objection at all except I had that fault of not gathering in their membership while I was speaking to them upon the possibilities of nut culture. The President: If you don't get some members in this year there will be trouble ! Mr. Corsan : Why not give a tree with every new membership so that the member can plant a nut tree on his own farm, and the Boy Scouts and also the Girl Scouts would come into this thing, too, as the tall gentleman from Decatur has said. Mr. Patterson : I should like to tell you what happens in our association in the south of Georgia. For a number of years our treasurer has come up with a deficit each year. The only practical way that we have found in the southern nut growers' association for increasing our membership and getting additional funds is to do it by subscriptions taken at the meeting. Let each man pledge so many members and turn over the money to the treasurer to pay up for the members that he has pledged. Then let him go out and get the members to reimburse himself. In that way we have increased our membership very much. I do not say that that is the way that it should be handled here but that is the only way we have found of solving the problem. Mr. Taylor : I represent the Northern Apple Growers' Ex- change. We want to get people who grow apples into our associa- tion and the first thing of all is to get them interested. You first have to attract the attention of a man, your prospective member, and then you have to arouse his interest and you have to create a desire. We found that in order to attract his attention a circularization of people who were eligible for membership accomplished a great deal. These people were circularized, given little bits of information here and there, not the information that was given the members as a rule, not to that extent, but they were given a certain lot of information from time to time to let them know that the Apple Growers' Ex- change was there. After a while they were approached personally 38 and if they said " No " we continued circularizing them a Httle while longer along a different line. Finally, when we thought we had gotten them to a point where they were interested, the problem was to get them properly signed up. So we then made a drive for those particular individuals by showing them what they could per- sonally get out of it. After he had joined our problem was to hold him, to keep him interested until he became enthusiastic. Unless you keep them interested they are liable to cool off, and once they are cooled off it is almost impossible to get -them interested again. We find the members who have gone out are the hardest to get back. A way of keeping that new member in, and helping him to feel that he is a potent factor in the organization, might be by having some sort of a special communication with him at the time he joins, or at the next meeting of the association. I know that in California that is the way they work it. Keep members informed, not merely with reports of proceedings but with something like an occasional sheet or two on the latest thing that is' going on, especially for the new members. , (Applause.) The President : I would like to have any other suggestions. Dr. Morris, have you anything to say? Dr. Morris : No, I have been doing a lot of thinking. The President : It seems to me it is the one vital thing for us to consider. We have got to increase our membership. Mr. Olcott: Apropos of the remarks of Dr. Taylor comes the question of the desirability of giving a prospective member some- thing for his money. Our first problem is to interest someone to the extent of membership and then to keep him after we get him. Those are problems that require thought. I think the President in his address suggested that the association produce young nut trees to be given away to someone to plant, to interest that someone and others who see it. Would you give him another tree at renewal time? The President : That was the idea. Mr. Olcott : The renewal proposition with trees selling at $2.50 to $3.00 apiece would be pretty expensive for the association — for a member to pay us $2.00 and get a tree for nothing. My per- sonal idea has been that there should be a state organization in every one of the northern states, subsidiary to this association; that each association have its monthly meeting, or maybe quarterly or annual, taking in those who cannot find it convenient to come to the parent association's convention. Dr. Morris : I will pay the dues, and subscription to the Jour- nal, for any Boy Scout for ten years if you will make that the object for striving for a prize in some organization of Boy Scouts. The President : I appreciate that very much. The Secretary: I have two suggestions for ways of drawing attention to our association. The first is lectures. There are a number of our members who have given lectures on the subject of 39 nut growing. Mr. Spencer has just told you that he has and Dr. Morris loses no opportunity to give them. I have given them myself and Mr. Reed of the Department of Agriculture speaks on nut cul- ture. There is hardly a member of this association but belongs to some agricultural society or club. That is one possible place for bringing nut culture to the attention of people who are interested in either agriculture or horticulture. I am sure that Mr. Reed of the Department of Agriculture will send a collection of lantern slides on nut growing to responsible persons. These slides make lecturing much easier. I will undertake to get Mr. Reed to make up a collec- tion of slides to be sent out to members for the purpose of illustrat- ing lectures. My other suggestion is the writing of articles for mag- azines, horticultural and agricultural, and especially high-class hor- ticultural magazines that reach wealthy people who are interested in new things and in trying experiments, such as the Country Gentle- man, Country Life in America and the Garden Magazine. What we really want is some person who will give himself continuously to the promotion of this nut-growing idea. It is a great misfortune that Mr. Bixby has taken up business again because he made a splendid beginning in devoting himself to the interests of nut culture. I did a great deal more myself in the earlier days of this society but cir- cumstances have been such that lately I have not given it much attention. I feel that there must be members who are all ready to do work, members who would like to jump in and take a hand. I would be very glad to share my work as secretary. I would be glad to hand over the entire work of secretary to some member who feels an itch to get in and do this sort of work. The President : You are very liberal in your service but I think others ought to take a bigger share so that your duties will be easier and also Mr. Bixby's. Now that we have this thing going I hope we will stick to it until we get something concrete because I can't see that we are going to make much progress just meeting from year to year with an increase of twenty to twenty-five members. I personally will guarantee a hundred members for this year for this association. I speak advisedly because I know what we have been doing in our office this last couple of months. I am satisfied that I can bring to the association a hundred new members this year if the rest will bring ten each. We have got to get more members and more money ; let's get down to bed rock and look the thing squarely in the face and make up our minds to go to it and do it. Mr. Corsan : Where can these slides be got ? The Secretary : I will undertake to furnish them through Mr. Reed of the Department of Agriculture. There is also a good mov- ing picture film of Colonel Sober's chestnut grove that I think can be had. I have used it myself two or three times. 40 Mr. Kains : Rochester, as a good many of you know, Is the center of the fruit industry in western New York. Right here is also the scene of one of the greatest fights to get an association on a paying basis that ever occurred. Some of you probably know that away back in the fifties Patrick Barry and Mr. Worter and several others of the fruit growers got together and formed the Western New York Horticultural Society. Gradually people came in and took an interest in the work but, as always in the beginning, there was trouble to make ends meet and Mr. Barry and some of the others put their hands in their pockets to keep the association going. At last it got so bad and the amount of the deficit was so great that it was decided to have a closed meeting, no one to be admitted except those who had actually paid their one dollar membership fee. The year that it was announced that this would be put into effect the fol- lowing year there was all kinds of a fuss at the meeting. The next year the people came there in a crowd to see if the rule was going to be put in effect and the result was the largest meeting the association had ever had. The only men and women who got inside the door had paid their dollar. That was the first year that the association got on its feet. One other method that could be used to spread the love of nut growing would be to have the association offer a nut tree to different schools where they would plant it as an Arbor Day tree. In that way the children would learn the value of the grafted nut tree arid the value of real first-class nuts. The result would be that other people would become interested in grafted nuts and thus extend the interest in the whole nut-growing proposition, and your membership would most likely increase. (Applause.) The President : I will ask for nominations from the floor for the nominating committee. Mr. Pomeroy, Dr. Morris, Mr. Olcott, Mr. Rick and Mr. Patter- son nominated and elected. The President : The next order of business is to call for the reports of any of the standing committees. The Secretary : The chairman of the committee on incorpo- ration, Mr. Littlepage, wrote me not long ago that he was taking active steps to incorporate the association. I don't know whether Mr. O'Connor may know if Mr. Littlepage has done anything about it or not. Mr. O'Connor: I can't say about that. 41 THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1922 The President : I am going to ask Dr. Taylor to present his paper now, if he will please. Prof. Ralph H. Taylor: Through a previous arrangement with our secretary I had assigned to me an entirely different subject from that on the printed programme, "The Use of Nuts the Year Around." I have prepared a paper on the original subject and so I will proceed to deliver it in accordance with my arrangement with him. I do, however, want to say first, in connection with the use of nuts the year around, that we from California are vitally interested in that problem. I know of no problem that faces us more at the present time than the one of marketing the product that we grow in competition with the tremendously increasing imports from abroad, brought in from countries where labor costs anywhere from twenty to fifty cents a day, and at the highest a dollar a day for what they call skilled labor, most of it twenty to fifty cents, and with freight rates across the Atlantic that amount to less than half of our freight rates, or one-quarter of them. With the commodity in the hands of speculators who are able in various ways to make tremendous prof- its, and giving the public none of the benefit of these conditions, wc find it almost impossible to market our product at a profit. We must get it into the hands of the consumer cheaply. We are endeavoring to do it. One of the plans is to encourage the use of nuts the year around, and the California Almond Growers' Association, whom I represent, are planning now to shell their own almonds and put the kernels up in vacuum packages, both tin and glass, and make it possible for the housewife, instead of going to the candy stores and buying salted almonds for a dollar to a dollar and a quarter once or twice a year, to secure her own almonds, blanche them herself and use them considerably more often because she can get them cheaper. We believe it is going to be worth while for us to go into the business the year around. The demand at the present time is for almonds for a brief period up to the first of January. Thereafter there is no sale until the following November. Under those conditions you can see that with increasing crops we are facing difficulties that are almost insurmountable. Therefore we are changing the form in which we are marketing part of our crop. I want to say to those people who do recognize the value of almonds for food that it is going to be possible for you to secure them in a most desirable form, clean, wholesome and absolutely fresh, as almonds packed in vacuum. They will be just as fresh as when they are put in from the orchards of California. 42 ALMOND POSSIBILITIES IN THE EASTERN STATES By R. H. Taylor* There is probably no better way to open a discussion of this kind than by asking a question and then using it as a text. The future possibihties for ahiiond production in the eastern states can not be stated any otlier way dian as a question. For my text I am indebted to vour secretary, Dr. W. C. Deming. It is taken from a letter written by him under date of June "■?"-?nd to Mr. T. C. Tucker, the manager of the California Almond Growers' Exchange, and is as follows : " Why can't we breed an almond that will do in the East what its sister, the peach, does ? " Any answer we might give must be, of necessity, more or less empirical in nature. In order properly to understand that answer, and I shall attempt to give one later, certain fundamental relations and limitations must tirst be considered; dien the possibilities of any given line of pro- cedure may be more clearly understood. Botanically the almond is very closely related to the peach, both belonging to the genus Pnoius, sub-genus A)}iygdalus. The species of die peach being l^crsica, and of the almond, co)}n}iiitternut, Carya cordiformis,, North America. Hybrid Plickory, X Carya Laneyi, Carya cordiformis X Carya ovata. Hybrid Hickory, X Carya Dunbarii, Carya laciniosa X Carya ovata. Beaked Hazel, Corylus rostrata, North America. American Hazel, Corylus americana. North America. European Hazel, Corylus Avellana, Eastern Hemisphere. Constantinople Hazel, Corylus Colurna, South Europe. Manchurian Hazel, Corylus mandshurica, Manchuria. Sweet Chestnut, Castanea dentata. United States. European Chestnut, Castanea sativa, Europe to China. Japanese Chestnut, Castanea crenata, Japan, China. Chinquapin, Castanea pumila, United States. By the McGlennon-Vollertsen Filbert Nursery, twenty or more plates, of about a quart each, of named varieties of the European filbert grown in these Rochester nurseries, a very striking exhibit in demonstration of the commercial possibilities of this nut. By E. L. Wyckofif, Aurora, N. Y., a cluster of Indiana pecans, grown on a grafted tree at Aurora, of good size, apparently, other qualities not determined. A cluster of two small pecans grown on the great pecan tree in Hartford, Ct. One of these nuts was matured and filled. Brought by W. C. Deming who showed also chinkapins grown in Hartford and Redding, Conn, two strains of the Van Fleet hybrid chinkapins, Chinese chestnuts, C. mollissima, Japanese chestnuts, clusters of Kirtland and Griffin shagbarks from grafted trees, Rid- enhauer almonds and several varieties of European and American filberts, all grown in Redding, Ct. filberts from the large trees at Bethel, Ct. and the large Sayre English walnut from Danbury, Ct. Illinois wild almonds were exhibited by Henry D. Spencer of De- catur, Ills. These have a fleshy covering like a thin peach. Mr. P. H. O'Connor show^ed specimens of the O'Connor hybrid walnut, J. regia X. J. nigra, and the Indiana hazel. Mr. A. C. Pomeroy had an exhibit of the Pomeroy English walnut. There were a number of other exhibits which have escaped record. NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT or THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING WASHINGTON, D. C. SEPTEMBER 26, 27 and 28, 1923 NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING NEW YO' BOT' WASHINGTON, D. C. SEPTEMBER 26, 27 and 28, 1923 CONTENTS Officers iiiid Coiiiiiiill fcs ol the Association 8 State Vice-Pre.si(k!iits 4 Members of the Association 5 Constitution and By-Laws • . .^ 11 Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Convention 15 Report of t he Secretai-y 19 Some Further Notes on Nut Culture in Canada, Jas. A. Neilson. ... 24 Address by Dr. L. C. Corbett 28 Address by C. A. Reed 88 Commercial Nut Culture, T. P. Littlepage 86 Notes by Mr. Bixby 39 Address, Mrs. W. N. Hutt 41 Report of Cliairman of the Committee on Incorporation 47 Minutes of First Meeting of Directors 50 Report of the Finance Committee 51 Address by Dr. Oswald Sohreiner 51 Address by Dr. W. E. Safford 54 Extension Work in Nut Growing, Professor C. P. Close 60 Roadside Planting vs. Reforestation, Hon. W. S. Linton 61 Encouragement froim Failures in Grafting, Dr. G. A. Zimimennan. . . 64 Letter from F. H. Wielandy 76 The Chestnut, C. A. Reed 77 Report of the Committee on Nomenclature 81 Notes from an Experimental Nut Orchard 81 Appendix 88 Ol'I ICERS ()!■ THE ASSOCIATION Prcsidciil II.\i!in' K. \A'EiiKii, Cincinnati. Ohio Jice-PrcsKlciil .1. I'". .Ioxks. L.-incastcr, IVnnsylv.iiii'i Sccrctarij \\'illia.m C. Ui:.MiN(i, i)S:5 Main St.. H.irtford, Conn. Treasurer H. J. Hilliahd, Sound ^^iew, Connecticut DIRE( TOUS J.\ME,s S. McGlennon, Dr. Roheht T. .Moiuns, NA'illahp Ct. Bi.xby, Harry R. Weber, 1)h. \^'. C. Deming COMMITTEES Auditing — C. P. Close, C. A. Reed. Executive — Harry R. Weber, J. I". Joxes, W. C. Deming, H. J. HiLLiAiu), W. S. Linton, J. S. McGlennon. Einance — T. P. Littlepage, W. G. Bixby, W. C. Deming. Hybrids — R. T. Morris, C. P. Close, W. G. Bi.vhv, Howaho Spence. Membership — H. R. Weber, H. D. Spencer, ,F. A. Smith, J. S. Mc- Glennon, R. T. Olcott, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Xeilson, W. C. Deming. Xomcnclatiire — C. A. Reed, R. T. ]\Iohhis, J. F. Jones. /'/r.v.v (iiid P nblication — R. T. Olcott, W . G. Hi.vhy, \\ . C. Deming. Progrdiiniie — H. R. Weber, R. T. Olcott, C. A. Reed, R. T. Morris, W. G. Bixby. Promising Seedlings — C. A. Reed, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson. STATE VICE-FRESIDENTS Arkansas Prof. N. P. Drake University of Arkansas, Fayetteville California Will J. Thorpe 1545 Divlsadero St., San Francisco Tan^ida .Tames A. Neilson Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ontario rhina I*. W. Wring Sec'y Kinsan Arboretum, 147 N. SecTiuan Road, Shanghai Connecticut Ernest M. Ives Dist. of Columbia Prof. C. P. Close Sterling Orchards, Meriden Pomologist, Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. England Howard Spence The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport Georgia J. M. Patterson Putney Illinois Henry D, Spencer Decatur Indiana J. P. Wilkinson Rockport Iowa D. C. Snyder Center Point Kansas James Sharp Council Grove Maryland P. J. O'Connor Bowie Massachusetts C. Leroy Cleaver 496 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Michigan Dr. J. H. Kellogg Cattle Creek Missouri P. C. Stark Louisiana Nebraska William Caha Wahoo New Jersey C. S. Ridgway Lumberton New York Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger 510 East Ave., Rochester North Carolina C. W. Matthews N. C. Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh Ohio W. R. Fickes Wooster, R. No. 6 Oregon Earl C. Frost Gates Road, Portland, Route 1, Box 515 Pennsylvania John Rick South Carolina Thomas Taylor Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia J. W. Waite Joseph A. Smith F. C. Holbrook D. S. Harris Washington Richard H. Turk West Virginia Fred E. Brooks 438 Penn Square, Reading 1112 Bull St., Columbia Normandy Edgewood Hall, Providence Brattleboro Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. F, D. 3 Washougal French Creek ¥'■', 1. 1 . MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS *Drake, Prof. N. F., Univ. of Arkansas, Payetteville. Dunn, D. K., Wynne CALIFORNIA Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero Street, San Francisco CANADA McRitchie, Prof. A. R., Arthur, Ontario. Neilson, Jas. A., Ontario Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland. CHINA *P. W. Wang, Sec'y, Kin.san Arboretum, 147 No. Szechuan Road, Shanghai. CONNECTICUT , % Barrows, Paul M., Stamford, R. F. I). No. 30 Bartlett, Franci.s A., Stamford Bielefield, F. J., South Farm.s, Middletown Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Main St.. Hartford Gotthold, Mrs. Frederick, Wilton Hardon, Mrs. Henry, Wilton Hilliard, H. J., South View Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. 1-". I). No. 2, P.ox luo Ives, E. M., Sterling Orchards, M-^riden ♦Morris l>r T? T ro« rnh Ron.ti- 28, Box 95 Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Albert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Agriculture, Library of l^. S. Dept. of Close, Prof. C. P., Pamologist, Dept. of Agricuiturt" Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W. Gravalt, 0. F., Forest Pathology, B. P. I. Agriculture *Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Building Reed, C. A., Dept. of Agricultui-e Williams, A. Ray, Union Trust Bldg. Von Amnion, S., Bureau of Standards ENGLAND Spence, Howard, Tlie Red House, Ainsdale, Southport GEORGIA Killian, C. M., Valdosta Parrish, John S., Cornelia, Box 57 *Life Member. Patterson, J. M., Putney Steele, R. C, Lakemont, Rabun Co. Wight, J. B., Cairo ILLINOIS Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Sprins Valley Buckman, Benj., Farmingdale Buxton, T. C, Stine Bldg., Decatur Casper, O. H., Anna Clough, W. A., 929 Monadnoch Bldg., Chicago Falrath, David, 259 N. College St., Decatur Flexer, Walter G., 210 Campbell St., Joliet Foote, Lorezo S., Anna Holden, Dr. Louis Edward, Decatur . Illinois, University of, Urbana (Librarian) Marsh, Mrs. W. V., Aledo Mosnat, H. R., 10910 Prospect Ave., Morgan Park, Chicago Mueller, Robert, Decatur Nash, C. J., 1302 E. 53rd St., Chicago Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion Powers, Frank S., 595 Powers Lane, Decatur Reihl, E. A., jGodfrey, Route 2 Rodhouse, T. W., Jr., Pleasant Hill, R. R. 2 Shaw, James B., Champaign, Box 644 Spencer, Henry D., 275 W. Decatur St., I)ec;ilur Swisher, S. L., Mulkeytown Vulgamott, Chas. E., Cerro Gordo White, W. Elmer, 175 Park Place, Decntnr INDIANA Clayton, C. L., Owensville Copp, Lloyd, 819 W. Foster St., Kokomo Gilmer, Frank, 1012 Riverside Drive, South Bend Reed, W. C, Vincennes Staderman, A. L., 120 South 71 h St., Terr.' Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport TOWA Adams, Gerald W., Moorhead Brlcker. C. W.. Lartora Pfeiffer, W. F., Fayette Snyder, I). C, Center Point Snyder, S. W., Center Point KANSAS Bishop, S. Tj., Conway Springs Fes'senden, C. D., Cherokee Hardin, Martin, Horton Hitchcock, Chas. W., Belle Plaine Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Sharpe, James-, Council Grove MARYLAND Jordan, Dr. Llewellyn, 100 Baltimore Ave., Takonia Park Keenari, Dr. John F. Brentwood O'Coanor, P. J., Bowie Perkins. H., 401 Nat. Marine Bank Bldg., Baltimore Wall, A. v., Baltimore MASSACHUSETTS ♦Bowditch, Jame.s H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Brston Bowles, Franci.s T.. Barnstable Cleaver, C. Leroy, Hingham Center Collins, Geo. D., 388 Union St., Springfield Johnstone, Edward O., North Carver Sawyer, James C, Andover Wright, G. P., Chelmsford MICHIGAN Banine, Chester H., Vandalia Charles, Dr. Elmer, Pontiac Copland, A. W., 670 E. Woodbrldge St., Detroit Graves, Henry B., 2134 Dime Bank Bldg., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek *Linton, W. S., Saginaw Penney, Senator Harvey A., 425 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Wallace, Henry, Detroit MISSOURI Crosby, Miss Jessie M., 4241 Harrison St., Kansas City Stark, P. C, Louisiana Youkey, J. M.. 2.519 Monroe Ave., Kansas City NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo Thomas, Dr. W. A., Lincoln NEW JERSEY Brown, Jacob S., Elmer, Salem Co. Clarke, Miss E. A., W. Point Pleasant, Box 57 Franck, M., Box 89, Franklin Gaiy, Theo. E., 50 Morris Ave., Morristown *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V. Cranbury, R. D. No. 2 Mariton, Edwin S., Florham'Park, Box 72 Parrj', T. Morrel, Riverton Ridgeway, C. S., Lumberton NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bennett, Howard S., 851 Joseph Ave., Rochester Bethea, J. G., 243 Pv,utgers St., Rochester Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin, L. I Bixbv, Mrs. Willard G, 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Brinton, Mrs. Willard Cope, 36 So. Central Pk., N. Y. City Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Clark, George H., 131 State St., Rochester ♦Life Member. Cothran, John C, 104 High St., Lockport Corsan, G. H., 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn Culver, M.' L., 238 Milburn St., Rochester Diprose, Alfred H., 468 Clinton Ave., South, Rochester Dunbar, John, Dep't. of Parks, Rochester Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stevk^art, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Gaty, Theo. E. Jr., Clermont Gillett, Dr. Henry W., 140 W. 57t'h St., New York City Graham, S. H., R. D. 5, Ithaca Hart, Prank E., Landing Road, Brighton Haws, Elwood D., Public Market, Rochester Henshall, H., 5 W. 125th St., N. Y. C. ' Hoag, Henry S., Delhi Hodgson, Casper W., Yonkers, (World Book Co.) *Huntington, A. M., 15 W. 81st St., New York City Jewett, Edmund G., 16 S. Elliott Place, Brooklyn Johnson, Harriet, M. B., 15th St. & 4th Ave., New York City Krieg, Fred J., 11 Gladys St., Rochester Lattin, Dr. H. W., Albion Lauth, John C, 67 Tyler St., Rochester Liveright, Frank I., 120 W. 70th St., N. Y. C. MacDaniel, S. H., Dept. of Pomology, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca McGlennon, J. S., 28 Cutler Building, Rochester Motondo, Grant F., 198 Monroe Ave., Rochester Nolan, Mrs. C. R., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Nolan, M. J., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Olcott, Ralph T. (Editor American Nut Journal), Ellwanger and Barry Building, Rochester Paterno, Dr. Chas. V., 117 W. 54th St., N. Y. City Pierce, H. Gordon, 103 Park Ave., N. Y. City Pirrung, Miss L. M., 779 Bast Ave., Rochester Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Rawnsley, Mrs. Annie, 242 Linden St., Rochester Rawnsley, James B., 242 Linden St., Rochester Schroeder, E. A., 223 East Ave., Rochester Shutt, Erwin E., 509 Plymouth Ave., Rochester Snyder, Leroy E., 241 Barrington St., Rochester Solley, Dr. John B., 968 Lexington Ave., New York City Teele, Arthur W., 120 Broadway, New York City Tucker, Arthur R., Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Tucker, Geo. B., 110 Harvard St., Rochester Vick, C. A., 142 Harvard St., Rochestpr Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester Waller, Percy, 284 Court St., Rochester Wile, M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester Williams, Di-. Chas. Mallory, 4 W. 50th St., New York City *Wisman, Mrs. F. de R. Westchester, New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora NORTH CAROLINA Hutchings, Miss L. G., Pine Bluff Matthews, C. D., North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh •Life Member. 9 Van Lindlpy, J., (J. Van Lindley Nursery Co.), Pomona OHIO Beatty, Dr. W. M. L., Route ;], Crolnn Knad, Centerburg Coon, Charles, Groveport Dayton, J. H., (Storr.s & Hairi.son), Paine.svillp Fickes, W. R., Wooster, R. No. 6 Hinnen, Dr. G. A., 1343 Delta Ave., Cincinnali Neff, Wm. N., Martel *Weber, Harry R.. 123 Ea.'^t 6th St., Cincinnati OREGON Frost, Earl C, Route 1. Box 515, Gates Rd., Portland PENNSYLVANIA Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St.. Rpadine Anders, Stanley S., Norristown Baum, Dr. F. L., Boyertown Bohn, Dr. H. W., 34 No. 9th St., Reading Bolton, Charles G., Zieglerville Boy Scouts of America, Reading Druckemiller, W. H., 31 N. 4th St., Sunbury Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gribbel, Mrs. John, Wyncote Hers'hey, John W., Ronks Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Horst, John D.. Reading Jenkins, Charle.s Francis, Farm Journal, Philadelphia Jockers, Fred'k J.. 4 E. Township Line, Jenkintown *Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527 Kaufman, M. M., Clarion Leach, Will, Cornell Building, Scranton Mellor, Alfred, 152 W. Walnut Lane, Germantown, Philadelphia Minick, C. G., Ridgway Paden, Riley W., Enon Valley Patterson, J. E., 77 North Franklin St., Wilkes Barre Pratt, Arthur H., Kennett Square ♦Rick, John, 438 Penn Square, Reading Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Dorane Rose, William J., 413 Market St., Harri=burg, "Personal" Rosenberry, W. H., Box 114. Lansdale Rush, J. G., West Willow Smedley, Samuel L., Newton Square, R. F. D. No. 1 Smedley, Mrs. Samuel L., Newtown Sq., R. F. D. No. 1 Smith Dr. J. Russell, Swarthmore Taylor, Lowndes, West Che.ster, Box 3, Route 1 Weaver, William S., McCungie Whitner, Harry D., Reading Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion *Wister, John C, Clarkson and Wister Sts., Germantown Wolf, D. D., 527 Vine St., Philadelphia Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., Piketown lu *Life Member. RHODE ISLAND Allen, I'hilip, I'lovideiice SOUTH CAROLINA Taylor, Thus., 1112 Bull St., Columibia TENNESSEE Waite, J. W., Normandy UTAH Smith, Joseph A., Edgewood Hall, Providence VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., Springfield, R. F. D. No. 3 Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven Holbrook, F. C, Battleboro VIRGINIA tDodge, Harrison H., Mount Vernon Gould, Katherine Clemens, Boonsboro, Care of C. M. Daniels, via Lynchburg, R. F. D. 4 Harris, D. S., Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. 3 Hopkins, N. S., Dixondiale Jordan, J. H., Bohannon Moock, Harry C, Roanoke, Route 5 WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack Turk, Richard H., Washougal WEST VIRGINIA Brooks, Fred E., French Creek Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Charleston, Box 693 Hartzel, B. F., Shepherdstown Mish, A. F., Inwood tHonorary Member 11 CONSTITUTION Article I ynuir. This socirty slinll he known ,is the Nohthkrn Nut Growers Association. Article II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products ajul their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the socirty shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Officers. There shall be a president, a vicr-prrsidcnt, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring ])residents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Article V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following year. 12 Article VI Meetings. The place and time of" the annual meeting shall be selected by the memberslup in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee. Article VII Quortim. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments . This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member thirty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows : On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annu.i] members shall jjay three dollars annually, or five dol- lars, including a year's subscription to the American Nut .Tounial. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars annually, this Mieuibership includvrig a year's subscription to the American Nut .lournal. Life mem'bers shall make one ])ayment of fifty dollars, ,ind sli/ill be exempt from further dues. Honorary members shall be exempt from dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the Association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. 15 PROCEEDINGS AT THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION New National Museum. Washington. D. C. Septemer 2G-27-28, 1923. (In making up this re]>ort the transcript of the stenographer's full report has been unsparingly cut. in accordance with the vote of the convention. Copies of the full rejxu-t are in the jwssession of the secretary.) The Con\entiou was calKd to order at 2 p. ni., Se])t. 2(5. 1923, in the New National Museum. In his opening address the pi-«sident spoke of the need for in- creased membership and improved financial condition. He also recom- niiended' a. return to tlie old method of eombininff the secretary and treasurer in one office aiul that the secretary-treasurer should have a fair salary, suitable quarters, and ade(juate help. He spoke of his own efforts to increase the usefulness of the association and expressed his fears that they had amounted to very little. He quoted the state- ment of the editor of the American Nut Journal that what people want to know is whether they can make any money by the cultivation of init trees. That statement led to a cam,paign to try to locate in the territory of the association groups of niit trees in profitable bear- ing. He felt saitisfied that there arc luniurous ])aying nut orchards, aiul lie recommended a continuance of the campaign for hx»ating such orchards. The president then went on to instance the experience of Mr. Frederick G. Brown of Salisbury, ^lass., at whose place, about two miles from the ocean, there are two Persian walnut trees, 12 to 15 years old, one of them about a foot in diameter and twenty feet high, that have borne for two years. Peach trees will not live at this place. 1« y / Two miles away at Newb^ryp)S»]|%.jS a tree a year or two younger that bore a half peck of wvX^ last''year, and amother tree 35 years old in bearing for 1 5 or 20 *j^ears. The nuts were spoken of as of high quality. He referred to Edward Selkirk of North East. Pa., wlio has a grove of 250 trees about 22 years old of the Pomieroy variety. Last year the erop was one ton snd brought in a little over $500.00. This year the crop is much larger. For best development of the trees the land should be given over entirely to their culture. The president quoted a letter from E, A. Riehl of Godfrey, Illinois as follows: My nut plantings are mostly young, many just coming into bearing, while many others have been top-worked to better varieties, so that money returns are not what they would be had' I. started out planting improved vairieties. Part of my aim was to originate better varieties than we had when I began. In this, I think, I have been fairly suc- cessful. My plantings consist mostly of chestnuts. These have sold readily at 35 to 40 cents per pound wholesale. It is ratlier a hard matter to give any idea as to profit, except that we gathered 23 pounds from one tree five years aifter to])-working on a tree then about three inclies in diameter. In 1920. tlie net return was .tl,172.5t, in 1921. .$1,019.41-, in 1922, which was about a lialf crop, $1,196.81. All tliis on land so rough no crop could be grown on it but pasture. This year's crop promises to be a full one. As to walnuts, we have made no record of single trees. The Thomas, by actual test, gives ten pounds of meat to the bushel, which we sold to dealers la.st season at $1.00 per pound, and could not nearly supply the demand. Walnut crop here a failure this season. Only a few Thoniias trees have a crop. If the meeting was after nut harvest, I would send the best chest- nut exhibit that has even been shown at any meeting. H. C. Fletcher of Clarkson, X. Y.. was quoted as estimating the luits jirodliced from two trees each year from 1911 to 1915 as $25 worth. (Presumably these were Persian walnuts, but this was not stated.) In 1916 and 1917 there were about six bushels of nuts, probably $75 worth. In 1918 a market basket full. In 1919 and 1920 about $40 worth, including .some trees sold. In 1921 about $50 worth 17 vrere produced -nd in 1922 $(iO worth of nuts and $30 worth of trees. In the jiresident's own filbert nursery at Rochester over .300 ponuds of fine nuts were produced for wliich ."}() cents a jiound were offered by grocerynien. Mr. W. R. Mattoon of the Forest Service of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture spoke as follows : Two years ago. when the Forest Service was planning to get up a bulletin on growing walnut trees for timber, we found the need to include information on the nuts also. Mr. C. A. Reed and I together prepared a manuscript on growing the walnut tree both for timber and for nuts. It pays to grow walnuts in small groups and singly, rather than in large blocks, for while they have not proven altogether failures when planted in large quantities they have been disippointing. Many of the trees which we planted as close as 6x8 feet several years ago, have not given very satisfactorv results beciuse they have not had enougli light and air. The black walnut grows singly in the forest, although there may be full stands of other trees around it. Our idea is to recommend planting the black walnut in spots around on the farm, in little inaccessible places and on the hillsides, where the soil is good; for the black walnut requires good soil, and we cannot find that quality in large patches, nor is it usual on slopes of ground. So we must put it here and there on the farm, along the fence rows and in various places, but not in groups. The farmer planting in this way becomes its wood which is used in the most expensive furniture. I believe that mahogany is the only other wood so valuable. On tlie other side of the world they have the mahogany tree for cabinet use, and here in America we have the black walnut, a cabinet wood th^t is not surpassed. The present available publications on this subject are limited but we are referring people who inquire about it to Department of Agri- culture Bulletin No. 933, "The Black \^'alnut. Its Growth and Manage- ment." That is midway between a technical and a popular bulletin, and it comprises about the only available jniblication that we have at the present time on the subject of growing the tree. Farmers' Bulletin No. 1123. "Growing and Planting Hardwood Seedlings on the Farm", deals with the black walnut along with other trees. Another publica- tion is Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1.53, "Forest Planting in the Eastern United States," which considers the black walnut along with the other available trees for planting. 18 Mi;. ()l(()I"i : I'dr i sinill orchard would it be proper to plant ]fi(» to ISO iVcl ,i|),-irt ? .Mh. Mattoon : \\'1hii ))i.iiited in that way you would get nut j)r()(luc-lioii .iiid at ihc s nc time, a timber growth. If pruned you get a good log al ll.i' base. The small, ten-foot logs from these trees pay as imu'h as you \vouhi gtt for an 18 foot log of a taller tree. For fort'stry purposes, })runing is a desirable practice. Thk President: But for nut-bearing, what is your opinion? Mk. Mattoon: I should suppose that you would want your or- rliard trees to be is low-branched as possible, and with as full foliage as possible. Mr. Bixby (acting as secretary) then read a paper by H. R. Mosnat of iMorgan Park, Illinois in which he spoke of the numlber of doctors interested in nut growing and the need of all men of that character liaving' a hobby of that kind. He thought that the taxes on many farms might be paid out of the profits of nut trees planted on the farms and along the highways. But these nut trees should not be seedling trees. The apple and the black walnut are said to be the only trees that grow in every state of the Union. Nuts were one of the staple foods of our ancestors. We should not be discouraged if we have not yet found the right nut for the East and the Middle West. We should seek them promptly because of the rate at which nut trees are being converted into logs. By next year, he said, he expected to have 25 varieties of black walnuts in his collection including some hybrids. Machines for cracking black walnuts by power are now practically per- fect and one firm in that business has cracked about a million pounds in the last few years and expects to treble or quadruple its business this season if supplies can be secured. The trouble with most walnut cracking machines is that they crush instead of crack and small bits of shell are apt to stick to the meats. But there is machinery now to remove these bits of shell. There are wild black walnuts that run 16 to 18 per cent kernels, though the average is only 12^%. It is not always the largest nuts that produce the greatest proportionate weight of kernels. The picking and cracking expense with black walnuts is \ ery little greater than with pecans, but the final cleaning to render the meat absolutely free of shells has been very expensive. Cultivated black walnuts will of course give better results, because they have been selected for easy cracking, have kernels that separate readily from the shell, the product is uniform, and the nuts require much less 19 i^r.iding before eraeking llian llic wild blick walnuts, where every tree hears nuts differing in size, as in ahnost every otlier quaHty. Figuring 50,000 pounds to the carh)ad it will take about eight carloads of wild blaek walnuts to make one carload of kernels of the same weight. More and more English walnuts and pecans are being sold in the form of kernels, and bb^ck walnuts also will best be sold in kernels. These can be canned in vacuum glass or metal cans, and the housewife will use more nuts when she can get the shell-free meats with her favorite cooking utensil, the can-opener. Confectioners and bakers will take black walnut meats by the carload in preference to other nut meats because they have more flavor. ;ind so "go further." The growing of black walnuts in a commercial w;iy will require education, but already there is a growing interest. Several of the large weekly pu'blications have, within the last couple of months, carried full page, illustrated articles on black walnuts. One of these. in a magazine of general circulation which is over half a million, with- in a month resulted in almost one hundred letters asking for add'itional information, which shows that a great many people want to know more about the possibilities of black walnuts. This interest will certainly increase w'hen profitable black walnut orcliards are actually growing and paying good profits. Already men are putting- in blaek walnut orchards or groves of several hundred acres, and' one such planting of 1,600 acres is proposed, but it will be partly hardy pecans. This shows rapid development into a real industry of miagnitude. Report of the Secretary. On March 1, 1923. the treasurer. Mr. ^\'. G. Bixby. handed over to tlie secretary the funds and books of the association, saying that his time had become so much taken up that he was able to give too little of it to the duties of his office. Thus it became necessary for the secretary to assume the functions of the treasurer as well. These functions w^ere, in the first place, the payment of the obliga- tions of the association fromi the funds available. The funds availnble for current expenses were not sufficient for the payment of these obligations. The secretary therefore took it upon him.self to pay these obligations with funds of the as.sociation put aside for other purposes. These funds were money received from life membership payments that had been deposited in the Litchfield Savings Society, as a sort 20 of contingent fund, and other funds from the same source held by the treasurer and lianded over by him to the secretary. These two fnndls were completely used up in tlie payment of current expenses, as will appear in the detailed statement of the secretary. These fundis, however, were still insufficient to pay the current expenses, which were, chiefly, the expenses of the stenographer's re- port and transcripts of the thirteenth annual convention, at Rochester, and the cost of printing the annual report. The cost of printing the report was paid out of the available funds. The stenographer's' bill, amounting to $169.00 originally, but reduce'd to $135.00 by the sten- ographer on representation by the officers of the association that the amount was excessive, wias paid by Mr. Bixby personally, and the association is indebted to Mr. Bixby in that amount at this moment. The second function that developed upon the secretary was the management of the membership lists and matters relating thereto, which, though perhaps essentially a duty of the secretary of an associa- tion such as this, had been managed by the treasurer since the time w'hen he took over the duties of the secretary in 1918. This had in- volved quite an expenditure for clerical work. This clerical work would still be an expense to the association, had not one of our mem- bers, Mr. H. J. Hilliard. of Sound View, Connecticut, volunteered to do it. Mr. Hilliard was formerly connected wfith a bank, is entirely familiar with the keeping of accounts, is a man of means and leisure, and I shall take pleasure in offering his name to fill the vacant treas- urership. Heretofore, this association has had to pay little or nothing for clerical work which has been done either by the secretary, or by the treasurer and his personal clerical force. In accordance with the vote of the Rochester convention the sec- retary drafted two letters, one entitled, "To the State Vice-Presidents of the N. N. G. A. and All Members of the Association"; the other, "To All Women Members of the N. N. G. A. and to All Women In- terested, or Interestable, in Nut Culture." Both of these letters were sent to all memlbers of the association, and the letter to women was sent also to a considerable list of women not members. The re- sults of these letters were, so far as the secretary has means of know- ing, not over a half dozen letters of appreciation from members, one new woman member, and a letter of appreciation from another woman. The secretary has reason to believe, however, that the letters were the means of stimfulating several of the state vice-presidents to activity ill tilt' inatlcr of getting new members, in writing articles for the press and in giving illustrated talks on nut growing. Among those w-lio art' known to have given such talks or articles, are Dr. Morris, Mr. Weber, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Smith, Mr. Turk, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. and Mrs. Corsan, Mr. Reed, Mr. Neilson, Wilkinson, Sn^^der, Matthews, Kains. MacDaniels, Fagan, Kaufman. Rick. Bixby, the secretary, and, doubtless, a number of others. The secretary has a collection of slides on nut a-rowino- which he has lent two or three times to members for illustrating; their lectures. It was necessary to provide a box for the safe transportation of these slides which the secretary purchased, at a cost to the association of $8.85. The secretary al.so furnished a typed, running commentary for these slides and, in one or two instances, has furnished negatives and )>hotographs for making slides and illustrations. The secretary also offers to furnish outlines for lectures or articles, and has a small follection of nuts which is available for lectures. If the funds were available, it would be possible to enlarge the collections of slides, illustrations and nuts for the use of members who wished to give talks or write articles. Possibly the suggestion of the secretary was responsible for the formation of a subsidiary association in Rochester. Oti tliis a report is desirable from President McGlennon or Mr. Olcott. One or two other members have written of their intention to form subsidiary asso- ciations. A leaflet was also issued by the secretary announcing Mr. Jones' otier to gi\t' seedling' nut trees as a jiremium to new mem'bers. The demand for these trees not being up to expectation, Mr. Jones very generously sent out five such trees in place of the original offer of one or two. I liope th/it ^Ir. Jones will uiake a report of the number of trees llms distributed. Although the circular distinctly stated that these trees were premiums for new members, many menvbers under- stood it .as an offer for rciu-wal of membership ;is well, and I think that in every such instance, Mr. .lones himself forgot and sent the trees. A few members, whose names came in too late, were disap- })ointed in not getting trees. Mr. Jones has intimated that it may be possible to correct these omissions this fall. I hope that Mr. Jones will make a statement about this, and I hope also, that the association will not overlook Mr. Jones' liberality in distributing these trees en- tirely at his own expense. There have been expressions of regret, and T am sure that many 22 more ha^e felt it. that it lias not been possible to g-o on with the nut contests and the giving of j^rizes for new and valuable nuts. As there is not likely to be any one else willing to assume the really immense laibor involved in the nut eontests, conducted as Mr. Bixby has con- ducted them, I suppose that all we can do is to hope that circunnstances will sometime again make it jjossible for Mr. Bixby to resume these very valuable services for the development of nut culture in the United States. I say intentionally "the United States," because I be- lieve that these services have benefitted the whole country. This fact makes me the bolder in uttering the daring suggestion that perhaps, now that Mr. Bixby has shown the way, and developed exact methods that may be safely followed, which, if I do not miisapprehend', is what it states that it desires before presuming to take up any new line of work, the Department of Agriculture itself might consider it a matter worthy of its attention. Professor J. A. Neilson, of the less cautious Canadian Department of Agriculture, is rendering very ^alua'ble serv- ices of this kind for the Dominion of Canada. There is evidence that several more state agricultural institutions are giving attention to nut growing. (^NJacDaniels, at Ithaca; J. C. Christensen, University of Michigan). There is no need of taking your time now to recapitulate tiie many things that ought to be done to promote the planting of nut trees and the scientific investigation of nut growing. Dean Watt's address, pu'blished in the 12th annual rejjort, and the letter of the secretary to state vice-presidents, contain outlines for these things. The at- tention of the ])resent convention is more particularly to be given to advocating mit tree planting on a production basis. Regarding the campaign for new members, perhaps the chairman of the committee on membership will make some remarks. The present membership of the association is 337, if we drop no names this year for nonpayment oi' (lues. Of course, those who do not pay their dues should be dro)>ped. Hut the association has never made any ruling as to how long nanies shoiihl be carried on the rolls. The secretary has been easy in sending copies of the annual reports to members in arrears, hoping that the conscience-stricken recipients would hasten to pay up. But there is no proof that such 1ms been the case, and the secretary would recommend making a rule as to when a member is no longer in good standing, when he should be dropped from the rolls, and what members are entitled to copies of the annual report. The secretary would make the suggestion that there be an amendment 23 to the by-laws to the effect that miembers who liave not paid tlieir dues within three niontlis from the time of their first notification, be sent a second notification to the effect that thej' are not in good standing on account of non-payment of dues and are not entitled to receive a copy of the annuiil report; but that all privileges may be restored on pay- ment of dues. At the end of three months from the sending of the second notice, ^he names of members not in good standing should be dropped. The annual report .should be sent only to memibers in good standing. ]\Ir. Hilliard asked me what our fiscal year was. I .•inswered that I did not think we had any. It would undoubtedly be a convenience if we are to have a bank man far a treasurer, and a ruling by the association would be in place. Our accredited list of nut nurserymen is out of date and a new list should be issued. Recommendations as to changes in or additions to that list, should be considered by the members. It is desirable that the annual reports of the association should be indexed and bound, but no hand has yet been found to do it. Our ambitions have so far outstripped our sources of revenue that we have come to look on an annual deficit as a normal and defensible thing. I think it is indefensible. I think it is going to have a bad effect on our atteiulaiicc- and' our morals if the members have to look forward to what ••imouiits to a good big assessment at every convention. A deficit is not inevitable. The secretary-itreasurer was able to report a surplus at the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh meetingis. The income from membership dues should be enoiigh to enable the printing of the annual report. Hut if not I should be in favor of not printing the report until funds were on hand to pay for it. In rendering an account of the funds of the association I will first state that there is on liiiid, cash in l)ank, $84.89. This amount must be chargedi with the Bowd!it<'h hickory prize fund. $2.5. which leaves $59.89, cash on hand. We owe Mr. Bixby for paying the stenogra- pher's bill, $]85.{)(), ami Mr. Oicott for printing, $24.58, a total of $159.58. This makes our deficit $99. (i9, practically just one hundred doll.'irs. It should be recalled that in arrivino- at this result it was necessarv to use up our reserve fund from life memiberships, amounting to $^25.00 If we count that in with the deficit, it amounts to $325.00. A detailed account of receipts and expenditures is herewith sub- mitted. At the present moment, on account of a rush of other work, 24 on account of difficulties of other kinds, and because of a diivision of the worlc between Mr. Hilliard and myself, I am unaible to give the exact amount received from memberships and sale of reports and bulletins. This I hope to correct before the annual report goes to press. RECEIPTS Turned over by the Treasurer, Mar. 1, 1923: Money for current expenses $ 89.66 From life memiberships 95.00 Bowditch. hickory prize '......: 25.00 From Litchfield Savings Society 130.00 Membership dues .^ Sale of reports and bulletins EXPENDITURES Printing report $378.00 Misc. printing and postals 7.50 Clerical hire and postage 47.65 Postage, telegrams, carriage 38.09 Box for lantern slides 8.85 $480.09 Due Mr. Bixhy, stenographer's bill $135.00 Due Mr. Olcott, printing 24.00 $159.58 The report of the secretary was adopted. The following paper was read by the acting secretary as Mr. Xeil- son was unable to be present; SOME FURTHER NOTES ON NUT CULTURE IN CANADA. Jas. a. Neilson, B. S. a., M. S., Extension Horticulturist, Hort. Expt. Station, Vineland Sta., Out. The nut culture acitivities outlined in the paper presented by the writer at the convention in Rochester were carried on as much as time and means would permit during the past year. The search for nut trees has been continued aiul has yielded some interesting results. Several valuable trees of kinds already noted have been located and additional species discovered. Among these were five pecan trees which have been growing on the farm of C. R. James at Richmond 26 Hill, a small town fifteen miles nortli of Toronto. These trees were about fifty years old and appeared to be perfectly hardy, as far as growth was concerned, but owing to the northern location (43.45") seldom prod^uced ripened nuts. The season of J919, however, was longer and somewhat warmer than nio.st seasons, and a fully ripened crop of nuts was gathered. The nuts are small with a thin shell and a fine sweet kernel. The largest tree in the lot is about 3.5 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 16" and a spread of branches equal to its height. Another small plantation of pecans was found at Niagara- on-the-Lake on the fruit farm of John Morgan. Some of these trees were of grafted sorts and others w^ere seedlings. Both grafted and seedling trees were making a good growth and appeared to be per- fectly healthy. In r3S miuch as the pecan is native to a country having a longer growing season and higher average summer temperatures than southern Ontario, it is quite encouraging to find that these trees will even grow here, to say nothing of bearing nuts. This would seem to indicate that there are possibilities for some of the pecan-bitternut and pecan- shagbark hybrids in southern Ontirio where the shagbark and the bitternut grow quite freely. I also located two excellent shagbark hickories which have fair- sized nuts with thin shell and fine kernels. One of these trees jjrows about twelve miles west of Simcoe, Ontario, and produces quite a large nut with a shell so thin that it can be easily cracked with the teeth. This particular tree is about seventy feet tall and bore ten bushels of nuts in one season. I have records of several other good hickories and plan to inspect these at the earliest opportunity. Several more good English walnuts have been located and ex- amined. Among these there is one tree over seventy-five years old which at one time bore thirty bushels of ripe nuts. A few good heartnut trees have been located at various points. One of these trees is about thirty-five feet tall, with a spread of nearly sixty feet from tip to tip of branches. The present owner harvested several bushels of good nuts in one season from this tree. I bought with my own funds a bushel of nuts from tin's tree and sent them in lots ranging from .six to thirty to interested parties in various parts of Ontario. Of course I know that this is not in ac- cordance with the best nut cultural principals, but I thought it was one way of getting nut trees .started'. If these nuts do not reproduce true to type, they will serve as a good stock for budding or grafting 26 with the best introduced lieartniits later on. Another good heartnut was located nliivost on the outskirts of Toronto. At five years from planting this tree bore one-half bushel of fine, thin-shelled' nuts. In my last paper I stated that filberts had not done well in Ontario. I am o-lad to state that I will now have to retract that statement and inform you that good filbert trees have been found near Ancaster, which is close to Hamilton. These trees were about fifty years old, the largest specimeiit being nearly a foot in diameter at the base and about 25 feet tall. The trees bore well, but on account of the hordes of black and grey squirrels very few nuts* were harvested. A fine lot of filberts was also found at Tyroconnell, a small hamlet on the north shore of Lake Erie, in Elgin County. These trees are nearly fifty years old and bear excellent nuts. Much to my surprise I found a fine clump of filberts growing quite near the campus of the O. A. C. at Guelph. These trees were introduced from England about sixteen years ago and at first they did not appear to be hardy, but eventually they established themselves and are now doing well in growth and fruitfulness. I was someWhat amiused to think that I was searching so diligently for valuable nut trees all over the Province and did not even know of the existence of these trees, until a year and a half after I made my initial attempt to discover valuable nut trees. I will ha\e to correct another statement made at the last meeting, to the effect that almonds do not grow well in Canada except on Vancouver Island. Since then I have found a few, good, hard-shelled almond trees growing and yielding well in the Lake Erie country. This leads me to believe that almonds can be grown, with reasonable success, anywhere in the peach belt, particularly in the lake district. In addition to my efforts to locate good trees I persuaded the authorities at the O. A. C. to establish small plantings of some of the best black walnuts, hickories, Japanese walnuts, and Chinese chestnuts. I also obtained about five bushels of Chinese walnuts and one boishel of Chinese chestnuts from northwest China for testing at the ex- periment stations, and by other interested individuals. Owing to the length of time tlie nuts were in transit the majority of them were unfit for germination. A few have grown, however, and we hope to get good results from these. A collection of nuts containing 60 plates and 21 different species was prepared and exhibited at the Royal Winter Fair at Toronto and also at the Livestock Show at Guelph. I was in attendance almost constantly at Toronto, and endeavored to give all tJie inform,'ation 27 possible on nut culture. Both exhibits attracted a great deal of at- teii'tion and called forth favorable comments from visitors and the press. Experimental jilantings of English, .Ja))anese. Ciiinese, and Ameri- can walnuts, filberts and hickories, have been established at the Horti- cultural Experiment Station. Mr. W. J. Strong pollenated about 200 black walnut blossoms with pollen of the English walnut. A])])ar(Uitly a good number (approxiniitely 75%) have set fruit. A graduate of the Ontario /Vgricultural College, who has become interested in nut culture, ])rocured 2. ()()() black walnut seedlings from the Eorestry Station at St. Williams. These trees were budded, in August last, with local grown English walnuts, l)ut unfortunately only a few buds took. An attem))t will be mule next spring to wlii]) graft the trees that did' not set buds this summer. There is a marked increase in the interest in init culture sliown by the public d^uring the past year. This is shown by numerous requests for information and addresses on nut growing and by the public en- dorsement of nut culture by three important horticultural organiza- tions. The Ontario Horticultural Council, the Federal Horticultural Council and the Ontario Horticultural Societies Convention each passed a resolution asking the Dominion De])artnient of Agriculture to appoint a man to investigate the possibilities of nut culture in Canada. No definite action has been tiken as yet, but it is expected that an appointment will me made in the near future. We are giving the boys and g'irls of Ontario an opportunity to assist us in our work by hunting for good nut trees, and as an incentive we have offered prizes of $5.00 each for the best specimens of our various native and introduced nut trees. This should bring results, because if there is anyone in this wide world who knows where good nuts are, it is the small boy. The work during the past year has generally been encouraging, but like every other line of human endeavor there hive been disappoint- ments. For example, one bushel of Chinese walnuts was stolen, and a number of good specimens of other kinds mysteriously disappeared from my exhibition collection. Another disappointing feature has been the apathy, and even hostility, shown by some officials. I do not intend, however, to let these difficulties discourage me in the least, but plan to carry on and preach the gospel of beauty and utility as exemplified in our best nut trees. 28' ADDRESS BY DR. L. C. CORBETT U. S. Dep-irtment of Agriculture. The work in nut culture by the Department of Agriculture ante- dates the present Bureau of Plant Industry, and to confine the history of the work to the present Bureau of Plant Industry would not quite do the subject justice. From the time of the beginning of fruit work in the Department of Agriculture, in 1885, nuts have received more or less attention. After the formation of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in 1901, special appropriations were received' from Congress for the support of nut investigations, and individuals were appointed to that service in the department. Mr. C. A. Reed, whom you all know very well, was the first appointee of this service, devoting his whole time and attention to the work. He has been with the department for several years, and has given his time exclusively to the nut problems of the country. Naturally, the nut problems are not confined to any geographic area, but are nation-wide; but certain of the plants which have entered into the problems of nut culture have demanded more attention than others, for reasons that are the same as in fruit culture. The older fruits, those better known and longer in cultivation, whose problems are better understood, require less attention from the grower and from the experimenter tham do the newer ones in the field. Nut culture in America, as I understand it, not being a nut cul- turist myself, consists of two types of projects. We have one type that has long been practiced by man, that we imported from European countries and established on this continent. People have cultivated these nuts more or less intensively for generations, and may of the problems have been worked out, so far as Europe is concerned. Of course, when introduced in America, new problems confronted the growers here. The other type of nut industry is based upon indi- genous nuts of which we know little, either from the orchard stand- point or as to the varieties concerned. Our native nuts, particularly the pecan, have forced themselves upon the attention of investigators of the department to much greater extent, perhaps, than any other nut with which we have to deal. Being a native, indigenous plant, not yet under cultivation, there is immediately presented the problem of the choice of varieties, adaption to changed conditions, and all of the problems arising in connection with a rapidly developing commer- 29 ci.i] industry; certain enthusiasts soon become enamored with the possibilities in the southern parts of the United States for pecan cul- ture, and they immediately transplant it into new and untried regions, and as a result their problems have become legion. The work of the Department of Agriculture in nut culture has de- Ncioped really around' the growing indtistries of the country ; primarily, around the pecan, and secondly, around the almond and the walnut, for these are the more important, commercially. Naturally, the most pressing problems arise in connection with growing industries ; they have growing pains which have to be eased the same as with small boys. The Department of Agriculture has therefore found itself in the position of seeking answers to numerous questions which have been made in connection with these developing industries. I believe that we have contributed verj^ materially to the knowledge of varieties, particularly as regards their adaptation to different geographic loca- tions. Wc have also as.sisted the industries to solve some of their probleniis of cultivation, particularly of propagation, :\nd also the problems growing out of the maintenance of soil fertility. With a new cro]), in a new environment, it is always a problem to know how to manage the soil, and this is one of the leading lines of activity in the field', at the present time. In the Bureau of Plant Industry, two offices, that of Horticulture and Pomology and that of Soil Fertility, arc co-operating in the solution of the soil fertility problems in the pci-an regions. Of course, as the industry developed and became establislied, the n itural enemies of the pecan and of tlie other nut trees asserted them- selves, as a result of which there have been set u|) iinestigations in tiie Bureau of Pl.int Industry to study the life histories of the various fungi that attack pecans; and outside of the Bureau of Plant Industry, the Bureau of Kntomology has been devoting time to the study of the control of insect enemies. So that, at the present, the department is so organized that three or four important lines of attack are being made upon problems of these industries. Thus, while at the beginning of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in 1901, there was no single, in- dividuil person devoting his time and attention to the problems of nut culture, .it |)resent there are quite a group of individuals giving their whole time. I feel we are making progress in the work, and wliile we may be lagging very much behind what we should like to do, we are assisting as best we can, and are at least keeping in sight of the industry, as it goes forward. 30 I will not try to go into det.iils about the work we are carrying on, because it is better to tell of what we have accomplishd than to tell wJiat we hope to do. We have a man on the Pacific Coast giving his whole time and attention to the study of breed'ing and' of the cultural problems of almonds. Besides this, we have two men giving all of their time to pecans; and during the last year, there has been es- tablished near Albany, Georgia, a station devoted to the cultural problems of pecans. One gentleman is continuously on tlie ground with the work, and two others devote more or less of their time to it. Now, while these problems connected with the industries are the ones occupying most attention, the workers in the Department of Agri- culture have not been unmindful of other native nut-bearing plants, such as the native black walnuts, the hickories and the chestnut up to the time of the very destructive attack of blight. The chestnut, how- ever, has not passed' out of our sphere of activity, because at the present time, (and I think yon will see tomorrow at the Bell Station, some in- teresting possibilities in the future of chestnut culture in this country), the Chinese forms, which are much more resistant to blight, bid fair to give us a progeny to make it possible for us also to have a chestnut industry from the horticultural standpoint. Probably the day of timber supjjly from our native chestnut is at an end. We hope not, 'but it looks that way at the present time. The possibilities of growing trees from China, the mollissima, or hybrids of them, bids fair to place the chestnut industry so that we can con- tend with the blight. We pro^baibly will not have immune varieties, l)ut those which are able to live witli the blight. That, it seems to me, is a very important consideration, because chestnuts have always been an important nut in our eastern markets, and are important in the European markets as well. While the larger forms of southern Europe will probably not be of value to us here, if we can establisli a nut industry with nuts of fair quality, as large as our native sweet chestnuts, based' on the Chinese species, the mollissima, then we will he making ]>rogress. You may see some of these trees at Bell Station which are eight or ten years old; they are bearing quite abundantly, and some of the chestnuts are really very palatable and of satisfactory size. In addition to this breeding work with chestnuts, there is under way intensive breeding work with almonds which has for its oibject the development of those more hardy than those now in cultivation in California. This almond industry, though large, is handicapped be- 31 cause of the late frost injury, and it is desirable to get those which will bloom later ind withstand lower temperatures. The varietal problem with pecans will be ever with us, as long as \arieties are found in the wilds and as long as people continue to |)lant seedlings in different localities. That is one of the subjects that is being given considerable attention. In addition, the relative productivity of the plants to use as mother plants is an important one. In the work of the Department of Ag- riculture in connection with citrus fruits, it has been found that the individual bud carries over into its jirogeny the ability to prodlice fruit not only of a given type, but also the prodfuctivity of the parent to the progeny. A long series of records of the behavior of individual trees liave been secured; we are building up a mass of information on which to base selections for better parent trees than any available at the present time. If the pecan behaves like the citrus fruits of Cali- fornia, we will be able in the futuri- to have strains and varieties which will be very much less variable than those at the present time. The propagation, selection, disease and cultural work covers the field that is handled by the Bureau of Plant Industry. We always like to dream of the future, and we are pleased to ha\e the dreams come true. \\ v nuist h.ave in miiul the possibility of better black walnuts than we have at present; and .after th.e great inroad into the industry mad'e at the time of the War, when the trees were used' for timber pu))Oses, there should be a greater effort on the part of the people in the northern districts to propagate black walnuts, not only for nuts ]jut also for timber. The black walnut is a very great asset not only for timber and for ammunition purposes, 'but for food as well. The hickory tree is in the same class as the black walnut^it is a \aluable tinrber tree as well as init tree. No other timber is as val- uable for the construction of wheels as hickory, and while the "disc wheel" lias served a useful pur])ose in railroad car construction, it is not likely tliit it will replace hickory altogether in the con.struction of wheels of motor xehichs. We are veritably a nation on wheels and we will always be looking for nuaterial with which to carry us through the country. As I have said, we are a nation of people on wheels, and if your propagvind'a did nothing more than to stimulate an increased interest in the production of hickory for timber purposes, it would be accomplishing a great result. But I believe that there are varieties among the hickories which should be to the North what the pecan is to the South. There are those which are very large and »2 those which are thin-shelled, and those of fine flavor; as a food product I think the shellbark is second only to the pecan. And I should hail the day with great interest when there are good, recognized varieties of hickories corresponding with the best varieties of pecans. I believe they will be found and developed. I have told you something of what we are doing and of what we hope may result. I hope that you will all visit the offices of the De- partment carrying on this work, and that you will get acquainted with the men handling- the v.irious projects, and tell them what your troubles are, that they may know how to proceed, and that thev may discuss with you the best ways of attacking and handling the problems with wliich you are confronted. Prof. Lumsden of the Federal Horticultural Board spoke of the chestnut bark disease and the fact that our experts advise us that within the period of twenty-five years the destruction of the native American chestnut will liave been accomplished. The tanners and related interests of the country are now scouting around to find some species of tree to use as a substitute for tanning operations. Castanea mollissima is capable of developing into a good sized tree. P'rom an economic standpoint the texture of its lumber is good, while the quality of its fruit is fair, and as an ornamental tree it has a future. It has resistance to the chestnut bark disease. It may become a sub- stitute for C. dentata. Several crosses have been made between C. dentatn ;ind C. mollissima and some of them show considerable merit. Selection of these hybrids will have to be made for two purposes, namely wood production and fruit production. Corylus colurna, the Constantinople filbert, is destined to become popular as an ornamental. On the Pacific Coast a bacterial blight occurs in some sections on corylus. A great work can be done in this country by the Northern Nut Growers Association by publishing bulletins advocating plantings of nut bearing trees for a three-fold purpose, timber, food, and beauty. Communications were read from Miss Frances I.. Stearns, In- structor in Botany of the Grand Rapids (]Mich.) Junior Colony, asking- information aibout planting nut trees, and from Mr. J. A. Young, Secretary of the Tree Lovers Association of America, asking the association to adopt their slog\in and to co-operate with it in urging the more intelligent planting of trees, shrubs and flowers. 88 The evening session on Sept. 26th was called to order at 8:10 and a moving ))icture reel, "The Almond Industry in California," loaned by the I)t'i)t. of the Interior, was shown. Following that an address with lantern slides was given by Mr. C. A. Reed of the Dept. of Agriculture, on his recent trip to China. Mr. Reed: In 1910 cert;in x\mericans in China conceived the idea of exporting the walnuts produced in that country to America. The experiment proved so successful that they continued to d'o so, and shipped their walnuts to this country year after year. The business built u{) very rapidly, until the war broke out when, for the time being, the industry was forced to a standstill. But as soon as the war was over the business picked up ;:gain, and had assumed such propor- tions, about two years ago, that American growers wanted to know how miuch longer the Chinese would be able to send walnuts over here. Most of the nuts from China were of inferior (]uality to those produced in this country. Records of the exports showed that there had been an increase from China each year; but as to the methods used, the ex- tent of orcharding, or the growth in ])l luting. etc., the matter had not been written up. and the consuls had not the remotest idea. It was finally decided 'by Congress, therefore, that ,i special appropriation for an investigation should be made. So a special trip was made to China to ascertain, first of all, the probable trade from there for the next ten or twenty years. Our people felt that more walnuts would be coming here, and they wanted to know about this before they planted any more here. It fell to my lot to nuake the trip, a year ago this snmmer. We went first to Honolulu; then to Manila and Japan, and finally to China. We went into the section just to the right of Tientsin. By superimposing a map of China over that of the United States you may see that China more than covers this country; China is con- siderably larger than the United States. Our basic point was Peking, which is in about the same latitude as Philadelphia. We found that walnuts were grown all through this section of China, not verj' much farther north than Peking, but not much farther south than Shanghai. There are walnuts cultivated here, in the Chinese way, over a great area; but we were convinced that the exportation of walnuts to this country was not likely to in- crease, for the business has apparently reached its height. American trade takes the best nuts; the second best go to Canada, the third to Europe and the fourth and' fifth to Australia. Our first expedition into the country was almost directly north of Peking. We went down llie railroad' about 15 miles, to Shaho, where we employed donkeys and .1 ricksha, and rode across country some 12 or 15 miles. Here we found a very excellent Chinese hotel, and surrounding orcliardis of perhaps 300 trees. Some of the consular reports in China staled that this place was one of the three sections in which the finest shipments of nuts were produced. We next went to the east of Tientsin where we found quite a num- ber of orchard's and trees claimed' to be from 150 to 200 years of age, although we found, after travellings a short time and inquiring from the Chinese farmers, that the figures they gave to us were probably inaccurate. We finally ceased to ask the Chinese farmers for figures of that sort. It was very interesting to note the difference in Chinese and. American methods. For instance, in China, the land may be owned by one or by several people, who will lease the land or the trees, or perhaps even an individual tree, for a period' of years. White marks placed on the trees indicate their ownershijD. Young walnut trees were very scarce. We were told in one province that Chinese merchants, who had been forced out of Russia because of economic conditions there, and had lost everything, had come home and were seeking something with which to make money. They were already planting a considerable number of walnut trees, and were growing crops under the trees, planting crops of millet first, and then of soy beans later in the season. Another crop they use is called kaolin (pronounced "gollin" in this country). Very few of the trees are ever pruned systematically, or taken care of; the Chinese seem to have no idea of this. Of course, the rainfall there is at a different time of the year than ours. Fall, winter and spring, in North China, are practically without rain. Consequently, the atmosphere is very dry. Here and there we found trees that struck us so favorably that we made notes with the intention of going back to the trees to get scions for propagating purposes for this country. We were told that one of these trees had borne 800 pound's of nuts. I suppose, however, if that was so, it was green weight, and included the hulls. This tree was on the grounds of the Y. M. C. A., about 80 miles below Shanghai, the farthest south we went. The tree had been planted by mission- aries, and had made splendid growth. There were not many walnuts south of that point, however. In the province of Shanshi the soil is of a washed nature, subjected to rains, and we found there huge 35 2:org;e.s thai Ind evidently been fnrminji: for centuries. All of the soil there, that is not too uneven to be cultivated, is terraced; and ah)nittlepage has an orchard of 275 trees covering thirty acres of pecans and Stabler black walnuts, the first pecan trees being set in 1914, and the Stabler black walnuts some three years later. Now both are starting to bear, a few nuts having appeared last year, and a very few nuts the year before. The trees are growing finely, the leaves have a fine dark green color, and nuts were noticed in clusters, the pecans being in clusters of 2, ;3, 1 and 5 ; and the black walnuts in ones and twos. That the orchard has been given good care is evident. Commercial fertilizers and green manures have been used. A winter cover crop of rye was grown last fall and plowed under this spring, and a sum- mer cover crop of soy bean.s was grown this summer ajul will be plowed under this fall. 'I'lu' varieties noticed in bearing were the Major, tlu- Greenriver. Stuart, Busseron and the Indiana. Of the above, all are northern varieties, excepting the Stuart, which is a southern variety which has given evidence elsewhere of being able to grow and to bear further north than almost any otiicr southern variety. The pecans are set in blocks, the earlier ones being set 60' x 60'. Mr. Littlepage became convinced after his first plantings that this was too close, and the last ])lanting of pecans was 100' x 120'. The black walnuts are planted along two fence rows, the trees being fifty feet apart, the total length of the rows being about three- quarters of a mile. The peculiarity of the Stalbler black walnut of bearing some nuts where the kernel is in one piece, that is where one lobe of the kernel has not developed, was noticed in some of Mr. 41 Littlepagc'.s trees. Tliere is going to be. in future yer-irs at Mr. Little- )).-ige's p],';ee, an ojiportunity to study this peculiar behavior of the Stabler black walnut, that coiiki be carried on at the parent tree only with great difficulty, because of the inaccessibility of the tree, in the first place, and the inaccessibility of the flowers, owing to their great height above the ground, in the second. At Bell Station was seen Dr. \'an Fleet's work on chestnuts. Some ten years ago Dr. Ynn Fleet began this work for the purpose of getting something that should be blight proof, or at least strongly blight resisting and that would furnish the nuts which the chestnut blight is rapidly making impossible of production. \^'ith this end in view, some ten years ago Dr. Van Fleet planted nuts of the Chinese chestnut, Castanea mollissima, ;;nd planted out the seedlings. He also procured from the place of ,1. W. Killen, at I'Vnton, Md., nuts of Japan chestnuts that liad withstood the blight u]) to the time the nuts were planted. The first thing to be found out was how well these would resist the blight. None were found to l)e immune, although the trees are still alive after ten years exposure. Dr. Van Fleet's am- bition was to get a blight-resistant chestnut the size of the Japan chestnut with the delicious flavor of the chinkipin. This, as yet, has not been accomplished, although some very good nuts much larger than chinkapins were seen. One interesting fact noted as to resistance was that the Japan chestnut, which is not generally supposed to be as resistant as the Chinese chestnut, was at Bell Station apparently stand- ing up just as well. At the evening session, Thursday, Sept. 27. a rising vote of thanks was given to Mr. and Mrs. Littlepage for their hospitality of the afternoon. The president then introd'uced Mrs. ^V. X. Hutt, editor of the Progressive Farm Woman, of North Carolina. Mrs. Hutt quoted H. G. Wells as saying, "The primeval savage was both herbivorous and carnivorous. He had for food hazel nuts, beech nuts, sweet chestnuts, earth nuts and acorns." She went on to say: In Spain and Southern France, the chestnut is now used much more than in the past. You should' know in what appetizing forms they are cooked. It is a question how you should cook the chestnut if you do not want to spoil its flavor. Should you steam it. boil it, or what? When you want it in bread, or when you use the tasteless forms, it is first steamed or boiled, and later is mashed up and made 42 into bread, or mixed with cheese or tomiatoes. But if you want to develop the fl.n or, tlien roast it, pick it out from the shell and crush is, using almost no other flavor with it. Have you ever realized how much we depend on the walnut in cooking? Take the pecan, or perhaps almost all of the nuts; the flavor is diniinislied by cooking. But the walnut is the one nut that gains in flavor by being cooked. This means a great deal for the popularity of the walnut. A friend of mine was captured by the Germans, and was sent out each day into the forests to gather' acorns to be used in the prisoners' food. The friend said that many a time he thought he would rather die than to have to eat or gather any more acorns. Farmers' Bulletin No. 712, "The School Lunch," by Caroline Hunt, has been especially valuable in the preparation of the school lunch with nuts. There is a man who comes to North Carolina every winter, who will tell you that he lives on ten types of nut oils and nut butter. The great mass of people out through the country are not yet ready to comprehend this ; but once they are educated to the value of nuts, the demand for them will be unlimited. As to the question of economy, the prices should not go up any farther; they will not be used enough until they become cheaper. With many boys and girls in a family, a dollar's worth of nuts, at $1 a pound, will not go far. If we could get nuts at more reasonable prices it seems to me that women would consider them more than they do for food. They want them not only for their parties, but in every- day life. We should popularize nuts through newspapers. It pays to ad^ vertise, and little notices in the paper are much more far-reaching than any other way of telling the story of the nourishment to be found in nuts. As to the value of nut trees in landscape work, a real estate man told me that when he wanted a good price for a house he planted fruit trees at the back of the house, and nut trees on the sides. He would talk aliout those trees to the people who came to buy, and has sold many houses in this way. Then take Arbor Day, and we have one in nearly every state in the Union. If we could get the papers and the forest magazines to talk about Arbor Day, and urge everybody to plant something, and particularly to plant a nut tree, it would not be long before we got 43 results. 1 could not think of anytliing much more, patriotic than ))lanting avenues of memorinl uut trees. Nut trees are better to look at than are many of the monuments erected, and the patriotic societies do not realize the truth in this. There is a case where with a stroke of the pen, the nut trees could' be increased all over the country. Then consider the home demonstration agents in the country- They have the women organized and are in touch with the men of ])rogressive thought and feeling everywhere; and it seems to me that Wf could make more use of them. It would seem that if this or- ffani/.atiou could in some way raise the money to have someone talk at these demonstration meetings, it would' not be long before the value and the beauty of luit trees would show the use of doing this splendid work, ^^"hat more effective .metliods could there be than to go to the state meetings held by home demonstration agents twice a year, and talk nuts to those people? They go honiic and talk these same things to all of the women in their little organizations and communi- ties. There is no rapid' transit method more effective than that. Then, when the women are taking up a su'bject like that, men are apt to read it also. Another form of ad\crlisiug thai is e(|ually imporlaul is in men's organizations. A number of years ago Mr. Hutt went (h)wn tlirougli the i-astern ])art of the state on the old farmers' institute work. He took with him a case fixed u]) to display nuts. He talked about them, .and especially about ])ecans. Tlie ])eople had' never seen anything but the little, old, wild pecan, and they became enthusiastic. When \()ii gel a farmer enthusiastic you are doing something. The people l)eeanie (piite enthusiastic- and planted quite a innnber of orchards. Mr. Hutt left the de))artment and the new man who eauit; in was not |)artieularly enthusiastic about nuts. Then Mr. Curran came into the work and decided there was nothing he eoidd do better than to urge them to plant«niit trees. He is trying to get an unlimited quantity of pecans and walnut trees planted and he hopes to have a large number of trees ])ut in within a few years. To paraphrase what Mr. Littlepage said this uu)rning, in connec- tioji with the raising of hogs,in getting the world to plant more trees, to use more nuts and to appreciate the value of nut trees for both beauty and use, you need 90 percent of advertising; and let the 8 percent be the man and 2 percent be the nut. Uh. Morris: Last year, when my experiments with the use of 44 paraffin grafting had apjjartntly been completed, I included what I knew of this subject in a little book, and this brought out letters from all parts of the country, in fact from all parts of the world, renainding me that I had not completed the subject of the use of paraffin in grafting. From tropical countries men complained that my suggestions about the use of one particular kind of paraffin, "Parowax," were not applicHible to their part of the country where the paraffin would melt in the summer sun. Then, from some of the regions where the nights were cold, they said the paraffin would crack and leave the stocks bare, owing to the change of temperature. We are consequently faced with a necessity for extending our in- formation on this subject. My reason for presenting it, before I have completed investigations, is to get suggestions from members of the audience here, and from practical nurserymen. I have written a number of books on various topics, and have never sent one out without feeling sorry that it was not time for the next edition. The theory is that if we cover a graft completely with melted paraffin, including the entire scion, buds and all, we have accomplished several things. In the first place, the paraffin prevents the graft from drying out before new cells can make union with cells of the scion. In the second place it fills all interstices where sap would collect. In the third place is provides an airtight covering so that the free sap pressures, negative and positive, under different temperatures, will be analogous in stock and scion. When there is low sap pressure we assume that some of the sap may be drawn out of the scion. This airtig'ht covering prevents that. In the fourth place it provides a translucent covering, wliich allows action by the actinic rays of light, which brings the chlorophyll into activity. All plant growth is conducted under the influence of chlorophyll, ,'uul the actinic rays of light activate this. Consequently, I seemed to have a perfect grafting material in this Parowax, which we may find in any grocery store. In my locality this wax worked perfectly and, theoretically, nothing more was to be desired. It melts at 125 degrees farenheit. I have brought with me a specimen of a pear tree that I grafted in this way in July of this year. You will see that the Parowax covering is' still complete. The new shoots have grown about eight inches since July 1, and I do not see how you could imagine anything more perfect than this specimen, from which I wrote my description in 46 tl;e look. As a ui.ittt r of fact it is hy tlie use of the paraffin method that 1 Mfiued to ha\e solved tlie very great problem of making it possible for anybody to graft anything, and at any time of the year. The most difficult thing to graft is the shagbark liiekory, and we have even done that every month of the year. exee|)t Deeeml.er and January. This year we are going to try those montlis, for I believe that the hickory tree may be grafted any month of the yeir. Now the ])oint of my remarks will relate to different kinds of paraffin. This Parowax, which melts at 125 degrees farenheit, will be satisfactory in the north temperate regions, ^^'e may raise tie melting point ten degrees, if we like, by the addition of the carnauba wax, which, however, is highly crystalline. A crystalline wax is not desirable because it cracks and i:)ermits the air to enter and we have a desiccation of tlie scion. The Standard Oil pebple will furnish p.iraffin with ;;, melting point of 138 degrees, and that will cover all of our needs for hot countries. But in getting paraffins that melt at 136, 137 or 138 degrees we have a rather definite crystalline element. Mr. Bixby has suggested the use of the earth wax wliich is mined in Australia. It is really a fossil paraffin and is not so granular. I found that it is not to be had in this country at the jiresent time, h(»we\er, althougli N'arious dealers told me tliat they liad it. and 1 obtained from a firm in New York City a misbranded specimeii C'lled "Ozokerite." which they said is a technical term for tliis particular fossil paraffin. Rut it was nothing of the sort; it was something they had made up for tliemselves. Mr. Bixby kindly gave me a pound or so of the real "Ozokerite," so I had the genuine thing to experiment with. We may then settle tlie (juestion of obtaining paraffines which lia\f a high melting point, by knowing that they liny he obtained from any of the Standard Oil peop It- Knowing that we miust have, in addition, the elastic feature. 1 found one man who h.ad succeeded hv addiuff sometlhntf to a hiah melting-point paraffin. He said that it was a secret, 'but I soon found that it would be no secret to a bee. It would seem, then, that this quality in beeswax would be valuable, since the secret formula from this same dealer has little more than beeswax in it. Beeswax is a different kind of organic product from paraffin and I would not ex- pect them to mingle naturally when in melted solution, but apparently they do. You will find that the specimens which contain this wax 46 are very smooth to the toucli^ and apparently are more Homogeneous than paraffin. The subject for experiment then, for members of this audience, is that of finding some substance that may be added to give elasticity, but which will not change the melting point. In the South we may require in addition something to whiten our paraffin. Some men in Southern California wrote me that they had fastened white paper about each graft and put a rubber band over it. I suggested tliis plan to one or two men in Australia and in Ceylon, who had com- plained about the melting of the Parowax,' and I ha\e not yet re- ceived their replies. I have been trying, however, to simplify things in the way of grafting. In addition to the elasticity that we need, we must have whitening, and for this purpose we must add something that will not be poisonous to the tree but will mix with the parafl'in readily and give a white paraffin, which will interfere somewhat with the actinic light. I have found that carbonate of lead will mix well with paraffin. Carbonate of zinc will also mix well. Tliey are l)oth heavy, so heavy that thev need a certain amount of stirrinc;. A lighttr substance is citrate of zinc, which will give elasticity, and which will probably also gi\ e a white effect. It melts with the paraffin and, being neutral, it will do no harm to the tree. I have given you an outline on which I wish discussion, for I hope to get from this audience the information and suggestions that will enable me to make my experiments in the right way so that by next spring we may have no further need for discussing the question as to the correct paraffin method in grafting. jMh. IJiMiv: There is another wax tliat is not so crystalline as the P/irowax, and that is Candelilla, which is produced in Texas and New Mexico. It may be obtained from the wax importers in New York City, not from the Standard Oil Co., but the importers. I will find out just where it is from. I can easily get samples. Its melting point is not so higli as Parowax, but it is much higher than any of the other waxes. I)h. Mohuis: Then by mixing it with the high-melting point waxes, those of .diout 1.'38 degrees, we might get good results. Mk. Bixhy: I think so, and without introducing the crystalline element. Prof. H. H. Hume of Glen St. Mary, Florida was then asked to speak. He said that he uses fresh pine gum from the turpentine 47 cups to make grafting w.ix stick. This will mix with beeswax and give the elasticity needed for winter work (in the South). Also it is unaffected by a temperature as high as 120 degrees. He uses a mixture of liigli grade rosin, beeswax and pine gum with which pieces of cloth are saturated. Gum should be obtained in tlie spring when it is purest. It is thin enough to pour out. Dr. Zimmerman said that he had tried pine gum with paratfine and it would not mix. Prof. Hume said that beeswax .can be had in various shades up to pure white. Dr. ^lorris said that black grafting wax attracts heat and ex- cludes actinic rays. He prefers a translucent wax. Prof. Hume stated that in the country where Jacksonvalle, Florida, is there are 100 miles of roadway under construction which will be })]anted with nut trees where possible. He added that once when he was ill for a long time the doctor finally ordered a glassful of milk and a handful of pecan kernels for his diet. He tried it and it worked. Dr. Zimmerman said that for grafting wax he had used equal parts of paraffin, stearic acid and beeswax with good results. Dr. Morris stated his belief that the simple splice graft is the strongest kind. FRIDAY MORNING SESSION Sept. 28th. The chairman of the Committee on Incorporation was called upon for a report and spoke as follows: Mr. Littlepage: Under the Code of the District of Columbia there is a provision of law whereby any educational, scientific or charitable association can be incorporated and become a body corporate with all of the rights of any other corporation, so far as the corporate entity and liability is concerned. The provision of the District Code is a very liberal one and drafted to encourage such societies as this. The committee therefore thought it better to incoriwrate under this provision of the law tlinn under that of some other stite. The advantages of incorporating a society of this kind are several. It makes the action of the organization that of a legalized corporation and takes away liability of individual mem'bers. If anyone should 48 desire to donate money lo the organization, we would have a corporate entity that would be responsibile under the law for the safe handling of such funds. Under the law we can hold such funds uj) to the point where the income is not miore than $25, ()()() ,i year. In the District of Colum'hia a eor])()rati()n can take title to real estate, trans- fer property and ch) all necessary things in accordance with its by- laws. We therefore concluded that there could be no objection to incorporating under ^•lch laws. So with the consent of the other members of the committee, 1 ])repared in my office the proper certifi- cate of incorporation wliicli. under the recjiiireiiients of the Code of the District, are as follows: Know All Men By These Presents, That we, the under- signed, all of whom are citizens of the United Sttes and a majority of whom are residents of the District of Columbia, desirinp- to associate ourselves for scientific and educational pur- poses L.xid for mutual improvement; and to organize a corpora- tion under sub-chapter three (.3) of the Incorjmration Laws of the District of Columbia, ;is provided in the Code of Law of the District of Columlbia, enacted by Congress and' approved by the Pi'esident of the LTnited States, do herehy certify: FIRST: That the corporate name of this company shall be The Northern Nut Growers Association, Incorporated. SECOND: The term for which is it organized is perpetual. THIRD: The particular business and objects of the society are the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture, and, in genera], to do and to perform every lawful act and thing necessary or expedient to be done or per- formed for the efficient conduct of said business as authorized by the laws of Congress, and to have and to exercise all the powers conferred by the laws of the District of Columbia upon corporations under said sub-chapter three (;3) of the Incorpora- tion Laws of the District of Columbia. FOURTH: The number of directors of the said corporation for the first year of its existance shall be five. IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunto affixed our hands and seals this 27th day of September A. D. 1923. Karl W. Greene (Seal) Albert R. Williams (Seal). Thomas P. Littlepage (Seal). 49 49 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO WIT: I. Alice B. \A'att, a Xotaiy Public in and for the District aforesaid, do hereby certify that Karl W. Greene (of the Dis- trict of Columibia), Albert R. Williams (of tlie District of Columbia) and Thom.is P. Littlepage (of the State of Mary- land), parties to the foregoing and annexed ccrtiticite of Incor- poration of THE yORTHERX XIT GROIVERS ASSOCIA- TION, INCORPORATED, bearing date on the 27th day of September, 1923, personally appeared before me in the District aforesaid the said Karl W. Greene, Albert R. A\'illiams and Thonns P. Littlepage, being personally known i■^ me to be the persons who made and signed the said certificate and severally acknowledged the same to be their act and deed for the ]nirposes therein set forth. WITNESS my hand and seal this 27th day of September, 1923. ALICE R. WATT, Notary Public. My commission expires December 17. 1923. The smallest number of members with whicli corporation is possible, is three; so I secured two members, Mr. Greene and Mr. \\'\\- liams, who, together with myself, prepared this, and put it in jjroper form. \\v tiieii filed it wilii tiie Recorder of Deeds, keeping a copy for the files of the incorporation. The Recorder received it, and the fact that he received it was proof that it was satisfactory. We are now. therefore, a corporation. Of course, we want to put that machinery into action, but in order to do so ,1 board of directors has to be selected. Then will follow the election of officers of the Associ.ation. Therefore. I have prepared ;i report of the meeting of the incorpor/itors, which I will read. As I said, however, we did this to get the inichinery into operation. Next vear the directors will be elected by the memlbers. MEETINCi OF THE I NCOHPOHATORS OK THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED. The organization meeting of the Incorporators of the Northern Nut Growers Association. Incorporated, was held at Washington, D. C. September 28th, 1923. at 10:00 oclock a. m. Present: Karl W. Greene, Albert R. Williams, and Thomas P. Littlepage. 60 Upon motion, Thomas P. Littlepajre became Chairman of the meeting. Upon motion of jMi*. Greene, seconded by Mr. Williams and nnani- monsly passed, the following were elected Directors of the Northern Nut Growers Association, Incorporated, for the first year of its ex- istance, or thereafter nntil the annual meeting of the company in 192t. James S. McGlennon, of Rochester, New York. W. C. Deming, of Hartford, Connecticut. Willard G. Bixby, of Baldwin, Nassau Co.. N. Y. Harry R. Weber, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Robort T. Morris, of New York, N. Y. Upon motion of Mr. Greene seconded by Mr. Williams and unani- mously passed, by-laws of the cor])oration were ado)) ted. There being no furtiier business, the meeting of the Incorporators adjourned. KARL W. GRKEXE, ALBERT R. WILLIAMS, THOMAS P. LITTLEPAGE, Incorporators. The President: The next action, tlien, Mr. I^ittlepage, would be to get the report of the nominating committee. I call for that now. Mi{. LiTTi.EPAGE : (Reads as follows): MINUTES OE FIRST MEETING OF DIRECTORS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, IXC. The first meeting of the Directors of the Northern Nut Growers Association, Incor])orated, was held' at Washington, D. C, September 28th, 1923. Present: .lames S. McGlennon. Willard G. Bixby, Robert T. Morris. U])on motion of Mr. Bixby seconded and unanimously passed, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year, or thereafter until the annual meeting of the Incorporation to be heh! in 1921': President, Harry R. Weber; Vice-President. .1. F. Jones; Treas- urer, H. J. Hilliard; Secretary, W. C. Demiing. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned. WILLARD G. BIXBY, Secretary of Directors' Meeting. (The report was adopted by the convention). 51 REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE Bfi WUlard G. Bixby Mk. Biabv: The finance committee asks the association to in- struct the secretary in the printing of the next report to endca\()r to reduce tlie size to one-half of the present report. (Adopted by the convention). Mr. Bi.xbv: I move as an amendment to Article Two of the By- Laws, that annual membership be $3, or $5 including a year's sub- scription to tlie Journal. Contributing members to pay -tlO. this in- cluding a year's subscription to the Journal. (Motion seconded and adopted by the convention, and the com- mittee on Incorporation discharged with the thanks of the association). Mr. I.ittlepage: I have nearly overlooked the fact that the or- ganization must now have a corporate seal, with an appropriate in- scription. An apropriate inscription would be "The Northern Nut Growers' Association, Incorporated." All sucli seals generally carry some appropriate design, and there are various ones to be had. I move that a committee of three be appointed to determine upon the design of this seal, and then later, if the chairman of the conunittee will send the des1<>-n to mi-. I will l^-nf the seal made and send it to the association. (Motion seconded and adopted, and Dr. Deming. Mr. Bixby. and Dr. Morris .ipjjointed as committee by the president). After consider.ible discussion New York City was selected as the place for the next convention and the dates Wednesday. Thursday and Friday, September 3rd. ttli and ")tli. J921-. A vote of thanks to the president. Mr. Janus S. McGlennon, was .adopted. The secretary w.is .ilso instnieted to write to Mrs. Hutt expressing the thanks of the coiiM-ntion for her .address. Dr. Oswald Schreiner of the Bureau of Plant Industry, I'. S. Dept. of Agriculture was then introductd and s|)oke as follows: In the successful growing of pecan trees, the proper care of the orchard is of enormous importance. (To illustrate this point, slides were shown of a good orchard and a poor orchard on a rather thin soil in the Coastal Plain Region. In the good orchard, the trees had lieen well cared for. the soil fertilized by the growing of legumes and cover crops plowed under; in the poor orchard, the trees had been 6^ neglected and the soil impoverished by the continuous growing of cultivated crops, such as cotton and corn. The two views very clearl}' showed which orchard was on a paying basis and likely to prove a profitable investment). It is needless to say that the crop from such a poor, intercropped orchard would be meagre and unprofit- able until the methods were changed. The growing of legumes to furnish humus, and even the growing of winter cover crops, such .is rye, to be plowed under in the spring, cannot be too strongly recom- mended as soil improvers. When nut trees are grown in orchards, they can no longer be con- sidered as forest trees to be left to take care of themselves until a rich harvest of nuts is produced, but must be cared for just as much as any other fruit tree or cultivated' crop or the harvest of nuts will never be forthcoming. The fertilizing of nut trees, however, offers more difficulties than do the annual crops. Experiments on this subject have been few and the information obtainable is rather mea,gre. Consequntly, a few years ago, the Office of Soil Fertility Investigation, which is conducting fertilizer investigations on a large number of the annual crops grown on the prominent soil types or soil regions of the United States, started, in co-operation with the Office of Horticultural Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, a number of fertilizer ex23eriments on pecan orchards, involving a study of several soil types suitable for nut j)roduction and attempting to ascertain the proper fertilizer re- quirements for the pecan on these soils. \\'hile these experiments have been running only five years, which in jioint of time is very small in the life of a pecan tree, yet the different fertilizers cmjjloyed already show some highly interesting results, sufficient to indiicate that certain fertilizer applications undoubtedly influence the growth of the tree, its productiveness, and quality of the nut produced. The experimental fertilizer mixtures are all prepared here in Washington in a fertilizer-mixing plant on the department's Arlington I^'arm. on the Virginia side of the river. The fertilizer house is well stocked w^ith all of the various fertilizer substances used in agriculture, ready for mixing; nitrate' of soda from Chili, potash from France and Germany, and our own far western states ; cottonseed' meal from the South, tankage and dried' blood from the slaughter houses of Chicago and Omaha, Tennessee or Florida pliosphates, and acid phosphate, ammonium sulfate from the coke ovens of Pennsylvania, Thomas slag 58 from England, in short, all sorts of commercial materials from near and remote sources, for study and use in fertilizers. (Slid'es were then shown of the exterior ;ind interior of the plant where literally thousands of experimental fertilizer mixtures are pre- pard' to study the requirements of the various soils and crops,' and are then shipped in freight cars to the various experiment places. Two slides showing the application of fertilizer in a large orchard where tractors are employed in carrying on the various cultural operation; and also in a small orchard where hand labor is employed, were alsc shown) . The scheme of fertilizer experimentation adopted in this work is rather complete and so planned as to include fertilizers carrying the principal fertilizer constituents, phosphate, ammonia and potash, singly, in com^binations of two elements, and in combinations of three elements, ill various proportions in a regularly graded manner. The following scheme illustrates these miix:tures of different analyses, the first figure denoting the percentage of phosjihate, the second the percentage of ammonia, and the third the percentage of potash in the fertilizer. The various mixtures are numbered consecutively. 1 20-0-0 2 3 4 16-0-4 5 16-4-0 6 7 12-0-8 8 12-4-4 9 12-8-0 10 11 8-0-12 12 8-4-8 18 8-8-4 8-12-0 14 15 -0-16 4-4-12 4-8-8 4-12-4 4-16-0 16 17 18 19 20 21 0-0-20 0-4-16 0-8-12 0-12-8 0-16-4 0-20-0 It is quite apparent that in this scheme the entire field of ferti- lizer formulas is covered in a regular way. In addition to this formula ))]an other experiments are also under way to determine the influence of the dift'erent fertilizing materials, carrying the phosphate, ammonia and potash, and the influence of lime, rock phosphate, various green manuring crops, etc. The experiments are carried out in commercial orchards on several soil types and in several localities. While the years the experiments have been running are yet too 54 few for any final conclusions, nnd the details loo numerous to present in a brief sketch here, there have ncxertheles.'s tieen some very interest- ing results from tlic use of Ifrtili/ers which is rradilv shown bv a few lantern slides. Here is. for instance^ a view of a fertilized and an unfertilized section of one of our experiments in Georgia. The views were obtained in the fall, and one could tell at a u,l nice, not only that the unfertilized trees were not /is large, but also ciuite strikingly that they had nearly lost all of their foliage, whereas the trees on the fer- tilized section were still in full foliage, thus j^resenting a very strong contrast. The effect of fertilizers on the foliaue is shown also in a series of slides of represent'itive trees, from one of our experiments in Louisiana, likewise taken in the fall. The first tree had not been fertilized, the second had been fertilized with phosphate and the third with potash. The one fertilized with phosphate appeared slightly larger, but it can again be observed that all three trees were, at the time the picture was taken, nearly three-fourths defoliated. The next two trees from the same experiment, fertilied respectively with a nitro- genous fertilizer and with a complete fertilizer, and photographed at the same time, show the influence of these fertilizers strikingly in that they are still in complete foliage, as well as showing a more vigorous growth. Three slides of fertilized and unfertilized trees from still different experiments all show the fuller foliage and better branching of the fertilized trees, especially those fertilized with the nitrogenous fertilizers or the complete fertilizers. The yields of these trees cannot here be taken up but, in general, these fertilized trees came into bearing earlier and have yielded double and treble the number of nuts produced by the unfertilized trees. (In conclusion, there was shown a slide of the yield of nuts from an experimental tract of a commercial orchard of about 20 acres, in which the yield from a fertilized acre was compared with the yield from an unfertilized acre. It was noted that the unfertilized acre g-ave a yield of approximately two barrels, whereas the fertilized acre gave an increase of two bushel baskets more than the unfertilized.) Dr. W. E. Saft'ord, Botanist, Bureau of Plant Industry, then spoke on the Use of Nuts by tlie Aboriginal Americans. Dk. S.afforu: ]\Iy interest in nuts has been confined almost entirely to those of American origin. For a good many years. I have been studying the plants, and plant products, utilized for food, and S6 for other purposes, by the aboriginal Americans, before tlie arrival in this heniispliere of CoJunil)iiK and his companions. Jn this connection, there is a striking contrast between the Ameri- can Indians and the primitive Polynesians. The chief economic plants encountered by early explorers on the islands of the Pacific Ocean were identical witii well known Asiatic species. Coconuts, bread- fruit, taro, sugar cane, yams and bananas, the most important food staples of the Polynesians, had been known to the Old World for centuries before the Pacific Islands were visited by Europeans; the shru'b, from the bark of which the Polynesians made their tapa cloth, was identical with the paper mulberry of China and Japan; and' the principal screwpine, or Pandanus, from which the Polynesians made their mats, was a well-known species of southern Asia. A number of these plants had even carried their Asiatic names with them to Poly- nesiia. The Polynesiian language itself, with its varied dialects, spoken in Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Easter Island and on other island groups, can be traced without difficulty to the Malay Archi- pelago, the cradle of the Polynesian race. In America!; on the other hand, every cultivated plant encountered by Columbus and his companions was new. Not a single Old World food crop had found its way to our hemisphere before the Discovery; not a grain of wheat, rye, oats, or barley; no peas, cabbage, beets, turnips, watermelon, musk-melon, egg-plant, or other Old' Woirld vegetable; no apple, quince, pear, peach, plum, orange, lemon, mango, or other Old AVorld fruit, had reached America. Even the cotton which was encountered in the AA'est Indies by Columbus the very morning after the Discovery, proved to be a distinct species and could not be made to hybridize with Old World cottons. Conversely, no American cultivated plants ; no maize, no beans, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes; no cacao (from which chocolate is made); no pine- apples, avocadoes, custard apples nor guavas; no Brazil nuts, pecans, or hickory nuts ; nor any other American food staple had found their waj' to the Old World; even the beeches, chestnuts, oaks, and maples were distinct; and the same is true of the New World ground nuts and the grapes, which were the parent species of our delicious American varieties. Quite unlike anything in the Old World were such cultivated plants as the Cactaceae, the capsicum peppers, and the manioc from which cassava is made. In Polynesia the evidence thus offered by cultivated plants points 56 to the spread of Asiatic i-ulture t-nstw.ird across the Pacific, while the peculiarities of the cultivated ))l;uit.s of America point to its isolation from all the rest of tlie world; an isolation which is further establislied by a radical dissimilarity of all American languages from Old World linguistic stocks. In no language of the New ^^'orld, for example, is there a vestige of Hebrew, which would support tiie cherished theory of the migration to this continent of the lost tribes of Jsrael ; nor is there a suggestion of any linguistic element to ind*icate connection with the Chinese, nor ,iny relationshij) between the builders of the American pyramids and those of Egypt. There are many distinct grou])s of American languages. Very often the language of a tribe is quite unlike that of its nearest neighlx)rs: while at the same time it may resemble the languages of tribes quite remiote. This fact indicates former segregation of the various groups speaking the unlike languages and a common ancestry or close associa- tion of the tribes speaking the allied diilects. As examples. I might mention the Quichua Indians of Peru, whose language is very unlike tile languages spoken by the Arawak and Cirib Indians to their north- ward and, at the same time, quite distinct from the languages of their Brazilian neighbors to the eastward. The Aztecs of Mexico spoke a language differing radically in structure as well as in vocabulary from the Maya language of their Yucatan neigh'bors; yet there is unquestion- ably a relationship between the Aztecs and a number of very distant tribes, shown by resemblances of their languages, as in the case of the Shoshone Indians of the northern United States and the Nahuati tribes of Salvador and Costa Rica. In the snme way, the Algonquian dialects, which differ greatly from those of the Iroquoian, show a close relationship between very widely scattered tribes in North America, from North Carolina to Quebec. Such resemblances and radical differences point to a very remote and long-continued segregation which permitted the independent formation of distinct linguistic stocks; while the antiquity of man in America, both north and south of the equator, is further attested by the development of such a cultvated and highly specialized food staple as rmaize, whose ancestral prototype we have sought in vain. Its endless varieties, fitted for widely diverse, conditions of soil and climate, also point to .1 long period of cultiva- tion in dissimilar culture-areas, which enabled them to adapt themselves to condiitions very different from those of the original stock from which they sprang. 57 All this evidence points to the peopling of this continent at a very remote time, perhaps as far back rs the close of the Glacial Epoch; and it also indicates that the early progenitors of our Indian tribes had left their original homes in the Old World before any of the linguistic Old World stocks had taken shaj)e; before Sanscrit was Sanscrit; before the languages of China or any other Asiatic jieople had become established; and just as in this hemisphere tli.e natives de- veloped their own languages from the most primitive elements of sjieech. so most certainly did they develo]) their agriculture from the wild plants of the fields, the'swamps, the hillsides, and the forests. In both respects, as I have already jiointed out, they differed from the Poly nesians who brought with them to their island homes not only their language but their agriculture, from the cradle of their race in the Malay Archipelago; cuttings of seedless breadfruit and of sugarcane, fleshy roots of taro and yams; even trees, like the Indian almond and the candlenut. Here I would like to point out to the members of the Nut Growers' Association the chief difference between nuts and other food staples. Nearly all of our cultivated vegetables, including mai/e, beans, pota- toes, sweet potatoes, squashes and pumjikins, are annuals, sensitive to frost, which must be raised from seed each year, and which differ so greatly from the primitive plants from which they came that their ancestr;l formis cannot be definitely determined. Most of these vege- tables are in all probability of hybrid origin, the result of cross polina- tion and selection. In the case of our native nuts the conditions are (]iiite different. We know the original ancestor of the pecan, our hickories and our walnuts. The fiiu- varieties now cultivated are not hybrids but have been selected Iroin wild trees. In connection with nuts I would also jjoint out that in all prob.ability they were the most important food-staple of ])rimitive man, as well as of his simian an- cestors. It required no great intelligence to gather them or to store them after the fashion followed by scpiirrels. Intelligence, however, is required to ])l.int nuts and to transplant nut trees. Still greater in- telligence is involved in the process of preparing certain nuts for food. A delicious creamy emulsion, for inst.ince. was prepared by the Vir- ginian Iiulians from hickory nuts. Cracking- them and removing the kernels was too long and tedious an operation; so they developed a method of gathering them in (|uaiitities and crushing them in a hol- lowed log, together with water, pounding them to a paste and then 58 straining out the fragments of shells through a basket sieve. Tlie milky fluid which was thus formed was allowed to stand until the thick creamy substance separated from the water. The water was then poured off, and the delicious cream which remained was used as a component of various dishes. This substance was called by the Vir- ginian Algonkian Indians " Pawcohiccora," a word which has been ab- breviated and miodified to "Hickory," the name by which we now designate not only the nuts, but the tree and its wood. It is interesting to note that a similar creamy or butter-like sub- stance was derived by a similar process -froip various ])ahii nuts in Central and South America. Cieza de Leon describes such a process in his Chronicle of Peru, in connection with a nut which was described as Cocos hiityracea, but wliich was not a true Cocas, or coconut. Long before the discovery of America, a somewhat similar process was used in the Xicobar Lslands for extracting a creamy substance from the gr.'ited kernel of the true coconut, Cocon uiicifera, whicli in early times was called Xii.r indicii. This jirocess is still followed thi'oug'hout Poly- nesia. Some of the most savory dishes of the Samoans and the natives of Guam are enriched and flavored with this coconut cream, which is a sulistancc (luite distinct from the water, or so-called milk, contained ill the hollow kernel of the nut, which is so coimnonly used for drinking. Coming back to America, 1 would call attention to the \alue of some of our native pine nuts and acorns as food staples. Certain Indian tribes of the Southwest live upon pine nuts at certain seasons wlicii they are ripe. Dr. C. Hart Merriam has told of the utilization (if acorns l.y sarious tribes of lndi;ins in a beautifully illustrated article piiblishrd in the National (reographic Magazine, 11) IS. entitled "The Acorn, a Possibly Neglected Source of I'Ood." "To the native Indians of California," he says, "the acorji is, aiul alw.iys li/is been. the staff of life, furnisliing the material for their daily mush and bread." He describes the ))roc('Ss of gathering and storing them, shelling, drying, grinding the kernels, leaching out the bitter tannic acid, and preparing the acorn meal in various ways for food. In i-astern North America, several sjiecies of acorns wtre soiiuuliat similarlv used, includine; those of the live oaks of our southern states. The Spaniards of Florida som/etimes toasted' them and used them as a substitute for chocolate or coffee. Chinkapins were used for food by the earliest English colonists. They are mentioned by Herriot, the historian of Sir Walter Raleigh's colony at Roanoke. In addition to 59 these, the early eohinists learned to eat the so-called "water-chinka- pins", which are fruits of the beautiful golden-flowered American lotus, X('ln))il)() lutea, -i plant closely allied to the sacred' lotus of India, China and .lap.in. whose nuts are even now used as a food staple. The split kernels of the latter may lie bought in the Chinese shops on Pennsylvania Avenue in this city. The rootstocks of l)otli the American and the Oriental lotus are also used for food. They resemble bananas joined together end to end. with st'\eral hollow longitudinal tubes running through them. Before I close, I should like to call attention to a plant, endemic in eastern North America, whose tubers were called "ground-nuts," or "Indian potatoes" by the early colonists. The latter name caused the plant to be mi.staken by certain early writers for the white potato, which was unknown in North America in early colonial days, but which was confused with the ground nut on account of the resemblance of the descriptions of the two plants. The white potato. Solniiiim tube- rosum, was discovered in the Andes of South America by Cieza de Leon; it was quite unknown in North America or in the West Indies in the days of Sir Walter Raleigh aJid Sir Francis Drake, both of whom have erroneously been given the credit of introducing the potato into England. The "i)otato" which they observed in the West Indies was not Solaiium tuhero.sum, which we now call the "white potato" or "Irish potato." but a \ery distinct ))lant, Ipomora haiatas, which we now (•ill the "sweet potato," but which in early days was known as the Ixittiia or potato. Tiie error which has become widely spread, can be [raced to John (urarde. the first author to publish an illustration of Soldiiinu luhrrosinu. In his celebrated HerbaU he declares that the potatoes figured by him were grown in his garden from tubers which cime from "\'irii'inia, or Noremlvega." It is quite certain that this statement was untrue, and that, as certain English writers have al- ready suggested, Gerard "wished to mystify his readers." Whatever may have been his motive, the error became widely spread. Even Thomas .JctlVrson was led to believe that " Solanum tuberosum was en- countered in Virginia by the early colonists, and Schoolcraft dfeclared that its tubers were gathered wild in the woods like other wild roots. The Indian potato of the early colonists is still abundant in "moist and marisli grounds," as described b}' Herriot. It is a tuber-bearing plant of the bean family, and is known botanically as Glycine apios. But I fear my talk has become too discursive, in turning from nuts 66 to ground nuts, and from ground nuts to potatoes; but the subject^ bearing as it does on the origin and history of cultivated plants, is one which lias great attraction for me, and I hope it may have been of interest to the members of this association. Professor C. P. Close, Pomologist, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, spoke as follows : Mr. Cxose: The subject I had intended to speak on was "Exten- sion AVork in Nut Grovring." Many of 3'ou know that T am jjutting in most of my time on the fruit end of extension work, but I am also doing some extension nut work. I was hoping that there would be representatives from many of the states here, because I wanted' to en- courage them to get in touch with the state extension men, to work up interest in nut culture. My talk will be very brief, but I would like to mention that very few of the states as yet are doing extension work with nuts, especially in the North. Some work is being done with pecans in the South. I have been astounded in talking with the landscape men in the Nortli to find that they have not considered nut trees as ornamental trees. But after I mentioned that a walnut or a hickory or a pecan tree is an ornamental tree, and just as nmich so as the elm. the oak, or the maple, they thought it would' be a good' idea to use them and agreed to recommend the use of nut trees as shade, lawn and roadside trees. Then I suggested the filbert for clump j)lanting as an ornamental. 1 hope in the future that nut trees and filberts will be used more ex- tensively by tht' landscape extension men in their work throughout the country. In most of tlie states there are fruit extension specialists but only an occasional landscape extension specialist; so I try to interest the fruit men in the planting of nut trees, aiul a few of them are doing this, particularly in Indiana, where the fruit extension specialist has been interested in having pecan and English walnut trees planted in school yards. It seems difficult to get people to comprehend and prac- tice nut tree growing and to understand the various uses of nut trees. We can judge from the sinall audience at this meeting that there are not enough people interested in nut growing. In my journey through- out the country I occasionally run across men interested in growing a few nut trees, and I try to induce them to become members of this association ; but it seems to be a hard thing to do. 61 A few days ago I called on a man in New Jersey who said he would have twenty bushels of hickory nuts and two or three bushels of English walnuts if the squirrels did not take them. He is up against a state law which protects the squirrels but does not protect him. f wish we could send out word with you to the states to get at least a few people interested in nut culture, and have them write to the agricultural colleges and the experiment stations and arouse some inter- est along this line at those institutions, not only among the fruit ex- tension men and the teachers, but also among the landscape men as well. There ought to be more interest taken in this work at our colleges and universities, and nut culture courses ought to be organized. The foresters ought to be induced to use nut trees wherever possible. That is all of the time I care to take at present, Mr. President, but I wish to say that if there is any way of arousing interest in the states, I would be glad to carry the word from Washington and to push it just as hard as possible. Hon. \y. S. Linton, Saginaw, Michigan, spoke on "Roadside Plant- ing vs. Reforestation," as follows: As a delegate to the National Tax Association convention at White Sulphur Springs, it has been my lot to have been named on both fed- eral and state committees, with the idea of exempting from taxation those who would produce trees for the future. My experience has been that exemption from taxation for the purpose of producing our future forests is a wrong one. The sentiment of the people is against exemption from taxation, and I do not know how it may be practically applied to the growing of the forests that our country miust have in the future. But the individual will not carry out the work, and the corporations will not undertake it, so it devolves upon the government of the state to reproduce those forests. The govern- ment lives for a long period in between many life-times, and ours should live as long as the earth. It is therefore u]? to us to repro- duce those forests which we once had and, as all things come back to the state, then the state should reforest. Next the roadways are to he considered. Roadways will grow a better class of timber and trees; they are rich in soil, generally, because they pass through the most fertile regions of the country and, up to this time, they have been waste land. I believe that the farmer is right in his wish that trees which shut in the roadsides should be cut 62 away, that the sunlight shoiihl he let in and the roads hard-surfaced. We saw in our trip th it where tiu' trees sliaded the roads they were almost impassable nl tinus. whih' in the ()j)eM pK'iees, they were fine. In Michigan we took up the (|uestion of roadside planting, and Senator Penny fathered the bill, the pioneer measure, that caused (mr state to plant roadways. We h.ive a \ery competent landscape engnneer in charge of one of the departiifeuts. :ind he is planning to gTOW road- side trees, using nut-bearing trees, so that the next generation will profit largely by the work of today. And this is just because of this association. When I was honored with your ])residency. one of the features of tile work we carried on was in getting nut trees from historic places, especially from Mt. Vernon. The Superintendent of ]Mt. Vernon very kindly told us that we could iia\e the walnut crop from trees that were started there during Washington's time, and the only stipulation was that we should not commercialize the ide i ; that those nuts were priceless, and that we should not receive any money for them, but should distribute them in the schools and in a ))ublic w.iy cause interest in the planting of nut trees. That very movement brought a'bout won- derful results, and today there are from (ive to ten thousand walnut trees growing in our state, about the heigiit of a man, all of tliem hav- ing come from Mt. Vernon. On our way throug^h from White Sulphur Springs, we passed througli the home of Thomas Jefferson, .Monticello, and we found some magnificent nut trees planted by Jefferson. Some of our best trees today are from those given to AVaslvington by Thoiiias Jefferson; and I arranged at Mt. Vernon to secure some of the nuts from the trees Jefferson planted there. Just yesterday Mr. Dodge, the superintendent at .Mt. Vernon, again said that we could hiwe tlie crop for this yeir. ^^V will liave a number of busliels from there, although the trees have not been as fruitful this year as usual, and I leave it to you to judge as to wliat we should do with those nuts this year. Some of you have ideas about this, and I would be gl'id to adopt them. But when tlic fact is known that the walnuts can be secured in that way the entire country will want them. At jiresent I have letters from Texas and other places ask- ing for some of Mt. Vernon's nuts. It is a movement that will cause more people, in my opinion, to have nut trees than any other, and we should push it to the limit. 63 I had a letter from Henry Ford's secretarj^, asking for a dozen trees wliicli might be j^lanted at Mr. Ford's place in JNIicliigan. Mr. Ford is doing great good, .so far as tlie saving of tlie forests is eon- eeriu'd. Fie has inmiensc tracts of land where lie is caring for every root and branch. Letter from C. F. Bol>ler, Landscape Engineer in Michigan: The laws of Michigan, as yon are well aware, encourage the plant- ing of trees and shrubs by the highway authorities, and protect existing roadside trees from injury or destruction. Under those laws con- siderable planting has already been done, and in such planting a liberal use has been made of the nut-bearing varieties of trees, especially the black walnut, which is indigenous to nnich of Michigan. Besides the economic value of nut trees, on account of their food products while growing' and their timber products when mature, they are generally very attractive in appearance, and, therefore, very well adapted to roadside planting. Roadside development presents a field for considerable study to produce plantings which afford a variety of effects in trees and shrubs, by using varieties best adapted to the soil and climatic conditions, which best harmonize with the local topography and which to a consid- erable extent have an economic value in addition to their ornamental value. Nut trees admirably fulfill these requirements for roadside planting and while I believe that such other desirable varieties of trees as the American elm, the sugar maple, and others, should be used in proper proportions, I am fully convinced that the varieties of nut trees adapted to our soil and climate should be used liberally in the planting of the roadsides of Michigan. The plans for the future development of the state trunk line high- ways in this state, contemplate the planting of the black walnut, butter- nut, sweet chestnut, hickory, beech, and other varieties of nut bearing trees in considerable quantities, and I am confident that their use will add to man's enjoyment of the highways and that these trees will be- come an economic asset to the regions where they are planted. TiiK FitEsioENT: There is one thing Mr. Ijnton mentioned that I wish to put special emi)hasis upon; the distribution of trees grown from Washington's home. I>ast year ^Ir. Jones sent out a lot of seed- ling walnuts and there are quite a few in Rochester. It was delightful to see the interest manifested by the people receiving those seedlings 64 and to hear how the people were succeeding. Some of them have writ- ten me. Mr. Reeij: Possibly it would help if", when any of us here present should chance to visit historic spots, we would get nuts from such places and send them to Mr. Linton; from Gettysburg or any of those places. We should each consider ourselves commdttees of one to get those nuts and to deliver them to Mr. Linton. Mk. Bixby: I will see what I can do al)out it, and will get some of the nuts today. Mr. O'Connor: I do not know how Mr. Linton would feel about sending to different .schools some of the nuts that were given him bj' the superintendent at Monticello, and in letting the children have a little nursery, and the means to beautify their home towns, but I will say that if you get the children started in a thing like this, you will have the parents following up. ]\Ir. Linton: There is another jjoint 1 wisli to mention. .Mr. Dodig'c sent one bushel of the walnuts which he said were taken from a particular tree that he admired. He thought it was the best variety of all of them. That tree, a year ago. was struck by lightning; so he requests that some of the trees produced from the nuts of that particu- lar tree, be sent back to Mt. Vernon, in order that he may have some seedlings from the original tree. It is a fact that those nuts pro- duced the best yields of any that we planted in Michigan, showing that the seeds from the best tree will bring the best results. ENCOURAGEMENT FROM FAILURES IN GRAFTING Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa. After improving from an illness of several years, and feeling tired, impatient and at times discouraged with progress in my physical con- dition, last spring I secured a few bunches of scion wood and turned to my old boyhood hobby for diversion; this time, however, by work- ing on nut trees instead of fruit. In presenting the following at the request of others. I do not claim any originality, but simply draw the attention of interested parties to some possibilities and probabilities. My results have been very variable and many of them show as success- ful a failure as any one could possibly obtain. The scions referred to 65 ill tilt* following tibiil.ited record were put in from May 20th to July 2()tli .•ind were well "mixed tojrether" in the hope of giving better opportunity for cross pollcnization, a few of every variety except the Hales being put in every day. The Hales were all put in late in July. I have grafted many other varieties of fruits and nuts but a record ot the hickorv onlv is shown below: No. Grow- Died % % ing Growing Died Weiker 46 0 46 0 100 One graft to tree 5 3 2 60 40 T.W.T 1%" diameter 5 1 1 20 80 U.W.T. 23 1 1 4.2 95.8 U.W.T. Taylor 5 2 3 40 60 U.W.T. 10" diameter 27 7 20 25.9 74.1 Fairbanks 15 11 4 73.3 26.7 Vest 27 1 26 3.7 96.3 Manahan 22 7 15 31.8 68.2 7 0 7 0 100 U.W.T. 3" diameter Lanev 13 6 7 46.1 53.9 15 1 14 6.6 93.4 U.W.T. 6" diameter Beaver 5 2 3 40 60 Scions poor. But one grew 7 ft. 4 in. Kentuckv 19 7 12 36.8 67.2 10 1 9 10 90 U.W.T. 5" diameter Kirtland 12 5 7 41.6 58.4 16 5 11 31.3 68.7 U.W.T. 5" diameter 7 16 14.2 85.8 U.W.T. Put on late as also the Hales Hales a 6 1 5 16.6 83.4 U.W.T. 3" diameter b 35 • 0 35 0 100 U.W.T. 10" diameter c 2 2 0 100 0 T.W.T. IVa" diameter d 4 4 0 100 0 T.W.T. 2" diameter e 3 3 0 100 0 T.W.T. f 3 2 1 66.6 33.3 T.W.T, g 6 4 2 66.6 33.3 T.W.T. Total 338 75 263 22.2 77.8 The last two series of the Hales made 100% start also but bugs killed three grafts. U. W. T. means a tree from which all the lower limbs were cut back to about a foot or eighteen inches and grafted, a few top limbs having been left intact. T. W. T. means a tree from which the top had been cut, the lower linib.s and stub having been grafted, although a few of the lower limbs were not sawed off. A study of the above record is interesting. All of my stocks arc of tlie mockernut type, varying from three-fourths to two inches in di- ameter, except a few trees to which I refer speciall}' as T.W.T. and U. W. T. It will be noted that the Weiker and the Vest made the poorest catches. It could not have been due entirely to weather con- M ditions or the condition of the scions, for the scions of these two varieties were equal to anything T had. In view of the fact that they are botli very desirable nuts, I always carried a few scions and kept placing them frequently as I placed other varietiese. Many Vests were placed at the same time as the Fairbanks, which shows 73.3% catches. The. one Vest that did catch, however, made a very thrifty growth, showing that it is possible apparently to do well on the mocker nut. With the Weiker, a'bout the 15th of Jul}^, I put five scions on the limbs and trunk of a tree about 1^ inches in diameter, the top having been cut out, with three catches, 60%, against another lot of t6 with 100% failure and 23 more with 1.2% success. Such antics are diffi- cult to understand. Many of the scions were put in the trunks of the trees; others were put on the small branches with tlic splice graft. The scions placed on the trunks, or the larger limbs near the trunk, apparently did somewhat better tli.ui the splice grafts further out on the limbs. In tile walnut and other sappy trees, however, the splice graft out on the small limbs did better. It is of peculiar interest that all of the large trees from which the lower limbs were sawed and the stubs grafted, the topmost limbs hav- ing been left, designated as U.W.T., did badly. Wlvile in the case of the five Hales, three had 100%. and two had 66.6% catches. These two also had 100% catches but bugs ate the tender shoots and killed three of them. These trees had the tops cut off last fall leaving only a few lower lim'bs. Tlu-y were put in on July 20th after the sprouts had well started on the trees. The sprouts were iu)t taken off but their to))s were ])inched out. 'I'liesc grafts made a growth of from one to two flit or more. At the same time a tre^ was trimimed (Hales 1) iu the record) ,iiul all the lowi-r limbs gr.ifted with Hales, leaving a few top branches only. Tliirty-H\t' werr set ,iiid not a single one grew. Tlif h)cation of this tree was l)ettfr than any of the fi^'e above referred to, because a couple of those trees were standing on the top of a rock where one would wonder how tliey could exist, and it was so hot when 1 placed the grafts that I had to quit .uid get out of the sun. in spile of that 100% grew. A study of the above record leads to the conclusion that there is very little difference in plant and animal cells and it seems clear that certain old, underlying principles must 'be dealt with. I need not refer to heredity because, while it is undoubtedly quite possible, per- 67 haps, to infiucnce heredity tendencies so as to get stocks to accept scions uuire readily, it is not the major issue for most of us just now. Next sprin^^ we will take what heredity has given us and be satis- fied. However, it aj)])ears certain that our results in grafting the various stocks we now have will depend largelv on our ability to: 1. Regulate jjlant circulation. 2. Stimulate cellular activity to a point compatiMe with wound repair, defensive and growing ):)roeesses. 8. Control jjlant cell nutrition. One of the very first things we physicians do upon seeing a patient is to investigate his circulation. If the pressure is too low or too high, for ,iny reason, we immediately take measures to correct it, because we kiu>w that disastrous results will quickly follow if that is not looked after. Plant circulation, or sap flow, is no less important. Mr. Riehl, Mr. . I ones and Dr. Morris made great strides when they advanced the ideas of covering the wound and the scion completely to prevent evapor- ation, thereby also controlling the sap pressure. With the exception of shading, pruning and defoliating, this is about the only method we have of preventing evaporation. Defoliation, of course, interferes with tlie tree's ))ower of growth. Controlling the humidity is probably not practical on a large scale. A proper and careful cutting of the tree beforehand is important. It appears that to cut the to]) completely out while the tree is dormant, so diisru])ts the routine circulation that the few lower branches which are left intact, are well taken care of and, it seems to me, that this, together witii tlie stimulation of WOUND REPAIR by cutting and al- h>wing time enough for the cells to get into action, was the jirinie rea- .son for the 100% success in the three Hales and the cause of the 100% failure in the other Hales tree. Other methods of controlling the circulation are of course drainage, Irrigation, niidehiiig, location of tlie orchard, j)lacing of condensers of iiioislurc. such as stones and other hard substances beneath the trees, and many other contrivances which arc in use and which I shall not discuss. With reference to stinndation of cellular activity we are consid- erably concerned. In medicine I have found the subject of wound repair and immunity most interesting, the two subjects seeming to be more or less related. Some animals will repair wounds and immunize readily, while others will not. In a general way young healthy animals 68 and liuman beings immunize most readily, while older ones frequently fail almost entirely. Interestingly enough plants seem to be strangely similar in this respect^ and the thing that stimulates cellular activity for defensive purposes (immunity) apparently stimulates growth and wound repair. The thing that stimulates most actively for a special purpose is the thing itself, the best stimulant for wound repair being the simple injury. To illustrate briefly: In my work last summer I came in contact with two enemies, yellow jackets and copperheads. The copperhead stimulated me to carry a club in defense, while for the yellow jacket the club was of little value and 1 ratlier preferred carbon bisulphide. Had I ignored my senses and allowed nature full sway, as a tree does, the snake would have injected his venom and the yellow jacket his toxin, and my cells would have accepted their only alter- native and proceeded at once to build up a specific defense, after which they would have been in better shape for development, providing the poison would not have been so great as to prove fatal. Injury to a tree certainly does stimulate wound repair, defense and growth. It is well known that trees with many transplantings, root injuries, trans- plant niueli more readily, and the nurserymen use this method of stim- ulation as a routine procedure. I learn in Florida tliat in order to trans])lant a good size palmetto, they are in the habit of digging' down on one side and cutting the roots the year before removal. It will then transplant more readily. Pruning has the same cell stimulating effect if done at a time that will retain the stored nutrition. An attack of disease just as surelv stimulates cellular activitv and "-owtli but it is too frequentl}' followed by disaster. We have all lieard of driving rusty nails into trees (thinking the iron produced the beneficial results), cutting a slit in the bark of the limibs and trunk for "bark bound" so called, etc., all of which have stimulating effects with more or less permanent injury to the treee. ^^'ho knows but what the sap sucker, with his ability to dig into llic bark and extract a piece of cauiibium. was not sent to us to aid in pre- serving our trees by stimulating new growth? In my work last summer trees that were subjected to slight injury before hand apparently acce])ted a larger proportion of grafts. I will briefly cite two .specific illustrations. A little butternut tree located near the house was the object of my efforts for over two years. Dur- ing" my illness I frequently went out and pruned a few branches or put on a few buds. Something would happen to me and possibly I would 69 not see it again for months, and in the meantime the buds would be strangled or knocked oft". Another little hickory tree stood in the roadw.iy. Harrows, plows, wagons and even logs were dragged over it. (rraf'ts on lH)tli these trees cauglit rather readily last spring. In fact two black walnut grafts on this little butternut were t^o of the very few that I got to grow at all last year. My walnut grafting was almost a total failure. J have this to say, however, that I had no dormant walnut scions, my scions all being cut in May or June. Mr. Jones, by marking the site of his patch bud several days in ad- vance, admirably carries out this idea by locally stimulating the cam- bium cells. Dr. Morris's scheme of using white wax, besides regu- lating sap pressure, allows the actinic rays of the sun to stimulate cellu- lar acti\aty. Cutting the top out of the tree, which disrupts the normal circulation and throws it into the few lower limlis, besides stimulating the cells into activity, has apparently in a large measure accounted for the slight success that I have had. Other methods such as injecting some substance under the bark, applying antise))tics, or some stimu- lating' chemical in a similar way, as "Scarlet Red" is used in skin grafting to increase epithelial growth, may aid materially. Certain chemicals applied to the tree and leaves, as used in sprays, seems some- times to stimulate growth in a way that can hardly always be accounted for by the checking of the disease for which it was placed. Much more could be written on cellular stimulation but enoug'h has been said to encourage others to make observation in this connection, for it is highly probable that the lack of proper stimulation of the cambium accounts for more failures in top working trees than we are aware of. 3rd Control of Plant Cell Nutrition With this topic we are proba'bly less concerned in its relation to grafting than when the growing and bearing stages come. However, certain nutritional disturbances appear early and the more vigorously the stock is growing beforehand the better progress, of course, the grafts will make when they are started. Whether or not tlu y will start more readily have I been unable to ascertain, but I hnvv a bunch of little fellows with a growth of only an inch or so, and so puny that I can- not account for it in any other way than a lack of j)roper nutrition. Many of these little trees, used vas stock, are very old in comparison with their size .nul they will jirobably be dwarfs all their lives. It is a question whether many such trees should be grafted at all. Fur- ther observations will have to be made to decide that point. Perhaps proper preparation for a year or two would be beneficial. This topic will largely l)e left for future discussion under another subject, but il occurs to uie that nnicli niiglit be accomplished by proper attention to nutrition, espeeiilly when setting out trees for grafting, selection of proper site, fertility of soil. culti\ation to aid absorption, etc. I Iiave observed limbs of animals mueli smaller than normal due to prohibited movements or lask of ])roper circulation, one side of a tree developed out of [proportion, eggs wtithout hard shell due to lack of calcium in the hen's diet, and I know of an old English walnut tree that bears nuts with shells so thin as to be almost negligible. 1 im told that at one time this tree bore a nut with a much thicker shell. It has never had any attention ;uid it is (juite |)robable that the lack of proper shell building elements causes the trouble. I have grafted a few of these and' I want to see wh it happens by furnishing better nutrition. Concerning scion wood, I have "ringed" some limbs, similar to the method used sometimes in producing extra large fruit, in an effort to have the scion store up a large amount of nutrition. This experi- ment I shall continue in the spring. This article is based entirely on my own ideas, o'bservations and conc'lusions in connection with old staiuling principles. As previously stated, I claim nothing new and my only desire is to stimulate others to make like observations. Carrying out my conclusions in my work next spring I propose to cut the tops out of all my trees, leaving a few lower limbs instead of the top ones, allow them to start growth a little before grafting, pinch the tip from that growth, and, in addition to covering with paraffin or some combination of it, shade the scions on the south-west side, either by tipping branches over them or some other way. Paper bags seem to absorb the paraffin. Double grafting in the case of the Vest and the Weiker will be tried. Whitewashing the stock to jirevent sun burn will be used where necessary. Several other experiments based on the idea of cellular .stinmlation before the scions are placed in ))osition will be tried. Dr. M. B. AVaite, of the Federal Insecticide and Fung'icide Board, U. S. Department of Agriculture, spoke as follows: Dr. Waitk : Some of you may recall that several years ago, when 71 you were meeting here in this hall, 1 gave you a paper on the nut diseases of the northeastern part of the United States, and it would not be desirable to go over that same ground again. At that time, we took up the baeteriosis of the Persian Walnut, and filbert blight, and I out- lined a program of proposed treatment for tlie filbert blight. It might be interesting to note here that Dr. Morrris, and I believe also Mr. Bean, put that treatment into practiee with suceess. The situation still remains, however, that we do not know of diseased plantings of any size. If we find a real plantation of filberts we will be glad to attempt eontrol measures ourselves. I ha\ e planted about two dozen filberts and they still remain free from the disease. There are very few local hazel nuts, wild or cultivated, around Washington; but we understand that the few hazel nuts are free from this disease. There are two or three things I wish to mention. One is the re- peated inquiries reaching my office with regard to the non-filling of nuts, mostly the cultivated nuts, sometimes the i^ecan, sometimes the black walnut, and frequently the English walnut. The subject is a complicated one and the disease is not one that we can put under the microscoi^e and diagnose at once. The trouble is due to a complex of varietal and environmental conditions, the effect of the conditions of growth, of soil fertility, temperature, soil, water and humidity, sun- shine, etc., on that plant. Very often it is because people get the wrong variety and do not know what they have. They may have an unpro- ductive seedling. On the other hand a good v.-iriety may fail to bear in a locality where it is not suited. Very frequently the real lack is in soil fertility. Of course the success of the pecan trees down South around pig pens is an old joke to you gentlemen, but there is trutli in that. For good nuts there is often need for a little extra manure or fertilizer, or perhaps both. Sometimes there are rich pockets in the earth where those trees would like to grow, or rich bottom lands which Avill produce without manure. I think one of the best wav^s is to fertilize with manure, if possible. Pollination troubles in connection with the non- filling and droi)j)ing of the nuts should be thought of. Then there is aiu)tlier angle to be considered, and perhaps 1 can ex})ress it most definitely to you by citing the example of the .June drop of peaches. Whenever a tree, like the peach tree or the pecan or the black walnut, sets its fruit in the sjiring, you will find that there are cross-pollinated and self-pollinited fruits. These will begin to 72 drop their nuts or their fruit at definite stages. Furthermore we will find the obartiM' seeds are not one size. Tiiis means thit there were definite stages of the j)ollination and of the fertilization. I should like to work that up and find what the stages are. The hist big step in the dropping of the pc.ich tree is the shed- ding of the fruit just as the |)its are hardening. When the}' are hard the fruit does not fall. So this June-drop question ties in with the complications of polliu tion and nutrition. We know from exiieriments on the sterility of the pear tree, if highly fed and cultivated, such as those I worked on in the city of Rochester, that those highly fed trees will have some self-fertilized pears. In all of the pears we got no pears resulted when jiollinized with the pollen of the same variety, except on those well fed trees. We learned this in the East, and have since found the same type of self-fertilized ])ear occurring naturally in California and other places in tiie AVest. In nut production that whole question of setting and filling is tied up in a complicated way with pollination and nutrition. Aside from nutrition the other thinu' to he considered is that of disease. The common black walnut around Washington is generally poor from fungus leaf diseases. Those of us familiar with it around here know that they do not fruit well. This is not a good place for the common black walnut. The wild ones are nearly all poor. I was raised in the Mississippi Valley, where there were large nuts and fine ones, and we gathered those which fell from the specially good trees. They do not grow so well here, except the Stabler and a few others. Leaving that subject, there is another 1 wish to take up. That is, the great number of complaints about winter-killing of the English walnut. Wherever we have been able to trace that down, as we fre- quently have, we find that the English walnut suffers more from winter-killing right around Washington, D. C and in Pennsylvania, than up iri Rochester; and we also have complaints of winter-killing as far south as Georgia. A common cause is the variation of moisture. After a dr}' spring and early summer soaking rains come in August and September, and the trees, brought suddenly into growth at the close of the season, when thev should be drving out, the walnut tree in particular, show winter-killing. So I think one of the main troubles with the English walnut in the Eastern United States is the winter- killing. Even in Georgia we mlay have this trouble with the pecan, young trees two and three years old, and I have photographed them. 78 As l(» false sliinulatioii. in the woods, where these trees grow native and under the conditions to which they are necessarily adapted, they are unilched and crowded when young by their competitors. In cul- tivation we do not get the crowding and the mulching that makes steady growth and proper ripening. So you should, by some j)rocess. growing corn, cover crops, or other trees, keep your delicate nut trees a little crowded and, if possible, mulched while young; and then later, cut out the undesirable things and let the trees have room. I am not fully prepared to speak about the nut work of the Bureau of Plant Industry, because that should be handled by the chief of the bureau. 1 have charge only of the diseases of fruits and nuts. We have had $8,200 allotted to the project and will have $2,000 more this year, making $10,200. Originally that was $3,000 for nut diseases all over the United States. \\'e started to work mainly on the southern pecan diseases, ;uid partly on the bacteriosis of the walnuts of the United States. But the Southern Pecan Growers' Association aot some additional money for the bureau, $5,000 of which was given to the fruit disease investigations, and was tied up with the other $3,000. But the wording of the bill said, "All for pecan diseases." So we transferred more to the ])roject and made it $8,200 for the nut diseases. That means we have done ver}- little work for the nut diseases except on Southern pecans, and I have been warned that one must not stress southern pecans with the Northern Xut Growers' Asso- ciation. We ha\e had. however, one man, and will have two men, on the southern pee/in diseases in Georgia, on pecan scab .and pecan leaf diseases, who are winning out beautifully, and have nearly solved many of (he protjlems. including the ])ecan scab. One of the difficulties is the occasional late summer rainy spell, bringing diseases and bad con- ditions, lint in general we have solved the problem pretty well. Then we have the more permanently dangerous disease, pecan rosette, which has taken about half of the pecans in some section* of the South, especially in south Cieorgia and in b'lorida. That disease is being experimented uj)on in tlie most extensive way of any of our pro- jects. There is only one word to say about pecan rosette, and that is — hunms — the disease is cured by the a^pplication of humus. Mh. Reed: How far north is the walnut rosette disease.'' Dr. Waite: As far as Falls Church, Va., but not much in the North. Mr. Reed: The question was asked yesterday as to whether it could not be overcome in this latitude. Dh. Waite: That nobody knows. The soils east and south of Washington are all acid^ and the conditions are wrong for rosette. The soils have no tendency to chlorosis. They are, in fact, antichlorotic. Theoretically you could get the rosette conditions in the Piedmont region, but a'ou are almost certain not to find them over this way. Now in the organization of the Bureau of Plant Industry there are at least two niiiu offices where nut problems would 'be studied; in the Division of Hortieultural and Pomological Investigations and in my office, where tlie diseases are studied. Remember, also, that the insect pests are studied in the liureau of Entomology; they have experi- mented quite extensively with pec.in insect pests, and have the organ- ization to handle sue]i ])ests. Of course there is a Bureau of Mar- kets and the Office of Soil Fertility in the Bureau of Plant Industry, which liandle the pecan, incidental to tlie other studies. Mk. Bixby: I would like to ask Dr. Waite a question. The as- sociation has s])ent a good deal of time in developing exact methods of measuring (ju.iutitatively the \arious eliaraeteristics of nuts which are considered \;ihiabU'. and th;it study lias gi\en us methods of comparing notes from year to year, comparing the same nut, and I have noticed that it is (juite frequent th.it the kind of nut tliat is good one year, will not I'.e so good the next year. To take an example, the Clark hickory, which took the prize oiu' year, the next year fell so far down that it would not lake any prize. Hut after a good deal of trouble I found that l>y careful exa'ininatiou I could )>ick out from the nuts a few which tested up as they did before. It occurred to me that a condi- tion of that kind would be more likely to be due to difference in the soil than in the fertility of the ]iollen. Dr. Waite has had more or less ex- perience in noting the eti'eet of the pollen, and I woidd like to ask if he thought this the cause of the difference in the nuts. \)h. Waite: I think it might be the cause for a lilth' difference, l)ut we could aec-ount for the difft-rence by entirely dift'erent things. By environment and other conditions. Take tlie apples grown in this vicinity; 1 have observed that certain seasons fit certain varieties. This year it was favorable for Ben Davis, and yet we have had a poor crop of most varieties; the conditions were bad for the Winesap to set, but yet the fruit is good. Every year and every da}' is different; and jilants are subjected to these complications, and the yield, or the result 75 ill fruit, is a response to environment. They are so very susceptible to these things. I came here this morning after picking some cross pol- lenated pears on the x\rlington Farm. We have a lot of crosses there where we study the hybrid seedlings. Some will be almost too jDOor^ in certain A'cars, to deser\e further attention, and good another season. In other words, these nuts probably do not vary any more from year to year than many of our fruits and vegetables do, and the main factor is probably response to environment, namely, temperature, air humidity, soil moisture and sunshine. The President: I might mention that we have had a filbert orchard at Rochester for eleven years, and there li/is not been the slightest indication of blight there yet. Mr. Reeu: 1 would like to ask Senator I'eiiiiy liow the Road- side Bill is taken in Michigan. Senator Fenny: According to the Michigan law, the people along the roadside consider that their property is subject to the right of transportation on the highway; just as a stream is owned by indi- viduals in Michigan, subject to the right of individuals to use it. This hill says, "Give the right to plant trees on the highway," and I think the planting is done with the consent of the owner. The aigricultural college has a landscajje gardener connected with the landscape de^^art- nient; he will have charge of planting along the roadside, and I tliink it will lie done in a scientific manner; but I believe it is neces- sarv to "et the consent of the owners first. Ml!, liixiiv: Last evening Mr. Franklin Weims. of Washington, was with nie on the state highway of Maryland, coming south from Baltimore. The highway is being constructed at the rate of about eight miles a year, and funds have been provided. Mr. Weims feels that something should ])e done to see that the new highway is projierly planted with trees, preferably nut-bearing trees. I was thinking that the association might, l)y soiiu' resolution, bring that matter to the attention of pro])er authorities. I would like suggestions. Mk. Close: ft might not be out of order to adopt a resolu- tion and address it to the Governor of the state, Governor Richie; and also to the State Forester, Dr. Besly, suggesting that perhaps some of the trees and seedlings might be presented to the state, some of the trees that Professor Linton spoke of this morning. Trees of that sort might carry some weight. 76 The President: Suppose we adopt a resolution and name Pro- fessor Close to take up this matter with the proper state authorities, speaking particularly of our ability to furnish seedlings from the Mt. Vernon trees. Mh. Close: If it is tlie wish of the association, I would be glad to do that. (Motion made, seconded and adopted). LETTER FROM F. H. WIELANDY, ST. LOUIS Gentlemen : First of all 1 congratulate you most heartily on being members of an organization which means so much to the public, as consumption of nuts is largely increasing and I much feaT that the present day produc- tion is not in line with the demand. Although only n nut culturist by proxy I have manifested a deep interest in this for many years, which is exemplified by the fact that on my different hunting trips, in which I have indulged for over thirty- five years, in the past twenty-five years I have also made it a point in the fall of the year, to have with me a large pocket full of such nuts as I thouglit would more easily come up and benefit some one in the future. I usually carried with nic black walnuts, liickory nuts, pecans and acorns, and in my rambles through the woods and along the high- ways, I would plant these where 1 thought there would be less chance of tlieir being molested if they developed. In going over the same ground quail shooting, last fall, ground that I had covered more or less for a g«ood many years, I began to see the fruit of my efforts, and felt repaid many fold for what 1 had ac- complished. Unfortunately wi' are a nation of destruction, rather than of con- struction, so far as our timber is concerned, and this is more noticeable in fruit and nut trees than in other varieties ; although, being inter- ested chiefly in these T possibly am biased. When we stop to consider that a country such as Norway began to replant and reclaim their forests before Columbus discovered Amer- ica, it strikes me that it should be a lesson for everyone in this country. Consider too, if you please, that T:)efore the war Germany paid her entire road taxes from nothing but the production of nut treee along the public roads. We also know, although a very small country in area, that it produced enough timber each year to satisfy the need for 77 building and commercial purposes in the form of packing cases, casks, etc. And here we are, a country forty times larger than Germany, and forced to de])end on countries such as Canada and Norway for Wflod pulj) ont of which wc manufacture a great many grades of paper. Some twenty jears ago 1 had a political friend introduce a bill during a meeting of the state legislature, which made it mandatory for the road overseeer to plant nut trees along the right of way all over the state; but like many meritorious bills, it was pigeon-holed until the next meeting of the legislature. It seemed an impossibility to resurrect this and an exceptionally fine forestry bill. Unfortunately I promised to preside at a meeting of conservation- ists and it is for that reason that I am unable to meet and be with your lionorable body, for I would like so much to be permitted in a humble capacity to assist in carrying on the work which you gentlemen are do- ing, as it is going to mean so mucli to future generations. I am sure that each of you feels as I do in this matter and that is that "He wlio serves others, best serves himself." When the matter comes up for consideration I would like very much to have your next convention here in the Middle West, either in St. Louis or Alton, 111., which is only a few miles north of St. Louis and in the vicinity of a splendid nut-producing section, particularly the pecan. THE CHESTNUT C. A. Reed, U. S. Department of Agriculture No discussion of the nut industry in the North at this time would be complete without a brief review of the chestnut situation. The de- struction wrought by blight in wiping out practically all of the native chestnut trees within its path, with almost equally fatal results to the European species has for the time being all but tliuiinatcd tlic chest- nut from the consideration of planters in the eastern part of the country. The chestnut bark disease has cost the country untold millions of dollars, and no wonder the public pauses for a second thought before investing in eastern-grown chestnut trees. Nevertheless, it is not 18 to be sup])().secl that clie.stmit growing has disappeared from this coun- try for all tiiiif. No plague has ever hvvu known to wipe a race com- pletely out of existence, and it is ujithinkable that the Wight will do so with the genus Castcinca. The native range of the AiinTJean sweet chestnut centers largely in the Appalachian region troiii I'orlland. Maine, south to Atlanta, Georgia. The species becomes more sparsely rej^resented as the dist- ance increases in any direction from this central area, practically disap- pearing on the west, in the region of tiu' Mississippi above Memphis. Its northern boundarj- might rougl)]y be described as extending from lower Illinois through northern Indiana, southwestern Michigan, south- ern Ontario, central New York and middle New England. As was to have been expected, the 'blight has wrought its greatest destruction in places of densest representation of the chestnut species. It is in the outlying districts of scant frequency that the danger of infection from chestnut trees from the forest is least to planted trees, and likewise, tliere it is that combative measures sliould be most successful. Ob- viously, the farther from the center of the native range trees can be planted, the less is the likelihood of infection. Well outside the native range of tlie chestnut species, there are a lunnber of districts in the United States within whicli it should be pos- sible to build up a new chestnut-orchard industry. In proof of this, there are many jirofitable trees and small orchards in the mid-west and on the Pacific Coast, particularly in western Michigan, northern In- diana, southwestern Illinois, in the eastern foot-liill region of northern California and in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Probably the most outstanding instance of successful chestnut orcharding now existing in the entire country is a planting of Mr. E. A. Riehl, of Godfrey, Illi- nois, situated on the bluff of the Mississippi River eight milese west af x\lton. Here ]\Ir. Riehl has produced half a dozen or more hybrid varieties which are paying very satisfactory dividends on fertile hill- side land which is miainly too steep for cultivation. A number of these varieties have 'been taken to northern California where they are prov- ing highly successful. In the Willamette Valley of Oregon, two species are represented with about equal frequency. These are the native chestnut from the eastern states and that from Japan. Neither has performed in such a way as to be particularly encouraging. The former has not been productive and the latter has produced nuts of quality so inferior as to T9 prejudice the planters against the entire genus. It is a difficult mat- ter, tlierefore, to induce prospective planters in that section to con- sider any species of chestnut. In the East, it is well known tiiat tlic native species does not come into bearing until 12 or 15 years of age at best, and that to induce pollination and a set of nuts, it is necessary to inter-plant a number of varieties together. Had groups of varieties of American or Euro- pean origin been jolanted on the Coast, instead of single trees of the former or varieties from Asia, it is not improbable that the present atti- tude toward the chestnut in the Pacific Northwest would have been quite different. The work of the late Dr. \^in Fleet, in hybridizing various chest- nut species and in testing out Chinese and Japanese species with a view to determining their value as nut producers and their resistance to the I>.irk disease, is familiar to most members of the Northern Nut Grow- ers' Association. Since the death of Dr. Van Fleet, the work has been taken over by other hands in the Bureau of Plant Industry; but ap- parently, all of the hybrids now growing in the vicinity of Washing- ton, D. C, are destined to succumb to blight. At present, practically every tree of the Chinese chestnut Castanea molissima , planted by Dr. Van Fleet at Bell Station, ^laryland, where his work was mainly cen- tered, likewise shows large blight cankers. But despite the gravity of the infections, it does not appear wholly improbable that many of these trees can be j^reserved. However, the wisdom of continuing propagation of the Japanese species is very doubtful, as the quality of nuts is usually of low order. Chestnut trees from China are generally light producers; but out of the total of several hundred at Bell, several this year have borne good cro))s. The flavor of the nuts is sometimes sweet, but oftener, otherwise; yet the average is superior to that of the Japanese chestnuts produced in the same orchard. Fortunately, it happens that the nuts from some of the trees of Chinese species which have been most prolific during the past season, have proved to be of high quality, comparing favorably in this respect with the native sweet chestnut. In size, the Chinese chestnuts average nuicli above those of the American species, and while perhaps a shade smaller than those from Euro]n'. they are of a size and quality which should readily appeal to market demands. An early planting of Chinese chestnut trees at Lancaster, Pa., put out by jNIr. J. F. Jones, \^ice-President of the Northern Nut Growers' 80 Association, proved so susceptible to blight tliat nil were subsequently destroyed. On the other hand, not infrequent rejDorts are reaching the Federal Department of Agriculture of instances in which the species is shown to 'be iiighly resistant, even when grown within blight- affected districts. Secretary Deniing is one of those from whom re- ports of this kind Iiavi- been received. His planting, consisting of 12 trees put out in 1915 near Georgetown, Conn., has recently borne some nuts. Other cases, some reporting one way and others the other. might be cited; but let it suffice to say that the chestnut industry, al- though temporarily set back seriously, is not necessarily doomed. REPORT OF THE CO.MMITTEE ON NOMEXCLATLRE C. A. Reed, Chairnian While no new names of varieties appear to need consideration at this time, it may be well for the Association to refresh its memory re- garding a few of the outstanding rules of the standard code of nomen- clature by which the Society is guided in tlie recognition of names. In common with practically all other leiding horticultural organizations of the countrjr, including the National Pecan Growers' Association of the South, the Northern Nut Growers' Association follows the code of nomenclature of the American Pomological Society. Some of the pro- visions of this code are substantially as follows: 1. A name shall consist, preferably, of but one word, although under specified circumstances, two words may be permitted. 