Part 14

Mr. J. Lester Hawk & Son of Beach City, concurred in Mr. Cranz's opinion on this matter, and cited as an example the 2 Hobson Chinese chestnuts which they planted on their property in 1917. These two trees have been bearing crops of well-formed tasty nuts for a period of 20 years. Mr. Hawk reports that he had sold several hundred seedling trees from these trees last year, and reports that he has about 2,500 one-year seedling trees in his nursery at the present time.

Many other interesting reports were given on cultural practices and on the merits of various types of nut trees adaptable to northern conditions. Mention should be made of the especially fine illustrated talk given by L. Walter Sherman, superintendent of the Mahoning County Experiment Farm at Canfield. Colored slides were shown by Mr. Sherman, of his grafting technique and of individual trees throughout the state from which he has collected scions. Three acres of the Mahoning County Farm are being devoted to nut growing and research at the present time. This planting includes 21 different varieties of black walnut. Mr. Sherman is keeping an accurate record of the trees as they develop, their source of scions, and other items that may be of interest. Besides recording this data, he is also making color slides of his cultural methods and progressive stages of the trees' growth.

In spite of unavoidable interruptions to their individual efforts occasioned by the war, those in attendance expressed the belief that real progress is being made in this particular field. A committee was chosen to draft tentative plans for a 20-year research program on nut culture in Ohio. The great enthusiasm shown at this initial meeting indicates that a meeting of Ohio nut growers is likely to become an annual event.

On my return home to Michigan from attending the Ohio meeting, I stopped off near McCutchenville, Ohio, to visit the parent "Ohio" black walnut tree. The accompanying photos taken by Mr. O. D. Diller, Dept. of Forestry, Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio, show the majesty and beauty of this great tree.

Walnut and Heartnut Varieties Notes and Remarks

_By J. U. GELLATLY, Westbrook, B. C._

BARLEE BLACK WALNUT--1935 crop grown in Kelowna, B. C.--1 nut--44.0 per lb., 1 kernel--206.1 per lb., 21.36% kernel.

BROADVIEW NUTS--1941 crop, 5 nuts--29.5 per lb., 68.7 kernels per lb., 1 best kernel 64.8 per lb., 51.5 shells per lb., 42.85% kernel.

CALLANDER HEART NUT--20 Nuts--124.8 per lb., 20 kernels--392.7 kernels per lb.--31.8% kernel.

CANOKA HEART NUT--1941 crop--1 nut--79.6 per lb., 24-1/2% kernel, 105.5 shells per lb., 324.0 kernels per lb.

CANOKA HEART--1941 crop--5 nuts average--90.4 per lb., 123.3 shells per lb., 338.5 kernels per lb., 26.7% kernel.

CHINESE OR MANCHURIAN WALNUTS 1941 crop grown O. K. Valley--5 nuts--27.1 per lb., 5 kernels--62.0 per lb., 5 shells--48.1 per lb., 43.73% kernel. Kernels very fine flavour.

COGLAN WALNUT--from Coglan, B. C.--1 nut--47.7 per lb., 1 kernel--113.4 per lb., 1 shell--82.5 per lb., 42.1% kernel. A very good thin shell nut of Franquette type.

FRANQUETTE WALNUTS 1941 crop--outside dry storage or unheated shed. 5 nuts--30.0 per lb., 1 largest nut--26.4 per lb., kernel of this nut 78.2 per lb., 1 small kernel 141.75 per lb., 1 medium kernel--79.6 per lb., 5 kernels--94.1 per lb., 5 shells--45.3 per lb. 32.48% kernels. Kernels best of flavour.

GELLATLY HEART NUT--1939 crop--20 nuts--64.2 per lb., 252.0 kernels per lb., 25.5% kernel. Shell heavy--cracking only fair.

HEART NUT--from R. P. Wright, Erie, Pennsylvania, U. S. A.--1 nut--84.0 per lb., 266.8 kernels per lb., 122.6 shells per lb., 31.48% kernel.

IMPIT BLACK WALNUT--1941 crop--1 nut--25.2 per lb., 1 kernel--141.8 per lb., 17.78% kernel. 2 nuts--25.6 per lb.,--2 kernels--137.5 per lb., 18.64% kernel.

IMPIT BLACK WALNUT--1941 crop--10 nuts--25.2 per lb., 10 kernels--110.4 per lb., 28.8% kernel. Cracking time 12 minutes to crack with hammer.

