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Title: Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 43rd Annual Meeting - Rockport, Indiana, August 25, 26 and 27, 1952
Author: Northern Nut Growers Association [Editor]
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 43rd Annual Meeting - Rockport, Indiana, August 25, 26 and 27, 1952" ***
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|DISCLAIMER |
| |
|The articles published in the Annual Reports of the Northern Nut Growers|
|Association are the findings and thoughts solely of the authors and are |
|not to be construed as an endorsement by the Northern Nut Growers |
|Association, its board of directors, or its members. No endorsement is |
|intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not|
|mentioned. The laws and recommendations for pesticide application may |
|have changed since the articles were written. It is always the pesticide|
|applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current |
|label directions for the specific pesticide being used. The discussion |
|of specific nut tree cultivars and of specific techniques to grow nut |
|trees that might have been successful in one area and at a particular |
|time is not a guarantee that similar results will occur elsewhere. |
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43rd Annual Report
OF THE
Northern Nut Growers Association
Incorporated
AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
_Annual Meeting at_
ROCKPORT, INDIANA
August 25, 26 and 27, 1952
Table of Contents
Officers and Committees 1952-53 4
State and Foreign Vice Presidents 5
Constitution and By-laws 7
Call to Order, Forty-Third Annual Meeting 11
Address of Welcome--Hilbert Bennett 11
Business Session 15
Treasurer's Report--Carl Prell 18
Committee Reports 21
President's Address--L. H. MacDaniels 27
The Future of Your Nut Planting--W. F. Sonnemann 32
The Value of a Tree--Ferd Bolten 35
Methods of Getting Better Annual Crops on Black Walnut. Panel
discussion led by W. W. Magill 38
The 1952 Hickory Survey--H. F. Stoke 46
A Discussion of Hickory Stocks--Gilbert L. Smith 49
Filbert Varieties. Panel discussion led by G. L. Slate 53
My Experiences with Chinese Chestnuts--W. J. Wilson 62
Persian Walnuts in the Upper South--H. F. Stoke 66
Varieties of Persian Walnuts in Eastern Iowa--Ira B. Kyhl 69
Commercial Production and Processing of Black and Persian
Walnuts--Edwin L. Lemke 71
Black Walnut Processing at Henderson, Kentucky--R. C. Mangelsdorf 73
Nut Shells: Assets or Liabilities--T. F. Clark 77
The Propagation of Hickories--Panel discussion led by
F. L. O'Rourke 81
A Promising New Pecan for the Northern Zone--J. W. McKay and
H. L. Crane 89
The Hickory in Indiana--W. B. Ward 91
The Merrick Hybrid Walnut--P. E. Machovina 93
Producing Quality Nuts and Quality Logs--L. E. Sawyer 94
Colchicine for Nut Improvement Programs--O. J. Eigsti and
R. B. Best 99
An Early Pecan and Some Other West Tennessee Nuts--Aubrey
Richards 101
Scab Disease in Eastern Kentucky on Busseron Pecan--W. D.
Armstrong 102
Further News about Oak Wilt--E. A. Curl 102
Life History and Control of the Pecan Spittle Bug--Stewart
Chandler 106
Insect Enemies of Northern Nut Trees--Howard Baker 112
Tuesday Evening Banquet Session Resolutions and Election of
Officers 118
Chestnut Breeding--Arthur H. Graves and Hans Nienstaedt 120
Effect of Vermiculite in Inducing Fibrous Roots on Tap Rooting
Tree Seedlings--Herbert C. Barrett and Toro Arisumi 131
Eastern Black Walnut Survey 1951--H. F. Stoke 133
Crath's Carpathian English Walnuts in Ontario--P. C. Crath 136
Nut Tree Plantings in Southeastern Iowa--Albert B. Ferguson 146
Rockville as a Hickory Interstock--Herman Last 147
A Fruitful Pair of Carpathian Walnut Varieties in
Michigan--Gilbert Becker 147
Suggested Blooming Data to be Recorded for Nut Tree
Varieties--J. C. McDaniel 148
Note on Chinese Chestnuts--Harwood Steiger 149
Scott Healey--An Obituary 149
A Letter from Dr. W. C. Deming 150
Sweepstakes Award in Ohio Black Walnut Contest--L. Walter
Sherman 152
Attendance Record, Rockport, Ind. 1952 156
Membership List--Northern Nut Growers Association 158
Officers for 1952-53
President Richard B. Best, Eldred, Illinois
Vice-President George Salzer, Rochester, New York
Secretary Spencer B. Chase, Norris, Tennessee
Treasurer Carl F. Prell, South Bend, Indiana
Directors Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, Ithaca, New York
Dr. William Rohrbacher, Iowa City, Iowa
EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS 1952-53
Program Committee:
Dr. J. W. McKay, Royal Oakes, Gordon Porter, Gilbert Becker, A. A.
Bungart, W. D. Armstrong.
Local Arrangements:
George Salzer, Victor Brook.
Place of Meeting Committee:
R. P. Allaman, Dr. Lloyd L. Dowell, Edwin W. Lemke, Alfred L. Barlow.
Publication Committee:
Professor George L. Slate, Professor Lewis E. Theiss, Dr. L. H.
MacDaniels.
Varieties and Contests Committee:
Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, J. C. McDaniel, Sylvester M. Shessler, H. F.
Stoke, Royal Oakes.
Standards and Judging Committee:
Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, Dr. H. L. Crane, Louis Gerardi, Spencer Chase,
Professor Paul E. Machovina.
Survey and Research Committee:
H. F. Stoke (With all the state and foreign vice-presidents).
Exhibits Committee:
Sylvester M. Shessler, Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, H. F. Stoke, Royal Oakes,
A. A. Bungart, J. F. Wilkinson.
Root Stocks Committee:
Professor F. L. O'Rourke, J. C. McDaniel, Albert F. Ferguson, Dr. Aubrey
Richards, Louis Gerardi, Dr. Arthur S. Colby, Max Hardy, Gilbert Smith.
Auditing Committee:
Raymond E. Silvis, Sterling A. Smith, Edward W. Pape.
Legal Advisor:
Sargent H. Wellman.
Finance Committee:
Sterling A. Smith, Ford Wallick, Edward W. Pape.
Necrology:
Mrs. Herbert Negus, Mrs. C. A. Reed, Mrs. G. A. Zimmerman.
Nominating Committee:
(Elected at Rockport, Indiana), Max Hardy, Gilbert Becker, Dr. William
Rohrbacher, Professor George L. Slate, J. Ford Wilkinson.
Membership Committee:
George Salzer (With all the state and foreign vice-presidents).
State and Foreign Vice-Presidents
Alabama Edward L. Hiles, Loxley
Alberta A. L. Young, Brooks
Arkansas W. D. Wylie, Univ. of Ark., Fayetteville
Belgium R. Vanderwaeren, Bierbeekstraat, 310, Korbeek-Lo
British Columbia, Canada J. U. Gellatly, Box 19, Westbank
California Thos. R. Haig, M.D., 3021 Highland Ave., Carlesbad
Colorado J. E. Forbes, Julesburg
Connecticut A. M. Huntington, Stanerigg Farms, Bethel
Delaware Lewis Wilkins, Route 1, Newark
Denmark Count F. M. Knuth, Knuthenborg, Bandholm
District of Columbia Ed. L. Ford, 3634 Austin St.,
S. E. Washington 20
Florida C. A. Avant, 960 N. W. 10th Ave., Miami
Georgia William J. Wilson, North Anderson Ave., Fort Valley
Hawaii John F. Cross, P. O. Box 1720, Hilo
Hong Kong P. W. Wang, 6 Des Voeux Rd., Central
Idaho Lynn Dryden, Peck
Illinois Royal Oakes, Bluffs (Scott County)
Indiana Edw. W. Pape, Rt. 2, Marion
Iowa Ira M. Kyle, Box 236, Sabula
Kansas Dr. Clyde Gray, 1045 Central Ave., Horton
Kentucky Dr. C. A. Moss, Williamsburg
Louisiana Dr. Harald E. Hammar, 608 Court House, Shreveport
Maryland Blaine McCollum, White Hall
Massachusetts S. Lathrop Davenport, 24 Creeper Hill Rd.,
North Grafton
Michigan Gilbert Becker, Climax
Minnesota R. E. Hodgeson, Southeastern Exp. Station, Waseca
Mississippi James R. Meyer, Delta Branch Exp. Station, Stoneville
Missouri Ralph Richterkessing, Route 1, Saint Charles
Montana Russel H. Ford, Dixon
Nebraska Harvey W. Hess, Box 209, Hebron
New Hampshire Matthew Lahti, Locust Lane Farm, Wolfeboro
New Jersey Mrs. Alan R. Buckwalter, Route 1, Flemington
New Mexico Rev. Titus Gehring, P. O. Box 177, Lumberton
New York Stephen Bernath, Route No. 3, Poughkeepsie
North Carolina Dr. R. T. Dunstan, Greensboro College, Greensboro
North Dakota Homer L. Bradley, Long Lake Refuge, Moffit
Ohio Christ Pataky Jr., 592 Hickory Lane, Route 4, Mansfield
Oklahoma A. G. Hirschi, 414 North Robinson, Oklahoma City
Ontario, Canada Elton E. Papple, Cainsville
Oregon Harry L. Pearcy, Route 2, Box 190, Salem
Pennsylvania R. P. Allaman, Route 86, Harrisburg
Prince Edward Is. Canada Robert Snazelle, Forest Nursery, Route 5,
Charlottetown
Rhode Island Philip Allen, 178 Dorance St., Providence
South Carolina John T. Bregger, P.O. Box 1018, Clemson
South Dakota Herman Richter, Madison
Tennessee W. Jobe Robinson, Route 7, Jackson
Texas Kaufman Florida, Box 154, Rotan
Utah Harlan D. Petterson, 2076 Jefferson Ave., Ogden
Vermont A. W. Aldrich, R. F. D. 2, Box 266, Springfield
Virginia H. R. Gibbs, Linden
Washington H. Lynn Tuttle, Clarkston
West Virginia Wilbert M. Frye, Pleasant Dale
Wisconsin C. F. Ladwig, 2221 St. Lawrence, Beloit
CONSTITUTION
of the
NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED
(As adopted September 13, 1948)
NAME
ARTICLE I. This Society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers
Association, Incorporated. It is strictly a non-profit organization.
PURPOSES
ARTICLE II. The purposes of this Association shall be to promote
interest in the nut bearing plants; scientific research in their
breeding and culture; standardization of varietal names; the
dissemination of information concerning the above and such other
purposes as may advance the culture of nut bearing plants, particularly
in the North Temperate Zone.
MEMBERS
ARTICLE III. Membership in this Association shall be open to all persons
interested in supporting the purposes of the Association. Classes of
members are as follows: Annual members, Contributing members, Life
members, Honorary members, and Perpetual members. Applications for
membership in the Association shall be presented to the secretary or the
treasurer in writing, accompanied by the required dues.
OFFICERS
ARTICLE IV. The elected officers of this Association shall consist of a
President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer or a combined
Secretary-treasurer as the Association may designate.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ARTICLE V. The Board of Directors shall consist of six members of the
Association who shall be the officers of the Association and the two
preceding elected presidents. If the offices of Secretary and Treasurer
are combined, the three past presidents shall serve on the Board of
Directors.
There shall be a State Vice-president for each state, dependency, or
country represented in the membership of the Association, who shall be
appointed by the President.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE VI. 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 copy of the proposed
amendments having been mailed by the Secretary, or by any member to each
member thirty days before the date of the annual meeting.
BY-LAWS
(Revised and adopted at Norris, Tennessee, September 13, 1948)
SECTION I.--MEMBERSHIP
Classes of membership are defined as follows:
ARTICLE I. ANNUAL MEMBERS. Persons who are interested in the purposes of
the Association who pay annual dues of Three Dollars ($3.00).
ARTICLE II. CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS. Persons who are interested in the
purposes of the Association who pay annual dues of Ten Dollars ($10.00)
or more.
ARTICLE III. LIFE MEMBERS. Persons who are interested in the purposes of
the Association who contribute Seventy Five Dollars ($75.00) to its
support and who shall, after such contribution, pay no annual dues.
ARTICLE IV. HONORARY MEMBERS. Those whom the Association has elected as
honorary members in recognition of their achievements in the special
fields of the Association and who shall pay no dues.
ARTICLE V. PERPETUAL MEMBERS. "Perpetual" membership is eligible to any
one who leaves at least five hundred dollars to the Association and such
membership on payment of said sum to the Association shall entitle the
name of the deceased to be forever enrolled in the list of members as
"Perpetual" with the words "In Memoriam" added thereto. Funds received
therefor shall be invested by the Treasurer in interest bearing
securities legal for trust funds in the District of Columbia. Only the
interest shall be expended by the Association. When such funds are in
the treasury the Treasurer shall be bonded. Provided: that in the event
the Association becomes defunct or dissolves, then, in that event, the
Treasurer shall turn over any funds held in his hands for this purpose
for such uses, individuals or companies that the donor may designate at
the time he makes the bequest of the donation.
SECTION II.-DUTIES OF OFFICERS
ARTICLE I. The President shall preside at all meetings of the
Association and Board of Directors, and may call meetings of the Board
of Directors when he believes it to be the best interests of the
Association. He shall appoint the State Vice-presidents; the standing
committees, except the Nominating Committee, and such special committees
as the Association may authorize.
ARTICLE II. Vice-president. In the absence of the President, the
Vice-president shall perform the duties of the President.
ARTICLE III. Secretary. The Secretary shall be the active executive
officer of the Association. He shall conduct the correspondence relating
to the Association's interests, assist in obtaining memberships and
otherwise actively forward the interests of the Association, and report
to the Annual Meeting and from time to time to meetings of the Board of
Directors as they may request.
ARTICLE IV. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall receive and record
memberships, receive and account for all moneys of the Association and
shall pay all bills approved by the President or the Secretary. He shall
give such security as the Board of Directors may require or may legally
be required, shall invest life memberships or other funds as the Board
of Directors may direct, subject to legal restrictions and in accordance
with the law, and shall submit a verified account of receipts and
disbursements to the Annual meeting and such current accounts as the
Board of Directors may from time to time require. Before the final
business session of the Annual Meeting of the Association, the accounts
of the Treasurer shall be submitted for examination to the Auditing
Committee appointed by the President at the opening session of the
Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE V. The Board of Directors shall manage the affairs of the
association between meetings. Four members, including at least two
elected officers, shall be considered a quorum.
SECTION III.--ELECTIONS
ARTICLE I. The Officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting and hold
office for one year beginning immediately following the close of the
Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE II. The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of officers
on the first day of the Annual Meeting and the election shall take place
at the closing session. Nominations for any office may be presented from
the floor at the time the slate is presented or immediately preceding
the election.
ARTICLE III. For the purpose of nominating officers for the year 1949
and thereafter, a committee of five members shall be elected annually at
the preceding Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE IV. A quorum at a regularly called Annual Meeting shall be
fifteen (15) members and must include at least two of the elected
officers.
ARTICLE V. All classes of members whose dues are paid shall be eligible
to vote and hold office.
SECTION IV.--FINANCIAL MATTERS
ARTICLE I. The fiscal year of the Association shall extend from October
1st through the following September 30th. All annual memberships shall
begin October 1st.
ARTICLE II. The names of all members whose dues have not been paid by
January 1st shall be dropped from the rolls of the Society. Notices of
non-payment of dues shall be mailed to delinquent members on or about
December 1st.
ARTICLE III. The Annual Report shall be sent to only those members who
have paid their dues for the current year. Members whose dues have not
been paid by January 1st shall be considered delinquent. They will not
be entitled to receive the publication or other benefits of the
Association until dues are paid.
SECTION V.--MEETINGS
ARTICLE I. 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 Board of Directors 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 Board of Directors.
SECTION VI.--PUBLICATIONS
ARTICLE I. The Association shall publish a report each fiscal year and
such other publications as may be authorized by the Association.
ARTICLE II. The publishing of the report shall be the responsibility of
the Committee on Publications.
SECTION VII.--AWARDS
ARTICLE I. The Association may provide suitable awards for outstanding
contributions to the cultivation of nut bearing plants and suitable
recognition for meritorious exhibits as may be appropriate.
SECTION VIII.--STANDING COMMITTEES
As soon as practical after the Annual Meeting of the Association, the
President shall appoint the following standing committees:
1. Membership
2. Auditing
3. Publications
4. Survey
5. Program
6. Research
7. Exhibit
8. Varieties and Contests
SECTION IX.--REGIONAL GROUPS AND AFFILIATED SOCIETIES
ARTICLE I. The Association shall encourage the formation of regional
groups of its members, who may elect their own officers and organize
their own local field days and other programs. They may publish their
proceedings and selected papers in the yearbooks of the parent society
subject to review of the Association's Committee on Publications.
ARTICLE II. Any independent regional association of nut growers may
affiliate with the Northern Nut Growers Association provided one-fourth
of its members are also members of the Northern Nut Growers Association.
Such affiliated societies shall pay an annual affiliation fee of $3.00
to the Northern Nut Growers Association. Papers presented at the
meetings of the regional society may be published in the proceedings of
the parent society subject to review of the Association's Committee on
Publications.
SECTION X.--AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I. These by-laws may be amended at any Annual Meeting by a
two-thirds vote of the members present provided such amendments shall
have been submitted to the membership in writing at least thirty days
prior to that meeting.
Forty-Third Annual Meeting
Northern Nut Growers Association
August 25, 26, 27, 1952
Spencer County Court House, Rockport, Ind.
The opening session of the Forty-third Annual Meeting of the Northern
Nut Growers Association convened at 9:20 o'clock, a.m., at the Spencer
County Court House, President L. H. MacDaniels presiding.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The gavel with which we open this forty-third
annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association has some
historical significance. It was made from a pecan tree which grew in the
orchard of Mr. Thomas Littlepage in Maryland, near the city of
Washington, and it has been the custom of the Association to open its
meetings with that gavel.
The forty-third meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association will be
in order. To open the session we will have the presentation of the
colors. You will all stand, please, and remain standing through the
invocation. (Colors presented by Boy Scouts and the invocation given by
the Reverend William Ellis of Rockport.)
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: At this time we will call on Mr. Hilbert Bennett
to bring us greetings from the people of Rockport. Mr. Bennett of
Rockport.
Address of Welcome
HILBERT BENNETT, _Rockport, Ind._
Some are here that were here in 1935 and 1939. I was on the Citizen's
Committee in each of those years. It was the purpose of the Citizen's
Committee to take notice of your coming and to try to make you
appreciate our interest in you and in your coming.
Why was I on that Committee in 1935?
Why was I on that Committee in 1939?
Why am I on that Committee in 1952?
I will tell you.
When I was a boy two other young men, somewhat older than I, were young
men in the same township and somewhat closely located. I knew those boys
and I knew them well. You came to know them and know them well. One of
those boys was the late Thomas P. Littlepage, a charter member of this
Association. It was my good pleasure to teach school with him. We
attended College together. At college we roomed together. We attended
conventions together and were close personal friends. I think I was in
position to know him and know him well. The other boy was R. L. McCoy.
We too, were close personal friends. We too, taught school in the same
territory and contemporary with T. P. Littlepage. Prior to any
organization of the N.N.G.A. I went with these two boys (men by that
time) on trips of investigation and inspection of certain nut trees
about which they had heard and which they wanted to examine.
If the trees examined met the proper standards, they wanted to use them
in propagation. If not they would pass them up.
Another boy somewhat younger than myself and the two above mentioned
boys, joined most heartily into the nut discussions and investigations
and explorations of promising clues. With them he helped to run down
clues when they would hear of a promising prospect. The jungles were
never too dense, the distance too far, the road too muddy or rough, for
those three characters to run down in those horse and buggy days, any
prospect in which they were interested. This boy also became a member of
your most valued organization. I have a special interest in this boy. I
was, especially closely associated with him and his family. He went to
school to me. My signature appears on his Common School Diploma. Their
home was my home whenever I sought to make it so. I was free to come and
go. I came a lot. Ford Wilkinson, the third character, and I have been
close friends ever since.
Another one of your fine members became a good friend of mine. He came
into our county and planted a farm to nut trees and nut production. It
is now the largest nut orchard in the county. I am informed that at that
time it was the largest nut farm of hardy northern varieties in the
world. I got acquainted with him early and became endeared to him. It
was none other than the late Harry Weber.
When it became known that you were to meet here in 1935, it was a
natural sequence that Ford Wilkinson, knowing that I would gladly help
in any way I could and knowing I was his genuine friend saw fit to place
me on the Citizen's Committee. If he had not, I positively would have
climbed aboard anyway. You couldn't have driven me out with a peeled
hickory club. I was just going to be in on it whether or no.
Whether I performed well in 1935 or whether he couldn't find any one
else to serve in my place, I never knew; but he again placed me on the
Committee in 1939.
Now here I am in 1952 an old broken down fossil, broken in health, but
not in spirit, of little consequence to anybody or anything, I am still
on the Committee.
That answers the question of some of you of why that old man Bennett is
always on the local committee and that you have wondered if there is no
other person in this whole community that will serve but him. No,
friends, we have many who would gladly serve and I doubt not that would
serve much more efficiently.
I have prepared a short "skit" that I wish to present.
* * * * *
1st. _Introducing Joan Flick, of Washington, D. C._
I am a pecan plucked from a small orchard planted by a retired business
man. He had some surplus ground near his premises that was too rough for
easy cultivation. He thought that he would plant it to pecans so that
his family and his children's families would have nuts for their own use
and pleasure. He took good care of the trees. He fertilized them every
year and sometimes oftener. In the course of a few years he not only had
more pecans than all of the families could use, but he sold hundreds of
pounds of nuts from these trees. He developed a commercial orchard
unconsciously.
2nd. _Palma Smith of Cincinnati, Ohio._
I am the hican, I have no commercial value of consequence. I demonstrate
the ability, the interest, the development and the possibilities of
improvement by the determined efforts of the members of your
association. Knowing your ability and determination to make improvements
in nut culture, I have every feeling that in the not too distant future
you will develop me into a profitable commercial product.
3rd. _Sandra Wright of Rockport, Indiana._
I am the walnut, a most valuable tree for fine fruit and fine timber for
many uses. I have been noted for my fine grain and my ability to take a
fine polish. Our forefathers immediately found the walnut to be the
choice timber out of which to build fine furniture, gun stocks, home
furnishings and many other things that required high grade material. We
have never lost sight of its significance.
Thin shelled nuts, easily cracked, and hulled out in halves have been
developed. Walnuts will grow almost any where. Originally it was a
common forest tree and would continue to be if it had the opportunity.
There is little danger of the walnut becoming extinct. It is too
valuable. I suggest that you plant liberally to high grade walnut trees.
4th. _Jo Ann Hall of Rockport, Indiana._
I am the once popular beech under whose folds thousands of picnickers
have gathered and enjoyed life's most savory and pleasant moments. I
have built thousands of American homes and farm barns. I have built
thousands of miles of old farm plank fences. I have built car load after
car load of beautiful, useful and valuable furniture. In the early
period of this country I furnished mast for thousands of swine that fed
many families. I have filled many minor places of usefulness. As sad as
it is to do and as much as I hate to do so, I am now bidding you a last
farewell.
Self interest, the slowness of my growth and the impracticability of
propagation of this once valuable tree leaves but one course, that I
pass to my reward with the firm hope that the other trees now being
developed, and grown will fill all of the purposes for which I have been
so useful, and fill them with increased usefulness. With this sad but
necessary adieu, I bid you one and all goodbye.
5th. _Pattie Jones of Rockport, Ind._
I am the oak, the sturdy oak, the king of the forests. I am stout. They
make beams, spars, sills, fulcrums and what not from me that require
strength. I grow fairly fast. I came into usefulness as the world came
into need of heavy timbers.
I am dainty and refined as well as strong. I am used in making fine
flooring, fine furniture and many other useful things. Please do not
discard me from production. Please do not let me pass into oblivion. I
am very very valuable. I deserve to be perpetuated.
6th. _Marcia Smith of Cincinnati, Ohio._
I am a pecan plucked from the tree of a man who in the early years of
his married life planted pecan trees in unused spots on his farm that
were unsuitable for cultivation. As the trees grew into nut bearing
trees his family of children grew. In the October days, with great
gaiety, glee and happiness, the children would gather the fruit of those
trees. The children grew to maturity and went to the city to work; but
when those October days came they returned home and with similar
happiness as of their youth they gathered the nuts from those trees.
With pleasure I say I am one of those trees.
7th. _Jean Morris, Joyce Morris and Sandra Wright, all of Rockport,
Indiana._
We are a group of clusters, the filbert, the pecan and the walnut. We
came from a nut farm within the bounds of Spencer County. This farm was
planted and developed by a former enthusiastic member of your wonderful
organization. He spent much time and energy in behalf of your
organization. He developed the largest nut orchard in the county. I
refer to Harry Weber, who came from a neighboring state and endeared
himself to this community by his superb manhood, his genial disposition
and his intense interest in his subject matter. We commend his efforts
to others.
8th. _Virginia Mae Daming of Rockport, Ind._ She was carrying the former
Reports of the N.N.G.A.
This cluster is plucked from a "Tree" of great magnitude and
significance. Today it has its roots firmly set in Rockport, Indiana.
Its branches reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to
Mexico. Its influence is felt throughout the world.
Its inception was in Spencer County, Indiana, not specifically detailed,
but in the main, by boys that were reared among the native nut trees of
this community of which there were many. It was born in the great City
of New York under the care of the late Thomas P. Littlepage, Dr. Wm. C.
Deming, Dr. Robert T. Morris and Prof. John Craig. It was nurtured
throughout the land of the detailed history you know much more than I.
It has had an enormous growth. It is a most meritorious organization.
Language will not express the extent of its benefits to humanity and to
civilization. It adds to the comfort of untold thousands of happy homes.
It furnishes employment for thousands of people. It furnishes food of
vital importance to many families. It is the main stay in the
manufacture of all kinds and grades of furniture. It furnishes food for
thought. It keeps the scientific and investigating minds busy in the
constant development and improvement of its processes and benefits. Its
possibilities are boundless.
That this "Tree" may continue to grow and develop in the future as it
has in the past in the interest of humanity and help us to realize its
importance and help us to continue its forces in accord with nature and
nature's God is my earnest prayer. May God bless you one and all.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you very much, Mr. Bennett. You have made
us feel most welcome in Rockport, as you have before on two other
occasions. I don't believe that there is any other man who has welcomed
this organization three times in the same locality.
We also thank you for bringing in the trees and the children to greet us
on this occasion. It isn't very often that the trees themselves come
into the assembly room to greet us, and we appreciate your effort in
doing this for us.
We will now proceed with the business of the Association.
There appears to be no record of the members elected to serve on the
nominating committee for this session. As near as we can determine this
committee is as follows: Mr. Silvis, Mr. Allen, Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. McKay
and Mr. Gerardi.
Is there a motion to approve these names?
The committee was approved by vote.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: This Committee will bring in a slate of officers
of the Association for the next year at our final business session.
I will now call for the reports of standing committees. There are eight
of these. The Program Committee. Royal Oakes is the chairman. The fact
that we are having a meeting indicates the functioning of the Program
Committee.
MR. OAKES: I believe I have nothing to report at this moment. I would
like to say the other members did a good part of the committee work.
PRESIDENT MACDANIELS: We appreciate the part that all of you have played
in arranging these meetings.
The Publications Committee, Editorial Section. Dr. Theiss, I believe, is
not here. Dr. Theiss received the manuscripts and either had them read
or read them himself.
The Printing Section of the Publications Committee, Mr. Slate.
MR. SLATE: Our proceedings are on the press and probably will be
finished and in the mail this week.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The Place of Meeting Committee. Mr. Allaman is the
chairman. In the absence of Mr. Allaman, I present the invitation
secured by Mr. Salzer, to meet in Rochester, New York in 1953. Their
convention bureau offers very attractive facilities and the invitation
is seconded by the Mayor, Joseph J. Naylor, the president of the
Rochester Convention and Publicity Bureau, the President of the
Rochester Hotel Association, the President of the Junior Chamber of
Commerce of Rochester, and the Deputy Commissioner of the Rochester
Parks, which just about covers the board.
It doesn't seem to me worthwhile to read all of this material. What it
boils down to is that Rochester would be a very good place to meet. The
Rochester parks are very interesing places to go, and as I understand
it, there are facilities which would not be expensive to the
Association. Is that true, Mr. Salzer?
MR. SALZER: Yes, there would be no charge for exhibit rooms if they are
held in the hotel, because we are classed as a scientific organization.
And we would have the facilities of the Bausch Memorial Museum. There
would be facilities for showing moving pictures or slides, and for an
exhibit.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: It would be in order at the present time to take
definite action on this Rochester invitation, if you care to do so. A
motion would be in order to accept.
It has been moved, seconded, and carried that we have our 1953
convention in the City of Rochester, the dates will be determined by the
Board of Directors.
The general thinking of the Board of Directors is that we will go to
Lancaster, Pa. again in 1954, and in 1955 come back into the Middle
West. Mr. Allaman has been working on the Lancaster proposal and I think
there has been some spade work done in Michigan already. Have you
anything to say about that, Mr. O'Rourke?
MR. O'ROURKE: We will be very glad to have you at Michigan State College
at any time. Unfortunately, however, we do not have any nut plantings
there. The nut plantings are either in the eastern part of the state or
the western part. It's quite a drive either way.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I don't think we have to make a commitment at this
time, but it is something to be brought to the attention of the Place of
Meeting Committee.
I think we might have a little further explanation from Mr. Best about
his bacon breakfast.
MR. BEST: We said in our membership drive that anyone who would go out
and work would bring home the bacon, and we further fortified the deal
that we were going to furnish the bacon here at Rockport at this
session. So in the morning over at Cotton's restaurant we will have
bacon, all you want to eat, and the only requirement is that you either
got a member last year in the membership drive we have been working on,
or that you tried to get a member. That's all that's necessary.
MR. GRAVATT: You have spoken about the meeting in 1954. As you know, I
have represented this country at the International Chestnut Meeting for
two years. There has been some talk about the possibility of the N. N.
G. A. inviting the International Chestnut Meeting to meet in this
country in 1954 or '55. At the last meeting the delegates from Japan
recommended that they meet in the United States in 1954. The matter is
not decided, and I think if you will put off decision about Lancaster
until later, it would be a little better.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The committee on Standards and Judging, Mr.
Spencer Chase.
MR. SPENCER CHASE: Mr. President, we contemplated having a report on
hickory standards for this meeting, but because of circumstances beyond
our control, we didn't get the project under way.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I will call on our secretary at this time for the
report of the meeting of the directors.
MR. McDANIEL: There were several things brought up last night at the
meeting of the Board of Directors of the Northern Nut Growers
Association. One matter was the subscription to the American Fruit
Grower magazine which we give our membership.
The American Fruit Grower had been selling subscriptions to the
Association for its members at 30 cents a year. Since the first of July
this year their rate is 50 cents. The opinion of the directors and
committee members present last night was that we should drop that
subscription to the American Fruit Grower for our members. It will be
sent to all members who join for this year and up to the beginning of
the next fiscal year. After October 1st, no subscriptions to the
American Fruit Grower through the Association. Do we have any discussion
on this proposal? (Considerable discussion followed.)
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I suggest that we hear the report of the Board of
Directors and then act on the various items one by one in executive
session.
MR. McDANIEL: You have heard something about the membership drive, and
we will have more on that later. The directors suggested that we
encourage more memberships, contributing memberships and sustaining
memberships in the Association at $5.00 and $10.00 per year. Some of us
feel we can't pay any more than $3.00 for our membership; others will be
able to support the organization financially by taking memberships at
the $5.00 or $10.00 rate, and we are still offering our life membership
at $75.00.
Another matter discussed was offering the set of 34 volumes of back
reports in The Nutshell at the price of $20.00 for the 34 volumes now
available.
We suggest also that the Association authorize the appointment of a
Publicity Committee to work with the Membership Committee in attracting
new members.
That is about all I have as the report of the directors' meeting last
night, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: This matter of the Board of Directors reporting to
the business session is a pattern which I think is a good one. The
proposition has been placed before you as to whether or not you wish to
continue our affiliation with the American Fruit Grower magazine. As you
will recall, the reason the question comes up at the present time is
that they have raised their rate from 30 cents a member to 50 cents a
member, which is 50 cents of our $3.00, which with the 50 cents
secretarial expenses leaves but $2.00 to run the society. As the
Treasurer will explain to you later, we are in somewhat of a financial
difficulty.
It has been moved and seconded that the Association subscription to the
American Fruit Grower be discontinued.
This matter is up for discussion.
MR. MCDANIEL: We have much more space available in The Nutshell than in
the American Fruit Grower, and there is the possibility of more frequent
publication.
MR. DOWELL: If we could actually get it bi-monthly or quarterly, in
place of the Fruit Grower, I think most all of us would be better
informed and actually have more information. And The Nutshell is a very
excellent means of showing somebody what the organization is about. You
give them a copy of the American Fruit Grower, and if he is interested
in nuts, most copies aren't going to convince him of much.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I think this question is related to the
appointment of a Publicity Committee which will explore what can be
done to secure more publicity and give more information about nuts to
our members than has been possible in the Fruit Grower.
The members of the Board of Directors felt that $300-plus is a high
price to pay for what we got out of The American Fruit Grower.
(The question was called for.)
The motion is passed without dissent.
The question of authorizing the appointment of a Publicity Committee is
introduced mainly as a matter for your information, also because it's
much better if the society as such were to authorize such a committee.
Do I hear such a motion?
Moved by Mr. Salzer, seconded by Colby and passed that the appointment
of a Publicity Committee be approved.
I will ask for the report of the Treasurer, Mr. Prell.
Treasurer's Report
MR. PRELL: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Best has asked that I
help in connection with his report. That certainly is not because I can
make his report better than he can, but probably because a new member is
not a new member until his check has arrived and has been recorded, and
I happen to have those figures. I will be happy to do that, but perhaps
we should start first with the report that the President has asked for,
the Treasurer's report.
I imagine that you are uninterested in an itemized, detailed report of
receipts and expenditures; I imagine you are interested in the question:
How are we doing? We are not doing too well. The annual report for this
year indicates that our financial condition is not satisfactory. For the
second successive year we have spent more money than we have taken in,
and that would be the third successive year, if it hadn't been for the
fact that due to the lateness of the publication in 1950--that it, the
annual report--we did not pay for an annual report that year. That means
there are three years in a row that we have gone downhill.
The picture is not entirely black, however. There are some bright spots.
For instance, all our bills are paid. Second, we have money in the bank.
Third, our $3,000 investment in Government bonds is still intact, and
fourth, our deficit this year was less than it was last year, which may
indicate that we have already touched bottom and are starting up.
The cause of our deficit is easy to put your finger on. We are operating
on budgets that are ten years old, and costs have gone way, way beyond.
Dues were increased several years ago, but even at that time they were
not increased adequately, and since then costs have skyrocketed.
The membership situation is not too bad, though the cost situation is
bad. The two don't jibe at all. The reason we have a lesser deficit this
year than last is Mr. Best's work and the work of his vice-presidents in
increasing the membership, and the results of that work; I think, have
only begun to show.
Specifically, we came within $417 of collecting enough money this year
to pay our expenses. It was over $500 last year, making a total of a
thousand dollars that we have spent above our receipts. While we have
some money in the bank, there will be a bill due in about 30 days on the
publication of the annual report, that will be mailed within the next
few days. And that will take all the money that is in the bank, plus
what we are able to collect in dues immediately, and I hope that many of
them are paid at once. But that still leaves us without money to operate
through the year, and by January, unless conditions change, we will be
borrowing money.
The Board of Directors has discussed this. They have some thoughts on
the subject which will be presented to you by Dr. MacDaniels. I think
that one of the obvious things that you all think of and I may mention
is the matter of increased membership. That's an obvious solution, and
as I said a minute ago, it's a very possible solution.
The work that was started by Mr. Best last February is only now
beginning to bear fruit. New memberships, even as late as this for this
year, in August, are coming in very, very well. I personally see no
reason why the membership cannot be increased to a thousand members next
year, providing all of us bring in a member or two.
I asked a friend of mine on The Country Gentleman for some data on state
population compared to farm population. I forget just exactly now how it
runs on various states, but I do recall Indiana. We have a population
here of four million people. There are about 700,000 of these people on
166,000 farms. The farms in this state produce a wealth of $75,000,000 a
year. With 700,000 farmers in this state and population of 4,000,000
with a wealth of $75,000,000 a year, it would seem to me that the State
of Indiana should have more than only 39 members. Out of that group we
should certainly increase that ten times. We should have 400 members,
and if the same proportion is carried throughout the nation, why, this
organization can easily obtain a roll of 7500 to 10,000 members. A
thousand members next year should be a pushover. So much for the
financial report.
Mr. Best's campaign started last February. His vice-presidents were
given material and the inspiration to work for new members, and they
responded. For Mr. Best I compiled the list of the new members who have
been brought in, with the people who have brought in the greatest
number, but that thing went galley-west in the last few days by the
strong finishers. Mr. Best himself came in yesterday with a pocket full
of 11 new members, and he already had a couple on the list. Up to that
time--and I am not giving credit to the Secretary, because several of
the members that show his sponsorship have come naturally through his
office. So disregarding the sponsored members of the Secretary, Spencer
Chase was top man, up until Mr. Best upset him yesterday, followed by
Dr. Rohrbacher, who was a late finisher with members who were not
recorded in this report. All through the year it was a battle between
Pennsylvania and Illinois as to who would have the greater number of
members.
Illinois, with 36 members, hopped up to 60, and Mr. Best's 11 make 71.
And just this morning they got two others from Illinois, making 73. So I
think Illinois has the second place position firmly nailed down.
Last year we had 563 members all together. This year now we have 170
new members. We can't add that to 563, because in every organization
there is a loss of membership every year, and it's to be expected that
our membership should have a 10 per cent turnover through circumstances
of people leaving their places where they have their nut tree plantings,
deaths and other circumstances. So there was a net gain of 86 members to
date.
TREASURER'S REPORT
August 25, 1951 to August 18, 1952
RECEIPTS
Membership Dues $1,907.00
Sales of Annual Reports 190.00
Interest on U. S. Bonds 37.50
Donations 48.95
U.S.P.O. Unused Balance, Permit 3.05
Petty Cash 1.97
TOTAL $2,188.47
DISBURSEMENTS
41st Annual Report (Pleasant Valley) $1,375.86
Plates and printing, 900 copies $1,271.16
Envelopes, 2500 31.65
Mailing 73.05
The Nutshell 86.55
Printing & mailing Vol. 4, No. 3 28.64
Printing & mailing Vol. 5, No. 1 57.91
American Fruit Grower 191.60
582 Subscriptions at 30¢ 174.60
34 Subscriptions at 50¢ 17.00
Urbana Meeting 163.68
General Expenses 20.28
Reporting & Transcribing 143.40
Secretarial Help, 50¢ per member 317.00
Stationery and Supplies 179.81
Association Promotion 114.91
Application Folder, 5000 90.02
Supplemental Folder, 650 17.69
Things-of-Science 7.20
Secretary's Expense 77.23
Treasurer's Expense 94.04
Dues, American Horticultural Society 5.00
TOTAL $2,605.68
Cash on deposit, First Bank, South Bend $1,313.78
Disbursements 2,605.68
$3,919.46
-- -- -- --
On hand August 26, 1951 $1,730.99
Receipts 2,188.47
$3,919.46
-- -- -- --
U. S. Bonds in Safety Deposit Box $3,000.00
I know that Mr. Best has still some more material that he will supply to
any of you who are anxious to go out and help in getting the new
members. It's only a matter of every person getting a couple, or like
Spencer Chase getting 10. That would put us well toward our goal of a
thousand members, on which the Association probably can operate without
deficit. I thank you. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you very much, Mr. Prell. We are very much
indebted to you for your business-like handling of the affairs of the
society. It is sometimes bitter to know the facts, but the only way that
we are ever going to get anywhere is by knowing the facts and facing
them. Either fortunately or unfortunately we are not like the federal
government, which can go on piling up deficits. We have to do as each
one of us as individuals has to do: If our operating-expense exceeds
income, we either have to get more income or cease out-go. That is the
situation under which we are confronted at the present time.
A little later we can take up some of the things we have in mind. Did
you have a further report, Mr. Secretary?
I think probably the Treasurer stole some of the thunder that you might
otherwise have.
MR. MCDANIEL: He did that, and the Membership Committee also. You know
something of the activities of the secretary's office during the current
year, a matter of getting out three issues of The Nutshell and assisting
with the editing of the annual report, which I hope you will receive
about the time you get home.
One other activity in which the Secretary participated, in addition to
the usual task of answering letters to beginning nut growers, was this
project "Things of Science". Perhaps Dr. McKay could tell us more about
that. Is Dr. McKay in the room? Will you come up now?
DR. MCKAY: We being near Washington, were, of course, the logical people
to come in contact with this suggestion early when it was made. As a
matter of fact, the very beginning of this movement goes back to Harry
Dengler. Some of you may know of him. He is Extension Forester at the
University of Maryland and is also Secretary of the American Holly
Association.
Harry Dengler was very much interested in this "Things of Science"
program and happened to mention to the Science Service paper, of which
Watson Davis is editor, that it would be a desirable thing to work up a
test on nuts.
For the benefit of those of you who do not know what "Things of Science"
is, it is a movement sponsored by Science Service, located in
Washington, D. C, whereby 12,000 subscribers to "Things of Science"
receive every month a little kit through the mails dealing with all
kinds of subjects in science. It is usually a little box, as in the case
of the one on nuts, or it may be simply an envelope with some things in
it to taste. The idea is to give people all over the country who are
interested enough to pay $5.00 a year one kit a month, each one dealing
with a different phase of science.
Many groups subscribe to this service; for instance a boy scout troop,
libraries and industrial plants. So it goes to literally many thousands
more people than the 12,000 actual subscribers that it has.
So when Science Service came to us and said, "Would you be interested in
helping us work up a kit on nuts", naturally, we wanted to do what we
could towards helping these people, and our first thought was this
organization as an official sponsor for it. So we contacted the
directors, the officers, Dr. MacDaniels and J. C. McDaniel, and as a
result, the Northern Nut Growers, through its board of directors,
because we had no other means to authorize it, went ahead and sponsored
this move.
