Part 7

Other methods of attack in solving the problem include the immunization of the chestnut against the blight and the breeding of resistant varieties. Experimental work along these lines is being carried on by individuals and Federal and State agencies, but the work has not as yet progressed sufficiently to give results of commercial value.

If careful cultural methods are followed in every locality, with special emphasis on the prompt and thorough disposal of diseased material, by removal and burning, we can look forward to a number of years of profitable chestnut production in Illinois.

DR. DEMING:

Is the Riehl orchard free from blight?

DR. COLBY:

One of the same gentlemen who visited Ithaca the other day, by authority, is making a very careful survey for disease of the nut trees in the eastern and northern United States. The Riehl orchard that we visited last year about this time had considerably over 100 trees badly diseased. We'll have to do the best we can with the old trees but watch the young ones carefully.

DR. DEMING:

Don't you think that one of the commonest causes of the blight of chestnut trees is through the wounds and the inoculations made by the claws of squirrels?

DR. COLBY:

Yes, and also woodpeckers. The old trees can be preserved for a longer or shorter time, depending on the care that is given to them. We found the disease down in the Endicott orchard, even in plantings of mature standing. There have been several trees located at Lincoln where the disease has been found. Any of those old trees where there are any injuries to the bark will be subject to the trouble.

Report on Commercial Cracking and Merchandising of Black Walnuts

_By_ H. F. STOKE, _Virginia_

(_Read by Title_)

The 1933 black walnut crop of southwestern Virginia was light and exceedingly spotted. Some districts reported a complete failure, a most unusual condition.

The volume of shelled nuts offered on the local market was smaller than usual, due partly to scarcity of the nuts and partly because the mountain folk who produce most of the kernels were not so keen at cracking walnuts for a pittance when once they had tasted the sweets of 40 cents per hour on road work offered as part of the Federal recovery program. This, apparently, will become a factor in the development of commercial cracking plants.

The price was better than for several years past. Home-cracked nuts sold at an average price of 25 cents per pound to local consumers, who took most of the season's production. Sales to northern concerns were mostly at from 30 to 35 cents for hand-picked goods, ranging up to 38 cents per pound by midsummer. I do not know present prices.

The writer knows of no new development in mechanical cracking and separating processes. At the present time he is completing the construction of a power driven cracker of new design, but any report must await successful operation.

In the marketing of kernels five channels may be considered:

1. The local consumer market, which should be cultivated as far as possible.

2. Mail order consumer, usually reached by advertising. A two-pound carton lined with wax paper makes a most satisfactory unit for sales of this kind. This package has been selling generally at $1.25, postpaid.

3. Commercial consumers, who are usually manufacturers of food products, such as bakeries, ice cream manufacturers, confectioners, etc. Usually these people buy from wholesale supply houses.

In order to hold this trade the producer should be in a position to fill orders throughout the year. An "In-and-outer" cannot hope to hold this excellent class of customers.

4. Wholesale supply houses, who specialize on supplying commercial consumers and nut stores.

These people depend on buying their season's supply as cheaply as possible during the flush period and distributing later at a profit.

It is to their interest to demoralize the market early, so they can buy cheaply, and later proclaim a scarcity so the market will advance to profitable levels. They seem fully alive to their interests. At the opening of the past season one very prominent New York buyer was offering from 16 to 18 cents per pound for hand-picked kernels, though I knew of none selling at anywhere near that figure.

This class of customer is rather unsatisfactory, though they will pay fair prices late in the season if a real shortage exists, and they are out of supplies.

5. A good, honest broker or commission merchant is probably the most satisfactory channel for handling large quantities of kernels. He is acquainted with actual prices and market conditions, as well as a large list of possible customers. His customers are usually commercial consumers, though he also sells wholesale supply houses. His commission is usually 3 per cent.

As a note of warning, be sure your broker is honest, then stick to him. Some concerns masquerading as brokers or commission merchants are really wholesale buyers on their own account. They will charge the shipper a commission on sales to themselves at a low figure. The Baltimore market seems especially cursed with this sort of thing, though it is now, I believe, forbidden by a code. As a whole, Baltimore is not a very satisfactory market for black walnut kernels, though the largest in the East. I find Philadelphia and New York more satisfactory.