MACKENZIE HEART NUT--20 nuts--48.3 per lb., 20 kernels--193.0 kernels per lb., 25% kernel--extracting and opening with knife--4 minutes.

NORTH STAR WALNUT--1941 crop grown in O. K. Valley--5 nuts--28.8 per lb., 5 kernels--76.9 per lb., 5 shells--46.1 per lb., 37.48% kernel.

NURSOKA HEART NUT--1940 crop grown at Peachland, B. C.--1 nut--72.0 per lb., 103.1 shells per lb., 238.7 kernels per lb., 30.2% kernel. Extracting time 6 minutes.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

O. K. HEART NUT--1933 crop grown at Kelowna, B. C--20 nuts--103.1 per lb., 382.8 kernels per lb., 26.9% kernel. 3.5 minutes to open and extract with small penknife.

PENOKA HEART NUT--1939 crop--1 nut--96.5 per lb., 412.4 kernels per lb., 23.4% kernel.

ROVER HEART NUT--1941 crop--10 nuts, average--79.4 per lb., 98.6 shells per lb., 408.6 kernels per lb., 19.4% kernel.

ROVER HEART NUT--1939 crop--1 nut--96.6 per lb, 378.0 kernels per lb., 25.53% kernel.

ROVER HEART NUT--1935 crop--20 nuts--90.7 per lb., 302.4 kernels per lb., 30% kernel.

SMYTHE HEART NUT--5 nuts--95.7 per lb., 5 kernels--276.6 per lb., 34.6% kernel. Well sealed but easy to open.

SPREADOKA WALNUT "J. REGIA"--5 nuts--49.3 per lb., 5 kernels--105.0 per lb., 5 shells--92.95 per lb., 46.95% kernel.

THACKER HEART NUT--1942 crop--10 nuts--103.1 per lb., 324 kernels per lb., 31.8% kernel.

VAUX ENGLISH WALNUT--1940 crop--a new seedling on J. U. Gellatly's lot. Large nuts--heavy shell. 1 nut--36.3 per lb., 1 kernel--90.7 per lb., 69.8 shells per lb., 40% kernel.

WALSH WALNUTS--1941 crop grown in O. K. Valley--5 nuts 24.3 per lb., 5 kernels--57.7 per lb., 5 shells--42.2 per lb., 42.26% kernels. Kernels bland flavour.

WALTERS HEART NUT--1934 crop--20 nuts--47.2 per lb., 180.4 kernels per lb., 26.2% kernel. 13 minutes to open and extract with penknife.

WALTERS HEART NUT--1940 crop--1 nut--58.2 per lb., 226.8 kernels per lb., 78.2 shells per. lb., 25.64% kernel.

NO. E. 16--From Ross Pier Wright--235 West 6th St., Erie, Pennsylvania, U. S. A. 1 nut--61.3 per lb., 232.6 kernels per lb., 83.2 shells per lb., 26.35% kernel.

WATT WALNUT--from Himalayan Mts., India, B. C.--grown 1940. 1 large nut--35.4 per lb., 1 kernel--75.6 per lb., 1 shell--66.7. per lb., 46.876% kernel.

Letters

_Abstract of letter from Thomas Mitchell, 259 W. 29th St., New York, N. Y., to Julio P. Grandjean, Box 748, Mexico, D. F._ I am a tree breeder interested in creating hybrid crop trees, oaks and, if possible, bi-generic hybrids of carob with honey locust and with mesquite. I have, in the past seven years, made over a thousand crosses of poplars and about 600 inter-specific oak crosses. This spring I made 250 oak crosses at the Arnold Arboretum, of which about 20% seem to be ripening viable acorns. I have a list of 90 varieties of hybrid oaks and about 60 varieties of American Asiatic and European species which are available here or at the Arboretum. I will send this list to any one who is interested in trying to graft them on native oak seedlings, and will send scions to any one willing to send me acorns, scions or pollen.

I believe the oak tree to be, potentially, more valuable than any other crop tree.

_Abstract of letter from W. G. Tatum, Lebanon, Kentucky, to the Chairman of the Survey Committee._ We have had reports from E. C. Rice of Absher, Ky., but his work with trees and his wonderful personality are not well enough known to us. Besides his large plantings of nut and fruit trees he does general farming. He has almost all of the finer varieties of nut trees, many of them large, in bearing and doing well.