To do it, we approached the California Walnut Growers Association, the
California Almond Growers Association, the Northwest Nut Growers
Association, and the Southeastern Pecan Growers Association, with the
idea of having their names mentioned in the kit, and in return they
would furnish samples to distribute. The Northern Nut Growers
Association furnished the hickory nut samples. The kit was composed of,
as I recall, six different kinds of nuts--Persian walnuts and almonds
from California, filberts from the Northwest, Pecans from the Southeast,
hickory nuts from the Northern Nut Growers Association, and pistachio
nuts furnished through the Department of Agriculture by Captain
Whitehouse at Beltsville. He secured the pistachio nuts from the trees
in California. The kit was composed of a little box about four inches
long, an inch and a half deep and three inches wide, containing two or
more nuts of the various kinds, together with a brochure that we helped
the science people work up. Dr. MacDaniels and the various cooperating
groups worked up this brochure of information. The kits include a set of
directions for the subscriber to follow in using the material. There are
several different possibilities, all along the lines of scientific
experimentation.
The idea is to get these youngsters and young people to become familiar
with different kinds of nuts.
I think that's all I should say, Mr. President. That covers pretty well
the effort that was made and those who made the effort. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you very much, Dr. McKay. This project is
one in which there were deadlines as to time, and we had to work rather
fast. Air mail, special delivery, the long distance telephone and
telegraph played quite a part in it. The Science Service was paying the
cost of assembling and mailing. The only cost to the Association was for
the hickory nuts.
MR. MCDANIEL: We were late on that and unable to get the quality nuts we
would like, but we did get enough to fill the kits, not all of which
were worthy.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We would like to have secured Carpathian walnuts,
but the nuts from known sources of supply were so discolored with husk
maggot that we were ashamed to send them out. We were not able to locate
and to furnish any considerable amount of any kind of northern nuts.
Twelve thousand of these kits went out, and each one of them is in a
position where it probably contacted a dozen or more on the average, so
that I am sure as a result of the effort a great many people not only
became more familiar with nuts and their various sources and uses, but
also learned that the contest was sponsored by the Northern Nut Growers
Association. Mr. Prell, who knows something about advertising, thought
it was a very worthwhile project.
That completes the reports of the officers and of the committees. We
will now take ten minutes recess.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The session will be in order.
As your treasurer said, there are several other things which we
discussed in the directors' meeting. We discussed this matter of how,
the situation being such as it is, the Association could improve its
position through gaining more members and through either making more
money or cutting down expenditures.
The Publicity Committee was one of those suggestions, who were to
explore this matter of getting better publicity for less money. That is,
whatever publicity we got from the American Fruit Grower cost us about
$300, and we think we can do a lot better in some other way.
Another matter was to place the financial situation of the society
squarely before the membership and ask that as many as could and felt so
inclined take out a contributing or a sustaining membership. We felt
quite strongly that raising the dues was not the answer, because there
are a lot of people sort of on the fringe who don't work too actively
for the society but who do take out regular memberships but who, if we
raised the dues even another 50 cents, would probably fail to renew
their memberships. So that at least for the present we are not going to
go ahead on that basis, unless you want that to come up for further
discussion.
Another point which we, I think, should explore was the matter of
advertising in the proceedings. Some other associations, the pecan
association, particularly, as Dr. McKay pointed out, make a substantial
part of their revenue from advertising in the proceedings. We have tried
that before, but times have changed, and I think it should be considered
again.
Then the matter of speeding up sales of sets of the proceedings to
libraries, that is, further publicity in The Nutshell about sets that
are for sale and, perhaps, circularizing the library lists to sell
complete sets, or as complete as we have.
Another matter that might be explored is having some kind of a
"give-away program", some inducement for those who take out memberships
for the first time. Other societies do it in one way or another.
Unfortunately, our material does not lend itself to that sort of thing
as well as some others, but we might be able to give nuts of Carpathian
strains that could be used as seed nuts, or perhaps the hybrid hazels.
MR. MCDANIEL: One suggestion made in a letter from Dr. Crane was to
distribute hybrid walnuts to grow to fruiting size. That might be
explored if there is a source of enough seedlings or seed nuts of
Juglans Regia crossed with Juglans Nigra.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We would welcome any further suggestions which you
may have, either as to saving money or making money, or increasing our
membership, which amounts to making money, of course.
Another thing that might be done to present the possibilities of nut
growing to your communities is to sponsor exhibits at your own county or
state fairs.
Mr. Slate wanted to make a comment along these lines.
MR. SLATE: That matter of urging sustaining and contributing memberships
has been mentioned by you. I think it would be one of the best things
we could do to send a statement of our financial condition to the
members of the Association pointing out the need for additional funds
and suggesting that all who can possibly afford it take out sustaining
and contributing memberships. It seems to me that this is just about the
only alternative to increasing the dues. I am not sure whether an
increase in the dues would result in the loss of many members or not.
Perhaps they are getting rather used to the higher price level, and it
might be well to have an expression of opinion from some of those here
as to whether they thought there would be serious objections to an
increase in the dues. Surely, there are many who can afford to carry
sustaining or contributing memberships.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: That is the opinion of the Board of Directors. Mr.
Slate has raised a question as to the validity of the conclusion of the
Directors regarding the advisability of raising the dues. Our thinking
was that to raise the dues beyond the present level would result in
sufficient loss of membership to offset any gain in revenue. The last
time we raised the dues what was the effect?
MR. MCDANIEL: When we raised the dues to $3.00 we had a membership of
650. It dropped to about 580; a loss of 60 or 70.
MR. PRELL: We in effect raised dues 50 cents this morning. It won't
affect new members, but it may cause some of the older ones who are
members to drop. They know that at present 50 cents of their dues are
going to the Fruit Grower; now they aren't getting the Fruit Grower.
MR. MACHOVINA: They were getting for $2.50 what they will now get for
$3.00.
PRESIDENT MACDANIELS: Any other discussion?
MR. KINTZEL: I have given this problem of increasing the membership
quite a bit of thought, and have an idea which might be used. Let's see
by a show of hands how many live in the city but own farms outside of
the city.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The question is how many live in the city but have
farms outside. Sixteen or 17, probably about 20.
MR. KINTZEL: You might call me a city farmer. Like many other city
people, I own a small farm near the city in which I live, which is
Cincinnati, Ohio. I am intensely interested in the work of the N.N.G.A.
There must be many others who, too, are owners of land but who use the
land for experimental farming and to get a little diversion from the
daily grind in the busy, noisy city. These people would consider it a
favor to have their attention called to the interesting work of our
organization.
A practical plan for getting in touch with this reservoir of future
members is to secure the names and addresses of such land owners from
the records at the various county court houses fringing the cities. A
personal letter should be written to these future members. A friendly
invitation to join the N.N.G.A. should be extended, and a printed
brochure describing and explaining its work and objects should be
included.
I believe that by working systematically on the city dweller, who also
owns acreage outside the city limits, we could give our membership list
a big boost.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: That is a good suggestion for the Membership
Committee.
Is there anything further?
MR. CALDWELL: This is not a suggestion, but a comment following up the
idea of the previous speaker. In Syracuse there was a woman with an
estimated 160 acres of land, who about 15 or 16 years ago became
interested in planting hybrid chestnuts. Unfortunately, the land was not
suitable for raising chestnuts and the two or three hundred trees she
planted failed to grow. I don't think there are two alive there now. So
you will have to be a little bit careful in encouraging city people to
plant nut trees. She spent a lot of money and right now if you mention
that, she will just practically tear you apart. She wasted money and
time, so be careful in getting people going too strong unless you are
sure the trees are going to grow for them.
MR. SNYDER: According to the chart outside, cutting off the Fruit Grower
will leave us just a few cents per member in the red.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Right.
MR. SNYDER: Well, don't we have $3,000 in bonds? What are they for, if
it isn't to tide us over a hard period like this?
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: That is a suggestion for the Board of Directors.
MR. SNYDER: If inflation keeps up, the bonds will be worth nothing. We
might as well use them up. I would suggest we use every method to
balance the budget without them, but if necessary, use some of them up.
If it is necessary, use the bonds to balance the budget.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The question of whether or not we use the bonds, I
think, would have to be considered very carefully. I think one of the
Ohio men has a suggestion.
MR. DOWELL: This discussion would follow along with that on membership.
The active members of the Ohio section were organized back in 1946, and
in 1948 the national body put in its by-laws a provision that there
could be state sections formed. That is Article 1 and also Article 2,
that you could have affiliated bodies. Now, as far as I know, there is
no other state section.
MR. MCDANIEL: Michigan has one, now.
MR. DOWELL: Michigan has not actually affiliated yet, and when it does
come in it will be an affiliated society. According to the by-laws it
will not be necessary for all its members to be members of the N. N. G.
A.
Now, we feel that some strong state section is the main support in
membership interest and a lot of other lines, and I think that if you
check the rolls you will find where you have had a state organization,
whether it's affiliated or otherwise, particularly Ohio and Michigan,
that our membership has not really dropped down in total numbers. Of
course, there is a turnover every year. If it has dropped down, it's
been slight in comparison with the overall drop down.
MR. MCDANIEL: Ohio is only holding its own now. You have one more member
than you had a year ago.
MR. DOWELL: That's right, we are holding our own, and previous to this
last run, the total number in the Association was down a hundred. That
has not dropped in Ohio, which has the state section. Neither has it
recently in Michigan, which has recently organized the Michigan Nut
Growers.
The Executive Committee of the Ohio section wishes to present the
following resolution for the consideration of this body:
RESOLUTION
"WHEREAS we feel that membership in a state section has been a
definite advantage in maintaining and increasing membership in the
National Organization, as has been demonstrated in the Ohio Section
of the N. N. G. A.;
WHEREAS a National Organization becomes strong because of its
strong local sections which help maintain interest;
THEREFORE the National Organization should encourage and foster the
formation of local sections.
We therefore submit the following motion: That the N. N. G. A.
amend its constitution to provide for the organization of local
sections. These amendments should include the following provisions:
1. Membership in the N. N. G. A. shall be a requirement for full
membership in the local section; however this shall not exclude
local sections from accepting associate members.
2. That each member of the N. N. G. A. shall automatically become a
member of a local section when he resides in a location where a
recognized local section exists.
3. Wherever a local section has become established, the local
chairman shall serve as vice president of the N. N. G. A. for that
area.
4. The N. N. G. A. shall refund to the treasurer of each local
section ten percent (10%) of the N. N. G. A. dues paid annually by
members of that section."
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I conclude that you are presenting this for the
consideration of the Association. It would be an amendment to the
by-laws, I take it, rather than the constitution. Such an amendment
would have to come up for consideration at the next meeting after
consideration by the Board of Directors; either that, or else vote on it
by mail.
MR. DOWELL: It is purely a motion now, if passed or rejected. But if it
is passed, then previous to the Rochester meeting, the proposal would
have to be in a suitable form to be either passed or rejected for the
by-laws.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We have this resolution in printed form. That will
be transmitted to the Board of Directors for consideration at the next
meeting.
MR. DOWELL: We make it as a motion that the mass accept or reject it
here.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The motion is, then, to accept the resolution and
present it to the Board of Directors. Is that right? Is there a second?
MR. KINTZEL: I second it.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Are there further remarks? If not, all in favor,
signify by saying "Aye." (Chorus of "ayes"). Opposed? (None.) It is
carried.
MR. O'ROURKE: I am very sorry I was not recognized before the vote was
taken.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I am sorry.
MR. O'ROURKE: I am speaking, I think, for the Michigan Nut Growers, of
which we have quite a group here today, and we are quite anxious to
maintain an independent state organization. We feel that it is perfectly
all right for this motion to have been adopted as it has been, if there
will be no attempt made to delete that section which now refers to
affiliation.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I think there would be no attempt to do that.
MR. O'ROURKE: Is that clearly understood that there will be no attempt
made to delete the section on affiliation?
MR. DOWELL: That is the understanding. Now, there are two ways in the
present by-laws. Now, this would either be a third or replace the first.
It would have nothing to do with affiliating groups.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I think that is right, and I think the thing to
do, Mr. Dowell, would be to be sure that the new president is apprized
of the Michigan point of view in that regard. He will be the chairman of
the new Board of Directors, and this is simply a motion to consider it.
It doesn't go any further than that.
Is there any further business to come before this group at this time? If
not, the other item on the agenda, as it is stated, I believe, is a
presidential address.
The Forward Look
Presidential Address, by L. H. MacDaniels
As the retiring president of our Association, it is a time honored
custom and a privilege to give what is often referred to as the
presidential address. I do not have in mind giving an address but rather
to consider with you informally the present situation of the Northern
Nut Growers Association and to give my ideas as to what we might do to
improve our position and forward the purposes for which the Association
was organized in 1910.
Time does not permit recounting the history of the development of the
Association. This has been done on several previous occasions. I will,
however, go back to the 1945 report in which under the title "Where Do
We Go from Here" I tried to pick up various aspects of the condition of
the Association immediately following the war and point out areas to
which special attention should be given at that time.
Considering our situation in 1952, it appears that many of our problems
are about the same as they were in 1945 although in some areas definite
progress has been made. A quick look at our problems then and now is
perhaps pertinent to the present discussion. One of these is variety
evaluation. This still remains one of the important areas where we need
much more information particularly as to the success or failure of
different named clones of nut trees in various regions. Perhaps it is
time for us to carefully summarize whatever data we have accumulated as
to the adaptation of varieties or at least make plans for extending a
program of evaluation. Since 1945 our survey committees have been active
and have secured information that will certainly be helpful.
The problem of judging standards has been clarified somewhat. It is my
personal opinion that the judging schedule for varieties of black
walnuts worked out with the assistance of Dr. S. S. Atwood is on a sound
basis and might well receive much wider use. Following along somewhat
the same pattern, suggested schedules have been proposed for the
hickories and butternuts. These should receive further consideration and
adoption, if approved at least on a tentative basis. A schedule for
Persian walnuts is very much needed as indicated by the recent contest
in which confusion occurred related to there being no recognized
standards of evaluation. With the Persian walnut such matters as the
method of cracking and the importance of such characters as sealing of
nuts, recovery of whole halves and others should be agreed upon.
Our procedure in naming varieties is still somewhat chaotic. Possibly we
should adopt the general pattern of the American Pomological Society.
Their example of setting up an approved list of varieties for planting
on a regional basis is worthy of consideration. Even though such a list
were tentative and incomplete, a start which would embody the best
information we have would be valuable.
Securing new varieties of, hardy nut trees through breeding has made
some progress. Most encouraging is the work of the Federal Experiment
Station at Beltsville where Doctor Crane and Doctor McKay and their
associates are using modern techniques in securing new varieties of
hardy nut trees. Some progress in hybridization, of course, has been
made, particularly with the filberts, the hybrids developed by J. F.
Jones, G. L. Slate, S. H. Graham, Heben Corsan and some others, showing
great improvement over previous European varieties in their adaptability
to the northern United States. At the present time there are filbert
varieties of hybrid origin better than those in the nursery trade which
should be propagated and made available. Work with the Chinese chestnuts
has also been valuable.
It is my opinion, which I believe is shared by most of those who are
familiar with progress in securing new varieties, that we are not likely
to find in the wild, varieties or clones which show any marked
improvement over those already found and named. There is, of course,
always the possibility of the "perfect nut" arising as a chance
variation. The recent walnut and hickory contests, however, have been
somewhat disappointing for they have not discovered any variety of black
walnut better than the Thomas for instance, or a hickory much better
than some of those located years ago. This does not mean that members of
the Association should not keep a sharp lookout for new varieties
occurring spontaneously which will be better than existing sorts. It
does mean, however, that if real "breaks" are to be secured, it will be
necessary to apply some of the more effective techniques which are known
in the plant breeding field. Any such program is a long time project and
can only be effectively attempted by experiment stations, or by some of
the young men, who begin now to make crosses under the direction or at
least with the advice of those who are familiar with plant breeding
techniques.
Progress has been made in the Association organization. The constitution
has been thoroughly overhauled and amended, particularly to provide for
regional groups. Certainly such groups are to be encouraged and have
done and will do much to strengthen the national organization in the
various states. It is my personal opinion that these regional groups can
be of particular value in working with the experiment stations and
legislatures to promote the interests of the Association. The state
associations should be on the alert to build on the interests of
conservation departments as related to wildlife preserves and
sportsmen's clubs and other agencies which put the growing of nut trees
in proper perspective. I am not at all in favor of securing either
federal or state support for every minor project which comes along.
However, the Northern Nut Growers Association need make no apologies for
its program, particularly as it is related to the conservation of our
natural resources; to the promotion of better living on the farm and
those values which are real and great, even though they do not show up
large in dollar value of crops produced.
Unfortunately, projects in nut growing have been started in various
states, particularly Ohio and Michigan only to be eliminated before they
really got under way because of lack of support. Experiment station
directors, if they are confronted with a shortage of funds, are likely
to run the blue pencil through items which cannot be backed up with
economic considerations. The approach of the Northern Nut Growers
Association it seems to me should not be to seek support on an economic
basis but rather on the basis of better living on the farm, improvement
of gardens and farmsteads and the advantages of growing nut trees as
compared with any other horticultural activity. There has been a real
increase in the importance which is given to this approach in recent
times and an active state association, which can keep in touch with
local conditions and call on the national association for additional
support, will certainly be of great assistance in the future.
I personally am not in favor of any sort of a set up by which the
national association gives a kick back of national dues to a regional
association. The dues are inadequate for the national association at the
present time. Looking at the whole situation with some perspective, it
would seem that the regional associations might contribute to the
national association rather than the reverse. If the constitution and
by-laws of the Association are not such as to make affiliation with the
national association and the formation of regional associations easy,
they can readily be changed to secure the very best pattern that can be
devised.
Perhaps one of the most acute problems with which the Association is
faced is the struggle to keep financially solvent. We are all aware of
our changing economy, particularly the increased costs of printing and
in fact of everything that our organization uses or needs, even postage.
In my thinking, the finances of the Association are much the same as
those of an individual, who is confronted with expenditures that exceed
his income. The things that have to be done are obvious and the same in
both cases. One is to spend less and the other is to secure more funds.
In the judgment of your directors and executive committee, expenditures
have been reduced as low as is safe in order to keep a going
organization. Members join the Association for the value which they get
out of it and a large part of this value is in the form of reports,
newsletters, information made available and the organization of annual
meetings. If these services were discontinued or curtailed, membership
falls off. This has been the experience of other plant societies, of
which there are many.
In my judgment retrenchment is not the answer in the present situation.
Securing additional funds is the best forward-looking policy. The
question comes up as to how this may be done. Experience in our
Association and I believe other associations as well, has shown that
$3.00 is about as far as dues can be raised. There comes a point with
every society when, if the dues are increased, there is a falling off of
membership, which more than offsets the gain. Other obvious procedures
are: (1) increasing the number of members; (2) providing different types
of memberships to encourage larger contributions; (3) gifts; and (4)
special fund raising projects. Of these various ways and means,
certainly increasing the number of members is by far the more promising.
The overhead of the association is not increased with additional
memberships anywhere near in proportion to the contributions of those
members. This is particularly true for additional copies of the report
and general office expense. The drive for new members under President
Best's leadership has produced gratifying results and I believe if this
is continued effectively through the next few years, a membership
increase can be secured that will assure the Association's balancing its
budget. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand paid memberships
would solve most of our financial difficulties. Provision is already
made for different types of memberships and it is to be hoped that many
who can do so will join the contributing member class at least until we
are out of our present financial woods.
Other societies raise considerable revenue through special projects such
as the sale of publications of one kind or another, seed distribution or
slide rental. The type of material with which the Northern Nut Growers
Association deals is not comparable to some of these other organizations
but certainly the possibilities of revenue through special projects need
to be explored.
Research with northern nut trees is exceedingly important from the
standpoint of accomplishing the objectives of the Association. The
matter of breeding new varieties has already been touched on. Other
types of research are such that a large part must be carried on by
experiment stations which have a continuing program. Much has been done
in securing observational information by Association members themselves
but some problems are such that they must be continued over a long
period of time and set up with adequate checks and provision for
securing significant data. Otherwise the results are of no real value.
Granted we need all the sound observational experience that all the
members can bring to our problems, there are still aspects of culture of
northern nut trees that need continuing program of scientific research.
Fortunately, much of the cultural information secured with nut crops of
economic value is directly applicable to northern nut trees. This is
true of the work with northwestern filberts, western walnuts, southern
pecans and even the tung industry. There comes a point, however, when
information thus gained needs to be checked under the specific
conditions where the crops are grown and very little research has been
done in the northern states where the hardy nuts are important.
Of special importance to the northern nut growers is the control of
diseases and insects. At the present time the bunch disease of walnuts
is becoming increasingly more troublesome and very little is known as to
how this is spread or how it may be controlled. In my own filbert
planting, the hazel bud mite during past years has made the crop
practically a failure. Little apparently is known as to the life history
of this insect or when miticides might be applied. Examples such as the
bunch disease and mite damage are multiplied many times with other
diseases of local or regional importance. In my thinking our best hope
for getting something done is to encourage the Departments of Entomology
and Plant Pathology in the experiment stations to take up these disease
and insect problems, which might be attacked by graduate students as
thesis subjects, even though the economic importance is not great.
As I see the situation of the Association, there is need for its members
to produce more nuts of better quality. Nothing intrigues the interest
of potential members as much as actually seeing and tasting locally
grown samples of nuts of superior varieties. On several occasions I have
tried to assemble collections of nuts for exhibit or to buy them for one
purpose or another and found great difficulty in finding sources of
supply. This was particularly true in the fall of 1951 when we were
trying to assemble nuts for "The Things of Science" project. We wanted
very much to secure Carpathian walnuts that could be sent out and used
for seed purposes. There was no source to which we could turn. In
several possible sources of supply, husk maggots had so infested the
crop that the nuts were discolored and unattractive. It might have been
possible to secure enough black walnuts to include in the kit but the
problem of state quarantines against the bunch disease could not be
easily adjusted.
Finally I believe the Northern Nut Growers Association is doing a very
significant work. Our emphasis at the present time at least might very
well be on nut growing as a hobby and for conservation, for better shade
trees and for better living on the farms and homesteads rather than to
emphasize the commercial angles. This will come in time if it can really
be demonstrated that growing northern nut trees is a profitable venture.
In these days of job specialization everyone needs a hobby and an outlet
for special interests. I know of few other fields of endeavor for those
who like growing things than the rewards that are to be found in the
growing of hardy nut trees.
MONDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
The Monday afternoon session was convened at one o'clock p.m.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The afternoon session will please be in order.
The first paper this afternoon will be, "The Future of Your Nut
Planting," Mr. W. F. Sonnemann, Vandalia, Illinois.
The Future of Your Nut Planting
W. F. SONNEMANN, _Vandalia, Ill._
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to appear before the
Northern Nut Growers Association. I am just a sprout as far as nut
growing is concerned, when we consider the age of some of our old
hickory nut trees.
About 25 years ago, I became interested in nut growing and, in
particular, the river-bottom hickory nut tree. Then we had so many nut
trees growing in the bottom that we never thought of trying to plant a
tree or look after one. People could gather all the nuts they wanted and
often the trees were cut just to get the nuts. They'd lay a stick of
dynamite at the base of the tree to shake the nuts off.
After a few years of that, I thought we might do something to save the
nut trees for the future generations. That's when I first started to
plant some nuts. Incidentally, I made a big mistake, by not joining the
Northern Nut Growers Association.
Naturally, I wanted the largest pecan I could find. I went to the St.
Louis market and bought and planted nice Papershell pecans--very nice
pecans, but the trees do not mature their crop. Mr. McDaniel and I tried
to top-work them, but that's a big job. Had I joined the Northern Nut
Growers Association, I could have avoided a lot of those mistakes.
There are some things that I found out in practicing law that can very
well apply to nut growing. If you will pardon the reference to personal
experience, I can bring forth to you about four situations. One, a good,
close friend of mine had a vacant lot close to his home. He had been
planting nut trees and papaw trees and persimmon trees for years. On
this vacant lot he had a 25-year-old Busch walnut growing back on the
alley, on the lawn was a beautiful Japanese flowering cherry, and there
were two pecan trees in the yard proper. He sold the lot to a neighbor
whose wife was just crazy about flowers, little dreaming that those
trees would ever be cut down. I don't believe the ink of the recorder
had been cooled or dried before that English walnut was cut down, the
Japanese cherry grubbed out of the front lawn, and one of the pecan
trees was cut. It just about broke the old owner's heart, and all he
could say was, "I am just disappointed in my neighbors." And now there
is a house being erected there, and the pecan tree that was 12 inches in
diameter was cut. That could have been prevented, had this man given
thought to the future.
Another man, named Hagen, who was instrumental in getting me interested
in nut growing, had a nice group of river-bottom shellbark trees growing
in his field. One of these has been propagated and named the Hagen, and
although it isn't a good cracking quality, it's a very large nut.
A pipe line was laid close to that field, and this man had the
fore-*sight to put a clause in this pipe-line right of way which gave
him the protection of collecting adequate damages for the destruction
of the trees. Didn't even need a lawyer, which is something bad for the
law business. It is a suggestion, that when a pipe line, or telephone
company is buying a right of way, it is possible to protect your
interests in valuable trees.
Another instance of protecting nut trees was when the new U. S. Highway
40 was built across Illinois. I had the job of condemning the right of
way and when the engineer and I were out walking over it we noticed a
fine group of hickory nut trees on the hillside. I remarked what a nice
group of trees it was. He said, "Yes, that's going to be a borrow pit up
there." I said, "You mean they are going to destroy those trees?" He
said, "Yes, dirt from this borrow pit will make the fill across this
bottom."
I said, "Why can't we get the dirt somewhere else? Dirt is dirt."
And the engineer said, "Well, that's the plans." We had a little
contrariness there, and I had to threaten to drop the case as far as
that tract of land was concerned. If you fight long enough and hard
enough in such cases you may find some other person who is interested in
nut trees. We did; we found an engineer higher up, and that group of
hickory trees is now a picnic area. They used a borrow pit somewhere
else, and it gives me a great pleasure to drive past that group of
hickory trees and see them still standing there. In the fall of the year
you'd be surprised at the number of people at that picnic area, and they
keep those hickory nuts picked up clean as fast as they fall.
In our county hospital just started they happened to select a piece of
ground I own an interest in for a county hospital. On that are some good
hickory nut trees. I told them they'd never get the land until they made
some arrangements in regard to those nut trees. The engineer that
designed that hospital must have had some sense, because they are
building a canopy around one of the trees adjacent to that hospital, and
have arranged to cut only one scrub oak. The other trees will be
mentioned in the deed with restrictive covenants to protect them.
If you sign anything a company gives you, you are liable to have
anything cut on your land. Remember the saying that "the big print gives
it to you and the fine print takes it away." And it's the fine print you
want to watch in all your right of ways or in your condemnation
proceedings.
I know a man who had almost 160 acres of river-bottom hickories. During
his lifetime he was very careful about those trees. He would cut the
brush around the trees and harvest those hickory nuts as if it was a
crop of corn or beans. Upon his death his children were scattered over
the various states. They didn't care anything for this hickory grove.
It's been cut. Now there is a bulldozer in there trying to clean out
those hickory stumps. They are not making much progress. All you now
have in that farm is 160 acres of old tree stumps, wild honey-suckle
vines, poison ivy and poison oak, and even a coon hunter gripes when he
has to take his dogs through there on a coon hunt. Those heirs care
nothing about it.
In selling land it doesn't make any difference whether it's a sale to a
neighbor, or to a friend or a stranger, you should protect any trees
that you have growing upon that land by what we term a covenant running
with the land, and that means if a deed is made it will provide that
certain trees shall not be cut within a certain period of time. In one
case where I am forced to sell some land I am protecting the trees for
10 years.
Each of these situations requires research under your own state laws. I
had hoped to be able to tell you something definite and precise as to
each situation, but when I considered the membership in the Northern Nut
Growers, the many states it covers and the great difference in the state
laws, it's just impossible to lay your hand upon one set of facts that
governs. You should consult your attorney who is dealing with your
transactions and tell him specifically what you have in mind and what
you want to protect. He will know whether your state recognizes
covenants running with your land and what provision can be made to
protect trees that you want to save or secure damages.
Remember, in any transaction, if it is not in the written instrument
that you sign, it's just an oral agreement that you make on the side,
and it doesn't mean a thing. It has to be in the paper that you sign.
As I mentioned briefly, in what they call "eminent domain", the state
has a right to take property for public use. The only thing you can do
there is just get your head square and fight, and if you are stubborn
enough, you may find someone in the organization that you are dealing
with who has some interest in trees. They may not be members of the
Northern Nut Growers Association or any tree association, but there are
some people who appreciate trees and who do realize how long it takes to
have a nice pecan tree or nice hickory nut tree growing.
If they call you contrary, that you won't give in to anything, let them
call you contrary, let them call you nuts, but you can protect your
trees and make sure that their future is secure.
What will happen to your trees after you are dead? Each individual's
situation has to be considered separately. In many states you can
provide by will to whom you want your nut planting to go, or you can, by
making a trust, give the trees to trustees with certain powers and
duties to care for and manage them for a period of time or perpetually,
depending on the laws of your state. Usually it is limited to the life
of some person or 21 years. In that length of time if your heirs or the
person you desire these trees to go to have not educated themselves to
the value of the tree, then the planting will be lost anyway.
In all of these cases and all the transactions that you make, if you
value your trees--and you surely do when you will carry water for them
and plant them and dig that large hole for those roots--it is worth
while to look after them during the trees' lifetime, not your own
lifetime. And if you will consult with your attorney, particularly
mention those trees to him and just exactly what your ideas are, I think
you will be assured that you will have a future for nut trees.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you, Mr. Sonnemann.
Are there any questions you wish to ask on this subject. Here is a
chance to get free legal advice on the spot. That's unusual.
DR. GRAVATT: There is one point I'd like to bring out, backing up what
the gentleman just said. You know we introduced back in 1928 to 1936
very large numbers of Chinese and Japanese chestnuts. Most of them went
out to state forestry departments and such; somewhere around a half
million trees. We have had some very valuable cooperative orchard
plantings, which have been lost because something happened to the man,
he moved away, sold his property, or died. With these gentlemen who have
passed away, experimental orchard plantings and other trees were part of
their lives, but their children, or whoever inherited the property, had
no interest in continuing the work.
We have had the same experience with some agricultural experiment
stations where one of the horticulturists is interested in the
plantings, but has moved away, and we have lost our plantings.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you, Dr. Gravatt. Mr. Becker, do you wish to
say something about the Reed Memorial?
MR. BECKER: This is just a word of appreciation to a number of the
Northern Nut Growers members who have helped out with the C. A. Reed
Memorial.
When we organized the Michigan Nut Growers Association last January it
was Professor O'Rourke's idea to have a memorial at Mr. Reed's home
town, which is Howell, Michigan. With Mrs. Reed's approval we planned as
our first project, planting a nut tree with a suitable plaque in memory
of the late Dr. Reed.
As a followup, we issued a little bulletin asking for contributions
toward the memorial. We sent these out to people who knew Mr. Reed, many
of whom are among this group.
Response has been gratifying and we now have approximately $95 toward
the tablet. On Arbor Day a Michigan variety of shagbark hickory called
the Abscoda was planted at Howell on the library grounds. The services
were conducted with the cooperation of the Michigan State College and
the Livingston County garden group. This is a word of appreciation and
also to explain what we have done. Thank you. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We will go on to the next paper, "The Value of a
Tree," Ferdinand Bolten, Linton, Indiana. Mr. Bolton. (Applause.)
MR. BOLTEN: Members of the Northern Nut Growers Association and ladies
and gentlemen: I am just a farmer. I am not a speech-maker, like the
lawyer here who makes his living talking. I make my living farming, and
I have some ideas, views that I'd like to bring before you.
The Value of a Tree
FERD BOLTEN, _Linton, Ind._
Members of the Northern Nut Growers Association, ladies, and gentlemen.
It may be a little unusual for a fruit grower and farmer to be on this
program; however, I have lived a lifetime working with trees on the same
farm I was born on sixty-six years ago last May. We have one hundred
acres of orchard, several varieties of nut trees, including English
walnut, pecans, hybrid pecans or hicans, hickories, filberts, hazelnuts,
heart nuts, butternuts, black walnuts; also, persimmons, pawpaws,
hybrid oaks and many of the native forest trees. In operating a farm
this size, you naturally get a lot of experience and headaches. A very
good friend of mine told me a joke that I think fits in with my farm
very well. He said a fruit grower delivered a load of apples to the
insane asylum. One of the inmates was helping unload the apples. The
inmate kept talking about apples, so the grower asked him if he was ever
on a fruit farm. The inmate replied that he was before he came to the
asylum and, in return, asked the grower if he had ever been in the
asylum. The grower replied that he had not. Then the inmate said, "Mr.,
I have been both places, and I can tell you something. It is a lot nicer
here than it is on a fruit farm".
My subject is,
THE VALUE OF A TREE
A tree out of its natural habitat sometimes becomes worthless. As an
extreme example, the orange tree in Indiana has no commercial value and
the apple tree in Florida has no commercial value. Therefore, it seems
that we should, in Indiana, endeavor to develop better trees in the
trees which are at home here. This includes the native hickory and the
black walnut, hazels, filberts and the pecans in Southern Indiana.
Personally, I am spending quite a bit of time with the Crath Carpathian
English or Persian Walnut. Last winter, I lost seven out of fifty trees
from some cause, after they had gone through the winter of 1950 and
1951, at a temperature of nineteen below zero without injury. It may
have been they were caught last fall by a hard freeze in full foliage,
early before the apples were all picked; and, again, it may be blight. I
hope not. But this I do know, the hickory and black walnut in their
natural habitat were not injured.
I wonder why hickories are so erratic in their bearing habits. Could it
be the winter rest period? For example, the peach has to have from seven
hundred hours, in some varieties, to twelve hundred hours, in others, of
below forty-five degrees temperature, or they will not set a good crop
of fruit. The value of a variety of peach in Georgia sometimes is
determined by the number of hours of rest period below forty-five
degrees that the variety has to have. It has happened that the same
variety of peach has produced a good crop in Northern Georgia and a poor
crop in Southern Georgia. Where the winter was not as cold in Indiana we
never lose crops from the lack of enough cold weather; we lose them from
sub-zero temperatures. So you see, the value of a variety in Georgia is
different to Indiana.
The value of a tree may be in the wood or in the food its produces, or
its beauty in winter. Many a picture is taken of evergreens covered with
snow. Its value may be its beauty in summer, or the coloring of its
leaves in the fall. There is also a sentimental value; a limb that is
just right for a child's swing, the Constitutional Elm at Corydon, or
the Harrison Oak at North Bend, Ohio. They have a historical value and
are visited by many people.
A man said to me some time ago, "I wonder why God made the hicans the
cross between the pecans and the hickory?" There may be a valuable nut
tree show up in the second or third generation of the hybrid trees when
certain characteristics begin to revert to the parent trees. I have on
my farm some hybrid oaks grafted, and am very anxious to see them
produce acorns so I can plant them and watch the results. This hybrid
originated in the Greene and Sullivan County Forest in Indiana, and is
called the Carpenter Oak after Mr. Carpenter, the district forester. It
is, apparently, a cross between the shingle oak and the pin oak because
it is comparable with both of them.
The value of a tree is not always the one that wins first prize in the
show. The best plate of nuts in the show may not be from the most
valuable tree, because it may be biennial in bearing habits, it may be a
shy bearer, it may be an early bloomer and subject to frost. My most
productive Crath Carpathian tree is not the best walnut and would not
get anywhere in the show, but it is hardy, blooms late, and is
productive; so its value is in these traits. The number of chromosomes
in the Crath Carpathian walnut may be different. There is quite a
difference in the size of nuts produced on individual trees. This
indicates that there may be a difference in chromosome count. If this is
true, it will be a great help in improving the size of the nuts
produced. It may be of value in pollination. The triploid apple needs to
be pollinated by the diploid variety. By setting them close together,
you get a much better set of fruit.
Sometimes I think trees are as temperamental as people. Some trees,
especially the apple, lose their value because they are subject to
certain diseases. Some are susceptible to scab, blight, codling moth,
rots, blotch, and other diseases, to a point where they become worthless
as commercial varieties. The honey locust has been considered one of the
trees on farms to be destroyed, because it was thought to be worthless.
Now, its value is being found in the correcting of sugar deficiency in
dairy cattle. The pods of the honey locust are one of the best foods to
correct sugar deficiency and cattle like them and eat them freely. I
have on my farm a thornless honey locust that produced ten bushels of
pods one year. The honey locust is also a legume and produces nitrogen
which, in turn, is used by the pasture grasses and makes more pasture
for the cattle.
The mulberry tree that ripens when cherries are ripe has a value in the
fact that every mulberry eaten by a bird saves a cherry and the birds
are valuable because they destroy insects that cause the worms in
cherries.
After observing trees for years, I am convinced that there are certain
strains or families of trees in the forest that have outstanding traits.
Those traits in growth might be dwarfs or they may be giants; they may
have short lives or long lives, like different varieties of apples. The
fruit or seeds may be large or small. I believe as reforestation
progresses there will be certain trees located which have value as seed
trees and which will improve the forest equal to the improvement in
livestock on the farms today. The razor back hog that roamed the forest
is gone and has been replaced by animals much improved; yet, the forest
in which it roamed is the same. Now we are turning to man made forests
and a chance to improve them by selecting the more valuable trees for
our source of seed. In the native hickory and black walnut, there is a
great need for more interest in searching for and preserving the most
valuable trees for their cracking quality, flavor, and productivity.
There have been and are now, nut trees on farms that were valuable
trees, but were known only to the owner and the small boys of the
community. These trees should have been preserved for posterity, but
many of them are lost forever.
In forestry, a tree's value may be in its ability to re-seed itself. In
the kinds of pine, the Virginia pine is one of the best, and also, one
of the youngest to produce seed cones. I have counted twenty-five cones
on a five year old Virginia Pine tree. In forestry, the red cedar is
good to re-seed itself in the area in which it grows. The maple ash,
cotton wood, and poplar also grow freely from nature's seeding.
Every tree that grows has a value. The leaves help purify the air; the
persimmon and the tree with a wild grapevine are food for wild life. The
old hollow tree is a refuge for the coon and o'possum and other wild
life. I have a hollow white oak on my farm I let stand because a family
of squirrels is raised in it every year. I also have a bee tree and the
bees help pollinate my fruit trees so they produce better. A world
without trees would be a desolate place. The value of a park is in its
trees.
I have spoken of the value of trees for the preservation of wild life,
but how do trees affect the life of man and how does man affect tree
life? Man is the builder or destroyer of tree life; although the tree is
the oldest living thing in plant or animal life, man is master over
trees. A man came into my farm office one day and said, "Everything in
this room either grew from the earth or was mined from the earth." How
about everything in this room? The furniture, the clothing you wear, the
ring on your finger, the glass in the windows, etc.? Let us think for a
minute, what are the things of the greatest value in this room? We have
an organization, The Northern Nut Growers Association. It did not grow
from the earth, there is knowledge of science here, there are doctors'
degrees (I wish I had one), there is ambition, honesty, love, pride, and
patriotism. Man's knowledge is the key. What he leaves alone or what he
destroys. So the greatest value is man's knowledge. After all, the
greatest values are the things that come from the minds and the hearts
of men. By man's efforts, we find or develop these valuable trees.
The value of a home is increased by trees. The love of trees and the
pride in owning a home is hard to separate. The privilege in America to
own a home and plant a tree on your own ground is of great value. It has
been said that he, who plants a tree, is truly a servant of God. I
sometimes wonder if this great value of the privilege of owning a piece
of ground and building a home and planting a tree is in danger of being
lost under the present creeping grip of socialism and communism. This
privilege of planting and owning a tree is of greater value than any
tree, and we must not lose this valuable inheritance in America.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Mr. Magill, are you all set with your program?
MR. MAGILL: Yes, sir. This is to be a discussion of "Methods of Getting
Better Annual Crops on Black Walnut--A symposium led by W. W. Magill
(Kentucky)--Discussion by a panel made up of W. G. Tatum, Spencer Chase,
W. B. Ward and Mr. Schlagenbusch." Will those men come here? We will get
started.
My business in life is Extension peddler down in Kentucky, working on
fruits and nuts and berries, and naturally that takes me into a good
many counties. We have 120, and I have been in all of them. Some places
didn't have anything, so no reason to go back. But I pick up a lot of
conversation, people give you ideas and things to think about.
We were talking about the conditions of the world--everybody's got a
good job and plenty of money and biggest incomes that the country has
ever known. That's true, but if you take down in the hills and hollows
into some places that I go and you take the financial status of certain
of those families, it's not measured in thousands of dollars, some cases
not hardly measured in hundreds of dollars. It's measured in terms of
gratuities and things to eat and not measured by greenbacks, and the
families don't pay income tax.
Last fall I was out on a farm in the foothills some 70 miles from
Lexington, in a place that most of you folks wouldn't want to live in
and call home, a little farm, probably 16 acres, with a widow lady
probably 65 years old, living there with her daughter. And among other
things, she said, "Mr. Magill, I understand that you are supposed to
know something about nuts. See that tree standing right out there?" She
says, "I will give you a $20 bill if you will tell me how to make that
nut tree bear annual crops."
Well, I was a little bit surprised. I listened, and I got to asking her
questions. Some member of the family had gone to Chicago years ago, and
she knew about all the black walnut packing firms in Kentucky. This
relative had worked in the market, and had indicated she could get a
dollar a pound for all the nut meats she would pick out and send to this
relative in Chicago. And that nut tree meant about 30 to 35 dollars a
year when it had a crop but only bore every other year.
Well, that drove home just a little more to me than ever before the
question of why certain nut trees bore and others didn't bear. To that
lady there it meant $30 the year it bore and no income from that tree on
the year it didn't bear. And she stood there beside the home and pointed
out other trees that bore regularly. And she said, "Why do they bear
regular crops and this good tree that makes so many fine, big kernels
bears every other year?" That's a challenge I am throwing out to this
audience today to all the members on this panel.
I am hoping that Pappy Ward or Friend Chase will answer that question
completely. The thing I have in mind, is that in a group like we have
here today, as many nuts as we have got here, if we think about this
question and talk to the folks back home, I believe in a year or two we
can have worked out and have printed in the records of the report some
pretty reasonable answers as to why nut trees don't bear, or why they
bear heavy crops on certain years and are off certain years.
Mr. Ward, I know you have observed this over a period of years. What, in
your opinion, is the one factor that is more responsible for this
alternate bearing of black walnuts?
Why Black Walnuts Fail to Bear Satisfactory Crops
W. B. WARD, _Department of Horticulture, Purdue University, Lafayette,
Ind._
When man or nature, and sometimes both, change the natural habits of a
tree, most anything can happen. There are years when the black walnut
sets very few fruits either on the seedling trees or trees of named
varieties. Some few trees have alternate years of production, while
other trees bear annually and some not at all. Good results and good
crops may be expected only when several factors are normal and
conditions favorable. After twenty years of keeping records and
observations on nut trees and through correspondence with other growers,
I consider the main reason for crop failure or light production to be
climatic conditions and the weather for an entire year.