The outlook for the 1934 black walnut crop in this section is most promising. A dry spring was favorable to a good set of nuts, while plenty of rain during the summer guarantees good size. Prices will probably be satisfactory, due to the extreme drought in the West and the labor situation already referred to.

At this point I shall digress from the subject assigned me. The following matter may be left off the record, at your discretion.

a. In my 1932 report I made mention of several promising black walnut seedlings found in this locality. Samples of the nuts of the parent trees of the 1931 crop have been kept to the present time. All have deteriorated to a greater or lesser degree except the Stanley, which is as sweet and good as when gathered. The Stanley and Caldwell are precocious as grafted trees.

The Bowman seedling tree, which was reported as most precocious, is continuing its record of not having missed a crop since its third season from seed. It must be reported, however, that a two-year-old graft of this tree has not borne, as yet.

b. One thing of interest concerning the black walnut that has been observed is the scarcity of the walnut web worm this season, none having been observed by the writer up to September 1st. Is this a general or a local condition?

The year of the Geneva convention, 1931, was the worst ever observed by the writer in this respect. Do web worms occur in cycles, or do other conditions govern their appearance?

c. The injury caused by the melting of grafting and coating waxes by the hot sun is well known. Last spring an attempt was made to overcome the difficulty by painting the waxed surface with aluminum bronze paint. The experiment was a complete success, as even straight paraffine failed to melt beneath the aluminum coating during the hottest summer here on record. English walnut grafts so protected were more than usually successful. Reflection of the sun's rays by the bright surface undoubtedly lowered the temperature to below the melting point of the paraffine. This lowered temperature was also doubtless beneficial to the life processes of the graft union.

Direct coating of the trunks of newly set trees with the aluminum paint, without the use of wax, was also tried with satisfactory results. Applied direct to the dormant buds of the sweet cherry, however, it proved toxic, as the buds never developed. This was no doubt due to the bronzing liquid rather than to the aluminum.

The material is very easily applied, either with a brush or spray, and makes a silvery, impervious and very durable coating. It should be completely effective as a preventative of sun-burn of the bark of tender species, especially to cover the creosote applications sometimes used by tree surgeons. Such black coverings often defeat their purpose in the hot sun by killing the living tissues by the absorption of the sun's heat.

At the present time manufacturers are being corresponded with looking to the development of a bronzing liquid that shall be non-toxic to buds.

Now if some investigator will come forward with a non-toxic, water soluble coating material for the roots of nursery stock, Professor Neilson's dream will be fully realized.

Last year Mr. Homer Jacobs of the Davey Tree Expert Company gave us a very excellent report of his company's experiments with various coatings used in connection with the moving of large trees. It is to be hoped that they will add aluminum bronze paint to the list of materials tested, and give us the benefit of their findings at our next convention.

In the meantime, the private experiments mentioned will be continued.

d. A publicity stunt for the furtherance of nut culture is being tried in the way of vases filled with sprays of Oriental chestnut, with opening burrs, displayed in the windows of our leading department store, with a showing of fall goods. A card gives credit for the display.

Judging from the enthusiasm with which the store manager and the window dresser received the suggestion, it would appear that the idea could be used almost anywhere. If living sprays were not available, a display of nuts hardy to the locality could doubtless be used in the same manner. Cards identifying the nuts and stating they were grown (or could be grown) locally would add to the interest.

It is a matter of deepest personal regret that, due to a combination of New Deal, raw deal and general lack of a great deal, I am unable to be with you other than in spirit.

I salute you.

Nut Culture in Ontario

_By_ GEORGE H. CORSAN

_Islington, Ontario_

As most of you know, I was away from my place for six years, but in the meantime my nut trees grew and yielded. The past season has been most severe on nut trees and plants. Last winter the winds came straight across the land without any apparent obstruction, and it blew all winter long and we had no snow. Then a dry summer with a little moisture in the fall has created a situation that was never known before. Last year I gathered nine large baskets of filberts but this year I secured only about three baskets of filberts and these from bushes that were in a protected place. Most of the male catkins had frozen. The filberts in the unprotected places died. A Burlington Hican (purchased as a Marquardt) lived under circumstances that hardly any other tree could withstand. One Stanley shellbark lived and one died. It is strange how hardy the pecans are. Not a bud was killed last winter. It is seldom that the pecans mature a crop as the summer season is too short in Ontario, but they grow well and make a beautiful tree. We find that hickories grafted on pecan stocks do well, putting on two and one-half to three feet of new growth in a year. The butternut is so common around certain parts of Ontario and Quebec that the people do not even bring it to market, but they do appreciate it.