Lewis Edmunds of Glasgow, Ky., discoverer of the Edmunds black walnut, is a general farmer whose plantings of nut tree, while not large, include many of the older and better known sorts, as well as later discoveries of his own, including a very thin shelled walnut, shagbark hickories, a seedless persimmon; and he is planning a large planting of chestnuts. He has a Stuart pecan that bears well-filled nuts every year, apparently without benefit of pollen from another tree.

Our experiment station has issued a new leaflet on nut growing in Kentucky and our State Forester, Mr. Jackson has given radio talks on the subject.

I am planning and planting all the time and have at least a small start of most of the better strains of all varieties. I have a little nursery where I grow and graft my own trees. I consider Edmunds a very fine black walnut. I think that more free exchange of graftwood should be encouraged among our members, and we should encourage and help newcomers in learning the art of grafting. I got 90% of my Stambaugh grafts to grow this season, in a row of stocks running from the size of a lead pencil to that of the average man's little finger, using scions near to the size of the stocks, grafted by the "whip and tongue" splice method.

_Letter from H. F. Stoke to Miss Mildred Jones:_ I am pleased to comply with your request to report on those varieties that have given me the best results in this locality. It is perhaps unfortunate that some of them are unknown or obscure varieties that are not generally in the hands of the nursery trade. (As an aside, I am quitting the nursery business, so what I say is without prejudice or any personal bias.)

I am listing the varieties in order of my estimate of them for this locality based on my own personal experience. I am becoming increasingly hard boiled in my judgments based on two considerations: first, that a nut tree should bear within a reasonable time and that the crops should be regular and reasonably abundant; second, that the nuts should be fit to eat after they have been grown. These two considerations knock out many varieties that have been highly touted.

_Filberts._ The Buchanan and its second generation seedlings have been better filled and more productive than any of the European hazels. Italian red comes next. Brixnut and Longfellow are strong, healthy growers, but the former does not fill well and the latter bears sparsely. Barcelona is out.

_Chinese chestnut._ Hobson, Carr, Zimmerman, Reliable. Hobson heads the list as most precocious and productive. It requires a pollenizer. Carr will bear partial crops without cross-pollination. Zimmerman is almost as productive as Carr, but its need of cross-pollination is unknown to me. Reliable is the smallest of the four, of high quality and a steady bearer of moderate crops. Pollination requirements not known. (The original Zimmerman sent me by Dr. Zimmerman was worthless. The present Zimmerman, furnished me by Dr. Smith, is a satisfactory nut.)

_Japanese chestnut._ Austin is the best of the lot.

_Hybrid chestnut._ One of Dr. Colby's hybrids is promising but has not been released and should not be listed without his permission. The hybrid I have been selling as Stoke is a better nut than any of the Japs, including Austin. A moderate producer of moderate crops of beautiful, high quality nuts ripening the first of September. The Government's S8 Van Fleet hybrid is a very prolific hybrid of rather poor quality. It should be satisfactory for people who cook their chestnuts. Mr. C. A. Reed should be consulted before listing. S8 will outyield any chestnut I know of. Tree is less vigorous than Stoke and more subject to blight.

_Black walnut._ Homeland, Creitz, Mintle, Thomas. Homeland is a local nut and is unknown to the trade. It makes a poor test score, partly because of its pointed shape, partly because of the plumpness and tenderness of the kernel. It fills out much better than Thomas growing beside it: bears moderate crops every year, both on the parent and on grafted trees. It is a nice, upright, healthy grower; new growth tinged with purple. I consider quality first class. Creitz bears regularly and well; nuts very like Ohio but husks thin and it cleans much better. Kernels apt to be shrivelled somewhat. Mintle good bearer, plumper than Creitz, pellicle somewhat off color. Thomas does not fill so well, especially if given much nitrogen, which Homeland will stand. Stabler worthless here.