The black walnut produces a pistillate flower at the end of the present
season's growth. The staminate flowers, or catkins, come from last
year's wood. Good growing conditions are desirable for wood growth and
fruit bud formation and any retarding of growth the previous season
means little or no production. Winter injury to wood and bud, diseases
or insects attacking the foliage, soil moisture, and summer temperatures
will lower tree vitality. There are times when strong vigorous trees
fail to fruit which could be due to a high or low carbohydrate-nitrogen
balance. Soil type, plant food, age of tree, and location will have some
influence on annual or even biennial production but yet are not the all
important reasons for light crops.
The pollen of the black walnut is mostly wind borne as few insects ever
visit the flowers and pollination is dependent on wind borne pollen.
Trees planted in groups and close together are generally more productive
than trees planted in orchard rows even as close as 40' by 40'. When the
weather is cold and rainy during bloom, one should not expect much of a
crop.
The staminate flowers opened early in Indiana the years of 1950, 1951,
and 1952. The weather was more or less ideal during the time the catkins
had elongated and about ready to shed pollen. This warm spell was
followed by a fairly cool weather and considerable rain, which delayed
the opening of the pistillate flowers, consequently the pollen dried and
was lost before the pistil was receptive.
The few walnut trees in the University plantation have always had the
best of care. The trees have been mulched, fertilized (both through root
and leaf feedings), sprayed, cultivated and seeded to grass with the
grass clipped. The trees are some distance away from other seedling
walnuts and a bit off the beaten path of the right direction of the
spring winds. The varieties are Ohio, Stambaugh, Stabler, Rohwer, and
Thomas. When the spring weather is balmy at flowering time, the trees
bear a respectable crop but let the weather change to cool and moist and
then that is the time one begins to think about calling up the sawmill
to see if there is any need for some good walnut logs.
MR. MAGILL: That's a mighty good discussion. I see Mr. Ward has been
observing walnut trees closer than I assumed he had.
Mr. Chase, I know you have seen a lot of things in Tennessee that you
are not going to tell us about, but I suggest that you discuss some of
the things you have observed about walnut trees bearing anywhere.
MR. CHASE: Alternate bearing has been a problem with fruits and nuts
since time immemorial. I know a tremendous amount of work has been done
with the apple, which has a definite biennial bearing habit. There have
been all sorts of things tried to make it bear annual crops, and as far
as I know, there has not been anything effective developed along that
line. Of course, there are varieties of apples that tend to bear annual
crops.
As Mr. Ward brought out--he took all my thunder, so I don't have much to
say--a tree may set a heavy crop of nuts one year because frost or poor
pollination the year before destroyed the crop so that a large amount of
carbohydrates were built up in the tree. Now, the tree in producing a
heavy crop of well filled nuts utilizes every bit of carbohydrates it
has stored and can manufacture. While it is doing this the terminal bud
is being formed for next year's crop, and if there isn't a sufficient
amount of carbohydrates in the tree at that critical period, there is
not likely to be a flower bud formed.
This is not limited just to walnuts, but occurs with nearly all fruits
and nuts, with the possible exception of the chestnut.
We made a study which was reported in the 1946 report by Mr. Zarger in
which he reported the bearing habits of some 135 trees over a 10-year
period, and there were definite bearing cycles, or bearing habits. It
was not always an on year followed by an off year, but possibly two
years in a row, then nothing. There were some trees that went three
years without a crop, then a crop. Very few, however, had annual crops,
and the annual crops were heavy or moderately heavy, followed by what we
consider a light crop.
These trees were scattered through seven states and, of course,
conditions were not the same. They were all seedling trees, but careful
records were kept on the bearing habits. There was a group of trees that
could not be classified into any definite bearing habit. In those
instances we suspected unfavorable weather at pollination time, but as a
general rule, in our section I don't believe we are concerned with that
factor.
The Thomas, which we can watch carefully in a nearby orchard, is
definitely on one year and off the next. Quite a few are on one year and
off two years. We haven't found any way to make that an annual crop,
because when it sets a crop, it sets a bumper crop, and there is simply
not enough food in the tree to set a sufficient number of fruit buds for
the following year's crop. I am sure that a lot of you folks have
observed this, and I think, Mr. Magill, that you might sound out some of
them.
MR. MAGILL: Going back to an observation I made as a kid, money didn't
grow in bushes around our place, and back in those days you could go out
and kill ten rabbits and sell them for 8 cents apiece, and if you only
used 4 cents apiece for ammunition, you have made 40 cents off of the
deal and had $20 worth of fun, and that was a good day's work. You
remember those days, Pappy? Back in those same times, I used to get
money out of hauling black walnuts to an old corn sheller and having
people who didn't have an interest in the corn sheller sell them for 50
cents a bushel. That was also pin money. Come in mighty useful.
We had a certain group of trees on the farm I was raised on that bore
every other year, and I can think of two fields where we rearranged the
fences in such a way as to make pasture fields out of them, and two of
those trees were where 15 or 20 cattle pastured. These were the only
shade trees, and naturally they manured those trees. And I recall for a
few years I was getting annual crops from them. Apparently they got
something supplied by cattle that they didn't have otherwise. Others in
the foothills of Kentucky, have come to the same conclusion.
I know a man who has pecan holdings in Alabama. He told me up to the
time he got the farm the trees had a few blooms but wouldn't set pecans.
He applied 15 mineral elements and claims to have got results from it. I
have talked to at least three people in my travelling around who tried
the same treatment on pecans, one in Georgia, one in Alabama and one in
Mississippi. They reported that they had improved yield on pecans by
using complete mineral fertilizer. That's in addition to nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium.
I am foolish enough to think that that nice, young orchard of Mrs.
Weber's would make an excellent place to try it. I understand that the
trees are not behaving as well as they should. I'd like for Ford
Wilkinson to be made chairman of a committee to see that they are
fertilized according to some kind of a schedule that could be worked out
and do some observing. That is one of the few places I know of in the
several states that would be as adequately laid out. I'd like to see a
complete fertilizer including nine or ten mineral elements used.
I don't mean spend a lot of money, but you can do a lot of observing for
relatively few dollars. I just throw that out as a hint.
I would like to open up this discussion. Mr. Bolten talked a while ago
about things he was growing out of the ground, or out of minerals.
Everything comes from the ground, and I reckon you'd say this Northern
Nut Growers Association is a little like Topsy, it just developed, as
the fellow about the weeds. He said they weren't created, they just come
all at once. Now I believe that out of this Northern Nut Growers
assembly here that we have got some keen observers that might have
something on their minds they want to tell us about. Who wants to speak
first?
MR. CALDWELL: This is just an observation I am throwing out for the
benefit of those who are here. I spent some time in China, and I was
interested in the fact that their walnuts there produced yearly crops.
In trying to find out why they produced yearly crops, I also discovered
that their persimmons, their plums and their peaches did the same thing.
The reason for that apparently goes back to their mythology. They
believe in signs and doing certain things according to certain seasons
of the year, and one of the things that they did was to gather together
in the dark of the moon on one particular night at a certain time and
beat the living daylights out of these trees with big bamboo clubs. I
wouldn't suggest that people here do that, but it's been known to
foresters quite a while that by transplanting or severely pruning or
girdling trees that you could produce fruits on these trees the
following year. Apparently the Chinese so injured the cambium during the
severe beating that they have caused that wound stimulus to induce the
formation of flower buds for the following year. By so doing in their
English or Persian walnuts they did have yearly crops. I have seen this
myself, and I checked back to see why. Perhaps they could explain it.
The only explanation we made was not fertilizing, but in the wounding of
the cambium. Now, perhaps there could be something done of that nature
for walnuts, but I wouldn't suggest getting around and beating the trees
up.
MR. MAGILL: In that connection, one man in Kentucky got the same answer.
He said about five years ago a cyclone came through there and blew the
chimney off the house and uprooted a number of apple trees and leaned
over three walnut trees, and he said they have borne five crops in
succession. Now, this is the same story that you have got there.
MR. STOKE: I'd just like to remark that I think that's a sort of
negative approach. I noticed a boy who had an apple tree that was about
to die. He girdled it and got a tremendous crop of blossom. You probably
have secured the same results. That is one of Nature's ways to
perpetuate itself. But I think there a constructive angle in those trees
that respond to nitrogenous fertilizer or manure. I believe the secret,
if there is a secret, is that a tree in bearing a crop exhausts itself
more or less. It recuperates the following year and then is ready to
bear another crop. And the way to meet that situation is to fertilize
heavily, especially with nitrogen, the season of the heavy crop so that
you will have not only enough leaf growth to produce that crop, but to
build up nutrients the following year. I believe that will help break
the cycle and establish more regularity.
Some trees do that themselves; that is, they will bear a moderate crop
every year. I have the Land walnut at home. It bears every year. Certain
chestnuts will bear every year, not excessive crops, but Hobson bears a
pretty good crop every year. I believe the secret of breaking that
on-and-off cycle is to fertilize heavily the year of production not the
year of non-production. If you apply nitrogen on the off year you
produce perhaps an excess of wood growth that year and overbearing the
following year.
MR. MAGILL: Referring to apples, any of you apple growers well know that
the Golden Delicious and York Imperial grow crops in alternate years.
Now, you come along with hormone sprays and take half or two-thirds of
the young fruits off soon after the trees blossom and throw them into
regular production. That's the same thing that you are talking about,
Mr. Stoke. I never heard of anybody thinning walnuts. I don't know
whether they do or not. A lot of things I don't know, but I don't know
of anybody ever thinning walnuts, except squirrels.
MR. WARD: Last year a lady from Kokomo, Indiana, wrote me that she had a
very fine walnut tree growing near Mr. Bolten's place in Greene County,
and as far as she could remember that tree had borne an annual crop for
the past 70 years. I wrote to Mr. Bolten asking him to investigate. If
I remember correctly, these trees were grown in the poorest possible
place. Is that right, Mr. Bolten?
MR. BOLTEN: Yes.
MR. WARD: There were two or three trees right close together that had a
nice crop and the ground was covered with a lot of nice nuts which Mr.
Bolten thought worth propagating, and he has a tree already started.
We have other varieties that we call the Saul, the Goose Creek and the
Alley, which are all seedlings and which have produced almost every year
with about the same size of crop.
In our own planting, at the University, we have tried a lot of things
without telling anybody about it. Every once in a while the boys mow the
orchard, and have bruised and barked a lot of these trees with no effect
whatever on bearing. We have time and time again taken the Stambaugh,
Ohio, Thomas, Stabler, and Aurora and have given them a good shot of
fertilizer in the spring after a rain, and have produced wonderful
growth in all of those years but still had only a light crop.
A few years ago some of the boys were spraying the apple orchard with
Nu-Green and Urea at the rate of 5 pounds to 100 gallons of water, and
had a little extra. They said, "Well, we don't like Ward's nut trees
over there, we will put this stuff on them, and if it kills them, that's
all right, and if they live, that's all right, too." They gave them some
feeding throughout the summer and we haven't found any different
results.
MR. STOKE: May I say just one more thing to clarify my suggestion? I was
assuming that potash and phosphate were present in sufficient quantity.
What I wanted was leaf growth to store up energy and nutrients for the
following year and to apply that on the year of heavy crop, so besides
maturing the crop, it will provide that leaf growth, and not in the year
of no crop.
MR. WARD: We have tried that both ways, and going back, Mr. Stoke, again
to the lack of pollination, it seems like both the pistillate and
staminate flowers are there, but they just don't set a crop of fruit.
MR. STOKE: One thing more I wanted to say, and it slipped my mind. We
know any tree that grows too rapidly will not produce seed nor fruit,
and excess nitrogen on apple or walnut or anything else will not cause
the formation of fruit buds, but the normal amount is necessary for the
formation of buds.
MR. MCDANIEL: We have even got alternate bearing on persimmons in Urbana
now. Trees that bore extremely heavily didn't bloom this year.
MR. MAGILL: We hill-billies have been taking a pass at that. I wonder if
Dr. Slate couldn't give us some scientific facts about this. How about
it, Slate?
DR. SLATE: Mr. Caldwell's remarks about the beating of the walnut trees
in China reminds me of an ancient saying that, "A dog, a woman, a walnut
tree, the more you beat them the better they be."
MR. DAVIDSON: One of my seedlings began to bear seven years ago, and has
borne steadily every year exceptionally large crops. It never failed
until this year, and the only explanation that I can give is that just
as the bloom was incepted we had continuous rains. There was no
pollination of that tree, whereas other trees that were receptive at
other times are pretty well filled.
Out of two or three thousand trees you will find some exceptional ones.
I have some that bear fairly good crops but do not fill. Walnut trees
are just as different from each other as are apple trees. There are some
things you can't do anything about at all, and weather is one of the
things. One shouldn't be too much mystified by an occasional failure,
because it may be due to continuous rains during the period of
pollination and when they are receptive.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: This matter of alternate bearing is one that has
plagued the pomologist for a great many years, and one in which we made
little progress, with apples for example, until with hormone sprays the
trees could be thinned very early in the year. Any thinning done after
the fruit was the size of your thumb was too late. However, now that the
fruit can be thinned when it is very young, real progress is being made
in securing annual bearing on varieties that previously were a serious
problem in alternate bearing.
The failure to fruit is due to many different factors. Some of these are
external such as frost and rain at pollen shedding. There is nothing you
can do about these. Other factors are internal and determine the
formation of fruit buds. If the tree is carrying an exceptionally heavy
crop, the chances are it will not have enough of the material which
determines the setting of buds to form buds for the following year. With
the apples we can do something about this by thinning the crop at the
time it blooms. With walnuts, I don't see how we are going to do it.
Fertilization is another approach.
Certainly we should make conditions just as favorable as possible for
growth and for the development of the buds and by all means control
insects and diseases. If you do not have a good leaf surface good crops
will not be set the next year. It's a complex problem, but I don't think
it is insoluble.
DR. MCKAY: Mr. Chairman, in connection with this matter of annual
bearing of black walnut trees we believe that in doing all sorts of
things you will not influence the yielding of most of our black walnut
varieties. The black walnut, _Juglans nigra_ is probably--some of us
think, at least--constituted genetically in such a way that the
varieties we have do not yield annual crops simply because they are not
constituted that way. I know some of you may disagree with me, but one
of the greatest arguments for this idea is the fact that in some of our
other nut species we do have varieties that are genetically heavy
producers. For instance, we have a selection of Chinese chestnuts right
now that will bear annual crops on the poorest soil under any conditions
imaginable. You can graft scions of that tree on other stocks and plant
them anywhere you choose under differing conditions and it will have a
heavy set of burs. It may not fill the nuts, it may not attain the size,
but genetically speaking, inherently it is a heavy bearer. Perhaps our
black walnut species are inherently not annual producers. This is hard
to prove, I admit, because the breeding of the species takes so long
that we cannot actually demonstrate it.
We have felt also that the black walnut species as a whole does not have
the characteristics of thin shells and good cracking qualities that we
want. For this reason we have begun a program of crossing the black
walnut with the English or Persian walnut, in order to get the thin
shell that we want from the other species. Perhaps the same thing is
true in the question of yield and the species as a whole does not have
the characteristic of yielding heavy annual crops.
MR. MAGILL: I think we can readily see that we haven't settled this
problem but it is time to close the discussion.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The next paper that we have is by H. F. Stoke of
Roanoke, Virginia, "Survey on Hickory Varieties." Mr. Stoke is the
chairman of our Survey Committee. Last year he brought us very valuable
information about walnuts, and this year he is going to talk about the
hickories. Mr. Stoke.
MR. STOKE: They delegated the job to the Survey Committee to make a
hickory survey for this year, using the different state and provincial
and national vice-presidents to collect the data. I am going to read
this.
The 1952 Hickory Survey
By the Survey Committee
H. F. STOKE, _Chairman_
In compiling this report the pecan has been omitted from the list. As it
is the most important member of the hickory group it was felt that the
national and state pecan associations are far more competent to compile
complete and reliable data on the species than is this organization.
The response by our vice-presidents to the questionnaire sent out has
been rather disappointing, replies having been received from slightly
less than half their number. It is apparent that interest in the hickory
is considerably less than in the black walnut, which was surveyed in
1951.
Perhaps the most beloved and widely distributed of the hickories is the
shagbark, _Carya ovata_. It is reported from Massachusetts on the east
to southeastern Minnesota, southward to Texas and eastward to the
Carolinas where it mingles with and is sometimes confused with the
scalybark. In the opinion of many the superb distinctive flavor of its
nuts is not equaled by those of any species.
The domain of the Shellbark or Kingnut _C. laciniosa_ lies within the
same area but is slightly less extensive. Like the pecan, it is partial
to the rich alluvial bottom lands along streams and is seldom found
elsewhere. It occurs rarely in Virginia and North Carolina, and there
only in the Appalachian area.
The Scalybark or southern Shagbark, _C. Carolina septentrionalis_, is
reported only by Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas.
The White Hickory or Mockernut, _C. alba_, covers the South and is
reported as far north as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana and, rarely, in
Michigan. It is found from the Atlantic coast to east Texas.
The widely distributed Bitternut, _C. cordiformis_, covers virtually the
same territory as the shagbark.
The Sweet Pignut, _C. glabra_, is reported from New Hampshire to
Wisconsin and southward to North Carolina. Its south-westward occurrence
has not been defined in reports received.
In addition to these better-known species, the Water Hickory, _C.
aquatica_, is reported from Louisiana, and the Black Hickory, _C.
buckleyi_, from Indiana and Texas.
In an unusually full report Indiana lists all of sixteen hickory species
and sub-species as appearing in The Flora of Indiana, a book by Mr.
Charles Deam, former State Forester. The list follows.
1. _C. pecan_
2. _C. cordiformis_
3. _C. ovata_
3a. _C. ovata_, var, _fraxinifolia_
3b. _C. ovata_, var. _nuttali_
4. _C. laciniosa_
5. _C. tomentosa (alba)_
5a. _C. tomentosa_ var. _subcoriacea_
6. _C. glabra_
6a. _C. glabra_ var. _megacarpa_
7. _C. ovalis_
7a, b, c. _C. ovalis_ var. _odorata_
7d. _C. ovalis_ var. _obovalis_
7e. _C. ovalis_ var. _obcordata_
8. _C. ovalis_ var. _pallida_
9. _C. ovalis_ var. _buckleyi_
Doubtless many sub-species and variants are actually hybrids of obscure
ancestry. Virginia has many such.
There is no reason to doubt that the hickories will grow anywhere
ecological conditions approximate those of their native habitat. This is
true in the Pacific coast states. Mr. Julio Grandjean, of Hillerod,
Denmark, reports that there are several white hickories, _C. alba_ or
_C. tomentosa_, growing in the Horsholm Royal Park that were planted
about 1790. There is no reason to believe that such northern species as
the shellbark and shagbark would not also succeed. He reports
winter-killing of pecans from southern sources. Inasmuch as extreme
winter temperatures in Denmark are less than in some places where the
pecan is grown here, it would appear that the more northern strains
should succeed there, though lack of summer heat would prevent the
maturing of nuts.
There appears to be much less interest in planting hickories on home
grounds than the value of the species justifies. Only five states,
Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, indicated any
local interest. In each case the shagbark was the preferred species.
Apparently we must still depend on the much-abused squirrel for the
future of the hickory.
R. E. Hodgson of the Southeast Experiment Station, Waseca, Minn.,
reports 15 named varieties of hickory under test, but no evaluation of
their worth can be made as yet.
Dr. R. T. Dunstan of Greensboro, North Carolina, has also a considerable
number of hickory varieties under more advanced test. Results have been
highly variable. He finds that Schinnerling has filled poorly; Whitney
and Shaul are "Excellent growers and highly satisfactory bearers."
Whitney, however, with a kernel of superb quality, cracks poorly and the
husk is thick and heavy. Shaul is reported as having a rather thin
kernel and cracking poorly, also.
Romig, that has been late in coming into bearing, is described as
producing a large, handsome nut of good quality that cracks unusually
well. Grainger, good in other respects, has borne light crops as also
have Glover and Weschcke. Fox is described as superb in every respect
except cracking quality.
Among the hicans, Burton is declared to be outstanding in vigor and
health of tree, and production of good regular crops of delicious nuts
that crack well.
It is interesting to note that in his extensive hickory experiments Dr.
Dunstan is using pecan stocks. He uses the bark-slot method of grafting
and hot wax compounded of 10 parts resin, 2 parts beeswax and one part
Kieselguhr. Both method and wax he finds highly successful.
Dr. Dunstan also reports a Mahan pecan grafted on a white or mockernut
hickory stock that produces heavy crops of well-filled nuts. This is an
exceptional performance for this variety.
Mr. Fayette Etter, of Pennsylvania, supports Dr. Dunstan in the use of
pecan stocks for hickories. He states that the young trees grow more
rapidly in the nursery, transplant better, and grow faster thereafter
than when on hickory stocks.
Mr. A. G. Hirschi, of Oklahoma reports that in the hilly "blackjack"
country of southeastern Oklahoma the scrub has been cleared away and a
40-acre project of grafting the native hickory (probably white or
mockernut) with pecan has been established. The land has been terraced
and is cropped with cotton. The results have been so satisfactory that
this plot in one year carried off more prizes on pecans than any other
entry within the state.
Mr. Harald E. Hammar reports from Louisiana that there has been some
grafting of pecan on hickory, species not specified. The older trees
show a decided overgrowth of the hickory stock by the more vigorous
pecan, in some cases the diameter being almost double above the graft of
that below.
In virtually all cases of topworking hickory on pecan, or vice versa,
the bark slot graft has been used.
In point of preference of named varieties, Michigan suggests Abscoda,
Ohio suggests Stafford, while Pennsylvania recommends Glover, Goheen,
Whitney and Weschcke, in that order.
In naming the insects and diseases that attack the hickories,
Pennsylvania offers the following rather appalling list:
Nut curculio
Hickory shuckworm
Galls
Spider mites
Twig girdlers
Fall web worm
Pecan phylloxera
Black pecan aphids
Flathead apple borer
Other unnamed borers
Those that know Mr. Etter will understand that this formidable list is
due to his excellent powers of observation and his integrity rather than
to the likelihood that the state of Pennsylvania is worse plagued with
insects than others. Dr. Dunstan lists leaf-spot along with some of
those listed above, but adds that none are generally serious. This is
corroborated by other reporters.
Wild nuts are generally harvested for home use. Commercial marketing,
reported by Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Virginia and North
Carolina, is in all cases local. Usually the nuts are marketed whole,
but occasionally home-picked kernels are sold.
Good stands of second-growth shagbark hickory are reported in
Pennsylvania. Kansas reports limited shellbark and bitternut stands.
West Virginia reports considerable stands of young shagbark and pignut,
while North Carolina reports small stands of mockernut.
The industrial use of hickory reached its height in the horse and buggy
days. Nothing equalled its strong, tough wood for the wheels and running
gears of horse-drawn vehicles. Old-timers will recall "hoop poles", tall
slender young saplings of shagbark hickory that were split and fashioned
with the "drawshave" into barrel hoops.
The market for hickory still remains, however. It is universally used
for hand tool handles, if obtainable. In the mountains of the South
hickory "splints" are still woven into imperishable baskets and chair
seats. Louisiana insists it is still the only fuel for roasting barbecue
and there is, indeed, no finer wood fuel of any species.
Those propagating hickory trees for sale and distribution should be
given every encouragement. They are contributing a real patriotic
service. No tree is more characteristically American. Except for a
related species in China, it is found nowhere else in the world. In
beauty, utility and durability no tree has greater appeal. Who plants a
hickory plants for generations unborn.
MR. STOKE: If there are any misstatements, I'd be glad to have them
publicly corrected.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you, Mr. Stoke. The comment that you made
that there wasn't as much enthusiasm about the hickory as about the
black walnut, although true, is not the way I personally feel about it.
I have at Ithaca a number of trees of various kinds of nuts, and I think
that the enjoyment I get out of the hickories, which we grow, is as
great or greater than that from the black walnuts. The Davis hickory is
one of the best that matures, the Wilcox--that's an Ohio nut--probably
has a bushel and a half of nuts in the shuck this year, and the Kentucky
will give a pretty good record. Of about 20 varieties, those are the
only ones which amount to anything, and we have a fairly good selection.
There was a good deal said about stocks in Mr. Stoke's discussion. We
have a short paper here by Gilbert Smith on his experience with stocks,
and I have asked Mr. Chase to read it. Mr. Smith began topworking
seedling trees on a side hill many years ago and has trees of good size
at the present time.
MR. CHASE: This is a short discussion of several species of hickory
which Mr. Smith has used as stocks to graft named varieties.
A Discussion of Hickory Stocks
Gilbert L. Smith, _Rt. 2, Millerton, N. Y._
This is a discussion of several species of hickory as stocks on which to
graft the named varieties of shagbark, shellbark and hybrid hickories.
We have never had any experience grafting pecan as we are too far north
for it. This paper is limited to the species with which we have had
experience.
SWEET PIGNUT, _Carya ovalis_
This species will be discussed first because it is the poorest stock of
any of the hickory species which we have used. This is probably because
it is a tetraploid while the shagbark, shellbark and hybrids are
diploids.
We have grafted many of the named varieties of hickory onto pignut
stocks, using several thousand scions. We have found only one variety
(the Davis shagbark) that will grow on pignut stock. We have heard of
one or two others but have never tried them.
Nearly all varieties grow well the first season but fail to leaf out the
following spring. They appear to winterkill. Davis has continued to grow
on it for over fifteen years but growth is slower than on shagbark or
bitternut stocks.
PIGNUT, _Carya glabra_
I have never been able to positively identify this species of pignut.
Pignuts growing here vary considerably in roughness of the bark, some
being smooth while others are as rough as the shagbark. In other
respects they are essentially the same, all having seven leaflets per
leaf. However, I have observed a very few pignut trees having smooth
bark and five leaflets per leaf. The leaves are finer and smaller than
on the seven leaflet trees.
These may be the _glabra_ species, but if so, grafting results have been
no better on these than on the seven leaflet trees.
As nursery stock the pignuts are worthless. However if one has some nice
young pignut trees growing where he wants them, it is feasible to graft
them to Davis or some other variety which has proven its ability to grow
on pignut stocks. It is not advisable to graft hickory trees growing in
dense woods.
MOCKERNUT, _Carya alba_
While the mockernut is also a tetraploid, it is a somewhat better stock
than the pignuts, in that more of the named varieties will grow on it
and as the mockernut is faster growing than the pignut, such grafts will
usually grow faster.
It is of little value as a nursery stock, but if one has young mockernut
trees growing where hickory trees are wanted, they would be somewhat
better to graft than would pignut trees. One would at least have a
larger selection of varieties and the grafts would grow faster.
PECAN, _Carya illinoiensis_
While we have read many favorable reports on the use of the pecan as a
stock on which to graft shagbark, shellbark and hybrid hickories, our
own experiences with it have not been very favorable. This may be due to
the fact that we have used only two varieties of shagbark on
pecan-stocks and may have happened to use two varieties that are not
well adapted to pecan.
Pecan seedlings are much faster growing than are shagbark seedlings and
for this reason would be valuable as a nursery stock if satisfactory in
other respects.
BITTERNUT, _Carya cordiformis_
All of our experiences with bitternut as a stock, both in the nursery
and as young trees growing in permanent locations, have been very
favorable.
We have heard reports of grafts failing on bitternut stocks after a few
years growth. All such reports have come from regions considerably
farther south than our location. It may be that the bitternut does not
thrive as well in the South as it does here.
Bitternut seedlings are much faster growing than are shagbark seedlings.
This is of considerable value in the nursery.
SHAGBARK, _Carya ovata_
The shagbark makes the best stock on which to graft the named varieties
of shagbark, shellbark and hybrid hickories. However it has one very
serious drawback in that young shagbark seedlings are so very slow
growing. It usually takes five or more years to grow a shagbark stock
from seed to a size large enough to graft in the nursery row.
However, when shagbark stocks are large enough to be grafted, all of the
named varieties we have grafted onto it have grown well.
SHELLBARK, _Carya laciniosa_
We have never had any experience with shellbark seedlings as stocks, but
as it is so similar to the shagbark, I expect that it would make a good
stock.
The production of grafted hickory trees is a serious problem in the
nursery, taking many years to grow the stocks and the grafted trees are
difficult to transplant, resulting in a high rate of mortality.
However, the grafting of young hickory trees growing in a permanent
location is not difficult, and such grafts will grow much faster and
bear younger than will grafted hickory trees from a nursery.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: My experience with bitternut stock with only two
varieties, the Strever #1 and the Champigne, has not been good. The
grafts have been stunted, the stocks have tended to sprout and make
vigorous growth, and the fruiting has been sparse. Neither have I had
success with the pecan stock with only three varieties. The trees have
been very slow coming into bearing and have made rather stubby growth.
MR. MCDANIEL: I was about to remark that we have had similar experience
at Urbana with bitternut stock with pecan and shagbark varieties. It
warps the shagbark and very likely those trees won't live long. We have
already lost the Weschke hickory grafted on bitternut.
MR. CRAIG: Have you tried hickory on pecan? The pecan is O. K. there.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Tomorrow we are to have a round table on hickory
propagation and suggest that further discussion of stocks might be left
until then. Has anyone any comments on hickory varieties?
MR. KEPLINGER: (North Central Michigan) I was born and raised in Saginaw
County where the Saginaw River is fed by five or six different runs and
you have prairie farms. More hickories grow there than any place in the
United States--enormous size. We think we have better hickories than
anyone.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Why couldn't you send some in for testing? Mr.
Becker would be glad to take them. Any other discussion on hickory
varieties? How many are growing the Wilcox? (5 hands). How many find it
a good variety? (Two). How many have Davis? (Three). The shucks are
fairly thin, compared with the Wilcox.
Who else has a variety that is doing very well? We ought to have a
hickory show here sometime and see who has the best hickory.
DR. MCKAY: I'd like to ask if anyone has the variety Lingenfelter.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We have it at Ithaca; doesn't mature.
DR. McKAY: We have two varieties at Beltsville that are outstanding as
far as bearing is concerned. One is Lingenfelter, which has been a
consistent bearer for us for a number of years, and the variety Shaul,
that was mentioned in Mr. Stokes' report and has been mentioned here
before, is a very good producer.
MR. MCDANIEL: What species is the Shaul, is it _ovata_ or _laciniosa_?
DR. MCKAY: It's _ovata_. It's a shagbark, as also is Lingenfelter. The
one characteristic that is outstanding with these two varieties with us
is the fact that they bear while they are young trees; from the time our
trees were as tall as one's head, they have been full of nuts.
MR. MCDANIEL: Have you fruited the Weschke at Beltsville?
DR. MCKAY: No.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: How about the Barnes?
MR. STOKE: I have been growing it on mockernut or white hickory. It
produces moderate crops and is the one that came into bearing about
first on mockernut. In fact, I have several varieties on mockernut that
haven't borne yet. It's been on there about 12 years.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The Barnes, with us, has yielded more at a younger
age than any other variety, but it never filled. It began early and bore
heavy crops, but the season is not long enough or hot enough.
MR. STOKE: In Virginia they fill well, but they are not easily
extracted. The shell is rather thin and fills well.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I don't want to prolong this discussion longer
than seems profitable.
DR. MCKAY: Did I understand you to mention the variety Schinnerling?
MR. GERARDI: I have got that at home. That's one that's bearing, but if
it's that variety I have there, I wouldn't give it yard room.
DR. MCKAY: It is also one of our best. We have three, the Shaul, the
Lingenfelter that I mentioned, and the third one is Schinnerling, all
three of which are extremely heavy bearers and the three hickory
varieties that we are interested in.
MR. GERARDI: How big is that Schinnerling?
DR. MCKAY: It's an average-sized nut.
MR, GERARDI: Big as your thumb?
DR. MCKAY: Oh, yes, about an inch long, I'd say.
MR. BECKER: I was wondering about the Stratford. That's not supposed to
be a pure shagbark, but it's the only one we've got, I think, that
bears.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I have the Stratford. It grows very well, but it
doesn't quite fill. What does it do with you?
MR. SNYDER: It's not been doing well the last year or two. Of course,
none of them have for that matter. Used to bear tremendous crops and
filled well. I wouldn't say it's the best quality of any tree, but it's
easy to graft and bears young.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: That's been my experience, that it was a young
bearer and bears fairly consistently.
If there is no other discussion, on the hickories, we will close that
discussion. We stand adjourned until this evening at 7:20.
Adjournment at 4:30 o'clock, p.m.
MONDAY EVENING SESSION
Called to order at 7:20 p.m.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We will call on Dr. McKay as chairman of the
Nominating Committee to present the slate of officers for the next year.
Dr. McKay.
DR. MCKAY: Mr. Chairman, the Nominating Committee, as you know, is
charged with the responsibility of selecting a slate of officers that
will be presented to the meeting.
The committee, composed of myself as chairman, Mr. Allaman, Mr. Silvis,
Mr. Ford Wilkinson and Mr. Gerardi, have the following slate of officers
for next year: For president, Mr. R. B. Best; for vice-president, Mr.
George Salzer of Rochester; for secretary, Mr. Spencer Chase; for
treasurer, Mr. Carl Prell.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: You have heard the report of the Nominating
Committee. At this time we will entertain further nominations from the
floor, if any.
The only action to be taken now is to accept the report of the
Nominating Committee. Do I hear such a motion?
The motion to accept the report was moved, seconded and carried.
Going on with the program of the evening, are you ready to show the
film?
MR. MCDANIEL: The film comes to us from the Northwest Nut Growers now
located in Portland, Oregon. They are an organization for marketing
filberts, and you will see, "The Filbert Valleys", the title. I haven't
seen it myself and don't know exactly what the contents are. We will
look at it now and judge for ourselves.
The film, "The Filbert Valleys", was shown.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We appreciate very much your running it.
The next item will be our discussion of filbert varieties and their
culture. Mildred Jones, who was to be here, could not come. She
telephoned the last minute that she was ill and could not be with us. I
have asked George Slate to be the moderator in the discussion, with his
panel, D. C. Snyder, Raymond Silvis, A. M. Whitford, Louis Gerardi and
H. F. Stoke.
MR. SLATE: I just learned when I arrived here that I was to be on this
discussion group, and I learned a few minutes ago that I was to lead it,
so I can assure you that this is wholly unrehearsed, and I may have to
flounder around a bit before we get things running smoothly.
I thought I might review the variety situation rather briefly. We have
done quite a lot of variety testing of filberts at Geneva; in fact,
about the only nut cultural work we have done at Geneva has been the
filbert project. We started out with about 25 or 30 varieties that we
secured from American nurseries, many of them from a firm in Rochester
which imported them from Germany. Later we added varieties from England,
France and Germany. I picked up nearly all the varieties that I could
locate until we had about 120 varieties growing there at Geneva. These
were there for some years, and it became evident that many of them were
not of great value. Then we had a hard winter in 1933 and 1934, and
although it did not kill the trees, most of them were blackhearted and
began going back soon after that. However, I felt at that time that I
knew enough about the varieties to discard most of them. Many of them
were discarded because they had poor nuts, many of them were
unproductive, and many of them lacked hardiness of catkins. I laid a
great deal of emphasis on the hardiness of catkins in testing the
varieties.
Out of that variety test were three varieties which we considered to be
most satisfactory of the lot. These were Cosford, an English variety,
rather a small nut but very thin-shelled. The catkins were hardy and one
of the heavier croppers of the lot. Medium Long, a nut which I believe
originated as a seedling in Rochester, was another one, and Italian Red,
which later proved to be Gustav's Zellernuss, a German variety, was
another.
As a result of that variety test it became evident that varieties from
Germany, many of which originated in the colder portions of Germany and
Northern Germany, were distinctly more hardy than the varieties that we
got from French sources and English sources. In some of the proceedings
of the Association published during the '30's I have reported on the
different varieties and their hardiness and those varieties that I
thought were most valuable. I don't recall the names of many of those
German varieties. These three varieties which we consider the best of
the lot were turned over to the New York Fruit Testing Association to
propagate and distribute, because they were not available from American
nurseries. I am not sure how many of them were available from other
sources, but they are still available from the Fruit Testing
Association.
Then out of that variety test a grading project developed. We got our
start from about 500 seedlings that Clarence Reed sent us in the early
'30's. We made crosses there at Geneva, using the Rush variety of
_Corylus americana_ as the seed parent in many cases. We also made some
crosses between _Corylus avellana_ varieties, and with these seedlings
from Mr. Reed and seedlings of our own crossing, we have grown about
2,000 filbert seedlings there at Geneva. These have all been evaluated
and discarded, except possibly 30 or 35 selections still on hand, some
of them being propagated for a second test planting. Stock of one or two
has been turned over to the Fruit Testing Association for increase and
eventual naming and introduction.
The work of the United States Department of Agriculture was along
similar lines. Mr. Reed did not send us all of his seedlings. A number
of them were fruited at Beltsville, and from that work at Beltsville I
believe two varieties have been named, Reed and Potomac. I am not sure
whether they are available yet from commercial sources.
MR. MCDANIEL: Two of them are.
MR. SLATE: Mr. Graham of Ithaca, a long-time member of this Association
and very much interested in filberts, had also made some crosses and
raised several hundred seedlings. He used the Winkler variety as a seed
parent. I believe he raised some seedlings of the Jones hybrids, which
would make that material second generation stock from the original cross
between Rush and the _avellana_ varieties.
Mr. Graham's planting was in rather a cold area; he had considerable
winter killing. Eventually filbert blight got into his planting, and it
really cleaned house. There were a very few seedlings in his planting
which remained free of filbert blight. I think it is a fairly safe guess
to say that they were probably very resistant to blight. So far these
have not been propagated to any extent.
There are a few cultural problems. The ones that we have encountered at
Geneva have been winter injury, particularly of the catkins, and also
some of them have not been as hardy in wood as we would like. We have
had no trouble with filbert blight, presumably because we are isolated
from the wild hazel, which harbors this blight. Dr. MacDaniels has had
trouble with his planting at Ithaca with filbert mite.
With this introduction, which is mostly varieties and breeding, because
that seems to be my interest, I'd like to call on some members of the
panel to get their experiences. Mr. Snyder raises nut trees in Iowa
where winter injury is probably much more serious than we have at
Geneva. At Geneva we have a fairly respectable climate and can get a
crop of peaches about nine years out of ten. In Iowa they have a lot
more sunshine, and I think probably sharper drops of temperature than we
have at Geneva. I'd like to have Mr. Snyder tell us what his experiences
have been with filbert varieties.
MR. SNYDER: I really didn't know that I was to be on this panel until I
got here. I thought I was on the hickory panel. As Mr. Slate says, our
climate is more severe that that at Geneva. We can get the very hardiest
peaches to bear about two years out of three, and the trees are severely
injured in between. So that will give you a little idea as to the
climate in that respect.
We made quite a planting at one time, maybe 30 of the Jones hybrids, and
they did quite well for several years, and then between the
winter-killing and the blight most of them are dead now. The Winkler, of
course, is an Iowa nut and was introduced by our people and did very
well for a number of years but has backed out on us the last several
years, too, I believe due to this same mite trouble that Dr. MacDaniels
reports in New York. They just don't bear. The bushes are quite healthy,
and we get plenty of catkins, but we don't get any nuts to amount to
anything.
We have a little bush of the Mandchurian hazel. It isn't worth
mentioning as a nut producer, but it does have very attractive foliage
and seems to be entirely healthy, produces perhaps three to five nuts a
year on a bush as high as your head. You may be familiar with it. The
foliage is very distinct from anything I know. The leaves are truncate
at the end, cut off quite square, with just a little point in the
middle.
MR. SLATE: I don't have that.
MR. SNYDER: That is standing our conditions all right, and several years
ago Mr. Reed sent us what he said at the time were Chinese tree hazels,
but later he retracted and said that they were not Chinese tree hazels
but they were hybrids of the Chinese tree hazel. There were four of
those plants; one of them was a tremendous grower. It would grow six
feet or more a year and commence bearing in a year or two. But the
blight hit it and cleaned it out. There is only one left now, one of the
slower-growing ones, and while it promises to become a tree, it is a
very irregular-growing one. I think it had half a dozen nuts on this
year.
The Turkish tree hazel, of which I have two trees, were very badly
damaged by a very severe hailstorm 12 or 15 years ago, which completely
peeled off the bark on one side. That was in early July, and we were
afraid to cut them off and let them grow up new for fear it would kill
them. They have finally developed into quite beautiful upright trees.
Also they have more than one stem from the bottom. One of them produces
a great abundance of catkins, but neither of them has produced any nuts
yet, and they are 14 feet high or more, good-sized trees and very
attractive. The foliage is very beautiful, and it remains healthy. I
don't know that there are any other varieties that I can name.
MR. SLATE: We have had several of the Turkish tree hazels, _Corylus
colurna_, growing at Geneva for two or three years. They came from the
Rochester State Park. We have one tree which Mr. Bixby imported from
China, as _Corylus chinensis_, but recently I had it checked by Dr.
Lawrence of the Bailey Hortorium and he assured me that it was _Corylus
colurna_. I think these make a very handsome tree. I like that rough,
corky bark they have as they get older. The trees in Highland Park at
Rochester are the largest, perhaps, in the country, certainly the
largest that I know anything about. They are at least as large as a very
large apple tree. They have been fruiting for some years. The trees at
Geneva have not fruited very much. I don't think you can expect much in
the way of nuts until the tree is about 15 years old. This year one of
our trees has a number of nuts on it. The nuts are too small and too
thick-shelled to be of any great value for nuts.
Now, Mr. Whitford, you have had some experience with the filbert
varieties. Which one would you recommend?
MR. WHITFORD: I haven't had a whole lot of experience with the filberts,
but we had some of the old varieties, like Barcelona and DuChilly, and
they didn't bear many nuts, and eventually they went out with blight.
And we have some of the Potomac and Reed, about five years old, and they
don't bear well as yet. I don't know what the outcome is going to be on
the Potomac and Reed. They make a nice ornamental bush, anyway, and
that's about the sum and substance of my experience with filberts.
MR. SLATE: The Barcelona and DuChilly at Geneva have not been very
satisfactory. During the first two years Barcelona outyielded the other
varieties, but as the trees became older they experienced winter injury.
DuChilly or Kentish Cob makes a small tree, but the nut is about the
best of the nuts. There is a German variety not in circulation in this
country, Langsdorfer, which is much like DuChilly, but it seems to make
a much better tree. I think if they were put into circulation it might
be a good substitute here in the East for DuChilly variety.
Let's hear from you, Mr. Gerardi. I know you are testing filbert
varieties now.