2. In selecting a name, "The paramount right of the originator, discoverer or introducer of a new variety within the limita- tions of this code, is recognized and established." 3. A name shall be recognized as fixed and shall have the right of priority over any others subsequently applied, after hav- ing appeared in print in such a way as to be definitely tied to a variety, or established. These references call attention to the fact that the code does not define the meaning of the term "variety," and as it does not appear that a clear cut definition has appeared elsewhere in recent literature, in modern application, it may be well to state how it is being inter- preted by this committee. In horticultural practice a plant is not regarded as acquiring varie- tal status until it becomes distinctive among seedlings, because of super- 81 ioritv oi' ijrnduft. iiim.sii;il liistorv. or other similar reason. Few tree varieties .ire recognized as such until after having been propagated by at least one asexual method, such as budding, grafting, layering or (li\ iding. Tlie Committee calls special attention to a recent report on nomen- clature, appearing in a bound volume of 546 pages, under the title "Standardized Plant Names." This report was prepared and pub- lished by the American Joint C'onnnittee on Nomenclature, which was dulv appointed by the leading horticultural societies of the country. It represents the latest authority on matters of horticultural nomencla- ture, and is indorsed by the leading horticultur.al authorities of the present time. Of immediate interest to this Association is the fact that Hicoria replaces Cari/a as being the proper generic name of the hickory group. NOTES FROM AX FXPERLMFNTAL NUT ORCHARD Willard (i. Hi.il>i/, Baldzci?!, X. Y. For several years the association has been advocating the plant- ing of experimental nut orchards, and ever since I heard of this sugges- tion I lia\'e been desirous of ha\ing ojie aiul being able to contribute iiiforuiatioij to our knowledge of nut growing. Therefore since 1917 I have been assembling at Baldwin material which I hoped would aid in this. At tin- Rochester meeting some of the results were iu)ted, and tills \tar. I trust, something jiresented will prove of interest. Chestnuts — Last year I expressed the belief that by carefully watching chestnut trees and cutting out the blight as soon as it ap- peared it should be possible to grow and fruit almost any \ariety in the bliaht are;i. 'I'liis I have done with e\erv variety that 1 have, but that is about all. apparently, that it is possible to do. for nearly all of my trees h/i\e been badly attacked by the blight at the crown; that is, .at the junction of the root .and trunk, ;irul to cut out the l>light means to cut down the tree. The most resistant \.ariety noticed so far is the Boone, which has some Japanese chestnut ))arentage, but probably the Boone trees will not last over a year longer. Apparently it is going to be necessary to get some resi.stant stock and do the grafting high enough to prevent fatal attack of the blight at the crown. Mr. P. W. Wang sent some Chinese chestnuts in the 82 fall of 1921, and J have now several hundred seedlings of what I suppose are Castanea mollissinia, of which I plan to grow a nuniber to rather large size, set them out where the next planting of chestnut trees is to stand, and graft the branches to fine varieties. It will take at least two or three years, however, 'before this can be done. Hazels- — For some four years I have been assembling, for hybri- dizing purposes, selected American hazels from various sections of the United States as well as the various European cultivated varieties that gave promise of being hardy. This year .both blossomed rather freelj^, but the only variety of which I had enough pollen to work with was the Itilian Red. The staminate flowers were picked from some six or eight American hazels which were blooming well and the pistillate flowers were pollinated with Italian Red pollen, in the hope that some hybrid nuts would result. Although the pollination was repeated twice I was much disappointed to find only an occasional nut as a result. It is to be said in this coniu'ction, however, that there were prac- tically no nuts on these American hazels which had not been pollinated with strange pollen; so the lack of nuts could not be laid to the arti- fici.d treatment given the flowers of those plants where it had been ])lanncd to make hybrids. Apj^arently it was due to climatic conditions th/it nuts were almost lacking on all hazels here this year; but 1 do not recall any severe cold s])ells when the hazels were in flower. Still, on one or two branches which I had tagged, as being particularly full of pistillate flowers, there were noticed an almost equal number of dead pistillate flowers a little later. It is seemingly going to be well to carefulh' studv the dtvelojjmeiil of the hazel flowers into nuts. They grow difl'erently from the walnuts and the hickories. Tlii' liaztl flow- ers apparently, after being fertilized, develop into stems on which the existence of nuts escapes llu* attention, at least of the casual ob server, until about August, while the nuts on tlit- walmits and the hickories even though small ;it flrst, are plainly visible from the time they are formed by fertilized flowers until they are matured. HiCKOHiKs— The bearing age of the transplajited hickory so far has been almost an unknown quantity, and what we did know has been such th.it till' association has hesitated to say much about planting hick- ories, its recommendations on the hickorj^ being confined to that of topworking existing hickories. These are known to begin bearing soon after topworking, records of bearing in two or three years not being unusual. 83 Oil tr,iiisi)];mtcd liickorifs. however, about all the information of which I know is as follows: The late Mr. J. W. Kerr, of Denton, Md., inaiiv years ago bought a num'ber of shagbark hickories from a nur- sery, set them out and noted that the time that elapsed before they bore was about 25 years. Mr. Rush's Weiker tree, which bore in 1 1 years after being set out, cut down this time materially. A Kentucky hickory on my place set out in the fall of 1917. flow- ered this year, but I had no 2iollen with which to fertilize the blos- soms, and the nutlets dropped off. A young shagbark seedling set in its 23resent locition in the fall of li)l!) and grafted to Barnes this spring, also set a nut. but this dropped oft" like those on the Ken- tucky and ajsparently for the same reason. It would certainly seem as if under favorable conditions, the transplanted hickory is not going to be anywhere near as slow as feared in coming into bearing. Walnuts — A Royal and a Paradox walnut each supposed to be grafted trees with scions from Burbank's original trees, bloomed this year, and the Royal has a number of nuts on it. The Paradox has hten here a \'ery nuicii shorter time, not over two or three years; so ])(rlia])s it is too soon to be expecting nuts. The Paradox is said to he a ver\- shv bearer, setting nuts onh^ occasionally. ,ind then but few; still, one of my Paradox trees which is not over three feet higih, blos- somed full. It would seem as if it might pa}' to study this tree and see if the sterility or fancied sterility of this tree could not be over- come by seeing that proj^-r pollen is at hand at the right time. A Cording walnut, a hybrid between the English walnut and th<' .Japan vvalmit not (|iiitc :! feet high, is bearing a nut this year. (ii! A K'l'i X(i Perhaps the most interesting thing to be related is the rcsull of allcnipts to (U^erniine the species of hickories best suited as stock Cor I he fine \arieties of hickories lh;it we have. In preparation Cor this and through the kindness oC Mr. Henry Hicks of VVestbury, L. 1., over 100 each of hickory trees oC several species were obtained and set out in the fall of 1919. They were in fiiU' condition for graft- ing this spring. There are some fifteen species of hickories native in the United States. The fine varieties of hickories that we have which are generally sui)posed to be largely shagbarks may prove to be nuich better .adapted for grafting on some stocks than on others. A knowledge of this will prove to be of great value in top working. The grafting was done by Dr. Deming, on May 29, 30, 31 and June 1 of this year, 31 grafts being set on shagbark stock, 52 on moekernut, 53 84 on pignut, 47 on pecan and 91 on bitternut, a total of 274. There were also 343 walnut grafts set on walnuts of four species. The results of this work are summarized in the tables following: HICKORIES, SC10IV.»< FROM YOl.VG TREES Stooks, Number of Graftct au<1 Per Cent of CatcheN Bitternut Mockernut* Pecan Pignut Shagbark Total Variety No. % No. % No. % No. f^^ No. r/r No. f^r. Barnes, scions Dr. Deming's trees 3 100.0 .3 100.0 .3 imi.o 3 loO.d H KiO.O 18 100. n Gobble, scions Dr. Deming's trees 1 100.0 1 lud.O 1 loo.O 1 lOit.O 1 0.0 5 SO.O Griffin, scions Dr. Deming's trees 1 100. 0 1 0.0 1 0.0 l lOO.O 1 lOO.O 5 60.0 Hales, scions W. G. Bixby's trees .5 100.0 5 60.0 5 SO.O 4 l'.5.ii 19 68.1 Kii-tland, scions Dr. Deming's trees 3 66.7 3 33.3 3 66.7 3 66.7 12 58.3 Laney, scions Dr. Deming's trees 6 66.7 6 66.7 Long Beacli, scions Parent Tree 3 33.3 3 66.7 -I 50.0 1 25.0 3 lOO.o 17 53,0 Siers. scions Dr. Deming's trees 5 100.0 5 lOO.O Stanley, scions Di-. Deming's trees 3 66.7 3 66.7 3 66.7 !) 66.7 Taylor, scions Dr. Deming's trees 1 75.0 5 60.0 5 80.0 3 100.0 17 86.5 T<)t;il....34 80.8 24 60.8 22 68.1 22 72.9 11 75.0 113 74.0 'The moikcinuts were larger than any other hickories grafted excepting some liitternuts referred to in the next footnote. They were giafted mostly un litanches. HICKORIES, SCIO.NS KKOM OIJ) TREES StoclvM, \iiiiih. I Alley Black Walnut, scion.s parent tree 9 (».(» O'Connor Hybrid W^alnut. Persian Walnut and Black W'alnut (?). scions parent tree 9 22.2 31 12.9 Ohio Black W^alnut, scions W. G. Blxby's trees 17 64.7 McCoy Black Walnut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees 9 77.0 Stabler Black Walnut, scions some W. G. Bixby's trees, and some Dr. Deming-'s trees 85 51.2 *Ten Evck Black Walnut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees .32 97.0 Thomas Black Walnut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees 23 100. n "Wasson Black Walnut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees 8 7.5.0 174 69.5 Persian Walnuts 4 varieties, scions about 2-3 from parent trees, all of ■which ■were quite vigorous growers 46 0.0 Aiken Butternut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees ■ 39 38.5 Lancaster Heartnut, scions W. G. Bixby's trees 53 3.8 *One scion ■was overlooked in tying and •waxing, other^wise apparently ^we ■would have had 100% catches. In the abo^e t^wo groups of liickorics the one ■where scioiLs ■were cut from young, rapidly growing trees, contrasts unraistakaTbly with those where scions were cut from old bearing trees. The same is shown in tlie table of black walnut grafts, where the Alley, Adams, and O'Con- nor scions were cut from old bearing trees, and the others from young, rapidly growing trees. The poor success with the heartnuts is quiie in line with previous attempts at propagating this species by grafting. Results shown here with the butternut are deemed reasonably satisfactory, in view of the well known difficulty of grafting this species. It should be noted here that, in the case of every graft that took and grew, it was the small buds that were successful, not the large ones. The total lack of suc- cess with the Persian walnut is inexplicable to the writer, but he knows of no previous attempts to graft Persian Avalnut on Persian walnut root. Black walnuts sjiow a very high percentage of catches, in the case of the Thomas and Ten Eyck varieties 100%, but in the case of the Stabler this is reduced to 51.2%. I would say in this connection that 86 neifclier of my two Stal)l('r trees are vigorous growers, and so the trees grafted with seioiis from these are really eases where we have not been using scions from vigorous growing trees, and we know that this does not give a high percentage of catches. The proper species to he used .is a stock for the various varieties of hickories has not hern shown coiiclusixcly i'or the nuinl)er of grafts of each kind set was too few to he conclusive, and these experiments should he repeated, in the ease of most of these varieties where re- sults are poor, it was particularly noted when the grafts were set that the scions were in poor condition, a num|^er of scions being thrown away because the cambium layer was dead. It is to be hoped that a s))ecies will be found to which will be well ada])ted the Vest hickory, which the writer regards, everything considered, as the best hickory that we have. Seemingly the pecan is the stock that gets the greatest number of catches; but the difficulty the writer has had in making Vest hickories on pecan root live, leads him to question as to whether another stock might not prove better. Another thing disappointing so far is in the seeming poorness of the mockeriiut as a stock. Over <|uite •a large section of the United States the mockernut is the jjrevailing hickory, and in that section the mockernut will be most generally available for top working; moreover it will grow Avell in sandy soils where the shagbark is not found. In Petersburg, Va., the writer has seen it seemingly outgrow the black walnut. The adaptability of the Barnes hickory on all stocks is notable, for it is the only one of the 10 fine hickories tested in the 1919 contest, of which this is true. If these grafts continue to flourish, and es- pecially if future experiments check the results this year, the Barnes will have a peculiar value for top working. It is one of our best hickories, and, apparently is our surest variety for top working. Mr. Close: I would suggest that we extend our thanks to the Smithsonian Institute for the use of this room for the meeting. The President: Will you vote for that.^ (Motion voted upon favorably). I believe then, that brings to a close the Fourteenth An- nual Convention, to meet in New York for the Fifteenth Convention in 1924, on September 3, 4 and 5. This meeting is now adjourned. Time — 2:30 p. m. Notes of this convention by Mrs. B. W. Gahn, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Washington, D. C. i 87 APPENDIX Among those present were the following: Senator Penney — ^Saginaw, Michigan. B. K. Ogden— 3306 19th St., N. W.. Washington, D. C. W. G. Slappey— 12 Boyd Avenue, Takoma Park, D. C. S. von Ammon — ^Bureaii of Standards, Washington, D. C. A. M. Greene— Ridge Road, N. W.. Washington, D. C. Alfred Heine — -Bowie, Md. H. Harold Hume— Glen St. Mary, Fla. R. H. Hartshorn, Washington, D. C. Wm. S. Linton — ^Saginaw, Mich. W. E. Safford — Botanist, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D. C. Dr. M. B. Waite — Federal Insecticide and Fungicide Board. Bureau of Plant Industry, Wa.sliington, D. C. Dr. D^iwald Schreiner — .Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, I). C. Karl Wallace Greene — Washington, D. C. C. A. Reed — Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C. Mrs. C. A. Reed — Washington, D. C. C. P. Close — Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C. Mrs. C. P. Close— Washington, D. C. W. R. Mattoon — ^Forest Service, Washington, D. C. Thomas P. Littlepage — Washington, D. C. .John M. Littlepage — Washington, D. C. Eunice M. Obenschain — Hotel Monmouth, Washington, D. C. J. M. Richardson — Stormville, N. Y. Robert T. Morris— 114 E. 54th St., N. Y. Dr. Llewellyn Jordan — 100 Baltimore Ave., Takoma Park. Md. Alfred V. Wall— 2305 W. Lanvale St., Baltimore, Md. Jacob E. Brown — Elmer, N. J. Albert R. Williams — Washington, D. C. Mi-s. B. W. Gahn — ^Dept. of Agriculture. Washington, D. C. James S. McGlennon — Rochester, N. Y. Ralph T. Olcott— Rochester, N. Y. Zenas H. Ellis — Fair Haven, Vt. G. A. Zimmerman, M. D. — Piketown, Pa. G. F. Gravatt — Forest Pathology. Bureau of Plant Industry, Washing- ton, D. C. Willard B. Bixby— Baldwin, N. Y. John W. Hershey — Banks, Pa. P. H. O'Connor— Bowie, Md. John E. Carmoday — Charlottesville, Va. Mrs. John Carmoday — Charlottesville, Va. Mrs. W. X. Hutt — "The Progressive Farmer," Southern Pines, N. C. Amnion P. Fritz — 55 E. Franklin St., Ephrata, Pa. W. A. Orton — Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington. D. C. J. C. Corbett — Dept. of Agriculture, Washington. D. C. W. G. Pollaret— The Star. Washington, D. C. Prof. Lumsden — Federal Horticultural Board, Washington, D. C. 88 Exhibits Listed Crops of 1923 Exhibit of Robt. T. Morris 1. Hybrid chinkapin (burrs and nuts). 2. Graft of pear tree (paraffin nietliod). Exhibit of C. A. Reed "Rush" American Hazel. Exhibit of C. P. Close 1. Seedling filbert. 2. "Van Fleet" hybrid cliinkapin. 3. "G-lady" walnut. Exhibit of J. F. Jones Persian Walnuts. 1. Wiltz Mayetle. 2. Meylan. 3. Lancaster. 4. Lancaster (Same). 5. Eureka. 6. Hall. 1. Posey. 2. Busseron. 3. Niblack. Pecans. Hazels. Cobnut. 1. Rush (Three exhibits). 1. (No name). Filberts. 1. Fichtendersche. 2. Daviana. 3. Blumenberger. 4. Italian red. 5. Lambert nut. 6. Friehe Longe. 7. (junzelebenner. 8. White Aveline. 9. Grosse Ronde. 10. Barcellona. 11. Spanik Gr. 12. Prolific. 13. Noce Lunghe. 14. Du Chilly. 15. Grant de Halle. 16. Buttners. Exhibit of W. G. Bixby 1. Lancaster Heartnuts. 2. Royal Walnuts. 3. Hall Persian Walnuts. 4. Rush Persian Walnuts. Exhibit of T. P. Littlepage (Grown on his farm). 1. Chinkapins. 2. "O'Connor" walnuts. 3. Mixture of varieties of European filberts. 4. . Cluster of pecans (Indiana). 5. Littlepage hazels (which Mr. Littlepage called "American"). 6. Spanish chestnut. NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING VT-s.^ }/\__^,. __ NEW YORK CITY SEPTEMBER 3, 4 and 5, 1924 %M NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING NEW YORK CITY SEPTEMBER 3, 4 and 5, 1924 CONTENTS Officers and Committees of the Association 3 State Vice-Presidents 4 Mem'bers of the Association 5 Constitution 10 By-Laws 13 Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Convention 15 Secretary's Report 15 Treasurer's Report 18 Address — ^Dr. Britton 19 Reports from State Vice-Presidents 20-30 Top Worlving Hickories in the North — W. C. Deming 32 Notes on Mediate and Immediate Grafting at All Times of the Year— R. T. Morris 44 Stocks For Hickories — ^W. G. Bixby 48 The Search for Blight-resisting Chestnut Sprouts — J. F. Collins 57 Protection of Wounds in Nut Trees — J. F. Collins 61 A Harangue on the Nut Situation in Iowa — S. W. Snyder. . 65 Some of the More Important Insects Attacking Northern Nuts— Fred E. Brooks 68 Developing a Nut Industry in the Northeast — G. A. Zim- merman 75 Transplanting Nut Trees— W. G. Bixby 78 Heredity in Trees and Plants — A. F. Blakeslee 81 Progress Report on Nut Culture in Canada — J. A. Neilson. 88 Notes by Professor A. 3. Colby 93 Address by Prof. MacDaniels 99 Nut Tree Crops as a Part of Permanent Agriculture With- out Plowing— J. R. Smith 103 Notes at Mr. Bixby's Nut Orchards and Nurseries, Bald- win, N. Y 107 Exhibits at the House of W. G. Bixby 113 Notes Taken at Merribrooke, Dr. Morris' Estate Near Stamford. Conn 114 Amendment to By-Laws 121 Nuts— ^R. S. Copeland 125 Hardiness in Nut Trees — C. A. Reed 127 Walnut Grafting Investigations — T. J. Talbert 135 ■Care and Preparation of Nuts for Seed Purposes — E. R. Lake 137 Exhibits 140 Members Present 142 OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION President Harry R. Weber, Gerke Building, Cincinnati, Ohio Vice-President Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, 510 East Avenue, Roches- ter, N. Y. Secretary C, A. Reed, Box 485 Pa. Ave. Station, Washington, D. C. Assistant Secretary Mrs. B. W. Gahn, 485 Pa. Ave. Station, Wash- ington, D. C. Treasurer H. J. Hilliard, Sound View, Conn. DIRECT ORS Harry R. Weber, Dr. Robt. T. ^Iorris, Willard G. Bixby, Dr. W. C. Deming, James S. McGlennon COMMITTEES Auditing — Mrs. Karl W. Greene, P. H. O'Connor Executive — Harry R. Weber, Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, C. A. Reed, H. J. Hilliard, W. S. Linton, J. S. McGlennon Finance — T. P. Littlepage, W. G. Bixby, Dr. W. C. Deming Hybrids — Dr. R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, Howard Spence Membership — Harry R. Weber, H. D. Spencer, Dr. J. R. Smith, R. T. Olcott, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson, Dr. W. C. Deming, J. W. Hershey Nomenclature — C. A. Reed, Dr. R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones Press and Publications — Dr. W. C. Deming, W. G. Bixby, M. G. Kains Program — Harry R. Weber, F. A. Bartlett, C. A. Reed, Dr. Robt. T. Morris, A. S. Colby Promising Seedlings — ^C. A. Reed, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson, S. W. Snyder STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS Arkansas California Canada China 'Connecticut Prof. N. F. Drake Will J. Thorpe James A. Neilson Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco Hort. Exp. Sta., Vlneland, Ontario P. W. Wang Dr. W. C. Deming Dist of Columbia Karl W. Greene England Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Howard Spence J. M. Patterson Henry D. Spencer J. F. Wilkinson S. W. Snyder James Sharp P. H. O'Connor Massachusetts C. Leroy Cleaver Michigan Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New York Dr. J. H. Kellogg P. C. Stark William Caha C. S. Ridgway L. H. iMacDaniels North Carolina H. M. Curran Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia James L. Brooke Knight Pearcy John Rick J. W. Waits Joseph A. Smith F. C. Holbrook D. S. Harris Sec'y Kinsan Arboretum, 147 N. Sechuan Road, Shanghai ' 983 Main St., Hartford, Conn. Ridge Road. N. W., W^ashington The Red House. Ainsdale, Southport Putney Decatur Rockport Center Point Council Grove Bowie 496 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Er.ttle Creek Louisiana Wahoo Lumberton Cornell Univ., Ithaca N. C. Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh Pleasantville Salem 438 Penn Square, Reading Normandy Edgewood Hall, Providence Brattleboro Richard H. Turk Dr. J. E. Cannaday Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. F. D. 3 Washougal Box 693. Charleston MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (Compiled November 12, 1924) ARKANSAS *Drake, Prof. N. F., Univ. of Arkansas, Payetteville. Dunn, D. K., Wynne CALIFORNIA Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero Street, San Francisco CANADA Neilson, Jas. A., Ontario Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland. CHINA ♦Wanj?, P. W., Sec'y, Kinsan Arboretum, 147 No. Szechuan Road, Shanghai. CONNECTICUT Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Main St., Hartford Hardon, Mrs. Henry, Wilton Hilliard, H. J., Sound View Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. F. D. No. 2, Box 100 Ives, E. M., Sterling Orchards, iM'^riden Montgomery, Roht. H., Cos Cob. Conn. (1924). *Morris, Dr. Robt. T., Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95 Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Alhert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Agriculture, Library of U. S. Dept. of Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Dept. of Agriculture Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W. Gravatt, G. F., Forest Pathology, B. P. I. Agriculture *Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Building Reed, C. A., Dept. of Agriculture Williams, A. Ray, Union Trust Bldg. Von Ammon, S., Bureau of Standards Gahn, Mrs. B. W., U. S. Department of Agriculture ENGLAND Spence, Howard, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport ♦Life Member. GEORGIA Patterson, J, M., Putney Steele, R. C, Dakemont, Rabun County Wight, J. B., Cairo ILLINOIS Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley Casper, O. H., Anna Flexer, Walter G., 210 Campbell St., Joliet Foote, Lorenzo S., Anna Illinois, University of, Urbana (Librarian) Mosnat, H. R., 10910 Prospect Ave., Morgan Park, Chicago Mueller, Robert, Decatur Nash, C. J., 1302 E. 53rd St., Chicago Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion Riehl, E. A., Godfrey, Route 2 Rod'house, T. W., Jr., Pleasant Hill, R. R. 2 Shaw, James B., Champaign, Box 644 Spencer, Henry D., 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur Swisher, S. L., Mulkeytown Vulgamott, Chas. E., Cerro Gordo INDIANA Clayton, C. L., Owensville Copp, Lloyd, 819 W. Foster St., Kokomo Gilmer, Frank, 1012 Riverside Drive, South Bend Staderman, A. L., 120 South 7th St., Terre Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport TOW^A Adams, Gerald W., Moorhead Armknecht, George, Donnellson. (1923) Bricker, C. W., Ladora Snyder, S. W., Center Point KANSAS Bishop, S. L., Conway Springs, Route No. 1 Fessenden, C. D., Cherokee Hardin, Martin, Horton Hitchcock, Chas. W., Belle Plaine Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Sharpe, James, Council Grove MARYLAND Jordan, Dr. Llewellyn, 100 Baltimore Ave., Takoma Park Keenan, Dr. John F., Brentwood O'Connor, P. W., Bowie Wall, A. v., Baltimore Watkins, Asa H., Mount Airy. (1924). *Life Member. MASSACHUSETTS *Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremoat Bldg., Boston Bowles, Francis T., Barnstable Cleaver, C. Leroy, Hingham Center Sawyer, James C., Andover MICHIGAN Bonine, Chester H., Vandalia Charles, Dr. Elmer, Pontiac Graves, Henry B., 2134 Dime Bank Bldg., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek *Linton, Hon. W. S., Saginaw Penney, Senator Harvey A., 425 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Michigan, University of, Ann Arbor. (1924). MISSOURI Stark, P. C, Louisiana Tiedke, J. F., R. F. D., Rockville. (1924). Youkey, J. M., 2519 Monroe Ave., Kansas City NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo Thomas, Dr. W. A., Lincoln NEW JERSEY Clarke, Miss E. A., W. Point Pleasant, Box 57 Gaty, Theo. E., 50 Morris Ave., Morristown *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V., Cranbury, R. D. No. 2 Ridgeway, C. S., Lumberton NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bennett, Howard S., 851 Joseph Ave., Rochester Bethea, J. G., 243 Rutgers St., Rochester Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin, L. I Bixby, Mrs. Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Brinton, Mrs. Willard Cope, 36 So. Central Pk., N. Y. City Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Clark, George H., 131 State St., Rochester Cothran, John C, 104 High St., Lockport Corsan, G. H., 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn Diprose, Alfred H., 468 Clinton Ave., South, Rochester Dunbar, John, Dep't. of Parks, Rochester Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stewart, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Gaty, Theo. E. Jr., Clermont *Life Member. Gillett, Dr. Henry W., 140 W. 57th St., New York City Graham, S. H., R. D. 5, Ithaca Hart, Frank E., Landing Road, Brighton Haws, Elwood D., Public Market, Rochester Hodgson, Oasper W., Yonkers, (World Book Co.) *Huntington, A. M., 15 W. 81&t St., New York City Johnson, Harriet, M. B., 40 Irving Place, New York City Krieg, Fred J., 11 Gladvs St., Rochester Liveright, Frank I., 120 W. 70th St., N. Y. C. MacDaniel, S. H., Dept. of Pomology, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca Motondo, Grant F., 198 Monroe Ave., Rochester Nolan, Mrs. C. R., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Nolan, M. J., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Olcott, Ralph T. (Editor American Nut Journal), Ellwanger and Barry Building, Rochester Paterno, Dr. Chas. V., 117 \V. 54th St., N. Y. City Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Rawn&ley, Mrs. Annie, 242 Linden St., Rochester Rawnsley, James B.. 242 Linden St., Rochester Reinold. O. S., Yonkers-on-Hudson, (1924). Schroeder, E. A., 223 East Ave., Rochester Shutt. Erwin E., 509 Plymouth Ave., Rochester Solley, Dr. John B., 968 Lexington Ave., New York City Teele, Arthur W., 120 Broadway, New York City Tucker, Geo. B.,- 110 Harvard St., Rochester Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester Waller, Percy, 284 Court St., Rochester Wile, M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester Wissman, Mrs. F. de R., Westchester. New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora NORTH CAROLINA Hutehings, Miss L. C, Pine Bluff Matthews, C. D., North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh OHIO Beatty, Da-. W. M. L., Route 3; Croton Road, Centerburg Coon, Charles. Groveport Dayton, J. H., (Storrs & Harrison), Painesville Fickes, W. R., Wooster, R. No. 6 Hinnen. Dr. G. A., 1343 Delta Ave., Cincinnati Neff, Wm. N., Martel *Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati PENNSYLVANIA Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St., Reading Baum, Dr. F. L., Boyertown Bohn, Dr. H. W., 24 No. 9th St., Reading Boy Scouts of America, Reading ♦Life Member. Davis, Miss E. W., Walnut Lane and Odgen Ave., Swarthnaore, Pennsylvania. (1923). Druckemiller, W. H., 31 N. 4th St., Sunbury Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gribbel, Mrs. John, Wyncote Hershey, John W., E. Downingtown Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Jenkins, Charles Francis, Farm Journal, Philadelphia *Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527 Kaufman, M. M., Clarion Leach, Will, Cornell Building, Scranton Mellor, Alfred, 152 W. Walnut Lane, Germantown, Philadelphia Minick, C. G., Ridgway Paden, Riley W., Enon Valley Patterson, J. E., 77 North Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre Pratt, Arthur H., Kennett Square *Rick, John, 438 Penn Square, Reading Rose, William J., 55 North West St., Carlisle Rush, J. G., 630 Third St., Lancaster Smedley, Samuel L., Newton Square, R. F. D. No. 1 Smith, Dr. J. Russell, Swarthmore Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion *Wister, John *C., Clarkson and Wister Sts., Germantown Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., Piketown RHODE ISLAND Allen, Philip, Providence TENNESSEE Waite, J. W., Normandy UTAH Smith, Joseph A., Edgewood Hall, Providence VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., Springfield, R. F. D. No. 3 Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven Holbrook, F. C, Battleboro VIRGINIA Gould, Katherine Clemons, Boonsboro, Care of C. M. Daniels, via Lynchburg, R. F. D. 4 Harris, D. S., Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. 3 Hopkins, N. S., Dixondale Jordan, J. H., Bohannon Moock, Harrj" C, Roanoke, Route 5 *Life Member. 10 WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack Turk, Richard H., Washougal WEST VIRGINIA Brooks, Fred E., Frencli Creek Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Charleston, Box 693 Hartzel, B. F., Shepherdstown MIsh, A. F., Inwood WISCONSIN Holden, Dr. Douis Edward, Beloit 11 CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association. Article II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Oncers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall he 3, state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Article V Election of Oncers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following year. 12 Article VI Meetings. The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee. Article VII Quorum. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum,, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any- member to each member thirty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. 1y BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows: On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay three dollars annually, or four dol- lars and a half including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars an- nually, this membership including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further diies. Hon- orary members shall be exempt from dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. Article V Members shall be sent a notification of annual dues at the time they are due, and if not p'aid within two months, they shall be sent a 14 second notice, telling them that they are not in good standing on ac- count of non-payment of dues, and are not entitled to receive the annual report. At the end of thirty davs from the sending of the second notice, a third notice shall be sent notifying such members that unless dues are paid within ten days from receipt of this notice, their names will be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. I 15 NEW YORk BOTANICAL 0ARD8N REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS at the FIFTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION ' of the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION, INC. September 3, 4 and 5, 1924 Held in the MUSEUM OF THE BOTANICAL GARDENS BRONX PARK, NEW YORK CITY Excursions Baldwin, Long Island, Sept. 4 Stamford, Connecticut, Sept. 5 Chairman — President Harry R. Weber FIRST DAY— MORNING SESSION The President : The meeting will please be in order, and we will have the secretary read his report. The Secretary: Secretary's Report for 1924. — Fourteen years ago, on November 17, 1910, two women and ten men, seers and' prophets, met for organization in this building at the invitation of Dr. N. L. Britton, at that time and now. Director of the New York Botanic Gardens. We meet here again today by reason of his unfail- Csj ing kindness. £? Of the twelve persons present at that first meeting, three are Lo here again. Dr. Britton, Dr. Morris and myself, and two axe ^* known to be dead. Prof. Craig of Cornell University, and Mr. Henry Qc Hales, of Ridgewood, New Jersey. ^^ The association has held an annual convention each year of its 16 existence excejjt during tlie war. in 1918. when no formal meeting was held. An annual report has been published every year, except that the report of the proceedings of the first meeting was incorporated in the report of the second meeting, and the ninth report, that for 1918, Jias not 3'et been issued. The present secretary has held the office every year except in 1918 •nnd 1919. during military service, when Mr. Bixby took his place. From an educational and scientific standpoint I think the associa- tion may be said to have fulfilled creditably its original declaration of purpose, "the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their pro- ducts and their culture." Many choice nuts have been brought to notice and perpetuated. The establishment of nurseries where grafted nut trees of choice varieties may be obtained has been encouraged. The art of grafting and propagating nut trees has been brought to a high degree of success by members of the association. F,xi)erin:ent:il orch- •ards, both of transplanted nursery trees and of topworked native trees, have been established in widely separated parts of the country. Acting on the suggestion and request of members of the association, Mr. Olcott established the American Nut Journal, one of the most important of our accomplishments. Finally, and perhaps best of all, -a number of horticultural institutions have taken up seriously the study «of nut culture and the planting of exjjerimental orchards. Testimony to this will be found in letters to be read by the secretary and in the presence on our progn-am today of representatives of several liorticul- tural and other institutions of learning. I believe tliat tlie association ■can take credit to itself for liaving. by its publications and other means •of influence, in large degree brought about tliis interest and action. As for any commercial success in nut-growing, brought about by T)ur activities, when we compare nut-growing in our field with j^ecan- growing in the South, and with walnut, almond, and perhaps filbert- -growing, on the Pacific Coast, our results are meagre indeed. Of K-ourse commercial production, the building of a ncM' industry of food supply for the people, is our ultimate goal. ^Vhy are our results in this direction, after fourteen years of effort, so small .^ Is it because we have devoted ourselves too exclusively to the scientific and educa- tional aspects of our problems and neglected, either from over-cau- tiousness or from inertia, to encourage commercial plantings .^ There -are some of our members who think that we have. Ther sar that "we 17 slioiild have been bolder in assuring people of success to be attained in nut tree planting. As for me I do not think that we have been too cautious. We who are so accused can point to the disastrous results of following the advice of commercially interested persons, results which have had much to do with retarding and discouraging nut planting and counter- acting the labors of our association. But now, however, I believe that we have reached a state of knowl- edge where we can confidently recommend the commercial ])]anting of nut orchards. We recommend the Indiana pecan in many states; the improved black walnuts over a much wider area, and the chestnut in many localities where it is not a native tree. The top-working of native hickories and black walnuts also can be confidently recom- mended. In every case, however, the adaptability of the kind of nut to the locality should be passed upon by an exjjert. In every case, also, even in that of top-working native hickories and walnuts, intelligent and generous care is essential for any degree of commercial success. It is probable also, that the })lanting of the European filbert can be recommended under conditions of intelligent care. Now what of the association's future.'' The fieldl is boundless but the working cash is wanting. Faith is unlimited but works are condi- tioned by want of "appeal to commercial powers. It is lalmost a vicious circle, no commercial ;i})peal no money, no money no develo])nient to appeal to commerce. But we do make progress and it is accelerated progress. In time we nuist necessarily arrive at our goal. Our lines of advance are sketched out and our ])rogress along these lines depends on the energy of the workers and the means with which they have to work. I shall ask the association to establish a rule as to when members are in good standing and when they should be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. I shall also ask for a clear understanding, in the form of an amend- ment to the by-laws, on the question of annual dues and their combin- ation with the American Nut Journal. It is desirable that we have a ruling as to a fiscal year. The delay in the issuance of the annual report was due to my un- willingness to contract debts for the payment of which funds were not in sight. The treasurer's report will show that we have a sur^ilus in the 18 treasury to date of about $50. The report of the treasurer is too long to be read at this time, so I will simply repeat that it shows on hand a cash surplus of $50. I will turn the detailed report over to the audit- ing committee for their action. TREASURER'S REPORT Statement ok AccorxTs of the Northern Nut Growers' Associa- tion FROM Oct. 3, 1923, to Aug. 31, 1924, both inclusive NOTE — Owing to deJay in mails, the report given below is a later one than that used by the secretary. The one here included should have reached the secretary previous to convention, and it is the final, cor- rect statement. RECEIPTS Membership— Plan No. 1 $ 2.00 Membership— Plan No. 2 19-25 Membership— Plan No. 6 111.00 Membership — Plan No. 7 149.50 Membership — -Plan No. 9 8.25 Membership — Plan No. 10 7.75 Total receipts from membership $297.75 Transfer of Funds from Former Treasurer 104.13 Contributions 235.00 Sales of Literature .' 10.01 Interest 10 Total $646.99 EXPENDITURES Cash on hand $ -80 Middletown National Bank, Middletown, Conn. (Deposit) 170.64 Litchfield Savings Society, Litchfield, Conn. (Deposit) 4.23 Charged to Loss. 2 Subs, to Amn, Nut Journal on former Treas- urer's account 3.00 Expenses: Postage, Express and Insurance $ 9.79 Government Envelopes and Stamps 15.63 Adhesive Stamps 8.54 Postal Cards 1.25 Postal Cards and Printing 3.25 Registry Fee and Money Order Fee .18 Telegrams 1.18 Reporting Proceedings of Rochester Convention 50.00 Transcript of Proceedings of Rochester Convention 85.00 Reporting, etc.. Proceedings of Washington Convention. . . 60.00 Blank Account Book for the Association 5.00 Seal for the Association 7.00 1000 Letterheads 8.50 Id 1500 Letters 8.50 500 Letters, double sheet 8.00 1500 Circulars 6.50 500 Reports, (92 pp., including cover) 184.00 500 Manila Envelopes 2.00 Printing 1.50 Addressing and Mailing 2.50 $468.32 $646.99 . Respectfully submitted, H. J. HILLIARD, Treas., Northern Nut Growers Ass'n, Inc. The Presiijext: We will now be addressed by Dr. Britton, Director of" tlie Botanical Gardens in which we are assembled. Dr. Britton: Mr. President and Members of the Northern Xut Growers' Association: By curious coincidence, in looking over the records of the Xew York Botanical Societj^'s rei^orts, I find the printed account of the organization meeting of your association. It is ])rinted in the Journal of the New York Botanical Gardens, No. 132, for De- cember, 1910. The article is written by George B. Nash. I believe I will read this report and if. perchance, the document is not in your files, I will turn this copy over to your president for preservation. Organization Meeting, Northern Nit Growers Association A meeting was held in the museum building on November 17, (1910) for the purjDose of organizing an association devoted to the interests of nut-growing. The meeting was called to order shortly after 2 p. m. by Dr. N. L. Britton, vviio welcomed those present and wished them success in their undertaking. During his remarks he referred to a recent visit to Cuba where he succeeded in collecting nuts of the Cuban walnut. Jiiglan.s iii.siihiri.i Gr'iscb. Specimens of these were exhibited and some of them presented to Dr. R. T. Morris for his collection of edible nuts of the world, deposited at Cornell University. Dr. W. C. Deming was miade chairman of the meeting and a tem- porary secretary was elected. The chairman read a number of letters from various parts of the country expressing an active interest in the formation of an organization such as was proposed. A committee of three was appointed by the chair to draft a constitution. This com- mittee, consisting of Mr. John Craig, Dr. R. T. Morris and Mr. T. P. Littlepage, submitted a report recommending that the name of the organization be the Northern Nut Growers' Association, that residents of all parts of the country be eligible to membership, and that the offi- cers be a president, a vice-president and a secretary-treasurer. An executive committee of five was also provided for, two of said commit- tee to be tlie pre.sident and secretary-treasurer. The annual dues were placed at -t^.OO, and life membership at $20.00. The recounnendations of the committee were adopted. An interesting exhibition of nuts, and specimens illustrating methods of grafting, formed a feature of the meeting. Chestnuts, Aval- nuts, and hickory nuts, including the pecan, were illustrated in much variety. Mr. T. P. Littlepage had a series of nuts of the pecan which he had collected from a number of selected trees in Kentucky and vicinity. One of these, almost globular in form, was of particular ex- cellence, being of clean cleavage and delicious flavor. Dr. R. T. Morris was elected jjresident; Mr. T. P. Little^Dage, vice- president; and Dr. W. C. Deming, secuetary-treasurer. George V. Nash. Dr. Brittox : . ^Slay I say to you that our good wishes for your association, expressed at that time, are simply repeated now, and we hope that you will make yourselves at home and as comfortable as pos- sible. ^^'e have made arringeinent for the convention to leave here about one o'clock, for luncheon at Sormani's as guests of the Botanical Society. The autos will be at the door promptly, so I trust that you will adjust the session so as to be free to leave then. The President: We wish to extend our thanks to Dr. Britton for his kind remarks and for his hospitality. We will now have the secretary read reports from onr state vice- presidents. The Secretary : These are very interesting. The first one is from Mrs. Ellwanger, our state vice-president for New York. (Reading in part) "My walnut trees are doing well and have man}' more nuts than ever before. Tlie filberts planted two years ago, also have some, and the chestnuts, those the blight have left me, are covered with 'burs. There are beech nuts, too.- — I intend to keep on planting chestnut trees, in spite of the blight." Mr. C. S. Ridgway, Lum'berton, New Jersey, writes as follows: "There are very few nut trees in our vicinity. In fact, very few except what I have — some large old j^ecans at Mt. Holley. but tlie fruit is so small they are not gathered." The next letter is from Mr. Howard Spence, of Ainsdale. South- port, England. ]\Ir. Spence writes: "During the last year I hive got one of our horticultural research stations interested in the subject of walnut culture and just recently the headquarters of the ]\Iinistry of Agriculture and Fisheries also. The latter are using a small* pamphlet on nut culture generally, to which I have contributed some facts. But a point of more definite interest at the moment is that the ^linister has agreed to instruct all 21 their inspectors over the country to make a collection of all walnuts of merit and forward them to me for classification and identification of varieties which may be worth perpetuating. As almost all the large number of trees in this country are seedlings I am hopeful that some interesting material may be located." Here is a letter from Mr. Richard H. Turk. Vice-Pre>>ident for the state of Washington: "Your request for a report from this Pacific Coast state came as a surprise. The Western Walnut Growers' Association is very strongly orgianized as regards Oregon and Washington^ and it is difficult to pur- suade our nut growers here to join an association with its base of oper- ations so far removed as the Northern Nut Growers' Association. I believe that I have been responsible for an additional membership of at least one or two which I think can be considerably augmented this fall. Filbert growing has firmly caught hold of the enthusiasm of the people here. The acreage has reached 2.000 acres as compared to a bare 1.50 acres of six years ago. I estimate a planting of 1,500 addi- tional acres to this quick bearing nut, this season. I have trees enough in my nursery to plant 600 acres but regard the majoritj- of the plants as being too small. Planters plant even the smallest one-year layers out a distance varying from ten to twenty-five feet. I regard this as a waste of time, money and energy. Trees with two year old roots are none too big. The variety most planted is the Barcelona, closely followed by Du Chilly, and is supported by pollinizers for these two varieties at the rate of one poUinizer to every nine of the commercial sort. Intent eyes are watching every new seedling in search of new and superior varieties. Some have been found and will be propagated. Nut growers are but warming to the idea. I am put- ting out eight thousand four-year old seedling filbert trees in orchard form to be tested for qualities desired in a better filbert. Tree filberts instead of bushes is a new idea tlint is fast gaining headway against the old method of removing the suckers by hand each season. Corylus colurna, the Turkish species, and Corylus chin- ensis, the Chinese tree hazel, are most favored as stocks. It has been found that these trees are easily grafted to filberts, that they are ex- tremely hardy and grow twice as fast as the filbert, and that the vigor of the stock enlarges the size of the nut, regardless of variety. J'ore- most in the recommendation of grafted tree filberts, I have corres- pondants in many foreign countries and have arranged for the delivery of several thousand j^ounds of these nuts to grow seedlings of. The tree hazel is of the future as yet, and one must recognize the demand for layered stock until replaced by what appears to be better. To add at least thirty acres to my present filbert plantings this year is my desire. I am planting at least 400 trees to the acre as inter- plants in a grafted walnut orchard. Xo use in wasting time before the 22 trees begin to bear ])rofitable crops. Three and four jxars at most for man-sized returns wlien using a ten foot planting. One planting of Du Chilly filberts last year produced an average of close to i(> pounds per tree on .nine-year-old trees and an average of 10 pounds on four-year-old trees. The spread of the latter trees was scarce four feet, and I counted 22 nuts on a branch eight inches in length. Mr. A. W. Ward reports an average crop of 200 nuts to each two-year-old filbert tree in his four-acre planting this season. These are also Du Chillys that are fast building up a sentiment favoring them before the lower-priced Barcelona variety. The Barcelona is a more vigorous tree and shells out of the husk 75% whereas the Du- Chilly is but 40% self husking, but that will not offset the differential of five to ten cents per pound in favor of the great, oblong nuts. The walnut acreage of Washington and Oregon is approximately 12,000 acres and is now taking a nevv hold with all the additional plant- ing being made up of grafted trees. The VROOMAN FRAN- QUETTE variety grafted on the California black walnut stock is the tree used in these plantings. P'ormerly, seedlings of the so-called sec- ond generation type were quite poj^ular, but when it became evident that seedlings would not transmit the superior qualities of the parent, that method of propagation was thrown into the discard. Eight thous- and acres of the acreage now out, are seedling trees that must be top- worked before Oregon will be truly famous for the quality of the nuts it produces. These seedling trees are paying at present under our present high prices after many years of barrenness. My own 900 seedling trees I top-worked last year to the Vrooman Pranquette variety, placing- as many as thirty grafts in some trees and obtained an average of 70 per cent successful grafts. These grafts have made wonderful gro^^''th this season, and are quite capable of bearing large quantities of nuts next season. My crew of walnut grafters are becoming well known over a radius of 100 miles, and the work they are doing is a road to profit for many an owner of unpro- ductive nut trees. This fall I intend publishing some of the leading articles of the nut-growing authorities of this section, in conjunction with a catalogue well illustrated and containing my exjoerience as a nut grower. Any- one contemplating planting walnuts or filberts may well send in their reservation of copy. Generally speaking, nut tree nurserymen and nut tree planters have not had time nor desire to add to the literature on this subject. I believe that when the nurserymen get behind the move to plant nut trees there will be some very interesting develop- ments. There is one good thing in sight, and that is that it will not be the old-fashioned seedling that they will push this time. I think that you people of the East have got to niuike another determined effort to drive home the impossibility of seedlings ever being satisfactory. Outside the association a nut tree is a nut tree regardless of seedling and grafted trees, and one is expected to bear just as manj- fine large nuts 23 as the other and just as soon. After losing twenty to thirty thousand dollars in delayed returns from a seedling walnut orchard, is it any wonder that I oppose the planting of more seedlings by the unwary? In concluding this report I wish to state that I have talked) nuts before a score of different meetings during the last year, and in the press of Oregon and Washington have done much to encourage the prospective grower." The Secretary: It seems to me that this report is one that will be very useful to nut growers in the East and very suggestive to begin- ners in nut growing. I would like to ask Mr. Reed if he has any com- ments to make on the report. Mr. Reed: As I know conditions in the Pacific Northwest Mr. Turk has given an accurate report. The one criticism that I might make would be. perhaps, that there seems to be a probability of over-enthusiasm. This often occurs in any part of the country with respect to new things. It has been most conspicuous with the pecan in the South, and the almond industry in the West. As the pioneers in the nut industry in Oregon and Washington are acquiring greater experience they are increasingly more cautious with regard to such matters as varieties, planting sites, planting distances, interpollina- tion, and others of kindred nature. The industry in the Northwest is still comparatively small. It is centered mainly in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and to some ex- tent in a narrow strip running north towards Seattle. The best in- formed are planting only in fertile, moist, properly draijied soils so situated that air drainage is good. The local soils art- nnich more var- iable than would be suggested by casual observation. Also, greater attention is being paid to air drainage in that i)art of the country than in the East. Several years ago there was a sudden drop in temp- erature from 32 degrees above to 24- degrees below zero, at McMinn- ville, Oregon. This jDroved fatal to trees and plants of niiny kinds, particularly those on flat bottoms or on hillsides from which, for any reason, the cold air was prevented from blowing to lower levels. In addition to the species of nuts discussed by Mr. Turk, some- thing might be "said regarding the possibilities of clu-stnut culture in the Pacific Northwest. Numerous trees, planted singly or even in small groups found there, grow so well as to indicate plainly that the genus is capable of adapting itself to existing environment. How- ever, both planters and consumers are generally prejudiced against the chestnut. This is easily explained for the rcison tliat either suffi- 24 cicnt iiuiiibtTs of \ .irittics have not hLcii ])1 ;iitttl together to ensure interpollinatioii. or Japanese chestnuts li.uc been ])lanted. Early planters were evidently not aware tliat most \arieties are largely self- sterile^ and they did not know tli.it the average Japanese chestnuts are fit for consumption only when cooked. Had these two facts been taken into consideration by them, it is not improbable that there would now have been an entirely ditfcrent situation regarding the chestnut in that p.art of the country. The Secretary: 1 have a few more reports. Is it the senti- nunt of the meeting that I go on reading them? Mr. Reed: I would like to hear the reports. The Secretary: Kniglit Pearri/, from Salem, Oregon, writes: "Both filbert and walnut planting ha\e continued in Oregon dur- ing the past year. There has been a steady increase in the acreage of these two nut crops during the past five years but. fortunatelj'. no planting boom. The older walnut orchards are almost all seedling groves and many of these seedling groves are jDroducing a very attractive revenue. Practically all of the new plantings are of grafted trees^ it having been amply demonstrated that, while seedlings are often revenue pro- ducers, the grafted orchards bring in more revenue and at no greater cost of operation. Seedling orciiards are offered for sale, but very few grafted plantings are on tlie market. Tlie Franquette continues to be the principal tree planted, probably 95% of the new plantings being of this variety. A co-operative walnut marketing association has been formed, and this year for the first time carlot shi])ments of Oregon nuts will be sent East. The filbert, a younger member of the Oregon horticultural family than the walnut, is being planted as heavily as the walnut, if nof more heavily. Probably 60,000 trees were planted in the Willamette Valley of Oregon last year. Production of filberts has not yet become heavy enough to su]>))ly home markets. It will probably be some time before Oregon filberts reach eastern markets. No other nuts are grown commercially in the state, although the chestnut does well here." Mr. T. C. Tucker, State rice-President from California, writes: "The jarincipal consideration in relation to the California nut situa- tion is a recognition of the tremendous increase in planting within the last ten years. INIany of these newly planted orchards have already come into bearing. The marketable almond tonnage of California has increased' until it is now over three times that of ten years ago. The walnut tonnage has dou'bled during the same period. ^o New plantings are going forward very slowl}' at tlie present time due to the conditions prevailing in the fruit industry in general. Economic conditions, coupled with the keenest kind of foreign competition have interfered materially with the sale of almonds in this country, with the result that almond growers have been losing money every year for the past four years. At the same time the tre- mendously increased domestic tonnage has resulted in keeping the prices to the consumer very low in relation to pre-war prices and costs. The consumer has been getting the benefit of maintaining the domestic almond j^roducers in the business. The fact that domestic tonnage can- not be kept down, as soon as a profit is in sight, warrants the American public in maintaining a sizable industry in this country by means of a protective tariff, even though it may appear on the surface as though it might mean increased prices. The experiences of the last four years have demonstrated beyond a doubt that increases in import duties have not resulted in increased prices to the consumer. They have, in fact, increased the competition to a point where prices have dropped rather than risen. The same situation applies to walnuts, except possibly as regards losses to growers during recent years. The fact that walnuts ordinar- ily take longer to ceme into bearing than almonds has prevented any rapid increase in production such as has taken place with almonds. They are, however, facing many of the same conditions of keen com- petition from countries where costs of production are very, very low. Conditions this year point to both almond and walnut crops of ap- proximately the same size as last year. That means the walnut crop will be around 2.5,000 tons and the almond crop around 10,000 tons. The condition of the walnut crop seems to be about normal. Where irrigation is not available they are suffering from lack of water. Al- monds this year are showing in many districts the disastrous effects of the unusually dry season. This will show up most strongly, however, in reduced tonnage for next year, and stick-tights for this year. These latter, however, are not saleable, so the consumer need not worry but tint the almonds received in the markets will be good, edible almonds. What tlie final outcome of the drought will be it is a little too earlv to tell. Pecans and filberts are ))rodueed in such small quantities in Califor- nia that they do not affect the market in any way except possibly locally. There is nothing to indicate any abnormal condition affecting either of these in the few j^laces where they are grown. No large plantings of either of these nuts are being made, since there seems to be consid- erable question as to how successful they will be from a commercial standpoint. Chestnuts are not being i^lanted as fast as the}- might be, especially in those sections of the state to which they are well adapted. With the rapid disappearance of the chestnut forests of the eastern states, 26 through the ravages of the chestnut bark disease, there is no reason wh}- chestnuts could not be grown in California, especially in many of the foot-hill districts. This, of course, jDresupposes that the chestnut bark disease can be kept out of the state, and we believe it can be. The general price situation, however, is such as to discourage any ex- tensive plantings at this time. The interest that is being taken in possible future plantings, however, is such that it appears reasonable to believe that the next few years will see materially larger plantings made, provided there is any improvement in agricultural economy conditions." Mr. James Sharp, Vice-President from Kansas, writes: "The only nut native here is black walnut, and the crop is heavy. There are some Stabler and Thomas jjlanted here, and some grafted on native black are bearing. We have something like fiftj^ grafted pecans planted of all varieties, but none bearing yet. The pecan is a native south and east of here in Kansas, and the crop is good. I understand. We also have a few grafted sweet chestnuts growing in Kansas which are bearing well, and more are being planted. I have one English wal- nut growing near mj' house, whicli liad male blooms last spring, but no nuts. We do not think they will be a success in Kansas but we hope to grow some nuts on our tree next year, .the first in Kansas." Mr. U. H. Walker, Nacla, Colorado, who says he is probably the only one in that state attempting to grow nut trees, instead of fruit, writes of his attempts. His jDlace is at an altitude of 5,800 feet, where he can at times look down into the clouds, and on clear days can look up into perpetual snow. Mr. Walker has black walnut trees that have ■ produced crops each year for the last ten years, three pecan trees and two persimmons. He has been experimenting with nut trees obtained from the government for the last ten or twelve years, and' is willing to plant and care for any trees which the memibers of the association would like to hnve tried out in the center of the Rocky Mountain district. Prof. V. R. Gardner, Michigan Agricultural College, in a letter to C. A. Reed, says: "We are getting a very nice collection of hardy nuts started on our Graham Station grounds near Grand Rajiids. These are for the most part young trees being jjlanted in orcliard form. We are also doing som^e top-grafting and as soon as we shall be able to ac- cumulate more data upon which to base recommendations, I am in- clined to think that we will put on a number of nut grafting demon- strations in the state. I am sure there will be a demand for it. If your meetings could be held later in the year, perhaps some time during the winter, I think it would be easier for some of the station men to attend them." Mr. Reed: Might I add that Prof. Gardner was at one time 27 Assistant in Horticulture at Corvallis, in the heart of the walnut dis- trict of Oregon. From there he went to Missouri as State Horticul- turist. During the three years at that place he top- worked a consider- able number of walnut trees with scions of supposedly hardy varieties of Persian walnuts, especially the Franquette, and such varieties of Eastern black as he could obtain. The Persian practically was killed out during the first winter. The black walnut tops are now coming into bearing, and considerable attention is being attracted to them throughout the Mid-West. Prof. Colby may know somethingi further regarding the work in Missouri. The Secretary: I hope you notice how many more reports we are getting from the men connected with the horticultural depart- ments of the state institutions. Here is a. letter from H. H. Bartlett. Director of the Botanical Gardens at Ann Arbor, University of Michi- gan: "Our Botanical Garden in its present location is relatively new, having been established only in 1911. The development of permanent plantings has been mostly in the last two or three years, so you see we have as yet done nothing with nut trees other than to assemble what varieties we could get hold of. I must confess that the poor little things look much as if the wrath of heaven had overtaken them. We had 8 degrees of frost on tlie night of May 22d, when all the trees were in young leaf. All the nut trees were badly killed back, some below the graft, so I've had to pull some oiit. * Since they had only a miserable start last year, they look pretty sad now. However, I'll replace where necessary, and hope for better luck next time. If there should be an opportunity in the course of the discussion to state that we are prepared to receive and take care of nut trees that originators wish to try out in this region, I shall appreciate it. We are receiving occasional nut-bearing plants from the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction of the Department of Agriculture, and are ver}' glad to act as a testing station for new introductions or productions. In order not to give a false impression as to the extent of our work, I feel im])elled to say that we haven't yet a nut tree in bearing, and onlv one over three feet hiah." Mr. Conrad J'ollertsen writes that he will not be able to be here as he had planned. He states that all of his 31 varieties of filbert trees, except one, have fairly good nut crops. His place, as you know, is in Rochester. N. Y. Mr. F. A. Bartlett, of Stamford, Conn., writes: "You ma}' be interested to know that some of my nut trees are giv- ing some results this year. A number of varieties of filberts are fruiting, three \arieties of black walnuts, almonds, Cliinese chestnuts, hcartnuts, besides the native hickory and butternuts." Mr. Reeh: According to Mr. Bartlett the Lancaster heartnut, which was introduced by ^Ir. Jones, is starting out in highly encouragt- ing manner at his place near Stamford. It has grown well and is now a liandsome, symmetrical tree. Indications are that it will bear well. The Secretary: Mr. Bartlett takes good care of his trees. We shall hope to pay a visit to liis place. , I have a letter from Mr. Hicks. \Vestbury. Long Island. He will be with us today, and he proposes in his letter tli.at we make an excur- sion to his place on I>ong Island. Mr. J. W. Killeu, Felton, Dehncare, in a letter to Mr. Reed, writes as follows : "This year we are maturing some nuts on tlie cordiformis and sieboldiana. types of tlie Japanese walnut (young trees 3 to 5 feet high) that had no staminate blossoms. These we are producing by crossing with the pollen from one of our best Persians. We are looking for soir.ething interesting from the^c ruts when planted and the trees come into bearing. But all this takes time and patience. We had more chestnuts last fall than ever before, and the prices averaged higiher, about 20 cents per pound. wJiolesale. Our best chestnuts are looking good now. Will soon be opening; usually begin about tlie 5th to the ]()th of September, to open up. "We have not s'ucceeded very well in propagating Mollissima (Chinese chestnut) but we find the quality of the nuts very good. All of our American sweet and all of the European type, including Para- gon. Xumbo, Dager. Ridgely. etc.. have been gone for years, and left our Japs just about as healthy looking as they were 20 years ago, yet they were all set in the same block." The Secretary: It is encouraging to know that Mr. Killen has a strain of chestnuts that will grow there without beina; destroyed bv blight. Mr. Reed: Blight is not serious with his trees. The Secretary: It is with mine. But Mollissima has resistance. ]\Ir. Reed: The real jiest in Mr. Killen's chestnut planting is the weevil. The nuts h.'ne to be marketed prom])tly in order to avoid de- struction by this insect. The Secretary: I have a letter from Mr. Littlepage. who re- grets that he will not be able to be with us. Another letter is from ]Mr. Riehl. who regrets that because of his age he will not be able to take the long trip from Godfrey, 111., to 29 New York City. He writes to us of the place of the chestnut in north- ern nut culture, as follows: '"Blight and weevil are the greatest enemies of this nut. Blight in all probability will destroy practic;illy all native chestnut where it is native, and in all such districts the planting of chestnut orchards for profit will be useless until varieties are found or produced that are immune to that disease. In time this, no doubt, will be done. If I -were fifty years younger and lived in a blight section, it would appeal to me to do something in that line. Where the chestnut does not grow naturally it can be grown with- out fear of the disease. I have the largest chestnut orchard in the West, of all ages from seedlings to sixty years, with no blight. Even were there no blight it would not be advisable to plant chest- nut orchards where it is native because of the weevil. The weevil ap- pears to be worse on the large improved varieties than on the smaller native." Of course any one planting a chestnut orchard now would plant tlie newer, larger varieties, as they will always outsell the smaller. No one who has not talked with handlers of chestnuts can haA-e any idea of the handicap the weevil is to sales and prices. Where the chestnut is not native the nuts produced will be free of weevils. The jjlace to plant chestnut orchards is where the chestnut is not native, on soils that are not wet. Such situations exist in the central west and westward to the Pacific coast. T have had reports of chestnut trees growing and bearing in all this territo'ry. and have had favorable reports of trees that I sent there of my inijiroved varieties. There is a good market at good prices fo» good, homegrown chest- nuts. Miy own crops so far hive sold readily at 2.5 to lO cents per pound wholesale, and the demand is always for more after the crop is all sold. Of all tl.e luits that I have experimented with I have found the cliestnut to come into profitable bearing sooner and more profitably than any other." Dr. ^Iorris: Some of the state vice-presidents have spoken of niti\e chestnuts of o;ood kinds. One obstacle, however, in the distribu- tion of good chestnuts, has been the state laws which prevent us from sending chestnuts from one state to the other. I would like to ask Mr. Reed if it would be possible to make some arrangement at Wash- ington wliereljy scions might be sent under government inspection to tile ^^'est and to otlier parts of the country where blight does not exist. On my property at Stamford I liad several thousand choice chestnut trees. The bliglit appeared and I cut out. o. 000 trees that were from fifty years to more than a hundred years old. Among them there was one sweet American chestnut superior to the others. It had a Aery large, high-quality nut. and very beautiful appearance, having 30 two distinct shades of chestnut color. The tree was the first to go down with the bliglit but I have kept it going ever since by grafting on other chestnut stock. I would like mighty well to have that chest- nut girow in other parts of the country. It would be an addition to our nut supply. Furthermore I have among- a large nximber of hvbrids, two of verA' high quality between the American sweet chestnut and the chinkapin. I gave these to ]Mr. Jones. He found, however, that he had no market for them' because of the fear of blight.' I would like to present scions of this to anybody outside the chestnut area where chestnuts are being grown. }n'ovided I can do this under government methods. We should find a way to do this. The Secretary: And not by boot-legging. ^Ir. Reed: As Prof. Collins is more likely to be informed in re- gard to quarantine laws than I ami he is the proper one to answer that question. I may say, however, that the federal department is unlikely to interfere in any way with the carrying out of state quarantine laiws. Prof. Collins is now in the room. Dr. Morris, will you kindly re-state the question to him? Dr. Morris: In brief, I have some very superior chestnuts. They will be valuable for horticultural purposes in other parts, or in non- blight regions, of the cq^mtry. I have kept them going by care and attention. I would be very glad to send those out of Connecticut, pro- vided that tlie way may be found, by sending them through Wash- ington to other states. It would be necessary, however, to have the scions treated in such a way as to make sure that the endothia spores had been destroyed. The President: I suggest that Prof. Collins give the matter some thought, and when he gives his paper he will be able to inform us about that. We will now ask Mr. Reed for a report as to promising seedlings. Mr. Reed: There are quite a number of new things which might be mentioned. One is a group of Chinese walnuts now in their second or third year in the nursery of Mr. Jones, at Lancaster. In this lot there are many beautiful young trees grown from nuts obtained for Mr. Jones by Mr. P. W. Wang, of Shanghai. They are from North China, the territory which I visited more than two years ago and from which I also obtained considerable seed. Of the latter we have now several hundred seedlings ready for distribution. Personally I would 31 like them to be distributed among members of this association. Mr, Jones has 300 or 400 of the Wang trees which he proposes to sell as seedlings. Others will be used as stocks for grafting varieties of regia. Dr. Morris has already referred to the Chinese chestnuts. Mr. Dorsett. of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, has recently arrived in China for a two-years' tri}D. He will doubtless send many chestnuts. Another particularly interesting group of nut trees is a lot of hazel- iilbert hybrids produced by ]Mr. Jones. These are between the Rush and the Barcelona, or other European varieties. He now has plants three to five years of age in bearing. They average as high as a man's liead. Practically all are in bearing with attractive clusters of nuts, and some are fruiting heavih'. The Rush variety, as most members know, is a native hazel of unusually jDrolific habits of bearing. The nuts are of fair size and quality. Recently I have seen some interesting pecan trees in the East. Two of these are on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, one in the out- skirts of Easton and the other at Princess Anne; the former is a trifle the larger, measuring 1-5 ft 5 inches in girth at breast height, the latter ineasurins: 4 feet and 2 inches at the same distance and estimated to be ] 10 feet high. It was grown from a nut said to have been planted in ] 800. Tlie nuts from these trees are small but well filled and much appreciated by their respective communities. • The Presidext: We have the secretary down for a paper. The Secretary: This paper opens a symposium on topworking liickorv trees. TOP WORKING HICKORIES IN THE NORTH liif W. C. Deming, Connecticut 1 do not recall a single modem inn)rovenient of importance in the art of grafting nut trees in the North that is not due to either Mr. Jones or Dr. Morris, except that to INIj. Riehl belongs, I believe, the credit of the idea of waxing the entire graft, which is now the accepted ])rocedure. Therefore I speak before these two gentlemen with diffi- dence. I do so in the hope that perhaps I may recall something which they have forgotten to make known, or that what I say may elicit from them available emendatory remarks. M}^ experience of fourteen years on my own place, and of five years grafting for others, is the basis of my observations. Compatihiliti/ of Species and J'arieties This question will be particularly discussed by Mr. Bixby who h.Ts been cduducting careful ex])eriments that should soon settle the question for the commoner hickories. A few scattering observations of my own may be useful. It is generally believed that any species of the genus hickory will catch on nuw other, though not necessarily that the union Avill be blessed. It is self evident that any hickory will thrive on anv variety of the same species, shagbark on shagbark, pecan on pecan, though even here close observation will probably disclose differences of com- patibility. Probably any hj^brid hickory will thrive on either of its parents. In some cases this may turn out to be a test of hybridity. P'or instance, the Barnes is one of the few shagbarks knoAvn to thrive on mockernut. It sliows other evidences of mockermit blood. I have found no hickory, so far, that does not appear to thrive on the shagbark, except the pecan. Even here there are differences. I have one Major pecan on shagbark that is over twenty-five feet high that has a \ery healthy ajjpearance and that has shown staminate bloom for two or three years. I have also an Indian pecan that looks fairly ])rosperous. The Iowa pecans, the M.arquart, Greenbay, Camp- bell, ^^'itte, and others, catch readily and grow vigorously, at least for the first years. There are many data, however, on the adaptability of the pecan to the shagbark and the consensus of opinion is that ulti- mate results are j^oor- This is probably because the shagbark starts early and makes its season's growth in about six weeks, while the pecan naturalh^ has a much longer growing season. However^ these observa- tions have been made, mostly, in the South and it may be different in the North. The question is not yet finally decided. The Stanley shellbark, H. laciniosa, is completely at home on the shagbark, api^arently, but has not yet borne with me. The Hatch bitternut grew luxuriantly on shagbark for a year but blew off. The Zorn hybrid made a growth of one foot on shagbark but then was winter killed, apparently. I have a back pasture full of vigorous pignuts, H. glabra, which for eleven years I have been grafting with faith which now seems childlike, that soon I would have fourteen acres of bearing hickory trees. Yet as a result of all these years of grafting the only hick- ories that I have found to thrive are the Brooks, which appears to be vigorous, the Terpenny, which is vigorous and bearing nuts in its fourth year, and possibly the Barnes. Not a single pecan survived more than a year, though many started. The Beaver hybrid makes a long splindl- ing growth and then, in the first or second year, the leaves turn 3'ellow and mosaic and the growth dies. The Kirtland, Kentucky, Hales, Taylor and several others, have all with me, proved failures on the pignut. Mr. Bixby's experiments appear to be showing somewhat dif- ferent results. The question of the compatibility of species and varieties is really a very important one because in some localities either the pignut or the mockernut is the prevailing species, and we wish to know with what species and varieties they may be successfully grafted. For instance, if the Barnes, which is an excellent sliagbark, will (le apparently shocked to death. Sometimes when a tree in foliage is cut back severely the remaining leaves will turn black and partly, or completely, die. but the tree will throw out vigorous new growth later. Trees up to three inches in diameter may have the whole top cut off, at tlie risk of occasionally shocking a tree to dentli. Sucli complete cutting back must be done in the dormant season or there will be severe and prolonged bleeding. This method has the advantage of forcing a tremendous growth in the grafts which will need careful sup- port. This is much more easily done however, tliin wh.en tlie grafts are in tlie top of the tree. Cutting back in the dorm:int season and painting with paraffine has not worked well for me as the paraffine has not adhered well for any length of time to tlie freshly cut surfaces. Probably this could be easily remedied if it were a real advantage. In the case of small stocks and branches where there is no bleeding and the jjarafiine adheres well green callus will often be seen spreading out beneath the paraffine over the cut surface. 35 Stocks should be vigorous. Dwarfed, stunted, submerged, liide bound trees make poor stocks. This is important, I believe. Scions The condition of the scion is the most important element for suc- cess in top-working hickory trees. The technique of grafting has been so simplified as to make it fairly easy, and native stocks are usually vigorous. But unless the scions have full vitalitv success will be lim- ited. They should be plump and not pithy. A limited success is pos- sible with scions of feeble growth, or those subjected to devitalising influences in keeping or handling, but the largest success will be had with well g-rown scions, cut from vigorous trees or grafts, whose buds are completely dormant, and have a fresh, green appearance on cut- ting. When the cambium layer shows a yellowish or brownish tint the scions are useless. Slender wood may make good scions but is more difficult to keep in good condition. Heavy wood from vigorous, young, grafted trees, or from cut back trees, makes the best scions and is the easiest to keep. Wood more than 1 year old and as large as one can handle makes good scions. Dr. Morris, with the use of the plane, has succeeded with astonishingly large scions and even branches. Sometimes buds are absent from these large scions or are very incon- spicuous. They may be searched for with a lens. Preferablv scions should be cut when entirely dormant. Buds that show signs of breaking should be removed. Scions cut after growth starts may be used with success if there are dormant buds. This "immediate grafting," as Dr. Morris calls it has not been fully studied. It may be of great value. It is quite successful with the apple and the pear. It appears to depend chiefly on the jDresence of dormant buds of vitality. The later in the season the dormant scions are cut the shorter the time they have to be kept, though probably this is not of importance if the method of keeping is right. Keeping Scions The larger the scion the easier it is to keep it. Dr. Morris cuts whole branches and keeps them in the sawdust of his icehouse. I have cut them two inches in diameter and kept them lying uncovered on the barn cellar floor into the second summer looking fresh and green. The smaller the scion the more susceptible it is to moisture environment. Scions must be kept where it is neither too moist nor too dry. Usually the mistake is made of keeping them too moist. The buds may start if the scions are too moist even when the temperature 36 is quite low. This happened for me when I stored scions for a week or two in the very cold bottom of an icebox. The most successful grafters keep scions with a sort of intelligent neglect. Dr. Morris buries them in tlir sawdust of his icehouse and it seems to make no difference if ice is tliere or not. I once tried keeping them in an ice- house over the ice and they became soaking wet. I have noticed that Dr. Morris 's sawdust seems quite dry. Mr. Jones keeps some, at least, of his in bins or barrels covered with burlaji bags. He says that heart- nut scions keep best not packed away but kept in the open cellar. I notice that Mr. Jones has been using some kind of mill planings in place of s])hagnum moss. Branches and large scions will keep well in a medium that seems dry to the touch. Small scions, such as those cut from old ]iarcnt trees, require careful handling to prevent shriveling, on the one hand, or bud starting on the other. A low temperature is probablv desirable, but the right condition of moisture is essential to the proper keeping of scions for any length of time. I should naturally prefer to keep them ill darkness^ but I am not sure that it is important. Undoubtedly the access of some air is necessary but it would be diffi- cult to keep it altogether away. I do not know how long scions would keej) if entirely covered with i:)araffine. One year I dipped all the cut ends of my scions in melted paraffine but I am not sure that it is worth the trouble. One year I packed away my scions in rather moist sphagnum moss. The first time 1 looked at them they were enmeshed in mold mycelium. Later many of the buds started to grow. As suggested by ^Ir. Jones, dipping either the scions or the moss in half strength Bordeaux mixture will remedy the mold trouble. Paren- thetically, this should be of help in keeping chestnuts, chinkapins, and other nuts that spoil easily with mold, for planting in the spring. Packing scions tightly and heavily covered in boxes for any length of time has been, in my observation, disastrous. In shiiajJing scions a method advised, and one that I have followed with satisfaction, is to wra]i the scions, either separately or together, in paraffine paper with- out any packing next the scions but putting it, instead, outside the pr.raffine paper. This packing may be sphagnum moss or mill plan- ings slightly moistened. This also is wrapped in a moisture impervious covering and then in ordinary wrapping paper. For shipping long distances the moss or planings should be dipjjed in half strength Bor- deaux mixture. The surface of the bark of scions that are being kept should al- 37 ways be dry, never moist. But they should never be so dry as to look shrivelled. Until you know just what scions will do under the condi- tions you 2)rovide you should examine them frequently. Equipment The essentials are a knife, raffia and the wax heater witli brush. A saw is necessary if stocks are to be cut back, and pruning shears are convenient for cutting scions into proper lengths and for trimming and pruning stocks. The knife most used is the grafting knife of ^Nlaher & Gross, with a three inch straight blade and a round handle that gives a good grasp. 1 used to suspect that the men who said that scions ought to be cut with two strokes of the knife were trying to establish an unattainable idc'i]. But after ^fr. Jones and Dr. Morris had taught me how to sh'irjnii iny knife I found that I could cut one that way myself some- times. Mr. Jones's method of sharpening is to hone the knife flat on the surface next the scion and with a bevel on the upper edge. I found tliit tills mule scion cutting so much easier that I thought it was the whole secret. But one day I saw another doubter come up to Mr. Jones and ask him if it was true that he could cut a scion witli two strokes of the knife. Mr. Jones said he thought he could but he had no knife just then. The man pulled out his pocket knife and asked if that would do. Mr. Jones looked at it, took a stick and with two strokes cut a perfect scion. Since then I have felt that there is some- thino- to it besides the wav vou sharpen vour knife. A very important element in shajiing scions is to give a drawing nation to tlie knife liy keeping the handle well advanced before the blade. The cutting is done with a draw and not a push. This is one of the most important factors for success in shaping scions. it seems hardly necessary to say that the stroke of the knife should be away from the grafter. Yet it is a common sight to see beginners cutting to the thumb. Dr. Morris showed me that if, in sharpening your knife, you hold the little M^hetstone between, the thumb and middle finger of the left hand you are less likely to put a feather edge on it. A feather edge is someth.ing to clip the sprouting wings of any budding saint of a grafter. Wlien you get the right edge on your knife often you can use it the whole day without resharpening, or at most with simply a stropping on a piece of wood or leather. But improper use of the knife, or the least knick, will spoil the edge and sometimes it will be 38 quite difficult to get it back. Therefore the blade should always be protected by a sheath, never laid down or used for cutting raffia, or anj^thing but the actual cutting of the graft. For this purpose a leather sheath worn on the front of the belt, as first used by Dr. Morris, is almost a necessity. This sheath may be made by any leather worker and should have at least two pockets, one for the grafting knife and one for another knife to be used for trimming, cutting raffia and other odd' things. It is convenient to have a little pocket for a pencil also and one may provide places 'for other articles of equip- ment at fancy. I do not know that there is much to be said here about raffia. But a great deal has been said, and will be said, elsewhere, when the raffia is rotten and breaks in the middle of tying a graft. It is the devil's own stuff to carry when you don't carry it right. The right way to carry it is to tuck one end of the bundle under one side of your belt, pass the bundle behind your back and the other end under the other side of your belt. Then the raffia never gets mixed up with scions, tools and profanity and the end of a strand is as handy as the knives in your belt. On the whole I do not know of any binding material as satisfactory as raffia. It is stronger and easier to use when it is damp. One of the great advances in the art of grafting is the use of melted wax. I believe that we have to credit ]Mr. Jones for this. The use of paraffine for grafting wax we owe to Dr. ]\Iorris. To him also we owe tlie ]\Ierri brook melter which has added so much to the com- fort and convenience of grafting that it can be recommended as an outdoor sport for ladies. I do not like the brush that Dr. Morris recommends but prefer a stifFer one such as can be bought for ten cents. Equipments vary with the individual and with the difference in the work to be done. Mr. Slaughter carries into the nursery, when he is working for Mr. Jones in the semi-tropical sun of Lancaster, a stool with parasol attachment. Mr. Biederman of Arizona has the most elaborate equipment which includes a table, planes, curved knives and gouges. Dr. Morris carries a knapsack. I like an ordinary light market basket that Mother Earth holds up for me when I'm not moving from place to place. When in a tree I stuff my pockets with scions. A saw is usually a necessity. For portability I prefer a curved one that has a draw cut. It has also an aesthetic element and doesn't 39 look like a meat saw. which can't be said of Mr. Jones's saw that se- duced Dr. Morris from church. P'or heavy and steady work I much prefer a carpenter's sharp hand saw. A two-edged saw is an abomin- ation devised by conscienceless manufacturers for the seduction of innocent amateurs. For pruning shears I have a personal fancy for the French, hand- made instrument, each one individual, a wofk of art and a potential legacy to one's horticultural heir, if one doesn't let the village black- Buidth monkey with it, as I did with mine. On some grafts it is desirable to use a bit of paper, either beneath o»- outside of the raffia, to make waxing easier. For this I have found scraps of Japanese paper napkin very adaptive to surfaces and absorp- tive of wax. On very heavy grafts Dr. Morris uses the Spanish windlass, as devised by him. for which he carries sisal cord, wooden or metal meat skewers, small staples and a mallet. He uses a chisel to cut slots in \ ery thick bark and planes for shaping heavy grafts. I have tried fastening in grafts with a nail, using iron and brass nails and bank pins. ^Ir. Jones has suggested cement covered nails. My experience with iron nails is that they damage the scions. The use of nails has not been fully worked out. They are almost essential in bridge grafting apple trees. I think that just the right kind of a staple might be a help witli some kinds of grafts. Paper bags, 2 pound size, are sometimes wanted, for protection from sun or insects or to make the grafts conspicuous. Mr. Jones shades grafts made close to- the ground with a slip of paper. For labels for immediate use the wooden ones, painted on one side and with copper wire fastening, are satisfactory. Attach them by the nurser3'man's method, which it has taken me many years to recog- nize as the right one, by twisting the doubled wire around a conven- ient object. Do not separate the wires which will probably permit the label to flip in the wind and soon wear out the wires. I used to think that the nurseryman's method was the result of hurry or lazi- ness. Copper labels, to be written on with a stylus, cost 1 o' or 2 cents each, according to size. The smaller I consider preferable. I imagined that these would solve the label problem. Picture my disappointment w^hen I found that many of them cracked, or broke off entirely near the eyelet, from flapping in the wind. If they are to be used they must be 40 fastened so as not to move witli the wind. iMr. Bixby has an excellent label made on an aluminmn strip printing machine. It has a hole in each end and is fastened with a heavy copper wire. He uses two of these labels on each tree. Dr. Morris sometimes uses a heavy wire stake to which he fastens the labels. A good method of attaching labels, and one that does away with the risk of girdling the graft or tree, is to fasten the label to a staple driven into the tree. The matter of labels is a troublesome one for they will get lost no matter what you do. Other conveniences of equipment are a small whetstone, a small hammer, matches, and some volatile oil, like citronella, lavender, win- tergreen, or other black fly and mosquito repellant. It is almost sui- cidal to slap a mosquito on the back of your neck with a keen grafting knife in your hand. A supply of parowax and alcohol for the lan- tern's sake should be remembered. Techniqtie If the stocks are vigorous and active, and the scions full of vitality, I doubt if the technique is of chief importance, provided it is ordinar- ily good. However, a good technique will increase the percentage of success. One should have a variety of methods at command for vary- ingi conditions of stocks and scions. One may come as near 100^ success in grafting hickories as one is able and willing to observe all the known factors of success. I think that we can say now that the factors of success in hickory grafting are known. They are a vigorous and active stock, a scion of abundant vitality, coaptation of the freshly cut cambium layers and prevention of desiccation. The stock and scion have already been considered. How is coapta- tion best obtained? One of the best methods, one that can be used in all seasons and in most conditions of stock and scion, is the side graft, the one that Mr. Jones uses in his nursery work. That is the best argument for this graft. It is, perhaps, the simplest, and at the same time one of the most difficult, of all grafts. The scion is cut wedge shaped and jnished into a slanting incision in the side of the stock. Mr. Jones's modified cleft graft is only a side graft made in the top of the stock after cutting it off. The difficulty lies chieflj^ in cutting the scion and the incision in the stock so that the fit will be jDerfectly true- This requires practice. The bark slot graft, as Dr. Morris calls it, I have used for several 41 years. It can be used only during the growing season when the bark will slip. It is very successful, whether put in at the top of a cut off stock, or inserted in the side of a limb or the trunk. It is not con- venient to use unless the scion is considerably smaller than the stock. The scion is cut with a scarf, or bevel, on one side only. When the slot is to be made in the top of a cut off stock two vertical cuts are made through the bark, as far apart as the scion is wide, the tongue of bark tlius formed is raised slightly at the top, and the point of the scion is inserted, cut surface toward the center of the tree, and pushed down firmly into place. The superfluous part of the tongue of bark is then cut off. By slightly undercutting the edges of the slot, and slightly tapering it toward the bottom, the scion may be wedged, or dovetailed, in place so as to be very firm'. It is even possible to dispense with tying, sometimes, but better not to do so. When the slot is to be made in the side of a limb or trunk the same procedure is followed except that it is necessary before making the slot to remove a notch of bark, at right angles to the axis of the trunk, so as to free the upper end of the tongue of bark. The bark slot graft is the easiest of all and readily mastered once the grafter learns to shape a true scion. It is much better than the old bark graft ■w'^iere the bark of the stock is forced away from the wood leaving considerable space to be filled or covered. These two forms of graft, the side graft, of which Mr. Jones's modified cleft graft is only a variation, as before stated, and the bark slot, in its two variations as described, will meet all needs in topwork- ing hickory trees. Unally, prevention of desiccation of the graft is obtained bv waxing. I have found Dr. Morris's method with melted paraffine satisfactory. The addition of raw pine gum, as advocated by Dr. Morris is un- doubtedly an advantage under certain conditions, described by him, but I have not yet used it. The melted parowax is applied to the whole graft and wrapping, leaving no cut surface exposed and the whole scion being covered. If the paraffine is at just the right temperature it will spread at a touch, covering the surfaces without danger of scald- ing. It is much more effective thus applied than if colder and daubed on. The thicker the waxing the more likely to crack and separate. If the paraffine smokes it is too hot. If it does not smoke, and is dex- terously applied, I think we can feel safely that it cannot be too hot. 42 But if applied with a heavy hand it may be too hot even at a tem- perature so low that it will not spread. Season for Grafting According to Dr. Morris nut trees can be grafted successfully in any month of the year. But practically I think that grafting will be limited to that part of the year doiring which the cambium layer of the stock is active. At other times of the year preservation of the vitality of the scion will be too problematical, it seems to me, even if it is very carefully waxed. However, I may be mistaken. At any rate grafting is not very pleasant work out of doors in very cold weather. The success of bench grafting w&nld be an argument for the succej5s of dormant season grafting out of doors. After Care Without thoughtful after care the labor of topworking will almost certainly be lost. There are many ways in which the grafts can be lost but the two commonest are by being choked, or inhibited, by growth from the stock, and by being blown out by the wind. All new growth from the stock must be rigorously prevented. Grafts often make so heavy a growth that, if not blown out by the wind, they will be drag- ged out by their own weight. Consequently they must often be sur- ported. When the grafts are in, or near, the trunk of the stock, and not too high, the handiest method of support is to cut. a sapling of proper length, sharpen the butt, stick this into the ground at the base of tlie stock, and tie it in two places to the stock. When the grafts are too far out or too high for this method laths or slats or sticks may be tied or nailed to the branches. Support is likely to be even more necessary in the second season when the growth is often astonishing. Bud worms will sometimes destroy your graft just as it is starting, but they are easily found if looked for. With my conditions the most harm by insects is done by the night feeding beetles, which are particu- larly exasperating as morning after morning you watch the progress of their destructive work without ever seeing them. Bagging is the onlv preventive and it pays to use bags when a particular graft is cherished. /* Topworking Hickories Worth While? Up to the present time it is the surest and easiest way, practically the only way, of getting good results with the hickories, excepting the pecan. The root systems of the native stocks are well established and push the grafts rapidly. I have had a Siers hybrid grow 11 feet straight up in a season. A Taylor matured several nuts on the third 43 season's growth. A Terpenny had a crop the fourth year, the Griffin liears annually since its fifth year, the Kirtland and Barnes since the sixth. The Kentucky is a little slower. None of the hybrids have yet borne with me but with others they have borne quite early. We can be sure that the hickories will bear when top worked as soon as the average apple tree. The size of the crop that any topworked hick- ory tree will bear will depend on the size to which you have been able to grow the tree and the habit of bearing of the particular variety. I think, also, that there is good evidence to show that the size of the tree, the size of the nuts and the size of the crop will depend largely on the amount of care and the amount of plant food that is given the tree. Two years ago I topworked a number of hickory trees for Mr. Patterson of Wilkes-Barre, one of our members, and ]Mr. Patterson's foreman put in a few grafts under my observation. This summer I went to Wilkes-Barre to inspect my work. The foreman took me out into a field where he had done a lot of grafting the year before and I found that he had had a little better percentage of success than I had' had. He had used the bark slot graft for everything, even when the scions were almost as big as the stocks. Before this I had thought that long experience was necessary for successful grafting. Now I see that if vou have good scions, a Morris melter and a half hour of instruc- tions, you will, have all the essentials for immediate success. Hickory grafting is easy noAV. But let no one be contemptuous, for this ease has come only after many years of experiment and countless failures by many men. The former difficulty in grafting the hickory seems now like a mystery. The history of its evolution would make a very pretty story for the nut grower. 44 NOTES OX MEDIATE AND IiMArEDL\TE GRAFTING* AT ALL TIMES OF THE YEAR By Dr. R. T. Morris, Connecticut Any newly described fact, which releases information on the sub- ject of tree grafting opens vistas of the new fi-ontier in world agri- culture. Time was when men went from one country to another in search of fresh top soil. That was when they did not know better. It was when thtir cogs of habit turned their cogs of thought. They were engaged in r.'iising annual plants at a considerable expenditure of time, labor and expense. They committed wastage of soluble plant foods (a variety of sin). Malthus formulated a famous over-population fear-thought. It had basis in his ignorance of the fact that steam was soon to become a factor in the spreading of food supplies. Furthermore, he seem- ingly did not know that when old top-soil frontiers had gone to the rear, new frontiers would appear in the sub-soil. The tree digs deeper than the farmer ever plowed. After Malthus came hunger prophets who were ignorant of com- ing possibilities of fleet transportation through the air. The cater- pillar tractor plunging into the tropical jungle will allow of the pro- duction of a practically unlimited food supply. Famine in India, China, and Russia is a social matter and unnecessary. Trees cure famine. Within the past decade a number of thinkers on one end of the see- saw have written heavily on the over-population question not knowing that they and their birth control ideas were to be tossed into the air by still heavier weight of fact on the other end of the see-saw. The heavier weight of fact relates to the idea that famine does not belong to tree food regions. It relates to the fact that tree foods can supply all of the essentials of provender for men, livestock and fowls ; proteins, starches', fats and vitamines in delicious form. It relates to the fact that tree foods come largely out of the sub-soil without appar- ent diminution of fertility of the ground. The tree allows top-soil bacteria and surface annual plants to manufacture plant food materials 45 and then deep roots take these materials to tlie leaves for elaboration by sun chemistry. Trees ma}- be grown wherever crops of annual plants ma}^ be grown and where annual plants may not be grown profitably. They do not require the service of high cost labor for annual tillage of the soil. For example, four large pecan trees or black walnut trees on an acre of ground without tillage or fertilizer may average a thousand pounds of nut meats annually for a century. How often is the market value and food value of a thousand pounds of nut meats per acre equalled by crops from annual plants which would require from, 100 to 200 plowings and harrowings during a hundred years of continuous culti- vation, leaving out the question of expensive fertilizers and labor. Large populations live upon dates, olives and figs. For trouble they have to look to religion. Several centuries were required for the British farmers to raise the wheat croj) from six bushels to thirty bushels per acre. Things move faster nowadays. It will not require so long a time to carry tree crops fromi the seedling phase to the phase of grafted kinds with greater productivity and quality. In the past the successful tree grafter was a specially skilled man. Now almost anybody may graft almost any sort of tree at almost any time of the year. Aside from grafting the hybridizing of nut trees, like that of cereal grain plants, has become a scientific sport appealing to the play instinct of man. When work becomes play in any field of human activity progress goes by leaps and bounds. The recent advance in tree grafting has amounted almost to a revolution rather than an evolution process. Application of a few new grafting principles of great consequence is now the order of the day. Old established graft- ing methods frequently ran into failures when dealing with all but a few trees like the common fruit bearing kinds. The two chief obstacles to successful grafting were desiccation of the graft and fungous or bacterial parasites which entered the land of milk and honey where sap collected in graft wounds. Both of these dangers have now been practically eliminated and it remains "or us to extend the season of grafting, carrying it away from a hur- ried procedure in busy spring weeks. The chief obstacle to this extension of the grafting season has been the difficulty in finding the right sort of grafting wax or protective material for covering the graft, buds and all, as well as the wound of the stock. For covering the entire graft in order to avoid desiccation 46 grafting waxes liad to he aj)])lied in melted form witli a brush. They had to be applied in mielted form for filling interstices of wounds in which sap might collect and ferment. These waxes had the effect of not retaining their quality under greatly varying con- ditions of heat, cold and moisture. The jiaraffin waxes which the author has preferred were inclined to crack and to become separated from the graft and stock in cold weather. Furthermore they would remelt and become useless in the very hot sun of southern latitudes. Experimentation for several seasons has resulted in the finding that raw pine gum is miscible with the paraffins in almost all proportions because of physical or chemical "affinity. This gives to the wax an elasticity and adhesiveness of such degree that we may now graft trees in cold weather. Cohesiveness of molecules of the mixture is such that remelting in the hot sun may not destroy the effectiveness of this pro- tective coating in hot weather. Since the author has depended upon this mixture he has grafted peaches, apples, hazels and hickories successfully in nlid^vinter as well as in midsummer. Many other kinds of trees have been grafted suc- cessfully out of the so-called grafting season ^but these four kinds which represent two of the "easiest grafters" and two of the "hardest grafters" will suffice for purposes of illustration. According to old-established idea trees may be grafted success- fully only from scions that have been cut when dormant and stored in proper receptacles. This is what we may term "mediate grafting," a considerable length of time intervening between cutting the scions and inserting the grafts. On the other hand what we may call "immedi- ate grafting" is the taking of a scion from one tree and grafting it at once in a tree that is to receive it. Mediate or immediate grafting may both be done at almost anj^ time of the year, winter or summer, spring or autumn. When preparing the scion for immediate grafting in the spring or early summer it is best to cut off all the leaves and herbaceous growth of the year. We then depend upon latent buds situated in the older wood of the scion. The latter may be one year or several years of age. In midsummer when top buds have formed we may remove only the leaves, allowing the growth of the year to remain and to serve for grafting material. In experiments with the apple for example it was found that medi- 47 ate grafts inserted on July 10th in the latitude of Stamford, Conn., began to burst their buds five or six days later. Immediate grafts inserted at the same time began to burst their buds about fifteen days later from buds of the year and about twenty days later from latent buds in older scion wood. New shoots from these mediate apple grafts continued to grow as they do in Spring grafting. Immediate apple grafts on the other hand put out about six leaves from each bud and then came to a state of rest with the formation of a new top bud. After about ten days of resting these new top buds again burst forth and grew shoots like those of the mediate grafts. The philosophy of these phenomena would seem to include the idea that the mediate summer grafts had contained a full supply of pabu- lum stored up in the cambium layer. The immediate summer grafts, on tlie other hand, had contained only a partial supply of pabulum, enough to allow them to make six leaves and a top bud. After a few days of resting these shoots with meager larder could then go for- Avard with new food furnished by the whole tree. Mediate and immediate winter grafts were alike in their method of growth in the spring. This would seem to confirm the idea that character of new growth is dependent upon the relative quality of stored pabulum in the cambium layer. In experimental work it was noted that both mediate and immediate winter grafts make a slower start in the spring than do the grafts in- serted in springtime. This is perhaps due to the formation of a pro- tective corky cell layer over wound surfaces. New granulation tissue would then find some degree of mechanical obstacle in the presence of a corky cell layer at first. Herbaceous plants allow of grafting. We are familiar with the example of the tomato plant grafted upon the potato plant, furnishing a crop of tomatoes above and potatoes below. It seemed to the author that the herbaceous growth of trees should be grafted quite as readily. This seems to be not the case. A num- ber of experiments conducted with grafting of the herbaceous growth of trees in advance of lignification has resulted wholly in failure with both soft wood and hard wood trees. The walnuts carried herbaceous bud grafts and scion grafts for a long time however. These grafts sometimes remained quite green and promising for a period of a month but lignification progressed in the 48 stock without extending to the scion. Sjieculation would introduce the idea that lignification relates to a liormone influence proceeding from the leaves of a tree and that the leafless scion does not send forth liormones for stimulating the cells of the scion to the point of furnish- ing enzymes for wood building. Perhaps the most interesting part of new tree work relates to experiments which are failures. Negative testimony is like the minor key in music. There are man}- men who care to do only things that "cannot be done." These are the ones who have made our progress in ahnost evcrv field of human activitv. STOCKS FOR HICKORIES Willard G. B'hvhy, Long Island Mr. Bixbv: The sheets whicli I am distributing to you contain tables to which I shall refer during this talk. But first I will give a little foreword regarding the trees. The trees enumerated in the tables shown were nearly all given me by Mr. Henry Hicks of Isaac Hicks & Son, Westbury, Long Island, and were taken to Baldwin and set out in the fall, practically the entire roots being saved and later the trees severely cut back. They were transplanted without loss except in the case of the shagbark, and those lost were all under-sized trees. All of the hickories were of one age, but those lost were ones Avhich had not made normal growth and had they been discarded in the beginning there would have been no loss whatever in the transplanting of 300 or 400 trees. Later, in the spring of 192i, I found some loose bark pignut (Carya ovalis) seedlings on a farm not far away from my place, and these were also transplanted ; but they were too small to graft this year. These experiments in grafting, made during 1923 and 1924, have shown us some new things. With some of the walnuts we had 100 per cent success. With the hickories there was not 100 per cent success, but that was due to the fact that we were put- ting scions on stocks that were not congenial in many instajices. You will notice the results as shown on the tables. id 1923 Grafting G — Grafts Set C— Successful Catches Shag- Mocker- Pignut Pecan Bitter- Total bark nut nut G C G C G C G C G C G C Barnes 6 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 18 18 Brooks 5 0 4 2 5 1 5 2 19 5 Clark 5 1 5 0 5 2 5 1 5 2 25 6 Fairbanks .... 27 17 27 17 Gobble 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 4 Griffin 1 1 1 1 1 U 1 0 1 1 5 3 Hales 5 3 4 1 5 4 5 5 19 13 Kentucky 5 4 3 1 5 4 5 4 5 123 14 Kirtland 3 1 3 2 3 2 3 2 12 7 Laney 6464 Long Beach ...4 3 3 2 4 1 4 2 3 118 9 Manahan 5 1 5 1 6 2 5 1 5 126 6 Siers 5555 Stanley 3332 3398 Taylor 4 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 15 12 Vest 5 1 5 0 5 1 5 2 5 125 5 Weiker 5152 51 15 4 32 17 51 20 52 26 46 24 91 53 272 140 53.1% 29.2% 50.07r 47.0% 59.37r 51.5% 100.0%, 21.0% 24.0% 59.3%o 80.0%, 60.0% 52.5%> 61.0% 58.4% 66.7%o 50.0% 24.2% 100.0%o 89.0%, 80.0%o 20.0%, 26.8% An inspection of the 1923 grafts made August 21, 1924' showed the following number growing: on shagbark 11, on mockernut 6, on pignut 26, on pecan 24, and on bitternut 46, the only place where there was any material difference being in the case of the mockernut where nearly three-quarters of the number of grafts growing last summer failed to grow this spring, in fact all varieties failed to grow excepting three, the Barnes, Gobble and Long Beach, all three of which I suspect from other evidence, have mockernut parentage. In the case of those on pig- nut and pecan stocks there was no loss from 1923 and in some instances at least of those on shagbark and bitternut stocks the loss was due to outside causes, such as being broken off. 50 1924' Grafting • G — Grafts Set C — ^Successful Catches Shag- Mocker- Pignut Pecan Bitter- Total bark nut nut GCGCGCGCGCGC % Barnes 8 7 10 4 18 11 61.0% Beaver 5 1 5 1 20.0% Bi^ooks 11 8 10 5 21 13 61.9% Clark 6 0 8 0 5 0 5. 1 24 1 4.6% Fairbanks 5 3 5 3 60.0% Greenbay 5 0 5 0 0.0% Hales 51 51 20.0% Kentucky 5 2 4 2 9 4 44.5% Kirtland 5543 ' 98 88.8% Laney 5352 10 5 50.0% Manahan 6 2 6 2 33.3% Mosnat No. 5.. 7 1 7 1 14.7% Mosnat No. 6. . 10 6 10 6 60.0% Siers 54 54 80.0% Stanley 12 1 12 1 8.3% Vest 10 3 15 5 16 5 10 3 12 3 63 19 34.2% Weiker 5 3 5 3 60.0% 16 3 122 52 54 21 15 4 12 3 219 83 18.7% 42.6% 38.9% 26.7% 25.0% 37.9% In 1923. it was very evident that the Barnes was the only variety showing 100 per cent success on every stock. That was not repeated in 1924, but it still showed a high percentage of success. From the comparatively modest percentage of catches 51.5% on the average in 1923! and 37.9% in 1924, one might hastily conclude that the grafting was not skillfully done or that the grafts did not have proper attention afterward, but as noted above the grafting waa done by Dr. Deming, whom I regard as one of the most skillful men that we have, and as the work on walnyts done at the same time showed 100% success with a number of varieties, I think any question as to the skill with which the work was done and the care the grafted trees had afterwards can be dismissed. It is to be regretted that the number of scions at hand was not 51 sufficient to rej^eat exactly tlie experiaients of 1923 as well as to follow out the points suggested by the 1923 work, but as there was not enough for both, the latter was done. The 100% success of catches of the Barnes in 1923 was not re- peated in 1924; but the high per cent of catches on the mockernut, (7 out of 8 in 1924), is gratifying in view of the few varieties that we have that have shown adaptability to that stock. As the Barnes is one of our good varieties and there is such a Avide section of the country where the mockernut is the prevailing hickory, it is believed this be- havior of the Barnes will prove a valuable addition to our knowledge in top-working the hickory. No variety as strikingly adapted for use on the pignut has ap- peared, but there are a number that have shown fair adaptability. The varieties most desirable for top-working various species of hickories as suggested by this work supplemented by other observations of the writer, would be as follows: Shagbark— Most varieties. Mockernut — Barnes. Pignut — Brooks, Kentucky, Taylor, Kirtland. Bitternut — BeaAer. Fairbanks, I.nney. Siers. It is useful to know that the Barnes is tlie only one especially suc- cessful on the Mockernut. By the spring of 1924, all grafts on mock- ernut had died except the Barnes, the Gobble and the Long Beach, and each of these is thought to have mockernut parentage. In the cases of the pignut and the pecan stocks, all of the grafts successful in 1923 were still living in 1924. With the shagbark and bitternut most lived. As to pecans there is not much to be saiid; pecan varieties would usually be used for the topworking here. The results of a few grafts set in 1924 on Carifa oralis and on shellbark seedlings which were 100% failures, are not noted, as the shellbarks were, in the judgment of the writer, too small for the pur- pose, and the Carya ovalis had been set out in the spring of 1924 but a few weeks before the grafting was done. In other words the latter had not become sufficiently established to make good stocks, and the former were not large enough. In each case there was not suffi- oient vitality available to expect success. This brings out one point which has impressed me strongly; that is the need of having vigorous stocks if they are to be grafted or transplanted successfully. I feel that this point cannot be too strongly emphasized. Jf a stock either from youthfulness or inlierent lack of vigor is not ra]iid growing it is ahnost useless to try to graft it or transplant it until it does show tlie iiei-dcd vigor. As to stocks to grow in the nursery witli the idea of grafting them later, the tw^o commonly used, the bitternut for the bitternut hybrids and the pecan for others, there is little further to be recommended at this time, although for some varieties, notably the Vest, a stock better ada];)ted to it than any we now have is earnestly to be desired. The President: Are there any questions on these three papers on hickory grafting? Mr. Reed: There are two points in regard to propagation which I believe should be mentioned; one is that these various methods that have been discussed make it ]:)Ossib]e to propagate successfully dur- ing a great portion of the year. By beginning early in spring with the dormant graft, and continuing throughout the summer, these methods can be made to follow one another so that if one fails still another can be used. Tliese methods greatly jDrolong the season, and' when it is not convenient to propagate at one period by the method proper to use at that time another can be employed at a ddfFerent season. The other point is that we are constantly learning more in regard to the influence of stock upon scions. For example, hickories on pecans seem satisfactory while the reverse is at least doubtful. Mr. Jones finds that sieholdiana is not a good stock for regia. We all find nigra apparently satisfactory as a stock for any species of Juglans. These conspicuous differences of influence of various species upon scions suggest the possibility of less, but perhaps quite as important, difference of varieties. It is one of the newer phases of study and ex- perimentation which should be considered by all and reported upon to this association. The Secretary: At my place the Vest, used in top-working large shagbark hickories, has been very successful. I do not know any that have been more successful or that grow more rapidly than it does on the shagibark hickory. Dr. Morris: The ]SIarquardt is successful at my place. Mr. O'Connor: I do not know why we have not had success with- paraffine in a single instance. In grafting fruit trees I had excellent results. I thought that if this could be done on fruit trees why not on nut trees? But I am going to try with the hickory again. I am going^ to be more careful in selecting good, strong stock for that purpose, and I think in tliat way we should have better success. Dr. Morris: Did you not perhaps cover the buds of your hickory grafts too thickly with melted grafting wax.^ Might not that account for your failure .'^ Hickory buds will burst their way through almost any thickness of grafting wax, but when the paraffines are used with- out pine gum admixture the paraffine over the buds is particularly apt tb crack and to allow the graft to dry out. Mr. O'Connor: I did not cover the hickory grafts with melted grafting wax at all; I simply put them in like apple grafts with ordin- ary grafting wax. Dr. Morris: Practically all hickory grafts will fail under such circumstances, but practically all hickory grafts will catch if they are covered with melted grafting wax of the right sort, provided that the scions and stock are also of the right sort. The Secretary: May we now have the President's address? The President: Before I begin I wish to call to your atten- tion this pamphlet regarding the fifth Mid-West Horticultural Expo- sition, to be held in the Hippodrome, Waterloo, Iowa. November 11 to 16, 192i. It will be under the auspices of the lown State Horti- cultural Society, co-operating wi^ih its afflicted societies and the Greater Waterloo Association. The exposition will cover the Mid-West territory', from Pittsburgh to Denver. I wish especially to mention the printed list of premiums on page 27. Mr. S. W. Snyder, Center Point, is superintendent of this department. Cash premiums in De- partment b-Nuts, amount to $289. In addition there will be a grand sweepstakes, a trophy cup, donated by a member of the North- ern Nut Growers' Association, for the exhibitor winning the greatest number of points. Anyone interested could write to the secretary, Mr. R. S. Herrick, State House, Des Moines, for a printed premium list. If ail}' members of our Association have pet nuts of a variety which they would like pushed to the front now is the chance. Snyder Brothers are offering special premiums for new nuts unnamed and un- propagated. The object of this association, as defined in its constitution, is "the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture," and as its name implies, in the northern part of this coun- try. Without going into detail it seems to me that we have achieved the object of our association, at least to the extent of making practi- 54 cal use of our accumulated knowledge. Public interest has been aroused, which may become stale. Articles have appeared in maga- zines and newspapers from time to time on subjects relating to nut culture. We are also on a continual lookout for new varieties, and those of our members skilled in the art are constantly improving and working out new methods of grafting and budding, particularly as evi- denced by Dr. Morris' work entitled "Nut Growing." We know ap- proximately how soon a grafted nut tree, especially the black walnut, will begin to bear. At Mr. Jones' Nursery, Lancaster, Pa., an Ohio black walnut tree in the nursery row'bore a cluster of seven nuts 17 montlis after the graft was placed. Mr. J. W. Wilkinson, of Rock- port, Ind.. has demionstrated tliat grafted northern pecan trees bear early and abundantly for their size. We have given advice conservatively in reply to all inquiries rela- tive to nut-bearing plants, perhaps too much so. ^luch honor and credit is due to certain members of our association for their untiring work and ett'orts in its behalf. It is not necessary to mention names as I am sure most of you present know to whom I refer. Our annual rejDorts testify to their splendid work. From this time forward I believe we should adopt the policy of boldly advocating the planting of orchards of nut trees. The intend- ing planter will decide for himself wliat variety he will plant, and as a guide he sliould judge from the wild varieties growing in his vicinity. By so doing he cannot go very far astray in what will be to him &• new \ enture. Of course certain varieties will be restricted to certain limited areas. This a})plies particularly to the introduced varieties, as dis- tinguished from the native nut-bearing trees. The black walnut has a wider range than any of the other nut trees. Travel wheresoever you will about the country and you will observe wild black walnut trees growing almost on every farm. The ])lanting of the Persian, or English walnut, as it is more generally known, ha-s had more of a po})ular appeal, perhaps from the fact that we are accustomed to seeing clean, smooth nuts of uniform size of that variety in almost every grocery- store, the kernels of which may be extracted without great eifort. The black walnut, on the other hand, has been tolerated as a sort of poor relation, and has been given no particular attention, because we have been used to seeing it around. It has not been made to do its share of contributing towards its keep. Our earliest recollections of it bring to mind bruised fingers as a re- 55 suit of our endeavors to crack the nuts and the tedious work of manip- ulating a darning needle to extract the kernels, which we usually picked to pieces in the process. We now know that we simply did not have the right kind of black walnuts. We should put our accumulated knowledge to practical use to urge on every occasion the planting of nut orchards, especially of approved varieties of the black walnut. This I understand is what the United States Department of Agricul- ture is advocating, and we should co-operate all we can with the de- partment in that recommendation. It will, no doubt, be urged that sufficient grafted black walnut trees are not available for orchard planting on a large scale. This, no doubt, is true, but on many farms there are wild black walnut trees of a size suitable for grafting or top-working. Grafting wood may be obtained in larger quantities than the grafted trees. Those of our members skilled in the art have not been selfish in imparting their knowledge to others and are always ready and willing to instruct others in the art. Most owners of these trees would only be too glad to substitute profitable tops for their trees in lieu of their unprofitable ones. I believe tliat at all our meetings we should have practical demon- strations in budding and grafting, as this will tend to arouse the interest of the uninitiated and will spur the initiated to greater per- fection. During the past year there has been a discussion relative to the calling of the black walnut by some other name. Personally I be- lieve we should not attempt the change. The public will not under- stand and it will take them a long time to become educated to the change. Valuable time will be consumed in picking out a new name. Let us take the name as we find it. Properly handled, after the husks are removed, the walnuts will not be as black as they are painted, and besides, we do not eat the shell anyhow. The quality of the kernel will make its appeal. The trouble with all of ns has been that too much attention has been given to the looks, rather than the quality, of our food stuffs. Quality has been sacrificed for looks. Various illustrations of this come to mind with all of us. I believe success will attend the planting of black walnut orchards. This will encourage others to follow with orchards of other nut-bear- ing trees. Orchards of all kinds of fruit trees are being planted each year and the planters are content to wait until the trees are 56 large enough in order to nap the benefits thereof. Bnt somehow the impression prevails in the minds of many people that a nut tree should show results and yield profits soon after it is planted. In recommending to a lady of means that she should plant, as shade trees, northern pecans she promptly wanted to know how many bushels of nuts she would get off of the trees the next year. Perhaps we place too much importance on selecting just the right spot and soil in which to plant a nut tree and thus cause the intending planter to be too timid in making a start. Those who know anything about trees know prett}' well where it is not advisable to plant trees, especially those with a long tap-root. They can judge fairly well from the wild trees of the same variety growing round about. As evidence of what a nut tree will do, those of you who have visited Devil's Den in Gettysburg Battle Field, have perhaps noticed a butternut tree, now quite old, growing out of the top of the cleft in a huge rock, liaviiig sent its roots down to the adjoining soil for nour- ishment. This tree has borne nuts even in its adverse situation. For the benefit of those interested in the northern pecan, I wish to record the fact that a seedling pecan tree is growing in Clermont County, Ohio, on upland, not far from the eastern boundary line of Hamilton County, about five miles north of the Ohio River. The nut from which the tree grew was brought from Rockport, Indiana, and planted about forty-one years ago. The tree is quite large and bears nuts comparable with the wild seedling nuts that may be obtained from the Rockport district. If a seedling does this, you may readily see what a grafted tree will do. The President: We will now ask Prof. Collins for his addresa iji THE SEARCH FOR BLIGHT-RESISTING CHESTNUT SPROUTS* Prof. J. Franklin Collins, Rhode Island The chestnut blight has now been with us for more than twenty 3'ears and has destroyed practically all the chestnut trees of the northeastern part of the country. It has spread in all directions from its original center in the immediate vicinity of New York City until it has reached the limits of the native chestnut growth in the northeast and north, and is steadih' apjjroaching its limits in the west and south. The disease, a native of China and apparently imported into this coun- try on some Japanese or other oriental chestnut, found a more sus- ceptible host in our native chestnut and so became a virulent parasite on this new liost. It was not until lOOi that general attention was attracted to the disease. By tliat time it had obtained a strong foot- hold on tlie chestnuts of southeastern New York (particularly the western end of Long Island), in southwestern Connecticut, and in northern New Jersey. All of you are more or less familiar with the efforts made in Penn- sylvania, New York, and elsewhere in the northeast, in co-operation witli the federal government, to control the disease. These efforts are now an old story to most of you and there is no need of repeating it at this time. Early in the fight against the blight the attention of many of us was directed to locating possible immune or resistant species, varieties, or individuals. The search for resistant native individuals and the ac- companying experiments in crossing and grafting various species and varieties has been kept up ever since. Foreign explorers have con- stantly been on the lookout, with more or less success, for chestnuts in other countries that might be resistant to the blight. It has long been known that most forms of the Japanese chestnut (C. crenata) were in genera] highly resistant to the blight. Later it was found that the more recently introduced Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima) was also *N,ote--'-Blig'bt-resisting" as used in this paper should be interpreted as a slower death of the host than in former years, whether or not the result of increased resistance to the parasite on the part of the host, or to decreased virulence of the parasite, or to both factors combined. 58 quite resistant, although both the Japanese and the Chinese were far from being immune. Quite recently Mr. Rock, explorer for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, has brought a new chestnut from southern CliiiLi for experimental purposes. Notwithstanding newspaper re- ports to the contrary the possibilities of this chestnut in this country apparently are unknown at the present time. Nobody seems to know if it will stand our climate, resist the blight, produce worthwhile tim- ber or fruit; nor is its name known, according to late advices that have reached me. Some years ago the late Dr. Van Fleet made numerous crosses be- tween the Japanese and the American chestnuts, the Chinquapin, and otlier species and varieties. Personally, I have not been in very close toucli witli Dr. Van Fleet's experiments. Doubtless some of you know more about them than I do. Regarding these I will only say ■it this time that the work begun by Dr. Vnu Fleet is being continued by the Federal Bureau of Plant Industry, with Mr. G. F. Gravatt in direct charge of the work so far as the Office of Investigations in Forest Pathology is concerned. Mr. Gravatt is also testing out the value of scions taken from seeminoly resistant native trees when grafted on resistant stocks. Some years after the blight had destroyed most of the chestnut trees in the northeastern states we kept getting reports from various localities to the effect that the blight was apparently dying out. Many of these reports came from sources that made us doubt their value, but others came from more reliable sources. We have had op- portunity to investigate a number of these reports and have usually found that the statement that the blight was dying out was, in a sense, strictly true, the reason beiugi tliat the chestnut trees were en- tirely dead, except for sprouts. This fact naturally prevented the disease from showing us as much as in former years. Some twelve years ago I noticed in Pennsylvania a sprout of an American chestnut about an inch in diameter which had a typical hyi3ertrophy of the disease, apparently completely girdling the sprout at its base ; also a girdling lesion farther up on the stem. The hyper- trophy was such a pronounced one and in other respects such a typical example of the disease that I photographed it. A few years later I was surprised to observe that this sprout had increased to more than three times its former diameter and that the two diseased areas just mentioned apparently had disappeared — at least they were no longer 59 in evidence except as rough-barked areas. To make a long story short this sprout is still alive and lias increased in size and height each year. Although now (1924) it is considerably branched and makes a small bushy tree it is badly diseased in numerous places and is only partially alive, but the dead portions have not resulted from some half dozen of the original disease lesions (apparently girdles), but from later infections. The very fact that a sprout should have lived for more than twelve years in the center of one of the most badly diseased areas known to the writer seems at least to suggest the possibility that future chestnut sprouts may j^et grow in spite of the disease and persist — at least in a shrubber}- form if not as a tree. Tlie s))rout to which I have just called attention is not an isolated case, but uierely one of the most pronounced that I know about. In a careful survey in July (1921) of the region immediately surrounding the sprout just mentioned two or three other notable, but less pro- nounced, cases of a similar sort were discovered. In two cases fine looking branched sprouts some twenty feet high with healthy-looking foliage were noted. Both were diseased but the disease seemed not to be very conspicuous or virulent. In a recent survey of woodland in Rhode Island (July, 1924) much healthy foliage was observed and several large sprouts were found on which the disease (although present) seemed to be doing little damage when compared with its former virulence in the same general region. I call attention to these cases primarily to acquaint you with the results of our latest observations on what seems to me to be cases of gradually developing resistance in some of the remaining sprouts. In all my intensive work on the blight between 1907 and 1913 I cannot now recall a single instance where a chestnut sprout in a disease-ridden area ever reached a diameter of an inch or thereabouts before its ex- istence was cut short by the blight; and yet today — a dozen years later — we are finding quite a number of living sprouts over two inches in diameter, and a few that are three, four, and even up to seven inches in diameter. Last Friday, August 29, I heard of a small chestnut tree in New .lersey that bore a few burs last year and which has a dozen or more this year. If the nuts mature we hope to get some of them to propagate. Last Sunday, August 31, I saw a three inch sprout in Con- necticut that had had a few burs on it. I would be glad to learn of any lases of this sort that may come to your attention. You are all thinking men and women and all of you have had exper- 60 iences with diseased trees of some sort, many of you with very serious diseases, and some of you I know have had a wide experience with the cliestnut blight, so you can draw your own conclusions as to the significance of the facts that I have stated. As to the state laws for transporting material from one state to another I am not posted, but I believe that we can be advised by writing to the government at "Washington. Dr. Morris: We do not know whether the Washington govern- ment will sterilize those scions and send them out for us, but there should be some wav of sendingi from one state to another. * It seems to me that in all probability, the vital energy of the jDroto- plasm of the endothia is diminishing. Quality, flavor, or anything you please, is bound up with certain vitality, and that diminishes and finally will cease. That is the reason for the endothia growing less now. Peu)1'. Collins: jNIv point was perhaps not exactly that. I meant that the result is that, with tl;e average cases, we are now get- ting chestnuts not so quickly destroyed. The explanation may be exactly what you have stated. Dr. Morris: There are two factors to be considered. First, the running down of the vital energy of the protoplasm; and second, in the factors whicli affect the vital energy of the plant. Prof. Collins: In the paper I have just read there was men- tioned the apparent niunber of trees in various parts of the country wliich are very slowly dying from the blight, and some which have resisted it entirely, so far; but that was not the point I desired to em- phasize. There ;^re some around New York City which are still growing, and Dr. Graves could tell us of this. Mr. O'Connor: Would it be desirable to take out an old tree where there are new sprouts? One tree on Mr. Littlepage's place in ^Maryland has a number of sprouts comingi up. I suggested that if ^Decision From the U. S. Department of Ag'-iculture, Washington, D. C. In a letter of later date, addressed to Mr. C. A. Reed, Dr. B. T. Galloway, of the U. S. Dept. of Agr., wrote regiarding the matter of dis- tributing Merribrooke chestnut scions, as follows: "I have talked with Mr. Stevenson, of the Federal Horticultural Board, regarding this matter, and he says that, while there is no federal quaran- tine covering the chestnuts, as a matter of policy we have not been letting any chestnuts or scions go through our hands into the non-blight regions. Mr. Stevenson says that Dr. Morris himself might he able to carry out the plan he suggests by dealing direct with some of the state institutions in non-blight regions, selecting states that have no quaran- tine against chestnuts." \j\ we could get people togetlitr and clean the woods up we could dig up the old trees and only leave the hlight-resistant ones. Prof. Collins: That is near Bell Station where we do our ex- perimental work. We found one place infected. I cleaned it out and we have not seen anything of the disease since. Mr. Blxby: Some five or six years ago I sent a number of chest- nuts to Warren. Xew Hampshire, which is outside of the blight dis- trict. I did not know then much about the blight. They grew for sev- eral years and it was not until one year ago that the trees were found with blight. I got the party to cut them down. How long must I wait before it is safe to send other trees there? I believe they will grow there and bear, but we do not want to get them aifected with the blight. Prof. Collins: I do not know that anybody could answer that. Apparently we have waited 20 years and are still unsafe. It is a case of experimentation. Mr. Kains: As to the hybrids of Dr. Van Fleet and Dr. Morris, in the spring of 1923 I jilanted 10. and there are only four alive now. Thev were affected by blight and killed. They were rather large trees when planted, and I think for that reason more susceptible. We hid the idea from the nursery that they would be more likely to with- stand the disease than would the American sweet chestnut. Have you anv reports as to the way these hybrids behave? ]Mr. Reed: As to Dr. Van Fleet's hybrids, so far as we know they are all going with the blight. The collection in W^ashington is practically gone. We are still caring for them and doing what we can but the prospect is not at all good. We get reports of these distributed around the country, but in no case have we had a report indicating that tl:e Van Fleet hybrids were at all resistant. Prof. Collins: I will now read my paper on PROTECTION OF WOUNDS IN NUT TREES I have been asked to discuss briefly the handling of wood decay in t<)j)-worked nut trees. I am not sure that I know very much about the latest methods employed in this type of work. Personally I have had no practical experience with it. I understand, however, that nut trees are top-worked by cutting off limbs and inserting one or jnore scions. I am informed that limbs as large as six inches or more 62 in diameter have been cut for this purpose, particularly on pecan trees in the South, and that decay has started at the top of these stubs after the scions have become established, resulting in a pocket of decay. I assume that it is about such places as these that you want me to say something. Such conditions, whatever their origin, call for straight tree surgery methods. My work on tree surgery has been almost entirely with shade trees and chestnuts, and only to a very limited extent on other nut trees. The general methods of liandling decfly are essentially the same on all trees, as also are the fundaniental principles underlying the same, whether on nut or shade trees. I must admit I do not know just what methods are being employed by nut growers at the present time to counteract such decay in top-worked trees, so my suggestions may include nothing with which you are unfanoiliar. Again, they may include some methods that you have already tried and found wanting so far as nut trees are concerned. A.s a prevention of decay my suggestions, based on my own shade tree experience, would be: (1) Avoid cutting large limbs when smaller ones are available and will serve the purpose just as well or better. (2) Keep the scars thoroughly and continuously covered with some good waterproof and antiseptic material so as to prevent infection of any part of the cut surfaces. (3) Always make the cut somewhat slanting so that rain water will readily run oif, and insert the scions preferably at the upper ex- tremity' of the cut. Such an oblique cut normally heals quicker and better on shade trees than a transverse cut, particularly if a vigorous young sjjrout is left at the peak of the cut. I am quite certain the same statement will hold true with scions of nut trees placed at the peak of the oblique cut. After decay has started, I would suggest — (1) Cut out all the decayed woody matter, preferably from one side, so that a free and easy drainage of the wound may result. If necessary, when several scions have been placed around the stub, sacrifice one of the grafts and make a rather long oblique cut or groove from which all decayed matter has been removed. Use shellac, liquid grafting wax or melted paraffine over the cut bark, cambium and adjoining sapwood immediately after the final cut is made. (2) Cover the entire wound with some good preparation to keep out disease germs and water. Preferably use for a covering such materials as will be more or less permanent and which have been found by practical exjDerience to be least injurious and most effec- tive on the particular nut tree that you are treating. 63 (3) Keep the wound thoroughly painted or covered at all times until it is completely sealed over by a new growth of callus. (4) If the top-working was originally done in such a manner that the removal of all the decay results in a cavity that cannot be prop- erly drained, it is advisable to fill the cavity with some waterproofing and antiseptic material in order to prevent it holding water and also to assist the cambium in covering the wound. The cavity must first be treated in accordance with approved tree surgery practices. In shade tree work, quite a variety of substances have been used to fill cavities witli more or less success; e. g., wood blocks and strips, asphalt and sawdust, asphalt and sand, clear coal tar, clear asphalt, elastic cement, magnesian cement. Roman (or Portland) cement, etc. Of these only two — wooden blocks and Portland cement, have been in general use more than a few years. Blocks of wood were used in France to fill cavities more than 60 years ago. and in this country to some extent about 50 years ago. Later, Portland cement was used in preference to wood for fillings, probably mainly because it was more easily handled. To us of the present generation, Portland cement in combination with sand is the one material that seems to have been in general use sufficiently long to allow us to draw any seemingly reliable conclusion as to its real merits. For the personal use of tlie average orchardist. Portland cement is one of the last in the list mentioned above that I would recommend. According to a few reports that have reached me. wooden blocks and tar proved to be fairly satisfactory half a century ago, and strips of wood embedded in some flexible and antiseptic material, are proving very satisfactorj- today. An excellent preparation to use between the strips of wood, containing asphalt and asbestos, can be readily bought on the market, and it has the advantage of being mixed ready for use. For cavities with horizontal openings that will hold semi-fluid sub- stances, clear asphalt or gas-house (coal) tar may answer all purposes. For cavities with oblique or vertical openings, or for those on the un- derside of a limb, probably some of the magnesian cea:ents. which readily adhere to wood, will be found more satisfactory when prop- erly mixed and applied. Although I have said more about filling cavities than of other phases of the work, I do not wish the impression to go forth that I recommend such work except as a last resort, so to speak. The one thing that I do most emphatically recommend above all others is the prevention of decay so far as possible by practices that are less likely to allow decay-producing organisms to gain entrance in the first place, or at any other time. 64 The President: Does anyone care to discuss this paper? Mr. Kains: Mr. President: Dnrino- the last five years, I have planted several hundred nut trees, including the English walnut, black walnut, the heartnut, pecan (northern ones) and some hybrid hick- ories. I have noticed tliat in this nursery stock tliere has been a good deal of dying-out of the original stock where the trees had been grafted, and where the scion had not covered over. In some of those cases decay has set in, and the trees have died before they could be attended to or liave been broken down by the wind. The point is, I think it a mistake for nurserymen to use as large stocks as they have been using in many of these cases, because the stump of the stock is too large for the slowly growing scions to cover over quickly enough. My experience in the planting of fruit trees has been uniformly successful with smaller stocks (that is, trees smaller than I have been able to buy for nut trees) with peaches one year from the bud and with apples not more than two years ; with berries and stone fruits, not more than two years. In every case, with the fruit trees, one 3'ear stocks have given me better results. First, because they healed over more quickly, and second, because I could cut to better advantage in the trees. In no case have I been able to get nut trees as small as I can apples and peaehes. I believe that with the smaller trees amateurs will have better success. I bring; this matter to the attention of those men wlio are devoting their lives to tlie propagation of nut trees. The Secretauv: The subject of transplanting nut trees was treated fully by Mr. Eixby in his paper this morning and will be treated liv Mr. Hicks this afternoon in his address on the subject. \lr. Hicks will give a lecture, illustrated with slides, showing how the laraer nut trees may be successfully transplanted. Dr. ^Morris: Mr. Kains' thought was that there was a good deal of difncjUy from using stocks that were too large. Paraffine will keep them safe from microbes. ^Ir. Kains: We had difficulty from tlie drying of the scions. Dr. Morris: I find tliat if raw pine gi;m is put in it prevents the paraffine from cracking. Mr. O'Connor: In regard to wounds on the trees I find that creosote makes a very good antiseptic. I use coal tar and creosote, mixed to a eonsistencv of cream. I have used Portland cement but I 65 treated with creosote first. In some cases I used bichloride of mer- cury. ]Mr. Reed: It seems to be the experience in the South that, so far as the amateur is concerned, he gets better results with the pecans by planting trees of from tliree to five feet. Trees smaller than that are regarded as dwarfed ; but the man who is in a position to exercise greater care could get quicker results from buying the large-sized trees. Yet it requires more care in transplanting, more fertilizer, and more attention. ^Ir. Reed: I wisli to make the motion that the chair name a nominating committee at this time. The President: Is that agreed.^ All right; then I name Mr. O'Connor for chairman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Olcott, Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Hershey on the committee. Are those names acceptable? (Vote shows unanimous acceptance). The President: The convention will adjourn until two o'clock. First Day — Afternoon Session Meeting called to order by the President. The Secretary: I will read a communication from Mr. Snyder, of Center Point, Iowa. But first I would like to explain that when the President in mentioning the Horticultural Exposition at Waterloo, spoke of a sweepstakes cup from a member of the X. N. G. A. for the greatest number of points won in the nut exhibition of which Mr. Snyder has cliarge he did not st.iti- that he himself was the member who gave the cup. A HARANGUE OX THE XUT SITUATIOX IX IOWA By S. TV. Snyder, Iowa Previous to the organization of the Mid-West Horticultural Ex- position the Iowa State Horticultural Society had given but little at^ tention to the nut question. But along with the exposition came a demand for a nut department, which resulted in the writer being ap- pointed superintendent and given authority to prepare a limited pre- mium list. Tliis resulted in bringing out a number of new and unnamed varie- ties of nuts and created some enthusiasm. When it came time to prepare for the second exposition, authority was given to greatly 66 increase the premium list, which resulted in bringing out more new varieties and created a wonderful lot of enthusiasm. When it came time to prepare for the third exposition a list was adopted calling for $138.00 in cash premiums, which resulted in bring- ing out such a large exhibit of choice nuts that when we came to make preparation for the fourth exposition the premium list was increased to a total of -$181.50. This brought out so many fine nuts that it be- came a common thing to hear the remark, among the visitors that it was the most important department in the exposition, For the coming exposition, to be heM next November, the premium list as adopted calls for $280.00 in cash premiums, and while I am no prophet I am going to predict that it will result in bringing to- gether the largest nut exliibit ever collected under one roof in the United States. At our last exjiosition held in Council Bluffs, some of the directors of our state fair observed that the nut dei^artment was attracting much attention and was bringing a good many visitors to the exposi- tion. They decided that they must liave a nut premium list for the state fair and requested me to make up a list covering the nut subject as strictly applied to the State of Iowa. This I did and am attaching the list hereto. Althougli our state fair comes off in the month of August, and no nuts are available for exhibit, except such as happen to be kept over from the previous year's crop, yet it brought out at our 1923 fair the largest and best exhibit of nuts that has ever been shown within this state, not excepting the exhibits of the exposition. The board of directors were so well pleased with the interest mani- fested in the nut department that they are continuing the list for this year's fair and doubtless it will become a permanent feature of future fairs of this state. So much publicity and attention has been given the nut question within our state that it has resulted in bringing to light several new varieties that we think should be propagated before the original trees may liave been destroyed. Tlie horticultural department of our Iowa State Agricultural Col- lege is now taking an active interest in the nut question and has as- signed one of the professors to the job of collecting information about and taking pictures of, the best known nut trees within the state. If they follow up the nut subject with as much vim and energy as they have other phases of horticulture we may look for something in the nut line in the next few years that will be worth while. The native nut situation might well be summed up by saying that we have so many good walnuts, butternuts, hazels, pecans, hickories, and hybrids of the two last named species, that we could banish all foreigners and still have plenty left to supply every need. The crop of nuts for this season is fairly good ; some trees have none, others a light crop, and some varieties are carrying a heavy load. Of introduced nuts some are proving to be hardy and fruitful, but in my judgment they are all lacking in eating quality as compared with our own native nuts, unless I should except the filbert which has not yet proven that it will bear profitable crops in this climate. In closing I want to give just one instance of the great interest that has been aroused for nut growing within this state. A certain little citv of less than two thousand inhabitants hap- pens to own thirty acres of land that is suitable for the growth of timber. The citizens propose to plant the entire tract to nut bearing trees and bushes, and eventually make it a free park in which the chil- dren of the village may be turned loose to gather the nuts. Just imagine, if you can, how the enthusiasm of the boys who may be fortunate enouffh to live in that little citv. will more than bubble over as the nut gathering season approaches. I hope to be able to assist those people in their laudible enterprise and wish I may live to see it develop into the greatest thing of its kind in the United States. The President: Ur. Brooks, will you kindly give the Vice- President's rejjort from West Virginia, preceding your paper? Dr. Brooks: I have no special report to give as Vice-President of the association from West Virginia. I might say, perhaps, that the West Virginia station is in a land of hills and dales. Our latitude is from 200 to .5.000 feet above the level of the sea, and our average ele- vation is 1,500 feet. From our excellent position we can look down 600 feet or so upon the Ohio. Our land contains many species of trees, including nut trees. Among these there is one species of beech, two of hazel, two of chestnut, six of hickory, two of walnuts and fifteen of oaks. Fortunately, the chestnut blight has not swept the entire state. The chestnut has been in the past and is still our most popular tree. There are areas where tons of chestnuts are still put on the market every year. The people are still thinking more and more of some plant that might take its place; they are considering the , shagbark hickory and the black walnut. I predict that in the future there will be more planting of hazel nuts, black walnuts and shagbark hickories in this state. The prospect there is promising. 