_English walnut._ Bedford, Lancaster, Payne, Franquette. Bedford is a local nut found on an abandoned farm in Bedford County, Va. A regular bearer of high quality nuts of the Mayette type. Blossoms late, a little before Mayette and Franquette. The only one of fifteen varieties that I have fruited that can be depended on to pollinize itself; medium size, well sealed, cures well, no bitterness to pellicle, no "sticktite" nor moldy nuts. Lancaster, very large, very vigorous tree, precocious, prolific, quality of nuts good but not best; staminate blossoms early, pistillate late. Requires a pollinizer. Franquette, Mayette and Bedford should answer. Payne will not stand winter temperatures much below zero; requires cross-pollination; needs seemingly met by Crath and Broadview. Good nut of good size and quality, precocious and very prolific. Moderate grower. Worst fault starts too early in spring. Good for south and upper south. I forgot to mention that one of the worst faults of Lancaster is that the nuts must be dried promptly on ripening; sometimes the kernels mold before the nuts fall from the tree. Franquette should rank with Bedford except that it usually bears poorly, although rarely it bears a good crop. Always blossoms freely. Trouble seems to be pollination. Bedford may be the answer; Mayette is not, and also bears very poorly. King and Chambers, recommended by Carroll Bush as pollinizers for Franquette, produce their staminates too early here. Broadview is vigorous, precocious, prolific, large with a pellicle too bitter for human consumption. Nuts sometimes spoil on the tree, like Lancaster.

_Heartnut._ Like most English walnuts heartnuts blossom too early in the spring and are usually killed back by late frosts here. Walters is the only one that blossoms late enough to produce usually a crop.

I still think that a well-filled Sifford is the best black walnut I have seen, but the parent tree generally produces poorly-filled nuts, and the young trees have been very slow to come into bearing, so I have left it off the list. Early defoliation appears to be the cause of poor filling in wet seasons. When well filled it runs 32% kernel.

Any and all of the nuts listed, of all species, are perfectly winter-hardy here, except that Payne English walnut was injured by a temperature of 10 below zero some years ago. All English walnuts, except Franquette and most seedling Chinese chestnuts lost their crops last spring by a freeze May 5th. Hobson, Carr, Zimmerman and Reliable came through with crops.

It will be most unfortunate if the many nurseries that, in my opinion, will go into nut tree production should boost seedling trees just because they do not have or cannot produce the named varieties. If the public can be at this time educated to demand select varieties it will influence the planting of nut trees favorably for the next hundred years. If they get shunted off on to seedlings it will take another twenty-five years to awaken the present interest. One might as well expect an apple growing industry to spring from the indiscriminate planting of seedling apple orchards. This goes especially for the English walnut and the Chinese chestnut.

_Abstract of letter from Rev. P. C. Crath, Cannington, Ontario._ Only a limited report is possible this year. In Toronto there are four Carpathian walnut trees 20 to 25 feet high which bear nuts regularly. One of these bears nuts of huge size, another smaller nuts with very thin shell and with the flavor of the Cashew nut. The other two trees produce regularly medium sized nuts with thin shells. In Islington, near Toronto, Carpathian No. 34 belonging to Mr. J. Robson continues bearing. Mr. Robson died last spring and I am naming this tree No. 34 the "Robson" in his memory. The eight Carpathians along the Welland Canal are doing well and bear every year. The tree in the yard of the Rev. Foster at Welland is a nice big tree and bears every season but squirrels carry off all the crop. In Ontario until the present time the curculio has not attacked Carpathian walnuts. Prof. C. T. Currelly of Canton has some nice big trees of his own grafting. One of these is of the Landyga type that in its seventh year now has never shown any cold injury. We can feel assured that the Landyga type is the best for the cold regions of Ontario. A tall and beautiful No. 46 that had a bacteriological canker near the root has thoroughly healed. Other No. 46 trees on the same estate are doing fine. The original No. 34 (now Robson) on Prof. Currelly's farm is doing exceptionally well. It is the type of a good market walnut. The Harbey Carpathians, belonging to J. regia maxima, with very thin shells are also doing well.

My Ukrainian and Turkish filberts on Currelly's estate have now become small bushes, 40 in number bearing abundantly.

_Abstract of letter from Sylvester M. Schessler, Genoa, Ohio._ To keep scionwood I place sticks, such as elder, on a cement floor, lay the scions crosswise on these, cover them with sawdust and throw an oilcloth over this. In May I graft by the slotbark method nailing the scion and tying with string or rubber bands and wax with Acme Grafting Compound put on cold. I cover with a two pound paper sack and later stake up the new growth. I like fair sized scion wood cut from near the base of the new growth and often graft with two year old wood carrying some one year wood. I will exchange graft wood and have several varieties of Ohio prize winners bearing nuts. I also do budding by the patch method.

Experiment Station Investigates Tree Believed to be the Oldest Chestnut in Connecticut

Progress Report from Connecticut Experiment Station, Dated November 15, 1943

Many years ago, at a time when the American chestnut was still the king of the woods, a farmer set out a small orchard of nut trees on the bank of the Connecticut River flood plain north of Hartford. Now, some 60 years later, one lone Japanese chestnut survives. Dr. Donald F. Jones of the Agricultural Station in New Haven, who recently investigated the tree, believes it is by far the oldest living chestnut in the State. And the most interesting thing about the tree is that it shows no signs of blight, the disease that destroyed all the native chestnuts.