MR. GERARDI: Yes, I have DuChilly and Kentish Cob. So far, at our place
we have no blight or mite damage to speak of. The original plantings
were the Bixby and Buchanan. We have them yet, and they are still as
healthy as the day we put them out. They show no damage; even the
Winkler hazel has had no damage or disease. It may be the soil, although
we have them on high ground and low ground both. Among the newer ones
this year the Reed has the most on. The Potomac, though it is the
strongest grower of the two, has less nuts. Although it appeared to me
that the catkins were all killed in February of this year, still we have
some nuts. The Jones hybrids, when the catkins are killed, have very
few, if any nuts. Some years we have a crop, if some of the catkins are
held back and bloom late. Winter killing in February before they have
had a chance to pollinate, has been our main trouble. If we could get a
variety that this wouldn't bother, we'd have what we are looking for.
MR. MCDANIEL: The Winkler will bloom for you almost every year. Doesn't
the Winkler hold its catkins most years?
MR. GERARDI: Yes, sir, I'd say at our place the Winkler has never failed
entirely. Even though the catkins are killed, they still bear quite
regularly.
MR. MCDANIEL: I can say that for it at Urbana.
MR. WHITFORD: The catkins might have been killed, but you might have had
some cross-pollination from other sources.
MR. GERARDI: There is a chance of that, of course. There is a wild hazel
within a quarter of a mile, but apparently the wild hazel bloomed first.
They were on a south slope and naturally came out first. I tried to keep
them on the north slope, or on the cool side of any particular planting,
because if you can hold them back more, you have got a better chance. If
you plant them on the south side, you rarely get anything.
MR. SLATE: The hybrids bloom later than the _avellana_ varieties, and
they mature nuts later. Is that your experience?
MR. GERARDI: That's true, I will admit your hybrids are a little later
blooming, because your American hazel nuts around our place bloom very
early, sometimes in January in full bloom.
MR. SLATE: _C. avellana_ starts blooming in March and blooms for about a
month. Some years when you have had considerable open weather, they have
bloomed as early as the middle of February. They will, of course, stand
considerable freezing when they are in bloom.
As regards the pollination, I believe about all the information we have
is the work that was done at the Oregon Experiment Station a number of
years ago. All of the varieties tried were self-unfruitful or
self-incompatible. The term, "self-sterile" is often used, but I think
it is a little more exact to say self-unfruitful or self-incompatible.
They are not sterile, because the pistillate flowers are normal and so
is the pollen produced by the staminate flowers. It's just a question of
inability of the pollen to fertilize the pistillate flowers on the same
variety.
We know nothing about the pollination requirements of any of these
_Corylus avellana_ or _Corylus americana_ hybrids. We do know that when
the cross is made that the _Corylus americana_ variety must be the
seed-parent. The cross doesn't work the other way around. That's about
all we know about the cross-pollination of these filberts.
MR. SAWYER: We have had them to bloom in April or the first week in May.
MR. SLATE: The seedlings?
MR. SAWYER: The seedlings.
MR. SLATE: What is the origin of the seedlings?
MR. SAWYER: They are the natives.
MR. SLATE: The native _C. rostrata_, or _C. cornuta_ to some botanists,
it seems to me has nothing that we want in the way of a nut, if we can
possibly grow these other varieties, the _americana_ selections or the
hybrids. It's a miserable little nut with that long, prickly husk. It's
very difficult to get the nut out of it. For that reason, I have never
been very much interested in it.
MR. SAWYER: How is the Ryan?
MR. MCDANIEL: Mr. Gellatly out in British Columbia has named several
hybrids between _avellana_ and the _Corylus cornuta_. Have you seen it?
MR. SLATE: No, I haven't seen it.
MR. MCDANIEL: They described them in their catalog.
MR. COLBY: I have preference for the Winkler hazel, as you know. I
bought and put them in the greenhouse several years ago and shook the
pollen on the pistils and got a full set. So I felt that was
self-fruitful.
MR. SLATE: That was pretty good evidence, then, that it was
self-fruitful.
Now, Mr. Silvis, you raise nut trees, and the climate is somewhat like
that in Western New York, perhaps a little milder in the winter. What
have you to say about the filbert varieties?
MR. SILVIS: It's Warmer, and in spite of all the statistics of previous
gentlemen, I find that _avellana_ types which I had growing in my back
yard three years ago produced pollen on January the 25th. It was
unseasonably warm. It was 70 degrees, and most of the pollen was
dispersed. And this year I found the wild hazel pollen much later than
the early types, due to the different situation. The wild ones which I
had seen were growing in semi shade under tall trees, and my bushes and
plants are growing in the back yard south of our house. And I think I
have the largest planting in the State of Ohio, about two dozen plants,
and I am in production.
Besides numerous seedlings, I have the following varieties: Italian Red,
Cosford, Medium Long, DuChilly. They are in bearing. Italian Red and
DuChilly planted together, I believe, are good for one another for the
production of nice filbert nuts. I have, from scion wood you sent me
several years ago, Cosford, and now on their own roots Neue Riesenuss,
and what I thought the tag said, not "Langsdorfer," but Langsberger.
MR. SLATE: There is a Langsdorfer, and I think there is another variety
which Langsberg is part of the name. I am not sure, I will have to look
that up.
MR. SILVIS: Well, I have it as Langsberger. I have shown last evening
the picture of Harry L. Pierce's orchard at Willamette in Oregon, or in
Salem, Oregon. I have one of his trees with staminate blooms only, no
pistillate blooms. But I also have what Fayette Etter in Pennsylvania
calls his Royal, and I just cannot get two fellows together with paper
and pencil to determine whether those two Royals are the same, but I am
hoping to find out whether the two Royals are identical. I had Fayette
Etter find me scion wood, and now I have it growing as a graft and
layered on its own roots.
I think you people do yourselves an injustice by not learning to graft
and learning to work with the filbert. You only have to have three
compatible plants. If you have more, you will have more nuts. I see no
reason why anyone who owns a city lot cannot grow filberts. They are
much easier to take care of, and you are not going to prejudice the
plant by having it associate with its wild cousin, and I think you will
find a lot of enjoyment in the filbert bush.
MR. SLATE: What variety do you think is best? What two or three would
you plant?
MR. SILVIS: For eating I like DuChilly, and the catkin is hardy with me,
and I am between the 40th and 41st parallel. I'd say anyone who lives
from Iowa to the East Coast within one hundred miles north or south of
the 40th parallel should have the same luck that I have. And as to a
group planting, I would suggest, as you recommended to me when we first
started out the Medium Long, Cosford and Italian Red. If you want only
two bushes, Italian Red and DuChilly will work well together.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you have Medium Long?
MR. SILVIS: Yes, I do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that doing well?
MR. SILVIS: I don't think it fruits as well as Cosford or DuChilly.
That's been my experience. My DuChilly was plastered with nuts last year
and this year, and I believe it's due to the Italian Red which New York
Fruit Testing Laboratory sold me.
MR. SLATE: Thank you.
MR. WHITFORD: Do you fertilize those bushes?
MR. SILVIS: Due to the fact I have started to mulch with sawdust I have
been using nitrate and rock phosphate, so my teeth don't fall out when I
chew them.
MR. SLATE: I crack mine with a hand cracker, I don't crack them with my
teeth.
DR. COLBY: Mr. Chairman, we can grow filberts. How does the chairman
keep the squirrels from eating them?
MR. STOKE: I will tell you that.
MR. SLATE: Mr. Stoke raises his nut trees in the Sunny South, and he has
problems down there that we don't have up north. I think he has to worry
a lot more about winter killing than we do way up north where we are in
Central New York. What's been your experience with some of the varieties
and what are your principal cultural problems with the filberts?
MR. STOKE: I wish to answer Dr. Colby's query about squirrels. I find
that squirrels are very highly allergic to these BB caps or the CP caps
used in a 22 rifle. It works. In my back yard there is a Brixnut
filbert, which originated in Oregon. I guess it's been there 15 years.
There are four trunks to it, the largest about 16 inches in diameter.
One of those I grafted to Giant, as a pollinizer for Brixnut. It's
similar in shape, somewhat smaller in spite of its name, but it's pretty
effective. Then about ten years ago there was an old gentleman from
Halsey, Oregon. I don't know whether any of you have corresponded with
him or not. He bought the Breslau Persian walnut--I pretty nearly said
the English walnut, and I'd have been disgraced--and furnished me scions
and I got a start of it from him. Russ sent me some scions from a
filbert he called Jumbo. You will see it out on the table there. It's
rather a long nut, little larger than DuChilly and not quite so flat,
that I grafted in there. It absolutely is hopeless as a pollinizer for
anything, because it loses its staminate blossoms by Christmas. But the
Hall's Giant pollinizes them, and it's the best filbert I have, all
things considered. This year off that one scion--of course, it's four
inches in diameter--I got about 7 quarts of nuts, and they began
ripening at least three weeks ago, and the crop is all off now. And the
foliage is unusually heavy, almost in clusters, and it drops cleanly and
freely from the husks, and I think it is a very nice filbert. Whether
it's a recognized variety in the West I have no idea, and I haven't
corresponded with the old gentleman for some years, and he probably has
passed on by this time, because he was an elderly man and not in good
health at the time I had my correspondence with him. I consider that an
excellent filbert, and I think anyone wishing to plant filberts should
investigate with the Oregon nurseries or Washington nurseries and see if
that is a recognized variety. I tried to find out once and failed so
far. I do not have it on its own roots. I hope that I will have it
rooted in another year.
In my back yard also I have one that I bought in Oregon. That's as tall
as up to that beam, maybe almost to the ceiling, very vigorous growth,
larger nut than Longfellow, thicker nuts and also longer. But I think
the thing he sold me was a graft and the graft died and this came from
the root. It bears very sparingly, but it's a very large nut, and I
wondered why it was always so spare, and I caught it blooming in
December, staminate blossoms in December this year. So that's that.
Ten miles east of my home, east of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the
granitic, very heavy clay soil of what we call the Piedmont down there,
I have a planting that was made 15 years ago of filberts, some on their
own roots and some that I grew on the Turkish tree hazel stocks. Those
grew well, and the main advantage was they put up no suckers. You had a
nice clean trunk, and you didn't have that problem of getting rid of the
sprouts all the time. And it looked very good for a while.
I find where you graft that way, the stocks get old and do not renew
themselves, and eventually the life will be shorter than if you had a
shrub that might last for a century, when you are renewing your stalks
when they reach maturity and cease to grow enough to be productive.
Two years ago I had most of the standard varieties you mentioned here in
that planting, about three-quarters or perhaps an acre planted in
between chestnut trees. Planted the chestnut trees 40 feet apart and
then interplanted with the filberts at 20 feet. Two years ago we had an
unusually wet season, and the blight, of which I had had some before,
hit hard and virtually ruined the whole planting. And in addition to
that, we have leaf miner. It's an insect that lays a tiny egg in the
leaf and develops a little larva or worm that eats out the chlorophyll
between the two membranes of the leaf, just hollows it out and makes
unsightly spots in there and, of course, kills that portion of the leaf.
But the blight, known as the eastern filbert blight, according to Mr.
Gravatt, has just ruined that planting. Some of the trees have been
killed outright, and most of the tops are either dead or dying. This
year the blight wasn't apparently active on the living part, because it
was very dry up until the first of August, and since then it's been very
wet. That's what happened to my filberts there.
Now, in that same location I have some younger, second-generation or
third-generation plantings that I grew from scions from the Jones
hybrids and so far those have not been attacked by the blight and not
much by the leaf miner. I used them to replace some of the others that
had died several years ago, so they are right in there together. About
the best I have of those are also on exhibit out there and marked as the
Jones Hybrid.
At the same time I put out some seedling Colurna or the Turkish tree
hazel in that same plot. They were attacked somewhat but not badly by
the blight. Today you'd never know they had any blight. They look
healthy, and as has already been said, they make a beautiful tree. And
if you want an avenue of trees on a drive that don't spread too wide and
run up like Lombardi poplar, they'll beat Lombardi poplar all to pieces.
And if you crowd them a little, they will grow up like a spire and
retain their branches, so you really have a tree.
There was one in the J. F. Jones yard at Lancaster that I think was at
least 14 inches in trunk diameter 20 years ago when I saw it. Do you
know whether that is still there at the Jones place, that Turkish tree
hazel, Mrs. Weber?
MRS. WEBER: Where is it located?
MR. STOKE: It's right near the house, it seems to me between the house
and the side near the barn.
DR. MCKAY: Mr. Stoke, that tree is gone. We were there last fall.
MR. STOKE: But it was a very nice tree, and for shade it's very nice.
The Manchurian hazel has been spoken of, and I might mention that,
because I have dabbled in everything, I guess. I got seed from the
University of Nanking along with some other things, and those seedlings
were quite variable. The nuts compared rather favorably with the
American hazel. Some were thick-shelled, but they will average almost as
good as the American hazel, and they bore quite freely for me until I
let the bushes get right thick. They will send out suckers and make a
very spreading growth. If you dig them out and leave a piece of root in
the ground, it will come up just like sassafras or persimmon will on
that piece of root. But it is an attractive bush, and mine has a
reddish-brown little spot in the middle of the leaf in most cases. It
seems to be characteristic of that strain that I have. The nuts were
quite variable and, as I say, they bore right well until I let them get
too thick. I believe that's all.
MR. SLATE: I neglected to answer your question, Dr. Colby, but the
squirrels have not been much of a problem with our filberts at Geneva,
strange as it may seem. They have never taken a very high percentage of
the crop. We have a Lancaster heartnut, and they clean up every nut on
that tree every year before the end of August.
I'd like to comment on this matter of the name of Halle's Giant, I think
you called it. I think the name is Halle, the German town where the
variety originated. I prefer the name Halle, because calling it Hall's
Giant is more or less a sign its origin is a man named Hall.
MR. STOKE: In some catalogs it is one way and some the other.
MR. SLATE: We have other items on the program tonight, and as the Latin
student said, "Tempus is fugiting very fast," so I think we had better
turn the meeting back to Dr. MacDaniels.
PRESIDENT MACDANIELS: The next two talks have slides to be shown, and it
is suggested that you take about ten minutes, take a stretch and then
come back when the slide projector is set up.
My Experiences With Chinese Chestnuts
W. J. WILSON, _Fort Valley, Ga._
When I was asked to appear on this program to tell my experiences as a
grower of chestnuts, I felt like a child, appearing before a group of
grown-ups to tell them how to make marriage succeed. When I see the
sages of chestnut knowledge seated before me I realize that I can only
relate my experiences and ask your advice.
My father was a pioneer peach and pecan grower; he loved trees and has
told me time after time that if I ever made more than just a living,
farming, it would have to come from trees, not row crops. He was what I
would call a self-educated man. He had small chance of formal education,
being the sickly son, one of eight sons and three daughters, of a couple
who eked out an existence on the poor, unproductive, sandy, soils of
Crawford County, Georgia, growing the one and only cash crop of those
days, cotton. The combined wages of these boys often amounted to more
cash money than their own cotton crop returned because the supplier got
most of the money from their own crop. They helped neighbors pick out
their cotton crops after finishing their own. Grandfather must have
liked to experiment in his limited way. Each spring as Grandfather would
plant his small patch of Spanish peanuts and yellow corn, Grandmother
would tongue-lash him, saying, 'so long as you fool away your time with
Spanish peanuts and yellow corn you will remain a poor man. Time has
proven Grandfather right and Grandmother wrong. Spanish peanuts is a
huge industry; most of our hybrid corns, which have added millions of
bushels to our yields are yellow.
My father wasted his time back at the turn of the century planting a
peach orchard on his best cotton land. He planted pecans each winter,
beginning about 1912, often to the ribbing of friends who still
worshipped at the feet of King Cotton. One told him that he had a pecan
tree or two about his home and the damn flying squirrels ate all of the
nuts. Another told him that if he wanted a load of stove wood he would
just as soon cut down a pecan tree as any other kind. At his death in
1942, my father had planted six hundred acres of pecan orchards, each
acre having been interplanted with peaches, to produce income while the
pecans were reaching bearing age.
I give you this background so that you may better understand my attitude
toward chestnut growing. The scale on which I have set out on chestnut
growing I know to some of you will seem rather bold or foolhardy.
About ten years ago I found that the U. S. D. A. Pecan Experiment
Station at Albany, Georgia had a small chestnut orchard. Max Hardy, was
doing the chestnut work and was so much interested in them that I caught
fire and have been burning ever since. When I found that the harvest
came between the peach harvest and the pecan harvest it fitted right
into my kind of farming. The fact, that it was a possible tree crop made
chestnut growing still more attractive to me. Max suggested that I join
the N. N. G. A. when I complained that I couldn't find much information
on chestnuts. I attended my first convention at Norris. I have tried to
make most of them since that time. Of all the discussions at the Norris
meeting, the one that stuck in my mind was whether nurseries should
recommend seedlings or grafted trees. I thought then, and still think,
that for commercial production one must have varieties, because
seedlings are so variable. I believe, that when, chestnut growing comes
of age, the major part of the production will go through processing
plants. It will be a great advantage to have nuts of uniform quality and
size, which is and will be impossible with seedlings.
Of the fifteen trees that I planted in 1946, only one fruited in 1951.
It bore only 3-1/4 pounds of nuts. The other fourteen did not fruit.
This year there are a few scattering burs at seven years of age, on
those that I did not graft this spring. I am now too old to wait seven
or eight years for a chestnut tree to begin bearing. These trees came
from a Virginia nursery. The trees I planted in 1947, I started grafting
in 1950, to Nanking, Meiling, and Kuling, and finished this spring,
except for a few replants. I also grafted ten trees in 1950 to
Abundance. These tops bore the second year, several bearing good burs
the same year the scions were set. These grafted trees are anxious to go
to work, because they bloom in the spring and again in late July and
early August. I have used the in-lay bark, modified cleft, the cleft,
and what I call a saddle graft, bevelling two sides of the stock and
splitting the scion, thus slipping the split scion down over the
prepared stock. I have had equally good take on all types of grafts
used. In 1948 I planted two hundred seedlings bought from Max Hardy,
grown from seed from the Experiment Station orchard. I believe the
production record of this orchard has been given to this convention at
previous meetings. You will recall that the off-type trees were rogued,
leaving the parent trees of Nanking, Kuling and Meiling and others of
good bearing habits. In 1951 four trees out of this lot, were
outstanding in precocity. The earliest started dropping nuts the
fifteenth of August and bore 7-1/4 pounds. The next matured September
5th and produced 8-1/2 pounds. The third tree is unusual. I noticed it
the 4th of October. The ground was covered with nuts, but only an
occasional bur. All of the burs were wide open and still on the tree.
The crop weighed 6-1/2 pounds. The fourth tree I found on the 5th of
October with all of its nuts on the ground, the tree retaining the burs.
The yield of this tree was 4-1/2 pounds. Mind you, this was the fourth
summer after planting. These trees have repeated this year with another
good heavy crop. The other trees in this block bore from none to one or
two pounds of nuts in 1951. This year less than ten trees in the block
are not bearing. Next spring these ten will be growing new tops, because
their present tops are not satisfactory. I noticed that one tree in this
block bloomed long after the rest this spring, several weeks in fact. It
might have possibilities in northern areas because of its late blooming.
Of the eleven hundred trees planted in 1950, one bore nuts in 1951. I
didn't know it until this spring, when I was pruning the trees in this
block, and found nuts on the ground under this tree. It is bearing a
good crop this year for its size and age. There are a number of these
trees bearing this year. Dr. Crane in a hurried inspection of these
trees this summer thought those trees bearing were offspring of a
certain tree in the Philema orchard.
I do not give my chestnut trees special care. They are fertilized and
cultivated the same as young peach orchards. We try to bring in a peach
orchard the third summer, with enough fruit to make it worth spraying. I
see no reason to wait seven or eight years to get a chestnut orchard
into bearing. If you will keep down competition from weeds, cultivate
frequently, and give the tree plenty of nitrogen you will be surprised
at the growth it will make. I set the trees twenty-four feet each way,
with the idea of thinning later when they begin to crowd. In this way I
will get higher acre yields in the early years. When they reach maturity
I will have them thinned down to forty-eight feet each way. As they
reach heavy bearing the rate of growth will slow down and I will adjust
the nitrogen to keep them from becoming too vegetative.
So far the only insects that have bothered me are caterpillars that
ordinarily feed on wild maypops, or passion flowers. These caterpillars
will defoliate a tree. The only tree that I have lost from
winter-killing was one defoliated by the caterpillars early last fall.
It may become necessary for me to spray for these worms if they become
too plentiful.
I do not come before you as an authority on chestnut growing. I feel
that to force myself to do my best I should plant enough trees to make
me find out how to handle them. In the rush and bustle of peach and
pecan growing if I had only a few chestnut trees I might decide that not
much was involved, and neglect the chestnuts. I know that with two
thousand trees already planted and some of them bearing I am going to
make a great effort to make the project profitable. I have decided that
chestnut growing has possibilities as a tree crop in my section, and is
worth my time and effort. I know there are many problems ahead, but so
did my father when he planted peaches and pecans many years ago. I am
still meeting new problems with them each year. Problems go hand in hand
with the fruit and nut business. It is the fellow who is willing to try
to work them out who has a chance to profit. If I wait until all the
problems are solved I will never grow chestnuts. The day that I decide
that I know all the answers about growing peaches, pecans or chestnuts,
is the day I start going broke. I have been badly bent several times
while I was struggling to find an answer. Each year starts full of hope,
with visions of a nice fat bank balance when the jobs are all done. Then
the problems start and if I can lick enough of them, I come through with
the right to see if I can't do a still better job next year, despite the
risks of too much rain, not enough rain, hail, insects and diseases.
I have found that each year from 15 to 50 million pounds of chestnuts
are imported from Europe. The same blight that destroyed our native
chestnuts, is going full tilt in Italy and other European countries. If
the blight runs its course as it did in this country, it will not be
many years until we will not have chestnuts from Europe. I am going to
grow some to fill this gap. In 1950 Dr. McKay sent me eight trees, four
Meiling, two Nanking, two Kuling. Two Meiling and two Nanking to be
planted together, two Meiling and two Kuling together. Each combination
to be isolated so that the nuts produced would be of known crosses.
These trees bloomed this spring and two of them set a few burs. Next
year I hope to turn over to Dr. McKay nuts from these trees to be
planted, and grown to fruiting age. I now have about one hundred and
sixty grafted trees. I intend to fruit my seedlings with the hope that
among them I will find trees superior enough to be given variety status.
I will then top-work the rest to varieties. At present I intend to plant
more trees each winter until I have at least one hundred acres of
orchards. If and when the weevil moves in I will have the equipment on
hand to spray, using the same equipment on peaches or pecans.
I would like to see this Association ask that more research on chestnut
production be done by the U. S. D. A. It will not be done until we ask
for it. The men in the department are not in position to do much asking
for additional funds. It is the responsibility of groups like the N. N.
G. A. and the Southeastern Chestnut Grower's Association. We are in need
of more breeding and selection of new, and better adapted varieties. We
need processing research, marketing research, and research in the field
of production. We are not going to get it done until we insist on it
good and strong.
This spring, at Fort Valley, Georgia, the Southeastern Chestnut Grower's
Association was formed. We hold our convention in March and will be glad
to have everyone interested in chestnut growing, marketing, processing
or research, attend our convention. I think in time this organization
will want to become affiliated with the N. N. G. A., to the mutual
benefit of both. I will be glad to have any of you visit my orchards and
show me how to grow chestnuts, I am constantly searching for
information.
PRESIDENT MACDANIELS: We thank Mr. Wilson very much for his talk, and
we think it does take a lot of courage to embark on an experiment of
that kind.
In view of the lateness of the hour, unless somebody objects, we will
adjourn until tomorrow morning at 8:30.
At 9:40 o'clock, p.m., the meeting adjourned.
TUESDAY MORNING SESSION
(Called to order at 8:30 o'clock, a.m., President L. H. MacDaniels
presiding.)
Persian Walnuts in the Upper South
H. F. STOKE, _Roanoke, Va._
My experience with the Persian walnut has been acquired in the Roanoke
district of south-west Virginia. It is located 300 miles from the
Atlantic seaboard and my trees are at an approximate elevation of eleven
hundred feet. Roanoke is on the same parallel as Springfield, Missouri,
and about thirty miles south of Rockport, Indiana.
This experience covers a period of more than twenty years with named
varieties and seedlings of the species. I shall here attempt to present
some findings that may be of some value to others similarly located.
For the sake of brevity I shall put the cart before the horse, the
findings before the facts from which they are derived.
For the upper south and, in my opinion, for the middle west, late
vegetating and blossoming is of prime importance for success with the
Persian walnut. No matter how vigorous, prolific and precocious the tree
may be, nor how fine the nuts, the variety is worthless for anything
except shade if the crop is destroyed by normal spring frosts.
In the second place is winter hardiness. This is of two kinds;
resistance to extreme cold, and resistance to the wooing of warm winter
days that starts premature activity, followed by a destructive freeze.
My experience with the Payne variety is a case in point. Having read
some place of the vigor, precocity and heavy bearing of the new variety,
then called the Payne Seedling, I secured some scions of it from its
originator and worked it on a young black walnut. The variety was
already making a name for itself in Northern California and Oregon, not
only because of its bearing habits but for the superb quality of its
nuts.
During the first few years it did well despite its early starting in the
spring, and bore heavy crops; then disaster fell. One spring the tree
failed to leaf out at the usual time. On examination I found that it had
winter-killed back to five-year wood. The winter had been unusually
cold, and the tree could not take it. Pruned back, the belated new
growth did not fully mature before winter so in turn was damaged, a
phenomenon that recurred from year to year. Exit Payne as a Virginia
prospect.
An example of the other type of winter injury was that of my first Crath
Carpathian. I secured scions of this variety from Rev. P. C. Crath in
1929. The parent tree had been growing and bearing in the vicinity of
Toronto and was apparently fully hardy. The scions grew vigorously on
the young black walnut stock on which it was worked, and completed their
longitudinal growth early in July, giving ample time for the ripening of
the wood before winter.
After several years I noticed the bark on the south side of the trunks
dead from so-called sun-scald. Activity had been induced by the warmth
of the winter sun, followed by freezing. After some years the wood was
killed back to limbs the thickness of one's wrist, and this has been
again repeated. The tree was hardy in Ontario, but not in Virginia.
The nut of this variety, which to me is the Crath, is much superior to
the average Carpathian, and I think might be well worth while in the
north-east and along the Great Lakes, but not in the upper South nor the
Mid-West.
Besides their winter weaknesses, both the Payne and Crath start too
early in the spring for my conditions.
Broadview and Lancaster both blossom here in mid-season and, since both
have a rather long period of producing pistillate blossoms, they seldom
fail to produce a crop when properly pollenized.
Franquette and Mayette, both highly recommended as being late vegetating
and producing excellent nuts, have offered me some difficulties of
another order. With Franquette the chief trouble has been to get a
suitable pollenizer. Like the Mayette, its pistillate blossoms appear
ten days or more after the staminate blossoms and self-pollination is
not effected. I tried King, recommended as a pollenizer, but it was too
early to be reliably effective. When Franquette is properly pollenized
it, with Payne, is one of the heaviest bearers.
Mayette in Virginia produces a fine, healthy, vigorous tree, but it
refuses to produce pistillate blossoms. A dozen nuts is an average crop
for a tree that should produce a bushel. It, like Franquette, demands a
late pollenizer, but the pistillate blossoms are simply not there.
Neither of these two late varieties have ever suffered winter injury
with me, nor have been damaged by spring frosts.
I will not attempt to go into detail regarding all the varieties and
seedlings that I have tried through the years; Eureka, that ranks with
Mayette and Franquette for lateness, but refuses to bear, apparently for
want of pollination; Chambers that was recommended along with King for
pollenizing the late bloomers but not fully successful; Breslau, with
its huge nuts but slow growth, in addition to an assortment of
Carpathian seedlings. Of the latter my Caesar is one of the more
promising with its vigorous growth, large thin-shelled nuts and ability
to pollenize itself in some seasons. Gilbert Becker has reported it
passing through Michigan winters unhurt.
As matters now stand, I believe Bedford, Caesar and Lancaster have
proven the most satisfactory varieties to date under my conditions,
although some seedlings I have grown appear even more promising. Chief
of these are several that I grew from open-pollenized nuts of the
Lancaster, which I am here exhibiting.
You will note that the one I designate as L-2 is an extremely large nut,
considerably larger than its seed parent which it somewhat resembles.
L-8 is of somewhat similar type, but smaller. L-3 and L-6, on the other
hand, are of entirely different type. Much smaller, they are smooth,
thin-shelled and well filled, with kernels running 50% by weight and of
high quality. They resemble their seed parent, Lancaster, not at all but
in type are much nearer Bedford, their probable pollen parent.
Another one of these seedlings, L-7, resembles Caesar, its probable
pollen parent, far more than it does its seed parent.
Some years ago I hand-pollenized several blossoms of Broadview, using
pollen from my original Crath.
One of the seedlings from these hand-pollenized nuts resembles Crath
much more than Broadview, the seed parent. I have it here as C x B 2.
Aside from the apparent profound influence of the pollen parent on the
offspring, there is the unexplained fact at that with the exception of
L-8, all these seedlings are later vegetating than the seed parents and
any of the suspect pollen parents. Of the Lancaster seedlings L-2, L-3
and L-6 are fully as late as Franquette and Mayette, blooming well after
the first of May. Inasmuch as there were no Persians producing pollen
anywhere near that time I can only believe that these nuts were
pollenized by the black walnut on which they were top-worked. I intend
to plant some of these nuts, and expect to produce hybrids.
This brings up the enticing subject of breeding Persian walnuts adapted
to one's own conditions. I have no suggestions to offer scientists, but
offer the following for the benefit of amateurs like myself.
If your grounds are cluttered up with varieties, as are mine, ingratiate
yourself to some friend who has an isolated young black walnut tree by
volunteering to convert it to the production of Persian walnuts. Select
two varieties whose characteristics you desire to blend and that will
pollenize each other, and grow seedlings from the resulting nuts. You
can check results in as little as four years by taking buds from the
seedlings at two years and placing then on black walnut.
Creative work, this. You will get the thrill of your life--if you are
that kind of a person--and may produce something well worth while.
Persian walnuts are self-pollenizing if pistillate and staminate
blossoms occur at the same time, but such usually is not the case.
Crath, Breslau, Caesar and King produce their pistillate blossoms some
days before their staminate blossoms shed their pollen, while Payne,
Lancaster, Broadview, Franquette and Mayette produce their blossoms in
reverse order. Of all those I have tested only Bedford can be depended
to produce both types of bloom simultaneously and certainly and fully
pollenize itself.
It is enlightening to keep a record of the blossoming time of each
variety relative to others, but dates should all be recorded for the
same year. Warm, early spring induces early blooming; late, cool weather
delays blossoming. By my records, Payne pistillates were receptive May 3
in 1935, April 28 in 1937 and March 31, in 1945, a variation of over a
month. All varieties vary with the season, but the variation is greatest
with the early varieties.
There has been little disease among my Persian walnuts except that in
wet seasons leaves and nut shucks are sometimes attacked by a fungous
blight. In the city there has been no insect injury worthy of note. In
the country, adjacent to wooded areas, insect injury is sometimes
serious. Pests include spittle bugs, stink bugs and other insects that
attack young leaves and tender growth. These check the leaders and
cause late multiple growths that may fail to mature and hence
winterkill.
In such locations the butternut curculio also attacks and destroys the
young nuts. Avoid wooded areas if choosing a site for a Persian walnut
orchard.
The most destructive pest with which I have had to contend has been the
large black-bird or purple grackle. Oddly enough they are much worse in
the city than in the country. As soon as the young are grown, about the
middle of June, they appear in flocks and attack the nuts of the Persian
walnut. At first, before the shell has hardened, they penetrate the nut
apparently for the nectar which is the substance of the immature kernel.
When the shell can no longer be penetrated they continue to eat away the
husk, which is equally fatal to the nut. This continues until late in
July, when the squirrels take over. Fortunately squirrels are highly
allergic to a bullet from a 22 rifle.
In pointing out some of the hazards encountered in growing Persian
walnuts in the East the writer has not intended to be discouraging but
helpful. Persian walnuts of good quality can be grown in this section;
full understanding of the factors involved make it possible, I believe,
to grow them successfully on a commercial scale.
Varieties of Persian Walnuts in Eastern Iowa
Ira B. Kyhl, _Sabula, Iowa_
There are a great many varieties of Persian walnuts, many of which
originated in the region of the Carpathian mountains and other parts of
Europe and a few varieties in the United States and Canada.
I believe that some varieties now grown in the United States and Canada
which originated in Europe may have come from the same tree as they
appear to have the same shape, thickness of shell and flavor. I have as
many as four varieties that are identical.
The Persian walnut has always been my favorite nut. I started with 2 or
3 varieties and now have 35 or 40 varieties and 200 trees most of which
are doing well. Some are superior in hardiness and vigor.
In eastern Iowa at 42 degrees N. latitude minimum winter temperatures
vary from 25 to 32 degrees below zero. Usually the minimum is 12 to 15
degrees below zero, but last winter it was 25 degrees below zero for
several days. Only the hardier varieties will endure -25 degrees without
injury, but -12 to -15 does not injure any variety very much.
Schafer is my favorite variety and it was not injured at -25 degrees. I
have several of these trees, some from seeds, some top-worked on black
walnut and the others grafted trees from a nursery. It grafts easily,
grows rapidly and bears a fine nut.
A top-worked tree of Colby withstood -25 degrees without injury and is
one of the most vigorous trees I have.
Fifteen seedlings from Crath Mayette and Crath Franquette seeds from the
late G. H. Corsan, of Toronto, Canada, are developing into very fine
trees, but are not yet bearing.
One of the first varieties planted, Broadview, grew rapidly and
produced nuts after two mild winters, but the several trees of this
variety killed to the ground after the -25 degrees of last winter.
Crath No. 1, Crath No. 39, and Breslau grew well until last winter when
they were killed. Three Breslau seedlings did not winterkill.
Rumanian Giant, the first tree I grafted, killed back somewhat, but is
recovering. This variety produces the largest nut I have seen and it
fills well.
Top-worked trees of other varieties that were not injured last winter
are Crath No. 5, Crath No. 12, SG No. 5, Crath No. 29, Graham and Crath
Special.
Seedlings in the nursery row that stood severe temperature are
Carpathian D, NWF Nos. 1 and 3, FB O and FB OO, Fort Custer, Hansen,
Jacobs and others.
MR. STOKE: Does the black walnut bloom at the same time that the Persian
walnut blooms?
DR. MCKAY: It bloomed near the end of the receptive period.
MR. STOKE: That first experiment of yours was trying to pollinize the
black walnut with the Persian, but the reciprocal cross may be quite
different, as Jones proved with the filberts.
DR. McKAY: That could be. We have no large amount of data on the
reciprocal cross. These cases where it is said that the black walnut
pollinates the Persian regularly and is producing good crops of nuts, I
would consider doubtful until I see the seedlings, their growth and
characteristics. Yesterday Mr. Bolten asked the question whether or not
some walnuts that have large nuts could possibly be tetraploid or
polyploid. A number of years ago I examined the chromosomes of one of
these large fruited varieties, and it had the same chromosome number as
the others, namely sixteen pairs or thirty two.
The whole question of chromosome number in nut varieties and species is
as follows. So far as we know, all of the species have a constant number
within the genus except the hickories where we have tetraploid species
and diploid species. All of the species of _Castanea_, as far as we
know, have the same chromosome number, and all of the varieties within
each species have the same number. In the Oaks, which are related to
chestnuts, we have an extremely large genus in which there is a great
constancy of number. The pines, and all other cone-bearing trees make up
another very large group in which chromosome numbers are constant.
Exactly the opposite situation is found in the related family of alders
and willows where the chromosome number is very variable.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Unless there is some special question or comment
on this subject, we will go on to the next item.
MR. LEMKE: There was a panel discussion about four years ago, and they
were talking about what nuts to grow, and one of the men said, "Before
you offer a man a good nut, give him a good nut cracker." That's been on
my mind for some time.
Commercial Production and Processing of Black and Persian Walnuts
EDWIN W. LEMKE, _Washington, Mich._
Sometime ago a group of nut minded men associated with Spencer B. Chase
announced their findings on the quality of the wild black walnut growing
in the area of Norris, Tenn. Nuts were gathered from 151 wild walnut
trees. After judging, the group came to the conclusion that only one
tree had a flavor that was considered by their standards as good. It is
these good nuts that caused the formation of the N.N.G.A. When we speak
of the good nut it gives the word commercial an entirely different
meaning. It by necessity excludes most of wild black walnut kernels
processed by the large cracking plants of Kentucky and Tennessee. The
large crackers are willing to pay better prices for the improved black
walnut but were they to rely on this source of supply they could not
stay in business very long.
To produce and process, I chose the Thomas and Ohio variety and I have
met with some success. The black walnut can be made to bear in the first
and second year after grafting but this is but a novelty feature. Jones
from whom I purchased my trees, told me that the black walnut could be
classed with the Northern Spy Apple for coming into bearing. This has
proven true. Commercial production of the improved black walnut is by
its very nature small scale production. Because of this fact only small
scale machines to process these nuts are feasible.
Since 1916 I have had time to reflect on the problem of the three basic
machines needed. These are the huller, cracker and kernel picker.
Fortunately for me I learned the machinist trade and had a machine shop
at my disposal. I tried every way to hull the black walnut and finally
accepted the commercial potato peeler as the best principle. I built
several crackers and at last accepted the Wiley cracker as the best
commercial cracker. The third machine is the picker which has yet to be
assembled. This picker is copied after The Kenneth Dick machine with
some variations in the separation process.
Let me briefly explain these three basic machines. As the nuts are
gathered in the orchard they are brought to the huller in bushel crates.
The huller is located in a separate room. This room has the floor
depressed to catch the removed hulls that are flushed outdoors with the
aid of running water. The cylinder of this huller is 30 inches in
diameter and 14 inches high. It is made of 3/16ths boiler plate. Three
inches from the bottom of the cylinder is a revolving disc smaller than
the inside of the cylinder. The disc being small enough it allows a
5/8th opening around the inside of the cylinder. It is this opening that
permits the hulls to drop to the floor. The nuts are held captive
because there is no opening in the cylinder for them to leave until the
discharge door is opened on the side of the cylinder. The cover of the
cylinder has a 10 inch feed hole into which the nuts are fed. A 10 inch
furnace pipe elbow runs from the hole to the serving trough into which
the nuts are poured. A 10 inch pusher is used to shove the nuts into the
huller and serves to keep the feed hole closed while the nuts tumble
around. The disc runs at 250 RPM which is the proper speed to do a good
job. While the nuts tumble around a stream of water is used to wash the
hulls free from the nuts and force the removed hulls to the floor below.
The disc is supported by a 1-3/8 inch diameter shaft that runs through
the disc and is held central as it revolves in a flange containing a 3/4
ball bearing that fits into the end of the concave in the shaft. Up four
feet from the disc is a link self aligning bearing that allows the shaft
and disc to turn like a gyroscopic top. The shaft's pulley has 'V' belts
connected to a 3/4 h.p. motor. I have hulled up to 40 bushels of clean
nuts in 8 hours. The nuts after hulling are placed on drying trays
indoors where temperatures are better controlled. The principal of this
huller is that it separates the hull by centrifugal force. The hull
drops down through the opening between cylinder and disc while the nuts
riding on disc are discharged at right angles to the fall of hull. The
machine is a separator.
The next basic machine is the cracker. This cracker is the Wylie cracker
in principle and is made in Eugene, Oregon. Simply explained it could be
likened to two pages in a book. One page is perpendicular while the
other page is off the perpendicular about 7 degrees. The first page
which is the anvil is fixed save for adjustments for nuts of varying
size. The other page or hammer riding up and down through an inch and
one quarter of travel is fixed to a crank below. Both of these pages or
plates are heavy cast iron plates that are fluted and cause the nut to
be cracked against these saw toothed flutes and while being cracked are
revolved down through the plates. The plate moving at an angle forces
the nut finally through a 3/8 inch opening where they fall into a rotary
sieve. The sieve has three sizes of mesh. 5 mesh, 2 mesh and 3/4 mesh.
The larger pieces go on through and are returned to the cracker. This
cracker will crack up to 500 pounds per hour, and uses a 3/4 h.p. motor.
The last of the three basic machines is the picker. I have not yet built
the picker but a number of the parts have already been machined and
before long it will be a reality. The Kenneth Dick, picker, of Peebles,
Ohio is the best for small orchards. It is essentially a separator using
a conveyor belt which carries the cracked nuts to needles that pick up
the kernels and deposit them on trays that at the timed moment accept
the black walnut kernels. The discarded shells remain on conveyor and
travel to the end and fall into a receptacle. After this process,
further inspection becomes necessary but up to the present it is the
best we have.
The black walnut is a messy nut to fool with but with the proper
machines it soon becomes a pleasure to work with it. I can work all day
hulling nuts and finish with clean unstained hands.
Processing the Persian walnut is a simple matter as compared with the
black walnut. My Persian nuts are gathered and placed on drying trays.
Most of the nuts fall free from hull and the stick tights are discarded
as inferior. N.N.G.A. members need but write to the agricultural
colleges in California, Oregon and Washington and a list of publications
will be sent. One of the latest machines being offered is one that picks
the nut from the orchard floor with a speed with which no human can
compete. It has not only removed the back ache but the human back as
well. The Persian walnut industry in the Pacific Coast states is big
business.
There is only one organization that can and does disseminate the
necessary knowledge and experience that will give the northern grown nut
its proper place in the American diet. That is the Northern Nut Grower's
Assn. You newer members have become heirs to knowledge based on the
experiences of others which represents not only blood, sweat and tears
but a lot of good hearty belly laughs. When one becomes nut conscious
there is no turning back. It gives life a new approach and a finer
meaning.
Black Walnut Processing at Henderson, Kentucky
R. C. MANGELSDORF, _St. Louis, Mo._
MR. MANGELSDORF: Mr. Walker and Mr. McDonald are unable to be here
today, and I don't know if I can fill their shoes or not, because I am
not in the purchasing or processing end of the black walnut business.
We started this black walnut shelling operation a season ago at
Henderson, Kentucky, with the idea of processing the nuts there and
transporting the kernels to St. Louis for final processing and
marketing. At Henderson, Kentucky we are located outside the city limit,
and we have no fire protection, and as a result, the insurance rates on
our building, storage sheds, and black walnuts in storage have been so
high that we are looking around for possible plant location sites where
we can reduce that expense of operation.
Another factor in our operation there is the transportation of raw
material to our cracking site. If we have to transport black walnuts,
which give an approximate 10 per cent yield, any distance, the freight
adds materially to the cost per pound of the finished material. That is,
if we have to pay 10 cents per hundred additional freight cost in
transporting them from outlying districts to the cracking plant, that
adds a cent a pound to the cost of the finished kernels. All such
factors, have to be given weighty consideration, because our business is
primarily concerned with making money for the stockholders. If we don't
make money for the stockholders, they are not interested in seeing us
continue the operation.