6S SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT INSECTS ATTACKING NORTHERN NUTS By Fred E. Brooks Associate Entomologist U. S. Department of Agriculture The prevalence of insect pests need not be regarded as an alarm- ing obstacle to nut growing in the Nortli, and yet there are numer- ous species of insects which are capable of destroying our nut crops. On the whole I presume there are fewer insects that attack nuts in this country- than commonly attack apples, but apple growers are not limited in planting nor prevented- from making profits on account of insect depredations. Neither should the probability of more or less insect injury discourage the would-be planter of nut trees. The presence of an insect in any locality may mean, among other considerations, that the soil, and climatic conditions of that locality are favorable to the jilant upon which the insect feeds. We may be sure that wherever the Baltimore butterfly is abundant, nearby is a congenial spot where the turtle's-head, the food plant of the butterfly, flourishes. Just so. in localities where there are many chestnut weevils we may expect to find chestnut trees thriving and fruiting generously. The samie is true of the associations of many other in- sects and plants. Theoretically speaking, one would not care to risk the expenditure of nuich time or money in propagating a plant in a region that was destitute of insects that might attack that plant. The absence of such insects would possibly indicate a lack of natural conditions favoring the growth of the plant in question. Thus the presence in any locality of insects that feed on nuts may mean that nuts thrive naturally in that locality and that insects are there because of the abundance of a favorite food. J\Iay I hasten to add. Iiowever, that this fact should not Icid to an under-estimation of the possibilities of insect destructiveness, nor en- courage lax methods in dealing with injurious species. In the begin- ning of any nut-growing enterprise we should anticipate the coming of insect pests and be ready to meet them. The planting of pure stands of native nut trees sets up a condition under which insects com- 69 ing from the forest may increase more safely and rapidly than under the more hazardous environment of a scattered forest growth. This applies to cultivated plants generally. It is true of an orange grove, a cornfield or a potato patch. The mass planting of any crop is quite sure to call sooner or later for measures to offset the stimulus which such plantings offer to insect increase. Reference may be made to a familiar nut plantation which illus- trates a natural result of neglecting one of the insect factors. This plmtation is the government's chestnut orchard at Bell, Maryland, which was planted for scientific purpose some years ago by Dr. Van Fleet. This orchard of around one thousand trees contains numerous species and varieties of chestnut, some of which bear fruit every year. The various scientific projects carried on in this orchard in the past have all been of such a nature that they called for no consideration of weevil increase. Many nuts have been allowed to lie under the trees until the weevil larvae issued and entered the soil. This has resulted in a constant increase of weevils until infestation of the nuts became jjractically one-liundred per cent. All nuts of the crop of 1922 were so wormy that wlien planted they failed to germinate. Injury to the crop of 1923 seemed somewhat less severe, but its extent may be indi- cated by the fact that 3080 nuts from this orchard which were kept bv the speaker in rearing jars yielded 11,085 worms. In the woods adjacent to the orchard the native chestnut trees are disappearing on account of tlie blight, and presumably weevils are on the decrease. Within tlie small area of the orchard, however, the increase has been abnorm.al, due, as has been indicated, to the peculiarly favorable and iriin-mr.dc conditions. If, from the time the trees of the orchard began to bear, the investigations being carried on had called for close gather- iiiu- of the nuts at maturity and the destruction of all the worms that issued from them, there is little doubt that infestation would have been kept within reasonable bounds. At present, after two years of atten- tion to the collection of ripening nuts, there is an apparent decrease in the number of weevils. Strong emphasis should be placed upon the importance of gathering chestnuts as soon as they are ripe and prevention of the w-orms from reaching the soil. This is especially true of districts where woods surrounding chestnut orchards do not contain bearing native chestnut trees. The Xtit Weevils Now that the subject of nut weevils has been introduced, let us consider in more detail these grotesque, long-snouted insects whose 70 larvae, or grubs, plaj- havoc with so manj- of our nuts. >Most of us have had the experience of gathering in autumn rich stores of our delicious native chestnuts. But how often our anticipations of boiled and roasted feasts have been blighted. We have found that the chest- nuts were like the manna which fed the children of Israel in the wilderness. "When we left of them until the morning they bred •worms and became foul." There are numerous cases in this country where chestnuts in shij)ment have been seized .md condemned under the i^rovisions of the Food and Drugs A^t. Usually the phraseology of the libel has been "because the shipment consisted in part of filthy animal substances, to wit, worms, worm excreta, worm-eaten chestnuts and decayed chestnuts." Altogether the loss to chestnuts from weevil injury is beyond computation. Tlie beetles which are the parents of the familiar worms in chest- nuts are not commonly seen, or, if observed, they are not associated witli the disgusting inhabitants Of the nut kernels. These beetles rep- resent in their structure a very interesting adaptation to a special end. The mouth is located at the tip of an enormously long snout, or probos- cis, and the drill-like instrument is used for puncturing the thick covering of various kinds of nuts so as to admit the egg into the ker- nel upon wliich the young will feed. In some cases the mouth is sit- uated at a greater distance from the eyes and other head appendages than is the anal extremity of the insect. There are in the northern part of this country two species which attack chestnuts, one wliich at- tacks hickory-nuts, one which attacks hazel-nuts and about a dozen which attack acorns. And here may be mentioned an interesting pe- culiarity of the feeding habit which is decidedly to the advantage of the nut-grower. Each species adheres closely to its own food jilant. The hickor\'^nut weevil does not attack hazel-nuts nor the hazel-nut weevil hickory-nuts. None of the acorn-infesting species will seek for food in the nuts of chestnut, hickory or hazel. Once the chestnut weevils are absent in a locality, there is no chance that oak trees will serve as a means of spreading the weevils back into the locality. So closely confined are these weevils to their particular food plants that many of them distinguish between the different species of oak and will ovijiosit only in certain kinds of acorns. All the diiferent species resemble one another in both the adult and larval stages. There is also a general similarity in their be- havior. I have recently discovered, however, a marked difference in 71 tlie life cj^cles of certain species. For example, the larger chestnut weevil and the smaller chestnut weevil look alike, but they are de- cidedly unlike in their development. The grubs of the larger weevil begin to leave the nuts at about the timei the nuts drop. They enter the soil to a depth of several inches and fashion smooth-walled cells in which they remain unchanged until the following summer. Dui'ing June and July they transform to pupae, and soon afterward to adults. In August they issue from the ground and seek the trees where they collect around the burs and begin to deposit eggs soon after the nut kernels start to form. This life cycle is continued year after year. To forestall starvation of the race in case of entire failure for a year of the chestnut crop, a few individuals cirry over tlie second winter in the ground and then issue as beetles along with the one-year-old specimens. It is probable that a small per cent of the insects may remain in the soil over three winters. Thus does nature by unique arrangements safeguard the lives of even the very small creatures. The life cycle of the lesser weevil is quite different. The larvae of this species leave the nuts somewhat later in the autumn than do those of the larger weevil. Like them, they enter the ground and pass the first winter unchanged. The grub stage is continued throughout the summer, but late in autumn, after the beetles of the larger spe- cies have been on the trees for some weeks and deposited most of their eggs, the larvae of the smaller species transform to adults. Instead of coming from the ground, however, they remain in their earthen cells throughout the winter. The next spring, prior to the blooming of the chestnut-trees, they emerge from the ground and soon there- after collect in large numbers on the male catkins of the chestnuts. At tliis time very little feeding is done and the sex instinct does not mani- fest itself. As the time approaches for the nuts to mature, however, the beetles begin to feed and pair and soon thereafter to lay their eggs in the ripening nuts. Most of the eggs are deposited directly into the nuts after the burs begin to open. In the case of the larger weevils the beetles are present only about three months of the year. Those of the lesser species, however, are perpetually present, those of the younger generation reaching the adult stage in the groimd before those of the previous generation have finished laying their eggs in the ripening nuts. As with the larger species, a few of the smaller weevils carrv as larvae for several years to tide over possible fail- 72 ures of tlie chestnut crop. The life cycle of the hickory-nut weevil is similar to that of the larger chestnut-weevil, and that of the hazel- nut weevil is like that of the lesser chestnut weevil. Both cycles are represented among the acorn-infesting species. Any intelligent warfare against the nut weevils calls for a knowl- edge of these distinctive life histories. Thus, an abundance of ma- turing larvae of the larger species this autumn will insure an abund- ance of beetles to deposit eggs in the nuts next autumn. With the lesser weevil, however, maturing larvae tlii« autumn will not affect the number of beetles on the trees the succeeding autumn but will provide beetles for the crop two years hence. Targe numbers of beetles of the lesser species may be destroyed by collecting them from the blos- soms of chestnut, but, at that season of the year there are no beetles of tlie larger species abroad. These weevils are to be made the subject of a bulletin by the Bureau of Entomology in the near future, in which it is hoped to go more fully into a discussion of control measures. Walnut Husk Maggot Although none of the weevils of the group just discussed attacks walnuts, the fruit of this tree has a serious enemy in the walnut hu.sk masffot. This insect is miost familiar in the form of multitudes of dirtv-white maggots inhabiting the blackened, slimy husk of ripen- ing walnuts. Originally, the black walnut furnished the favorite food of this insect, although the husk of butternuts was sometimes attacked. :\Iore recently the pest has turned its attention to the Persian wal- nuts whicli are fruiting in many places in the east. The watery, dark-colored pulp into which the husk of the nut is converted when the maggots begin to feed penetrates the shell of the nut and injures the kernel by staining it and imparting a strong flavor. The operation of hulling is also made doubly disagreeable, the nut coming out of the husk discolored and dirty. These maggots hatch from eggs inserted into the husk of nuts by n li-vht-colored fly about the size of our common housefly. Although easily overlooked, these flies may be seen on the nuts at almost any time in August and September. They have strong ovipositors with which they puncture the surface of nuts and insert into the openings masses of white eggs from which the maggots hatch. As to the control of tliis pest, the speaker obtained very promising results in spraying Persian walnut trees belonging to our friend, J. G- Kusl), at West Willow, Pa., with a solution of 1^ pounds of lead arsen- ate to 50 gallons of water witli 10 pounds of glucose sugar added to impart a sweet taste. The flies were observed feeding on the sweet coating given to the leaves and the nuts that ripened later were com- paratively free from maggots. It was obvious that the flies died from the poison before depositing many eggs in the nuts. Twig Girdle rs During the past two seasons the sjaeaker has made special studies of several species of beetles which cut or girdle young hickory trees, or the branches of larger trees^ causing the severed part to break off or die. Not fewer than four distinct species of beetles in the east have this habit. Three of the insects do their damage in the larval stage. One of these, Elaphidion villosum, has been called the twig-pruner. It is a well known sj^ecies and its work in pruning the branches of hickory and various other trees has often been referred to. The other two species which sever the wood in their larval stage are Fseiidohidion nnicolor and Agrilus a re ii at us. Thus far, these two have no common names. In certain localities they are proving to be very troublesome to both young and bearing trees. In one block of a nur- sery in Virginia I estimated' that the Agrilus larvae had ruined one- hundred dollars' worth of young hickory trees. Fortunately, the adult of this species feeds freely on hickory foliage and can be killed read- ily under nursery conditions by spraying with arsenical poisons. The fourth girdler referred to is our familiar hickory twig-girdler, Oncideres cingulatus. In this case the adult insect cuts a ring-like furrow around the wood and the portion ahove dies. The purpose of the girdle is to provide dead wood in which the young may feed. After the girdle is made, a process which occupies several hours, and, sometimes several days, the eggs are laid in the bark above. In cen- tral West Virginia and northward the grubs which hatch from these eggs require two years in which to reach maturity. In the vicinity of . Richmond and southward, however, the larvae mature in one year. This more rapid development in the south probably accounts in part for the recent serious outbreak of this insect in Virginia and the Carolinas. Each female beetle is capable of girdling several twigs. One female of about a dozen kept in confinement last auturan made eleven g:irdles and deposited 5.5 eggs. Several of the beetles continued their 74 interesting operations until after several snows and severe frosts had occurred. The twig girdler in the beetle stage feeds rather freely on the bark of twigs. Enough of the surface is eaten to justify the belief that the beetles may be killed by spraying with arsenical poisons. This treat- ment is being tested at the present time. In the cases of all these insects which sever the branches the wood is killed for the safety and comfort of the insect as it undergoes further development above the severed point. There is a period of at least several weeks in each case after the twig dies during which the insect in one stage or another remains in it to complete its growth. This affords an opportunity to gather the twigs and burn them with the assurance that the insects are being destroyed thereby. At least some progress has been made in discovering the habits and the methods of controlling these and various other insects that may be expected to give nut growers in the north more or less trouble. The remedies that can be offered at the present time are not in all cases en- tirely satisfactory. There is much yet to be learned, but there are control measures within the reach of most of the nut growers which are well worth consideration and adojotion. The Secretary: Dr. Zimmerman, will you read to us now? Dr. Zimmerman: Perhaps some of the members will not be so glad to hear what I have to say, but I feel that there is a need for something along the line I will refer to. 75 DEVELOPING A NUT INDUSTRY IN THE NORTHEAST Bii Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Pennsylvania We have all heard of the pecan. No doubt most of us have traveled throug;!! the South at some time or other and have entertained a wish for a pecan grove. A personal friend of mine, a minister, told me recently that the only time he was ever tempted to invest in a com- mercial ])roposition was when a real estate agent laid a picture of a pecan grove before him. I had entertained the thought that some day I might possess an orchard. Therefore, a couple of winters ago, when I found it necessary to go south for my health, I silently hoped I could kill two birds with one stone, by getting some undeveloped land and starting a pecan grove, which at the same time would keep me in the open air and give me exercise. Consequently, my eyes were always open and I was on the constant lookout for pecans. After miles of travel they appeared. They were very interesting and I went into the subject pretty thoroughly. I was informed that no cheap land was available any more that was desirable for pecans. I am not so sure of that. I was also informed that most of the people who had planted groves had made a mistake, that the pecan business was just beginning under new ideas, and that most of the work would have to be done over. From the amount of trees that are being top-worked I am inclined to believe this is true. But I didn't kill the two birds with one stone. I did not attempt to build up a pecan grove, but instead I came back with the idea firmly impressed thit we have a better proposition for the future right here, that we have right here in the North the building material in the shag- bark hickory and the black walnut for a nut industry that will rival or even surpass the enviable position the pecan holds today. Was I cor- rect or was I wrong? A second trip last winter has served only to imbed that idea into a firm conviction. What ground have I for drawing this conclusion? Some of you, my friends, may disagree with me in some of my remarks, and no doubt insist that I am uninformed. Perhaps I am, but I am giving my convictions nevertheless, and I ask you to withhold judgment for twenty years before deciding against me. Why has the pecan forged to the front as it has? Because the 76 pecan is a good food, easily available, of pleasant taste and presents a fine appearance. From a commercial standpoint, after 20 years or more on the pecan, there is only one really desirable variety avail- able, namely the Schley, and the fact tliat it readily sold last fall for 80 cents per pound wholesale, while the choice of the other varieties broiiglit 60 and 65 cents per pound, bears me out in this. I am not re- ferring to the greater productivity and other qualities of some of tlie other varieties. Many of them are tolerated for various reasons. How about the shagbark in the North ? It is my belief that we do not liave at present a shagbark that will anything like meet the pecan of the South, yet the consensus of opinion of the people I know who have eaten both, decides in favor of the shagbark. The quality of a very ordinary shagbark is better than the best of pecans. What then, is lacking!? Size, shape, thinness, of shell, cracking qualities, color, everything but flavor is lacking in most shagbarks. Don't misunder- stand me. I am not condemning what we have, for I believe that if as many years are spent by as many people in finding or developing a shagbark, we will have one that will surpass the pecan. But as the mat- ter stands I am constrained to say that I do not know of a really good nut today that will stand the test of building an industry that will com- pete with the pecan. We must find or develop a couple of really good nuts that will compete, nuts that are large, smooth, shell thin enough to crack with the fingers, a white kernel that is plump and easily ex- tracted. I do not believe that any thick shell nut will ever meet the favor it should or become extremely popular. The Weiker, one of our best, is of good size, looks fairly well, but the shell is thick and it is poorly rilled. It will never fill the place for a real industry, and yet they sell for a good money-making price today. If we build our groves after this standard we will be in the same place in a few years that many of the pecan growers are now, nameh^, with a lot of trees on hand that must be top-worked later on. But they are the best we have and, like the old adage that it is better to love and lose than not to love at all, it is better to go aluad with these than not to go at all. How about the black walnut? This nut will come to the front and be popular for baking purposes and candy-making, for it is the only one that holds its flavor after heating. But its competition will be against the thin-shelled English walnut. It will not be extremely 77 popular until we get one with a shell equally tliin. At present we do not have one. How then can we anticipate a great future industry after meting out this doleful outlook? Are we going to discard everything we have and start again ? By no means. The price of nuts, even of the ordinary class, is sufficient even now to well repay any man for his effort, if producing them on a large scale, and what must be done is to encourage more people to become interested. If we could arrange to have nice exhibits of named varieties of nuts at the various county fairs, and have someone there to explain them, a good deal of interest could be created. I frequently see native nuts displayed, but not named varieties. I shall not refer to the hazel, chestnut, pecan nor butternut, all of which I believe can be developed into a more or less successful indus- try but only repeat in closing that I am convinced, after pretty thorough investigation, that the shagbark hickory and the black walnut can be developed into an industry in the Northeast in a much shorter time than it has taken to develop the pecan, to a point that will equal or surpass the enviable position that nut holds today. But, and let me impress this point, we must develop a few new and better nuts to do it. On account of the colder climate, which goes for the developing of fine flavor in all products, I do not believe the pecan will ever equal the shagbark in quality. This is our great natural advantage. Dr. Morris: I accept all of the statements by Dr. Zimmerman with one exception. The pecan is tremendously prolific and so produc- tive that there are records of 30 bushels to a tree. I do not know that any of the shagbarks or shellbark hybrids ever will rival that in pro- duction. From the marketman's point of view production is of prime importance. In this the pecan out-rivals the black walnut. .'o TRANSPLANTING NUT TREES Willard G. Bijchy, Baldzcin, N. Y. When I set out the first nut trees which now are growing at my place at Baldwin, I was very particuLar to follow the best advice ob- tainable. What this was is to be found in Bulletin No. 5, published by the association, pages 8 and 9, under Planting Directions. I will not take time here to read them but will fefer those interested to that publication. Much tliat is to be found there is unquestionably the best practice that we know today. The importance of ])reventing the roots from drying! out. digging holes of sufficient size and filling with good top soil, firming the soil well about the roots, severely catting back after planting and staking newly set trees if they are of appreciable size above ground, are of the utmost importance and should be emjjhasized, but others of these directions have been modified in my practice and I will relate the unfortunate experiences which caused these changes to be made. From the start there has been trouble in transplanting hickories, difficulties with other trees being small in comparison. Out of a num- ber of fine looking little grafted hickories set out in the fall or spring some would be sure to die. They mostly came from Mr. Jones, who, as a rule, has furnished the finest looking hickories that I have received, and were finely packed and seemingly ought to have lived, but only part of tliem did. After loosing a number out of one lot, I watched the lot purchased next year with particular care. Three out of a lot of six, which had put out leaves well in the spring, by the middle of July began to show signs of distress, the edges of the leaves beginning to turn brown whicli the year previous had been the beginning of the end. I knew what had happened the year previous, felt that the trees Avould die if something was not done, and did something. That some- thing was to dig about six quarts of chicken manure and two trowels of nitrate of soda around the three trees that looked sick and saw that they were watered plentifully till a heavy rain came. At first nothing was noticed, but after a while the brown disappeared on the leaves that were only slightly brown, while in other cases new leaves put out and finallv a second growth of shoots, very small to be sure, but the 79 trees had been saved. This was diametrically opposed to previous practice of putting no manure or strong fertilizer in holes when plant- ing the trees, but the result was so satisfactorj- that I have continued to dig in about -4- of a wheelbarrow of well rotted stable manure around each tree when planting and two trowels of nitrate of soda in May when the growth should start in the spring. The above treatment seemed almost entirely to solve the difficul- ties of transplanting and for about two years practically no liickories were lost. Twenty- four Hales trees, 10 years from grafting brought here from Monticello, Florida, all lived through the first year and 23 of them through the second and now seemingly have a long life ahead of them. Inasmuch as Mr. Jones expressed his doubts as to how suc- cessful this experiment would be I regarded it as somewhat of a triumph. On the other hand out of the finest looking lot of young Iowa hickories grafted a j-ear ago this spring and shipped in the fall and set out just as carefully as I knew how, with well rotted stable manure in the holes and seemingly having every prospect of a long life before them, all have died now, excepting four, two of which I am making desperate efforts to save. The reason for this failure has not yet been proved, but I have an idea what it is. With two excej^tions the stocks were not large, un- usually small in fact, and the growth of the grafts was small, but, except for their small size of stock and graft they were fine looking little hickories as one often sees. The two that are in good condition today were bitternuts on bitternut stocks and both the stocks and grafts were notably larger than others. One of these bitternuts by the way, is bearing this year. Evidently there was not as much vital- ity stored in the smaller trees as in the larger ones. I am inclined to believe that the real trouble was because the grafts, excepting the bitternuts, had not become sufficiently established before having to stand the shock of digging, shipping and transplanting. I have noticed in experiments made to determine the adaptabilit}' of a number of species of hickory as stocks that it was not unusual to find that a graft would do reasonablv well the first summer and die the second. If this happens occasionally when hickories have not been transplanted it is undoubtedly very much more likely to happen when they are trans- planted. I have- had practically no losses in transplanting hickories when the graft had grown two seasons before being transplanted. The safe plan, then, would seem to be to let a graft grow two sea- 80 sons before tran.s])lanting. Unfortunately this will add to the cost of grafted hickories which even now are so expensive to produce that almost no nurserymen grow them. Anotlier one of the commonly accepted princii)lcs that I do not now follow is that of not planting trees any deeper than they grew in the nursery. I prefer to plant them a little deeper, say two inches or so. f do not recall losing any trees seemingly from this slightly deeper planting, while I did lose a considerable number of seedlings last year that were inadvertently planted two inches or so too shallow. Outside of the hickory I have had little trouble in transplanting any trees excepting some of the hazels. Unless hazels, particularly American hazels, are very well rooted, they will need more care the first year than most nut trees, particularly protection from the hot sun and drought. If I get poorly rooted hazels I now plant them in a shady place for a year or two if they have not grown well the first year, and then move them where they are to stay. The President: Mr. Snyder of Center Point advocates planting trees two to four inches deeper. Dr. Morris: In Dr. Brooks' pajjer he spoke of some of the twig girdlers in the beetle stage which feed upon the bark of twigs before ovipositing, and he said that gives a weak point where we maj'- attack them. On my place at Stamford, where there are forests, that would he impossible. I have had a good many hazels partially destroyed this year by girdlers. A great many of the branches have the larvae in them. I find also a large number of small hazels on which the leaves and 1 -ranches are dying, though there is no apparent injury to the bark. Suddenly, however, a little twig will drop off and yet. in cut- ting into them, I did not find any larvae. Dr. Brooks: That happens to be the work of an insect which I :am just beginning to study, one of the flat-headed borers, and the reason you have not seen the larva is that it is very small. It is not half an inch long-. In the second year it comes out as an adult. I judge that control measures should be used in the spring, when I think without doubt that it would feed on the poisoned spray. Dr. Morris: I find a great many larvae in dead twigs on the ground. If we are going to get this pest out of the way, we should not only look at the twigs oni the tree, but at those on the ground as "well. Dr. Brooks: That is true of all of these curculios. Dr. Morris' 81 statement is true. The ground should be gone over and the dead and dying branches and twigs of the trees should be collected. The insects mature in them. Dr. Collins: Would you advocate pruning often? Dk. Brooks: No. Adjounnnent to lecture hall. Mr. Henry Hicks of Westbury, Tong Island, gave a talk on the transplanting of large trees by his methods, illustrated with lantern slides. This was followed by a talk with lantern slides, on HEREDITY IN TREES AND PLANTS By Dr. A. F. Blalceslee, New York Dr. Blakeslee said in part: One of the first things we notice as we go out into the open is c'iversity in the habits of trees and plants. It is through the details thus presented that we are able to distinguish one species from another. \ ou can see this diversity the year round in nut trees, and in the nuts. If you arrange nuts, or any other objects for that matter, in a curve according to size, you will fiud that the most numerous of them r.re of about the average size. This is equally true when applied to mankind. What is the reason? There are a number of factors alfecting! this, but, in general, there are two main causes — environment and heredity. We do not know which is the more important but both are absolutely necessary. In the picture being shown we see the influence of the black wal- nut upon plants around it. It creates an environment which influ- ences the ability of other plants to grow near the roots. It must be remembered, however, that what the animate plant transmits is not the actual character in question, but the ability of the animate plant to develop characteristics. By placing the plant near a black walnut tree we do not aft'ect anything but the capacity of the plant to develop in certain directions. I have shown here a diagram to illustrate a certain stock fertiliza- tion. Here we have the plant with its stamen and pistils, the egg cells and the pollen. There are two types of pollenization, one where 82 the pistil is fertilized by insects carrying sticky pollen; the other by movement of the wind carrying the pollen. If I should believe my records, in attempts to cross trees. I might have a cross between a birch and an alder, in Avhich the pollen is carried by the wind. I tried once to hybridize pines. I put some pitch pine pollen on the female flower of another species and seed resulted. I did this the second year and again I got seed. The third year I put bags on the female flowers before I could see them developing. Then I got no seeds. I believe that the pollen which had caused the seed to set in the preceding instances had come from the south for pe'rhaps hundreds of miles. There are times when the pollen of the staminate plant is all shed before the pistillate gets ready. Sometimes we have a plant that is self sterile. I have experimented with pollen from several different nut trees and also with the Norway spruce. Then again, there are abnormal cases; sometimes there is parthenogenesis. The jimson weed is the first plant which has ever been reproduced by parthenogenesis. Since that was discovered, an investigator in California has found a similar case in fruit developed without pollination. One of the most important conceptions in heredity is its effect upon characters and factors. Take the Japanese bean here shown for example, one dark bean and one mottled. In the next hybrid genera- tion we find three mottled and one dark. That is the familiar "three to one" ratio of ^Nlendels law. We believe now, that all. or at least a very large proportion of the heredity characters in plants of all kinds may be due to a series of factors; but the habit of growth of the plant is due to a single factor. We have the case here of a second generation of the weeping mulberry that I crossed with the white mul- berry. As a result there was an average of three erects to one weeping one. Certain characteristics may be made up of the inter-action of a large number of factors. This will give a little idea as to the com- plexity of Mendel's law. How do we get new characters in nature? New types are due to the rearrangement of previously existing characters, just as with the old-fashioned kaleidoscope, where you turn the crank and get new pictures. Another way is by the sudden appearance of new factors. I wish to speak about one effect of hybridization, which is really connected with heredity factors, the vigor which occurs when we cross different varieties, species, or even races. In my experience certain types that have been naturally contrasted finally lose vigor, and after two or tliree generations tlie plant disappears. Then again I could whow you cases wliere yields are greatly increased due to hybridity. These are established facts, not only as regards species of plants and trees but also as regards the human race. Hemy, in Dublin, who has done the best work in this line of endeavor, believes that many of our more rapid-growing trees are rapid-growing because they are hybrids. To summarize, I have tried to point out the fact that diversity wliicli we see in nature is real, and that it is brought about by two causes, namely, environment, and heredity. And that heredity is brought about by factors in the bodies of the chromosomes which are sluiffled around like cards in a pack; they reappear in the same way that the cards will reappear. We have no means, as yet, of controlling the appearance of the factors, but we have two methods of getting new factors, as f ollow^s : One — ^The finding of new things in n;iture; that, probal)lv. is the very best method that can be used. The work of the theoretically planned' ])roject points out the tremendous importance of the excep- tional individual. Two — By taking the exceptional individuals, and l)y crossing them, you can recombine, although the results may be \ery complex, and obtain characters that are very desirable. x\s ministers sometimes say to clinch the moral, I would say, "Seek earnestlv that which is best and hold fast to that which is good." The President: Has anyone a question he would like to ask.^ Dr. ]Morris: In attempting to make crosses between juglans and carya we find often that the pollen of carya will excite the cell of the j uglans but without making a fusion. What is the element of the male cell of the hickory which starts the female cell of the walnut into action.^ The Secretary: I would like to ask Dr. Blakeslee one thing; he showed the influence of the black walnut on the growth of the hedge, and he showed that something other than the effect from the black walnut had caused these plants to be dwarfed. Is that understood to be a fact.^ Dr. Blakeslee: No; some of the effect was due to the black walnut. Mr. Hicks: In some cases the trees get sick and die. I have observed many plants and trees growing close to walnuts and I can point out peach trees and other fruits planted close to black walnut 84 trees wliieli have been injured. I should ]}kv to see tlie question de- termined. Mr. O'Connor: On Mr. ],ittle]),'., lecture was delivered in a darkened hill where it was not possible for the reporter to take notes. However, the gist of the talk is here given). The slides illustrated various methods of nut tree propagation, and that it is possible successfully to graft or bud nut trees at almost any time from February until the very end of the growing period. In working over large trees the first method in the season to be employed was shown to be that of the cleft graft. Following this, with large stocks, would be the slip-bark graft, or with smaller stocks, the chip- bud. The slip-bark graft has the advantage of being feasible at anr time when the bark slips. Dormant scions are more often used with this form of propagation, although by no means necessary, as Dr. Morris has demonstrated that by applying a coat of paraflin over the entire scion and the cut surfaces of the stock, it is possible to use growing scions at almost any time when they can be obtained. The chip-bud is most successful during a relatively short period, begin- ning about ten days before the buds begin to swell and continuing until after the trees are practically in full leaf. From this time on the patch, or some other modification of the annular bud, is most com- monly used. In top-working, when the cleft-graft has failed, the patch-bud may- be used late in summer, by inserting buds of the current season's 85 growth in tlie base of the new shoots springing up from below where the cut was made in the stock for the graft, thus affording two op- portunities for propagation during the same season. The slides showed various methods of propagating the filbert by layering, and of propagating more difficult species by inarching. They were from a collection soon to be placed in the hands of the extension Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and of the various state colleges of agriculture. The President: We will now adjourn, and will meet in the room upstairs in this building at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. SECOND DAY— MORNING SESSION Meeting called to order bv the President, at 10 a. m. The PREsn)EXT: I have the great pleasure of introducing to you Dr. Howe, Assistant Director of the Botanical (jardens. Dr. Howe : I shall only take a minute to say that we are delighted to have you here, and that if we can do anything to assist you, or to perpetuate your success, I hope you will please let us know. As the Spaniards say, "The house is yours." I hope that your visit will be so pleasant that you may find it convenient to come here again. The Secretary: Mr. Jones will you tell us something about the handling of seeds for planting? Mr. Jones: I did not give the subject any thought before coming here but I might say that the nuts should be gathered promptly and dried, placing them in a shady spot, for they can be injured where the sun is too warm. We stratify them in sand. Then in the spring you can sift the sand through a sieve, take out the nuts and plant them. In stratifying chestnuts we keep them between layers of wire mesh, for mice are very fond of these nuts. We cover the nuts with sand and leaves. Chinkapins we usually keep in cold storage. The Secretary: When you stratify these nuts where do you keep them? Mr. Jones: Right out in the open on top of the ground. A frame may be made with \vire nailed on the bottom. This may be set out anywhere in the garden, but down a little into the dirt. Put in the nuts between lavers of sand and leaves. 86 The Secretary: ^fr. Kelsey told me that the best way he had found to keep nuts was to bury them in a deep hole, perhaps two feet deep. Have you had experience with that way? AIr. Jones: The way I described is the usual way to keep seed and we get very fine results. We do that in order to keep the seed cool and so that they will not dry out. But we always have to watch out for mice. It might be a good idea, in stratifying chestnuts in the box with wire mesh on the bottom, to place the box at an angle that would drain off at least part of the water. The Secretary: Dr. Zimmerman, have you anything to say? Dr. Zimmerman: I discovered by accident that black walnuts and hickories could be kept very nicely in the dry state until spring; then put water on tlieni and they will sprout very nicely. But my chestnuts set moldy that waj'. Mr. Bixby: We cover the nuts with at least a sprinkle of earth, may be four or five inches. The Secretary: Mr. Jones would keep them with practically no dirt but with sand and leaves. Mr. Jones: I would use a little sand over them, two parts of sand to one part of nuts. W^e put in six inches of nuts and alternating layers of sand. Dr. Brooks: I know of a man who puts a layer of chestnuts and one of moss and says that in the spring- the nuts are in splendid con- dition. Mr. Bixby: I have had the nuts sprout very much better when they were stratified as soon as gathered. Mr. O'Connor: I bought about 5 bushels of black walnuts, pay- ing 75 cents a bushel for them. I simph* dumped them out on the ground, not bothering about the shucks at all, and covered them over with dirt. I paid no more attention to them until spring. Then I put the nuts in trenches with dirt about 5 inches over the top. The mice did not bother them, and I think they did well that wa}'. The President: Did the frost affect them? Mr. O'Connor: No, not at all. The President: I have a black walnut tree at home that started to grow in a neighbor's cellar. It had grown a foot and a half and was rather white in color. I cut off the top and planted it out in the open. Today the tree is still growing and is all right. We will now have an address by Prof. Neilson, of Canada. 87 Prof. Neilson: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a real pleasure for me to get back to this convention once more. I tried to come last yeir but owiuo; to certain difficulties I was not able to do so. Before I give you my report on nut culture in Canada, I want to tell you some of my troubles. Two or three years ago, when I beg-an to express my interest in nut culture, I thought it would be a good idea to get some nuts from China. I wrote to several missionaries in Northwestern China at about our latitude, and I finally secured five bushels of Persian walnuts and one bushel of Chinese chestnuts. The nuts were a long time on the road and very few were in fit condition to use when they arrived. I stored some of the Persian walnuts in our cellar at the Ontario College. The rest of the nuts I distributed to others. The nuts at the college did not fare very well. When I left there I gave directions to the members of the Department to look after them cai'efully. This is how they did it. Someone broke into the cellar where the nuts were stratified in the sand, and ran off with alwut one bushel. Tlie Chinese chestnuts arrived in about the same condi- tion as the Chinese walnuts. Of these 1 managed to save about a ])eck. We divided the nuts into three equal lots. Some we kept at the Guelph Experiment Station, some at Vineland, and some in the Southwestern Station. Of those at Guelph, out of the whole lot, 3.5 nuts germinated, and of these the mice ate all but five. These five were taken outside and carefully placed in a flat; but someone came along and' ran into the flat and smashed those five plants all to pieces. In addition to this some of my friends tried to tell me that I was chasing wild geese; that nut trees would not ever be important com- mercially in Canada ; that 99 per cent of the value of the nut tree was for shade anyhow (as if he meant shade for pigs and cows); and that they were not even ornament 1 1. Before I read my paper, however, I will say that the work I am now doing is somewhat difl'erent from that I had when I was last here, when I was Prof, of Horticulture. I am now doing extension work for the government. 88 PROGRESS REPORT ON NUT CULTURE IX CANADA J (IS. A. Neilson, M. S., Extension Horticulturist, Horticultural E.rperiment Station, J'ineland, Ontario During the season of 1923-24 there has been a marked increase in the interest shown in the culture of nut bearing trees in all parts of • Canada where nut trees can be grown. This is indicated by the num- erous letters of enquiry and personal'requests for information on nut culture which have been received by our Station. A total of 450 let- ters were received or sent out by our office during the past year besides numerous enquiries answered by a personal visit. The search for good nut trees has resulted in some interesting ad- ditions to the data presented in the i>aper published in the last report. One of the most gratifj'ing features of this phase of the work has been the discovery of* se\eral new localities where the European filbert is growing successfully. It has been located or reported at twenty widely separate points in Ontario, the northermost of which is on Wolf Island at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in approximately 44,100 N. Lat. This plantation is said to have been established before 1840 •nid would therefore be nearly 90 years old. Another interesting point in connection with filberts is the amazing way in which they thrive under conditions of absolute neglect. Several of the plantations ob- served during the past year were not given the slightest attention and yet were doing' very nicely. Obviously this is not good practice but it would seem to indicate that excellent results couW be secured in Southern Ontario by the proper choice of varieties and the best cultural methods. This survey also showed that the sweet chestnut grew as far north as Georgian Bay. The prize nut contest staged by our office last autumn resulted in the discovery of some very good black walnuts and a fine Japanese heartnut. Samples of these are shown in some of the plates on the table. The Persian walnut was found to have a wider distribution and. is more abundant in Ontario than was expected when our nut survey began. About 150 bearing trees have been located in that part of Ontario extending from Toronto on Lake Ontario to Goderich on Lake Huron. This number of .course will seem insig'nificant in comparison 89 to the numbers of trees in some sections of the northern United States, but it must not be forgotten that Ontario is on the northern margin of tlie Persian walnut territory, and therefore the results are rather encouraging. Several fine Paragon cJiestiiut trees have been located which bear good crops and M'liich appear to be resistant to chestnut blight. This disease has unfortunately appeared at several places in Ontario and will undoubtedly destroy the majority of our chestnut trees. The members of tliis association will be interested to learn that Gellatiy Brotliers of Gellatly, B. C, prepared and sent to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley a large collection of nuts that has attracted a great deal of attention and favorable comment. This should do a great deal toward advertising the nut cultural possibilities of that i)r()vince and of Canada generally. T!ie trial plantations on the experiment station grounds are doing very well indeed. The black walnuts are making a fine growth and one variety tl.e McCoy, has a good crop of nuts at two years from planting. The Ten Eyck is miking an extremely rapid growth, in some cases, ])roducing new shoots over four feet in length. The English walnuts are also making a good growth and two varie- ties. Mayette and Hall, have borne nuts in the third season. I am ];)leased to state that we now have about 100 seedlings of the Chinese walnut growing on the station grounds and at various other points in Ontario. These little trees seem to be making a more rapid growth than our seedlings of the "Ontario/' a Persian walnut which is a native of St. Catharines. We also have about 60 seedlings of the Persian' walnut from the Northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains in the Ukranian region of what used to be the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire. These nuts were obtained from Rev. Paul Crath. of Toronto, who informs me that the winter temperatures in that part of Europe often go lower than in Toronto. W'v hope for some interesting developments from the growth of these trees because of the rigorous climatic .condition of their native land. During the latter part of the past winter an experiment was con- ducted in propagating the walnut under greenhouse conditions. For this purpose 100 well grown one year black walnut seedlings were obtained from our forestry station at St. Williams in the late autumn and heeled in out of doors until about February 1st. These were then 90 brought inside, planted in 8 iiicli pots and placed in the greenhouse where they were allowed to remain until a good leaf growth had been produced. The young trees were then side cleft grafted with scions of the best English walnuts in the district. While engaged in this work one of the trees was inadvertently cut off a few inches above the ground. The stub was then whip grafted and to my surprise it made a better growth than the others which had a part of the top left on. The results of our experiment were much better than I expected. About K)% of the scions grew which' was quite satisfactory consider- ing that I was a mere novice in the art of grafting nut trees and that my method was an experiment. I believe I could get 70 to 75% to grow with greater care in the selection and handling of scions. The object in doing the work in the greenhouse was to obtain better control conditions of moisture and temperature and thus reduce the mortality of scions due to these factors. I also outlined an experiment in projjagating nut trees by cuttings as a thesis subject for one of our fourth year horticultural students at the O. A. C. In this experiment ten cuttings each of English wal- nut, butternut, Japanese walnut, hickory, chestnut and black walnut were planted in sand and watered at intervals with a 1 to 10,000 solu- tion of potassium permanganate. In the course of time the majority of cuttings came out in leaf, but none formed roots, and hence soon died. It is admitted that this experiment may have been improperly planned and conducted, but it showed at any rate that it is not an easy matter to propagate most nut plants by root or stem cuttings. In 1923 I purchased with my own funds another lot, 1^ bushels, of good heartnuts and sent them in lots of about two dozen to the secretar- ies of 125 horticultural societies, and to about 30 other parties for trial planting. I found that this little contribution was gratefully received and in many cases brought forth inquiries for the names of people from whom good trees might be purchased. I do not propose to carry on much more of this free distribution of nuts as that would not be fair to the individuals 'themselves or to those engaged in the propagation of nut trees. My chief reason for distributing these nuts was to stim- ulate interest, and now that my objective has been attained I will refer inquiring parties to reputable nut nurserymen. Numerous requests for addresses on nut culture have been re- ceived from horticultural societies, women's institutes and other or- ganizations. I have always endeavored to comply with these requests 91 and have iiivariabl,y found keen interest shown in the subject. Amer- ican members of this association will likely be interested to learn that the Ontario Horticultural Society is the largest of its kind in the world, having a membership of over 60,000 while the Women's Institute is an almiost equally large and influential organization. These powerful and widespread organizations can be and are of great assistance in carrying on the propaganda for the planting of nut trees. The Ontario Horticultural Association, the Ontario Horticultural Council and the Canadian Horticultural Council have each passed resolutions expressing approval of our work in nut culture and asking the Dominion Minister of Agriculture to ap- ])oint a man to fully investigate the nut cultural possibilities of Canada. I regret to state that no action has as yet been taken to meet the desires of these organizations. Because of many other urgent duties and lack of departmental support, I have not been able to devote as much of my time to nut culture as I would like, and therefore have had to make the very best use of the little time I have had at my disposal. I am looking forward to the time when those in authority will have a greater appreciation of the value of nut trees and will see their way clear to appoint someone to devote his whole time and energy toward increas- ing the productiveness and adding to the beauty of our country by means of more and better nut trees. To sum up briefly, my objective is as follows: 1. To carry on the nut tree survey of Canada until we have located the very best natural and exotic species. 2. To propagate these best strains, provided they are as good or better than the best so far discovered. 3. To introduce the best hardy species from the northern United States and northeastern Asia, on a more extensive scale for test pur- poses and breeding work. The Secretary: Prof. Xeilson has placed on the table in the hall, very modestly, a very interesting collection of nuts from Canada and I hope that you will all look at them. The President: Are there any present who would like to ask Prof. Xeilson questions? Dr. Morris: It seems to me that the Ontario walnut is the best in quality of any I have tried. What did you think of them Mr. Jones ? Mr. Jones: I do not think there is any better. Prof. Neilson: I am in favor of another one which I think you 92 will agree is still better. It is laroer and betterlooking and the flavor is just as good. (Displays walnut). Tile interesting feature is that although the tree is a third genera- tion tree, now about 15 years old, it has produced more nuts than the older trees. Dr. Morris: If I remember correctly the Ontario is a milder type. Phof. Neilson: I think that this i\s just as good as the Ontario. I have several trees of this. The President: From what I gathered from your remarks, Prof. Neilson, possibly some moral support would be of assistance to you in your work. Would it be out of order.' Prof. Neilson: I think it would be a very good idea. The trou- ble 1 am having is perhaps very localized; it is with but one or two in- dividuals. I think that a resolution by this association would have some effect. It would at least present to the authorities the fact that we were being recognized. I hope so at least. Our present Minister of Agriculture has openly expressed himself in sympathy with the idea of planting more nut trees; also Mr. Martin, our specialist in poultry keeping and I think if I can get them lined up it would be all right. The resolution might help to do this. The President: Dr. ^Morris the Chair appoints you to that com- mittee; also Mr. Jones and Mr. Ellis. It wishes you to draw up a suitable resolution for that work. Prof. Neilson: I mav say that the public in Canada is behind our work. About 97% of my time is spent on the road and I go long distinces. The rest of my time I am writing letters, about 1,200 of them, and about i50 of these are on nut culture. Dr. Morris: I ha\e the following resolution to offer: That a ]«^tttr be written to the Dominion Department of Agriculture, along the following lines: "The Dominion Department of Agriculture has officially stated that the nut growing industry of British Columbia has become an important one. The Dominion nevertheless is importing $.5,000,000 worth of nuts annually from other countries. In view of these facts, the Northern Nut Growers' Association in assenjbly at its 15th Annual Meeting, in New York, commends the work of Prof. J. A. Neilson of the Horticultural Experiment Station at \"ineland. Ontario, and expresses the hope that the Canadian Gov- ennneut and i)rivate support will further his work in such a way as to make it a matter of large public service. Service of the sort re- 93 lates not only to eastern Canada ])iit to tlit- commerce of this entire continent." (Signed) Robert T. Morris. J. F. Jones Z. H. Ellis. The President: The secretary will accordingly transmit this mes- sage to tlie Canadian Government. NOTES BY PROFESSOR A. S. COLBY Purdue University, Illinois Friends: I believe an aj^ologj- is due you. I was away on my vacation at the time the invitation came to me to make an address at this meeting and I have come here without one. But I shall be glad to give you some sort of an idea of the past, jiresent and future of nut culture in Illinois. I became activelv interested in nut arowino- about a year aao. Our work started partly in response to public demand. We have been receiving an increasing number of letters of inquiry from people in- terested in the subject but who know little about it. We are attempting to secure such information as will be of value regarding the best species and varieties of nuts to plant, where to plant them, and how to care for them. There are a number of members of the N. N. G. A. in Illinois and they are very kindly helping me in this work. The Illinois State Horticultural Society, founded in 18.56. has also been interested to some extent in nut growing. Illinois has had three grand old men in the nut industry, Mr. George W. Endicott of Villa Ridge, Mr. E. A. Riehl of Alton, and Mr, Benjamin Buckman of Farmingdale. Mr. Riehl is eighty-seven years young now and is the only one of the three men living. Mr. Endicott was interested, not only in the commercial side of hor- ticultuore but was a pioneer in scientific work. He originated the Endi- cott plum and other valuable fruits and. since he was interested in plant improvement, naturally turned to hybridization of the chestnut, a tree which grows readily in southern Illinois. In 1899 he crossed the Japanese chestnut (Castanea japonica) with pollen from the Amer- ican Sweet (C. americana). He must have had some difficulty in cross- 94 ing the species because the}' did not bloom at exactly the same time^ He was, liowever. successful in securing five hybrid seeds, raising three trees from them, naming them the Blair, the Boone and the Riehl. Naturally there were differences in tlie characteristics of these trees though they were all vigorous and produced nuts of commercial value. The Blair and Riehl began to bear at four and five years respectively, while the Boone bore its first crop at seventeen months of age. The Boone is the most valuable since it matui*es fruit of good quality about two days earlier than tlie Blair and two weeks before the Riehl. It also retains the burr and drops the nuts free at the beginning of the season so that about half the nuts can be picked up before the burrs fall. Mr. Endicott was so pleased with the results of the cross that he raised over 175 seedlings from the Boone tree. From these sec- ond generition hybrids he secured trees very uneven in g-rowth and size with a great range in time of coming into bearing. The nuts differed widely in size, quality, and season of ripening. The char- acter of the burr showed all gradations between the extremes of thickness, length, rigidity of spines, etc. These striking variations in the second generation trees show that many hereditary factors had been segregated and recombined and offer a most interesting^ opportunity for scientific study. I have visited the orchard several times. Mr. Endicott died in 1914 but his son Robert has since cared for the trees which have brought him considerable revenue. He tells me that he secures about 160 pounds of nuts per year from each of the three originil trees. At an average price of thirty-five cents a pound wholesale the crop from each tree is worth $56.05 per year. Since the chestnut blooms late it is pretty certain to escape spring frosts. The Blair, for example, has had a crop failure once only- since beginning to bear. (Displays photographs of the Japanese and American chestnuts and the Boone tree). Mr. Endicott is top working some of the worthless second gen- eration trees with wood from the Boone tree. (Displays photographs showing method of grafting). I have had the good fortune to visit Mr. Riehl several times and have secured many representative nuts from his collection. While he has grown a large number of nut species and varieties he believes 95 tli.it the chestnut pays the best in southern Illinois. He plants them on rouo;h ,ind hilly land, difficult to cultivate, pasturing with sheep, and has had very good success. He does not worry about the chest- nut blight, since the chestnut is not native here and there is such a great distance between the blight ridden East and Illinois. Mr. Buckman was an amateur horticulturist, in the work for the love of it. On his land he had nearly two thousand varieties of apples and hundreds of varieties of peaches, plums, pears, cher- ries, grajDes, small fruits, and nuts collected from all over the world. I was much interested to study the fine pecan and chestnut trees growing and producing good crops as well as the persimmon and papaw trees, of which he had a number of rare varieties. I was able last spring to secure cuttings of a number of rather rare papaw varieties which I sent to Doctor Zimmerman for propagation at the request of Doctor Fairchild. Mr. Buckman recently died and there is now a movement on foot to secure, either through the University or the Horticultural Society, as far .is possible, all the valuable data which he had been collecting for years. There are several other men interested in nuts as a commercial proposition in Illinois, such as O. H. Casper of Anna and Judge W. O. Potter of Marion. I recently visited these orchards. Mr. Casper has mostly pecans and walnuts growing in sod. They are from six to eiffht years old and would have borne tliis season if weather conditions had been favorable. .Fudge Potter has over twenty acres of pecans interplaiitcd witli chestnuts and filberts. For part of the orchard this is the fifth grow- ing season. The trees are growing vigorously and make a very im- pressive showing. I counted thirt3'-nine nuts on a representative Thomas black walnut tree. The filberts look especially promising. Although the weather at blooming time was unfavorable a fair crop of nearly a peck was gathered from four or five bushes of a late bloom- ing imported variety. Judge Potter is also growing another orchard using apples as fillers between black walnut trees. This experiment will be watched with great interest since it will be of great value in showing future possibilities in nut growing in Illinois. Now as to some of the things we are trying to do at the experiment station at Ui^bana. This will be necessarily a progress report. I am Biaking a survey of the state to find promising individuals of the dif- 96 ferent species and varieties and marking them for future use. We have our state fair at Springfield next week and as I speak to the boys and girls attending the state fair school I hope to interest them to tell me of any trees in their neighborhoods of particular value. Some of the agricultural leaders in the various counties, that is the farm advisers, are awake to the value of the nut industry and we have a number of these men co-operating with us. From Gallatin County, in the Wabash and Ohio river bottoms, around $100,000 worth of native pecans are sold in some seasons. In the southern counties and over north of St. T.ouis in the western part of Illinois there are also native pecan groves which are quite profitable. We hope to find valu- able northern pecans, adaptable to our conditions. We. of course, know that the English walnut is very difficult to grow in Illinois and we are not recommending it as a commercial proposition. We believe that the black walnut, all things considered, has the most jDromise and we hope to have something worth while in a (ew years as propagating miaterial. The Thomas, Stabler, and Miller are especially to be recom- mended for Illinois at this time. We hope soon to have a complete collection of hardy nut trees on our experimental trial grounds. Here we shall study not only the varietal characteristics but try out new methods of propagating, prun- ing, fertilizing, etc. There is very likely some connection between winter injury and hardening up of the wood in autumn and we hope to le.irn something about that problem through the use of various cover crops, for example. We have at the station a complete experimental cold storage plant in ojjeration where we may be able to learn more about the effects of extremes of temperature on the roots and trunks of certain species. ' In such new Init inijiortant work wt> must make haste slowly. We have some things to unlearn and many things to learn. We hope to be able in a few years to make a worthwhile contribution to such an inter- esting and important subject as nut growing in the middle west. I shall be glad to have you ask me any questions which occur to you. The President: Do you happen to know Mr. Spencer.^ Prof. Colby: No, I wrote Mr. Spencer but I did not get any reply from him. I hope to visit him this fall. Mr. Reed: Uo you know anything about the top-working of black- walnuts front Missouri at the university.'' Phok. Colby: No. I do not know about them. Mr. Greex: In regard to those Gallatin County nuts; has any survey ever been made by the U. S. Dei^artment of Agriculture of the nut trees in Illinois? Prof. Colby: Xot that I know of. Question: At what age are they planting those walnuts in Wil- liamson County with apples and how far apart? Prof. Colby: The walnuts are from 50 to 80 feet apart inter- planted with apples. The walnut trees are about two years old; the apples four and five. A Speaker: I believe those aj^ple trees will die. Prof. Colby: That's what I want to find out. There is a great difference of opinion as to the compatibility of walnuts and other fruit trees. ]Mr. Bi.xby: You will see at Baldwin, this afternoon, peach trees planted between nut trees. It is too soon to say what will happen but so far. it is all right. Dr. Smith : As a matter of very great importance, how will you "round up" the forces in Illinois? Prof. Colby: AVe liave a number of interesting suggestions brought out in Professor Neilson's paper. He would use every way ]iossible, including questionnaires sent out judiciously, as well as the boys' and girls' clubs, and the Boy Scouts, of which Dr. Morris speaks. The horticultural society can be of very great help. In Illinois where we have over one liundred counties, almost all of which are very effi- ciently covered by farm bureaus, the farm advisers are of considerable assistance. Tlie local horticultural societies, as for instance the one with which Mr. Riehl has been so prominently connected in Alton, have helped very much in the past. The Smith-Hughes teachers in charge of agricultural teaching in the hig]i schools can easily get in touch with promising native trees through their students. I know most of these teachers and know they will be glad to help me. I recentlv had a request from the Associated Press representative in Springfield to write an article on nut growing in Illinois. There is a wonderful field for development along such lines as this. The President: It seems to me that if the agricultural colleges were asked to hand in information that might bring results, and par- ticularly the students' work in isolated sections which would not be reached by Boy Scouts. Prof. Xeilson: For the benefit of those who did not hear my 98 addrt-ss in 1922, I may say that I have circularized the whole county and the college stations; I have sent about 125 circular letters to the horticultural society and to its officers, high school inspectors, and to anyone I thought might be glad to get the information. I wanted to carry this further but could not. I wanted to send letters to every school teacher in the Province of Ontario and ask them to bring the matter to the attention of the boys and 'girls, and to offer them a sub- stantial prize for the location of the best tree in their locality. I will say, however, that I got a great deal of encouragement from the horti- cultural society, the public school and the high schools. The Secretary: I will read again a sentence from Mr. Howard Spence's letter: "The Minister of Agriculture has agreed to instruct all their inspectors over the country to make a collection of all walnuts of merit and to forward them to me for classification and identification of varieties which may be worth perpetuating." If we could do something of that kind in the United States to enlist the extension agents, we should get some valuable information. Mh. Olcott: I think that a very important thing would be to send that message not only to the state experiment stations, but also to the government authorities. Why should not the Department of Agriculture make a systematic survey of tliat kind ? Why should it be left to the small societies like this one, when the federal Depart- ment of Agriculture is so thoroughly equipped to get this ? The de- partment at Washington has expressed interest; I wonder if it would not be appropriate for this association to take some formal action, suggesting federal government action in that matter, in co-operation with the extension service. Boy Scouts, etc. The President: Will you put that in a resolution.^ ^Ir. Olcott: I submit the following resolution: WHEREAS. The investigational and experimental work of the Northern Nut Growers' Association during the last fourteen years has been signally successful in improving native nuts of the north- ern United States, based upon discovery and jDropagation of super- ior specimens ; and WHEREAS, This work could be greatly extended with the facili- ties at the command of the United States Department of Agriculture, as compared with the efforts of the small number of members of this association ; therefore be it 99 RESOLVED: That it is the sense of the Northern Xut Grow- ers' Association, in fifteenth annual convention in New York City this fourth day of September, 1924, that the U. S. Department of Agri- culture be asked to take up systematically the work of discovery and investigation of promising native nuts in the northern states «nd of testing selected specimens at government stations in co- operation with the authorities of the state experiment stations : such discovery to be brought about by enlisting the aid of boy scouts, school children and others, in connection with the activities of county farm agents, inspectors and other attaches of the department. The President: Prof. MacDaniels, of Cornell University will now address us. L. II. MacDanieh, Professor of Pomology, Cornell University It gives me great pleasure to bring you greetings from the Agri- cultural College at Cornell University and to express my appreciation for your invitation to address this convention concerning Avhat the college is doing along the line of nut growing. I have a very real interest in nut growing and in this association. I like to think of it IS comparable with the American Pomological Society when it started more than one hundred years ago. All of you men who are spend- ing vour time and energy in finding new facts regarding the propa- gation uul culture of nut trees are doing pioneer work, and your names will go down in the history of nut growing in the same way as those of Wilder, Downing, and Prince have come to us linked with the early development of fruit growing in the United States. I feel con- fident that the work of the association will stand the test of time. Interest in nut growing at Cornell, as you probably know, was started by John Craig who died about a dozen years ago. He was greatly interested in northern nut growing and also in southern pecans. As a result of his work we are still receiving inquiries about southern pecans addressed to Professor Craig. While at Cornell he established a course of study in nut growing which was a part of the regular curriculum. At the time, however, the actual known facts about the growth of nuts in the northern states were so few, and reliable information so scarce, that after Professor Craig's death, when there was a general consolidation of courses in the depart- ment, nut growing was combined with another course in economic fruits. Since that time, as our knowledge of nut growing has in- creased, more and more attention has been given to the subject. Our aim is, in fact, to give all of the up-to-date information that we 100 h.TVf regardinc: tlio propagation and culture of nut trees. riu' nut tree j^lantings in the experimental orchards at Cornell have not been ])articnlarl3' successful. About ten years ago Profes- sor (handler set out about one-half acre of named A'arieties of pecans. Persian walnuts, black walnuts, hickories, hazel nuts, chest- nuts and Japanese walnuts. These Iiavc received good care, both as to eulti\ atidii .iiul fertilization l)ut [o date the only trees which have borne are th.e Ja])anesi' walnuts and th*ese have not liad good crops. Apple trees of the same age in adjacent land have been bearing com- mercial crops for a number of years, especially such varieties as the jNIcIntosh. ^\'ealth\- and R. I. Greening. The climate at Ithaca is apparently rather too rigorous for most of the nut trees. Persian walnuts, hazel nuts .-nid frequently Japanese walnuts suffer from winter injury. In the case of the chestnut, blight lias practically killed all of the trees. The jieeaiis are perfectly hardy but as yet have not borne, jirobably because our scasoits are not sufficiently long or warm enough to grow this nut to advantage. Hickories have been \iry slow to become established and in fact have never made really good growth. This experience, of course, makes us feel that nut ffrowino- is reallv not as easv as some enthusiasts would have us believe. In addition to this \ariety planting there are four or fi\e acres of recentlv cleared woodland in which there are hundreds of hickory seedlings which can be to})-worked. ^^'e are aiming also in this area to establish seedlina's of :\l\ of the hardv nut trees to use as stocks and eventu.illy to get a eolleetion of all named \arieties of nut trees. Grrfting so far has not been i)artieularly satisO'ctory due in some cases to failure of the grafts to set; in other cases to the winter kill- ing of grafts which have made fairly good growth. Injury by bud moths and wind storms have also been detrimental factors. Our own experience togetlier with observations upon the results of nut grafting "clsewliere by experts lead us to believe that grafting of nut trees is a \ery difficult undertaking as compared with that of otlier fruit trees. It invobes a knack which must be accpiired by very consid- erable experience. I realize, of course, that new facts regarding nut ffraftiuii' are being; discovered almost d^iilv and in the future we may look for better results. The attitude of the Department of Pomology at the College with regard to nut o-rowing; is of necessitv conservative. First of all. the 101 men in tlif dt-partnient arc tr/iimd in .scii-ntific niclhod^^ .'ind liave a somewhat critical attitude when it comes to statements regarding marked success in any line. The tendency is in each case to try to find tlic data or the experience upon which statements are based. Un- fortunately, in nut growing there are very little data upon which state- ments can be based. Mr. Bixby's experiments with stocks are a very- good start in the right direction, and it is upon such experiments as he is carrying out that real knowledge regarding nut growing will be gained. We have heard enthusiastic statements as to the profits which may be derived from the planting of nuts in the northern states, but I must confess that I have looked in vain both for the facts upon which sncli statements might be based and also for orchards which actually arc ])rofitable. If such exist in New York state I liavc not been able to find them even after considerable travel. In order to be profitable, an orchard must pay all the expenses iinohtd. including interest on the initial cost of land; the cost of labor and materials and depreciation on tools, etc. We have cost accounts covering these items on many crops such as apples and wheat^ but not on nuts. It seems to me we must recognize that nut culture is in its experimental stage ordy. This is in fact one thing that makes it particularly attractive for the amateur. Another reason for our conservatism is that we feel it our duty to the growers to f'ive out statements which are based upon facts only. If a man in a iiortlicrn state wants to plant ten acres of nuts what sliall wc tell him.' Shall we tell him to go ahead and assure him that if he takes care of his*trees a profitable plantation is certain. On the basis of what we know I think surely not. A hundred and one unanswered questions com*- up. ^^'llat kinds of nuts will succeed under his climatic and soil conditions.' What stocks should be used? \\'hat v.arieties will succeed under his conditions? Will the meats of the nuts fill out in the average season? Are the seasons long enough^ etc. The fact is in most cases we do not know. In most parts of Xew York state we are extending a natural range of many of the nut trees ;;nd they have not been grown long enough under the new conditions to make it jiossible to answer these questions with cer- tainty. On the other hand, we can tell the prospective nut grower that nut growing is in its experimental stages and under certain conditions has great commercial promise. On the basis of our present 102 knowledge we cannot recommend large jDlantations but would en- courage the planting of nuts in an experimental way^ especialh^ for home use. It should be borne in mind that in the early days of fruit growing in America it M'as the amateur planting of varieties that laid the foundations for the present industry. If shade trees are to be planted let them be nut trees. Plant nut trees as a hobby but do not go into nut culture on a large scale for profit unless you can afford to lose. 1 Iiave great hopes f or , the future of nut growing in the north- ern states and also for this society. I am confident that new and better varieties of nuts will be found and better methods of propa- gation and transplanting originated so that in the future there may be a commercial industr3' in the north. For the present^ however, I believe that conservatism is advisable, and that great harm may be done by misrepresentation. Sound growth of a northern nut industry' will be built upon facts and honest experience and not on conjecture, hearsay, or even on enthusiasm, however necessary' this may be. I believe that we should encourage people to plant nuts for pleas- ure, plant nuts as a hobby, plant them for shade and for posterity, but under present conditions not for financial profit. The Secretary: We must adjourn at once to the lecture room, that we may hear Dr. J. Russell Smith's talk on "Nut Tree Crops as a Part of Permanent Agriculture without Plowing." He will have some interesting slides to show d*uring his talk. Dr. Britton has asked that we have lunch today at noon instead of one o'clock. Everyone present is invited to take luncheon at that time as a guest of the Botanical Society and of Dr. Britton, it makes no difference whether they be members or guests. Mr. Reed: May I make the motion to extend a rising vote of thanks to Dr. Britton and his associates for the cordial and generous wav in which thev have entertained us.'' (Motion seconded, passed, and acknowledged by rising vote). The President: Dr. Britton, you are officially notified. Dr. Britton: I would like to have that vote of thanks mentioned in the official record of this convention, and in the record of the Botanical Society. The Secretary: We will see to that. Dr. Britton: You will be interested in knowing that we have with us the verv distinguished Curator of the British Botanical Her- 103 l)arium of the Royal Society. Dr. Stapf has been traveling in Canada, attending the meetings of the Royal Society there. The President: We shall very much appreciate the oppor- tunity of meeting him. ^Ve will now adjourn to the lecture hall, to hear Dr. J. Russell Smith. NL'T TREE CROPS AS A PART OF PERMANENT AGRICULTURE WITHOUT PLOWING Dr. J. Russell Smith, Professor of Economic Geography, Columbia University, New York My first experience with nut culture was gained on the farm of a man I knew more than 30 years ago. It was a truck farm not far from Pliilrdelphia near n boarding school which I infested and the farmer complained that I infested the farm. The farm had its_ fence rows and driveways lined with grafted chestnut trees bearing abund- antly of large fine nuts of European origin. It was remarkable liow (juickly tliey filled my ])ockets. I usually succeeded in gathering them on the hundred per cent basis. I p.m interested in this subject today because of an innate love of trees and because the development of a tree crop agriculture offers a way to stop soil erosion. To me the worst of all economic sins is the destruction of resources, and the worst of all resource destructions is the destruction of the soil, our one great and ultimate resource. "After man the desert" has been truly said too often of many old lands. Soil cover is after all about the only thing that man has as a basis for tlie supjinrt of his life on earth. All of our food depends directly or indirectly upon plants. In hilly countries there is usually but a thin layer of earth and rotton rock between the surface of the field and the bed rock. It is a very difficult problem to maintain this cover of earth and it is very easy to lose it. Sometimes it is lost through over-pasturing and' de- struction of turf, but more largely through plowing. The nut tree is particularly eflTective as a part of a plowless agri- 104 cult ire which c.iii use the soil j)ermanently where annual cro])s ruin it <^juickly because the plow prepares the land for erosion. 'I'he speed of soil destruction, with its erosion after plowing, is particularly noticeable with the great American crops, cotton, corn and tobacco, which re(|uire clean cultivation. Many orchards are also ctiltiv lied lor the double |)ur})ose of keepino; down rival plants and preserving moisture, but we pay high in soil loss for the nioisturt; that we get by that nieius on hilly lauds. The plow is one of the greatest cneuiics of tlu' future. As a matter of fact we have already de- stroyed enough laiul in the United States to support many mil- lions of people; and therefore the tree is the more im)iortant because it permits an agriculture that will keep the soil iiulefiuitely, and in permanent production, without plowing. I li i\c accideutlv discovered a. better wav of conserving; moisture than by plowing, aiul I ha\c found it going on in widely scattered places and in widely different climates. Primitive ])eoples in many ]iarts of the world have long since obtained thi- advantage of cultivation, maiidy increasing the available moisture for the tree or plant, without cultivation of the soil and the loss which follows "the washing of cultivated soils. As an example I cite the Indians of Arizona, who have grown corn crops for cen- turies in a country with but from six to fifteen inches of rain. They do tliis bv pi '.uting in little patches at the mouth of a gully where at tlic time of rain the flood water is led away into furrows and depres- sions so that it thoroughly soaks the ground in which the corn is planti'd. My attention was first called to this practice by observing a good patch of barley in the edge of the Sahara in Southern Tunis, where the gulley flow resulting from a winter rain had spread itself out fan- like and soaked the triangular alluvial area of sand, which bore a tine crop of barley in the inddst of the desert. I'or centuries the olive growers of parts of Tunis have led gulley water to the olive trees where it was retained, in areas that resembled a tennis eourl. with a 1 'J inch l)auk of dirt around it and two or three olive trees within this area thus watered by impounding. A practice somewhat similar to this is shown in F. H. King's classic book on Chinese agriculture, "Farmers of Forty Centuries;" ])ut the most extreme case tint has come to my .-ittention is furnished bv the Berber tribe of the Matmatas, of Tunis. These people live 105 on the edge of a liilly, limestone plateau, where the rainfall is less than 10 inclies and in some years as low as five. All important part of the food supply of these people is fur- nished by date and olive trees whicli they grow in the gulches of their limestone i^lateau. They built a dry rock dam behind which earth- wash lodges. In this the trees are planted and every rain sends more earth and soaks that which has collected. The plan can certainly not be called an experiment for the people have lived there for cen- turies. They have olive trees that are several centuries old and I have never seen such fine olive trees, not in California, or the plains of *!>pain. Portugal. France, Itah', or in Algeria or Tunis, and I have seen a good many olive trees in those countries. The olive tree is usually open, light and feathery. These in tlie Matniatas gulches are thick and' black and rank. For automatic cultivation and fertilization the plan of these primi- tive agriculturists is hard to beat. You put up j'^our stone dam, and every time the gulley runs with water your crop is irrigated and fertilized. Can you beat it? Three Americans of my acquaintance have independently experi- mented and discovered along similar lines. The late Freeman Thorpe of Hubert, ^linnesota, did it with much enthusiasm. So did the late Dr. Meyer, a friend of J. F. Jones, near Lancaster. He discovered it accidentally. He put a brush dam across a gully. Water stood behind it for days after every rain. The api^le tree near it grew much more than the others. That started the Doctor. He began to dig small field reservoirs and collect water near trees and he found that it paid even with the very expensive pro- cess of lioe and shovel. Tlie idea has been modernized and brought to the machine stage which characterizes our present-day agriculture, by Mr. Lawrence Lee, a civil engineer-farmer of Leesburg, Va. Mr. Lee runs a level line across the face of the clay hills, and then with a Martin' ditcher scoops out a terrace on this horizontal line. It makes the terrace so that the water will hold and will not ruri away. Mt. Lee is sure that nine-tenths of the heavy thunder shower runs off of the hills, in normal conditions of non-plowing, and that if he plows, most of the water and much of the soil go off together. He is also sure that the water pockets hold both water and soil. Rows of apple trees planted below these waterholding terraces thrive without cultivation as well as do other trees across the row 106 with cultivation, but with this difference, ordinary cultivation im- poverishes the soil and this enriches it by keeping all mineral and organic matter in the field. The combination of principles worked out by many primitive peo- ples and also by Messrs. Thorpe, Meyer and Lee makes it possible for the farmer to arrange his rough land in tree crops so that every rain will water his crops, even though the land may be rough and in sod. If he cannot run horizontal terraces lie can dig holes near the trees and lead the water to these holes by tVo furrows with the turning plow. This is really an automatic kind of irrigation. By this means a farmer can use his odd time whenever he can work the ground, and thus do the cultivation for a whole year or two and at the same time preserve the soil and establish a permanent agriculture. This gives the hill land the same chance as the level lands to grow fat sods. It ofters a very interesting combination of blue grass pasture along with crops of black walnuts, Persian (English) walnuts, pecans, grafted hickories, mulberries (for pigs and chickens), persimmons (for pigs and sheep), oaks (which make more carbo- hydrate food than corn in many situations), honey locust (which has a bean as rich as bran and good for tlie same purpose) and many other crop trees that will be available if good brains keep developing the idea. In this connection it may be pointed out that France exports mil- lions of dollars worth of Persian walnuts and most of them are grown on isolated trees scattered about the fields and along roadsides. The President: We will now adjourn to Sormani's for luncheon and then we will immediately start for Mr. Bixby's place on Long; Island. (Adjournment). 107 ^OTES AT MR. BIXBY'S NUT ORCHARDS AND NURSERIES BALDWIN, NASSAU CO., N. Y. September 4, 1924 Japan walnuts (seedlings) on street set out in 1918 or 1919. AH except the tree on the south have borne, 1924 being the third year for one. One of them is a heartnut. Chinkajjins raised from seed outdoors. Black walnuts grown in pots and transplanted with a ball of earth and the entire root. Set out without cutting back and sod and vines allowed to grow around them. While they grew rapidly before trans- planting they have scarcely grown since. Beaver Hickory seedlings. These illustrate well the information to be obtained frequently as to parentage by raising seedlings. The history of the Beaver tree was ascertained four or five years ago and from this and the appearance of the tree and its nuts, it was decided to be a shagbark x bitternut hybrid. The seedlings bear this out, for they vary from seemingly pure shagbark to pure bitternut with several in between looking somewhat like the parent tree. It may be tliat some of these will bear nuts that will be found valuable. Japan walnut tree killed with butternut blight. Chestnut trees killed with chestnut blight. Main experimental orchard. This comprises about four acres and is laid out in rows running north and south, starting at an east and west road. There are 29 trees in each row running north and south, the trees being about 15 feet apart. A nut tree is put every 30 feet and a peach or apple or some other tree that is intended to be taken out later, is put in between. Row 1 South— (1) Niblack Pecan (5) Warrick Pecan (7) War- rick Pecan (9) Greenriver Pecan (11) Greenriver Pecan (13) Mahan Hickory (15) Marquardt (f) Pecan (17) Siers Hickory (19) Wilkin- son(?) Pecan (21) Kirtland Hickory (23) Greenbay Pecan (25) Weiker Hickory (27) Burlington Pecan (29) Kentucky Hickory. This Kentuckj' Hickory blossomed full and some two dozen nuts set which grew to about 5/8 inches long then they dropped off. Probably it will bear next year. Row 2 South — (4) Moneymaker Pecan (10) Pleas Hickory (24) Dennis bitternut, bearing (26) Hatch Bitternut( .^). Row 3 South — (3) Stanley Hickory (5) Ridenhauer Almond (9) Burkett Pecan (11) Hales Hickory on shagbark (13) Hales Hickory on bitternut (21) Cedarapids Hickory on shagbark (23) Cedarapids Hickory on bitternut (25) Dennis Hickory (27) Fairbanks Hickory. 108 Row 3A South — Seedling Black Walnuts. Row 3B South — Seedling Chinese Chestnuts. Row 3C South — Seedling Chinese Chestnuts. Row 4. South — (2) Rush Chinkapin (3) Miracle Chestnut (i) Chinkai:)in (7) Chinkapin (8) Chinkapin (9) Champion Chestnut (10) Paragon Chestnut (13) Riehl Chestnut (15) Paragon Chestnut (16) Paragon Chestnut (17) Miracle Chestnut (22) Champion Chest- nut (29) Boone Chestnut. The above trees are all that remain of a row of 29 Chestnut and Chinkapin trees most of which were bearing two years ago, from wliich a good many quarts of Chestnuts were gathered. Some of tliem died in 1922 /ind more in J 923. Row 5 South — (1) Beaver Hickory (2) Hacheye (?) Persimmon (3) McCallister Pecan (4) Hayakuma Persimmon (5) McCallister Pecan (6) Kawakami Persimmon (7) Busseron Pecan (9) Busseron Pecan (10) Lambert Persimmon (11) Butterick Pecan (12) Josephine Persimmon (13) Butterick Pecan (15) Kentucky Pecan (17) Ken- tucky Pecan (18) Golden Gem Persimmon (bearing) (19) Indiana Pecan (20) Rush Chinkapin (21) Indiana Pecan (23) Posey Pecan (25) Posey Pecan (27) Major Pecan (28) Parry Chestnut (29) Major Pecan. Row 5A South — Pecan seedlings. Row 5B South — Shellbark seedlings. Row 6 South— (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9),, (10), (11), (12), (13), (11), (15), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24) Hales Hickory, transplanted some years ago, brought from Monticello, Florida (25) Kentucky Hickory. Row 6A North — Butternut seedlings. Row 6B North — Butternut seedlings. Row 7 South — Vest Hickory seedlings. Hales Hickory seedlings, Juglans cathayensis seedlings, Chinese Persian walnut seedlings, Papershell Chinese Persian walnut seedlings, Hybrid hazels (native Long Island x Italian Red 1923). Row 7A South — Mockernut seedlings. Row 7B South — Mockernut seedlings. Row 7C South — Close bnrk pignut carya glabra seedlings. Loose bark pignut carya ovalis seedlings, Japan walnut seedlings, Adams Black Walnut seedlings. Row 7D South — Persian walnut seedlings, Stabler Black Walnut, perfect form seedlings, Stabler Black Walnut, one lobe seedlings. Row 7A North- — Japan Walnut seedlings. Row 7B North — Japan Walnut seedlings. Row 7C North — Japan Walnut seedlings. Row 8 South — 8A South — 8B South — 8C South — Seedling Japan Walnut X butternut hybrids. Row 8A North — Japan Walnut seedlings. Row 8B North — Japan Walnut seedlings. 1U9 Row 8C North — Persimmon seedlings. Row 9 Sontli— (1) Miller Black Walnut (3) Thomas Black Walnut (1) Purple Hazel (5) Thomas Black Walnut (6) Fruhe Lange Hazel (7) Stabler Black Walnut (9) Kinder Black Walnut (11) Allen Black Walnut (13) Wasson Black Walnut (15) Peanut Black Walnut (17) Ten Eyck Black Walnut (19) Mattina;]y Black Walnut (21) McCoy Black Walnut (bearing) (23) Paradox Walnut (25) Ohio Black Wal- nut (bearing) (27) Herman Black Walnut (29) Stabler Black Wal- nut. Row 10 South — (2) Stranger Heartnut. bearing (4) California Black ^^'alnut (6) Seedling Allen Black Walnut (8) Seedling Allen Black Walnut (10) Seedling Allen Black Walnut (12) Casper Hickory (14) Casper Hickory (16) Reike Hickory (18) Vest Hick- ory (20) Swaim Hickory (22) Swaini Hickory (23) Jordan Almond (24) Wampler Hickory (25) Jordan Almond (26) Wampler Hickory C27) Texas Prolific Almond (29) Texas Prolific Almond. Row lOC North — Hickory Seedlings. Here may be seen the melanclioly results of not planting hickory seedlings deep enough. Row 11 South — (1) Aiken butternut, bearing (3) Stranger Heart- nut, bearing. (5) Ritchie Heartnut, bearing (7), (9), (11),, (13), (15), (17), (19). (21), (23). (25), (27), (29) Lancaster Heart- nut bearing. Row llA South — Grafted and budded black walnuts. Row llB South — Grafted and budded black walnuts. Row llC — South — Grafted and Inidded butternuts and Japan Walnuts. Row 11 North — (l). (2). (3), (4). Aiken butternut (6) Juglans mandshurica (8), (10) Deming butternut. Row llA North — Seedling Japan walnut x butternut Iiybrids. Row llB North — Seedling Japan Waliuit x butternut hybrids. Row llC North — Seedling Japan Walnut x butternut hybrids. Row 12 — (2) Faust heartnut, bearing (4) Deming butternut, bear- ing (8) Burlington Pecan (10) Rockville Pecan (20) Snyder Hickory (27) Early Golden Persimmon (28) Rockville Pecan (29) Ruby Per- simmon. Row 12A South — Grafted and budded Black Walnuts, Stabler, Ohio. Thomas & Adams. Row 12B South — Grafted and budded Black AValnuts. Wasson, McCoy, Ten Eyck, O'Connor hybrid Witte Persian Walnut. Row 12C South — Grafted and budded butternut & Japan Wal- nut. Aiken butternut, Lancaster Heartnut. Row 13 South — (1) Franquette Persian Walnut (3) Eureka Per- sian Walnut (4) Early Golden Persimmon (5) Holden Persian Wal- nut (7) Eureka Persian Walnut (8) Grosse Kugelnuss filbert, bearing (9) Holden Persian Walnut, bearing (10) White Lambert hazel (11) Alpine Persian Walnut, bearing (12) Italian Red Hazel (13) Lan- 110 ea.ster PtTsiaii Walnut (li) McTarland Cliestnut (15) Meylan Black Persian Walnut (16) Hale Persimmon (17) Rush Persian Walnut, bearing (18) Imperial Hazel (19) Cording Walnut, bearing (J cor- ■difonnis x regia) (20) Early Golden Persimmon (21) Hall Per- sian ^\'alnut (22) Yemon Persimmon (23) Paradox walnut (21) Yemon Persimmon (25) Mayette Persian Walnut (26) Floreams Al- mond (27) Holden Persian Walnut (28) Floreams Almond (29) Mayette Persian Walnut. Row 13 North — Chinese Almond so-called, 3 years old, really an apricot with edible kernels. Has proved perfectly hardy so far. Row H< — Grafted and budded black walnuts, Boston Persian Wal- nut. O'Connor hybrid Walnut, Adams Black Walnut. Alley Black Wal- nut. Mosnat butternut. Row 15 — Grafted and budded Black ^Valnuts. O'Connor hybrid, Thomas. Stabler. Ohio Persian Walnut. Minnas Zeller Italian Red Hazel, bearing. Row 16 — American Hazels from West Virginia and Ohio. Row 17 — Landesberger Lange Zeller. Buettners Zeller, Hempels Zeller, Barnes Xo. 6, Hazel bearing hybrid nuts, Barnes Xo. 5 Hazel bearing hybrid nuts, Kentish Cob, Xoce Lunghe filbert, Daviana Hazels, both bearing. Row 18 — Merveille de Bollwiller filbert bearing. Medium long filbert. I>ike Merveille de Bollwiller, Althaldestenbener Zeller. Row 19 — Corylus californica, White Lambert filbert. Vest hazel, Grosse Kugelnuss, Hallersche Riesen filbert. Barcelona filbert, Italian Red filbert, Du Chilly filbert. Row 20 — Long Island Hazel, bearing Blueberries, 8 plants of selected varieties. Jujube, Tree hazel, corylus colurna. Vest hazel bearing hybrid nuts, Daviana hazel bearing, White Aveline hazel, tree hazel, corylus colurna. Long Island hazel bearing, Red xVveline hazel bearing. Row 21 — -Corylus californica, tree hazel corylus colurna. On the southern end of these rows will be found the grafted hickories. Row 21 — Grafted Shagbark hickories. Row 22 — Grafted Alockernut hickories. Row 23 — Grafted Mockernut hickories. Row 21 — Grafted Pignut hickories. jRow 25 — Grafted Pignut hickories. Row 27 — Grafted Pecan hickories. Row 28 — ^Grafted Pecan hickories. Row 30 — Grafted Bitternut hickories. Row 31 — Grafted' Bitternut hickories. Row 32 — Grafted Bitternut hickories. Row 33 — Grafted Bitternut hickories. Row 31 — Grafted Bitternut hickory. , Ill Additional Notes hy Stenographer This is a Royal Burbank walnut brought from California, in 1911. It stood in a yard in Brooklyn until 1917. It did not grow well there but since we have brought it out here it is growing and bearing, as you see. It is a hybrid of the California black and the Eastern black. The nut itself has not much value. The leaves are rather smaller than others. It would not compare with the propagated varieties. It is only considered as a rapid growing tree. Here is a row of Beaver seedlings. This one is a typical shagbark. This one is like a bitternut. Every once in a while you will find a tall one with buds like the old tree. Thej^ are all Beaver seedlings from nuts gathered at the same time from the same tree. Here are chinkapin seedlings grown out of doors. I simply threw them on the ground and covered them with leaves. Here is a dead Japanese walnut tree. It died of a fungus, melan- conium. You can see the fungus all the way down the trunk. It is a weak fungus and sometimes if the tree is nourished properly it will disajDpear. This is a Lancaster heartnut. And so is this. One is much more prolific than the other. Both grafted on Japanese stock. It is bearing pretty well. It was put out in 1918. Here is a Kentucky hickory. It had about 24 nuts, but they have fallen off. This is a ^loneymaker jjecan. It is growing finely. I bought this tree from J. B. Wight, of Cairo, Ga. I also have a Burkett from Texas. There is a Paragon chestnut which has escaped the blight. Fungus is beginning on the end of the branch, however. Two years ago we had a whole row of these Boone chestnuts. This is the only one left. They were all in bearing then and a good many quarts of chestnuts were gathered. Some of them died in 1922 and more in 1923. From here up, the trees are hickory (Hales) on pecans. They are ten years from the graft, and planted here from Monticello, Fla., two years ago. 23 out of the 24 trees living. There are 12 varieties of Japanese persimmons, bought from Texas. This one shows winter-killing but will apparently live. (Hay- akuma persimmon). Here is a Jap. persimmon (Kawakami). It has not borne yet. 112 Here is ;i M.icC .illi^ttr pecan; originated from between the Wabash and Ohio liivt-rs. Those are Thomas black walnuts; tliey have been out five years, and ha\ f not yet borne. This is a Ten Eyck; it has made good growth this year and is a heavy bearer. Tin's is a McCoy black walnut. This tree is bearing heavily this year, and bore one nut last year. It is about five or six rears from the nursery. The parent tree is from near Rockport, Ind., -and is a very large one. Here is an Ohio; it came from Mr. Jones. I think. Tliese trees are bearing heavily; they have been set out 5 or 6 years. These trees are Lancaster heartnuts. They will probably bear heavily one year and less the next. (Here catkins and nuts were found on the same branch, and a photograph was made). Mr. Reei>: There will probably not be any Lancaster here next sjn-ing; the late growth has devitalized the tree. Here is a California black walnut but it has not grown verv sue- cess fully. Here is a Stranger heartnut from South Carolina, bearing. Here is an O'Connor hybrid walnut on black walnut. The whole tree is 3^ feet high ; splendid growth for one year. The parent tree is in ^laryland, about two miles from Mr. Littlepage's place. Here is a Lancaster heartnut which has borne every year, without a stop; you see it is planted in a chicken yard. 113 Exhibits at the House of Willauu G. Bixby^ Baldwin, N. Y. September 4, 1924 BLACK WALNUTS Varieties: Adams • Alley Herman McCoy Miller Ohio Stabler, Perfect Form One Lobe Ten Eyck Thomas Wasson Species: Juglans major, Arizona rupes- tris, Texas boliviensis, Bo- livia Insularis, Cuba The extremes of black walnut shape. Adams, long and narrow, Corsan, short and broad Varieties: Butternuts Aiken Deming BUTTERNUTS ANDJAPAN WAL- NUTS Varieties: Japan Walnuts Heartnuts Lancaster Ritchie Stranger Species: Juglans cinerea manshurica cathayensis sieboldiana cordiformis Rough shell Japan walnut Juglans sieboldiana x cinerea Juglans sieboldiana x nigra Cording, Juglans cordiformis x regia Nuts from 4 trees on Grand Ave. Baldwin CHESTNUTS Varieties: Boone Paragon Rochester Morris No. 2 Morris No. 3 Species: Chinkapin Castanopsis HAZELS AND FILBERTS Varieties: Althaldensleben Barcelona Daviana Du Chilly Emperor Grosse Kugelnuss Imperial Italian Red Merveille de Bollwiller Montebello Noce Lunghe Red Aveline Red Lambert Rush (American) Vest (American) White Aveline White Lambert Species: Chinese tree Hazel (Corylus chinensis) Constantinople Hazel (tree corylus colurna) Thibet Hazel (Corylus tibetica) Hazel Blight (Specimen) HICKORIES Varieties: Beavf r Brooks Deimis Fairbanks, Parent tree Grafted tree Galloway Glover Griffin Hales Kirtland Laney Milford Pleas Siers. Parent tree Grafted tree Vest Weiker, Parent tree Grafted tree It will be noticed that nuts from young grafted trees are generally larger than those from the parent trees 114 Species and Hybrid: Arkansas Hickory, carya Uuck- leyi Arkansana Bitternut, carya rordiformis, Dennis, Hatch Buckley Hickory, carya Buck- leyi Chinese Hickory, carya catha- yensis Pallid Hickory, carya pallida Shellbark, carya laciniosa, from 3 locations Water Hickory, carya aquatica Zorn, the largest hickory yet found, carya buckleyi Ar- kansana X alba PECANS Northern Varieties: Burlington Busserou Butterick Campbell Greenriver Indiana Koontz Major McCallister Niblack Norton Posey Witte Species and curiosities: Seedling Pecan from Adams, ill. The most northern na- tive growing pecan yet seen by Willard G. Bixby Curtis Pecan, without inner shell partition Schley Pecan, one grown in Georgia, the other in south- ern Pennsylvania. This shows how the nuts are dwarfed by lack of sufficient summer heat PERSIAN WALNUTS Varieties: Alpine Boston Colona Franquette ■ Hall Holden Hutchinson Lancaster Mayette Milbank Ontario Pomeroy Rush Sayre Witte Seedlings and Hybrids Chinese Paper Shell Juglans regia x cinerea from 2 locations Allen, juglans regia x rupestris iVllSCELLEANEOUS Almond, Ridenhauer Chinese (edible apri- cot) American (2 loc-i- Beechnuts, tions) European Nut Macadamia Queensland ternifolia Water Chestnuts: Nelumbium Luleum Nelumbium Speciosum NOTES TAKEN AT MERRIBROOKE, DR. MORRIS' ESTATE NEAR STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT Excursion of Friday, September 5, 1924 Arriving at Stamford, all guests and members were met at the sta- tion by cars from Dr. Morris' place. After coming together at the house, the members followed Dr. Morris to the main gateway, where the following program commenced : Dr. Morris: If you will all follow me here inside the gateway we will take the trees as thej^ come in the order of the mimeographed sheet which you hold. I will first sav that the abnormalities at ^lerribrooke this year 115 were three in number. First, a destructive invasion of the tent cater- ])illir wliich att;icked nearly all kinds of trees daring its traveling stage. Then came a canker worm invasion with partial or complete defoliation of even the forest trees. Almost all of the whole leaves on any tree represent the second set for the season. Then came a drought said to have been the most severe since 1871. As a result of these three influences most of the fruit trees and nut trees dropped tlieir crops this year. Among the many introduced and grafted trees at Merribrooke only about one hundred typical forms have been tagged for this occasion. The large tags on the trees represent types, the smaller tags repre- sent different variations of the type. Numbers on the tags correspond to numbers on this list. We will begin with Xo. 1 — Original Taylor Sliagbark hickory. Xut large, thin shelled, good cleavage and high quality. This is prac- tically an annual bearer. The weevil likes it because it is very thin- shelled. Consequently we seldom get a good crop. Most of the trees were defoliated. This is the best all-around hickory that I have found. I gave prizes for years and got seedlings from all over the country, and this is the best one that I obtained growing right hej e at mv gate. It is defoliated by luith the trnt caterpillar aiul the canker worm. 2. Buckley Hickory from Texas. Xut large, round', thick-shelled, peculiar flavor and fragrance. This hickory was first described in 1872 in Texas and then it was forgotten. Dr. Sargent was quite surprised when I told him that I had one for the variety really passed out of history among the botanists until the past two years. The bark is deeply ridged in the older trees. The tree has been cri^^pled by the twig girdier this year. 3. Carolina Hickory Seedling (scaly bark hickorv). Xut small, thin shelled, sweet. I think this is one of the most beautiful hickories we have. It lias been crippled tliis year but not enough to hurt. It has a small, thin-shelled nut with sweet fla\or. The older trees Ivwe the scale on the bark. 4. Carolina Hickory grafted upon other local wild stock, and I do not know whether it is macrocarpa or pig-nut. 5. Shagbark top-worked to Vest variety of shagbark from ^'ir- ginia that Mr. Bixby described yesterday as having a shell so thin that it could be cracked with the hand. G. Shagbark top-worked to Carolina and Kentucky varieties. X^ote the different foliage, and smaller leaves. Here is a graft of three hickories on one stock. 7. Shagbark top-worked to Vest shagbark above and to AlcCall- ister pecan below. The foliage of this McCallister would justify putting the tree in any grounds; but here on the shagbark stock the 116 leaves are not so large. The foliage on ^Ir. Bixby's was large and beautiful. 8. Shagbark top-worked to Brooks shagbark. That tree prolongs the name of one of our audience into history. 9. Asiatic Winged Walnut (Pterocarya fraxinifolia). I think tliis would be valuable for hybridizing. 10. Grafted Woodall American (black) walnut. Nut small, thin shelled. Tree very j^rolific. This tree has not yet borne, but it should next year. I got tliat from a man near Mil ford, Del. The nut is thin- shelled and cracks very easily. 11. Grafted I.utz American Walnut from North Carolina. This tree is about six vears from the graft. The nut is large. Question: When do you have frosts here at Stamford? Dr. Morris: The frosts are from about the middle of Sei^tem- her until sometime in May. Sometimes we miss the September frosts. 12. Korean Nut Pine. Furnishes important food supply in north- ern Asifi. 13. Grafted Papaw. Larger part Ketter ^■ariety. Prize fruits have weighed about one pound each. Smaller part Osborn variety Xo. 3, a choice kind. 14. Seedling Papaw. 15. Seedling Papaw. christened "Merribrooke prolific" with clus- ters of fruit of the first year's bearing. Five bunches on the tree and it is the first year out from the nursery. It is a very beautiful tree for the lawn. The growing season of pawpaws is so long that a hard September frost may catch the fruit before it is ripe in this locality. Fruit will stand a light frost only. 16. Chinese Pistache seedling. Tree beautiful l)ut nut too small for the market. May serve for hybridizing purposes. The autumn foliage of this tree is very wonderful. 17. Grafted Wolfe persimmon. Ripens fruit in July or August. This is an ordinary size fruit but the joeculiarity is that it ripens before the others do. 18. Grafted Cannaday seedless persimmon. You see another mem- ber of our party has gone down to fame with this Cannadav seedless persimmon. 19. Stanlev sliellbark hickorv or.->.fted on shao-bark stock. 20. Stock grafted to Kentucky shagbark. 21. Jeffrey Blue Bull Nut Pine. "Nuts small, thin-shelled, rich. Eaten shell and all by the natives. This is one of the most beautiful of pines. In the top of the tree is placed one of the large gourds which I raise here on the place. I place these gourds in the tree-tops for bird-houses. All kinds of birds nest in them, from the chickadee to the barred duck. A squash may be used for this purpose as well as a gourd. I raise the pines from seed. Jl." 22. Torrev luit pine from southern California. Nut is large, and' has a fine flavor. I get my seeds from Bartner Brothers. Pines do not do so well near cities. The suliahites in the air are picked up by the pines and this kills them. This particular pine is a surprise to all botanists who have seen it; it is native in California and is one of the disappearing pines. I have liad five of them and I raised them all from seed. 23. Chinese hazel. Grafted on common hazel and outgrowing it, The Chinese hazel makes a tree from 80 to 100 feet in height. This is the first year this tree has borne. It is grafted on common stock, and is beginning to bear earlier than it would have done on its own roots. 2-i. Butternut parthenogens. Some are large and some small but all are grown under the same conditions. That one was defoliated by the canker worm and then by the tent caterpillar and this is the fourth set of leaves it lias ))ut forth this year. 2.5. Hybrid wilnut (Siebold x butternut) four years old. 26. Grafted American walnut. Peanut variety. Only one chubby half of kernel to each shell. The scions were sent here from Washing- ton, D. C. 27. Mediate shagbark grafts (Cook variety). Grafted July 10 in midst of great drought. Compare this with the trees you will see farther on in the walk, grafted near the end of the drought. I do not have much trouble with the plain splice graft and I expect it to start ten days after I put it in. Here is the way I treat a borer, although 1 have two or three ways of doing this. First J find a hole on the tree, like this one. Then I follow down to where the borers work. I cut that part away, inject chloroform and fill up the opening with common kitchen soap. 28. American Chestnut. Merribrooke variety, root-grafted on Japanese chestnut. I grafted that very low, below the ground. It is the best chestnut I have among several thousands that I planted. This tree was one of the first to go down with the blight, but I have grafted on other scions and have kept it going ever since. 29. Dresher chestnut (European origin) grafted on .Japanese chestnut. The graft is about three years old. It his borne since the first year. There are several nuts on it now. (Now we must be careful of the sharp stubs in the woods. These are newly cut brush paths, and all guests wearing low shoes should step carefully). 30. Stanley shellbark hickory, grafted on pignut hickory. ]\Ir. Jones introduced this hickory. 31. Kentucky shagbark grafted on shagbark stock, with bark slot graft. I let anotlier twig grow from the same lead for nourishment. I put in three grafts here two of which are dead. I do not quite ap- prove of that method. I prefer now to go up to the small branches and then si^lice-graft on small branches. 118 32. Marqiiardt pecan grafted on stock of pignut. It does well on this liickorv. 33. Hardy, liard-sliel] almond. 3i. \\'oodall Anaerican walnut. This shows that the Woodall black walnut grows fairly well on butternut stock. 3i5. Shagbnrk hickory top-worked to Marquardt pecan. 36. St.'iminatc ])ersimnion trees. 37. Bony Bush filbert, grafted on common iiazcl. (Bush badly cut up by girdler beetle. Elaphidion. Five nuts on the bush). 38. Purple hazel. Look sharp to* find the 20 nuts on this bush. This tree is about 5 years old. 39. Four large bitternut-hickory trees, toj)-worked to Beaver hj^brid. Beaver branches distinguished by larger leaves and fewer leaflets. Stock shoots will be cut out gradually, allowing Beaver to have entire tree Anally. 40. Bitternut hickory top-worked to Marquardt pecan. 41. Hybrid walnut. (Siebold x Persian). Tree riddled by wal- nut weevil every 3'ear hojielessly. ■12. Taylor shagbark hickory grafted on shagbark stock. I fill the cavities with jaaraffin and turpentine. There are three or four nuts left in the top of the tree. The tree has borne nuts for three years. 13. Pinus edulis. 11. Marquardt pecan on bitternut. 15. Dead hyb.rid liickory, grafted to Beaver hybrid. Grafts made enormous growth in first year — 10 feet for some grafts. All blew out in one minute of hurricane in advance of thunder storm. 16. Bartlett hazel grafted on common hazel. There are a number of dead ends, caused by a small worm yoii can hardly see. 17. Chinese chestnut. Blighted at foot of trunk but the tree con- tinues to bear. 48. Garritson persimmon. Best of all varieties called seedless, but the large staminate tree nearby spoils that feature. It is about five vears old, and bears verv regular] v and lieavilv. The stock came from Mr. Jones. 49. Early Golden persinunon. Carries one graft of Everhart seedless variety on lowest large branch. 50. Hybrid walnut. Juglans nigra. I do not remember which parent I used. 51. Pignolia nut pine. P'i" c ?3 9*-^ . g 0)_j;; " g r; --H ii >: H bi S "S o ^vj . cd c ^ O .S .2 >; 5 oj en Cj oOcc -^ c /— *, ;j . r, c * c c si rri o o 3 ■^ ;-< ;h t. 03 c: 'S) 0^ a ^^:z: ft on ° •-.no p o OQO CP "^ »*• 'c a! oJ KoKZ Sou ^ to ^ C < C .2 '^ 'o c cr. a; C i : = p. 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Pi pi 0 el 0 0 > 7^ • r-l "— ' a 0 0 0 0 1=1 fl i=l id aSSSSSmSS to ;h Sh Sh C^ ct ct TO '7^ 'T-' 'T^ 'T^ ri 't3 'O Ct CTj C^ Ct >> rt t: t; 6 - ^ g bJ3 M bi: b/: rt FUP- 0; m C-fa PhP- ., ._- - cc oi ^ ^ rt o3 rt 03 o -• rHC^ifO'*LO':ct^ooa;Ci— (Nco^fii:;tct-ooo:c:i— '(Mco-^LO'^t—oO'^o t- ^,_lP-^r^1-ll-lrHT-lI-l1-l!M<^^c 3 , ^ — ' O c/3 iTj o: X 03 03 03 02 73 «3 ^ a :;5.'=:.'i;r:::s:=:n5:::ni;.'=;:^~:S:;S.';:rn.'z;:::::z;;^ s 142 Among those present at the Fifteenth Annual Convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, were the following: Dr. N. L. Britton Director of the N. Y. Botanical Gardens. Dr. Fred E. Broolfs, Entomologist, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Dr. and iMrs-. Frank L. Baum, Boyertown, Pa. Mr. Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. • Dr. A. F. Blakeslee, Cold Spring Harbor, L. I. Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Bartlett, Stamford, Conn. Miss H. T. Bennett, Boston, Mass. Prof. J. Franklin Collins, Providence, R. I. Dr. John E. Cannaday, Charleston, W. Va. Mr. G. M. Codding, Mt. Vernon, N. Y. Prof. A. S. Colby, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. Dr. W. C. Deming, Hartford, Conn. Mr. Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vt. 'Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, Rochester, N. Y. Mr. Ammon P. Fritz, 55 E. Franklin St., Ephrata, Pa. Mr. A. F. Graf, Bardonia, N. Y. Mrs. B. W. Gahn, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Mr. and Mrs. Karl W. Greene, Washington, D. C. Dr. M. A. Howe, Assistant to Director, N. Y. Botanical Gardens. Mr. Henry Plicks, Baldwin, L. I. (Hicks' Nurseries). Mr. John W. Hershey, E. Downington, Pa. Mr. Lee Whitaker Jaques, 74 Waverly St., Jersey City, N. J. Mr. J. F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa. Mr. M. G. Kains, Suffern, N. Y. Mr. Tliomas W. Little, Cos Cob, Conn. Dr. Robt. T. Morris, Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95, Stamford, Conn. Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. Prof. Jas. A. Neilson, Horticultural Exp. Station, Vineland, Ont., Can. Mr. Ralph T. Olcott, Ed. American Nut Journal, Rochester, N. Y. Mrs. R. T. Olcott, Rochester, N. Y. Mr. P. H. O'Connor, Bowie, Md. Mr. C. A. Reed, U. S. Department of Agriculture Mr. John Rick, Reading, Pa. Dr. J. Russell Smith, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Dr. Oscar Stapf, F. R. S., late Curator of the Herbarium, Royal Botan- ic Gardens, Kew, London, England. Mr. Harry R. Weber, Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Laura E. Woodward, West Chester, Pa. Dr. and Mrs. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa. Naperville, Illinois Established 1866 NAPERVILLE NURSERIES NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS Transplanted Material for LANDSCAPE, HORTICULTURAL and FORESTRY PROJECTS TREES, SHRUBS, EVERGREENS and PERENNIALS— LINING OUT STOCK AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL Official Journal Northern Nut Growers Association The only national periodical devoted to the American Nut Industry. Widely read. Highly indorsed. Every phase covered. Also Official Journal of the National Pecan Growers Assn. Contributed to regularly by leading nut experts generally. Three Years - - - -$5.00 ,„ Combination with Member- Twelve Months - - - 2.00 Single Copy - - - - .20 ship in N. N. G. A.,, 1 yr. - $4.50 Advt. Rate $2.80 per col.-wide inch AMERICAN FRUITS PUBLISHING CO., INC. 39 State Street Rochester, N. Y. P. O. Box 124 This space is paid for by Jas. L. Brooke, Pleasantville, Ohio, who is only too anxious at any time to a'^sist in encouraging and promoting Nut Culture in the North. While he has only recently taken up this work, and is therefore a practical stranger on the roster of The Northern Nut Growers' Asso- ciation, he will only be too anxious and willing at any time to con- tribute to the cause in any way possible. He is making a thorough search in his neighborhood where chest- nuts, hickory nuts and black walnuts grow in abundance, for nuts of approved merit for propagation. In case anything is found along this line of endeavor the active members of the association will hear from him and samples of nuts submitted. NUT TREES An extra select varietal stock of nut trees for northern planting, grown here in Pennsylvania Nurseries. Trees grafted or budded on transplanted stocks and grown on land especially adapted to these trees, resulting in ex- tra fine trees with exceptionally fine root systems. Write for catalogue and cultural guide. TOOLS and SUPPLIES For grafting or budding nut trees or top-working wild or natural trees. My methods are original and are used, with slight variation, by all the lead- ing propagators, both north and south. Write for booklet on propagation and price list of tools. J. F. Jones, Nut Specialist LANCASTER, PA. NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING ■-<■•--.'■'.—_- ST. LOUIS, MO. SEPTEMBER 22, 23, 24, 1925 NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION UNCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING ST. LOUIS, MO. SEPTEMBER 22, 23, 24, 1925 CONTENTS Officei's, Directors and Committees 3 State Vice-Presidents 4 List of Members 5 Constitution 12 By-Laws 14 Proceedings of the Sixteenth AnnuaFConvention 15 Nut Growing at Frunut Gardens — Judge W. O. Potter.... 15 Roadside Planting — Wm. S. Linton 21 The Environmental Requirements of Nut Trees — Dr. Geo. D. Moore 27 The Farthest North in U. S. Nut Culture— Z. H. Ellis 28 Nut Growing in Missouri — Prof. T. J. Talbert 32 Diseases of Nut Crops in the Northern United States — Dr. H. W. Anderson 38 Topworking Hickory Trees for the Beginner — Dr. W. C. Deming 46 Abstracts from papers as follows: Some Methods of Arousing Public Interest in Nut Growing — H. D. Spencer 52 Tree Surgery and Food Production — F. A. Bartlett... 53 Nut Growing on the Pacific Coast — Geo. W. Pierce. ... 54 The Supreme Value of Nuts as Human Food — Dr. John Harvey Kellogg 55 The Nut Flora of Canada — J. A. Neilson 57 Sub Soil Crops and the Food Supply for Tomorrow's Na- tion—Dr. Robert T. Morris 68 Nut Growing in Southern Indiana — J. F. Wilkinson 74 Growing Nuts in Illinois for Pleasure and Profit — A. S. Colby 77 The Pecan Industry in the South— J. M. Patterson 89 The First Year at the Keystone Pecan Research Labor- atory—E. G. Hess 93 Nut Growing East of the Alleghenies — T. P. Littlepage . . . 105 Some Insects Attacking Nut Trees in Illinois — W. F. Flint. 108 Discussion in Regard to Hickory Girdler 114 Reading of Letter from Dr. W. A. Taylor 118 Notes on Nut Tree Plantings at the E. j^. Riehl Farm 119 Treasurer's Report 122 Appendix — Business Meetings, Resolutions, etc 123-126 OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION President H. R. Weber, Cincinnati, Ohio rice-President ]\Irs. W. D. Ellwanger, Rochester, N. Y. Secretary C. A. Reed, Washington, D. C. Treasurer H. J. Milliard, Sound View, Conn. DIRECTORS Harry R. Weber, Cincinnati, Ohio; Dr. Robt. T. Morris, New York; WiLLARD G. BixBY, Baldwin, L. I.; Dr. W. C. Deming, Hartford, Conn.; H. D. Spencer, Decatur, 111. COMMITTEES Auditing — Mrs. Karl W. Greene, P. H. O'Connor Executive — Harry R. Weber, Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, C. A. Reed, H. J. Hilliard, W. S. Linton Finance— 1. P. Littlepage, W. G. Bixby, Dr. W. C. Deming Hybrids — Dr. R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, Howard Spence Membership — Harry R. Weber, H. D. Spencer, Dr. J. R. Smith, R. T. Olcott, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson, Dr. W. C. Deming, J. W. Hershey Nomenclature — C. A. Reed, Dr. R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones Press and Publications — Dr. W. C. Deming, W. G. Bixby, M. G. Kains Program-^HARRY R. Weber, F. A. Bartlett, C. A. Reed, Dr. Robt. T. Morris, A. S. Colby Promising Seedlings — ^C. A. Reed, J. F. Jotes, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson, S. W. Snyder STATE VICE-PRiCSIDtJNTS Arkansas Prof. N. F. Drake U.iiv. of Arkansas, Fayetteville California Will J. Thorpe 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco Canada James A. Neilson Hurt. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ontario China P. W. Wang Sec'y Kinsan Arboretum, 147 N. Sechuan Road, Shanghai Connecticut Dr. W. C. Deming 983 Main St., Hartford, Conn. Dist of Columbia Karl W. Greene England Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Howard Spence J. M. Patterson Henry D. Spencer J. F. Wilkinson S. W. Snyder James Sharp P. H. O'Connor Massachusetts C. Leroy Cleaver Michigan Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New York Dr. J. H. Kellogg P. C. Stark William Caha C. S. Ridgway L. H. MacDaniels North Carolina H. M. Curran Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia James L. Brooke Knight Pearcy John Rick J. W. Waite Joseph A. Smith F. C. Hiolbrook D. S. Harris Ridge Road, N. W., Washington The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport Putney Decatur Rockport Center Point Council Grove Bowie 496 Commonwealth Ave., Boston , Er.ttle Creek Louisiana Wahoo Lumberton Cornell Univ., Ithaca N. C. Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh Pleasantville Salem 438 Penn Square, Reading Normandy Edgewood Hall, Providence Brattleboro Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. F. D. 3 Washington Richard H. Turk West Virginia Dr. J. E. Cannaday Washougal Box 693, Charleston MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS ♦Drake, Prof. N. F., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Dunn, D. K., Wynne AUSTRALIA Fuller, R. H., Crystal Brook, Bowenville, Queensland CALIFORNIA Caldwell, W. A., Camlno Halladay, S. E., Winters Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero Street, San Francisco CANADA Brown, C. G., 6 Ingleside Ave., Westmount, Quebec Byam, P. M., 835 Logan Avenue, Toronto 6, Ontario Corsan, G. H., Echo Valey, Islington, Ontario , Fox, A. Grant, Ruthven, Ontario *Neilson, Jas. A., Ontario Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland. Smith, E. D. and Sons, Winona, Ontario Wayman, S. T., Beamville, Ontario CHINA *Wang, P. W., Sec'y, Kinsan Arboi'etum, 147 No. Szechuan Road, Shanghai. COLORADO Walker, U. H., Nucla CONNECTICUT Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Main St., Hartford Hardon, Mrs. Henry, Wilton Hilliard, H. J., Sound View Hungerford, Newman, Torrington, R. F. D. No. 2, Box 100 Ives, E. M., Sterling Orchards, M'>riden Merritt, Joseph, 287 Homestead Avenue, Hartford Montgomery, Roht. H., Cos Cob, Conn. (1924). *Morris, Dr. Robt. T., Cos Cob, Route 28, Box 95 Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Alhert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol Williams, Dr. C. M., Stonington, Box 75 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Agriculture, Library of U. S. Dept. of Close, Prot. C. P., Pomologist, Dept. of Agriculture •Life Member. Gahn, Mrs. B. W., 218 W. Clifton Terrace, Washington Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W. Gravatt, G. F., Forest Pathology, B. P. I. Agriculture *Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Building National Pecan Groves Company, 510 Bond Bldg., Washington Reed, C. A., Dept. of Agriculture Williams, A. Ray, Union Trust Bldg. ENGLAND Hatton, R. G., Kent Spence, Howard, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport GEORGIA Bullard, W. P., Albany Patterson, J. M., Putney Steele, R. C, Ivakemont, Rabun County Wight, J. B., Cairo Wilcox, Prof. Alice, Brenau College, Gainesville ILLINOIS Ade, W. H. & Co., 236 No. Clark St., Chicago Anderson, Dr. H. W., University of Illinois, Urbana Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley Casper, O. H., Anna Colby, Dr. A. S., University of Illinois, Urbana Corsan, Mrs. G. H., Rm. 1500, 19 So. La Salle St., Chicago Curtiss, L. W., Gladstone Elleman, J. H., 210 Maple Hill Rd., Glencoe Endicott, Robt. B., Villa Ridge Flexer, Walter G., 210 Campbell St., Joliet Foote, Lorenzo S., Ozark Gibbons, G. W., Godfrey Illinois, University of, Urbana (Librarian) Mosnat, H. R., 10910 Prospect Ave., Morgan Park, Chicago Mueller, Robert, Decatur Nash, C. J., 1302 E. 53rd St., Chicago Poll, C. J., 1013 E. Seminary St., Danville Potter, Hon. W. O., Marion Riehl, Miss Amelia, Godfrey, Route 2 Rodhouse, T. W., Jr., Pleasant Hill, R. R. 2 Rosenberg, H. B., Granite City Shaw, James B., Champaign, Box 644 Spencer, Henry D., 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur Swisher, S. L., Mulkeytown Vulgamott, Chas. E., Cerro Gordo Watson, J. P., Carrter Whitford, A. M., Farina INDIANA Clayton, C. L., Owensville Copp, Lloyd, 819 W. Foster St., Kokomo Gilmer, Frank, 1012 Riverside Drive, South Bend Staderman, A. L., 120 South 7th St., Terre Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport rowA Adams, Gerald W., Moorhead Bricker, C. W., Ladora Harrington, F. O., Williamsburg Luckenbill, B. W., Box 47, MediapoHs MacDonald, A. B., I. S. C, Ames Meints, A. R., Dixon Snyder, D. C. Center Point Snyder, S. W., Center Point Van Meter, W. S., Adel KANSAS Bishop, S. L., Conway Springs, Route No. 1 Fe&senden, C. D., Cherokee Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Hardin, Martin, Horton Hitchcock, Chas. W., Belle Plaine Miller, H. S., Morrill Rice, E. C, 303 S. Hillside Ave., Wichita Sharpe, James, Council Grove Stenger, Joseph, Wayne, R. F. D. LOUISIANA Fullilove, J. H. Jr., Box 157, Shreveport Jackson, A. C, Box 993, Shreveport MARYLAND Jordan, Dr. Llewellyn, 100 Baltimore Ave., Takoma Park Keenan, Dr. John F., Brentwood O'Connor, P. W.. Bowie Johnson, Chas. E., 218 East Isabella St., Salisbury Wall, A. v.. Baltimore Watkins, Asa H., Mount Airy. (1924). MASSACHUSETTS *Bowditch. James H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Brston Bowles, Francis T., Barnstable Bryant, Dr. W. C, Greenfield Cleaver, C. Leroy, Hingham Center Combination Orchard Company, Waltham Hale, R. W., 60 State St., Boston Johnson, R. E., Barre Lamb, Dr. H. W.. Burnett Ave., Hadley Center Russel, N. H., Burnett Ave., Hadley Center Sawyer, James C, Andover Sprague, P. W., Atlantic Bank Bldg., Boston Williams, Moses, 18 Tremont St., Boston MICHIGAN Bonine, Chester H., Vandalia Charles, Dr. Elmer, Pontiac *Life Member. 8 Copland, A. W.. 670 E. Woodbridge St., Detroit Gardner, Prof. V. R., East Lansing Graves, Henry B., 1430 Granger Ave., Ann Arbor Hoeniclte, C. R., 13410 Electric Ave., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek *Linton, Hon. W. S., Saginaw Penney, Senator Harvey A., 425 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Stocking, F. N., 3456 Cadillac Ave., Detroit Michigan, University of, Ann Arbor. (1924). MINNESOTA Weschcke, Carl, 98 So. Wabash St., s't. Paul MISSOURI Barnhart, F. L., Barnhart Funsten, R. E. Co., 1521 Morgan St.. St. Louis Pettus, E., 16th and Locust St., St. Louis Stark, P. C, Louisiana Stark Bros., Louisiana Tiedke, J. F., R. F. D., Rockville. (1924). Tower Nut Products Co., 4949 Pershing St., St. Louis Wielandy, F. H., 16th & Locust St., St. Louis Youkey, J. M., 2519 Monroe Ave., Kansas City NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo Miller, R. D., Lincoln Thomas, Dr. W. A., Lincoln NEW JERSEY Clarke, Miss E. A., W. Point Pleasant, Box 57 Gaty, Theo. E., 50 Morris Ave., Morristown Hurst, Mrs. D. E., 20 Beech St., Rutherford *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V., Cranbury, R. D. No. 2 Ridgeway, C. S., Lnmberton Woods, G. R., 205 Wyoming Ave., Maplewood NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bennett, Howard S., 85J- Joseph Ave., Rochester Bethea, J. G., 243 Rutgers St., Rochester Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin, L. I Bixby, Mrs. Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Bradley, Miss Katherine, 311 Laurens St., Olean Brinton, Mrs. Willard Cope, 360 59th St., N. Y. City Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Clark, George H., 131 State St., Rochester Cothran, John C, 104 High St., I^ockport Corsan, G. H., 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn Coyle, D. C, 10 Miller PI., Bronxville Diprose, Alfred H., 468 Clinton Ave., South, Rochester ♦Life Member. 9 Dunbar, John, Dep't. of Parks, Rochester Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stewart, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Gaty, Theo. E. Jr., Clermont Gillett, Dr. Henry W., 140 W. 57th St., New York City Graham, S. H., R. D. 5, Ithaca Hardon, Mrs. H. W., 144 East 40th St., New York City Hart, Frank E., Landing Road, Brighton Haws, Elwood D., Public Market, Rochester Hilferty, C. D., Westfield Hodgson, Casper W., Yonkers, (World Book Co.) ♦Huntington, A. M., 15 W. 81st St., New Y'ork City Jewett, E. G., 16 S. Elliott PI., Brooklyn Johnson, Harriet, M. B., 40 Irving Place. New York City Krieg, Fred J., 11 Gladys St., Rochester Liveright, Frank I., 120 W. 70th St., N. Y. City MacDaniel, S. H., Dept. of Pomology, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca Nolan, Mrs. C. R., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Nolan, M. J., 47 Dickinson St., Rochester Northern N. Y. Development Co., 32 Nassau St., New York City Olcott, Ralph T. (Editor American Nut Journal), Ellwanger and Barry Building, Rochester Oswald, E., 311 W. Beard Ave., Syracuse Paterno, Dr. Chas. V., 117 W. 54th St., N. Y. City Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Rawnsley, Mrs. Annie, 242 Linden St., Rochester Rawnsley, James B., 242 Linden St., Rochester Reimold. O. S.. Yonkers-on-Hudson, (1924). Schroeder, E. A., 223 East Ave., Rochester Shutt, Erwin E., 509 Plymouth Ave., Rochester Solley, Dr. John B., 213 E. 61st St., New York City Teele, Arthur W., 29 East 64th St., New York City Tucker, Geo. B., 110 Harvard St., Rochester Tukey, H. B., Hudson Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester Waller, Percy, 284 Court St., Rochester Wile, M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester Wissman, Mrs. F. de R., Westchester, New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora NORTH CAROLINA Hutchings, Miss L. C, Pine Bluff Matthews, C. D., North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh OHIO Bartow, Chas. H., Lancaster Beatty, Dr. W. M. L., Route 3, Croton Road, Centerburg Brooke, Jas. L., Pleasantville Coon, Charles, Groveport Dayton, J. H., (Storrs & Harrison), Painesville Fickes, W. R., Wooster, R. No. 6 Hamilton, Chas. E., 52 Jefferson Ave., Columbus Hinnen, Dr. G. A., 1343 Delta Ave., Cincinnati Neff, Wm. N., Martel ♦Life Member. 10 Snyder, C. E., 510 West 4th Ave., Columbus *Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Walker, C. F., 2298 East 93d St., Cleveland PENNSYLVANIA Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St., Reading Baum, Dr. F. L., Boyertown Bohn, Dr. H. W., 24 No. 9th St., Reading Bowman, J. W., 316 Market St., Harrisburg Boy Scouts of America, Reading Druckemiller, W. H., 31 N. 4th St., Sunbury Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gribbel, Mrs. John, Wyncote Grim, Wm. H., Hamburg Hartman, J. W., Sligo Hershey, F. E., E. Downingtown Hershey, John Y\'., E. Downingtown Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Jenkins, Charles Francis, Farm Journal, Philadelphia *Jones, J. F., Lancaster, Box 527 Johnson, Mrs. G. P., Dallas Kaufman, M. M., Clarion Krebs, H. B., Mercersburg Leach. V/ill, Cornell Building, Scranton Mellor, Alfred, 152 W. Walnut Lane, Gerrnantown, Philadelphia Minick, C. G., Ridgway Paden, Riley W., Enon Valley Patterson, J. E., 77 North Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre Pratt, Arthur H., Kennett Square Raab, W. L., Box 41, Dallastown *Rick, John, 438 Penn Square, Reading Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Lorane Rose, William J., 55 North West St., Carlisle Rush, J. G., 630 Third St., Lancaster Schultz, A. S., 142 No. Reading Ave., Boyertown Smedley, Samuel L., Newton Square, R. F. D. No. 1 Smith, Dr. J. Russell, Swarthmore Theiss, Dr. L. E., Lewisburg Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion *Wister. John C, Clarkson and Wister Sts., Germantown Woodward, Laura E., Westchester Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., Piketown RHODE ISLAND Allen, Philip, 178 Dorrance St., Providence Arnold, H. N., 42 Waterman St., Providence TENNESSEE Waite, J. W., Normandy TEXAS *Life Member. 11 Duerler, Alfred, 224 Commerce St., San Antonio Goodnight, Capt. Chas., Goodnight UTAH Smith, Joseph A., Edgewood Hall, Providence VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., Springfield, R. F. D. No. 3 Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven Holbrook, F. C, Battleboro VIRGINIA Amnion, S. Von, Coleman's Falls Arrowfield Nurseries, Petersburg Gould, Katherine demons, Boonsboro, Care of C. M. Daniels, via Lynchburg, R. F. D. 4 Harris, D. S., Roselawn, Capital Landing Road, Williamsburg, R. 3 Hopkins, N. S., Dixondale Jordan, J. H., Bohannon Keeler, Miss Grace M., Lynnhaven, R. P. D. Moock, Harry C, Roanoke, Route 5 WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack Turk, Richard H., Washougal WEST VIRGINIA Brooks, Fred E., French Creek Caniiaday, Dr. J. E., Charleston, Box 693 Hartzel, B. F., Shepherdstown Mlsh, A. F., Inwood WISCONSIN Holden, Dr. Lonis Edward, Beloit Mougin, F. J., Green Bay, R. F D 6 12 CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shrill he known ,-is tlie Northern Nut GRowERi^ Association. Article II Object. Its object sliall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which tlie president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer sliall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall hv appointed by the president. Article V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following year. \ 13 Article VI ^Iccfings. Tlie place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by tlie president and executive committee. Article VII (iuorinn. Ten mrnibers of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of sucli amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member thirty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. 14 BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows : On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay three dollars annually, or four dol- lars and a half including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars an- nually, this membership including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further dues. Hon- orary members shall be exempt from dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. Article V jNIembers shall be sent a notification of annual dues at the time they are due, and if not pinid within two months, they shall be sent a second notice, telling them that they are not in good standing on ac- count of non-payment of dues, and are not entitled to receive the annual report. At the end of thirty days from the sending of the second notice, a third notice shall be sent notifying sucli members that unless dues are paid within ten days from receipt of this notice, their names will be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. 15 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS at the SIXTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION, INC. September 22, 23, 24, 1925 Held in ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Chairman — Pkes. H. R. Weber NUT GROWING AT FRUNUT GARDENS By Judge TV. 0. Potter, Marion, Illinois Before and since the dawn of civilization, the one constant battle of life with mankind has been for bread and meat. The struggle throughout the coming years of time, will be for bread and meat. Men have ever toiled and struggled through all past ages, wars have been declared and fought, peoples ha\'e been destroyed!, nations desolated and mankind suffered untold hardships for bread and meat. "Man cannot thrive on bread alone" but with meat as a complement, the menu is balanced, which constitutes the Staff of Life. When drouths, pestilence and famine have destroyed nations, when corn and wheat have failed, when hogs and beef have become 16 scarce, so that bread and meat could not be obtained in the usual way, primitive man has tlien showed liis superiority over his civilized brother by resorting to the store-Ivouse of nature for the Staff of Life. Nature has provided most lavishly for man in supplying him with food, and drink, but man has most ruthlessly despoiled the bountiful supply of nature in the destruetion of forests. Less than a century ago, the forests of the nortliern section of the United States were the most diversified in the world. The oak, hickory, chestnut and walnut, with their kindi-ed species, indigenous to the forests of North America, were the wonders of the world. The timber obtained from these four giants of the forest has revolutionized modern civilization, but what other wonders might have been wrought, if man in his ruthless destruction of forests, had saved for posterity the choice sj^ecimens of these species, which produced the most toothsome and vitalizing concentrated food products of all ages. The acorn and chestnut h;3ve all the concentrated calories of bread; the hickory nut, pecan and black walnut have the most complete concen- trated calories of mieat, constituting both bread and meat in the most nutritious form, completing the Staff of Life. In addition to the great bread and meat nuts a'bove mentioned, there is yet another very important nut which grows on bushes in a wild state in North America known as the hazel, and in Europe as the filbert. How often in boyliood days have we gone out on nutting parties in the Fall to gather the hazel and hickory nut in the "Forest Primeval" in the most beautiful season of the year, little realizing that we were gathering the most nutritious food in the most concen- trated form provided by nature's laboratory and mixed by nature's most skillful chemists. The meat of the filbert is not altogether of the consistency of breat nor meat, but partakes more of the properties of bread than meat. I remember, when in boyhood days down on the farm, several fine specimen of hazels, hickories and walnuts from which I have gathered some of the most delectable nuts that ever graced the bill of fare of the most fastidious delicatessen. They were fit for the food of gods or the menu of potentates. I would give a great de,il for some of these old nut patriarchs. But their value was then unknown and they were not preserved for posterity. However, we must make the best of what we have at hand. 17 About ten years ago, I became interested ii? the propagation and intensive cultivation of nuts. I first became interested in paper shell pecans in the South. I developed an orchard at Albany, Georgia, where I now have a fine orchard with a good crop of nuts this year. I, also, have a combination orchard at Silver Hill, Alabamai, of jjaper shell pecans and Satsuma oranges, with a fair crop of each this year. Pecans In the year 1918, I purchased an old run-down farm of forty acres four miles west of INlarion on State Highway Route 13, and named it Frunut Gardens as I determined to experiment here in all kinds of fruits and nuts — hence the name. I shall say nothing about the fruit, except to say that I have all kinds of fruits that are adaptable to this climate growing. I first set five acres in pecans in 1919 from a small nursery of my own in the Northern varieties of Butterick, Posey, Busseron, Green River, and a few of other varieties. The trees are now five years old and have made a fine growth. They have bloomed for the last two years but have set no nuts. I then planted fifteen acres to nuts where the permanent trees are to be and have been budding them since as they got large enough. I use the ring bud method and have some very fine specimens of these young budded trees. I also budded some McAlister Hicans, which is a cross be- tween a hickory and a pecan. These trees are making a fine growth, but have set no nuts as yet. When I first commenced at Frunut Gardens, I limed it with four tons per acre of lime dust and sowed it in sweet clover and let it grow for two years when it reached a height of eight feet. I then turned this all under. Since then I have been sowing it to cow peas and soy beans and turning them under until the soil is now in a high state of fertility. I have also spread 'barnyard manure around each tree for the last three years each winter. Last spring, I gave to each older tree twenty pounds of a mixed fertilizer in the following proportions: 1200 pounds of 16% Acid Phosphate. 250 pounds of Nitrate of Potash. 300 pounds of Tankage. I have had considerable trouble with bud worms, limb girdlers and caterpillars. There is no relief so far as I know from the two former pests. For the latter, I spray with lime sulphur reinforced with 18 nicotine. This does the business. I spray twice each season^ the first time about June the firsts the last aljout August the first. Hickories I have two Weiker budded hickory trees on my lawn in town, but the}- grow so slowl}' that I have never tried to bud an}^ hickories at the Gardens. However, I have about fifty native shagbark trees which were in woods when I purchased the farm and I cultivated and fertilized these trees to improve the nuts. I have some very good varieties from these seedlings^ but none to compare with those I re- member in boyhood days. Filberts Some years ago, I received a notice from the Weber Nursery Company of Nursery, Missouri, saying they had some imported filbert bushes from France w^hich they would like to have tried out and would sell them for 25c each. I ordered six plants and set them in my back yard and paid very little attention to them. Finally I got interested and began to study the filbert and its growth and development and then began the propagation of them by layering, and from this be- ginning have set about four hundred plants at Frunut Gardens. The varieties I have are Dorrton, Blanc Lounge, Cosford and Effergut. The last is a very poor bearer, hut a prolific bloomer. They are named in the order of importance in their bearing record. I planted bushes from Oregon and tlie German varieties from New York, but these have not met expectations. Tliis year, five bushes in my back yard produced about a^ half bushel of nuts. The four year olds at the Gardens also produced quite a few nuts. The bushes have a spread of about twenty feet and have reached a height of twenty feet, and make fine bushy trees. I have never had any trou'ble with insects or fungi on the filberts. However, they have winter killed rather severely, but for every limb that winter killed, two more grew in its place and some of the new limbs produced nuts this year. The bush tree presents a fine appear- ance and makes a fine foliage plant for shade and beauty. I have never sprayed them in any manner. I expect to fertilize the plants this winter with leaf mould whicli I hn\e prepared for the purpose. A few years ago I obtained some nuts from the Park Commissioner of Rochester, N. Y. that he said grew on a tree in the park, which 19 he claimed was a Constantinople Hazel. I stratified some of the nuts in sand, but it took two years to germinate and then only two germi- nated. These two bushes are now growing at Frunut Gardens. The nut is rather small with a thick shell. However^ the flavor is very good, and by proper breeding, I think good results may be obtained. Walnuts Perhaps the most diversified timber and nut tree in the United States, or we might say in North America, is the black walnut. Every boy who was raised on the farm or ever spent a vacation in the country knows the black walnut. The tree is a majestic monarch of the forest, and its nuts are amongi the most nutritious of the meat varieties. The shame is that is has been so ruthlessly destroyed and so carelessly propagated. I have planted and am budding about one hundred trees at Frunut Gardens to the Stabler and Thomas varieties. These are among the best varieties known. I have trees only five years old that have a half bushel of nuts this year. The only trouble I have had with walnuts a.re the caterpillars which will defoliate a tree in one night. I use the same spray for this that is used on the pecan for the same trouble. I am experimenting some with the English Walnut but they winter kill so badly that I would not advise the propagation of this nut in this climate for commercial purposes. I have budded the Alpine on black walnut stock and they seem to be very hardy. They have produced no nuts yet. I aJso have a few Chinese and Japanese walnuts but only for experimental purposes, and do not know yet what the final re- sults will be. Chestnuts and Chinquapins I have about a dozen budded chestnut trees growing which I pur- chased from Mr. E. A. Riehl a few years ago. They commenced to bear when about three years old. I have seen no sign of blight or any fungous trouble of any kind so far. The varieties are Boone, Progressive and' Fuller. The chinquapin is the outgrowth and development of forest chin- quapin acorn that used to be so much sought after by boys and hogs in the Fall of the year. The budded variety is a cross of this old forest tree with the chestnut. 20 I jtl.intcd some of tl;c Rush chinqu;ipin nuts a few years ago, and from this experiment I now have two trees on my Lawn that are in bearing'. One of these seedlings bears only one nut in the burr, while the other bears three nuts in the burr. There is no special care to be given the chestnut and chinquapin. Just cultivate and fertilize the same as any other tree, but they grow about as well on the lawn, wliere no cultivation is to be had, as in the field. To those who are planning to plant trees, I would say plant nut trees. Plant the pecan, chestnut and black walnut both for timber and nuts. Plant the filbert for nuts, 1 f you want only foliage, i)lant all of them for foliage and shade. Plant the filbert on the lawn or in the field for its thick glossy foliage and nuts; plant the chestnut for its majestic appearance, foliage and nuts; plant the black walnut for its tim'ber, w^de spreading limbs and nuts; plant the towering pecan for its beautiful appearance, timber and nuts. Whatever you plant, let some of your plantings be of these four kinds. When i)roduction warrants, modern ingenuity will perfect ma- chinery to crack the nuts and grind the meat, either into meal for bread or meat for steak. The most perfect nutritious breads and meats will be the result when mankind realize the perfectly balanced foods that can be produced from the products of the trees — the engines of ))roduetion. Five or ten acres of nut trees properly distributed will supply the ordinary family with bread and meat. Beef steaks and pork chops are getting scarce and costly and will continue as time pa.sses. One pound of pecan or walnut meat is worth in nutriment about three pounds of beef steak. Lincoln once remarked, after a frugal meal of milk and mush, tliat it was good enough for a president. When a citizen of America can sit down to a meal consisting of a dozen pecans or walnuts broken into bits with a mixture of sterilized bran, properly seasoned with salt and cream, followed with a dessert of Satsuma oranges or Golden Delicious apples, he will be the envy of the potentates of the earth or the gods of Olympus. 221 ROADSIDE PLANTING By Wm. S. Linton, Saginaw, Mich. Do yon realize that in the United States there are 2, 800, 000 miles of highways, — that these highways are equal to 22,10(),()0() acres of land, an area as great as six states of the Union combined, or making all of New England, if you please, a desert, so far as unproductive- ness is concerned, producing no more for life on this Glo'be than the Desert of Sahara or the Arctic regions ? But such is the case, and it is this condition that we desire to remedy and correct. The majority of those present at this important gathering know that for years, and especially since I have been honored with mem- bership in this association, that it has been my "hobby," incessantly talked, to advocate that alo}iositively be done on every mile of thnit magnificent hig'hway , system being established and constructed nation-wide, from Canada 25 to the Gulf, and from ocean to oeean, in such length, number and immensity, that the famous roads of Caesar are but modest lanes in comparison. While this roadbuilding in its entirety, (the greatest constructive effort in the world's history) is in progress, we should not lose the oj)portunity now ours to plant along these great highways useful trees and shrubs in all their beauty and attractiveness, not only for the pleasure, comfort and happiness of our own generation, but when fully matured, giving an added and very substantial production of many choice foods for the generations yet to come. At the same time the plan will afford much needed protection to that valuable bird life, so very necessary to our own existence. It would be the height of folly, a sin, and almost a crime to occupy this varied, vast aind valuable public domain of roadways or any part of it with other than plantings of the most useful character. Every inferior or useless tree and shrub should be avoided, and, in time, absolutely eliminated. Why waste the time of labor in caring for them, or any area of soil for their maintenance, when every square rod of arable land should be producing something' to sustain or promote the welfare and life of living beings. Reforestation is one of the greatest projects of the day and worthy in every way of the earnest thought and efforts being given to it by leading men of our time. From the fact, however, that millions of acres have been laid waste by the axmen seeking timber supply alone, and then later (owing largel}^ to infertility) great areas have been abandoned to drouth and devastating fires, a deplorable situation consequently has arisen. This naturally confines reforestation efforts largely to the areas cited, and also to certain species of timber, some- what limited in number, that will grow thereon. How different with the road area equal in extent, but much more important in producing acreage, than out over albandoned lands. We are given right now a real and rare opportunity throughout our country, with its varied climates, soils and altitudes, with the many species of mighty trees, and attractive shrubs, all indigenous to these conditions, to establish at once for our own time, and posterity as well, the most useful and magnificent planting for the benefit of our race, that the world has ever seen. 26 I have not from my own personal 'iewpoint and information, in tlii.s paper, or at any time, undertaken to name in detail the entire species or varieties of useful trees and shrubs to be used in planting roadsides. I would rather leave that feature cf detail to the authori- ties in charge, having, as I do, the utmost confidence in excellent State Highway Officials' desire and ability, in co-operation with proper State Departments, to satisfactorily perform this work. I am sure State Highway Departments will naturally use largely among trees the nut bearers and the others referred to. I am sure, too, Departments of Agriculture will take into consideration the great bird life of our nation not alone from a sentimental standpoint, or for the delight we take in viewing and listening tc these feathered songsters, but for the most important reason of all, viz : that they kill in count- less numbers insects intolerable to us, and devour great quantities of seeds of noxious weeds. The abnormal increase of either of these pests would be most calamitous, and could absolutely destroy much of life as we know it today. The subject of useful roadside planting covers the movement too, that is establishing beautiful Roods of Remembrance, by the planting of monumental trees (an enobling idea) throughout our land. No otiier monument can be more fitting to those who have fought our country's battles or achieved fame in heroic eff"orts for bettering humanity, than these Roads of Remembrance being constructed in every state, instilling as they do and will, true patriotism in the minds of all, young and old alike. The house upon any properly planted roadway, will be a happier home, a more pleasant abiding place, and a much more valuable piece of property than one upon a bare, unplanted road. The University of ^Nliichigan's part in scientific road construction plans, in state and Nation, has been invaluable. Neither has any other institution in America taken a more prominent part in the problem of reforestation of our country's 100 million acres almost abandoned, that have been so severely cut for timber alone and later burned over that they have become an unproductive waste, equal in area to the combined forests of eight European Nations. Now as we meet the question of "Useful Roadside Planting" to reforest a mighty area, I wish to give credit also to a U. of M. man, a member of this Associa- 27 tion^ — Senator Harvey A. Penney, CJiairman of the University Legis- lative Committee in the ^lichigan State Senate, for introducing the first real bill enacted into law in this country, for practical road plant- ing work. This act is now being persistently called for, copied and used throughout the United States. In the years — yes centuries to come, majestic trees and beautiful slirubs, every one of them of much worth to the human race will bear witness to the inestimable value of the initial work of organizations such as this. THE ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF NUT TREES Dr. Geo. D. Moore, Director, Missouri Botanic Gardens, St. Louis, Mo. The environmental requirements include the air and soil, every- thing that goes on in the soil and air. Of course we all recognize that nuts are very susceptible to their environment. Perhaps this may be illustrated by an instance which occurred not very far from here, a case of a tramp coming to a farm house and asking for something to eat. The housewife said, "I will give you your dinner if you will work for it." He said, "I don't work." She asked, "What do you do.''" The tramp said, "I am a vaudeville entertainer and I enter- tain." "All right," she replied. So he began telling some of his jokes. While he was talking they heard a bigi noise on the table. He finished his performance and got his dinner and left. The housewife on going to the table, found that nearly all the nuts that had been in the basket had split their sides laughing at those jokes. The next diay she was surprised to again hear a noise in the nut basket. Being astonished to hear it again when there was no apparent reason for it, she went to the basket and found that this time it was the English walnuts. This story illustrates how easily the nuts are influenced by their environments. We have been growing a few nut trees at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and we have come to the conclusion that the environmental air of the city is not good for them. We have had only fair success, 28 from a commercial standpoint. Some of the trees have borne and some have not. We have come to the definite conclusion that in order to succeed with nuts^ it is necessary to go to the country. You may not be aware of it but the atmosphere of St. Louis is about as bad as any of the other cities in this country. Peihaps it will improve. This smok^' atmosphere is not a good thing for nut trees. It often blights the blossom. Many trees and shrubs that formerly bloomed do so no longer. Consequently we have gone thirty miles out of the city and acquired some ground on the Merrimac *River where we are going to grow nuts. We have four or five kinds of soil, and everj^ exposure and wlien you come back to St. Louis a'l-.iin for your meeting, I liope to be able to show you a ver}' vigorou? and well established nut or- chard of a size to make it interesting. I cannot go into the real environmental problems from the stand- point of tlie soil at this time. Most of us have the idea that soil is a sort of a sponge through which water flows. We pour in fertility having no relation to the various environmental factors of the natural soil. The question of tillage or rover crops I had hoped to touch upon because I wanted to ask some questions myself about that. There seems to be a good deal of difference of opinion as to cultural prac- tices. Grass seems to be distinctly harmful. You will howevcer have to plow under some sort of humus crop before you go back to clean cultivation. THE FARTHEST NORTH IN U. S. NUT CULTURE By Z. H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vermont It seems a far cry from a small town in faraway Vermont to this the Metropolis of the Middle-West, with twice the population of my whole state. Nearly a century ago two uncles of mine left their native town, mine as well, for the then wild, uncultivated prairies of Illinois, only a few miles from here. One of them of a speculative turn of mind, gathered up the peltry of his region and traded it in at this, then a frontier post. Later on he traded mules and horses at New 29 Orleans for sugar and molasses and boated them up to this point to sujoply his neighbors with sweetening, as they sorely missed the maple kindred product of old New England, whence the most of them came. Nearly three score year ago I visited these uncles of mine in Greene County, Illinois, and the objects that most took my childish fancy were the black walnuts on the one farm and the hazel nuts on the other. When time to return home came, my treasures to take with me were specimens of both; but m^y father said' the damp, clammy things should not go into the trunk. However, when we reached home my mother took them from the bottom of the trunk where she had placed them, unknown to us both, and ordered my father to help me pl.mt tliem, as my seven-year-old hands were not strong enough to break the frozen ground with a heavy crowbar. All the black walnuts grew but one, and are now immense trees of saw-lop size, bearing bounteous crops for many years, the jjarents of all the black walnuts in the region. I liked the nuts so well that, when a half century later. I l.eard of improved varieties, I procured some seedling trees. These, as seedling trees usually are, were no better than mine. The grafted trees which next came out retained the im- proved cracking qualities and flavor of the origiinal. I consider them the equal in every way of their English brother. When an apple tree dies, I usually replace it witli a Thomas black walnut, the best for my locality. They should be planted on every house lot and farm, along with the improved hazels. The common hazels were small and retained tlieir husks and, after trying tlieir filbert brothers from every land, I found two of this family to my liking, one from the Middle Northwest, which drops readily from its envelope and the other from Biltmore, North Carolina, of immense size but not so readily separating from its husk. I have over a hundred of the genus Corylus. They bear very young and stand well the frosts of late spring and cold winters. To give you an idea of their precocity, would say that a German variety set out this season now has six. nuts on it. The Kentish Cob does the best with me of the foreign kinds and falls early and readily to the ground. They are long and beautiful nuts. I find it a good plan to bend the pliant branches of all the foreign varieties to the ground in the fall and weigh them down with heavy flat stones. The deep snow covers them up and the male catkins are saved for furnishing pollen in the 30 spring. They all require verj^ little fertilizer and are a beautiful sight when literally loaded with fruit. They make the best possible hedges for dividing town lots^ instead of non-prod ueing bushes. I have Japanese walnuts, immense trees; but I like our good old- fashioned butternut far better. One occupies the post of honor in front of my home. In olden times this kind of tree furnislied for the early settlers, pliysic, dye, cabinet wood, dessert fruit, sweetening and fuel. I find it responds well to good treatment, the better ferti- lized, the larger the nut and the better the flavor. After seeing the almond on the plains of Palestine and Spain, and the English walnut on the hills of Italy and Southern France, I wanted to try them. I have set out a few of the hard shell variety of the former and many dozens of the latter. I have had the one blooming and the other setting its fruit. If I live long enough I will make both a success, or die in the attempt. I have set out many pecans; most died the first winter or so, or remained tiny, jjuny plants. One that I procured from this state is the only one to amount to anything. It has grown like the green bay tree, much over thirty feet in height and nearly a foot in diameter. It is the only one in the state. It blossoms, but has not borne as yet. Even so, it is worth the interest on a one-thousand dollar U. S. bond, for something unusual to show my friends and ^■isitors, of which the latter I have legions, and furnish clean conversational material when the weather, politics, etc., give out. I have hybrids of this tree, with its hickory brother, which I think will be a success in fruiting for me. The hickory is indigenous in Vermont, hardy, and bearing good nuts. Strange as it may seem, the improved varieties present the hardest problem with me, as they grow slowly and are prone to die. I ha\'e none in fruiting yet. The Laney and Fairbanks succeed the best so far, and I anticij^ate their early fruiting. I find two great requirements in starting all kinds of nut trees ; first, shade them well the first year, and second, keep fertilizers dur- ing that period entirely from them, except perhaps a little leaf mould. I have had no disease to trouble them except the chestnut blight and that I am keeping down and expect soon to have entirely obliterated, as I am outside of the regular chestnut region. My Chinquapins are entirely untouched by it. 31 Nut trees make the best ornament for the lawn, just enough shade for comfort, without killing out the grass, flowers, etc., around them. There is nothing monotonous about them. Each sort has a different bloom or mode of fructification. You say they have no conspicuous flowers. The hardy almond blooms well with me and rivals the peach in size and coloring of its flowers. The fruits of the others, especially the hazels and filberts, give pleasure to the eye and are far more en- during than any ephemeral bloom. Above all, in this utilitarian age, when the food problem is so acute, they should be cultivated for that purpose. It is the easiest and cheapest way of producing protein for building up and sustaining the human body for efficient work. When this country can raise enough for home consumption, mil- lions of dollars will be thus saved, not only for public purposes, es- pecially good roads at all seasons of the year, but better yet, the raiser thereof can so embellish and equip his home and surroundings as to keep the country people from swarming into the cities as at present. In fact, the city dweller will be eager to move into the country Utopia, so attractive and profitable will nut growing make it. You that are living in this comparatively warm region can easily raise all the nuts of the warm temperate zones, and are not obliged, like me, to search the world over for hardier specimens and more rugged hybrids. Necessity is the mother of invention, and I utilize every warm location around by buildings for the more tender varieties: and I am establishing a thick wind-break of evergreen trees, which I am in hopes will move my latitudinal line two to three hundred miles further south. As I am now situated I have six genera, twelve species, and thirty- five varieties of nut producers. I would say in closing that I recently read in an insurance pamphlet that statistics showed that the best risks for indemnity companies were persons who were fat, swore some and had a hobby. That is, they were the least likely to go wrong and thus cause loss to those that guaranteed their honesty. The moral is : Grow nuts ; eating them will make one healthy and put on avoirdupois, in cracking them, one will occasionally hit liis finger, causing stronger language than usual, and, as for a hobby, I have found it the best and pleasantest I30ssible. 5;j| NUT GROWING IN MISSOURI By Prof. T. J. Talhert, Dept. of Horticulture, Univ. of Mo. Few realize the opportunities for the culture of the native nuts of Missouri for home consumption and the commercial markets. Neither is it generally known that Missouri ranks first in the production of black walnuts and black walnut lumber. Missouri also takes high rank in the production of the pecan^ the most universall}' grown nut tree in America, the principal groves being located along the Missis- sippi and Missouri rivers. But few, if any states, all factors con- sidered, are better adapted to the production of these nuts. We have been too much interested in jiroducing fruits, grain crops and mules to give this wholesome and nutritious food the consideration which it demands. Worst of all we have ruthlessly destroyed in many instances the beautiful, productive and valuable nut groves throughout the state. Someone has said that the groves were God's first temples. This statement must have referred to the Missouri walnut, hickory, pecan, and chinquapin groves, because there are none greater or finer to be found anywhere. The shell and shag bark hickory nuts, white walnut (butternut), hazel nuts and c'hinkapins, are native and common to many sections of the state. These nuts are hardy and productive under Missouri conditions. Their flavor and quality is unsurpassed. Mis- souri can boast of as great or a greater range in native nut production than any other state. The nuts mentioned may also be grown success- fully and ))rofitably in all of the 114 counties of the state. Value of Nut Trees on the Far m Nut trees on the farm are valuable for not only their fruit and lum- ber but they provide sliade and protection for live stock, crops, and the farmstead. They are also o'bjects of beauty, and' enhance the ap- pearance of the landscape. They may be grown profitably and suc- cessfully on lands which are not suitable on account of rouglmess, odd shape, steepness, gullying, or being an out of the way place. The trees are also generally easy to procure and start. Tlieir culture is 33 not difficult, and few insects and diseases in Missouri attack nut trees seriously. As individual trees, therefore, black and white walnuts, hickories, and pecans, may be grown profitably for their nuts, or they may be grown in groups on good land which is not valuable for other purposes, particularly for the growing of truck, fruit, or grain crops. Missouri is favored in that her native nut trees may be generally grown success- fully where grain crops thrive. Our farmers are, therefore, very fortunate because of this fact as practically every owner of land can find some place on his farm suitable for the growing of nut trees. Nut Trees for Road-Side Planting The native walnuts, hickories, and pecans of Missouri lend them- selves admirably to road-side planting. This is true because the trees are hardy, and fairly good growers. Little spraying is required for fruit production or the protection of the foliage. Their large size, stately and beautiful shapes are attractive and add materially to the beautification of road-sides. There is no other suitable tree for road- side planting that has as long a life or is as desirable from every view- point as our nut trees. Last but not least, the fruit of nut trees grown on the road-side is enjoyed and long rememliered by all who use the highways. Propagation of Nut Trees Hickories and pecans are generally a great deal more difficult to propagate by budding and grafting than fruit trees. An inexperienced operator will, therefore, usually find great difficulty in propagating nut trees. Skilled propagators, however, are able to multiply them rapidly and successfully. Since the business of propagating nut trees requires skill and patience and a high degree of specialization, it is generally a wise procedure for the farmer to purchase the nut trees desired from some reputable nursery rather than to attempt to propa- gate them himself. Better nut trees will not only usually be secured from the nursery, but anywhere from two to four or five years time may be saved in bringing of the trees into bearing. Those who are willing to study and practice diligently enough to acquire skill should not find the propagation methods adapted to nut trees unsurmountable. Such individuals should learn in a reasonable 34 timCj propagation methods, and be able to produce high grade profit- able trees. Since nut trees do not usually come true from seed, this method of propagation c^innot be relied upon. The grower is likely to secure from seed as many different kinds of sorts as seeds planted. And rarely is a seedling as good as our named and cultivated varieties. Where the farmer is capable of doing his own budding and grafting seedling trees may be grown as stocks for improved sorts. Value of Good Xiit Trees The work of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, as well as that of many other experiment stations, has shown conclu- sively that large, growthy, vigorous young nut trees are usually much more likely to succeed and become profitable, than weakly, stunted, slow-growing stock. It is false economy, therefore, for the farmer to buy or use for plinting, inferior nut trees. Too much emphasis can- not be placed upon this matter as the success of nut groves may de- pend largely upon the vigor and health of the trees used for trans- planting. Culture of Nut Trees Like the culture of deciduous fruit trees, nut trees to be a success, should be planted on rich, deep, well drained soils. Soils too poor or not drained well enough to produce good truck or grain crops should not be used for tlie culture of nut trees. After the trees are planted they should receive good cultivation, consisting of hoeing or plowing — or both — at intervals through the spring and early summer, in order to keep down grass and weeds. Where there is not sufficient fertility to produce a good strong growth, fertilizers should be added. The best fertilizer in general for nut trees is barnyard manure. This should be used during the winter, or in the early spring as growth is starting. It may be placed around the trunks of young trees where it is scarce at the rate of a half dozen to a dozen shovels full. In order to prevent making a harbor for field mice which may girdle young trees, it is well to place the manure from twelve to sixteen inches away from the trunks of the trees. A\nien apiDlied to the soil, manure should be worked in by hoeing and plowing. Regular cultivations afterward to maintain the soil moisture and make 35 available plant foods, should be continued during each year until the trees are from six to ten years of age — after which cultivation may be discontinued providing the trees are able to make sufficient growth each year to maintain good production. It is important at all times that the grower study his trees carefully and see that they are healthy and vigorous and that a substantial growtli is secured each season. Other- wise he cannot realize a profit from nut production and the trees are likely to be a disappointment. Nut Tree Yields Pecans, walnuts, and hickories, may produce a few nuts at an early age, but paying crops are not usually expected under ten years and a full crop of nuts is generally not received until the trees are from fifteen to twenty years old. An average crop ranges from on€ to twenty bushels. Production, as with fruits, will depend largely upon the culture the nut trees receive. Nut trees under good cultivation may in twelve or fourteen years, bear as many nuts as neglected trees at twenty-five years of age. Profits from Nut Trees No one should think of getting rich quick by planting groves of any of the nut trees mentioned above, neither is it generally advisable for farmers to plant large acreages to nut trees upon land which is well adapted for tlie growing of truck, grain, or orchard crops. If interested in nut culture, it is usually a wise procedure for the grower to start on a small scale, making his plantings on waste land or iin- accessible land which is not well adapted to the growing of ordinary farm crops. Such land should, of course, be fertile and well-drained but it is not necessary that it be as level and as accessible as that generally used in crop production. The farmer who has had ex- perience in nut culture may, of course, profitably and safely extend his plantings to a much greater extent than the beginner. Truck crops such as potatoes, cabbage, watermelons, cantaloupes and strawberries may be grown successfully as inter-crops until the trees' come into profitable bearing. The farmer may also frequently utilize to advantage the grass which grows beneath nut trees. Trees of large size are rarely injured by live stock, and as a rule all our common grasses do well when grown beneath them. 36 Timber and Nut Yields Our greatest produetion of pecans comes from the bottom lands along the JNIississippi River in Southeast Missouri. The main shipping points being Ste. Genevieve, St. Mary's, Menfro, Caruthersville and Hornersville. Pecans are also found in the Mississippi River bottom from St. Charles to Hannibal and in the Missouri and tributary river bottom lands from St. Louis to St. Joseph. According to the United States census for 1920 Missouri has 107 million board feet of black walnut lumber, ranking first among the States of the Union. In 1910 Missouri farms were growing 1060 pecan trees, while in 1920 more than 2000 farms were growing them, representing an in- crease of 47 per cent in ten years. The bearing pecan trees in 1910 were listed at i-9,000 and the non-bearing at 7,000, while in 1920 the number of bearing trees were 90,000 and non-bearing 35,000, which gives us an increase of 11,000 bearing trees and 28,000 non-bearing trees in a ten year period. Our pecan production in 1909 was 1 417,000 pounds, while in 1919 it had risen to 550,000 pounds. In 1 910 the total black walnut production was 3,000,000 pounds. For more recent production, figures are not available but since there has been a great revival of interest in the production of this nut, a sub- stantial increase has undoubtedly been made. English walnuts were growing on 86 farms in 1910 with trees numbering 1214, while in 1920 only 34 farms reported English wal- nuts and the total number of trees were reduced to 321. This shows a marked decrease, less than lialf, in the number of farms growing English walnuts as well as about a 73 per cent decrease in number of trees. This is as it should be because the growing of English walnuts in Missouri is hazardous on account of the severity of our winters and only now and then do we find trees bearing nuts. Nut Investigation of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, at Columbia, is growing on the experimental fruit farms, practically all of the named varieties of the black walnuts, hickories, and pecans adapted to Missouri 37 conditions. Our success in the propagation of the black walnut has been unusually good. Native black walnut trees of all ages have been successfully propagated b}^ cleft grafting. Bearing trees which have been top worked or cleft grafted for five or six years generally pro- duce as large a bearing surface and as many nuts as unworked seed- ling trees of the same size and age. Our grafting and budding work has not been so successful with hickories and pecans. In general we have found that the native seedling hickories and pecans are most profitably changed to improved or better varieties by budding during June and July. Much information regarding the propagation, cultivation, fertiliza- tion, and varieties, has been obtained and it is hoped that this may be printed in bulletin form for the benefit of Missouri growers some time during the coming year. We do not look upon this nut project as the most valuable of the Experiment Station, yet we do not believe it to be the least valuable. This is true because upon practically every Missouri farm there is ample space for the planting of nut trees, or there may be seedling walnuts, hickories and pecans which can be greatly improved for nut jjroduction by graftage without the loss of timber. Such nuts should not only be of great value for home consumption but a substantial source of income. Our improved native nut trees should produce large quantities of wholesome and nutritious food, supply valuable lumber, enhance the farm income, and beautify the landscape. A Member: What method do you usually use in j^lanting your trees, in prejjaring the ground for putting them in; do you use dyna- mite } Mr. Talbert: We do not. We prejaare it just as we would pre- pare it for a good wheat or corn crop, by plowing it deep and working it up in good shape and for jNLissouri conditions we find that generally late fall or early winter plowing is better than spring plowing. But we try to make a good seed bed. Regarding dynamiting, we have not found it beneficial. Some say, If we have a real hard pan would it not be advisable to use dvnamite? I sav. If you have such a hard ground as ^hat, it is no place to plant a nut tree or apple tree. oS DISEASES OF NUT CROPS IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES By Dr. II. JV. Anderson, University of Illinois Commercial nut orcharding on a large scale is a comparatively new field of" agricultural endeavor. For this reason very few observations have been made on the effect of the disease factor in this venture. We know for a certainty that crops of wild nuts of the kinds we are inter- ested in are produced in the woods year after year with a fair degree of regularity. But when these same nut trees are placed under arti- ficial conditions of culture the results may be entirely different. To illustrate this point we may draw upon the experiences of the fruit growers. Our native crab apples, while subject to most of the dis- eases of the cultivated apples such as scab and blotch, prodiiced enormous crops of apples year in and year out, but wlien cultivated apple trees were grown in the same region it was soon discovered that the fungous diseases and insect pests completely ruined crops from a commercial standpoint. At first, however, our forefathers did not find it necessary to protect the apples by spraying but as the or- chards became more numerous and new insects and diseases were in- troduced from foreign countries and from other sections of our own country, the necessity of protection became more and more acute until today failure to spray spells "ruin" to the orchardist. We might picture large orchards of walnut, hickory, filbert, chest- nut, etc., in the region such as southern Illinois, where thousands of trees of the same species would be associated. Some disease such as chestnut blight or leaf spot enters and becomes esta'bli.slied. The nut culturists of this region have spent liundreds of thousands of dollars develojjing their orchards to the ))oint wliere they are getting crops and are now ready to reap their reward. Instead tlie dread blight kills out the chestnut and the leaf spot defoliates and weakens the walnut, hickory and butternut, while tlie blight destroys all the filbert plantations. Or worse yet, some unknown, foreign disease is intro- duced and almost before we are aware of it, it destroys thousands of 39 trees. This is not a fanciful picture because it has happened time and time again in tlie history of horticulture. We might cite chestnut blight, citrus canker and white pine blister rust as examples. There- fore, it behooves the nut culturist to take thought of the nut diseases. In the short time which lias been allotted me I cannot take up the diseases of all our northern nut crops. For this reason I am going to dwell only on the diseases of the native nuts, omitting the Englisli walnut with its bacterial blight and the pecan scab which is mainly southern in its range. Few of the diseases of nut crops have been carefully studied and even where we know something about them on the wild trees we are not certain as to how they will act when introduced into the "culti- vated" orchard. What I have to say, therefore, in regard to the probable effect of these diseases is more in the nature of a forecast, which, like some of our weather forecasts may prove to be wide of the mark. Chestnut Diseases Chestnut blight or canker: In 1912 I was fortunate enough to be employed by the state of Pennsylvania during the campaign to head off the chestnut blight in that state. I had an opportunity, therefore, to become intimately acquainted with this devastating dis- ease. As most of you know it is now so wide spread that there is no longer any hope of saving the wild American chestnut from practical extinction. However, the commercial growing of chestnuts need not be seriously affected by this disease except in those sections where the orchards are in close association with the natural growth. I will describe this disease briefly for the benefit of those who are not familiar with it. Although called "blight" it is really not a blight as this term is generally used. It is a canker disease which on account of its rapid development soon girdles the branches or young tree and thus causes the wilting and blighted appearance associated with the disease. The cankers are usually oval, slightly sunken, and on young limbs are conspicuous due to the fact that the bark of the canker is reddish brown in contrast to the normal dark green of the healthy limb. When the bark of a canker is peeled off there may be found tawny, fan-shaped growths of the fungous mycelium next the wood. The most conspicuous and characteristic symptom however, 40 is the appearance of numerous small brownish red pustules over the surface of the canker. These are the fruiting bodies of the fungus. (Specimens of bark showing these bodies were passed for examination). This fungus owes its destructiveness to the facts that (1) It is a rapid grower, girdling large branches in a few months and killing good sized trees within two years^ (2) It produces enormous numbers of spores or seeds within a short time, after the cankers are formed. These are of two kinds but both are exfremely resistant to cold and drying and consequently are able to spread the disease with astonishing speed. In fact, there seems to be no weak point in the entire life history of this fungus and for this reason we should be very careful to keep it out of our commercial chestnut orchards. Control of chestnut bligJit: The control of chestnut blight in commercial orchards is comparative!