Dr. Jones' attention was called to the tree late last fall by a hunter who noticed a deposit of chestnut hulls in the river bank. On investigation, the man discovered the tree and was impressed by its size. This fall the tree was visited in search of nuts. There, rising above the brush and brambles of what is now a tobacco field, stood the chestnut, 30 foot high and 18 inches in diameter. The men were able to rescue only six nuts, their visit being a little late for the main harvest. The nuts were among the largest Dr. Jones has seen. They have been planted at the Experiment Station farm in Mount Carmel.

Inquiry in the neighborhood of the chestnut revealed that two or three people knew about the tree and had gathered the nuts that are produced profusely every other year. One of the neighbors recalled that 60 years or more ago, when he was but 12 years old, a man named John P. Jones had set out the nut trees. But the original source of the trees is unknown and it remains a question whether the planter got the trees from a nursery in this country or directly from the Orient.

Though the lone survivor is somewhat neglected, with several dead branches that have been left untrimmed, a neighbor was interested enough in its possibilities to plant some of the nuts. This resulted in one six-year-old seedling tree. Unfortunately, this already shows blight and is apparently the result of pollination by some blighted American seedling or sprout in the neighborhood. The nuts collected this fall may also give disappointing results but should transmit to later generations the blight-resistance of this Japanese parent. In addition to planting the nuts, Dr. Jones will take scions from the tree for grafting on young trees at the Station's Mount Carmel farm. Those should produce results more quickly than the seeds. Next summer pollen will be collected from the tree for use in hybridizing some of the young trees already growing here.

Dr. Jones has for many years been interested in the development of a useful chestnut for Connecticut conditions. Some of the young trees, crosses between American and Asiatic types, show promise but will take several years of testing to prove their value. The new "find" may be of considerable help in shortening the length of time necessary to get a tree that is blight resistant, of large fruiting habit and of good timber quality.

(Note by Editor--This tree has been known to me for probably fifteen years. It was brought to my attention by Mr. Charles Vibert of East Hartford and named by me the "Vibbert," [with two b's to insure the right pronounciation]. The name has been published and I have sent scions to a number of people and grafted trees myself. The tree bears a very large nut, twelve selected ones weighing over a pound. I have gathered a good many quarts of them and exhibited them in Hartford and Litchfield. So far as my observation goes this large size is at least partly due to the fact that there is only one filled nut in a burr, the other two being aborted. This fact, and the fact that the crops are small, I have attributed to the partial inefficiency of self-pollination, there being no evident outside source of pollen. One year I grafted several other varieties into the top of the tree. Most of those grew a year or two but then died. I have believed that this was due to blight. There has been much dead wood in the tree ever since I have known it and I had supposed that this was blight.)

Report of Committee of Ohio Nut Growers

_A. A. BUNGART, Chairman_

On September 5, 1943, members of the Northern Nut Growers' Association living in Northern Ohio met at the Wooster Experiment Farm to discuss nut growing in the State. At this meeting a committee was formed to work out plans and suggestions for a twenty-year nut growing program. It was felt that greater progress would result if something more definite were done by way of coordinating the work of the Forestry Department with the effort of individuals. The committee, meeting here on October 31, 1943, submits the following report. The chairman has attempted to incorporate most of the material submitted by members of the committee and by others.

The committee recommends the appointment of a full time research man in nut culture, or two part-time workers. This man, or men, would form the hub around which the 20 year program would be built. There should be a division of labor: certain individuals already embarked on a program of their own should continue their work and coordinate it with a specialist at Wooster, or whatever place is designated as headquarters. For example, Mr. Silvis favors the hickory over all other nut trees. As a young man he can reasonably look forward to many years of experimentation with various varieties and under different conditions. Mr. Davidson is following a plan of planting large numbers of black walnut seed from blocks of trees in which natural crossing might combine the desirable characteristics of several better-than-average named varieties. Mr. Sherman has collected English walnuts from trees in the northern part of the state. Already he has seedlings of many varieties growing at Canfield.

Now, each of these projects is excellent and should be encouraged in every way. Whenever members of our organization find new and better nuts of those species, they should send nuts, or scions or data about the trees, to these gentlemen.