I am carrying on a program over the air as I am the "Nut" man of station CFRB and follow the farm report on prices at 1:45 o'clock each afternoon. We are trying to influence the farmers to plant nut trees along the lanes, around the barns and in the pastures and thus beautify the farms and bring the boys and girls back from the cities. None of the work that has been done in the research line of agriculture has approached the value of the work that Prof. Neilson has done here in Michigan in the last few years. The surface of the farms can be planted to grains and vegetables and yield practically nothing, but you can plant a nut tree and it will reach down into the sub-soil with its long roots and bring up the finest food in the form of nut meats.

Nut Growing on a Commercial Basis

_By_ AMELIA RIEHL, _Illinois_

(_Read by Title_)

I have several times given figures stating the size of our chestnut crop and the income from year to year. To this I might add that the crop last year amounted to 6,423 pounds and was sold at wholesale for $1,082.76. Because we do a good part of the work ourselves, it is hard to figure the cost of harvesting. But the amount we paid out in cash comes away below $100.00. We still think it pays to grow chestnuts, though things look pretty bad around here now.

This was the third very dry season we have had in succession, and the very worst of all. We had no rain at all for over seventy days, and the heat was terrible. Everything suffered from drought. Even forest trees on the island below us died from lack of moisture. You can imagine what happened to the nut trees on the steep hillsides. All were more or less scorched, and many of them actually died. These are the old trees that father planted years ago. The young trees, which were planted after he was gone, on fairly level ground, are heavy with burrs, and I know will produce a fair crop of nuts as usual. For the first time in several years we will have no hazels. They bloomed very early this year and were caught by late frost. There are a few walnuts on some of the trees, but I doubt if they will be well filled.

For forty years father tried to grow English walnuts, but never succeeded in getting any of them to bear nuts. Finally gave it up in disgust. After he was gone we started out all over again, planting several varieties that were thought to be hardy. Now for the first time one of them has set eight nuts. It is the Alpine variety, scions of which were given me by Mr. J. F. Jones. Of course, it is yet to be seen whether or not there is anything in these nuts. But it is encouraging anyway.

We all send greetings to our many friends at the convention. Will be with you in thought and wish you all a happy time.

Some Notes on the Hardiness of the English Walnut in Michigan and Ontario

_By_ J. A. NEILSON, _Michigan_

In a study of the desirable characters of nut trees for planting in the northern part of the United States and in southern Canada, one is forced to place hardiness first. Rapid growth, high yield and excellent quality of nuts are of little value if hardiness is lacking. Hardiness, of course, is a relative term and may be applied to disease and insect resistance, adaptability to diverse soils and capacity to withstand extremes of winter and summer temperatures. In the present paper emphasis will be placed on resistance to winter cold and to unusual weather conditions, such as occurred during the autumn of 1933 and the winter of 1933 and 1934.

In order to properly understand the effect of the past winter on the English walnut, it will be necessary to devote some attention to the weather conditions that prevailed in the southern half of Michigan in the autumn of 1933. A perusal of the meteorological records shows that the average maximum and minimum temperatures in September and October were unusually high and that there was a heavy rainfall in these two months. The following table shows the precipitation and temperatures recorded at the Kellogg Farm where most of our nut cultural experiments are conducted.

September--The average maximum temperature, 79.1; average minimum temperature, 55.7; precipitation, 4.55 inches. October--The average maximum temperature, 60.1; average minimum temperature, 38.4; precipitation, 6.81 inches.

The unusually high temperatures and heavy rainfall caused growth to continue much later than normally and thus prevented the wood from ripening properly before winter set in.