Mr. Walker and Mr. McDonald at the present time are out on a crop
inspection trip and also making surveys of locations and availability of
buildings or sites that might be more advantageous than the one at
Henderson, Kentucky. It may be that we will continue the operation
there, making modifications in the building, which will result in lower
insurance rates. At the present time, with the new crop coming on, we
are in a chaotic state of affairs, because we just don't know exactly
what's the best path to follow in our operation at Henderson, Kentucky.
Are there any questions?
DR. MCKAY: Will you tell us something about how you handle the nuts in
your plant, how they are hulled and cracked, and so forth?
MR. MANGELSDORF: It's a similar operation to what Mr. Lemke described.
The nuts are brought in in burlap bags by the farmers and growers and
are put in storage in cribs. The plant at Henderson, Kentucky, was a
popcorn processing plant, with a large crib under roof where the nuts
are stored. After the moisture content is reduced somewhat, they pass
through a tumbling drum to remove any of the extraneous hulls and other
dirt that might be adhering.
After the nuts are completely freed of all this extraneous matter, they
are passed through a series of cracking rollers with screens. The nuts
are cracked, by passing between two rollers like a wringer then passed
over a shaker screen, the free nut meats passing through the screen. The
large material that comes off of the screen is then passed between more
closely spaced cracking rollers and then further sifted and screened.
Then the various materials that have passed through the screens are run
through a Smalley picker. This is nothing more than metal pins on a
series of fingers rotating on a roller that presses against a sponge
rubber roller. The nut meats adhere to the prongs or points. The shells,
not being penetrated by the points of the pins, are not picked up. Then
there is a comb that picks off the adhering kernels from the picker
prongs. That's the principle of most of the shelling operations of the
black walnuts. I don't believe any major changes have been made in the
processing of black walnuts in the last ten years.
DR. COLBY: How do you remove the hulls?
MR. MANGELSDORF: We try to buy only hulled walnuts, the farmer and the
grower removing the hulls in a tumbler and selling to us only the
dehulled walnuts.
The kernels are packed in cartons and shipped to St. Louis for final
picking of remaining shells and off-colored nut meats and graded for
color, size and quality. After this grading separation is made, they are
either packed in our 4-ounce vacuum-packed tins or 30-pound bulk cartons
which are then sold through the trade.
MR. WALLICK: What percentage of kernels do you get?
MR. MANGELSDORF: I think our operation at Henderson, Kentucky this past
season for all of the nuts that were grown and gathered in this locality
was about 9.48 per cent yield of black walnut kernels by weight.
MR. WHITFORD: Do you get any improved varieties, such as Thomas, Stabler
or Ohio?
MR. MANGELSDORF: No. With most of the nuts that we gather in our
marketing operation very little attention is paid to variety or source.
We don't try to differentiate and store them separately, but everything
is processed as it is brought together.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you have any indication that you get a better quality
nut from one county or one area than you do from another?
MR. MANGELSDORF: That is a question that I can't answer, because I am in
the research and development end of the business, and have very little
to do with the purchasing and marketing of the nuts themselves.
MR. LEMKE: What do you do when you strike a day that is very humid and
the nuts start getting moldy?
MR. MANGELSDORF: That is a bugaboo. I always say you don't have to be
nuts to be in the nut business, but it sure helps a little bit. All the
nuts that I have ever had any dealing with seem to be very susceptible
to mold growth. If the moisture content of the nuts is above a critical
level, mold growth takes place in the shell at a very fast rate. The
only thing we can do in a case like that is to get the kernels in to St.
Louis and destroy the mold growth or spores on the surface before it can
grow so that the fungous mycelium is visible to the eye. The black
walnut and pecan, if you examine them under the microscope, all seem to
have mold growth on the surface of the kernels. I am inclined to believe
that the nut kernel is not completely sterile in the shell and that
through some manner or means the mold spores have been introduced onto
the kernel, because immediately after shelling examination of these nuts
under a microscope, will show some fungous mycelium on the surface of
the kernels.
DR. MCKAY: One comment is that the pellicle of a black walnut or a
pecan, is very hygroscopic. It tends to absorb moisture readily, whereas
the kernel itself, being high in oil, does not take up water readily.
That, apparently, is why there may be evidences of mold growth on the
kernel though it may not be actually penetrating. It is only
superficial, growing on the pellicle of the kernel, not on the kernel
itself.
MR. MANGELSDORF: Right.
DR. MCKAY: Black walnut kernels are outstanding in their resistance to
heat and will get rancid very slowly under conditions of high heat--not
humidity. For example, we had some nuts in our attic for two summers in
a place where it gets very hot, yet dry. Those nuts are in very good
eating condition today. I don't know about pecans.
MR. MANGELSDORF: That's very true of black walnuts. Pecans have to be
carried throughout the season in our cracking operations under
refrigeration, but the black walnuts we can store out in any shed with
tin roof. The temperature gets very hot, and it seems to have no effect
whatever on the edibility or rancidity of the nut kernel.
MR. STOKE: You spoke of storing the whole nuts in large bins. There you
may have an extreme amount of mold, too, if the nuts are damp.
MR. MANGELSDORF: We try to have storage conditions such that air has
free passage through the bulk of nuts. The mold and the yeast are there
and when they start to grow, their metabolism throws off quite a large
amount of heat. As a result the molding process is speeded up like a
chain reaction, and before long the nuts will be worthless for shelling.
MR. MANGELSDORF: We had nuts until just a few weeks ago from our last
season's gatherings. That's almost a whole year.
MR. SALZER: Can you tell me if the farmer is paid by the weight of the
nuts, or does he receive his pay after the kernels are shelled out? Does
he receive more money if it contains a higher percent of kernels?
MR. MANGELSDORF: He receives his pay on the basis of the whole nut that
he delivers to the plant, and we try to exercise some control over the
quality of the delivery. Samples are taken and cracked, and if most of
the nuts are rotten or the quality is very low, we may reject buying
that entire lot, or we may discount the lot of nuts a certain amount,
depending upon the percentage of the nut meats that are salvaged.
MR. MURPHY: Do you pay a premium for cultivated nuts?
MR. MANGELSDORF: That I can't answer, but I don't believe that they
have this past season. I wouldn't want to go on record as to that. There
is a tremendous difference in the flavor of what we call the "eastern"
black walnut in comparison with the California or western black walnut.
We think that the flavor of the California walnut is not at all
comparable to the eastern black walnut.
MR. MCDANIEL: You don't notice any difference, do you, between the
Missouri and the Kentucky nuts?
MR. MANGELSDORF: No, not in my experience, but there is a tremendous
difference in flavor between the eastern and western.
MR. ROHRBACHER: On what basis do you buy black walnuts?
MR. MANGELSDORF: I understand that each individual sale is an individual
"horse-trading" deal, the price paid, depending upon the quality of
nuts, moisture content, color and other factors. Of course, our aim is
to buy the nuts as cheaply as possible and the object of the fellow
selling the nuts is to get the greatest return that he can from what he
has to offer. So we try to reach a happy medium in our dealings, and a
lot of concessions might be made one way or the other with special lots
that are offered for sale.
MR. WHITFORD: What sizes and grades of kernels do you have?
MR. MANGELSDORF: We have the large, medium, small and granules. Granules
are very small pieces. Usually the prices paid for the nuts are not
determined, actually, until the crop starts to move. Everybody has an
idea what the market price will be for the nuts, but nothing is
crystallized or brought to a focus until the first nuts are actually on
the market. Then the nuts sold are examined as to quality, giving some
idea of the future quality of deliveries that might be made in that
section, and then prices can be established. As I say, it's a nutty
business. I haven't grown very many gray hairs yet, but I expect to have
many before I am through. And each new problem that arises in this nut
business, when you reach a solution for it, invariably there are two
other problems that are created, and if you are not wide awake, one of
these problems can be much greater than the one that you just had a
solution for.
MR. DAVIDSON: Do you know anything as to the bearing of black walnuts
this year as compared to previous years?
MR. MANGELSDORF: Mr. Walker and Mr. McDonald are out at the present time
making a crop inspection tour of the various localities, and I have had
no report as to what the condition of the crop will be this year.
MR. WHITFORD: Which grades bring the highest prices?
MR. MANGELSDORF: The large particles of kernel demand a premium over the
smaller sizes. That is one of the discrepancies in the shelling
operation, that the material that costs us the least money to produce
gives the largest returns. When you have small pieces, the operation of
removing the last remaining shells and off-colored particles is much
greater than with the large kernels. One large kernel amounts to
considerable weight and you may have to pick up many small particles to
represent the same weight.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We appreciate very much your talk, Mr.
Mangelsdorf.
One thing that interested me was your statement that having large
pieces was an advantage. That question has been argued on the floor of
these conventions a number of times and there have been those who
claimed that the larger pieces were all ground up anyway and that the
varieties from which you can recover large pieces were of no particular
merit commercially.
The next paper is, "Nut Shells--Asset or Liability?", T. S. Clark of the
United States Department of Agriculture, Regional Laboratory, Peoria,
Illinois.
Nut Shells--Assets or Liabilities
T. S. CLARK, _Northern Regional Research Laboratory_,[1] _Peoria,
Illinois_
ABSTRACT. The value of nut shells as materials for agricultural and
industrial use is discussed. Problems of plant location, shell
collection, processing, and hazards are considered. Applications and
specifications are illustrated.
We are particularly pleased that the Northern Nut Growers Association is
presenting this opportunity for a discussion of nut shell utilization.
The Northern Regional Research Laboratory feels that it has played an
important role in what is now becoming a new industry of increasing
magnitude. For the benefit of those who are not already acquainted with
the Laboratory, permit me to digress momentarily to explain briefly its
organization and functions.
The Northern Regional Laboratory at Peoria, Illinois, is one of four
large research laboratories established by an act of Congress in 1938
and placed under the administration of the Bureau of Agricultural and
Industrial Chemistry. The function of these laboratories is to conduct
research and to develop new chemical and technical uses as well as new
and expanded markets for the farm commodities and byproducts of the
regions in which the laboratories are located. The commodities studied
at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory are the oilseeds, cereal
grains and agricultural residues which include corncobs, stalks, straws,
sugar cane bagasse, hulls and shells of nuts and fruit pits. Because of
the great similarity in chemical and physical characteristics of the
residues all research on these materials is conducted at the Northern
Laboratory.
During the time that the Northern Laboratory has been actively
investigating shell materials and other agricultural residues we have
been in direct communication with operators of shell grinding plants;
some of these have been visited. We have received numerous letters and
calls for information and assistance in solving grinding problems, or in
using the ground products. Through these contacts and our experiences we
have learned much about the factors that lead to success or failure in
this utilization. Ten plants are now producing a variety of ground shell
products useful in both agriculture and industry.
When the Northern Laboratory was organized, only one plant, established
originally by the California Walnut Growers Association, was grinding
nut shells. This plant, following a number of operational difficulties
and administrative changes, now processes 40 tons or more of shells per
day and produces a wide variety of ground products including exceedingly
fine flours for use in plastics and plywood adhesives. It has been said
that this plant processes all of the English walnut and apricot pit
shells and 80 percent of the peach pit shells available in California.
The Laboratory has attempted to determine the amount of shells and pits
available commercially in different areas. Data of this nature has been
obtained for the larger cracking plants but there are many small
operations for which we lack this information. "Agricultural Statistics"
compiled and published annually by the U. S. Department of Agriculture
provide an excellent source of information regarding production and, in
many cases, the disposition of farm commodities. For example, the
production of pecans in 1951, presented by states, totaled more than
73,000 tons for the 10 states reported. However, no data were available
regarding marketings in-shell, or the quantities remaining on the farms
or in the orchards. Thus, the quantity of pecan shells actually
available for processing can be determined only through surveys of
cracking plants. Only limited information is available concerning black
walnut shells and this has been obtained through the cooperation of
shellers or crackers.
In some areas fruit pits, such as apricot and peach pits, accumulate at
canneries or freezing plants. Similarity in character of the pit shells
to those of the nuts permits their use in plants grinding nut shells.
Thus, the supply of raw material in any area may be augmented by
inclusion of fruit pit shells.
Collection of nut shells for grinding operations is a relatively simple
procedure, particularly where grinding is done at a cracking plant.
Where shells must be collected over large areas both rail and truck
transportation are used. If fruit pits are considered, provisions should
be made for removal of residual flesh or pulp before the pits leave the
canneries. In the cases where the pits have been cut during processing
of the fruits, the released kernels should be removed before shipping
the shells. Pit kernels are valuable for their oil content.
Shell Use During World War II
The production and maintenance schedules set up during World War II
resulted in the development and expansion of uses for ground shell
materials. Fine flours from walnut shells were needed as extenders in
plywood adhesives. Soft grits from various shells were used by the Army
Air Forces in the air-blast method for cleaning airplane engines and
parts. Grits were required for deburring metal stampings and
flash-removal from molded plastics. These uses have expanded
considerably to meet civilian needs since the war.
Grinding Nut Shells and Fruit Pits
As uses for ground shell products were developed the Laboratory sought
advice of grinding equipment manufacturers for information on the design
and construction of suitable grinding plants. Only limited tests had
been made and data were not readily available in any published form.
Consequently the Laboratory undertook an extensive study on grinding nut
shells and fruit pits as part of its research on agricultural residues.
These studies were not limited to grinding only, but included methods of
separation and classification based on physical characteristics of the
raw materials; the relation of associated mechanical operations; a
consideration of the hazards; the problems of labor, management, and
merchandising.
A number of fires have occurred in plants grinding nut shells, corncobs,
stock feeds, and similar materials. In most cases the causes of fire
have been other than the grinding operation. From a consideration of the
causes of fires a number of safety precautions have been developed. Good
plant housekeeping is paramount. This is essential, not only because of
influence of dust and dirt on the maintenance of motors and equipment,
but because of the highly explosive nature of shell dusts. The U. S.
Bureau of Mines has cooperated closely with the Northern Laboratory in
evaluating the explosive hazards of the shell dusts.
Many of the present operators of shelling-grinding plants have benefited
from the information and assistance available from this Laboratory. The
cooperation of equipment manufacturers has aided considerably in
extending the scope of the Laboratory's studies.
The Northern Laboratory has published bulletin AIC-336, "Dry Grinding
Agricultural Residues, A New Industrial Enterprise" that summarizes the
research conducted to date. This is the first time that such data on
engineering and design has been assembled and published to cover this
field. Copies of the bulletin may be obtained by addressing requests to
the Northern Regional Research Laboratory, Peoria, Illinois.
Plants designed to produce at least 1-1/2 tons per hour of ground shell
products will cost upwards of $60,000. A well-engineered plant of such
size will require three to five men per shift. Among other factors, the
working capacity of a grinding plant depends upon the quantity of shells
available and the ability of the organization to merchandize its
products. The plant should be located in an area in which at least 5,000
tons of nut shells or fruit pits are annually available at low
transportation costs.
Uses of Shell Products
The more important uses for nut shell products, together with their
specifications for particle size, are shown in Table 1.
Table 1.--Uses for ground nut shells and fruit pits
+------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Applications | Size |
| | |
| Deburring, cleaning, burnishing and polishing | |
| in metal stamping, electroplating and | No. 10 to No. 50 |
| plastics industries | |
| Soft-grit blasting | No. 10 to No. 30 |
| Fillers for plastics and plywood adhesives | Finer than No. 100 |
| Insecticide diluents and carriers | Finer than No. 140 |
| Explosives | No. 10 to No. 100 |
| Fur cleaning | No. 10 to No. 100 |
| Poultry litter and mulch (almond and peanut) | 1/4 to 3/4 inch |
| Fillers for fertilizers (almond and peanut) | Finer than No. 20 |
+------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
Experience shows that no matter how nut shells or fruit pit shells are
ground both under- and oversize particles will be produced. The hard,
friable character of most of the nut shells makes their reduction to
fine size particles less difficult than for tough materials, such as
corncobs, or fibrous materials such as woods. Shells from almonds
because of their bulk and very fibrous nature are somewhat less
convenient to handle than other shells. Good business practice shows
that sales outlets should be found for each fraction so that grinding
expenses can be kept at a minimum.
Because there are some differences in physical characteristics of nut
shells and fruit pits all shell products do not necessarily meet the
same specifications, nor have the same uses.
Industrial Cleaning and Finishing
Oil, dirt, corrosion products, stain, paint, grease and the like can be
removed from metal surfaces by air-blasting with soft grits prepared
from shells of walnuts, pecans, peach pits, and similar residues. This
method was developed originally for the Navy to use grits from
corn-cobs for cleaning aircraft engines and parts. The method is
inexpensive and foolproof because surfaces are cleaned without change of
dimensions. No pitting or abrasion, such as produced by sand blasting,
occurs. The method is particularly useful with mild steel, nonferrous
metals, alloys, and parts that must be maintained at close tolerances.
Modifications of the blast method are used in finishing molded plastics,
metal die-castings, and machined parts. One manufacturer of precision
instruments states that his company saves $100,000 a year in finishing
parts with shell grits.
Many stamped metal articles and molded plastics are deburred, cleaned,
burnished, and polished by tumbling in drums containing shell grits.
Various grades of grits are required depending upon the nature of the
pieces being finished.
Fillers for Plastics and Plywood Glues
The Laboratory has studied the use of shell flours for use in plastics
and plywood glues. Many of these flours are now in regular commercial
use. Flours for these applications are prepared in various grades, all
finer than 100-mesh. Use of these flours not only improves the
properties of the final products but also reduces the cost of the
products. Molded plastics prepared with fine flour from English walnut
shells have exceptionally fine surface finish.
Insecticide Carriers
The insecticide field provides a good outlet for shell flours. Flour
from walnut shells was the first of this type of material to be used for
this purpose. Often the active ingredient in a finished insecticide is
present in quantities of less than 1 percent. Custom grinders should
plan to recover the flour as a co-product of their operations rather
than attempting to grind to flour alone.
Explosives
Large amounts of shell grits and meal are used as diluents in the
manufacture of dynamite. Material for this use ranges in size from No.
10 to No. 100, the requirements of the individual manufacturers falling
within much narrower limits as to size.
Fur Cleaning
Furriers have found that various ground shell products are very
effective agents for cleaning furs. Size requirements for this purpose
are broad, the limits being dependent upon the cleaning equipment
maintained by the furrier. The natural oils present in some shell
products are considered advantageous for this application.
Sundry Applications
Stock bedding, poultry litters, fillers in feeds and fertilizers,
mulches, charcoal, tannin and abrasives in hand soaps are some of the
other products that are prepared from nut shells. The shell products
cannot be used interchangeably but must be selected in accordance with
their chemical and physical properties.
I hope that the foregoing brief discussion has conveyed to you the
potential value that lies in the piles of shells accumulating at the
cracking plants, and that these accumulations can be converted from
expensive wastes to profitable products.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: One of the laboratories of the Bureau of Agricultural and
Industrial Chemistry, Agricultural Research Administration, United
States Department of Agriculture.]
The Propagation of the Hickories
(Panel Discussion led by F. L. O'Rourke, East Lansing, Mich.)
MR. O'ROURKE: I hope that we can have a rather stimulating session on
hickory propagation this morning. Last year we had a session which was
supposed to take in propagation of all nut tree species. However, we
never got away from Chinese chestnuts. It was Chinese chestnuts from the
start to the finish. The Program Committee this time thought that we
should limit it to one group, and they chose the hickories.
I have compiled a review of all the literature pertaining to the
hickories and passed it out yesterday afternoon. I hope that some of you
have had a chance to read it and will have some questions to ask us this
morning.
In order to really have some help, I am going to call upon Mr. Louis
Gerardi of Illinois, Mr. Ferguson of Iowa, Mr. Max Hardy of Georgia, Mr.
Ward of Indiana, and Mr. Wilkinson also of Indiana and Mr. Bernath of
Poughkeepsie, New York.
The subject matter of the panel will be limited to the propagation of
hickories, which includes the pecan.
Who has some questions that they'd like to bring up?
MR. SALZER: Which varieties will grow on fairly wet soil?
MR. O'ROURKE: That is a question pertaining to culture, rather than
propagation, but we can still allow it. Which varieties--I presume you
mean species, is that correct?--will grow on fairly wet soil? I think
Mr. Ward has a little bit of black soil in that good, old state of
Indiana.
MR. SALZER: I mean soil that doesn't dry well in the spring. I have one
spot that's too wet for chestnuts.
MR. WARD: I wouldn't put any hickory nuts on it. You are going to find
it is going to be very difficult for if the soil is the least bit heavy
or wet, the hickory nut does not do well at all. In the Wabash bottoms
there is a lot of this black soil that is overflowed every year, and
some of the finest hickory nuts and some of the finest pecans that you
can find in the country are there. Sometimes I have seen water marks on
those hickory trees several feet from the ground in the spring of the
year and sometimes in the summer, yet they come through with a good crop
of nuts. Underneath it is a strata of gravel so that the soil drains out
in a hurry.
MR. SALZER: This has subsoil drainage.
MR. WARD: The soil around Rochester is very heavy like what we call
slashland type of soil here in Indiana, and where this occurs we find
that the hickory nut does very, very poorly. I wouldn't advise putting
them on such soils. The black walnut will grow a lot better in places
like that.
MR. GERARDI: In Illinois we have that deep, black soil and we just call
it plain gumbo. It's all filled-in soil, and I never have reached the
bottom. It's at least 20 feet thick. And these swamp hickories--I think
Reed was the one that called them swamp hickories--thrive there. They
can be two months under water six foot deep, and still bear wonderful
crops. You can get a wagon load of them in that mucky soil.
MR. CALDWELL: The hickory in New York State which will stand the most
moist conditions is the bitternut hickory, and with that root stock you
may be able to get some of the others through. The shagbark will
withstand considerable moisture if it has deep soil. The bitternut does
well on shallow soil or the soil that is made shallow by high water.
MR. O'ROURKE: The bitternut, then, will survive wet conditions. This is
of interest as far as root stocks are concerned. I am wondering if
anyone would like to report on the ability of the pecan to take wet soil
conditions.
MR. WILKINSON: They will turn out all right if they have dry feet during
the summer months, but they will not stand wet feet all summer.
MR. O'ROURKE: Will the bitternut do better, or would the mockernut?
MR. WILKINSON: I am not well enough versed on that to say. But the
pecan, I have seen them stand under water for weeks at a time two or
three times during the winter, water 20 feet deep and not affect them at
all. But if they are around in a place where the water stands in July
and August, they won't take it.
MR. O'ROURKE: Any other discussion on stocks that will take wet soil
conditions? If not, let us take up Mr. Beckert's question: When do you
take scion wood of the shagbark hickory? Who would like to answer that?
Mr. Gerardi?
MR. GERARDI: The time I like best, the time it can be done in our
particular area is the latter part of February. Leave it on the tree as
long as you can before any sap rises.
MR. O'ROURKE: You would say probably 10 days to 2 weeks before the bud
scales would break?
MR. GERARDI: That's right, before any growth begins.
MR. O'ROURKE: Any other comment on that? Dr. McKay?
DR. MCKAY: I want to ask the question about which there is difference of
opinion. Do pecan seed have a rest period, and is there any difference
between pecans and hickory in that respect?
MR. HARDY: I am not sure that I can answer the question exactly. Most
pecans planted for seed have been allowed to dry before they are
harvested, and it is general practice to stratify them either in sand
for planting in the spring or planting them immediately in the fall. I
am inclined to think that there is very little rest period in pecans and
that if they were planted immediately from the tree that perhaps they
would begin to grow almost immediately.
DR. MCKAY: I think that's true. The seed will germinate quickly. But can
you plant dry seed any time during the winter?
MR. HARDY: Once they are dried I think they must go through
after-ripening conditions.
MR. O'ROURKE: Do I understand you correctly that you do feel that the
pecan must be after-ripened?
MR. HARDY: Yes, if permitted to dry.
MR. O'ROURKE: The work of Burdette in Texas a great many years ago has
indicated that the pecan seed does not have a rest period. Mr.
Wilkinson, what has been your experience in germinating pecan seeds?
MR. WILKINSON: I usually like to either plant or stratify soon after
gathering, although one time I had some off the shelf of a grocery store
in March and got excellent results. One thing more about time of cutting
graft wood. I never like to cut it for at least 48 hours after a
freezing temperature, regardless of time. I would rather cut it in April
with the buds green than to cut it in the first of March right after a
freeze. I have had excellent results just this spring cutting extra
graft wood with green buds on. But if you cut it within 48 hours after a
freezing temperature, you might just as well throw it away.
MR. O'ROURKE: I am very glad you brought that out. Irrespective of
whether it be pecan or hickory, I believe it would work the same, that
the scion wood should be cut when it is moist, and that is not the
condition after a freeze, when it is in very dry condition.
Let's get back to this seed propagation now. I am asking anyone here,
can you throw any light at all on the need for stratification of pecan
or hickory seed of any species.
MR. CALDWELL: I have read in several publications that hickories should
be stratified over the winter period before planting for spring
germination. I always find things a little bit different, so a year ago
at the greenhouse I took seven different sources of seed of shagbark
hickory, _Carya ovata_ and one source of _Carya ovalis_. Some of those
seeds germinated within three weeks from the time I put them in, and
after a month and a half I had a full stand in all cases. I don't think
that more than 2 per cent of the seeds failed to germinate. They were
planted in warm greenhouse, with a minimum of, about 68 degrees at
night and about 90 during the day. They were planted in a combination of
peat and garden soil; no special care other than water. I have had no
trouble since the seedlings have continued to grow, even though the
seeds were planted only two and a half inches deep. So it may be that
there is no need for stratifying hickories.
MR. O'ROURKE: Your experience is the exact duplication of Dr. Lelia
Barton's of the Boyce-Thompson Institute. She found that hickory seeds
germinated from three weeks, as you did, to a number of months, when put
in a warm greenhouse. Apparently the difference in time is related to
the thickness of the seed coat or possibly to an inhibitor in the
pellicle rather than to any need for after-ripening. I think that
Burdette in Texas also pointed out that thick-shelled pecans took longer
to germinate than thin-shelled pecans.
MR. PATAKY: If you take a nut of any kind and let it dry and plant it,
you will get quicker germination than if you plant it soon after
harvest. I don't see any difference in taking a nut and planting it and
stratifying it. If planted the rodents will get it, but if you put it in
something all winter, it will be there in the spring. I don't see any
reason for planting a nut in the fall, taking a chance of rodents
getting at them. If you plant them in the spring, they come up so much
quicker that the rodents don't have a chance to get at them. They got
nearly all of mine that I planted in the fall.
MR. HARDY: A good many nuts don't have any rest period requirements. I
think it probably is a matter of convenience as to the manner in which
they are handled. I have talked with nurserymen in the South. If they
get the nuts in the fall they may either plant them in the fall or
stratify them over winter and then plant them in the rows in the spring.
If they get them in the spring, they soak them for a day or two days in
water before planting. Perhaps the dry nut is slow in taking up moisture
direct from the soil, and they are primarily interested in getting a
uniform stand of trees so that they handle it in such a manner that all
the nuts will grow at the same time. And I believe many will agree that
a dry nut planted in the spring will show considerable variation as to
the time in which they appear above ground.
MR. O'ROURKE: The suggestion of soaking them in water a few days is well
taken, because a great many have recommended it. Most folks recommend
changing the water daily. By changing the water you replace the oxygen
which would be in the water, and you also eliminate any toxic substances
which may have leached out of the shells during the preceding 24 hours.
DR. MCKAY: I'd like to mention the reason for raising this question. Dr.
Crane has the idea that there is no definite rest period in the pecan
nut; if they are soaked in water they will sprout at any time.
I decided I would test that hypothesis, so I stratified one group of
nuts of about four pounds. Another lot of four pounds I kept in the
laboratory dry all winter long. Then I planted the two lots of nuts this
spring together, side by side, in the cold frame. Today there is not a
single seedling growing out of the dry lot, and there is a perfect stand
in the group that was stratified.
To me that means that there is a definite rest period in the pecan seed.
I don't see how you can get away from it.
MR. O'ROURKE: I am going to stick my neck out a little bit. I have
absolutely no basis to make this statement, but it does give us
something to think about. That is the greater the distance towards the
north that certain species of plants may have migrated or disseminated,
the greater the rest period requirement. That is a protective device for
a species to persist in northern climates, because if it were not for
this rest period, those seed would germinate in the fall of the year,
and the young seedlings would be frozen out immediately. But by having
the rest period requirement over winter, the seedlings do not germinate
until the following spring, and the plant can persist. I am speaking now
in general of northern plants. I am wondering if the pecan species in
itself may not be variable in that the southern pecan does not need a
rest period, and the northern pecan is beginning to develop the rest
period requirement.
MR. HARDY: Mr. Chairman, I am inclined to think there may be some other
factor entering into the picture there. A pecan carried through winter
in a dry condition at normal room temperatures would be liable to
develop quite a bit of rancidity by spring. Furthermore, nuts that have
been held over so long in a dry condition may still be good and may
germinate the second year. I'd hesitate to destroy that planting until
next spring, and to my notion that does not indicate dormancy so much as
it would possibly indicate the inhibition of growth by some other
products developed during that storage period.
MR. O'ROURKE: You have brought up a very important point and something
we should not neglect. It may be that drying to a certain degree will
induce dormancy, a grievously overworked word, but you know what I mean.
It may take two years for the seed to germinate, as Mr. Hardy has
suggested. If you can leave them in that cold frame over this winter,
maybe you can tell us next year just what happened.
MR. PATAKY: If we take nature's way, watch a squirrel plant a hickory or
black walnut. He will bury it about an inch deep, and it will stay moist
all winter long, the same as if it were stratified. But if you take a
nut and store in a hot place you are going to slow up or kill that germ.
You can do that very easily in a chestnut. Take a little advice from
nature itself in the locality where you are. If you are in the South,
that nut can start growing in the fall, and it probably won't hurt it,
but if you are in the North, you don't want to start a nut growing in
the winter, because it's going to get winter killed.
MR. O'ROURKE: In all probability the amount of oxygen about the
germinating seedling might be quite a factor. The shallow planted seed
will have more oxygen available than deep planted seed, everything else
being equal.
If we are finished with the discussion or germination of seeds, we can
go on to the next question, that of a suitable root stock for
hickory--and that could keep us here for two or three days. Have you had
some experience, Mr. Ferguson?
MR. FERGUSON: We use the pecan and the shagbark as root stock for the
hickory group. Formerly we have used some of the bitternut, but we do
not use it any more. Some of the hickories will grow well on pecan, and
some are not satisfactory at all. What they will do in old age is hard
to tell. We have a few in the orchard down in Mr. Snyder's farm. I think
we have Stratford on pecan, which is not satisfactory. Pecan grows too
fast for the Stratford, and some way or other it just doesn't work.
MR. O'ROURKE: Are you familiar with Mr. Lassiter's stock work?
MR. FERGUSON: He has used the Rockville as an intermediate stock on
pecan. The Rockville is a hybrid of the pecan and the shellbark.
MR. O'ROURKE: Mr. Lassiter sent us a letter in which he stated that he
had a good variety of shagbark that when grafted on the Rockville
intermediate stock produced much better nuts than on pecans alone. Is
that due to the exceptional vigor of Rockville which apparently is a
hybrid and may have hybrid vigor? Again, we can only guess. This
interstock problem is a big problem. We now have some evidence that
pecan is not always satisfactory for all varieties of hickory, although
Mr. Dunstan at Greensboro, North Carolina, states it's been satisfactory
for every variety he has worked upon it.
MR. HARDY: I am inclined to believe that root stocks and scion varieties
worked in the north and grown in the north or worked in the south and
grown in the south may not react the same.
MR. WILSON: I think you are right on that.
MR. O'ROURKE: Mr. Gilbert Smith's report of yesterday indicated a pecan
was not satisfactory with him in New York State, and that may bear out
the comment that Mr. Hardy has made.
MR. GERARDI: Well, I think that is true enough, myself. In southern
Illinois I find that the bitternut hickory root for shellbark or
shagbark don't seem to be satisfactory at all. With the shagbark on
pecan, the variety of shagbark makes a difference. Some varieties of
shagbark, and shellbark hickories seem to do all right, and then again
others don't. It's going to need further study to determine what
varieties will stand on pecans, what will stand on bitter hickories, or
what will stand on regular ovata stock. I think that the nurseryman's
wisest way is to use stocks of the same species as the scion and then he
is on the safe side. Because the bitter hickory grows faster, the
nurseryman may find it advantageous to grow the bitter hickory stock in
preference to the other two.
MR. O'ROURKE: The bitter stock makes a hickory big enough to graft in
two or three years.
MR. GERARDI: In two or three, and four or five for the shagbark.
Shagbark or shellbark varieties on bitternut may grow for three or four
years and then die.
The pecan does well on the bitter hickory and the bitter hickory on the
pecan, but I have no reason to grow any bitter hickory because I don't
like the nut. I think it's a waste of time to fool with it that way.
As far as the hybrid pecans are concerned, the pecan root is certainly
the right stock to use on all hybrids. They grow very satisfactorily and
bear well.
MR. WHITFORD: I have Gerardi and McAllister hybrids growing on pecan,
and the Downing overgrows the pecan.
MR. O'ROURKE: To summarize some of this information that we have
gathered this morning on root stocks, it seems that different clones
behave differently on the same stock. That is true, we know, with other
plants, such as apple. Instead of saying that shagbark is not compatible
with pecan, perhaps we should say that the Davis or the Wilcox variety
of shagbark is not compatible with a certain type of pecan. It's going
to take years of effort to find out the truth of the matter.
MR. WARD: Sometimes you will find that a two-year-old scion, if you can
get a dormant bud coming, is better than the matured wood from last
year. I'd just like to get an opinion from some of the growers what they
use for topworking stocks for grafting.
MR. FERGUSON: I think one thing quite important is to get scion wood
that has a good layer of wood around the pith, whether one-year wood or
two-year wood. At the base of the year's growth it will have a lot more
wood in it. At the tip the wood around the pith is thin.
MR. O'ROURKE: Some years ago Dr. MacDaniels stated that a good scion may
be made with the tip of the scion in the one-year wood and the base of
the scion in the two-year wood.
Mr. Bernath at Poughkeepsie, New York, has done some bench grafting of
hickory. Why other people have not done so, I do not know, and I'd like
Mr. Bernath to tell us briefly just why he likes to bench graft hickory.
MR. BERNATH: I like it because I do my work in the wintertime under
glass. I have no time in the spring to fuss with outside grafting. So if
you gentlemen would like to hear it, I will tell you all about it.
Many years ago when I learned my profession, we had difficulty in
finding a method to graft oaks. We finally did find a method that would
take and which I have found successful with hickories.
The stocks are dug in the fall and stored heeled in earth. When I am
ready to graft I put them on a table, along with the scion wood and
start grafting. I use the side graft at the crown leaving a short spur
above the graft. Leave them unwaxed and layer them in moss peat in a
glass covered frame in the greenhouse with some ventilation. In three or
four weeks' time, when the union has formed and just before the leaves
come out, take them out and plant them in a cold frame outside. Of
course you have to put glass on it to protect them from frost, as well
as intense sun. Here you can use part peat and part soil. Leave them
there for one year in those frames, with partial shade, until they get
fairly high so they shade each other. They can then be set in the
nursery row.
MR. O'ROURKE: Mr. Bernath, I know there are some folks here who are
nurserymen and who are interested in the cost of production of a
finished tree. Do you feel that you can produce a tree to transplant any
height you want to select, five, six feet, so on, as cheaply according
to this method of bench grafting in the greenhouse as if you bud it or
graft it in a nursery row?
MR. BERNATH: That's a question. I have never kept a record of that. It
is all right for a young man who is able to get down on his hands and
knees and graft, but for me that wouldn't do.
MR. FERGUSON: What temperature do you use in the frames?
MR. BERNATH: About 65. Sun heat naturally will raise it. Care must be
used to ventilate the frames in the greenhouse to prevent condensation
soaking the grafts.
MR. FERGUSON: Do you carry higher temperatures for walnuts?
MR. BERNATH: All of them about the same. You follow the method just the
same as nature. If you follow nature, you will never go wrong. But you
have to watch out for fungus in the case, because if you have excessive
temperature, the fungus disease will get in your case and ruin the whole
thing.
MR. WARD: I presume, Mr. Bernath, when you set out a tree and get a
hundred per cent stand it's going to reduce your cost.
MR. BERNATH: Yes, because you have a better take, because you have
everything under control, moisture, heat, ventilation, and so on.
MR. BECKERT: Are the hickory stocks potted before you graft, or are you
grafting bare roots?
MR. BERNATH: Hickory and oaks are bare rooted. They are too long to pot.
MR. SHESSLER: How many years are lost in this method of bench grafting
compared with field grafting trees in the nursery row?
MR. BERNATH: Quite a few. The gentleman is right, if you graft outside
where the tree remains, you get a big growth on it.
MR. SHESSLER: In other words, a tree grafted out in the field will have
nuts on it three years sooner?
MR. BERNATH: Yes if you leave it where it is. But if you transplant it,
look out for a large tree. It is likely to fail.
Bench grafted trees transplant easily. The roots are limited and little
of the root system is destroyed.
MR. WILKINSON: I have been propagating for about 39 years, and I have
grafted thousands of pecan trees in my nursery, and I have only a few
trees growing from grafts. Budding is much more successful with me.
Several times I have had up to a 90 per cent stand by budding.
MR. GERARDI: I have tried bench grafting but it sets you back three
years in the nursery to get a tree of equal size compared to grafting in
the nursery row. If you want a small tree, it's all right. And then
again, it's your help situation. If you have got to set them out, they
handle the grafts like brush, and I don't like that. Hickory is not hard
to graft in the field. I think if you set 10 you get 9 to grow. For
scions I go back on two-year wood and oftentimes on three-year wood
where there are buds. I don't have trouble at all. With pecans, you have
a little more difficulty, because the wood is more pithy inside and
doesn't grow so well.
MR. BERNATH: With any tree, I don't care what it is, give me one-year
growth, this year's growth, and I am going to have wonderful success.
When you take the old wood you have to be sure that you have buds.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: This last discussion certainly shows that, there
is more than one way to get results. The fact remains that all these
different men are producing hickory and other trees by various different
means of grafting and budding. They have their own techniques which
worked. What there is behind it from a scientific basis we probably
don't understand too well at the present time.
I now call on Dr. McKay to present his paper. Dr. McKay.
A Promising New Pecan for the Northern Zone
J. W. MCKAY and H. L. CRANE[2]
In late 1949 Professor A. F. Vierheller, Extension Horticulturist at the
University of Maryland, College Park, obtained two small pecans from an
exhibit at the Prince Georges County Fair, Upper Marlboro, Maryland,
which he sent to the Office of Nut Investigations at Beltsville,
Maryland. These nuts were very thin shelled and contained solid, well
developed kernels very light in color and attractive. We gave them no
particular heed until the fall of 1951, when the authors together with
Professor Vierheller, P. E. Clark, County Agent of Prince Georges
County, visited the tree on which they had been produced. We found also
a number of other pecan trees nearby. All of them were on an old
southern Maryland estate known as Brookfield. The present owner is John
C. Duvall, whose address is Naylor, a small southern Maryland community
located about 25 miles southeast of Washington, D. C. in the heart of
the tobacco growing area.
_Origin of the Duvall trees_: The present trees probably grew from nuts
sent to Maryland from the vicinity of Iron Mountain, Missouri, by a
friend of the Duvall family named Mrs. Mary Medora Johnson. Mrs. Johnson
had lived in Maryland as a neighbor of the Duvall family and when she
moved to Missouri she apparently was so impressed with the native pecan
that she sent nuts to her friends in Maryland for planting. This must
have happened about 1850 since the oldest trees at Brookfield are
estimated to be about 100 years old and Mrs. Johnson was a friend of
John C. Duvall's grandmother. In terms of the human life span the trees
are thus three generations removed from the time of planting, a time
period which fits fairly well the estimated age of 100 years based upon
size of the trees.
_Description_: The three largest trees are approximately equal in size
and undoubtedly represent the original planting. The eight other trees
are all smaller and could well have originated as seedlings of the
original three. Five of the largest trees have been given numbers 1 to 5
and will be referred to by number. Duvall No. 1, 2 and 5 are the three
large trees situated more or less in a circle surrounding the old
mansion, each about 100 yards from the others. The smaller trees are
located more or less between and around the larger ones, the old mansion
being on a slight knoll in the center of the planting. The original
dwelling of Brookfield is now crumbling ruins, part of the building
being more than 200 years old, according to Mr. Duvall, who lives in a
modern new country home across the road from the original mansion. The
three large trees have a diameter at breast height of approximately 4
feet and all of them have a branch spread of more than 150 feet. They
are 75 to 100 feet tall. All of the trees have very narrow and pointed
leaflets characteristic of Texas and southwestern varieties, and they
are remarkably free of insect pests and diseases.
The nuts from this group of seedlings are variable in size and
appearance as might be expected of those from any group of pecan
seedlings. However, one of the most striking characteristics of all the
nuts is that the kernels are solid and well developed. This is an
unusual characteristic for pecans grown in the latitude of Washington,
D. C. In all of the varieties that are usually grown in this area none
which regularly fill their nuts well are known. Another outstanding
characteristic of all of the nuts produced by these seedlings is the
bright, attractive color of the kernel. In fact, when the nuts of Duvall
No. 1 are promptly harvested and dried in the fall, the kernels are
almost white. Nuts that stayed on the ground 6 months during the winter
of 1951-52 were harvested in late March 1952 and the kernels were still
in good condition. Some of the nuts were on display at the Rockport
meetings. Small size of nut is without question the chief undesirable
characteristic of these trees. Duvall No. 5 produces the largest nuts of
all the seedlings but they are so small that more than 100 are required
to weigh a pound. Duvall No. 1 produces the smallest nuts and almost 200
are required to weigh a pound.
_Past Yields_: The one characteristic that sets these trees apart from
all other pecan trees that we have observed in the Maryland area is that
they yield heavy crops of nuts every year. We have known the trees only
since the fall of 1951 but have observed two crops and Mr. Duvall has
observed their performance for many years. In the fall of 1951 Duvall
No. 2 yielded an estimated 8 to 10 bushels of nuts. Mr. Duvall harvested
3 bushels and he knew that 3 bushels were harvested by friends of the
family. An unknown quantity estimated at several bushels was plowed
under when wheat was sown shortly before we visited the tree in the fall
of 1951. The tree had a heavy set of nuts in August 1952 and Mr. Duvall
predicted that it would probably yield as much this year as last. He
told us that the three oldest trees always have had annual crops of nuts
except for 1 or 2 years when one of the trees failed to produce as much
as usual. He could not remember which of the trees produced the light
crops but he was certain that light crops were borne at only very
infrequent intervals.