}^ simple in spite of the failure to control it in the forests. The reason for this is that in an orchard the individual tree is of much greater importance than in the forest and greater pains can be taken to eliminate the disease. Of course, if one jjlans to plant a chestnut orchard it would be very unwise to select a location where the native chestnut occurs. The chestnut does well in many localities outside its natural ran,g'e. There is little danger of the disease being introduced into plantations outside the area of the natural chestnut growth, provided one is reasonably care- ful to avoid securing nursery stoek of any kind or other plant ma- terials from the blight region. Should any trees show cankers, prompt and careful cutting out of the cankers will eliminate the disease. Prompt and thorough work is necessary. I will not attempt to des- cribe the method of cutting out cankers since this procedure is familiar to most of you biit should you desire further information along this line I shall be glad to furnish it. The fact that the native chestnut is being exterminated is to tlie advantage of the commercial grower of the better chestnut varieties since he can obtain a better market and be sure of increasing demands in the future. There is a possibility in developing blight resistant hybrids by crossing our chestnuts with pure strains of Japanese and Chinese chestnuts. As many of you know tlie blight fungus was found to have been imported from China where it seems to do little damage on the native chestnuts. Most hybrids have proved susceptible to blight 41 but little work has been done along this line for the special purpose of securing resistance. Chestnut Leaf Spot: One of the most serious diseases of the chestnut is a leaf spot caused by Marssonia ochroleuca. I have col- lected this several times in southern Illinois. During damp seasons it causes a decided, reduction in the leaf area. It will probably never become serious enough to warrant spraying but no dtoubt it could be controlled by this method. Striimella canker: A common canker of the oak is also prevalent on the chestnut. It is caused by Strumella ,coryneoidia. It frequently girdles the twigs and even large limbs and may prove to be serious. It is probable that this can be controlled by cutting out the cankers but the fact that the oaks are common hosts of this fungus makes it doubtful if cutting out would be a practical method since reinfection would constantly occur. The chestnut is subject to the usual wood and root rots and has several other leaf spots of minor importance. It should be remembered that the chestnut is a close relative of the oak and is consequently, subject to many of the same diseases. Walnut, H ichor y and Butternut Diseases I class tlie diseases of these three nut trees together since most diseases are prevalent on all three hosts, A leaf spot caused by Gnoinonia leptostyla (Marssonia juglandis) is the most serious and wide spread disease of these three hosts. It is worse on butternut than on walnut but seems to be very erratic in its behavior on hickory nut. I have seen it cause almost complete defoliation on one hickory tree while neighboring trees seem to have suffered very little. It is probable that this is a varietal difference in susceptibility since hickories differ very markedly in their characters when growing wild. This point should be taken into consideration when selecting wild hickories for grafting. This leaf spot causes large, dark brown irregular spots on the leaf and these are frequently so abundant that the entire leaf is killed. Even when not killed defoliation frequently results. Last summer I watched a seedling butternut tree which grew near my dining room 42 window. It was a vei\y healthy specimen having grown about six feet in a single year. It seemed to have escaped the leaf spot until rather late in the season but when the disease did start it took only about three weeks to cause all but a few of the leaves to droj). This fungus produces large crops of spores on the under surface of the leaves and these are the source of further infection. In addition the young twigs are attacked and it has been demonstrated in Europe that spriiiig infection may take place from fresh crops of spores pro- duced on these overwintering spots. But it is probable that infection also takes place from the dead leaves beneath the tree since the fungus lives over winter in these leaves and produces a crop of spores of different character from those produced on the twigs and leaves. These spores are capable of reinfecting the leaves in the spring. Little is acti;ally known concerning the life history of this parasite and one must guess as to the best methods of control. Undoubtedly any practice which reduces the amount of shade in the orchard will aid in reducing the amount of injury from this disease. Destruction of the deid leaves underneath the tree during the winter or early spring would probably be of benefit. Dormant spraying would probably be of value since similar diseases on the other dormant plants are con- trolled by this method. Summer spraying will control the disease but the number and time of applications would have to be worked out experimentally. It is evident from the above statements that we are sadly in need of some experimental work on the control of nut diseases of this type. I will take up this point later under some suggestions I have to make. As most of you know^ the butternut is a short lived tree. Many explanations have been given for this fact. One is that of wood decay while others believe that it is due to some special disease of roots. JNIuch needs to be learned about this condition. All three of these nut trees suffer from other leaf spots. The walnut has at least four others but none of them are of any great im- portance so far as we now know. There are two powdery mildews on walnut and butternut and one on hickory. These are seldiom serious but may prove of importance in the orchard and are certain to cause trouble in the nursery. 43 Wood rots are common on the walnut and butternut but not so common on the hickory. A leaf spot of rather common occurrence is prevalent on the liickory but is rare on the other hosts. This is known as "leaf mildew" but is not the "powdery" mildew mentioned above. The fungus causing it is called Microstroma juglundis. The leaves show white powdery patches on the under surface early in the summer and later, yellowish spots are noticed on the upper surface. A witches broom effect on the shagbark hickory is supposed to be due to this fungus. Filbert Two "blights" are prevalent on the filbert. One caused by a bacterium, seems to be confined to the Pacific Northwest while the other, a fungous blight, is at present confined to the region east of the Rocky Mountains. By far the more serious of these blights is the latter. It has been stated that this alone has kept the filbert indjiistry from becoming es- tablished in the Eastern United States. The fungus, Cryptosporella anoviala is prevalent on the wild' American hazelnut throughout its range but is not virulent enough on this host to cause serious trouble. However, when the filbert becomes diseased, it is quickly killed back to the roots or to the main stem. It is certain that the filbert in- d^istry will be a very unsatisfactory venture until satisfactory methods of control are secured. I am informed by some growers that they are able to keep this disease in check but it will take a number of years to establish this beyond question. This disease is similar in its life history to the chestnut blight in that it is caused by a group of fungi known as the Ascoviycetes. It produces enormous numbers of fruiting bodies, black or ash-grey in color, on the twigs and' larger branches. The fungus girdles the branch causing a sunken con- stricted area. It is probable that the control of this disease will be obtained by rigid cutting out and burning all affected branches. Also all wild hazel plants in tlie neighborhood of the plantings will have to be re- moved. Another disease of filberts not known to occur in this country but common in Italy is caused by a species of yeast (Nematospora coryli). 44 This disease is of special .significance since there is no external evidence of the malady on the nuts before they are cracked. When cracked the kernels are seen to be jjartly shrivelled or otherwise badly de- formed andi quite worthless. It would be impossible to keep this disease from being imported into the U. S. as long as we allow any filberts to be brought in from Italy or other countries where it occurs. A very similar disease occurs on Lima beans in this country. It has been found in Northern Illinois and Virginia and is probably rather wide spread. I am of the opinion that the fungi are identical^ although they have been given different specific n imes. If this proves to be true, we may expect trouble from this disease in the future. Discussion The one outstanding jihrase in the previous discussion of nut dis- eases is "It is probable." I think I have scanned the literature on the subject of nut diseases with reasonable thoroughness. Nmnerous isolated facts are known but these facts do not give us sufficient knowl- edge to outline definite methods of control. It will be necessary for northern nut growers t^ obtain knowledge of their diseases much is the southern pecan growers have secured information on pecan scab or California walnut growers on bacterial blight. In other words the life histories of the fungi causing our common and destructive northern nut diseases must be carefully worked out. This is necessary before control measures can be satisfactorily applied. Then spray schedules must be tried over a series of years until the number and kinds of spray applications are established. Also, the life history studies will point the way to essential sanitary measures. It will in other words, eliminate much of the uncertainty which now exists and make nut growing as a whole less of a gamble. We are fortunate here in the north in having the experience of the Southern pecan growers to g;uide us. We have a reasonably cer- tain knowledge of what sprays can be applied to nut trees with safety and which spray mixtures will probably be most satisfactory. The fact that Bordeaux mixture can be used on nut trees is in itself of great significance since few fungi can escape when this fungicide is applied in the proper manner at the proper time. \Vliat we must learn now is when to apply the sprays. The nut industry is not yet profitable enough to permit the application of ten or fifteen sprays a year without knowing that these sprays are absolutely necessary. 45 It should be the policy of this Association to interest the Northern experiment stations in the study of nut diseases and insects and try to secure for tliem sufficient funds to see that this work is properly carried on. Ultimately a nut orchard containing various nut varieties should be made available for experimental spraying work. But first of all a close study should be made of the habits of the fungi which are causing nut diseases in our northern states. At present these can be studied in part on wild hosts but this is only a temporary expedient, for their behavior, as I have intimated before, may be quite different on cultivated nuts. The necessity of guarding against the introduction of diseases and insects into your orchards is a problem which all of you should con- sider seriously. The newness of nut culture makes this all the more important. Nursery trees are shipped from distant parts of the country and little is known concerning the pests of the nuts in the various sections of the country and in foreign countries. Think twice before you buy trees from any source and when you do buy them, inspect them very carefully for anything that looks like a diseased condition. If such is found, do not be satisfied until you know that you are not dealing with a harmful parasite which you might intro- duce into your own and your neighbors' orchards. I would like to say a few words about the indiscriminate planting of nut trees such as was advocated last night in the address of our good friend, W. S. Linton, of Michigan. I believe this would be a serious mistake since on such trees insect pests and fungus diseases would thrive. It takes an expert to take proper care of trees and such experts would not or could not be employed to take care of all these trees. No one w^ho has any knowledge of the fruit industry would advocate the planting of apple trees along all our highways. Such plantings would harbor many insects and diseases which w^ould ruin the commercial apple orchards of the neighborhood or seriously in- crease the cost of protecting these trees against the pests. iO TOPWORKING HICKORY TREES FOR THE BEGINNER By Dr. W . C. Deming, Connecticut On almost every farm in the country, where the hickory tree is indigenous, there are many such trees that may be top worked and made to bear choice nuts, instead of the poor ones that most of them naturally produce. Even on small places there are likely to be a few of these trees. The pioneer work of a few enthusiasts, in experi- menting with grafting nut trees, has made this almost as easy as graft- ing apple trees, once the methods are understood. It is the object of this paper to describe one of these methods. Other methods are described, and a fuller discussion given, in a paper published in the fifteenth annual report of this association. The idea of trying to perpetuate some fine nut tree, that they have come to know about, has occurred to many persons, and the natural thought was to do so by planting the fine nuts. But this has nearly always resulted in disappointment because the trees growing from this planting have hardly ever borne nuts as good as those from the parent tree. Such trees are also often very long in coming into bearing. I know of three trees, resultin,g from the planting of sev- eral nuts, that did not bear until the 35th j-ear. Often, too, they are very unfruitful after beginning to bear. Just as we get our good fruit trees of all kinds by budding or grafting seedling trees with scions from parent trees known to bear fine, or named, varieties of fruit, so must we graft or bud seedling nut trees in order to get fine, or named, varieties of nuts. Then the nuts produced will be like those borne by the parent tree, and the grafted trees will begin to bear as soon as will grafted apple trees, in from three to six years. There are several species of hickory native in the North, such as the common shagbark, the western shellbark. the mockernut, the pig- nut, the bitternut and, over a more limited rar^ge, the pecan, or pecan 47 hickory. There are also numerous hybrids between the hickory species, So far as we know any one of these hickories will take and grow when grafted on any of the others. The most, and least, desirable combina- tions have not been finally determined, but this much may be said about the least desirable; that the final results with pecans topworked on shag'bark have not been satisfactory, and that some of the hybrids fail to live long when grafted on species other than the two which were their parents. The question of compatibility is now being worked out and will soon be better known. Meanwhile, bearing in mind these cautions, especially with regard to the hybrid hickories, one may begin topworking, using whatever hickories are at hand as stocks, on which to graft whatever scions of good hickories can be obtained. I suggest that, in getting a knowledge of, and skill in, grafting nut trees, it will be well to practice with scions cut from any hickory tree rather than to use up valuable scions in the first attempt. It is likely to take some time to learn how to graft successfully, especially if you have to do so from descriptions. An hour or two with an ex- perienced grafter will teach more than many hours of reading. Apple trees are very easy to graft and good to practice on. Equipment The first need is a good knife. The grafting knife made by Maher & Gross, with a sturdy handle and blade, is a good one. Shap- ing the scions is much ensier if the knife is sharpened with a slight bevel on the upper side of the edge so that the flat side is next to the scion in making the cut. This bevel must be made on an oil stone by the grafter as the knives are not sharpened in that way bv the makers. Pruning shears are needed to cut up the scions and to trim the stocks. A sharp saw with medium teeth with a good set is necessary to cut the stocks. I like a medium-sized carpenter's saw, but there are many forms of pruning saws. A double edged saw is not to be recommended. For binding the scions in place raffia is the most used material. It can be bought at seedsmen's supply stores. It sliould be dampened before using. Soft twine, also, may be used. 48 One of the greatest advantages ever made in the art of grafting is the use of melted paraffin for waxing, due to Dr. Morris. There is a special melter for the paraffin, devised by Dr. M^orris, but a use- ful one maybe made at home from a lard pail with a bicycle lantern set into the bottom, a few holes punched for draft, and a small saucepan set into the top to hold' the paraffin. Paraffin can be bought cheaply in the form of Parowax at any grocery store. Complete the necessary equipment with a small, rather stiff, ten-cent paint brush. Scions One of the difficulties at present is to get scions of good varieties. If you know of a .tree where you can cut them do so when the buds are completely dormant, in late winter or very early spring. Select the plumpest and lon,gest terminal twigs and cut them at least a. foot long with three or four inches of two-year-old wood at the butt end. Even after growth has started a section of stem mav often be found where there are good dormant buds and such scions may be used successfully. Until they are wanted for grafting, scions must be carefully kept. This means that they must be kept moist enougli to prevent the bark from shrivelling and dry enough so that the buds do not start to grow. A man must learn how to do this by experience with his own conditions. Scions packed away tightly for any length of time are apt to go wrong, either by drying too much, by being too moist and starting to grow, or by heating, molding] or rotting. A simple way to keep them is to dig a hole about 3 feet deep in the ground outdoors, in a dry and sheltered place where water can never reach them, as under the back porch. Have the scions in convenient lengths of one to two feet. Wrap them in a bundle, or bundles, in a light tar paper, which helps to prevent mold. Leave the ends open for ventilation. Lay the bundles in the bottom of the bole and cover the top of the hole witli an old carpet, or several newspapers. This description gives a general idea of the conditions under which scions should be kept. A man may vary it according to his own conditions, bearing in mind the principles. It is of vital importance to the success of grafting that the scions should be in good condition. The usual mistakes are in keeping them too wet and too much wrapped up. They sliould be examined fre- quently to see that they are keeping well. Scions may be obtained from the owners of parent trees, or from other experimenters and grafters. 49 Tifne of Year for Grafting Experts have .grafted nut trees in nearly every month of the year. But for beginners the best time is from the breaking of the buds in spring until about the first of July. That is, from the time the bark begins to slip until a date after which there is likely to be too little time left for grafts to grow and harden their wood before freezing weather. It will be noted that this is different from the former prac- tice of grafting while the trees are still dormant, during the cold and unpleasant weather of early spring. If grafting is done before the b;irk will slip a different method must be used from the one here to be described. For a description of this see the fifteenth (1921) annual report of the Association. Preparation of Stocks Vigorous young trees not over three inches in diameter, growing in the open, make the best stocks. Stunted trees, or those growing in heavy shade, make poor stocks. Cut off the top of the tree at a con- venient level, say about breast high, leaving about one third of its branches. If this leaves too many branches below the cut they may be pruned back. The cut may be made higher if necessary to get above a sufficient number of side branches, or if the trees are in a pasture cows will surely eat the tender shoots of hickories if they can reach them. It may be necessary to use a step ladder if the point for grafting is liigh. jNIake tlie cut just above a branch of medium size, which will keep up the circulation of sap. the life blood of the tree. Some grafters advise that the cut be made with a heavy slant, but I prefer to cut with a slight slant, or none at all, and then to set from two to four grafts according to the size of the stock. The best of these is allowed to grow to form the new tree. The others are pruned back for scion-wood ye/ir after year. They hasten the healing of the stump and prevent decay. My own practice is to cut back these stocks at the time I do the grafting. If about a third of the br-inches is left there is no trouble from excessive sap-flow. The Operation of Grafting Apply the point of the knife to the edge of the bark on the cut-off stock, at the place selected for the giraft, and make a cut through the 50 bark and down to the wood, one and one-lialf inches long, under- cutting the bark slightly to the left and sbinting the cut very slightly to the right. Now hold the butt end of the scion alongside this cut and make another similar cut to the right of the first so that between the two cuts a tongue of bark will be marked out, of the same width as the scion, slightl}^ undercut at both sides, and slightly tapering toward the lower end. With practice a very accurate fit can be made. When the tongue of bark lias been tliu.s marked out, but before it is raised, proceed to prepare the scion. With the pruning shears cut the scion five or six inches long. If too short it is difficult to hold in the hand while cutting the scarf. The scions should have two or more good buds, not necessarily lar;g;e buds nor terminal buds. Hold the scion in tlie left hand firml}' witli the butt pointing away from the body. Hold the knife in the riglit hand with the tliumb across the fingers as in making a fist, not on the back of the knife. Apply the edge of the knife to the scion an incli and a half from the butt. Then, holding the handle of the knife forward as far as possible toward the butt of the scion so as to make a draw cut, not a shove or push cut, make a scarf an inch long or longer w^ith one stroke of the knife. This is easy to do witli practice if the knife is very sharp and bevelled on the upper edge, as already described, and if done with a strong draw cut. This leaves the scion with a clean, true scarf an inch long or longer, terminating in a point. It is usual, but not necessary, to turn tlie scion over and cut a thin slice from the last quarter inch of the tip, just cutting through the bark to the wood but not making a heavy bevel. Now with the tip of the knife sliglitly raise the upper end of the tongue of bark on the stock and insert the point of the scion with the cut surface toward the wood of the stock. Push the scion, or tap it with the blade of the knife held flat, downward until it settles firmly into place. Slice off the projecting tongue of bark nearly level with the general surface of the stock. This dovetailing of the scion into the stock should hold it firmly in place. W^hen the bark of the stock is thick it is possible to dispense with tying, if the fit is perfect. But it is always safer to tie the scion firmly in place with raffia or soft cord. Have the raffia slightly moist. Take two or three turns of the raffia close to the edge of the stock, binding the scion tightly to the wood. Continue the winding with two or three turns around the stock at the level of the upper end of the tongue of bark where it was cut 51 caway. This forces tlie lower end of the scion into pL'ice. Slip the end of the raffia under the last turn or two and pull it tight. The graft is then ready for waxing. Waxing A very important point about the use of paraffin for graftirug wax is that it shall be at the right temperature. Many make the mistake of using it too cool. It must be so hot that when applied it runs and spreads forming a thin film. If too cool it will not pene- trate the crevices, and when it get cold it is likely to crack and flake off. The right temperature is just below where the parafin begins to smoke. If it smokes it is too hot. If it does not spread at a touch it is too cool. Apply it with a light quick touch to the whole site of the operation, the scion, its tip, buds and bark, to the tongue of bark on the stock, being sure to apply it low enough to cover the lower ends of the incisions in the bark, which often escape notice. The top of the stock must also be completely covered with paraffin. The method of tying described, making two bands around the graft instead of completely covering it with the raffia, allows the hot paraffin to run under the raffia wherever tliere is a space, thus leaving no open spaces whatever in the whole graft where sap might accumulate and spoil it by fermenting. When the graft is finished the paraffin should only be noticeable by its shining appearance. There should be no blobs and dribblings. Now label the graft with a painted wooden label with copper wire fastening, with the date, the name of the variety and any other record desired. A good thing to which to fasten the label is a small staple driven into the stock. Pass the doubled wire through the staple and twist it up firmly so that it will not sway in the wind. By using tliis method of labelling the tags will not have to be shifted about and they will stay in place and remain legible for a long time. Do not separate the wires and leave the label loose and swaying in the wind or it will be sure, sooner or later, to wear away the wire and become lost. After Care In from ten days to three or four weeks the grafts should begin to grow. They should be inspected at least o"ce a week, at first, any imperfections in the waxing or tying made good, and bud-eating worms 52 picked off. It is ino.st important to rub off' at once any new growth that appears on the stock. Often it appears and grows with great rapidity and may absorb tlie sap and starve out the growing grafts. Often the grafts, too, will grow with great '•apidity. They must then be supported or they will be blown out, broken off" or fall of their own weight. A convenient way to support the grafts is to cut a sap- linjg two or three feet taller than the stock, sharpen the butt end and push it into the ground at the foot of the stock. Then tie it firmly to the top of the stock with strong cord arid tie the new shoots to the up- right thus formed with raffia or soft cord. Continue the tying from time to time as necessary. The following spring, before growth starts, the strongest shoot may be chosen to form the new tree and the others cut back, leaving buds on each so that they will throw out new shoots. This helps to heal the stump and prevent decay, and furnishes scions for future grafting from year to year. At this time also, or earlier durijig the dormant season, the removal of the limbs left on the stock must be begun. While at all times new growth must be rigidly kept off' it is a matter of judgment in each case how much of the old limbs should be removed. If the stock is small, and the :grafts have made a good growth, all of the limbs may be cut away. When the tree is large only part of the limbs can be taken off'. If too much is cut away one of two things may happen. Either the tree may die for lack of nourishment for the roots, or the grafts will take on such rapid growth that they will sprawl and spindle so as to make it diff"icult to support and train them into a good he.'id. (On account of space and expense limitations, and in accordance with the vote of the convention in 192.J. the transcript of the stenog- rapher's full report has been unsparinglj' cut and it has also been necessary to abstract some of the papers read instead of publishing them in full. Copies of the full report are in the hands of the secre- tary). Mr. Henry D. Spencer of Decatur, Illinois, read a paper entitled, "Some Methods of Arousing Public Interest in Nut Growing." Mr. Spencer mentioned as among the obstacles to the success of the eff'orts of the nut growers associations that it is so hard to stirt a new idea and that the people are so ignorant of the possibilities of 53 the soil and climate about tliem. He illustrated this with instances from his own experience. He stated that the chestnut, chinquapin, hickory, pecan, hard shelled almond, butternut, hazel and filbert and walnut will grow wherever the oak will grow. He suggested the formation of "Bird and Tree Clubs" in every town as a means of interesting the people in the possibilities of horti- culture primarily, and eventually in nut growing. The Boy Scouts, Mothers' Clubs and Parent-Teaehers' Associations should also be en- listed. "The education of children in the beauty of trees, shrubs and flowers might well be called the primary grades of nut culture. The planting, cultivation and pruning of nut trees come in the high school courses. The budding, grafting and propagation of trees^ the creation of new varieties, equal a college course." Mr. Spencer suggested the planting of memorial groves of nut trees in honor of great civic leaders and others of noble character. These would serve, also, to demonstrate to the public what kind of nut trees will grow in that vicinit}^ The Farm Bureaus should persuade fanners to plant groves of nut trees on their farms. One township might thus be made an object lesson to a whole state. Avenues of, and individual nut trees should be planted as memorials to the young men who have given their lives in war for us. Mr. Niblack talked briefly, enthusiastically supporting Mr. Spencer's views. ]Mr. F. A. Bartlett of Stamford, Conn., read a paper on "Tree Surgery and Food Production." After stating that all tree owners are eventually confronted with the problem of preserving them from in- terna] decay, instancing especially topworked nut trees, Mr. Bartlett went on to speak of the delicate structure of the living parts of a tree, especially the cambium layer, explaining how a wound on the bark of a tree is healed by the rapid multiplication of the living cells in this cambium layer due to the release of pressure, which causes the cambium, or new tissues, to roll over the broken area. Mr. Bartlett gave an interesting review of the history of tree surgery showing its great advance in the past twenty-five years and the very highly developed and specialized profession that it has be- come. He spoke of the 20,000 different kinds of insect enemies of trees, most of which exist in four stage? making 80,000 forms of insect 54 life to be recognized. There are also tliousands of forms of fungous diseases. Mr. Bartlett then described methods of treating various forms of disease and injury to trees by applications of hot paraffine, paint, tar, asphalt and other protectives, the preparation and treatment of cavi- ties, the bracing of weakened trees, emphasizing that trees often suffer from lack of plant food and it may be. necessary to bring them back to a good state of nutrition before they will respond well to the methods of tree surgery. Mr. Bartlett also described a new method of treatment called "Heal-Collar" by which the edge of a cavity is treated by surgeon's plaster, waterproofing, roofing paper and a backing of elastic cement, which prevents the bark from drying out and stimulates new tissues to a degree never before known. Cement is no longer the material of choice for the filling of most cavities. Flexible, light Magnesite fill- ings are preferable. Power driven burs and chisels are now being used in cavity excavations and new and improved methods are con- stantly being introduced. Mr. George W. Pierce read a paper on "Nut Growing on the Pacific Coast." After speaking of the wonderful natural productiveness of that region and its great development, he gave a historical review of nut culture there, instancing the black walnut as of little commercial im- portance, the English walnut as the nut of most general distribution and greatest importance, with a present production of 35,000 tons, and the almond as second in importance with a present production of 10,000 tons. The almond is a tree requiring the greatest care in the selection of varieties, in soil and in climatic conditions. More mistakes are made m the planting of the almond than with any other nut tree. Excessive moisture is fatal. Draughts of cold air and late spring frosts are injurious. Interplanting of varieties is necessary for good pollination. About 1875 "Sir. A. T. Hatch of Suisun brought out a number of distinct and highly improved varieties, the chief ones being the Nonpareil, tlie I X L and the Ne Plus Ultra. These are the best table varieties in California if not in the world. The almond comes into bearing in from three to four years from time of planting. Trees should not be planted less than 25 feet apart and thirty feet is better. 55 The pistachio is grown to some extent but there are no large or- chards and but few bearing trees. It may yet prove a commercial success. The government has sent out 25^000 trees. The chestnut has not been grown extensively anywhere on the Pacific Coast. But little progress in planting has been made althougli the tree is said to be prolific and to grow on heavy soil. The pecan is found in many widely separated districts. It grows rapidly, is hardy and is more generally found as a shade tree than in orchard plantings. In some sections they bear fairly well but more generally they are shy bearers. The filbert seems to do best in the northern sections. Though tlie present output is small the trees are thrifty and the outlook is promis- ing. The estimated yield for the present year is 75 tons. Peanut growing has been largely abandoned on account of compe- tition from the cheap labor Japanese product. It may be assumed that somewhere in the Pacific Coast states can be found extensive sections adapted to the production of almost any variety of nut produced elsewhere in any temperate or semi-tropical climate. Competition from the cheap labor products of other countries must, however, be taken into consideration. Dr. Jolin Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan, read a paper on "The Supreme Value of Nuts as Human Food." This paper has been published in full, witli ilhistrations, in the magazine Good Health and copies may be had by writing to Good Health Publishing Co., Dept. 12, Battle Creek, Michigan. It is possible to give here only a brief summary of Dr. Kellogg's valuable address. Dr. Kellogg believes that the fear that this country can never produce enough food to support a population of more than two Imn- dred million people is groundless. With proper methods of produc- tion and distribution it could feed a billion or even the whole world. At present more than three-fourths of the food we produce goes to feed our domestic animals and this is a very wasteful method of pro- ducing food for ourselves. Man originally lived on the products of the forest and only took to eating meat when these products grew scarce. Our present day diet is unwholesome and we should return to a diet of fruits, nuts, vegetables, seeds and milk. Over half the 56 human race subsists on a diet that contains no meat, or only in minute quantities. Dr. Kellogg believes, and quotes authorities who advocate, that we should adopt a two-story form of agriculture with crop- producing trees, largely nut trees, set far apart so that field crops may be grown between them. The nut is the very quintessence of human nutriment because of its richness in protein and fat especially. It is not to be regarded as a substitute for meat but rather we should consider that meat has been substituted . for nuts. They were the chief food staple of primitive man. Immunity from disease and splendid health result from a diet wholly without meat. Nuts are absolutely free from impurities and the danger of carrying disease. They supply not only everything which meat supplies, and of the finest quality, but also essential elements which are lacking in meat, notably lime. Nuts, unlike meat, are free from acid producing ten- dencies which cause hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Dr. Kellogg believes that we should encourage the planting of nut trees on our farms and along our highways and that we should appeal to the primitive appetite of our boys and girls for nuts for the pro- motion of nut culture. He feels that this association is doing a very important work in advocating nut culture and predicts that those who have labored so long as pioneers in the nut growing industry will be l.onored in the future as public benefactors. 57 THE NUT FLORA OF CANADA /. A. Neilson, Ontario Agr. College, Guelph. During the past four years the writer has been devoting a limited ;i mount of time to a study of the occurrence and distribution of the native and exotic species of nut trees in Canada. As a result of these studies some interesting data have been obtained which show that the nut bearing flora of Canada is a fairly comprehensive one for a country of northern latitudes. By way of explanation I would like to say that a very small amount of my time is available for nut tree survey work in only one province, and consequently much remains to be done before complete data are available. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Canada is an immense country and that it takes a long time to make a study of any one branch of plant life. The major part of the data presented in this paper today was read at the Rochester (1922) meeting of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, and, therefore, those who were present at that meeting will not likely get much new information. Our audience today, how- ever, is composed mainly of people who may not be familiar with Canada, and therefore it gives me pleasure to present to the people of this meeting some facts relative to the nut bearing flora of my native land, and to tell you something of the progress of Canada's newest branch of horticulture. Geographical Distribution of Nut Trees in Canada The chief native nut trees are the black walnut, butternut, (white walnut), hickory, chestnut, beech and hazel. Of introduced nut trees, tliere are Persian, Japanese, Manchurian, and Chinese walnuts, Euro- pean, Japanese and Chinese chestnuts, pecans, almonds, filberts, tree hazels and the ginkgo. For convenience these various species will be discussed in groups ratlier than as native and introduced trees. The data relative to the distribution of the species described in this paper is based on informa- tion obtained through correspondence, personal observation and the 58 latest references. In so far as it pertains to native nut trees, it is believed to be accurate^ but in reference to introduced trees, it may not be complete, as it is difficult to determine accurately the distribu- tion of exotic nut bearing plants. THE WALNUT GROUP (Juglans sp.) In tliis family there are seven representatives, the black, tlic butter- nut or white, the Persian (English), the •Chinese, the Manchurian and two species of Japanese. The Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) The black walnut is one of our finest native trees. It grows to a large size, sometimes attaining a height of 100 feet and a trunk diameter of five feet. When grown in the open it makes a beautiful symmetrical tree having a large rounded crown with drooping lower branches. Contrary to popular belief the native walnut grows quite rapidly and in some cases bears quite early. From one lot of nuts planted by the writer a tree grew to a height of thirty-seven feet, with a trunk diameter of fourteen inches, in eighteen vears and beffan to bear in six j-ears from planting. The native walnut occurs quite abundantly in a belt of country bordering on Lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair and Huron, but has also been planted north and east of its native region, and does well when protected from cold winds. It is not definitely known how far north the black walnut can be grown, but it is believed that it should not be planted north of a line extending from Ottawa to North Bay. Some good specimens of the black walnut have been planted in the valleys of British Columbia and along the coastal section. There is also a fine grove growing near Montreal on the estate of the late Sir Henry Joly De Lothbinere. ]\Iany of these trees in British Col- umbia and Quebec are now bearing and some are yielding very good nuts. The Butternut or White Walnut (Juglans cinerea) The butternut, or white walnut as it is sometimes called, is much hardier than the black walnut and has a wider distribution in Canada. It is found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. In southern jNlani- 59 toba at Burnside, there is a grove of butternut trees that have grown to a fair size and borne several crops of good nuts. These trees were grown from nuts introduced from Bruce County in Ontario, many years ago, and serve to show the hardiness of the species. Japanese Walnuts (Jiiglans cordiformis and juglans sieboldianat) The Jajjanese walnut is represented in Canada by the common type (Juglans sieboldiana) and the heartnut (Juglans cordiformis). There are also hybrids between the Japanese walnuts and the butter- nut that are erroneously called the Japanese walnut. Both species are believed to be as hardy if not hardier than the black walnut, having been grown and fruited in sections where the black walnut does not occur. The Japanese walnut has been planted to a limited extent in Ontario with Ottawa as the northern limit in the east and Clarksburg in the west. There are many fine trees of the common type growing in tlie region extending from Toronto west- ward to Sarnia and southward to the lakes. The heartnut and the common ty]Je are also grown quite exten- sively in British Columbia, especially in the interior valleys of the southern section of the province. ^Ir. David Gellatly of Gellatly, B. C, who h?s done more for the nut culture in that province than any other man, has located several fine heartnut trees and is now pro- pagating the best of these by budding and grafting. Mr. Gellatly sent me several good specimens, which are shown in the collection on the table set aside for Canadian nuts. The largest and probably the finest heartnut tree in Canada is located at Jordan Station on the farm of Mr. Sylvester Kratz. This tree is 35 feet tall, 2 feet in diameter and spreads about 60 feet across the branches. It is also quite productive, having yielded more than five bushels of husked nuts in its best year and other good yields have been secured. I have bought the crop on Mr. Kratz's tree for three years in suc- cession and have distributed thousands of these nuts throughout Canada for trial planting. Some interesting results are exj^eeted, especially in connection with the possibility of some valuable hybrids being pro- duced. Another good tree has been located at Scotland, Ontario, which 60 bears a nut of fine cracking quality. Some of these nuts were sent to our secretary, Mr. C. A. Reed, and to Mr. J. F. Jones of Lancaster. Both of these gentlemen reported favorably on the flavor of the kernel and particularly on the cracking quality. This tree is on the property of Mr. Claude Mitchell. A few heartnut trees are also growing nicely near the city of Montreal on the estate of T. B. MacCauley, President of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. The hybrids between the butternut and the Japanese walnuts grow even more rapidly than either of the pr'.rent types. One of these hy- brid trees growing near Grimsby attained a height of thirty-eight feet ;:nd a trunk diameter of eleven inches in nine years from the planting of the nut. The hybrid between Juglans sieboldiana and the butter- nut appears to be quite hardy, having been grown and fruited near Quebec city. Several interesting and rather valuable hybrids between the heart- nut and the butternut liave been found near Vineland and Jordan Sta- tion in Ontario. The best of these hybrids bears a nut that is almost a perfect combination of the characteristics of the two parents. The nut is nearly as large as an average butternut and has the form of the heartnut. The shell is rougher than the heartnut but not as rough as the butternut. It can be easily split in halves and contains a kernel of heartnut shape with a flavor decidedly like the butternut. The husk has the stickiness of the butternut and, like the heartnut, it may be easily removed. This tree has made a rapid growth, being about thirty-eight feet tall and over twelve inches in diameter at twelve years from planting. The Persian (English) Walnut (Juglans regia) This member of the walnut family succeeds best in sections having moderate summer temperatures with a good rainfall, and comparatively mild winters. It has been sparingly planted throughout the Niagara district, and appears to thrive very well. In southern Ontario there are about 2.50 seedling trees of bearing age beside several hundred more young trees which have not borne nuts. Approximately seventy- five percent of the bearing trees are found in the Niagara district and the remainder are chiefly in the Lake Erie counties. 61 In the Niagara fruit district some fine trees have been located in or near the following places: Hamilton, Grimsby, Beamsville, Vine- land, St. Catherines, Port Dalhousie, Niagara on the Lake, Queens- town, St. Davids, Virgil, Fenwick, Niagara Falls and Campden. Out- side of this district thrifty trees have been located at or near Port Dover, Coarkson, London, Windsor, Chatham, Port Colborne, Hensall, Ridgetown, Kingsville, Cottam, Dresden, and St. Williams. Under favorable conditions of soil and climate the trees grow quite large and make fine ornamentals. The largest and probably oldest tree in Ontario is located near Vineland Village. It is about five feet in diameter and nearly sixty feet tall and is said to be ninety years old. From this tree fourteen bushels of nuts were gathered in one season and other yields have been occasionally secured. Like the Japanese walnut the English walnut has been planted to a considerable extent in British Columbia, particularly in the fruit districts of the mainland and on Vancouver Island. Several good va- rieties nre now being grown and tlie foundations of a valuable in- dustry are now being laid. The Chinese Walmd (Juglans regia sinensis) The Cliinese walnut is the eastern form of the Persian walnut (Juglans regia) and is considered by some botanists to be practically the same species. It has been grown in China for thousands of years and is said to thrive in regions where the climate is more severe than in North America where the Persian walnut can be grown successfully. For this reason some nut culturists believe that it may prove to be hardier than the Persian walnut, and hence it will be better adapted to the Northern United States and Southern Canada. It has been found to be hardy at the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plains, Mass. and should, therefore, be adapted to southern Ontario and British Columbia, provided stock for j^lanting were obtained from the most northern area of its growth in China. The Chinese walnut is now being tried at the Vineland Experiment Station and at several other places in Ontario. The majority of these trees were grown from nuts which came from northwest China, but a few were obtained from the Bureau of Plant Industry at Washington. There is also a fine tree .about eight years old growing on the ]iroperty of G. H. Corsan at Islington near Toronto. 62 THE HICKORY GROUP (Cory a sp.) Tliis is the most valuable native sijecies for the production of nuts. It occurs in Ontario in the region extending from the southeastern shores of Lake Huron nortlieastward to the border of the Province of Quebec and southward to the lakes and the St. Lawrence. In Quebec it is confined to the southwestern section. The sliagbark occurs most abundantly and thrives best in the vicinity of the great lakes and their connecting rivers^ but it does well at some distance from the lakes. Other species of hickorj^ are: the bitternut (Carya cordiformis), the mockernut (Carya alba) and the pignut (Carya glabra). The bitternut has the widest range of any native hickory, occurring from Montreal westward to Collingwood and southward to the St. I^awrence River and the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. The tree does not usually grow very large, being from fifty to seventy feet in height and one to two feet in diameter. The nut is rather small but has a thin shell and contains a kernel with an extremely bitter flavor; hence the name bitternut. The nuts are useless because of their bitter flavor but the tree makes a good stock for grafting with superior types of shagbark-bitternnt hybrids. It also offers interesting possi- bilities as a parent in crossing with desira'ble types of the shagbark and: northern grown pecans. The mockernut is a tall tree and occurs in a strip of territory bordering on Lakes Sries and Ontario. It produces a large nut with a thick shell and a small kernel whicli is generally disappointing; hence the name mockernut. Because of this undesirable characteristic, it is not of much value as a nut tree, but like the bitternut it may bo top-grafted to better sorts. The pignut grows from forty to sixty feet in height and up to three feet in diameter and occurs in the Niagara district and in the Lake Erie counties. The nut varies considierably in form and size and flavor of kernel. The usual shape is oval. Some are pear shaped, and others again are broader than long. In some nuts the kernel is bitter while in others it is sweet. A few variations of this species have been located which are considered valuable for their nuts. 63 The Pecan (Carya olivaeformis) Pecan trees have been grown for some years at several places in Ontario. In the vicinity of Richmond Hill there is a small grove of trees produced by planting nuts from Southern Indiana. Some of these trees are fifty years old and are about thirty-five feet tall. They appear to be quite healthy but do not bear ripened nuts except in the most favorable seasons. There are also a few thrifty bearing trees near Simcoe which were grown from nuts obtained from Southern Missouri and at Niagara on the Lake there is a small plantation of seedling and grafted trees. An interesting example of the ability of a tree to thrive far from its native haunt is seen in a pecan tree grow- ing on the grounds of Mr. Richard Martin of Hamilton. This tree grew from a nut obtained from a tree in San Antonio, Texas in the autumn of 1914. It is now i- inches in diameter, 18 feet tall and appears to be perfectly hardy. All of the pecan trees in Ontario ajopear to be quite hardy and the grafted trees particularly are making a good growth. This fine nut tree requires a longer growing season and more heat units to mature a crop than are generally found in Ontario and, therefore, it cannot be recommended for planting except where it is desirable to grow a rare ornamental tree which might occasionally produce ripened nuts. THE CHESTNUT GROUP (Castanen sp.) The American Szeeet Chestnut (Castanea dentata). This fine native tree is found in that part of Ontario extending from Toronto westward to Sarnia and southward to Lake Erie. It has also been planted at several points outsid'e of its natural range and appears to be doing well. Good specimens of these trees have been observed or reported as growing nicely at Ottawa, Newcastle, Goderich, Port Elgin and Midland. Under favorable conditions of soil and climate it grows to a large size, sometimes attaining a height of ninety feet and a diameter of six feet. When grown in a dense stand it develops into a tall straight tree, but in the open it forms several heavy branches and makes a broad round topped head. It has been said that Canada and the United States have more in 64 common than any other two countries. This is particularly true when it comes to plant diseases and insect pests. With reference to the chest- nut, we like you, have the chestnut blight in a severe form. Many of our grand old native chestnut trees are infected with the blight and are rapidly dying. It is only a matter of time when all our chestnuts will have disappeared unless we can find a resistant strain or can introduce inunune varieties. ^ EXOTIC SPECIES OF CHESTNUT The Chinese Chestnut (Castnnea molUssima) Inasmuch as very few foreign chestnuts have been planted in Canada comparatively little can be said regarding their suitability for our conditions. These Chinese chestnuts have been grown at the Arnold Arboretum near Boston, Mass., and have been found to be hardy and more or less resistant to blight. This species is a small spreading tree rarely growing to thirty-five feet in height, generally much shorter, bears large, sweet nuts and is said to bear heavily and early. The flavor of the nuts is said to be superior to the Japanese or European species, and is almost as good as the native sort. The hardiness, productiveness, blight-resistance, good quality of nut, and precocious bearing habits would indicate that it should be extensively tried in Canada where the native chestnut is likely to disappear as a result of blight. It is also a beautiful tree and makes a desirable ad- dition to our list of ornamental trees. The Chinese chestnut is now being cultivated in British Columbia and Ontario to a limited extent. The Japanese Chestnut (Castamea crenata) This species has been planted in a few places in Ontario and British Columbia, and appears to be quite hardy. The tree is a small spreading grower, rarely attaining a height of forty feet. It bears early and heavily and produces very large nuts which are found in burrs, in numbers varying from three to seven. The flavor of the nut is inferior to any other known species of chestnut when eaten raw, but when cooked is very good. The Japanese chestnut is reported to be moderately resistant to blight and should, therefore, be suitable for planting in southern Ontario, especially outside of the region where the native chestnut occurs. 65 The European Chestnut (Castanea sativa) This species of chestnut is variously known as French, Spanish, Italian and European Chestnut. It is extensively cultivated in Italy, France and Spain and Portug.il, and it forms an important article of food for the people of these countries. It is also grown to a certain extent in southern England. Like the native chestnut it is susceptible to chestnut blight and, therefore, cannot be recommended for planting in Ontario except where it can be grown several miles distant from the native sort. A few good trees of this kind are growing and bearing well in the Niagara district and at other places in southern Ontario and British Columbia. THE tiAZEL GROUP (Corylus sp.) Hazels of various kinds occur over a wide range of the earth's surface, being found in North America, Europe and Asia. Tliere are at least fifteen different species and these vary in size from small shrubs of four to six feet in heiglit to immense trees 120 feet tall ■ind six feet in diameter. This family of plants is represented in Canada by two native species, the common hazel (Corylus americana) and the beaked hazel (Corylus rostrata). The common hazel is generally a small bush from four to six feet in height, but the beaked hazel is usually larger. In the vicinity of Hudson's Bay it is reported as growing to the size of a small tree, and on the Pacific coast is said to attain to a height of twenty feet on suitable soils. The hazels are the hardiest nut bearing plants in Canada, being found from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the southern boundary up to Hudson's Bay and Peace River district. The native hazels do not usually equal the European hazels in size of nut and productiveness but are extremely hardy, and would doubt- less be worth planting where filberts and cobnuts cannot be grown. Superior strains of the common hazel have been discovered and are now being cultivated in the northern states and Canada. Filberts (Corylus avellana) Filberts have been introduced into Canada and are doing well. In some cases the trees are quite large, attaining a height of twenty 66 to twenty-five leet and a diameter of from four to twelve ineht^ Good specimens have been found in Ontario at Guelpli, Grims'by, Simcoe, Victoria, St. Williams, Port Burwell, Tyrconnell, Exeter, An- caster, Port Ryerse, Glencoe, Cedar Springs, Chatham and Wolfe Is- land. The plantation at Wolfe Island was established in 1830 and is said to have done well for more than 70 years. At Port Ryerse there is a small grove over sixty years old and at Exeter, Tyrconnell and Ancaster the trees range from forty to fifty years of age. These trees appear to be quite hardy and healtky and some are bearing fine nuts. The nuts vary from round to oblong and are larger than the majority of the native liazels. The great majority of filbert trees growing in Ontario were intro- duced from England more than fifty years ago or were produced from these introductions, but ini fortunately no records of varieties were kept and, hence, no definite data are available concerning these va- rieties. The fact that some of these original introductions have been growing for more than half a century is indicative of their hardiness, and if trees yielding the best nuts were selected for planting very good results might be secured even if no variety name is known. Filberts are being cultivated in British Columbia more extensively than any other part of Canada. Varieties such as Pearson's Seedling, Barcelona, Du Chilly and Bullnose.are among those frequently planted. The Turkish Tree Hazel (Corylus colurna) This gigantic member of the hazel family is a native of south- eastern Europe and western Asia and extends as far east as the Himalaya mountains. In its native region it grows to a large tree, often attaining a height of seventy feet and a diameter of two feet. The Turkish tree hazel was first introduced into Canada by G. N. Corsan of Toronto. As a result of this introduction healthy trees are now growing at Islington and in Toronto on the campus of the university. Notwithstanding the southern origin of this tree it seems to be quite linrdy and is making a good grovth. The Almond (Prunus amy^dalus) A few almond trees have been planted in Ontario in the peach belt and are making a rapid growth and bearing fair crops. There are also several almond trees in good bearing condition ir British Columbia. 67 THE BEECH (Fagus grandi folia) This beautiful native tree is one of the hardiest nut trees in Canada. It is found in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontano. In Ontario it is said to occur as far north and west as the eastern end of Lake Superior. TEE GINKGO (Ginkgo biloba) This interesting tree from Eastern Asia has been planted sparingly in several provinces in Canada. There are fine specimens in Montreal, some of which are bearing fruit, and fruiting trees have also been located in Hamilton, St. Catherines and Chatham, Ontario. The pnlp surrounding the ginkgo nut or pit lias an unpleasant odor and' con- sequently it is not likely to become popular with most people. The striking habit of growth and the peculiar shape of the leaves make this tree a desirable one and therefore it lias been rather widely though not abundantly planted. 68 SUB SOIL CROPS AND THE FOOD SUPPLY FOR TOMORROW'S NATIONS Bji Dr. Robert T. Mori-is, New York Today one hears .a good deal of expression of fear that a populous world may some day run short of its foodi supply. The idea reminds me of an occasion when two young school friends of mine tramped three miles through the woods to spend a precious Saturday on a bass lake. They forgot to take along their fish hooks but found one old hook and sinker stuck in the side of the fishing basket. The boys pushed off the boat and tossed up a nickel to see who would have the first turn with the liook. Luck fell to George. He baited up with big green grasshoppers and shortly felt a ferocious yank on the hook. It was such a powerl'ul tug that it pulled the end of his rod right under water and broke the line. To add to the aggravation a three- pound -bass then came splashing up into the air, open mouthed, shak- ing the hook in their faces. The day was a failure. Nothing to be done now but sadly walk three miles back home again. The bass jumped once more, this time so near that it hit an oar and bounced over into the boat. When the boys opened its mouth to take out the hook, they found there another hook lost by some previous fisherman. Having two hooks they fished all day and cauglit a heavy mess to lug home. That sort of thing is going to happen to our food supply in general, not only for nations now on earth but for other peoples, white, yellow or brown as the case may be, that will naturally follow our present- day civilization tomorrow. We are prone to think that the present day represents about the last word in everything. A sort of static brainease we may call it. That was the way people felt when the flintlock gun was invented. Napoleon's surgeon. Baron Larrey, at the height of the second or anatomic era in surgery said that surgery had reached its limitations. 69 Nothing remained for the young surgeons of the future excepting to acquire what was already known and to perfect their technic. Since then we have had two whole new eras in surgery and the methods of Baron Larre}^ are as rusty as the flintlock gun which hangs in the museum over the aviator's gas bomb. The earh' Christians believed that the world would come to an end' within the lifetime of people then living. New England Puritans anticipated that the second coming of Christ would occur at New Haven. All this sort of thing goes to show what we have to face when dealing with a vertebrate animal which named itself Homo sapiens instead of Sophos moros. Statisticians who tell us that the world is to become over-populated belong in the class with the inventor of the flintlock gun and with Baron Larrey. Almost all of them, however, unfortunately seem to be men of distinction, outstanding from the common run of folks who simply eat and stop thinking when the bill for a dinner and the dinner itself are settled. Away back in the year 1798 Malthus tried to bolster up Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations with population deductions of his own. The doctrines of Malthus, however, have never been operative much to the distress of reasoners who still quote him and secretly hope for the time when such forceful thinking at a target will hit the bull's eye. From the Institute of Politics at Williamstown during the jiast summer we heard a great deal about over-population. Count Cippico seized convenient opportunity for bringing in a few political argu- ments in the special interest of Italy. He employed the population fulcrum for his lever. Professor East then applied his birth control lever upon a similar fulcrum and the points of the two short arms coming into conflict with each other caused sparks to fly. Neither Count Cippico nor Professor East dealth with fundamentals. The one was a special pleader in selfish politics, the other a special pleider for a pet statistical theory. What Count Cippico might have said is this: "Ladies and Gentle- men, I came all of the way here from Italy for the purpose of frankly giving you genuine information. I am in the presence of an audience that is familiar with the law of Von der Goltz. Emigration takes 70 place in direct ratio with the size of land holdings, increasing as these increase and diminishing as they diminish in size. Because of our system of land tenure in Italy thousands ot people from south of Rome must emigrate. Our system of taxation for school purjjoses is such that we must deny these people an education. I would' not for a moment make any trouble for the League of Nations by asking for room for colonies in other countries where a more generous people may educate and feed the scampering hord.es which we ourselves could easily feed and educate were we so minded. There is so much un- occupied land in Italy today that wild wolves actually traverse estates of excellent soil wliich is unemployed agriculturally and untaxed for modern school purposes. What I wish to say is that we might change our land tenure system if our politicianc would allow it. They are a spirited lot however and would much prefer to beg first and then fight for what is not given to Italy by other nations. Politicians as non producers do not have to do any personal fighting in case of warfare you know. They simply sacrifice the stock of producers which is at their disposal." Professor East told Count Cippico that birth control would be just about the right thing for settling Italy's over-population with its political re-percussions. He would halt the entrance of thousands of bright and fresh new minds into the world. It would be his idea to conserve whatever food is now in sight. Never mind about the birth of millions of dear little girls and boys who are to find in their midst plenty of individuals who would grow to teach the rest how to live better than we know how to live today. Agricultural data comprises the first group of essentials in popula- tion studies. A second lot of essentials relates to method and cost of distribution of food supplies. A third lot of essentials relates to the rule that all cultivated plants and animals run out of their fund of protoplasmic energy and breeding comes to a jDause. Man as a culti- vated animal follows this same biologic law. Concerning the first group, Java, for example has only about eight tenths of an acre of land per person in its population, yet in Java there are rhinoceri, tigers and deer in abundance. When Dutch capital runs its caterpillar tractors through the rich tropical soil of Java and intensive cultivation of the sort with whicli Holland is familiar is applied, we may assume that a food supply will burst 71 forth in such quantity that a man with eight-tenths of an acre of land at his disjjos':!! might raise a family of five on that amount of land. The example of Java may stand for tropical jungles in general. There will still be left the land that is traversed by wild animals. This land need not be cultivated very ranch because sub soil crops will in some cases give a larger food supply than that which is fur- nished by cultivated land and' at much less expenditure in terms of labor and money. Furthermore, sub soil crops do not exhaust the soil as crops of annual plants do. Now let us carry this abstract statement to a concrete application in Missouri. For purposes of conciseness, let us take only three suh soil crops. The persimmon tree is a heavy cropper. The fruit of the per- simmon stands close to the date in food value, (see U. S. Government Report on the persimmon). Whole tribes of people live upon the date as a chief food supply for men and for domesticated animals. When Missouri takes up the question of cultivating large seedless per- simmons and develops, methods of preserving them like dates it will mean little expense and little expenditure of labor. The latter re- mark applies to chestnuts also. Chestnuts furnish the chief starchy element of food for man and his domesticated animals in parts of Europe and Asia today, taking the place of wheat ynd the potato. The Chestnut blight has been a severe blow to chestnut orchardists in this country, many of whom were making fortunes; but the blight is by no means insurmountable. ]\fany of the hybrid chestnuts are highly resistant to the blight and the grafted trees of some of the varieties begin to bear so promptly and so heavily that they yield large returns on the investment. If attention is given to selecting blight resistant varieties and cutting out blight areas of bark as soon as they appear it will mean no more trouble than that which the apple orchardist already assumes as a practical sort of resjoonsibility. The Black walnut will thrive practically everywhere in the State of Missouri. Cultivated varieties of the Black W^alnut may be expected to yield at least ten bushels of hulled nuts to the tree when in full bearing. Given seven Black W^alnut trees to tlie acre and the present market price of $8.00 per bushel for some of the cultivated varieties 72 we figure out a greater profit at less expense than would belong to my of the common annual erops of the State. The meat of the Black ^V'alnut is rich in proteins and oils and like that of the Persimmon and the Chestnut, contains also vitamins, the fourth essential element in human diet. A pound of Black Walnut meat contains very much more food value than one pound of the best beef. These three sub soil crops in question would be supi^lemented by many other kinds for the mountain farmer and by the prairie farmer throughout the United States. l'"urtiiermore many annual crops m;iy be raised between the trees if so desired without injury to the tree crops if it is done judiciously; particularly if it is done before the trees come into full bearing while interspaces are still large. Sub soil farming would relieve us from the feeling of necessity for the draining of marshes. This is commonly done in the interest of promoters and the farmer frequently stands a loss because drained land like irrigated land wears out for precisely the same reason that other land does. The time may always be anticipated when the over- head cost of drainage and irrigation runs afoul of the law of diminish- ing returns. Excepting in cases where insoluble earthy salts unex- pectedly make a hardpan on irrigated lands i. e. the shock of financial loss is apt to come more promptly to owners of drained land for the reason that the soil of marshes carries an unbalanced ration of plant food ; too much nitrogen or too much cellulose for example. The draining of marshes in this country is going on at the moment when similar marshes are being constructed in some of the older countries of the world. Crops from marsh plants, fish, wild fowl and fur bearing animals often bring larger returns than do those from cultivated uplands. Millions of people in the Orient make trapa nuts and lotus their basic food supply. These plants may be grown as well in American marshes. Concerning the second group of essentials in the over-population question, let us consider the matter of distribution of food supplies. Mathus did not even know about steam transportation. Presumably lie did not dream of transportation by air at a time when men could fly from Washington to Panama in less than forty-eight hours. Just now cattle men are in conflict with our Forestry Service be- 73 cause they wish to be given special privileges which would have to he taken away from timber men for the purpose. The basic difference between the cattle men's losses and what you and I pay for meat is chiefly a distribution question. Eventually the cattle, sheep and hogs raised under conditions of sub soil crops jdIus interspace crops of annu tl ])l,ints will take out the long liaul cost of meat. This will permit of the making of smaller distribution charges in general and should give us much cheaper meat. Now for the third group of essentials. The "running out" of cultivated varieties of animals and plants, including cultivated varie- ties of man, has been exemplified during civilizations of the past. The question is one relating to protoplasm rather than one of primary social significance. We may anticipate the running out of civilized peoples of today in accordance with laws belonging to natural history. It is unfortunate that the birth control argument has been interjected iuto the over population question. It has genuine values of its own in connection with various stigmata of physical and mental decline which belong to heredity in certain families. It has a bearing also in certain phases of poverty although these will be found to appertain more largely to ])olitics and to systems of land tenure, both of which are remediable. Birtli control with the object of conserving food supplies would be particularly disastrous for Japan. This ascendant group of people belonging perhaps to a coming new cultural period for the world needs all of the minds that can be brought forth and developed for application in the collateral sciences of agriculture. The more people there are in the world the ■ better. The more ))eople the more teachers there will be on the subject of food supplies for the peoples of today and for tomorrow's nations. "The sub soil constitutes a new agricultural frontier for the world." 74 NUT GROWING IN SOUTHERN INDIANA By J. F. JViUdnifOn, Rockport, Indiana In early days tliere were thousands of acres of native pecan groves ill tiiis section of Indiana. Today tliere are few large groves left. In early days tlie pecan nut was not considered valuable. I can re- member when I sold nuts at 6 cents a pound, that were sold in 1924-25 at 35 to M) cents from the same trees. The majority of the trees are found growing in the river bottoms, in overflow lands. There are many individual trees doing well on clay and sand land. As to latitude, Evansville is about 38 degrees. The pecan is found growing native north to 39 degrees, and a few even at iO. It is found as far north as Davenport, Iowa, but in small numbers. Some of these treet. are from 125 to 150 feet hig-li with a circumference measurement up to seventeen feet. As to their bearing records, one tree produced 240 pounds two years ago and for several years paid the taxes on forty acres of land. There are several trees with equal or perhaps better records than that. I have gathered as much as 600 pounds from one tree at one crop. There is one grove of sixteen acres, 35 to 40 seedling trees, from which the owner re- ceived $400.00 several years ago and three times in seven years has sold more than the cost of the land. Similar figures might be given from several other groves that yield equally well. The seedlhig trees as a rule do not bear as well. Only about 50% of the native seedling trees have good bearing records and a considerable per cent of that 50% does not bear a good quality of nut. There are now in bearing in southern Indiana quite a few of the budded varieties. Interest in budding and grafting the better varie- ties has been increasing in Indiana for several years but few trees are yet in bearing. One of the first to become interested was H. M. Roper. Twenty-five years ago he became interested in nut culture and gave a few pecan shows at his own expense. Mr. Littlepa.ge be- fore that had planted a lot of seedling nuts. I suppose the first bud 75 that was cut from any Indiana tree was cut by Mr. Roper eighteen years ago. It was later that Mr. Littlepage^ a few others and I started propa- gation. We now have quite a few trees anywhere from a few years up to twelve years old^ as well as a number of top-worked seedling trees. Some are bearing nicely. The interest in planting nut trees is not as great as it should be in this section. Since it is the native home of the pecan one would think that considerable interest would be taken by everyone. It is not, I am sorry to say. What we need is more local meetings, county meetings, district meetings. This meeting is good, but it does not reach the local sections. I have had budded trees start bearing two years from buds. Not transplanted they have borne every year since, with crops from twenty- five to thirty pounds. These were the Busseron and Green River varieties, now 10 years old. There was no market price for these trees. I was offered 75 cents eacli but I prefered to give them to my friends. The parent Busseron and Indiana trees are located north of Vincennes, about 882 degrees. The parent tree of the Niblack variety is south of that. I wish I had a large pecan orchard. I don't know of anything that is anv better. You miffht call certain sections a native territory l;ut sometimes ten or fifteen miles makes a great difference in the soil and I would consider the soil as much as anything. Every piece of land, even in a native section, is not suitable for a native plant. I would rather plant a pecan tree twenty-five miles north of its parent, on soil adapted to it. than to plant it right in its section on an unfavorable soil. As a rule the pecan tree makes a very deep tap loot and it is supposed that it should not be planted near rock. One of the best trees I know of is planted on high land. There is a well under the tree and it is only eiglit feet to the solid rock. That tree is very prolific. Member : Would the northern pecan compare in selling price with the southern pecan? AIr Wilkinson: I don't know about that. None of the northern named varieties are yet on tlie market. Mr. Weber: The fine quality of tlic northern varieties would 76 surprise you. You could hardly tell the difference between the Green River and some of the southern varieties. You will find a ready sale in 3'our own locality for the good varieties of the northern pecan. A Member: I have shipped many thousands of pounds of pecans from the northern seedling trees to dealers in the south. Mr. Wilkinson: I have around four hundred grafted and budded pecan trees from one (o ten years old. There have been numerous articles discouraging the planting of northern pecan trees. I was talking to a man the other day who said that they would not grow north of the Ohio River. The trutii is that north of the Ohio River there are many thousands of native trees. 77 GROWING NUTS IN ILLINOIS FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT Dr. A. S. Colby, i'nu'ersiti/ of Illinois, Ur'nina, Illinois Until very recently nut growing has been a greatly neglected branch of horticulture. An increasing interest is now being shown in tl;e growing of nuts in Illinois. Part of this interest has been aroused by reports of the commercially profitable nut industry in the South where the so-called "paper shell" pecan is grown^ or in the ex- treme West, where extensive orchards of the Persian (English) wal- nut are found. The quiet but effective work of the late Mr. E. A. Riehl of Alton, George W. Endicott of Villa Ridge, and Benjamin Buckman of Farmingdale in growing chestnuts with profit on a commercial scale is gradually being recognized as valuable evidence in showing the possibilities in this new field of Illinois horticulture. -Many are asking whether these nuts can be grown in Illinois either about the home or on a commercial scale as other fruits are grown. Many native nut trees bearing edible nuts are to be found scattered over the state but comparatively little attention has been paid to them, the general sentiment being that better varieties were available from outside. W^hile this is in some cases true, there is danger in importing species not adapted to our locality. It is, therefore, highly important that an intelligent interest be aroused looking toward the conservation and improvement and profitable culture of our native nut trees as well as the introduction of desirable varieties from other countries. In order to study the whole situation with reference to the needs and possibilities of nut growing in Illinois, a general survey of the occurrence and distribution of native and introduced nut trees in this state is being made by the writer. Considerable valuable information has been very kindly furnished regarding the nut trees native to the state by Mr. R. B. Miller, State Forester, from his extensive records. Dr. L. H. Smith and assistants in the Soil Survey work in tlie College 78 of Agriculture at the Experiment Stition have been very helpful in listing the numerous genera and species of nut trees as they have located them in checking up on the flora in making up soil maps of the different counties. Colleagues in the Department of Horticulture have also added to our list of nut trees as they have observed them. An extensive correspondence among the members of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, county farm advisers, and others interested in nut growing in the state has been of assistance. It is hoped that we will be able to prepare a detailed county map of the state showing (1) the native range of the most important nut bearing trees, and (2) the most important areas where such trees are being successfully grown outside their natural range because of local conditions favorable for growth and fruiting. We are also attempting to gatlier figures as to the commercial joossibilities of nut culture in Illinois. Much of this information is in progress of tabulation and no definite conclusions can be drawn as yet in answer to all questions being asked. A number of interesting facts have, however, been gathered and are h.ere submitted in the nature of a progress report. Nut bearing trees native to Illinois include the shell bark hickory Hicoria laciniosa (C. laciniosa Cy), the shagbark hickory, H. ovata, (C. ovata Cy), the mockernut, H. alba, (C. alba Cy), the bitternut, H. cordiformis, (C. cordiformis Cy), the pecan, H. pecan, (C. pecan Cy), the American sweet chestnut, Castanea dentata, the black walnut, Juglans nigra, the butternut or white walnut, J. cinerea, and the beech, Fagus americana (F. grandifolia. Cy-Ag.) Smaller trees or large shrub-like forms include the Chinquapin chestnut, C. pumila, and the American hazelnut, Corylus americana. A numiber of hickory and black walnut sj^ecies hybridize rather freely. There are .some excellent natural hybrid varieties in the trade showing indications of the pecan-shell bark hickory and the shag bark-bitternut crosses. Nut bearing trees not native to Illinois but varieties which are promising for planting in different sections include the European filbert, C. avellana, the Japanese walnut, J. sieboldiana. the Chinese walnut, J. cathayensis and the Japanese heart nut or flat nut, J. cordiformis. 79 (1) Standardized Plant Names — 1923 — American .Joint Connnit- tee on Horticultural Nomenclature — Salem, Massachusetts, is here used as authority. (2) The pignut (C. glabra Cy. C. porcina) is not included in the above list since (1) it is not commonly edible, and (2) it is probable tli;it the true pignut is not found west of the Alleghenies, althoug'h this is one of the hickory species which has been much split up by SA'Stematic botanists. Nut bearing trees not considered desirable for general planting in this state include the English (Persian) walnut, J. regia and horticul- tural varieties of the so-called "paper shell" southern pecan. The former is not as hardy in wood or bud as the black walnut and is often killed back to the ground. The writer has seen specimen trees in central and southern Illinois which were making fair growth but not fruiting. This so-called winter injury is probably due as much to the unfavorable climatic conditions found in Illinois during late summer and fall as to low winter temperatures. It appears that the roots needs considerable moisture during the fall months. The southern varieties of the pecan are often winter killed at the tips. In favorable seasons they will grow vigorously but seldom ma- ture any nuts. Trees growing in Pulaski Coimty, in extreme southern Illinois, bear occasional nuts but thev are not well filled out and do not ripen. General Considerations It is not generally known that nut varieties do not come true to type from seed any jnore than do apples. Tike other fruit trees, therefore, nut trees have to be propagated by budding or grafting. Seedling trees, only, will result from the planting of nuts no matter l:ow desirable the nuts may be. Such trees will very seldom produce nuts as good as the parent and will, if they bear at all, be very slow in beginning. Because of thi.-i fact it is desirable to plant named varieties, propagated by reputable nurserymen, or to work over seed- ling trees using scions or buds of a named variety. There are many opportunities for top working seedling walnuts, chestnuts, pecans and hickories now growing on hill sides, along fence rows, etc. The demand for named varieties of nuts is comparatively recent, and few nurserymen have devoted much attention to the propagation 80 of such varieties. Man}- nurseries show pliotographs of sujjerior nut varieties in their catalogues but list for sale practically notI)ing but seedlings. This is unfortunate in that it is disappointing and ex- pensive for the purchaser to buy trees and care for them with the mis- taken idea that he is getting good varieties. Nut varieties worthy of general propagation and distribution must have certain valuable qualities. First of all the parent tree should be healthy and vigorous with no inherent fault as to its growth habit. The ideal tree is a regular bearer and at least moderately productive. The nuts should ripen early and be of good size, with a fair propor- tion of meat to the amount of shell. The shell should be fairly thin and easy to crack. They should be quite resistant to the attack of insects and diseases. Some chestnut hybrids in southern Illinois, for example, are more resistant to the chestnut weevil than others growing close beside them. The nut meats should be plump, of good color, rich flavor and high quality. Nut trees are more difficult to propagate than some other fruit trees, and their first cost therefore appears somewhat high. They should be planted at considerable distances apart, however. For ex- ample, chestnut trees are planted forty feet apart and black walnuts at leist double that diistance. The initial expense involved will then be less than in planting an area to other fruit trees. Some growers believe that other fruit trees may be used as fillers for a few years or until tlie nut trees begin to bear. This lielps to pay running ex- penses during that period. It has been said that the low market prices paid for our native nuts as collected in the woods and for sale in limited quantities in the fall at the corner grocery does not promise well for their commercial possibilities. These native walnuts, hickories, pecans and hazels are from seedling trees and for the most part poor in craeking and eating quality and comparatively small in size. There is an enlarging market at good prices for the named varieties of nuts. Description and General Distrihution uf Xitt Trees in Illinois The Black JValnut The chief native nut tree of Illinois and the one to be most recom- mended for g'cneral planting is the black walnut. It is found growing 81 wild throughout the length and breadth of the state where soil con- ditions are suitable. This species, is ad^apted to a deep, moist but well drained soil such as is usually found in the so-called prairie types in Illinois. The soil must be rich for best results as the walnut is a very heavy feeder. Its chief commercial importance has, in the past, resulted from the excellent qualities of the wood. This was used for many purposes ranging from fence rails to the finest cabinet work. Many trees have been cut for the lumber which should have been left to bear nuts. Quite recently improved horticultural varieties of the black walnut such as the Thomas and Stabler have been found and are being propa- gated and sold for general planting. Considerable interest has been taken in the commercial possibilities of the black walnut especially in southern Illinois. The late Mr. E. A. Riehl of Alton, the best in- formed man in the state on the growing of nuts, told the writer in 1925 that he cracked out ten pounds of meats to the bushel of Thomas black walnuts and could' not supply the demand of the trade at a sale price of one dollar a pound. Commercial cracking machinery just placed on the market cracks the meats much more easily and cheaply than it was formerly done by hand. The named varieties sell for higher prices because of their easier cracking quality, larger size and better flavor. The kernels of the black walnut are the most desirable for many purposes especially in cooking and candy making. The black walnut is the only nut meat which retains its full flavor upon cooking. The meat is more palatable and ligliter in color if the nuts are allowed to cure properly and the husk is removed from the shell before it stains the meat a dark color. ^^'ith the possibilities of increased consumption of nuts as food practi- cally unlimited, there is a bright future for the black walnut industrj' ill tliis state. A number of interested fruit growers in Union and Pulaski Counties are top working seedling walnut trees, growing on hillsides, in pasture land or other out of the way places, to desirable varieties. They use a modified bark graft as a rule. It is usually safer to cut back the tree a few days before it is to be top worked and then to protect the young scion for a few weeks after grafting by covering it with a jiaper bag. The vigorously growing scion should be supported the first season by tying it to a lath which has been fastened to the stock. 82 Black walnuts begin to bear early. The writer saw in October, 1924-, in Williamson County, a grafted tree of the Thomas variety at four years of age, bearing thirty-nine nuts. The species is well known ; s a long lived tree and properly cared for it should increase in pro- rl!iu'tivity annually for many years. The Ihitterniit or White Walnut This species is found in all parts of the state though not as commonly as the black walnut. It will grow on a variety of soils but succeeds best when planted on a rich, well drained, gravelly loam. It lias been found locally in ravines and along streams where the soil is loose. Compact soils are not favorable for its growth. The tree is much smaller in size than tlie black walnut, not as healthy or vigorous and varying greatly in productiveness. The nut has somewhat the same qualities as the black walnut with a rough, thick shell, rather more difficult to crack. Some people like the flavor of the meat better than that of the black. Promising varieties origi- nating in the East such as the Manchester should be tried out under our conditions. The Buckley variety from Iowa is one of the best. Japanese Walnuts Including the Heartnut The Japanese walnuts have been introduced into various sections of the state, especially through the central and southern counties. The tree is characterized by a rapid gTowth, beauty of form and foliage, and early bearing. It is claimed' to be hardier than the black walnut. The heart nut is highly recommended by Mr. C. A. Reed, Nut Cul- turist for the United States Department of Agriculture, as a promising sort for Illinois. The nuts are medium sized, distinctly heart shaped, with a thin shell and a kernel of good quality. They crack easily with one tap of the hammer and the kernel easily comes away from the shell. The Lancaster is considered one of the best varieties. The second type of Japanese walnut, J. sieboldiana, is a smooth shelled sort resembling the butternut in shape. It is superior in some respects to the butternut but has not as yet shown sufficient promise for general planting, although it has been fruited by Mr. Riehl at Alton. The Chinese Walnut This nut is being grown experimcntnlly in the eastern and northern 83 states. It may prove hardier than the Persian (English) walnut and take its place as a commercial sort for this state. The nut is said to be very large with a shell somewhat midway in thickness between the English and black walnut. The kernel is reported to have a fine flavor. We are attempting its culture in the state. The writer has a number of seedlings growing from seed imported from China. The American Szveet Chestnut The chestnut is native to the state, being found in Olmstead, in Pulaski County as reported by Trelease (]). It is reported from other counties, mostly in central Illinois, though it is probable that there are no other native stand's of this species. It succeeds best on a well drained soil on sunny ridges, even in rather dry and rocky situations. It will not grow in wet soil or in soil underlain with hard pan. Limestone soils are not desiraTole. Chestnut trees, blue grass and sheep make an excellent agricultural combination, on rough hilly land too steep for ordinary cropping practices. The tree grows rapidly to a large size and comes into productive bearing earl3\ In the fall of 1921- ^Ir. Riehl showed me a young- chestnut tree of the Fuller variety, five years from the graft, which was then producing thirty-one burrs, three nuts to the burr. Chestnut trees in southern Illinois at the Endicott homestead near Villa Ridge were coming into profitable bearing at six years of age. Mr. R. B. Endicott told me in 1917 that his tliree largest trees of the -Boone, (1) Trelease, Wm., Trans. 111. Acad. Sci.. 10:1 917. 143-145 Blair, and Rielil varieties had made an average for the last four years of better tlian one hundred pounds of nuts per tree. They were then eighteen years old. In the fall of 1924 Mr. Endicott told me that he was harvesting about 160 pounds from each of these trees. At the wholesale price of thirty-five cents per pound, on the Chicago market, his gross profits were over fifty-five dollars ($55.00) per tree an- nually. The chestnut blossoms late in spring and is seldom caught by a late frost. Mr. Endicott's trees have failed to bear a. crop but one year since planted. The varieties mentioned are hybrids between the Japanese and native species. The Fuller variety, another hybrid, originated and first propagated by Mr. Riehl, is superior to these in the quality of its nut. It is a few days later in rijjening, however. 84 The only objection to the more general planting of these improved varieties of chestnuts in Illinois is th.it they may be at some future time infected with the chestnut bark disease which is fatal to the trees. As far as we know, however, this disease is not present in the sections just east of us and there are very wide barriers to its western migration. There is no reason for importing nursery stock from the East which may be already infected, since the Boone and Fuller are equal to any varieties being grown outside the state. The Chinquapin Chestnut This species gTOws locally, especially in southern Illinois, under similar conditions to the native sweet. Usually of shrubby bushlike growth, it has some advantage over a larger tree in ease of projjagation. It bears a smaller nut than the native sweet but it comes into bearing very early and the nuts are of excellent quality. It makes an orna- n:ental little tree and pleases the children to have one for their own. The Pecan Hichory In the minds of many people, the pecan is placed first from the ))oint: of view of the quality of the nuts produced. Native to Illinois, the pecan is found growing abundantly all over the state where condi- tions are favorable. It is quite generally restricted to bottom lands, especially over southern and southeastern Illinois, along the Kaskaskia and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries. Other productive stands are found along the Illinois River at least as far north as Peoria County and along the ^Mississippi through Jo Daviess County. It is most common on bottom land subject to overflow at the time of the spring floods. This fact may partially explain the general distribution of the pecan through the dispersal of the nuts by flood waters. It has teen found, however, that pecans will grow well on higher land. Since tlie pecan has a. long tap root, soils underlain with rock or hard pan, which comes near the surface, must be avoided in planting. In Illinois, varieties only of northern or local origin should be con- sidered for planting or top working on seedling trees. None of the so-called "paper shell'' or southern pecans are sufficiently hardy to recommend them. Mr. S. W. Snyder of Center Point, Iowa, a recog- nized authority on the propagation and care of nuts, writes me that "nature planted pecans in Iowa up to the forty-first degree of lati- tude." Such varieties native to Iowa include Witte, Campliell, and i 85 Oberman. Mr. Snyder further writes that " these varieties while not so large as those found growing farther south, yet are large enough to be desirable and when it comes to quality, freshness of cracking and thin shells they cannot be surpassed by any." Mr. Rielil be- lieved that pecans will not be hardy and productive in Illinois as a commercial proposition north of the thirty-ninth degree. Alton, Mr. Riehl's home, is just south of this line. It is true that north of Alton in Calhoun County, native pecans are common, grow vigorously, and bear well some years. The late frost list spring cut down the crop materially. This often happens in that section. However, many excellent varieties originating in southern Indiana can be planted with fair promise of success in southern Illinois, south of the thirty-ninth degree of latitude. These include the Niblack, Busseron and Posey. While not as large as the southern types, these varieties have a fairly thin shell of excellent cracking quality, with plump kernels of rich flavor. The Posey is said to be the easiest of the three to cr;ick and is of good size. It has the reputation, however, of being a shy bearer. The Shagbark Hickory This species is the most valu.tble of the hickories for Illinois plant- ing excepting the pecan. It is found well distributed over the state, sometimes on low lying sandy loams along the river bottoms. It is also found commonly on the rolling uplands, especially on the sides of the hills, associated there with the shellbark. The soil type conimoji there is known as yellow gray silt loam on undlilating timber soil. The shag'bark is very promising for selection and improvement. The nut varies greatly in size and' shape and cracking quality. Some strains have exceptionally thin shells, and crack easily. The varieties Hales and Vest are highly recommended. TJie Shellbork Hickory 'Sometimes called the big shell bark or King Nut, this species is found native over the state, at least as far north as Peoria County. It more often prefers the low lying river and creek bottoms and like the pecan does not suffer from an occasional overflow if not too long continued. The tree and nut are both larger tlian the shngbark. The nut is thicker shelled and the kernel, though good in quality, is not so much sought after as the shagbark. The Weiker variety is jDrobably 86 a cross between tlie shagbark and the shell bark and is a promising one. The Mockerniit and Bitternut These two liickories are found growing quite generally over the state. They appear to adapt themselves to their environment, growing both in the low lands and upland or prairie types of soil. The nuts are medium in size and of little value for human food. The bitternut is chiefly valuable as a parent in hybridizing with the shagbark hickory. The pure sh.agbark, while it bears nuts of fine flavor, is of such slow growth that it is recommended by J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (one of the best known nut nurserymen) to plant hybrid varieties from the shagbark-bitternut cross. He says that these hybrids are rapid growers and bear excellent crops in six years from grafts. These nuts inherit their thin shell and thick meat from the bitternut parent with the good qualit}^ of the shagbark. Mr. Jones recommends the Beaver variety from Pennsylvania, the Fairbanks from Iowa and the Laney from New York. The American Beech This beautiful tree is found widely distributed, often being found on tl;e prairie as well as in the dry sandy regions. It is a common tree on high ground, althougih it is sometimes found at much lower levels. It has not been commonly thought of as a nut bearing tree, since it is of slow growth and does not bear early or regularly. Al- though the nuts are of excellent quality, they are too small for general use. It is possible that they may be improved. It is understood that the tree does not take kindly to domestication and special pains are necessary in transplanting. The American Hazel This species grows wild throughout the state. A moderately rich, well drained soil and favorable climatic conditions such as freedom from mild ):)eriods in winter and no late frosts in spring are require- ments for the successful culture of the hazel. Both staminate and pistillate catkins develop in fall and are ready to open with the ap- proach of mild weather in winter or early spring. The planting of different varieties to provide cross pollination is essential. No de- 87 sirable named varieties have been originated from the native species worth propagating except possibly the Rush. From the European species, however, as well as from hybrids of the American and Euro- pean species, a number of excellent varieties have been secured show- ing promise for commercial culture in Illinois. Judge Potter of Marion is growing the Dorrton of French origin, as well as other varieties successfully. Other varieties worth trying out are the Barcelona, Daviana, Du Chilly and Globe. Where Nut Trees May Be Used To Advantage Nut trees of suitable species and varieties should be more generally planted in Illinois. They can be made a source of both pleasure and profit. (1) Trees for the Hon^.e Grounds: There are various ))laces about the home both in the city and country where shade trees might be both useful and ornamental. Why should we not stnrt now increasing our potential food supplv."' The future will sliow its need. (2) As Roadside, Street and Park Trees: Little attention has been paid to the wonderful possibilities for using nut trees where the soil and site are suitable, for beautifying our roadsides, streets, and parks with various hardy species, both the best varieties of the native cs well as the introduced' species. In Michigan nut trees are being planted along the highways. We should do this in Illinois. (3) On Otherwise Waste Land: There are many areas, especially in southern and western Illinois whicli are not eisily or profitably cul- tivated. Where the soil is suitable, it is highly desirable that chest- nuts, black walnuts, hickories and other species be planted there. Soil erosion is a serious factor in limiting the planting of agricultural crops in southern Illinois. Nut trees on rolling ground often effec- tively prevent soil erosion and bring in highly profitable returns. Re- forestration with nut trees bearing edible nuts is highly commend'able. The trees may be used primarily for their timber while the nuts will be worth considering as a side issue. (4) As a Commercial Proposition: Chestnut orchards in Villa Ridge cultivated like fruit trees or in Alton on steep liillsides, have already proven a commercial success. Walnuts and pecans especially in southern Illinois should be tried out. Figures have already been given showing the yields and prices ohtained from these chestnut trees at Villa Ridge. Mr. Robert Endicott has one chestnut orchard of seedlinsis near the older trees above mentioned which he cultivates like other fruit trees and finds it a profitable use for southern Illinois land. Mr. Riehl had over 2000 chestnuts in bearing, some in orchard form. Mr. Riehl has often stated: "JNIake all reasonable allowances; the fact remains that chestnut growing in favorable locations is a very promising horticultural proposition." ' . J. F. Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana, a nurseryman of con- siderable experience in propagating nut trees, believes that orchards of nut trees interplanted with apples and other fruits will be profit- able and more permanent than where no nut trees are used. Experi- mental evidence in Illinois is not as yet available and will be necessary before recommendations can be made. It has been shown in Virginia where apple trees fifty feet from a black walnut were killed, that tliere was intimate contact between the roots of the walnut and' the dead apple trees. It would, however, be possible to secure several crops of apples before such a condition would become serious. At Marion are the beginnings of a commercial planting of pecans, chestnuts, and black walnuts, owned' by Judge W. O. Potter. There are many questions involved in nut growing in Illinois. Many make mistakes in planting nut trees too closely. They do not realize that the trees are extremely long lived and will need consider- able room 75 years hence. Tlie greatest care is necessary in transplanting. Many reports have come to me of loss of trees at this time. Not only should the tree, be plmted carefully but the toj) must be severely pruned', much more severely than is the case with apples or other fruit trees. Special care the first season is necessary or the roots will dry out. Miulching is absolutely necessary. Some growers are recommending planting the seeds of walnuts and chestnuts in place, then top working the seedlings. Better pruning methods must be worked out. Some varieties of black walnut sucli as Stabler, need special care to preserve a central leader. Keep tlie head from the ground by under cutting. The common insects and diseases must be watched for and killed at once. Defoliation of a young tree is a serious set-back to its future growth and early fruiting. 89 THE PECAN INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH J. M. Patterson, President National Pecan Grnxvers Association, Putney, Ga. I want to bring to this convention the greetings of tlic members of the National Pecan Growers Association, and to extend to you a very earnest invitation to attend our next annual meeting;. We have in our association about seven hundred members and we usually have an at- tendance of between three and four hundred. Pecan growing has passed beyond' the hope and faith stage and b.ecome an established industry. In the state of Georgia we have something like 70,000 acres planted to budded and grafted pecans. A very large part of this acreage has not reached production. I be- lieve there is nearly as large an acreage as the walnut growers have in California and, if the pecans produce anything like the walnuts in California, in the course of ten or twelve years we should' have a pro- duction equal to the walnuts in California and, because the jiccan is a much better nut, we should have a bigger return. The pecan has had its ups and downs. The first commercial or- chards were ])lanted about eighteen years ago. I think the firm with wliicli I was identified was one of the first to plant in a commercial way. I think the oldest orchards, which are only small ones, are down the ^Mississippi. They are probably thirty-eight or forty years old. In southwest Georgia- there are some which are twenty-two or twenty- three years old. The majority of the orchards are from eig'hteen years old down to infants, so the industry is today still in its infancy. There used to be talk, when j^ecans were first planted, that the tree was without disease or insect enemies. We have rcovered from that statement. The disease we suffer most from is the scab. The Delmas variety, which is the largest variety of good quality produced', is said to be abandoned practically everywhere, the trees cut back and worked over to other varieties. In some sections the Schley is also suffering 90 from the scab and has been top worked to other varieties that are appareiitly immuno-. Apparently 'the pecan is affed^ed by scab differently in different locations. Our experience with spraying for the scab h;is not been satisfactory. I drove by an orchard where the Department of Agriculture was conducting an experiment and the trees were all defoliated by Bordeaux. We cannot afford commer- ciallv to spray five or six times. If we find any variety that we have to spray five or six times in a year we^might just as well work it over to some variety that we do not have to spray. With the very best spray rig obtainable it is impossible to spray more than eight or ten acres a day. When you have one hundred thousand acres to take care of, it is an impossible task. We made an experiment on our groves this year with an aeroplane, dusting. It will do it all right. It puts it on and distributes it well. I believe an aeroplane could dust a thousand acres of pecans in a day. They dust a thousand acres of cotton in a day by aeroplane. When the chemists find a dust that will be effective in the control of pecan scab, or anv other of its diseases, thev will have made a wonderful contribution to the pecan industry. I believe it is practical to use an .leroplane to dust the pecan with and at no prohibitive expense. Another thing we have to contend with is an insect pest known as the nut case borer. We have had a very heavy infestation with this in northern Florida and southern Alabama. They started in northern Florida about ten years ago. We are about seventy miles north of Monticello, Florida, and it did not reach us until about seven years ago. Last year we suffered a stunning blow from the nut case borer. The insect bores right into the little nut when about the size of a pea and it is hard to reach him with poison. There is one fortunate condition however. We sometimes hear the"^ slang expression "Ain't nature wonderful.^" But I have used that expression this year in a most serious way because when the nut case borer began to make his attack on our crop the natural enemies were right on his trail and wiped him out. I don't believe the nut case borer did more than 10% damage in our orchard this year, whereas they did 100% last year. I understand that when the nut case borer is gone and the parasite dies out. the nut case borer comes up again. We have never been able to produce enough of the paper shell pecan to supply the demand. I think Mr. Hess and his associates 91 have made quite a contribution in this book which he has gotten out. It is something that will unquestionably, if it can be put into the hands of the housewives, increase the domestic use of pecans. I think the pecan industry is very greatly indebted to Mr. Hess and his associates for the work they have done. Mr. Anderson: Do you know how far north the scab has reached? Mr. Patterson: I know it has reached north in Georgia as far as Macon, about one hundred miles south of the northern line. A Member: It is worse in a wet season than a dry.'' ]\Ir. Patterson: Yes sir. A Member: Do you know the name of the parasite that has brought your nut borers under control? ]Mr. Patterson : No sir. Those who are down tliere working on it told me there were eight that they have discovered. A Member: It just occurred to me that we have before us a most successful nut grower from a section which has arrived. He is talk- ing to us who are representatives from a section which hopes to arrive. I would like to ask if Mr. Patterson would recommend that those in- terested in the subject in the northern states should start the planting of nut orchards on good land, to see how they will behave, in the interest of progress ? Mr. Patterson: If you don't go out and plant something you will always be where you are today. Make a little experiment. Take the best soil you can get and give it the best care. I have never seen any pecan trees succeed that were just left to grow up. My experience with pecan trees is that they are most responsive to good care. A good many people thought in the south a good many years ago that they could take land that would not raise cotton and raise pecans on it. But that would not do. The best soil we can get is none too good. I have one plantation th-it I paid twice as much for as for any other land. That extra fine soil is the best investment I ever made in laying the foundation for a pecan orchard. A good many people make the mistake of selecting indifferent soil and giving indifferent care. If a man is not going to put the best of soil under his orchard and give it the best of care, he should not ]}lant anything. I would rather have 92 ten acres on good soil and give it the best of care, than to have five hundred on indifferent soil with indifl'erent care. Tlie results from pecan growing have been disappointing to some. When we started ijlanting orchards eighteen years ago we did not know mucli about it. All we knew was what a man here and there told us. But he had not kej^t accurate records. ]\Iy experience has been that I have not had any orchard that has p.iid commercially under ten years. However, if I were planting an orchard today, I would use those varieties that produce early crops, I mean in five or six or seven years, and: heavy crops, heavier than any of the old standard varieties that were planted seventeen or eighteen years ago. It is not the highest grade pecan that pays the best. It is the cheaper grades that have been the most profitable. And I think that in place of sticking to the higher g'rade of pecans, like the Schley and Pabst we are going to plant more of the varieties that bear younger, even though the nuts are not so large, such as Moneymaker and Success and Moore and Waukegan, and even though the quality is not so good. I have some trees budded three years ago with the Moore variety whose tops are breaking. I would plant a considerable percentage with these varieties that are early and heavy bearers. There is a great demand for a medium price nut. The chain stores say they cannot handle a init that costs more than 3()c. We cannot afford to sell the Stuart, or any variety like that, for 30c but if we had these cheap varieties we could aff'ord to sell thousands of pounds at that price. 93 THE FIRST YEAR AT THE KEYSTONE PECAN RESEARCH LABORATORY Elam G. Hess, President, Manheim, Pa. When we talk about nuts as a staple food we are not talking about some new fad or some untried' experiment. The use of nuts as a staple food dates back to the beginnings of the human race. "All scientific men are now agreed that nuts were the chief staple in the diet of primitive man," -says Dr. J. H. Kellogg. Our investigations concerning the use of one of our most common nuts takes us back to that nut which takes it name from the Gauls^ — the WALNUT. This word is a corruption of the name GAULNUT, rpplied by the people of England when this nut was brought over from France. The walnut was used in middle Europe as a staple food long- before the era of Julius Caesar. Whether the walnut had been intro- duced into Rome before this time we iire not sure. But we do know that practically half a century later it was a popular food in Rome, and was called the Royal Nut. Charles Darwin speaks of baboons opening nuts by breaking them with stones. Prehistoric man may or may not have been a descendent of that type of baboons, but Professor Eliot, one of our most eminent authorities on the habits of j:)rimitive man, says that primitive man found his meat supply in the nuts borne by the forests of nut trees which covered the earth in those days of the beginning of the human race. Can milk, eggs, and the other food staples of today show similar history.'' Worthington Smith, in his book entitled "Man the Primeval Savage." writes: "He had for food ha/,el-nuts, beech-nuts, sweet chest- nuts, earth-nuts, and acorns." Wells, in his Outline of History, fixes the time when milk caine into use as a food as thousands of years later during' the neolithic period when grain was first cultivated in middle 94 Europe, and an unleavened bread was ;i]so made. Tliere are many writers who fix the first use of milk later, when mankind became nomadic, and Wells himself says, "Milk is not a natural food for [Note: On account of lack of space it has been necessary to abstract the paper of oNIr. Hess.] adults; it must have seemed queer stuff to take at first and it may have been only after much breeding that a continuous supply of milk was secured from cows and goats." The use of hens' eggs and' the cultivation of jioultry seem to be cjuitc recent, according to Wells. He assumes that up to 1500 B. C, the only fowls in the world were the jungle fowls of Burmali and India. It is probable that fowls were first domesticated there, he states. It was 400 years later before the Chinese people had them and still later before they reached Greece by way of Persia. Wells calls attention to the fact that among the very few mentions of eggs which appear in the Old Testament, only one, Job. Chapter VI, 6tli verse, seems possibly to refer to the eating of hen's eggs. The ques- tion of Job, in this verse, "Is there any taste in the white of an egg?" may not necessarily refer to the egg of the hen, even though it is simultaneous with the first mentions of jungle fowls in India and Burmah, a g-reat distance away in those days. If then Professor Elliot is right in his conclusion that })rimitive man was not a flesh eater; if Professor Ami, of Montreal, is right in his statement that study of paleontology proves that man did not become a flesh eater till after the glacial period; then nuts remain as the only known staple source of fat and protein which were used by primitive man. Milk, eggs, and animal flesh, instead of being the primary staple foods that the average man considers them, are the new food fads of the race, when compared to nuts, — man's staple foods from the beginning. All tlirouffli the history of the nations of the world we find the nut tree valued for its yield of food. I>onk for a moment in your Bible. Turning to the laws laid down for the people of God we find in Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, Verses J 9 and 20. that even when be- sieging a city they were not to cut down for war purposes the trees bearing food. "For the tree of the field is man's life," says the 19th verse, while the 20th verse permits the destruction and use of the trees 95 that "he noi for meat." Genesis 43:11 shows what Israel considered the greatest offeringi lie could make. "If it must be so now, do this; take of" the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds." In the Song of Solomon, Chapter 6, Verse 11, we find, "I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley." What were the nuts of tlie Bible, which were held in such high esteem.^ Notably the almond which is mentioned most often by name, the chestnut, the walnut, called Egoz in Hebrew, or Royal Nut, the hazel nut, and the pistachio. Read the seventeenth chapter of Numbers and note in the eiglitli verse, "And behold the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and 3'ielded almonds." You will notice in Isaiah 6, Verse 13, a reference which places similar value on the pistachio nut. For it is likened to "the holy seed," meaning that small remnant of tlie Jewish people who shall be saved from destructions and on whom the whole future of the nation depends. Back in the 30th Chapter of Genesis you find mention of Jacob before his departure from Laban, taking rods of the hazel nut ;:nd of the chestnut tree and of the miraculous results ascribed to them. Tills significance of the nut tree as the source of food runs tlirough tl e Old Testament from the very first chapter of tlie first book. In Genesis I, Verse 29, we read, "And God said, 'Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the wliich is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat'." What is the record during the past two thousand years.'' Let us look into the facts regarding the notable trees of the world, trees which are famous the world over. None is more famous than that wonderful chestnut tree on Mount Etna which the natives call "Cas- tig'na di Centa Cavalla". Its name indicates that a hundred horsemen can be concealed within its hollow trunk, the circumference of which measures one hundred and eighty feet. This tree is one of a vast chestnut grove on Mount Etna containing other trees of prodigious size and of great age many of which are still bearing. iSIichaux describes the Grand Chestnut near Saucerre, France, 96 which measures thirty feet in circumference at six feet from the ground. Six hundred years ago it hore that famous name and, al- though it is over a thousand! years old, its trunk is still sound, and its branches still laden annually with nuts of fine quality. In the Baider Valle}', near Balaklava — the point made famous by the Charge of the Light Brigade — stands a famous walnut tree with even a longer record. This grand' old tree over 1200 years of age is yielding annually crops of over one hondred thousand nuts, being divided among the five Tartar families which have owned it. During the siege of Amiens by the Spanish in the sixteenth cen- tury, determined to accomplish by a ruse what they could not accom- plish with their cannon, they caused a party of men, dressed as P'rench peasants, to bring a cart-load of nuts to the city for sale. When ad- mitted to the city gates the make-believe French peasants let some of the walnuts fall from their cart. The sentries could not resist the temptation to gather them and as they deserted their posts and stopped to gather the nuts they were set upon by the disguised peasants who took the gates of the city and admitted the Spanish army. If the written records from China and Japan were as readily avail- able as those from Europe, we would find much of value regarding the antiquity of nut trees- there. Mr. Reed could, from his personal investigations in China, tell you much along that line. The great age of their nut trees and their records of production for generations would make a most interesting' subject for ;\ talk by him to your organization. In America we are limited' to the period since Columbus landed if we restrict ourselves to the record written by man. But Nature has written her own record in enduring stone. In Lampasas County, Texas, fossil remains of pecan trees have been found which date back to the lower cretaceous period, which shows that America liad this nut tree as a source of food for her inhabitants many thousands of years ago. In the San Saba Valley a perfect fossil of the pecan nut which had been 30 feet below the surface was thrown out by a blast from a well. It is certain that the earliest explorers found the jjccan largely used by the natiAe Indians. Sturtevant tells us that " tlie pecan was eaten by the Indians and was called by them Pecaunes, and an oil ex- 97 tracted from it was used by the natives of Louisiana to season their food." Its use at or near Madrid on the Mississippi by the Indians is mentioned in the Portugese Rehition of De Soto's Expedition. Ban- croft refers to the fact that DeSota discovered not only the Mississippi River but also the pecan, and fixes the date of this discovery of the pecan in 1511. On page 47 of Volume I of Bancroft's History of the United' States, the pecan nut, the mulberry and two kinds of wild plums are mentioned as furnishing tlie natives with articles of food. The Indians had a liquid obtained by pounding the kernels of the nuts and throwing them into boiling water. This liquid, called powcohicora, was used to thicken venison broth, to season hominy or corn cakes and, according to the records of the American Philological Society in 1872, was in some instances allowed to ferment, forming an intoxicating drink. About 150 years later, when tlie Frencli had more largely settled this district, numerous references to the pecan nut appear. We see that these early French settlers had learned from the Indian to place their dependence for food largely upon the pecans. Jean Penicaut, ill his Annals of Louisiana covering the period' from 169-1 to 1722, makes references to the food value of tlie pecan both to the Indian and to the early settlers. Describing Natchez, an Indian village on the Mississippi, he says, "Tli^ natives have three kinds of walnut trees, some whose nuts are as big as the fist, from which bread for their soup is made. The best ones, however, are scarcely bigger than the thumb and are called Pacane." Xavier Charlevoix, French missionary .•:;nd traveller, descended the ^Mississippi to New Orleans in 1722 and published a history of new France in 1711. In this he gives a good description of tlie pecan as l:e had seen it, after comparing it with the acorn in length and general form. After describing the fact that some have very thin shells, and showing their advantage to those with the harder, thicker shell, which were even smaller, he says, "All have a very fine and delicate taste." Le Page du Pratz, a French explorer, visited New Orleans in 1720, and spent eight years exploring the Mississippi Valley. In 1758 he jjublished a history of Louisiana in which he describes the pecan ac- curately and particularly praises its flavor. In it we find the first mention of the pecan praline which the French colonists made out of the kernels. What other candy, originating in America, can point 98 to an unbroken record of 175 years of popularity in the districts where it was known? The liigh esteem in which the pecan nut was held wherever it was known, is indicated by the fact that after peace had been declared between the French and Indians and the American colonists, it was but a very short time before pecans were known in New York City, to which the}' were brought by fur traders from the Mississippi Valley. Preceding the American Declaration of Inde- jaendence young pecan trees had gone through New York to England where thev were sold fo** I:en guineas each. We liave no exact record as to when Thomas Jefferson first learned of the pecan and was converted to its use. We do know that he es- teemed it highly, as is shown by his description of the pecan tree in his notes from Virginia, published in 178t. We do know, also, that it was from Jeiferson that Washington received the pecan nuts which lie planted with his own hand around Mt. Vernon on March 25, 1775. Charles Sprague Sargent, Director of the famous Arnold Arboretum at Boston, who has suggested the recent plantings around the Wash- ington home at Mt. Vernon, and has catalogued and investigated the history of all the old trees on the property, calls attention to the fact that these three pecan trees which still stand to the southeast and east of the mansion, are the oldest known trees on the property planted by Washington. He shows the height of these trees to be respectively 97, 98 and 86 feet, placing them among the giant trees on the property and says, despite the fact that they are 150 years old, "The three pecan trees are in good condition and, unless blown over or injured by gales, ^arobably have not lived out half their lives." Whether Washington was an ardent disciple of pecans as food prior to the planting of these trees we do not know, but we do know that de Courset, brother of the famous P'rench botanist, served with Wash- ington and left the record that "the celebrated general always had his pockets full of these nuts and he was constantly eating them." Every now and then some feature writer discovers that acorns are largely used as food and have been largely used in the past, and builds upon that fact a story appealing to the general public in which he tells how the Indians of the Pacific Coast region used acorns in large quantities and how, in some cases, this use persists despite the neces- sity for a long and troublesome treatment. He refers to the acorn meal of Italy and other sections of Europe which is used in making 99 bread, and comments upon the use of dried acorns as a substitute for coffee. Burbank comments upon the great economic importance of nuts among the older nations of the world. He refers to the fact that in Korea the chestnut takes the jalace in the dietary not unlike that which the potato occupies with us, being used raw, boiled, roasted or cooked. He calls attention to the large use of chestnuts in France and Italy, generally boiled, dried and ground to a flour from which sweet and nutritious cakes are made. In this he doubtless refers to the "necci", a cake of Italy which is a very common food and is highly valued. The polenta, or chestnut pudding, of Italy, is another staple chestnut product which is ground into meal for thickening soups and for bread baking. If these facts were more widely known we would Jiave an increase of that relatively small number of people in America who are at present using chestnut flour, and we might hope to have the time come when, in the leading chestnut districts of America, the nut harvest w^ould be considered the great event of the year, just as it is along the Appenines and Pyrenees. There, for three or four weeks, tl;e principal occupation of every mountain village is the gathering of the nut crop, and on the size of the nut crop the prosperity of tlie population depends. Tl:e great use of the chestnut in Italy is fairly well known. There is too general a tendency in the average mind to assume that it is restricted to Italv, whereas the chestnut is an important food crop of other leading countries including Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, and will. I confidently believe, assume with each decade a greater importance in America. The same is true of the walnut crop of the countries mentioned above and of China also. In America the pecan crop is destined to assume a position of equal, or greater importance as the American public learns more of the food value of nuts in genera] and of pecans in particular. Experts in agricultural economics and leading students of nutri- tion emphasize the need for increasing use of nuts in America as a staple food. Yet I can find no record of a single comprehensive cook book, or recipe book, which will show the average housewife how to prepare nuts as a staple food. This book which I hold in my hand is the result of the first year's work at the Keystone Pecan Research Laboratory. It is the first copy off the press of a new book entitled, 100 "800 Proved Pecan Recipes." The use of nuts to the benefit of the public liealth and to the benefit of all engaged in nut growing, will not be a practical reality unless we think and act in terms of the average housewife. We must realize that the average housewife is becoming n:ore and more food-wise. Every step that is taken to remove the drudgery of the other phases of housekeeping increases her opportuni- ties to really give some thought and some attention to the food for her family, and the more thought she gives to the subject the more value she will place upon nuts as food. She may aim to cut down the physical effort of preparing meals but in general she is paying in- creasing attention to the question of whether her meals are properly balanced. No one factor has been more stressed than the relation of proper diet to the family health. This is a natural development of the increased interest in preventive medicine. The general public knows to a degree which it never knew before that to cure a condition or an ailment is much more difficult than to avoid that condition or ailment. From the earliest grades in school information is being im- parted to children, and has been imparted during recent years, which is absolutely astounding when compared to the information which we secured at the same age. Children of 9 to 1 1 years of age are taught in a most interesting manner what tlie great food needs of the body are, and among the youngest children this information is given added interest and added retentive power by diagrams which stamp them- selves indelibly on the child's mind. Who can measure the influence of this work in creating knowledge of proper food standards of the present generation ? Who can cal- culate to even the slightest degree what this is going to mean during the next generation? All that we need to do to bring nuts into in- creasing use year after year, is to state the facts, to state them clearly and in definite form, so that one does not have to be a doctor of medicine to get the meaning of the statement. All we have to do is to recognize this increasing public knowledge of food values and to re:ilize how it is growing, not only because of educational move- ments in that direction but because of a large increase in information along these lines found in publications of the most popular type, and recognizing these factors, to offer suggestions for the use of nuts in the diet which will make them available throughout the year and for every meal of every day, just in proportion as food science shows tliev are desirable. To do all this in a form which the average house- 101 wife can understand, is no simple undertaking. We must recognize first the fact that, desirr'ble as nuts are eaten raw, there are a great number of people whose use of nuts would be very limited indeed if we depended upon the consumption in raw form. We must recognize that unless we show women how to use nuts in the main dish of the meal they will be all too likely to serve them at the end of an /ilready sufficient meal, and because of the very high food content of tl)e nuts and their riclmess this course leads to the incorrect impression that nuts arc difficult of digestion. We cannot hope to lead women to make a larger use of nuts in the family diet, and at the same time to avoid their erroneous use at the end of an already heavy meal, unless we show how they should be used earlier in the meal. This book entitled "800 Proved Pecan Recipes" shows how pecans may be used in varied ways covering every need from soup to nuts. Its real value is based first, on the proved food value of the pecan, second, on the fact that everyone of these recipes has been submitted by a woman who has used it and found it good; then has been checked, tested, and re-checked by skilled dietitians. We call these PROVED recipes because they have been first proved in practice by the women who submitted them, then proved by experts in nutrition in our laboratory. • I make the statement that this is not just a book of 800 recipes; that it is a most important contribution to the health and welfare of the homes into which it will go. I am not swayed by any pride of authorship in saying that. I did not write the recipes in this book. The Laboratory did not write them. They originated with over 5,000 women located in all parts of the United States, in Canada, South America, Europe and Asia. About a year and a half ago we advertised, offering prizes for those recipes using pecan nuts which liad proved best in the homes of those submitting them. For years we had been hearing of the many uses to which pecans had been put, particularly in southern homes, and by tedious work over the years had gathered less than a hundred non-duplicating recipes of wliich about half proved to have real merit. We hoped to get possibly another hundred or two recipes in response to our offer of jjrizes. Before the contest closed we had over 21,000 recipes in hand awaiting judgment, which had been submitted by 5,083 housewives in widely scattered territory. 102 So ': a meeting of the Executive Committee last night, I proposed that we hold our future meetings at the State Agricultural Colleges in order to get this proposition more clearly before the young men of tlie country. The students at the various Agricultural Colleges are going to be the county agents and up-to-date farmers of the future. I was specially anxious that we should hold the next meeting at the Agricultural College of Illinois. It is a wonderful institution with a great body of students and if one-third of them only could see the fine collection of nuts Mr. Reed has, together with the lantern slides and pictures he has, it would, in my opinion, produce more results than we have been able to accomplish in our sixteen years of existence. 106 I doubt if more than a few people in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky have any conception of the thousands of fine pecan trees that grow in each of these great states. I think the time has come for us to get this question squarely before the young men of the agricultural sections of the country. We have been holding nriny of our meetings in the big cities of the country, but we reach only a few peo]i]e that way. As to this proposition of growing nuts east of the Allegheny Moun- « tains, I find that it is difficult to say ver}' much based on actual ex- ])erience. If anyone should suggest commercial planting of nuts in the East, I should have some difficulty in recommending it because of our lack of experience. I hsxc thirty acres of pecan trees on .ny farm in Maryland at about the 39th degree latitude and yet, if I had to depend on that farm immediately for a living, I should have to eliminate these j^ecan trees and grow crops that are suitable to that section. How these pecan trees may behave in the future, I cannot tell but there is no doubt but that much territory east of the Allegheny Mountains is suitable for pecan trees. Many parts of Virginia and Maryland have climatic and soil conditions equal to, or better than that where the native pecan trees are growing. And undoubtedly, the Northern Nut Growers Association can recommend the farmers in the suitable sections to put out a few dozen pecan trees. But we do not know enough about them yet in the East to recommend commercial orchards. It must be understood that I am talking about the territory east of the Allegheny Miountains now and not sections of the middle West which are discussed by others here at this meeting. In summing u]) the pecan east of the Allegheny Mountains, I think if the farmers who live south of the 39th parallel and have good soil, would put out a few dozen trees, they would probably find them profitable in the future if they took care of them. The black walnut ought to be a profitable tree to plant in the East. There are no commercial orchards of this nut yet in the East l)ut the native trees bear bountifully and there is every reason to be- lieve that it ought to succeed. I have thougiht for many years that the black walnut offers the safest prospect for commercial returns of anv nut o-rown in the North. The chestnut, as we all know, is doomed in the East. The blight has killed nearly all of the native trees and those that remain will go 107 soon. Years ago, thousands of hillsides in the East were covered with groves of native chestnut trees bearing fine nuts but they are gone now. The filbert seems to be fairly promising in the East. I have five or six filbert bushes near my garage that bore about a half a bushel of large, well-filled nuts this year. If I had ten acres of these bushes that bore like these, I would have a better return from them than I would oil' of all the rest of my farm. I believe if we could get the farmers in the East in the proper latitudes each to plant one acre of filberts with an occasional native hazel among them for pollenization that they would get a big return from this acre at very little expense. Therefore, I believe the filbert has a commercial future. But when we speak of growing nuts commercially we have to face the matter of dollars and cents and the return on the investment. We do not always put the things that we enjoy doing on a cash basis and should not, but when we recommend the planting of nut trees for profit, we have to cope with practical facts. The State of North Carolina is carrying on a program that I think is a very excellent one. They have an organization there to get the farmers to plant a few nut trees. They have an association that ad- vises as to varieties and furnishes the trees in order that the farmer may make no mistakes as to varieties and soil. The county agents co- operate with the farmers and the State Agricultural College, and if we could get that sort of a program Avorked out in some of the nortliCrn states, we could soon get nut culture in the North on an in- telligent and probably successful basis. I do not believe that anyone can see the thousands, of fine pecan trees in souther;i Illinois and Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky without feeling that there has been a great neglect and that the scientists of the country ought to have been at work many years ago trying to get these trees propagated and dis- tributed for test purposes, at least. I still have hopes that we will finally get an intelligent, active interest stimulated in nut culture in the North and that the farmers of the future will all have their nut orchards as an adjinict to their general farming and then, time and ex- ])eiience will lead the way and show us the best and most successful varieties to put out in large commercial orchards. 108 SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT INSECTS ATTACKING NUT TREES IN ILLINOIS. « « TV. P. Flint, Entomologist — Illinois. Several years ago, the Natural History Survey conducted a forest insect survey of Illinois. During the course of this survey, mtive woodlands were examined for insect injury in all part of the state. In the course of this work which covered some two years time, many examinations were made of hickory, pecan, black walnut, some chestnut trees, and other nut bearing trees. The insects that attack nut bearing trees in the latitude of Illinoi.'j may be grouped in three classes, 1st those that attack the trunk or branches of the tree, 2nd', those that attack the foliage and blossoms, and 3rd, those that attack the fruit or nuts. Hickory Tiger Beetle. Of the insects that attack the trunk, one of the most common and destructive insects to hickory and pecan throughout the state, is the Hickory Tiger Beetle, or Tiger Borer. This insect is common in all parts of the state, causing injury mainly to the young hickory trees when they are from two to six inches in diameter. The adult beetles, which are over an inch long, are of a })urplish-gray color, with somewhat mottled wing covers, make their appearance during June and July. The females make small circular pits in the smooth bark of the branches or main trunk of young trees, and in the centers of these pits deposit their eggs. There are generally several pits at inch or half inch intervals along one section of the trunk. By fall, the young larvae hatching from the eggs have fed under the bark to such an extent as to cause a cracking of the bark. Strings of brown castings will be pushed out from the points where tlie insects arc working under the bark. During the second year, the beetles burrow in the wood of the tree, often seriously weakening the trunk or branches, and emerge in June or Jiilv of the second season as the adult beetles above des- 109 cribcd. Young hickory, or pecan trees which are infested with tliese insects are apt to be hisshapen, stunted, and so weakened that they never make strong healthy trees. Contr-ol Measures If one will carefully examine young hickories, or pecans during the first part of August, he can detect the points on the trunk where the adult borers have deposited their eggs, and if these pits in the bark are soiked with cirbon bisulphid. practically all of the young , orcis which are then just starting to work in the wood beneath the bark will be killed. C:;rbon bisulphid can be easily applied from an ordinary machine oil ciai with the snout sligjitly stopped down. In using this chemical, one must keep in mind the fact that it is explosive when mixed with air, and that all fire must be kept away. Flat Headed Borer. Nut trees in common with most of our shade and fruit trees are often seriously injured, especially the first year or two after they are set by one of the so-called Flat Headed Borers. Tl'.is insect in its adult stage, is a grayish-bronze beetle with a body wider at the center, blunt at the head, and gradually tapering toward the tail. They are about 1-2 to 3-1' of an inch in length when full grown. The adult beetles are abroad from April to August. They are very pronounced sun loving insects, and always seek the sunny side of trees, or other objects on which they rest. The female beetles lay their eggs in the bark of trees which are in an unhealthy con- dition, or on healthy trees where some injury has occurred such as a mechanical wound, or sun scald. Nearly all the eggs of this insect will be deposited on the south and southwest sides of the trees. The young borers hatching from these eggs are a yellowish-white in color, with a very pronounced enlargement of the body just back of the head, which gives them their common name of Flat Headed Borer. They feed in the inner birk of the tree during the late summer and fall, and work into the wood of the tree upon the approach of cold weather, forming a cell in which they change during the next spring to the pupal, or resting stage, and come out as adult beetles during the spring and summer. Control Measures The young borers may be killed by going over the trees carefully no during the first part of September ^and with a sharp knife, cutting' out the borers, their jiresence being fairly easily detected because of the small deadened areas of the bark, and the bits of sawdust-like cast- ings which are protuding from these areas. Trees that are in a healthy condition and free from sun scald are not likely to become infested by these insects. The following wash has been recommended by the Michigan Agri- cultural Experiment Station : Common laundry soap 25 pounds Water H gallons Flake naphthalene 12^ pounds Flour 1 pound Place the soap in the water over steam pipes and allow it to soften for a few days. Use a potash soap which will form a smooth mixture, not a soda soap since the latter becomes jellylike. ^Then place in a double boiler (we use a medium^ sized wash boiler placed inside a very large one) and cook until the temioerature reaches 180° F. Stir in the flour and add the naphthalene and bring the temperature to 180° ¥., at which temperature the naphthalene will have melted, the melting point of naphthalene being 176°, then cool as quickly as may be, stirring the mixture occasionally. The more rapidly the mix- ture is cooled, the smaller will be the crystals of naphthalene. The mixture should be applied when warm with a brush. Hickory Twig Girdler. Hickory and pecan, as well as many other trees are frequently attacked by this insect. Attention will usually be called to the work of the insect by finding a large number of twigs from eighteen inches to two feet or a little more in length lying under the trees in the fall. An examination of the ends of these twigs will show that they have been nearly gnawed off by some insect which has worked around and around the twig, cutting through the bark and wood. This cutting of the twigs is done by a small grayish- brown beetle about one inch long that gnaws around and around the twig until it is nearly ready to break off. An examination of the fallen twigs will show small egg punctures along the twigs, or if this examination is made in the spring, cream colored grubs will be found working within the twig, in many cases reducing the twig to a mere shell of bark. On larger trees, the injury by this insect is not severe, but on small trees, the girdling of the main leaders and sev- Ill eral laterals may cause a stunted and misshapen tree, as well as seriously check the growth. Control Measures The most effective remedy for this insect is to pick up and burn the fallen twigs from mid fall to early winter. At this time, the grubs within the twigs have not worked to such an extent that the twigs are likely to break when handled, and the cut twigs may be more easily seen than if one waits until spring. The beetles have usually all disappeared by mid September, so that the insect will be entirely in the egg, or growing stage in the fallen twigs from about the first of October, until the following September. Oak Tzcig Primer. The work of this insect closely resembles that of the one just described, but the severed twigs will be found to con- tain a single elongated yellowish grub which has worked inside the twig, usually from a lateral branch, and has cut off the branch work- ing from the inside. These grubs remain in the fallen branches during the late summer and fall, and change next season to brownish, slender beetles about three-fourths of an inch, in length. The beetles lay their eggs in the twigs and small branches of many trees, being the most destructive in oak. but frequently causing injury to some of the nut bearing trees, and also to fruit trees. The branches which are cut off by the Oak Twig Pruner will often be somewhat larger than those injured by the Hickory Twig Girdler. In some cases, branches to an inch in diameter and six to seven feet in length are pruned off by this insect. Control Measures The most effective control measures are the same as those given for the Hickory Twig Girdler, and consist of picking up and burning the infested fallen branches during the late fall or early winter. The Walnut Caterpillar. Walnuts, hickories, pecans, and butternuts grown anywhere in the upper Mississippi Valley are nearly sure to be more or less injured each season by black hairy caterpillars which wholly, or partly, defoliate the trees during the latter part of the summer. Many walnuts and young hickories die every year in Illinois due to the repeated stripping by these insects. The adult of these caterpillars is a very pretty buff and brown moth about one inch long when the wings are folded. These moths emerge during the summer 112 ;!iid lay their eggs on the undersides of the leaves in masses of from lliree hundred or more. The small caterpillars hatching from these eggs feed together in clusters for nearly their entire life. At in- tervals in their growth, they crawl down the trunk of the tree and gather in a large mass usualh^ just below the lower branches. Here they shed their skins and after the process is completed, crawl back uj) the tree to their feeding place, leaving their empty cast skins hanging in an unsightly mass on the' trunk of tlie tree. The cater- pillars become full grown during late August and September. They crawl to the ground and burrow below the surface for one to three iiiclies, and change to a pupal stage emierging as moths the following summer. Control Measures As the moth of the Walnut Caterpillar flies to the leaves of the trees where she lays her eggs, it is not possible to prevent damage by tliese insects by banding the trunk of the trees with some sticky sub- stance, although this is sometimes done. The best method of prevent- ing damage by this insect is to spray or dust the trees with arsenate of lead, two pounds to fifty gallons of water, or if dust is used to cover the leaves as soon as the caterpillars appear on the leaves. If the trees are so large, or growing in situations where this cannot be done, many of the caterpillars can be killed by crushing fhem when they come down the tree to shed their skins. Xnt Weevils. These insects are entirely different from those just described, and confii'ie their attacks to the fruit of the nut bearing trees. There are a ninnber of these nut weevils which attack the fruit of pecan, chestnut, hickory, and hazelnut, as well as several species that feed on .acorns. The life history of these insects is much the same for all species. The adult weevils are grayish, brownish, or yellowish beetles varying in size from a fourth up to one-half inch in length, with long, slender beaks projecting from the front of their lieads. They usually make their ajjpearance during late July and August. Mating takes place, and the females deposit their eggs in the nuts or acorns which they attack. The eggs are laid in cavities eaten into the fruit of the nuts, these cavities extending for some distance into the nut, and being drilled by the weevils with their long snouts. After drilling the hole in the nut or acorn the female weevil turns around and by the aid of a long ovipositor, inserts her egg. The 113 grul)s hatching from tliese eggs feed on the nuts and cause them to drop. The grubs continue to feed inside the nuts after they have fallen to the ground, and on becoming full grown, eat circular holes through the shell and work their way into the ground for some distance. There they construct small cells in which they pass the winter. Late the next season, they emerge as adult weevils. There are some ex- ceptions to this general life history, a few of the insects requiring two years to complete their growth, and occasional individuals appearing earlier in the season than late summer. Control Measures The Nut Weevils are, on the whole, very difficult insects to con- trol. They are all native of this country, and most of them have several food plants. Brooks in his excellent bulletin on these insects, (West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Bull. 128), recom- mends fumigating the dropjaed nuts with carbon bisulphid before the weevils have left the nuts and gone into the ground. Nut Curcnlio. Another somewhat similar class of insects which attack many of our nut trees is known as the Nut Curculios. They are closely related to the apple and the plum curculios, which are among the worst insect enemies of apple, peach, plum, and' some of our otlier fruits. The curculios somewhat resem'ble the weevils in ap- pearance, but have a shorter snout, and differ in the time of their apjjearance and their manner of attack on the nuts. The adult cur- culios are rather robust beetles, of a dark brown to blackish appear- ance with light markings on the back of the wing covers. The Butter- nut Curculio, Black Walnut Curculio, and Hickory Curculio, are three of the most common species. On the butternut and black walnut, the eggs are deposited in small slits eaten in the husk of the nut and are laid during the first part of July up to the middle of August. The white, footless, fat-'bodied grubs, hatching from these eggs, burrow in the husk of t! e nut, causing the infested nuts to drop. The insects complete their growth within the nut, burrow into the ground, and transform to beetles during the late summer. A very similar species nttacks the hickory and pecan. Control Measures Destroying the newly dropped nuts by i)icking up and burning is 114 probably the most effective metliod of controlling these insects, al- though the expense of this operation make it impossible under most conditions. If the soil around the infested tree can be cultivated during the late summer, many of the insects can be killed. This also is not usually possible in locations where the hickory or pecan is being grown. Where these insects are on the increase, it would probably pay to pick up and destroy the infested nuts every second or third year if the practice is found too expensive to follow each season. Fortu- nately there are several insect enemies of these insects that tend to keep them in check. Mice and shrews eat large numbers of the weevil and curculio larvae in the ground. DISCUSSION IN REGARD TO HICKORY GIRDLER Pres. Weber : One end of the twig looks as if someone had tried to twist it off.^ Mr. Flint: Very often. The insect makes this girdle about half way and the twig will hang in the wind andi twist. Pres. Weber: Would it not be advisable to take your knife and cut it off and finish it up at once.^ ]Mr. Flint: Yes, it would. A Member: Do the bugs select any particular place with ref- erence to the leaf stem.'' Mr. Flint: Not so far as I have ever observed. They may be on a twig that is up to at least half an inch in diameter; sometimes they will cut a larger twig than that. There is another borer that cuts branches up to three inches but it does not work up here. A Member: That particular insect down in Texas always selects the base of the leaf stem to deposit the egg. Mr. P'lint: Yes, but not for the girdle. It always deposits its eggs at the leaf scars along the twig. This is what they call the hickory twig girdler or pecan girdler or persimmon girdler. A Members Does it attack oak? Mr. Flint: Yes, sir, and the elm, especially the Wahoo elm. 115 Pres. Weber: English Walnut? Mr. Flint: Yes, sir, very much so, and the black walnut. A Member: In Texas it is called the sawbuck. Mr. Flint: Yes, sir, and they have another one in Texas. Of course the picking up of twigs and burning them is of very little value if your plantation is near a woodlot where they are breeding all the time because you get so many of them out of the woodlot. Dr. Colby: When would you put that arsenate of lead on.^ Mr. Flint: That should be put on as a regular practice about the first of July. I am saying that for the latitude of Central Illinois. South of that it would come earlier. North of that it would come later. Any one of you can make a few observations in your own plantation for two or three years and you will know ust about when these worms are coming. They come just about the same time each year. Pres. Weber: The leaves will be sort of dead looking? Mr. Flint: Yes sir; when they first start they will simply skele- tonize your leaf. The President: The leaf apj^ears to be dead and the larva is just started. Mr. Flint: Yes sir. A Member : Are those the ones that hang in bunches in a wet on the branches ? Mr. Flint: They hang in bunches on the trunk but the one that makes a web on the branch is the fall web worm. It is a different worm. It comes from a moth. A Member: Can you use a torch to burn them out or use a step ladder in a small plantation and then destroy them ? Mr. Flint: Yes, you can if the trees are small. A Member: Do these defoliating insects attack any other kind of trees, apple trees, for instance? Mr. Flint: You have another species. Between the hickory moth and the yellow-necked caterpillar and the red-hump caterpillar, there is almost no difference in the moth; a little difference in the larva. Mr. Spencer: I was told by a gentleman who trims trees that if you get tliis substance of which fly paper is made and put that on the trees it will stav all summer and vou can catch these moths. 116 Mr. P'lint: You can put that Tree Tanglefoot on the trunks of the trees and you can catch the canker worms tliat crawl up the trunk but this insect flies up and lays its eggs on the leaves. It is practi- cally useless for hand made moth. The eggs are laid up in the trees hy a moth that flies. A Member: But when they come down you may get a few? Mr. Flint: You can get a few of them. Pres. Weber: The mischief is already done? Mr. Flint: The Tanglefoot will get your canker worm. It is very effective for that insect but for these it is of little value. On the Ntit Weevil. A Member: Where does it hibernate? Mr. Flint: On trash and litter through wood lands around your ])lantation. The Member: On the ground? Mr. Flint: In the surface of the ground. W^e have taken large numbers of them — the lar2,est number we have ever taken was in a rotting stick on the ground, where they had lain for two or three years. A Member : Have you ever seen the Codling Moth attacking Japanese Walnut ? Mr. P'lint: Not on Japanese Walnut. We have bred Codling Moth several times from the green shells of hickory nuts. A Member: I have found it on the heart nut; rather badly in- jured, the crop on one tree. Mr. Flint: Of course you all know the Codling Moth is a pest of the English Walnut in the west and' they have to spray or dust for it out there just as we have to spray for it on apples. I don't believe it will ever become very much of a pest of any of the nuts we grow here. It doesn't like these things as well as it likes apples and jilums and probably would not get very plentiful on the nuts. A INIember: Are there any birds that attack the hand made moth? Mr. Flint: I couldn't give you any reports of the birds feeding on it. The caterpillars are eaten by the yellow-billed cuckoo. It likes hairy caterpillars and it eats a great many of tliem just as it eats a great many Gypsy moths. 117 A Member: How about these flat headed apple borers? Mr. Flint: That is an insect I meant to mention. There are two species that look alike and work alike. That insect lays its eggs on the trunks of trees during the late spring and early summer. It is flat, grayish, — it looks gray, but it is really a beautiful bronze beetle. It lays its eggs in the trunk. It will lay its eggs in a place where the bark has been injured. 75% of the eggs will be laid on the south or southwest sides of the tree. We have a great deal of trouble with that beetle on shade trees. You would have the same trouble with it on nut trees. Trees that are newly set and exposed to the bright sun; there will be little areas that will be sun scalds and this insect likes those sun scald spots. It will lay its eggs there. This insect does not go into the wood. It bores the first year into the bark and this keeps enlarging as the insect grows and by fall that burrow may be three or four inches long and about two inches square on a small tree. It then goes into the trunk and makes a cell there, changes in tliat cell to the adult beetle and comes out the next year. It takes two years to complete its growth. That insect is common on nut trees, shade trees and forest trees. The best remedy for it is to go over the newly set trees or injured trees, the latter part of August or first of September and wherever you see any little dead areas in the bark, especially if there are little brown castings coming out, you will find there are borers working in the bark. You can usually cut them out that time of the year. You can get them sometimes with carbon disulphide. Pres. Weber: What are some of the natural enemies of the beetle? Mr. Flint: They have several insect enemies of the same family as the ant, bees and wasps and some bird enemies; the wood peckers. Pres. Weber: The Flicker? Mr. Flint: Not much; his food is usually ants. A ]\Iember: Does the common June beetle do much damage to nut trees ? Mr. Flint: I have known them to completely defoliate a tree and of course there would be damage. There is nothing one can do except spray in that case. You can keep track of the years that the June beetles are coming. They come in three year cycles. 1918, 1921, 1924-, and they will be here in 1927. 118 Pres. AVeber read letter from Dr. W. A. Taylor, Chief of Bureau of Plant Industry: Washington, D. C, September 16, 1925. Mr. Harry R. Weber, President, Northern Nut Growers Association, Hotel Statler, St. Louis, Missouri. Dear Mr. Weber: Mr. C A. Reed of this Bureau has strongly urged me to attend your annual meeting to be held in St. Louis September 22 to 24, in- clusive. However, I am unable to accept this invitation, as important matters necessitate my attention here just at this time. May I take this occasion, however, to commend the Association for the high quality of research work that has been conducted by several of its lay members during recent years. The investigations in the science of asexual propagation by Dr. Morris, Mr. Jones, and others, liave resulted in definite and important contributions to our fund of horticultural knowledge. The work of Mr. Bixby and many others in search of new varieties has been of high order, as have been the writings of others of your members, particularly Doctors Morris and Deming and Mr. Littlepage. Permit me to assure you of my appreciation of the support given the project of nut culture under the immediate direction of Mr. Reed in our Office of Horticultural Investigations. As you may know, the Department has recently established a very complete collection of northern species and varieties on the experimental grounds at Ar- lington Farm on the Virginia side of the Potomac, directly opposite Washington. With supplemental plantings of such new varieties as may appear in the future, this collection should make a valuable asset to tlie whole northern nut industry. It will be particularly useful in varietal studies and breeding work, as well as in connection with other studies. In conclusion may I assure you of the interest of those in this Bureau who nre directly connected with the work your association is doing. Please accept my assurance of continued co-operation on the part of the Bureau staff" and my personal regards to those of your members whom I have the pleasure of knowing personally. Very truly yours, WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief of Bureau. 119 NOTES ON NUT TREE PLANTINGS AT THE E. A. RIEHL FARM, ALTON, ILLINOIS, 1925 1. Native American Sweet Chestnut. Planted in 1863 by Mr. Riehl; now about 70 feet high; 8 feet in circumference; (top recently blown off). When tree was about 30 years old, Mr. Riehl top worked it with some Rochester scions. Male parent in originating Mr. Riehl's best seedlings, Fuller and Progress. Cultivated Orchard. Chestnut trees 25-28 ft. apart. (Too close). Original trees of Mr. Riehl's two best seedling chestnuts, Fuller and Progress. 2. Fuller: A variety which sets the standard for quality. Nut of good size, somewhat later in ripening than the Boone variety. Tree a good grower, prolific bearer. 3. Progress: About same size as Fuller but quality not quite as good. 1. Parry : Nut large size, fair quality. Tree may not be en- tirely hardy. 5. Rochester: Original tree; a seedling of unknown parentage from Rochester, N. Y. Probably has both Japan and American sweet blood. Used as female parent in originating Fuller and Progress varieties. (Badly injured by sleet storm, winter of 1921-5. — Somewhat off main route.) Chestnut Orchard: Interrnittant Cultivation 6. Lovcft: Seedling of Paragon. Needs cultivation to produce large nuts. 7. Boone: Originated in 1896 by George W. Endicott of Villa Ridge, Illinois. Nut medium size, ripens early, first nuts which fall to ground are free from bur. Nut good quality. Tree good grower and productive. One of the very best for commercial use. 120 Fuller: Orcliard i)laiitiiig — Quality nuts. The best and longest keeper. Various Nut Species in Sod 8. Ncza seedling walmit, 2 yrs. from graft. Grows too heavy and must be supi)orted. This one broke with the great weight of the tojD, as did several others. 9. Stabler walnut. Immediate graft, May 5th, 1925. 10. Beginning of a hickory grove. Grafted April 2U, 1925. 11. 5 yr. old Thomas in bearing. 12. Fairbanks on pecan, 1924. Profitable use of rough hilly land, preventing erosion. Pasturage — sheep and cows ; blue grass sod. 13. Champion chestnut: Original tree. A seedling of Rochester. 14. Papaxv trees: Remarkable size — quality fruit. Very good for those who like them. 15. Black walnut grafted on white walnut. Rather unusual op- eration. 16. Chestnut fertilized with nitrate of soda, compared with one of same variety, not fertilized. 17. Parent tree of promising black walnut seedling. Nut large, of fine flavor, and excellent cracking quality. Tree remarkably fast grower, and seems to resist fungus disease that affects others. Has borne only 2 small crops. 18. Group of Rochesters bearing good crop. 19. Chestnut Riehl Seedling No. 60. Parent tree; bears almost as constantly and heavily as Boone. Nuts, early, sweet and of fair size, generally drop from the tree before the bur. 20. Chestnut No. 01. Parent tree; nuts good, large, attractive color and drop from the bur. 21. Lovett in sod. Nuts small. Needs cultivation. 22. Group of Progress, topworked. 121 23. Major pecan, grafted in 1923. 24. Thomas walnut bearing the best crop of walnuts on the place, in grove of older Thomas trees. This is the best point from which to observe what can be done with nuts on land too rough to be used for ordinary crops. 25. Chestnut No. 68. Parent tree; the earliest of all; gathered 28 lbs. on Sept. 1th, 192.5. Nuts are medium size and of fairly good quality. 26. Cedar Rapids hickory-. Grafts in top of bitternut. 192 k 27. Pecans: Burlington, Bntterick, JVitte and Busseron. 28. Black Walnut — New walnut on Thomas stock. Method: Or- dinary bark graft. 29. Propagating Grounds: Nursery — Chestnuts: Budding; Graft- ing. 30. Return to house — Notice efficient manner of clearing rough land overgrown with brush, by goats. 31. Persimmon — Early Golden variety; one of the best. Supplementary Notes — In a Ravine Behind the Barn 32. Calhoun hickory, promising old seedling; nut good quality, excellent cracker. Large size. 33. Rockville hican: Originated in Missouri; good nut for this section. Large size, good quality, thin shell. 3-1. Thomas black walnut: Tree planted about 1902. 35. Japanese walnuts. 36. Hard-shelled almond. Probably the Ridenhorver variety. Or- iginated in Illinois. Will grow and bear fruit where the peach will. 122 TREASURER'S REPORT Northern Nut Growers' Association Aug. 31, 1924 to Aug. 31, 1925 RECEIPTS - Balance Aus- 31, 1924 from previous year $ 175.67 Membership Plan No. 6 157.25 Membership Plan No. 7 29.25 Membership Plan No. 9 16.50 Membership Plan No. 11 247.50 Membership Plan No. 12 5.50 Transfer of Fund from former Treasurer .13 Contributions 608.00 Sales of Literature 2.25 Advertisements 21.50 Interest .20 American Fruits Publishing Co. (6 subscriptions to American Nut Journal ) 10.50 $1,274.50 EXPENDITURES Expenses 15th Annual Convention (N. Y.) : Reporting Convention, iMrs. B. W. Gahn $ 50.00 Hotel Bill, Mrs. B. W. Gahn 14.00 Meals, Mrs. B. W. Gahn 9.00 Street car fare, Mrs. B. W. Gahn .70 Trip to Stamford, Ct., Mrs. B. W. Gahn 1.30 Receipt Book, Dr. W. C. Deming .10 Telegram, Dr. W. C. Deming .30 Cartage, Dr. W. C. Deming 1.00 Car fare .16 Printing 500 copies 15th Annual Report 296.00 Freight on 15th Annual Report, Albion, N. Y., to Washington, D. C 2.49 1 Halftone 5.52 500 Clasp envelopes 7.20 500 Manila envelopes 2.00 500 Membership Slips 3.50 1000 Catalogue cards 5.50 5000 Folders 50.00 5000 Membership Blanks 16.25 1500 Envelopes 11.00 2000 Letter Heads 12.50 10000 Envelopes— 2 sizes 50.00 P. O. Box rent for Secretary at Washington, D. C 11.70 P. O. Box keys for Secretary at Washington. D. C .40 Rubber Stamp for Secretary at Washington, I). C 1.25 Secretarial Work, Mrs. B. W. Gahn. 8 months 200.00 Secretarial Work, Help for Mrs. Gahn 25.00 123 Postage stamps sent from Treasurer to Secretary 32.00 Other Postage 89.51 Postal Cards— single 1.30 500 Double postal cards and printing 16.00 Postage and Insurance .52 Registry Fees .95 Balance on hand Aug. 31st, 1925 351.33 Middletown Natl. Bank 4.43 Litchfield Savings Society 2.59 Q^mmfmm^ $1,274.50 APPENDIX— BUSINESS MEETINGS A short business meeting of the association was called by the President in the evening of September 21, 1925 at the Hotel Statler. The matter of Mr. J. S. McGlennon's membership vpas brought up for discussion. It was moved and seconded that the name of Mr. McGlennon be dropped and that he be declared ineligible to member- ship in the Northern Nut Growers Association. The motion carried.* There was considerable discussion as to the time and place of meeting for next year. The motion to meet twice, once in August and once during the holidays, was lost. The motion to meet at a State College was carried. The University of Illinois was selected as a meeting place, the time to be left with the executive committee. Tlie following officers were elected for 1926-27: Dr. W. C. Deming President S. VV. Snyder Vice-President Dr. A. S. Colby Secretary H. J. Hilliard Treasurer Meeting adjourned. ^Editor's Note: President Weber, at the conclusion of the Conven- tion, wrote Mr. McGlennon notifying him of the action of the Association. 124 ADDITIONAL BUSINESS AND RESOLUTIONS Wednesday Afternoon, Sept. 23, 1925 — Pres. Weber in tlie Chair. Motion b}' Mr. Reed that we reconsider the decision that was made on Monday, witliout having heard from Dr. Colby or the University, and that we leave the place of meeting, and the type of meeting we shall have, in the hands of the executive committee, the newly elected president, vice-president, Dr. Colby and-the board of directors. Carried. The following resolutions were adopted: RESOLVED, That this association take definite steps towards creating interest in nut growing in the state agricultural colleges, to the end that the nut trees of the slates be preserved 'and to the end that a practical nut industry be established. That a strong com- mittee of twelve members be appointed to endeavor to secure im- mediately the active co-operation of the agricultural colleges and that the state governments be enlisted in this work. Mr. C. A. Reed's wide acquaintance with nut growers in all parts of the country, liis fund of information, his simple hearted interest in the subject and his vision of our needs have led to the successful outcome of the St. Louis meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Asso- ciation. In view of these facts it is proposed that we extend to Mr. Reed a formal vote of thanks in appreciation of services rendered. Carried. For two years the destinies of the Northern Nut Growers' Asso- ciation have been directed wisely and with outstanding loyalty, by Mr. Harry R. Weber. The sincere appreciation of the Association of Mr. Weber's services is hereby recorded. The Association is especially grateful also, to the unusual number of persons prominent in their several lines, who have come to the convention, some of them from long distances, and by who their ex- cellent addresses have greatly interested and enlightened all in at- tendance. To the citizens of St. Louis generally, to the local convention and publicity bureau for unprecedented publicity, to the earnest, tireless, markedly successful welcoming and pronounced courtesy of Hon. Frank H. Wielandy, to the management of the headquarters hotel and to the press of St. Louis, the Association extends sincere and hearty thanks. 