English walnuts are found at several places throughout the lower peninsula and more particularly in the southern half of the state. In no place, however, are the trees numerous with the exception of a small area around Lexington, where there are approximately 100 trees. Inasmuch as this paper deals with the effect of low temperatures on the English walnut, the minimum temperatures of the weather station nearest to the places mentioned in the following text are given hereunder.

Lowest Place Mo.--Date Temp. Allegan Feb. 9 -19 Bay City Feb. 9 -20 Caro Feb. 9 -30 Croswell Feb. 9 -26 Fennville Feb. 9 -20 Flint Feb. 9 -15 Grand Rapids Feb. 9 -16 Gull Lake--Kellogg Farm Feb. 9 -18 Hart Feb. 9 -22 Lansing Feb. 9 -18 Mount Pleasant Feb. 9 -21 Muskegon Feb. 9 -16 Owosso Feb. 9 -20 Saranac Feb. 20 -25 Sparta Feb. 9 -22[A] Leamington, Ont. Feb. 9 -18 Guelph Feb. 9 -30 Simcoe Feb. 9 -30

[Footnote A: Unofficial.]

The extreme cold of the past winter following a warm, wet autumn caused a great deal of injury to English walnut trees in this state and elsewhere. The data presented herein were obtained by a careful examination of several plantations or individual trees scattered over the southern half of the lower peninsula in Michigan and in southwestern Ontario. To properly present this information it seems desirable to group the varieties or strains according to their place of origin.

Group 1. _Cultivated Varieties from the Pacific Coast._

In this group we have Mayette, Franquette and Seeando. The Mayette has been considered one of the hardiest of the cultivated varieties and was therefore included in the plantings at the Kellogg Farm. More than twenty trees were planted and every one died last winter or in the preceding winter. Seeando, a new and supposedly hardy variety from Washington state, was planted in limited numbers in the spring of 1933, but every tree perished last winter. Franquette was not planted as a nursery tree, but was top-grafted on several large black walnuts at the Kellogg Farm and at East Lansing, Michigan. The grafts made a vigorous growth but only two out of eleven lived through the winter. In Simcoe, Ontario, where the minimum temperature was -30F, a six-year-old tree was so badly injured that it will likely die this winter, but should it not perish, the degree of injury is so severe that it will be of very little value. In the Niagara district the Franquette top-grafted in 1926 on black walnut came through in moderately good condition, but in this part of Ontario the minimum temperature was only 10 below zero F.

Group 2. _New Varieties of Canadian Origin._

This group contains Broadview and McDermid. Broadview scions were secured from Mr. J. J. Gellatly of Westbank, B. C., who discovered the variety near Broadview, B. C. These scions were grafted on a medium-sized black walnut in 1931 and have since made a remarkable growth, but notwithstanding the vigorous growth there was no killing back during the past winter or in preceding winters. This variety was also grown as a top-graft by Mr. Carl Walker of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where the minimum temperature last winter was -26 degrees F. Some killing back was reported on this tree, but the injury was not severe enough to be serious. The Broadview is reported to have endured without injury -25 degrees F. in British Columbia and in Russia, where the parent tree originated, equally low temperatures are said to prevail. The McDermid was obtained from Mr. Peter McDermid of St. Catherines, Ontario. This tree is a third generation tree in Ontario and is descended from a tree brought out from Germany more than 100 years ago. The nuts are large with a moderately thick shell and contain a kernel of excellent quality. McDermid has been grown as a top graft at Simcoe, Ontario, East Lansing, the Kellogg Farm and Estate near Augusta and at South Haven, Michigan. All of the trees of this Variety grown in Michigan came through without injury, but the tree at Simcoe, Ontario, suffered somewhat by killing back of the past season's growth. The larger branches and trunk, however, were uninjured and have since made a rank growth. The McDermid top-grafted on a black walnut on Mr. G. Tolles' farm at South Haven proved hardy and was one of the few English walnut trees in Michigan to bear nuts this year.

At the Michigan State College where the temperature went to -18 degrees F. vigorous McDermid grafts on a thrifty black walnut were uninjured whereas all the Franquette grafts on the same tree were killed outright. Similar results were noted on several trees at the Kellogg Farm near Augusta, Michigan.

Group 3. _Carpathian Walnuts._

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

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