_Sweeney Tree_: The two nuts originally sent us by Professor Vierheller
were produced by a tree growing approximately 200 yards from the nearest
Duvall tree on a part of the farm recently subdivided and now occupied
by a tenant named Sweeney. Mrs. Sweeney placed the plate of nuts on
exhibit at the Prince Georges County Fair and from this plate Professor
Vierheller procured the sample which he sent. Hence this tree has become
known informally as the Sweeney tree. Its nuts are very long and pointed
but in other respects resemble very closely those produced by the other
trees. The Sweeney tree is undoubtedly a seedling of one of the three
large Duvall trees. This tree also has an impressive yield record, as
Mrs. Sweeney said that she has harvested a bushel or more of nuts from
the tree every year during the ten or more years that she has lived on
the place. In 1952 the Sweeney tree was bearing a heavy crop of nuts.
_Soil_: The trees growing on soil that is classified as Sassafras fine
sandy loam in the heart of the southern Maryland tobacco growing
district. This soil type, one of the best agricultural soils of the
area, is not generally regarded as one of high fertility. This soil is
well drained and aerated and friable to a considerable depth, thus
permitting the trees to root deeply. None of the trees are growing under
crowded conditions since they are located around the margins of the
building sites of the old homestead. The question now is whether grafted
trees propagated from the best of the Duvall seedlings will yield heavy
crops of well filled nuts that will mature early under other conditions
of soil and climate in other localities. We are inclined to believe that
some or all of these trees may represent a line of pecan genetically
constituted to bear heavy crops of nuts every year under conditions in
Maryland. If trees propagated from the Duvall trees will perform
elsewhere in the northern zone there will be available for this area a
new type of pecan that we feel will be distinctly worthwhile
notwithstanding the small size of the nuts. Present varieties of the
so-called northern pecan grown in the northern zone perform erratically
at best and when many of the varieties produce crops the nuts fail to
mature and fill properly.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: Horticulturist and Principal Horticulturist, Bureau of
Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, United States
Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland.]
The Hickory in Indiana
W. B. WARD, _Department of Horticulture, Purdue University, Lafayette,
Ind._
Mr. Charles C. Deam, forester, naturalist and botanist, in his book
"Trees of Indiana," revised 1952, lists seven distinct types of hickory
in the state and nine sub species. As Deam is approaching his 87th year
(August 30), he makes this statement: "I thought I knew trees, and
hickories especially, but at this time when I can hardly see and write I
find there is a great need for reclassification." What is true in
Indiana is no doubt true in other areas where _Hicoria_ grows--each year
new seedlings and hybrids are found that just step out of any previous
description and a new tree may result or change the published data.
Some trees develop five leaflets, while others have seven and nine
leaflets. The bark may be smooth, rough, scaly, or shag. The nuts will
vary in size and form with a thin to quite thick shell. This, of course,
applies to the seedlings as the grafted or budded varieties vary only
with the location, season, and growing conditions.
The present classification, according to Deam, is as follows:
1. _Carya pecan_--Pecan.
2. _C. cordiformis_--Bitternut.
3. _C. ovata_--Shagbark and 2 sub species--_fraxinifolia_ and _nuttali_.
4. _C. laciniosa_--Bigleaf Shagbark (Shellbark).
5. _C. tomentosa (alba)_--Mockernut--one sub species.
6. _C. glabra_--Pignut and sub species--Black Hickory.
7. _C. ovalis_--Small-Fruited Hickory and 5 sub species.
8. _C. pallida_ }
9. _C. buckleyi_ } --Minor species of lesser importance.
The hickory species thrive in Indiana, doing very well in all sections
except in certain portions of the northwestern part of the state and on
muck or sandy soils. The tree loves company or does well alone. When the
hickory stands alone, the trees are well formed and make a good
specimen tree. Many hickory trees are found growing in the river bottom
land from Central to Southern Indiana with fewer trees found north of a
line extending from Terre Haute through Indianapolis to Richmond. This
southern area also contains the largest population of pecans. There are
some woods that contain only pecan trees while a mile or so away no
pecans are found but all are hickories and occasionally some woods
contain both pecan and hickory. The trees in the woods areas, many of
which seem to be the same species, produce a wide variety of fruits.
When the trees are more closely examined there is a difference in the
bark, the branch, the leaf, pubescence, shape of nut and shell
structure. As there are all seedling trees in this particular woods,
several outstanding trees have been checked and especially as to
cracking qualities of the nuts. At harvest time a hammer is part of the
equipment and the nuts are cracked at the tree and the tree marked for
discard or further consideration.
Future Possibilities of the Hickory
The hickory nut has not reached the popularity of the pecan, although
the hickory contains more protein and slightly less fat, carbohydrates,
and calories per pound than the pecan. Where the pecan does not fruit,
the better hickories, which are hardy, fill the need. The named
varieties are good and trees are available from some nurserymen. The
propagators have developed a few new crosses but man is far behind
nature in this work. The many new seedling trees scattered all over the
regions where the hickory grows require only propagation and
distribution for wider acclaim.
The development of a new hickory is a long-time process, yet may be
hastened by first planting the nuts for new seedlings and when the
growth is mature to bud or graft the seedling on large rootstocks. When
old trees have been top-worked it is only two or three years' time until
the fruit develops and, if worthy of propagation, much time may be saved
by this method.
Most of the hickories have either 32 or 64 chromosomes, except pecan
which varies from 20 to 24 to possibly 32. The chances of making
suitable crosses between the pecan and hickory are most difficult yet it
appears that these chance crosses result from time to time as in the
hican through natural cross pollination.
How extensive will be the plantings of the hickories is yet to be
determined but it is a known fact that many people, especially north of
the route of Federal Highway 40, prefer the hickory to the pecan. This
may be due to the fact that from childhood the hickory was the local
fruit. The fruit and tree hold great promise for the future. If the
hickories are to be of commercial importance, the work must be done by
all concerned and not left to a few eager individuals to carry on the
work alone.
MR. MACHOVINA: Mr. Chairman, members of the Association, I hope you will
bear with me if I run 30 seconds over. Perhaps I had better point out
that my training is that of an engineer and not a botanist, hence this
report on the Merrick tree is that of a layman. I have not bothered to
go into detail on the various features of the tree, such as leaves,
buds, and so forth, because I have slides which you will see afterwards.
The Merrick Hybrid Walnut
P. E. MACHOVINA, _Columbus, Ohio_
The Merrick hybrid walnut is a natural cross between Persian and black
walnut and is distinguished from most other such hybrids by the good
crops it usually bears. The tree is located in Rome Township, Athens
County, Ohio, on property owned by Mr. M. M. Merrick a farmer and fruit
grower.
In August, 1950, Mr. Merrick first described his "English" walnut to the
writer and arrangements were made to view the tree. Most striking at
first sight was the large crop of nuts. The general outward appearance
of the tree suggested it to be pure Persian; however, upon closer
examination, mixed parentage became evident. As a hybrid, the tree's
history was a matter of interest and the owner was happy to supply what
information he could.
Mr. Merrick purchased the property on which the hybrid is located, in
1921. A few years prior to this, the previous owner had planted six
Persian walnut trees obtained from a nursery in northern Ohio. These
young trees bore their first crop of nuts during Mr. Merrick's first
year of ownership. It is known that the nursery owners were also
proprietors of a commercial Persian walnut orchard located in the
vicinity of Niagara Falls. With this combination of date and orchard
location, it seems not illogical to presume that the six nursery trees
were of the Pomeroy strain. From Mr. Merrick's description of the nuts
produced by these trees, they appear to have been two each of three
different grafted varieties. In the early nineteen-thirties, Mr. Merrick
planted several nuts from the Persian trees and raised a number of
seedlings. One of these seedlings, transplanted to its present location,
is the subject of this discussion and is presumed to be a cross between
one of the six Persians and a native black walnut. During the late
nineteen-thirties, all of the trees, Persians and seedlings, with the
single exception of the existing hybrid, were killed by an unusually
hard winter.
The Merrick hybrid walnut, now about 20 years of age, is an extremely
vigorous and healthy tree. Its height is between 55 and 60 feet and its
spread nearly as great. Trunk diameter is at present about 12 inches at
breast height. The location of the tree is very favorable, being near
the crest of a high ridge and with protection from the northwest by the
house. A chicken yard is near and the kitchen drain empties close by to
supply moisture.
In nearly all aspects excepting the nut itself, the tree favors its
pistillate parent. This is evidenced by the general shape of the tree,
by the texture and color of the bark of limbs and twigs, and by the
shape and color of the leaves, the buds, the flowers, and the nut hull.
Hybridity is indicated by the (usually) eleven leaflets to the leaf
stem, by the nut, and in the disintegration of the hull which, after
falling, quickly changes into a most disagreeable, dark-brownish,
semi-liquidlike mess. The nut itself is much more like a Persian walnut
in appearance than a black walnut. The shell surface is slightly rougher
and somewhat darker than most Persian nuts. The suture of the Persian
parent is prominent. Black walnut parentage is exhibited by the thick
shell, the interior configuration and in the flavor of the small kernel.
Nut size varies somewhat with diameters ranging from 1 to 1-1/4 inches
and lengths ranging from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches.
The bloom, which is strikingly like that of pure Persian trees, is
always profuse and precedes that of the surrounding native black walnuts
by a week or two. In the two years during which the writer has observed
the tree, the greater part of the staminate bloom has preceded the
pistillate by several days. This was noticeably the case during the
current year, and either this, or the rainy weather, has resulted in a
small set of nuts which the owner states to be unusual. During the years
observed, the tree appeared to be self-pollinating.
It is recognized, of course, that the Merrick hybrid is worthless as a
producer of edible nuts. The possible value of the tree lies in
opportunities it offers in being the forbearer of more worthwhile
progeny. We know of the vast possibilities in hybridization. We know of
the difficulties involved in obtaining nuts from controlled crosses
between Persian and black walnut trees; and we know that seedling trees
raised from the nuts of such crosses are almost always sterile. The
Merrick hybrid, yielding good crops, offers possibilities both in
crossbreeding and in the raising of seedling trees from the nuts of the
tree itself. In the latter connection, Drs. Crane and McKay, of the
U.S.D.A., requested several pounds of Merrick nuts for planting purposes
this spring. The writer himself planted five such nuts, of which four
germinated. Of the four trees, one died early in the season, while the
remaining three have thrived. The heights attained by the three
remaining trees thus far this season are 1, 2, and 3 feet, respectively.
These trees have the general appearance of young Persian seedlings.
The only crossbreeding attempted thus far ended in failure when a storm
destroyed most of the bags prior to application of pollen. Persian
pollen was used on the few bloom remaining covered but, unfortunately,
no nuts were set. The experiment will be continued. Also, the Merrick
will be topworked onto producing walnuts, both Persian and black, in the
hope of obtaining nuts from which interesting and perhaps better second
generation hybrids can be raised.
An interesting point of conjecture on which to terminate this report,
and one to which nut experts will likely give little credence, may be
found in a statement made by Mr. Merrick and vouched to by Mrs. Merrick.
The statement is to the effect that the nuts borne by the Merrick during
its early years, that is, prior to the time the adjacent Persians were
killed, were of much better quality, being more like Persian walnuts
both in appearance and in flavor. We've heard of "pollen influence" with
chestnuts. Did it occur here?
TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
Producing Quality Nuts and Quality Logs
L. E. SAWYER, _Director, Division of Forestry and Reclamation, Indiana
Coal Producers Association_
I was trained as a forester and having worked at the profession for
nearly thirty years, my first thought of trees is for their utility in
building or in cabinet work. In school we were taught that the fruit of
forest trees was a by-product. Its economic importance was not
emphasized nor was the possibility of establishing stands of some
species specifically for the production of their fruit.
Through the years the value of the nut crop from some species has
increased so that the fruit is now the primary crop and any wood
materials that may be derived are the by-product. This production of
valuable food and necessary materials of high quality for the building
of quality furniture and interior finish is a combination that will work
well together.
Black walnut, the most highly utilized of any of our native timber for
furniture, veneer, and cabinet work is becoming increasingly more
difficult for the mills to obtain in larger sized logs. Native chestnut,
almost completely destroyed in our timbered areas by the chestnut
blight, is in demand for interior finish. Pecan, which has had only a
limited use in the past, is now enjoying a market for the manufacture of
flooring.
The production of nuts from plantations or orchards of these three
species will no doubt produce greater economic returns for many years
after the initial planting than could be derived from the sale of the
trees for the wood they contain. There will come a time in the life of
any tree when it is no longer a profitable producer and should be
replaced by a younger, more thrifty tree. When that time comes, the tree
to be removed will have no economic value unless it contains products
that industry can use. With the thought in mind that the wood from the
tree is to have some future economic value the trunk of the tree should
be kept free of all limbs to a height of about nine feet above the
ground. The development of a large spreading top above that point will
be desirable for nut production. The space below that top will give
ample head room for maintenance work in the orchard and that clear
length of trunk will produce a high quality log eight feet long. That is
the minimum standard length normally used by the lumber industry. Some
shorter lengths are utilized by the veneer industry but those lengths
usually command a lower unit price.
The production of figured walnut could be combined with the production
of one log per tree but it would take several more years to bring the
trees to nut producing age. Mr. Wilkinson has successfully demonstrated
that the figure of the Lamb Walnut does carry over through a graft or
bud.
A double budding operation should not be difficult to perform. It would
simply consist of budding the figured stock on the root at as low a
point as possible, then when the figured growth has reached sufficient
height, of budding again to the desired variety for nut production. This
procedure would no doubt require a few additional years before the first
crop of fruit would be harvested but it would produce an extremely
valuable log when the tree is finally cut.
I would be remiss in my present job if I did not bring the revegetation
program of the Indiana coal stripping industry into the discussion. That
industry produces over fifty percent of the coal mined in Indiana today
and is recovering coal that could not be mined by any other means.
In driving to Rockport many of you no doubt passed by areas of newly
mined land, rough, barren desolate looking areas with no vegetation.
They have the appearance of complete desolation and give the impression
that those lands are forever lost. In that same vicinity you no doubt
passed plantations of pine, or mixture of pine or Locust with our native
deciduous species. Those too were mined areas that a few short years ago
were just as desolate in appearance as the bare areas you saw. These
plantations are the direct result of a reclamation program started by
the members of the Indiana Coal Producers Association, a program that
has attracted national attention.
The first record of an attempt at the reclamation of coal mine spoil is
here in Indiana. In 1918, the Rowland Power Company, now owned by the
Maumee Collieries Company, planted peach, apple and pear trees on mined
land in Owen county. The records show that for a period of years the
trees thrived and were good producers. Then, because the topography was
rough and no spraying was done, disease and insects took their toll of
the peaches and apples. Seedlings of the original apple and peach tree
still grow on the area. The original Kieffer pear trees still stand and
produce large crops of fruit.
In 1926, the larger, more far sighted companies began a definite program
of reforestation of their mined lands under the direction of Ralph
Wilcox, at that time assistant State Forester and fortunately our State
Forester today. That voluntary program was carried on until 1941 when
the Indiana Coal Producers Association, the Association of the mining
companies, sat down with representatives of the Indiana Department of
Conservation, representing the state, and the Indiana Farm Bureau,
representing the people, and drafted a bill which was enacted into law.
This law required each company to obtain a permit from the state to
operate and required that each company revegetate an area each year
equal to 101% of the area they had mined. To insure compliance, a bond
was required. This law remained in effect for ten years. In 1951,
representatives of those same groups again sat down together and drafted
several amendments to the original act. Some grading is now required
where areas lie adjacent to public roads. Access roads must be provided
and areas to be devoted to pasture must be graded so that they can be
traversed with agricultural machinery.
Under this program, sponsored by Industry, the Farm Bureau, and the
Department of Conservation, 79% of the area that has been mined to date
has been successfully revegetated. The remaining 21% is a natural lag
and represents lands newly mined or areas that have not weathered to the
point where they will support revegetation. The demand for recreation
lands and home sites where water is available is constantly increasing.
At least 13% of the revegetated area is now being used for public
recreation or for home sites. Near the more heavily populated sections
the price commanded by mined territory containing good lakes often
exceeds the value of the land before it was mined.
These lakes, formed in the final cuts and in low lying areas of the
strip mines, furnish the only clean, clear water available for public
recreation and fishing in the south western part of the state.
The reforestation being carried on under the reclamation program
consists of planting several species of pines, as well as a large
variety of our native deciduous trees. The older plantations are being
used as a guide as the research started in the last eight years has not
progressed far enough to give conclusive results on many points. Until
the last few years the Agricultural Experiment Station has devoted
little or no time to the problem of reclaiming strip mine spoil. The
area of the state that is involved, less than 1/4 of 1%, has been too
small to justify the use of their limited funds. However, since funds
have been made available to that Station, through the Industry, to
establish research fellowships, the Station has given whole hearted
cooperation. The information being obtained through these fellowships
and through work being carried on cooperatively with the Central States
Forest Experiment Station is going to answer many of the questions on
reclamation we have been confronted with.
Included in our reforestation has been a liberal scattering of black
walnut. A breakdown of species is not available on much of the earlier
work but since 1940, when accurate records have been maintained, we have
planted 239,000 black walnut seedlings or seed. Initial survival is not
high, averaging only about 50 percent but we still have a general
distribution of seed trees that are providing a source of seed for
natural reproduction. Trees from plantings made in 1927 to 1934 have
grown well and we now have walnut trees over 10 inches in diameter and
60 feet in height. The average for all areas would probably not exceed 5
inches but individual trees have made remarkable growth. These trees are
only seedlings, but they are bearing heavily and their fruit is sought
by the local people.
In 1946 and 1947, budded stock of walnuts and pecans and seedlings of
Chinese chestnut were obtained from Mr. Wilkinson and were set out on
six selected areas. A wide variety of sites were picked and a wide
variation in both survival and growth has been obtained. No special
treatment was given the areas where the trees were to be planted nor
were the trees mulched or watered after planting. Even under these
rugged conditions we have a survival of over 60 percent of all trees.
The walnut trees now range from 5 to 12 feet in height and the pecans up
to 6 feet. The chestnuts vary in form from low spreading plants 4-1/2 to
5 feet in height and as much as 8 feet across to well formed trees 8 to
10 feet tall. Pruning on all three species to produce a clear butt log
has been started.
Pasture seeding on areas high enough in available lime to support
legumes is following a pattern laid down by three years of graduate
study, financed by the Indiana Coal Producers Association, at Purdue and
by work done by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station under a
similar arrangement with the Illinois Coal Strippers Association.
Unfortunately, we have only a small portion of the spoil area in Indiana
that is suitable for the development of improved pasture. Not over 10
percent of the area mined to date is good enough and that percentage
will decrease. Modern operations are deeper than the early ones and are
exposing more hard rock and shale. Fortunately, most of these areas can
be reforested after three or four years. In exceptional cases less than
5 percent of the area mined the exposed materials contain large amounts
of sulfides. These break down into acid that in some cases require ten
to twelve years to leach out before revegetation can be undertaken.
The fact that these stands of trees established on raw spoil will
produce merchantable timber has been proven. In 1951, an area was clear
cut at the Enos mine in Pike county. The pines on this tract were
planted in 1933-34. The products from that cutting, peeled posts and
poles, were sold to the Indiana Wood Preserving Company at the rate of
$335.59 per acre. An increase in value of $16.48 per acre per year.
Pasture, forests and fishing are not the only products. Game of all
varieties is abundant in the worked out areas. One of the largest herds
of white tailed deer in the state, now referred to as the strip mine
herd, is located in northern Warrick and southern Pike counties. In the
Indiana deer season of 1951, the first open season since 1893, the
second largest recorded kill came from the strip mine herd. The
Pitman-Robertson report of the Division of Fish and Game carries the
following comment on deer from that area. "The superiority of the
diversified range of the strip mine herd was reflected in above average
weights and measurements in most age classes."
From the evidence at hand, there is every reason to believe that most of
the mined area will again be highly productive forest land. It has
completed the entire cycle of land use. Originally it supported
magnificent stands of hardwood timber. This timber was cut and the lands
devoted to farming. Poor management and erosion soon depleted the supply
of top soil and many areas were abandoned to broom sedge, blackberries
and gullies. Because it was close enough to the surface the coal has
been removed and the areas replanted to many of the same species of
trees.
With this reestablishment of the forest cover and the creation of the
lakes in the final cuts, we can again have our forest resource combined
with fishing, hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation, some areas
of pasture and, I believe, others that can be profitably devoted to the
production of nut crops and the by-product of quality logs for the
veneer and lumber industry.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: If you ever think you are going to sell your logs
for veneer or lumber, don't nail hammocks or other things on the trees.
The metal is very soon buried and causes no end of difficulty. We will
go to the next paper, which is, "Colchicine as a Tool in Nut Breeding,"
Mr. O. J. Eigsti, Funk Brothers Seed Co., Bloomington, Illinois.
MR. EIGSTI: Three years ago this project was conceived in a discussion
between Mr. Best and myself. Then during the two-year period, all I did
was turn over some Colchicine to Mr. Best. Mr. Best took the material,
treated the trees and performed as well as any graduate student I had
ever graduated in the 13 years that I was in university work. It is
through his fine cooperation that we are able to start this project, and
I look forward to this developing into a rather important nut breeding
venture. But as you all know, it will take a long time. I have this
paper written. It's only four pages double-spaced.
Colchicine for Nut Improvement Programs
O. J. EIGSTI and R. B. BEST, _Normal, Illinois, and Eldred, Illinois_
Colchicine (1, 2) as a plant breeders' tool is universally well known.
Only limited use has been made of this technique for nut improvement.
Early work was started by Dr. J. W. McKay, a member of the N.N.G.A., but
numerous other problems demanded his attention and the Colchicine
project was not carried to final completion. Other reports are at hand
from Sweden and Japan but these results do not shed direct light on the
problems under discussion today at Rockport, Indiana.
Colchicine, acting on cell-division, ultimately causes a doubling of the
number of chromosomes within those cells in contact with the substance
at the time of division. Such changes are transferred to succeeding
generations by the hereditary chain familiar to plant breeders. Several
species of nuts are among this class of plants with doubled chromosomal
numbers, however, such duplications occurred in nature. A report on this
phase was given at a recent meeting of the N.N.G.A. Therefore such
excellent nut producing species as the pecan are naturally doubled
types, called polyploids. We find numbers such as 32 representative of a
polyploid situation.
Since colchicine is effective in doubling the chromosome number and that
variations in chromosome number exist among species, the authors planned
a series of experiments to determine the best methods of applying
colchicine toward a nut improvement program. Seedlings of pecan were
available and out of this experience a schedule is submitted that may be
of use for other members of this association confronted with particular
problems applicable to colchicine techniques.
The most satisfactory schedule for doubling the number of chromosomes is
given in a number of steps as listed below.
1) Select expanding vegetative buds in the earliest stages of
development.
2) Use seedlings or branches from mature trees.
3) Prune leaves and probe to the growing cone without damage to tissue.
4) Pack a small wad of cotton into the terminal point.
5) Soak this cotton by dropping .2% aqueous solution of colchicine on
same.
6) Add glycerine to cotton to improve penetration of colchicine.
7) Place drop of colchicine on cotton morning and evening for four days.
8) Remove cotton wading from bud on 5th day.
9) If sufficient tests at hand, allow cotton to remain on some buds.
10) Try for at least one hundred buds treated.
11) Observe growth during first season and also next season.
12) If treated bud dies, watch for growth among lower laterals.
13) Evidence of changes appears in the new leaves, darker, thicker,
greener.
14) Conclusive evidence of doubling rests with microscopic and
anatomical analysis which is a task for trained technicians only.
The above procedures are suggestions for a start and everyone will wish
to make changes suited to his particular needs. The concentration of
colchicine need not be exact as in an analytical experiment in
chemistry. One gram dissolved in 500 ml. water is an adequate and a
sufficiently careful measurement. The local pharmacist or physician is
well acquainted with colchicine in the practise of medicine since this
drug is a standard for gout.
Effective use may be made from two specific areas of plant breeding.
First, doubling of chromosomes changes sterile hybrids into fertile
individuals. This is a promising field and whenever such hybrids are
discovered, efforts should be made to apply the colchicine technique.
Second, doubling of the chromosome number makes possible hybridization
of individuals heretofore unsuccessful in such effort. In both instances
germ plasm of wide genetic difference is incorporated into a new
propagating breeding stock. In the case of the sterile hybrid
transformed into fertile individuals, no counting of chromosomes is
necessary because restoration of fertility is evidence of changes in the
chromosomal makeup. However, the second type of experiment requires
microscopic analysis.
There are a number of fundamental research problems in the plant
sciences associated with the treatment of plants with colchicine. From
horticultural subjects such as the apple,(3) pear, cranberries,(4) and
grapes, it is obvious that periclinal chimeras will be of prime
importance in analysis of results in treatment of nut trees. Following
the treatment of a growing point with colchicine the outer layer of
cells may be doubled by colchicine but the lower layers may remain
unchanged. Or a reverse of this situation may obtain, and even other
types. Since the formation of pollen takes place from a certain layer it
is very important that such specific layers are changed. The course of
plant breeding can be altered by these kinds of changes. To our
knowledge, no investigations of periclinal chimeras have been made with
nuts, following treatment with colchicine.
Specific experiments were conducted at Eldred, Illinois in the spring of
1951 with seedlings of pecan. The cooperation of the R.B. Best Farms and
Nut Plantation made this project possible. Several types of treatment
were tried. Out of this experience the above schedule listed in 14 steps
was developed. Other details may be obtained by contacting the authors
direct. Observations of the new growth in 1951 and 1952 were made and
the shape of leaves, color, texture and general appearance suggest that
doubling of chromosomes has been induced. Up until the present time, no
microscopic analysis has been made but this is a contemplated step and
facilities are at hand to complete this work.
While this paper is not a completed research, the authors hope that the
presentation of technique will aid and stimulate interest in this new
approach to nut improvement. In such instances where certain members may
have a particular problem such as a true hybrid-sterile as a result of
hybridity, it is hoped that the suggestions given in the above pages may
lead into a new field of improvement. There are rewards in store for the
plant breeder willing to master this new technique, but the mastery
requires careful study and diligent work.
Literature Cited
1. Eigsti, O. J. and Dustin, P.--Colchicine Bibliography. Lloydia 10:
65-114. 1947.
2. ----, ----.--Colchicine Bibliography. Lloydia 12:185-207. 1949.
3. Dermen, H.--Ontogeny of tissues in stem and leaf of cytochimeral
apples. Am. Jour. Bot. 38:753-60. 1951.
4. Dermen, H. and Bain, H. F.--Periclinal and total polyploidy in
cranberries induced by colchicine. Proc. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 38:
400. 1941.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The Resolutions Committee for this meeting is:
John Davidson, chairman, and Dr. Rohrbacher working with him. If you
have anything in mind that should be brought up in the resolutions, see
one of these two men.
The next paper is:
An Early Pecan and Some Other West Tennessee Nuts
AUBREY RICHARDS, M.D., _Whiteville, Tenn._
MR. RICHARDS: There came under my observation in the latter part of last
summer a seedling pecan tree growing in the city limits of my home town.
It seemed that this tree had been growing unnoticed for possibly 50
years, judging by the size of the tree. The outstanding thing about this
tree and what called it to my attention was a patient who came into my
office complaining with a backache from picking up pecans on the 20th
day of August.
I wrote my friend, Mr. J. C. McDaniel, about this pecan, and when he
visited me during the Christmas holidays I gave him a sample. The only
thing that he could say bad about the pecan was that it was slightly on
the small side. I know personally that at least three or possibly four
bushels of good quality nuts were harvested from that tree, most of them
on the ground by the 20th of August.
In my section the Stuart pecan, which we use more or less as a
yard-stick, was ripe the latter part of October, and we thought that
possibly this tree, since it had undergone an unusually low temperature
the winter before of 20 below zero, might have possibilities.
But let's dispense with this pecan and say that we believe in the old
adage that one raindrop doesn't make a shower. It has a fair crop this
year, and they are just as green as my Stuarts now.
There is another tree that originated in West Tennessee which Mr.
McDaniel chose to call this nut "Rhodes heartnut." This tree is 7 years
old from a dormant bud on a 2-year-old black walnut seedling growing on
my back yard. It bore two clusters its second growing season, and since
that time it has borne annually, the crops increasing in proportion to
the size of the tree. This year's crop consisted of 88 clusters of nuts,
with an average nut count of 10.2 nuts per cluster, giving a total of
almost 900 nuts on this 7-year-old tree.
There is one more figure I'd like to give you. The count of clusters
compared to the number of terminals we had this spring is better than 90
per cent clusters. I have a few bud sticks here cut from green water
sprouts. That's the only kind I can find a sprout on. I brought them up
to Mr. McDaniel. If anybody can talk Mr. McDaniel out of a bud he wanted
to try, but I don't really know what plans he had for these bud sticks.
The 7 or 8 other varieties of heartnuts I have growing don't have any
that have clusters like the Rhodes.
Scab Disease in Eastern Kentucky on the Busseron Pecan
W. D. ARMSTRONG, _University of Kentucky, Princeton, Kentucky_
MR. ARMSTRONG: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: It is nice to be here
at the Northern Nut Growers meeting. This is my second session. I attend
all the pecan and nut sessions in the country. I have attended
Georgia-Florida Pecan Growers Association and Oklahoma and Texas Pecan
Growers Association.
These plates that I have contain some of the Busseron pecans affected
with pecan scab. The disease has shown up in Southeastern Kentucky,
about a hundred miles southeast of Lexington, a hundred miles west of
the Virginia line, and about a hundred miles north of the Tennessee
line, on a straight line west of Roanoke, Virginia.
These trees were planted in bottom soil, rather well drained, and they
made a rapid growth. In the original planting there were two Green River
pecans, one Major, one Busseron and two walnuts, a Stabler and a Thomas.
About 1946 we noticed that all of the pecans on the Busseron were like
these that we have here--did not mature, completely covered with scab
fungus and dropped off the tree. The shells were so thin that you could
just crush the whole pecan, hull, shell and all with no meats in them.
The Major tree right beside it and the two Green River trees had none of
this trouble, and they have none of it as yet. And each year now that
this Busseron tree has borne there, practically all of the nuts have
been like this.
At the time we located this disease first in 1946, I sent samples to the
U.S.D.A. at Washington and also to the Southeastern Pecan Laboratory at
Albany, Georgia, and Dr. Cole, there identified it as pecan scab.
I reported the presence of the disease to Mr. Wilkinson and to Dr. Colby
and they were surprised to see the disease on Busseron in any location,
and particularly that far north.
In the south this disease frequently affects Schley, Delmas, Alley and
Van Deman and some others. Formerly the trees were sprayed with Bordeaux
Mixture. I think they are using Zerlate now. It's a problem to be
reckoned with. It occurs on the nuts and on the leaves, and it is
carried over winter on the stems and the one-year shoots.
Further News About Oak Wilt
E. A. CURL, _Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana, Ill._
In 1951 a review of the oak wilt situation was given in a paper,
"Present Status of the Oak Wilt Disease", at the Forty-Second Annual
Meeting of the N.N.G.A. at the University of Illinois. The following
report is aimed at bringing up to date the present known distribution
of the oak wilt disease, recent developments in scientific research on
the disease, and possible control measures.
The oak wilt disease is caused by the fungus _Chalara quercina_ Henry
and is characterized by a very noticeable bronzing and wilting of leaves
that drop prematurely. Brown streaks are usually present in the outer
sapwood. These symptoms may be seen from June to September or until
normal autumn colors of the foliage develop.
More than 30 species of oak are known to be susceptible to the disease.
Other susceptible genera of the family Fagaceae are Chinese chestnut,
_Castanea mollissima_, golden chinquapin, _Castanopsis chrysophylla_,
tanbark oak, _Lithocarpus densifiora_, and _Nothofagus_ from South
America. The red and black oaks seem to be most susceptible and are
often killed within 6 weeks after infection.
Distribution
During the past few years the oak wilt disease has spread with such
rapidity and destructiveness among valuable forest and shade oaks in
parts of the eastern half of the United States that its seriousness is
now well recognized. At present oak wilt is known to be in the following
states: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana,
northern Arkansas, eastern Kansas, southeastern Nebraska, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, northwestern Virginia, western part of
North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northeastern Kentucky, western
Maryland and southern Michigan. Aerial surveys for 1952 are not yet
complete, but there are indications of extensive new infections in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia while the other states show a
moderate increase in the number of infections.
The first case of oak wilt in Illinois was seen in Rockford in 1942.
Today 54 of the 102 counties in the state have oak wilt areas. The
disease is present in both the extreme northern part and the
southern-most tip of the state. Practically all wilt areas in the
southern half of Illinois consist of 5 trees or less that appear to have
died within the last 4 years, indicating a recent spread of the disease
southward. A similar condition exists in southern Missouri and northern
Arkansas.
Developments in Research
In 1942 a report from the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station
revealed that the oak wilt disease was caused by a fungus, and research
programs were started early in Wisconsin and Iowa. Neighboring states
were quick to follow as surveys showed a wider distribution of the
disease. Now almost every state in which oak wilt occurs is taking part
in efforts to learn more about the disease and its causal agent so that
practical control measures may be applied before the spread of the
disease gets out of hand. The National Oak Wilt Research Committee at
Memphis, Tennessee, supports in part an intensive oak wilt research
program in coordination with several midwestern universities and with
the U.S.D.A., Bureau of Forest Pathology.
Until recently the causal fungus of oak wilt was known only in its
asexual or imperfect form living in the sap stream of infected trees.
The most important question to be answered now is how the fungus
spreads over long distances from diseased to healthy trees. Before this
could be accomplished, however, we had to know how the fungus escapes
from the inside to the outside of diseased trees where it can be exposed
to agents of dissemination.
In the late summer of 1951 clearly visible mycelial mats of the oak wilt
fungus were found in Illinois under the loose bark of wilt-killed trees.
These mats were usually located beneath cracks in the bark; thus, they
were exposed to the outside air and to visiting insects. Most
wilt-killed trees contain beneath the bark numerous insect larvae of
wood and bark boring beetles. Larvae were frequently found in direct
contact with mycelial mats of the fungus. Larvae of the two-lined
chestnut borer, _Agrilus bilineatus_, were most abundant, but larvae of
species of the families Scolytidae and Cerambycidae were also present in
large numbers.
In addition to the mycelial mat under the bark there was often present a
thick dark pad usually in the center of the mat. It is not known yet
what part this pad plays in the life history of the fungus but we do
know that it is produced by the same fungus which causes oak wilt.
We also found in Illinois that the oak wilt fungus often develops into
visible mats from chips of bark and wood that have been chopped from
wilt-killed trees and allowed to lie on the moist forest floor. This
should be remembered when considering sanitation as a partial means of
controlling the disease.
In 1951 the sexual or perfect form of the oak wilt fungus was produced
on laboratory media in Missouri by crossing different strains of the
fungus. The sexual form is recognized by the appearance of microscopic,
black, short-beaked fruiting structures or perithecia that are filled
with sticky ascospores. This sexual form is a species of
_Endoconidiophora_.
The sexual form of the fungus was first found in nature in Illinois in
the autumn of 1951. The perithecia are produced on the mycelial mats
beneath the loose and sometimes cracked bark of diseased oaks. Both the
ascospores of the sexual form and the endospores or conidia of the
asexual form will cause wilt if the spores are injected into oak trees.
From the foregoing information it is apparent that several methods by
which the disease might be spread over long distances are possible.
First, and what seems to be most probable, is transmission by insects.
Adult beetles, such as the two-lined chestnut borer, which emerge from
dead trees in the spring and feed on the leaves of healthy trees might
transmit the spores of the fungus. Other insects might feed on the
fungus mats that are exposed through cracks in the bark and carry both
the sticky ascospores and conidia to other trees. Additional agents that
must be considered are woodpeckers, squirrels and air currents.
Besides searching for the vector or vectors that spread the disease
other important studies are in progress. Among these is the
consideration of chemotherapy as a possible means of controlling oak
wilt. For our purpose, plant chemotherapy may be defined as the control
of disease by chemicals which are introduced into the plant. According
to Dr. Paul Hoffman of the Illinois Natural History Survey, a number of
chemicals have shown promise in curing small diseased oak trees when
treated in a very early stage of the disease. In one instance, trees
that were inoculated with the oak wilt fungus then treated with
chemicals 2 years ago are still alive. The most promising results were
obtained by injecting the chemicals into the soil where they are taken
up by the roots and by applying chemicals directly to the foliage in a
spray. Trunk injection showed least promise because of the limited
distribution of the chemicals through the tree.
The use of chemicals for curing wilt-infected trees is still in the
early experimental stage and is not yet recommended as a practical
control measure.
In 1949 Wisconsin workers demonstrated the local spread of oak wilt
through natural root grafts. They found that the poisoning of a single
healthy tree with sodium arsenite often killed as many as 15 other trees
nearby, indicating that their roots were connected.
Recently the results of experiments in Wisconsin explained in part what
causes the leaves of diseased trees to wilt. When a tree becomes
infected it is stimulated to produce tyloses or swellings in the vessels
of the wood. Therefore, the flow of water from the roots to the tree top
is restricted and the leaves wilt and die. It is also known that the
fungus itself produces a toxin which might be responsible for the actual
killing effect on the tree.
In Illinois experiments are being conducted with insects in relation to
the spread of oak wilt. Insects of various species are collected from
wilt-killed trees and allowed to run over or feed on laboratory cultures
of the oak wilt fungus. The insects are then caged on parts of healthy
trees to feed on the leaves. A single red oak treated in this way
contracted the disease and died. This shows that the disease can be
transmitted by an insect.
Controlling the Disease
The spread of oak wilt in local areas may be stopped by preventing the
underground movement of the disease from tree to tree through natural
root grafts. This can be done by (1) poisoning all healthy trees within
50 feet of diseased trees, (2) cutting a ditch 30 inches deep with a
small trenching machine between diseased and healthy trees to sever root
connections or (3) severing root connections with a tractor drawn plow
on which a knife blade is attached. Unfortunately the use of such heavy
equipment is not practical in rocky and hilly areas. Chemicals used for
killing trees are sodium arsenite and ammate. Ammate is safe to use but
does not kill trees as rapidly as the other poison. In some localities
2,4,5-T used as a trunk spray has given satisfactory results in killing
small trees.
If infected trees are left standing mycelial mats with their numerous
spores develop under the loosening bark. It is therefore advisable to
cut and burn all parts of diseased trees as soon as possible after
symptoms appear.
A combination trenching and eradication program was started in the
summer of 1950 in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County in
Illinois. According to Mr. Noel B. Wysong, Chief Forester, 2 newly
wilted trees were found in the Forest Preserve in 1948, 72 trees in
1949, 141 trees in 1950, and 96 trees in 1951. The count for 1952 is not
complete but a continued decrease in the number of new infections would
indicate good control.
There is no information on resistant species of oak. In very rare cases,
however, trees have been observed to recover after showing symptoms in
the early spring.
Future Outlook
Among the many things that we need to know yet about the oak wilt
disease and its causal fungus one is outstanding. How does the disease
jump from one infection center to healthy trees 200 yards, 2 miles or
even 100 miles away? Although spread through root grafts may be
controlled by severing root connections, the value of such a control
measure is limited as long as the agent or agents responsible for long
distance spread remain unknown. The discovery of other methods of spread
might result in the development of control measures that are cheaper and
less drastic than those known at present.
A great deal remains to be done and research is increasing in the
various states concerned. There is reason to believe that oak wilt can
be checked before it reaches devastating proportions comparable to
chestnut blight which wiped out our American chestnuts.
MR. SLATE: What is the origin of the fungus? Is it a native fungus, or
imported?
MR. CURL: Yes, it is a native fungus, as far as we know.
MR. SLATE: Any evidence that the fungus is mutating to make more
virulent strains?
MR. CURL: That's something that hasn't been found yet. There are several
strains of the fungus, what we call strains, because they will form the
sexual stage, and a strain alone will not. There is not too much known
about that yet, the strain business.
MR. GRAVATT: Just a word. We had a conference in Beltsville all day
Sunday about the recent developments on the oak wilt. There has been
very extensive spread in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland
this year. We are very much alarmed about the situation. The Chinese
chestnut is very severely affected. We have learned that in Missouri.
One year there were three Chinese chestnuts killed by the fungus, the
next year 60. The oak wilt is a serious threat to the chestnut orchards.
Life History and Control of the Pecan Spittle Bug
STEWART CHANDLER, _Associate Entomologist, Ill. Nat. History Survey,
Urbana, Ill., Consulting Entomologist, Southern Illinois University_
Since it was a year ago that this subject of spittle bug was first
brought to the attention of the Northern Nut Growers Association, it
might be well to review briefly the high lights of that report. I told
you at the annual meeting at Urbana, something of the life history.
There are two broods, one appearing in June and one in July. The adult
is a small sucking bug about an eighth to a quarter inch long. The
species at that time was uncertain but now has been determined by
specialists in that group as _Cercoptera achatina_ Germ. This insect, I
reported, is not the same as the one occurring on meadow and other
field crops, not only the species but the genus being different. The
distribution was found to be in every area where pecans are grown. As to
its importance I pointed out that in Illinois it had become very serious
in the past three or four years, apparently causing a marked reduction
in crop. Control measures were directed against the nymphal stage, which
is protected by the spittle which the insect emits continuously while
feeding. Three insecticides were tested at Anna, Illinois, Lindane,
parathion, and tetra ethyl pyro phosphate, known as TEPP. Lindane proved
to be approximately 95% efficient, parathion roughly 60% and TEPP about
10%.
In 1952 the work was resumed in the orchard of Conrad Casper near Anna,
Illinois and was begun at the Richard Best place at Eldred, 175 miles
northwest.
In 1952 five phases of the work with pecan spittle bug were undertaken
as follows:
1. A study of the importance of the pecan spittle bug.
2. The hibernation of the insect.
3. Life history and occurrence of the various stages and broods of
the insect in relation to nut development of the pecan.
4. Control measures.
5. Varietal susceptibility to the insect.
1. Importance of the insect
_Hibernation Studies_
To learn to what extent if any the insect reduces the crop of pecans,
terminal shoots from trees sprayed the previous season with three
different materials were compared with the unsprayed check. These are
shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Pecan spittle bug effect of 1951 sprays on terminal shoots in
spring of 1952
===================================================
Dead shoots
Treatment per hundred
Check 87
TEPP 62
Parathion 17
Lindane 4
===================================================
Since these terminals shoots later develop most of the nuts it would
appear that the pecan spittle bug is responsible for much of the loss of
crop under these heavy infestations.