125 RESOLVED, That tlie Northern Nut Growers' Association, in Convention assembled, Sept. 23, 1925 record its sense of loss in the death of E. A. Riehl, one of its most prominent members. E. A. Riehl, Godfrey, Illinois, prominent nut culturist, died of acute appendicitis January 23d at St. Joseph's hosjjital, Alton, Illi- nois, aged 87 years, after an illness of scarcely 12 hours. Mr. Riehl was active to the end, personally conducting operations in his property and driving his automobile from place to place. Only two days be- fore his death as he stepped from his car he declared that his health was excellent and that he was greatly interested in the prospective meeting of the Northern Nut Growers' Association (of which he was long a member) at his home next fall. He was born in St. Louis county on a farm adjoining that of General Grant. He moved to x\lton in 1861 settling on the farm on the bluffs at what is now Riehl Station, seven miles above Alton. The ground was rugged and not very fertile, but Mr. Riehl transformed it into a garden spot which attracted hundreds of visitors. He was progressive to a degree, always open to new ideas, a student and an originator. One of his ideas which bore fruit in his declining years was a chestnut grove. He was the first in Illinois to take up chestnut growing on a commercial scale and was remarkably successful. Last fall and in preceding years he harvested big crops. The damage by blight in Eastern states caused unusual demand for his product, for the blight has not reached his section of the country. He was a prominent grower of peonies and of other flowers at his farm, "Evergreen Heights." He was a member of the Alton Horticultural Society, American Pomological Society and the Northern Nut Growers' Association. Also Dr. Dennis, of Iowa, who did much to bring to notice im- proved native nuts. A hickory named after him is regarded by E. A. Riehl as one of the best. At the time of his death Dr. Dennis was actively engaged in work for the advancement of Northern Nut culture. ALSO, Dr. D. C. Brockway, Ottumwa, Iowa, died August 21, 1925. He was a well known surgeon and was much interested in nut culture, having a pecan grove in the south. ALSO, J. M. Patterson, 77 No. Franklin street, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, who died February 9, 1925. (Signed) A. S. Colby, Ralph T. Olcott, Robt. T. Morris, 126 !Mr. Reed: I move that we formally show our appreciation in a definite wa^' and that we create a new office and elect Dr. Morris to that office. I move that Dr. Morris be elected Dean of the Northern Nut Growers Association. Motion Carried, ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Mr. S. W. Snyder gave, on Sept. 22, a most interesting and in- structive lantern slide lecture on "Nut (Growing in Iowa." Because of the darkened audience room it was not possible to take notes on the lecture. BANQUET The evening session of Wednesday, September 23, 1925 was oc- cupied by a banquet at the Hotel Statler with Hon. R. W. Dunlap, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, as the guest of honor. Hon. F. H. Wielandy of St. Louis, ex-State Fish and Game Commissioner, acted as toast-master. This banquet was one of the greatest events in the life of the association. The toast-master was eminently successful in securing a general response from those called upon. Secretary Dunlap and Dr. Morris will be especially remembered for their inspirational and witty speeches. EXCURSION On Thursday the Convention adjourned to the Riehl Homestead, "Evergreen Heights", at Alton, Illinois, where the day was spent in the chestnut orchards. The entire party was most hospitably enter- tained by the daughters of the late E. A. Riehl. Expressions of ap- preciation were unanimous as to the kindnesses shown the party, the f)ersonally conducted tour of the orchards of bearing nut trees, the wonderful collection of nuts on exhibition and for the bountiful dinner served out on the beautiful lawn overlooking the River. The Convention adjourned late in the afternoon, all members at- tending voting it one of the most successful ever held. AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL Official Journal of Northern Nut Growers Association Co\'ering' Association and otlier activities periodically. Contributed to by leading- authorities on nut culture. Recording- de\'elopment of production and distribution of edible nuts, North. South, Bast and West throughout the Americas. National circulation. Three years, $5.00; 12 mos., $2.00. Canada, abroad, 3 yrs.. $6.00; 12 mos., $2.50. AA'itli iiieiiiluM-Kliip in \ortliern Association .$4.50 |»er yesir. AMERICW FItl ITS PUIJO. CO.. P. O. IJox 12 1, Uoolifster, 3f. Y. Naperville, Illinois Established 1866 NAPERVILLE NURSERIES NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS Transplanted Material for LANDSCAPE, HORTICULTURAL AND FORESTRY PROJECTS TREES, SHRUBS, EVERGREENS VINES and PERENNIALS LINING OUT STOCK 28 MILES WEjT OF CHICAGO 250 Acres Telephone Naperville 1 This space is paid for by WHITFORD NURSERY, Farina, Illinois. Plant nut trees for profit, for pleasure, for shade, and for posterity. WINKLER HAZEL NUT THE VERY LARGEST J^ATIVE VARIETY, STRONG DIVISIONS CHESTNUT SEEDLINGS from the hardiest Iowa grown seed far removed from any blight; also seedlings of the choicest named varieties and a very limited stock of grafted Black Walnuts, Hickories and Pecans. Write for list and prices. SNYDER BROS., Inc. Center Point, Iowa NUT TREES An extra select varietal stock of nut trees for northern planting, grown here in Pennsylvania Nurseries. Trees grafted or budded on transplanted stocks and grown on land especially adapted to these trees, resulting in ex- tra fine trees with exceptionally fine root systems. Write for catalogue and cultural guide. TOOLS and SUPPLIES For grafting or budding nut trees or top-working wild or natural trees. My methods are original and are used, with slight variation, by all the leading propagators, both north and south. Write for booklet on propagation and price list of tools. Jo F. Jones, Nut Specialist LANCASTER, PA. »*<'■' NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING LANCASTER, PA. SEPTEMBER 14, 15, 16, 1926 v--,r-^^ ■■ *■■;> V f^'i-^^^'^^H^''^^^^^ NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING LIBR, . NEW Yo: BOTANICa GARDEN LANCASTER, PA. SEPTEMBER 14, 15, 16, 1926 CONTENTS Officers, Directors and Committees 3 State Vice-Presidents 4 List of Members : 5 Constitution n By-Laws I3 Proceedings of Seventeenth Annual Convention 15 President's Address I5 Report of tlie Secretary 27 Treasurer's Report 36 Topworking Wild Nut Trees^Dr. Robert T. Morris, Con- necticut 38 Northern Nuts, Varieties— Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. 44 Plant Introduction As Applied to Blight-Resistant Chest- nuts and Related Crops — ^B. T. Galloway 58 The Chestnut Blight— Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Penn 63 Some Observations With Reference to Nut Trees in Distant Lands— Dr. J. Russell Smith, N. Y 72 Nuts as a Substitute for Cow's Milk — Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Battle Creek, Mich 77 Nut Growing in Pennsylvania from the Standpoint of the Experiment Station — Prof. F. N. Fagan, Pa 84 Pecan Growing in Indiana— J. F. Wilkinson, Indiana 90 Report of Committee on Resolutions 94 Discussion in Regard to Next Meeting Place .- 97 Resolution 103 Appendix • 105132 ^J^p^^^^^^l^^^:-S^:^gi^^^ OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION President S. W. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa Vice-President W. G. Bixby, Baldwin, New York Secretary Henry D. Spencer, 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur, III. Treasurer H. J. Hilliard, Sound View, Connecticut DIRECTORS Harry R. Weber, Robert T. Morris, Willard G. Bixby, W. C. Deming, Henry D. Spencer COMMITTEES Auditing — W. G. Bixby, G. A. Zimmerman Executive — S. W. Snyder, W. C. Deming, H. R. Weber, W. G. Bixby, H. D. Spencer, H. J. Hilliard Finance — T. P. Littlepage, W. G. Bixby, W. C. Deming Press and Publication — J. Russell Smith, Miss N. P. Landman, R. T. Olcott, F. T. Wielandy, W. C. Deming, Z. H. Ellis, A. S. Colby. Membership — J. A. Neilson, R. T. Olcott, W. C. Deming, J. W. Hershey, Z. H. Ellis, K. W. Green, F. T. Wielandy, F. O, Harrington Program— A. S. Colby, Mrs. W. D. Ellwanger, L. E. Theiss, C. A. Reed, S. H. MacDaniel, R. T. Olcott Hybrids and Promising Seedlings — C. A. Reed, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, Howard Spence, J. A. Neilson, S. W. Snyder, R. T. Morris Nomenclature — C. A. Reed, R. T. Morris, J. F. Jones, J. A. Neilson DEAN OF THE ASSOCIATION Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York and Connecticut FIELD SECRETARY Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vermont Arkansas Australia California Canada China Colorado Connecticut Dist. of Columbia England Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah "Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS Prof. N. P. Drake Uwiv. of Arkansas, Fayetteville R. H. Fuller Crystal Brook, Bowenville, Queensland Will J. Thorpe 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco Prof. James A. Neilson Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ont. P. W. Wang Sec'y Kinsan Arboretum, 147 N. Sechuan Road, Shanghai U. H. Walker Dr. W. C. Deming Karl W. Greene Howard Spence J. M. Patterson Prof. A. S. Colby J. F. Wilkinson F. O. Harrington James Sharp T. P. Littlepage James H. Bowditch Prof. V. R. Gardner Carl Weschcke Frank T. Wielandy William Caha Miss M. V. Landman Prof. L. H. MacDaniels Prof. C. D. Matthews Nucla . 983 Main St., Hartford, Conn. Ridge Road, N. W., Washington The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport Putney University of Illinois, Urbana Rockport Williamsburg Council Grove Bowie 903 Tremont Building, Boston East Lansing 98 South Wabash St., St. Paul 16th & Locust Ste., St. Louis Wahoo Cranbury, R. F. D. No. 2 Cornell L^niversity, Ithaca Harry R. Weber Knight Pearcy John Rick Phillip Allen J. W. Waite Captain Charles Goodnight Joseph A. Smith Zenas H. Ellis Dr. J. Russell Smith Richard H. Turk Dr. J. E. Cannaday Dr. Louis Edward Holden State Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Salem 438 Penn Square, Reading 178 Dorrance St., Providence Normandy Goodnight Edgewood Hall, Providence Fair Haven Round Hill Washougal Box 693, Charleston Beloit MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS ♦Drake, Prof. N. P., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville AUSTRALIA Fuller, R. H., Crystal Brook, Bowenville, Queensland CALIFORNIA Caldwell, W. A., Camino Halladay, S. E., 804 Oakland Bank Bldg., Oakland Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco CANADA Brown, C. Gordon, 5 Ingleside Ave., Westmount, Quebec Byam, P. M., 835 Logan Ave., Toronto 6, Ontario Corcoran, Wm., Box 26, Port Dalhoueie, Ontario Corsan, G. H., Echo Valley, Islington, Ontario Fox, A. Grant, Ruthven, Ontario Neilson, James A., Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ontario Smith, E. D., & Sons, Winona, Ontario Wayman, S. T., Beamville, Ontario CHINA *Wang, P. W., Sec'y., Kinsan Arboretum, 147 No. Szechuan Road Shanghai COLORADO Walker, U. H., Nucla CONNECTICUT Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Main Street, Hartford Hilliard, H. J., Sound View Hungerford, Newman, R. F. D. No. 2, Box No. 100, Torrington Lane, Emma, Box 87, Darien Merritt, Joseph, 287 Homestead Ave., Hartford Montgomery, Robt. H., Cos Cob *Morris, Dr. Robert T., Route 28, Box No. 95, Cos Cob Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Albert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol Weed, C. C, 200 North Street, Stamford Williams, Dr. Chas. Mallory, Box No. 75, Stonington DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Dept. Agr., Washington Gahn, Mrs. Bessie W., 218 W. Clifton Terrace, Washington *Life Member Green, Mrs. Avice M., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington Jacob, H. J., Washington *Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Bldg., Washington National Pecan Groves Co., 510 Bond Bldg., Washington Reed, C. A., Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington ENGLAND Hatton, R. G., Kent Spence, Howard, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport GEORGIA Bullard, Wm. P., Albany Patterson, J. M., Putney * Steele, R. C, Lakemont, Rabun County Wight, J. B., Cairo Wilcox, Prof. Alice W., Brenau College, Gainesville ILLINOIS Ade, W. H. & Co., 236 N. Clark St.. Chicago Anderson, Dr. W. H., University of Illinois, Urbana Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley Colby, A. S., University of Illinois, Urbana Corsan, Mrs. G. H., Room 1500, 19 So. Lasalle St., Chicago Curtiss, L. W., Gladstone Delp, Joe, Morrison Elleman, John H., 210 Maple Hill Road, Glencoe Endicott, R. B., Villa Ridge Gibbens, Geo. W., Godfrey Gould Company, Onarga Johnson, P. B., Box 72, Marion Mosnat, H. R., 10910 Prospect Ave., Morgan Park, Chicago Nash, C. J., 1302 E. 53rd St., Chicago Poll, Carl J., 1013 E. Seminary St., Danville Riehl, iMiss Amelia, Godfrey Rosenberg, H. B., Granite City Spencer, He'nry D., 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur Watson, John P., Carter Whitford, A. W., Farina INDIANA Davis, Will J., Windfall Fowler, J. L., 419 Walnut St., Union City Isakeon, Walter R., R. F. D., Hobart Staderman, A. L., 129 S. 7th St., Terre Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport IOWA Adams, Gerald W., R. F. D. No. 4, Moorehead Bricker, C. W., Box 194, Ladora Harrington, P. O., Williamsburg ♦Life Member Luckenbill, Ben W., Box 47, Mediapolis MacDonald, A. B., Forestry Dept., I. S. C, Ames Meints, A. Rock, Dixon Mo'ck, Charles A., LeMars Snyder, S. W., Center Point Snyder Bros., Center Point Snyder, D. C, Center Point Van Meter, W. S., Adel KANSAS Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Hitchcock, Chas. W., R. No. 1, Belle Plaine Miller, H. S., Morrill Rice, E. C, 303 S. Hillside Ave., Wichita Stenger, Joseph, R. F. D., Wayne KENTUCKY Barner, Ernest, Box 702, Berea College, Berea LOUISIANA Fullilove, J. H., Box 157, Shreveport Fullilove, J. H. Jr., Box 157, Shreveport Jackson, A. C, Box 993, Shreveport MARYLAND Johnson, Charles E., 218 E. Isabella St., Salisbury Jordan, Dr. Llewellyn, 100 Baltimore Ave., Tacoma Park Mehring, Upton, Key man O'Connor, P. H., Bowie Wall, Alfred W., 2305 W. Lanvane St., Baltimore Watkinfi, Asa H., Mt. Airy MASSACHUSETTS *Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Boston Bowles, Francis T., Barnstable Bryant, Dr. Ward C, Greenfield Combination Orchard Co., Waltham Hale, Richard W., 60 State St., Boston Johnson, Roscoe E., Barre Lamb, Dr. Harold W., Burnette Ave., So. Hadley Center Russell, Newton H., Burnette Ave., So. Hadley Center Sprague, P. W., 10 P. O. Square, Boston Williams, Moses, 18 Tremont St., Boston MICHIGAN Burke, Mrs. Oliver W., 1525 Edison Ave., Detroit Copland, A. W., Birmingham Gardner, Prof. V. R., Mich. Ag. Col., E. Lansing Graves, Henry B., 1430 Granger Ave., Ann Arbor Hoenicke, Charles R., 13410 Electric Ave., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek *Linton, W. S., Saginaw Penny, Senator Harvey A., 425 S. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw *Life Member stocking, Frederick W., 3456 Cadillac Ave., Detroit University of Michigan, Botanical Dept., Ann Arbor MINNESOTA Andrews, Miss Frances E., 245 Clifton Ave., Minneapolis Weschcke, Carl, 98 S. Wabasha St., St. Paul MISSOUiRI Barnhart, F. L., Barnhart Funsten, R. E., Company, 1520 Morgan St., St. Louis Pettus, E., 16th St. & Locust, St. Louis Purdom, J. Lesley, Harris Teachers College, St. Louis Stark, P. C, Louisiana Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana Tiedke, J. F., R. F. D., No. 7, Rockville Tower Nut Products Co., 4949 Pershing St., St. Louis NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo Miller, R. D., Care of Miller & Paine, Lincoln NEW JERSEY Garber, U. G., 80 Newkirk St., Jersey City Hilferty, Charles D., 647 Prospect St., Westfield Hurst, Mrs. A. E., 20 Beech St., Rutherford *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V., R. F. D. No. 2, Cranbury Woods, Geo. R., 205 Wyoming Ave., Maplewood NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Bixby, Mrs. Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Brinton, Mrs. Willard Cope, 36 West 59th St., New York Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Clark, George H., 31 Exchange St., Rochester Coyle, David C, 10 Miller Place, Bronxville Cothran, John C, 104 High St., Lockport Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stewart, Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Hodgson, Casper W., World Book Co., Yonkers ♦Huntington, A. M., 1 E. 89th St., New York City Jewett, Edmond G., 16 S. Elliott Place, Brooklyn Liveright, Frank L, 120 W. 70th St., New York City MacDaniels, S. H., College of Agriculture, Ithaca Northern New York Developing Co., 32 Nassau St., New York City. Olcott, Ralph T., 39 State St., Rochester Oswald, Edward, 311 W. Beard Ave., Syracuse Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Reimold, O. S., Yonkers-on-Hudson, Yonkers *Life Member Solley, Dr. John B., 213 E. 61st St., New York City Teele, Arthur W., 120 Broadway, New York City Tukey, Prof. Harold B., Hudson Vollertsen, Conrad, 375 Gregory St., Rochester Wile. M. E., 955 Harvard St., Rochester *Wissman, Mrs. F. deR., 9 W. 54th St., New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora, Cayuga Co., Aurora NORTH CAROI^INA Matthews, C. D., Dept. of Agr., Raleigh OHIO Barton, Chas. H., Lancaster Beatty, Dr. Wilhur M. L., R. 3 Croton Rd., Centerburg Fickee, W. R., R. No. 6, Wooster Hamilton, Chas. E., 52 Jefferson Ave., Columbus Neff, Wm. N., Box 31, Martel Snyder, C. E., 510 W. 4th Ave., Columbus *Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Walker, C. P., 2851 E. Overlook Rd., Cleveland Heights OKLAHOMA Miller, Joseph C, Marland PENNSYLVANIA Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St., Reading Baum, Dr. F. L., Boyertown Bohn, Dr. H. W., 34 N. 9th St., Reading Bonney, Robert D., 204 W. Winnona Ave., Norwood Station Clark, D. F., 265 19th St., Harrisburg Druckemiller, W. H., 31 N. Fourth St., Sunbury Fritz, Ammon P., 35 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gable, Jr., Joseph B., Stewartstown Gribbel, Mrs. John, Box 31, Wyncote Grin, Wm. H., Hamburg Hartman, J. W., Sligo Hershey, noyd E., Downington Hershey, John W., Downington Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hammond, Dr. J. T., 3rd, Newton Jenkins, Charles F., Farm Journal, Philadelphia Johnson, Mrs. Georgia P., Orchard Knob Farm, Dallas *Jones, J. F., Box 527, Lancaster Kaufmann, M. M., Clarion Knife, Irving P., 5 E. Ring St., Norristown Knowles, E. B., 145 E. Clay St., Lancaster Krebs, Harry B., Mercersbufg Leach, Will, Cornell Bldg., Scranton Paden, Riley W., R. No. 2, Enon Valley Raab, W. L., Box 41, Dallastown Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Hill Croft Fruit Farm, Lorane ♦Life Member 10 *Rick, John, 438 Penn. Square, Reading Smith, Dr. J. Riissellj, Swarthmore Smedley, Samuel L., R. F. D. No. 1, Newton Sq. Schultz, Oscar S., 142 N. Reading Ave., Boyertown Theiss, Lewis Edwin, Munsey Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion *Wister, John C, Clarkson & Wister Ste., Germantown Woodward, Laura E., Westchester Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., The Fernwood, Piketown RHODE ISLAND Allen, Phillip, 178 Dorrance St., Providence Arnold, Henry N., 42 Waterman St., Providence TEXAS Duerler, Alfred, 224 W. Commerce St., San Antonio Goodnight, Chas., Goodnight VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., R. F. D. No. 3, Springfield Davis, J. C, Woodstock Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven Holbrook, F. C, Brattleboro VIRGINIA Ammon, S. Von, Ridgethorpe, Colemans Falls Harris Dewitt S., Capital Landing Road, R. F. D. No. 3, Williamsburg Keeler, Miss Grace M., Norfolk WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack WEST VIRGINIA Brooks, Fred E., French Creek Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Box 693, Charleston Hartzell, D. F., Shepherdstown WISCONSIN Holden, Louis Edward, Beloit Mougin, F. J., R. No. 6, Green Bay li CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shall be known as the Northern Nut GROWERi Association, Incorporated. Article II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Article V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at 12 the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following vear. Article VI Meetings. The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee. Article VII Quorum. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member thirty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. 13 BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows: On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay three dollars annually, or four dol- lars and a half including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars an- nually, this membership including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further dues. Hon- orary members shall be exempt from dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. 14 Article V Members shall be sent a notification of annual dues at the time they are due, and if not paid within two months, they shall be sent a second notice, telling them that they are not in good standing on ac- count of non-payment of dues, and' are not entitled to receive the annual report. At the end of thirty days from the sending of the second notice, a third notice shall be sent notifying such members that unless dues are paid within ten days from receipt of this notice, their names will be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. 16 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS at the SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (Incorporated) September 14, 15, and 16, 1926 Held in the STEVENS HOUSE LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA Chairman — President W. C. Deming FIRST DAY— MORNING SESSION The President: With this historic gavel, made from an Indiana pecan tree and presented to the association by Mr. Littlepage, I now call together the Seventeenth Annual Convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association. The program has been so arranged that the president's address is first on the program. I ask your patience in a consideration of the past, present and future of this association and of the past, present and future of nut growing in the northeastern United States. This seems to be a good point from which to take a perspective forward and backward. Sometime before 1910 Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York City, 16 who already had been studying nuts and their culture for several years, published an article in The Medical Council on "Nut Growing as a Side Line for Physicians." After reading this I wrote to Dr. Morris asking what I could do with nut growing on my New England hilltop farm of 40 acres. He replied that in fifteen years I could be getting an income of $100 an acre from nuts alone. That was just what I wanted, $4,000 a year from the farm, or from anything. So I plunged, without stopping to consider that Dr. Mbrris's incurable optimism might have let him to estimate my capabilities too highly. I bought every kind of nut tree that^any Nurseryman had in the East. I sent to California for trees. I imported nuts from Europe for planting. I had hickory trees grafted for me in the South. Some of you know, perhaps from your own experience, what happened. First my high hopes for chestnuts were dashed by the blight. Then my Persian walnuts and pecans, under neglect, grew smaller every year, instead of larger, and finally disappeared'. The filberts grew but were barren for lack of pollination. The hired man failed to heel in properly my expensive grafted hickories and they were all winter killed. The black walnut was not then highly esteemed. For several years I was not able to get a single nut bud or graft to grow. Pages could be filled with my different kinds of failure, but even then would not rival the forty-seven varieties that Dr. Morris has described. About this time it occurred to me that other people must be having similar troubles and that we ought to share our experiences. The idea of organizing an association of such people met the approval of Dr. Morris, Prof. John Craig of Cornell University, Mr. T. P. Littlepage of Washington, Prof. C. P. Close, then of the Maryland Experiment Station, and others. On Sept. 20, 1910 I sent out the following circular letter: It has been suggested that it would be of value to those interested in nut culture in the North if organization could be effected and meetings held annually or oftener. Affiliation with the National Nut Growers' Association would of course be advisable. The project has the approval of Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York, Prof. C. P. Close of 17 the Maryland Experiment Station and others. Suggestions as to date and place for the first meeting for organization and for topics for discussion, exhibitions, ets., are requested. Address : Dr. W. C. Deming Sept. 20, 1910 Westchester, N. Y. City. As a result of this a meeting was held at the Botanical Museum in Bronx Park, New York City on Nov. 17, 1910 and organization was effected. The proceedings of this meeting were printed in the report of the meeting of the following year. Notes of this meeting, taken by Mr. Geo. Nash of the Museum, have been printed also in the report of the fifteenth annual meeting in 1924, for the second time held at the same place. The persons present at the first meeting were : Dr. Britton, Dr. Morris, Prof. Craig, Mr. Littlepage, Mr. Malcomson, Mr. Henry Hales, Mrs. Joseph L. Lovett, Mrs. Yardly, Dr. Geo. Knapp, Mr. C. A. Schwartze, Mr. Nash and Dr. Deming. The second meeting was held at the College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y., where John Craig was then professor of horticulture and where Dr. Morris's collection of the edible nuts of the world is a notable exhibit. The third meeting in 1912, and the 10th in 1919, were held here in Lancaster, the work of Mr. Rush and Mr. Jones being then, as now, the magnets. The fourth meeting in 1913, the seventh in 1916, the eleventh in 1920 and the fourteenth in 1923 were held in Washington, D. C, where the U. S. Department of Agriculture and its staff, Mr. Littlepage's plantings, and other nut trees are the attractions. The fifth meeting in 1914 was at Evansville, Indiana to see the Indiana pecans at home. The sixth meeting in 1915 and the thirteenth in 1922 were held at Rochester, the home of the American Nut Journal, to see the Vollertsen filbert nursery, the Thompson orchard of Persian walnuts, the nut tree collections of the Rochester Park Dept. and the many Persian walnut trees grown in that favored region. The eighth meeting in 1917 was at Stamford, chiefly to visit Dr. Morris's nut or- chard, which was again visited during the fifteenth convention in 1924. What should have been the ninth meeting in 1917 was never . ■ 18 held on account of the war. The tenth meeting was at Battle Creek, Michigan, at Dr. Kellogg's Sanatorium. And the last meeting, the 16th in 1925, was at St. Louis, chiefly to see Mr. E. A. Riehl's nut orchards at Godfrey, Illinois. The proceedings of all these meetings have been published in separate annual reports except that of the first meeting which was included in the report of the second meeting. In these reports all the noteworthy events and accomplishment^ of the association have been recorded and it will not be necessary to allude to them further at this time. But I cannot refrain from referring to the great loss that the association sustained by the death of Prof. John Craig in 1912 and the notable accession to our strength in the inception of the American Nut Journal in 1914. The object of this association, as stated in article two of the constitution, written on the date of our organization and never since openly dissented from, is "The promotion of interest in nut bearing plants, their products and their culture." This, of course, is all- embracing. The present of the association finds us very little different from the past. We have not notably grown in numbers nor in income. Our activities are of the same nature. We are not satisfied with everything, of course, but we are satisfied that we are on the right path. Most of i.is believe, I think, that our chief functions, as an association, are still to investigate and to teach. I do not think that we should, as an association, try to make it diff'erent. Individually we may strive to commercialize but collectively we should still be scientific and educational. We need feel no scruple in being social, even fraternal, as well. One of the things that we like best is to get together and talk over varieties and methods, to indulge ourselves in technical talk, and there is no reason why we should not do what we like to do. We have been told that it is time to stop talking to one another and get busy ad^vising the public to plant commercial orchards of nut trees. But how can we do this when not one of our members can sliow an orchard producing real commercial results ? Sliall we urge the public to take risks that we do not take ourselves; or even the risks that we do take ourselves.^ If someone asks us, "What nuts can I plant with certainty of commercial returns, with proper known 19 methods^ as with apples?", we may reply, "Well, plant black walnuts." When asked further, "Will the varieties you recommend bear an- nually, when can I expect commercial returns, what will be the yield per acre, what prices may I expect, what are the best varieties and the best market, what are the marketing methods," and so on, what can we say more than, "Well, we can give you what we think are pretty good guesses, founded on a certain number of facts." But com- mercial growers don't want our guesses. We are still primitives in the art of nut growing. We have caused no upheaval in the thick crust of general ignorance about it, no emergence of a flashing beacon to guide the world. Our annual discussions are still more important and more fruitful than our public preaching. Preaching never converts the heart but education does. I have tried preaching and it has failed invariably. I have given up trying to convince anybody by sermons. Only by my works shall I conquer. The Chinese say, "One picture is worth a thousand words." We should not feel disturbed because we have not created a furor for nut growing. We can wait. We can watch a hickory grow. There is plenty of time ahead. The American people are not yet starving. Sometime it will all come suddenly to the rest of the world, that which we know and that which we believe. Even though it may not come in the life time of some of us let us label our trees with our names in enduring metal and die happy in the hope that a single variety may bear it forever. If there must be reproaches let each reproach himself for what he has not done and praise others for what they have done, and not the reverse. Let those who would have us plant more orchards, or urge the public to plant orchards, first show their faith and ability by planting orchards themselves. Let us not try to hold others up to an undertaking that we do not ourselves venture. It is true that a number of our members have small demonstration orchards under good conditions. It is true that the late E. A. Riehl had realized some profits from his plantings, mostly from chestnuts. But not one of us has an orchard producing commercial results, nor even planned for extensive commercial results. How then can we shout to the public to plant orchards ? The matter is simple at bottom. As an association, among our- 20 selves, we ma}' be radical, conservative or anything we please. With the public we must be educative but conservative. The public has reason to expect from us temperate statements not likely to mislead. We must state the truth as closely as we can. As individuals we must take the risks ourselves and when we have attained success we can lead all Missouri where it can see wealth spouting and say, "Look at this." Then Missouri will do the rest. For commercial ends nut growing in the northeastern United States is now what it has always been in the past, dependence on our natural resources. But as an art nut culture shows progress. We now know how to grow and graft nut trees. We have rescued a number of fine varieties from extinction. W'c have interested some of the agricultural institutions. W^e have planted nurseries and experimental orchards and we are getting some nuts. Let us consider the different nuts separately. But be it understood that anything that I may now say is subject to change witliout notice before the close of the con- vention. The Hickories Out of the past of the shagbark hickory we have brought to light a number of promising varieties, we have used them to topwork sev- eral hundred native trees in different localities, and we have been getting a few handfuls of nuts from these for several years. We know that we may continue to topwork the shagbark hickory with pleasing and profitable results. This method may even be capable of a limited commercial extension. Nursery trees of the shagbark are not obtainable in commercial quantities. This is because of the ex- pense of producing them, the want of success in transplanting them, and the resulting limited demand. But I think that the experiments of Mr. Bixby and others with different species of hickory as stocks for the shagbark are soon going to solve the first difficulty and give us a fairly rapid and not too expensive method of producing nursery stock in commercial quantities. As for the difficulty in transplanting, if Mr. Bixby can move twenty-four large Hales hickories from Florida to Long Island with the loss of a single tree, the solution of this problem resolves itself simply into finding out how Mr. Bixby did it. We still know very little about the tree qualities of the different 21 varieties, their vigor and hardiness, their productivity and their soil adaptations. The northern pecan hickory is a little better off in respect to nursery production in quantity, and successful transplanting, and we know more about the characteristics of the parent trees, thanks to Mr. Littlepage and his collaborators, but we do not yet know how far from their native localities, and under what soil and cultural condi- tions, we can recommend the Indiana and Iowa types of pecans for commercial planting. Unless there has been a change in conditions that I do not know about Mr. Littlepage's hopes for the Indiana pecans in Maryland have proved disappointing. Mr. Riehl was pessi- mistic about them in his part of Illinois. There is one way in which this question could be now, or very soon, cleared up, and that would be to follow up, either by a questionnaire, or better in person, the distribution of these trees in the jjast by the several nurserymen wlio have produced them. What pleasanter way to spend a vacation than, armed with a list of the customers of Littlepage and White, J. F. Jones, Ford Wilkinson and other nurseries, to drive about the country and observe the pecan and other nut trees that they have distributed? (3f the shellbark hickory we have no outstanding variety and no variety of the jiignut or the mockernut in cultivation. I have long thought that we have not sufficiently investigated their possibilities. The natural hybrid hickories are extremely interesting but we know less about them than about the shagbark and the pecan. Es- pecially we do not know how they will go with the public as nuts to eat. Everyone knows the sliagbark and the pecan but the hybrids are absolutely new nuts to the public. Therefore I think we should go a little slow in recommending them for extensive planting. The field for artificial, man-made, hybrid hickories in the North is still .1 virgin one, neglected but of great promise. There is one point on which I feel that enough emphasis has not been laid in regard to the hickories, as indeed with regard to most nuts, and that is the need for high culture and abundant feeding to get the best results. As I liave observed them the hickories, and nearly all nut trees, are quite different objects in fullness and luxuriance of foliage, in rapidity of growth, and in resistance to 22 disease, when grown under high culture with a maximum of food supply and sunlight, than when grown under ordinary conditions in a struggle with competing vegetation or in comparative starvation. There is also evidence that nut trees under favorable conditions of nutrition are more prolific and bear larger and better nuts. When we come to think about it we recall that this rule applies to every- thing that grows. Persian Walnut The Persian, or English walnut has been grown in the North- eastern United States for over a hundred years with indifferent re- sults due to planting seedling trees, resulting in poor or tender varie- ties, to lack of pollination when only one or a few trees are planted, and to poor care resulting in starvation. We have alternated between hope and despair in regard to the Persian walnut. At present many of us are in the despair stage. But my own faith has become serene. I believe that we now have, or are about to have, the proper varieties. Wlien we understand their pollination and soil adaptations, and are ready to give them the highest cultivation and feeding, we can have success, even commercial success. I draw this conclusion from the results at my place in Redding, and from the numerous trees that I observe in Hartford, and other Connecticut towns, and elsewhere. I hope that this statement will be borne out by what we are going to see in Lancaster. But local adaptations have got to be studied. Why is it, for instance, that at Mr. Bixby's place on Long Island, under high cultural conditions, and apparently favorable climatic ones, the Persian walnut is a stunted tree, while on my New England hill without culture, although to be sure in rich soil, it grows luxuriantly and bears well.^ I am particularly impressed with the J. regia sinensis at my place in Redding, Conn. A follow-up of the distribution of J. regia sinensis by Nurserymen a few years ago might have valuable results. Do not let us drop the search for better varieties of the Persian walnut. I commend to our fellows of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture a re- port just received of two years' investigation by the British Ministry of Agriculture, through its agents, of the walnuts of Great Britain, with one of our members, Mr. Howard Spence of England, as judge of the merits of the nuts and trees. A similar investigation of our walnuts and other nuts by our Department of Agriculture, using the 23 federal and state agents, extension or otherwise, now in the field, would not seem an undertaking of unreasonable burden. Black Walnut The black walnut as a nut is emerging from a past of obscurity and neglect. At present we have good varieties. Better will be found or made. Its commercial value is fairly well established, at least for the extracted kernels in certain food industries, a fair number of nursery trees is available, cultural methods are fairly well known and are not exacting, it is as nearly foolproof as any nut tree and its future is a bright one. We don't know all about it, as I have said before, but it is perhaps the best tree that we can now recommend for commercial planting in a limited way and with some qualifications. Buttermit The present neglect of the butternut is chiefly due to there being no outstanding variety better than the fairly abundant natural supply, which is enough to meet the limited demand. When those varieties we are now cultivating prove their superior merit, or better ones are found, there will be a limited field for this nut, possibly a large field on account of its generally high quality and favor with the public. On this account it might in some degree supersede the black walnut for cakes and candies. I do not believe that the butternut tree blight, which is so bad under ordinary natural conditions, is going to be serious under con- ditions of high culture. I have observed many trees of larga size, under these good conditions, that were luxuriant and handsome and with little or no blight injury. Japanese Walnut Of the Japanese walnuts the siebold type lacks a valuable repre- sentative. The heartnut varieties that we are cultivating are generally too small and some of them too tender. I think we need a larger heartnut, such as I know is in existence, in Japan if not in this country, and one with better quality, if such there is. The Japanese walnuts have been widely distributed, are very common and should be investigated. There is some doubt of their commercial value al- 24 though the superior cracking of the heartnut type is a great asset. The lack of character in the flavor of the kernel is the chief defect, but possibly it may develop more flavor in cooking. Mr. Hess could tell us about that. The tree, on account of its rapid growth, beauty and ease of culture, early bearing and productiveness will always be useful. These desirable qualities should be seized upon either in heartnuts of improved size and quality, or for hybridizing with other walnuts. The walnut weevil, which is so destructive in some places, I be- lieve does not thrive except in a neglected environment. Chestnut The past of the chestnut is one of high faith dashed to earth by the blight. The present is an inspired battle for victory, the future a great faith in that victory. What are our forces for battle ? Chiefly the experiments now being conducted by the U. S. Dept. of Agricul- ture with mollissima and other Asiatic varieties and their hybrids with the chinquapin. Distribution of mollissima has been made this year quite widely in quantities enougli to plant from 1-2 to 3 acres and numerous smaller distributions have been made in the past eight or ten years with promising results. Hope of a conquering hero to arise from the ranks of our native chestnuts to lead us on to victory is widely held but so far with doubtful foundation. Decline of virulence and fighting power in the enemy is possible. Immunization, a la Zimmer- man, is a faint hope. I do not know that high culture and intensive feeding have ever been tried with the special purpose of making the chestnut more resistant to blight. If not, it should be tried. I have European, mollissima, and Japanese chestnuts and Van Fleet hybrids bearing yearly and with no care in spite of all being blighted. I want to speak a good word for the American chinquapin. In a park in Hartford, Conn., there is a group of a half dozen bushes known to have been there over 25 years and known to me to have borne large crops every year at least for the past three or four years. One of these bushes bears a good sized nut. The chinquapin is well worth planting on the home place. Why it is that people living on farms outside the range of the native chestnut are not tumbling over each other to plant the new varie- 25 ties of chestnut introduced by Mr. Riehl and Mr. Endicott^ is simply because they do not know about their opportunities. Here is a chance for our western members and agricultural institutions to get busy. Filbert The past of the filbert is like that of the Persian walnut. Ob- viously, like the walnut, it is something to be desired and cultivated. But it has eluded us. The reasons are the blight and lack of effective pollination. We understand these difficulties now and the initiated can go ahead and plant filberts with assurance of experimental suc- cess and, ultimately, of commercial success. Mr. Jones' methods and new varieties are probably going to help us a great deal. Coynmercial Planting My record should acquit me of the charge of pessimism. There is no greater enthusiast about nut growing than I am. But in my blood I feel the forces both of radicalism and of conservatism working. I am not wholly the one nor the other. And I am not going to have on my conscience any precipitate adVocacy of commercial nut tree plant- ing that may lead others to loss. Mr. Corsan said he was patient and could watch a hickory grow. I can watch nut culture grow. When the boom comes I shall be delighted. I am with Mr. Bixby and Dr. Zimmerman in believing that the hickory will rival the pecan. When we can fetch into the grocery stores bushel basketsful of large, white shagbarks, all of one variety that crack perfectly and are rich and nutty in flavor, we shall command our own prices. If we haven't yet got that particular nut it will be found somewhere, or it will be bred. Our nut contests, that have been interrupted so long, and through which we have preserved so many valuable nuts, have been resumed this year under the lead of Dr. Smith and he should be enthusiastically supported by the rest of us. Association Activities Our secretary's nut institutes, which he has held at some of the educational centers in the West, and about which I hope he is going to tell us, should have our hearty support and imitation. I wish that we could have pilgrimages of teachers and students from our horticul- 26 tural institutions, pilgrimages of horticultural societies, farmers, county agents and garden clubs to Mr. Jones's, Mr. Bixby's and other of our members' places. That would spread our gospel farther, per- haps, than anything else we can do. Mr. Snyder believes that most can be accomplished by getting our state and county fairs to put a nut list in their fair catalogues and offer special prizes to bring out new varieties. I commend this as a matter for discussion. The old problem of funds with which to do more and better work is still unsolved. I have no solution to offer. Until some "angel" comes to back us I see no way except to go down into our own pockets. I should be glad to be one of several to pledge $25 annually for the promotion of our work. Any salary that we might at present offer our secretary would of necessity be trifling. But we should at least make it a rule to pay the expenses of the secretary in attending the conventions, and should provide him with a fund sufficient for liberal clerical expenses. I shall ask the association to act on such a reso- lution through the finance committee. It has been customary to re-elect the president for a second term. I do not see any good reason for this. It is not the custom of similar organizations. One term should be enough for a president to show what he can do. A second term is a sort of anti-climax. We have done this largely because it saved the trouble of thinking up a new president. It conduces to laziness and procrastination in office (I say this with- out aspersion on any president of the past). If a president has but one term he will do his best at once. I wish to set a precedent and to have the honor of being the first one-term president of the associa- tion. I shall therefore decline to be a candidate for renomination. It will probably be thought best to hold the next convention in the West. A president and a secretary from the West will then be de- sirable. It might be possible to hold' such a western oonvention in conjunction with the Mid- West Horticultural Exposition at which Mr. Snyder has for several years had a noteworthy exhibition of nuis. We are fortunate in meeting again for the third time in this pleasant city, the home until his death last month of Mr. J. G. Rush, pioneer in nut growing, and of Mr. Jones, master and teacher of all the arts of the craft. To see the maturing of tlie nut orchards of these men I feel is going to give us inspiration. 27 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY It becomes both a duty and a pleasure to report to you at this time some of the many and varied activities of the secretary's office during the past year, September 1925-1926. These include (1) The handling of considerable correspondence; (2) working up association publicity such as results from speaking engagements, newspaper and magazine activities and the holding of short courses in nut growing at agricultural colleges; (3) a survey of experimental projects under way by the state experiment stations; (4) the editing of the annual report and, (5) the making of arrange- ments for the annual meeting. (1) Taking up in detail the duties of the secretary this past year, I would mention briefly the matter of correspondence. A constantly increasing number of letters of inquiry coming from Oregon to Maine and Texas to Pennsylvania has been handled the past year. I am especially grateful to President Deming and ex-Secretary Reed for their help in handling inquiries when I needed outside assistance. A number of new members were obtained through correspondence. (2) Publicity. Most of my efforts along this line were at farmers' institute talks, addresses at state horticultural society meetings, before women's clubs and Rotary clubs and academies of science. These talks were given in the states of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Michigan. I am also working with the Illinois Nurserymen's Association in con- nection with the offering for sale of the better varieties of nuts. Some of the press articles published include informational material in the Chicago Tribune, American Fruit Grower, Rural New Yorker and the American Nut Journal. One of the most important activities of the year from the secre- tary's office was, I believe, a speaking engagement on the Farmer's Week program at the University of Illinois and the holding of short courses in nut growing during Farmer's Week at the University of Missouri and the Iowa State College of Agriculture in January, 1926. It was only through the cordial co-operation of Prof. T. J. Talbert, head of the Department of Horticulture at Missouri, and Prof. B. S. Pickett and Prof. G. B. McDonald, head of the Department of Horti- 28 culture, and Division of Forestry, respectively, at Iowa that I was able to arrange for the schools. The programs follow: Tuesday, January 19, 1926 . NUT GROWERS' SCHOOL (University of Missouri College of Agriculture and Northern Nut Growers Association Co-operating) 8:30 Possibilities of Nut Culture in Missouri — Mr. Talbert, U. of Mo. 9 :30 Nut Trees on the Farm — Mr. Dunlap, State Forester, Mo. 10:30 History, Varieties and Development of Nut Culture in the Central States — Mr. C. A. Reed, U. S. D. A. Native Persimmon Culture — Mr. Swartwout, U. of Mo. 1:30 Principles and Practices of Nut Propagation (Demonstra- tion)— Mr. Endicott, Villa Ridge, 111. Essentials of Black Walnut and Pecan Culture in Missouri— Mr. C. A. Reed, U. S. D. A. Chinquapins, Hazelnuts and Filberts — Mr. Murneek, U. of Mo. r 29 NUT GROWERS' SCHOOL Farm and Home Week Iowa State College February 2 and 3, 1926 (Iowa State College and Northern Nut Growers Association Co-operating) There is a rapidly growing interest in nut culture in the northern states. Iowa has a wealth of valuable nut trees worthy of propagating. Other regions have desirable nut varieties which should also be grown in the state. The following program has been arranged for the purpose of presenting the latest information on varieties of nuts suitable for culti- vation in Iowa, as well as the approved methods of propagating these nut varieties. An effort has been made to secure the best available information on these subjects. Headquarters for school, Forestry office, Room 229, Agricultural Hall. Tuesday, Feb. 2 10:00— Room 208, Agricultural Hall. Address of W^elcome — Prof. B. S. Pickett, head, Department of Horticulture and Forestry. 10:30— Room 208, Agricultural Hall. The liistory of Nut Growing in Northern United States — G. B. McDonald, head, Division of Forestry, Iowa State College. 1 :00 — Room 208, Agricultural Hall. Possibilities in Nut Growing in Iowa — Prof. I. T. Bode, extension forester, Iowa State College. 2 :00— Room 208, Agricultural Hall. What Nut Varieties Shall We Grow— Mr. G. B. McDonald. 3:00 to 5:00 — Room 208, Agricultural Hall. 80 Principles and Practices in Nut Propagation (demonstration and practice work) — Mr. F. O. Harrington^ Williamsburg, Iowa, a propa- gator with many years' experience. Wednesday, Feb. 3 Individual Conferences — As much time as possible of this day will be left open for individual conferences with the program leaders. These conferences will be held by appointment, and anyone with special problems he wishes to talk over can arrange for a conference at the Forestry office. It is urged that opportunity be taken to utilize this time fully and to make a personal acquaintance witli the men who are studying^ nut culture in all its phases. 8 :00 — Individual Conferences. 10:00 — Principles and Practices in Nut Propagation (demonstra- tion and practice work) — Mr. S. W. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa, vice- president, Northern Nut Growers' Association, and one of the best authorities on propagation in Iowa. 1 1 :00 — Individual Conferences. 1 :00 — Profitable Nut Growing in the Mississippi Valley (illus- trated)— Prof. A. S. Colby, University of Illinois, secretary, Northern Nut Growers' Association. 2:00 to 4:00 — Individual Conferences. Nut Exhibit — There will be on display one of the best exhibits of nuts, both native and foreign, to be seen in the United States. The meetings were quite largely attended with a total of 200 in- terested students and practical nut growers present. The exhibits of nuts, propagating devices and photographs of superior trees were the cause of much attention. The discussions were lively and helpful to those present. A number of memberships were secured and' the way paved for other such meetings in the future. In this connection the activities of J. F. Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana in urging the formation of a local branch of the association are to be encouraged. Only through tlie formation of small groups, able to come together after the nut harvest, for example, and discuss their problems, can the larger association, scattered over such a large territory, function satisfactorily. (3) In an effort to determine what the different state experiment stations were doing with the promising new field of nut culture I 31 attemiDted n survey. While many reported that they were interested tliey stated that other horticultural activities were deemed more im- port/mt and were absorbing all available funds at present. Some of the projects under way include: Missouri: Hybridization of the filbert. Minnesota, New York, Iowa, Tennessee and Illinois: Adaptability of nut species and varieties. Oregon: The survey aud collection of superior English walnut seedlings; pollination of the filbert. New Jersey: Studies in blight resi.stant chestnut varieties. Indiana: Tentative plans to top work hickory and walnut seed- lings as a variety test. Maryland: Bulletins 12.5 and 218 give reports of nut tree grow- ing investigations in the .state. Michigan: Collection of hardy nut varieties. Studies leading to the doctor's degree on fruit bud differentiation in the pecan and fruit setting in the pecan. Certain phases of the walnut grafting problem to determine the influence of different nutrition conditions on the callousing process are being studied by another graduate student. California: Extensive fertilizer treatments with walnuts, variety tests, studies on the control of walnut rosette, root stock investigations with different strains of juglans especially with reference to crown rot, .studies on the bleaching, curing and harvesting of nuts, and' in- vestigations on the control of codling moth and other insect pests in walnuts. I also wrote to each of the state vice-presidents regarding con- ditions locally. Very few replied. R. H. Turk of Washington, responded with brief notes of interest. The following are among the replies received: Charleston, West Virginia, August 14, 192G. Relative to the situation in this state, there are many good black walnut trees, and these, as /i rule, bear regular annual crops. The native hickories here do not seem to do very well, that is as a rule they are shy bearers. I understand, however, in the higher altitudes such as occur in Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Randolph, Harding, Nicholas, 32 and a few of the other more upland counties that the hickories bear full crops. There are a very few pecan trees in this state, none of them native and I do not know of any that produce enough pecans to amount to very much. The chestnut blight has gotten fairly well established throughout most of if not the entire state and is beginning to show up rather ex- tensively in our forests. Native hazels bear fairly well. The European hazels that have been tried out in this section have not done very well owing, I think, to the many and very sudden changes of temperature during the winter months. The forests through this section are made up to a gireat extent of beech trees. They bear a great many nuts but these are too small to be of commercial value at the present time. JOHN E. CANNADAY. Council Grove, Kansas, August 16th, 1926. Regarding the nut situation in Kansas wish to say that we have had three very dry years and my forty grafted pecans have practically no growth. My chestnut trees are about all killed with the droutli, the most severe in a half century. This climate is suitable for northern pecans if the weather is seasonable. I have a number of grafted black walnuts (5 varieties). Some of these are bearing. I believe that Thomas is the best. So far the McCoy bears heavily but the nuts are not as large or as easy to crack. I have a Burlington hican grafted on pecan which is the best grower on the place. It stands extremes of weather. I grafted it from a tree secured from Snyder Brothers. I think the Iowa trees are best for our climate. I have an English Walnut six years old which was about ready to bear when a freeze on the 28th of last October killed the crop. Our air is too dry in Kansas to grow English walnuts. Winter killing follows. The English walnut to stand mucli cold must have a moist air. JAMES SHARPE. 33 Salem, Oregon, 8-18-26. Your letter asking for report on nut growing conditions in this section at hand. I regret that 1 will be unable to attend the meeting of the association this fall. Our western nut association recently held* a two-day field trip among the filbert and walnut orchards in the southern part of our nut section. A study was made of various cultural practices, types of pruning, soils and sites. Large crowds of enthusiasts attended the meeting. The filbert orchards this year have the largest crop on record. Four and five-year-old trees are loaded. The walnut orchards have an average crop. Ten years ago walnuts occupied the center of the stage here and filberts received but passing notice. The interest in walnut growing and the amount of planting has not decreased but that in filberts has so increased that that crop is now taking the center of the stage. KNIGHT PEARCY. England', 23-8-26 Many thanks for your letter of the 11th inst. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be able to attend the association's annual meetings sometime. I hope it is only a pleasure deferred and that some day I will be able to make a trip to the U. S. coincident with the autumn gathering. I have just sent to Dr. Deming a report showing how we stand in this country and the difficulties to be overcome. Perhaps some point in this may be of interest even though our difficulties are not the same as yours. HOWARD SPENCE. 34 NUT TREE NOTES— VIRGINIA September 8, 1926 But little interest is manifest in the subject of nut tree growing in Virginia. There are in and about Williamsburg several pecan trees of large size, evidently dating from the days of Thomas Jeiferson. These trees are fruitful and bear small sized nuts of good quality. But no one has seen fit to plant trees until within the last few years. I have trees in bearing of the Stuart, Moneymaker, Mantura, and Carman varieties. Of these I regard Moneymaker as the only sure cropper of Virginia. I have several northern varieties growing but not in bearing. Filberts grow well here but trees are not old enough to bear. The filbert is attacked by the larva of a butterflv which mav be con- trolled by a spray of lead arsenate. It is uncertain about the Persian walnut being profitable in tliis section. I have several varieties growing but they give little promise as yet. I know of two seedling Persian trees in this section whicli are fairly fruitful and the nuts are of good quality, but grafts from these trees have not proved' very fruitful. Ten years ago I set some pecan buds in hickory stocks (bitternut). They have grown well but bear very few nuts. One had better cut out the hickory trees and set grafted pecan trees. In ten years the grafted pecan trees will be bearing good crops of nuts. Two years ago a lady in this section decided to start a pecan orcliard. I did what I could to get her to purchase northern grown trees but she purchased trees from Mississippi because they were cheap. She set one hundred ten trees. The first winter about one-half of them died outright, the others sprouting from below the graft. The second spring the man to whom she rented the place plowed up the whole business. Tlius endeth the first chapter. Black walnuts are indigenous to this section and' grow rapidly and bear abundantly. I have the Thomas and the Stabler varieties grow- ing and bearing. From present prospects I believe that black walnut growing offers more inducements as a commercial proposition, in this section, than any other nut tree. The butternut also grows well here but the trees are subject to a 35 fungus disease which attacks the roots and kills the trees before they reach profitable bearing age. D. S. HARRIS. In conclusion, I will say that I regret my inability to continue longer as secretary. My regular work prevents me from undertaking any more outside activities. I have, however, appreciated the spirit of co-operation exhibited by the officers past and present when I asked their help, and hope that the incoming secretary will be able to spend more time on association matters than I. In this way the association can increase its membership and influence. As we can point to bearing trees and bearing orchards our membership will take care of itself. We need to keep in touch with the experimental work being done by experiment stations and individuals, to lose no opportunity to plant demonstration trees in arboretums such as the Morton Arboretum at Lisle, Illinois, and the projected botanical garden at Strawberry Hill near Stamford, Conn., and in city parks and other public insti- tutions, and to use every opportunity to desseminate information re- lating to the culture of nuts in the northern United States. A. S. COLBY, Secretary. The President: Any one who has been secretary of an or- ganization similar to ours can appreciate the amount of work repre- sented by the report our secretary has given us this morning. The thing that strikes me of greatest value is the increase in the number of public institutions who are taking an interest in nut growing. When we organized there was hardly an institution, college or agri- cultural experiment station that was taking an active interest in nut growing. Year after year we have seen gradually a few more of thfse institutions becoming interested and now I think that our sec- retary's report shows that they are coming in in geometrical progres- sion. That to me is the most important thing that I see in the present status of nut culture, the interest of the great educational agricultural institutions of the country. 36 TREASURERS REPORT P'rom Sept. 1, 1925 to Aug. 31, 1926, both dates inclusive CREDITS Loss & Gain *from previous fiscal year (on Sept. 1, 1925) $347.85 Membership Plan No. 6 139.50 Membership Plan No. 9 8.25 Membership Plan No. 11 187.00 Membership Plan No. 12 2.75 Contributions 11.75 Contributing Memberships 20.00 Sales of Literature 10.50 Interest 20 Banqueting Receipts, St. Louis 115.00 Nut Prize Fund 150.00 $992.80 *This item includes deposits $340.83, $4.43 and cash $2.59. DEBITS Middletown National Bank, Deposit $483.62 Litchfield Savings Society, Deposit 14.63 Cash on Hand 4.23 Expenses, General, 16th Annual Convention: Reporting Convention $ 75.00 Banquet, 46 covers at $2.50 115.00 Banquet, 3 covers complimentary 7.50 250 Badges 30.00 Tel., Tel., Baggage & Porters' fees 8.26 Printing 2000 Letterheads 13.00 Printing 1500 Envelopes 11.00 Printing 500 Government Postal Cards 3.75 1000 Record Cards 6.00 1250 Programs 20.00 Mailing Programs 11.00 750 Letters 8.50 600 Receipt Forms 8.50 Stenographic Services 112.80 Dictation and Typing 6.90 Two Cent Stamps Sent to President 4.00 Two Cent Stamips Sent to Secretary 25.00 Postage and Registry 1.06 Registry Fees 1.08 Postage on Annual Reports Sent .19 Government Envelopes .24 Postal or Post Cards 5.75 Telegrams 2.99 Expenses, Nut Prize Fund: Typing and Mailing Letters $7.80 160 Stamped Envelopes 3.50 90 Copies 1 Stencil Cut and Run 1.10 Postage 40 12.80 $992.80 37 At the time of last report we owed $10.50 for the Nut Journal which fact was shown in the report. $150 was collected for Nut Prize Fund and is not available for general purposes. Printing and mailing of 16th Annual Report (1925) was paid for in October, 1926, and will appear in next report. In this report I have used the words Credits and Debits as they seem more proper than either Liabilities and Assets or Receipts and Expendi- tures. Assets give the impression of property. Expenses hardly come under that head. Bank deposits and cash on hand do not come under the head of expenditures. Debits and Credits cover them all properly. H. J. MILLIARD, Treasurer. The President: We will not discuss the reports at this time but if anything is to be said about them it will be taken up at the business meeting to be held tonight. The Secretary: Nominations for the Nominating Committee to name officers for the ensuing year are now in order. Mr. W. G. Bixby, ISIr. T. P. Littlepage, Mr. R. T. Olcott, Mr. Zenas H. Ellis, and Mr. Karl W. Greene were nominated and elected. The President: I will appoint Mr. Neilson, Mr. Littlepage, and Mr. Olcott as the committee on resolutions. Afternoon Session TOPWORKING WILD NUT TREES By Dr. Robert T. Morris, Connecticut There are so many wild nut trees in this country and these older trees come into bearing so much more quickly than nursery stock that substantial income will be derived by owners of such trees if they graft them over to superior kinds. Topworking means a great deal of labor and attention but the promptness of results stands in its favor. It is possible to topwork large trees more than a foot in diameter of trunk. For the most part, however, successful topworking will belong to nut trees of less than one foot in diameter. I have tried out various degrees of cutting back of tops and have made about the right proportion of mistakes in j udgment. If we cut back the top of a tree too severely the root system is not properly nourished and the natural balance between top and root may not be regained for several years . If we cut back a top too severely the ends of limbs more than three inches in diameter are very vulnerable to agencies of rot. This is also true of limbs of less than three inches in diameter unless all cut ends are carefully painted with an antiseptic paint or with melted paraffin. If we cut back a top too severely the grafts will make such a tremendous growth that they will all blow out in a high wind unless elaborately braced with supports. Now comes the other side of the question. If we do not cut back the top of a tree severely, new stock sprouts will start out in such abundance from all of the limbs that are left that it means going over the tree two or three times in the course of a week in the grow- ing season to keep stock sprouts plucked out. If this is not done their enzymes will destroy the graft sprouts, apparently. If the tree is de- prived of the advantage of stock sprouts its root does not receive a proper degree of nourishmenf until graft sprouts have supplied the need. 39 111 former papers I have described experience in grafting limbs that were cut back for topworking purposes. I described the distal bark slot and the proximal bark slot for receiving grafts. My whole feeling in this regard has now changed. The proximal bark slot may be employed to advantage at many sites on trunks and limbs but the distil bark slot on the end of a cut branch I no longer use. Instead of tliat I cut off a limb near a small branch, paint the cut end of the limbs and then jjut on anywhere from one to half a dozen grafts on little branches belonging to this small branch. This allows us to use the ordinary splice graft or cleft graft upon stocks of approximately the same diameter as the grafts. This point will be appreciated by everyone experienced in grafting. The nearer we can come to having the diameter of the graft equal that of the stock the better our results in getting catches. Topworking in this way means the use of a very large number of grafts for any one tree. When our supply of grafting wood is limited we may cut out simply part of the top of a tree suitable for whatever number of grafts we have. Graft wood may be em- ployed more economically now that we are using a method of covering tl'.e graft entirely, buds and all with melted paraffin or other suitable melted grafting wax. This method of covering each graft with a waterproof coating avoids the desiccation or drying out of the graft which in former years made it necessary to use grafts carrying a num- ber of buds. At the present time by this new method we may use very short grafts carrying only one bud if we wish for economy of material. I now give the audience a demonstration of topworking method using a hickory limb about three inches in diameter which has been cut off at a point leaving a small branch one-half inch in diameter. This small branch has three little branches about the diameter of my scions. The little branches are cut off at a point where the diameter will correspond with the diameter of the scions which are now in- serted by simple splice method or by simple cleft method. We have learned of late that it is very important to shade scions after they Iiave been inserted. Some nurserymen have reported that they obtained nearly one-hundred percent of catches where each graft was protected from the sun with a slip of paper or a paper bag until its sprout were well under way. When leaving a certain number of other grafts unprotected from the sun experimentally, they did' not get more than twenty percent of catches. This experimental work 40 showing the great difference in proportion of catches between shaded and unshaded grafts is very significant. We must all go to shading our grafts until the new graft shoots are well out. The shading is then removed. This means a great deal of trouble but it works and anything which works is profitable; that is the main point. Now that I have shown the method of topworking by using small branches I will again give a demonstration of the proximal bark slot which may be employed for bare limbs or even for trunks. I make a transverse cut through the bark down to the wood. Above the trans- verse cut I take out a generous slice of bark which will expose the wood. Below the transverse cut I make two parallel cuts, the width of the scion. The bark between these two parallel cuts is turned down, the scion inserted and the tongue of bark is replaced, all being fastened with turns of raffia. Mr. Rick: Are the scions ever larger than the stocks? Dr. Morris: Yes. The essential thing is to get the cambium layers in contact on one side at least. Experimentally I have put on a scion four or five times larger than the stock. For grafting purposes in topworking you have to use a great many scions but you can use economy in the matter. There is a requirement for a large amount of scion wood. In the paraffin method you do not need so much wood. You can cut your scions pretty short. The short ones grow just as well as the long ones if they are paraffined, otherwise not. Prof. Neilson: Allowing for the proper cambium contact, the bud must be in line with the contact? Dr. Morris: That may be important, although it will grow up- side down. Mr. Green: You put the bud in right in line with where it joins the cambium? Dr. Morris : I do not believe it makes vital difference because the flow is doing a spiral course in a way. The sap has to follow the spiral order of buds, consequently I assume that a short spiral or a long one would not make much difference. If I put this graft in upside down it will grow just as well as if I put it in right side up. About the amount to be cut back in top-working trees. That I have 41 experimented with pretty extensively. Let us begin at the bottom and say that a tree about a foot in diameter is cut ofF close to the ground with the idea of putting in scions. As a rule they do not do well that way. Your root is not being supplied with the proper amount of nourishment, and because the root is not getting enough it will send out abundant stock sprouts. It is not practical. Scions will grow, but you will have to keep stock sprouts cut down so closely that roots will not get proper nourishment. Let us say we have cut off a tree, the top of it, so that we have limbs from 1-2 in. to 4 in. in diameter, and try the bark slot. That is better than cutting the tree down and starting from the base. Suppose we trim back a tree only a short way from the top, leaving most of our branches from one-half inch to two inches in diameter and tlien graft these little side sprouts. You quickly get a balance between the top and the root and the top is able to maintain the balance, and the tree will start off in the proper way. Mr. Green: Would you leave any branches to maintain this balance .'' Dr. Morris: Yes, that may be done, leaving some branches to maintain the sap for the root. That "sap leader" however is a thing I have experimented with to great length, and I have about come to the conclusion that the sap leader idea that is held so firmly by many horticulturists is of no great value. At the present time, except ex- perimentally, I am not leaving sap leaders on the tree. When your scions have grown out very^ well, say several inches long, sometimes then it is very well to leave stock sprouts for foliage. In that way you are more sure to get nourishment for the root, and another ad- vantage is that vour scions will not overgrow to such an extent that there is danger of their blowing out. Mr. Walker : Dr. Morris mentioned cutting back the tree previous to grafting. How long previous to grafting? Dr. Morris: It is better to cut it back before the sap starts in the spring — in this locality February, or you may do it as soon as the leaves turn yellow in the fall. There is a difference of opinion about the time. Some prefer cutting back as soon as the leaves turn in the 42 fall and others in February or spring, while the tree is still dormant. The cut limbs must be protected witli paint or wax to keep out bac- teria or fungi. I have tried cutting back at various times in the year. I have cut back in August and the trees did well. Mr. Neilson: What is the actual temperature that buds will stand when covered with paraft'in.^ « Dr. Morris: I have found that 200 F. was borne by all except peaches. Not much above 150 F. is entirely safe. Mr. Rick : Would you prefer to do most of your grafting when the foliage is not out and the tree is still dormant.'' Dr. Morris: I am speaking from an experimental standpoint largely. It depends upon several questions. The kind of tree and amount of sugar in the sap. If dealing with walnuts it is better to wait until they are almost in full leaf and the leaves pretty well formed. They are grafted through June, or late May to advantage. There are other ways of controlling that flow. We will ask Mr. Jones to tell us about that. He is the one best qualified to speak. We have grafted' hickories every month in the year. Mr. Bixby: You speak of grafting hickories every month in the year. They have been successfully grafted every month in the year? Dr. Morris: Oh yes, that is a point. Success is a relative term, however, and we must ask if they are grafted practically for the or- chardist instead of successfully as an experiment. They have been grafted so that they have gTOwn, but the proportion of catches is smaller some months and larger in other montlis. The proportion of catches is best during the months horticulturists have always recog- nized as the best — the spring months. The President: You say that the enzymes from the new stock growth kill the graft sprouts. That is only true of the new growth ? Dr. Morris : It seems that the new stock growth is specially inimical to grafts. When the old foliage is trying to exercise supremacy over graft sprouts it does not seem to furnish enzymes that are so deadly to grafts. 43 Dr. Smith: Have you any objection to partial topworkingi of walnuts? One limb? Dr. Morris: I am afraid your established top would take ad- vantage and not allow grafts on one limb to grow. That is not true of apples however. I have grafted a single apple limb in a full foliage tree and grafts all grew. With the nut trees or hardwood trees I think it would be rather risky. I tried that and did not get good results. Dr. Smith: How many grafts would you have to a large tree? Dr. Morris: In a tree 30 feet high you would have to use more than 100 grafts but you will get your new top started right off. It pays because you will have a full crowned tree more quickly. 44 NORTHERN NUTS— VARIETIES Willard G. Bixhy, Baldwin, N. Y. In opening this subject I cannot resist saying a word about the purpose for which we are seeking fine varieties of nuts, i. e., that of getting orchards of them planted and bearing; and giving a few gen- eral observations which apply to all nuts, or to a species, as well as information regarding individual varieties. The establishment of a commercial nut orchard was the subject of an address by Mr. Thomas P. Littlepage before the Washington convention of the Northern Nut Growers Association in 1923. He started in with faith as the first requisite and while, in due course, he dwelt on hope and charity it is faith that is the first requisite; that is, believing that the promises shown by results in small experimental plantings will be borne out in larger ones, A remark by Judge Edwards at the Austin, Texas, meeting of the National Nut Growers Association is something I have never forgotten. He said that he had a great admiration for what the Northern Nut Growers Association had done with the stubborn material with which they had to work ; that in the south all that had been done was that a few men had planted pecan nuts and from them had grown fine varie- ties; and that one had little to do other than to look around and select the treasures that God had provided; while in the North they even had to breed varieties, in some instances, to get what they wanted; and that, while propagation in the South was easy, it had taken years of work by experts to accomplish it in the North. It is only fair to say however, that the contrast between the pecan nuts of the South and the native hickory nuts foimd there is tremendous, and I can well understand why Judge Edwards was impressed as he was. In spite of the fact that the northern hickories, so far as I have seen, oifer much more promise to the nut grower than the southern ones do, nevertheless it is true that nut growing in the North has had much more to overcome than it has in the South. It is over fifty years since the first fine variety of northern nuts that we have (the Hales hickory) was brought to the attention of the 45 agriculturists of the country. Attempts to propagate it were failures for some twenty years. While now propagation, in the case of most nuts, has almost been redticed to a certainty, provided good material is used and skilfully handled, yet nut growing in the North is far from being on the profitable commercial basis which we all believe it is destined to reach. As a class the nuts which promise best are those that are native to what might be called the middle northern sections. The nuts of the more northern sections are seemingly not as well adapted. In this respect nuts are like fruits. Chestnuts (where they are not subject to attack by blight) and black walnuts have demonstrated in a small way that they will pay well when planted in orchards. Other nuts are promising. The important thing to do now is to plant orchards of these species that have been shown to be successful in a small way and try out the otliers that promise well. The species about which we know most as to behavior in orchard form are the black walnut and the chestnut. At Alton, 111., on the place of the late E. A. Riehl, on land too steep for ordinary cultivation, these have proven more profitable than the rest of the farm. The heartnut at my place (all varieties) for years has been bearing con- stantly increasing crops and is giving promise of success. Nuts want rich soil. If it is not so naturally it must be made so if best results are to be obtained. Seemingly land cannot be too rich for nut trees. The question of annual or biennial bearing has been raised as to varieties. While various conditions do make a difference in bearing, so far as I have observed at Baldwin, nut trees if given plenty of plant food seem to bear annually, barring unusual conditions. For example, black walnuts have shown increasingi crops until the year 1926 when the crop is nothing except on the Royal and McCoy varieties. The hazels also are bearing very light this year. On the other hand, the Persian walnuts have borne as never before. Last winter it should be said was one remarkably free from sudden changes in temperature, a condition which I expected would be favorable both for the Persian walnut and the European hazel. It was for the Persian walnut but seemingly not for the European hazel. The matter of which varieties to plant is one on which much might 46 be said although there is less known than we wish were the case. What follows is an attempt to note what we know as to varieties in the hope that it may form a nucleus for the additional information that will come later. Almonds Almonds are perhaps more exacting in climatic requirements than any other nuts and the experiments made do not as yet give much hope of almonds being commercially successful outside of the almond sections. Varieties: — Ridenhauer — The one variety which seems to do well outside of almond sections. The shell looks like that of a peach kernel but the flavor is good. Probably an almond x peach hybrid. Bears early and abundantly. Beech Nuts These nuts although as thin shelled as chestnuts are more like the hard shelled nuts in other respects. The flavor is generally fine and the nuts are rich in oil and the only drawback is their generally small size. This is a nut which thrives in northern sections where most fine nuts do not. Varieties : — Abrams (formerly Giant) — Parent tree in Martinsville, Ind. Abundance — Parent tree in Martinsville, Ind. Black Walnuts The most promising nuts for commercial planting in the north- eastern United States. The trees are heavy bearers and the kernels sell at prices above those paid for Persian walnut kernels. A reason- able amount of summer heat is needed' for the proper development of the nuts. Varieties : — Adams (Iowa)— Parent tree in Monona County, Iowa. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Adams (Michigan) — ^Parent tree in Scotts, Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Shape distinctive being longer in proportion to its diame- ter than any other propagated variety. 47 Alley — Parent tree in Lagrangeville, Dutchess County, N. Y. Probably the most northerly growing black walnut now being pro- pagated. Deming — Parent treie in Winnipauk near Norwalk, Connecticut. Leaves and young shoots distinctly purple, r-ambium layer brown, husk of nut purple, flavor of kernel very mild and tasty. There are two trees with these characteristics near together, one an old tree and one young. Glory — A variety with curly wood and valuable for timber purposes. Herman — Parent tree dead. Formerly native of Lancaster Co., Pa. Formerly called the Rush black walnut. Hine — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Jumbo — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., La. Noted in 1921' report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Kinder — Parent tree in Indiana. Propagated by McCoy Nut Nurseries. Lamb — A variety with curly wood, valuable for timber purposes. Lewis — Said to be an excellent cracker. Lutz — Parent tree in North Carolina. One of the largest propa- gated black walnuts. Mattingly — ^From Rockport, Indiana. McCoy — Parent tree in Indi.ina. Brought to the attention of the Association by R. L. McCoy. Miller — Parent tree in Indiana. Propagated by McCoy Nut Nur- series.' Morris — Said to be an exceptional cracker. Ohio — Parent tree in McCutchenville, Ohio. Nuts took first prize in one of the Northern Nut Growers Association contests. Next to the Thomas and Stabler this variety has been most largely propagated. Paradox — A hybrid — Juglans hindsii x regia made by Luther Bur- bank at Santa Rosa California where it is a very rapid grower and it has been recommended by him for timber purposes. At Baldwin it is not of specially rapid gro\vi;h. It blossoms plentifully but so far has borne no nuts. Peanut — Parent tree in South Salem, Ohio. Noted in Bulletin U. S. Dept. Agriculture 1896 as filling on one side only which makes kernel in one piece. Apparently not all of the crop in this way. 48 Pearl — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Royal — A hybrid Juglans hindsii x nigra, made by Luther Burbank at Santa Rosa, California where it is a verj' rapid grower. It has been recommended by him for timber purposes. At Baldwin it grows no faster than the Thomas black walnut. It bears large crops which do not rank high compared with the best varieties which we have. Schwartz — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. Noted in 1924 re- port Iowa State Horticultural Society. Stabler — Parent tree near Brookville, Howard' Co., Md. Tree is a large one and a vigorous grower. The crop in 1916 was about 18 bushels of luilled nuts. The foliage is distinctive being drooping in character different from all other varieties. This variety bears part of the crop with the kernel in one piece, i. e., half of the kernel has failed to develop. This makes this variety far ahead of all others in cracking quality. Mr. Thomas P. Littlepage, Lloyds Station, Mary- land, has tlie largest planting of this variety. Ten Eyck — Parent tree in Rahway, N. J. Tree is a young one, probably being under 2.5 years old. Has the smallest husk and the thinnest shell of any variety so far known. One of great promise for planting. Thomas — Parent tree dead, formerly in King of Prussia, Pa. The earliest propagated black walnut and the one most extensively planted. The late E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111., was the first to make extensive plant- ings and he regarded it as of great promise commercially. Wasson — Parent tree near New London. la. Brought to tlie at- tention of the association by the late Wendell P. Williams. Woodall — Parent tree in Milford, Delaware. Said to be a very prolific bearer. Butternuts These are more northerly growing than black walnuts and it is hoped that they may in the colder sections take tlie place of black walnuts. Varieties : — Aiken — Parent tree in Grasmere, N. H. Tree large and vigorous. The first propagated butternut, exceptional cracker. Buckley — Parent tree in Clayton Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Societv. 49 Deming — Parent tree at Georgetown, Conn. Took first prize 1918 contest, Sherwood — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. Noted in 1924 rejDort Iowa State Horticultural Society. Saugatuck — Parent tree in Redding, Conn. Chestnuts These are strongly recommended for commercial planting in sec- tions where the chestnut is not native but where it will grow and bear well. This applies to quite a portion of the middle west. Chestnuts bear young andi prolifically and fine varieties bring high prices. In planting be sure to get trees from sections where there is no blight. Varieties :— Boone — A Japan x American hybrid originated at Villa Ridge, 111. Champion — Originated by E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111. Fuller — Originated by E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111. One of the best varieties. Paragon — A variet}' of the European chestnut; a late variety; bears prolifically. Progress — Originated by E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111. Rochester — There are many other varieties that have been recommended for ))ropagation. Hazels These are considered of great promise at the present time. The bush or tree is a northern growing one and the native hazel generally bears prolifically. The problem is apparently to get the right varie- ties. Earnest attempts are now being made to breed those that shall prove better than existing ones although we have some of great promise. Varieties: — Barcelona — The standard market variety of the Pacific Coast. Daviana — A fine variety. DuChilly— A standard market variety. Geant des Halles — A fine variety. Imperial — A fine variety. Italian Red — A v^ariety from Erfurt, Germany; winter kills in some places. A fine variety. 50 Merribrooke — From Stamford, Conn. Next to tlie Rush the best native hazels so far found. Merveille de Bolwiller — From Erfurt, Germany. A fine variety. Noce Lunghe — A fine variety. Red Aveline — A fine variety formerly marketed to (juite an extent but discontinued because of its small size. Red Lambert — A fine variety from Erfurt, Germany. Rush- — From I>ancaster, Pa. A variety of American hazel large enough to be marketed. Winkler — Parent bush in Des Moines Co., la. Nuts the largest of any pure American hazel yet found. White Aveline — A fine variety formerly marketed to quite an ex- tent but discontinued because of its small size. White Lambert — A fine variety from Erfurt, Germany. One of the best. There are many other European varieties that have been planted to some extent in this country. Heartnuts These are sometimes called smooth shelled butternuts. They are native of Japan. They bear young and prolifically and give promise of being of commercial importance. Varieties : — Bates — ^Parent tree in Jackson, S. C. Faust — Parent tree in Bamberg, S. C. Lancaster — Parent tree near Lancaster, Pa. Tree vigorous and bears prolifically. The variety that has been propagated most largely. Winter kills in exposed locations. Ritchie — Parent tree in Virginia. Stranger — Parent tree in Jackson, S. C. Hichories They were the first northern native nuts to be propagated by grafting but they are today the nuts on which our knowledge of be- havior under orchard conditions is the most meagre. There are some 15 species native in the United States and the number of varieties is large and growing. Like the wood and the shell which are proverbally hard the hickory 51 has proved hard in getting into orchard conditions. Growing of grafted trees in the nursery presents a number of difficulties and the grafted trees are difficult to obtain. A number of the fine varieties of hickories that we have will undoubtedly sell at about the prices paid for fine pecans as soon as they can be produced in commercial quantities. While grafted hickory trees are diff'icult to obtain and diff'icult to transplant and get established, there is much promise in top work- ing young hickories to fine varieties especially where they are growing on rich land or on land that can easily be enriched. In top working care must be taken to put the proper varieties on the various hickory species. All is not known about this that is to be desired yet we know much more than we did a few years ago, for systematic attempts have been made to graft the most commonly oc- curring hickory species with the best known varieties and note the results over a series of years. While these experiments are far from complete a few general laws have been observed. 1 — Generally a hybrid variety will do well on either parent. 2 — Most varieties do pretty well on the pecan and on the shag- bark. INIost do well for a few years at least on the bitternut although some varieties do not do well later. 3 — The varieties that do well on the pignut and the mockernut are limited being so far seemingly restricted to the Brooks on the pignut and the Barnes on the mockernut. It is hoped that this num- ber may be enlarged later. Varieties: — Barnes — Parent tree at Fayetteville, O. A fine variety doing well when grafted on mockernut. Apparently a shagbark mockernut hybrid. Beam — Parent tree in Mt. Oreb, O. Beaver — Parent tree near Millerstown, Pa. A shagbark x bitter- nut hybrid of much promise. Billau — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. Brooks — Parent tree in West Virginia. A fine hickory doing well when grafted on pignut. Casper — Parent tree in Illinois. Cedarapids — Parent tree near Cedar Rapids, la. 52 # Clark — Parent tree at Ludlow, Mass. Took first prize 1918 nut contest. Dennis — Parent tree near Cedar Raj)ids, la. Named for the late Dr. A. B. Dennis who brought it to the attention of the association. Edaburn — Parent tree in Benton Co., la. Eureka — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. A shellbark. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultui;al Society. Eversman — Parent tree in Des Moines, la. A shellbark. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Fairbanks — Parent tree near Anamosa, Iowa. A shagbark x bit- ternut hybrid of much promise. Glover — Parent tree in Shelton, Conn. One of tlic best cracking- hickories yet found. , Grupe — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. 1 Hageii — Parent tree in Clayton Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Hales — Parent tree now dend, formerly at Ridgewood, N. J. The variety that has been propagated longest. About one dozen grafted trees on the farm of the late Henry Hales, Ridgewood, N. J. have been J bearing for a number of years. Hand — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Hill — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. A shellbark. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Iowa — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. A shellbark. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Kelsey — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Kentucky — Parent tree at Meeting Creek, Ky. Apparently a shag- bark X mockernut hybrid, a variety of much promise. Kirtland — Parent tree in Yalesville, Conn. Laney — Parent tree in Rochester, N. Y. A shagbark x bitternut hybrid of much promise. Leonard- — Parent tree in Middletown, N. Y. Shell, thin; quality, high ; size, small. Manahan — Parent tree in Sabillasville, Md. Milford — Parent tree in Milford. Mass. Minnie — Parent tree in Linn Co., la. Noted in 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. 63 Pleas — A pecan x bitternut hybrid' from Oklalioma. Reike — Sayer — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. A shellbark. Noted 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Shaull — Parent tree in Iowa Co., la. Noted 192i report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Scliinnerling — Parent tree in Iowa Co., la. Noted 192i report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Siers — Parent tree in Lawrenceburg, Ky. A hybrid (niockernut X bitternut?) of much promise. Stanley — Parent tree in Carthage, Ind ; a shellbark. Stratford^^ — Parent tree dead, formerly in Hamilton Co.. la. Noted 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Swaim — Parent tree in South Bend, Ind. Tama Queen — Parent tree in Des Moines, la. A shellbark. Noted 1924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Taylor — Parent tree in Stamford, Conn. Thin shell, fine flavor. Vest — Parent tree in Blacksburg, Va. The variety with the thinnest shell known and with particularly fine flavor of kernel. It has taken first prizes more times than any other variety. Generally considered to be the best variety yet found. Wampler — Propagated by W. C. Reed, Vincennes, Ind. Weiker — Parent tree near Lancaster, Pa. Said to have been one of the original forest trees spared when the land was cleared 200 years ago because of the fine nuts it bore. Crop 1916, 12 bushels, and usually bears several. Thought to be a shagbark x shellbark hybrid. Pecans These are botanically one of tlie hickories and are properly called pecan hickories but the popular name "pecans" will be used here simply. They are an important commercial crop in the South but the southern varieties are not adapted to northern planting. Apparently a considerable amount of summer heat is necessary for the proj^er maturing of the nuts of even tlie northern varieties althougli the "orthern pecan will stand much winter cold. Varieties : — Burlington — Parent tree near pumping station, Burlington, la., waterworks. Pecan x shellbark hybrid. 54 Busseron — Parent tree in Busseron Township, Knox Co., Ind. One of the earliest bearing varieties. Butterick — Parent tree near Grayville, 111. Des Moines- — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. Blown down in 1924. Noted in ] 924 report Iowa State Horticultural Society. Evi- dently a pecan x shellbark hybrid, Greenbay- — Parent tree near junction of Skunk River with Missis- sippi, Des Moines Co., la. A pecan x shellbark hybrid. Greenriver — Parent tree in Henderson Co. Kentucky. Said to be regular and heavy bearer. Indiana — Parent tree in Busseron, Township, Knox Co., Ind. Said to be regular bearer and heavy cropper. Major — Parent tree in Major Grove, Henderson Co., Kentucky. Nut small but tree said to be regular and heavy bearer. Marquardt — Parent tree dead. Formerly growing near Burling- ton, la. McCallister — Parent tree near Mount Vernon, Ind. A pecan x shellbark hybrid. The largest pecan nut known. The parent tree some years ago was badly injured by fire but has now to quite an extent recovered and apparently will bear well again. The tree has been planted to quite an extent in the South where it bears scarcely at all but it is not believed that the behavior in the South is to be expected in the North for it is known that some hickories require the cold of a northern winter to grow well and the McCallister may require this to bear well. Niblack — Parent tree near Vincennes, Ind. Said to be annual bearer and heavy cropper. Norton — Parent tree in Calhoun Co., 111. Probably the largest pecan of northern origin where the nut does not show evidence of hybrid parentage. Kentucky — Parent tree in Gibson Co., Ind., near Grayville, 111. Rockville — Parent tree near Rockville, Mo. Pecan x shellbark hybrid. Warrick — Parent tree in Warrick Co., Ind. Said to be very reg- ular bearer. Witte — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. Upton — Parent tree in Des Moines Co., la. 65 Persian Walnuts While these have been growing for a long time in certain sections of the northeastern United States they are seemingly more exacting in soil and climatic conditions than any other nuts noted in this list other than almonds. Winters must not be too cold or summers too hot and ajjparently a limestone soil is one of the best for them. Varieties: — Anderson — Parent tree in Greenwich. Conn. Same as Millbank. Alpine — A large fine variety. Boston — Parent tree in Roslindale, Mass. A fine variety. Eureka — A fine variety. Franquette — A standard French variety. Hall — One of the best bearing varieties in many places. Nuts large but frequently not well filled. Holden — Parent tree in Hilton, N. Y. Lancaster — Parent tree in Lancaster, Pa. Mayette — A standard French variety. Meylan — A fine French variety, Millbank — Parent tree in Greenwich, Conn. Same as Anderson. Rush — Parent tree near Lancaster, Pa. A valuable variety for pollenizing other varieties. On this list that has been pnsscd around there is given such de- tailed information as we have about the different varieties. I will not take the time to read it but will be glad to answer any questions that may be asked'. Mr. Spencer: I would like to ask you to wliat extent you would put lime in the soil for nut trees .^ Mr. Bixby: Black walnuts would seem not to require it. I would not say butternuts require much but English walnuts do. Per- haps the hazel nut would require some. At my place the English walnut trees near ash piles have thrived and the others have not, so I would say English walnuts need lime and the others perhaps do not. Mr. Spencer: One reason I asked that question is that I re- ceived a letter from Miss Riehl and she said she was making a studv of what to do with the ground under the chestnut trees. Where it is cultivated vou know it washes terriblv and she said she wanted to 56 plant it with alfalfa, but that alfalfa required the soil to be sweetened with lime to get a good stand and she understood that lime was in- jurious to chestnut trees. I wrote and told her I had a good many chestnut trees and had put lime around them and they were growing vigorously. I told her the land needed a little lime to get the roots started and that I did not personally believe that lime sufficient to make a stand of alfalfa would harm the chestnut, but I told her I would put the question up to the convention and try to get it answered and send her the information. Dr. Morris : That would be a pretty hard question to answer, because I looked about the place and' found limestone and saw that the chestnut trees were growing very successfully on it. Magnesium limestone that you find here in the East does not seem to harm the chestnut. Mr. Rick: These counties around Lancaster have a great deal of limestone. ]The President: It is evident that it is not only secretaries of the association that are industrious but also ex-secretaries. I think we can appreciate the work it took to get up a list like this and the value it is going to be to us for a long time. Mr. Green: I appreciate the value of this paper. I would like to ask if Mr. Bixby intends to compile the various suggestions that will be forwarded to him, and if so I think it is about the greatest work that has been undertaken by the association. Mr. Neilson : What has been your observation of the behavior of the McCoy black walnut? Mr. Bixby: It is bearing this year when other varieties, except the Royal, are not bearing. It bears prolifically. I do not consider the nut as good as some others. Mr. Spencer: I have considered it as good in quality as other nuts. If the black walnut is not filling I think that might be due to not sufficient summer heat. Mr. Garber: I would like to ask you what is known about the behavior of the hickory varieties as to time of bearing, etc., particu- larly when top worked? 57 Mr. Bixby: Top worked hickories are very rapidly coming into bearing. I have heard of them coming into bearing one year after to23 worked, and often in the third year. The best record of a transplanted hickory, I think, is tlie hickorv of Mr. Rush's, which you will probably see at ^Nlr. Jones' tomorrow. That Weiker bore 13 years after transplanting. Mr. Jones: I think it bore 10 j^ears after transplanting. Mr. Bixby: Top worked hickories bear much earlier. I have in my yard a tree that bore a few nuts last year which was set out in 1917, so you see that was eight years. It depends a good deal upon the variety. Black walnuts bear very early. The Secretary: I believe that we can promise the membershij-) that we will iniblish the latest list that ^Ir. Bixby can get ready for us. Mr. Jones: What liave you to say about the Ten Eyck? Mr. NEiLaoN: We planted one at Vineland and it took four years to bear. Mr. Bixby: It has the thinnest shell of any black walnut we have tested, and I regard it as of great promise. The President: Dr. Galloway is unable to be present and his paper will be read bv the Secretary. 58 PLANT INTRODUCTION AS APPLIED TO BLIGHT- RESISTANT CHESTNUTS AND RELATED CROPS By B. T. Galloway Office of I-'oreign Plant Introduction, U. S. Department of Ao-ricnlture At the suggestion of Secretary Colby, I desire to present .at tliis time a brief progress report on the work conducted by tlie United States Department of Agriculture in its search tliroughoiit tlie worhl for blight-resistant chestnuts and related crops. Explorations in foreign countries, "for eliestnuts and other tree crops, liave been under way for many years but the work has been intensified during tlie past fifteen years, since it became evident that our native chestnut was likely to be eventually wiped out by the blight fungus. One of the first important results of this work was the dis- covery of the original borne of chestnut blight by an agricultural ex- plorer of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who was engaged in work in China. This discovery was made in 191 ."5. At the same time, and in the same general region where blight wis discovered, large areas of chestnuts were located, which proved to be a resistant species known botanically as Castanea mollissima, and now conunonly referred to as the Chinese hairy chestnut. A large number of introductions of the nuts of tliis species have been made from China. The species has a wide range in Cliina and varies as to si/c of tree, quality and size of nuts and possibly also ability to resist blight. Evidence has repeatedly come to light in China that blight lias existed there for a long time and that numbers of ways have been devised for combating it. Un- doubtedly, through long natural selection, the resistant strains we are now testing have been developed. In our exploration work we have covered practically the whole of China. In 1921-1922 a special ex- pedition was sent into extreme western China. The result of this work was the discovery of some new types of Castaneas and a large number of Castanopsis^ a related genus which we shall speak of later. In the earlier introduction work seeds were brought in and seed- lings grown at one or more of our Plant Introduction Gardens. The first seedlings were distributed somewhat ])romiscuously and in small lots. The losses were necessnrilv heavy, but enough trees were es- 6d tablished to indicate a decided blight resistance and other desirable qualities. The largest group of the Chinese hairy chestnut of the early plantings is at Bell Station^ Maryland, where is also located one of our plant introduction gardens. The plantings at Bell were put out by the late Dr. Walter Van Fleet. Originally about 900 trees were planted. The trees were set out in 1912 and most of them are still living. During the past three or four years a special effort has been made to grow seedlings in quantity from introduced nuts and to place these seedlings in the hands of co-operators willing to put out and care for half-an-acre to as many as three acres of the trees. We have en- couraged the planting of the trees in orchard form for the reason that it is our desire to make sure of home-grown sources of seed. The seed supply in China has become quite precarious and it is highly im- portant thfit we endeavor to produce our own seed' as early as prac- ticable. All the trees distributed during the past three or four years have been grown at our Plant Introduction Garden, Bell, Maryland. Tlie distribution of seedlings has been confined to the eastern United States as it was deemed inadvisable to send the trees outside of the range where blight is known to occur. A somewhat extensive distri- bution was made in the spring of 1926, when something over 8,000 three-year-old seedling trees were distributed in the region indicated above. These trees have all been planted in orchard form and are being cared for in a careful way by our co-operators. In order to assure the production of trees outside of the blight territory, a large introduc- tion of niits was made last year frpm China and after very careful treatments at San Francisco, where the seed landed, it was sent to our Chico Garden for growing. This shipment was not very successful but we expect in another year or two to have trees from it for distri- bution on the Pacific Coast and points in the Mississippi Valley, where the blight does not occur. Other shipments of seed from various sources are arriving from time to time and we now have growing at our Bell Plant Introduction Garden collections of seedlings which we plan to distribute in the spring of 1927. We hope to have larger shipments of seed this year so that by 1928 or 1929 we can make ad'- ditional distributions of this interesting introduction. We had planned for an intensive study of the chestnut in China and especially in the northern provinces of China, this year, in the 60 hope that selected strains could be secured and grafting wood sent in from which to carry on our propagating work. Owing to conditions in China it was found necessary to temporarily suspend this work. We have already referred to the exploration work in western China in 1921 and 1922. This work resulted in the securing of the 1-irgest collection of Castaneas and related tree crops heretofore recorded. The Province of Yunnan is a remote and inaccessible one and our explorer had great difficulty in getting seed out. The region and climate are peculiar, the lowland's being subtropical and the moun- tainous sections wet and cold enough in winter for heavy snows. It has turned out that most of the material secured consists of trees be- longing to the genus Castanopsis. We have only one representative of this genus in the United States — viz: the Golden Chinquapin grown on the Pacific Coast. The trees are, for the most part, evergreens and will likely prove an interesting and valuable addition to our southern flora. Collections of these introductions have been established at twelve or fourteen places in the south and on the Pacific Coast. The Castanopsis are all irees, some of them growing to large size. Owing to the fact that the Chinese hairy chestnut does not grow to very large size and cannot, therefore, be strictly regarded as a forest tree, we have been gnxious to secure a chestnut or chestnuts that might in a measure equal in size and vigor of growth our native species. There is such a tree in China and to this we have given the name Chinese timber chinquapin. Botanically it is known as Castanea henryi. There is a tree of this species growing in the Arnold Arbore- tum and another small one in our collection at Bell, Maryland. Last year we were successful in grafting about 300 of these trees at our Bell, Maryland, Plant Introduction Garden. We used the Chinese hairy chestnut for stocks. We have also been fortunate in locating supplies of the seed of this chestnut in China and hope to have a large shipment this year. A shipment came in last spring, along with our Chinese hairy chestnut, which went to Chico, California, but unfor- tunately the seed was all dead. The Chinese timber chinquapin grows to a larger size than any other Chinese species, it being not uncommon to find trees 60 to 75, or as much as 100 feet high. The nut of this species is small — very much like our native chinquapin. Recently we have had information from one of our correspondents in China, who has been supplying us with seed, that the Chinese are using a dwarfing 61 stock for the hairy chestnut they are growing. This forces early pro- duction and enables the trees to be kept well in orchard form. We are endeavoring to secure nuts of this species. We believe it to be the so-called Chinese dwarf chinquapin, Castanea seguinii, which we have endeavored several times to introduce, but have not been successful. We cannot close this brief report without referring to the remark- able work in the breeding of chestnuts conducted b}' the late Dr. Walter Van Fleet. Dr. Van Fleet began his breeding investigations long before blight was known. He produced many hybrids. All of the liybrids in which our nitive chestnut and the Spanish or European species were used succumbed to blight. Numbers of his hybrids are still growing in the orchard planted by him at Bell, Maryland, in 1911 and 1912. There is one outstanding form now growing at Bell which should be mentioned. It is a cross made by Dr. Van Fleet between Castanea molUssima, the Chinese hairy chestnut and our native chin- quapin, Castanea pumila. This fine hybrid has borne heavily each year for the last five or six years. The nuts are about double the size of our native chestnuts and are sweet and palatable. The tree has shown no signs of blight. We are endeavoring to get up a stock of this hy- brid by grafting on mollissima roots. Three or four hundred grafts were made last year and more will be made this season. This hybrid appears to be about the best thing in sight for orchard culture in the blight affected regions of the east. The primary objects of all this work may be briefly set forth as follows : 1. To explore foreign countries for new and promising chest- nuts and related tree crops and to introduce, grow and test such crops in the United States. 2. To place the new crops in the hands of orchardists, plant breeders and others with a view to aiding in the rehabilitation of our chestnut orchards and possibly our destroyed forest areas. The production of nuts as a food crop and trees for timber, lumber and tanning are all involved. The utilization work is in the hands of other branches of the Bureau of Plant Industry. The President: I will ask Dr. Smith to open the discussion on chestnuts, basing it on his experience in Japan recently. 62 Dr. Smith: I think I can say all I know about the chestnut in a very few minutes. Mr. Chairman, I feel very greatly flattered by the statement that I know something about the chestnut. I have seen in Japan a few chestnut orchards in which they are propagating just as we did here 20 years ago. It is an industry of comjjaratively small extent, but growing in Japan. The most interesting thing I found out about the chestnut was the taste of uuts from the European trees, where they bad been doing a good deal of selection with a strain of the European chestnut. I tasted them in Peking and they are almost identical with our variety of Paragon, which was propagated in this section before the blight came. Apparently we are on the eve of being able to import grafted trees. I would like to call attention to the fact tint thus far the gov- ernment has been importing seedlings almost exclusively, but in Dr. Galloway's paper he mentions imjDorting grafted trees and scions. There is no reason why this cannot be done. I imported from Japan some scions of persimmons and they are growing. We ought to be able within a short time to import scions into this country. The re- port about the hybrid tree bearing nuts is important. There is really great progress implied in that paper. Dr. ^Iorris: The mollissima chestnut will blight. It is compara- tively resistant but not wholly. Hybrids we get from the chinquapin are likely to be more resistant. I have a cross between the mollissima and our native chinquapin not yet bearing which is extremely thrifty. It is 12 years old. It promises to be a timber tree and also a tree that will bear nuts. I have a number of others of that same breed and this one has outdistanced all the others in which I made the same cross. I think the henryi is likely to be best for wood. Our common chinquapin west of the Mississippi River grows to a height of 50 feet. 63 THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT Preliminary Report on Induced Immunity By Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Pennsylvania Some thirty-five years ago, when blight killed some of my favorite pears on my father's farm, and spared a Kieffer. I first realized that there was some difference in the reaction of living things to disease, which is now known as immunity. My first actual experience began as a kid when I took some of my father's tobacco, stole away, and tried to play the part of a man. After that I was more or less alert, and, as a student of medicine, the subjects of immunity and internal secretions absorbed much of my spare time and appealed to me so strongly that, even before my graduation, I had begun to make vac- cines and used them in the disj^ensary of the Maryland General Hos- pital in Baltimore. Later I used them in my private practice. During tliis time the chestnut blight raided the country and it was my firm conviction that artificial immunity, or rather induced immunity, might offer a solution for that calamity. I even drew the attention of one of our governors to the subject, who was considerably interested and turned the letter over to some prominent authorities who tabooed the idea and allowed it to die a natural death. In the meantime the chest- nut blight rages. Three years ago, when casting an experimental eye around. I made an emulsion of the black aphis, then disturbing the cherry trees. This emulsion I injected into a small tree which I thought was affected with more aphis than any of the others. Forty-eight hours later the new growth on the top of this tree was dead. This convinced me that the material was quickly absorbed, was highly toxic and that the plant reacted to this antigen in a similar way to that of an animal. V I was now prepared to tackle the chestnut blight. Unfortunately I burned out, and my laboratory with it, about the time I landed in the hospital five years ago, and I had to prevail on some one else to make the serum. I don't know whether my persuasion succeeded or whether Mr. Gravatt felt disposed to help me go ahead and make a fool of myself, but anyway he kindly prepared the basic material 64 from which I completed a serum and began my first injections last year. Before proceeding further it is well to understand that any sub- stance, known as an antigen, thrown into the system of any living body, will either kill the cells or they will manufacture a ferment which will digest and destroy it. This excess ferment is the immunis- ing principle in all cases and does not exist until the attack against the cells makes the manufacture of it compulsory. In this they are like the human being. They won't do anything until they are compelled to. Strictly speaking, this means that there is no such thing as "natural immunity." It is all acquired, and every chinquapin or chestnut which has any degree of immunity to the chestnut blight furnishes evidence that some time back through the ages these plants have been attacked. If the active disease gradually stimulated the manufacture of this ferment, it is evident that the products of this disease, which cannot produce the active destruction, will also stimulate the production of this ferment, and it is upon this idea that I am acting. To be more specific, what I am after is to get enough of this defensive ferment in the body of the chestnut tree to either kill the blight germ or hinder its development. Some plants already retard the develojijment, such as the chinquapin, Chinese chestnut and some of the Japanese chest- nuts, but none will hinder its development entirely. In fact, after thirty years I have found that the American chestnut has scarcely enough of this defensive ferment developed to be worth talking about. This power of the defensive ferments of the chestnut to hinder the development of the blight organism is termed "resistance." I have found that old people, or old animals, develop this de- fensive ferrnent to a very moderate degree, if at all. Young animals or people usually develop it to a high degree, but once in a while one will be found that cannot be made to develop it by any known means. Presuming this would be the same with the chestnut, I confined myself to young plants. I have observed, however, that the sprouts surround- ing the very large chestnut trees are usually dead. Apparently the power of endurance is not so great as that of the younger trees, many of which still continue to throw out sprouts from the roots. This, I presume, is due, like the old animal, to the inability of their cells to manufacture the protective ferments in sufficient quantity. Another thing I have learned in animals is that after every in- 65 jection there is a period of low resistance, coming on a few days after injection and lasting any^vhere from a few days to several months. In fact no animal seems to get along well during the time the serums are administered. The idea is to give a number that is known to pro- tect, usually from six to ten, and then stop. In a few months the re- sults are apparent. This ferment -when once formed is inheritable. Now let us examine some of the reports of injections and note what is found when applied to the plant. I am simply mentioning a few, the reactions of which were rather noticeable, in an effort to show : 1st — That a chestnut tree will develop protection against blight. 2nd— That some, like the chinquapin x chestnut hybrid, will de- velop a sufficient amount to cure tlie infection with a remarkably small amount of serum. 3rd — That the infection will heal over. 4th — That in certain cases the American chestnut will develop enough defense after three doses to at least offer a hopeful prospect providing the top of the tree is protected. 5th — That the three injections in small American chestnut will not protect against direct innoculation. No. 100 June 26, 1925. Height 10 ft. Blighted badly at the root. Almost circled. Also two limbs badly blighted. First week no general effect was noted. Locally for a few days the old infection seemed more virulent. July 12 cut out part of the old blighted area at the crown. Only about three-fourths of an inch of the cambium remains and it is affected. It looks, however, as though the disease process has stopped and formed a line of demarcation. July 15th definitely visible amount of callus being thrown out at the old injection site. Progress of the disease seems to have been retarded at all in- fective points. July 15th second injection. Progress of disease does not seem to have advanced but the tree is so nearly surrounded at the base that it may not survive. July 27th third injection. If this tree is saved it will be a miracle on account of its far advanced stage at the time of vaccination. August Ith. Tree still alive with no evidence of further invasion. Tree is ffettino- much thicker both above and below the crown in- 66 fection and the little area of green wood connecting the two points is thickening. The tree looks healthy otherwise, with no signs of sprouts coming from the root which is one of the early evidences of infection sufficient to close off the circulation. October 26th. No evidence of further invasion and tree looks fine, although the injury of course is not fully healed over. There is no, extension of blight into the callus. 'The tree is dormant. These three injections apparently protected this native American chestnut pretty well. June, 1926. Tree looks thrifty and apparently recovered. Sawed off top and grafted. July 3. Grafts died off and examination showed blight had reinvaded the callus and killed the tree. September 8, 1926. Old stock dead. Four healthy new sprouts on its roots. No. 103 June 26, 1925. Height four and one-half feet, 5-8 inch in diameter. Tree a sprout from a blighted stump but apparently healthy. Given three injections and on Aug. 10th innoculated with a piece of blight- ed bark injected under the bark and waxed. Area became infected and went almost around the tree, although the infection did not seem very virulent, for there are areas of live cambium in the in- fection, which has now become apparently inactive. This tree, like 102, is apparently not sufficiently protected by three injections, or sufficient time had not been allowed before the innoculation was made. May 25, 1926. Top blighted and died at area of innoculation. Graft- ed with Fuller and stump cut off four inches above ground. September 8th. Graft doing nicely and no further evidence of blight. No. 106 July 15, 1925. Japanese chestnut 45332 from U. S. Dept. Agr. Tree six feet high. Tree showed large area of blight at first crotch and on a couple of small limbs above site of first injection. This is the last of several Japanese trees to blight and each time killing the tree to the ground in its turn, the roots sprouting again the following year. July 24. Large area seems to be walling off and bark separating. A 67 lot of callus is being thrown out but the healing process is not con- clusively in evidence yet. July 27. Blight area ceased invasion entirely on limbs. Bark has separated and fallen off and infections are almost healed over. These are the limb infections above referred to. Received second in- jection on this date. September 10th. Small blighted areas on limbs healed entirely and the larger area in the crotch has come together considerably al- though not so noticeable on account of its size. October 26th. All small areas are fully healed and look healthy. The large area is about half covered with healthy looking callus and from all appearance blight is fully under control. This is the only Japanese chestnut that has even recovered for me although I made special effort to save them, cutting out the blighted areas and cover- ing with antiseptic and paint or wax. July 18, 1926. Tree looks fine and covered with burs. Blighted area in crotch about an inch wide yet and healing nicely. Another in- jection given on this date. August 19th, 1926. Injected north limb. September 8, 1926. Tree looks splendid. One more. Very interesting. Quoted fully. No. 112 August 4, 1925, Tree 30 inches high and 1-2 inch in diameter. Morris No. 1 grafted in 1921' on a native American stock. Morris No. 2 is a native American x chinquapin hybrid, I believe. Tree is badly blighted at crown. Perhaps too badly to do anything with. I-arge injection of serum given on this date. August 10th. Noticed that the bark is dead all the way around the plant and the bark separating exposes the wood under the cambium. A circle three eights of an inch wide all around with much greater width on one side, about 1-2 inch. Had I known this on August 4th, I should have saved my serum. August ].5tli. Blight seemed checked and callus is being thrown out from above in large amounts. Covered the denuded ring with paraffin. It is now dawning on me that perhaps the callus might jump the gap and take up the circulation again. Tree is sending up shoots from tlie roots, which is one of the best evidences that the 68 circulation is sliut off. The Iccaves are quite yellow and the tree looks bad. August 3()th. Callus nearly if not quite together. I took my knife and cut the edges of the callus just a little thinking it might heal together easier. September 30th. Callus has united, having jumped the gap and taken up the circulation nearly half way around the tree. The leaves are again green and the tree has a good appearance, which shows that it has again taken up the normal function. October 26th. The tree seems apparently entirely recovered and healthy, although the denuded area has not entirely healed over. There is no evidence of further blight, and no more callus being thrown out. It has evidently become dormant for the winter. Evi- dently Morris No. 1 has a good deal of immunity, for this one dosc has apparently not only cured it but protected it from further in- vasion up to this time. I have not seen any native American chest- nut show anything like this amount of resistance following the in- jection of one dose, up to this time. September 8, 1926. Tree apparently healthy, leaves of good color, made a nice growth this summer, and the old scar is almost healed over. Apparently, from the above, it is possible to inject blighted trees of the chinquapin, chinquapin x chestnut hybrids, Japanese, and Chinese chestnuts and have them recover, but with the exception of a few cases, the American chestnut that is blighted at the crown will die off before enough ferment can be stimulated to protect it. How- ever, in a few cases, especially if injected early in the spring, they may survive. I had some that had every appearance of recovering until I sawed the top off and grafted them. Then they were attacked with re- newed vigor and died promptly. After a few injections it is altogether probable that the American chestnut will perform similar to other chestnuts that have a certain amount of resistance, like the Japanese or chinquapin. Amount Necessary io Protect One dose has apparently protected the Morris No. 1 hybrid. Two have protected a Japanese. One. two and three have not protected an American, although No. 69 100 had offered great hope until I ignorantly cut the top off and graft- ed it. It looked so good that I thought it was safe. I now know that that thing can't be done. Some sprouts seem to have root systems that are of such low vitali- ty as to die off under the shock and toxic products of the serum, as in No. 110 whose roots died without any evidence of blight perceptible. Automatic Serum As a source of immunity this must not be overlooked. When an area becomes blighted nature makes an attempt to check the invasion by building a wall of cells around it. This wall will be digested as the defensive ferment is formed and serves as a source of automatic serum. This, while detrimental when only a little immunity is present, becomes quite valuable as immunity develops, as frequently all that will be necessary is to start this activity. With this in mind I have made no attempt to cut away any blighted area unless there was danger of its encircling the tree before it had a chance to recover. My Future Plans Four years ago I grafted a chestnut on a chestnut oak. My idea then was to keep it growing on the oak for many years in an attempt to have scion and stock become congenial and form perfect union. I then made a blunder, for now after four years and the tree containing six burs, I have nothing, for the variety is known to be practically worthless. It might be used as an intermediary to regraft other better varieties of chestnuts. I therefore determined, when I saw the en- couraging results from my antigen, that I would not make the same mistake again, and accordingly wrote to a large number of men asking their first and second choice chestnut, regardless of its blight re- sistance. From these replies I selected the following varieties and procured scions and grafted them here at Piketown: Fuller for its good quality. Boone for its early ripening and regular bearing. McFarland for its hereditary qualities. Rochester for its thrifty growth as a stock. Dan Patch, Riehl No. 62 and 68, Champion, Paragon, Drescher Merribrook, Parry, Old Biarndoors, and others for various reasons. Most of the grafts are growing nicely and many of them have 70 had from one to two doses of serum. I want to give each of them at least ten doses, but it is obvious that I could not go far this year, having arrived on May 12th and then having to graft the chestnuts and have them develop sufficiently before any immunization work could be started. This work was begun on July 18th and thus far this year few others than the grafts were injected. Many of these grafts were made on plants that were injected alsa last summer, or the sprouts therefrom in case the original plant died. My idea is to immunize these few to a high degree and use them for propagating purposes. It is readily seen that a cliestnut that bears quite young is of decided advantage in this work. I might mention also that I have one native American chestnut tree badly blighted but that bears regularly a pint or so of nuts. I have some two year old seedlings of these nuts and shall immunize some of them for timber purposes, until I can locate an American chestnut noted for its early bearing. In conclusion let me state that I suppose that I am subject to criti- cism for not being scientific, but it must be remembered that I do not have the physical strength nor the finances to carry on this work as it should be done to be thoroughly convincing. Incidentally if any- one was willing to furnish a little cash for the running of a laboratory and emplojTnent of a couple of persons to help me, I should be glad to be scientific enough in this matter to satisfy the most critical. How- ever, as it is I must content myself with my main job of trying to re- cover my health and growing some chestnuts in the blight pested mountains at Piketown. I might furthermore add that I am whole- hearted in this subject. I realize of course the gigantic magnitude of the work, and while I may make blunders innumerable, I am just as confident that I am on the right track and that success will crown my efforts. Dr. ]\Iorris : I am very glad to open the discussion for this audience will need a brief definition in order to comprehend this ex- tremely important work. We must distinguish between a vaccine and a serum. What is the difference? There is a weak form of disease which puts out a weak form of jjoison in the blood. When this poison is introduced into the blood of another individual it causes the de- velopment of elements of protection or defense that are needed for natural control of a more serious disease. Vaccination with cowpox, for example, forces the bod}' of mankind to manufacture defense ma- 71 terial wliich i)reveiits the development of smallpox. Now what is a serum? A serum is a sap or fluid of an organism containing defense material which has been brought out by a vaccine which wias introduced for that purpose. In botany a serum would have to be a sap from a plant that contained defense material. There is great significance in the fact that when the top of Dr. Zimmerman's tree was sawed off the tree died. Why.^ It is the top of the tree that manufactures defense material, as well as food for the plant. Tlie top was busily engaged in making material for defense. Dr. Zimmerman savs no tree has natural immunity. I would dis- pute that j)oint because relative immunity, at least, must exist in order to protect a tree against bacteria and fungi which attack it whenever it is wounded in any way. Some of the chestnut trees have a relative degree of immunity to blight while others are highly vulnerable. Dr. Zimmerman: I still believe that a tree does not liave natural immunity. Mr. Spencer: As far as I know there is no blight in Illinois. The Secretary: There may have been some blight in the Riehl orchard but there is none there now. It has been burned up. I do not think we need to worry about the blight in Illinois. We do not have the same situation as in the East where there are immense forests. Pathologists are working on the condition all the time. Dr. Thiess: Years ago I bought from Mr. Riehl a chestnut wliich he called the Paragon, whicli he said was highly resistant to blight. It has been growing in my orchard two years and there is not the slightest blight on it though we have blight all around it. ]Mr. Ellis: I find of the varieties sent out the one I ffot from Illinois the most blight resistant of any I have seen. Mr. Bixby: That is the variety that has done the best for me. Mr. Ellis: I would like to ask Mr. Bixby if he knows whether Mr. Endicott is in the business of selling chestnuts. The Secretary: Mr. Endicott does not sell chestnuts. Mr. Ellis: There are some nurserymen there that had chest- nuts for sale and also some other nursery stock. ♦ 72 SOME OBSERVATIONS WITH REFERENCE TO NUT BEAR- ING TREES IN DISTANT LANDS By Dr. J. Russell Smith, Professor of Economic Geography, Columbia University, New York I want to talk about the Persian walnut which seems to me to be exceedingly suggestive in many commercial and scientific aspects. One of the most suggestive things in the whole matter of tree crops is the statement in Sargent's great book that "In its wild form the Persian walnut is a worthless nut." Now think what the worthless nut has become in the present Persian walnut of the markets. This tree is a native of Persia. It has spread both east and west until it has spread around the world. I have myself seen it in Jiapan, Korea, near Peking and Shanghai and also in Shansi in China, in Kashmir, Persia, Palestine, Asia Minor, right straight across Europe from Constantinople through Switzerland to the English Channel. A tree that has adjusted itself to such varied climates has possibilities that we have hardly realized, and certainly not utilized. While we have thousands of them here in the United States no one has got to the point of having lany important commercial Persian wal- nut orchards east of the Rocky Mountains. It has dbne its best on the Pacific Coast for two reasons. In some places the summer is not so hot there. The summer is much drier where it is hot. The winters are not so cold and the spring is more even in its advance. The summer of England is cold', the summer of Italy is hot but dry. Fungi thrive in the heat and humidity. That combination, heat and humidity, makes our eastern summer bad for plants imported into this country from Europe. An example of what this does to European plants was the failure of the wine grape upon which the Virginia colony expected to base its whole business. The colony went broke until shipments of tobacco made good. Those wine grapes were the first of a very long series of failures, more or less complete, including the importa- tion of the Persian walnut to the eastern states. One thing that has prevented any commercially successful growth 73 of the Persian walnut among us is our changeable winter and spring. Therefore trees like the peach and the Persian walnut, both natives of Persia, do not do so well. You bring them here and they come into growth with the first days of spring. Then along comes a frost and of course there is great loss. But the Persian walnut has managed to live through this changeable climate here in the East and in time we can get varieties adapted to an industry if we keep working at it. It is really at home on the Pacific Coast. As it has worked its way into China, Korea and Japan, nature has doubtless done much there to get varieties ready for us, for there the tree has had to survive heat and humidity. Mr. Reed has come back from Cliina with a large number of seed nuts which have been widely distributed for experimental purposes. I have great hopes from those nuts. I expect that tl:ey are going to have a high degree of relationship to the parents. How did those wild Persi in walnuts, worthless according to Sar- gent, get to be so good ? I observed that throughout the old world the country is essentially devoid of trees. For example I have ridden several hundred miles through Persia and never saw a forest or anything that looked like a forest. While there I saw a few walnut trees and they were in care- fully kept gardens. There was no chance for stray pollination from poor trees. Naturally if they grew seedlings they grew them from good Persian walnuts. The pressure of water scarcity in a land of meager irrigation urged tlieir cutting out all the bad trees and keeping the best ones. Thus the available seed was hybridized from genera- tion to generation from two good' parents. Here a fairly constant tree breeding process has been going on perhaps from the time of King Darius, several hundred years before Christ. The same thing has probably happened in many of the Chinese and Japanese fruit gardens. We have in America a problem of introduction and of breeding from the introductions. We want to find the best trees throughout the world for our particular use. In the ease of the Persian walnut here in this part of the world we need to get two immunities, immunity from early growth and therefore frost and winter kill nnd, secondly, immunity from fungus attack. In getting fungus immunity we have a 74 very fine opportunity in the trees tliat are growing in Japan. It is very well known that most of the Japanese flora thrives when it comes here. The Kiefer pear is one in point. Look at the way it resists the bliglit. It has a tough leaf. The reason Japanese trees are so vigorous here is because they have been exposed to a climate very much like our own. In Japan there are a great many Persian walnut trees. Certainly the mountains of Japan are very promising places to search for Persian walnut trees that will withstand our fungus in the sum- mer and also freezing weather. The next thing we want to get resistance from is the frost. The great weakness of the Persian walnut is early spring growtli. There are freaks among the Persian walnuts that stay dormant very late in the spring. In the Grenoble district of France I once saw a tree which, at a short distance, looked as though it were dead on the 19th day of June. At that very time people were out estimating the crops on neighboring orchards. This dead looking tree was a perfectly healthy, live tree, just beginning to show the first sign of spring growth. There was a tree that had slept a month and a half after the other trees had started. Such trees are fairly common in some of the walnut districts of Europe. I saw in Switzerland this year, while riding through, Persian walnut trees just showing buds and others almost in full leaf. I point these things out in order to show the pos- sibilities of introducing breeding stocks, if any one should be seriously considering the question of improving the Persian walnuts to meet our needs here in the eastern United States. Another point is the location I found for the culture of Persian walnuts. The most conspicuous plantings I have seen outside of France have been in upland valleys. I am not familiar with the com- mercial locations in China and Japai^i, therefore I will not discuss those countries. \ In going across Asia Minor it was most striking that near the top of the Taurus Mountains were hundreds of the most gorgeous Persian walnut trees, standing along the roads and in the wheat fields for a distance of perhaps 20 or 30 miles. Below in the Sicilian plain near Tarsus they were scarce. Out on the plain of Asia Minor more were to be seen. Then as the train drops into another valley en route to the lower levels near the Sea of ISIarmora, there was a place where for 75 many miles one need not go more tl);ni 100 feet to reacli a Persian walnut tree. They seemed to be scattered about in every way except in rows. Similarly I found in the Balkans another valley where they were in sight for miles, and then I dropped down into a plain of one of the larger branches of the Danube and they were scarce. I have never seen outside of the Grenoble district walnut trees so common as they are in the territory near Geneva. • The gentleman who says you cannot grow walnuts along the rpad- side should see this section. He ought to go to Switzerland. In this territory there were hundreds and thousands of trees, but never an orchard. They were along roads, between fields and around houses. In fact most of the European Persian walnuts, so far as I can gather the facts, are grown not in set orchards but in scattered trees. I have been in both of the chief districts of France and only in the Grenoble district were there any orchards. ]Most of the trees are {ilanted along roads or out in the fields, often 100 feet ajDart. Persian walnuts seem to have a great love for ruins and thrive among them. I suspect it is the lime in the soil. The famous ruined city of Baalbek in SyriT, undoubtedly one of the most famous pieces of masonry in the world, is bowered in Persian walnuts. Of course that jilace has lime and mortar for many feet under the trees. Pal- estine is full of them. They cluster around the old walls of Constan- tinople. The idea I wish especially to leave with you is the great importance of importing better stock from foreign countries, better varieties than we yet have, for themselves and for breeding still better trees. The time for importing seedlings is past. Scions are hard to import. But living trees, propagated in foreign nurseries, are not hard to get or import. The Ori(;nt will furnish the fungus proof trees. Perhaps the American consul at Grenoble, Prance could help us get some late blooming strains. The Presiuext: Baalbek and Palestine are full of w ilnut trees, and so is Lancaster. The paper is oj^cn for discussion. Mr. Tittlepage: If Dr. Smith will go down to see my walnut trees he will find that I have torn my fence down, plowed up the ground, planted sov beans along lieside them, and the trees have made 76 more arowth in two years tlian they ever did before. I still believe if you want to cultivate nut trees you must \)\nnt them on rich ground, just as you would do anything else. I have not changed my mind. I have just moved my fence. Mr. Neilson: Did you have an opjjortunity to see or learn any- thing about the heartnuts? Dr. Smith: The Yokohama, Jai)an, Nursery Company is one of the widest known of its kind^ and it is quite possible you can get in touch with them and get information about the heart nuts. Mr. Bixby: I asked E. H. Wilson about the heart nut in Ja])an upon his last return from there. E. H. Wilson, perhaps as many of you know, is assistant curator of the arboretum, and he has spent many of his years gathering specimens for the arboretum. He says the heart nut in Japan is nothing to rave about. While he brought a number of specimen back with him they are not any better than, if as good as, some of the heart nuts we have here. Of course he did not pay particular attention to the heart nut but he said, so far as he knew, the heart nut was not grafted there at all. Mr. Jones: I have imported the heart nut several times, 50 pounds of them. They run about the same as in this country. Of course it might be that in those orchards over there we could select something better than what we have. I also wrote ISIr. Wilson and he promised to do something. It seems to me some of the other govern- ment men might hel}^ too. 77 NUTS AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR COW'S MILK By Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Battle Creek, Michigan For ages, cow's milk has been a staple food, especially in highly civilized communities. Recent researches and observations have clearly shown, however, that in spite of its great value as a hum>an foodistuff, it is not perfectly adapted to human needs. Valuable as cow's milk is as a staple food for adults, it has a few serious drawbacks. 1. The casein of cow's milk forms in the stomiach tough curds which sometimes cause indigestion and autointoxication. This is the 'reason that cows milk causes sour stomach in some persons and makes others "bilious," especially persons suffering from acidity. 2. Cow's milk is deficient in iron. It contains only one-third as much iron as does human milk. Infants and adults fed on cow's milk become anemic. 3. Some infants are "sensitized" to cow's milk so that its use even in small amounts may give rise to severe symptoms of poisoning. Many infants die annually from this cause. 4. Many adults are sensitized to cow's milk and suffer in conse- quence from headaches, asthma, urticaria, eczema and other skin erup- tions, and are relieved of these disorders when milk is rigidly ex- cluded from the diet. 5. Cow's milk, like other animal products, may carry the germs of tubercular disease and other infections to which cows are notably subject. Milk is never perfectly safe unless it is known that the cows which produce it are subject to frequent and competent inspection to insure their freedom from disease. 6. Cow's milk, from the conditions under which it is produced, is always more or less contaminated with filth of a most repulsive char- acter. Every drop of ordinary commercial milk contains thousands of manure germs, derived from the intestine of the cow. Even certified milk is not wholly free from this undesirable element. 7. Many persons suffering from autointoxication find it necessary to exclude milk from the diet in order to change tlie intestinal flora 78 because of the retention and putrefaction of undigested curds in the colon. Professor Tissier, the eminent French physician and bacteriolo- gist of the Pasteur Institute^ of Paris, discards milk entirely and pro- hibits its use by liis patients. 8. Infection from cow's milk is a known cause of acute colitis in I infants and recovery is often prevented by its continued use. The disuse of milk is always necessary in cases of diarrhea in children, and in many cases of colitis in adults. The disuse of milk is necessary to insure recovery. Many persons dislike cow's milk and can not use it. In spite of these defects, most persons can use cow's milk without discomfort and even with benefit; but there are not a few who have discovered that milk "does not agree" with them and who avoid it. Others suffer almost constantly from headache because of the toxic eft'ects of milk without being aware of the cause. Still others are con- stipated or suffer from colitis, not knowing that milk is the cause of their suffering. My attention was first called to the fact that milk disagrees very seriously with certain persons more than 40 years ago. At that time milk, especially hot milk, was a very popular remedy and was recom- mended for almost every form of indigestion. Many physicians pre- scribed hot milk almost as a routine practice. In Europe so-called milk cures were found in every health resort and were very much patronized. Among the patients visiting the Battle Creek Sanitarium I found many who had tried the milk cure and with disastrous results and who on this account protested most vigorously when its use was suggested to them. In a few cases in which I insisted that the patient should make a trial of the use of milk, the unpleasant effects which the patient hnd previously experienced were repeated. I soon became convinced that the objection to the use of milk was not whimsical, as I had at first supposed, but was a real difficulty which must be dealt with. In seeking for a solution of the problem it occurred to me to under- take the preparation of a substitute for milk from nuts. The study of organic chemistry had brought to my attention the fact that the pro- tein of nuts so closely resembles that of milk that it was by some 1 79 authors described as plant casein. Oily nuts, as Sherman has pointed out, are the vegetable analogues of meat. They consist almost wholly of fat and protein. Nuts contain very little cellulose, so that most nuts are by crusliing easily convertible into a creamy emulsion which with the addition of water acquires the consistency and appearance of cream or milk. To be readily digested, nuts must be brought into this emulsified state. When even small fragments are swallowed without being emulsi- fied they pass directly through the alimentary canal with practically no change. When nuts constituted the staple food of our prehistoric an- cestors chewing was not a lost art as it has almost come to be. Our relatives the primates, all of whom are extremely fond of nuts, know how to eat them properl3\ If you ofl'er an almond or a walnut to a monkey or a chimpanzee he will seize it with avidity, tuck it away in his cheek pouch and beg for more. After storing all you can be per- suaded to give he will proceed to chew them in a thorough-going man- ner. Not the smallest particle will be allowed to escape the action of his powerful jaw muscles, and the nut cream which will enter his stomach is one of the most easily digestible, readily assimilable and highly nourishing of all forms of nutriment. We have forgotten how to chew; at least, we do not chew as we should. We have so long depended upon the cook to do our chewing for us with the vegetable grinder and other mechanical devices, we have acquired the habit of swallowing our food with only sufficient mastication to prevent choking. Many people swallow solids like pills, with gulps of water to wash them down. Eaten in true physiologic fashion, as the chimpanzee eats, chewing every morsel until tlioroughly liquefied and emulsified with the saliva, the nut is not only incapable of producing indigestion but an excellent remedy for some forms of gastric disorders. But in these hustling days when trains stop five minutes for dinner and business men habitually swallow a three minutes' lunch, it seemed hopeless to undertake to cliange the American hurry habit, so the only thing to be done is to supply the public with nuts which have been chewed in advance by machinery. A notable fact which evidences the exact adaptation of nuts to 80 human nourishment is the possession of the particular kind! of protein which the body requires for building its muscles, nerves, glands and other living structures. The proteins of cereals and legumes are incouiplete and not capable of supporting life indefinitely, but the protein of nuts contains all the "building stones" required for the construction of the "house we live in. This fact, a recent discovery of the nutrition laboratory, is a scientific confirmation of the view long held by naturalists and paleon- tologists that nuts supplemented by fruits, tender leaves and shoots and succulent roots, constituted the food supply, of the earth's primitive inhabitants. The protein of nuts is of the same high quality as that of milk and is in no way inferior to the protein of meats. Tlie delicious fats and oils of nuts are the most digestible of all substances of this class. Taken in combinntion with the other elements of the nut, they form a fine emulsion which is readilj^ absorbed without producing the di- gestive disturbances which frequently arise from the presence of irri- tating fatty acids which are practically always present in ordinary butter and other animal fats in common use. A remarkable property of nut milk in which it has shown itself to be superior to cow's milk is in promoting the secretion of milk in nursing mothers. This property of nut milk was noted fully 30 years affo, within two or three vears after Malted Nuts was first made, and its value for this purpose has become known to the profession to such an extent that it is regularly prescribed by many physicians for nursing mothers who need assistance of this sort. Dr. Hoobler, of Detroit, published some years ago the results of a careful study of the comparative value of different foods and different dietaries for promoting the secretion of milk and found nuts to be superior to all others, even not exceptiiig cow's milk. Nuts are a form of nutriment especially adapted by nature for human sustenance, whereas cow's milk is a product adapted^ to the nourishment of calves whose nutritive requirements differ from those of the human infant. Nut milk is thus capable of rendering a double 81 service, indirectly by increasing the maternal milk supply when this is deficient and directly by supplying the best substitute for mother's milk and cow's milk which has yet been discovered. A fact of importance in relation to the protein of nuts and other plant proteins was pointed out first by Tissier of the Pasteur Institute, and later by Torrey of Cornell University. These eminent bacteriolo- gists both noted that plant proteins have little tendency to take on the putrefactive changes which are always found present in animal pro- teins exposed to the influence of warmth and moisture. My first experiments in an elfort to make nuts more digestible led me to produce peanut butter. This was for several years produced in small quantities by consumers with the aid of small hand mills es- pecially devised for the purpose. It has now come to be a food staple manufactured by numerous companies and may be found in every grocery in the land. The methods of production now in general use, however, are not altogether satisfactory. They involve roasting processes in which some of the nuts are burned and thus rendered very indigestible. In my efforts to find a substitute for milk, peanut butter did not prove to be satisfactory. Although closely resembling nuts in its composition, the peanut is a legume rather than a nut and contains a considerable proportion of raw starch and so requires thorough cook- ing before it can be well utilized by the human digestive apparatus. By avoiding roasting and adopting special methods of cooking I suc- ceeded in producing a product resembling malted milk, and for most people fully as palatable, which has been quite extensively used under the name of Malted Nuts. But true nuts are ready for immediate use as they come straight from the hand of Nature without any culinary preparation whatever and their digestibility is certainly not improved by cooking. For complete nutrition, the protein and fats of which nuts consist almost exclusively, must be supplemented by carbohydrates. In the natural dietary these are supplied by fruits, green shoots and roots. In cow's milk this element is represented by lactose, a carbohydrate which is not only a food but a protective agent of the greatest value. Meat, which consists of protein and fat, quickly undergoes putre- 82 faction at ordinary temperatures. Milk, which consists of protein and fats with the addition of lactose, does not putrefy but sours and after souring is no less wholesome than before; whereas meat in a state of putrefaction is highly poisonous. Meat placed in milk does not putrefy, the putrefaction being prevented by the lactose in the milk. In the intestine lactose exercises the same protective influence. Continuing our experiments with other nuts, especially almonds, cashew nuts, pecans and pine nuts, we finally succeeded in producing a series of nut creams which we found highly satisfactory as substi- tutes for cow's milk and cream. The rich, nutty flavor of nut creams is as acceptable to most palates as that of milk and proves quite ac- ceptable to those who do not like milk and with whom milk does not agree. As a diet for adults nut creams are complete substitutes or alter- nates for the cream and milk of the dairy. In a case in which a person is sensitized against eggs as well as milk and all other animal products, nut milk is a very precious resource indeed. Because of the great prevalence of colitis, cases requiring a substitute for cow's milk are becoming increasingly frequent. Thous- ands of persons are suffering great distress and inconvenience from frequently recurring sick headaches, attacks of asthma, eczema or other skin eruptions, so-called "bilious attacks," urticaria, and other nervous affections, who might be entirely relieved by the substitution of nut milk for ordinary milk and cream, and the exclusion of eggs, fish and meats from the dietary. Hundreds of infants' lives might be saved annually by the use of nut milk in the feeding of infants sensitized to cow's milk. The use of nuts in infant feeding has been practiced in China and Japan from the most ancient times. This practice is still current in these countries and also in some parts of the Philippines. The use of nut milk is by no means confined to those who cannot use cow's milk. It is a delicacy which everybody appreciates. It may be used in practically all the ways in which milk is employed for desserts, ices and sundry delicacies. Persons who find difficulty in changing their intestinal flora should substitute nut milk for cow's milk. The good result will in many cases be immed'iately apparent. This is especially important in cases of colitis, for it is known that all animal proteins aggravate this obstinate infection of the colon. 83 But perhaps the most valuable service to be rendered by nut milk is its use in the feeding of young infants with whom- cow's milk does not agree even when skilfully modified, as is often the case. In such cases it is a veritable life-saver. When the child is older, it may be gradually trained, in many cases, to tolerate cow's milk in moderate quantities. Many infant lives have already been saved by the with- drawal of all animal proteins during the early months of susceptible infant feebleness. I might mention many cases of this sort have come under my personal observation within the last 25 years. I will refer briefly to a single recent case. A child of three years of age. Had suffered from colitis almost from birth. The parents, wealthy English people, had consulted many specialists in London, Paris and other European centers but without finding relief. They were finally told that the only hope was that the child might ultimately outgrow the difficulty. The child was finally brought to Battle Creek. Every effort was made to eliminate the infection but without success until cow's milk was wholly excluded from the child's dietary and nut milk substituted. Improvement began at once and the child was soon well advanced toward recovery. I have seen equally striking results in numerous cases in which no substantial improvement could be secured until animal ])roteins of all sorts were eliminated. I have no doubt that there will in time develop a large demand for nuts because of the precious quality of their proteins and their exact adaptability to human needs. Dr. Sherman in his recent masterly work naively remarks that nuts should not be regarded as a substitute for meat since, as a matter of fact, they are the original staple of the human dietary for which meats have in more recent times been substi- tuted and with results which are by no means altogether desirable. Numerous scientific writers have in recent years made the sug- gestion that the necessity for economizing our food supply will in time require the elimination of meats. When this time arrives, nuts and nut products will come into their own and will again assume a prominent place in the human dietary and will no doubt aid in the elimination of some of the causes of race diegeneracy and help toward the development of the superman which some future age must produce if the human race ultimately achieves the noble destiny which the world's greatest philosophers have previsioned. 84 NUT GROWING IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM THE STAND- POINT OF THE EXPERIMENT STATION By Prof, F. N. Fagan, State College, Pennsylvania ' I think the majority of the older members will recall that about 10 or 12 years ago pressure was brought to bear upon tlie experiment station at State College regarding walnut growing in Pennsylvania. The situation then was a good deal like it is now. Our fruit growers had met with a rather disastrous year, many of them becoming pessi- mistic. We have lots of pessimistic fruit growers in Pennsylvania today. Prices are poor. There will be thousand's of bushels of fruit not harvested in the state of Pennsylvania and not marketed. It is because competition is so keen with all types of vegetables — tomatoes, for instance, can be purchased in places in Pennsylvania for 25c a bushel. That situation existed about 10 years ago to such an extent that a few men, who had seen English walnut trees bearing good crops of nuts, immediately thought about the price of nuts back at Thanksgiving and Christmas time the year before, and said, "Why, there is a gold mine in that." They will plant these trees, which will grow anywhere, and then they will get rich. There are about 5,000 bearing English walnut trees in the state of Pennsylvania. Most of them are seedlings. We are fortunate, I believe more so than many states, in having had for a good many year Mr. J. F. Jones Avhom we feel has done more work in the state of Pennsylvania than the experiment station has done. We cannot at the experiment station do very much in the breeding and testing of nuts because we are a little too far north. Then there are financial restrictions. It is our hope that sometime we will be able, probably, to come to this county, or some other southeastern county, and es- tablish a farm not only for the interest of the nut industry, but also for the solving of some of the other problems in horticulture. Do not think I am a pessimist in regard to horticulture in the state of Pennsylvania or in the eastern United States. I am not. It has just as bright a future today as it has ever had. The general fruit industry is just as bright as ever. 85 I am not a pessimist in regard to nut culture in the state of Pennsylvania. I am rather an optimist. At the present time, as we see the nut situation, we are not in a position to tell the farmers to plant 50 or 60 acres of any kind of nuts. We know that the English walnut will grow. We have living evidence that they will grow and produce crops. We have no black walnut groves that we know of in the state. It is doubtful if our hickories will ever compete with the pecan of the South, and personally I cannot see why they should until we can get some means of cracking them. We stand about in this way at the experiment station. In south- eastern Pennsylvania, probably reaching from Adams County, which lies just off the Susquehanna River, up through Dauphin County to Harrisburg, drawing a line to the Delaware River, we are recommend- ing the planting of nuts for home use and in an experimental way, which might be developed on a larger scale eventually. We are en- couraging the people to plant the English walnut and the black walnut, and in certain sections the filberts. There are too many waste areas in Pennsylvania to encourage the filbert on account of the blight, so it practically wipes out the probability of our waste land being planted to hazel nuts. In the first place the landowners in the waste-land region of Pennsylvania are very doubtful if it would be economic for them to do so on account of fire, and also on account of the poor soil which is found in our waste land in our mountain section. It is doubtful whether it would be economical to take a high priced tree, which it is necessary to secure if we want to produce a good product, and plant it in such inaccessible places. We can see it in the fruit business so plainly. We have orchards in the state of Pennsylvania that are in- accessible. I know of one very well, back in the timber against the mountain side. They are now forcing the game commission to furnish them an eight-foot fence to put around that orchard to keep the deer from cleaning it up. One unfamiliar with Pennsylvania will drive along the roadside and see the thousands of acres not used and think about planting them to nut trees, but it is foolisli to do anything like that. So I might say our recommendations from the experiment station are about like this: In soutlieastern Pennsylvania we are encouraging, and will keep 86 on encouraging^ any individual to plant English walnuts and' the black walnut. Througliout our mountain section we encourage nothing other than the black walnut. It is doubtful whether we should encourage them along that line except in the ordinary bottom land and farm land where the black walnut will grow. It is a great feeder. In Erie County we have a section that is comparable with New York and the territory where Englisli walnuts will thrive successfully. Tlie Hall tree stands there as evidence that the English walnut will grow. We have one seedling grove of 225 trees. In another location near Reading there are trees that were brought here from France. There are several similar groves scattered over the state. Unfortunately most of them are seedlings and have a varying crop. I think you can readily see, in the fertile valley you have been in during the last few days, that it would be poor policy to tell the farmers of this section to plant these fertile fields, where they are growing crops of tobacco and corn, and feeding alfalfa and raising good dairy herds, to plant nut crops when you take into consideration the competition we are bound to meet with in the nuts from the South, the West, and from Brazil. They could probably use their land to better advantage for the production of some other crops that can be more readily consumed and that are in greater demand. We are not going to advance very much until we can acquire some location in southeastern Pennsylvania where we can be sure of the climatic conditions that permit the trees to grow. We are outsidte of that belt, therefore it is not worth spending much time in trying experi- ments elsewhere. We hope eventually to be able to maintain a branch of the experiment farm in southeastern Pennsylvania, and of course when that time comes there will be experimenting in nut growing in this section. Mr. Hershev: How many English walnut trees are there in the state ? Prof. Fagan: I think a little over 5,000 English walnut trees, mostly seedlings. We have had one bad winter since we made the enumeration and a good many were killed, but T think there are ap- proximately that number in the state now. The President: Did I understand you to say that you are ad- 87 vising farmers in all parts of the state to plant black walnuts in a limited way for profit? Prof. Fagan : For home use only. They come in or write in and we try to tell them the type of soil to put them on, and we advise them to plant in a small way. The President: How about the possibility of their cracking the black walnuts and selling the kernels? Prof. Fagan: We have one valley in the state where they are doing this now. They generally market them, in Baltimore. It is only pin money. They will never get rich at it. The President: Did you say anything about what you are doing at the station with nut trees ? Prof. Fagan: We are trying to keep them alive. English wal- nuts have killed down mighty badly in the winter time. We are out- side the territory where we can depend on growing English walnuts in our mountains. The President: Are you doing well with any nuts there? Prof. Fagan: Black walnuts only. Pecans growing fairly well, but they will never mature the nuts. The seasons are too cool and not long enough. The President: Are you giving them as good care as Mr. Jones? Prof. Fagan: No indeed. We feel that Mr. Jones is doing fine work in the state of Pennsylvania. The President: Is it purely a question of finances? Prof. Fagan: Yes, we might say it is a question of finances. Dr. Zimmerman: I do not want to cast any insinuations on Dr. Pagan's remarks. But I am from Pennsylvania myself and I want to tell this association that I do not agree with him at all. It seems to me that if the state college can't do anything else it could at least create a sentiment for nut growing, and that they have not done. If you can't do anything yourself I wish you would: encourage others. I believe there is as big opportunity in the northern part of Pennsyl- S8 vania for the black walnut and the shagbark hickory as there is in the South for the pecan. Mr. Jones: What is the elevation at State College? Prof. Fagan: 1200 feet running on up to 2400 feet. As far as tlie black walnut is concerned^ it can be grown in any part of the state, but when it comes to the English walnut it is limited' to south- eastern Pennsylvania. Down through here they can be grown quite successfully. We are not opposed to its culture. W^e say that it is still in the experimental stage. I think Mr. Jones will acknowledge that here in this county, as to raising them for commercial purposes, it is more or less in an experimental stage. We do not know what is going to happen if we plant 300 or 400 acres in solid plantings. No one has ever done it in this section. We know we will meet with enemies. We do know the chestnut blight has wiped out the chestnuts in Pennsylvania. We do not want to encourage a man to plunge into this situation without giving it a good trial. I would rather see any man in the state of Pennsylvania start in with a 5-acre tract than a 100-acre one. He is going to be more successful in the end. Mr. Jones: Are any of the real large fruit orchards paying? Prof. Fagan : Yes, but not many are going to pay this year. The situation is pretty good, yet I look for a good many letters to come in regarding the planting of nut trees. Mr. Jones: Would you about as soon chance 5 acres of black walnuts as peaches ? Prof. Fagan: I would rather take the chance of planting 5 acres of black walnuts with the state's money than a five-acre peach orchard, in our northern section. I believe that at the end of 20 years the black walnuts would pay better. Our peach orchards have had nine years of care and only returned two crops of peaches. But we can hardly go around and tell some fellow to plant six acres of Stabler walnuts and tell him it is going to be successful. Some of you may hark back to the dusting proposition in fruit orchards a few years ago, and if we had listened to all the people that came along selling dusters and dust we would have thrown away our sprayers. It took the Station 7 years to learn we could dust as well as spray. Why should the government 89 or experiment station tell a man to plunge into these things when we have nothing to base our suggestions on? Dr. Smith: I would like to express the hope that Mr. Fagan will keep a record of the way black walnuts and hickory nuts perform in the vicinity of the college. He could use his students to keep such records of other parts of the state. In years to come I hope I may have your record for crops for a decade native to your locality. Mr. Hershey: I just want to say in regard to creating sentiment, that my procedure of salesmanship is to advise people to plant a few trees to learn the business. Mr. Bi.xbv: Does the beech grow and bear well in your section? Prof. Fagan : We have a few valleys in our section where they are growing. Right in our locality we seldom see them. Mr. Bixby: What I am anxious to find out is if it is a good bearer. 