It was planned to follow this up with later examination of nuts, and
this was done with the assistance of Mr. J. C. McDaniel, but
unfortunately it was found that this was the off year and the crop was
very small, so we could not definitely settle that point. This will be a
job for the future.
2. Hibernation studies.
In August of 1951, I introduced adult bugs into a cage placed over a
branch of an unsprayed pecan tree for the purpose of determining whether
there was possibly a third brood. Finding none the branch was removed
and examined to study the hibernating eggs and the egg slits in which
they were layed. The slits were not over a quarter inch long and
frequently in pairs. Eggs were deep enough that they were rarely seen
without opening the slits. Many slits were found containing egg shells,
presumably from the previous brood, but possibly from a season earlier
as the slits are corked over.
Following this study branches were cut from the sprayed and unsprayed
blocks and gone over very carefully to find the numbers and location of
the egg splits and the numbers containing live eggs and egg shells. Each
split would contain as many as 5 or 6 eggs. Table 2 show their numbers
and locations, and Table 3 the effect of sprays on numbers of live eggs.
Table 2. Pecan Spittle Bug Location of egg slits in branches
=================================================================
Diameter of branches, inches
1/8 to 1/4 3/4 3/8 1/2 1/2 to 1 inch
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Live eggs 2 9 3 1 0
Egg shells 5 42 94 23 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3. Pecan Spittle Bug Effect of 1951 sprays on number of eggs
Examinations made March 4, 1952
=======================================================
Inches wood Number of Slits with
Treatment examined live eggs egg shells
-------------------------------------------------------
Check 508 10 63
TEPP 795 5 25
Lindane 478 0 13
-------------------------------------------------------
3. Life history and correlation of stages of insect and nut development.
It was soon found that the pecan spittle bug was putting in its
appearance earlier according to the calendar than in 1951 so an effort
was made during the season to correlate insect life history and nut
development during the season. Table 4 give some of the principal points
in both.
Table 4. Pecan Spittle Bug and Nut Development Anna, Illinois, 1952
--------------------------------------------------------------
Insect Date Tree
--------------------------------------------------------------
Egg stage Apr. 24 Catkins 1/2 to 3/4 inch
First nymphs May 5 Catkins 1 to 1-1/2 inch
Many nymphs and spittle May 12 Catkins 2 to 3 inches
Fruit buds
Peak hatch May 20 Female flowers
Spittle drying June 2 Nuts developing
1st. 2nd brood June 27
Hatch mostly over July 7
Spittle drying July 26
--------------------------------------------------------------
Another phase of life history which is of practical importance is the
increase of second brood over first. Records were made both at Anna and
at Eldred in unsprayed blocks at approximately the peaks of occurrence
of nymphs and spittle, and are tabulated in Table 5.
Table 5. Pecan Spittle Bug Infestation, first and second broods, 1952
Number of spittle masses per 100 terminals
==========================================================
First brood, June Second brood, July
----------------------------------------------------------
Anna 41 62
Eldred 23 50
----------------------------------------------------------
This table shows an increase of approximately 50% at Anna and 100% at
Eldred. It is thought that a 3 inch flash flood which occurred at Anna
might have reduced the first brood infestation somewhat after the counts
were made and been responsible for no greater increase and possibly that
the heat and drought in both places might have resulted in a reduction.
Be that as it may the total infestation was not as severe in 1952 as in
1951.
4. Control.
_First Brood Sprays_
It was originally planned to spray in both places but at Anna the owner
sprayed all but the 1951 check block with parathion early and the
infestation was reduced to the point where later hatch did not build up
to a sufficient point that good results could be observed so no spraying
was done at Anna till the second brood. At Eldred two materials only
were available, Lindane and Dieldrin.
At Eldred we had two difficulties in spraying. One was the type of
machine with which I was not familiar and the other the inaccessibility
of some of the trees. The machine is probably more fitted for field crop
work than for large trees. It is called a Mechanical Aresol Generator,
manufactured by the Hessian Microsol Corporation of Darien, Conn. The
engine is a Wisconsin Air cooled motor made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The
machine was mounted on a platform and transported in the orchard on a
truck. Two fifty gallon barrels constitute the tank. Due to the nature
of the machine and to lack of agitation only liquid materials can be
used in it. It uses a much smaller amount of material than I had been
accustomed to, and my first job was to learn to what extent the
materials must be concentrated to compensate for the small output and
how to get a comparison with the amounts used in regular orchard
sprayer. In concentrate tests on fruit trees we arrive at this by
judging the number of gallons which a tree would normally receive with a
standard sprayer. There was little background to go on with nut trees
and the problem was further complicated by the arrangement of trees
which were not planted but grafted in their original positions in the
woods. A clump of trees which could not be approached individually might
have to receive not much more material than one tree which could be hit
from both sides. Sizes of trees also varied. It was decided to use only
25 gallon lots of material and even this small amount sprayed from 55
to 65 trees of varying sizes. It was soon seen that the tops of the
moderate and large sized trees were not covered very well. For the first
brood sprays at Eldred about six times as much material per 100 gallons
was used as had been successful at Anna the previous season. The results
are shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Spittle Bug Control, Eldred, 1952 First brood, sprayed May 23,
examined June 9
=========================================================
Treatment Amount in Spittle masses
100 gallons 800 terminals
---------------------------------------------------------
Dieldrin 1 gal. of 18-1/2% 18
Lindane 1 gal. of 20% 27
Check ------ 189
---------------------------------------------------------
It will be seen that the reduction over the unsprayed blocks was about
90% with Dieldrin and 85% with Lindane.
For second brood sprays at Eldred materials were increased to about 8
times normal in hopes of getting better results. In this test 10 trees
were selected in each block that could be reached moderately well and
sprayed separately before the entire block was sprayed. Records were
made the day before spraying, 3 days after spraying, and 10 days after
spraying. Four materials were available, making five blocks with an
unsprayed check. The results of these sprayings are given in Table 7.
Table 7. Spittle Bug Control, Eldred, 1952 Second brood, sprayed July 18
============================================================
Treatment Amounts in In 200 terminals
100 gallons July 17 July 21 July 28
------------------------------------------------------------
Lindane 6 qts. of 20% 123 24 2
BHC 10 qts. of 11.7% 98 11 0
Dieldrin 6 qts. of 18-1/2% 130 19 9
Toxaphene 8 qts. of 58% 107 16 3
Check ------ 99 98 47
------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the natural reduction in the check by July 28 most attention
probably should be given to the July 21 examination. This table shows
approximately 92% reduction from Lindane, 87% with BHC, 85% from
Dieldrin, and 85% from Toxaphene on July 21.
At Anna trees are all very big, from 50 to 75 feet high. They are
planted in rows. A regular orchard sprayer was used with 600 pounds
pressure using one gun and sprayed from the top of the rig.
Approximately 25 gallons was used per tree. As will be noted the dosage
was much smaller than at Eldred, and for ordinary use these are probably
the proper dosages. Table 8 gives the results of these tests.
Table 8. Pecan Spittle Bug Control, Anna, 1952
==================================================================
Treatment Amounts in In 200 terminals
100 gallons July 10 July 14 July 22
------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindane 1 lb. of 25% 214 1 1
BHC 2-1/2 lbs. of 10% 244 5 9
Dieldrin 1 and 1/3 pints of 18-1/2% 148 3 5
Toxaphene 1 qt. of 31% 146 22 21
Check 61 47 20
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The reduction in the check block July 14 may be due to proximity to the
sprayed block which was not true in Eldred. This check was small. Table
8 shows on July 14 an approximate reduction of Lindane 99%, BHC 98%,
Dieldrin 98%, and Toxaphene 85%.
From these tests in both places it appears that we have a choice of
three very good materials, Lindane, Benzene hexachloride called BHC and
Dieldrin, and for that reason we can ignore the less efficient material,
toxaphene.
At Eldred, since first brood sprays were applied in a sizeable area
records of infestation were made shortly before time to spray for the
second brood to determine whether the first brood spraying would
eliminate the need for second brood spraying. However, the infestation
was found to be practically as great in this area as the unsprayed part
of the woods. It appears that the control was not good enough to allow
this. In part this was due to failure to reach the tops of the trees.
Records were made in the lower parts.
5. Varietal susceptibility.
At Anna where there was a limited number of trees, the orchards were
plotted on paper and location of each tree with variety indicated
records were made of each tree separately, in hopes that some varietal
susceptibility would be shown. There is nothing very clear in this
respect except that of the varieties in the Casper orchard, Butterick,
Busseron, Indiana, Posey, Stewart, Osburn, Major, Green River, the
Indiana and Posey may be a little more heavily infested than the others.
At Eldred for the second brood infestation, the variety of each of the
10 record trees was reported, but there were so many varieties and they
did not occur often enough in the five plots to make variety infestation
data reliable. However, the rather high average on the Indiana variety
did seem to corroborate the findings at Anna.
There was some foliage burn in two of the record trees in the Dieldrin
plot at Eldred, both being the variety Rockville. Another tree in
another part of the plot was also found to be burned and also found to
be the same variety, so it appears that this may be particularly
susceptible to spraying especially in this concentrated form such as we
used. There were no Rockville trees in any of the other plots, so we
have no way of knowing whether the Lindane, BHC or Toxaphene would have
done the same or not.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: The next paper, the last paper of the afternoon,
is Control of Insects Injuring Nut Trees, by Howard Baker, U.S.D.A.
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Beltsville, Md.
MR. BAKER: Mr. Chairman, members of the Northern Nut Growers
Association: It is a great deal of pleasure to be back here speaking
before a group of nut growers. Back some years ago my first assignment
to a station of which I had charge was an investigation to count insects
in Louisiana and Eastern Texas, so it is a pleasure to be back before a
group of nut growers.
Insect Enemies of Northern Tree Nuts
HOWARD BAKER, _U.S.D.A., Agr. Res. Admin., Bureau of Entomology and
Plant Quarantine_
The small number of requests for information on insect pests of northern
tree nuts received in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine is a
strong indication that such pests are of little concern to northern nut
growers. This is fortunate, because intensive, all-season spray
programs, such as are necessary to produce most other crops without
serious losses due to insect injury, are laborious and expensive and not
always as effective as desired. However, as your acreage is increased
and as your trees become older and larger, insect problems are likely to
increase in number and intensity and require more of your thought and
attention.
A somewhat similar situation prevailed in the pecan industry at one time
in the South. I well remember the statement of one of the larger pecan
growers in Louisiana to the effect that all the pleasure of growing
pecans would be gone the day he had to start spraying to control insects
and diseases. Only a short time later it became necessary for him to
initiate a regular spray program. He still took great pride in growing
pecans, however. It is well, therefore, for you to watch your trees
closely for insect damage and keep informed concerning the habits and
control of the species that show up in your plantings or in those of
your neighbors.
Because of the scattered nature of the northern nut industry, the small
size of most plantings, and the more pressing demands for information on
the control of pests of more intensively planted crops, it has not been
possible for the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine to give
attention to many of the pests of northern nuts. A great deal of work
has been done on the pests of pecans in the South, and some work on
those that attack filberts and chestnuts. In addition, some of the pests
with which you are concerned, or others similar to them, are receiving
attention in connection with studies of pests of tree fruits. The
results of these studies will give you up-to-date information applicable
to your particular problems.
The timely use of insecticides is the most effective means of combating
most injurious insects, but if spraying is not possible, other methods
can often be used to prevent or reduce damage. A great many new
insecticides have become available during the last six or seven years.
Work with them has resulted in the development of treatments effective
against a number of pests for which there was formerly no known means of
control and markedly more effective treatments for the control of
others. It is my purpose to bring to you as much of this new information
as is applicable to your problems.
Leaf-feeding Caterpillars
The fall webworm[3] and the walnut caterpillar[4] are the leaf-feeding
caterpillars most commonly reported as attacking northern tree nuts.
Fall webworms[5] are the insects usually responsible for unsightly webs
on or near the end of the branches of the trees during the summer and
fall. They enlarge the webs as they need more leaves. When nearly full
grown they scatter to complete their feeding. The full-grown
caterpillars are a little more than an inch in length and are covered
with long black and white hairs. They spend the winter in cocoons in
trash on the ground or just below the surface of the soil. There are two
broods a year in many areas, the second usually being the more numerous.
Control can be obtained by applying a spray containing 3 pounds of lead
arsenate with an equal quantity of hydrated lime (to prevent possible
injury to the foliage), 2 pounds of 50-percent DDT wettable powder, or 2
pounds of 15-percent parathion wettable powder per 100 gallons of water.
Apply the spray when the caterpillars are still small. Follow the
precautions furnished with each package. Parathion is a particularly
dangerous material to use. If you are not equipped to spray or have only
a few trees, you can control this insect by removing the webs from the
trees with a long-handled pruner or a long bamboo pole with a hook at
the end.
The walnut caterpillar feeds in groups, or colonies, and commonly eats
all the leaves on small trees or on certain limbs on large trees. The
winter is spent in cocoons in the ground. The moths appear late in the
spring or early in the summer and lay masses of eggs on the underside of
the leaves. From time to time as they grow, the stout, black
caterpillars go down to a large limb or to the trunk of the tree to
molt, or shed their skins. After molting they return toward the ends of
the branches and resume their feeding.
This insect can be controlled with the same spray treatments that are
recommended for the fall webworm, and also by crushing or burning the
caterpillars when they are clustered on the lower limbs or tree trunks.
Pecan Phylloxera[6]
Swellings called galls sometimes appear on leaves, leafstalks, succulent
shoots, or nuts of the current season's growth of hickory and pecan.
These galls are caused by small insects known as phylloxera, which are
closely related to aphids, or plant lice. Several species are involved,
but only one, known as the pecan phylloxera, causes serious damage. It
causes twigs to become malformed, weakened and finally to die, and
destroys the crop on the infested terminals. The insect passes the
winter in the egg stage in protected places on the trees. The young
appear in the spring about the time the buds begin to unfold.
The phylloxera can be controlled by spraying the trees thoroughly with a
mixture containing 3/4 pint of nicotine sulfate plus 2-1/2 gallons of
lime-sulfur or 2 quarts of lubricating-oil emulsion to 100 gallons of
water during the delayed dormant period or by the time buds show about
an inch of green. Sprays containing 3 pounds of BHC (10-percent gamma)
or 1-1/4 pounds of 25-percent lindane wettable powder per 100 gallons
are also effective, and their use is increasing. Other materials have
given good control when applied about the time the buds begin to swell.
They are 36-percent dinitro-o-sec-butylphenol liquid, 3 quarts per 100
gallons, and a mixture of 40-percent dinitro-o-cyclohexylphenol powder,
2 pounds, and lubricating-oil emulsion, 5 quarts, per 100 gallons of
spray. Do not use the dinitro materials after the buds begin to open.
Twig Girdler
A stout, brown beetle about 1/2 inch in length, known as the twig
girdler,[7] often cuts off the twigs of hickory, pecan, and many other
trees in the late summer and early fall. The larvae spend the winter in
the cut twigs, which are gradually broken off and fall to the ground.
Injury can be reduced by collecting and destroying the fallen twigs
before the larvae complete development the following spring. Recent work
on pecans in Florida indicates that most injury can be prevented by
applying a spray containing 4 pounds of 50-percent DDT or 3 pounds of
15-percent parathion wettable powder per 100 gallons of water. Three
applications appear to be necessary, the first when the injured branches
are first noticed, usually sometime in August, and the second and third
two and four weeks later. When handling parathion be sure to follow the
precautions on the package.
Weevils and Curculios
Weevils and curculios are small, hard-shelled, grayish to brown beetles
about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, with stiff, slender snouts or beaks. They
feed and lay eggs in the nuts and/or shoots of many kinds of nuts,
including hickory, walnut, pecan, chestnut, hazelnut or filbert, and
butternut. There are a number of species, but most of them attack only
one kind of nut. The species usually called weevils most often lay eggs
and injure the nuts from the time the meat begins to form until it is
mature, whereas the group known as curculios generally emerge and cause
most serious damage during the early part of the growing season, when
the new shoots are developing and the crop starts to set and grow.
The chestnut weevils are probably the weevils best known to most of you.
E. R. VanLeeuwen, of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, has
added much to our knowledge of these weevils in recent years. Two
species, the small chestnut weevil[8] and the large chestnut weevil,[9]
are commonly present together and cause similar injury. The small
chestnut weevil appears as an adult over a period of about 6 weeks
beginning near the first of May in the vicinity of Beltsville, Md., but
it does not lay eggs until about the middle of August. The larger
species does not emerge until about the middle of August and begins to
lay eggs soon thereafter. Eggs are laid in the developing nuts, and
injury is caused by the feeding of the larvae therein. Most of the small
weevils require two years to complete development, and most of the
larger weevils but one year.
Some control of these weevils can be obtained by collecting and
destroying the infested nuts before the larvae leave them to enter the
soil. Better control can be obtained by spraying the trees with DDT.
Apply a spray containing 4 pounds of 50-percent DDT wettable powder per
100 gallons of water (3 level tablespoonfuls per gallon) 30 days before
the first mature nuts are expected to drop, and make two additional
applications at intervals of 7 days. If you are not equipped to spray,
you may obtain some control by treating the soil under the trees with
ethylene dibromide at a depth of 5 inches. Make injections at intervals
of 1 foot in each direction and also in the center of each square formed
by these injection holes. Place 1 milliliter of 40-percent ethylene
dibromide or an equivalent quantity of another dilution in each hole.
Make the application in the fall immediately after the nuts are
harvested and close the injection holes by pressing with the foot. The
soil should preferably be loose to a depth of 5 inches.
The pecan weevil,[10] also known as the hickory nut weevil, often causes
heavy losses of pecans and most species of hickory. Two or three years
are required for the insect to complete its life cycle, but some
specimens reach maturity every year. Adults emerge from the ground from
the middle of July until early in September, according to locality and
seasonal conditions. Injury is of two types--(1) that resulting from
attack before the shell-hardening period in July and August, causing the
young nuts to drop, and (2) that resulting from attack after kernel
formation, the kernel being destroyed by the developing larvae, or
grubs. Egg deposition in the nuts usually begins late in August.
To control this weevil spray the trees twice with 6 pounds of 50-percent
DDT or 40-percent toxaphene wettable powder per 100 gallons of water.
Make the first application when at least six weevils can be jarred onto
a sheet on the ground beneath any tree known to have been infested in
previous seasons, and make the second 10 to 14 days later. The first
application will be needed sometime between the last week in July and
the first week in September. If the soil is hard and dry, it will delay
emergence of the weevils. If you are not equipped to spray, you can
reduce weevil injury about 50 percent by jarring the limbs of the trees
lightly and gathering the weevils on a sheet during the period of
emergence. The dislodged weevils will remain quiet on the sheet long
enough to be picked up and destroyed. Begin jarring about the last week
in July and confine it to two or three trees until the first weevils
appear. Then jar all trees at weekly intervals until about the middle of
September, when egg laying will have been largely completed.
The butternut curculio[11] attacks native butternuts and introduced nuts
of a similar type. It passes the winter as an adult in trash or other
shelter it can find in the vicinity of nut trees. It is a small,
hard-shelled, rough-backed snout beetle. Late in the spring it makes its
way to the trees, and lays eggs in the young shoots. On hatching, the
young larva penetrates into the young shoot or leaf stem or nut and
feeds there, causing the leaf or nut to dry up and fall off. Upon
completing development in the fallen leaf or nut, the mature larva
enters the soil. After a month or so in the ground the adult emerges,
feeds on the foliage for a while, and then enters hibernation. There is
but one generation a year.
The black walnut curculio[12] is similar to the butternut curculio in
seasonal history, but it attacks principally the fruit of the black
walnut and butternut, apparently preferring the former.
The hickory nut curculio[13] is much like the preceding two species, but
it attacks chiefly partly grown hickory nuts, causing a heavy dropping
in midsummer.
The hickory shoot curculio[14] attacks chiefly the shoots of various
kinds of hickory. The damage is seldom of much importance except to
newly transplanted trees. On pecan it attacks the unfolding buds and
shoots. Pecans most commonly attacked are those that are uncultivated or
are adjacent to woodlands containing native pecan and hickory trees.
For many years these curculios have been controlled by spraying the
trees soon after growth starts with lead arsenate, 2 pounds per 100
gallons, plus an equal amount of hydrated lime. One or two additional
applications may be needed as new growth appears or as the nuts increase
in size. Recent experimental work indicates that BHC or lindane may be
more effective for controlling these insects. A spray containing 3 or 4
pounds of technical BHC (10-percent gamma) or 1-1/2 to 2 pounds of
25-percent lindane wettable powder per 100 gallons, applied when the
buds show from 1/4 to 1 inch of green growth or when jarrings show
adults are present, has given fairly good control.
Walnut Husk Maggot
The walnut husk maggot[15] attacks black and English walnuts,
butternuts, and a few other nuts. The feeding of the larva, or maggot,
in the husks impairs the quality of the kernels, discolors the shell,
and often causes the shells to adhere to the nuts. It causes the most
damage to English walnuts. This insect hibernates in the pupal stage in
the ground. In midsummer it transforms to the adult fly stage, leaves
the soil, and flies to the nut trees. After 1 to 3 weeks the flies lay
eggs in the husks of the developing nuts. The eggs hatch in a week or 10
days, and the young maggots burrow within and throughout the husks of
the nuts; they mature in the fall.
The walnut husk maggot can be controlled by spraying the trees with lead
arsenate or cryolite the latter part of July and again 3 to 4 weeks
later. Use 2 or 3 pounds of lead arsenate plus an equal quantity of
hydrated lime or 3 pounds of cryolite per 100 gallons of water.
Filbert Moth
The filbert moth,[16] a serious pest in some filbert orchards in Oregon,
also causes some injury to chestnuts. Adult moths begin emerging toward
the end of June and lay their eggs singly on the leaves beginning early
in July. The newly hatched larvae tunnel through the husk and feed
between the husk and the chestnut shell before entering the nut. This
feeding produces a gummy substance, which causes the husk to adhere to
the nut. The larvae may tunnel into the center of the kernel or excavate
an irregular cavity in the side. They reach maturity about the time nuts
are ripe, and then leave the nuts and construct cocoons in the soil in
which to pass the winter.
Control can be obtained by spraying the tree with lead arsenate or DDT
early in July. Use 3 pounds of lead arsenate or 2 pounds of 50-percent
DDT wettable powder in 100 gallons of water.
Mites
Two general types of mites sometimes damage nut trees, eriophyid mites
and spider mites. The most important eriophyid mites are the wormlike
gall mites and bud mites, most of which overwinter in the buds and cause
deformities of the buds and leaves and otherwise limit their
development. The spider mites may overwinter in the egg stage on the
twigs or as adults in protected places on or beneath the trees. These
mites feed primarily on the foliage.
The filbert bud mite[17] is occasionally of economic importance as a
pest of filberts in Oregon and has been of some concern recently in New
York. It attacks the leaf and flower buds and catkins. Infested catkins
become distorted, rigid, and brittle, and yield no pollen. In Oregon
this pest has been controlled with 3 gallons of a dormant oil emulsion
or 6-1/2 to 8 gallons of liquid lime-sulfur in water to make 100 gallons
of spray just as the buds are opening. Related species of similar habits
that attack walnuts have been controlled with 9 or 10 gallons of liquid
lime-sulfur in water to make 100 gallons of spray applied at the time
the buds break or soon thereafter.
The feeding of the spider mites on the foliage of infested trees causes
it first to have a bronzed or scorched appearance, and later to dry up
and fall. These mites frequently become abundant following the use of
some of the new organic insecticides, such as DDT and BHC, which destroy
their natural enemies and perhaps have other effects on the trees
favorable to mite activity. The European red mite, which overwinters
on the trees in the egg stage, can be controlled by application of
3-percent oil-emulsion spray in the late-dormant period. The two-spotted
spider mite and related species, as well as the European red mite if it
is not controlled with the dormant spray, can be controlled with a spray
containing 1 pound of a 15-percent parathion or 1-1/2 pounds of a
15-percent Aramite wettable powder per 100 gallons. Apply the spray
before many leaves show the typical bronzing or leaf scorching. If the
infestation is heavy, a second application may be necessary in about 8
or 10 days. Be sure to follow the precautions on the container,
especially if you use parathion.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: We greatly appreciate your care in getting this
thing together, and we know it is going to be a great help to us when we
get it printed as a matter of reference.
MR. O'ROURKE: I'd like to ask Dr. Baker if insects are getting stronger
or if the chemicals are getting weaker. I refer to the rates of
application. Formerly we were told that one-half pound of parathion for
one hundred gallons and one pound of DDT would control almost all
insects. I note the rates are going up.
MR. BAKER: That's true, particularly with parathion. The first year that
we tested parathion on any scale we thought a quarter to a half a pound
would control mites for 30 days or more and would control curculio for
20 or 30 days, but the next year we used it we found that was a little
optimistic. It seems that each year since we have had to use more of it
or use it more often, or with mites, particularly, there are a number of
instances where it just doesn't control them at all.
Two years ago that came to notice in the Wenatchee area of Washington on
apples. Mites in a certain orchard just couldn't be controlled with
parathion. A year ago the area in the Pacific Northwest where that was
true was extended and included several orchards of the Yakima Valley.
This year it also includes orchards in the East, in New York. We have
seen an orchard where two pounds of parathion and a hundred gallons of
water just didn't have much effect on the mites, and we have had to use
other materials. We hear of instances of codling moth on apples where
DDT doesn't seem to be as good as it was in the beginning. I have talked
with some of the people working on the problem, and they find that there
is quite a difference between different brands of some of these
insecticides. Possibly that is the answer.
MR. MACHOVINA: After spraying for shuck maggot with DDT do you encourage
the presence of mites?
MR. BAKER: It's very possible that you might. That has happened where
DDT has been used. With some of our work with chestnut weevils, mites
seem to be a little more abundant where we used DDT. We have had reports
of this happening in California where they used DDT on walnuts. So it is
a possibility, and that's why I brought into the paper a little
information on the control of mites.
Session closed at 4:15 o'clock, p.m.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: _Hyphantria cunea_ (Drury).]
[Footnote 4: _Datana integerrima_ G. & R.]
[Footnote 5: _Clastoptera achatina_ Germ.]
[Footnote 6: _Phylloxera devastatrix_ Perg.]
[Footnote 7: _Oncideres cingulata_ (Say).]
[Footnote 8: _Curculio auriger_ Casey.]
[Footnote 9: _C. proboscideus_ F.]
[Footnote 10: _Curculio caryae_ (Horn).]
[Footnote 11: _Conotrachelus juglandis_ Lee.]
[Footnote 12: _Conotrachelus retentus_ Say.]
[Footnote 13: _Conotrachelus affinis_ Boh.]
[Footnote 14: _Conotrachelus aratus_ Germ.]
[Footnote 15: _Rhagoletis suavis_ Loew.]
[Footnote 16: _Melissopus latiferreanus_ (Wlsm.)]
[Footnote 17: _Phytoptus avellanae_ Nal.]
TUESDAY EVENING BANQUET SESSION
We will now have the report of the Resolutions Committee.
MR. DAVIDSON: "To Royal Oakes, Chairman of the Program Committee, and to
J. Ford Wilkinson, the City of Rockport and its hospitable people, the
Northern Nut Growers Association extends its grateful greetings to you
and to your loyal helpers, mentioning only a few; that is, Mrs. Negus,
Mr. and Mrs. Sly, Mr. Richard Best, a group of people who say little and
who do much, our very hearty thanks to you and to your helpers. We have
had a splendid meeting, good attendance, good fellowship and tomorrow a
good field trip.
"RESOLUTION: The sincere and grateful appreciation of this Association
is hereby tendered to J. C. McDaniel, who has so faithfully and
fruitfully served it as Secretary for five years. Your creation of new
avenues of service, such as _The Nutshell_ is sufficient evidence of
your resourcefulness in a difficult and most important office.
"RESOLUTION: Be it resolved, that this Association instruct its Secretary
to communicate the following action to the responsible agencies of
Federal and State authorities in all areas where the oak wilt disease is
present or threatens:
"'The oak wilt disease threatens severe damage to our eastern and
southern oaks and Chinese chestnut trees. Recently reported spread of
the disease in Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania indicates
a very serious and critical situation. All state and federal authorities
are urged to take prompt and appropriate action before it is too late.'"
All NNGA members are asked to write to their state and federal senators
and representatives urging immediate preventive measures against the
spread and for the eradication of the oak wilt disease. Please write
those letters. They are important.
"To Dr. Deming, greetings and congratulations from your Association on
the occasion of your 90th birthday, September 1, 1952. May your years
continue to be golden and happy. May our organization deserve in the
future the gifts of inspiration and accomplishment that you have had so
large a part in giving it in the past."
"To Dr. J. Russell Smith: The Northern Nut Growers assembled at Rockport
send greetings and best wishes to you. We miss you this year and hope to
see you at Rochester, New York, next year."
"To Mildred Jones Langdoc. Mildred: We have missed you at our meeting.
Your absence is noted by all who know you. May the illness in your home
be short. May we see you and your family in Rochester in 1953."
"RESOLUTION: On behalf of the members of the Northern Nut Growers
Association the Secretary is asked to send our affectionate greetings to
two well-loved, absent members, Mrs. C. A. Reed and Mrs. G. A.
Zimmerman: 'Best wishes to you both for speedy recovery of good health
and with our hope to see you next year.'"
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Is it your pleasure to adopt these resolutions all
at once, or do you wish to separate them? I take it that you wish to
adopt them, all at the same time, and to that end a motion to accept the
report of the Resolutions Committee and to adopt the resolutions and to
send the greetings would be appropriate.
The report of the resolutions committee was accepted unanimously.
MR. MCDANIEL: Before this meeting convened we planned a bud wood
exchange at the convention. Mr. Gerardi and I brought some buds, and Mr.
Richard brought a few of the Rhodes heartnut. We have persimmons, some
buds of the new Crandall apple, and a few sticks of Chinese and hybrid
chestnuts. They are for anyone who would like to experiment with them.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Next year at Rochester we are going to have
opportunity for putting on a considerable exhibit of nuts, and I think
that it would be much to the advantage of the Association, if we could
have an outstanding exhibit there where there is a good chance to have a
large number of people see the exhibits and become interested. To that
end I think that all of us who have nut trees bearing this fall, should
save some samples with extra care; that is, clean them up, make them
look attractive and have them on hand ready for the exhibit next fall.
A good sample for exhibit should be about 10 or a dozen for black
walnuts and the Persian walnuts and perhaps 20 to 25 for the hickories
and the smaller nuts, the hazel, particularly. I think that we have a
good chance next year to forward the cause of the Association, and
certainly having these exhibits will be much to our advantage.
At this time, towards the end of our session, it is our usual custom to
elect our next year's officers. Before going on with that election, I
would just like to say that I personally, as president of the
Association during this year, wish to thank all of the other officers
who have worked with me. It has been a pleasure to work with them and
with the committee chairmen, and I think the meeting here at Rockport
and the work during the year attest to their effective service.
The Nominations Committee report. For president next year, Mr. R. B.
Best; for vice-president, George Salzer of Rochester, New York; for
Treasurer, Carl Prell of South Bend, Indiana, who continues in the
office; and for Secretary Mr. Spencer Chase of Norris, Tennessee.
The slate presented was elected unanimously.
A nominating committee consisting of Max Hardy, Gilbert Becker, George
Slate, Dr. William Rohrbacker, and Ford Wilkinson was unanimously
elected for 1953.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: I will now call upon our newly elected president
to come forward. It is usual at these meetings for the retiring
president to present the gavel to the incoming president, and here it
is. This gavel is made of pecan wood presented to the Association by Mr.
T. P. Littlepage, who was born in this locality. I hope you will have as
much fun and pleasure as president of the Association as I have had.
It's all yours.
MR. WILKINSON: That gavel was made from the wood of a pecan tree. Mr. T.
P. Littlepage planted the nut when he was 14 years old on a piece of
land that he inherited as a boy. I cut the wood and sent it to him in
Washington to have the gavel made of it.
Chestnut Breeding
Report for 1951-1952
ARTHUR H. GRAVES[18] and HANS NIENSTAEDT, _Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn._
Weather Conditions
Two serious enemies of the chestnut, if we disregard parasitic
organisms, are drought and extreme cold. The winter of 1950-51 was
unusually mild--scarcely cold enough to freeze the ground. The
precipitation was plentiful during the winter months so that the water
table was sufficient to tide over a slightly dry June and a much more
serious drought in September and early October. But the latter dry
period came when the nuts were matured, or nearly so.
The winter of 1951-52 was again mild except for a short cold spell at
the end of January, with plentiful precipitation up to the first week of
June, and then a long drought with the driest July since 1944. However,
the heavy rainfall of August, 8.69 inches,[19] made amends for this,
and with the normal rainfall of 3.48 inches of September, prepared the
trees to endure the long drought of October and early November. This
serious drought,[20] which resulted in disastrous forest fires filling
the air with smoke over much of the New England States, came late,
however, after the nuts were nearly matured, some of the early kinds
being ripe as early as the first week in September.
The excessive heat of July, in which month occurred the greatest number
of days on record with a maximum temperature of 90 degrees or above, was
probably the chief cause of somewhat smaller results from our cross
pollination work. There is evidence, indeed, that for effective
fertilization, considerable heat is needed, but not the extreme
temperatures that occurred during this period.
In spite of the mild winter of 1951-52, the attacks of _Cryptodiaporthe
castanea_ (Tul.) Wehmeyer caused considerable twig blight, especially on
our crosses of _Castanea mollissimax seguini_. This is not surprising
since _C. seguini_ comes from a warmer region in China, but why these
attacks should occur during a mild winter is a puzzle. Evidently other
factors, such as the drought of the preceding fall, entered in.
Hybridization in 1951 and 1952
A total of 2400 hybrid nuts was harvested in the 1951 season and 1690 in
1952. This compares with the 1259 nuts reported for 1950. The increased
production over past years can in part be ascribed to a concentration of
the efforts on a fewer number of different crosses; while 103 were made
in 1950, the total was 77 in 1951 and 80 in 1952. The pollinations
followed the same general program in the two seasons, the emphasis being
on the Chinese × (Japanese × American) hybrids. This is our most
promising timber tree hybrid, and it seems worthwhile to test it on a
somewhat larger scale under forest conditions. Therefore, some of the
best early crosses have been repeated, new parent trees are being tried
and selected hybrids intercrossed. Back-crosses to the native chestnut
with the C×JA hybrids were made in an attempt to improve the form of the
hybrid.
Another cross which has attained some importance in the last years is
the hybrid between Japanese chestnut (forest type, from U.S.D.A.) and
S-8, the latter being a hybrid between Japanese chestnut and _C.
pumila_, the common chinquapin. This cross has a high degree of
resistance and a sufficiently good form to make it a possible timber
tree (Fig. 1). It is also a fairly good nut bearer with nuts which ripen
early, perhaps due to the influence of the chinquapin parent (Fig. 2).
Selected individuals of this hybrid were intercrossed, and some crossing
with the native chestnut was done.
In the last two seasons the total harvest from some older Chinese trees
(26 yrs.) was recorded. The best tree yielded 25.0 lbs. in 1951 and 28.2
lbs. in 1952; on other trees the yield varied between 15 to 22 lbs. The
average size of the nuts varies considerably from year to year on the
same tree. On one Japanese tree the average weight per nut was 5.6 g.
in 1951 and 14.5 g. in 1952; on a Chinese tree the same values were 7.7
g. and 15.1 g. Other trees showed a 20-40 per cent increase in the
average weight per nut in 1952 over 1951. This seems to indicate a
marked influence of the climatic conditions during the latter part of
the growing season on the weight of the nuts. A long-term study of this
relationship might yield some interesting results.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Hybrid of S-8 and _Castanea crenata_, U.S.D.A,
forest type, 18 years old. About 35 ft. high. Good forest type and also
good nut bearer. Blight resistant. Sleeping Giant Chestnut Plantation,
Hamden, Conn. Photo by Louis Buhle, Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Sept. 26,
1952.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Fruiting branches and nuts of S-8 × _crenata_,
Sleeping Giant Chestnut Plantation. About 1/2 natural size. Photo by B.
W. McFarland, Conn. Agric. Expt. Sta. Sept. 8, 1952.]
Grafting
A considerable amount of grafting has been done since 1949 and the
results have been good. Two year old Chinese transplants are usually
used as rootstocks and all grafting is done in the field. The best
results have been obtained where the rootstock plant was transplanted
one year prior to the grafting. The simple splicegraft, or the bark or
rind graft are used, depending on the size of the scion compared to that
of the rootstock, the latter technique being used when the stock is
considerably larger than the scion. There is some evidence of
incompatibility; thus, scions from Chinese trees, or hybrids that show a
dominance of Chinese characters, give a higher percentage of takes when
grafted on Chinese rootstocks than scions from the native chestnut, or
from hybrids between Japanese and native chestnut. Some indications of
incompatibility between European and Chinese chestnut in grafts have
also been encountered where scions received through the cooperation of
Dr. C. Schad, Centre de Recherches agronomiques du Massif Central,
France, and Count F. M. Knuth, Knuthenborg, Denmark, were used, but in
some cases these grafts were successful. Topworking, using the veneer
crown graft, has been quite successful as long as sufficient sap drawers
are left on the stock (Fig. 3).
Inarching
The senior writer has already explained in detail (2) the simple method
by which blighted chestnut trees can be restored to health and vigor by
cutting out blighted areas in the bark, painting them over, and
inarching or ingrafting one or more basal shoots into the healthy bark
above the lesion. We do this work from mid-April to mid-May, and make a
systematic canvas of all the trees in all our plantations, inarching all
those where if is necessary or might be advantageous. Each operation
requires only a few minutes. Last year we put in many hundreds of
inarches, altogether, which later showed nearly 100% "take".
Owners of chestnut orchards should take advantage of this method of
keeping valuable nut-bearing trees, although with cankered areas, in
healthy, vigorous condition.
We believe that, in cutting out the diseased bark, it is advisable to
cut out also a few of the outer annual rings of wood (of course
tangentially), especially if the canker is one of long-standing, since
we know that the fungus eventually penetrates the outer rings of wood.
Since that is true, the canker might enlarge later on from this same
source of infection. Further it may also be possible for spores or bits
of mycelium to be transported upward in the sap stream and cause new
infections higher up in the tree. A thorough painting of the cut
surfaces should go far toward remedying this situation.
One can usually judge the extent of damage caused by the blight by the
number and vitality of the basal shoots, a large number of basal shoots
indicating a heavy attack. However, if the roots have been severely
injured, perhaps by short-tailed mice, as sometimes happens, no basal
shoots appear, in which case the tree is doomed.
If no blight is present, but one or more basal shoots appear (sometimes
due to shrubby ancestors), it is advisable to inarch these as an
insurance against possible trouble in the future.
This inarching process has not received the attention it deserves. There
is absolutely no reason why, if this method is followed, there should be
_any_ death from blight in resistant hybrids or in Japanese or Chinese
chestnuts, barring, of course, cases where roots are attacked by mice
(or _Phytophthora_ in warmer regions). Those of our trees in Connecticut
which have been blighted have continued in health and nut-bearing ever
since we began the inarching method in 1937 (Fig. 4). If the inarches
become blighted, they can themselves be inarched, as shown.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Veneer crown grafting on chestnut. Photo by B. W.
McFarland, Conn. Agric. Expt. Sta. May, 1952.]
Research on Blight Resistance
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Japanese-American Chestnut, 21 yrs. old, showing
inarching begun 15 yrs. ago. Original trunk, long since dead and now
rotting, shows in center. Kept alive and vigorous because valuable for
hybrid vigor and future breeding. Sleeping Giant Chestnut Plantation,
Hamden, Conn. Photo by Louis Buhle, Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Sept. 26,
1952.]
A study has been made of the factors that cause the Chinese and Japanese
chestnut to be resistant to the Endothia canker, and a close correlation
was found between the tannin content of the bark and the relative
resistance of the three species, i.e., Chinese, Japanese and American
chestnut. The total tannin concentration in the bark of the Asiatic
species is only slightly higher than in the American, and native trees
can be found with as high a concentration as is found in the Asiatic. A
similar overlap in resistance does not occur and it is therefore clear
that the total tannin concentration as such cannot account for
resistance. There is, however, good evidence that the tannins in the
Asiatic species, as a result of the way in which they are bound to other
colloids in the cells, are more soluble than in the American species.
This, of course, would have a marked bearing on the effectiveness with
which the tannins could check the spread of the parasite. Furthermore,
it has been found that the types of tannins in the three species differ.
In the American and Japanese species they are a mixture of catechol and
pyrogallol tannins, while they appear to be pure pyrogallol tannins in
the Chinese species. Considering the specificity of the enzyme systems
of fungi it is quite possible that different tannins show different
degrees of toxicity to a certain fungus. The following hypothesis has
been suggested to explain the relative resistance of the three species:
In the American chestnut bark the concentration of the available toxic
tannin never reaches a level where it can stop the advancing parasite.
The tannins in the Japanese species, although of the same type as in
the native tree, are more soluble and reach a level toxic to the fungus.
In the Chinese trees all the tannins of the bark belong to the toxic
pyrogallol groups, and this, combined with their high solubility,
results in the high degree of resistance in this species (4).
The information available at present regarding the formation of tannins
in plants is not conclusive. In some plants, apparently, they are formed
in the leaves, and the presence of carbon dioxide and light is required;
in other plants the tannin concentration can increase when the plants
are grown in darkness (5). A more general formation of tannin in tissues
with a high metabolic rate throughout the plant has also been suggested
(3).
It would be important to know the centers of origin of the tannins in
the chestnut, their translocation, and whether they are translocated
through or over graft-unions. In other words, will a susceptible scion
when grafted on a resistant rootstock become more resistant because
antibiotic substances formed in the roots of the resistant rootstock are
translocated into the scion?
From a number of older grafts of non-resistant Japanese-American hybrid
scions on Japanese or Chinese rootstocks it appears that this indeed
might be the case. These grafts, some of which are 16 years old, appear
to be more resistant than the original hybrid tree, even if not as
resistant as the rootstock.
This would indicate the possibility that the antibiotic substances are
produced in the roots and translocated into the scion. However, the
possibility still remains that the compounds are formed also in the
leaves and translocated to the base of the tree. To clarify this whole
problem an experiment with Chinese-American grafts in different
combinations is under way. Preliminary results show that antibiotic
substances are formed in upper parts of the plants, but that they are
not translocated downward across the graft union. Thus it was found that
Chinese branches grafted on two year old American seedlings remained
resistant, without the American seedlings showing any increase in
resistance. In future experiments the upward translocation will be
studied in detail on grafts of American scions on Chinese seedlings.