90 PECAN GROWING IN INDIANA By J. F. Wilkinson, Rockport, Indiana While the pecan in this section is found growing along the Ohio river and its tributaries in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and some of our now named varieties originated in Kentucky and Illinois, they are mostly in a radius of fifty miles of Evansville, Indiana, which is about the center of this group, and the pecan from this part has usually been spoken of as the Indiana pecan, including all growing in this territory, and I shall term them so now. Pecan trees have been growing in this territory for centuries, as some of these giant old trees are living testimony today. They no doubt furnished food for the Indian long before the coming of the white man. The early settlers and, sotry to say, many until recent years, did not regard them as valuable enough to leave. So many of them fell before the woodsman's ax to clear the ground for agricultural purposes, and today the only natural groves of any size are mostly on land un- desirable for cultivation. Yet many corn fields in this valley are dotted with these trees that were left by some of the more far-sighted ones in clearing the land. The product of these trees varies greatly. No two seedling pecan trees are exactly alike in their habits and production of nuts. While about one-half of these seedling trees seldom bear a good crop, and a large majority of the remainder produce small pecans, there is now and then one towering far above all its neighbors as to the quality of nut it produces. Having been born and reared within sight of many of these trees, this gave me the opportunity to study them early in my life, and long before the Northern Nut Growers Association was organized, or I had any thought of the pecan in the future, I was well aware of the fact that some trees were superior to others. My first school days were spent in a school house surrounded by pecan trees, and if there is anything that will make a school boy's 91 mouth water it is when all his schoolmates are eating pecans at recess time^ and he hasn't any. At that time if he has a chance to slip off under a pecan tree and steal pecans and resists the temptation, he can safely be trusted to any position in future life without bond. It was during my early boyhood days that I learned, by watching tlie blue-jaj^s and crows, to know which were the earliest ripening trees. These birds are also good judges of the shell and will be found working mostly on the trees bearing the thin shell nuts. I might say here that my first school days were spent in the same school building with our now very enthusiastic and valuable member, Hon. T. P. Littlej^age, in Enterprise, Indiana, where a session of the 1921' convention was held. A number of years later, in 1910, ]\Ir. Littlepage made a trip back to Enterprise and it was during a conversation there that he in- terested me in this line I am now following, searching for and pro- pagating the best northern varieties of pecans. It is very largely due to his encouragement and assistance all along that I have been able to continue it. The public will never know how much valuable time and money Mr. Littlepage has spent in this cause that it might be a success, and had it not been for him the Indiana pecan would not be known today as it is. Until 1910 only two of the now named varieties were known, the Indiana and Busseron, but Mr. Littlepage had heard of some good ones on Greenriver and in Posey County and took me with him on these trips, at which time the Major, Greenriver and Hoosier parent trees were located, though the Hoosier was propagated only for a year or two. From that time on I became a real pecan enthusiast, as before I had only known the merits of the trees in this immediate vicinity. Since then I have been in almost every pecan grove of any consequence along the Ohio, Wabash, and Green river within fifty miles of Evans- ville. and others along the lower Ohio and on the Mississippi river. For several years there have been propagated ten varieties (in- cluding the McAllister hickan) whose parent trees grow in the Evans- ville territory, and it is safe to say there are other fine trees in this section not yet located. 92 The locating of a parent tree is often no small or easy task. It is easy to hear of a good pecan tree in every neighborhood. But often after a tiresome walk through woods, weeds, and vines, crossing creeks and marshes, one arrives at the tree only to find the nut to be of medium quality. Such disappointments come to one a score of times for every really worthy tree he finds. Mr. Littlepage, R. L. McCoy, Paul White and myself, have trav- eled thousands of miles at no little effort and expense, in some kind of a vehicle, motor boat, row boat ar on foot, in locating the now named varieties and cutting bud and graftwood from them, and at all times looking for something better. Trees of these varieties have gone from my nursery to every state in the northern pecan tree territory, to Canada and foreign countries, but I am sorry to say that few people in this neighborhood have taken any interest in planting them; what have been planted here are mostly just a few trees as a trial planting. There might just as well have been a number of bearing orchards here had the people listened to the good advice given by that great and good nut authority, the late E. A. Rielil, when in the meeting in Enterprise, Indiana, in August, 191 i, he said, "It is time here for you people to wake up. You don't know what you have got. You are like people in many other sections of the country, they don't appreciate what the}^ have got at their very door- ways. If I were a young man, I would come here and plant pecan and walnut trees, but I am too old now to make such changes. In a few years you may remember what I have said. The walnuts are as profit- able as anything else, and much more so than any farm crop you can grow. Nothing will produce as much value as nut crops, I am con- vinced of that." This good advice might be applied to many sections of the country by growing the kind of nut trees best suited to its location. At the same time, Professor J. Russell Smith said, "Gentlemen, I do not see how anyone can live by these trees here and not realize they are a source of fortune. I can't understand how men can look up at them every year, gather and sell the nuts, and not realize they are a source of livelihood. They are all bending down with their fruit. It is marve- lous, and they are certainly giving us evidence that the thing for us to do is to go ahead and reproduce them." Col. Van Duzee said in part, "As Dr. Smith says, these people 93 here are living close to some of the most magnificent natural trees I have ever seen, and yet the}- will go and plant around their gardens trees that will do nothing in the world but produce shade. It seems to me there is room for the best kind of missionary work here. I have been very much pleased and very glad I came, and if I were not thoroughly tied up in a section I think is more adapted to nut growing, I should come up here and undertake to do something in this section, for I see great possibilities." Similar talks were made by others without the effect it should have had. Many had long ago found that pecan trees would not come true to seed planted, after waiting many years for these seedling trees to come into bearing, and are too doubtful of a budded or grafted tree to pay the price these trees must be sold at. Consequently those who plant are setting only a very few trees on trial, before venturing on a commercial scale. Mr. J. A. Hopkins, cashier of the Old Rockport Bank, Rockport, Indiana, nine years ago planted one tree given him by R. L. McCoy, and three years later planted four more that I gave him. The other day he told me that the nine-year-old tree had over a bushel of pecans on it, and the four six-year-old ones had from a few to a gallon each, and remarked that had he planted a five-acre orchard at the time he planted his first tree he could now quit his bank job. He gave me an order for thirty trees, enough to fill all available space on his town lots. My young trees are bearing wonderfully this year. Some are fairly bending under their load of nuts, as are some of my neighbors' who purchased some of my trees several years ago. I have a Busseron tree now thirteen years old, the crop on which is estimated by good pecan judges to be from seventy-five to one hun- dred pounds, and other trees younger are bearing correspondingly well. The bearing of these few trees in this neighborhood will be responsible for more pecan trees being planted in Spencer County during the next twelve months than liive been planted here in the last five years. With the exception of the meeting of the Northern Nut Growers 94 Association^ of which the reports reach very few of the public, and magazine articles, there has been little to encourage pecan tree plant- ing except the nurseryman's effort, which the public looks on as sales talk. What the prospective commercial planter wants and should have is reliable information as to planting, results, bearing records, and data on pecan growing in general. This has never been available from any source except the nurseryman and the .few early planters, then in a limited way. Very often I am asked by some correspondent as to where there is a northern pecan orchard in bearing, and to give him the names of some of the largest plantings where lie can obtain information from the planter. What the northern pecan industry needs is a test and experimental orchard in southern Indiana, where a complete record of trees as to planting, results, cost per acre of planting, and bringing orchard into bearing, blooming dates, and bearing records of the different varieties are kept, and this information available to the public at all times, and where the many interested prospective planters who visit this section for information can see the facts demonstrated and settle the points in question for themselves at once, instead of each one doing his own experimenting by making a trial planting and losing several years of valuable time waiting for these trees to come into bearing. The President: I will ask the committee on resolutions to make its report. Prof. Neilson: One of the first things I want to present is an expression of appreciation of the services of our retiring President, Dr. Deming. As founder of this association Dr. Deming has done excellent work in the organization of its activities. He was secretary for fifteen years and efficiently served the association as president for the past year. He has been most enthusiastic in all that he under- took and lias shown a patience and persistence that is liiglily com- mendable. We regret to learn that he is unable to continue as our president and take this occasion to express our sense of loss over his inability to serve us for another year. W^hile he is unable to continue as our president we know that he will remain an active member as ?>=; long as his health permits, and we hope to see him at many future Hieetings. Our efficient secretary, Dr. Colby, has also found it necessary to relinquish his position because of pressure of other official work. Dr. Colby has carried on the work of the past year under difficulties, which are only understood by those in similar positions in the public service. From personal experience as one engaged in the public service of Canada, I quite appreciate the difficulties of his position. He has served the association in a very efficient manner and it is a matter of deep regret to your committee that he is unable to continue as our secretary. An important feature of Dr. Colby's work was the establishment of short courses on nut culture at a few of the universities in the Middle West. I am told that two day courses were held at Columbia, Mo., and at Ames, la. These courses were well attended and a great deal of interest was aroused in nut culture. Plans have also been made to carry on similar courses at several other universities in the Middle West. If short courses could be given at all of our universities it would greatly stimulate interest in the culture of nut trees. Our annual conventions are generally events of pleasure and profit- able instruction, but occasionally our meetings are tinged with feelings of sadness because of the death of valued members. During the past year this association lost two old and active members in the persons of Mr. J. G. Rush of Lancaster, Penna., and INfr. Mrison J. Niblack of Vincennes, Ind. I also want to refer to the tragic death of Mr. Harry Jones, one who was not a member of our assoeiation, but nevertheless was able to d)o a valuable service in the cause of nut growing. As superin- tendent of Mr. J. F. Jones' nut nursery he did valuable work in pro- pagation and was an efficient helper in the management of this ex- cellent concern. His sudden and tragic death in an aeroplane accident was a great shock to us who knew him and I am sure you will join with your committee in expressing our sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Jones and family. We wish to express our appreciation to the hotel management for the use of this convention hall and for courteous and satisfactorv services to all who attended our meetings. 96 We also desire to express to Mr. J. F. Jones and family our appre- ciation of" courtesies shown the association delegates while visiting the nursery and nut tree plantations. Mr. Jones' plantation is a practical example of what can be done in the culture of nut trees in the North and should be an inspiration to greater effort to all who were privi- leged to see this excellent plantation. We also desire to express our thanks to the officers of the Keystone Pecan Co. for an interesting entertainment. Those of us who visited their plant were much interested in what we saw and appreciate the courtesy of the officers in giving us an opportunity to inspect their plant and in providing entertainment for the evening. Mr. Littlepage: It has been said by some distinguished person that "Any great institution is but the lengthened shadow of one man." I doubt if many of us here today realize just exactly how much this applies to the nut industry and how much we are indebted to men like Mason J. Niblack of Vincennes, Indiana, and Mr. J. G. Rush of Lan- caster, Pa. Mr. Niblack was the first, so far as I know, to take any great interest in the pecans of the North. He was the first to take an exhibit of these nuts to the National Nut Growers meeting. He got the Agricultural College of Indiana interested, and offered a prize for the best pecan at a meeting at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, many years ago before the Northern Nut Growers Association was organized. Mr. Niblack grew up on the banks of the Wabash among the peean trees. He was both a lawyer and farmer. I know from experience that this makes a very absorbing combination. He was at one time Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indiana, but in no position and in no walk of life was he so busy that he could not take time to mix with his many friends and enjoy the real things of life. Mr. J. G. Rush is the man to whom we are very much indebted for our interest in the culture of the English walnut in the East. If he never did anything more than get Mr. Jones to come up into this country and show what can be done here lie would be entitled to a place in our memory. But he was more than all this. He was a good, lovable, fine character. These men have gone from us but it seems to me that it is most appropriate that we should take a moment to pay onr respects to the memory of these two pioneers in nut culture. 97 Life is made of sunshine and shadows. These men probably had their share of both but on the "Shadowy shores of death the sea of trouble casts no waves." The President: You have heard the report of the committee on resolutions. If no comments are to be made, this report, together with Mr. Littlepage's remarks, will become a part of the minutes of the meeting. The next thing to be considered is the place for the next meeting. We have liere a telegram from the Talbot County Chamber of Com- merce. Easton. Md.. inviting: us to come there next vear. I will read the telegram: The Talbot Count}' Chamber of Commerce cordially invites you to hold your next annual convention at Easton, Md. Considerable interest in nut culture as evidenced by old and new plantings would be interesting to your members, as would also a visit to Canterbury Nurseries here, which we believe to be tb.e largest boxwood nursery in the world. Talbot County, the heart of the Gre:it Eastern Shore, extends you a cordial invitation. Henry P. Turner, Pres. Other places mentioned are Canada, — Prof. Xeilson wishes us sometime to come to Canada, — Washington, D. C where we have al- re'idv met four times and where Mr. Tittlepage's plantings are of great interest, and Mr. Bixby's place on Long Island. Mr. Bixby: I think, Mr. President, if we can decide now the place of the next meeting it would be very advantageous. Mr. Reed: I move that the invitation to Easton, Md., be accepted. I am in a way the father of it. I am in favor of going to Easton. The Eastern Shore of Maryland to my mind offers the greatest op- jwrtunity for development in nut growing. Climatic conditions there are very favorable. There are a good many plantings of nut trees there. There are a great many large estates owned mostly by wealthy people. The people are experimenting in nut trees. They are grow- ing English walnuts and Japanese walnuts, and this nursery that is mentioned is going into nut culture. The president wrote to California for the Franquette walnut and is going into the business. We will 98 find much to see and be able to do some missionary work. So Mr. President I move to accept tlie invitation. The President: Easton as a place for our next meeting is open for discussion. Prof. Neilson : With reference to my expressed desire to have this association visit Canada, I would like to say that there is one reason I did not advise you to go there next year. I thought it would be better to wait a year or so until some of the trees that we are taking in from this country and other countries have established themselves and we have something very definite to show you. A good many of the native nut trees thrive quite well and we also have some interesting examples of introduced nut trees. If the association could arrange to have the meeting in the city of Toronto so that it will follow the ex- hibition it will be more worth while than if you come at another time. Those of you who have attended the exhibition will probably agree that is some show. I hope two years from this summer you people will come. Dr. Smith: The Easton situation has this in its favor — it is strictly a rural locality and Mr. Reed says there are a lot of rich people there. Probabh^ 30 or iO real live farmers would come in. I would approve that place and I second the motion. The President: It has been moved and seconded that the next place of meeting be Easton, Md. The Secretary: Just as a matter of record I want to say that perhaps in 1928 we could very profitably hold a meeting some place in Iowa in connection with the Central States Exposition. The Ex- position is held every two years. Mr. Littlepage: I agree, Mr. President, with Mr. Reed's recom- mendation. I endorse it very strongly. We should keep in mind, perhaps, the year following, or one year very soon, going to southern Illinois or southern Indiana again. Grayville, 111, and southern In- diana have very great attraction on account of their pecans. The greatest inspiration after all is to see these pecan trees growing. Illinois has them in abundance. They have fine trees and fine nuts. Dr. Smith: I should just like to say, in connection with the ideas of Dr. Colby and Mr. Littlepage, that the meeting in Iowa might be 99 two days instead of tliree^ and one day we could stop off in southern Indiana, say on the way home. (There was a unanimous vote that Easton, Md., be the place of the next meeting). Mr. Littlepage: I suggest that the Secretary wire the Chauiber of Commerce the acceptance of their invitation. The President: The next is the date for the meeting at Easton, Md. Mr. Reed: This is something we thrash over every year and usually arrive at the same conclusion, that there is only one time of the year when we are free to go, and that is shortly before the universities open, so that tlie professors can be with us, and before courts begin and after the summer hot weather, and; as late in the season as possi- ble so we can see the nuts to best advantage. It comes down to the middle of September every year. I will make the motion that we de- cide upon the middle of September, the exact dates to be left with the executive committee co-operating with the Chamber of Commerce as to date. Motion seconded. The Preshjent: All in favor plense signify. (There was a unanimous vote in favor of the above motion). The President: There is one other item of business that should be brought up before we proceed with the program, and I have asked Mr. Spencer to bring up the matter of planting an arboretum in Decatur. Mr. Spencer: It has been said several times on the floor of tliis convention that a living example of results is the best demonstration and greatest encouragement for further action. Desiring that my own home town should have a little encouragement in the planting of nut trees, I wrote the jiresident of our Park Board the following letter: • Decatur, Illinois, August 24, 1926. Mj' dear Mr. Schaub: The Northern Nut Growers Association has honored me by elect- ing me Vice-President for Illinois, which office I have held two years. 100 Last year at the St, Louis convention they made me one of the directors of the national organization. I give you this information so that you may understand that outside of my interest in Decatur, I am naturally anxious to forward the efforts of the association in the extension of knowledge of the value of nut trees. I expect to attend the national convention, which will be held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 14, 15, 16 and I would like to report to that convention that the Decatur Park Board will establish in one of the parks a planting of nut trees. Sooner or later some of the cities will do this, and tliere is no reason why Decatur, which is practically in the heart of the nut belt of the Central West, sir not have a collection of trees which will thrive in this climate so that the general public and the generations coming on may actually see the trees growing and producing fruit. Many of the nut trees are the handsomest shade trees we have, and if we can get the farmers interested, as well as those who own small places in the city, in the cultivation of nut trees, we can have shade trees that are valuable as an ornament to a property and also supply most delicious food for our tables. As far as I know at the present time, the black walnut, the hickory, the mockernut, (a variety of hickory nut), the pecan, the chestnut, the filbert, the Japanese walnut, the butternut, the hazelnut, the hard^ shell almond, as well as the papaw and the persimmon, will all grow in this vicinity. These last two are not nuts, but are generally sold by the nurserymen who make a specialty of nut trees. Between now and the 5th of September, I wish you would let me know about how much money you would be willing to put into a nut arboretum in one of the parks. Then I can take it up with a number of very distinguished specialists in nut culture and find out the best varieties of these different nuts, so that the collection at Decatur will be something of which your organization and the citizens generally will be proud. I think it is safe to saj^ that good trees, budded so as to produce the variety desired, will cost on the average about $1.50 each. This figure is my estimate. I think probably it may vary a little from that, but not much. Henry D. Spencer. In order to know what could be done, and in order to get before the Park Board with some such information as an attorney would want to have to go before similar authorities to hold up his theory of a case, I wrote letters to Mr. Jones, Mr, Snyder, Mr. Wilkinson and Miss Amelia Riehl. I sent a similar letter to Mr. Littlepage, Dr. Deming and Dr. Morris, excepting request as to what trees they had for sale. I also wrote to Judge Potter of Illinois and Mr. Bixby. All of these people have given me ammunition which will enable me to make a 101 vigorous attack on the Park Board. In this connection I would like to read the letter from Miss Riehl, which is a very interesting one to me. She is carrying on the business which was established by her father, and that business is the most successful chestnut enterprise in Illinois if not in the United States. Godfrey, Illinois, August 28, 1926. Dear Mr. Spencer: Your idea of a nut arboretum in the city park is indeed a splendid one. If people could have the opportunity of seeing the trees growing and bearing before deciding what to plant, they would be spared many a disappointment. The nut industry being comparatively young, some- body has got to do some pioneering. I can understand that it would be much less expensive, on the whole, and progress would be made much quicker, if your plan could be carried out, than if each planter had to do his own experimenting. And it need not be very expensive. Half a dozen trees of each species, — two each of the three best varieties, would be enough to show what they can do. I think Dr. Anderson would be a good one to ask about the cost of the after care of such a grove. First of all I would plant black walnuts and chestnuts, because it has been proven that they bear regular and profitable crops in this section of the country. Next, I would get some of the best hickories and pecan-hickory hybrids (hiccans). Judging from our grafting ex- periences last spring these latter are very promising. I do not think so well of planting the true pecans here though of course we should do some experimenting. Those most likely to be profitable are the varieties that originated in Iowa and Indiana. (Ask Mr. Snyder and Mr. Wilkinson). By all means try some filberts. They seem to suc- ceed in a great variety of soils and locations, and also climates. The Japanese walnuts grow and bear ver}' well here and add interest to a collection, but there is no commercial demand for them. By rights, in an arboretum that is for the benefit of the public, it would be well to plant some of everything, including Japanese heartnuts, hard-shell almonds, hazelnuts, butternuts, and even English walnuts. I started with the most promising kinds, from a commercial point of view, and ended with those we know lea.st about. The same applies to your own problem. If I were after money, rather than knowledge and experience, I would stick pretty closely to walnuts and chestnuts, and let the other fellows do the experimenting, although I do believe there is a promising future for other nuts also, when people wake up to their value. In regard to what is best to grow between the trees, I can give little in the way of advice, as that is a question we have not yet settled 102 for ourselves. Much depends on the kind of land, — whether it is flat or rolling. In level field's garden truck or corn might be all right; and .on hillsides, sod. We thought of starting alfalfa in one of our groves that has been cultivated for years, and the ground washes badly in the winter rains. But I find, on closer study, that nut trees, (especially chestnuts), require an acid soil, while alfalfa, (along with all the clovers), needs lime to do its best. Now I am ujo a stump. If I were going to be at the Lancaster convention I'd try to get that question answered by some one of "those who know." Let me know if you learn something along that line. I am beginning to think that by the time we receive the report of the meeting it will be ancient history. All these trees I think can best be supplied by ^Ir. Jones, of Lan- caster; excepting the chestnuts. We had few stocks on which to graft last spring and used them for father's oldest named varieties — Fuller, Progress, Champion and Parry, and Mr. Endicott's Boone. These are now sturd}^ little trees about three feet tall that would likely do very well if planted this fall. We are asking two and one-half dollars ($2.50) each for them. I believe Mr. Snyder also has some trees of these varieties. Now I believe I have answered all of your questions to the best of my knowledge. I hope _vou succeed in getting the arboretum started. It would be of a lot more practical value than most of the things that people spend money for in public parks. Amelia Riehl. Now, Mr. President, I went before the President of the Park Board and gave him the information I had, and also told him of the number of trees that had been planted by different friends of mine in Decatur, and he authorized me to say at this convention that at the present time they had contracted for 500 trees of various kinds in the parks, and that will be as many trees as their present force will be able to plant this fall. Decatur has purchased a great many acres of ground and I think will have something like a thousand acres around the city, but he has authorized me to say to this convention that they will purchase 10 trees of each variety and plant them in the spring in one group in one of the parks for the purpose of making a display where visitors may come and see them all at one time instead of having them scattered over a number of these parks where it will be difficult for visitors to see tliem at one time. Now that is a cliance for the associa- tion to start in Illinois a demonstration of what we stand for. I want to go back to my home town, Decatur, and say that this convention has recommended such and such a planting in Decatur. Three of tlie 103 Park Commissioners are personal friends of mine, and I have no doubt but what the matter can be carried through. Supplementing the re- marks of Mr. Bixby, Mr. Jones, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Littlepage, they have given me nuts, and I propose to take all of these samples and place them on the table in the library of Decatur so the general public can see them, and then through the press, through Mr. Schaub's paper, have the public notified that this exhibition is there and the}' can see for themselves what can be produced in Macon County. The county is only 555 square miles. There are 20,000 acres of land in that countv alone that is good for notliing but pasture. If any small quantity of that land can be put into nut bearing forests it will be a credit to this association, the value of which cannot be refuted. The Secretary: Illinois is a big state and we are proud of it. I am in favor of anj'thing Mr. Spencer says in favor of the arboretum. The President: The subject that Mr. Spencer has told us about is one of the objects of our association, that is to secure the planting of nut trees in places where the trees will have perpetual care. The subject is open for discussion. It is a large one and I do not know that we will be able to give him any definite information as to the number of nut trees that should be planted. The subject is open for discussion and the passing of any resolution. Dr. Smith: ^Ir. Chairman, I move that the following resolution be adopted: "The Northern Nut Growers Association strong-ly com- mends Mr. Spencer's idea of a collection of nut trees in the parks of Decatur, believing the matter will be one of great interest to the people of the town, a matter of civic beauty, with great possibilities of large economic value for the future." Dr. Zimmerman : I second the motion. (Resolution passed by unanimous vote). Dr. Zimmerman : It appears to me that as you are in the chestnut tree district out there it might be wise to just keep in mind the possi- bility of bringing in the chestnut blight during this work. Mr. Spencer: There are no chestnut trees in Illinois that were not raised in Illinois. 104 Dr. Zimmerman: It is possible to bring it in through other things. I would advise you to keep it in mind. The President: Is there anything else we can do to furtlier tliis arboretum in Illinois? Mr. Spencer: I believe there is nothing more. The President: Tlie secretary will make a few announcements before we adjourn. The Secretary: I want to call your attention to a few nuts re- ceived by Prof. Neilson since the opening of this convention. I have a telegram from Senator Penny and Mr. Linton stating that on account of their political engagements in Michigan they were un- able to be with us at this time. I have a letter from Mr. Snyder recommending that we offer prizes individually or collectively at the state fairs. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised to find your annual report awaiting you upon your arrival home. I have a jJaper from Dr. McAtee, Assistant in Charge of the U. S. Biological Survey which was received too late to include in the pro- gram. I will simply read it in title and include it in our report — "Birds and Mammals in Relation to Nuts in the Northeastern United States." On account of failure of Mr. Hershey to secure his slides on short notice he will not be able to give us his address this morning. The President: Tliis brings to a close all of the set formal busi- ness of the association. Is there anv further business to be brouffht before the convention is adjourned? If there is no further business to come before the convention, the motion to adjourn is in order. (It was moved and seconded that the convention adjourn). 105 APPENDIX BUSINESS MEETING Business Meeting of the Association Held September 1 i, 1926, 7:15 P. ]\I.. With President W. C. Deming in the Chair. Mr. Bixby brought up the matter of reimbursing tlie secretary for expenses incurred in arranging for and attending the annual meeting, including the present one. The motion made by Mr. Bixby and seconded by Mr. Littlepage that such expenses be paid was passed unanimously. Mr. Littlepage then introduced and discussed the subject of raising funds for defraying the expenses of the association. The following members pledged different amounts toward the expenses of the Association : — Dr. Deming, Mr. Littlepage, Mr. Jones, Mr. Bixby, Mr. Olcott, Dr. Smith, Dr. Morris, Mr. Garber, Mr. Neilson, Mr. Walker, Mr. Green, Dr. Theis, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Paden. Mr. Ellis had con- tributed earlier in the meeting. ]Mr. Olcott, Mr. Bixby, ^Ir. Hershey and Mr. Neilson spoke as to ways and means for securing new members. Dr. Smith suggested that the annual report be made a year book including, for example, the records of the annual performance of nut trees in different sections. i\Ir. Olcott asked for :\ committee of twelve to bring in a report at the next meeting as to the future activities of the association. ]Mr. Neilson advocated a nation wide survey of nut trees. Dr. Morris spoke regarding the possibilities of interesting some scientific foundation in the work of the association. The motion was made by Dr. Smith, after some explanation on his part, that a committee be appointed with Mr. Littlepage as chairman to compile and send out a circular letter on black walnut culture to the county agents in walnut territory. Considerable discussion fol- lowed. Mr. Olcott moved that the Northern Nut Growers Association 106 in convention assembled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1926, go on record as favoring the planting of black walnuts generally in black walnut territory, and that the association prepare a folder of condensed information on the culture of the black walnut. The motion of Ur. Smith was seconded and passed. The com- mittee was made up of Mr. Littlepage as chairman with Mr. Bixby, Mr. Jones, Dr. Smith and the Secretary**. Meeting adjourned. A. S. COLBY, Secretary. **Secretary's Note: — The committee met after the business session but learned through Mr. Reed that county agents, because of govern- ment restrictions, probably could not act under such a letter. After considerable discussion it was decided that the committee could and should prepare a brief illustrated circular on black walnut culture for general distribution. During the remainder of the session committee meetings were held and the first draft of a circular prepared. The circular was promptly printed and generally distributed. (The following is a copy of the circular as issued, omitting the two cuts). Bulletin 6 NORTHERN NUT GROAVERS' ASSOCIATION The Northern Nut Growers' Association has been studying the varieties, propagation and growth of nut trees for seventeen years. It now recommends the planting in orchard form of the better varieties of grafted and budded native American black walnuts in those parts of the country where the tree grows naturally. 107 Of course, in this recorrmnendation it is expected that no one will ))lant his whole farm to black walnuts any more than he would to apple trees, also that no one will put a substantial portion of his money into distant nut plantings which he cannot personally superintend ; in short, that good sense will be exercised in planting black walnuts as in planting any other crop. Some of the reasons for recommending the planting of black wal- nuts are as follows: Black walnuts are good food. The kernels sell wholesale at from 50 cent to a dollar or more a pound. There is now a great demand for walnut kernels and there are not enough kernels available to meet this demand, which comes from nut shops, candy-makers, ice-cream-makers, and makers of cake and nut breads. The black walnut holds its flavor when cooked. The Northern Xut Growers' Association believes that this de- mand will increase. There is already a substantial and growing business in cracking out and selling the kernels of wild walnuts. Getting out the kernels, how- ever, is slow and expensive when wild nuts are used. A fe^^* unusual walnut trees that produce very fine nuts have been located in diff'erent parts of the United States and have been given variety names. They are now being propagated by budding and grafting. Several of these have borne crops of sufficient size and quality to justify our recommendation of their commercial planting. This is true of the varieties known as Stabler, Ohio, and Thomas. The most important thing about the varieties is the shape of the inside of the shell which permits the kernels to come out in whole quarters, and often in whole halves. Other varieties of great promise are being tried out, and it is likely that many trees, worthy of propagation, are at present unknown to the Association. Sample of nuts of these trees should be sent to the Secretary of the Association. Black walnut trees need to have rich soil. If it is not rich naturally, it should be made so. In such soil they grow rapidly and bear early. They need to be planted and tended when young with as much care as 108 apples. Under tliese conditions they bear as soon as apple trees. Grafted black walnut trees need to be transplanted intelligently and with care. There is not sufficient space in this bulletin to give de- tailed planting instructions. They are to be found' however in Bulletin No. 5 of the Association, which mav be obtained from the Secretarv for 50 cents each, postpaid. If walnuts lie in the hull until the hull becomes soft, wet, and black, the juice penetrates the sli.ell and darkens the kernel. If luilled and dried as soon as ripe, the kernels are of a light waxy color, much more attractive to buyers and of much better flavor. The fine varieties of black w^alnuts noted above crack out well with the hammer. Inventors, however, have been working on tlie problem of doing this by machinery, and already there are one or more devices that are an improvement on the hammer, and it is to be expected that tlie next few years will show substantial improvement in cracking ma- chinery. Black walnut wood is one of the highest-priced woods grown in the United States. Even the stumjDS are being dug up to be made into veneers. An acre of old mature black walnut trees has a present sale value as great or greater than the present value of farm laud in many parts of the United States. Since we are cutting timber in this country about four times as fast as it is being grown, it seems in- evitable that its price must rise, and many authorities are nbw recom- mending the planting of black walnut for timber alone. Black walnuts, like apples and other fruits, will not come true from seed. That is to say, if black walnuts which crack out well, are thin shelled, and fine flavored are planted, the trees that grow will almost surely bear nuts which are deficient in these qualities and hardly worth raising. Therefore, in order to get superior walnuts it is neces- sary to set budded or grafted trees. Names of nurserymen specializing in budded and grafted walnut trees will be sent to anyone writing to the Secretary of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, Mr. Henry D. Spencer, Decatur, 111., and enclosing a stamp for reply. 109 FIELD MEETING On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 15, the convention visited the nut nurseries and orchards of Mr. J. F. Jones at Willow Street, three miles from Lancaster. ^Ir. Jones conducted the members and visitors to the points of interest and Mr. C. A. Reed gave a careful description of them in passing. At noon Mrs. Jones served an excellent luncheon to all the guests in Mr. Jones' very large packing shed where, also, the implements used in transplanting and digging nut trees were in- spected. After luncheon a group photograph was taken, demonstrations in budding and grafting were given by Mr. Jones, Prof. Neilson and Mr. Hershey, and a visit was made to the former home of Mr. J. G. Rush at Willow Street. Here many of the Persian walnut trees planted by Mr. Rush were seen loaded with a fine crop of nuts. The following is a copy of a descriptive list given each guest by Mr. Jones in order that the tour of the orchards might be intelligently followed : Beginning in yard near house: No. ]. Marquardt pecan. Seedling pecan set 1919 and grafted at once. No. 2. Holden walnut budded on .Japan walnut stock. Planted 1916. No. 3. Constantinople tree hazel, corylus colurna. Planted 1920. Nos. 4 & 5. Rush hazel on own roots. Though a very hardy plant, these, like most of the filberts, suffered from the severe cold in March. No. 6. Rush hazel grafted on a seedling of Barcelona filbert. No. 7. Ridenhower iiard-shell almonds and Texas Prolific budded on peach. Worked together to get hybrids from natural cross pollina- tion. Texas Prolific is not perfectly self pollinating so thit many of tlie nuts set are cross pollinated, and produce hybrids. No. 8. Nebo w^alnut, a local sort, planted 1913. Note good union of the English and black walnut. Nos. 9 & 10. Greenriver pecan. Planted 1913. Trees of this variety have borne very sparingly as yet with me. no No. 11. Tree hazel, corylus colurna. Grown from seed from Rochester parks. A very rapid grower and beautiful tree. Nut about the size of the native hazel or possibly a little larger. No. 12. Weiker shagbark hickory. Planted 1915. Bore a few nuts 1925. Test orchard east of house. Most of these trees planted 191'i as seedlings to be grafted over, and grafted two to four years later. Some had to be reworked one or more times, hence the trees var}' in age. Some few trees, after being grafted several times unsuccess- fully with scions from old trees, were cut out. We did not know as much about grafting then as now, of course, but if one wanted a good orchard of grafted trees the trees should be nursery grown and set out rather than to try to grow them by planting seedlings. Nos. 13 & Ik Holden walnut, from Hilton, N. Y. A fine nut but shy bearer. Nos. 15 & 16. Alpine walnut. A large but smooth nut and a very hardy tree. No. 17. Rush walnut. Originated with the late J. G. Rush. No. 18. Sinclair walnut, from Harford Co., Md. Evidently a Mayette seedling and is a very nice nut. Bears a good croj) every year. Is being propagated. Nos. 19 & 20. Wiltz Mayette. These trees had been grafted several times previously and were rather poor stocks. No. 21. Cut-leaved walnut. An ornamental variety but bears a good nut. No. 22. Burlington walnut, from E. Burlington, N. J. Alpine type. Nos. 23, 24 & 25. Hall walnut, from Erie Co., Pa. These were set out as one year trees, 1914. A very large nut and prolific bearer, but the nut is rough shelled and the kernel often not filling the shell. No. 26. Boston walnut, from Boston, Mass. Nut very thin shelled and good, but has the fault of the nut varying greatly in size. Nos. 27 & 28. Weaver walnut, from Georgetown, Washington, D. C. No. 29. A Pomeroy walnut topworked late, spring 1925, without previous cutting back to control the sap. It is hardly practical to work over trees of tliis size and they had best be cut out and smaller trees Ill set in their place. Often such trees are devitalized to such an extent that they are worthless, even if the grafting is a success. It can be done if properly followed up. Black walnut is much more success- fully worked over. No. 30. Potomac walnut from Washington, D. C. A rather small nut of the Chaberte type. A small tree, planted 1920. No. 31. Meylan walnut. A French sort. Like Mayette and Franquette is late vegetating and escapes late spring freezes which sometimes catch early vegetating varieties. No. 32. Ohio walnut. Bore over a bushel of hulled nuts 1925. This variety is bearing well from Canada to Texas. Original tree northern Ohio. No. 33. Aiken butternut. Set 1920. A rather small, but good cracking nut from Grassmere, New Hampshire. Grafted on butter- nut stock. Nos. 34 & 35. Kirtland shagbark. Original tree Yalesville, Conn. Grafted on pecan 1922. No. 36. Rockville hican, from Rockville, Mo. One of the finest pecan-shellbark hybrids. Nos. 37, 38 & 39. Niblack pecnn. Original tree near Vincennes, Ind. No. 4-0. Indiana pecan. Original tree on Wabash River, north of Vincennes. Nos. 41 & 42. Koontz pecan, from Vernon Co., Mo. These trees were well loaded with nutlets but did not hold them, for some reason. The Missouri pecan is a different type from the Indiana varieties as will be seen by these trees. Tliey are typical of the Missouri pecans. Nos. 43 & 44. Busseron pecan. Original tree near the Indiana in Knox Co., Indiana. Supposed to be the parent of Indiana. These two trees bearing. Nos. 45, 46, 47 & 48. Butterick pecan. Original tree near Gr.ay- ville. 111. Nos. 49, 50 & 51. Greenriver pecan. Original tree Henderson Co., Kentucky. Nos. 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 & 57. Posey pecan. No. 56 bearing this year. Nos. 58, 59 & 60. Major pecan. Original tree Henderson Co., Kv. 112 No. 62. Milford shagbark, from Milford^, Conn. Grafted on pecan 1920. No. 63. Corrugated or Hinton pecan. Also from Henderson Co., Kentucky. Nos. 61, 65 & 66. Laney hybrid shagbark, from Rochester parks. One of the thinnest shelled shagbark-bitternut hybrids. No. 67. Eureka walnut. Scions from Stockton, Cal. Grafted 1918. Nos. 68 & 69. Ten Eyck walnut. Original tree So. Plainfield, N. J. No. 70. Faust heartnut, from Bamberg, S. C. Grafted 1918. Nos. 71, 72 & 73. Thomas walnut. Trees planted 1918. Nos. 71, 75 & 76. Seedling heartnut trees, grown from extra select seed nuts taken out of a shipment from Jajian, 1917. No. 76 has reproduced the type very well, but the other two are only ordinary siebold nuts, entirely unlike the seed planted. No. 77. Stabler walnut, grafted 1918 on an established wild tree. Nos. 78 & 79. Ohio walnut planted 1918. No. 80. Demiug butternut, from Connecticut. Grew very vigor- ously when planted but was cut for bud wood two years and was prob- ably hurt. No. 81. Peanut walnut, from northern Ohio. Some of the nuts are one lobed and the kernel inclined to be roundish in form, hence the name. No. 82. Pleas hybrid pecan from Oklahomi. A natural ])ecan- bitternut hybrid. A very pretty tree and bears well, usually, though this year seems to be its "off" year, as with the pecans. Nos. 83 & 84. Lancaster heart nut. A fine nut but the tree vege- tates too early and is sometimes caught and loses its crop bv late freezes. No. 85. Seedlings Texas Prolific almond cross pollinated with Ridenhower almond, now in their second year. From tree No. 7. No. 86. Seedling from Faust heartnut hand pollinated with pollen of the Sinclair walnut. One plant now in its third vear from seed. No 87. Seven plants, seed from same tree as No. 86 above, hand pollinated with pollen of the Ohio black walnut. Nos. 88 & 89. Deming butternut trees, bearing quite young. No. 113 89 is bearing its third consecutive crop, having borne two nuts the next season after being grafted in nursery. No. 90. Deming black walnut. Peculiar in that the new growth is red and the inner bark and pellicle covering the kernel reddish. Nos. 92 & 93. Ginkgo. Valued for its nuts in China but not con- sidered edible here. Makes a good shade tree. No. 9i. Hatch bitternut from Iowa. A bitternut with an edible kernel of fair quality. Probably of value for hybridizing. No. 95. Beaver hybrid shagbark topworked on a large bitternut tree. Fourteen grafts were set and all grew. Has been bearing sev- eral years. Nos. 96, 97 & 98. Three rows hybrid hazels, now in their third year from seed. Transplanted 1926. From Rush hazel seed polli- nated by hand with DuChilly filbert pollen. No. 99. One row, Rush liazel x Cosford filbert, hybrids trans- planted spring 1926. Now in their fifth year from seed. Several of these plants bore a pound of nuts each last year. No. 100. One row hybrid hazel, same parentage and age as the preceding. Had the tree digger run under them last spring and some taken out. A few others planted in. No. 101. One row, same parentage as the preceding except a few planted in, but are two years older. A few plants of the Italian Red X Rush planted in this row. Although Cosford is a rather small nut the hybrids of this cross have given the largest nuts so far. No. 102. West end this row Rush hazel X Barcelona hybrids. East end Italian Red and Giant de Halles pollen on the Rush hazel. No. 103. Rush X Barcelona. The hybrids of this cross usually hear well. No. lOl. Fairbanks hybrid shagbark grafted on bitternut. No. 105. Abundance beech. Original tree Martinsville, Ind. This looked well till this year. The location is wet and this, with the wet season, has probably hurt it. No. 106. Grupe pecan, from Lincoln, Neb., worked on mockernut. Has not done very well, though has had no attention. No. 107. Marquardt hybrid pecan, topworked on mockernut, pre- sumably. No. 108. Beaver hybrid shagbark worked on bitternut. 114 No. 109. L.n-ge bittenuit tree top-worked to the Beaver hybrid sli.igbark. Fourteen grafts were set and all grew, quickly forming a good head. Grafted May, 1919. Has been bearing several years. Xo. 110. Bitternut tree grafted to Fairbanks hybrid. Grew vigorously and bore 121 nuts the third year. The tree died the fol- lowing 3'ear. No. 111. liitternut grafted to Butteriek piean. Still holds on, but has not thrived and is evidently not at home on the bitternut stock. No. 112. Kirtland shngbark hickory. Original tree Yalesville, Conn. Top-worked on niockernut presumably. Has borne well every year but one since the third year. That year the staminate bloom was removed and the nutlets pollinated with Schley iiecan pollen from south. This was not successful as no nuts set. No. 113. Garretson persimmon. No. 111. I-ambert persimmon. No. 11.5. Josephine persimmon. No. 11(}. Early Golden persimmon. No. 117. Galoway black walnut graft in its second year. No. 118. Greene black walnut graft in its second year. Nos. 119 & 120. Ohio black walnut bearing in mother block. Xos. 121 & 122. Peanut black walnut bearing in mother block. No. 123. Lick Run black walnut graft in its second year. Nos. 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131 & 132. Thomas black walnut bearing in mother block. No. 133. Thomas black walnut, bearing quite small, in the nur- sery row. Nos. 134, 135 & 136. Young grafted black walnut trees bearing heavily. Label got lost. Probably the McCoy variety. No. 137. Seedlings the Rush hazel pollinated with DuChilly fil- bert pollen. No. 138. Seedlings Rush hazel pollinated with White Aveline filbert pollen. No. 139. Seedlings Rush hazel pollinated with Italian Red fil- bert jjollen. No. 140. Seedlings Rush hazel pollinated with pollen of one of its own hybrids. No. 58. These plants are therefore 3-4 hazel and 1-4 European filbert. 115 No. 111. Same as above except pollen from No. 200 was used in this eross. No. 112. Seedlings from Italian Red filbert pollinated with corylus coiiirna pollen from tlu; trees at Higliland Park, Rochester, N. Y. No. 11.'}. Juglans mandshiirica, Asi.atic butternut. Xo. I 11. Corylus colurna pollen on the hybrid hazel No. 200. No. 115. Corylus colurna pollen on the hybrid hazel No. 100. fudging from the looks of the plants now, it is doubtful if any of the s(;edlings where corylus colurna pollen was used are true hybrids of that species. I thought earlier they were. No. 146. Hardy chinese persimmon from seed sent me by Dr. .T. Russ(;ll Smith while in China on his trip around the world. Nos. 1 17, Its, 11.9, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155 & 156. Mar- (piardt hybrid pecan. It has been stated that nut trees can not be made to succeed when planted along road-sides. These trees have had no care except a light mulch when ))lanted. The same is true of other trees in this row. No. 157. Lancaster heartnut. A natural black walnut topworked. Nos. 158 & 159. Stanley shellbark hickory on ))cc.'m. This is a fine variety of the big bottom shellbark, carya laciniosa. Nos. 160, 161, 162, 163, 161, 165, 166 & 167. Bates heartnut from South Carolina. Nos. 168, 169, 170, 171, 172 & 173. Ritchey heartnut from Vir- ginia. No. 171. Faust heartnut from South Carolina. No. 175. Indiana pecan. No. 176. Niblack pecan. No. 177. Pleas hybrid pecan. No. 178. Siers hybrid hickory. Siers is a natural cross or hybrid of the mockcrnut and bitternut. One would not expect much from this cross, yet the Siers is a very fine nut and a very pretty tree. No. 179. Beaver hickory grafted on bitternut. No. 180. Laney hybrid shagbark hickory on bitternut. Trees below at the Mylin place, just across the road: No. 181. Burlington walnut. Original tree Burlington, N. J. I 116 No. 182. Old Mayette, Grenoble type. A fine nut but not very productive. No. 183. Wiltz Mayette. Grafted on a natural black walnut spring 1920. Implements used in transplanting and digging nut trees: No. ISi. Implement for transplanting young trees. Is pulled witli tlie little Avery Friction Drive Tractor. This friction drive affords a very low gear ratio so that the tractor can be run very slowly, which is necessary in lining out })lants so close together. Two men sit in the seats and set the jjlants in behind the opener as it moves forward. With this machine we line out nbout 22,000 plants a day and do it better than can be done in hand dibbering as it is not necessary to cut back the roots. No. 185. Larger transplanter. This o]iens a larger trench and runs as deep as 24 inches. Used in transplanting larger trees. This is pulled by the Bates Tractor, through cables and blocks to reduce the speed. The trees are set in behind the opener as the machine moves forward. No. 186. Firmer or presser. This follows the transplanters and firms the earth well about the roots. This machine, without the weight of the driver, weighs 1500 lbs. Tliis firming is very important in the transplanting of all trees and })lants and especially so with nut trees. We lose practically none at all when the earth is well firmed about the roots. No. 187. Avery Friction Drive Tractor, used for pulling trans- planter. No. 188. Tree digger. Used for the smaller nut trees and for fruit trees. No. 189. Larger tree digger. Used for nut trees. Runs 26 inches deep, severing the roots. Trees are then lifted with four digging irons, and four men using the same. No. 190. Wire cables used in pulling large digger. Blocks are used to reduce the pull, when digging nut trees. No. 191. Wire cables run on these pulleys. Tractor moves at right angles to digger which is some distance away, sometimes the length of the cables, one thousand feet. No. 192. Bates Tractor. We have two of these and. sometimes use both of them in digging nut trees. Draw pull, both tractors, 9000 lbs. They will probably exceed this rating. 117 BANQUET On the evening of September 16 the convention and other persons, to the number of about one hundred, were the guests of the Keystone Pecan Products Laboratory at Manheim. An inspection vi^as first made of the well equipped laboratory and factory where the machinery for cracking the pecans and for preparing and hermetically packing' the products was seen under the guidance of the President, Mr. Elam G. Hess and the Vice-President, Mr. E. B. Knowles. Afterward a ban- quet was served to all the guests in the new laboratory. Dr. Robert T. Morris was toastmaster and the speakers were Mr. Knowles, Mr. Hess, Mr. Graham, Dr. J. Russell Smith, Mr. Littlepage, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Bixby. Mr. Knowles, Mr. Hess and Mr. Graham spoke of the origin, purpose and accomplishments of the laboratory. The banquet was perfectly appointed under the direction of Mrs. Hess and ad- mirably served by the laboratory technicians in attractive uniforms. The following is a copy of the menu: MENU Olives Pickles Fruit Cup Creole Pecan Celery Loaf White Sauce Peas in Patties Buttered Carrots Peaches Butterfly Pecan Salad Pecan Cheese Sticks Pecano Ice Cream Southern Lizzies Salted Pecans Pecan Mints Pecan Fudge Demi-Tasse 118 JOHN GALL RUSH Mr. Rush joined our association in 1911, during the first year of its organization, and remained a member until he died, Saturday, August 21st, 1926, at the age of 83 years. He was born July 30th, 1843, in Pequea Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, his father, David, being a descendant of Peter Rush, who came from Switzerland, and his mother Susan, whose maiden name was Gall, being of German descent. His people were farmers, and he himself followed in their foot- steps. He became interested in growing first apples and then peaches about forty years ago. His interest in nut growing dates from before 1890, when the Paragon chestnut was first introduced, of which, and other chestnuts, he had specimens at the old farm. About the year 1899 Mr. Rush bought two seedling English walnut trees from Daniel Herr of Lancaster. One of these trees, which bore a bushel of nuts at ten years old, was named by Mr. Jones the "Rusli" walnut. From this tree Mr. Rush sent scions for grafting in the spring of 1902, to Mr. Jones at Monticello, Florida. Mr. Rush planted the trees resulting from the grafting in 1903, and this is believed to be the date of the first planting of grafted eastern varieties of the Eng- lish walnut. The next nut witli which he experimented appears to have been the American chinquapin, of which he found a specimen, said to have been about 35 feet high and very productive, near Colemanville. Lan- caster County. He sent specimens of this nut to Mr. John R. Parry of Parry, N. Y., who mentions it in his book on nut culture. Mr. Jones' acquaintance with Mr. Rush dates from the time when he read Mr. Parry's book and wrote to Mr. Rush. His cliinquapin was then propagated and sold by Mr. Jones. The eastern specimens of this tree so disseminated have all perished with the bliglit, so far as known, but specimens are still preserved at Mr. Riehl's place in Godfrey, 111., and elsewhere in the west. I lid His first experiments with the hazel were in growing fifty plants of the American species that he dug near New Providence, and the hazel that now bears his name was the only one of these that he found worthy of propagation. Mr. Rush was also the first to have the Weiker hickory propagated by grafting. It was through his acquaintance with Mr. Rush that Mr. Jones first came to Lancaster and later in 1912 established his present nur- sery in Willowstreet. Mr. Rush was himself a successful propagator of nut trees, using the ring budding method, and for some time conducted a nut nursery at his place in West Willow. He married Martha Brennaman of Strasburg in 1867. She died in 192i. Two children survive them, Martin B. Rush of New Provi- dence, and Mary LeFevre of Washington, D. C. Mr. Rush moved to West Willow about twenty-five years ago, and at his former home there his nut trees, now nearing the prime of their vigor and productiveness, constitute his monument and testimony to his foresightedness as a pioneer in the art of nut growing. This associa- tion owes him its gratitude and respect for his vision and liis works. 120 LETTER FROM S. W. SNYDER, VICE-PRESIDENT, CENTER POINT, IOWA New organization and the necessary advertising to get attention cost a lot of money. It is my experience that suggests that we can better make use of organizations already in existence, by which we may obtain all the advertising we need, and that absolutely free. Our state, county, and local fairs I have found to be willing and anxious, when approached on the subject, to include a nut premium list in their fair books, and if the premium list is gotten up in a suit- able way to cover the nut growing interests of the locality in wliich the fair is held, we can accomplish all that can be desired without any extra expense. To bring out newly discovered varieties special cash premiums should be offered and I find this to be one of the best means by which to bring out all the desirable varieties of a given locality. I have just lately returned from our state fair where I acted as superintendent and judge of the nut department. Through this source I have just located a very worthwhile shagbark hickory. This nut has made its appearance at our state fair for the second time and just came to my attention at this last fair. I have not seen the tree or as yet gotten in touch with the owner. The nut has not yet been named but I am going to suggest that it be named for the owner of the tree, wliich if agreeable to them will be Doolittle. Through a similar source I have located a pecan tree that is fully fifty miles farther north than any other native pecan tree yet dis- covered. This tree is out in the interior of Iowa away from the large streams where the most northern pecan trees heretofore have been found. This all comes through the free advertising obtained in the state, county and local fairs. I can name quite a long list of the best nuts now known in our state that were located in this same way. The Elmer and Upton 121 pecans; the Sayer, Eversman, Hill, Tama Queen, and Iowa shellbark hickories ; the Schwartz, Hine, and Jumbo walnuts the Sherwood and Buckley butternut; the Winkler, Pleasant Grove, and Hardin hazel- nuts; the Shaul, Schinnerling, Stratford, Higgin, and this new one I am going to call Doolittle, shagbark hickories have all come to our notice through our fair associations. If all the fairs located in the timber belt of our country would in- clude nut lists and some special cash premiums oifered by private in- dividuals, doubtless in a short time every valuable nut now growing within our country would be discovered and brought to our attention. I believe this to be one of the most important things that our association might take up and induce these organizations to do the advertising for us and thereby discover many valuable nuts not yet brought to our attention. 122 BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN RELATION TO NUTS IN THE NORTHEASTERN STATES Bif Dr. JV. L. McAtee, Assistant in Charge, Food Habits Research, Biological Survey U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. The word nut, one of indefinite application, witness the term pine-nut, is restricted for the purposes of the present pajier to fruits of hickory, walnut, hazel, chestnut, chinquapin, beech, and oak. These fruits, like all food items available to birds and mammals, are utilized more or less in proportion to their abundance, by vegetatarian species tliat are large enough to grind them up, or swallow them whole, and by certain smaller creatures that have special equipment for penetrating their hard walls. Acorns, most numerous in individuals as well as in kinds, are consumed more frequently than the other nuts by birds and mammals. Twenty-seven species of northeastern birds are known to feed upon acorns, those doing so most often being in the order of their importance, the crow, blue jay. purple grackle, brown thrasher, ruffed grouse, bobAvhite, and chewink among land birds, and the mallard and wood duck among waterfowl. The wild turkey, a voracious feeder upon acorns, is scarcely a bird of the northeastern states today. The acorn-eating birds use a varietj^ of feeding methods, the ducks, grouse, and bobwhite swallowing the acorns whole, the crow, bluejay, woodpeckers, and nuthatches splitting them with their strong beaks, the cardinal and chewink cutting them open by sheer biting power, and the purple grackle opening them by a process peculiar to itself. The grackle has a hardened ridge projecting downward from the roof of its mouth against which an acorn is firmly pressed while it is revolved by action of the lower mandible and tongue. The shell is weakened by this manipulation and soon breaks into very neatly severed halves. Wild animals of different kinds are fond of acorns, the black bear greedily grinding them up, the white-tailed deer feeding upon them freely at times, and the squirrels, chipmunks, and woods mice, 123 regularly. These latter animals belonging to the tribe of gnawers add a method to those noted before of gaining access to the meat of at least the harder shelled nuts. By patient rasping with their chisel-like teeth they gnaw a hole large enough to permit extraction of the meat. Empty shells bearing such holes are familiar objects in woodlands where nuts abound. Chestnuts, now largely extirpated from the Northeastern States, were formerly eaten by several species of birds which are on the list of acorn consumers also. The blue jay probably consumed more chest- nuts tli.in did any other bird. Chinquapins and hazelnuts each are known to be eaten by a few kinds of birds, while beech-nuts are fav- ored by a much longer list. The crow, the blue jay, and the red-headed woodpecker are the princij^al avian consumers of beeehnuts and in the northern parts of its range the redhead's staying for the winter seems to depend entirely on whether there is a good crop of these nuts. Beechnuts now and chestnuts in their day, like the other compara- tively thin-shelled nuts were favorites with mice and squirrels also, and the hard-shelled sorts such as walnuts and hickory nuts are con- sumed only by these indefatigable gnawers. A few wild ducks swal- low hickory nuts whole, the pileated, our largest woodpecker, breaks them up, and the cardinal may occasionally bite into one of the thinner shelled kinds. English walnuts, especially while still green, are attacked by crows and purple grackles. This nut seems to be about the only one com- mercially grown in the northeastern states, hence the depredations upon it by the birds mentioned are the only ones by either birds or mammals on nuts in this region that have unquestioned economic sig- nificance. Public interest in nuts in the Northeast is chiefly in conservation of a reasonable stock of wild nut trees, and in planting when necessary to insure this result. From these points of view the relations of wild birds and mammals to nuts are scarcely to be criticized. Trees live so long and produce so many nuts that there is a vast surplus beyond the number that can ever figure in replacements. This surplus may much better be consumed by the birds and mammals than to go to waste, especially since among these animals are species which play an 124 import.int role in distributing nuts and thus extending the range of the trees. Nuts are heavy fruits not aided by wind dispersal; they are very likely to drop directly under the parent tree and find conditions for survivril unfavorable from the first. However, if lent legs or wings as they often are by the squirrels or jays they may reach a spot far from the parent tree that is favorable for their growth. Habitual storers of food like the mice, the squirrels, the blue jay, woodpeckers, and nuthatches in season work incessantly at their self- appointed tasks, but never recover and consume more than a fraction of the nuts they hide. To sum up : In the northeastern states there is only one type of actual damage done to the nut crop, namely destruction of immature English walnuts, and the nut-feeding birds and mammals, which al- ways leave some for seed, distribute those in such a way as to win for themselves the rank of chief disseminators of nut-bearing plants. On the whole then they are to be regarded as friends of nut culture and of forestry in general. 125 REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THE WALNUT SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE MINISTRY OE AGRICUL- TURE AND FISHERIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN 1924 AND 1925 Forwarded by Howard Spence, Vice-President for England Though single walnut trees are common in all parts of England and Wales, walnuts are not grown on a commercial scale in this country, and the total home crop is quite insufficient to supply the home mar- kets which are in consequence dependent on imported supplies. More- over, many of our walnut trees produce nuts of poor quality, a fact which is not surprising when it is remembered that most of the trees growing in this country have been raised from nuts and are in effect seedlings from parents known or unknown. In other countries, it has been found possible to improve the walnut industry by working scions taken from proved trees on to known stocks, and thus by vegetative means to raise a number of trees which are known in advance to pro- duce superior quality nuts. It cannot be claimed that the same method of procedure would hold good for this country, nor is it known whether the right kinds of stocks for Great Britain are in existence.* In these circumstances, the Ministry decided in 1924 to make an enquiry into the general character of the walnuts grown in this country in order to obtain a closer knowledge of existing types and to ascer- tain the location of the best existing varieties with a view to their sub- sequent vegetative propagation and wider distribution. Through the medium of County Horticultural Officers, Inspectors of the Ministry, and otherwise, samples of matured nuts were collected from many parts of the country during 1924 and again during 1925 and were critically examined by Mr. Howard Spence of Ainsdale, Southport, who very kindly offered his services to the Ministry in this connection. The following salient points from Mr. Spence's reports will, it is ho])ed, be of interest. Samples of nuts from the 1924 crop of some 160 trees were ex- amined by Mr. Spence. The weather of that season, characterized by *(With this I do not agree. — H. S.) 126 excess rainfall and lack of sunshine^ was very unfavorable to the de- velopment of the walnut crop. Light crops were recorded in most districts and malformation and distortion of shell were very prevalent in the samples received. After exposure for a week or two to normal indoor conditions, the kernels of the majority of the nuts became shrivelled and withered, and the cause of this shrinkage was found to be a shortage of the normal proportion of oil in the nuts. This de- ficiency was accompanied in most cases by excessive sugariness and lack of the true walnut flavour. In spite of the generally disappoint- ing results of this year's enquiry, mainly attributable to the weather conditions, the fact emerged that some, though but a very small num- ber, of home grown trees are capable even in so unfavorable a year of producing nuts with the desired characteristics in greater or lesser degree, viz : good colour, size, contour, percentage of kernel and of oil, flavour, sealing, crop yield and absence of astringency and ex- cessive moisture — and approximating to the high standard of Cali- fornian and continental types. In 1925, a season of more normal climatic conditions, the home walnut crop was much better both in quantity and quality than in 1924. Practically the whole of the samples received this year were free from tlie malformation noted in the previous year, and in many cases trees which produced small crops of poor nuts in the previous years were found in 1925 to have borne large crops of better nuts. The examina- tion of the 1925 samples confirmed the fact that the percentage of wal- nut oil in the nut is the prime factor in determining quality; it also brought out another factor second only in importance, viz : the original ])roportion of water present in the fresh kernel, which in the case of a number of the samples was excessive so that the shrinkage on ]iarti.-il drying was serious. The enquiry has so far revealed a dozen types which pnss the standard in these two essential factors and which are a great improve- ment on the large majority of home grown walnuts. Amongst these are 2 or 3 varieties excellent for home consumption but too small for the market; one only is deemed worthy of wider general distribution. Scions of these have been kindly supplied for propagation trials mainly at East Mailing Research Station, where experimental work is now proceeding on the subject of stocks and their standardization, tlie best methods of propagation for home conditions, and also to de- 127 termine the quality of walnuts grown here from the best foreign grafted varieties. For the purpose of these experiments, scion wood from the best varieties g;rown in California and in Italy has been obtained, and a number of the best types of nuts from other foreign sources have been planted. The information gained by the enquiry proves beyond doubt the possibility of growing, at least in the southern counties, walnuts pos- sessing the qualities essential to enable them to compare favourably with foreign types, but no one variety has yet been found growing in this country in which all the desired features are combined. The field covered so far has been comparatively limited, and it is now desired to extend the enquiry so as to cover as large a number as possible of the walnut trees growing in this country. County Horticultural Officers are cordially invited to co-operate with the Ministry in this extended enquiry by bringing the matter to the notice of all growers of walnut trees. In order that the actual examination of samples may be kept within reasonable limits, growers are asked to submit their nuts to the simple preliminary test indicated in the enclosed memorandum, before forwarding any for critical ex- amination. Further copies of the memorandum and form of report will gladly be supplied to any county officer or to individual growers on application to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 10 White- hall Place, London, S. W. 1. 128 WALNUT SURVEY, 1926 "A walnut variety which is considered by the owner or contributor to be worth examination should be preliminarilj' tested by him in the following way- — one or two pounds of the variety meantime also being put aside in a cold cellar or outhouse for despatch if the nuts tested appear to reach the desired standard. "Fully eapose ttvo or three dozen ronlnuts, in a single layer, to the temperature of a living room for ten days. If the majority of the nuts when cracked at the end of this time show a PLUMP, PRAC- TICALLY UN SHRIVELLED KERNEL the variety is xvell xvorth examination and not less than one pound of the undried walnuts put aside should at once be forwarded. If, on the other hand, the exposed walnuts are found to show largely shriveled kernels they do not reach the minimum standard desired for propagation." With the walnuts which pass this test, the details indicated in at- tached form should be supplied. Qualifications Desired (1) One pound weight should not contain more than 50 nuts as a maximum in the fresh condition. (2) Three-fourths of the sample (all of which however should be forwarded) should not pass through a square hole of 1 1-8 inch side. (3) The nuts should be well sealed and should not show separation of the two halves when pressed along the sutural ridge between the thumb and first finger. (4) The flavour of the nut must be rich (and not merely crisp and palatable) and should not be very astringent when masticated fully. (5) The nuts should be reasonably uniform in sliape and not con- tain many which are distorted or malformed, (6) The shell should be fairly thick. (7) To preserve a good colour and avoid development of mould the nuts should be separated from the husk as soon after falling as possible. 129 A variety which shows any special quality of value, e. g. unusually well filled nuts, very rich flavour, attractive appearance, heavy crop, etc., but which otherwise does not conform to the desired standard should also be forwarded for classification, with a note drawing at- tention to its special merit. Samples and reports should be sent direct to Mr. H. Spence, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport, Lanes. The following information should, so far as possible, be supplied with each sample and forwarded to Mr. H. Spence, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport, Lanes: I. Identification letter and number (suitably the initials of the sender and consecutive numbers) corresponding to those on the label used for the despatch of the sample. IL The name and address of owner or occupier. HL Exact situation of tree. IV. Approximate age of tree. V. Height of tree. VI. Spread of tree. VII. Average annual weight of crop, and if variable from year to year. VIII. Approximately date of flowering. IX. Approximate date when nuts are ripe. X. Distance from nearest other walnut tree or trees. XL Local name, if any. XII. Local opinion of quality of the nut. XIII. Has the preliminary test been carried out? XIV. Have the nuts any special quality of value, e. g. unusually well filled nuts, very rich flavour, attractive appearance, heavy crop, etc.? Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 10 Whitehall Place, S. W. 1. 130 EXHIBITS Persian (English) Walnut Alpine, J. F. Jones Cut Leafed, J. F. Jonee Rush, J. F. Jones Eureka, J. F. Jones Hall, J. F. Jones Sinclair, J. F. Jones Wiltz Mayette, J. F. Jones Chinese Walnut — N. E. China, J. Hershey English Walnut — Seedling, New Holland, Pa., J. Hershey. Rush, J. Hershey Hall, J. Hershey J. Regia — ^Seedling, J. Hershey J. Regia — 'Boyerstown, Pa., J. Hershey J. Regia — Downington, Pa., J. Hershey J. Regia — ^Boyerstown, Pa., J. Hershey J. Regia — Groff, Paradise, Pa., J. Hershey Black Walnut Adams, G. H. Corsan Stabler, (one lobe type), J. F. Jones Stabler — (perfect), J. F. Jones Ten Eyck, J. F. Jones Thomas, J. F. Jones Thomas, and Stabler, J. F. Wilkinson, Rockport, Ind. J. nigra. Seedling, J. Hershey J. nigra. Stabler, J. Hershey J. nigra, Thomas, J. Hershey Hickory Hales, J. F. Jones Kirtland, J. F. Jones Glover, J. F. Glover, Shelton, Conn., per J. F. Jones. Shagbark — Sq. nut No. 145, J. F. Jones Vest, J. F. Joneis Zimmerman No. 27 Western Shellbark, J. Hershey W. Shellbark, J. Hershey Eversham, J. Hershey W. Shellbark, Sayer Hickory Hybrids Pleas, J. F. Jones Beaver, J. F. Jones Siers, J. F. Jones Rockville, J. F. Jones Hickory x Pecan hybrid, grown on the E. A. Riehl Farm, Godfrey, 111. Fairbanks, J. Hershey Hicoria ovata x Hiconia cordiformis, J. Hershey Japanese Walnut Bates, J. F. Jones Faust, J. F. Jones 131 Faust Heartnut, J. F. Jones Stranger, J. F. Jones Lancaster, J. F. Jones Ritchie, J. F. Jones « J. Sieboldiana, J. Hershey Pecan Posey, J. F. Jones Busseron, J. F. Jones Marquardt, J. F. Jones Olivaeformis x laciniosa, J. F. Jones Oliio, J. F. Jones Pecans (cured 1925), J. P. Wilkinson, Rockport, Ind. Greenriver, J. F. Wilkinson, Rockport, Ind. Busseron, J. F. Wilkinson Kentucky, J. F. Wilkinson Butterick, J. F. Wilkinson Posey, J. F. Wilkinson Major, J. F. Wilkinson McCallister, J. F. Wilkinson Pecans, Green 1926, J. F. Wilkinson Busseron, J. F. Wilkinson Indiana, J. F. Wilkinson Greenriver, J. F. Wilkinson Posey, J. Hershey Filberts (Including Hazels) Hybrid Hazels, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, J. F. Jones Filbert, J. F. Jones • Daviana, J. F. Jones 2 Barcelona, J. F. Jones 3 Barcelona, J. F. Jones Filbert, Giant de Halle, J. Hershey Filbert, Barcelona, J. Hershey Filbert — ^Cosford, J. Hershey Native Hazel, Winkler, J. Hershey Filbert — Noce Lunghe, J. Hershey Filbert, 1-2, T. P. Littlepage Chestnut Fuller, grown by E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111., Dept. of Hort. Univ. of 111. Boone, grown by E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111., Dept. of Hort. Univ. of 111. J. Sieboldiana Seedling, Butternut type, J. Hershey TuNG-oiL Nut Tung Oil Nut, Aleurites fordi, J. Hershey Willard G. Bixby, Long Island, showed Faust, Stranger, Lancaster, Ritchie, and an unnamed heartnut, Alpine and Hall Persian walnuts. Prof. J. A. Neilson, Vineland, Ontario, showed sixty-six plates of Canadian nuts, an impressive exhibition. Dr. W. C. Deming showed a plate of Glover shagbark hickory nuts from the parent tree. The Nut Buster Co. of Hafrisburg, Pa., showed a hand cracker for nuts of any kind and size. Through the kindness of the Hershey Chocolate Co. and of the J. H. Kellogg Co., samples of their products were distributed to the members and guests. 132 PRESENT AT THE CONVENTION Mrs. G. A. Zimmerman. Mrs. John W. Hershey. Mrs. J. F. Jones and daughter. John Rick, Reading, Pa. C. G. Hoag, Pres. The Evergreens Co., Haverford, Pa. Julian T. Hammond, 3, Newton, Pa. D. F. Clark, Harrisburg, Pa. B. M. Daniel, Harrisburg, Pa. C. F. Walker, Cleveland, Ohio Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Graham, Ithaca, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Geo. R. Woods, Maplewood, N. J. Ammon P. Fritz, Ephrata, Pa. Martin Ehlmann, St. Charles, Mo. Elam Hess, Pres., Keystone Pecan Products Co., Manheim, Pa. E. B. Knowles, Vice-Pres. above concern. Irvin P. Knipe, Morristown, Pa. ' L. S. Foote, Ozark, Illinois. Miss M. V. Landmann, Cranbury, New Jersey H. V. Jacob, Washington, D. C. Upton Mehring, Kaymar, Md. Miss F. E. Andrews, Minneapolis, Minn. Miss Laura Woodward, West Chester, Pa. Dr. W. C. Deming, Hartford, Conn. Prof. A. S. Colby, Urbana, 111. Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vt. J. F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa. • Prof. J. A. Neilson and wife, associate horticulturist, Vineland, Ont. Prof. Willis F. Tlieiss, Bucknell University, Lewis^burg, Pa. Dr. J. Russell Smith, Columbia University, New York City. Dr. Robert T. Morris, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City. Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa. Dr. F. L. Baum, Boyertown, Pa. T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C. Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, Nassau Co., N. Y. J. Ford Wilkinson, Rockford, 111. Paul White, Bowie, Md. Ralph T. Olcott, Editor American Nut Journal, Rochester, N. Y. C. A. Reed, associate pomologist, U. S. D. A., and Mrs. Reed, Wash- ington, D. C. Henry D. Spencer and wife, Decatur, 111. Karl W. Greene and wife, Mrs. E. B. Scheele, Mrs. W. Strebling, Washington, D. C. H. G. Garber, Madison, Ind. John W. Hershey, E. Downingtown, Pa. C. E. Snyder, Columbus, Ohio. A. H. Seadale, Washington, N. J. R. W. Paden, Enon Valley, Pa. S. F. Rise, William Sealer, Lebanon, Pa. Ralph Rickterkessing, Morton Eblmann, St. Charles, Mo. -'^'^*»'"-'r'-'=^-3J=- =^- ■-' J-'-r*^. NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING EASTON, MD. SEPTEMBER 15, 16, 1927 iTTiiiaii* rrnnr'MiiiT' iMMMitTni NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED) REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING EASTON, MD. SEPTEMBER 15, 16, 1927 CONTENTS Officers, Directors and Committees 3 State Vice-Presidents 4 List of Members 5 Constitution 11 By-Laws 13 Proceedings of Eigliteenth Annual Convention 15 Mr. Grier's Address 15 President's Address 20 Report of tlie Secretary 25 Treasurer's Report 33 Edible Acorns as Food for Man, Livestock, and Fowls — Dr. Robert T. Morris 35 Primitive Manufacture and Use of Acorn Meal— V. K. Chestnut 43 Some Nut Insects of Importance in Maryland — Ernest N. Corey 46 The Desirability of the Chesepeake Peninsula for Nut Growing — Ernest Hemming 51 The Relation of the Experiment Station to Nut Growing in Maryland — Dr. E. C. Auchter 55 Establishing a Nut Planting in the North — C. A. Reed.... 58 Nut Trees Suitable tor the Chesepeake Country — J. Russell Smith 70 Filberts for the Northern United States — Conrad VoUertsen 75 Further Experiments in luduced Immunity to Chestnut Blight — D. J. A. Zimmerman 80 Resolutions 90 Appendix 92 OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION President W. G. Bixby, Baldwin, New York Vice-President J. A, Neilson, Ontario, Canada Secretary Henry D. Spencer, 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur, III. Treasurer H. J. Hilliard, Sound View, Connecticut DIRECTORS Harry R. Weber, Robert T. Morris, Willard G. Bixby, W, C. Deming, Henry D. Spencer COMMITTEES Auditing — K. W. Greene, Z. H. Ellis Executive — S. W. Snyder, W. C. Deming, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson, H. D. Spencer, H. J. Hilliard Finance — T. P. Littlepage, W. G. Bixby, W. C. Deming Press and Publication — J. Russell Smith, Miss N. P. Landman, R. T. Olcott, F. T. Wielandy, W. C. Deming, Z. H. Ellis, A. S. Colby. Membership — J. A. Neilson, R. T. Olcott, W. C. Deming, J. W. Hershey, Z. H. Ellis, K. W. Green, F. T. Wielandy, F. O. Harrington Program — J. A. Neilson, A. S. Colby, L. E. Theiss, C. A. Reed, S. H. MacDaniel, R. T. Olcott Hybrids and Promising Seedlings — C. A. Reed, J. F. Jones, W. G. Bixby, Howard Spence, J. A. Neilson, S. W. Snyder, R. T. Morris Nomenclature — C. A. Reed, R. T. Morris, W. G. Bixby, J. A. Neilson DEAN OF THE ASSOCIATION Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York and Connecticut FIELD SECRETARY Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vermont Arkansas Australia California Canada China Colorado Connecticut Dist. of Columbia England Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS Prof. N. F. Drake U;iiv. of Arkansas, Fayetteville R. H. Fuller Crystal Brook, Bowenville, Queensland Will J. Thorpe 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco Prof. James A. Neilson Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ont. P. W. Wang Sec'y Kinsan Arboretum, 147 N. Sechuan Road, Shanghai U. H. Walker Dr. W. C. Deming Karl W. Greene Howard Spence J. M. Patterson Prof. A. S. Colby J. F. Wilkinson F. O. Harrington James Sharp T. P. Littlepage James H. Bowditch Prof. V. R. Gardner Carl Weschcke Frank T. Wielandy William Caha Miss M. V. Landman Prof. L. H. MacDaniels Prof. C. D. Matthews Nucla 983 Main St., Hartford, Conn. . Ridge Road, N. W., Washington Tbe Red House, Ainsdale, Southport Putney University of Illinois, Urbana Rockport Williamsburg Council Grove Bowie 903 Tremont Building, Boston East Lansing 98 South Wabash St., St. Paul . 16th & Locust Ste., St. Louis Wahoo Cranbury, R. F. D. No. 2 Cornell University, Ithaca Harry R. Weber Knight Pearcy John Rick Phillip Allen J. W. Waite Captain Charles Goodnight Joseph A. Smith Zenas H. Ellis Dr. J. Russell Smith Richard H. Turk Dr. J. E. Cannaday Dr. Louis Edward Holden State Dept. of Agriculture, Raleigh 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Salem 438 Penn Square, Reading 178 Dorrance St., Providence Normandy Goodnight Edgewood Hall, Providence Fair Haven Round Hill Washougal Bp}? 693, Charleston Beloit MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS *Drake, Prof. N. P., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville AUSTRALIA Fuller, R. H., Crystal Brook, Bowenville, Queensland CALIFORNIA Caldwell, W. A., Camino Holladay. S. E., 804 Oakland Bank Bldg.. Oakland Thorpe, Will J., 1545 Divisadero St., San Francisco CANADA Brown, C. Gordon, 5 Ingleside Ave., Westmount, Quebec Byam, P. M., 835 Logan Ave., Toronto 6, Ontario Corcoran, Wm., Box 26, Port Dalhousie, Ontario Corsan, G. H., Echo Valley, Islington, Ontario Fox, A. Grant, Ruthven, Ontario Neilson, James A., Hort. Exp. Sta., Vineland, Ontario Smith, E. C, & Sons, Winona, Ontario CHINA *Wang, P. W., Sec'y., Kinsan Arboretum, 147 No. Szechuan Road Shanghai COLORADO Walker, U. H., Nucla CONNECTICUT Bartlett, Francis A., Stamford Deming, Dr. W. C, 983 Main Street, Hartford Hilliard, H. J., Sound View Lane, Emma, Box 87, Darien Merritt, Joseph, 287 Homestead Ave., Hartford *Montgomery, Robt. H., Cos Cob *Morris, Dr. Robert T., Route 28, Box No. 95, Cos Cob Pomeroy, Eleazer, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor Sessions, Albert L., 25 Bellevue Ave., Bristol Weed, C. C, 200 North Street, Stamford Williams, Dr. Chas. Mallory, Box No. 75, Stonington DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Close, Prof. C. P., Pomologist, Dept. Agr., Washington Gahn, Mrs. Bessie W., 218 W. Clifton Terrace, Washington Green, Mrs. Avice M., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington *Life Member 6 Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington Jacob, H. J., Washington ♦Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Bldg., Washington National Pecan Groves Co., 510 Bond Bldg., Washington Reed, C. A., Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington Scheele, Mrs. Ella B., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington Steibling, Mrs. Anna E., 1458 Monroe St., N. W., Washington Taylor, D. W., 1813 19th St., N. W., Washington ENGLAND Hatton, R. G., East Mailing Research Station, Kent Spence, Howard, The Red House, Ainsdale, Southport GEORGIA Bullard, Wm. P., Albany Patterson, J. M., Putney Steele, R. C, Lakemont, Rabun County Wight, J. B., Cairo ILLINOIS Ade, W. H. & Co., 236 N. Clark St., Chicago Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley Casper, O. H., 115 W. Monroe St., Anna Cook, Lila A., Cropsey Colby, A. S., University of Illinois, Urbana Corsan, Mrs. G. H., Room 1500, 19 So. Lasalle St., Chicago Curtiss, L. W., Gladstone Delp, Joe, Morrison Elleman, John H., 210 Maple Hill Road, Glencoe Endicott, R. B., Villa Ridge Frey, Frank H., Room 930 Lasalle St., Station, Chicago Gibbons, Geo. W., Godfrey Gould Company, Onarga Johnson, P. B., Box 72, Marion Kimmel, Levett, Farm Adviser, Galconda Mosnat, H. R., 10910 Prospect Ave., Morgan Park, Chicago Nash, C. J.. 1302 E. 53rd St., Chicago Poll, Carl J., 1013 E. Seminary St., Danville Riehl, Miss Amelia, Godfrey Rodhouse, T. W., Jr., Pleasant Hill Rosenberg, H. B., Granite City Spencer, Henry D., 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur Watson, John P., Carter Whitford, A. W., Farina INDIANA Davis, Will J., Windfall Fowler, J. L., 419 Walnut St., Union City Isakfion, Walter R., R. F. D., Hobart Staderman, A. L., 129 S. 7th St., Terre Haute Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport ♦Life Member IOWA Adams, Gerald W., R. F. D. No. 4, Moorehead Bricker, C. W., Box 194, Ladora Harrington, F. O., Williamsburg Luckenbill, Ben W., Box 47, Mediapolis MacDonald, A. B., Forestry Dept., I. S. C, Ames Meiiits, A. Rock, Dixon Mock, Charles A., LeMars Parrott, W. B., Manning Snyder, S. W., Center Point Snyder Bros., Center Point Snyder, D. C, Center Point Van Meter, W. S., Adel KANSAS Gray, Dr. Clyde, Horton Hitchcock, Chas. W., R. No. 1, Belle Plaine Miller, H. S., Morrill Rice, E. C, 303 S. Hillside Ave., Wichita Stenger, Joseph, R. F. D., Wayne KENTUCKY Barnes, Ernest, Box 702, Berea College, Berea LOUISIANA FuUilove, J. H., Box 157, Shreveport FuUilove, J. H., Jr., Box 157, Shreveport Jackson, A. C, Box 993, Shreveport MAINE Black Point Fruit Farm, Scarboro Beach Breakwater Farm, Cape Elizabeth Ram Island Farm, Cape Elizabeth MARYLAND Johnson, Charles E., 218 E. Isabella St., Salisbury Jordan, Dr. Llewellyn, 100 Baltimore Ave., Tacoma Park Mehring, Upton, Keymar Mitchell, C. W., Oxford, R. F. D. O'Connor, P. H., Bowie Purnell, J. Edgar, Box 24, Salisbury Wall, Alfred W., 2305 W. Lanvane St., Baltimore Watkine, Asa H., Mt. Airy MASSACHUSETTS *Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Boston Bowles, Francis T., Barnstable Bryant, Dr. Ward C, Greenfield Combination Orchard Co., Waltham Hale, Richard W., 60 State St., Boston Johnson, Roscoe E., Barre •Life Member 8 Lamb, Dr. Harold W., Burnette Ave., So. Hadley Center Russell, Newton H., Burnette Ave., So. Hadley Center Sprague, P. W., 10 P. O. Square, Boston Williams, Moses, 18 Tremont St., Boston MICHIGAN Burke, Mrs. Oliver W., 1525 Edison Ave., Detroit Copland, A. W., Birmingham Gardner, Prof. V. R., Mich. Ag. Col., E. Lansing Graves, Henry B., 73 Forest Ave., Detroit Hoenicke, Charles R., 13410 Electric Ave., Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester. St., Battle Creek Penny, Senator Harvey A., 425 S. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Stocking, Frederick W., 3456 Cadillac Ave., Detroit University of Michigan, Botanical Dept., Ann Arbor MINNESOTA Andrews, Miss Frances E., 245 Clifton Ave., Minneapolis Weschcke, Carl, 98 S. Wabasha St., St. Paul MISSOURI Barnhart, F. L., Barnhart Funsten, R. E., Company, 152 Morgan St., St. Louis Pettus, E., 16th St. & Locust, St. Louis Purdom, J. Lesley, Harris Teachers College, St. Louis Stark, P. C, Louisiana Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana Tiedke, J. F., R. F. D., No. 1, Rockville Tower Nut Products Co., 4949 Pershing St., St. Louis NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo Miller, R. D., Care of Miller & Paine, Lincoln NEW JERSEY Hilferty, Charlee D., 647 Prospect St., Westfield Hurst, Mrs. A. E., 20 Beech St., Rutherford *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City Landmann, Miss M. V., R. F. D. No. 2, Cranbury Ridgway, C. S., Lumberton Woods, Geo. R., 205 Wyoming Ave., Maplewood NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 Tabor Court, Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Bixby, Mrs. Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Brinton, Mrs. Willard Cope, 36 West 59th St., New York Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Coyle, David C, 10 Miller Place, Bronxville Cothran, John C, 104 High St., Lockport ♦Life Member 9 Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr, C. Stewart, Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Garber, Hugh G., Room 403A, 75 Fulton St., New York Hodgson, Casper W., World Book Co., Yonkers *Huntington, A. M., 1 E. 89th St., New York City Jewett, Edmond G., 16 S. Elliott Place, Brooklyn Llveright, Frank I., 120 W. 70th St., New York City MacDaniels, S. H., College of Agriculture, Ithaca Mathiesen, O., 117 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn Northern New York Developing Co., 32 Nassau St., New York City. ♦Olcott, Ralph T., 39 State St., Rochester Oswald, Edward, 311 W. Beard Ave., Syracuse Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Reimold, O. S., Yonkers-on-Hudson, Yonkers Solley, Dr. John B., 213 E. 61st St., New York City Teele, Arthur W., 120 Broadway, New York City Tukey, Prof. Harold B., Hudson *Wissman, Mrs. F. deR., 9 W. 54th St., New York City Wyckoff, E. L., Aurora, Cayuga Co., Aurora NORTH CAROLINA Matthews, C. D., Dept. of Agr., Raleigh OHIO Barton, Chas. H., Lancaster Beatty, Dr. Wilbur M. L., R. 3 Croton Rd., Centerburg Brooke, James L., Pleasantville Fickee, W. R., R. No. 6, Wooster Fugazzie Bros., Fruit Exchange Bldg., Cincinnati Hamilton, Chas. E., 52 Jefferson Ave., Columbus Neff, Wm. N., Box 31, Martel Snyder, C. E., 510 W. 4th Ave., Columbus ♦Weber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Walker, C. F., 2851 E. Overlook Rd., Cleveland Heights OKLAHOMA Miller, Joseph C, Marland PENNSYLVANIA Althouse, C. Scott, 540 Pear St., Reading Barton, George C, 111 Pine St., Sharon Hill Baum, Dr. F. L., BoyertowB Bohn, Dr. H. W., 34 N. 9th St., Reading Bonney, Robert D., 204 W. Winnona Ave., Norwood Station Clark, D. F., 265 19th St., Harrisburg Corbin, J. Ross, P. O. Box 968, Harrisburg Cransh, Raymond G., Bryn Athyn Druckemiller, W. H., 31 N. Fourth St., Sunbury Fritz, Ammon P., 5 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gable, Jr., Joseph B., Stewartstown Gri'bbel, Mrs. John, Box 31, Wyncote Grin, Wm. H., Hamburg Hartman, J. W., Sligo Hershey, Floyd E., Downington Hershey, John W., Downington Hile, Anthony, Curwensville •Life Member 10 Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hammond, Dr. J. T., 3rd, Newton Jenkins, Charles F., Farm Journal, Philadelphia Johnson, Mrs. Georgia P., Orchard Knob Farm, Dallas *Jones, J. F., Box 527, Lancaster Kaufmann, M. M., Clarion Knife, Irving P., 5. E. Airy St., Norristown Knowles, E. B., 145 E. Clay St., Lancaster Krebs, Harry B., Mercersburg Leach, Will, Cornell Bldg., Scranton Moorehead, A. D., Louisiana Paden, Riley W., R. No. 2, Enon Valley Raab, W. L., Box 41, Dallastown Ross, Adam A., 121 Bleddyn Road, Ardmore Rittenhouse, Dr. J. S., Hill Croft Fruit Farm, Lorane *Rick, John, 438 Penn. Square, Reading Schultz, Oscar S., 142 N. Reading Ave., Boyertown Smith, Dr. J. Russell,. Swarthmore Smedley, Samuel L., R. F. D. No. 1, Newton Sq. Stein, Charles E., 208 N. 2nd St., Lewisburg Theiss, Lewis Edwin, Munsey Wehrle, R. W., Indiana Wilhelm, Dr. Edward A., Clarion ♦Wister, John C, Clarkson & Wister Ste., Germantown Woodward, Laura E., Westchester Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., The Fernwood, Piketown RHODE ISLAND Allen. Phillip, 178 Dorrance St., Providence Arnold, Henry N., 42 Waterman St., Providence TEXAS Duerler, Alfred, 224 W. Commerce St., San Antonio Goodnight, Chas., Goodnight VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., R. F. D. No. 3, Springfield Dana, J. C, Woodstock Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven Holbrook, F. C, Brattleboro VIRGINIA Ammon, S. Von, Ridgethorpe, Colemans Falls Harris Dewitt S., Capital Landing Road, R. F. D. No. 3, Williamsburg Keeler, Miss Grace M., Norfolk WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack Richardson, J. B., Lakeside WES'r VIRGINIA Brooks, Fred E., French Creek Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Box 693, Charleston Hartzell, D. P., Shepherdstown WISCONSIN Holden, Louie Edward, Beloit M')ngin, F. J., R. No. 6, Green Bay 11 CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association, Incorporated. Article II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Articlk V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at 12 the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following year. Article VI Meetings. The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee. Article VII Quoruvi. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member tliirty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. 13 BY-LAWS Article I Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows: On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay three dollars annually, or four dol- lars and a half including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars an- nually, this membership including a year's subscription to the American Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further dues. Hon- orary members shall be exempt from dues. There shall be an annunl, non-voting, membership, with privilege of the annual report, for all County Agents, Agri- cultural College and Experiment Station Officials and Em- ployes, State Foresters, U. S. Department of Agriculture Officials, Editors of Agricultural Periodicals, College and High School Students, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Camp Fire Girls and similar organizations, on payment of one dollar as annual dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter 14 preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. Article V Members shall be sent a notification of annual dues at the time they are due, and if not paid within two months, they shall be sent a second notice, telling them that they are not in good standing on account of non-payment of dues, and are not en- titled to receive the annual report. At the end of thirty days from the sending of the second notice, a third notice shall be sent notifying such members that unless dues are paid within ten days from receipt of this notice, their names will be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. 15 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS at the EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the NORTHERN NUT GROAVERS ASSOCIATION (Incorporated) September 15 and 16, 1927 Held in the COURT HOUSE EASTON, MARYLAND Chairman — President S. W. Snyder The meeting was called to order at 10:()() a. m. by the President of tlie Association, introducing Mr. G. Layton Grier, President of the Del-Mar-Va Eastern Shore Association, who delivered the Address of Welcome. Mr. G. Layton Grier: Gentlemen of the Convention : It gives me a great deal of pleasure to welcome the Northern Nut Growers' Association to the Peninsula. We have long needed this conference. Most people are, I presume, as unfortunately situated as myself. When I came to consider the sub- ject of nuts I found much to my chagrin that my thoughts naturally ran along humorous rather than constructive lines, and yet T know that, wherever you find them, nuts are properly a matter of serious 16 concern. They challenge our attention without regard to whether they are running wild or growing wild. The attendance at this con- ference in itself guarantees the dignity and economic importance of your general theme. Indeed, it is not often that we are able to con- vene in one room a group of men, many of whom are not only nationally but internationally known. I note with much pleasure the attendance of Dr. J. Russell Smith, one of the greatest living authorities on Economic Geography. I am sure tliat when he has spoken on the gen- eral theme of Nut Trees Suitable to the- Chesapeake Country, we will have had the final word upon the subject. Dr. Cory, Maryland State Entomologist, Willard Bixby of New York, C. A. Reed of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York, J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Conrad Vollertsen, and last but not least Dr. E. C. Auchter of the University of Maryland, are all men whose con- tributions would dignify any conference. I therefore feel that this gathering is a real event in the economic life of our Peninsula. It is an event because it heralds our growing appreciation of the scientist and the value of the research activities for which he is responsible. It is one of the ironies of our times that while agriculturists and horticulturists are as deeply indebted to the scientists as are the mem- bers of any other calling or profession, agriculture is the one occupa- tion in which pure science is apparently held in the least regard. In manufacture the practical operator recognizes the value of scientific formulas. Far seeing men are appropriating not only thousands but millions of dollars to the support of industrial research. The growers of our commercial crops, however, are still largely inclined to proceed by rule of thumb methods, operating on a trial and error basis, thereby undoubtedly adding very materially to the cost of overhead. Of course we are, through various governments and state growers, and our colleges and universities, conducting horticultural and agri- cultural research activities of great value. However, pure science is still regarded with suspicion in many rural circles. I, of course, have no notion concerning the nut producing possibili- ties of the Peninsula. Indeed, I presume that is what we are here to find out. I realize, as Dr. Smith has pointed out, that we Americans do not take the tree crops seriously. We overlook the fact almost entirely that nuts are food. Indeed, our attitude toward these tree 17 crops is generally recreational. We sally forth in the autumn to gather nuts as a diversion. Our expeditions are designed to please the chil- dren. When we buy nuts occasionalh^ in the stores we classify them as luxuries. "Nuts and candy" are, I believe, still traditionally correct Christmas gifts for the youngsters. That fact is indicative of their status. And yet, for all of that, we are really consuming immense quantities of nuts. It astonishes me to learn that in 1926 we imported 22,679,- 000 pounds of shelled walnuts and 21,000,000 pounds of walnuts that were not shelled. How many dollars this represents I do not know, but unquestionably' millions. It is not my intention to indulge in a technical discussion as there are experts in attendance to advise you. I am simply trying to make it clear what this conference has already done for me. It has chal- lenged my interest and has awakened me to a realization of the possible economic values with which you are dealing. It should and no doubt will awaken an interest in others whose knowledge of the subject is no greater than mine. All of this is by way of saying, that down here on the Peninsula we actually know very little about nut culture. Certainly we have no local data upon which to base a claim that we can grow nnts commer- cially and at a profit. We know that we can grow nut trees, and that these trees bear a varying harvest. The unregulated tree ajapears to be rather unde- pendable. Our problem, I presume, is to find out whether we can make our trees reliable servants. The man who invents or perfects a new commercial crop for the Peninsula deserves a place in the annals of the great. What we need is a nut growing Burbank. Some day someone will bring forth a wal- nut that can be cracked without the aid of a trip hammer; a walnut in which it is possible to find the meat without securing a search warrant or the assistance of a private detective agency. We have the paper shelled pecan, and I hope that as time goes by we will evolve paper shells on all the nuts we grow. The practical requirement is a demonstration farm on the Peninsula 18 devoted to nut culture, ^^'e should proceed to find out whether nut crops have commercial possibilities. If so what varieties? We want a cultural technique as well as information concerning how and where to obtain our stock. Is the seedling the thing, or can we secure better results by bud- ding? What is the scientific verdict? I am anxious to find out now that I have become interested in your proposition. As you see. I am the right kind of a man to have in your meeting because I do not know anything about the subject with which you are concerned. That makes me an ideal listener and I propose to assume my proper role. As President of the Del-Mar-Va Eastern Shore Association I welcome this convention to the Peninsula and I es- pecially desire to extend my congratulations to the representatives of our organization who are in attendance. They should profit by this session, and I sincerely trust they will emerge from it with some very concrete suggestions concerning the steps the association can properly take in helping you further the cause of nut culture. The President: I have the pleasure of introducing Mr. S. C. Shanahan, who will welcome you in behalf of the city and county. Mr. Shanahan: !Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I am tak- ing the place of the President of the Chamber of Commerce, who was unavoidably detained. A year ago it was with a great deal of pleasure that we learned that our invitation for this convention to meet here this year was ac- cepted. We did not know very much about it, but as the time approached for the convention to convene we realized we were really being honored bevond our deserts. This was still further strengthened bv the knowl- edge which I gained this morning that the Canadian Government has a represent-itive here to ask that this convention meet next year in one of the big cities in that country. We feel honored that Canada should reach its arms away down here. During your short stay here we want to co-operate with you in every way we can, we want to show you our country, which we think is very beautiful. If there is anything we can do to make your visit pleasant here, do not hesitate to let us know, and again I assure you of our very keen appreciation of your kind attendance here today. 19 RESPONSE TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME By Zenas H. Ellis, Fair Haven, Vt. It certainly is a great and signal honor to be invited and welcomed with such courteous and heartfelt words and phrases to this beautiful and productive country of yours, known as the Eastern Shore of Dela- ware, iMaryland and Virginia. Delaware, though small in area, always looms up the first and largest of all in every gathering and proces- sion of the states, as she it was who laid, yes, even herself formed, the corner stone of this our glorious union. "Maryland, My Mary- land," is a state ever noted for her impartiality and justice to all and most entitled to pose as the goddess thereof, even with unbandaged eyes. And old Virginia was the mother of our first and best president of ,ill time, past, present and future — George Washington, as Vermont is of the present one, whose good and sterling qualities are known to you all, Calvin Coolidge. Indeed, taken all together, you are a land of plenty, happiness and contentment, the land of fair women and brave men. The first any one will testify to, to the latter I myself, as you produced the brave sailor Commodore McDonough, who, with every odds against him, pre- served inviolate the lake which laves the shore of my native state, Vermont. Every thing around here betokens abundance and fruitfulness. Your location is such that you enjoy the products of both the temperate zones. You have communication by rail with every part of our country, and by water to all parts of the world. To no better place have we, nor could we. The Northern Nut Grow- ers, come. You have much to show us in our line of work, and we trust we have something to tell you that will interest and instruct you as a slight recompense for your hospitality, which has always been pro- verbial. I will take but a little more of your valuable time. It can be better used by those who come after me on the program, some from your own midst and others miles away, but all noted for their interest, zeal and experience in this, the greatest and most important question and prob- lem of our time, NUT CULTURE. 20 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS In attempting to make an address before this association at this time, I think I had first better assume the attitude of an old doctor I used to read after on the subject of beekeei^ing. He was looked up to as one of the most scientific and up-to-date beekeepers of his day. When asked a question about some mystery of the bee hive, it was his usual custom to begin his answer by first saying that he did not know and then proceed by giving his experience and observation on tlie point at issue. That was about as near as anyone could get him to commit himself to knowing a thing. I believe this will be the safest precedent for me to follow when speaking of nut growing while here in this Del- Mar-Va territory. I believe it was someone, writing under the nom-de-plume of Josh Billings, who once wrote, "What's the use of knowing so much, when so much you know ain't so?" This would have applied quite well a few years ago to our general knowledge of the propagation and planting of nut trees, but we are gradually getting away from these uncertainties, and hope and feel that we have made some really well founded progress. Then there is at least one pleasing condition connected with not knowing a thing. It places one in an easy position to change with- out notice. There is one item that was developed out of our recent walnut contest about which I want to speak, and that is the Rohwer walnut. As I have been on the ground and have come in personal contact with the person who planted the nut, from which this tree grew, and has owned and cared for it up to the present, I have had a better chance to get more complete information tlian have the members of our com- mittee who conducted the contest, and have perhaps obtained some items in its history not obtained by them. When I first heard that an Iowa variety had won second prize, I made up my mind that I should go to see the tree as soon as I could find suitable opportunity, which I arranged to do at the proper time to secure bud sticks for propagation by budding. The Rohwer tree 21 stands about eighty or eighty-five miles from where I live. We drove over there and found Mr. Rohwer to be a wealthy farmer, owning sev- eral hundred acres of that richest, Grundy County soil. The nut from * which this walnut tree was grown was selected at random and planted by Mr. Rohwer's son nineteen or twenty years ago. ]\Ir. Rohwer says he thinks the nut was planted nineteen years ago and he is certain that it was not more than twenty years. We drove into the barnyard, right up alongside of the tree. I got out and looked it over and I said, "That tree is a beauty. It is the prettiest and most perfect walnut tree I have ever seen." Forty feet in height and forty feet spread of toji. A full, tliick head of Well placed branches, which gives it a great capacity for the production of nuts. Its largest crojj consisted of eight measured bushels of hulled nuts of such size and quality as were the samples sent to our contest, and Mr. Rohwer stated that fully another bushel must have been carried away by numerous individuals and the squirrels. I don't know why (I have not yet obtained definite information on this point) but the largest cro]) the Stambaugh has produced is three bushels and the tree is fully double the age of the Rohwer. Now un- less there is some reasonable excuse for this shy bearing, such as being crowded by other timber or poor soil conditions, I would be inclined to place the Rohwer far in the lead of the Stambaugh as a commercial jiroposition. The Rohwer began bearing when it had obtained a height of about ten feet, or at about the age of four or five years. Considering its present height, it has made an average growth of two feet a year. I believe that, so far as lowans are concerned, we have struck a bonanza in the Rohwer walnut. It has originated and thrived under our trying northwestern conditions. It originated fully three hundred and fifty miles further north than the Stambaugh and I don't know, but I think we shall place it at the head of the list for northwestern planting. I regard the Thomas as none too hardy at my place, to say nothing of carrying it further north, and the Stabler I think we shall drop, except to have a few for cross-breeding purposes. Now right here, before I forget it, I want to ask a question and wish someone, who feels able to do so, would answer it at this time. Is the pollen of the black walnut invisible to the naked eye? Is it so elusive 22 that we can not capture it and handle it as we do other kinds of pollen in cross-breeding work? I will say that every attempt I have made has failed to obtain visible results. When dealing with filbert pollen one can gather it by the spoonful, if so much is wanted, and with the * aid of a tiny camel's hair brush just dose the pistillate blossoms with it, but not so with walnut pollen, I having so far been unable to find a time when it could be visibly captured. There have been two notable instances in Iowa where a person picked up a walnut at random and planted it and the result was two, new, worth-while varieties. The best one is the Rohwer and the other the Pearl. ^ have a plan to cross-breed the choicest varieties of our walnut list, which I have already begun working upon as follows : I have se- lected an isolated, thrifty, young Thomas walnut tree, which has a well formed top and plenty of room for convenient work. In order to com- pletely control the breeding I shall keep this young tree pruned back to a convenient size and confine it in a glass cloth house during the breed- ing season. I have already budded into its top the Stambaugh and Rohwer and intend placing two more varieties in this tree, which I have not yet selected, making five varieties including the Thomas. When this top has developed to the blooming age I shall remove the staminate blossoms of all the varieties except one and compel nature to do the cross-breeding for me. I shall attempt to pass this around until I have used each variety as a male parent for the others. I don't know, but I believe the best qualities of our choicest varieties can be com- bined in some such way as to create something better than we now have and I will have a lot of fun watching the developments. If I am per- mitted to live long enough I am going to try to work out about the same plan with the shagbark hickories as with the walnut. Thei^'^ are now and have been for a long time in the past, far more native shagb. 'irk hickory trees growing in my county in Iowa than wal- nuts and from tijiis I take it that the shagbark hickory is better adapted to our conditions ti'^an any nut bearing tree that grows. And I don't know but I believe if \Lthe time ever comes that the meats of our choicer varieties of shagbark hici^'ory are ofl^ered commercially, they will com- mand a higher price than awy other nut meat that can be produced in the North, or for that matter,, anywhere else. 23 However, it is a very hard proposition how best to go about it to establish a shagbark hickory orchard. I should say, buy propagated trees if you can get them, if not, plant nuts where you want the future tree, and then top work the resulting seedlings to the choice varieties. I don't know but I think I have just experience enough to warrant me in saying that by this latter plan I can beat any other plan to tlie pro- duction of shagbark hickory nuts. The most discouraging feature in establishing' a hickory orchard is the long period of time required to bring it up to profitable bearing. I have some more or less accurate data on this particular point. At home we have a shagbark hickory tree which is just about forty-eight years old, which was produced by planting a nut where the tree stands and has not since been disturbed. The first nuts produced on this tree were in its eighth year, since which time there has been a gradual increase in tlie volume of its crop until last year it produced five pecks of clean, cured nuts at the rate of fifty pounds per bushel and quite a few more were taken by the kids and squirrels before the cured crop was weighed up. At the low price of ten cents per })ound, this tree last year produced more money than the real value of the land which it occupies. What if it does take fifty years to develop such a tree? I regard it as yet only an infant just beginning a useful career, and standing in good soil with favorable surroundings, barring accidents, it is certainly good for several hun- dred years and perhaps a thousand, even a more enduring monument to its planter's memory than a slab of marble. Young people are the ones who should be planting these long-lived trees. A young man ought to live long enough to realize much benefit from such a planting. The shagbark hickory and black walnut are the nuts I like best and I am going to give the most of my attention to. They will also be more successful than any others under our Iowa conditions. There are other more or less desirable nuts which we can grow, which I will notice very briefly. The butternut is a thrifty, hardy, and fruitful tree, of which we have four outstanding varieties in Iowa, namely, Buckley, Sherwood, Utterback, and Helmick hybrid. The latter a hybrid of Sieboldi and the native butternut. Of pecans, shellbark hickories, and hiccans we have quite a list that succeed well in the southeastern part of our state but I am beginning to fear they will be of little use in my part of Iowa (I.inn County). Chestnuts do well if 24 we select the hardier varieties. Filberts, I have tried out some twenty odd varieties and have discarded the most of them. The American hazel is all right to plant in my part of Iowa and is the only nut bearing a full crop this season. A variety called Winkler we are using as a mother plant and compelling it to use Italian Red filbert pollen to fertilize its pistillate blossoms. We hope a hardy hybrid will result vvitli some better qualities than the native hazel. I don't know but I have already drawn this out too long in view of the fact that I can only speak of Iowa conditions and Iowa varieties. There is one thing for the future benefit of the members of this Association that perhaps we should begin to consider and that is co- operative advertising, cracking, and selling of the products of our orchards. The past, present, and future of this association has been so well covered by my recent predecessors in this office that I think it useless to attempt to re-hasli anything in this line at this time. In closing I wisli to kindly thank all those who contributed to the arrangement of the splendid program we have before us. Your advice was good, timely, and thoroughly appreciated. The President: Is the pollen of the black walnut invisible to the naked eye.'' Is it so elusive.'' Dr. Morris: It is abundant if the catkins are ripe. I presume from what you said that you were dealing with catkins that were not fully ripened. Possibly you have a variety that does not make pollen. The President: The Thomas is wliat I try to get it from. Dr. Morris: That pollinates abundantly. 26 THE SECRETARY'S REPORT Your secretary has had but little experience in budding trees, none in grafting or propagating new varieties. His experience as a secretary was never greater than that which falls upon the shoulders of some such officer in a local club or social organization. The first thing done, naturally, was to issue a call for help. Letters were written to each vice-president asking for a report of the situation in his or her jurisdiction concerning the interest in nut growing plants, as far as his observation extended. Suggestions for future action to extend to the public a knowledge of the value of nut trees for food and shade, and also means of bettering the nut industry were requested. Not many responses were made. Miss M. V. Landman of Cran- bury. New Jersey, sent a very full report with many ideas of value. The Department of Agriculture of North Carolina stated it was not interested so much in plans for producing nuts as it was in a plan for selling them. These letters were turned over to the members of the program committee for development as might seem best to them. Having had some 3'ears back, a little experience in newspaper work, your secretary decided he could best serve this organization by letting the general public know of its existence. The Illinois Central Railroad Co. at Decatur, Illinois, has quite a park adjoining its station grounds. A suggestion was made to the company that chestnut trees be planted there, both for the beauty of the trees and as proof to the residents of Decatur, and to the tourist passing by, that chestnuts would grow in Illinois, and also were a valuable addition to the landscape. A most cordial response was made by Mr. L. A. Downs, President of the Illinois Central System, and four trees were ordered from Miss Amelia Riehl of Godfrey, Illinois. When the ground was meas- ured for planting it was found there was room for five trees. Miss 26 Riehl manifested her interest in the attempt by donating the fifth tree. The trees were planted in November, 1926. All are living and growing vigorously; one has blooms on three out of four branches. The next attempt at publicity was prompted by an invitation to attend an apple show. Why not have a nut show ? An appeal was made to W. G. Bixby, of Baldwin, New York; J. F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa.; J. F. Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana; Amelia Riehl of God- frey, Illinois ; O. H. Casper of Anna, Illinois ; Whitf ord Brothers of Farina, Illinois, and Conrad Vollertsen of Rochester, New York. Each responded at once and as a result, in the Public Library of Decatur, Illinois, on a table near the main entrance were displayed nine varie- ties of chestnuts, two pecans, two hiccans, five black walnuts, three shellbark and three shagbark hickories, chinkapins, butternuts, Ja}^- anese walnuts, Japanese heartnuts, hazelnuts and filberts, all grown in Illinois. With those sent from other states forty-three specimen plates of nuts were exhibited. The next adventure in publicity was a request to the City Council of the Federation of Parent-Teachers Associations to plant nut trees on Arbor Day, on the grounds of the public schools with appropriate cere- monies. The oak is the emblem of the Council, and it decided to plant a red oak as its contribution to Arbor Day, but recommended planting nut trees for the pleasure of the children upon the school grounds. This was done at six of the schools. Arbor and Bird Days are fixed for some time in April or October by proclamation by the governor. An appeal was made to Governor Small to call attention to nut trees for Arbor Day, especially when so many kinds are native of Illinois. His response was pleasing and prompt. He designated April 8th as Arbor Day, and October 7th as Bird Day. In his proclamation he inserted this paragraph; "I would particularly direct attention to the advantage of plant- ing trees which produce edible nuts. Our soil in many places is well adapted to the production of all the varieties common to the temperate zone and I believe that such trees at maturity will prove not only sources of pleasure but also of profit to their owners." 27 This same request was also made of the governors of several other states. Most of the executives referred it to the horticultural depart- ments and what was done never was reported to this office. The letter to the Governor of Kentucky was referred to the State Forester, Mr. Fred B. Merrill of Frankfort. His department was not only interested in the idea but wanted to know where the nuts might be sold, as large quantities of black walnuts grow in that state and are wasted, as no market facilities for the producers have been developed. Mr. Merrill became a member of this association. About this time it became apparent that somebody was advertising the details of the contest for the best black walnut. As soon as the details came to the secretary he forwarded copies of the rules of the contest to the secretary of the State Board of Horticulture and he very kindly published the same in the monthly bulletin of that depart- ment. This bulletin goes to all parts of Illinois and to the office of similar boards in other states. The rules of the contest were sent to the presidents of several rail- roads which serve territory in wliich walnut trees grow. The Illinois Central Railroad and the Wabash Railway each published these in their magazines. Copies of these go to their agents, shippers, stockholders and the press. This aided the publicity campaign. Fifteen hundred circulars were distributed telling the plans of this association and what its ambitions were, also giving reasons why the reader should join and support the organization. The result of this publicity was a flood of letters asking for the names of nurserymen who grew nut trees. Others wanted to know how to grow them, when to plant them, how to bud them, what was a fair price for nut-meats, etc., etc. One lady wanted to know if 35c per pound was a fair price. Another said she was getting tired of cracking walnuts with a hammer and a brick and asked information about nut cracking machinery. Those who think no interest is being taken in nut trees nor in the activities of this association have been misinformed. Among the dozens of letters asking for instruction on various points of the nut industry was a letter from Portland, Oregon, stating that 28 the writer was about to plant five hundred acres to black walnuts and wanted to know where he could purchase them. Another letter stated that the writer and his brother contemplated planting seventy-five thousand (75,000) black walnut trees on twenty-five hundred (2500) acres in Oklahoma and asked for information. An attorney at Mattoon, Illinois, wished information because he and some friends were about to plant forty acres to nut trees. A young soldier of Decatur, wlio served with honor over seas, said his mother owned fourteen acres in Soutliern Illinois, and wanted to know if nut trees would grow there, etc. A lady living in Oregon wrote that she was about to move to Southern Illinois, where she owned eighty acres of land and intended to make her home. She wanted to know all about nut trees, planting varieties, etc., and whether they would grow in the county she named. Questions like these need careful consideration for a little bad advice might easily cause a serious loss. Fortunately, the land of the young soldier and of the lady from Oregon in Illinois is surrounded by walnut and pecan groves of native trees. Near them are nursery- men of character and skill, members of this association, who are ready to help and instruct them. Your secretary advised each of these people to join this association, subscribe for the American Nut Journal, buy the bulletins on nut culture advertised in the Journal, especially the book on Nut Culture by Dr. Morris, write to Washington for Farmer's bulletins Nos. 1392 and 1501 on the black walnut, and also consult C A. Reed, Associate Pomologist, Nut Culture Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C. The next event was the secretary's appearance as a lecturer at the Illinois State Fair, August 26th. The officials of the Department of Agriculture are in hearty sympathy with this association and its ambi- tions. Handsome premiums were off'ered for exhibits of nuts grown in Illinois. This premium list was re-instated this year at the sugges- tion of this association, and an unexpected display was made. It both surprised and pleased the officials of the fair. Through the courtesy of Mr. C. A. Reed, fifty-one lantern slides were sent to your secretary. There were very fine pictures of nut trees which aroused much interest among those who saw them. 29 In this connection, your secretary is pleased to call attention to the 23rominence of Illinois in the contest for the best black walnut. The first j^rize and several others went to people living in Illinois. Three different events in your secretary's endeavors to carry on a campaign of information and education, have magnified two needs which should receive attention. The first is an increase in the active membership in the associa- tion. If the various agricultural schools could be persuaded to interest young peoi)le so that they would take the student membership when the school is teaching nut culture, this would help. If the Farm Bureau members would encourage tlie members of the -i-H Clubs to become members of this association and make planting of nut trees about the home grounds, one of the objects of the various clubs, the farmsteads would be more beautiful and the home lives of the members have a greater attraction. If the various park boards of our cities would plant a nut arboretum of tliose nut bearing plants native to the state in whicli the park is located, the enthusiasm of youth could be easily enlisted to protect the trees. When children are drafted into the enterprise, it will not be long before the sympathy of the parents becomes aroused and they too will gladly help the children in their efl'orts. This, of course, is a large proposition. It requires publicity and be adopted on the first presentation, but as a plan of improvement. The details should be carefully worked out and so presented as to con- vert the hearers to the value of the enterprise advocated. The second need of this association is a plan for marketing the nut products. Largely because of the publicity given by the nut contest, which will be reported by Dr. William C. Deming and Mr. Willard G. Bixby, the secretary has received letters from citizens of Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Carolina and Virginia. Some asked, "Where can we sell the nut meats we have.^" Others ask, "Will you please tell us where we can buy walnut meats.?" One man wrote about a year ago, "I want seven car loads of black walnuts. Can you tell me where I can get them?" If ten men have nuts or nut products for sale, they can appoint one 30 member of the group to advertise that fact at less expense than if all ten men advertised. If all their product is brought to one place, packed, shipped and sold, it would cost less than if each of the ten conducted the business. That, on a small scale, is co-operative marketing. Walnut kernels last year, as disclosed by correspondence, were sold all tlie way from 30c to $1.00 per pound. Chestnuts were sold in Illinois, all the way from 15c to 40c per pound. Something is wrong with the market methods when such variations in price exist for goods of uniform quality. While at the Illinois State Fair in August, a gentleman asked where he could sell black walnuts. He said, "The timber of Pike County is full of walnut trees. It would be easy to get the Boy Scouts to bring them in if they only knew where they could sell them." He said, "I recently moved to my new home. We had more than a bushel of black walnuts on liand. We did not care to take them with us, so we put them on tlie trash pile and burned them." Because of the various incidents mentioned, it seems to me this or- ganization should compile a list of producers and a list of buyers so as to make it worth while to plant superior kinds of nut trees for the future betterment of quality, but in the meantime to help sell such nuts as are available now. The foregoing different events detail the efforts made by the secre- tary to extend a knowledge of the aspirations of the Northern Nut Growers' Association to educate the public concerning the value of nut bearing plants for food and shade, and if possible, to stop an economic waste. When the public realizes that we import nuts to the value of about one million dollars per week, most of which may be produced in this country, they will know such procedure is a waste and nothing else. It is time that the agricultural schools follow the advice of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. They should find out what nut bearing plants are suitable for their several states, then through their school journals and publications spread the information. Through the Farm Bureaus the results of their studies and experiments may be brought home to the farms, and thousands of acres made a source of revenue wliieh are now idle and unproductive. 31 If your secretary lias done any one thing commendable, it is due to the unfailing good will and co-operation at all times, and under all circumstances, manifested toward him by Dr. William C. Deming, C. A. Reed, Lewis Edwin Theiss, W. G. Bixby, Ralph Olcott, Dr. Robert T. Morris, A. S. Colby, Thomas P. Littlepage, and Dr. J. Russell Smith besides those already mentioned, and many others. The kindness, sympathy and appreciation of efforts made, shown to your secretary, creates a glow of gratitude in his heart that words can neither picture nor express. Here is one letter I would like to read to the people who think that nut growing cannot be carried on and that they ought not to go into it because it is so discouraging and such hard work: Normandy, Tenn., March 19, 1927 Your letter of last Nov. 6th reached me, sick, helpless, diabetes vic- tim, leg off. I am now some better and write you. My heart is still for pecans, especially, and fruited some nice ones last October. A boy was here a few days ago, all enthusiasm, for he had seen the products. The Major is a favorite. Have the Luckado, which should bear this season of Major type. Am charmed with its thrift. Also Marquardt, which I hope to fruit also. Have it grafted on large pecan. I successfully did all kinds of propagating, pecan on hickory, etc. The latter on shellbark, so far is doing well. Have you minutes of St. Louis meeting? And of last Fall? Price them. I keep pecans at head of bed, and show them to inquirers. They can scarcely believe that such fine paper shelled nuts can be grown here. From my work as a nucleus, a great planting will be made. I see that cominff. Thanks for information as to minutes. Am seated on bed with machine on my Morris. J. W. Waite I will read the report of Mr. John E. Cannaday of Charleston, West Virginia. Although I have been observing walnuts, as well as the European varieties of filberts, for more than ten years and' have planted a num- ber of them, I have yet to see any promising indication of a crop in this particular section which, with the adjacent hills, varies from 600 to 1800 feet above sea-level. I have a few northern belt pecan trees that have grown rapidly. Some of them have been out for eight years. This year one pecan set on one of them. 32 Hickories, while very numerous throughout this section, seem, in the case of the shell bark, to bear but sparingly. In the higher altitudes, up between two and three thousand feet above sea-level, they apparently do a great deal better. Pignut types bear profusely. The chestnut blight is going strong throughout this section, the infestation being now over ninety per cent. This will hit the wild chestnut business a body blow in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Moun- tains section. I do not doubt but what in tlie course of time our chest- nut trees will dcA'elop a relative immunity or higher resistance to the blight, just as happened in China and Japan, where trees are infested with blight but the disease makes but little headway and the tree goes on about its business. It has been observed, time and again, that where the plant or organism has been brought in contact with the disease, the plant or animal ultimately becomes able to defend itself. In spite of the blight, one sees many large healthy trees that have been but very slightly affectedi I believe it is of the utmost importance that the planting of both Chinese and Japanese chestnut trees be encouraged. My young trees of these varieties, about six years old from the nursery, have as yet shown no signs of blight. In this part of the country, which usually includes southern Ohio, the most successful nut bearing trees, will, I believe, always include the black walnut, butternut and Japanese walnut. They all grow rapidly, bearing early and regularly, and are good shade trees as well. I do not know of a more stately shaped tree than the pecan, but as to whether it will be profitable, commercially, in this section, as a nut bearer, remains to be seen. Countries somewhat adjacent to large bodies of water are much less troubled by late spring frosts than other sections, but land dis- tricts such as ours are often severely dealt with by late spring frosts. On a recent trip through Virginia I noticed, at Culpepper, a large and flourishing English walnut tree, and was told that it bore a con- siderable quantity of nuts nearly every year. For my own home loca- tion I believe that, with the exception of Japanese walnuts, we will have to stick to native things. 88 Beech nuts are of course plentiful, in fact most years we have them in great 2:)rofusion. While very small they are most delicious and are much sought after by hogs, turkeys and by much of the wild life of the woods. The time may come when they will be gathered), shelled, cleaned and marketed as are pinon nuts in the West. Superior large varieties may also be located. Acorns of the usual sorts, red oak, chestnut oak and white oak are always at hand. The American Indians leached out the bitter prin- ciple and made an edible substitute for mush, or grits, from acorns. With the increasing population, andi diminishing food supply, all pos- sible sources of nutriment will of necessity have to be considered in the future. TREASURER'S REPORT From Sept. 1st, 1926 to Aug. 31st, 1927, both dates inclusive //. J . Hilliard, Treasurer, Sound View, Conn. RECEIPTS From previous year % 365.28 Advertisements 59.70 Contributions 381.55 Interest -57 Sales of Literature 19.16 Membership Plan No. 6 115.50 " No. 11 231.00 Balance in Nut Prize Fund 16.46 $1189.22 Expenditures 1016.68 Balance at close of the year % 172.54 Said balance consists of Deposit in Middletown National Bank, Middletown, Ct $ 156.47 " Litchfield Savings Society, Litchfield, Ct 15.20 Cash on hand -87 % 172.54 34 DETAIL OF EXPENSES Envelopes and Printing $ 19.66 Letterheads and Printing 21.50 Bill Heads 10 Postage 57.76 Postal Cards 1.00 Insurance and Registry Fees 1.1 S Express 2.56 Cartage ^ .41 Telephoning, Telegraphing, Etc 14.84 Stenographic Work, Etc. Wilma T. Green 12.80 Time, Membership List. Violet Bourne 3.75 100 Post Cards and Multigraphing. Violet Bourne 2.41 160 Letters and Multigraphing. Violet Bourne 2.95 Stenographic Work, Etc. Wilma T. Green 12.80 Clerical Work. Florence R. Sloane 2.75 500 Copies 16th Annual Report, 128 Pages and Cover at $2.00. . 264.00 Mailing 16th Annual Report 2.00 Reporting 17th Annual Convention. Mrs. S. K. Oswalt 50.00 Hotel Expenses 17th Annual Convention. Mrs. S. K. Oswalt.. 12.50 Hotel Expenses 17th Annual Convention. Secretary 9.00 Meals, 17th Annual Convention. Secretary 14.43 Railroad and Pullman Tickets. Secretary 65.25 Painting Sign for Hotel Entrance, 17th Annual Convention. . . . 3.00 Complimentary tickets, 17th Annual Convention 4.50 500 Copies 17th Annual Report. 132 Pages and Cover at $2.00. . 272.00 Taxi and street car fare 1.50 Tickets 2.25 Mimeographing, Addressing Envelopes, Etc 18.59 Folder. Walnut Bulletin 58.53 2 Filing Boxes 1.20 Rubber Stamp for Secretary .80 1500 Reprints of Association Circular 7.00 $1016.68 NUT PRIZE FUND Balance from Previous Year $ 137.20 Contributions 275.00 Sales of Nuts 24.70 $ 436.90 Expenses $276.44 Prizes 144.00 420.44 Balance $ 16.46 35 EDIBLE ACORNS AS FOOD FOR MAN LIVESTOCK AND FOWLS By Robert T. Morris, New York City Most of us have had a sort of general knowledge about acorns with- out thought of their potential in the way of future food supply. It was only when my interest happened to become engaged in a special way that the subject began to expand rapidly and I soon found that a whole lifetime could be devoted to this one subject. The situation was very much like that in which the German professor found himself when he suddenly realized that he had wasted a lifetime on verbs when he should have given all effort to concentration upon the dative case. The subject of acorns for food supply has remainedi in the back- ground for the reason that farmers are now producing so much more food than we can use that they do not know what to do with the over- supply. Farmers are trying all sorts of quack methods for relief in order to escape from a situation which they have brought upon them- selves. The next move, it seems to me, will not be so much in the way of finding new food supplies but rather the cheapening of those which we already have. Cheapening of the ones which we already have will occur when the expense of labor and tillage of the soil for the raising of annual crops will diminish and we then turn to subsoil crops which avoid the expense of tillage and labor. Acorns already belong to tree crops which are utilized largely as food for livestock and fowls and in many parts of the world they constitute a basic food supply for man. It is only recently that the screw point of my interest in acorns became engaged in the thread of the subject. My friend, Dr. B. L. McClellan of Xenia, Ohio, sent on some acorns from Yellow Springs in his state. He said that they were not only highly prized by pigs and fowls but that he had eaten them roasted and boiled and found them to be particularly good. I went out to Yellow Springs and looked over the oak tree. It was a narrow leaved chestnut oak (Quercus Muehlenbergii). Other trees of the species 36 grew in the vicinity. There were few chestnuts in that vicinity and the fruit from this narrow leaved oak took the place of chestnuts for pigs, fowls and boys. I began to look into the question more deeply. Some of us are al- ready familiar with the fattening of cattle, hogs and fowls on acorn mast. Some of us older members remember perhaps to have seen a hun- dred, thousand wild pigeons sweep into an oak hillside, these to be fol- lowed by another hundred thousand) and another. We liardly realized the enormous number of tons of acorns that were being picked up by the wild pigeons. Oak trees are adapted to a very wide variety of soils, in fact, I do not know that we have any soils that bear trees of any kind which will not grow some of tlie more tlian fifty species of oak trees and shrubs wliich are indigenous to this country. Many kinds can be raised upon the prairies where there are now no trees. The prairies were treeless in the past because of fires rather than because the soil was not adapted to hardwood growtli. We know that even from seedling oak trees the crop of acorns exceeds in food value the crop of corn which may be raised by tillage upon good land. When we come to making selection, hybridization and grafting, the history witli tlie oak trees will presumably be almost precisely that which has applied to other fruit and nut trees. Further- more, some of the trees will produce heavy crops of mast upon rocky and upon soil that is too poor to grow crops of annual plants with tillage. Cattle, horses and fowls will eat acorns that are distasteful to man because of tannin, berberine and other extractives, but there arc a num- ber of species of oaks bearing so-called sweet acorns which are all ready for roasting and boiling or for being made into flour for man's uses. Many of the species of oaks which bear bitter acorns are already used bv man after artificial preparation which removes the elements interfer- ing with the good taste and acorns of this sort as well as sweet acorns are made into cakes and porridge. A well flavored oil is extracted from several species of acorns and in others the acorn cups alone produce such a high percentage of tannin and of coloring matter that the cups pay for the cost of gather- ing the harvest of nuts which have their own special value. 37 In the absence of extended study of acorns for food for man and his farm stocky I had thought best at this meeting to start the ball rolling by writing a number of authorities and obtaining reports which might be assembled. I have learned, however, that Dr. J. Russell Smith h.is very complete and important notes relating to acorns, in manuscriiit form. These will appear in a new book entitled Tree Crops, to be published shortly. Mr. H. R. ^losnat of Chicago, Illinois, has turned over to me a letter from Mr. A. B. Hastings, Acting Assistant Forester, Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, who quotes from a memorandum of Mr. W. A. Dayton, Associate Plant Ecologist: "In general it is 2orobably safe to say that the acorns of the White Oak group are sweeter than those of the Black Oak group. "The acorns of the Swamp Cliestnut Oak, locally known as Bas- ket Oak (Quercus prinus — Q. michauxii) are sweet and edible. Cer- tain individual trees of the Chinquapin Oak, popularly known as Chest- nut Oak (Quercus Muehlenbergii — Q. acuminata) bear edible acorns. Probably other trees in this group of eastern oaks also, at least occasion- ally, have acorns that are suited to human consumption. I liave my- self, as an experiment, roasted the acorns of White Oak (Q. alba) and liave found them not unpalatable. "In the Southwest, the acorns of the Mexican Blue Oak (Q. oblongi- folia) form an important article of diet among certain Indians. In California and Oregon a number of the white-oak-group oaks are prized by various Indian tribes for the acorns, whereof they make bread, soup, etc. Among these are tlie Valley White Oak (Q. lobata), Oregon White Oak, Oregon Oak, or Gerry Oak (Q. Gerryana) and Blue, Oregon, or Douglas Oak (Q. Dougiasii). "The Holly Oak, or Holm Oak of southern Europe (Q. ilex) is famous, especially in var. rotundifolia and other forms, for its edible acorns which are i3rizel by Italians, Spaniards, etc. The acorns of some of the forms of this species are said to turn sweet in storage. Quercus ballota of Morocco bears large edible oily acorns that form an article of trade with Spain. "In Japan the nuts of the Blue Japanese oak (Quercus glauca) are 38 an important article of food, being extensively cooked and eaten. Two of tlie tanbark oak group (Lithocarpus Quercus), at least, have edible acorns, viz.: Lithocarpus edulis (Quercus edulis) of Japan and Litho- carpus cornea (Quercus cornea) of China. In England it is said that certain individual trees of Quercus sessiliflora are noted for the sweet- ness of their acorns." Mr. H. Ness, horticulturist of the Texas State Experiment Station published an article entitled "Hybrids of the Live Oak and Over- cup Oak" in the Journal of Heredity, Vol. IX, No. 6, Washington, D. C, October, 1918 and has published subsequent notes making the comment that he has become impressed with the ease with which fertile hybrids may arise between species of oaks, even though their relation- ship be apparently quite distinct. A number of second generation trees from the hybrids of Mr. Ness have been obtained and the notes should be added to any bibliography now being assembled bearing on the subject of acorns. Mr. Ness says that, "Because of the ease with which the hybridization of the live oak can be effected, the high fertility of its hybrids and other virtues already mentioned, to which, very likely, will be added improvement of the timber, there can be no doubt but that the breeding of new forms of oaks as here indicated has great economic and aesthetic possibilities." In response to my letter to Dr. V. K. Chestnut, Associate Chemist of The Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration at Washington, Dr. Chestnut replied that I will find notes of value for my purpose in his official report entitled "Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino Co. Cal., published in Contributions to the National Herbarium V. 7, pages 333-344, 1902. Mr, Ernest H. Wilson, Keeper of the Arnold Arboretum at Jamaica Plain, Mass., sends me the following notes from "Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants." (pp. 479-82). Quercus aegilops Linn. Cupuliferae. Caniata or Camatina Oak. Valonia Oak. South Europe and Syria. The cups, known as valonia, are used for tanning and dyeing as are the unripe acorns called camata or cam- atina. The ripe acorns are eaten raw or boiled. Q. agrifolia Nee. California Field Oak. 39 The acorns are eaten by the Indians. Q. alba Linn. White Oak. Northeast America. The dried acorns are macerated in water for food by the natives on the Roanoke. Acorns were dried and boiled for food by the Narragansetts. Oak acorns were mixed with their pottage by the Indians of Massachusetts. Baskets full of parched acorns, hid in the ground, were discovered by the Pilgrims December 7, 1620. White oak acorns were boiled for "oyl" by the natives of New England. The fruit of some trees is quite pleasant to the taste, especially when roasted. Q. cocci f era Linn. Kermes Oak. Mediterranean region. The acorns were used as food by the an- cients. Q. cornea Lour. China. The acorns are used for food. I>oudon says the acorns are ground into a paste in China, which, mixed with the flour of corn, is made into cakes. Q. Emoryi Torr. Western North America. This tree furnishes acorns, which are used by the Indians of the West as a food. Q. Garry ana Dougl. W^estern Oak. Western North America. The acorns furnish the Indians with food and are stored by them for future use. Q. ilex Linn, including Q. ballota. Ballota, Bellot, or Belote Oak. Holly Oak. Mediterranean region and the Orient. From varieties of this tree, says Mueller, are obtained the sweet and nourishing ballota and chest- nut acorns. Figuier says this species is common in the south of France, and that the acorns are sweet and eatable. Brandis says the acorns form an important article of food in Spain and Algeria. The acorns are eaten in Barbary, Spain and Portugal under the name of belote. In Arabia, also, they are eaten cooked, and an oil is extracted from them. In Palestine, they are sold in all the bazaars. Q. lobata Nee. California W'hite Oak. California. The acorns form a large proportion of the winter food of the Indians of North California. The acorns, from their abundance and edible nature, form a very important part of the subsistence of the Digger Indians and are collected and stored for winter use. Q. Michaiixii Nutt. Q. Prinus. Basket Oak. Cow Oak. 40 North America. The large^ sweet, edible acorns are eagerly de- voured by cattle and other animals. Q. oblongifolia Torr. Evergreen Oak. Live Oak. California and New Mexico. This species furnishes the Indians of the West with acorns for food use. Q. persica Jaub. et Spach. Manna Oak. Persia. The acorns are eaten in southern Europe and, in southern Persia, afforded material for bread. The leaves also furnish a manna. In olden times, as we read in Homer and Hesiod, this was the common food of the Arcadians. There is, however, much reason to suppose that chestnuts, which were named in the times of Theophrastus and Dios- corides "Jupiter acorns" and "Sardian acorns," are often alluded to when we read of people having lived on acorns in Europe; and, in Africa, dates are signified, because they were likewise called by Herod- otus and Dioscorides acorns and palm-acorns. Batholin says that in Norway acorns are used to furnish a bread. During the famine in France in 1709, acorns were resorted to for sustenance. In China, the fruits of several species of oak are used as food for man, and a kind of curd is sometimes made from the ground meal. Oak bark is pounded bv the Digger Indians of California and used as food in times of famine. Q. phellos Linn. Willow Oak. Eastern States of North America. The acorns are edible. Q. printis Linn. Q. montana. Chestnut Oak. Northeastern America. The fruit is sweet and abundant. Q. robur Linn. Black Oak. Truffle Oak. Europe and western Asia. Varieties are mentioned by Tenore as bearing edible acorns. This species yields a manna-like exudation in Kurdistan. Hanbury says a saccharine substance called ddabekei manna, is found upon the leaves of the dwarf oaks about Smyrna, from which it is collected by the peasants, who use it instead of butter in cooking their food. The taste is saccharine and agreeable. Q. undulata Torr. Rocky Mountain Scrub Oak. California. The acorns are sweet and edible. Q. virginiana jNIill. Live Oak. Eastern North America. Eastern Indians consumed large quanti- ties of the acorns and also obtained from them a sweet oil much used in cookery. Mr. H. C. Skeels, Associate Botanist, of the Bureau of Plant In- 41 dustry, Washington, sends me at Dr. Galloway's request, the enclosed notes on edible acorns which have been introduced in the group of foreign seed and plant introductions. Quercus ilex L. From Ronda, Spain. Seeds presented by Mrs. N. Low, at the re- quest of Dr. D. Fairchild. The Ballota is only a seedling variation of Quercus Ilex, which in the Balearic Islands, is so much appreciated because of its large, sweet acorns that it is grafted on the bitter-acorn-bearing form as a stock. In southern Spain I was assured that acorns from a sweet Ballota tree would produce trees with sweet acorns. (Fairchild). Quercus junghuhni Miquel. From Bangkok, Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. Xo. 88, Chiengmai, Siam. A tree 80 to 90 feet high, fine wood, and said to be a quick grower. The acorns are very small like the chinqua- pin, with the shape of the chestnut. Real sweet, the best of all the edible acorns. (Rock) Quercus Undleyana Wall. From Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. Xo. 77a, from Bangkok, Siam. Grows in dry piny, grassy re- gions. Might thrive on the pine lands of Florida. Deciduous. These acorns are not quite so sweet as those of the other oaks. (Rock) Quercus polystachya Wall. From Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. Xo. 78, from Bangkok, Siam. A medium sized tree, bearing small edible acorns in densely packed spikes, sometimes over a hundred nuts on one spike. The tree grows in quartz sand, loam soil, hot regions ; elevation about 2500 feet. (Rock) Quercus sootepensis Craib. From Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. X'^o. 82, from Bangkok, Siam. Valuable oaks which grow on dry, shady or gravelly slopes, at altitudes of 2.400 to 5.000 feet, and I should think that they would thrive in California and also in Florida. The acorns are very sweet and are eaten roasted. I have eaten many of them myself and they are rather good. The trees are prolific bearers, and seeds are plentiful just now. (Rock) Quercus thomsom Miquel. From Siam. Seeds collected bv J. F. Rock. 42 No. 89, from Bangkok. Siam. Valuable oaks which grow on dry, shady or gravelly slopes, at altitudes of 2,400 to 5000 feet, and I should think that they would thrive in California and also in Florida. The acorns are very sweet and are eaten roasted. I have eaten many of them myself and they are rather good. The trees are ])rolific barers, and seeds are plentiful just now. The acorns are flat, thin shelled and sweet. (Rock) Quercus truncata King. From Siam. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock. No. 75. from Bangkok, Siam. This oak grows in quartz-sand .soil in deciduous forests. It is one of the most prolific bearers of the region. The acorns are about an inch long and not quite half an inch thick, with thick shells. They are borne in dense spikes and sometimes grow to- gether in the shape of a fan. The whole spikes fall and cover the ground. Natives roast and eat them. (Rock) Lithocarpus cornea (Lour.) Rehder. From Hongkong, China. Seeds purchased from \\'. J. Tutcher, Botanical and Forestry" Department. An oak-like tree with oblong, sharp-pointed evergreen leaves 2 to 4 inches long, which are smooth and green on the under side interest- ing particularly as bearing acorns as hardshelled as the nuts of the American hickory and which contains a kernel almost as sweet as the sweetest Spanish chestnut. Said to be a very showy ornamental as grown on the island of Hongkong. (Fairchild) Prof. W. L. Jepson of Berkeley, California, in answer to my ques- tion sent the following notes under date of September 21, 1927: "As to the use of acorns for food by the native tribes, it is to be said that all species were used. In general the White Oaks, Quercus douglasii, Quercus garryana, and Quercus lobata, were most frequently employed, but the more astringent Black Oaks, Quercus agrifolia, Quercus kelloggii, and Quercus wislizenii, furnished ample crops, the ground meal being subject to leaching before baking into a sort of loaf. "This same observation applies also to the very abundant Lithocar- pus densiflora, or Tan Oak, of the Redwood belt. The acorns of this species were extensively used by the Indians and even within com- parativelj^ recent years one has been able to see Indian women leaching 43 flour made from Tan Oak acorns, the leaching' being done in the sandy beds of northern rivers. "There is undoubtedly very great variation in the quality and yield of the various individual trees of one species, even in a given locality. Trees notable for their yield and especially for the quality of their acorns, were the special property, in aboriginal days, of a particular family or small tribe. This fact of variation is true as well of the Black Oaks ; for example, the Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia, varies so remarkably in the edibility of the acorns as borne by these trees that the yield of certain trees is estimated by white men as a sub- stitute for chestnuts. There are gardeners in the great Del Monte grounds at Monterey who gather the acorns of a certain Coast Live Oak tree which stands in that area and eat them as they go about their work just as they might chestnuts. "Some further material upon this matter' can be obtained from my Silva of California, which is in the New York Library and in the library of the New York Botanical gardens. There is also an article entitled "Food Products of the Native Trees" on page 161- of my small manual entitled "The Trees of California," Edition 2. Doubtless this can also be consulted at the New York Botanical Garden." PRIMITIVE MANUFACTURE AND USE OE ACORN MEAL By V. K. Chestnut, U. S. Department of Agriculture I can corroborate very well what Dr. Morris has said. I am a chemist, but do not belong to the Chemical Foundation. I have, how- ever, sat at the foot of the Indian and have learned a great deal from him. I had an opportunity in 1892 to go up to an Indian reservation in northern California and make a study of their food habits. My object 44 at that time was to do some vacation work in making anthropologica] measurements of Indians for the benefit of the Chicago World's P'air Exposition. At that time I made some interesting notes on Indian foodstuffs, and among them none were more important than the in- tensely interesting methods developed by these poor, despised, Digger Indians in preparing acorn meal and in making acorn bread. A few years later I had another opportunity to go back to that reservation ,ind make a more extended study of these uses. The buckeye, which as you know, is poisonous, is a nut eaten by these Indians. They have learned by long experience how to get the poison out of it. They simply roast the nuts, slice them, ])ut them into a bag and allow them to lie in running water over niglit. The water extracts all of the poisonous saponin and leaves most of the nutriment behind. There are a great many species of oak in California. The acorns from all of these species are more or less bitter. They are very bit- ter as compared to the sweet acorns eaten in very large quantity in Ital}'. The Italians do not grind their acorns into a meal, but eat them directly without any preparation at all. Large morsels are swallowed and pass undigested through the body. The Indians of California have, however, followed the method employed everywhere by scientific stock feeders. They have learned to grind these nuts very fine before eating them. They go out when the acorns are ripe with large baskets held on the head, and with hands throw the acorns into the baskets which are thus very quickly filled. One family will often gather 8 to 10 bushels a year. They are dried in the hot sunshine, split in halves and stored in the dry condition for future use. Thus prepared there is no danger whatever of the nuts getting moldy. The grinding of these dried acorns into meal, the sifting, the elimination of the bitter principles and the transformation of the meal into mush and bread are all exceedingly interesting processes which must have been slowly evolved during hundreds of years by the older Indian women of the tribes. The methods are very much alike in all the tribes and are picturesquely portrayed in some of the j)ic- tures which I will show you this afternoon. The prominent figure in these pictures is an old Yuki squaw. I went to her tepee to take her picture, but found her apparently almost dead. I handed her a quarter 45 and started to leave, but to my great surprise she got up and was soon posing for the photograph. Her only tools were a flat stone, a bottom- less bowl-shaped basket, which sat upon the rock, a flat circular piece of basketry and a stone pestle. She sat upon the ground holding the basket in place with her legs and pounded the acorns most industriously with the pestle. Every once in a while the meal would be placed on the disc and tossed vigorously up and down on it. The finer oily parts were retained in the meshes, the coarser particles bounced back into the mortar and were reground. With infinite patience these processes were repeated from seven to ten times, until the meal was held so tenaciously by the disc that it had to be knocked off by rei^eated blows with a stick. The extraction of the bitter principle is carried out by placing the meal in a leaf-lined depression in the sand and pouring boiling water upon it. The meal is thus ])urified. The top part is removed for bread. The remainder is transferred to a water-tight basket with some water in it, and the meal is rapidly cooked by placing hot stones in the basket. Any sand transferred to the basket settles to the bottom and does not contaminate the mush. The meal reserved for bread is often mixed with 5% of a special ferruginous clay and baked at a low temperature over night. The iron oxide removes the remainder of the tannin, and the slow cooking and, possibly, enzymic action converts some of the starch into sugar. It is a very great surprise to find that the bread is thus converted from a tasteless or slightly bitter dough to a decidedly sweet but very dark cheese-like bread. This is very highly prized, even above cake, by both Indians and some white people. Several of these processes are certainly very novel and worthy of being patented. They present the Indian in a new light as an ingenious inventor, well worthy of study by the chemists of the Chemical Founda- tion, or by anv other person scientifically inclined. In most of these operations the Indians antedate the chemists by perhaps many hundreds of years. 46 SOME NUT INSECTS OF IMPORTANCE IN MARYLAND \ By Ernest N. Cory, State Entomologist, College Park, Md. \ \ V Thei .-e are a great many insects that attack nut trees, their foliage and the nu^ts themselves, in this state, but for the most part their ac- tivities are d(!^^.cidedly sporadic and not of enough consequence to warrant special control measures. However, there are a few insects that seem to be pretty generally distrib.^ted over the state, and that appear each year in some portion of the nuat growing territory. I have limited the number of insects that I will', discuss to six that might be considered as major pests. Enough is know^n with regard to the life history and habits of these six pests so that we ^^an give you a schedule of control operations that should give a fair degree- of protection to your plant- ings. Black walnuts, Persian walnuts, pecans anul chestnuts are the nuts that have been planted generally in Maryland. Of course, there are large quantities of native black walnuts, white walnuts or butter- nuts, several varieties of hickories, chinquapin and ha,_zel nuts which, in general, complicate the control of the insect pests. Certain sprays and grove practices, however, if followed with regulari'ty^ will control the major pests. Insects that Injure the Buds Two pests, requiring attention early in the season, injure the new growth, and if not controlled will continue to injure the foliage throughout the season. They are the Pecan Shoot Bore'r, Acrohasis caryae Grote, and the Pecan Bud Moth, Proteopteryx hoilUana Sling. Either of these pests is capable of so retarding the growth of the pecan and Persian walnut as to make a difference of many years jn the bear- ing age and a stunting of the tree that is anything but desir,able. The Pecan Shoot Borer This insect starts its injury when the buds are just T^eginning to unfold. The fleshy leaf stems at the terminals are bored I ,y the larvae starting at a point some distance above the attachment. The larvae generally work their way downward and the leaf withei-g and dies. The point of entrance is usually marked by a conspicuous mas., of black 47 pellets held together by a slight web. The larvae also work at the base of the leaves, usually concealed beneath the flimsy webs in which is mixed pellets of excrement. The larva is light brown and nearly half grown at the time the first leaves are unfolding. When insects are fairly abundant practically every terminal will be hollowed out or entirely eaten. This feeding sets back the tree until a new set of buds has put out. There are apparently two full broods, and possibly a third brood, of this insect during the year. The larvae live over winter in silken cocoons at the base of the buds. In early spring, possibly by April 15, the young larvae begin to bore into the buds, and later into the shoots as the leaves are unfolded. At College Park the larvae are possibly half grown by May 1st. The first pupae have been found outside on May 28th, but doubtless pupation takes place about the 15th as adults are found commonly from the last of May to the first week in June. A second lot of full grown larvae appears upon the tree about July 16. These larvae frequently web together leaves upon which they feed. A second' lot of pupae occurs around the 20th of July and adults begin to emerge by the 29th. The pupal stage is somewhat short at this time, the minimum observed being' five days and the average about ten days. It is possible that a third brood may occur under favorable conditions as the total life cycle does not average more than forty days. In that period, in any event, eggs are, no doubt, laid by the second brood and the larvae feed for a time and then spin up in their winter hibernacula at the base of the buds. The control of this insect may be effected on small trees by col- lecting the larvae from the withered shoots and destroying them. Spraying witli arsenate of lead when the buds are first beginning to unfold will undoubtedly check the pest. A second application should take place about July 15th and a third application during the second week in August. '&• The Pecan Bud Moth The larva of this moth is a pale green worm which bores into the unfolding clusters of leaves in the early spring. It begins its work after the shoot borer starts to feed. During the latter part of the season it develops on the foliage. This insect probably lives over winter in hibernacula on the tree. Eggs have been found as late. as October 48 2nd at College Park, indicating that the larvae hatching therefrom will probably live over winter. Pupae have been found as early as April 8th, but it is believed that this is an abnormally early date. The major injuries seem to occur in late May and early June. The first adults have been taken on June 27th. The second brood seems to ex- tend over a longer period, the adults having been taken from July 31st to August 19th. The final adults appear about the first of October. While no control measures have been practiced against this insect it would seem that the three arsenical spray^s advised for the shoot borer would be effective in controlling this pest. Late Appearing Insects that Defoliate the Trees The Walnut Caterpillar (Datana intergerrima G. R.) The larva of this insect is nearly black, clothed sparsely with long silvery hairs, and when full grown measures about 1^ inches long. When disturbed the larvae have the curious habit of elevating the head and tail ends of the body. They completely defoliate the limbs upon which they occur and sometimes devour all the foliage on small trees. The major injury occurs in the state about the last of July or the first week in August. In the South there are two full broods, but here. Ap- parently, there is only one brood. The pest is easily controlled by spraying with arsenicals. The Fall Web-Worm {Hyphantria cunea Drury) The larval stage is a hairy, white caterpillar that lives with a large colony of similar caterpillars within a web surrounding a group of leaves and twigs. As the larvae grow, the web is enlarged and ulti- mately a colony will destroy large amounts of foliage. The first generation does little damage as a rule, but frequently the second brood devours considerable foliage and leaves ugly unsightly webs on the trees. Like the walnut caterpillar, this pest is easily con- trolled, and it is believed that the timing of the sprays as given on the schedule will be effective in preventing major injuries by leaf feed- ing insects and tend to promote earlier fruiting and better shaped trees. Insects That Injure the Nuts There are a number of weevils and curculios that injure nuts, but 49 their life histories vary to such an extent that it does not seem wise to give a detailed description of them in this brief talk. The grower who wishes to get detailed information on these pests should refer to West Virginia Bulletin No. 128 and U. S. Department of Agriculture Bul- letin No. 1066. There is a fly maggot that injures black and Persian walnuts known as the Walnut Husk Maggot (Rhagoletis suavis Loew), that has been doing considerable damage to Persian walnuts in this state, which seems deserving of special mention. Walnut Husk Maggot The maggots attack ripening black and Persian walnuts doing a three-fold injury. In the case of Persian walnuts the eggs are deposited in the husks at a sufficiently early date to prevent the development of some of the nuts. In addition, the black juices that surround the area of infestation stain the shells so that the nuts are not desirable from a marketing standpoint. In addition, the feeding of the maggots renders it difficult and disagreeable to remove the husk from the nut. In black walnuts the ovi-position takes place at a later date, therefore the nuts mature but the feeding of the maggots makes it impossible to get the nuts thoroughly clean of the outer husk. This, however, can be overcome by the present method of polishing black walnuts. The adult insect that causes this injury is a fly about one-third inch in length, pale yellow in color, marked with dark brown. The female lays eggs in punctures in the husks and the maggots which hatch from the eggs feed beneath the husk. The maggots are about one-half inch in length. They pupate in the soil in the fall and the adults emerge the following summer, beginning about the middle of July. The first evidence of injury is likely to be a small blackened punc- ture from which there exudes a gummy liquid which runs down the side of the r>ut and stains it black. When large numbers of maggots are working beneath the husk the whole nut has a blackened appearance. These nuts fall to the ground prematurely. Experiments by the Department of Agriculture indicate that a spray early in August with arsenate of lead, either sweetened or un- sweetened, will destroy a large percentage of the adults before they have a chance to oviposit. This is the same system as used against the apple maggot in the north. It has been found that sweetening the 50 sprays is unnecessary in the control of tlie apple maggot, and it is pos- sible that good results may be obtained by spraying walnuts without the addition of the molasses. Insects That Injure the Twigs The Pecan Twig Girdler (Oncideres cingulatus Say.) Probably the most commonly noticed injury to pecan trees is that caused by the girdling of twigs. This -girdling is accomplished by the female of the pecan twig girdler. Ordinarily, the insect begins to girdle a suitable twig and then lays about eight eggs beneath the twig or leaf axils. After the eggs have been deposited the beetle returns to the work of girdling the twig and continues until the twig falls of its weight or the wind snaps off the twig which is almost completely girdled. The larval and pupal stages are passed within the twig. Ap- parently moisture is necessary for the development of the insects as eggs on twigs remaining hanging in the tree do not develop. The larvae excavate the entire interior of the twig and pupate in late August, the adults emerging in September. Since the twigs lie on the ground all winter it is easy to collect and burn them. However, it must be borne in mind that this insect also feeds on hickory, persimmon, linden and a number of other forest trees so that reinfestation is likely to occur from such sources. Inves- tigations in Texas indicate that a considerable degree of control can be secured by a thorough spraying with arsenate of lead. Schedule of Control Operations for Nut Plantings Treatment Date Insects to be con- trolled Pecan Shoot Borer Pecan Bud Moth Walnut Caterpillar Fall Web-Worm Walnut Husk Maggot Twig Girdler Nut Weevils Arsenate of lead 1st application about April IVz lbs. to 50 gals, of 1st or when buds begin to un- water. fold. 2nd application July 15th. 3d application, second week in August. Collect and burn fallen twigs. In late fall or winter. Fumigate with 1 Immediately after harvest. oz. carbon bisul- Practice these treatments phide per bushel of from the beginning of fruit- nuts. Destroy worth- ing to prevent any accumu- less nuts. lation of weevils. 51 THE DESIRABILITY OF THE CHESAPEAKE PENINSULA FOR NUT GROWING By Ernest Hemming, Easton, Maryland It gives me great pleasure to speak to you here because I like to think that you are somewhat in the same relative position as I was my- self some years ago, and that is looking for a locality where you could grow a particular plant to the very best advantage, where everything was working for you. The particular plant that I was interested in was boxwood. Now the boxwood grows as far north as Connecticut and as far south as North Carolina, and west as far as Kentucky. In that large area I figured there was some particular place that was better adapted than all others for growing it. I was working at the time with the nurseries in Pennsylvania. That was at the time when there were millions of dollars worth imported into the United States, and when the embargo came against the importation of plants I could not see why we could not grow this box in a domestic way to take the place of what was being imported. I decided from evidence in the old gardens on the Eastern Shore that this was the right location to make a start for that purpose. Some nurserymen argued that you could do it just as well in Pennsylvania and other places, but it did not seem to me that that was true. While boxwood is hardy and will grow over a big area, in a young state the plants are tender. If you can bring' them over the first one or two years they become more hardy. I was putting practically all I had into the business, as well as my labor, and I wanted to be quite sure to have everything working for me. We started the Canterbury Nurseries about five years ago, and I will let you judge for yourself what measure of success we have had. If you will use the word walnut, and especially English walnut, you will see what I mean by the same relative position. If you are looking for a location in which to grow English walnuts to make a profitable crop you ought to have everything working in your favor — suitable climate, soil, cheap land and everything that will insure success. I do not wish to take issue with you over any particular state, 62 as I am a plantsman, and wlien considering where to grow plants I would do so independently of state lines, or anything else. The black walnut grows from Maine down to Florida, from Ontario down to Texas. It covers an enormous are.a, hut somewhere in that area there is some latitude in which it thrives at its best. I live out by the B. C. & A. station, and for the last five years have seen them shipping' a tremendous stream of black walnut logs 18 feet and 20 feet in circumference. I was told this had been going on for 25 years. If they have been growing that many walnut trees and shipping them out of Talbot County it shows very favorably that this is a splendid location. I am not particularly interested in black walnuts. It is a tree I always thought ugly from the artistic i)oint of view. Because I have been engaged all my life in growing ornamentals it does uot appeal to me, as it is more of a lumber proposition, but the English waliuit does. Now my experience in Pennsylvania with the English walnut was that it would not be profitable as an orchard croj). The climate wis too severe on the young trees. Except in very favored positions and localities they winter kill and it would take too long to bring an orchard into bearing. This opinion comes not from the old trees but from watching the young trees in the nursery. The risks are so great they would likely eat up the profits in raising nuts commercially. You nuist get in a latitude or in a place where the soil, climate and everything is in your favor, and then you will be able to compete with the other fellow. There is such a galaxy of spenkers on the program that I shall have to stick very closely to my subject or I will encroach on others. The main point I want to get across is rather a commercial one There is lots of research work going on in the colleges and tiie experiment sta- tions. These generally are interested in an academic way, but my inter- est is in planting orchards where they may become a profitable industry. I do not know very much about nut orchards, but I do know that, as in every other business, there are two points to be considered — one is production and the other is distribution or market. For production you want to pick out a place where you can grow trees with everything in your favor. All my working life I have been growing plants where everything was against me, where we had to have green houses for 53 winter protection. The second thing jou want is low cost of" land. I think the Eastern Shore compares verj- favorably with any other locality in America in that respect. Right here within a few miles of the National Capitol we have land very reasonable. Now you want the right place and you want cheap labor. In locating a nursery or orchard where there are other industries you are always up against it. Labor is always gravitating to those eni- plojmients which pay the highest wages. Down on the Eastern Shore it is almost entirely horticulture and agriculture, so that you are not in competition with the industries that can pay more. Another thing, gentlemen, you cannot have a successful walnut orchard on the Eastern Shore, even with everything in your favor, by proxy. You have to do it yourself and stay right on the job, that is if you want it to pay. Now as to distribution or marketing advantages. You have all heard from a number of speakers the tremendous amounts of Englisli walnuts that are imported annually. It is ridiculous to think that the money spent for imported nuts can't be spent here. It seems to me it is very un-American to think that with all our resources we can't com- pete with the European market. When a man goes into business and puts his all into it he wants to investigate very thoroughly. He wants to be quite sure that he is in a locality where he can produce his product at as low a cost as his competitors and that there will be a market for it when he has produced it. There is one thought tliat I was rather depending upon Dr. Morris to emphasize, but he did not, and that is that while the population of the United States is growing tremendously^ the grazing area is con- tracting. All this points out fundamentally that the growing of food products is one of the things that you can tie to for the future. Dr. Morris is the authority, I believe, for saying that one pound of nut kernels is equal to three or more pounds of meat. Now, you young men here, where could you find a better investment, even if you have other business, than to acquire land on the Eastern Shore to plant your trees and at least secure a good living and very likely a fortune for the future? I think, gentlemen, that covers the subject. There are evidences undoubtedly in favor of the Eastern 54 Shore being one of the best localities for the economic production of English walnuts. Two years ago the Canterbury Nurseries had shipped from Portland, Oregon, 200 English walnuts. We planted them as you always do one of those things that are a side issue. We planted them on the shore, not in nursery rows. They were all very "ice trees, from 6 to 8 feet from tlie bud, alive to the tips. They were planted with some misgiving. The following spring, after exposure to the winter, they were alive to the tips. Now such a thing could not possibly have happened in New York State. Those Oregon grown plants would have been killed back. I assume it was the water and mild winters. This is corroborated not by the walnut trees alone but by other plants that are a little tender in their young state, such as box- wood. The dwarf boxwood make an annual growth of three or four inches. In Philadelphia and northward the annual gain of the same boxwood is not more than two inches, due to winter killing. I am pretty sure that of two walnut groves, one planted here and one planted in New York State, the one on the Eastern Shore would be brought into bearing two or three years earlier at considerably less cost. I think that the stars in their course will fight for any one who plants a nut grove on the Eastern Shore. Dr. Morris: I believe that we must look upon nuts rather as a correlative than as a substitute food supply. With the present rate of increase it is evident that the people in future years will be living so easily upon an abundance of food that we can hardly comprehend the luxuries that they will have. Nut crops are to be a correlating food sup- ply rather than a, substitute food supply. At this time Mr. Frank Pilch of the Rotary Club extended to the members and others present an invitation to a luncheon at the club hall over the new theater. Mr. Neilson: I move that we adjourn for lunch until 1:30. Adjournment. Afternoon Session The President: We will now take up the program and the first paper this afternoon will be that by Dr. E. C. Auchter. 55 THE RELATION OF THE EXPERIMENT STATION TO NUT GROWING IN MARYLAND By Dr. E. C. Auchter, Horticulturist, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station It is indeed an lionor to be asked to address this 18th annual meet- ing of the Northern Nut Growers' Association. The importance of the nut industry in this country is being realized more and more each year. Any food product containing such high percentages of protein, fats and starch, and having a yearly value of several millions of dol- lars is bound to receive attention. Naturally there has not been as much experimental work in nut cul- ture in Maryland as in sucli states as Georgia, California, Louisiana, Texas, and other states where nuts are grown on a large commercial scale. The large fruit and vegetable interests in this state have resulted in our spending considerable tim.e on these industries. The fruit grow- ers especially have had several lean years, and we at the station have attempted to help them in increasing the annual yields per tree and per acre, and in combating insects and diseases, so that the cost of produc- tion could be decreased and the net returns increased. The fact that these people have called for our help more often and more persistently, no doubt explains in part why we have spent considerable time in assist- ing them to solve their problems. However the ^Maryland station has always been interested in nut culture. As far back as 1900, the station staff co-operated with Mr. J. W. Kerr, of Denton, Maryland, in nut experiments. Mr. Kerr's col- lection of shellbark and shagbark hickories, filberts, Japanese walnuts, and other nuts were no doubt known to many of the members of this association. In 1907 Professor C. P. Close, the horticulturist of the Maryland station, made a survey of nut growing in Maryland. The results of this survey, and general recommendations concerning grafting, budding, nut soils, fertilization, soil management, and suitable varieties, were pub- lished in 1906 as bulletin No. 125 of the Maryland Experiment Sta- 56 tion. Briefly, Professor Close found that the native black walnut, but- ternut, hickory, chestnut, beech, hazel and chinquapin grew well in all parts of the state. In southern Maryland, and especially on the East- ern Shore, many old trees of pecans and Persian walnuts were reported as growing well and fruiting heavily. Nut trees were also rejDorted as doing well in otlier jjarts of the state except in the higher and colder mountainous counties of western Maryland. In order to determine the range of country' where different varieties of Persian walnuts and pecans were grown, to increase interest and to aid in the growth of the nut industry of this state, the experiment sta- tion distributed Ti Persian walnut trees in 16 localities in the spring of 1907. The following year about 300 Persian walnuts and 170 pecans were distributed in 56 localities among 77 persons, and in 1909 approximately 1000 pecans were distributed in 218 sections of the state among -1<59 persons. In addition to the above distribution, 12 nut tree orchards were started in several different parts of tlie state in the vear 1908. A report of these tests was published 10 years later in 1918 by Professor E. S. Johnston as bulletin No. 218 of the Maryland Experi- ment Station. The conclusions drawn were quite similar to those of Professor Close. It was found that native nuts grew well. Pecans and Persian walnuts seemed to do best in southern Maryland and on the Eastern Shore, especially in Somerset, Queen Anne's, Worcester, and Wicomico counties. A row of Persian walnuts containing 12 varieties was planted on the experiment station grounds in 1908, and a row of pecans containing 16 varieties was planted in 1915. Very few nuts have ever been obtained, from any of these trees. In fact it became necessary to remove most of the Persian walnut trees because of certain campus improvements before the}' were old enough to bear. Indications are that such varieties as Hall, Rush, Nebo, and the Wiltz strain of Mayette will be more suitable for our conditions than the varieties most commonly grown in the southern states and Cali- fornia. ]\Iany of the pecans have grown well, but considerable winter kill- ing of the slioots has been experienced and very few nuts liave been 57 secured. The Busseron, Indiana, Van Deman, Pabst, Stuart and Moneymaker are the largest trees at this time — twelve years after planting. It appears, however, as if such varieties as Busseron, But- terick, Green River, Indiana, and Niblack will be more suitable for con- ditions such as we have at College Park than the more southern varie- ties such as Stuart, Pabst, Moneymaker, and Van Deman. Trees of the Stabler, Ohio, and Thomas black walnuts planted at the experiment station twelve years ago are growing well and have produced a few nuts. It looks as if these varieties should be suitable for our conditions. I have outlined briefly the work which the Maryland station has done in nut culture so that you can see that the station has been inter- ested for at least twenty-seven years in this industry. We realize that much work and experimentation is necessary in developing a new industry and we are planning further studies. In order to determine whether nut growing will be commercially l)rofitable. under our conditions, we are hoping to plant an experimental orchard consisting of a few of the most promising varieties of black walnuts, filberts, Persian walnuts, and pecans at the experiment station next spring. We feel that a more correct idea of the possibilities of nut growing can be secured in this way than if the trees are simply planted about buildings or along driveways. In this orchard it is planned to study soil management, pruning, spraying and fertilization- problems. We hope to be of more assistance to the nut growers of the state than we have been in the past, and in co-operation with them to de- termine the possibilities for commercial nut growing in Maryland. In the meantime the experiment station will be glad to assist nut growers in every way possible. 68 ESTABLISHING A NUT PLANTING IN THE NORTH By C. A. Reed, Associate Pomologist, U. S. Department of Agriculture The objects most commonly sought after in northern nut tree plant- ing at the present time logically arrange themselves into five distinct groups; 1st, ornamentation; 2nd, profit from nuts; 3rd, timber; ith, conservation of a national resource; 5th, sources of food for wild life and domestic animals. While these overlap to a certain extent, in the main they are quite distinct, and before any planting is made the pros- pective planter should decide definitely what he hopes to accomplish, and then ijroceed accordingly. Planting for Ornamentation While nut trees will probably not share the jDopularity in ornamental planting now enjoyed by the American elm, the sugar and Norway maples, and various oaks, particularly the red, pin and willow species, especially at latitudes or altitudes where only the more hardy species will do, certain of the nut bearers are among the very best ornamentals for use in what might be called the Lower North, i. e., the region near the Mason & Dixon Line. Many are hardy much farther north. For in- stance, the black walnut, the beech, the Japanese and Persian walnuts are frequently highly satisfactory for decorative planting well up in Canada. Various hickories are among the most beautiful of all native species from the lower Great Lakes region east to Boston. Even the pecan, which is commonly rated as a southern species, is occasionally used with highly satisfactory effect nearly as far north as other species of hickory are indigenous. Fine specimens are known at South Haven and East Lansing, Michigan, and at Hartford. Connecticut. It should be borne in mind, however, that all these trees are frequently capable of adapting themselves to both altitudes and latitudes considerably greater than those at which they ordinarily mature crops of nuts, and, conversely, that northern species are often successfully taken south- ward by planting at increased altitudes. Magnificent specimens of nut trees are too often seen in eff'ective use in northern landscapes for it to be necessary to dwell at greater length on this phase of nut tree planting. The point is, however, that nut trees do have their proper places in the landscape, either as single specimens or in groups or avenues, and that where they answer the requirements of ornamentation 59 and shade, whatever nuts they bear is just that much gain over what would have been produced by trees which do not bear edible products. Profit from Nut Crops A scientific answer to the question as to whether a nut planting in a particular part of the North will, or will not pay, can be made only where a planting in that region, or one like it, in so far as general en- vironment is concerned, actually does so. Repeated failures, no matter how many there are or how 'long they may be continued, do not show that under different conditions results would not have been favorable. With the exception of three or four chestnut orchards in Illinois, one Persian walnut orchard and one filbert planting in western New York, and possibly a chestnut orchard or so in Delaware, there are no known instances within the region under discussion in which the nut crops from enough planted trees in a single place to dignify by use of the term "orchard" liave yet been profitable except during exceptionally favorable years, such as seldom occur. The failures in attempted nut growing have been many, and, if published, they would comprise a lengthy volume, but at best they are negatively constructive and hardly worth cataloguing. There are, however, certain economic phases of the situation which must not be left out of consideration. In the first place, the native species upon which chief reliance must be made have been here longer than the United States has been a country. The American people in this part of the country have always had native nuts which they might have eaten, but they have neither developed the habit of consuming nuts as daily articles of food nor have the pro- ducers found it profitable to devote any considerable portion of their land to nut-producing trees. The kernels of black walnuts, hickory nuts, chestnuts and jaecans are unsurpassed in palatability by those of any nuts in the world, no matter how long nor on what part of the globe they have been under cultivation. Black walnuts and hickory nuts commonly bring but a dollar or two a bushel. Even at this price the demand is limited, and it does not profit the average farmer to pay for gathering, hulling and curing if he has also to pay freight rates to distant markets. The people of this country are in no apparent need of more food. Perhaps the greatest economic question confronting' the American farmer today is what to do with all the food which he is now producing. 60 His greatest worry is that there are too few mouths to feed. There is not a great popular demand for nuts as substitutes for other kinds of foods. Even if there were obvious and excellent reasons why nuts would make better foods than the kinds that the American people are using at the present time, it would be difficult to convince them that they should make a substitution, and it would be even more difficult to get them to put the idea into practice after they were convinced. Few tilings in the history of a people come about more slowly than do their voluntary changes in food. But to drop the question of wh.it to do with nuts after they are grown, and consider the matter of how successfully they may be grown in this part of the country, what is the situation ? We find a number of choice species thoroughly well adapted to this part of the country. Some are indigenous; others have been introduced. Of the indigenous species there are as yet few variety orchards of bearing age. Such plantings as have thus far given a profit are of varieties either wholly of Old World parentage or of hybrid forms resulting from American X foreign crosses. It ordinarily takes a long time to convert a wild s})ecies of plant into one producing a profitable commodity under cultivation. The only in- stance in which it has thus far been accomplished with an American nut- bearing tree or shrub to great extent is in the cise of the pecan in the South. That species is now under cultivation over a vast area, but the uncertainties that are still not overcome are very great in number, and very little knowledge regarding its best methods of culture, its varieties, etc., -can yet be put down as being so definite as not to be subject to further change. In the North much progress has been made, considering the mag- nitude of the task. The Northern Nut Growers Association, aided by the State and Federal Departments, has long been seeking out the most promising seedlings for use as horticultural varieties. It has dis- covered a rather large number and has compiled a great fund of in- formation as to the history, apparent merits, and general character of each. Much has also been learned about methods of propagation, all of which is basic knowledge. So far as the development of a great commercial industry of nut growing in the North is concerned, it must not be expected that con- 61 ditions are ripe for it in the immediate future. The planting of any great area of good farm land having a known productive value for staple crops would be economically unsound at this time. There is no justification for recommending it as a means of profit. On the other hand, times are changing. The great organizations of nut growers on the Pacific slope are now selling walnuts and almonds in one form or another during practic;!l]y the entire year. Plans are under way in the South for establishing the pecan in the markets during the 12-month period of the year. One of the northern species, the black walnut, is just now making particularly rapid strides in the field of popularity. The kernels from one of the favorite ingredients for use in confections. They are highly palatable either raw or cooked. They hold their flavor in cooking. Eaters of ice cream insist upon having no substitutes for them. Prices to the farmer for black walnut kernels range from something like 30 to 60 cents a pound. Last year, 1926, a peak year in production, prices went to a low ebb, but the chances are that they will be high during the coming season, as tlie 1927 crop is generally very light. There are no established prices for nuts or kernels of the cultivated varieties. In a few instances Thomas black walnut kernels have been •md still are being sold locally for a dollar a pound, more or less. What the range in future prices for the cultivated nuts will be is wholly a matter of conjecture, but we may put it down as certain that fancy prices can not long be expected for any one kind of nut when good nuts of other kinds approximately as good can be had at lower prices. In other words, comjietition must be expected with the best pecans, Persian walnuts, almonds, filberts, chestnuts, Brazil nuts, pistache nuts, pine nuts, peanuts and others more rare, such as cashew nuts, Queensland nuts, pili nuts, sapucaya nuts and others. In this con- nection it is interesting to note that nuts of good grades can usually be had at wholesale in New York at approximately the following prices: pecans at 15 to 35 cents; Persian walnuts at 10 to 30 cents; almonds, 15 to 35 cents; filberts, 15 to 20 cents; Brazel nuts at 10 or 15 cents, and chestnuts at 8 to 15 cents. But while this is all true, and the growing of nuts in tlie North is fraught witli economic uncertainty, the industry is definitely under way, with indications that the present progressive pace will be contiiuied. 62 Orchards are being planted, and more appear to be certain to come. Doubtless the results of the first will be largely failures, but it is incon- ceivable that with the start that has been made someone will not soon be making money. The nut crops of the country, aside from those of the Persian wal- nut, almond and filbert of the Western Coast, and the cultivated pecan of the South, are largely by-products of the land. In the manufac- turing world it is often the by-products of the factory that yield the profits. Regular lines are not infrequently run at a loss, while the ledger shows a favorable balance because of the by-products. In agriculture, however, there is a tendency to scorn by-products. Not so long ago among farmers it was regarded as piddling to raise chickens. Less than six weeks ago the wife of one of the leading farmers of the county in which this meeting is being held remarked to the present speaker that she didn't know what she and her husband would have done had it not been for their chickens. The farmers of Tennessee and Kentucky have been cracking' black walnuts from the fields and marketing the kernels for more than a quar- ter century. Their annual income from walnuts, which are largely wasted in other parts of the country, must be fifty thousand dollars or more. This sum represents a return from two by-products, walnuts and labor, as it is the members of the family who do the cracking. It is strictl}' within the field of by-products that nut-planting for profit in the North belongs at the present time. There are idle spots of rich soil now going to waste which should be used. There is no tell- ing how large a portion of the nuts we are now importing each year from foreign lands might be grown in this way. Why should we let the Europeans and Asiatics supply our markets with nuts from their by-product land while we continue to neglect our own? That is the question. Timber Growing Certain of the nut-bearing species are among the most valuable timber-producing trees, and under right conditions planting for timber is well worth while, but it should be done under the combined advice of competent forestry and nut-growing experts. It is a special field so large, and in a way independent of the general purpose of this meeting, that it will not be discussed further in this connection. 63 Conservation of National Resources There are altruistic persons who not only believe in but practice the planting of trees for the modifying effect they have on soil erosion, moisture retention and climate, but, like the timber-growing phase of planting, this is of secondary interest for the moment and will there- fore not now be considered. Source of Food for Wild Life and Domestic Animals Large tracts of land are frequently set aside by our State and Na- tional Governments and tlienceforth maintained as vast refuges for wild life. Provision is made for the growing' of such kinds of food as is most acceptable to tlie birds and animals thus protected. The ques- tion is now being raised by biologists as to kinds of nuts that might be grown as a means of further attraction. This phase has been given no particular thought by nut growers. Their chief concern is to repel rather than attract such life, although no one knows whether or not the insects destroyed by tlie birds in spring and summer would not ruin more nuts than the birds themselves actually consume at harvest time. This, too, as well as the matter of planting for food for domestic animals, will be left for further discussion. How to Establish a Nut Planting Anyone can plant a few nuts somewhere. No nuts should be planted in poor, dry or wet soils. Preferably, unless they are to be trans- planted, nuts should not be planteed when there is not abundant room for a tree to grow to maturity without being crowded. Forestry I)lantings can and should be spaced close together. Solid plantings are usually allowed from four to six feet each way and later thinned out. Orchard trees of such species as black walnut, Persian walnut and pecan sliould have a minimum of ;)0 feet. Japanese walnut trees should have 40 or 50 feet, and chestnuts about the same. For filberts 20 feet is believed to be enough. For nut production budded or grafted trees of promising varieties are much to be preferred, but they are not always available nor within the financial reach of everyone. Seedlings are better than none at all. They may produce good new varieties, but if they should not they can be top-worked. There are three or four nurseries from which stock can be obtained of the most promising varieties and species now avail- able from any source. Tlieir catalogues should be consulted and de- 64) cisions made as to what is most desirable. No varieties of native species should be taken far north of their place of origin, except for test planting, unless their hardiness ^las already been established under equally rigorous conditions. In other words, the northern range of regular crop production of the pecan is not readily extended beyond its indigenous range. Likewise, the Stabler walnut from Howard County, Maryland, winter-kills in middle Pennsylvania, and the Thomas from Southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is not hardy at Ithaca, New York. Trees in the North should be planted in early spring, the earlier the better. A good rule is to get them into the ground as early as the soil can be worked. Dig large holes and fill in with top soil. For walnuts, hickories and pecans it can hardly be made too rich. If at all dry when the trees are put out, the soil sliould be drenched. A good plan is to place the roots in a barrel or tub of water the night before they are to be planted and to keep them there until the tree is actually set out. Most nut trees have taproots. These can not be entirely preserved except at great labor in digging, which is unnecessary. Taproots two and one-half or three feet long are ample for trees from four to seven feet in height. If the trees have been bought from a nurseryman, tlie taproots will doubtless already have been cut. At planting time the tops should be pruned back in proportion to the extent to which the roots have been cut away. After the trees have been put in place, they should be regularly attended during their entire growing period of the first year. The soil should be kept well tilled, so as to hold down the weeds and retain mois- ture. Henceforth, the trees should be attended much the same as are other kinds of fruit bearing trees. Mr. Hershey : Why don't you tell them not to plant nuts } Dr. Smith: Would you state a success in northern nut culture if you knew of one? Mr. O'Dell: The first of the season (1926) the price of black walnut kernels was 75c. From that figure it dropped to 25c. The average was about 'i5c. We handle the kernels only and not walnuts. The Secretary: Mr. Riehl told me that from his Thomas black walnuts he got 10 pounds of kernels from a bushel of 50 pounds of nuts and sold them in St. Louis for $1.00 a pound. 65 ]\Ir. Weber: Kernels of black walnut seedlings last .year sold in Cincinnati for $1.50 a pound. The Secretary: For uncracked black walnuts the grocer pays about $1.50 a bushel. Mr. Reed: There is now a hand-power machine made at Harris- burg that is proving to be quite satisfactory in cracking black walnuts. I understood that the manufacturer* was to be here. Mr. Green: I would like to ask Mr. O'Dell what percentage of the kernels he gets. Mr. O'Dell: It depends considerably upon the locality. We do not attempt to obtain whole kernels, or even whole halves. We have to sift them in order to remove the fine particles. j\Ir. Green: Do you utilize that product in any way? An ice cream manufacturer told me that the most satisfactory way he found of imparting black walnut flavor to the cream was to use small particles of kernel. Mr. O'Dell: It usually contains too much dirt and too many small particles for sucli use, and is only good for chicken feed. It would bring about 3c a pound. ]\Ir. Reed: You could doubtless get a good grade of oil out of it, but sucli an oil would probably be more expensive than other oils. Mr. Barton: After the Thomas black walnut tree comes into fairly good bearing, how large a crop should one have.^ Mr. Reed: There is really no basis for answering your question, because no one I know of has any number of such trees unless Mr. Snyder may have some. What is the best yield you have had from your Thomas trees in Iowa.'' Have you some topworked trees? INIr. Snyder: My first grafted trees in Iowa were worked on four-year-old stocks and they began bearing during the second year following. There has been a gradual increase in yields from a hand- full of nuts from the first crop up to about a half busliel to the tree at the present time. Mr. Barton: How old are tliose trees now? Mr. Snyder: That work was first done about 14 years ago, the roots are therefore 18 years old. Mr. Reed: Do they bear quite regularly? Mr. Snyder: As regularly as any walnut does. For instance, last *Mr. D. F. Clark, Box 524, Harrisburg, Pa. 66 year there was a big crop throughout the State but this year there are none. Mr. Wharton : I am contemplating the planting of six acres of land to nuts. What are the advantages of the Thomas black walnut over those of the English walnut? Mr. Reed: The two are hardly to be compared. The Thomas black walnut is fairly hardy; the English walnut is not generally hardy in the East. The Secretary: Mr. Reed, you spoke of two plantings. Then there is also Mr. L. H. Calloway's })lanting' at Chapin, 111., and the Whitford Brothers planting at Farina, as well as those on the Riehl and Endicott farms, which you probably have in mind. Mr. Reed: Then there are four chestnut plantings in Illinois that are bearing paying croj)s. Referring again to black walnut plantings, foresters tell us that it takes from 35 to 10 years for the growth of walnut trees planted in forest formation to yield an average return of $5.00 per acre, and that even this is not to be depended upon. The yearly returns are undependable. It is a question therefore as to what extent foresters are advising black walnut for timber planting except upon che.ip land. Perhaps Dr. Symons can tell us the extent to which it is being recommended in Maryland, particularly in this part of the state. Dr. Symons: They are recommending planting loblolly pine on cheap land in this part of Marj'land. Dr. Smith: Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask one question. Mr. Reed gave considerable discount on a man planting nut trees. If a man had some land, what would you recommend as safe to plant on it? Mr. Reed: I do not know that I get your point. Dr. Smith: I observe that most Government publications are ex- tremely conservative. Your remarks here are that way. With that same conservatism, what would you advise one to plant? Mr. Reed: That would depend somewhat upon a man's circum- stances. If he were a rich man I would tell him to consult the imrsery- men and buy freely of what was most strongly recommended to him. If he were a poor man, and in debt, I would think about the interest he was having to meet and of other uses he might make of the land. I would try to think only in terms of greatest and most certain net profit from the land, regardless of whether it might be from corn or some other kind of a crop. Most farmers of this country have to make 67 money. The only basis we have for telling them what crops will pay is that of" what crops have already done. Speaking more to your point, let us imagine a place near Easton, owned by a man who has decided to plant nut trees. He would not find a large number of varieties from which to make a selection. He would have to consult the catalogs of Mr. Jones, Mr. Snyder and Mr. Hershey. He would find that he could get black walnut trees of Stabler, Ohio, Ten Eyck, Thomas and perhaps a i'ew other varieties, but they are the black walnuts more higlily recommended. I have known of a Stabler tree near Washing- ton for ten years and during that time it has had only about three good crops. At least two-tliirds of the time the crops of nuts have been practically complete failures. Last year it had about five bushels ; this year it has no crop whatever. Mr. T. P. Littlepage has some 30 or 35 Stabler trees set out in 1918. Last season, during their ninth year, altogether they bore perhaps six bushels of hulled nuts. The Stabler is the best cracker of any of these varieties. Mr. O'Connor: Yes, Mr. Littlepage's trees bore six bushels of hulled nuts last year. Dr. Smith: About how much corn would the land make? Mr. O'Connor: About four barrels per acre. Dr. Smith : What is the character of the soil about the old Stabler tree ? Mr. Reed: I would say that both its fertility and moisture supplj^ are considerably better than average. ]Mr. Weber : How far is it removed from other walnut trees ? Mr. Reed: It is practically alone, although there is a small tree some 200 feet distant. Mr. Weber: Would that have something: to do with the bearing? Mr. Reed: Perhaps so, but the fact that during certain years the tree bears well would tend to discount any theory of lack of pollen. Mr. O'Connor: Perhaps late freezes in the spring may have "omething to do with it. ]Mr. Walker: Before Mr. Reed leaves the floor I would like to congratulate him on the talk he has given. I have attended a great ">iany conventions and usually the speakers like to give the best side of the subject under discussion. Mr. Reed has given us a heart to heart talk. We are indebted to a man who will come before us and tell ns frankly both sides of a matter in which we are interested. Mr. Hemming. I have listened with a great deal of pleasure to 68 circulation is shut off. The leaves are quite yellow and the tree looks bad. August 3()th. Callus nearly if not quite together. I took my knife and cut the edges of the callus just a little thinking it might heal together easier. September 30th. Callus has united, having jumped the gap and taken up the circulation nearly half way around the tree. The leaves are again green and the tree has a good appearance, which shows that it has again taken up the normal function. October 26th. The tree seems apparently entirely recovered and healthy, although the denuded area has not entirely healed over. There is no evidence of further blight, and no more callus being thrown out. It has evidently become dormant for the winter. Evi- dently Morris No. 1 has a good deal of immunity, for this one dosc has apparently not only cured it but protected it from further in- vasion up to this time. I have not seen any native American chest- nut show anything like this amount of resistance following the in- jection of one dose, up to this time. September 8, 1926. Tree apparently healthy, leaves of good color, made a nice growth this summer, and the old scar is almost healed over. Apparently, from the above, it is possible to inject blighted trees of the chinquapin, chinquapin x chestnut hybrids, Japanese, and Chinese chestnuts and have them recover, but with the exception of a few cases, the American chestnut that is blighted at the crown will die off before enough ferment can be stimulated to protect it. How- ever, in a few cases, especially if injected early in the spring, they may survive. I had some that had every appearance of recovering until I sawed the top off and grafted them. Then they were attacked with re- newed vigor and died promptly. After a few injections it is altogether probable that the American chestnut will perform similar to other chestnuts that have a certain amount of resistance, like the Japanese or chinquapin. Amount Necessary to Protect One dose has apparently protected the Morris No. 1 hybrid. Two have protected a Japanese. One, two and three have not protected an .American, although No. 69 100 had offered great hope until I ignorantly cut the top off and graft- ed it. It looked so good that I thought it was safe. I now know that that thing can't be done. Some sprouts seem to have root systems that are of such low vitali- ty as to die off under the shock and toxic products of the serum, as in No. 110 whose roots died without any evidence of blight perceptible. Automatic Serum As a source of immunity this must not be overlooked. When an area becomes blighted nature makes an attempt to check the invasion by building a wall of cells around it. This wall vpill be digested as the defensive ferment is formed and serves las a source of automatic serum. This, while detrimental when only a little immunity is present, becomes quite valuable as immunity develops, as frequently all that will be necessary is to start this activity. With this in mind I have made no attempt to cut away any blighted area unless there w.as danger of its encircling the tree before it had a chance to recover. My Future Plans Four years ago I grafted a chestnut on a chestnut oak. My idea then was to keep it growing on the oak for many years in an attempt to have scion and stock become congenial and form perfect union. I then made a blunder, for now after four years and the tree containing six burs, I have nothing, for the variety is known to be practically worthless. It might be used as an intermediary to regraft other better varieties of chestnuts. I therefore determined, when I saw the en- couraging results from my antigen, that I would not make the same mistake again, and accordingly wrote to a large number of men asking their first and second choice chestnut, regardless of its blight re- sistance. 'From these replies I selected the following varieties and procured scions and grafted them here at Piketown: Fuller for its good quality. Boone for its early ripening and regular bearing. McFarland for its hereditary qualities. Rochester for its thrifty growth as a stock. Dan Patch, Riehl No. 62 and 68, Champion, Paragon, Drescher Merribrook, Parry, Old Biarndoors, and others for various reasons. Most of the grafts are growing nicely and many of them have 70 NUT TREES SUITABLE FOR THE CHESAPEAKE COUNTRY By J. Russell Smith, Professor of Economic Geography, Columbia University But for the natural modest}' of the people of this Peninsula I should insist that their country was a good piece of country in general and especially adapted for the nut luisiness. However, I nuist mention its relative frost immunity, its good rainfall, and its easy tillage. The land is ready and the trees are ready. There are at least seven species of nnts, most of them with many varieties and hybrids, now ready for commercial growing on the Eastern Shore. These seven nuts are the American black walnut, the hickory, northern pecan, Japanese wal- nut, the filbert, the hazelnut, and the English walnut. 1. The Black Walnut — I mention it first because it is absolutely native and absolutely adj usted to the climate. We have a natural yearn- ing for the far-fetched but the well tried is far safer. I also mentioned the black walnut first because it seems without doubt to have the largest potential market. It is the cooking nut of the future. It carries its flavor through the oven as no other nut does and in the present and coming era of machinery and factory-made food products, walnut cake, walnut ice cream, and walnut candy give the black walnut a bigger field than the dessert nut market which is now so nearly monopolized by the English or Persian walnut and the salted almond. Several varieties of grafted black walnut trees are available in the number of some thousands in commercial nurseries, and the nursery- men can be depended upon to scratch hard to keep up with a larger demand if one develops. 2. The Hickory Nut — Several species of hickory are at home in this peninsula. As the hickories hybridize quite freely, there are now dozens of hybrid or pure strain hickories ready for commercial propa- gation. Just at present the demand is ahead of the supply, but nur- serymen can be depended on to right that in a short time. If any one has some cut-over timber land containing hickory sprouts ready for grafting he can start grafting them himself in place. This is 71 much the easiest and cheapest and quickest way of" starting the hickory business. I expect most of the hickory nut supply to come from such trees growing in permanent pastures, often rough pastures. Now is a good time to begin. Scion wood can be obtained if trees cannot. 3. The Northern Pecan — The pecan lifted over the fence from the southern forest to the southern orchard is now the second nut of Amer- ica in commercial ])roduction. This tree is also native in southern Ohio, in Indiana, and is even growing and bearing in Nebraska. In the nortli also the progress of catching parent trees and taming them has taken place as it did at an earlier day in the South. Tiie gigantic trees of the Chesapeake country seem to show by their century of suc- cess that some northern pecans are absolutely adjusted to this climate. The qu.ility of northern pecans is better than that of the South. Sev- *'ral varieties of grafted trees are now available in commercial nurser- ies, and specimens of them are bearing well in this climate. 4. The Japanese Walnut — I mention it fourth because of its ap- parently absolute climatic fidjustment to the climate of the southeastern United States. The trees from China and Japan suit us much better than the trees from Europe because the European summer climate is cool in the northwestern part and dry in the southern part, there- fore the European trees have not been subjected to the fungus test which the first Marjdand summer gives them. Contrast this European climate, from which we transplant so much of our agriculture, with the summer of Japan and China, which reeks with hot humidity. Hence the great vigor of many oriental trees that have survived it and have been transplanted in this country. One or two varieties of Japanese walnut, called heart nuts, are on sale at the nurseries. They are very swift growers and prolific producers. 5-6. The Hazelnut and the Filbert — These are cousins. The hazel- nut is native to America, the filbert to Europe and West Asia. The hazelnut is a weed in many parts of the United States. Several varie- ties have been selected for commercial propagation and are on sale. It is a quick grower and prolific. The filbert has long been an important commercial nut in Asia Minor and various parts of Europe. Not long ago we thought they were comparatively worthless in 72 tlii.s fiiiifiiis country because tliey are subject to bliglit. More promis- ing strains seem to be coming forward. The hybrids of filberts and hazelnuts are promising. Any one who wants a little fun ought to visit tl:e nursery of Mr. J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Pa., and see his display of filberts produced by crossing with the American hazelnut. Some of them are six inches high at the end of several years and some are ten feet higli at the end of several years — a great thick bush clustered with. nuts. Many xarieties of filberts and their hybrids are on sale at com- mercial nurseries. 7. Tlic Persian Walnut — Commonly called Englisli walnut. This is first in present economic importance in American nut culture. I mention it last because it is the least adapted climatically to this climate. The tree, native to Persia, has wandered to America by way of Europe. Our sole dependence thus far is on trees of this origin, and as a result we have many tender strains. However, this species ap- pears to have as many variations as the apple. The thousands of Persian walnuts that are grown in the United States from Massachusetts to Oklahoma by way of New York and southern INIichigan have proved themselves almost infinitely variable regarding fruiting, flavor, tendency to blight, and frost injur}'. P'rom this welter of possibilities a number of the best varieties have been selected, and trees are for sale in the commercial nurseries. Meanwhile I would suggest to the Peninsula landowner another policy, possiblj' the best of all policies. Find among the many Persian walnuts that are growing and doing well here one that seems good enough to propa- gate on a commercial scale. If you do not know how to do it yourself Mr. Jones or Mr. Hershey will raise a few hundred or a few thousand for you. If you wish to plant seedling trees they will probably be in- tellectually interesting and in most cases worthless, or relatively so as to fruit. Tlie person who tries to make a commercial orchard of seed- ling trees belongs to that large class of whom it is reported that one is born every minute. As to technique of growing nut trees, first of all I suggest your door- yard. Nothing is more majestic than a pecan tree, while the black walnut and Persian walnut and hickory need but to be seen at their 73 best to be appreciated. These trees are excellent lawn trees because they are not hard on the grass. They are interesting to watch and it is delightful to pick up their nuts. The hazels and filberts are also excel- lent yard material. 1 am taking my own advice on this nut shade business. As a commercial basis a nut industry on the Peninsula needs but the application of energy and brains and capital, but the jjerson who starts here and now to depend on nut trees as his only source of income is either a capitalist with some other source of income or a fool. There is always no one crop agriculture anywhere in the world that has proved itself satisfactory for any long period of time. Hence the most im- portant advice I would give is to go slow and learn as you go. One crop agricultures are a poor dependence because they tend to be un- certain in yield and because of the element of overhead expense — the long season of no work when men and equipment have no work. I would especially commend the idea of a two story agriculture. You have here in the Peninsula a wonderful series of agricultures of different sorts depending upon the different soils. To the trucker I suggest that he set a few trees on his farm and go on trucking. I have seen excellent truck farms in New Jersey carried on between the rows of apple trees, which thrive on the cultivation of the truck farm. Go look at your famous pecan tree with a limb spread each way of 120 feet, a height of 120 feet, and a girth at breast height of 16 feet, 4 inches. It covers nearly an acre of ground. It requires fully an acre. To a truck farmer who wants to go into the nut business I suggest that he plant pecan trees in rows 150 feet apart, the trees 100 feet apart in the row and go on witli his truck farming. The young trees will not rob much land, nor will they bother the machinery greatly. In due time the truckers will have majestic pecan trees under their absolute maximum possibilities of production and they will inter- fere with his machinery but little. This system of growing nuts is practiced in Europe. Nearly all the Persian nut crop of Eurojje is grown that way. By the same theory the black walnuts should be planted in rows 100 feet apart, the trees 80 feet apart. Persian walnuts 90 feet by 75 feet. 74 The finest method of all for the nut industry on the level sandy loams of the Peninsula is to let the nuts be the second story of a pig farm — a pastured pig farm. Let the hogs harvest (hogdown) a suc- cession of crops — clover, corn, cowpeas, soybeans, rye, vetch, crimson clover, possibly wheat. This is the new thing in hog raising. It eliminates the cost of harvesting. Therefore, the encroachment of the nut trees in this plan is not felt so much as a cost factor. You cultivate your nut trees. In so doing you produce a side crop. The pigs harvest it. This system is used in southern pecan orchards, makes nut trees grow, and should cause them to be produced at no cost whatever because the pigs should pay the expenses. If you want to go into the nut industry without spending any money, plant seeds of these trees in the place where you wish the tree, cover them with earth, three inches of straw, protect them with stout stakes (very stout) and graft them when they are from two to six or eight years old. After these well established trees are grafted, you can expect nuts about as soon as you should expect apples from the slower varieties of apples receiving similar care. If you are a sentimentalist, if your trees have someone who is not lazy to love them, you may plant your trees or your nuts down the lane, along the boundaries of the land, along the fences which separate your own and your neighbor's fields. They can be made to thrive in such places. Nature is raising millions of them in just such places; so are the French and the Swiss and other peoples of the old world . The President: Mr. Spencer will read the paper prepared by Conrad Vollertsen. 75 FILBERTS FOR THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES By Conrad Vollertsen, Rochester, New York The improved European hazel or filbert really is a fruit or nut just adopted by the northern hemisphere, and is still, in our eastern and northern states, a very much neglected one. This is something of a surprise to me as ample proof of their doing well has been furnished abundantly year after year. I will admit a little time should be allowed for the selection of the proper varieties for certain lo- cations in territories where climatic conditions may differ from *hat of their original place of growing. But even that can be over- come to some extent by planting several varieties, which always should be done even in small plantings for the sake of pollinization. One plant should never be set out, if there is not room for two or more. My advice would be rather not to plant any as it seldom proves satisfac- tory for want of pollinization. My practical experience and close observation among filbert plants for the last fifteen years has without the slightest doubt convinced me that planting' of filbert orchards for commercial purposes on properly prepared land is not at all a risky undertaking. I think quite the contrary. On my little filbert plantation located a few miles south of Lake Ontario, Monroe County, New York, a trifle more than two acres are set out with plants for propagating purposes, propagating now all done by layering in my nursery — no more grafting. For that reason all wood on these plants is allowed to grow, even the so-called suckers coming up from the roots, a detriment to all fruit-bearing filberts. They are really not for fruitbearing, only for the growing of young plants, but are all I have of bearing age. They are the very plants that have fur- nished me for the last five j-ears on an average full 500 pounds of well matured nuts per acre. In 1925 and 1926 we gathered of the same plants, though a year or two older, more than 600 pounds per acre, which I consider a very good crop from plants not specially grown for fruit. This year the crop is rather light, particularly of some varieties. I do not expect more than about sixty per cent of a normal gather- 76 ing this fall. The unusually cold and rainy weather last March and April (the hlooming season of the filberts) I believe is the cause of the light crop. No pollen was seen blowing in the nursery last spring — altogether too wet. On two of my varieties, Burkhard's Zeller and Medium Long the catkins were frozen. They kept growing and tender on account of the rainy season until the real cold weather was actually upon them. But an off year should not discourage planting filberts. We have from time to time the same experience with 'almost all fruit, but for that reason we do not give up growing it. T do not understand why so few people are interested enough to invest in filbert planting, when plants of tlie best varieties are and have been available at very moderate prices for years, and the assur- ance of their bearing quite well proven so many times. It is true a good deal has been said about planting filbert orchards, and ])erhaps as much written about this matter also, but without avail. So far very little has been accomplished. I really believe a little less talk and a little more action would be more beneficial to the whole ))roblem. The planting of filbert orchards does not require a great outlay of money, as two year old plants of the best varieties can be bought for fiftj' or seventy five cents each f. o. b. shipping point. If land of good sandy loam is available all the better, as such land is what all filberts prefer, but ordinary farmhand, if not too heavy nor too wet, will answer verj^ well. Filberts or hazel plants are not so very particular as to the choice of the soil. The land in my nursery is rather heavy and wet, but I grow fine young plants on it and, under the circumstances, satisfactory nut crops. I can conscientiously recommend the planting of not only filbert orchards, but also the planting of a few kinds in every garden, where they certainly are an ornament and a source of pleasure throughout the year, with the foliage and fruit in the summer and the catkins in winter. In setting out a filbert orcbard my advice would be to set about 1 50 plants to the acre, one square rod to each and not, as heretofore has 77 been recommended, 12 feet ;i]);irt each way, which has proven insuffi- cient. PL'ints in my nursery are 12 feet apart each way, but are all now in contact with eacli other. IGo feet each way will be ample, sufficient for all time, and give plenty of room for turning with plow and cultivator. About eight to twelve varieties should be planted in an orchard, one-quarter of them of the smaller fruiting kinds for the sake of pol- linization. I have ex|)erienced a little difficulty in selling to our merchants the nuts of the smaller kinds. It is unfortunate that an idea ])revails among some of them, and for that matter among some of our people in general, that the small varieties of filberts are not so v/iluable as the larger kinds. This is altogether wrong. Most of the smaller kinds are more jjrolific, better flavored and all of them fill better. In Europe for instance, varieties like Early Globe, Althaldensleben and Buttner's Zeller, all of the smaller sizes, are classed as some of the very choicest varieties and command the best prices on account of their fine qualities. It is a serious mistake to judge the value of the filberts by the size of the nuts. Invariably the small nuts will yield more kernels to the pound than any of the larger kinds and eventually the main sale of filbert nuts will be in a shelled state. As mentioned before, our merchants thought the above named varieties were a little small. Still they took them, together with others, in four and five hundred pound lots at a wholesale price of $20.00 per hundred pounds, where my retail price brings me 25c per pound. A number of my customers prefer the small nuts and order them only. Now in setting out the filberts, after the land is properly prepared, 16^ feet distance should be allowed each plant each way, leaving ample room on end and side for turning with agriculture implements for cul- tivation, as the land should be cultivated freely and kept free from weeds. Unless the land is very poor and stony, manure or other fertilizers should be used rather sparingly. Mulching the plants with old grass, straw or dead weeds has proven ver}' beneficial to my stock plants in the nursery. It keeps the moisture and checks the weeds. All filbert plants require a free and open location not shaded or overgrown by other trees. 78 All plants set out in the orchard should have but one steni^ if such are to be had, and more than two sliould never be allowed. These stems should be kept free from limbs to a height of about fifteen or eighteen inches. In pruning filberts I would above all call attention to the suckers which must be completely eradicated every season, or as soon as they make their appearance. The growth of suckers and the want of the necessary pruning will make the filbert inxjur gardens or orchards com- pletely barren, nothing but rank wood will be obtained year after year. All plants should be kept well open in the center and if necessary some limbs must be removed entirely, not simply cut back. This is important. The height of tlie plants should not exceed eight to ten feet. To accomplish this pruning should be done accordlingly Grom youth up. Obstructing or contrary growing limbs should always be removed and a pretty shape of the plant as near as possible maintained. Insects or disease so far have not troubled us, and no spraying has ever been necessary. Of blight not the slightest sign has ever ap- peared among our plants. It seems to me that filberts imported from northern Europe stand our climate better than those from the island of Sicily, Italy or other south European countries. Our original imported stock plants from northern Germany are as healthty today as when planted fifteen years ago. All land between the orchard rows could well be used for several years for small growing crops like potatoes, beets, beans, carrots, etc. The income from such crops would be quite an item towards paying ■*'nr land and labor until the filberts produce a fair commercial harvest. Question : How long does it take the filbert plant to mature and yield properly? Mr. Spencer: I do not think Mr. Vollertsen said in his paper, but I understand that the filbert tree will bear in about four years. Question: I do not know anything about the nut proposition, but some question seems to have arisen here as to raising nuts and the 79 risk involved without waiting for a number of years. Could not those interested try the filbert? Dr. Zimmerman: I got some filbert scions from Dr. Deming three years ago. I grafted them and this year those scions were just loaded. I had the Du Chilly, the Barcelona and Cosford, and the one Dr. Morris called the Boneybush. In the six years I have been at Pike- town I had never before noticed the native nuts bearing. This year was the first year also that the grafts had produced any nuts. Whether they had pollinated each other or not I do not know. I planted some other plants along the bank of a little creek and they are three years old this year. The Barcelona was quite full and the Du Chilly had a few on it. Out of the three-year-old plants the Boneybush was the only one that really failed. Mr. Snyder: While we are on the subject of the filbert I want to say I have tried out some 25 varieties in Iowa and I have found only a few good for breeding ]iurposes. The Du Chilly, Barcelona and Rush have been discarded. The Italian Red is the only one that stands the winter well. It is self-sterile and with a number of others it has been discarded in our planting's. I regard the filbert as being experi- mental in our state and just something to have fun with. I do not think it will ever be profitable there. I have some isolated plants of the Winkler native hazel. The staminate blossoms have been removed, com- pelling it to depend upon the Italian Red for pollen, as that is the only other variety nearby. In the same patch I have a Rush tree, from which I removed all its staminate blossoms, and compelled it also to depend upon the Italian Red pollen. These varieties bloomed early in March this past spring. We had some favorable weather. It was June before the nutlets became visible, but they developed satisfactorily and the bushes are now just loaded down with nuts. Hazels represent the only real crop of nuts we have in our part of Iowa. 80 FURTHER EXPERIMENTS IN INDUCED IMMUNITY TO CHESTNUT BLIGHT By Dr. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa. It will be recalled that about a year ago, before this scientific body, I presented a preliminary report on "Induced Immunity to Chestnut Blight." I presented this subject as ctearly as I knew how, and in the best English that I could command, and it seems that I have been misunderstood. Judging from the reports and the correspondence which I have received one would be inclined to think that I presented this matter as a settled proposition. In offering this second report, I wish it to be entirely clear to every one that my work is experimental and although I have not seen fit so far to change my past ideas and convictions, I reserve the right to reverse myself at any future time that a clearer vision makes that necessity imperative. There is a lot of dif- ference between my ideis, convictions and preliminary experiences, and proved, conclusive, scientific facts. With the above clearly in mind, let me elaborate on my paper of last year. In a previous report I used the term serum. This being vague and meaningless, I am substituting the term "endothic antigen" in the present paper. It will be recalled that last year I defined an antigen as "Any substance which when thrown into the system of any living body, will either kill the cells, or they will manufacture a ferment which will destroy it." This resultant defensive ferment is known as as an antibody. It is the thing — nobody knows just what — that enables any living substance to recover from disease and renders it immune. Wlien once developed it is inheritable. Otherwise the Chinese seedling chestnut would be no more nearly immune to blight than an American seedling. The ability of plants and animals to manufacture this defensive ferment is variable, depending probably on the activity of the cells, the age and activity of the antigen, the rapidity with which the antigen enters, and, in plant life, the time of the year, and also undoubtedly other factors. Every plant being a unit of its own, entirely independent of others, it is only natural that we should find great variation in the degree of immunity the various species and varieties of chestnut hold 81 to Endothia parasitica ,and with which variation everyone is familiar. Our medical friends present will recall what we know as generally toxic conditions, like typhoid, diphtheria, and others in which the trouble is largely local, as acne, tuberculosis, and leprosy. We have the same condition in plant life. The generally toxic conditions either immunize quickly, or produce death with the same rapidity, while the locally toxic conditions are just the reverse. The chestnut blight is a locally toxic condition, and were it not for the fact that it goes around the tree instead of lengthwise, the tree would linger along for many years without succumbing. It likewise immunizes slowly. On the other hand the aphis infection causes a generally toxic condition, corre- sponding in a way to typhoid, diphtheria and others, and therefore immunizes quickly. It usually does not produce death unless the in- fection is very severe, except in the new growth, although I have seen small cherry trees killed outright in one season. Most of us, I sup- pose, have observed that a tree badly infected with aphis one season is rarely badly affected the following summer, therefore requiring only a relatively short time to immunize. I only mention this as a matter of interest. In view of the fact that nobody knows just what takes place be- yond the inner gates of the cells of living organism, a man who un- dertakes to deal with these conditions must of necessity be possessed with certain faculties in order to obtain maximum results. These quali- fications I have roughly stated as follows : One must first have an eye that can see into the future ; An antigen that is active against the target aimed at; An inexhaustible patience and persistence, and confidence — such as is necessary in any undertaking. To illustrate just what I mean: During the past year I got hold of an inactive antigen ; one that not only did no good but harm, and plenty of it. A bombshell was exploded in my experimental field. I was stampeded, dumfounded. If I had not had an eye that could see into the future, and backed up with experience, I should have been defeated right there. However, I had a feeling that something was wrong. I did not know what. I immdiately prepared another antigen, used it bravely, and turn'^d the tide just in time to save two of my most 82 interesting experimentSj whicli I shall refer to later. Now I look upon this incident as being one of the most helpful lessons I ever received in immunization, although it delayed my progress to a considerable extent. Last year I reported my notes on four sjiecific trees, Nos. 100, 103, 106, and 112. I thiiik I can ])robably give you nothing more inter- esting tlian to report additional notes on those same four plants, with one extra — a perfectly healthy tree. Otherwise it may be as a friend said recently while looking over the sitiration, "There are so many of them they cease to be interesting." No. 100 — Last report Sept. 28, 1926. Old stock died promptly after cutting off top and grafting, and four new sprouts had developed. May 10, 1927. Grafted two of the sprouts with Burbank chestnut. Sept. 2, 1927. One of tlie four sprouts blighted at ti]i and then stopped. New sprout grew out at this point which looks healthy. Other "prout seems healthy. One graft healthy. Other graft blighted a little at the top of the stock, opposite the graft. It rather looks as though all these sprouts have some resistance even though the old injected stock died. These plants received no more antigen this year. No. 103 — Last re))ort Sept. 8, '26, graft was doing nicely with no further evidence of blight. May 4, '27. Injected antigen. (Old and now known to be inac- tive). No evidence of blight and starting out nicely. May 30, '27. Still looks O. K. June 15, 1927. Blighted at union of bud and stock and extends into old injection scar (which was in the stock and not on the bud). Think perhaps it will come through without new antigen. Aug. 31, '27. Went uj) to inject but hardly tliink it worth while. Probably will not recover. Sept. 2, '27. Looks at bud as though it were gone (although I did not cut into the bark to make certain of this). It is rather unusual in that no sprouts have yet appeared as this is usually one of the first evidences when the entire circulation has been cut off. It will be observed from the above that the two that did not hold up against my manipulations last year have not much more hope this year. No. 100 was not interfered with at all. except grafting two sprouts, but No. 103 had received an inactive antigen which probably 83 did it an injury. Even at that the blight is seemingly not very virulent and the stock below the injured area is healthy. Whether it will come out again in the spring is problematical. No. 106 — Sept. 8^ '26. Reported tree looking splendidly, with blighted area well closed in. May 4, '27 — Injected antigen (5th dose). Tree looks fine. May 25^ '27. Noticed tree doing badly. Old area of callus necrotic. Injected antigen (6th dose). May 31, '27. Injected spl antigen in two places. Former antigen ineffective. Bark and cambium necrotic almost around the tree. Only a little strip of live cambium (about one half inch) yet holding. It looks as though I am going to lose this tree. June 15, '27. Tree looks better. Another spl antigen. June 27, '27. Decidedly better. Injected another spl antigen. July 11, '27. Very much better. Injected another spl antigen. July 15, '27. Injected another spl antigen and still another in central limb. This limb looks as though it were going to be surrounded and die and this second injection is in the hope of saving it. Sept. 2, '27. Many limbs and areas blighted, central limb above referred to is dying, but otherwise the tree is in good shape, bearing a quantity of burs. The strip of new callus at the root is now two inches wide, although there is quite a denuded area yet to cover. No. 112 — This is a plant of Morris No. 1 which was reported last year, you will recall, as having been blighted all way around the trunk, the callus jumping the gap, and on Sept. 8, '26, was in good shape. This tree had only one dose — not considered enough to protect, much less to cure. May 4, '27. Right limb blighted. Second antigen injected. May 30, '27. Antigen injected. Area of necrosis started in the old scar of last injection and is involving the old callus, half way around the tree. Plant looks badly. June 15, '27. Looks so badly I believe it will die. My last antigen played havoc. North limb dead and it appears useless to give another injection. June 18, '27. Still hanging on. Cut off north limb and gave a dose of antigen No. 2. June 27, '27. Plant much better. Apparently recovering. Sept. 2, '27. Tree looks nicely. Has a fine growth. Scar healing over beautifully, although not nearly covered as yet. Apparently this 84 plant was for the second time tided over by a single dose of active antigen. No. 113 — Aug. 4^ '25. Tree one inch in diameter and healthy. Native American. Received antigen on this date. Oct. 26, '25. Tree healthy but of course do not expect one dose to protect. May 1, '26. Grnfted to Merribrook, — a native American. May 4, '27. Injected. No evidence of blight. May .30, '27. Injected. No evidence of blight. Sept. 2, '27. Tree apparently healthy, but has not made mucli growth. This tree evidently withstood two injections of inactive anti- gen witli no noticeable untoward results other than probably a stunted growth. It will be interesting to watch its future performance, es- pecially if it becomes infected. The action of No. 103, whose bud became infected, would rather in- dicate that the action had not received much resisting quality from the stock. Neither did it have any before being placed, as it was taken from Fuller, a non-resistant tree. This may be interesting in con- nection with the idea which some of us are entertaining of placing grafts of the finer American chestnuts on the stock of the more re- sistant mollissima. I might also mention that the performance of this bud was similar to others placed on the Chinese stock — the bud having become infected and killed the scion during the second year, as well as part of the limb of its host. Any one who has seen the above experiments and is familiar with tlie conditions in our blight infected district could scarcely draw any other conclusion than that chestnut trees will immunize under induced antigen. The main question then is simply to carry it to a point at which it will inhibit the progress of the invading fungus, or destroy it. This I am optimistic enough to believe will come about in due season. I, for one, am willing to wait the outcome. The question has been asked time and again, "What is this material you are using?" It is an antigen, prepared from the dead bodies of Endothia parasitica, a fungus which invades and destroys the cambium layer of the chestnut tree, and is recognized as the cause of this per- plexing situation which lias j^laycd liavoc with our cliestnuts and de- stroyed our finest timber, to an extent that is incomputable from a monetary' standpoint. \ 86 There are at least ten methods of preparing antigens, and there is some speculation as to which is the best. I have always held that the simpler method of doing anything is the better and I am striving for simplicity in this matter. The most simple method I think is to grow a sufficient amount of the fungus on suitable culture media, suspend in saline solution, kill, preserve and it is ready for service. Of course all understand that this is the work of a trained bacteriologist. Some of the methods I am using at this time, however, are not quite so simple. Naturally, after so short a time, I have not been able to make an antigen that is my ideal. That is a goal which I will still strive to attain. Concerning the matter of injection I wish to say that at present I have found that to make a T incision, pry the bark loose from the vertical portion, paste some tough paper over it with hot paraffin form- ing a little pocket, filling the pocket by using a medicine dropper and sealing with paper and paraffin is my method of choice. How long I shall use this method I haven't the slightest idea. I think a more nearly ideal way would be to insert the Huid under tlie bark with a needle, pro- viding a suitable antigen could be made. I am now experimenting with a little antigen in which tlie active principle is so nearly in solution that I am entertaining the hope of successfully using it with a large needle. If this one is not satisfactory, I shall try another as this method of injecting will have considerable advantage, especially in small plants, although there are many obstacles to overcome before it can gain prestige over the above mentioned method. Several other methods are being used with a variable degree of success and practi- cability. What shall we try to immunize.'^ Last year I made the statement that I did not believe it practical to attempt to immunize all the plants in the forest. Besides we would not have much if we did. I there- fore planned to immunize a few varieties to a high degree. This plan I am still holding paramount. I have no doubt tliat after as much work has been done along this line as has been done on the automobile, avia- tion, electricity, etc. many things may be accomplished which we do not deem feasible now. But in order to do it one must have access to a great deal more antigen than I have thus far felt disposed to make. Most of us, who had the opportunity as boys, remember favorite chestnut trees which produced exceptionally fine nuts of very large size. 86 I remember seeing pure American chestnuts that were considerably over an inch in diameter. Older men throughout the chestnut area may still identify the exact trees which produced these exceptional nuts. These trees are, of course, dead, but some of them still have a few sprouts and, being seedlings, these sprouts will reproduce the original. One of the greatest assets at this time would be the locating of a few of tliese splendid plants, for it seems to me that nothing else in the forestry line is so desirable. And this brings me to another point. Perhajis I am going off at a tangent into space, but sometimes it is necessary to do such things in order to get a clear conception of what we really need. UjJ to this time I have laid stress on the chestnut for its valuable nut alone. If the loss of the nut of the American chestnut were the only item, it seems to me that we could very readily reconcile our- selves, but it is not. The chasm formed by the loss of the lumber is the greatest one to bridge. I have eaten Chinese chestnuts that were so fine in quality that they compared very favorably with the average Amer- ican nut. But tell me, if you will, where we can find timber that sprouts so readily from the stump after being cut over, grows so straight, that is as hard and takes as fine polish, that is as free from knots, and that is as resistant to the elements as the American chest- nut wood. There was no limit to its usefulness. Can we expect the Chinese chestnut to fill this vacancy? Perhaps. But it is well to remember that the blight has undoubtedly played on them so heavily through the ages that they have given up their tall slender growth for other forms not so desirable for timber purposes. If the American chestnut were to go through the slow process of nature's method of im- munization, the chances are that it too would take on this undesirable character, whereas, if we induce a rather high degree of immunity over ;^ comparatively short period of time, the tree will still retain its natural liabits. This is why I am so anxious to find a plant that bears a very large nut of good quality. I feel that it is practical to have both a nut tree and a timber tree combined and so far as I can see, this scheme is the most logical method. Last year stress was laid on experiment No. 1 00, which was appar- ently well on the way to recovery until I foolishly cut off the top and g-rafted, after which it became reinforced and rapidly succumbed. Dr. Morris in his discussion referred to the significance of this incident. 87 This tiling is much more important than I realized at that time, for it means that immunization in this district is pretty nearly a matter of treating blighted trees and curing them. Trees that are so nearly nor- mal that one cannot judge them to be otherwise, become badly infected just as soon as the top is removed for grafting purposes. Then there is another consideration. It is perhaps possible that some of the scions placed on certain stock are more or less incompatible and do not {jroperly nourish the stock, and, after grafting, the plant performs very much as one does that has most of the top removed. Such cases would, according to experiment No. 100, immunize with considerable difficulty, if they did not die altogether. I stated above that I was convinced that a plant would immunize under induced antigen. I just want to cite two reasons for believing this. First, when an endothic antigen is placed in the pocket of the plant for the first time, it practically invariably kills the cambium, espe- cially on a pure American chestnut. Succeeding doses act with less destruction, until after several have been given there is very frequently no destruction whatever. This means that something has happened to give the cambium more resistance. Second, the blighted area heals over under the influence of an active antigen, frequently covering the wound as evenly as if there had been no infection. I am submitting to you a small branch of a blighted tree, on which the blight area is healed over, and under no influence other than an injected antigen. In all the blighted chestnuts I have ex- amined I have never seen this happen under any other condition. I have seen some healed areas but they have always been associated with a lot of callus and presented a warty, rough looking appearance, spoil- ing the timber for lumber purposes. Another reason for believing this is that trees injected seem to hang on after infection beyond the point that one would naturally expect. To illustrate this, last summer I came to two trees of the native Amer- ican chestnut, both blighted at the root. I picked out the worse of the two, this one being blighted in several places, and injected into it a dose of antigen. Two more doses were given during the season. The other tree was left untouched. These trees are about the same size and stand about fifty feet apart. Examination on Sept. 2, '27, showed the uninjured one entirely surrounded at the root, the area just above 88 very much enlarged, and ready to give up life at any moment. The other, altl'.ough blighted at several places, is throwing out abundant callus, the areas enlarging and containing live bark underneath, and offers every prospect of" hanging on to life. I think there is no doubt but thit it will go through the winter. Even if it should die later on, it gives one an additional period in which to do something else, to bridge graft if it were so desired. Understand, I am not giving this as absolute proof. I am offering it as one of my reasons for believing that a plant does immunize under the influence of an antigen. I want also to call attention to the fact that this immunizing busi- ness is not altogether one sided. No sooner is the first dose of antigen thrown in, and its defensive ferment begun to be formed, than the germs themselves get busy and, under the stimulus of the defensive ferment of the chestnut, which now becomes the antigen for the germs, they begin to make a defensive ferment which will enable them to live in the presence of the condition which the tree has set into action. And this is the way it goes. A see-saw back and forth, with "a survival of the fittest." This is the thing that takes place when various chemicals are used as poison. The bugs are continually immunizing themselves against the chemicals, which must in turn be used in increased amounts to protect our plants. To overcome this in the chestnut blight work, it will be necessary to make autogenous antigens from time to time from the then partially immunized fungus, thereby creating a new line of de- structive weapons. This I am aiming to do as necessity demands, in attaining the high degree of immunity in the few selected chestnuts that I have in mind. In closing let me state that I still believe I am on the right track. That we have the choice of either waiting as long as the Chinese did to get the mollissima immunized in the natural course through the ages, or injecting an antigen, and reaping the benefits of the resulting im- munity during our own short life. These methods are before us. We can take our choice, not only in the matter of the chestnut blight, but pear blight, black knot in plum, peach yellows, and as many others, if you please, as we may feel disposed to accept. 89 The President: We will now take up the election of the commit- tee to nominate officers for the ensuing year. Mr. Olcott: I nominate the following men as members of the nominating committee: Harry R. Weber, Karl W. Green, Dr. W. C. Deming, J. F. Jones and John W. Hershey. Mr. Spencer: I second the motion. The motion was carried. After a recess the committee reported as follows: Mr. Weber: Mr. President, the nominating committee is ready to rejjort. We nominate the following- President — Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. Vice-President — Prof. J. A. Neilson, Vineland, Ontario, Canada. Secretary — Henry D. Spencer, Decatur, 111. Treasurer- — H. J. Hilliard, Sound View, Conn. Dr. DeMing: I move that the nominations be closed and the secre- tary be instructed to cast one ballot for the nominees. Mr. Spencer: The secretary votes in favor of the officers nom- inated by the committee. Dr. Deming. I wish to offer an amendment to the By-Laws. The National Pecan Growers Association has accepted membership for students and certain other individuals at $1.00. We have on our mem- bership blank "Student membership $1.00," but I do not find on record, or in the Constitution and By-Laws, any statement of this provision for $1.00 membership. Prof. Colby, wlien he was Secretary, accepted student membership. I wish to offer the following amendment: "Article 2. Annual membership for all county agents, includ- ing home demonstration agents, for agricultural college and ex- periment station officials and employees, state foresters and U. S. Department of Agriculture officials, college and high school stu- dents, boy scouts, girl scouts or camp fire girls shall be $1.00" The idea of this is not that we shall get many more memberships that will be a source of profit to the association, but that we may gradu- ally get some officials and young people whom especially we wish to interest in nut growing. Mr. Reed: I would like to move the adoption of that amendment with possibly the addition to that group of agricultural and horticultural editors. These people drop into the meetings occasionally. We would like to have them come oftener and feel that they are members. Prob- 90 ably it would be worth while. I would move the adoption of this pro- posed amendment with that inserted. Mr. Spencer: I move the adoption of the resolution as amended. JNIr. Green : I think it would be well to say whether the amend- ment grants full membership privilege. Dr. Deming: It should be a non-voting membership. Such mem- bers should be privileged to attend the meetings, take part in the dis- cussions and receive the annual report, but should not be entitled to vote or hold elected office. The motion was carried as amended. Mr. Weber : I think the place of the next meeting must be pro- posed from the floor. I move that we meet next year in Toronto, and th.it we leave the exact date with the Executive Committee. After discussion the motion was carried. The President: We will now have the report of the Resolutions Committee. Prol. Neilson: As Chairman of the Resolutions Committee I wisli to present the following: Report of Resolutions Committee Resolved, Tliat tlie Northern Nut Growers Association extend their heartiest thanks to the following organizations and individuals for many courtesies and efficient help in making the convention a success (1) To Del-Mar- Va Association for effective work in making known in advance through the Press of the Peninsula the holding of the convention and the aims and objects of the Association. (2) To the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce for arranging for spacious quarters for holding the meeting and for their courtesy in giv- ing the members of the Association tlie pleasure of a tour of inspection of the East Shore District. (3) To the Rotary Club of Easton for their courtesy of a luncheon and a pleasant social hour. (4) To the managers of the Avon Hotel for their courteous atten- tion whicli has contributed to the pleasure of all those who came. (5) To President Grier of the Del-Mar-Va Association for coming to the convention and delivering an interesting and appropriate address. 91 (6) To the Canterbury Nurseries for the pleasure of an oyster roast and other courtesies. (7) To E. P. Wallis, Chairman of the arrangement committee, and to the citizens of Easton generally for many kind attentions. (8) To our retiring President, Mr, S. W. Snyder of Center Pt., Iowa, for efficient and faithful services during the tenure of his office. Mr. Snyder has done excellent pioneering work in Iowa in locating valuable strains of nut trees and in stimulating interest in the possibili- ties of nut culture in his state. His work is much appreciated and this is shown by the increased interest in nut culture in Iowa and other uiid- western states. (9) To our Secretary, Mr. H. D. Spencer, of Decatur, 111., for his enthusiasm and active support of the program of this association during the past year. Mr. Spencer has been most enterprising and energetic in promoting the planting of nut trees in Illinois and in educating the people of his state along nut cultural lines. With his valuable experi- ence of the past year we anticipate even greater achievement during the coming year. The members of this Association also desire to express their regrets at the passing of an old and interested member, Mortimer K. Wile of Rochester, X. Y., and extend to the family of our late member our sympathy in their bereavement. It was moved and seconded that the resolutions be adopted. The President: With no further business before the Association, the motion to adjourn will be in order. Mr. W^eber: I so move. Adjournment was declared. 92 APPENDIX THE SOIL REQUIREMENTS OF NUT TREES Willard G. BLvhy, Baldxoin, N. Y. There are some subjects on which a person can best express his knowledge by saying, "what I don't know about tliis subject would fill a book." I felt this way when asked to' present a paper to this con- vention on this important matter and feel so yet, but have gone ahead and prepared one in the hope that a most profitable discussion will fol- low. Dr. Morris has said that frequently the discussion will bring out much more than the pajjer. Necessarily much of what I present in this paper has been what has been shown at Baldwin, N. Y., checked more or less by observations elsewhere. The first requirement for nut trees is to have the soil rich and so maintained. While we see results once in a while from land being too rich for best results with apples, I have never seen evidences of soil being too rich for nut trees. Like rhubarb and asparagus, they seem to be able to put to good use all the plant food you can give them. The I^articular plant food used at Baldwin has been largely stable manure (horse and cow principally) for fortunately so far I have been able to get what was required by buying what was offered whether I needed it at the time or not. It is all right to jjlant nut trees in waste 23laces.- around buildings, etc. but be sure that the places where they are planted have rich soil or that you are j^repared to supply materials to make it so. It is possible that an excei^tion in the rich soil requirement may have to be made in the case of the chestnut, for that tree is found native on soils that are poorer than that where other nut trees are native. The jn-oni])tness with which the blight attacks chestnuts at Baldwin, how- ever, has given little opportunity for observations on this point. When we get beyond the fact of rich soil being needed and ask whether clay, loam, sandy loam, sand, etc. are best, evidence so far is to the effect that the material which makes up the bulk of the soil is of less importance than the requirement that the soil be rich in plant food and humus. An example in the case of a black walnut planted in sand is evidence on this point. There was in the field at Baldwin when I went 93 there, a place which a previous occupant had used as a dump for tin cans, old bottles, ashes, etc. Much of this was cleaned out and a large hole was the result. Digging a cold storage cellar under a portion of the house where there was no cellar gave me many loads of fine build- ing sand, which was used to fill up the old hole. When the black walnut row was set out it was found that one tree would come right in the middle of the old hole. The tree was set there and notation made to see that it got a double portion of manure when the other trees were manured. This tree has grown as well as any of the row, and the soil around it has lost the sandy appearance it had for three or four years. Perhaps the experience of the southern pecan planters may also be helpful in this connection. The pecan apparently is normally a bottom land tree and is pretty generally found in the bottom lands of the Mis- sissippi River and its tributaries where the soils .-ire alluvial, of great depth, and very rich. It has been planted on many kinds of soil and, barring such cases as being jilanted where there is ledge or hard pan near the surface, etc. it does pretty well as long as the fertility of the soil is maintained. With possibly one exception, nut trees do not appeir particular as to whether the soil be acid or alkaline. The soil at Baldwin is slightly acid, that at Lancaster, Pa., is limestone soil and probably alkaline, but with the exception of the English walnut nuts seem to do about as well at one place as the other. There is a marked difference in the case of the English walnut as to behavior, the trees doing much better at Lan- caster. The soil at Lockport, N. Y., where the English walnut does so well is limestone also. One English walnut tree at Baldwin which is growing near where there was a large ash pile at one time is growing- much better than the others. The English walnut trees at Baldwin are now receiving applications of lime to see if this will make them do nearly as they should. There is one matter which perhaps is not exactly soil requirement but which is of great importance, and that is soil condition. I do not like to dig holes in sod land and plant nut trees. I much prefer to plow the land, fertilize it, and raise a crop or two that requires clean cultivation, such as corn, and then plant the nut trees. Observations have lead me to believe that nut trees planted in tilled ground are pretty apt to make much better growth than those in sod land even when those in tilled ground- are planted a year or two later. 94 To sum the matter up I would say that, from evidence now in hand, nut trees are not particular as to soil requirements as long as a high degree of fertility is maintained. Exception should be made in the case of the English walnut which seems to prefer a limestone soil. It may also be necessary to make an exception in the case of the chestnut which may be found to do about as well on soils of moderate fertility as on rich ones. The above conclusions very likely may" have to be modified as we get farther evidence, perhaps after the discussion which I hope will follow this paper. I have quoted Dr. Morris once in the paper and I do not think I can close better than by quoting him again. In the early days of working out grafting methods, results one year, following out one plan of procedure, would be very satisfactory. Another year results from similar work would give very poor results. Accordingly pro- cedures tliat were seemingly the best one year would be out of favor two or three years later. At a meeting, after Dr. Morris had given a demonstration of grafting where he had set forth the practice he pre- ferred, some one called attention to the fact that this was at variance with what he had preferred two or three years before. His eye twinkled and he said "the one who in this work does not change his opinion is one who does not progress." I certainly hope there will be a full discussion of this brief paper and those present will tell the meeting where their experience bears out the conclusions expressed here or does not. 95 THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN EXPERIMENTAL NUT ORCHARD, A NUT ARBORETUM, A NUT PROVING GROUND Willard G. Bixhy, Baldwin, N. Y . To those giving the above but casual attention it may be thought that they are simply different names for the same thing, but such is very far from being the case. The purpose behind each is to enable us to grow fine nuts in quantities large enough to make nut growing become the important branch of agriculture which we believe it is destined to be. But after you have said that, further considerations begin to show uj) the differences. We will note below briefly the important points of each. The Ed'perimental Xiit Orchard is a collection of a relatively small number of varieties of each species of nut bearing trees and shrubs that have been shown to have good prospects for success when grown on a commercial scale. There should preferably be several trees of each variety. The principal purpose is to work out methods for getting the trees to grow and bear well, and at the same time test out the values of the different varieties under orchard conditions. There should be many such orchards one in each section of the country. They may include all species or be confined to a few or to one. The orchard of ]Mr. Thomas P. Eittlepage at Bowie, Md., is a good example of such an orchard of northern pecans and of Stabler black walnuts. A Nut Proving Ground is more inclusive and contains more varie- ties, it being intended to include all varieties where the nuts borne are good enough to seemingly make them worth while to grow if the trees are found to be healthy, good bearers, and not subject to insect and fungus troubles not readily controlled. Its function is really to ascer- tain nuts of promise from which to set out experimental orchards. Mr. J. F. Jones' older plantings at Lancaster, Pa., and my older plantings at Baldwin, N. Y., are good examples of nut proving grounds. There should be many such, one in each state, at least, and more than one in large states. A Nut Arboretum is more inclusive still and cannot be so easily defined, but with the aid of examples it is believed that the necessity 96 for such can be made clear, also an idea given of the results likely to be obtained. If it were a fact that we could get the best varieties of all nuts by simply discovering trees now in existence which bear them there would be no need for a nut arboretum. The problem would be simply to con- tinue searches for fine nuts and test out the fine varieties found. In the case of some nuts satisfactory varieties have been found by simply dis- covering existing nuts. This is the case with the southern pecan. It is liard to imagine a variety more delicious than the Schley and this wa,'\ simply a seedling tree discovered by the late A. G. Delmas of Pasca- goula, ^liss. In this connection I shall never forget the remarks of Judge Edwards at the Austin meeting of the National Pecan Growers Association which it was my privilege to attend. He said that he liad a great admiration for the Northern Nut Growers Association for the remarkable work they were doing with the stubborn material with which Uiey had to work, that in the case of the southern (the convention was an assembly of growers of southern pecans) all necessary to do was simply to select from what God in His bounty had provided, while in the case of the North it was necessary to resort to plant breeding and actually to originate what never existed before. I don't know that Judge Edwards ever considered himself a "prophet" or "the son of a prophet" but the wisdom of his utterance is now history. Those who have followed the matter most closely are convinced that while in the case of some nuts, notably the black walnut, we have varieties that are apparently going to be just what we want for orchard planting, in the case of others we have not, and that it is going to be necessary to resort to ]ilant breeding to get them. This can be made clearer by an example. In the case of the hick- ories which have been selected as wortliy of places in nut proving grounds, because of the excellence of the nuts they bear, it is being gradually learned that a larger and larger proportion are hybrids. There is one class, hybrids between the shagbark and the bitternut, of which three varieties are being propagated, the Beaver, the Fair- banks and the Laney. The shagbark, Carya ovata, is. everything con- sidered, the species of hickory which bears the best nuts, and yet the three varieties above named are larger, have thinner shell, and con- sequently have much more kernel and would sell all around the average shagbark hickory nut. In the case of the Beaver the shagbark tree 97 which bore the nut from which the parent Beaver tree grew is still standing, or at least was a few years ago, and the nut is a very ordinary one. The nuts it bears would be termed ordinary hickories and would sell for not more than a few cents a pound. The improvement effected by bitternut pollen on a flower of this particular tree has been remark- able. The bitternut tree which supplied the pollen some 50 years ago is not now standing but there is no reason to believe it to have been any- thing but an ordinary bitternut. All bitternuts bear nuts that are inedible on account of the bitter kernel, or more correctl}' on account of the bitter skin which covers the kernel. In the case of the Beaver hickory we have the remarkable case of ordinary-j-worthless=:extra- ordinary. What would have happened had we had choice specimens of shagbark and bitternut trees from which to make such a hybrid? We can only imagine but in all probability it would have been way ahead of what we have. We can note a fact from the science of chemistry which also may be helpful in showing that in otlier branches of science the most valuable of results frequently come from the union of seemingly unpromising material. Take the metal sodium for example. It would burn you should you touch it and kill you if you ate it. Chlorine also is a deadly gas that was used in the Great War to kill men by the thousands, yet when these two elements combine they form ordinary salt which is absolutely necessary for human existence. We do not know in advance the effect of combining different nuts any more than we do about dif- ferent chemicals. We do know, however, that there are great possibili- ties. There is another example in the case of the hazel. The hazels which bear the filberts of commerce are foreign species. The nuts are large and satisfactory as commercial varieties where they can be grown. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few favored locations, they bear very sparingly in the north-eastern United States. On the other hand the American hazel bears bountifully over most of this section. Much progress has been made in breeding hazels for the north-eastern United States by making hybrids between the Rush, the best American hazel that we have, and the best foreign hazels. While this work has been going on but a few years we alread}^ have hybrids bearing nuts larger than the largest foreign hazels, some of which are of great 98 promise. While the Rusli is the best American hazel that we have, there is no reason to suppose it to be the best in existence, in fact it seems most unlikely that it is and that the improvement already made, great as it is, could probably be made much greater if we had better material to work with. A nut arboretum is a place where is assembled all the best varieties of each species of trees or shrubs which bear valuable nuts. It should contain also trees which bear nuts outstanding in each particular qual- ity, such as size, cracking quality, flavor, etc., even though they should possess undesirable qualities which would prevent the nuts from rank- ing high when all qualities are considered. It should contain also the best varieties it is possible to obtain of all nut species related to those which bear valuable nuts. For example in the case of the hickories it should contain the best bitternuts, Carya cordiformis, the best shell- barks, Carya laciniosa, the best mockernuts, Carya alba, etc., even though we have no varieties of these species that bear really valuable nuts. The bitternut is useful because it has thin shell and large pro- portion of kernel and imparts these qualities to its hybrids. The shell- bark bears nuts way ahead of any hickory species in size, and the mock- ernut is the most rapid growing of the hickories, particularly on com- paratively poor soils. The slow growth of the hickory is one of the things that has so far prevented its attaining the importance tliat the fine quality of our best hickory nuts would seem to warrant. To sum up, a nut arboretum should contain species of all nut trees and shrubs that seem at all likely to furnish material for breeding varieties better than we now have. It may be asked why it is necessary to assemble all these varieties and species in one place. Why, for example, could not a choice shag- bark tree growing in Massachusetts be pollinated with pollen from a superior bitternut tree growing in Iowa. While it may be possible to do some work with widely separated parent trees, yet usually such is very expensive and there is much wasted effort. Widely separated trees also cannot be properly observed except by having an observer in each place, which adds expense even if it can be effected, and this will many times be found to be impracticable. The female parent trees in particular should be conveniently located so that the growing hybrid nuts may be properly marked during the summer and protected from boys and squirrels during the fall. Those who have done plant breed- 99 ing are unanimous in their conclusions that for practical plant breed- ing work the material to be used must be assembled in one place. That the assembling of some of this material is not going to be easy is apparent to anyone who knows about it. There will have to be much traveling even after all jDossible has been done by correspondence, and the one doing the traveling should have expert knowledge so as to make wise selections of material. It is necessarily going to be some- what expensive to gather this material and to give it the care needed to get results in the quickest possible time. There will have to be one or two persons commanding fair salaries, beside others doing the rougher work of fertilizing, cultivating, etc. The results tlie first few years will necessarily be somewhat meager, for the work of the first few years will be largely assembling material and getting ready. It is prob- able, however, tliat valuable preliminary work can be made by getting permission to make use of trees in existing arboretums. There are none that I know of that have more than a fraction of the material that should be assembled in a nut arboretum, but they have enougli to enable a start to be made, even though it would be working under unfavorable conditions. It would also probably be possible to collect data as to the flowering dates of some of the various varieties and species. They frequently flower at such different dates that it is necessary to gather pollen from one section and ship it to another. The difficulty of get- ting these various factors to co-ordinate is such that sometimes it is a matter of years to effect a desired hybridization, although fortunately this not so generally. As to the location for a nut arboretum it would preferably be where the largest possible number of nut species will do well. It should not be too far north or too far south. Long Island is pretty good but whether it is the best remains to be seen. I am inclined to think that a more southerly location might be better. Considerable study and ob- servation will be needed before this point can be decided. Wliile a nut arboretum would better not be located in a large city there are many considerations which make it desirable that it be not too far away from a city of reasonable size. A nut arboretum should have management and support such as to ensure continuous operation over a series of years. It would benefit the entire country, or at least a considerable portion of it. From that consideration it would seem as if the govern- ment should establish it. On the otlier hand there are serious practical 100 difficulties in the way of gettino; apj^ropriations for a governmental project of this nature. Probably it would be far easier to get ten times the appropriations for tlie control of a new dangerous insect, such as the Japanese beetle, than it would to get appropriations for a nut arboretum. If funds sufficient to start it should be forthcoming, prob- ably managenuiit by a board of trustees would be preferable. This is generally the wa^' our colleges, hospitals, botanic gardens, etc. were started and have been built up. The difficidties in the way of establishing a nut arboretum have been outlined above, also that there would be considerable cost of operation, but the value to the country of what would be accom])lished would be such that the cost of establishment and ofjeration would be so small as hardly to be worthy of consideration in comparison. The rapid increase in the use of nuts in late years has been beyond all precedent. Formerly they were sold by the grocers at Thanksgiving and Christmas time and scarcely any at other periods. Now we have exclusive nut stores which sell nuts all the year and shelled nuts are beginning to be put in 5c and 10c packages and are used for hurried lunches, or by those who want a bite to eat that they can eat as they go and have time for nothing else. Considerable effort also is being jiut on developing uses for nuts in the family in the form of nut butters and otherwise. It is generally admitted that there is only one solution in sight for the diminishing supply of meat and that is to grow nuts. A nut arboretum, as nothing else can, will improve the nut varieties that we now have. There would, in all probability, be results achieved not contem- plated in the above plans, which are not only possible but probable. One only will be mentioned. Most of tlie nut trees are valuable timber trees but generally are of slow growth. The work of breeding varieties for the nuts they bear is almost certain to get varieties valuable for tim- ber as well. A hickory that will grow several times as fast as any- thing we now have would be of tremendous value to the forestry indus- try of the country, and it is likely to come from a nut arboretum. It is difficult to see how a man of means who really wanted to do something worth while could more effectively accomplish it than by establishing a nut arboretum. 101 THE PROPAGATION OF NUT TREES SEEDS, SCIONS, TREES By J . F. Jones, Lancaster, Pa. The Selection of Seed Nuts to Grow Stock Tl'.e j)riiu'i})le thing we li.ue in view in growing under stocks for budding or grafting is to grow vigorous seedlings that will handle well in the nursery and that will furnish the root system for hardy, long- lived and vigorous trees in the orchard. There is, therefore, no ad- vantage in using seed nuts of grafted varieties to grow stocks, since the stocks are to be budded or grafted. Also, since the nut trees used for under stocks, or most of them, grow naturally in a wild state, there is much less variation in individual seedlings of the various species of nuts, except as they apply to conditions under which the trees are grow- ing, than is the case with most other trees cultivated for their fruit. The selection of seed to grow stocks on which to bud or graft the finer varieties is, therefore, perhaps of less importance. I believe, however, that it will pay to select seed nuts from the largest and most vigorous trees. The quality of the nuts, as judged for eating, however, need not be taken into consideration, since the seedlings are to be grafted. Stocks for Varieties of The Various Species The black walnut, Juglans nigra, makes a good stock on which to bud or graft varieties of the P^nglish or Persian walnut, as well as the improved varieties of its own species. So far as we have tried them, all the other species of the walnut (juglans) do well on this stock also. The butternut, when grafted or budded on the black walnut or Japan walnut stocks, will no doubt be free from the root disease which some- times shortens the life of this tree, and varieties of butternut should therefore be worked on either the black or Japan walnut stocks. We have used both very satisfactorily. The Japanese walnuts, which in- cludes the heart nut, grow faster, at least the first two or three years, on stocks of their own species and these are probably to be preferred, but after the trees grafted or budded on black walnut stocks get well established they grow rapidly and, since the black walnut makes a deeper root system, heart nut trees grafted on this stock might be bet- ter, for some locations at least. 102 With the hickories, (carya) varieties of the various species and their liybrids seemingly are more jDarticular as to stocks and the pecan is the one species of hickory that I liave tried that all the other hickories do well on. As a general rule^ however, I would prefer the varieties of each species of hickory worked on stocks of their own species, but the shagbark. We use the bitternut stocks for the shagbark-bitternut of their faster growth, they are easier to grow and graft than stocks of the shagbark. We use the bitternut stocks for the shagbark-bitternut hybrids and believe this is the best stoCk for these, although they do well on the pecan stock also. Handling and Planting Seed Nuts Seed for planting to grow stocks should be either planted in the fall or stratified in sand or light soil and planted the following spring. Stratifying is simply bedding in sand or light, sandy soil, using three or four parts sand to one part seed with a good layer of sand or light soil over the top to prevent the seed drying out. With small lots of a few bushels or less, boxes with the bottoms removed and screen tacked on to })revent mice getting in, are splendid for his purpose. The boxes are set on top of the ground, the screen side down, and when filled another screen should be tacked over the top and the boxes banked with earth, when the seed will require no further attention until planting time. The seed should be planted before it begins to sprout. With the black walnut, bitternut, and the pecan this would be before April 20th, in southeastern Pennsylvania. The Jap- anese walnuts usually vegetate a little earlier or April 10th to 15th. The land for planting seed nuts should be rich and well prepared as for planting garden vegetables. The usual nursery practice is to plant in rows 2i to 3^ feet apart, dropping the nuts thickly but in a straight line, in narrow trenches about two inches deep. After the seed is planted it is covered with several inches of earth. After the seed is well sprouted and before the plants begin to come through, the ridge over the row is pulled down to the ground level. This leaves a light covering over the seed and leaves the surface soil mellow and clean over the row. The young plants must be well cultivated and kept free from weeds through the growing season. Transplanting and Handling Seedling Stocks The following spring, or when the seedlings are one year old, 103 they are transplanted to the nursery to grow on for budding or grafting stocks. Transplanting helps in making for better roots on the trees as well as spacing the trees the proper distance to grow up to "finished" nursery trees. Trenches for lining out the young seedling stocks can be opened uj) with a single shovel or a one horse cultivator, by removing all but the center standards and shovels and running two or more times to the row to get proper depth. We rarely cut back these small stocks when transplanting and they v.rc niore easily cultivated and cared for if the tops, or at least part of tlie tops, are left on. The plants must be given more room in what we might call the permanent nursery, and the usual practice is to set them in rows 3^ to h feet wide and the plants 10 or 12 inches apart in the row. On rich land, the Japanese walnuts make good budding or grafting stocks the first year after transplanting, while the black walnut takes two years and the pecan and bitternut a year longer usually. Size or Age of Stocks for Grafting or Budding It does not ))ay to try to graft small stocks. It is more difficult to get buds or grafts to take on small stocks, and, if they do take, more time is required to make trees large enough to handle satisfactorily. In nursery practice, tot graft to the best advantage, the stocks of black walnut or other thick bark trees should caliper at least 2 inch and up. Pecan and bitternut can be somewhat smaller. Of course most of the stocks at the ages mentioned will run larger than this as a rule, but if there are very many stocks below these sizes it may pay to let the block stand another year before grafting. The beginner is quite likely to make the mistake of selecting out and grafting a few of the largest stocks in a block of seedling stocks the next year after transplanting, instead of waiting two years. As usually handled, this does not work out well in practice for the reason that the stocks not grafted over-top the young grafts and they run up spindling to reach the light and do not make good trees. This can be overcome very largely by cutting all stocks not grafted back to near the ground line. These will promptly throw out new shoots and one of these can be left for budding the same season or for grafting the following spring. These new shoots, growing up with the grafts, will not do them very much harm. Large stocks should not be cut back below where they are to be grafted, but small seedlings, when cut off near the ground, 104 will heal over quickly and will not be injured for stocks by cutting back and growing up again. On the contrary, this seems to make them more vigorous and, if they are to be budded, they handle better than stocks not cut back. Budding and Grafting the Nut Trees The technic of budding and grafting can not be described satis- factorily to properly instruct the beginner without the aid of special illustrations, and as Dr. Colby, when, asking me to prepare this paper, insisted that I keep the beginner especially in mind, I shall not try to cover this phase of the work. We have a little booklet illustrating bud- ding and grafting, however, and I shall be glad to mail a copy of this free to any one desiring it. Budding and grafting is covered more thoroughly, however, in the Government bulletins by Dr. C. A. Reed and in Dr. ]\lorris's new book, "Nut Growing." Selecting and Cutting Scions for Grafting It is getierally understood that in taking scions for grafting only the one year growth is considered. With most of the nut trees however, older scion wood, if iu)t too large, can also be used to advantage, and with such trees as the pecan and shagbark hickory the older scion wood is to be preferred, as it gives better stands of grafts. Scions of the black walnut, however, from growth older than one year, is of little or no value for grafting. To the contrary, scions of the English or Persian walnut from two year wood give excellent stands of grafts usually. Scions for grafting should be cut early before the sap gets active in the trees and should be selected from the best growth, that is, good, solid, wood growth with as little pith as possible. With a little experience, one will quickly detect poor scion wood without cutting into the growth by the color of the bark and the large, plump buds, set closer together. Storing and Keeping Scions for Grafting It is not in the selection of scions that the beginner usually fails to make his grafting a success, but in handling the scions. Scions for grafting need not be put in cold storage. In fact cold storage, at the usual temperatures, seems to be injurious to scions. Cool storage, that is, temperatures maintained below the freeezing point, is O. K. but in my experience this also is not necessary. We store them in a cellar with a ground floor. This is damp and cool and the cases the scions are stored in are without bottoms and set on the damp cellar floor. The 105 cases are lined with tar paper or liglit roofing, both the sides and the lid. The latter is hinged for ease in getting out scions as needed. No packing is used around the scions and they draw enough moisture from the damp ground below to hold them plump and in good condition. Good scions, stored in this way, can be kept for weeks or even months, if need be, in excellent condition. People often write me asking why it is they can graft nut trees and secure good stands with scions secured from me while they fail with their own scions. The trouble is, usually, that they have packed their scions too damp and they have absorbed too much moisture. Nut scions for grafting are soon spoiled if packed too damp, even if kept at temperatures considerably below that required to cause the sap to flow in trees outside. In judging whether scion wood is too sappy to use, our rule is, if the bark peels off easily they are too sappy. This, however, does not always hold good in practice. Black walnut scions, especially, will sometimes give good results after they have reached this condition, but they must be used promptly. Controlling the Sap in Stocks to he Grafted In the beginning in the propagation of northern nut trees in Penn- sylvania, we found results much more uncertain than in the lower south and, while good stands of grafts were sometimes secured and we would feel that we had "turned the trick", the next season blocks of stocks grafted under seemingly the same conditions often gave poor stands of grafts. Closer observation and tests showed that those stocks that bled (ran sap) even moderately when cut back for grafting, were gen- erally failures. Also, that in those stocks that bled freely the reaction was much slower, due to the devitalizing effect of the bleeding, and they calloused slowly if at all. Grafts set on such stocks are pushed quickly into activity and, if they are not injured by the souring of the sap from the stock, they start callousing quickly and considerably ahead of the stock, and are caught at the critical time on a dry, inactive stock and a union is impossible. We overcome this by cutting the stocks back a week or ten days ahead of grafting. They are cut off at the point we wish to graft them, which is usually i to 6 inches above the ground line, the cleft to receive the graft being cut in the stub without recutting. If the stubs are cut again for grafting the cut must be very light, otherwise the stock will probably bleed again, and is very stubborn to handle. Sometimes it is advisable to go over a block of stocks twice, leaving those stocks that may be still bleeding a few days longer. 106 We also found that by cutting the stocks back ahead of grafting we would safely begin grafting considerably earlier and this is quite an advantage where one has much grafting to do. Handled in this way, we have been able to get fairly uniform and good stands of grafts every year, and have the past ten years, so we feel rather safe in saying that we have the matter of propagation on a safe basis and that nut trees of most species at least can be propagated as safely as our more common fruit trees, although the cost of growing the nut trees is, of course, considerably more. I have not mentioned budding the nut trees. As a matter of fact we now do little budding, but we did considerable budding before we li.id the matter of controlling the sap in the stocks worked out satisfac- torily, as it was safer to rely on. We still bud the heart nut trees, how- ever, as they are more difficult to graft successfully and we cannot rely on grafting for a supply of these trees. Care of the Grafts and Young Trees in the Nursery Grafts will not start unifoVmly, although a large percentage should start growth within three or four weeks, after the grafts are set. The beginning is sometimes puzzled therefore to know how to handle tardy grafts. Continued sprouting of the stock to force the graft into growth will injure the stock if continued too long. On such we allow one shoot to grow from the stock below the graft, leaving this preferably on the south side to get the benefit of the shade. If the o-raft fails to start within a reasonable time vet is still alive, this shoot may be pinched back, leaving a few leaves to take up some of the sap and prevent too much deterioration in the stock. After the graft is well started this shoot can be removed. To play safe against storms and to insure the young trees making up well, they should be staked. We use stakes sawed out of cypress or other good lasting wood. Seven eighths or three fourths inch lumber is ripped into strips 1^ or li inches wide and cut into the lengths desired, usually 4 to 5 feet long. Buds or grafts, when set on good strong stocks, make trees large enough to plant in the permanent orchard in one year, and most of the trees we sell are only one year from the bud or graft. I have not mentioned what is commonly called "Top Working" seedling trees. This is simply budding or grafting over the tops of larger trees, usually on the limbs or branches, and trees growing where they can be left to bear. This, too, is fully covered in Dr. Reed's bulle- tins and in Dr. Morris's book, "Nut Growing". 107 NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' PRIZE NUT CONTEST By Dr. TV. C. Deming, Hartford, Conn. The 1926-27 prize nnt contest of the Northern Nut Growers Asso- ciation, for the first time limited to one nut, the black walnut, was prob- ably the greatest nut contest ever held in the history of the world. Its great success in bringing in the nuts is due to the publicity given it by the ingenuity of Dr. J. Russell Smith. The Plan Pursued The procedure that was developed as the correspondence and pack- ages began to come in, early in November was as follows. About half of the packages were preceded by letters either announcing their sending or asking how it should be done. Each one of latter was answered immediately with a printed circular, accompanied by the cir- cular of the association recommending the planting of black walnuts, and a third circular describing the objects of the association and the advantages of joining it. In addition notes were often added in answer to special questions. All the letters were then marked at the top in red pencil with the name of the sender and filed in alphabetical order. This involved considerable labor in the verification of names and ad- dresses as many were very illiterately written. As the packages came in they were allowed to accumulate as it was found, after examining a few, that many were too green for proper testing and a period of drying and curing was necessary. The accu- mulation soon became alarming. The occupants of a small apartment were nearly driven from home. When the testing finally began in earnest the packages were opened, names and addresses again verified, and the statements in the letters noted. Several nuts were then cracked with a special cracker and those manifestly of no value were discarded. Those worthy of further consideration were put in bags properly labelled. In all cases, whether the nuts were of value or not, a notation was made on the sender's letter of their characteristics and also on a printed postal card which was returned to tlie sender in acknowledg- ment, and often some special notation was made. A copy of this card is here shown. The letters of the nuts examined were then put into a separate file. 108 983 Main St., Hartford, Conn., Date. The nuts tliat you send for the prize contest of Tlie Northern Nut Growers Association, I estimate as follows: No. Size — small, average, large, very large. Shell — thin, average, thick. Cracking — poor, average, good. Kernel — light, dark, brown, plump, shrunken. Quality — poor, average, good, rich. Good for home use. Will receive further consideration. The nuts deemed worthy of further consideration were divided into first and second choice. When all the nuts had been examined those of first choice were gone over again and final selection made for submit- ting to the committee of aw^ard. This final selection was taken to the office of Dr. Smith in New York where the committee, composed of Dr. Smith, Dr. IMorris, Mr. Bixby, Mr. Reed, Mr. Jones and Dr. Dem- ing did its best to still further reduce the number of selected specimens. This final selection was then referred to Mr. Bixby for critical tests. Notes and Incidents The nuts were packed in every imaginable sort of container. Many were sent in bags and this is the most satisfactory container for hard shelled nuts. Many were so poorly packed that the nuts rattled out ;is they were delivered and it was only by the grace of the post-office employees, who soon came to know the destination of packages of black walnuts, that they were ever delivered. The names and addresses were lost, or not given, for some packages and a number must have been lost altogether, judging by the number of letters announcing the sending of nuts that were never received. The prize package of all was a casket of heavy, polished black walnut wood put together with embossed screws and with a copper name plate on the cover engraved with the name of the sender. This sender was an undertaker. The number of packages in which each nut was wrapped separately in tissue paper was astonishing. It was also somewhat boring to have to unwrap each nut. One man sent two unwrapped bundles of what I suppose he considered scions, and no nuts. A number sent unpro- tected bunches of scions in the packages. One package of scions was received in good condition. Many packages were insured, several sent 109 by special delivery and one even by air mail. Several were marked fragile though there is hardly any natural object less fragile than most of the black walnuts received. One man sent 19 different varieties each neatly packed in a bag and not one of value. Another sent 16 varieties of the same valueless nature. Another 7 varieties all false or shrunken. Many sent the nuts in the liusk and some of these were a festering, mouldering mess when opened. The apartment was filled with fruit flies from one of these cackages. One man would send me nuts "if assured of the prize." Several asked me to send postage and one from the South sent a heavy box "express, collect," while one man in the ^liddle West wanted the asso- ciation to send an investigator to see his tree. Sources by Sections The South sent by far the larger number of nuts, Tennessee leading, but very few of these were found worthy of consideration, being usually thick shelled and jjoor crackers with dark kernels. On the other hand the nuts from ^'^irgini,•^ and from tlie ^Middle West were usually thin shelled and good crackers with light kernels. In New England tlie black wilnut is liardly known as a nut for eating. Most people do not even know it when they see it. This probably accounts also for the small number of nuts sent from New York and New Jersey, although there must be a great number of trees in those states. But in the South the black walnut is so esteemed that many of the trees are regarded with pride and affection by the owners. M-iiiy of the letters were almost pathetic in the love expressed by tlie writers for their trees. The sale of kernels furnishes many families with cash for the outfitting of the children for school. Great size of the nut is a chief source of pride in many of the nut senders, although tlie nuts themselves usually turned out quite worthless for the purposes of this competition. The most extraordinary claims were made for the nuts and usually the sender's opinion of their value was quite worthless. Many seemed quite sure that the first prize would be awarded them as soon as the nut was received. "Grandfather planted it when I was a little girl" was often considered reason enough for deserving a prize. Women seem particularly interested in nut trees. The gathering 110 and cracking of the nnts, the disposal of the kernels and the profits therefrom seem to be considered, especially in the South, as woman's province. It is the intention of the committee in charge of this competition to publish not only the names of the prize winners and those deserving honorable mention, but also the names of all those who sent in nuts worthy of serious consideration. This will make a very long list but it is believed that it will be of great value -to make known the location of these valuable trees scattered over so large an area of the country. Many inquiries can thus be referred to good trees not many miles distant from their homes that are known to be adapted to their own localities. This may turn out to be very important because it is not yet known that the very best varieties will be equally successful when moved far from tlieir native adaptations. The final critical tests of the nuts selected by the committee were made by Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y., at the request of the com- mittee, and the prizes were awarded on the basis of these tests. Mr. Bixby's detailed report follows. It would not be fitting to neglect this opportunity of calling atten- tion to the good fortune of the association, and of the nut growing in- dustry, in having in Mr. Bixby a man of the means, ability, patience and willingness to conduct so exhaustive a series of scientific tests in determining the relative values of so many nuts. Such work is of per- manent value to the whole world. Scions have been received from all, or nearly all, of the prize win- ners, have been distributed to experienced propagators, and have been successfully grafted. Letters were received from 1209 persons from 36 states, the Dis- trict of Columbia and Canada. Some of them wrote several times. No letters were received from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and the Dakotas. From a literary, sociological, and other points of view not directly relating to the contest, these letters are interesting and would repay further study. Unusual words, like "boskage" for thicket or woods, "goodies" for kernels, and "poak" for bag, go back to the time of Ill Spencer and Chaucer. There were appeals to the sympathies, hoping for the first prize to "heljj build the church," or to "pay for my boy's operation." Taking into the fara'ily confidences was common. A con- fiding friendship was the rule, specially from the southern people. The number of packages of nuts received was 930, containing speci- mens from 1229 black walnut trees and 115 other nut trees, a total of 131-1' specimens. Of the walnuts, other than the eastern black, there were ten specimens of butternuts, five of the California black walnut, five siebolds, four Persians, three heart nuts, two hybrids, and one sinensis. Of the hickories there were 38 shagbarks, 21' shellbarks, 13 pecans, •1 pignuts, 2 mockernuts, one probably a buckleyi, and one hybrid. There were two filberts, some post oak acorns and one package of prunes. All of the packages received have been tabulated by states. The number of j)ersons who wrote that they had sent, or were send- ing, specimens, but of which I have no record of receipt, was 28. Sev- eral came without name or address of sender but all of these were identified, in some way or other except four. Deducting these four from the 28 leaves 24 reported sent but not received. Some of these may never have been sent, some may have been faults in my records^ but most of them probably were lost in the mail. Many packages were received in such bad condition that I got them only by the grace of the postman. Sometimes the nuts were half gone and one package was entirely empty. Now and then a j^ackage may have failed to pass through the hands of somebody very fond of black walnuts. Twenty- three per cent of these failures were women and 20 per cent men. The number of persons who wrote letters of inquiry about the con- test, but of tile receipt of nuts from whom I have no record, was 253. This is to me an extraordinary and almost inexplicable thing. I sent every one of these corresi)ondents the contest circular, also bulletin No. 6 and the circular of the association. Why such a large number of persons should have the interest to write letters of inquiry, and then fail to send nuts, is almost beyond my comprehension. Of course there were a number who only wanted to sell nuts or kernels or young trees or trees for timber. But there remains a large number of correspon- dents who did not respond to our invitation to send nuts. It almost 112 seems as if there might have been something lacking in the form of our invitation. Some light is thrown on this problem when we consider by states the percentage of correspondents who failed to send nuts. It was much greater in the southern states. For instance out of 119 writers from Tennessee 59, or almost exactly 50% failed to send nuts. Whereas out of 133 writers from Ohio only 11%, out of 123 from Illinois only 10%, and out of 22 writers from Iowa only 4 Green, Mrs. Avice M., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington i!!^ Greene, Karl W., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington ^ ♦Littlepage, T. P., Union Trust Bldg., Washington Reed, C. A., Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington Scheele, Mrs. Ella B., Ridge Road, N. W., Washington ^^ Stiebling, Mrs. Anna E., 1458 Monroe St., N. W., Washington Cj) Taylor, D. W., 1811 19th St., N. W., Washington Von Ammon, S., Bureau of Standards, Washington cn ♦Life Member 6 ENGLAND Spence, iJoT/ard T.'-e Reu House, Ainsdale, Soutbport GEORGIA Bullai-d, Wm. P.. Albany Wight, J. B., Cairo ILLINOIS Brown, Roy W., 220 E. Cleveland St., Spring Valley Casper, O. H., 115 W. Monroe St., Anna Cook, Lila A., Cropsey Colby, A. S., University of Illinois, Urbana Frey, Frank H., Room 930 Lasalle St., Station, Chicago Gibbens, Geo. W., Godfrey Gould Company, Onarga Illinois, University of, Urbana Johnson, P. B., Box 72, Marion Kimmel, Levett, Farm Adviser, Galconda Koonce, George W., Greenville Morton, Joy, Lisle Poll, Carl J., 1013 E. Seminary St., Danville Riehl, Miss Amelia, Godfrey Rodhouse, T. W., Jr., Pleasant Hill Spencer, Henry D., 275 W. Decatur St., Decatur INDIANA Davis, Will J., Windfall Isakeon, Walter R., R. F. D., Hobart Lawson, Russell K., Hobart Wilkinson, J. F., Rockport IOWA Adams, Gerald W., R. F. D. No. 4, Moorehead Bricker, C. W., Box 194, Ladora Harrington, F. O., Williamsburg Luckenbill, Ben. W., Wapello Parrott, W. B., Manning Snyder, S. W., Center Point Snyder, D. C, Center Point Van Meter, W. L., Adel KANSAS Hitchcock, Chas. W., R. No. 1, Belle Plaine Orth, W. P., R. No. 2, Box 20, Mount Hope KENTUCKY Barnes, Ernest A., Murl LOUISIANA Fullilove, J. H., Box 157, Shreveport *Life Member MAINE Black Point Fruit Farm, Scarboro Beach Ram Island Farm, Cape Elizabeth MARYLAND Close, C. P., College Park Mehring, Upton F., Keymar Mehring, Upton, Keymar Mitchell, C. W., Oxford, R. F. D. O'Connor, P. H., Bowie Purnell, J. Edgar, Box 24, Salisbury MASSACHUSETTS Allen, Edward E., Dir. Perkins Institution for the Blind, Watertown *Bowditch, James H., 903 Tremont Bldg., Boston Brown, Daniel L., 60 State St., Boston Bryant, Dr. Ward C, Greenfield Hale, Richard W., 60 State St., Boston Johnson, Roscoe E., Barre Russell, Newton H., Burnette Ave., So. Hadley Center Sprague, P. W., 10 P. O. Square, Boston Williams, Moses, 18 Tremont St., Boston MICHIGAN Burke, Mrs. Oliver W., 1525 Edison Ave., Detroit Copland, A. W., Birmingham Graves, Henry B., 73 Forest Ave., West, Detroit Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 202 Manchester St., Battle Creek Penney, Senator Harvey A., 425 S. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw Stocking, Frederick W., 3456 Cadillac Ave., Detroit University of Michigan, Botanical Dept., Ann Arbor MINNESOTA Andrews, Miss Frances E., 245 Clifton Ave., Minneapolis Weschcke, Carl, 98 S. Wabasha St., St. Paul MISSOURI Stark, P. C, Louisiana Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana Tiedke, J. F., R. F. D., No. 1, Rockville NEBRASKA Caha, William, Wahoo NEW JERSEY Hilferty, Charles D., 647 Prospect St., Westfield Hurst, Mrs. A. E., 20 Beech St., Rutherford *Jaques, Lee W., 74 Waverly St., Jersey City *Life Member Landmann, Miss M. V., R. F. D. No. 2, Cranbury Newark Museum Association, 49 Washington St., Newark Ridgway, C. S., Lumberton NEW YORK Abbott, Frederick B., 1211 63rd St., Brooklyn Ashworth, Fred L., Heuvelton Bixby, Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Bixby, Mrs. Willard G., 32 Grand Ave., Baldwin Buist, Dr. G. L., 3 Hancock St., Brooklyn Cothran, John C., 134 College Ave., Ithaca Ellwanger, Mrs. W. D., 510 East Ave., Rochester Gager, Dr. C. Stuart, Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Garber, Hugh E., Room 403A, 75 Fulton St., New York Hodgson, Casper W., World Book Co., Yonkers ♦Huntington, A. M., 1 E. 89th St., New York City Jewett, Edmond G., 266 Washington Ave., Brooklyn MacDaniels, L. H., College of Agriculture, Ithaca Mathiesen, O., 117 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn *01cott, Ralph T., 39 State St., Rochester Pickhardt, O. C, 117 E. 80th St., New York City Pomeroy, A. C, Lockport Prince, J. Lloyd, Spencertown Rodenbeck, Mrs. A. J., 100 Brunswick Ave., Rochester Solley, Dr. John B., 213 E, 61st St., New York City Tice, Daniel, Savings Bank Building, Lockport *Wissman, Mrs. F. deR., 9 W. 54th St., New York City NORTH CAROLINA Matthews, C. D., Dept. of Agr., Raleigh OHIO Brooke, James L., Pleasantville Fugazzi Bros., Fruit Exchange Bldg., Cincinnati Gerber, E. P., R. No. 1, Apple Creek Hamilton, Chas. E., 52 Jefferson Ave., Columbus *W©ber, Harry R., 123 East 6th St., Cincinnati Walker, C. F., 2851 E. Overlook Rd., Cleveland Heights PENNSYLVANIA Barton, George C, 111 Pine St., Sharon Hill Baum, Dr. F. L., Boyertown Bonney, Robert D., 204 W. Winnona Ave., Norwood Station Corbin, J. Ross, P. O. Box 968, Harrisburg Cranch, Raymond G., Bryn Athyn Deeben, Fred, Trevorton Fritz, Ammon P., 55 E. Franklin St., Ephrata Gribbel, Mrs. John, Box 31, Wyncote Hammond, Dr. J. T., 3rd, Newton Heffner, Harry E., R. F. D. No. 1, Cressona Hershey, John W., Downingtown ♦Life Member 9 Hess, Elam G., Manheim Hile, Anthony, Curwensville Jones, Dr. T. W., Coatesville Kaufmann, M. M., Clarion Leach, Will, Cornell Bldg., Scranton Moorehead, A. D., Indiana Paden, Riley W., R. No. 2, Enon Valley Raab, W. L., Box 41, Dallastown Ross, Adam A., 121 Bleddyn Road, Ardmore *Rick, John, 438 Penn. Square, Reading Smith, Dr. J. Russell^, Swarthmore Stein, Charles E., 208 N. 2nd St., Lewisburg Theiss, Lewis Edwin, Muncy Wehrle, R. W., Indiana *Wister, John C., Clarkson Ave. & Wister St., Germantown Woodward, Laura E., Westchester Wright, Ross Pier, 235 W. First St., Erie Zimmerman, Dr. G. A., The Fernwood, Piketown RHODE ISLAND Allen, Phillip, 178 Dorrance St., Providence VERMONT Aldrich, A. W., R. F. D. No. 3, Springfield Dana, J. C, Woodstock Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven VIRGINIA Harris, Dewitt S., Capital Landing Road, R. F. D. No. 3, Williamsburg WASHINGTON Berg, D. H., Nooksack Richardson, J. B., Lakeside WES*r VIRGINIA Cannaday, Dr. J. E., Box 693, Charleston Hartzell, B. F., Shepherdstown McGovran, E. R., Box 2, Clay ♦Life Member I 10 CONSTITUTION Article I Name. This society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association, Incorporated. Article 'II Object. Its object shall be the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their products and their culture. Article III Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the rules and regulations of the committee on membership. Article IV Oncers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meet- ing; and an executive committee of six persons, of which the president, the two last retiring presidents, the vice-president, the secretary and the treasurer shall be members. There shall be a state vice-president from each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the association, who shall be appointed by the president. Article V Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the following year. Article VI Meetings. The place and time of the annual meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection 11 being made at this time, the executive committee shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the president and executive committee. Article VII Quorum. Ten members of the association shall constitute a quorum, but must include two of the four elected officers. Article VIII Amendments. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or a copy of the proposed amendment having been mailed by any member to each member tl)irty days before the date of the an- nual meeting. BY-LAWS Article I CoTnmittees. The association shall appoint standing committees as follows : On membership, on finance, on programme, on press and publication, on nomenclature, on promising seedlings, on hybrids, and an auditing committee. The committee on mem- bership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member. Article II Fees. Annual members shall pay five dollars annually, to include one year's subscription to the American Nut Journal, or three dollars and fifty cents not including subscription to the Nut Journal. Contributing members shall pay ten dollars annually, this membership including a year's subscription to the American 12 Nut Journal. Life members shall make one payment of fifty dollars, and shall be exempt from further dues. Honorary members shall be exempt from dues. There shall be an annual, non-voting, membership, with privilege of the annual report, for all County Agents, Agri- cultural College and Experiment Station Officials and Em- ployes, State Foresters, U. S. Department of Agriculture Officials, Editors of Agricultural Periodicals, College and High School Students, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Camp Fire Girls and similar organizations, on payment of one dollar as annual dues. Article III Membership. All annual memberships shall begin either with the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of joining the association, or with the first day of the calendar quarter preceding that date as may be arranged between the new mem- ber and the Treasurer. Article IV Amendments. By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of mem- bers present at any annual meeting. Article V Members shall be sent a notification of annual dues at the time they are due, and if not paid within two months, they shall be sent a second notice, telling them that they are not in good standing on account of non-payment of dues, and are not en- titled to receive the annual report. At the end of thirty days from the sending of the second notice, a third notice shall be sent notifying such members that unless dues are paid within ten days from receipt of this notice, their names will be dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues. 13 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS at the XIXETEEXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION (Incorporated) Held at the KING EDWARD HOTEL TORONTO, ONTARIO September 10, 11 and 12, 1928 Mr. Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y., the President of the Association, occupied the chair. He called the convention to order at 1 1 o'clock Monday, September 10th. The President then delivered his official address. THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS This is our 19th meeting. It is also the first meeting ever held outside the boundaries of the L^'nited States and it gives me great pleasure,, as I am sure it does all of our members, to meet in this im- portant city of the Dominion of Canada and talk over the problems of nut growing in the northern part of the American continent. The past year has been one of achievement. Nut growing has steadily progressed, our few commercial nut orchards have been es- tablished more firmly than ever, new ones are being planted and those planted a short time ago are getting nearer the time when they will bear nuts in commercial quantities. One established in the past four or five years has had the fortune, or misfortune, to have oil dis- 14 covered near it and we are nof quite sure whether to congratulate the owner on his apparent start on the road to wealth or commiserate with him over the probable loss of his nut orchard. An experimental or- chard, where practically every fine variety is to be founds reports the older plantings bearing to quite an extent, and that many cross polli- nations were made this spring as the first step in making hybrids between species and varieties, which work has not heretofore been attempted, at least not to any extent. During the past year we have suffered the loss of the first ex- president to pass away, the Hon. W. S. Linton of Saginaw, Michigan, who was the first to gather the black walnuts from Washington's home at Mount Vernon and to distribute them for planting by school children. This year also marks the joassing of Mr. J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Penn., universally known to have been the foremost nut nurseryman in the country, and who has done more than anyone else to develop nut tree propagation and nut tree growing, so that those who desired to plant nut trees might be able to get them. I expect that there will be at this meeting those who will bring to us much more about these men than I can attempt to note in a president's report. During the early part of the year some things became out of balance, particularly finances, and this was of much concern to many members. The president's office for a time was deluged with letters calling attention to the fact that there were not on hand sufficient funds to pay for printing the proceedings of the Easton meeting of 1927, and various plans were suggested for correcting this condition. One suggested not printing the report and depending on the American Nut Journal to print the material now going into the proceedings. Considerable study was put on this and it was finally decided that this was inadvisable and that the thing to do was to raise what money was needed by direct appeal to those who were believed to be able and willing to contribute for the purpose. This cleaned up the matter. The membership at the present time, as shown by the last two reports, is in the neighborhood of 200, and yet the receipts from mem- bership dues as noted in the same reports were $337.50 and $346.00 respectively, which would seem to show an active due paying member- 16 ship of about 100. The annual expenditures are between $600.00 and $700.00. Of these expenditures about $300.00 is for printing the annual report, $200.00 or so for the convention and $100.00 for miscellaneous expenses of postage, printing, etc. These expenses are exceedingly modest. We do not even pay our secretary a salary, which we really should. The balance, $300.00 per year, has been made up by contributions from members who believe the associa- tion to be doing worth while work and are willing to contribute in this way. This method of financing is far from satisfactory, and yet I know 5f no religious, social or scientific organization, where I am closely enough informed to know the real inside workings, where financing in the final analysis is not conducted on this plan. It may be dis- guised in the form of memberships of different classes where some members pay several times what others do, or as in churches where members are expected to give "as they are able", but when you get right down to tlie inside facts, it is a faithful few who stand behind and keep things going. In the excejitional case we sometimes hear of the exception is because some individual, perhaps the secretary, contributes in labor far above what he is paid for, and perhaps through his efforts may seemingly make an organization self-support- ing, each member paying only a predetermined membership fee. This, however, only proves the rule above, for in such a case it is the "one" instead of "a faithful few" who is standing behind and keeping things going. Some remarkable instances of early bearings have come to our attention during the past year. A Griffin hickory set out in the fall of 1926 is bearing two nuts at this writing, and a Saugatuck butter- nut 30 inches high is bearing two nuts. While these are unusual, par- ticularly the hickory, which is proverbially slow in coming into bear- ing, it has shown that under proper conditions of soil, climate and attention, grafted trees will bear as early as apple trees, and that no one need be deterred from planting nut trees for fear it will take from 20 to 25 years before they will bear. Data have been accumulating as to the yields that may be expected from nut trees, at least what certain nut trees have done. It is expected that much information of this nature will be brought out at this meeting. While records of the 16 bearing of nut trees, both as to earliness and prolificness, have usually been understood to be with trees carefully cultivated and heavily fertilized, this is not the usual condition under which nut trees grow, for they are frequently found bearing good crops when growing on land so rough that cultivation is impossible. They probably will not bear as large crops over a series of years, but it is believed that paying crops can be so grown, and so land may be utilized for nut growing that is too steep for regular farm crops. It is expected that we will learn at this meeting something that i§ being done in this line. In- deed it is hoped and believed that this meeting will record more facts regarding commercial nut growing than have heretofore been gotten together. 17 THE SECRETARY'S REPORT The secretary takes pleasure in reporting to the members that the nterest of the general public in nut bearing trees for food or shade s steadily growing. Last year the reward offered for a better black walnut than was hen known aroused great interest. As a result the correspondence of he secretary and especially of the committee in charge was so great is to be really burdensome. This year, while this correspondence has lot been so heavy it has shown, however, that the inquiries were jrompted by a real interest in nut trees rather than in a chance to :arn a few dollars and some publicity through a contest. The secretary wishes to correct a misunderstanding as to the atti- ude of one of the railways requested to give publicity to the contest or better black walnuts. The secretary stated in 1927, that the llinois Central railway and the Wabash railway published the par- iculars of the walnut contest, but said nothing about the Chicago Rock sland and Pacific railway, although that road was mentioned as one /^hich had been requested to 23rint the particulars in its magazine. The person to wliich the request was made evidently turned over he letter to some subordinate. Possibly each thought the other had nswered the letter. As a consequence, the secretary never knew the ate of the request until the report of the convention of 1927 was ead by one of the officials of that railway. He sent a copy of the lagazine published by that company to the secretary. It contained 11 the rules of the contest for a better black walnut, also a fine ditorial comment on its importance to the general public, and es- ecially to those living in the territory served by that company, in lany miles of which the walnut grows vigorously. The secretary takes this opportunity to thank the Chicago, Rock dand and Pacific railway for its cooperation last .year, and re- rets that our appreciation was not expressed before. The delay is le to the error in the offices of the railway company. During the past year a large number of persons have written for irticulars concerning nut culture. Many wish to know from whom buy trees, others what varieties to plant. Some wanted to know 18 which kind would grow most successfully in their soil and climate, others wish to know how to bud, graft, top work trees, how to cultivate and when to do so. Again, information was requested about ferti lizers, both as to time of application and kind to use. Letters came from California, Washington, Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, and other states. Your secre- tary has learned much about soils, flofa, and the plans of persons in- terested in nut trees. He is not a pomologist, but a dodger. When questions about walnuts arise, he refers to the agricultural depart- ment at Washington, D. C, and recommends the purchase at five cents each, of farmoers' bulletins, Nos. 1392 and 1501. These publi- cations cover the plantiii^g, propagation, budding and grafting of the trees, the curing and care of the nuts, as well as the cutting of the timber for lumber. When someone applies for a. id concerning other nut trees than the black walnut, he hides behind D *r. Robert T. Morris's book on "Nut Culture." He even goes as far as to refer to that book as good reading from a literary standpoint, because of the beauty of the lan- guage and the strain of humour run ning from cover to cover. When it comes to soils your seer 'etary generally refers writers to the department of agriculture of the ir own state, and to certain men who have for years made a business ^ if propagating nut trees. They either know themselves or, through the experience of their customers, ha\'e learned the soils of many of the sti ites, the nature of the climate, and can give sound advice upon such mai tters. Sometimes the quantity of mail recei'ved was quite large. It demonstrated that there is a wide spread int^erest in nut trees for food and shade. If we only had the money to- extend our educational features I am sure many more people would appreciate the objects of this association, and would aid us in carry ing on our plans to success. Your secretary in most instances urgea' writers asking for information to join the association. Quite a numbe.r did so and one remittance was forwarded to him since reaching Toronto. It is almost certain that the membership of this organization can be greatly in- creased if each member will urge his friends to join, o:r if he will 19 stress its aims and merits in his business correspondence. It is the personal contact which counts. Among the letters coming to the secretary's office, were many in which reference was made to the kindness of Mr. J. F. Jones of Lan- caster, Pa. He has gone to his reward, and in his death we have suffered a loss beyond measure. One writer wrote "All my knowledge about nut trees came through the kindness of Mr. Jones. Wliatever success I have had is due to his advice and courteous instruction." Many others wrote of ^Nlr. Jones in a similar manner. Among others who have passed on during the last j^ear, whose names were sent to the secretary's office were the following: Newman Hungerford, Torrington, Conn.; Admiral Francis T. Bowles, Barnstable, Mass.; Charles O. Harmon, Cassopolis, Mich.; A. W. Cojieland, Birmingham, Mich.; Joseph C. Miller, Marland, Okla. Since your secretary reached Toronta he has been impressed by the politeness and goodwill manifested by all to visitors to the national exhibition. He was greatly pleased to read in the press accounts of the League of Nations convocation, that representatives of all nations present were thrilled by the honorable premier, William Lyon McKenzie King's description of the boundary line between Canada and the United States, which stretches across three thousand miles of the continent, but has no army or navy, no sailors or soldiers to protect it. Yet for more than 100 years, it has been a line of peace. The nations of the old world may well take a lesson from the new. Their boundaries may be equal lines of peace and prosperity if they will but adopt the policy of Canada and the United States, namely, — THERE IS NOT NOR EVER SHALL BE A TARIFF ON GOOD- WILL. 20 THE TREASURER'S REPORT Financial statement of the Northern Nut Growers Association for the fiscal year from September 1st, 1927 to August 31st, 1928, both dates inclusive RECEIPTS From previous year $156.08 Balance in nut prize fund 16.46 $172.54 From life memberships 50.00 " student memberships 1.00 membership plan No. 6 144.00 No. 9 8.50 No. 11 137.50 No. 12 2.75 No. 13 14.00 " contributions 285.25 " sales of literature 11.50 " interest .74 $827.78 Expenditures $606.05 Balance at close of the year $221.73 Said Balance Consists of — Deposit in Middletown National Banl\;, Middletown, Ct $201.50 Deposit in Litchfield Savings Society, Litchfield, Ct 15.94 Cash on hand 4.29 $221.73 DETAIL OF EXPENSES Stamps sent to secretary $ 20.00 Government envelopes for secretary 2.29 Stamps sent to Dr. Deming 6.00 Postal cards for treasurer 1.00 Postage 16.99 Insurance .39 Money order fee .07 Registry fee .15 Stenographic worl^, multigraphing, etc. (Violet Bourne) 89.70 Typing list of members (Florence R. Sloane) 1.50 Envelopes 14.75 Express 5.74 500 annual reports (18th) 140 p.p. including covers at $2 280.00 Addressing envelopes and mailing 6.00 Letterheads 15.75 Printing letterheads on stock furnished 3.50 Expenses of secretary — trip to Easton, Md., and return 103.70 Reporting 18th convention (Mrs. S. K. Oswalt) 30.00 Expenses at 18t.h convention (Mrs. S. K. Oswalt) 8.50 Exchange on funds sent from Washington, D. C 02 $606.05 21 THE CHAIR, referring to a balance in the treasurer's statement of $16.46, carried over from the special nut prize fund, asked for the action of the meeting to place this in the general fund. This was voted. THE CHAIR asked Senator Harvey A. Penny of Saginaw, Mich., if lie would speak to the convention about ex-president Linton, re- marking that Mr. Linton was first of the ex-presidents to pass away. Senator Penny gave a brief sketch of the long and useful life of Mr. Linton, most of which was spent in Saginaw, Mich. Among other things he said: He attended our schools and later on became interested in the lumbering business. His father was a lumberman but he worked for other people, and for years was a lumber scaler, then bookkeeper for a while, and later on became engaged in the lumber business himself in Saginaw. I presume it was then that he acquired his love for nature and for the big pines that he helped to destroy. That was then considered their only use. You raise nut trees because you want their fruit, but a pine tree was considered only good for its lumber. Up near Saginaw we had the finest white cork pine in the world. This pine has all disappeared. Great fortunes were mnde in Saginaw. In our city of Saginaw 25 years ago, I think there were more wealthy men than in any city of its size in the United States. Most of those men have gone and have passed their business along to the public, building fine institutions, schools, etc. Mr. Linton never acquired much wealth, but I have often said that he did more for our city than any other one man. He was eternally working on some proposition for the benefit of our city. He was president of the Board of Commerce before he became a member of this association and he bought carloads of shrubbery and sold it at cost around the city. While I was in the legislature I never had any- one give me the help he did on a great many things. One of the things he did was to draft a bill for the planting of nut trees on the high- ways. He prepared the bill and gave it to me and I presented it to the legislature and got it passed. The highway department has a man whose business it will be to pay special attention to the planting of trees on the highways. So far they have not done a great deal, although they have a lot of trees ready, because they have been more anxious first to get the rights of way and have the highways laid out. 22 Then tliey intend to beautify tlieni. That is just one of the things jNIr. Linton did. He worked night and day, almost, doing something for the city or the state. He might perhaps look at the map and say, "There are two trunk lines which do not connect. Tlieir connection will be a great benefit to Muskegon and Saginaw." He would take it up with the authorities and tr}' to get that connection made. We have a park in Saginaw called Russ Park. Mr. Russ is a very wealthy man. He took Mr. Linton over to Europe and Egypt, and after returning presented Mr. Linton with a 25-ft. launch. Mr. Linton spent a lot of time trying to beautify this park, laying out plots and planning the shrubbery. We have a boulevard called the River Road, from Saginaw to Bay City. It was a marsh and people objected to the expense of fixing it. The boulevard there today is a memorial to his never-flagging energy and constant effort to do for the community. He was eternally spending his time doing those things. He had no interest in an association of this kind, except that he thought he was helping to promote something for the benefit of man- kind. He had no interest and no gain in nut growing except that. That was the reason he joined this association. I>ast night when I sat down to think of something to say here I thousht I would put it in the form of a resolution for our records. 23 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, IN MEMORY OF HON. WIL- LIAM SEELYE LINTON, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, WHO DIED NOVEMBER 22nd, 1927 At a meeting of this association held on September 10th, 1928, during its annual convention in the city of Toronto, Canada, our members were reminded that an all-wise providence has seen fit to call our beloved past president, the Hon. W. S. Linton, from his labors on earth to an everlasting refreshment, and are deeply and sincerely touched with grief and sorrow at his loss. They desire to pay their highest tribute of honor and respect to his memory, yet realize that mere lettered words and sentiments are but feeble expressions of their high regard for him whom they now mourn, and WHEREAS, Mr. Linton had given much of his time and talents for the benefit of this association, and we had come to know him as one of its faithful and zealous members, possessed of an unusually pleasing personality that endeared him to all: He was a loving and devoted member of his family, a loyal citizen, a general companion and steadfast friend, and WHEREAS, we are justly proud of his membership in this association because of his outstanding life and leadership as a citizen, and for his many splendid attainments and accomplishments in civic and political preferment, for he had been highly honored by his city, state and nation. He was mayor and later postmaster of Saginaw, Michigan, a representative in congress and in the state legislature, a member and also secretary of the Michigan State Tax Commission, and was both president and secretary of the Saginaw Board of Com- merce. At one time he received a number of votes in the National Electoral College for that highest office within the gift of the Amer- ican people, that of President of the United States. In every in- stance, each position held by him was filled with great honor to him- self and fidelity to his trust. In his private life he had been un- usually active and colorful in accomplishments for the development of k 24 civic pride, political betterment, industrial expansion and the beautifi- cation of public highways, giving his time and talents unceasingly to make others happy without compensation or hope of reward. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That as members of this association, we shall greatly regret the absence of INIr. Linton from our future annual conventions. We shall miss his leadership, his pleasing personality and genuine courtesy. We believe that the world is better for his having lived, and shall ever cherish his memory in high esteem, and hold as worthy of emulation his many lofty ideals, his splendid character, and his untiring devotion to his many friends. "In the wreck of noble lives Something immortal still survives. Death has not taken all away, This friend is with us still today ; Each one of us still carries on, Something of him whose soul has gone. Because he lived and was on earth. Many lives have known a sweeter birth ; The days were brighter, and the years With all their hopes and cares and tears, Are richer in uncounted ways. By all he did to smooth life's ways." BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolu- tions be inscribed upon our records in perpetuation of his memory, and a copy sent to the family of Mr. Linton in testimony of our sj'mpathy and affection. THE CHAIR asked for nominations for the nominating com- mittee. There were nominated and elected the following: Messrs. Ellis, W^ilker, Green, Reed, Hershey. Upon request of the chair, Mr. ,J. U. Gellatly, West Bank. B. C, spoke on "Nut Culture in British Columbia." Mr. Gellatly: About 18 or 20 years ago my father brought liome a pocket full of nuts and told us boys to plant them. We did so and when they bore we were so well pleased with the result that we 26 began to make a study of the possibilities of increasing our plantings. About 1 920 I made a survey of our own valley to see what varieties could be located. The collection we have over in the corner is the result of this survey, in which I located a good many trees growing under various conditions and soils, all the way from stony places to gravelly, heavy clay and some of them on almost boggy land. The nut I am particularly interested in is the Japanese heart nut and I have endeavored to look at every heart nut tree I could get track of within reasonable distance. Those I could not get to I have endeavored to have samples of sent to me by mail. I have had some experience in root division of the heartnut which may be of interest to you. Taking a tree of about one-half inch thick, down near the base of the tree usually it will throw from two to five sprouts from the root crown, if you cut it in spring about three inches above the root spread. Supposing there were four buds thrown from this crown, just as soon as they are showing I take a fret saw and divide the root into four pieces, each having attached one of the buds. Take each of these roots with buds attached, tie securely to a small stake and plant stake and root in good potting soil covering to a depth of one inch. Last year I had a Japanese walnut tree damaged and I cut it off near the ground. It sprouted from the stump. This year I removed all the surface soil covering a radius of four feet from the tree to a depth of six inches. Then I laid the last year's sprouts down like the spokes of a wheel from the centre and covered them over with good soil to a depth of sixi inches, turning the ends up six inches above the soil. When they started to grow they sent up, from four to five shoots from each layer. The first two shoots had not made any root growth when examined, but the third and fourth each showed root growth on the various layers. There is an advantage in this method of propagation over an ordinary grafted tree in that the resultant tree is on the original, or parent, root system, or more correctly its own root system, in con- trast to the adopted root system of a grafted tree. In event of ac- cident or injury to the trunk of the tree, it will come true to type from the crown, whereas the grafted tree would tlirow an unknown seedling sprout. With the filberts we have had good success in layering, but no L 26 success in rooting from cuttings, as some of the old country people tell you they have. All our filbert trees are seedlings and we have had good pollenation. As regards cropping, Japanese walnuts seem to vary somewhat from year to year, but we have never had a failure either in filberts or Japanese walnuts. Question: Have you grafted or budded Japanese walnuts? Mr. Gellatly: We have tried it but with very little success. We have had some, but nothing that you could call commercial suc- cess. I put five patch buds on one Japanese walnut and all took but failed to grow. Ever since then the growth on the black walnut stocks has been much faster and the result is the trees double around the bud patches like your fist, which will make a pretty piece of walnut burl. Mr. Greene: How deep would you cover your sjarouts when you layer them? Mr. Gellatly: About six inches. I put in some well-decayed barnyard manure. Sometimes soil alone hardens and you would have difficulty with the sprouts coming through after the soil was hard. Question : You have had good success in layering and in the division of the heart nut? Mr. Gellatly: Yes. Question: That seems to be the way to propagate the heart nut then? Mr. Gellatly: This is my first experience but I am well satis- fied with it. Question: That would only be desirable for trees of known r merit ? Mr. Gellatly: Yes. You could propagate any kind but there would be no object in propagating anything that you did not know to be of value. Mr. Spencer : Some years ago I bought a half dozen filberts in Rochester, New York. The bushes now are about as high as this ceiling and have never had a nut on them. Occasionally I have seen catkins one-half and one and a half inches long. I should like to know how to get nuts. Mr. Gellatly: We have had the same difficulty. I have no theory to advance except that in the case of my neighbors, where also k 27 the trees did not bear^ while mine did, it just chanced that they were too near alike. We find that maybe one tree is doing most of the pollenation for the bunch, and if that tree was removed you would not get any crop to speak of. One tree in our own block was a prolific pollenizer. Question: Most of the trees are of one variety? Mr. Gellatly: That has everything to do with it. You might never have bearing if you did not get pollenation from some outside source. JNIr. Frank H. Frey: May I ask if the hazel or filberts are natives of British Columbia? Mr. Gellatly: The wild hazel is native. Member: I was luckier than Mr. Spencer. I received some seedlings from Rochester. One has four nuts on this year, the three others have one each. Another Member: They were pollenated before you got them. First Member: Yes I think they were. The catkins were on them when I got them. Mr. Gellatly: I think your crop was due to the fact that your trees were seedlings and each one different, the top of the tree and you layered the sprouts that came up afterward? The Chair: When you layered the Japanese walnut you cut off the top of the tree and you layered the sprouts that came up afterward? Mr. Gellatly: Yes, the second year. Chair: And the roots grew not from the second bud that was covered but from the third? Mr. Gellatly: Yes, from the third and fourth back from the end of the layered tip. Question: Did the roots come out from the buds or between the buds? Mr. Gellatly: The bud was on top and the roots came out directly below. Question: Did it produce a tree on those joints or did a shoot come up ? Mr. Gellatly: There was only one shoot from a bud. Just a few days before I left home the tree was making a lot of new roots. The Chair: What time of year did you layer it? Mr. Gellatly: Early in the spring, this past spring. 28 Mr. Greene: When did you cut off the main stalk of the tree? Mr. Gellatly: About a year ago last spring. The shoots came up last year. That is a slow way to get started compared to tlie grafting of apple trees, but it is a sure way. Mr. Greene: Speaking about your budding and lack of success, I am interested in knowing whether it was what Dr. Morris called "immediate" or otherwise. Did you, at the time you put on your patch bud make the wound on your stof;k immediately? INIr. Gellatly: Immediately. INIr. Greene: I tried that too and was not successful. If you wound your tree with your patch budder ten days previously, it gives the tree a chance to get the healing material on the job. In our budding we always remove all the wood from the patch. I under- stand from Mr. Hershey he leaves the wood. The Chair: Mr. Jones usually left some wood on it, that is, the patch budder was used to mark and the patch was removed with the knife. In some instances it did not readily remove. In such in- stances he removed the wood as well. I don't think there is any harm in removing some of the wood. ]\Ir. Hershey: I think you will have a complete failure if you don't leave the wood. It will leave an air space, it if does nothing else, to start decomposition. Even if the wood gets loose you can catch it and put it back in. Mr. Neilson: I had much better success after I left a small bit of wood underneath. Mr. Gellatly, have you ever noticed that buds will start the second year, in cases where they fail to grow the first year ? Mr. Gellatly: That has been our experience. Mr. Neilson: I found that, in several cases on black walnut, I set the bud patch on the stock and the patdh caught but the bud died. Mr. Gellatly: That is our own experience. Any that grew did so the second year. The Chair: Did you do your budding in the late summer or fall? Mr. Gellatly: We did it in the fall. The Chair: If the budding had been in August 1926, you would liave expected it to grow in August, 1927, and it actually did grow in August, 1928? Mr. Gellatly: That is the idea. 29 Mr. Hershey: I was down at Petersburg, Virginia, at Mr. Roper's nursery. He said: "Did you ever see an English walnut sprout on a black walnut.^" There was a two-year limb of English walnut w'hich came out of the black walnut stock. I said: "Sure enough it will come if you had put a bud on it." He told me that bud had lain there seven years before it actually started to push. Lady Member: Do you think the audience would be interested in the remark you made to me about bleeding from that tree.'' Mr. Gellatly: In cutting back I experimented with tapping, instead of letting all the sap flow from the wounded limbs and run back down the tree trunk, setting up fermentation. Mr. Hershey: Don't you cut your trees back a week or two be- fore you graft them? In grafting, if I have a stock that will not stop bleeding at the end of two weeks I take my knife and cut away. I am speaking of small stocks. Mr. Gellatly: I think it is worthy of trial. It is worth while to tap the tree and drain the sap just like the maple tree. The Chair: In New Hampshire they used to make sugar out of butternut sap. Professor Neilson read the following extract from a letter of Mr. David Gellatly, a brother of the speaker: "As a message to the convention, the writer would like to say that he is positive from the results of his twenty-five years of experi- mental work in nut culture, that the commercial possibilities in Britisli Columbia, for filberts and chestnuts, are assured. The present varieties of the English walnut, however, do not seem to equal filberts and cliestnuts in hardiness; though the English walnut has excellent commercial possibilities on the coast and in the extreme southern portion of this province." Mr. J. U. Gellatly: My brother has done quite a bit of propa- gating and a lot more experimental work in cross pollenation than I liave myself. He has several trees which are now bearing and pro- ducing nuts as a result of cross pollenation. One tree, which came into bearing this year, when I left had three nuts about two and a half inches in diameter. Question : What did the tree look like ? Mr. Gellatly: It shows English and Japanese, and the flowers are something new, different in shape from either the English or the 30 Japanese. The color is pink — I am speaking of the female flower. The catkins are shorter than the Japanese. It shows a complete cross in regard to the leaf and flower, and the nut shows the cross too. Mr. Hershey: How many trees did you get out of the cross which are now bearing? Mr. Gellatly: Six. Mr. Hershey: I haA'e an old frieaid who died this year. Out of one hundred crossings he got six trees, and out of the six there was only one that was any good. There was only one characteristic that would lead you to believe that it was anything but English walnut. The clusters were larger. Mr. Gellatly: That always goes with these crosses. The clusters are larger than the English walnut. The Chair: This matter of breeding hybrid walnuts is to me of a good deal of interest. It is opening up a field of variation which probably will finally result in improvement. Hybrids between the Japanese heart walnut and the black walnut have been made for a number of years. I saw some in 1920 in Jackson, South Carolina. I have cross pollenated trees which have borne several times, but so far the nuts have not proved of value. I remember a remark was made by the late Dr. Walter Van Fleet, whom I regard very highly as a plant breeder, that he never expected to get much out of the first generation hybrids. These Mr. Gellatly has described are all first generation hybrids, and it may be that we will have to wait for another generation to get something of real value. There is no question that the Japanese heart nut and the black walnut have some qualities that, if they could be added to the English walnut, would increase its value. Upon motion the morning session adjourned at 12:15. 81 Monday Afternoon Session Mr. Willard G. Bixby called the meeting to order at 2:20 o'clock. Controller J. Gibbons, representing Mayor McBride of Toronto, warmly welcomed the convention to the city. After expressing the regrets of Mayor McBride, Controller Gib- bons continued: I wish to extend a very cordial welcome to you all to the city of Toronto. We are always pleased to welcome visitors to Toronto because we realize that every visitor means another booster for us. Toronto was incorporated a City in 1834 with a population of 9,000 and since that time every ten years it has doubled its population. Today the population of Toronto is over 600,000. Greater Toronto has a population of over 700,000. All you have to do is to look around you to see how Toronto is progressing. We have this year, to the present date, issued over $34,000,000 of building permits, and this does not include the big departmental store which is going up and Vhich they say is going to cost $17,000,000, neither does it include the government Customs House. Among other things Toronto is noted for its public ownership. Toronto is the largest public ownership city in the world. When you come to Toronto and take a drink of our good water you may know that it is produced by the municipality. We own our own electric railway system at a cost of $45,000,000, our electric light is generated at the falls, but we own our own transmission lines. We have over $34,000,000 invested in that. Sixty-four per cent of the people in the city of Toronto own and live in their own homes, which I think you will agree with me is a very healthy state of affairs. Our taxes are a little over 30 mills, and we give the citizens of Toronto more for their taxes than any other city in the world. We spend $9,100,000 on education, that is irrespective of our university, which is the second largest in the world, and you can educate your child in the city of Toronto from the kindergarten up to the highest profession. We have the healthiest city on the continent. There is less con- tagious disease in the city of Toronto than in any other city on the 32 continent. We have a health department on wliich we spend over $1,000,000 per year. We have the best lighted city in the world. Our light is produced by public ownership, previous to which we had private ownership. We found we could operate by public ownership at about one-third of the cost. Private enterprise is riglit behind our public ownership invest- ment because we furnish them a first-class service at a nominal cost. We have over 2,000 acres in parks. We provide athletic fields for 56,000 athletes. That is one reason we made such a good showing at Amsterdam this year. We realize there is nothing better for our young people than athletics and playgrounds. We have 86 athletic fields. Our buildings are substantial. Any building over two and a half stories has to be fire-proof. We have over 600 miles of paved streets kept good and clean by the municipality. We are delighted to have you here. I hope your convention will be profitable, and if there is anything that you want that you have not got, come up to the city hall and tell us. We want you to go away feeling that you have enjoyed your visit. I miglit just say a few words about the exhibition which just closed its 50th anniversary. It is the largest exhibition in the world. We have invested $13,000,000 in the buildings exclusive of the grounds. We had over 2,000,000 people go through the gates this year. It is run by a board of directors and we have co-operated with that board. Last year we put up a new building out there at a cost of $1,200,000. To show that public ownership pays, the exhibition, after paying in- terest and sinking fund, paid into the coffers of the city of Toronto last year $250,000. We are the only people who make a big exhibition pay, and we do it under public ownership. Doctor J. Russell Smith of Columbia University, paid tribute to the memory of the late J. F. Jones as follows: Since our last meeting this association has lost one of its most useful and loyal members. In the death of J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, many members of the association have lost a valued friend and the northern nut industry has experienced the greatest loss it has thus far sustained. Mr. J. F. Jones typified many of the things I like to think of as being characteristically American. He was a self-made man, a good 33 man, a useful man and one whom it was a pleasure to meet. He was a man of science, a creator in that field and at the same time a real business man. This is a rather unusual combination of qualities. He was born in Missouri in 1871 in what was then very distinctly a frontier locality. He was born in a one-room log cabin as have been so many other Americans before him. As he was the only boy in a rather large farm familj^, he was able to receive but little formal schooling. These limitations did not keep a hungry intellect from being fed. He read widely and early showed an interest in trees, having several varieties of apple on one tree. He showed his young intelligence by succeeding in bee-keeping, one of the most scientific and skillful of the agricultural pursuits. In 1896 he and his father started a fruit and nut tree nursery in Missouri. In 1902 he moved to Florida and started a pecan nursery, which succeeded. In 1907 he moved to Louisiana and took charge of a 500-acre pecan orchard for which he had grown the trees. In 1912 he sold this, moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and established the first northern nut nursery in America selling grafted trees. From that time until his death in January 1928, he maintained the leading northern nut nursery in the United States. The success of this dis- played ]\Ir. Jones' business ability. Not only was it the leading nut nursery but also one of the largest for the growth of cherry trees and also of fruit tree seedlings for which a sudden demand sprang up after the cessation of the import of this variety of nursery stock from Europe. I believe Mr. Jones to have been an honest man in a business where honesty is difficult to maintain and slight deviations from it are very easy. This of itself is one of the great tributes. As a scientist Mr. Jones was a good observer and studied nut trees with interest, the interest of a scientist as well as that of a keen busi- ness man. For years I have turned to him as a pupil to his master, plying him with questions on many subjects in his field and receiving intelligent answers. Generosity and public spirit were two of his qualities. One type of man in his position would have jealously secreted his knowledge with the idea of making it a matter of monopolistic profit, but Mr. Jones told freely all that he found out, distributing to his friends not I 84 only new knowledge but scions of new trees. For a long time he was far and away the leading technician in the art of grafting nut trees. He might easily have kept this art a secret, but he taught it far and wide to all who would learn. He did not neglect the school, the church and the other local things that must be maintained if our neighborhood is to remain a good neighborhood. Mr. Jones was a man of balance, maintaining to a re- markable degree the combination between business ability and activity and the inclinations and habits of the scientific mind which loves knowledge for its own sake. Many of us love knowledge and follow it to the detriment of our business. Mr. Jones did not let scientific in- terest or love of knowledge or love of experiment run away with his business. While making a living he experimented as a scientist. Mr. J. F. Jones was a creator, attaining results of marked value. He did much to improve the arts of grafting and budding nut trees but his creative work is best illustrated by his remarkable success in hybridizing hazels and filberts. After two or three years of fruitless work he found that they would hybridize only one way, namely a certain one had to be the male and the other the female parent. After that was learned Mr. Jones grew many hundreds of trees from hybrid- ized seed. These trees showed the marvels of hybridization. Hybrids from identical ancestry ranged in size from 12 inches to 12 feet at the same age, and some of them bore nuts that were much larger than those of either parent. Mr. Jones had just about reached the point where he could have begun large scale propagation with the idea of making much money from his creations. As a matter of fact, however, this did not in- terest him. He was more interested in making other discoveries, other creations. He much preferred to breed plants rather than to propa- gate and sell them. As an example of this, when the Northern Nut Growers Association visited his place in 1926 he had a row of hybrid hickories grown from, two of the best strains. These could of course only become valuable by being grown to fruitage, a matter of years and much space. Mr. Jones had no place or plans for the two hun- dred little hybrid hickory trees but his creative instinct compelled him to produce them just the same. The cordial hospitality of the Jones home was experienced by nearly every person in America who is interested in growing nuts in 35 the North, and Mr. Jones' passing leaves a widespread sense of loss in personal friendship as well as that of a leader in business and in the development of useful knowledge and of useful trees. It is too bad that such men are so few. Mr. Ellis, chairman of the nominating committee, presented the report of that committee as follows: Your committee on nominations takes great pleasure in proposing as your officers for the year ensuing: President— ]\Ir. Willard G. Bixby Vice-President — Prof. James A. Neilson Secretary — Mr. Henry D. Spencer Treasurer — Mr. Karl W. Greene The secretary was instructed to cast a single ballot for the above named candidates and they were declared elected. THE CHAIR announced the personnel of the resolutions com- mittee, as follows : iMr. S^Dencer, Mr. Neilson, Mr. Walker. Mr. John W. Hershey of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, addressed the meeting on "Nut Culture", with lantern slides. Mr. Hershey: As far as we can find from past history nuts were eaten by primitive men for thousands of years before they started to eat other proteids. Worthington Smith informs us that primitive man lived on nuts, and Wells says "nuts as a proteid were eaten for centuries before milk and eggs". Professor Elliott said it was thousands of years later before man learned to eat meat as a food. In Bible history the first instructions given to man regarding food to eat are in Gen. 1 :29: "And God said. Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree bearing seed; to you it shall be for meat." The Mosaic law, the law that has been a standard for all civilized nations to base their code on, states in Dent. 20:19, that in besieging a city "Thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them, for thou mayest eat of them and shall not cut them down, for the tree of the field is man's life." In the next verse it states, "Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not for meat thou shalt destroy and cut." Picture any city, any countryside without trees, then figure what we would be if we did not have any trees for utilitj' purposes, and you will realize that the tree of the field is man's life. The first and most prominent nut we have is the English walnut. 36 It conies originally from the mountains of northwestern India and Persia. It sjoread east into China. It spread into Greece by gifts from royalties in Persia, and was there thought so much of that it was called "Food of the God Jupiter." From there it spread into Rome and was called the "Royal nut." Rome spread the nut on into France by invasions into that country and it was there popularly known as the "Gaul nut." From there it was spread into Britain by the Roman armies and was known as the walnut, which is the English corruption of Gaul nut. This picture is a garden in Italy. I want to bring out the utility in the picture. Here is the English walnut, here the grapes, and they grow also citrous fruits and peaches, all in the same patch of ground. Here is a picture of a small family group in France sorting their English walnuts and getting them ready for bleaching in the sul- phur vat. This is their outdoor drying yard. They have a great deal of trouble with this method in damp weather to get the nuts dry enough to keep them from moulding in storage. Dehydrating is coming into use in France very rapidly. In 1923 only 9% was dehydrated; in 1926, 35% was dried that way. Here is an English walnut tree 200 years old and the timber is valued at about $150. You often have the question asked: "Does it pay to plant nut trees?" A hundred thousand such trees worth $100 each would make a nice investment to hand on to posterity ! Some- time ago I met an old nut candy maker, 74 years old, in Philadelphia. After I had introduced myself, he expressed himself as follows : "Hershey, would you like to be worth a million dollars at 75?" I said I would be very much interested. He replied : "Go out and bu}' 500 acres of land, and plant it in black walnuts and I guarantee you will be worth one million dollars at 75." Pomeroy's English walnuts grow in Lockport, New York. He owns the orchard that his father set out a good many years ago. He got the seed in Philadelphia and it is now a really profitable orchard. He has sold as high as 2,000 pounds of nuts per year from tlie orchard. He gets 10 to 50 cents a pound right off the lawn. You can see there the nice sized trees. The picture was taken when they were seventeen years old. 37 This is an Alpine tree in J. F. Jones' test orchard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It had four heaped half-bushel baskets at ten years old. This is the late John G. Rush who was instrumental in getting Mr. Jones to come from Florida to solve nut problems. That tree had three bushels of nuts on it at eleven years of age. This is a close-up view of a limb of one of his English walnuts standing between two stone drives with concrete wall on each side, five years old, well-loaded with nuts. This is a seedling standing at Bally, Pennsylvania, 25 miles north- west of Philadelphia. It is one of the most beautiful English walnut trees I have ever seen in my life. It has been bearing since 15 years old. Seven bushels of nuts. This is a seedling orchard of 120 trees, twelve years old, in Allen- town, Pennsylvania, on General Trexell's place, who has 10,000 acres of land. This is a picture in California. The California climate seems to be very well adapted to English walnut culture. In 1867 the first grove was planted. It took twenty more years before people became very much interested and then the propagated tree proved to be so much more successful than the seedling that the seedling was discarded and old groves were worked over. This grove is interesting in con- sidering tlie question of how far apart to plant your trees. These were planted 10 x 40 feet apart and at 40 years of age bore fifteen hundred pounds to the acre. They cut out every other row, leaving them 40 x 80, and in four years they ran 3,000 pounds of nuts to the acre. This is a thirty-five year old grove, a most beautiful sight, but only bearing partial crops because they are so crowded that they don't grow enough wood on which to develop nuts. This is a long pole with a hook on the end which is used to shake off the nuts. They go around the tree with this and hook it into the limbs, which is an economical way to shake them down. After this they are gathered up in bags and taken into the drying and washing shed. I was given an idea the other day about gathering nuts after lecturing before a Rotary Club. A man told me he was from Okla- homa and was in business there growing pecans with a partner. This partner conceived the idea of taking a big canvas and putting it on legs under the tree. There was an opening near the centre of it along- \ 38 side of a central hole to fit the trunk of the tree, with a lace adjustment in order that the canvas could be fitted to any size tree trunk. Then a barrel was set under the funnel opening. You shook your nuts on the canvas and when the barrel was full you took it away and rolled another in. This is Mr. J. F. Jones with a three-year-old Faust heart nut tree. I forget how many clusters of nuts there are, but quite a bunch. That is a wonderful picture of Mr. Jones' alongside some of his scientific work. This is his little daughter with a two-j^ear-old butternut tree. This is a two-year-old Stabler black walnut. It has been my ex- perience that a four or five foot tree makes a much nicer tree to plant than a smaller one. That tree is nnich larger than a tree of tlie same age only two or three feet high when planted would be. This is a 5-year-old Stabler standing in Mr. Littlepage's place at Bowie, Maryland. IMr. Littlepage has planted about 125 of these trees and they are doing nicely. This is a 7-year-old Stabler standing in the corner of his barnyard and is as large as his 8-year-old trees and 9-year-old trees where they are not so well fed. This is a row of Stablers stretched out across his farm for a long way, and it is the most beautiful setting you can imagine. Tliis is a picture of the Ohio variety of black walnut. This is Mr. Jones and his 10-year-old Ohio, which is loaded with nuts. This is an Ohio on Dr. J. Russell Smith's place, standing on his fence row among the rocks and stones of the Virginia mountains. It seems to be doing very well. About eight years old. This comes from Ithaca, New York, 124 nuts, six years old. This is one of Dr. J. Russell Smith's Ohio showings, one nut the second year after budding. This is the Thomas variety of black walnut, taken at the West Town Quaker Schools near Philadelphia. We must admire the West Town people for having the initiative to do experimental planting. The}^ have an extensive orchard of aj^ples, cherries and peaches and the}^ decided to try out a few nuts. They set out 36 Thomas and in- terplanted them with apples. At five years of age the apple trees are only half as large as the nut trees. Those trees bore from 109 to 1 35 nuts each which were sold for 20c a pound, but the apple trees bore nothing. 39 This shows Dr. Baiim and liis orchard at Boyertown, Pa. He has 1200 black walnut trees. This is the largest, improved, grafted, walnut orchard in the United States. This is at Lima, near Media, about 15 miles from Philadelphia, on a lawyer's place who has put out about 50 black walnuts. One has 12 nuts on the third year. This Thomas comes from Ithaca, 16 nuts on the third year. Mr. Neilson : The horticultural experiment station at Vineland has a Ten Eyck black walnut that bore 197 nuts the fourth season after planting. Mr. Hershey: It is a big drawback to the nut industry that people think nut trees are slow in bearing. This tree is five months after grafting and it has two mature nuts on in the nursery. It is a Thomas. This comes from Columbia, Missouri, on the agricultural experi- m.ental grounds. They top-worked a lot of trees all over their large farm and they used these twin trees as an experiment. They grafted this tree to a Stabler. The fifth year this trees is as large as the seedling alongside of it. Each of them bore a half bushel of nuts the fifth year. This is a setting of black walnuts on a man's farm on the out- skirts of Lancaster. He had the reputation among his neighbors and the boys of being a crank. He rode horseback and walked a lot over his place, and he would carry a pocketful of walnuts. AVherever he went he would make a hole with his cane and drop a walnut. His farm is now lined on both sides with black walnuts. Next we have the pecan, which ranges from the mountains of Mexico up as far as Iowa and through the Mississippi valley. The farther north you get the hardier the species. Through the undying efforts of Mr. Jones we have varieties that are not only hardy here in the East but they bear some crops. They are very ornamental, make fine shade trees, and they bear nuts. You might say, "Well, if they are only going to bear some nuts what is the use of bothering with them?" Well, the maple and elm don't bear anything. Another virtue of pecans is their deep rooting. You can grow grass right up to them. This is a wealthy coal miner near Philadelphia. He proved his intelligence from my viewpoint by planting nut trees along his drive 40 three years ago. Two weeks ago I drove in and I saw two nuts. He told me he valued them at $100 a piece. This is a test orchard of J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here the pecan trees are set too close because he was not interested in production. At seven years of age they started to bear. At ten years of age two trees bore as much as 16 pounds. If they were standing on a lawn I think those 16 pounds would be better than a bare spot under a maple with a crop of dirt. ■ This is a setting 60 feet apart on Thomas Littlepage's place at Bowie, Maryland, twelve years old. They are making a nice growtli but have not borne much yet, which he attributes to their being in a frost pocket. Next we have the filbert. The American hazel is practically a worthless nut except a few varieties. I consider the most interest- ing and most desirable is the Rush hazel. It was located through the efforts of John G. Rush who found this bush, which is really an at- tractive, fair-sized and thin-shelled hazel. The filbert comes from Europe, is a thin-shelled, heavy bearing, large nut and was introduced into New York about 1880-1890. They got the idea they could make quite a profit in filbert orchards. Just about the time they were going strong tlie blight hit them and they all succumbed. Since then hardy varieties have been evolved to resist the blight, as far as we know, and they seem to be doing very well scattered over the country. This is one of Jones's hybrids, between the PiUropean filbert and the American hazel. We layer one-year-old branches in June, weight- ing them down and covering them with soil, and then all the little shoots on the limbs sprout up and the main branch takes roots. Shoots of the same season we layer in August, and they are much easier to handle. They are not so rigid. The best result is obtained by cover- ing them with a very thin layer of soil and then mulching. The filbert industry seems to be going strong in the Northwest, and I believe it is going to be a worth while jjroposition to plant filberts among standard walnut trees, or any nut trees here in the East. Tliis is a persimmon tree over in Dr. JNIorris's place at Stamford, Conn. That tree stands in heavy turf, yet at five years of age it is well loaded. It is my firm conviction that the persimmon is one of the future fruits of America. It is a sweet fruit. The tree is a lieavy bearer and success is only a matter of getting people convinced that 41 there are good varieties, and getting the scientific men working to get better ones. Mr. Neilson: There is a gentleman in Kitchener who got scions of the persimmon and grafted them on the plum tree. He told me he grew fruit and enjoyed it a great deal. It lived for several years, but finally died. Question: What winter temperature would that tree stand? Mr. Hershey: We get 10 to 15 degrees below zero. This is a filbert hedge at Mr. Littlepage's. He gets lots of nuts off them. They make an excellent screen, and are very attractive. They bear a very peculiar cluster of nuts. The catkins hang on all winter. Then they bloom in the spring, very early before you think there is any plant life going. The female bloom is a very delicate red flower which, with the long catkins flying in the wind, is very beau- tiful. All the hickories are American, although I understand there has been one found in China, which, however, is almost worthless as an edible nut. There are about 15 varieties of the hickory in America and there are only a few of them that are worth while. The most likely ones are the shagbark, an eastern variety; the shellbark, a western variety, and the hybrids between them and the bitter nut, which itself is almost worthless to eat but makes an excellent parent. Some of the best hybrids are between the bitternut and the shagbark, and between the pecan and the shellbark. There are two trees of the McCallister pecan shellbark hybrid in Delaware. As the parent tree died a few months ago these two trees are the only bearing trees in America and they have been bearing quite profitably. It was at one time thought that the McCallister hybrid would not fill, but these trees have proved on poor Delaware sand that they can fill their nut with delicious meat. The flavor of the kernel is very much like that of the shellbark. The nut is of enormous size, much larger than the largest pecan and has nearly as thin a shell as the pecan. The hickory nut has been held in deep respect by mankind as far back as we can find on the American continent. The Indians used to gather them. The Creeks used to gather 100 bushels per family. They used to grind them into powder in the old fashioned mortar to a 42 creamy fluid. This is considered by some scientific men as of more value than cow's milk. Dr. Marsh tells us they used to let it ferment and they called the first drink "kiskitomas." What the second drink was called he said he did not know Init it was powerful. The Indian name was "pawcohicora." This starts in with my nursery work and will give you an idea of how we go about the business. We prepare the ground, mark out the rows and plant the nuts one by one in the fall. We then harrow the rows shut and try not to get the nuts too deep, because if you do they rot. So what we do is to plant them shallow and cover them up next spring. I planted them too deep this last year and had a fine failure. Mr. Jones planted shallow and had excellent results. Here is a setting of seedlings taken, I think, the latter part of July, about up to the middle of your thigh or the hip. The three and a half to four feet wide rows have grown shut. A setting of about 12,000 trees. After growing them for a year we take them up, prune and transplant them. Get your rows wide enough or you will cuss when you are trying to prune. After the trees are grafted the stock must be sprouted well. After the grafts have grown for some time with two or three shoots on them, the boys break off all but the strongest and straightest shoot. We do not stake them until they get about two to three feet higb. They come out rapidly and if we don't get them tied the wind very often breaks them off. Here is a Thomas three and a half feet high grafted about four weeks. W^e have a lot of Thomas every year at the end of the season from six to eight feet high. Mr. Jones had some that grew as high as fifteen feet in one year. We dig the trees and heel them right back in the row. I find one of the most disastrous things in heeling them in a trench is to get them packed too close and leave air spaces among the roots. We dig no trees for heeling in through the winter. They do so much better when dug immediateh' before shipping. Here is a bunch of trees brought into the packing house to be heeled in to fill immediate orders. Now here is another thing that I think is of intense interest to tlie nut g-rower. Some vears ajro a man down at Berlin, Maryland, bought two Wiltz Mayettes from Mr. Jones. He planted the two. This one got a half bushel of eggs out 43 of an incubator. This one did not get any and is about four feet higli. But this one that got the eggs is about twelve feet high. Mr. Neilson: Is there the possibility of the larger growth being- due to the stock as well as tlie fertilizer ? Mr. Hershey: I don't believe so. I have seen this so often that I don't believe there can be that much difference. But I believe it is all important to have the very best stocks. It is the duty of the nur- seryman not to ship out inferior stock trees. California produces about i8 million pounds of English walnuts. There is a large quantity produced in the Northwest. About 25 million pounds of pecans are produced in the South. A lot of filberts from the Northwest. Carloads of black walnuts from the middle and southern states. And yet we import about 30 million dollars' worth of nuts per year. It is vaj belief that in a decade we are going to have black walnuts grown in the East like pecans in the South and walnuts on the Pacific Coast. As soon as we have Hoover elected, we believe there is going to be an interesting change in the United States govern- ment. Mr. Hoover made a remark before a scientific body in Phila- delphia a few years ago that he based all progress of the human race on pure science. Pure science is conducted by the man who gives his life to the job without any thought of remuneration. After he has brought liis conclusions to the fore, practical science takes it up, and passes it on to industry. Mr. Hoover expressed the sentiment that it was so sad the United States government could not see its way clear to help pure science to develop. It is our hope that we will have a face-about program and pure science will be assisted by the agricul- tural department at Washington. ]\Ir. Gellatly of Westbank, B. C, showed slides of a number of trees in his part of the country. 44 PARAFINE WAX— AN AID TO GROWTH IX TRANSPLANTED TREES AND SHRUBS By Jas. A. Neilson, B. S. A., M.S., Extension Horticulturist, Dept. of Agriculture, Port Hope, Ont. Amongst the varied problems that confront the horticulturist, that of getting newly planted trees to grow is one of the most common. This is particularly true of sweet cherry, roses, and nut trees, but also occurs with some other kinds. Nurserymen likewise experience diffi- culty in storing and transplanting trees or shrubs in good condition over long distances. These difficulties are due to various factors, but the principal one is believed to be drying out of roots and trunks which takes place between the time of digging and re-planting. Root drying may be prevented in the nursery by protecting the roots while in storage and by careful packing for shipment, and the planters like- wise can do their part by careful heeling in until ready to plant. It is not so easy, however, to prevent drying out of tops in storage or transit without undue expense or trouble, and consequently there is usually some loss due to this factor when trees are shipped long dis- tances. Believing that some form of protection for the trunks and branches would be helpful in sliipping trees to distant points, and in getting newly transplanted trees to grow, the writer conducted an experiment to determine the value of parafine wax as one form of protection. The use of parafine wax was suggested by the good results secured in sending scions to distant points and in storing rare varieties of nut tree scions for long periods of time. Experiments which illustrate these points are described hereunder. On October 16th, 1925, a fine young grafted heartnut tree Avas blown down by a heavy wind and. in the ordinary course of events, would have been lost had not an attempt been made to save the tree by novel methods. The trunk and branches were cat into sections of about one foot in length and these sections were entirely coated with hot para- fine wax. The waxed sections were then packed in moist sawdust and 45 stored in a cool place. During the winter the package containing the scions was inadvertently taken out and left in the open where it was fully exposed to the action of wind and frost for nearly three weeks. The {package when found was returned to the store house and left there until spring. On May 1 tth, 1926, the scions were unpacked and grafted or budded on suitable stocks of seedling Japan walnuts. Quite unexpectedly a fair percentage of scions and buds started and grew well, and thus this rare varietj^ was saved from destruction. Equally good results were obtained in shipping waxed walnut scions from Canada to England, and in transporting scion wood of fruit and nut trees from Poland to Canada. These latter, by the way, were cut early in the year and were carefully waxed according to the writer's directions before shipment. The scions arrived in Canada early in March and were held' in storage until May 21 when they were grafted on native sweet chestnut stocks. Some of the chestnut scions were sent on to Gellatly Bros, in British Columbia and were there grafted on native sweet stocks. Observations made just recently in Ontario and British Columbia show a high percentage of scions grow- ing, thus affording another proof of the value of parafine wax for preserving plant material. It may be said that scions would keep well without wax for long periods of time in moist sawdust, but experience shows that this is not necessarily true. The moisture content and temperature of sawdust varies considerably, in some cases too much moisture is present or high temperatures occur and injury to the buds takes place, while in others the sawdust may become too dry and the scions suffer by dessication. In the tree planting experiment a number of heartnut trees were dug and the roots packed in sphagnum moss. The trunks were then coated with a thin film of hot parafine wax and the trees despatched for planting. After being on the way for several days the trees were planted and according to observations and reports have all started to grow. Another interesting point showing the value of wax was seen on some of the waxed trees. On a few of the trees a section several inches long was purposely left unwaxed and on these sections the buds were I 46 much slower in coming out than on the waxed ai'eas. The unwaxed trees were likewise slower in starting into growth and fewer buds developed into shoots than was the case with the waxed trees. In further and more definite support of the theory that para fine wax is useful as an aid in getting newly planted trees to grow, an interesting point was noticed in an orchard of apple trees owned by E. V. Atkinson, of Whitby, Ont. In this orchard there were thirty- six apple trees and two mulberr}' trees which had been planted on May 10, 1928. The results of this planting were not very satisfactory, in that the mulberry trees and at least ten apple trees had failed to grow when mj attention was directed to them during the latter part of June. The trees were carefully examined and were found to be badly dried out and sick looking. The owner was advised to try the effect of a coating of hot parafine wax on the trunks and main branch- es of these trees. He acted on this advice and to the surprise of all concerned, the dormant trees started into growth and have since grown very well. Whilst engaged in applying the wax, two of the trees were missed and this oversight was not noticed until about July 21st. One of these dried out trees was then coated with wax and the other left for com- parison. The late waxed tree, like the others that had been previously waxed, came out into leaf and has made fair growth, while the un- waxed tree made very little growth and is only just existing. An interesting example of the effect of parowax on roses was observed on the 23roperty of Dr. J. M. Baldwin, of Bowmanville. Early in May, Dr. Baldwin planted a number of rose bushes which had been received in rather poor condition. From observations made on the effect of parafine wax in protecting scions. Dr. Baldwin de- cided to experiment with parowax on his rose bushes. Two of the plants were waxed and one left for comparison. The waxed bushes came out into leaf nicely and the unwaxed bush, like the unwaxed apple trees, made very little growth. The number of rosebushes under observation is rather small, but the results were very good and thus indicate what might be expected with a larger number of plants under similar conditions. The observations on walnut and fruit trees have been limited to 47 about 50 waxed trees and 25 trees without wax for comparison. Inas- much as the number of trees under test is rather small, it is perhaps too early to say positively that parafine wax should be generally used for this purpose. The results, however, were so good on the trees and bushes under observation that it would seem desirable to experiment further along this line. In the case of the preservation of walnut scions, and with experi- ments in topworking and propagating fruit and nut trees, it has been found that parafine wax is positively one of the most valuable pro- tective materials used so far. The work done in grafting fruit and nut trees has been under way for several years and includes hundreds of trees. The results, moreover, have been so uniformly successful where parafine wax was used and so unsatisfactory without its use that one is justified in the above statement. In view of the favorable results noted above and of the good effect which followed the use of parafine wax on newly planted trees, it would appear that this ma- terial is of decided value in preventing dessication. The suggestion is therefore made that nurserymen at the time of digging try the eifect of a thin coating of warm parafine to the trunks of trees or shrubs that are to be shipped long distances or which are difficult to trans- plant or carry over in storage. Fruit growers and others who plant deciduous trees or shrubs might also get better results by using para- fine wax on plants that have not previously been waxed. The hot wax may be easily and quickly applied with a small paint brush after digging or before planting or one might plant the tree and apply the wax afterward. The cost of this treatment is very small indeed, being less than a cent a tree for the wax. In any case no injury is likely to occur and quite possibly good results would follow such treatment. If further trials show that parafine wax has definite value for the purposes outlined above, it would be desirable to devise some means of quickly waxing the trees in nurseries. In all probability this could be done by means of a deep vat wherein the trunks and tops of small trees or slirubs could be dipped in the hot wax and quickly withdrawn. The optimum temperature of the wax has not been definitely ascer- tained, but it is known that woody plant material can stand without injury a temperature of 160 degrees F. It must be clearly under- 48 stood that the trees should be immersed only for a moment — just dipped in the wax and then quickly withdrawn. I have been talking over this experiment with a number of people and I have found a great deal of interest. I felt rather pleased Avitli the result so I thought I would try and get the benefit of the experience of other people. I sent a copy of another article along the same lines as this one to a number of my friends in this country and the United States and I received many valuable re- plies. To my great surprise I found it was a new idea. It may not be new to some of you but it was new to the folks who replied to my letter. In talking over the possibilities of the application of this idea to nursery practice one nurseryman told me that he thought it would be a very good plan for him to follow and had he known the possi- bilities of parafine wax to keep his rose plants in better condition he could have saved his firm $1000 last spring. We have worked out a system of budding over old grafted sweet cherry trees in which parafine is used as the most important pro- tecting material. I started pruning sweet cherry trees with a great deal of faith and little experience and ended up with little faith and more experience. I studied the failures carefully and came to the conclusion that they were due to lack of protection. I changed my methods and the principal change I made was the use of parafine wax as a coating to my scions and to the buds and the next year I got excellent results. I got 90% success in comparison to 90% failure tlie year before. a Mr. Gellatly: I have shipped waxed scions successfully to Pekin, China. I like a mixture of parafine wax. The wax alone cracks and leaves fissures through which the moisture escapes. Mr. G. H. Corsan: If you droj) into the old soldiers' home at Dayton, Ohio, you will see one of those fern leaf beeches on which the nuts are fat. Not far from there is the red leaf beech, which also had some nuts on it. Near Port Carling I saw a beech tree that had very large nuts on, twice the size of the average. I looked over in tlie yard and I saw that the tree was in a pig pen. In a sandy section in the east end 49 of Toronto I happened to see an enormous crop of large nuts on a beech tree. I also looked over in this yard and I found there that tliis tree was in a pig pen. Mr. Neilson: I believe, Mr. Bixby, that you have opened up one of the most important fields of work in nut culture. It will take a long time to get definite results but to my mind it is a most im- portant and much needed line of work, and I sincerely hope you will be able to graft that idea on to the pocketbook of some of our very wealthy men, whether on this side of the line or in the U. S. I agree with you that the investment would yield dividends. Some of you will undoubtedly be interested to learn that a start has been made along the lines of a nut arboretum in Canada. The Welland Ship Canal has 5500 acres of unused land along the right of way. They have decided to plant the major part of that in trees and they are going to feature nut trees. They have already made a very good start in getting seedlings of our very good varieties from the Niagara district and from other parts of Ontario. I believe they have about 29,000 seedlings of nut trees of different kinds that they are going to plant out in the very near future. Mr. Pratt, Boys' Training School, Bowmanville: I have been greatly interested in this question of the opening up of a nut arbore- tum, particularly so as we have a sort of nucleus of an arboretum at Bowmanville. The government has set aside 50 acres to be used for arboretum purposes and the Toronto Horticultural Association is in- teresting itself in securing trees and shrubs for that land. It has occurred to me that the use of nut trees would very well work in with that scheme. Professor Neilson has done more than anyone else in Ontario to further the interest of nut culture. I would like to see some move made to establish an arboretum on a large scale. It seems to me that if people could come and see nut trees growing it would increase their interest in that subject in this province. We have the land there and a large number of boys to take care of the trees, and if there is any possibility of starting a project of that kind we would be glad to co-operate with you. Dr. J. Russell Smith: I would just like to say a few words 50 with reference to a matter touched upon by ^Ir. Hershey, namely the utilization of nuts. I think it has possibilities that are very rarely appreciated. For instance the hickory nut. Here was this Indian practice of mashing up the nuts, boiling them, and letting the oil rise to the surface forming an emulsion which Dr. Morris in his book describes as richer than cream. This might well pave the way to a modern industry. Perhaps hickory nuts have enough fat to produce an oil as substitute for olive oil, equally -as good and less costly. The President: I procured a book of i.ut recipes gotten out by Elam G. Hess of Mannheim, and I {persuaded ISIrs. Bixby to take the time and trouble to try some of them. They were tasty and such con- centrated food that while she thought she made only enough for one meal she had made enough for two. However she said that no modern housewife is going to continue to use nuts if she has to take so much trouble to prepare them, while if she gets a pound of steak she can broil it in a few minutes. Mrs. Bixby had spent all morning getting these nuts ready. It may be brought out tomorrow that other people have thought of that too. One grower is experimenting with a dish which is to be made out of nuts, and be canned and put on the market. I believe that one of the important things is going to be not only raising the nuts but marketing them in a form that will be handy for the housewife to use. Dr. Russell Smith: If you would look back over the proceedings of this organization some eight or nine years you would find the statement of our Chinese member from the Kinsan Arboretum, Shanghai, that the common food for the Cliinese baby whose mother can't nourish it is the milk made from grinding up the meats of the Chinese walnut. Mr. Neilson: I am gratified that Mr. Pratt has invited co- operation in establisliing a nut arboretum at Bowmanville. I am quite sure the soil and climate there are suitable for the founding of a nut arboretum. So far as lies in my means I will do my best to send you trees. I did send a small lot of grafted heart nut trees from the largest tree in this country. Mr. Pratt: They are doing \ ery well. They started off witli two or tlu'ce nuts on but they dropped off. Mr. Neilson : I am quite sure that future generations will ap- 51 preciate the work that Mr. Bixby is so much interested in, and the work that we all hope he will succeed in starting -in the United States and in this country as well. Dr. Russell Smith: The last speaker spoke of the work of Mr. Bixby as the work of the future. He has four or five acres of trees at this moment on which he is spending thousands of dollars. A jNIember: That is not speaking strongly enough of the work that Mr. Bixby is doing. Upon motion the afternoon session adjourned at 5:30. Evening Session^ Monday Invitations were presented from SjDringfield, Mass., New York, Philadelphia, Memphis, Tenn., Chicago and Detroit. It was voted that the next convention be held in New York City on September 12, 13 and 14, 1929, and that the details of the con- vention be left to the executive committee. Mr. C. F. Walker presented the following resolution in writing: "A motion is herewith presented to clarify the matter of annual dues and to change the first sentence of Article II of the By-Laws to read as follows : 'Annual members shall pay five dollars annually to in- clude one year's subscription to the American Nut Journal, or three dollars and fifty cents not including subscription to the Nut Journal." Motion duly seconded and carried. Mr. Spencer moved that the president ask Mr. Corsan to have Dr. J. H. Kellogg present his proposition for nut prizes in writing so that the members may know the exact conditions under which he wishes the contest conducted. Seconded by Senator Penny and carried. Mr. Frey moved that it be the sense of this association that an annual nut contest be conducted with the aid of members or outside parties which may be secured, such contests to start not later than 1929 under arrangements to be formulated by the executive committee. Seconded by ]\Ir. Greene and carried. On motion made by Mr. Weber, seconded by Senator Penny, the convention elected the following board of directors, of which the presi- dent should be chairman: Willard G. Bixby, S. W. Snyder, Dr. W. C. Deming, James A. Neilson, Henry D. Spencer and Karl W. Greene. Meeting adjourned. 52 Tuesday Morning Session GROWING NUTS WITHOUT CULTIVATION By Dr. J. Russell Smith, Pennsylvania Truism No. 1. If a tree is well dnd thoroughly cultivated^ it will grow more rapidly, bear fruit more frequently and more abundantly than if it is not eultivated, at least this is true in the majority of cases. This well-known fact has been dinned into the ears of the agricul- tural public until sometimes it takes the form in people's minds that cultivation (stirring of the soil) is not only a necessity but also the only route to profits with any kind of crop tree. I submit that it is not always necessary; not always profitable; that it may be ruinous to some hill lands ; and that there may be a profitable nut industry without cultivation where nut trees cultivated in the ordinary way would be unprofitable. The truism about cultivation needs to be considered with other truisms equally sound. Truism No. 2. Agricultural profits result when costs are less than income. Truism No. 3. Agricultural costs are often complicated to de- termine. They are rarely known with any approach to exactness. They depend largely upon the abstruse element of overhead expense, and the amount of this, per unit of product, depends upon the whole year's work and the organization of the farm, its crops, and the work plan. Truism No. 4. Continuous use of equipment reduces cost. For example, a reaper costs about twenty-five dollars a year in interest, depreciation, and shelter. So does a wagon. If the reaper is used three days per year the capital cost is $8.33 per day. The wagon is used 100 days at a capital cost of 25 cents per day. And so it goes all the way through the farm. I am talking about nut trees, cultivation 53 and farm management. Some desk artists omit a large part of the problem. The real question about cultivating nut trees is: Will the net re- turns of the process be better with cultivation or with some substitute method of giving the trees essentially similar benefits ? There is much excellent practice in both Enrope and America that tends to disprove the universality of the rule "Cultivate trees for profits." For example, much the greater part of the Persian walnut crop of France and of Switzerland is grown on scattered trees along the road- sides and fence rows, or field edges which in America would be fence rows. Many stand out in the fields and get what the field gets. The trees sometimes get some cultivation as the adjacent land, or adjacent crop, is tilled and sometimes they do not, but they make a crop worth many millions of dollars in the aggregate, and the tree has cost but little because it had no item of overhead expense. American experience is also suggestive. Is there nothing to be learned from the fact that millions of wild American black walnut trees and hickory trees are growing and bearing big crops in a great variety of fields, fence rows and roadsides ? Twenty-five years ago the horticultural doctors were announcing with sonorous authority that apple trees had to be cultivated to pro- auce good crops. As a matter ot tact, tlie present practice of many large, successful growers proves that in many parts of the eastern United States all the cultivation an apple orchard needs to produce more than the market will take is a mowing machine to keep down the grass and weeds, and a liberal application of chemicals to feed the trees. Feed the trees. Don't forget the word Feed when cultivation is in mind. I own apple trees that were planted out in stump land that has never yet been plowed. The trees have grown to the capacity of sev- eral barrels per tree and borne many crops. Their only treatment has been keeping down brush and weeds with one scythe mowing per year, piling the trash around the tree when it was little, and fertilizing it every year. Again I emphasize, this depends on feeding. The use 54 of nitrate of soda has revolutionized the apple business on the clay hill lands of Virginia, Ohio, and other American states. I have also proved many times that grass will kill a young apple tree if it gets the chance. Cultivation is merely one form of feeding. There are others. The facts of farm management raise a very great argument against the desirability of cultivating any additional crop on most farms in the eastern part of the United States. This is true, because the cultivation period is already full of labor. Cultivation comes chiefly during April, May, June and July. At this time there is an absolute crush of labor on most eastern farms, such, for example, as the livestock farm which grows corn, oats, or wheat and clover, or alfalfa, or the truck farm, or the fruit farm. They are all already overloaded with work and the new nut crop has unfortunate competition to meet. Every summer on my farm I see many things I would like to have done. They are things that I think would pay; things that I would be glad to pay for. But the men and the equipment are not to be had at that time and place. A thoughtful man once remarked to me that plowing corn was sometimes worth twenty-five dollars a day and I believe he was right, in that a farmer would lose that much if he did not do it that day. The Object of Cultivation The object of cultivation is to cut down rival plants, thereby leav- ing more food and moisture for the desired crop plants. The same results can be obtained in some situations by mulching the tree when little, by applying chemical fertilizers all the time, and by making water pockets to catch rainfall and increase the moisture supply. I have applied all these things in a small way which promises success to the trees and which also fits into farm management, per- mitting something to be done which could not otherwise be done. That is the big point. I have a blue grass pasture field on a farm that is now rented to 55 a dairyman. The field is reasonably fertile but very steep, so steep that cultivation would promptly result in ruin by gullying. This field was last plowed in 1 895 and it should remain forever in good pasture or forest. I want to get it set to grafted black walnut trees. I have planted some ten acres of it to such trees while it still con- tinues as a pasture. Some of these trees were raised in my private nursery until they were high enough to be out of the cows' reach. Others, smaller, had to have their tops protected by a rail pen, com- posed of twelve pieces of wood. The trees were mulched with straw and strawy manure. They were fertilized with nitrate of soda and this year I tried some bone meal. This year also I have added shower irrigation. The trees have had holes dug near them and above them. These holes hold one or two bushels of water. Small trenches were made in a V shape above the tree to lead running rain water into these holes. Thus, every shower which made water run off the field caused the water to collect in the holes by the trees and irrigate them. I submit that this practice goes a long way toward replacing the water that eultivation might leave there. The result of this combination of devices seems to be satisfactory. The trees are growing and the field continues to be a pasture. The trees would have grown faster with cultivation but a few of them are bearing a few nuts in thqir fourth season, a season in which nut trees in the neighborhood are not doing much. I wish to emphasize the advantages of this system as a piece of farm economy. The factor that kills so many farm enterprises is overhead expense. The farmer buys a reaper which costs him twenty- five or thirty dollars a year to keep, in addition to repairs and labor use, and he uses it two days. That situation is typical of agriculture. It does much to explain the rapid disappearance of one crop agricul- ture. I own no tools in connection with this bluegr ass-pasture- walnut-orchard, except 2 picks and 2 shovels. The orchard has been put in during odd times of the horses, harness, wagons, pitchforks and nearby farm labor. The straw mulch and manure have been hauled into position when the farm did not require the use of its team, which I hired by the day. The tenant held the overhead expense on the 56 team and he cut down his own overhead by working for me. The work of building the pens and of planting the trees has been done by farm day laborers of the vicinity at times when the local farm crops did not make pressure upon the labor supply. There are many, many weeks each year in that vicinity when I could not have got that labor for any reasonable money and love would probably have done no better. In the meantime it should be remen^bered that the field continues to be the cow pasture, on a rented dairy farm. Therefore the nut trees can not be charged with any cost of interest on the land. This advantage of getting the substitutes for cultivation attended to for the nut trees at a season when cultivation of other crops does no call for team, equipment, and men, is an important matter that has been too much overlooked. This same piece of jihilosophy, namely, efficient utilization of the farm plant, promises to make the marketing of black walnuts another great advantage in farm economics; namely, an odd-time job for rainy days and winter weather. A part of the above-mentioned field was planted to pecans by processes that were identical in every respect, except that the pecans were given the lowlands, the walnuts the hills. I might say that in this hill-pasture-walnut orchard I am merely trying to attain what has been attained in one of the most successful nut farms in the northern states of the United States of America — the E. A. Riehl orchard of chestnuts and black walnuts at Godfrey, Illinois, is on the Mississippi bluffs and other broken land that is so steep that plowing is unthinkable and climbing is difficult. - The trees of course would bear more if they could be cultivated but they can not be and they are making crops and profit now. The walnut and pecan trees of my planting were nursery trees transferred to a pastured field. The same philosophy of cultivation applies to the fence row tree. At the present time Nature has the habit in most of the eastern United States of raising a great abundance of hickories and walnuts, as well as many other kinds of trees, along fence rows. Millions of them creep up in these positions to a height 57 where they are safely out of reach of danger by pasturing animals. It is now an attainable task to graft these trees in place. It is easy to give them abundant supplies of manure, if available, or of lime, nitrate of soda, potash, or other chemicals thrown upon the surface of the ground near them, and of the raw bone dug in near their roots. I wish to emphasize the fact that a row of trees down the fence inter- feres with no farm machinery. It is perhaps equally feasible to graft suckers of walnuts, hick- ories, and, in many places, of pecans, that grow up in the scrub of cut-over land. I think that such land can be changed from a wild thing to a grafted forest or open stand of grafted trees, either by letting it become a pasture or by letting it continue in the nature of a woods or thjicket. If the latter course is followed, about the only care that is needed is to keep out the fire and cut down rival growth at some convenient season every few years. It would be a hard place to walk through but I suspect that the results would closely resemble tillage. As the grafted trees get larger and larger they will increas- ingly shade the suppressed growth beside them and take greater and greater possession of the light, air and root space. I have not yet tackled the task of converting stump land without pasturing it but I have had some very satisfactory experience with a few scattered black walnuts grafted along fence rows and in rough pastures that can not be plowed. I have been particularly interested in a top-worked hickory, a sucker that grew up among many others in a pasture in which sheep, goats, cows, mules, by turns, or in com- mon, have been doing their darnedest for about twenty years. This tree, a pignut, was grafted at a height of about six feet to Fairbanks hickory which is supposed to be a hybrid between bitternut and shag- bark. The parent tree is native in Iowa and trees grafted from it are living in Vermont. This particular tree has born fair crops of nuts for two or three years out of the last four years. I think the tree has been grafted about 10 years. It now measures 10 inches in girth at the graft. It has a spread of 10 feet. The top is about 8 feet in height above the igraft. The tree stands in one of the most unpromising places in three 58 hundred acres of Blue Ridge mountainside. Most of the soil on this slope is many feet in depth to bedrock but this place is about some- where from two and a lialf to five feet deep; probably nearer two and a half. I may say that this tree comes through Avith a crop this year when pecans, native black walnuts, and most of the nearby hickories are bearing little or no fruit. I have a sample with me. Another Fairbanks grafted on a bitternut in an uncultivated field with deep earth bore some nuts on the third year after grafting. jNIy real point is that many land owners can keep on with their present farming, their present land, their present equipment, and add a nut crop with small additional cost. Income from this source will be in the nature of clear profit. That is the way the French do it and we are paying them millions of dollars a year for the nuts. I should add in conclusion that the methods of cultivation that I have been talking about are those that can be ajaplied only where some- thing approaching personal interest is given to the trees. In other words, this is a story for the tree lover and for the land owner rather than for the tenant or the absent-treatment farmer, although I myself am an agriculturist of the partially absent-treatment variety. Professor Neilson introduced Mr. J. Lockie Wilson, SuiDcrinten- dent, Ontario Horticultural Association, Department of Agriculture, Toronto. Mr. Wilson: I am glad to meet so many of the delegates of the Northern Nut Growers Association and I wish to extend to you the hearty good wishes of the Ontario Department of Agriculture. We are working along similar lines with you in the department. We have a number of organizations that are encouraging the splendid work that you are doing. Mr. Neilson asked me to give you a short des- cription of our horticultural association that is doing quite a lot of work for civic improvement in the Province of Ontario. About 20 years ago we had a few hundred members, and today as Mr. Neilson has told you, we have a membership of some 80,000 paid members and some 300 branches scattered throughout Ontario. The 69 Ontario government gives a substantial grant to the horticultural so- cieties in the province. Each branch gets a substantial grant, paid one-third on membership and two-thirds on their expenditures for horticultural purposes. The organization is spreading very rapidly and nearly every village and town throughout Ontario has its horticul- tural association. They were doing such good work for the cities that the Minister of Agriculture decided to extend the work to the farmers, and now we have rural horticultural societies. The membership they require is 25, each paying one dollar membership fee, and the Govern- ment gives them dollar for dollar per member. If a rural society has 75 members, their membership income is $75 and the Government gives them another $75, thus allowing them $150 to expend on their work. Connected with my branch we have several speqialists, one specialist an expert lecturer in horticulture who goes about in the province de- livering addresses to those horticultural associations and assisting them to organize. I have had the honor and privilege of being connected with one of your large organizations in the United States and was vice- president of the American Civic Association for several years. I am still on the board. They are doing similar work to ours. For a num- ber of years we met in Washington ; last year in Boston. Their mem- bership is much smaller than ours. They have a very small member- ship but they are doing splendid work for the citizens of the United States. Mr. Neilson is the apostle who has spread the gospel of nut grow- ing. In season and out of season he has discussed the value of utiliz- ing nut trees in the different parts of this province. I think that the work you are doing is of great value. We in our horticultural societies have devoted our time largely to the growing of flowers, but after all when you can encourage a citizenship in the (growing of flowers, shrubs and trees around their homes, brightening, the homes of our people, the work certainly is of great value. There was a time when many of our boys were inclined to leave the farms, but since the advent of the rural horticultural societies, when the boys become interested in brightening the farm homes, it helps this situation a great deal. We have a number of organizations along similar lines. We have 60 the Fairs Association, an association of all the fall fairs exclusive of the Canadian National the Central and the Western, with a member- ship of 230,000, and that society is working in co-operation with the Horticultural Society in trying to make our country bright and beau- tiful. Dr. Russell Smith replied appropriately, expressing the appre- ciation of the meeting for Mr. Wilson's address and paying the grace- ful compliment to Canada that to the United States she was a great asset in the nature of an example. Mr. Greene : I think I ought to say in fairness to the speaker that I was enlightened by the magnitude of the work that his horti- cultural society was engaged in, and in that I see the reason for some- thing that we remarked about when driving along the eastern borders of Ontario, and that is the continuous flower garden that we rode through. The Chair: We are continually asked questions as to what is going to be the profit from nut trees, and it was determined to get information at this meeting- from the few commercial orchards in existence as to what the returns had been. Mr. Greene thereupon read a communication from Miss Amelia Riehl, of Godfrey, Illinois. Gl THE STORY OF THE OLDEST CHESTNUT GROVE IN ILLINOIS Amelia Riehl, Godfrey, Illinois In the year 1860 our father, E. A. Riehl, bought this piece of rough, hilly land. Only about one-third of it was fit for cultivation, the tops of the hills and the little valleys between them. These small pieces he gradually cleared and began growing various kinds of fru)it which he shipped to the Chicago market. He was a pioneer by nature and was always the first one in the neighborhood to start grow- ing a new product. When he saw that any one thing was being planted to excess he quit growing it and went to planting something else before the market became glutted. He had gone to school in Pennsylvania where the chestnuts grew wild. In his early days here he planted a few trees so as to have chestnuts for his children. These trees grew and bore so well that about 40 years ago he got the idea of growing chestnuts for market. The largest of these old trees is now eight feet in circumference and has a spread of about 60 feet. Tlien he began a search for the best chestnuts to be found any- where. Wherever he heard of an especially good nut he tried to obtain a few nuts of it for seed and planted them. When the little trees came into bearing he made various crosses ; always with the idea in mind of producing a new variety that would be as large as some of their foreign parents and as fine grained, sweet and delicately flav- ored as the little native American chestnut. Hundreds of these little trees were grown, and planted in rough, uncultivated land that had never been plowed. As soon as they were large enough, the land was pastured. They were set much too close together for permanent planting. Each tree was allowed only enough space to be able to produce a few nuts. As fast as they came into bearing, and their nuts were tested, the poorest trees were either cut out to make room for others near them, or topworked to some of the better varieties. Out of many hundreds, probably thousands, of these 62 trees, about 20 of the most promising were given numbers and were watched veiy closely for several years. Six of them have proven so good that they were named and introduced as new varieties. Father shipped his chestnuts to the same general commission house in Chicago that had handled his fruit. They very soon found these nuts to be superior to both the little eastern nuts, that are generally full of weevils, and the foreign chestnuts that are large but mostly coarse grained, with bitter pellicle. These chestnuts soon made a reputation for themselves. When imported chestnuts are selling for from 8 to 12 cts. per pound, ours sell for from 30 to 45 cts., where they are known. To illustrate: In the year 1926, when we realized that the crop was going to be unusually heavy, we thought perhaps the one commission house in Chicago that had always sold our nuts, could not handle them all to advantage. So we looked around for other markets. INIr. C. A. Reed, whom you all know, secured for us from the Bureau of Economics, addresses of several reliable dealers in half a dozen nearby cities. We picked out one name in each city and made a small shipment to that address. The nuts were immediately sold for the highest price on the list of market quotations, which was some- tliing like 12i or 15 cts. per pound, when the same nuts were selling in Chicago, where they were known, for 30 cts. All to whom we shipped were greatly pleased with the nuts and wanted more. But they were terribly shocked when we told them what they should be getting for them. Gradually, as the buyers came back for more of "those good chestnuts", the commissioners asked more for them and two of them actually succeeded before the season was over in bringing the price up even higher than that which the old house in Chicago was getting. We make it a point never to ship anything to more than one house in the same city. Then, when the buyers find that our product is good, they have to pay the price to get it. There is no chance of our com- peting against ourselves, as would be the case if the same thing were being sold in two liouses. Of course, when one does that, he must have confidence in the men in his commission house. We are fortu- nate in having inherited our father's friends so we never have any- thing to worry about along that line. Making a rough guess I would say we have about 1 5 acres of these steep, rocky hillsides with chestnuts growing in this half-wild state. 63 Naturally they would do a great deal better if grown in good soil and cultivated. But we find them a very profitable and the most re- liable crop that we can grow here. They never fail. Looking through our father's account book I find there has been a steady increase in our crop, and the proceeds therefrom, over a period of eleven years. In the year 1916 our chestnuts sold for $122.00. In 1926 for $2,460.00. This from practically the same acreage. The increase is due to the greater age and size of the trees. Last year was an exception to the rule. Though the crop did not fail entirely it was only about one- third of what it was the previous year. This was caused by great floods of rain that continued all through the blossoming season and interfered with pollination. The average price for Illinois grown chestnuts is around 30 cts. per pound. That is, they sell out of the commission houses for that price. The grower gets that much, less the commission and express. Considering all points, I mean thriftiness of tree, earliness of bearing, productiveness, quality, etc., we like the Fuller variety best of all and would plant it more largely than any other. But we do not recommend planting any one variety alone, as chestnuts seem to need cross-pollination in order to bear abundantly. It is quite possible that our success with chestnuts is partly due to the fact that there are so many varieties growing together. Many of the original seedlings are still standing among the grafted trees. Thus we have a great variety of pollen. Any tree is likely to get pollen from some other variety blooming at the same time. Chestnut trees come into profitable bearing about as early as do apple trees, with the same care and advantages. And the varieties vary as much in this respect as do the different varieties of apples. I have known a chestnut tree to bear and mature nuts seventeen months after the seed was planted. This, of course, is not the rule. The young trees usually bear from one to three pounds of nuts the third or fourth year from the graft, and double the crop the next year. So much de- pends on the location and other chances the tree has in this uneven land of ours, that it is hard to give statistics. It is impossible to calculate the average yield per tree. It may not be out of place to give here the early history of the Boone variety. In the spring of 1895, Mr. Geo. W. Endicott, of Villa Ridge, 111., fertilized blossoms of the Japan Giant with pollen of the 64 native American. The seed thus produced was planted in the spring of 1896 in rich garden soil. In the fall of 1897 one of the trees grown from these seeds developed six burrs filled with nuts. This was named Boone. It has borne annually since, the following amounts: 1 lb., 3 lbs., 5 lbs., 6 lbs., 8 lbs., 12 lbs., 17 lbs., 25 lbs., 31 lbs., 43 lbs., 50 lbs., 56 lbs., 5 lbs., 80 lbs., 76 lbs., 140 lbs. Since that time, Robert Endicott tells me, the tree has been bearing an average yearly crop of 150 pounds. So far we have bought used sugar and feed sacks costing from 3 to 5 cts. apiece, in which to market our chestnuts, always using a double sack. Thus we can shijD 100 lbs. in a container that costs from 6 to 10 cts. We are now considering the advisability of having special bags made and printed with our address. We believe in individualiz- ing a product that is better than the average. And, it seems to us, we have developed our chestnut industry to the point where this would be an advantage. We have always marketed our chestnuts as they were harvested, without storing them for any length of time. We have tried several diiFerent ways of storing them, but have found nothing that is practi- cal on a large scale. They keep perfectly if put while fresh in an air- tight container, such as a glass jar or tin can, and stored in a cool place. Last April, Mr. C. W. Bricker, of Ladora, Iowa, sent me some Fuller nuts that he had gotten here two years ago and had kept all this time in a milk can. They were in perfect condition. Some of them had sprouted and when planted, went right on growing. I feel sure that chestnuts could be kept indefinitely in cold storage if not allowed to freeze. Mr. Reed did some experimenting along that line last year. I would like to know what he learned. The demand for chestnuts always lasts longer than our supply. I think we should make an effort to hold some of them for the Christmas holidays. I do not remember how many chestnuts are imported into this country each year. But I do know that a goodly sum is spent for im- ported chestnuts. I can see no reason why all these nuts could not be grown in the United States and Canada, thus avoiding the possibility of bringing into the country more foreign pests. We have great hopes for the chestnut industry in the Mid-west, where the chestnut is not native and where there are as yet very few weevils. If we had more land we would plant more chestnut trees. 65 THE E. A. RIEHL FARM By George W. Gibhens, Godfrey, Illinois Nursery Stock Previously there has never been enough of grafted chestnut stock to supply the demand. Consequently we have enlarged our nursery department and can now furnish grafted chestnut trees of all of the leading kinds. We are giving our very best attention to the production of fine nursery stock true to name. New Varieties We are bringing out to public attention two new varieties of chestnuts, the "Dr. Van Fleet" and the "Gibbens". These each have excellent qualities. The latter is very early in ripening its fruit and will lengthen the nut season at least two weeks. It is a fine sweet nut of good size and color. We believe this variety will be of special value in the northern part where autumn frosts sometimes come early. Chestnut Dish Chestnuts, properly prepared and cooked, make an excellent table dish. We believe this product will be in demand when canned and placed on the market. A party, skilled in the business, will test this out for us. JValnuts We are just beginning a walnut nursery and will soon have a large supply of the well known kinds, as well as some of the newer varie- ties. In addition to grafted stock we have a good supply of Thomas seedlings. The best of these seedlings we hope to plant in an orchard and watch results for new varieties. Experiments We are testing out for worth and hardiness some of the leading kinds of hickory nuts, pecans, hickory and pecan hybrids, filberts, English walnuts, heart nuts, etc. Experiment Farm In addition to what we are doing here, I am planting my old 66 home farm (liO acres) in Pike Co., Illinois, to nut trees, seedling walnuts and chestnuts. I have about forty acres of it planted and hope to put out some each year until most of it is in nuts. My object is to test for new varieties as well as use for commercial purposes. YIELDS OF INDIVIDUAL NUT TREES Chestnuts at Riehl Farm near Alton, Illinois Year Yield Sold for Year. Yield Sold for 1916 Lbs. $ 122.16 1922 Lbs. $1,196.81 1917 321.24 1923 1,410.72 1918 366.13 1924 1,327.53 1919 667.41 1925 6174 " 1,506.02 1920 1,199.54 1926 12988 " 2,460.04 1921 1,058.34 American Nut Joui •nal, March 1927 P43 Professor Lewis Edwin Theiss, Munsey, Penn. : What are the six main varieties that Miss Riehl has.'' Mr. C. a. Reed: The Fuller, Champion, Progress, one that they have called a Parry for a number of years but that is not the true Parry. The Parrys of New Jersey put out tiie true Parry. A few years ago they put out a seedling of the Parry called Reliance. Then they have two new varieties, the Gibbens and the Van Fleet. Miss Riehl referred to refrigeration work which was going on in the department of agriculture. We have found that chestnuts held at 32° F. would keep perfectly and germinate in the spring, but it is important that they be in good condition when placed in storage. There is a prejudice in the minds of the public and of commercial men against cold storage nuts for eating, but it is founded, we believe, on a wrong conception. The nuts must be in good condition when put in storage. We find very frequently that they are tainted before put in storage. Nuts that are partially broken down before they go into storage continue to go down ^in storage and go down more rapidly when they come out. Mr. Green : It seems to me that, inasmuch as we print several hundred copies of the records of our meeting, things that will be of value as history or information in the work that we are trying to do, and especially of interest to people who join with us from this time 67 on it seems to me that those items that we can gather from any one place on any variety should be carefully recorded, and at Mr. Bixby's suggestion I would like to ask if there is anyone present who can give us the details, names and addresses of persons who have commercial yields, or yields that are perhaps not commercial but are interesting from an investigator's point of view as showing the possibilities of nut trees if planted commercially. Mr. Bixby: The Year Book of the Department of Agriculture gives yields on Mr. Wilkinson's place as follows : PECANS AT J. F. WILKINSON'S PLACE, ROCKPORT, IND. Indiana Majo'' 1913 191-'^ Yield 1920 5 lbs. 3 lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 6 lbs. 3 lbs- 4 lbs. 11 lbs. 7 lbs. 16 lbs. 23 lbs. 22 lbs. 62 lbs. 45 lbs Year Book U. S. Dept. Agriculture 1927 P485 * The Greenriver tree was budded in 1915 and left in the nursery row. It bore a few nuts in 1917 and 1918 and 3 pounds in 1919. You can see that there is an increase, which, though not perfectly regular, is consistent until it gets to quite sizable figures. Mr. Weber: Of the trees that were permitted to grow in the old nursery, those in the centre which did not get as much light did not bear as much as those on the outside, which proves a tree should not be shaded by surrounding trees. Mr. Spencer: At Farina, Illinois, there is a firm, Whitford Bros., who run a nursery in which they are raising chestnuts, pecans, hickories and walnuts to a limited extent. Their father some years ago planted some chestnut trees and two years ago I received a letter from them, when I was making a little investigation for local trees, in which they submitted that three and a half acres of chestnut trees planted by their father some 2.5 3'ears ago had produced a crop which they sold in Chicago. L^nfortunately they did not do as Miss Riehl did. They had two different brokers, one sold the crop at 35c per Busseron Greenriver* Planted 1913 .... 1920 5 lbs. 3 lbs. 1921 8 lbs. 2 lbs. 1922 30 lbs. 14 lbs. 1923 18 lbs. 7 lbs. 1924 25 lbs. 9 lbs. 1925 40 lbs. 17 lbs. 1926 86 lbs. 38 lbs. 68 pound, the other sold the crop at about 18c a pound. The average was about 23c a pound. The net value of the crop two years ago was $550.52 an acre. Last year, as Miss Riehl says in her letter about her own trees, the crop was not so large because we had excessive rains during blooming time and the pollen was washed away*. Illinois is *WHITFORD NURSERY Farina, Illinois Sept. 28/28 Mr. Willard G. Bixby: The amount of $552.50 is very nearly correct as the amount of gross receipts per acre from the 1926 chestnut crop on the old home farm. The crop from 125 old bearing trees was 7520 lbs., which sold at an average price of 23c per pound or $172S.60. Acreage 3%. Crop 1927 due to the rainy and cold weather and poor pollination being 2700 lbs. but quality good and price 25c per lb. net. Crop this year nearly as heavy as 1926 and nearly ready to harvest. Our plantings here at Farina amount to nearly 3000 trees with an acreage of 100 acres. Young trees from one to three years of age and having a few nuts on this fall. We consider our soil very suitable if well drained. Our only trouble so far is the hot sun in summer and winter which scalds the trunks and burns the foliage causing a very small percent of loss. A. M. Whitford favored by the fact that the chestnut grows very rapidly there. There are a good many plantings. Mr. Endicott of Villa Ridge has a num- ber. Over near Jacksonville, Illinois, is a party who has practically lived off a chestnut grove that he has. The chestnut grows very readily and up to the present time is free from blight. Through the activities of this association the Governor has instituted a quarantine against New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia and the states along that line clear to the Atlantic Ocean, but Carolina, Kentucky and Ten- nessee were omitted and they and a good many more have slipped trees through and sold them. Over in Indiana a large orchard was caught and burnt just because some of that cheap stuff was shipped in. While I am on my feet I just want to say one thing to the Canadian friends that are here. Like a great many other visitors we were charmed with the beauty of that reproduction of Niagara Falls in diamonds in the window of a leading jeweler. According to the card in the window that display was worth $250,000. Now that is just an exaggeration of extravagance. There is not a single solitary thing 69 in that window that is of any real use to the general public. But right over in that corner that display of nuts brought here from British Columbia by -Mr. Gellatly and over here the display of the Horticul- tural Society of the Dominion of Canada, are worth ten times to Canada the entire display in the jeweller's window, because this will constantly increase in value, it will encourage everybody that makes any reasonable study of how to plant them, and it means a great big increase in the agricultural value of the crops of this country. I have a great deal of sympathy for the small boy who has to go down to the grocery store witli a nickle or a dime for his nut party instead of going out to the woods, as he ought to be able to do if nut trees were encouraged. Dr. J. Russell Smith: Tlie figures that were just now given by the secretary for this chestnut grove at Farina, of "about 2500 pounds per acre, are apparently in accord with the figures that I have ob- tained in the chestnut orchards of Europe. Mr. Gellatly: In British Columbia, on the Fraser River, Gil- chrest Bros, have five chestnut trees that return an annual crop worth $200. Mr. Gage: ]\Ir. Sylvester Kratz at Jordan Station, a short dis- tance from Niagara Falls, has a Japanese Heart walnut which liad 7| bushels on it. Mr. Neilson: The tree measured 63 ft. spread. Mr. Gellatly: We have shipped green filberts to the Prairie market and they have yielded us 50c net per pound. I think it would be unfair to hold that up as a price than can be maintained. We get 25c a pound for the dried nuts locally. Mr. NEiLSOiV: Would you get a higher rate for them green? Mr. Gellatly: Yes, you get a higher price for the green nut, luisk and all, than for the dried nut. Mr. Frey: I might mention tliat green almonds are shipped from California in crates, similarly to the way cherries are shipped, and the Chicago market takes quite a lot of them. Question: How far south-west is the heart nut or Japanese wal- nut grown ? Mr. Reed: It has been grown all over the South and West too. It was introduced into this country first bv California and it came 70 from there East. In the South it has succeeded. It is subject to a peculiar disease, a sort of witch's broom or rosette. I know of an orchard in Georgia of 100 acres or more that was discontinued en- tirely because of the disease and the uncertain bearing habits. Those nuts came from the Parrys of New Jersey. There are no parts of the country where they have not been given a trial. A member then asked for data on Canada, to which Mr. Neilson replied: The heart nut, seedling trees, has been grown without any injury at Ottawa. I have been told there was a heart nut tree in jNIontreal, but I cannot vouch for that statement. Mr. Gellatly has a lot of them in British Columbia. In Ontario the northernmost place where I have seen a heart nut tree is 2.5 miles north of the city of Oshawa. Oshawa is roughly 20 miles east of Toronto. In the western part of the province I cannot say anything about it, but I know they have been growing up around Collingwood and Owen Sound on Georgian Bay. I have been told that seedlings from the heart nut have grown as far north as Haileybury and they stood four winters at least without any injury, then were destroyed by fire. I think the heart nut will grow, from information that I have, in this province in any place that the black walnut can grow. They grow away down east of Montreal and as far north as North Bay, which is about on a line with northern Lake Huron. I sent some heart nuts to the Manitoba Agricultural College and they were planted, but somehow or other the trees that came from that planting are not heart nuts, ac- cording to the foliage. Mr. Gellatly: They were positively black walnuts. Bally River Nurseries in Manitoba have some heart nut trees growing there. Mr. Neilson : In Bally River it gets 40 below zero in the winter. Mr. Bixby: I have been informed that in England it is quite usual to eat the filbert green. Question: Has it a different flavor? Mr. Bixby: I have eaten plenty of them green from bushes, and they taste kind of green. It is not as pleasing to me as the dried nut. 71 NUT GROWING IN NORTHERN NORTH AMERICA By C. A. Reed, Nut Culturist, United States Department of Agri- culture, Washington, D. C. We will begin with the slides immediately. I want to show you phases of the American nut industry in practically all parts of the country. That is an almond orchard. We are not very much interested in almonds in the East for the reason that the almond is one of the most exacting in its climatic conditions of any commercial species that we grow in this country. It is a native of the Mediterranean region, as you know, and is an exceedingly early bloomer. It blooms along in January, February or JNIarch, and the blossoms are apt to be destroyed by subsequent freezes. For that reason the almond is not successful in the East. Mr. J. F. Jones had, at the time of his death, an almond tree, a Nonpareil I believe, one of the standard California varieties. The Texas is not exactly a soft shell but nevertheless it is about as exacting in its climatic conditions as the other varieties. The almond is suc- cessful on the Pacific Coast, only, well away from the cold air blasts from the Pacific Ocean. There are occasional hard-shelled almonds, very beautiful bloomers that are satisfactory in the landscape but I have yet to see one that is really palatable. This is one of the typicnl walnut views that you see in southern California. In ] 900 in the United States we produced around 21 million pounds of nuts, walnuts, almonds and pecans. In 1910 we produced 39 millions, nearly twice that number. In 1920 the number jumped to 106 million pounds. The walnut is usually our medium crop. In 1926 the walnut tonnage dropped down to 30,000 tons. That year, the only time in history, we had more almonds than we had wnlnuts. We had 32,000 tons, 2,000 more than we had of wal- inits. We had a phenomenal crop of pecans for that year, over 64 million pounds. The crop, this last year, of pecans dropped down to 72 22 million. This is an orchard of seedling trees. It was not until 1910, or thereabouts, that California really got to planting grafted trees. Probably 90 per cent of the production of walnuts today is from seedling trees. The exact origin of the parentage is not known but it is supposed to have been from South America. Strange to say we never had any important importations of varieties from South America. This is an Oregon view, showing one of the errors that Mr. Hershey pointed out yesterday, that of too close planting, but it shows also their intensive cultivation. Their high cost of overhead is compelling experimental work along that line. This is a view that some of you may have seen before, some of the California roadside black walnuts that were top-worked to stand- ard varieties of the Persian walnut. It makes a beautiful picture, but so often there has to be something to take the joy out of life. If you would examine those trees closely you would find in every one of them a great deal of heart rot in the center. We are fearing that by this time (that picture was taken eight or ten years ago) those trees have come down by reason of that heart rot. It does not pay to make cuts more than 3 in. across if you can possibly avoid it. Branches 2 in. in diameter are as large as should be cut off if possible. Merely a passing picture to show you how walnuts look. Mr. Hershey told you yesterday of yields of li tons per acre. The average in California is around 800 lbs. or perhaps a little less. The better cared for orchards produce upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, which is very much more than has been realized in pecans in the South. The Persian walnut was early planted in the East, and you and I have seen many beautiful specimens of trees over much of this country. There are some in the Niagara peninsula, many in Western New York. They are all through eastern Pennsylvania, down through the coastal plain section of Delaware and New Jersey, eastern Maryland and even Virginia. They are planted farther south, but they do not survive. In fact, none of the walnuts, even the black or the Persian or the Japanese walnut, seems to be long-lived in the plain sections of the South. In Louisiana, where there are parts of the state that are quite 73 rolling, the black walnut does quite well on the uplands, but by the time it gets to be 25 or 30 years old in the plain section, the trees succumb. This is one of the trees in Georgetown, a part of Washington. You may recognize Mr. Littlepage under one of the trees. The trees in Washington are extremely variable in their bearing capability and in their ability to survive. You will find records of at least a dozen that have passed off for one that has survived. A number of experi- menters recently have been working with lime on the theory that the Persian walnut is an alkali-soil requiring species. There is a good deal of evidence in support of that theory. All the walnuts in Cali- fornia are grown in alkali soil. In the East, Mr. Jones told us once that he found in an acid soil the Persian would pass out. Mr. Littlepage showed me two trees recently that he limed early this spring, trees that were ten years old and three feet high. He told his man to put on all the lime they could; he did not care if he killed them as they were not any good as they were. And this year they have a growth of four feet. Mr. Bixby has been studying along the same line, and he tells me he cannot account for the fact that Persian walnuts which he has at Baldwin have not done well, whereas they have done so in parts of the country where climatic conditions are very much more severe. Climatic conditions on Long Islnad are very much modified by the proximity to water on all sides. There are a number of varieties that were propagated by Mr. Jones in the East and a good many of his trees are growing and will doubtless be heard from, one way or the other, sooner or later. We are not going to spend a great deal of time on this species but before we leave it I am going to tell you one thing that is of greatest interest to us all and that is that Mr. Jones, as you know, imported seed of walnuts from north China, grew the seedlings and sold them wholesale to a nursery man. In Michigan, not far from the Indiana state line, only a few miles north of Elkhardt, there is an engineer from Chicago who bought a farm of 300 acres as a summer place. That farm is between two small lakes which have such an influence on the climatic conditions there that he is able to grow such tender plants as roses which are not generally grown successfully in that part of the country. In a round-about way he acquired perhajDS 100 or more of those 74 Chinese walnut trees from Mr. Jones. Tliey were sold to him as Manchurian walnuts. I saw them two 3^eairs ago planted in sod, not given special attention. He wrote to me two weeks ago that they were doing splendidly. That is up in northern Michigan where it gets down to 15 to 20 below zero. Two years ago I made a trip about Michigan with Professor Gardiner, professor and director of horticulture in that state. He is nn old schoolmate of mine. He heard m£ talking to one of the growers about the possibility of planting some Persian Walnuts, and made this statement: "Your Persian walnuts in Michigan are worth about 20% less than nothing." And yet we have in this picture Chinese walnuts that are making phenomenal growth on the place of ai Chicago engineer, Mr. E. E. Bellow. He has seedling trees from two other sources, some from Rochester and some from Mr. Pomeroy of Lock- jDort, more recently. He says that his Lockport trees which he planted this spring are doing well this summer. Mr. Littlepage invited me to make a trip through New Jersey. He was going to see a tree of the "Startling" apple. While we were going around this man's place who owns the apple tree, we came to a Persian walnut. He said it was a Pomeroy seedling. He had 50 at one time but they were so subject to winter and spring freezing that he could not raise them profitably. His land was worth much more to him to grow apples and peaches. There was a. case where 50 well-cared-for walnut trees were pulled out because he found they did not pay. Climatic con- ditions were too severe, and that is one place in all the East, right there near Delaware bay and not so far from the Atlantic Ocean, where you would naturally suppose that walnuts should do as well as any place in the East. Question: How do you explain the term "severity" in making trees fail in Delaware when they survive here? Mr. Reed: Of course some of them survive there. That is a relative term and your term "survive here" is relative. Questioner: I took you to mean they were not doing as well in Delaware as around Niagara. ^Mr. Reed: I do not know cf any trees around Niagara. There 75 is quite a, story to the Pomeroy seedlings. Their Lockport orchard has performed more satisfactorily than any orchard I know of in the East. But neighbors around there tell me that trees which they have planted have succumbed. The only way I can account for it is that the Pomeroys hav a peculiarly favorable site to protect them from winter injury. Mr. Neilson: About ten miles west of Toronto they have some Pomeroy seedlings and, while they are not producing regularly, they do bear from time to time. In 1902 they had a very good crop but I found this, that in most cases in this province where English walnuts are grown they are just about left to themselves. Comparatively few people give them any attention, with the result that they do not get the crops that they would if given particular attention. Mr. Hershey: Don't you think that the fact that there is great variation in the seedlings helps to account for this difference? Mr. Reed: Undoubtedly. Mr. Neilson: Down near Vineland there is the oldest English walnut tree in Ontario. The present condition of that tree is not good. It is showing the effect of time but is still living and is about 100 years old. In this past year the present owner told me he got 14 bushels of nuts. The flavor of those nuts is not so good as some other strains but the fact that it produced that much in one season without any special attention is interesting. The original owner, who is a reliable person, is reported to have said that he got a crop of 30 bushels. That must have meant with the husks on. The present owner got 14 bushels witli the husks off. It bears nearly every year. Mr. Reed: As a result of a black walnut contest conducted by this association in 1926, a grower 18 miles from Boston, Mr. C. C. Geissler of Sharon, sent a few specimens of what he called a Russian walnut to Dr. Deming. As the committee was not passing on anything but black walnuts, these nuts were sent to Washington and we examined them. We found that while they were not what you would call high class, that is so far as freedom from tannic acid was concerned, they were very satisfactory for family use, and the very fact that they had been produced up there near Boston interested us extremely. I went 76 up tliere and examined the tree. It was 11 years old. It was one of two trees which had grown from nuts which Mr. Geissler had planted fourteen years before. He had obtained them in a sack which had been bought on the Boston market by the proprietor of the store where he is employed. They had been marked "Siberia." I have grave doubts whether those nuts were grown in Siberia. I talked to Dr. Yates Wilson about that and he confirmed my opinion that they were probably grown in China. They were typical Chinese nuts. It was a fine looking tree. We will spend a few moments now with the joecan. In a way tlie pecan is our most important American grown nut. It is by far tlie most important of our native species. This is a photograph of tlie very largest pecan tree that we have on record. It measured 23 ft. in circumference at breast height when that jahotograph was taken, but it is understood that the tree was cut down soon after this picture was taken. It was struck by lightning. It was in east central Okla- homa. We know nothing about tlie bearing record. It was estimated to be about 170 ft. liigh which, according to Sargent, is as high as they grow. The largest living tree we have record of at the present time is in Louisiana. Those of you who attended the meeting at Easton last year saw and were photographed under what we think is now the largest pecan tree in the United States. Near Easton there are a great many pecan trees like this. This is on one of the arms of Chesapeake Bay between Easton and the bay proper. They are all around there if you take the trouble to see them. This is southeast of St. Michaels. This is a Louisiana seedling. It illustrates very perfectly the fact tliat the southern species can be taken very much farther nortli than their point of origin and grown successfully so far as the tree itself is concerned. It is another matter to get even occasional crops and still another matter to get paying crops. Dr. Deming took me to as fine a pecan tree as you can see, near Hartford, Conn. The pecan in that New England latitude is of very little use other than that of ornamentation. Mr. Spencer: Not long ago I was talking with some people 77 about the size of the Easton pecan tree, and one of the gentlemeji present spoke up and said it is not the oldest planted pecan tree in the United States, because up in Biotasch the Acadians planted some when they came from Halifax, N. S. I asked him how they got pecans in Nova Scotia and he could not tell. Have you ever seen it? Mr. Reed: No, I have not. This is a picture in one of the orchards we have been hearing about. It is that of Mr. O. H. Casper near Anna, 111., put out in 1917. They were grown by Mr. Littlepage in his nursery out in Indiana. It is a very interesting orchard. It is in semi-pasture. The mowing machine had been over it a few days before this picture was taken. These trees are growing thriftily and bearing some nuts. When I saw them last year they had an average of two or three nuts to the tree in the 12th year that they had been out. This is a picture of the parent Busseron near Vincennes, Ind. The top had been cut back severely in order to get budding wood and stimulate new growth. The Busseron is one of the best known of our northern varieties; in fact we have only about eight altogether. At this day we have little idea of some of the difficulties that the ))ioneers had. This is the trunk of the parent Green River in a forest some 15 miles from Evansville, Ind., on the Kentucky side. It was not this tree, but the Major which is very much like it which, according to Mr. Littlepage, measured 59 ft. to the first limbs, and the bud wood was from 75 to 100 ft. high. Mr. Littlepage, Ford Wilkinson and two or three others went to get some bud wood. They had written Mr. Jones about the height of these trees and the difficulty of getting wood. Mr. Jones wrote back: "If you will send to Sears, Roebuck & C"o. and get a pair of their 15 ft. pruners you will have no difficulty in getting: vour scions. When it came time to climb these trees one man thought he could make it. He put on the spurs, went up 15, 25 feet and higher, ffot white in the face, came down and nearly fainted. After that ^Ir. Ford Wilkinson went up the tree to near the top. If it liad not been for Mr. Wilkinson I don't know how we would have obtained the scions. The Green River is one of the latest maturing varieties and at Bowie it is quite frequently caught by fall frosts. 78 This may be the tree that was referred to yesterday as being in Shawneetown, 111. Mr. Luccadoo of southern Indiana, like Mr. Wil- kinson a professional pecan thresher^ took the contract for gathering a crop and in one tree he found nuts very superior to the others. It was named in his honor. This is a young tree of the Major. I have no photograph of the original tree. The Major is ai very high class little nut, but Mr. Jones said once it was too small for his locality. And tliis is the parent tree of the Niblack, named in honor of Mr. Mason J. Niblack who is shown in the foreground, who was with us at the meeting at St. Louis, but has since passed away. This is the parent of the Norton pecan which is perhaps the most northern variety yet brought to attention. It has been propagated very little. Mr. Bixb}^ has it. It is from near Clarksville, Mo. The Norton is a very choice nut but the tree itself is so inaccessible that we know very little of its bearing record. Mr. Norton has a seedling of the Norton which he regards as being superior to it, and we are inclined to agree with him. This is a close up view of the Posey near Greyville, 111. The Posey was regarded by Mr. Jones as being the most satisfactory of any variety that he had under test at Lancaster. It was a little better bearer and less subject to spring freezes. This is a typical southern A^iriety, the Schley, about eight years old. This tree, however, was photographed last December in south- eastern California. It has been planted a good deal in the Imperial Valley on the Arizona border and over in Arizona in the last few years. We will spend a very few moments on the hickories. This is the parent tree of the Dennis shagbark from Cedar Rapids, discovered and named by the late Dr. Dennis of Cedar Rapids. A very excellent variety, but none of the shagbarks have been propagated to any extent. Mr. Jones, and also some years ago Mr. W. C. Reed said they have been so slow in growing and hard to propagate that they felt, as nursery men, they could not afford to propagate them. This is the Kentucky tree grown by INIr. Littlepage. INIr. Bixby has it in bearing. 79 Now we come to the hybrids. This is the parent tree of the Mc- Callister discovered many years ago, probably in the late 80's, by a Mr. Floyd, but the tree belonged to a Mr. McCallister. Mr. Floyd was of Missouri. He took scions south, and six trees, if I am not mis- taken, were grafted on pecan and grown at Washington, Georgia. Later the variety came to the attention of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture and the name McCallister was definitely fixed. Because of the enormous size of the nuts, the vigor of the parent tree and the fruitfulness, it attracted unusual attention. As a result a great many of the pioneer pecan men of the South developed trees by top-working pecans with the McCallister, but the only instance that has come to our attention in which they were satisfactorily fruitful in the South was in those six trees in Washington, Georgia. But no- where in the South have they filled well. Over in Delaware, at Mil- ford, there are two trees referred to by Mr. Hershey grafted, one on hickory and one on pecan, by a i\Ir. Corso. I saw those two trees the other day. I have seen a few nuts that were filled. The ones I saw were filled much better than the average of what we have seen in the South, or from this parent tree. It may prove to be worth more in the North than in the South. It is rather unusual for oversized nuts to be dependable in filling quantity. Many years ago while Mr. Jones was a youngster in Missouri, he found a hybrid hickory in the northeastern corner of the state which became known as the Rockville. About two weeks ago Dr. Smith wrote to us at Washington asking what we could tell him about the Cedar Rapids, shagbark. Now there are two hickories that have been knoAvn by that name. One is a shag- bark which I am not familiar with. The other is the tree named by Dr. Dennis of Cedar Rapids, which is a sweet bitternut. I have never seen the nuts of this tree. But you notice the fine branches characteristic of the bitternut. Now we come to the chestnut. The last word has not been said about the chestnut in the East. We feel that the chestnut will some day come back. That slide of course needs no explanation. It is typical of what we have seen through the chestnut range from the lower New England states down through Pennsylvania to North 80 Georgia. This picture was taken in the very heart of the chestnut region in southern Pennsylvania. Most of these trees are gone. Our great hope, we believe, lies in the introduction and breeding of blight resistant and weevil resistant chestnuts. The species which is being relied upon at the present time more than any other is that of the Chinese chestnut, Castanea mollissima. This is an average tree such as we found in northern China several years ago. I think Dr. Smith will agree with us that that is about a typical tree. Dr. Smith: I think so. Mr. Reed: One thing about this chestnut is that most of the trees we have seen, all seedlings, are light bearers, not at all like the Japanese species which are heavy bearers. This is a typical view in the Riehl planting that you have heard about. It is among those scattered trees on those hillsides that the parent trees of a number of varieties originated. The Riehl chest- nuts are, we think, Europeans crossed with the American. They are much larger than the American, and like the Europeans they are difficult to be husked. They have to be husked by hand. The Japanese husk themselves readily. The result is that the Endicotts of Villa Ridge are able to harvest and market their crop during the month of September. Mr. Endicott stated one year ago that the Boone nuts usually began their crop about the 4th of September and by the 25th they were practically all on the market. Fortunately for the people of Illinois, there is no blight in the state, or if there is it is not known; neither is the weevil of the East. The weevil a little farther south than we are here, down about Washington, is scarcely less of a menace to the chestnut industry than is the blight. I think if I were given the choice, I would rather blight killed them than to have the crop gathered and find each nut infested with a dozen weevils. Mr. Brooks, of the Department of Agriculture, kept track of the mollissima one year and found an average of 12 weevils to each nut. The Riehl chestnuts are usually harvested from the 15th of Sep- tember to the 1 5th of October. This is the parent tree of the Boone photographed one year ago. Its present condition is not due to blight or disease of any kind but 81 to an ice storm that broke out the tops of mamy of the trees. This is one of three trees resulting from nuts grown from cross pollination by Mr, Endicott's father. That photograph was taken in 1927 and the nut was planted in 1896. This is the parent tree of the Champion variety. You notice that strong central leader characteristic of the American species which indicates quite definitely hybridization with the European. Many of the nuts drop out but the great majority of them are separated by hand. The nuts and the burrs are picked up and taken by the Riehls to a pile and then all sit down and with gloves on separate them by hand. This is the nut of the Fuller variety which Miss Riehl stated in her paper they regarded as their best variety. The McFarland is the Japanese variety that the Riehls are grow- ing. It was not originated by them. You notice how differently it grows. This comes from near the home of Dr. Theiss. This is one view of the 400 acre grove of wild chestnuts grafted by the late Col. C. K. Sober, Lewisburg, Penn. They are all destroyed by blight, I understand, nothing is left. Dr. Theiss tells me there were 800 acres of land in the property and 400 acres put into chestnuts. This is, I believe, the one that Mr, Riehl called the Parry. This is the parent tree of the Van Fleet, No. 60. You notice there again the strong central leader. Now we come to the filbert. Although the filbert is but a hazel, in the Pacific Northwest the trees are planted the standard distance of 25 to 30 ft., the varieties thoroughly interplanted to insure cross pollenation, as it has been definitely established that the filbert is largely self -sterile. The trees are trained to standard form headed up like other trees. This is in the planting of Mr. Conrad Vollertsen across the lake from us, near Rochester, Mr. Vollertsen was himself an intensive gardener. Notice his trees close together and in between the rows he is growing nursery stock. He interplanted his stock, on the right Italian Red and on the left Lambert, This is a view of the hybrids and the planting of Mr, Jones' at 82 Lancaster. Mr. Bixby and otliers have told you about liis having made a number of very remarkable crosses. He first tried to apply a native hazel pollen on the pistillate flowers of European filberts with negative results^ the same as had been the experience on the Pacific coast. Then he reversed the order and put Barcelona pollen on the pistils of the Rush variety with success. Later he introduced many other varieties. Those trees are remarkably vigorous, remark- ably jDrolific. In this cluster there were 47 nuts. The Corylus colurna, Turkish hazel commonly called. This photo- graph was taken in Oregon. There are several trees, probably the oldest in the United States, in Highland Park, Rochester. On request of the chair that he report his progress in immunizing chestnut trees against the chestnut blight, Dr. Zimmerman spoke as follows : Dr. Zimmerman: I did not expect to make an address when I came here, but inasmuch as some of our friends have been enquiring about this matter I will make a brief statement and I want it under- stood that what I am going to tell about is of a strictly experimental nature. In the first place, I am fully convinced that these trees can be immunized and will be immunized. In the second place, I have found it necessary to change my plan. I believe that there is more or less incompatibility between the grafted top and the root system, sufficient in some cases to kill the tree. With that in mind I have determined to get my plants on their own roots. I foresee the time when horticulturists at large will be getting their plants and trees on their own roots, unless there is some specific reason for not doing so. Naturally when T tried to get these trees on their own roots I ran up against more obstacles. I have several plans in mind. I believe it is possible to grow chestnuts from cuttings, although I have never done it. I did go sufficiently far so that if I could have liad proper conditions I think I could have rooted them verv well. The thina; that makes me believe that is that two years ago ground mice ate off the root system entirely under two trees. When these trees drojjped over I noticed that callus was 83 very well formed. I planted both of them and last fall I took up one and I found that it had a root system about four inches long. The one this year I allowed to remain and it has grown branches about 1 ft. in length. Another method I have tried, I don't know whether anybody else has tried it or not, is by layering the chestnut. I have used a number of different methods. One is to graft them quite low and bury the graft, in the hope that they will root on their own stock. Another method was to use a container can, or something of that sort, place it on a stake and allow the limb to pass through it, girdle, and allow roots to develop. Whether that is going to be successful I don't know. Time will tell. I am telling you this in order to give you an idea of why I changed my plan and how I was expecting to carry it out. Now with the actual work of immunizing, I have not done a great deal of it this summer. I have only injected half a dozen trees, only trees that I wanted to save. Heretofore I found I had on my hands a lot of trees that were not worth saving. Next to a tree that is blighted I think a loafer tree is about as bad, and I don't propose to fool around and try to immunize anj'thing that is not going to bear the best quality of nut that can be gotten. I have one, a Champion, which I had given a couple of injections last year, where I discovered that the blight had almost killed the tree. It had gone around the tree except for the distance of half an inch. I gave three injections immediately and today it has callus at least 2^ inches wide. The tree is in very good shape. Of course it is not entirely healed. As an extra precaution, some of the sprouts that came up I inserted into the trunk above the injection in order to protect it further if necessary, thus bridge grafting it. A few of the trees on which I was making experiments last year have died, largely because I paid no further attention to them. I dis- covered they were worthless for my future results. As I said before, I don't expect to offer a great deal of proof. I am not trying to convince scientists just at this particular time, but 84 sooner or later I think I can give tbem plenty of data to convince any reasonable man. In fact, if we can raise a bliglit-proof chestnut near Piketown, Penn.^ it is sufficient proof. Last year I got into a discussion about immunit}'. A gentleman told me a tree could not be artifically immunized. Also that the tojj of a tree may be vulnerable^ but the root of a chestnut tree was immune. I told him I did not concur in his belief. He gave as his reason for believing that the chestnut root was ^immune that it did not become blighted or die. As a matter of fact some of the roots do live but the reason of that is that they are protected^ not immune. They are pro- tected very much as a man's hands would be if lie should put on a pair of gloves and go out in poison ivy. He is not immune, he is pro- tected. The chestnut below the ground is protected by bacteria in the ground which destroy the chestnut endothia. Question : Can you graft a native chestnut, pile up dirt around it and escape the blight.^ Dr. Zimmerman: The immune chestnut, as it is referred to in my work, is a chestnut in which an antigen has been injected into its sys- tem and whose cells have developed a definite specific ferment which will digest the endothia parisitica. With reference to grafting native chestnut stock with an immune variety, that is one of the reasons why I have tried to get my trees on their own roots. It is almost impossible to go into a blight-ridden district and graft trees and not have them become infected, and a great many of them will die from the infections before they have time to develop a new top. It can be done and I have done it but it re- quires a great deal of work. Mr. Bixby: Would you mind telling the audience how the anti- gen is made. Dr. Zimmerman: Last year I went into that rather extensively. There are about nine different methods of making the material. The way I have been doing so far is to grow the germs in pure culture on some suitable culture media, sterlizing them and preserving them with trikresol or phenol. Then they are ready to inject. I 85 Mr. Bixby: I had reference also to applying the antigen after it had been made. Dr. Zimmerman: I have tried a number of metliods. This year I went so far as to make a can and to put on it the valve stem of a bicycle tube, expecting to force some material right into the cells of the tree under air pressure. My experience has been that they immunize better if it is put on the cambium. My method is the same one I spoke of last year. I make an incision across the tree. It is best not to make it too far around the tree, because if it becomes infected the blight goes around the tree and it has not to go far. Then I make another incision at right angles about 6 in. long. Then I take the knife and just raise the edge of the bark from the cambium on either side. Then I fasten over it a piece of paper, with hot paraffine. That makes a little cavity on the inside. With a medicine dropper I fill that cavity with the antigen, then seal it with paper and paraffine. Now I want to mention something else I have found. It is practically necessary in treating a diseased tree to have an autogenous vaccine. I found that in animal and human experimentation, and it is also necessary in plant experimentation in order to get results, in lots of cases. If there is any life left in a tree worth considering, it is possi- ble to control the blight with an autogenous vaccine made from the germs in that tree. There are other things besides blight that kill trees. I dug down to the roots of a tree and I found a chain lying there. The tree had grown up through the chain and it restricted nutrition. Mr. Reed mentioned the weevil. I have a great deal more con- fidence in my ability to immunize a tree against the blight than I have to take care of the weevil. Mr. Bixby : Do I understand. Dr. Zimmerman, that by autogenous vaccine you mean for each tree you make up a specific vaccine from an infection on that tree itself? Dr. ZiMMERAfAN: Yes. that is what I have planned to do. I have selected the verv best chestnut varieties I can wet. I consider the Fuller as first, then the Boone, the Dan Patch and the McFarland. I am very partial to the McFarland, not only on account of the quality 86 of the chestnut but on account of the heredity at the back of it, I understand it is one of Burbank's creations. He told me his chestnuts contained about 25% Chinese^ about 50% American, and some Euro- pean and Japanese, and with that in mind I expect to get some good chestnuts from tlie McFarland. I have been able to form a little idea of the relative resistance of the different chestnuts. I have a Japanese chestnut which is the most resistant of anything I have. The n^xt I should say — this is not definite, it is merely comparative — is some of the Chinese. The Chinese chestnut at my place has not been absolutely blight resistant. If I were to graft them on the native trees the same as my other chestnuts they would not stand up much better than some of the other chestnuts that I have been immunizing. I feel that after I get some of my other chestnuts on their own roots they will have a better chance. Next as to resistance comes the Drescher, one that I have immunized. Then the Dan Patch, the Boone, the Fuller, and last of all the native American and the Rochester. The Rochester is the most vulnerable chestnut that I have. It is rare that I can keep it growing for one year without having it infected. I could not get it far enough to inject one dose of antigen before having it die. The Secretary: Your Committee on Resolutions would respect- fully report as follows: First: That the thanks of this association be extended to the King Edward Hotel for the very pleasant assembly hall provided for the use of its members and especially for the friendly service so pleasantly extended to them at all times. Second: We would especially commend the display of nuts of various kinds brought to the convention by Mr. J. U. Gellatly of West Bank, B. C. Third: We would also commend the collection of nuts arranged by Prof. James A. Neilson, Extension Horticulturist of the Depart- ment of Agriculture. We feel sure that this collection, and the one by Mr. Gellatly, were each a revelation to all members and visitors of the possibilities 87 of nut culture in Canada. Each of the displays is remarkable. The Dominion of Canada may well be proud of its success in nut culture as an added source of wealth in agriculture. Fourth : We would extend our appreciation to Mr. Willard G. Bixby of Baldwin, N. Y., and to Mr. C. A. Reed, of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, for the displays of nuts presented by them. These demonstrated beyond question that many varieties of nut bearing plants may be successfully grown on American soil. They are an added beauty to the landscape and their fruits a vast in- crease to the value of the products of agriculture. Fifth: AVe would return our sincere thanks to the following persons who kindly opened their home grounds for our inspection and made it possible for our members to see the various kind of nut trees growing in Canada : G. H. Corsan, Carl James, Sir William Mullock, Howard Smith, Woolverton Brothers, Dr. John Smith, James Durham, E. F. Palmer, Director of Horticultural Exj^eriment Station at Vineland, Sylvester Kratz, Ezra Hunsberger, and Peter McDermid. WHEREAS, Mr. John F. Jones, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who was a leading member of this association, died at his home January 11, 1928; AND WHEREAS, he was a leader in the United States in nut culture; he originated methods of cultivation; produced new varieties in his nursery, and stimulated an interest in all nut bearing plants by his uniform kindness and courtesy to all who called upon him for assistance or advice; BE IT RESOLVED, that this association at its annual meeting, lield in Toronto, Canada, September, 1928, does hereby extend to the widow and all members of his family, our sincere sympathy to them in their bereavement. We regret that "words are such weak things" and that we can do nothing more than to express our appreciation of a man who has done so much to make the world better and more beautiful because he lived. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution 88 be forwarded by the secretary to his family, and that it be entered upon the minutes of this convention. James A. Neilson, Frank L. Baum, Henry D. Spencer, Committee on Resolutions. RESOLUTION OF THANKS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NORTH-ERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INC., EXTENDED TO H. J. HILLIARD OF SOUND VIEW, CONN. WHEREAS, Mr. H. J. Hilliard, of Sound View, Connecticut, was elected Treasurer of this incorporation at its first meeting held in Washington, D. C, September 28, 1923. AND, WHEREAS, he has served this organization with great efficiency from that date to the termination of his term of office in 1928, without compensation, and has faithfully accounted for all of the funds entrusted to him. BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, Inc., that the thanks of this organization be extended to the said H. J. Hilliard for the valuable services he has rendered, and conscientious manner in which he has cared for the funds which came to him as Treasurer during the many years he has occupied that office. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be spread upon the Minutes of the Association and another copy be sent by the President to Mr. Hilliard. WILLARD G. BIXBY, President. HENRY D. SPENCER, Secretary. S. W. SNYDER, W. C. DEMING, JAS. A. NEILSON, KARL W. GREENE, Directors. 89 Upon motion the convention adjourned at 1 o'clock, the rest of the time on the 11th and r2th to be spent in visiting interesting points in and about Toronto. FIELD EXCURSIONS The field excursions to places where interesting or rare nut trees may be seen are perhaps the most valuable features of the meetings of the Northern Nut Growers Association. The Toronto meeting of this Association was up to the usual standard of excellence in this interesting part of the programme. The committee in charge of the programme arranged two excursions of more than ordinary length for the benefit of those who attended the convention. The first trip was taken on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 11 th, and consisted of visits to three places of interest. The party proceeded by motor coach and auto to Mr. George Corsan's place near Islington, where the first stop was made. Mr. Corsan, who is a well-known member of the association, has an interesting collection of many kinds of grafted and seedling trees. Amongst those of interest the following kinds were noted as doing well: Thomas and Ohio black walnut, Siers, Fair- banks and Laney hickories, pecans, Chinese walnuts, hybrid chestnuts, seedling heartnuts from Virginia sources, filberts and the Turkish tree hazel. Some of tlic black walnut, chestnut and heartnut trees were lieavily loaded with promising nuts. The Turkish tree hazel and the Chinese walnuts are making very good growth and are interesting because of their rarity. After a hurried inspection of this place the party journeyed on to Thornhill where a stop was made at Mr. Carl James' place to inspect a small grove of pecan trees. There are five trees at this place which were grown from nuts obtained in southern Illinois more than fifty years ago. The trees have grown very well, considering their northern latitude (43.45 degrees) and the altitude (700 feet above sea level). The largest tree is approximately 45 feet tall, with a spread of branches equal to its height and a trunk diameter of nearly 16 inches. These trees have borne nuts quite frequently, but in only one year have the nuts matured. Inasmuch as the pecan is a native of regions several hundred miles south of the location of these trees, they afford an interesting exam})le of the adaptation of trees to northern latitudes. 90 • From Mr. James' place the group motored to the magnificent es- tate of Sir Wm. Mullock, Chief Justice of Ontario and former Post- master General of Canada. On this estate there is found the largest grove of black walnut trees in Canada. This plantation consists of 20,000 small trees and about 10,000 older trees, some of which have attained merchantable size. The large plantation of young trees was established in 1924-25 as a reforestration project. Before planting these trees Sir William Mullock conferred with the writer of this article regarding the possibility of gfowing walnut trees. At this conference Sir William, who was then over 60 years of age, made a most significant and worthy statement which should prove an inspira- tion to men much younger than he. In effect the statement was this: "You know at my age I will not get any material benefit from plant- ing these trees, but I will have a lot of fun watching them grow." In this day when materialism seems to be uppermost in the minds of so many people it is inspiring to find one of advanced years with such an altruistic outlook on life. After looking over this fine estate the delegates returned to the King Edward Hotel, to convention head- quarters. On Wednesday morning the party was considerably reduced by several members leaving for home and consequently the bus trip had to be abandoned. For those who did not have their motor cars, ar- rangements were made which enabled them to take in the trip through the famous Niagara district. The first stop on this trip was at Hamilton where the group assembled for guidance through the fruit belt. The party then motored to Winona to the fruit farm of Mr. Howard Smith, where a number of black walnut trees had been top- worked about three years ago by the writer. These trees were making a good growth and in one case had nuts on, thus showing the possi- bilities in topworking the black walnut in the Niagara district. It may not be out of place to mention that a considerable number of other black walnuts have been topworked to English and Japs in this sec- tion by the party who pens these lines. The next place of call was at Mr. Theron Wolverton's where a fine, thrifty, 16-year-old grafted pecan tree was seen. This tree has grown very well, but like the trees at Thornhill, has not borne ripened 91 nuts. Mr. Wolverton, who is an extensive peach and sweet cherry grower, kindly treated the nut growers to a delicious lot of peaches. From this point the party called on Dr. John Smith, of Grimsby, and there saw a fine seedling English walnut, the product of another large tree nearby. Luncheon was then enjoyed at the Grimsby Inn, after which the party drove over to see a plantation on Jas. Durham's place near Grimsby East. At this place there are two large old bear- ing English walnuts which have borne good crops for many years. In the season of 1925, Mr. Durham sold $76.00 worth from these two trees besides keeping a quantity for family use. There is also a voung seedling grove of English walnut trees growing near these large trees. Some of these young trees bear very good crops of fine nuts. Close to the young trees a huge black walnut with a great spread of branches was noticed. There are also some interesting nut tree livbrids on this farm. One of these is supposed to be a cross be- tween a Japanese walnut-butternut hybrid and the English walnut. This tree has grown very rapidly but has not borne good nuts and hence is only valuable as a study in genetics and as an ornamental. The Japanese butternut hybrids referred to above are large, thrifty, handsome trees and bear heavy crops of nuts somewhat like the butter- nut. These trees have very luxuriant foliage and are valuable as ornamentals as well as for the nuts. From Mr. Durham's place the journey was continued to the ex- perimental station at Vineland where the party were welcomed by Director E. F. Palmer. Mr. Palmer also gave an interesting outline of the more important features of the work being done at this station. On the grounds of the experiment station there is a small grove of grafted varieties of English walnuts, Japanese walnuts, black wal- nuts and several walnut liybrids. The black walnuts have done par- ticularly well in growth and production of nuts. The best tree in this group bore 197 nuts four years after planting, a yield that is con- sidered very good indeed. There is also a goodly number of filberts, a few Chinese chestnuts and walnuts and several hundred seedling walnut trees which were planted for stock purposes. After leaving the experimental station the party drove to Jordan Station to inspect some heartnut trees on the property of Sylvester Kratz. One of these trees is very large for its kind, being about 35 feet tall and 92 spreading more than 63 feet. This tree was said to be the largest seen by anyone present, and this probably means that it is the largest in eastern North America. Seedlings of this tree were planted on Mr. Housberger's farm nearby and these trees have made a wonderful l^rowth. At 16 years of age the trees were over 45 feet tall and had a trunk diameter of 15 inches. The nuts of some of these trees seem to be a combination of the heartnut and the butternut, thus indicating hybrid origin. The wonderful growth of these trees indicates the great possibilities of plant breeding; with tree crops. From this point the journey was continued to Point Weller, the mouth of the Welland Ship Canal. Time did not permit of an in- spection of the tree planting work being done by the W. S. C. and hence it may not be out of place to state that there are more than 5500 acres of land along the right of way to be planted to trees. This will involve the planting of several million trees, some of which will be nut trees. As a matter of fact, a movement is under way to es- tablish a nut arboretum in this area and a good start has been made in this direction. More than 29,000 seedling nut trees are now grow- ing in the nursery blocks and some grafted trees have been promised by interested parties. From Point Weller the party went to Mr. Peter McDermid's farm about half way between Point Weller and St. Catharines. At this farm there is a fine thrifty English walnut which is a third generation tree, i. e., it is a seedling of a seedling which in turn grew from nuts borne on a tree brought out from Germany more than 100 years ago. The tree on Mr. McDermid's place bears good crops of very large nuts of fine quality and is rated as one of the best found in Ontario so far. Scions of this fine seedling have given better results in grafting than scions of other seedlings or varieties used in Ontario by the writer. From Mr. McDermid's place the party went to St. Catharines where this pleasant tour ended after travelling more than 160 miles by coach and car during the two days on which field trips were held. 93 NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION ACCREDITED LIST OF NUT NURSERYMEN January 1, 1929 ■*-> 3 * in 3 * » o Arrowfield Nurseries, Petersburg, Va. . . . S Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, Nassau Co., N. Y S S S S S S John W. Hershey, Downingtown, Pa. ...S S S S S S Indiana Nut Nursery, Rockport, Ind. ..S S J. F. Jones, Est., Lancaster, Pa S S S S S S S Rocky Ridge Nurseries, Round Hill, Va. .S S E. A. Riehl Farm, Godfrey, 111 S S Snyder Bros., Inc., Center Point, Iowa..S S S S Conrad Vollertsen, 375 Gregory St., Rochester, N. Y S Whitford Nursery, Farina, 111 S The letter S in a given column opposite the name of a nurseryman indicates that that nurseryman is prepared to furnish grafted or budded fine varieties of these trees for delivery in the spring of 1929, but in some instances stocks are small. The persimmon is a fruit and not a nut but as it shares with nut trees difficulties of trans- planting, and is propagated to a certain extent by nut nurserymen, it is therefore shown on this list. To the prospective planter who may have the idea that every nur- seryman on the list always has a full stock of each species and may be disappointed to learn otherwise, we would explain that from three to eight years must elapse from the time a nurseryman plants nuts be- fore he can ship out grafted or budded trees and it is only in es- pecially favored instances that the time is as short as three years. Furthermore the demand for nut trees has been steadily growing and every season for the last year or two nearly every nurseryman on the list has been sold out on some lines, frequently on nearly all. *The European hazel is called the filbert. **The heartnut is one of the Japan walnuts. ***Under pecans are included pecan x hickory hybrids. ****The Persian walnut is also called the English walnut. 94 The widespread interest in the roadside planting of nut trees has created a demand for seedling trees, which, for some reasons, are preferable to grafted trees for this purpose. One of these is the slow- ness of seedling trees in coming into bearing for which reason they usually get so large and strong and the bark gets so tough before they bear that, if boys do climb them to get the nuts, the trees are not in- jured. Grafted trees on the other hand usually bear much younger. Seedling trees also can be furnished at-considerably lower prices than grafted trees but it should not be forgotten that nuts borne by seedling trees will almost certainly be greatly inferior to those borne by grafted trees. A number of the nurserymen on the above list will furnish seedling trees of some species for roadside planting. Prices and par- ticulars can be obtained by correspondence. The Association receives inquiries from correspondents on the Pacific Coast and from those who wish to plant some trees that are propagated by nurserymen on the Pacific Coast or in the southern United States. While there are a number of reliable nurserymen in each of these locations their names are not shown here for the reason that while some of the trees they propagate will do well in the north- eastern United States, many will not. The Secretary will be glad to suggest sources of supply to those interested. 95 THE POSSIBILITIES OE A NUT ARBORETUM Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. In talking about a nut arboretum I wish at the start to dispel the impression that nut growing is something for the dim distant future. I wish also emphatically to state that we must not think that we cannot plant nut trees with the expectation of success till we develop new and improved varieties. We have at the present time fine varieties of nuts which, if wisely planted and properly cared for, will yield rich returns, and are doing so today. It may be asked, if the varieties of nut trees that we have now can be planted with confidence, and we may expect profitable returns from them, why should we put any thought on something that will give us better varieties ten or twenty years hence, and why should we not concentrate our energies on planting commercial orchards now.'' This we should do by all means and those who do so wisely w^ill get rich returns from their nut trees. Indeed this is the case today, and I hear every once in a while of annual returns per acre from land planted to nut trees greater than the entire cost of the land. Every industry gets, at one time or another, into a condition where it produces as much as, or more than, the public will take, and then it becomes unprofitable until readjustments take place. These readjustments are aided by various things, and indeed the necessity for them may almost be eliminated by wise foresight. The develop- ment of improved product has its place in this wise foresight, as well as improved marketing, development of new uses for products, and many others, and it really is a fact that, just as the successful large manufacturing corporation of today needs to maintain a laboratory, experimental department or its equivalent, for developing new products, utilizing new materials, developirtg new outlets for its products, etc., so that its output may improve, be produced at lower costs, that new uses for its product may be found, etc., in order that the corporation may keep to the forefront, so the nut industry needs to look ahead and take means to keep pace with the times. A nut 96 arboretum is really the experimental department of the nut industry, or at least a portion of it. A nut arboretum may be defined as a collection of the best va- rieties of each kind of nut bearing trees and shrubs, including not only those which rank high and are considered worthy of propagation because of a combination of good qualities, and which would be con- sidered as probably fit for commercial planting, but also those with one quaility outstanding even though .other qualities are decidedly inferior. A few years ago a nut arboretum with two specimens of each va- riety, and a larger number of the more promising ones, would have contained a modest number of trees and not have taken over about five acres, allowing a considerable amount of space for each tree. But now the search for fine varieties has developed nearly 100 va- rieties each of black walnuts, hickories and hazels, about 10 of butter- nuts and an equal number of Japan walnuts, and about 25 each of Persian walnuts, northern pecans and miscellaneous walnuts. There are a goodly number of chestnuts available for planting outside the blight area, and some 8 or 9 species of beech of which no variety of sufficient size to make it commercially valuable has yet been dis- covered, so, probably, room should be provided for 500 varieties to be set at once. It would be safe to say that about 30 to tO acres should be set aside to properly house a nut arboretum, allowing space for additional meritorious varieties which probably will be discovered or produced in due course. Assuming that the land has been provided and the young trees set out, they would have to be fertilized and cultivated in order to have them develop and get into bearing in reasonable time. The length of time taken to get the various trees into bearing will vary with the individual variety, some bearing very early amd others tardier, but while I have known young trees of the earlier bearing varieties of nearly every species to bear a nut or two within two or three years after setting out, and wliile some will bear quite a num- ber of nuts in the course of 5 or 6 years, it will probably be about 10 or 12 yeaTS before enough of the trees, between which hj'brids are desired, will bear sufficiently so it is possible to do much work. SHAG8ARK BEAVERI BITTERNU^ RUSH JONES DAVIANA 97 , While growing trees of the various varieties of nuts tell us something before they come into bearing, and as they begin to bear, it is only after they have begun to bear fair crops, and to bear them with reasonable regularity, that they really begin to be very useful, and The fine varieties that we have, so far, have all been discovered, that is some one found a tree bearing fine nuts and brought it to the attention of the Association or the Department of Agriculture, or to some nut nurserymen, and they have been multiplied by grafting, budding or some other means of vegetative propagation. The study that has been put on the fine varieties of nuts that we have has shown an increasing number to be hybrids between species. In some in- stances the parents are known and they are notably inferior to their offspring. While this does not mean that it is not important still to keep up the hunt for the best nuts of eaeh species now growing, for it is not yet believed that all meritorious nuts have been found, it does point out a method of getting improved nuts, which probably event- ually will be the means of getting greatly improved ones. This is by the systematic production of hybrids between selected parents. It is the method by which the wonderful modern advances in flowers and other plants has been obtained. When we know that some of the best nuts we have are hybrids between parents that ordinarily would be considered of little value, it indeed seems most likely that greatly im- proved forms would result from carefully conducted hybridization between selected parents. After hybrid nuts are produced they should then be carefully pre- served until time to plant them. The young trees that grow from these hybrid nuts should then be planted out, allowing each space enough to fruit. Probably it will be advisable to transplant once be- fore setting in permanent places. After they fruit the best will be preserved and the others destroyed or top-worked to other varieties. For best results a large number of hybrids should be made, for, witliin certain limits, the larger the number made the greater the probability of getting worthwhile new varieties. Some hundreds of acres of land should be available that these new varieties may grow to bearing. It will thus be seen that the testing of new varieties of nut trees is going to take considerable money to purchase the necessary land, and more to keep up the work after the land is secured. If 500 98 to 1000 acres are procured its cost may be around $100,000.00^ or more, according to location. The cost might run $25,000.00 a year, or more, and the work would have to be kept up for a number of years. From the above it will be seen that it is going to take land, money and time, ten to twelve years, to get the trees into condition before much of any work can be done, and ten more or so before one can know with certainty as to the result. With certain species, hazels and chestnuts for example, quicker results' can be expected, for these have been known to bear within two or three years from planting the seed. Japan walnuts are also precocious, frequently bearing within 3 or J' years from seed. Black walnuts have been known to bear within 6 years from seed, so that something will be learned as we go along, but nevertheless one must figure on about 10 years before the trees will be in condition to make hybrids and 10 more before we know what we have really done. This, from one standpoint, is not an inviting proposition, but that depends wholly on what we may expect to ac- complish, and that we will consider now. Figure 1, opposite page 96 shows four nuts, one the McCallister hybrid, to the left of it a northern pecan, the Indiana, one of the best of our northern pecans, to the right a shellbark hickory from a well known grove in Sigurney, Iowa, which the owner considers one of his best trees, and a common sized northern pecan. The McCallister is a hybrid between the pecan and the shellbark. While the particular pecan and the particular shellbark which are its parents are not known, there is no reason to believe they bore an}' better nuts than the average nuts borne by these species in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, Indiana, where the McCallister loriginated, and there is every reason to believe they were much inferior to the Indiana pecan and the shellbark shown. A tree is known which grew from planting a McCallister nut, and it bears a small round pecan. I have never seen it, but from the description of it would not think it to be much larger than the fourth nut shown. As noted above there is no reason to expect the parents of the McCallister to have been better than the ordinary pecans or shellbarks of southern Indiana, and yet in size at least we have something remarkable in the McCallister. Size is the only quality we can visualize, but as we can in hybrids combine any 99 good quality of one parent tree with a good quality of another, we can almost make what we want, provided we have the proper material to start with. We sometimes also will get a quality greatly superior to those found in either parent. Figure 2, opposite page 97 sliows the Beaver hickory and a common shaigbark and bitternut of that part of Pennsylvania where it origi- nated. The Beaver hickory evidently grew from a shagbark hickory flower pollinated with bitternut pollen about 1878. The tree which bore the shagbark nut which was planted is still stand,ing, and it bears quite ordinary looking nuts, very much like the nut to the left, marked shagbark. Unfortunately a nut borne by this particular tree could not be located when wanted for this cut, but, as I remember, it is not very different from the nut shown. The bitternut shown in figure 2 is even larger than most bitternut hickories that I have seen from that section of Pennsylvania. Bitternuts are generally of small size and, while of thin shell, the kernel is so bitter as to be useless. Here in the Beaver hybrid we have ordinary plus worthless equals extra- ordinary. The thick hard shell of the shagbark has been replaced by one very much thinner and softer, and the bitter flavor of the bitternut by the fine flavor of the shagbark, and a nut produced larger than either parent. Figure 3, opposite page 97 shows one of the results of the plant breeding work of the late J. F. Jones of Lancaster, Penn. The European filbert bears large nuts of fine flavor, but in the east gen- erally bears sparingly and irregularly, often scarcely bearing at all. The American hazel bears large crops annually, but the nuts are much smaller and poorer than the European filberts. Mr. Jones attempted to combine in one nut the good qualities of both and succeeded in getting a number that promise well. He made hybrids between the Rush hazel, the best American hazel that we have, and several fil- berts. Mr. Jones did not leave notations telling the parentage of his hybrid hazels. He did, however, tell the writer of the Cosford va- riety being notable because its hybrids were much larger than either parent. It is probable that Jones hazel 269 is a Rush x Cosford hybrid, because, in addition to the large size, it shows the distinctive markings of the Cosford filbert. I had no Cosford nut to use in 100 making the cut shown and so used a Daviana nut which is similar to a Cosford. The weight of Jones hazel 269 is double that of an average Rush and Daviana nut together. While the testing of the Jones hybrid hazels is not complete, it seems likely that we have some that will prove commercially valuable. In this connection it should be mentioned that in the work of Mr. Jones, only about 1000 hybrid seedlings were set out, about l/lO the number usually thought neces- sary to get worthwhile results. If, as in the case of the McCallister hickory and Beaver hickory, we have very ordinary parents and an extraordinary offspring, what can we expect from carefully selected parents? If, in the case of Mr. Jones' hazel hybrids, we have selected parents but have made only about l/lO the number usually thought advisable in such work, and yet a remarkable result is shown, what may we expect with the proba- bility for excellence multiplied ten times .^ In the matter of improving the beechnut we apparently must re- sort to plant breeding. The beech is a nut excellent in every respect except one. The shell is thin, a pocket knife is all that is needed to get the kernel out; the flavor is fine, second in my judgment to none, not excepting the pecan or hickory ; it does its best in the north in sections where we now have almost no nuts that we can recommend. Its small size, however, is such as to make the nuts scarcely worth gathering. If we had a beech as large as a chestnut it would be worth millions to the country. It is likely that work done for the purpose of breeding new va- rieties of trees, valuable for the nuts they bear, is likely at the same time to produce trees valuable for timber, for the nut trees are among our most valuable timber trees. A study made not so long ago by one of our forest experiment stations, to ascertain the reason for the wood of some trees of a given species being better than the wood of other trees of the same species, and to ascertain the conditions under which the development of timber was at its best, came to the conclusion that a tree that grew rapidly produced the best timber. It would seem that the rings formed at the close of each annual growth are a source of weakness, and the fewer of these the better the timber. This would suggest that, for the production of best timber, the faster the tree 101 grew the better. From the standpoint of saving time and expense in growing timber the same will hold, and so the selection of individuals that are of the most rapid growth is likely at the time to select the trees that will produce the best timber. I have visited many of the parent nut trees wliich are being propa- gated and, as a class, they are rapid growing trees. Why this is so I do not know. It may be simply the result of the survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence in their early days. Furthermore, were they not rapid growers they would not be likely to have the vigor to produce large crops of nuts, and this is one quality which makes a tree deemed worthy of propagation. Be that as it may, however, it is not the less a fact that our propagated nut trees and shrubs, as a class, are remarkable not only for their fruit but for the rapidity of their growth. I will give an example recently seen. Not so far from Toronto there is a heartnut tree notable because of the excellent nuts it bears ; it is the largest and seemingly the most rapid growing heart- nut tree I have ever seen. The tree is apparently not much over 30 years or so of age, and yet it is about two feet in diameter and over 60 feet spread. Seedlings from this tree, which evidently had accidentally been pollinated with butternut pollen, and produced Japan walnut x butternut hybrids, are about 40 ft. high and nearly 12 in. in diameter, and seemingly only about 15 years old. Other instances of the remarkable growth of hybrid trees are well known. I will relate some. The parent "Carolina poplar" tree at Metz, France, in 1914 was described by Augustine Henry as 81 years old, no less than 150 ft. tall and 25 ft. in girth (about 8 feet in diameter) five feet above the ground and still growing rapidly. The James River walnut in Virginia was described in 1905 by Col. W. A. Jones, U. S. A., as 10 ft. in diameter at the height of a man's head and so lofty that even though surrounded by large trees it seemed from a distance to be standing alone. The Greenbay hybrid pecan near Bur- lington, la., stands on land owned by the Mississippi River Power Co., which they were obliged to purchase when the Keokuk dam was built because it was subject to overflow. In order to get something from their enforced purchase, they sent men through and cut the timber. The Greenbay hybrid pecan was so large, however, that they did not have tools big enough to cut it and so the tree escaped. 102 The work of breeding new and better varieties of nut bearing trees for their nuts and for their timber will take land, money and time, but are not really worthwhile results promised? What better work can be found for say $1,000,000.00 than the establishment and endowment of a nut arboretum, or the taking up of such breeding work in earnest by an existing arboretum. We import about $36,000,- 000.00 worth of nuts annually. The year book of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture for 1927 shows about $25,000,000.00 worth of nuts raised in the United States. It also shows the production of over 18,000,- 000,000 pounds of meats raised, the value of which is probably over $2,000,000,000. If, as we firmly believe, nut kernels will to a considerable extent take the place of meat, it means that we shall have to raise many times the nuts we are raising now, and that we shall have to grow nuts not simply in a few small sections, as in the case now, but that we must have varieties that can be commercially grown almost anywhere in the United States and Canada. This will add many millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions, annually to the value of our farm products, a rich return for an investment now of say $1,000,000. Systematic work on nut trees may also solve the problem of grow- ing timber, which is absolutely impracticable in many locations on account of the length of time needed to mature the crop. Producing trees that will grow to marketable size in a relatively few years will go a long way toward solving the problem of timber growing. , I might say, furthermore, that the work of the past few years has shown how short cuts may be taken. While it would take ten years to get a brand new nut arboretum established and ready for hybridiza- tion work, yet by taking proper means it is not necessary to wait that length of time before anything other than preliminary work can be done. Ten years ago this was not possible, but now a good deal can be done even the first year, and the results would increase each year. Taking everything into consideration, is not the promise of results from systematic work on the nut trees most alluring? To be instru- mental in developing and perfecting a new agriculture and a new forestry is indeed worth while, and an opportunity that comes only occasionally. 103 NUTS EXHIBITED BY U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE Pecans — Northern Busseron, Butterick, Greenriver, Indiana, Major, Niblack, Norton, Posey, Warrick. Pecans — Southern Scliley, Stuart. Shagbark Hickory Dennis, Drew, Hales, Kentucky, Kirtland, Lingenfelter, Manahan, Swaim, Taylor, Vest, Weiker, Shagbark Seedling. Hybrid Hickory Fairbanks. Miscellaneous Hickory Hicoria Aquatica (Water hickory), Hicora Alba (Mocker nut), Hicoria Glabra (Pig nut). Chestnuts — Riehl Group Champion, Fuller, "Parry", Progress, Van Fleet. Japanese Chestnuts Parry — Parry Bros., Parry, N. J.; Boone — Jap. X Am. Hybrid, by G. W. Endicott; Seedling from Alabama. Chinese Chestnuts Paragon, Hybrid — European x American, Seedlings. Chinquapin Rush. Filberts Althaldenslaben, Aveline — White, Barcelona (Vollertsen), Barcelona (Quarnberg), Bony Bush, Biittner, Bolwyller, Brixnut, Biirkhardt, Clack- mas, Daviana (Dorris), Daviana (Vollertsen), Du Chilly, Early Globe, Gunzelbener, Hallischeriesen, Italian Red, Kentish Cob, Kruse, Large Cob, Lambert — Red, Lambert — ^White, "Medium Long", Minna, Monte- bello, Nocelunghe, Nottingham, Trebizonde. Filbert Hybrid Rush X White Avelene (Jones) Native Hazels Merribrooke, Rush of Jones, Rush of Rush. 104 Miscellaneous Hazels Corylus Avelena, Corylus Colurna, Corylus Rostrata. Black Walnuts Ohio, Stabler, Ten Eyek, Thomas. Japanese Walnuts Faust, Lancaster, Sieboldiana Seedling, Sieboldiana Seedling. Manchurian Walnuts Juglans Mandschurica. ' , Butternuts Seedling. Pine Nuts Pinus Banksiana, Pinus Edulis, Pinus Excelsa, Pinus Koraiensis, Pinus Jeffreyi, Pinus Lambertiana, Pinus Mugho, Pinus Parryana, Pinus Torreyana. NUTS GROWN AND EXHIBITED BY WILLARD G. BIXBY, BALDWIN, N. Y. Faust Heartnut, Lancaster Heartnut, Ritchie Heartnut, Stranger Heartnut, Kentucky Hickory, Cedar Rapids Hickory, Rush Hazel, Cham- pion Chestnut, Miracle Chestnut, Chinquapin. 105 NUTS EXHIBITED BY J. U. GELLATLY Chestnuts American, Japanese. Filberts (in husks) A Feuille Pourpre, Cosford, Craig, English Cob, Fertile de Coutard, Kentish Cob, Nottingham, Pearson's Early Red, Pellicule Rouge, Red Hazel. Black Walnuts Atkin, Barley, Impet. Japanese Walnuts Sharp's Sieboldiana, Seedling Sieboldiana, Seedling Sieboldiana in husk. Calendar Heartnut, Dark Heartnut, Gellatly Heartnut, No. 5 Gel- latly Heartnut, No. 6 Gellatly Heartnut, No. 20 Gellatly Heartnut, No. 21 Gellatly Heartnut, Mackay Heartnut, O. K. Heartnut, Walter's No. 1, Walter's No. 2. Richie (in husk). Seedling. Seedling. Franquette. Persian Walnuts Chinese Walnut Butternuts Persian Walnut Miscellaneous Ginkgo Nuts, Jars of Pickled Jap. Walnuts, One Year's Growth of 71 ft. of Japanese Walnut, One Year's Growth of 7 ft. of Filberts, One Year's Growth of 7 ft. of Almond, Japanese Catkins 18 inches long. 106 LIST OF NUT EXHIBITS SHOWN BY JAS. A. NEILSON, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, PORT HOPE English Walnuts 22 Plates St. Catharines 3, Queenston 1, Pt. Dalhousie 1, Beamsville 1, Grimsby 1, Rutliven 1, Clarkson 1, Niagara 4, Vineland Sta. 4, Vlneland 1. Almonds 2 Plates Ridenhower (St. Williams, Ont.); Ridenhower (Gellatly, B. C). Ginkgo 1 Plate with specimens from Hamilton and Montreal Filberts 14 Plates Whiteskin, Redskin, Kentish Cob, Cosford Cob, Bonybush, Barcelona, Daviana, Pearson's Seedling, Bullnose, Native Hazel, Furbish Hazel, Italian Red, Merveille de Bollweiler, Seedling. Shagbark Hickories Simcoe, Chatham, St. Annas, Grimsby, Waterford. Hybrid Hickories Laney, Beaver. Japanese Walnuts (A) Siebold type from Scotland, Ont.; Pt. Dalhousie, Ont.; Picton, Ont.; Kingston, Ont.; Aldershott, Ont. (B) Heartnuts from Gellatly, B. C, 2 plates; Scotland, Ont., 1 plate; Dunnville, Ont., 1 plate; Columbus, Ont., 1 plate; Jordan Sta., Ont., 2 plates; Vineland Sta., 2 plates; Vineland, 1 plate; St. Thomas, 1 plate. Hybrid Walnuts Cinerea x Sieboldiana, Cinerea x Cordiformis, Sieboldiana x Regia. Black Walnuts Thomas, Ten Eyck, Ohio, McCoy, Seedling. Chestnuts Japanese Walnut, Queenston, Ont.; Hybrid Chestnuts, Fonthill, Ont.f Vineland, Ont.; Chinese Chestnut; Native Chestnut, Burlington, Ont. 107 REGISTRY AT TORONTO CONVENTION Dr. and Mrs. Frank B. Baum, Boyertown, Pa. Miss Dorothy Baum, Boyertown, Pa. Alex Bell, Unionville, Ont. Willard G. Bixby, Baldwin, N. Y. Alex Boyle, Bowmanville, Canada. G. H. Corsan, Augusta, Mich., and Islington, Ont. Zenas H. Ellis, Fairhaven, Vt. Frank H. Frey, 930 LaSalle Station, Chicago, 111. J. H. Gage, Hamilton, Ont. J. U. Gellatly, West Bank P. O., Gellatly, B. C. J. Gibbons, Mayor's Office, Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. Karl W. Greene, Washington, D. C. F. J. Hannigan, Guelph, Ont. John W. Hershey, Downingtown, Pa. W. I. Hopkins, Burlington, Ont. Dr. C. D. Howe, Dean of Forestry School, University of Toronto. Miss Mildred M. Jones, Lancaster, Pa. Dr. Truman Jones, Coatesville, Pa. Mary E. Macpherson, Associate Editor, Canadian Homes & Gardens, Toronto. W. A. McKague, National Nut News, Chicago, 111. James A. Neilson, Dept. of Agriculture, Port Hope, Ont. Mrs. James A. Neilson, Guelph, Ont. Harvey A. Penney, Saginaw, Mich. C. A. Reed, Washington, D. C. Miss Jeannette Rogers, Decatur, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Ryerse, Simcoe, Ont. Mrs. E. B. Scheele, Washington, D. C. Dr. J. Russell Smith, New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. Spencer, Decatur, 111. Mrs. A. E. Stiebeling, Washington, D. C. W. J. Strong, Vineland, Ont. C. J. Vick, Toronto. C. F. Walker, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Harry R. Weber, Cincinnati, Ohio. R. V. Whites, Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. C. Weschcke, St. Paul, Minn. J. Lockie Wilson, Toronto. Dr. C. Stewart Wright, Toronto. Dr. and Mrs. G. A. Zimmerman, Piketown, Pa. Mrs. Alex Boyle, Grimsby, Ont. Dr. J. M. Baldwin, Bowmanville, Ont. Capt. Speers, Stouffville, Ont. Alex Troupe, Jordan Sta., Ont. 109 CONTENTS Officers, Directors and Committees 8 State Vice-Presidents 4 List of Members 5 Constitution 10 By-Laws 11 Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Convention 13 The President's Address 13 Report of the Secretary 17 Treasurer's Report 20 Resolutions 23 Nut Culture in British Columbia— J. L. Gellatly 24 Parafine Wax — An Aid to Growth in Transplanted Trees and Shrubs — Jas. A. Neilson 44 Growing Nuts (Without Cultivation — J. Russell Smith .... 52 The Story of the Oldest Chestnut Grove in Illinois — Amelia Riehl 61 The E. A. Riehl Farm— George W. Gibbens 65 Nut Growing in Northern North America — C. A. Reed .... 71 The Possibilities of a Nut Arboretum — Willard G. Bixby. . 95 110 NOTES Ill NOTES