Some Abnormal Conditions
1. _Sterility_
Sterility occurs quite commonly in interspecific hybrids either because
the chromosomes fail to pair in meiosis or because the parent genes when
brought together in the hybrid interact in some way deleterious to the
formation of sex-cells. Furthermore, cytoplasmic sterility is likely to
occur in a wide cross.
Sterility has been encountered in several instances in American ×
Chinese and Japanese × American hybrids. In most cases it is a case of
pollen abortion only; either anthers fail to develop completely as shown
in Fig. 5, B, or the anthers develop but are much reduced in size and
contain no functioning germ cells.
Pollen sterility is not sporadic in a given individual: it is uniform
throughout the flowering branches. The individual flowers are
arranged on the catkin axis as in the normal flowers (Fig. 5). But
when the flowers open, a hand lens reveals 3-5 tiny, membranous
perianth-segments for each tiny flower, whitish in color, and more or
less connected at their bases. A minute rounded mass appears in the
center of the flower, perhaps primordia of abortive stamens, but this
does not develop further. The catkin begins to take on a brownish color
and at length the whole catkin, in case it is staminate, drops off. If
it is androgynous, the staminate part drops off, or withers.
These male sterile trees appear to have a normal, sometimes excessive,
development of the females, and are quite prolific nut producers.
Information on the occurrence of female sterility in the hybrid trees is
incomplete, but the indications are that at least partial sterility is
frequent.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. A. Normal androgynous catkin (female flower at
base); B. Androgenous catkin with sterile pollen. From Sleeping Giant
Chestnut Plantation, Hamden, Conn. Photo by Mary Alice Clark, Conn.
Agric. Expt. Sta. July, 1949.]
2. _Triploid Hybrid_
In 1934 we produced a cross of Chinese and American chestnut which
proved to be unusual in several respects. The leaves are enormous--9
inches to 1 foot in length, and 4 or 5 inches in width. The hybrid is
not particularly blight resistant but more so than its American parent.
It died back from the blight about 1940 and the present tree has
developed as a shoot from the old roots. The growth is rapid and
vigorous. The flowers appear normal, but we have never been able to make
a cross with its pollen, nor to effect fertilization of its pistillate
flowers. It may be triploid, that is, with 3 sets of chromosomes instead
of the normal double set, and this would account for its barrenness.
In the spring of 1952 some of the vigorous shoots of this tree were
successfully grafted on shoots from an old stump of Chinese chestnut,
using the veneer crown graft method. The scions had not been taken when
dormant, but were transferred directly from the tree to the stock in
late April. This grafting was done in order to impart greater
resistance, if possible, to the CA hybrid by means of the roots of the
Chinese stock.
3. _Systemic Defect_
Since the early 1930's we have seen occasional individuals with abnormal
foliage--somewhat mottled, usually curled and often misshapen. Thinking
that a virus might be the cause of this trouble the senior author tried
grafting some of the shoots on to healthy stocks. The grafts were in no
case successful because the scions were too weak. Finally he succeeded
in grafting a branch from an affected tree on to a branch of a normal
individual. The only result was an increased vigor of the healthy
branch. This year he rubbed juices from leaves of such an abnormal
individual on to wounded healthy leaves, without result. Moreover, such
sick individuals, although growing for years close to healthy trees,
have never communicated the malady to their neighbors. Growth is
comparatively slow, and there is much dying back or dying out of the
slender branchlets.
The evidence indicates that this is _not_ a virus trouble, but a
systemic defect, probably caused by chromosome aberration or gene
abnormality. It is significant that this trouble occurs only in hybrids.
Such trees never flower. We have known four such cases, two of which are
now dead. Similar types appear in other species as inherited deviations
from normal.
Insect Injuries
A heavy attack from the spring canker worms developed in 1951, but
spraying with DDT on May 24th prevented serious damage. No outbreak of
canker worms appeared in the spring of 1952. The Japanese beetle has
been very little in evidence. The principal bad actors are the mites,
_Paratetranychus bicolor._ Although barely visible to the naked eye, the
effect they produce of whitening the leaves is conspicuous, especially
on the Chinese chestnut and its hybrids. These insects overwinter in egg
form on the surface of the bark. Last winter they were so numerous on
some of the trees that the bark had taken on a red color--especially on
smooth-barked trunks just below a branch. An application of "Scalecide"
on April 21, while the trees were still dormant, followed by two heavy
applications of "Aramite" (6-7 lbs. per acre) on June 13th and 27th,
gave good control for the rest of the summer. Spraying with DDT for
weevils was done on August 18th and September 3rd in 1952 with good
results.
Cooperative Hybrid Chestnut Plantations
In 1947 the first hybrid chestnut plantation under forest conditions was
made in cooperation with the U.S.D.A. Bureau of Plant Industry, Division
of Forest Pathology. The plantations are made in order to test the
hybrids under normal forest conditions and different climatic
conditions. In general, each plantation consists of about 100 trees, 50
U.S.D.A. hybrids and 50 Connecticut hybrids. The trees are planted at a
10' by 10' spacing, and the overstory is girdled at the time of planting
in order to give the plants better light conditions without causing an
abrupt change in the microclimate of the forest floor--a method
developed by Dr. J. D. Diller of the Division of Forest Pathology (1).
Ten plantations at 9 locations have been established since 1947. These
are listed below:
No. of Plots Location Year Established
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Edward Childs Estate, Norfolk, Conn. 1947
1 Tennessee Valley Authority, Norris, Tenn. 1947
1 Table Rock State Park, Pickens, S.C. 1948
1 Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio 1948
1 Upper Perkiomen Valley Park, Green Lane, Pa. 1949
1 So. Ill. Univ. Fish & Wildlife Service, Cartersville, Ill. 1949
1 Russ State Forest, Decatur, Mich. 1951
2 Nathan Hale State Forest, Coventry, Conn. 1951
1 Ouichata Nat'l. Forest, Hot Springs, Ark. 1952
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Connecticut State Ownership of Sleeping Giant Plantations
On April 11, 1951, at a meeting at the "Little Red House", Sleeping
Giant Mountain, the lands on the Sleeping Giant Mountain, Hamden,
Connecticut, about 10 acres, on which about 1500 chestnut trees are now
growing, including nearly every chestnut species known to science, and
many valuable, blight resistant hybrids, were formally deeded over to
the State of Connecticut by their owner, the senior writer of this
report. The meeting was attended by officials of the Sleeping Giant Park
Association, the Connecticut State Park and Forest Commission, The
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Yale School of
Forestry. The transfer to the State was made with the understanding that
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station would continue the
chestnut breeding work. The whole region is now undergoing a fairly
rapid housing development, and in the ordinary course of mortal events
this plantation would have been divided into building lots within the
next few decades. The State ownership will obviate this, and The
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station sponsorship will assure a
continuation of the breeding work.
Literature Cited
1. Diller, J. D. Growing chestnuts for timber. 37th Ann. Rept. of
Northern Nut Grower's Assn. for 1946. 66-68. 1947. 2. Graves,
Arthur Harmount. A method of controlling the chestnut blight on
partially resistant species and hybrids of _Castanea_. 41st Ann.
Rept. of Northern Nut Growers Assn. 1950. 149-151. 1951. 3. Hauser,
Willibald. Zur Physiologie des Gerbstoffes in der Pflanzenzelle.
III. Protoplasma 27:125-130. 1936-37. 4. Nienstaedt, Hans. Tannin
as a factor in the resistance of chestnut, castanea spp., to the
chestnut blight fungus, _Endothia parasitica_. Phytopathology
43:32-38. 1953. 5. Nierenstein, M. The natural organic tannins. J.
& A. Churchill.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 18: Also of The Division of Forest Pathology, U.S.D.A., Plant
Industry Station, Beltsville, Maryland.]
[Footnote 19: Records furnished by the U.S. Weather Bureau at New Haven,
Conn.]
[Footnote 20: October, 1952, was among the six driest Octobers on
record. These were: 1879, 1892, 1897, 1916 and 1924. From U.S. Weather
Report, New York City.]
Effect of Vermiculite in Inducing Fibrous Roots on Tap-Rooting Tree
Seedlings
HERBERT C. BARRETT[21] and TORU ARISUMI[22]
When seedlings of nut trees and other tap-rooted species are
transplanted from nursery to orchard, the percentage of survival in
often quite low. Perhaps the chief reason for this failure is the marked
and pronounced tendency of most tap-rooted plants to produce little or
no fibrous, branched roots in lieu of the long, straight, and seldom
branched tap roots.
The common practice of undercutting seedlings during the dormant season
to induce a branched root system requires additional labor, and often
results in reduced growth and vigor during the following season. The use
of hardware cloth or other close-meshed wire is effective, but this
method also has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive for the
nurseryman.
Preliminary work carried on during the past two years has shown that
with certain nut trees and other tap-rooted plants, it is possible to
induce fibrous roots by growing such seedlings in vermiculite. The
methods and results of this work are presented in this paper.
Material and Methods
Seeds of black walnut (_Juglans nigra_), Persian walnut (_Juglans
regia_), Chinese chestnut (_Castanea mollissima_), pignut hickory
(_Carya glabra_), shellbark hickory (_Carya laciniosa_), shagbark
hickory (_Carya ovata_), pecan (_Carya illin_), pawpaw (_Asimina
triloba_), and three persimmons (_Diospyros kaki_, _D. lotus_, and _D.
virginiana_) were stratified in moist sawdust for three months at a
temperature range of 35 to 40 degrees F. After this period of
stratification the seeds of each species were divided into three lots
and planted in flats 25 x 26 x 6 inches containing one of the following
media: (1) sharp sand of the type used in potting soil, (2) potting
soil, and (3) vermiculite. Seeds were kept moist with ordinary tap water
and allowed to germinate and grow in the greenhouse. When the seedlings
had grown two or three true leaves, they were carefully removed from the
medium and examined for the type of root system developed.
Results
In the first eight species listed in Table 1, the differences between
branched and tap-rooted seedlings were quite pronounced. The few
tap-rooted seedlings growing in vermiculite medium showed some laterals
and were less strongly tap-rooted than those in soil or sand. Pawpaws in
soil and sand media were practically devoid of laterals, and their
fibrous root system in vermiculite was not as pronounced as with the
walnuts, hickories, and pecans. Of the species studied, the persimmons
Table 1.
Sand Soil Vermiculite
Species Number of plants
Tap rooted Fibrous Tap Fibrous Tap Fibrous
Black Walnut 20 3 24 2 0 39
Persian Walnut 15 2 13 1 0 15
Chinese Chestnut 35 6 32 7 3 37
Pignut Hickory 19 0 22 0 3 16
Shellbark Hickory 9 0 8 0 0 13
Shagbark Hickory 27 0 25 0 2 28
Pecan 21 0 23 0 0 15
Pawpaw 102 0 140 0 20 85
D. kaki 6 2 5 3 0 10
D. lotus 20 11 18 7 0 30
D. Virginia 16 0 20 0 0 14
showed the least tendency to produce tap-rooted seedlings. Typical
branched or fibrous-rooted seedlings grown in vermiculite are
illustrated in Figure 1.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Seedlings grown in vermiculite medium. Left,
_Juglans regia_; right, _Castanea mollissima_.]
Summary
The chief difficulty encountered in transplanting several nut tree and
other commonly tap-rooted seedlings is thought to be due to the lack of
a branched root system. The methods and results of a fairly simple
technique of inducing fibrous roots, that of growing seedlings in
vermiculite, have been presented.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 21: First Assistant in Plant Breeding, University of Illinois,
Department of Horticulture.]
[Footnote 22: Formerly Half-time Assistant in Plant Breeding, University
of Illinois, Department of Horticulture.]
Eastern Black Walnut Survey, 1951
H. F. STOKE, _Roanoke, Va._
The Northern Nut Growers Association, at its 1950 Annual Meeting,
adopted a resolution directing that a survey covering the eastern
American black walnut, _Juglans nigra_ be conducted during the ensuing
year, and that the services of the State and regional Vice-presidents be
utilized in making the survey.
In carrying out this mandate fifty questionaires were sent out, and 37
replies were received. Of these, 33 were from the States, including the
District of Columbia, three were from Canada, including British
Columbia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, respectively, and one was
from Belgium.
From these replies, as compiled, it is apparent that the natural range
of the American black walnut may be defined approximately as follows:
Beginning at the Atlantic seaboard at Massachusetts Bay curving slightly
northward then westward across northeastern New York to Toronto and on
westward across lower Ontario, Lake Huron, Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, in which state the line curves south-westward, crossing about
the northwest corner of Iowa. From this point the line runs
approximately south across the eastern parts of Nebraska, Kansas,
Oklahoma and Texas. As the line approaches the Gulf of Mexico it turns
eastward, crossing the southern parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
and Georgia, back again to the Atlantic.
The natural range of the black walnut may be said to have been limited
on the north by winter cold, on the west by lack of sufficient rainfall
and on the south by a winter climate too mild for the required dormant
rest period. Where these limitations are removed the American black
walnut appears to do well far out of its natural range.
In its native state it seemed to thrive best along water-ways and in
hollows among the hills and mountains, though it was also to be found on
the uplands wherever the soil was fertile and other conditions
favorable. The overflow of streams undoubtedly did much to distribute
and plant the seed, aided always by the ubiquitous squirrel.
Twenty-nine of the States reported the trees as thrifty and bearing
well-filled nuts. Eastern Maryland reported the trees as thrifty but the
nut crop light. Michigan reports the nuts as having been well filled
formerly, but poor in recent years. West Virginia makes a similar
report, and attributes poor crops to the presence of anthracnose, a
fungus disease of the leaves causing early defoliation.
The nut crop of the wild trees appears to be ungathered to a large
extent, taking the country as a whole.
Eleven states report whole husked nuts being marketed in a limited way
and six report the marketing of home-produced kernels. Prices for the
whole nuts are quoted as low as $2.00 per bushel, with a top of $5.00
per bushel for Kansas-produced named varieties.
Accurate statistics as to whole nut and kernel production are not
available.
Tennessee reports black walnut cracking plants, as follows: One each at
Lebanon and Morristown, and three located at Nashville.
A West Virginia report estimates the State's kernel production at
$200,000 per annum. A cracking plant in St. Louis is reported as
processing 1-1/2 million pounds of whole nuts annually, for which it
pays 5-1/2 cents per pound. Other cracking plants reported are one at
Stanford, Kentucky, one at Broadway, Virginia and one or two in West
Virginia, location unstated. No statement was received as to the amount
of business done by these. A new one is starting operations at
Henderson, Kentucky in 1951.
Production of black walnut kernels as a home industry has languished
since the Federal ruling that the kernels must be pasteurized as soon as
produced. Most of such kernels are now consumed locally, so as not to
run afoul of inter-state regulations. No epidemic has, as yet, been
traced to such local use.
A question designed to disclose what named varieties give the best
results in the various localities was not very effective. Replies
usually came in the form of lists of varieties being planted with little
definite indication as to the ones that have proven superior.
As might be expected, Thomas led the list by being mentioned 15 times.
Elmer Myers was listed 9 times, Stabler 6, Ohio 6, Mintle 3, Snyder 2,
(New York and Tenn.), Sifford 2, (Kentucky and Kansas), and the
following one each: Adams, Grundy, Korn (Michigan); Rohwer, Vandersloot
(Kansas); Sparrow, Victoria, Homeland (North Carolina); Ten Eyck (New
Jersey); Creitz (Virginia); and Impit (British Columbia).
A study of the geographical distribution of the preferred varieties
fails to produce any significant conclusions as to the varieties best
adapted to any specific state. Doubtless Thomas heads the list because
it has had the longest and largest distribution. A New York state survey
gave Thomas the preference 9 times, Snyder 7, Myers 4, Ohio 2, and one
each to several other varieties. A similar survey in New Jersey gave
Thomas preference 2, Stabler 2, Ten Eyck 1 and Ohio 1.
One New Jersey correspondent reported Ohio as "excellent", another
listed Ten Eyck as "fair", and a third reported Thomas as "terrible".
One Kansas producer reports Thomas his best and Ohio his worst. Another
Kansan reports the exact opposite.
Pennsylvania reports Ohio as best, Stabler as worst. Her neighbor to the
east, New Jersey, rates Stabler highly, as does Ohio, immediately to the
west.
The notable leaf-disease resistance of the Ohio variety is worthy of the
consideration of planters in districts where early defoliation causes
poor filling of the nuts.
For a late comer, the thin-shelled Myers makes a strong showing, which
may be significant. It is worth watching.
Until there is wider planting and production of the named varieties, it
will not be possible to name the varieties best adapted to any specific
state or location, in the opinion of your reporter.
The possibilities of profit in planting black walnut orchards have not
been determined.
From Pennsylvania comes the report that of the several black walnut
orchards planted twenty-five years ago, only three are now being given
care.
A ten-acre orchard at Wharton, Md. that, presumably, was being given
special care, is reported as nearly all dead--"too much commercial
fertilizer, or the wrong kind."
The report on several small West Virginia plantings is submitted as
"inconclusive".
The main general interest at present appears to be the planting of the
better walnuts on home grounds and on the farm. Twenty-four states
reported such use, with varying degrees of interest.
Considering that the black walnut is our finest cabinet wood, and one of
the best in the world, forestry planting may be truthfully said to be
lagging deplorably.
The state of Pennsylvania has shown some interest and made some small
plantings.
Ohio has done some planting. The Sunny Hill Coal Company of New
Lexington, Ohio, is reported to have planted 5000 seedlings.
In Indiana Ford Wallick has reported the planting of 14 bu. of seed, the
seedlings to be budded later to the Lamb curly walnut. Tennessee and
West Virginia report small plantings.
Kansas reports some interest in planting walnuts on lands that have been
destroyed for agricultural purposes by strip coal mining.
As a whole, the forestry plantings of the walnut of the future, as of
the past, appear mainly dependent on the untiring squirrel.
There has never been an adequate supply of walnut timber since pioneer
days when walnut logs were rolled together for burning in the clearing
of land, or split for fence rails, nor is an adequate supply in sight
for the future.
In producing districts buyers are always ready to pounce on the owner of
any walnut tree of marketable size. Prices paid are usually much lower
than the real value of the timber, partly because the stand is so
scattering as to prevent the use of efficient means of logging and
transportation.
Of all the agencies tending to destroy the black walnut, war is the most
devastating. The superb qualities of the wood for the making of gun
stocks causes the country to be combed more and more closely by buyers
in each succeeding war.
However, from the standpoint of human interest, the picture is not
wholly dark. It is perhaps too much to expect that private enterprise
will enter into the long-time investment necessary for extensive
forestry plantings, but the states can and should do so in connection
with their park and forestry programs. As already indicated some few
states are working in that direction.
Of perhaps more immediate concern and value are the possibilities of
interesting the 4-H clubs and similar organizations of youth in making
home and farm plantings. Refreshingly encouraging is the following
excerpt from the report of the Arkansas state Vice-president, Mr. A. C.
Hale, a vocational instructor of Camden, Arkansas.
"When a student comes into the class of vocational agriculture in the
ninth grade I try to get him to plant some black walnuts so they will
get big enough to graft while he is in high school. The use of this
method is helpful in getting many trees started. By grafting one or more
of the Persian walnuts, interest is also added."
"One way that has helped me get people started with a tree on the home
grounds is to pot a few sprouted nuts and when a neighbor is sick take a
seedling walnut instead of a flower. I usually go back to help with the
transplanting of it."
Such practical methods, if widely used, would bring far more valuable
results than any legislative program.
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute is showing some interest, and
conducted a field clinic in top-working the walnut in the Shenandoah
Valley area in the spring of 1951. County Agents have become interested,
and a county-wide Black Walnut Contest will be held at Harrisonburg,
Va., Nov. 9 and 10th of this year, in which VPI is collaborating. It is
hoped this idea will spread.
On Prince Edward Island, just off the Canadian east coast, there does
not appear to be enough summer heat to mature the nuts, though the tree
is grown somewhat on home grounds.
In the fruit-growing sections of British Columbia the black walnut
appears quite at home, trees of a diameter of from three to four feet
being reported at Chilliwack, in the Fraser River valley. J. U.
Gellattly also reports the walnut at Brooks and Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Confirmation of the ability of the black walnut to stand extremely low
temperatures is to be found in a letter of Aug. 22, 1951 from W. R.
Leslie, Superintendent, Dominion Experiment Station, Morden, Manitoba,
as follows:
"Black walnut is doing fairly well in such places as the Provincial
Horticultural Station, Brooks, Alberta, (P. D. Hargrave, Supt.), and at
Portage la Prairie, Winnipeg and Morden, Manitoba. Apparently the black
walnut enjoys a heavier soil than the butternut (or white walnut). The
white has been more widely planted than the black. The Manchurian seems
hardier than either and is the most rapid grower of the three _Juglans_
on test here. However, the two natives usually give us a fairly abundant
crop of nuts."
"Our source of black walnut was from around New Ulm, Minnesota; the
butternut came from around Sault Ste. Marie, at the lower end of Lake
Superior. I am not aware of either indigenous species being native
closer than the points mentioned."
Belgium reports the black walnut as thriving in door-yards and along
roadways, where the nuts are mentioned as a menace to traffic.
In conclusion it is urged that friends of conservation and a sound
economy should lend their every effort to the extension of black walnut
plantings. Some progress has been made since the days of pioneer
plunder, but much remains to be done.
Thanks are extended to all those who have contributed to this survey.
Crath's Carpathian English Walnuts in Ontario
[23]P. C. CRATH, _129 Felbrigg Ave., Toronto 12, Ontario_
Introduction
The English Walnut (Juglans regia) in England is known as Persian
walnut. Some think that the nuts originated in Persia. The primeval
forests of English walnut trees, which in many places cover the
southern as well as northern slopes of the Caucasian Mountains show
that Caucasia is the country of the origin of those trees.
But in the Western Carpathian Mountains in Europe geologists had
excavated ancient walnuts in the salt rocks of the pits of Weliczka. In
some places of the Eastern Carpathians walnuts could be found in a wild
stage; and of course domesticated walnuts flourish in every Ukrainian
orchard from the northern slopes of the Carpathians up to the southern
banks of the Pripet River, and all over Ukraine as far as the Don. But
there they could not be found in a wild form.
Walnuts in such countries as Italy, Spain, France are probably of
Persian origin.
Since Canada was discovered by Cartier European settlers have many times
tried to introduce the southern European walnuts in to the New World,
but without success. Only in California, along the Ocean's shore,
Europeans succeeded in acclimatizing some, as they think, "English
Walnuts"; though in reality the California Walnuts are halfbreeds.
In Old Ontario the people enjoyed the local wild black walnuts,
butternuts and hickory. Up to the present English Walnuts are imported
into this Province.
When in 1917 I settled in Toronto and found that even in the southern
part of the Province, so rich in different fruits, no English Walnuts
grew there, I was amazed.
In my old home in the Ukraine walnut trees were as common as elms in
Ontario. And I have found that the Southern Ontario climate is warmer
than the climate of Kiev or Poltava regions in Ukraine.
It has seemed to me that English walnuts from the Carpathian region
should thrive well around Toronto.
My Experiments
In my old home I have heard gardeners say: "Where apples grow, walnuts
will grow there also." And around Toronto there I have seen nice apple
orchards producing splendid fruits. The Ontario apple trees withstood
winter colds well, and that fact encouraged me to try to plant English
walnuts from Ukraine in the neighborhood of Toronto. At the end of the
First World War Ukraine revolted against the Russian Empire and at the
same time she was fighting for her independence with Poland.
At that time my father's family lived in the city of Stanyslaviv at the
northern foot of the Carpathians. I asked my sister to send me as many
local English walnut seeds by mail as she could. Giving such an order to
my sister I expected that the nuts would arrive not later than the end
of October, just in time to be planted before the freeze up. This was in
1921.
I remembered from my boyhood that planting of English walnut seeds was
surrounded by some mystery. It seemed to me that people in Ukraine
regarded it as a very difficult matter to cultivate walnut trees.
Being under such a notion myself I asked a horticulturist how long the
germination power of a walnut seed would last. He told me that it could
prevail in a fresh walnut not longer than a week. He advised me in order
to prevent walnuts from drying to dip them in melted parawax. Following
that information I wrote my sister to parawax the walnut seeds before
sending them to Canada.
Owing to the Polish-Ukrainian war at that time the shipment of the
walnut seeds got to Toronto not late in the Fall, as had been expected,
but in February when the farm land around Toronto was frozen. And the
worst of it was my sister did not parawax the nuts!
Being sure the kernels were dead I allowed the children to do what they
pleased with them. But before they cracked the last one my wife advised
me to plant a dozen of the nuts in our flower pots, as she said, "for
fun". I did it. Other nuts the children destroyed, and in spite of my
sorrow and anguish in two weeks the walnut sprouts came up in the pots.
Everyone of them came up, proving that you do not need to protect walnut
germination by dipping the nuts into melted parawax.
From the flower pots the walnut seedlings were transplanted that spring
of 1922 into our city garden at 48 Peterboro Ave., Toronto.
At least a thousand of the kernels of several varieties were thus
destroyed and I was obliged to wait until another fall when the _Juglans
regia_ nuts were sent again by my sister. They came also late in the
winter and were dry as pepper.
In the spring of 1923 I took the walnut seeds of the second shipment to
the farm of my friend Mr. M. Kozak located a couple of miles north of
the Scarboro Golf Club. There I soaked them in water in a tub for five
days and then planted in rows 1-1/2 ft. apart, row from row, and the
nuts 6 inches apart nut from nut and two inches deep. In a couple of
weeks nearly every nut produced a sapling. I kept them well cultivated
the whole summer, and in the Fall the seedlings were from six to eight
inches tall. The nuts on the Kozak farm were of different varieties;
some were small, some large, some were round, some oblong, some
paper-thin-shelled, some hard shelled; some varieties had sweet kernels,
some had a little slightly bitter taste, some were flat. According to
their variety the bark of the seedlings, some of them at least, was
shiny brown, while other varieties had their bark shiny dark green,
light gray, light green.
Now I have known how to produce walnut seedlings. Then another worry
came--could the seedlings stand the Ontario winter? They had stood the
winter of 1925-28 very well. Only the tops of those were spoiled, which
were injured by buffalo tree hoppers.
It seemed that the regular Ontario caterpillars did not like the sap of
the English walnut foliage. But the worst enemies of the Carpathians was
the bacterial disease. The leaves and young shoots curled, turned black,
being infested by the disease. In such a case the spraying is needed.
Acquaintance with the Vineland Government Experimental Farm
Somehow, but very soon after I started my experiments with English
Carpathian Walnuts in Ontario, Mr. James Neilson, the nut specialist in
the Government Experimental Farm, Vineland, Ont. discovered me. By him I
was introduced to the late Mr. G. H. Corsan of Islington, Ont. who was
known as a prominent nut grower in Ontario. In the year 1924, when we
met the first time, Mr. Corsan already was interested in the culture of
black walnuts and butternuts, in hickories, pecans, hicans and filberts.
Soon I transferred my English Carpathian walnut nursery to Corsan's
place at Islington. Mr. Corsan, with a great deal of enthusiasm
broadcasted my Carpathians all over the American continent, but under
different names: English Walnuts, Persian, Russian, Carpathian, etc.
Soon we were joined by a third walnut enthusiast Mr. L. K. Davitt, a
teacher in a Toronto High School.
Prof. C. T. Currelly the Founder and at that time the Director of the
Royal Ontario Museum of Archeology in Toronto, also became interested in
my walnut experiments. Then later on some other prominent Torontonians
followed us and the Nut Growers Society of Ontario was organized.
Americans also became interested in the Carpathian walnuts. First among
them was a graduate from Cornell University, a farmer near Ithaca, N.
Y., Mr. Samuel Graham. Mr. George Slate of the Geneva Experiment Station
was one of the first Americans who early got interested in the
Carpathians.
There in the States is the Northern Nut Growers Association. Following
Mr. Corsan I also became a member of the Association.
My Research in English Walnuts in Ukraine
From the year 1924 until 1936 I spent most of my time as a Presbyterian
missionary in Western Ukraine, which was then under Polish occupation.
From time to time I used to come to Canada on furlough. Every time,
coming from Ukraine, I brought also a box or more of Carpathian English
Walnuts for planting.
Then I liked to tell Dr. Palmer, the Director of the Vineland Government
Experimental Farm about my research in walnuts in Ukraine.
In Western Ukraine my headquarters were in the city of Kolomyja,
Province of Galicia, at the foot of the Eastern Carpathians. Thus I was
in the center of the culture of the Carpathian walnuts.
Though my circuit was very large (Provinces of Galician and Volynia) and
there was a time when I served 30 congregations, nevertheless I had a
little time also to study the English Walnuts in their native
environments.
Before starting the research in that country I decided for myself what
in my conception should be the ideal English walnut. I have come to the
conclusion that the nut should be of large size, thin shelled, its
kernel well filled up, being of a pleasant sweet taste; inside of the
nut there should be no partitions, thus allowing the kernel to roll out
unbroken.
Then I printed questionnaire blanks for each individual nut tree to be
examined. Beside the above mentioned questions I added:
What is the name and address of the owner of the tree, and its location?
How old, tall and thick the trunk of tree is?
How many pounds of the nuts the tree yielded that year?
In what kind of soil does it thrive?
What enemies attack it?
What fertilizer, or manure, has been used in the particular case, or
none?
Is there in the nuts, leaves and bark any sign of cross-pollination?
Regarding the grafting and budding I found that the local nut-growers
had not the slightest idea how to go about it. They also did not care to
prevent their walnut trees from cross-pollination.
Soon I found that there in Galicia alone could be found several hundreds
of varieties of Carpathian English walnuts. Anyway till 1935, I sent to
Toronto 200 varieties of the Carpathians.
Some of those English Carpathian walnuts were 2-1/2 inches long, or five
nuts to a foot; others were only one third of an inch. Some very small
Carpathians produced nuts in clusters, like grapes. In some Carpathians
it was possible to detect cross-pollination with Asiatic walnuts by
their harder shells, by partitions, by the shape of nuts, by the
construction of the leaves and their odor, and in some cases by the
color of bark.
By kernels all the Carpathian halfbreeds are English walnuts, differing
group from group by the taste. I remember that only in 1898 in the bourg
of Loubni, and in 1933 in the City of Kolomyja I came across two trees
which resembled our black walnut. In both towns some people used to live
in America, and coming home they could bring with them some American
nuts.
In the region around Kossiv I came across groves of American black
walnuts and butternuts. Those trees were planted there by the Austrian
Government 75 or so years ago. Of course they did not cause all the
hybridizing I mentioned above. Maybe the Asiatic nuts were brought in
Eastern Carpathians when the Tartar hordes crossed the mountains in the
region of Pokouttia (Kossiv) in the year 1242.
Not far from Kossiv, westward, in the village of Kosmuch in the
Carpathians 2500 feet above sea level I found English walnut trees of
small size (15 feet tall, 6 inches thick) with light gray bark,
producing 2 inch long nuts of speary shape, like our Canadian butternuts
but of English Walnut shells and kernels. The kernels were tasty. There
was no question but that they were halfbreeds, English plus Mongolian
nuts.
There in Kosmuch, not far from the historical Tartar Passage, through
which in 13th century Ghengis Khan hordes invaded the Danube plains, in
winter the temperature falls to 45 degrees below zero. Owing to the
hardiness of the strain and pleasant taste of the nuts I picked up about
10 pounds of them to be tried in colder parts of Ontario, (and some of
them already are bearing north of Toronto and true to the type.)
I called the nuts Hutzulian Pointies, as they grow in Hutzulia the
country of the Ukrainian Mountaineers.
The year 1936. My last trip to Western Ukraine
In Ontario farmers were slow to grasp the idea of cultivating my
Carpathian English walnuts. Either they did not believe the English
walnuts could thrive in this Province, or waited till my trees would
start to bear. Nevertheless some thousand of my seedlings were planted
here and there all over Ontario and smaller quantities in the Maritime
Provinces, Manitoba and Alberta. The late Sir Wm. Mulock hired Mr.
Corsan to graft with the Carpathian scions tops of many of his black
walnut trees in Orillia, Ont. Fred Gaby, the engineer who built the
Ontario Hydro, ordered through me from Ukraine 50 to 12 feet tall
Carpathians of bearing age and planted them on 10 acres near Cooksville.
Ont. Prof. Currelly has bought 25 acres near his estate west of Pt.
Hope, Ont. for my use in experimental work. The late Col. McAlpyne
planted one thousand of my yearlings on his estate at Fenelon Falls,
Ont. Two young farmers, Papple Bros., in the Georgian Bay region also
started an English Carpathian walnut orchard. In 1935 I moved my
Carpathian walnut nursery from Islington to Prof. Currelly's estate, and
Mr. L. K. Devitt sold his lot of the trees through the Dominion Seed
Co., Georgetown, Ont.
In the States, Mr. Carl Weschoke, a manufacturer in St. Paul, Minn., who
in the year 1935 was elected the President of the Northern Nut Growers
Association, also got interested in Carpathians. His son-in-law about
that time started a walnut nursery on their estate some 30 miles east of
St. Paul. That 1936 year Mr. Weschoke sponsored my expedition to
Northeastern Poland (Northwestern Ukraine) to find the geographical line
north of which English walnuts do not thrive in Europe.
My expedition was successful. I discovered that northward from the
Pripet River, which flows from west to east toward the Dneiper, English
Walnuts could not be found. If I had come across there some English
seedlings nearer to the Lithuanian boundary and the Baltic Sea shore,
they would have been planted there recently and not before the year
1924.
Farther north, though there English walnuts do not thrive, around the
Lake Peipus I came across filberts not as bushes but as large trees.
Every fall peasants in that district go in the woods and bring bags of
filberts for winter use.
Such filbert trees I found also in the Carpathian mountains near the
Ukrainian settlement of Vizhnytza in the Province of Bukovina.
West of the town of Sarny and south of the Pripet I came across a grove
of 18 ancient English walnut trees. In the year 1648 when Ukrainian
Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytzky led a war against Poland those trees already
were 70 years old, and they still were bearing in 1936 when I visited
that region. Indeed their limbs were broken and they presented a sad
sight, but they proved how long the Ukrainian English walnut could live.
The seeds of those ancient trees I also shipped to Mr. Weschcke. Beside
that I brought to my sponsors thousands of selected walnut seeds,
seedlings and scions.
My English Carpathian walnut tree in the back yard of 48 Peterboro Ave.
Toronto, Ont., being planted out there from the pot in the spring of
1922 started to produce nuts in 1929. The nuts were exactly to the type:
oblong, pointy, inch and a half long, the shell semi-hard, partitions
large, the kernel of pleasant taste. It started to produce female bloom
when it was 4 years old, but till 1929 there were no catkins of male
bloom.
The crop of the nuts, that year and following years was usually carried
away by marauding black squirrels.
Other people who got from us the Carpathian English walnut seedlings
reported that their plants also started to bear the seventh year or
around that. But the Papple Bros. reported that they had a case when a
seedling produced by them straight from the Carpathian walnut bore a nut
in the second year of its life. On the other hand there were cases
where some Carpathian English seedlings, as well as grafted ones, still
produce no nuts though they are 15 years old and over.
I think the cause lies in the soil. On the gravelly hills over Ithaca,
N. Y. Carpathian walnuts are slow to bear, even being grafted. The
undersoil in the valleys 6 miles north of Pt. Hope, Ont. is not
favorable, not only for English walnuts but even for native black
walnuts, though very favorable to hickories.
On another hand, north-east of Toronto and near Unionville at the place
called Hagerman Cornor on the farm of Mr. M. Artymko there is an orchard
of 27 Crath's Carpathian English walnuts over 18 years old, each
fruiting now every year. The trees are 25 feet tall, 5-6 inches thick,
situated on a knoll of clay, well drained soil, lying open toward the
northwest. When the trees were younger they were subject to attacks of
the bacterial disease and their barks were cracked by frost. Now the
trees are in nice shape, no trace of the bacterial disease injuries and
the frost's scars disappearing. Some of those trees produced a bushel of
the nuts each.
Among Artymko's trees there is a tree bearing the walnut of giant type,
and the tree--Hutzulian Pointie. The success of the Artymko's farm lies
probably in the soil and its high elevation.
There in Toronto Mr. T. H. Barrister, has in his backyard two Carpathian
English Walnuts, producing nuts of the giant size--five nuts to a foot.
The bacterial disease had touched them slightly, and the tree never has
been sprayed.
We should expect that the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph would
find out what is the best soil for English walnuts and what fertilizer
to be applied for them. Chicken wire fences should protect the walnut
orchard from squirrels and the trees should be sprayed against bacterial
disease.
About walnut trees bearing and fertilizer--let us return to their native
abode in the Carpathians. There in the village of Peestynka I have come
across a large English walnut tree 40 feet tall and about 36 years old
which, as I was informed by the people there, never fruited till the
First World War. During the war an Austrian horse squadron had put a
stall around the tree. The horses well manured the soil around there and
since that time the tree was bearing nuts regularly and abundantly when
I saw it in 1936.
At Last Success!
The year 1951 should be regarded as the final establishing of the
culture of the Carpathian English walnuts in Ontario. The three decades
of experimentation have passed leaving a splendid result. The fact is
established that the Carpathian English walnuts have become aclimatized
in South Ontario. This fall I had an opportunity to examine my walnut
trees at many points in the Province. Everywhere I have seen the tree
bearing. In Toronto in many a backyard, in Thorold South, in Welland, in
Port Colboren, in Islington, near Port Hope on Prof. Currelly's estate,
around Scarboro, Ont. and so on, the Carpathians are in good shape and
all are bearing.
The more the trees mature, the better they look. On the average they are
20 years old, 20 feet tall and 6 inches thick.
The summer of 1951 in Ontario was more cloudy than usual, and it caused
the Carpathian walnuts in this Province to turn out smaller than their
size, should be about one quarter smaller.
The people who knew Carpathian English walnut trees in Galicia agree
that in Ontario the Carpathians grow more slowly than they do in their
native land.
It is not in Ontario, but on the University Farm at Madison, Wisconsin,
one of our Carpathian trees is nearly 40 feet tall and bearing. In
Galicia I had seen many a Carpathian walnut tree as high as 60 feet.
Polish Government Interested in My Activity
During the time of my activities, in the town of Kessiv, there used to
live a famous physician, Dr. Tarnawski. Outside of his clinics he was
much interested in the welfare of the country. My activities could not
be hidden from his sight. "What does that "American" see in our nuts?
Are there in America no nuts?" he asked. Soon I was introduced to him.
It was in the fall of 1934. He was not well and in bed at that time. He
liked to talk with me about the walnut culture and wished to know why I
was collecting the nuts, scions and seedlings for Canada. And then it
seemed to him impossible that there in Ontario and the northeastern
states English walnuts were not yet cultivated. Then I turned his
attention to the fact that in Poland they know little about their own
trees. My challenge awoke him to activity, and through his intervention
Starosta, the county governor, planted the first twenty-five acres with
walnut seedlings along the south side of the highway leading from Kessiv
to the town of Kooty.
Dr. Tarnawski wrote also an article to a horticultural magazine on
English walnuts on what he learned from me.
When in the fall of 1936 I was going back to my home in Toronto, Dr.
Tarnawski wrote about me to the Department of Agriculture in Warsaw
introducing me to the minister. I had an opportunity to give a talk on
the Carpathian English walnuts in the presence of many horticulturists
in the Government Experimental Farm at Skieerniewice near Warsaw.
Late in 1936 I came back to Canada and till the Second World War
continued to cultivate the Carpathian walnuts and other horticultural
material brought by me from Western Ukraine.
The Second War cut me off from my field in Europe.
A decade and a half has passed. The Carpathians have been acclimatized,
have grown, and have been bearing nuts in Ontario. When such success has
been achieved, it seems that there in Canada all the enterprise is
forgotten. Of course, the Carpathian walnuts could not advertise
themselves--they are "dumb critters."
In the States the situation with the Carpathians is entirely different.
Interest in them is growing steadily, and as I said previously the
American nurseries have already put the Carpathians on the broad market.
In 1950 at the annual meeting the Northern Nut Growers Association made
me an Honorary Member of the Association.
In 1951 the Association held a contest and the "Crath" Carpathians won
most of the prizes.
Culture of Crath's Carpathian English Walnut Trees
1. _Propagation by seeds_
Pick up the largest and heaviest nuts from a certain tree. Dry them in a
windy place, but not in the sun. Gather the nuts into a jute bag and
hang for the winter in a dry and cold place protected from squirrels.
Around May 14th put the nuts into a vessel with lukewarm water, soak
about one week.
Prepare a bed of rich soil manured previously with horse manure. The
land should not be of a wet kind. Plant the nuts in rows, 6 inches nut
from nut, and two feet, row from row. Protect your nursery from
squirrels.
In a week or two the nuts should come up.
Keep the nursery free from weeds. It will protect the seedling from the
buffalo tree hoppers. If the signs of the bacterial disease are detected
spray the seedlings at once.
For the first winter leave the seedlings as they are in the field. The
next spring dig them up, every one. Cut off the leading root of each
plant and transplant the seedlings again in rows a foot apart seedling
from seedling and two feet row from row.
The amputation of the leading root causes the seedling to grow up
instead of down and will make them start to bear nuts earlier.
In Europe instead of cutting off the walnut seedling's main roots they
put under them a flat stone, or start in an earthen pot.
The next spring the walnut seedlings are ready for the permanent
planting. Being permanently transplanted they should be cultivated at
least two or three years.
Whitewash the walnut trunks in the late fall to protect bark from
bursting by the winter sun. Put a screen around the trunks to protect
them from mice and rabbits. Though, if a walnut is gnawed by rodents do
nothing about it, the tree will produce a stalk--a new one--from the
root.
2. _Propagation by Grafting_
Take Canadian black walnut seedling, one or two years old early in the
spring, if you have a greenhouse and can graft them one inch above the
root line, tie up with raffia, cover with melted parawax and put in
boxes covering each row with light soil mixed with the moss. After 20th
of May when the danger of frost is over transplant in your nursery.
The grafting of walnuts should be called a barking method. Cut off the
upper part of the stock horizontally. Split the bark with your grafting
knife as much as needed and lift up the bark as far as the wood and
insert the scion. Tie up with raffia and do the rest as said previously.
The top grafting on the large Canadian black nuts gives good results
also.
3. _Budding_
We bud the walnuts in the middle of August. Regular "T" cut has to be
done, the bud put in and wrapped with raffia. Then it should be covered
with parawax and left for a couple of weeks. After that time the
budding should be examined and the raffia removed. If the leaf by the
bud remains green it indicates that the grafting is successful.
The next spring, cut off the upper part of the stalk about two feet over
the bud. You will tie up to it the budded shoot, which by the fall might
be up to 6 feet high.
Spraying and cultivating is required as has been said above.
Owing to the fact that the budded plant in its first year continues to
grow deep into fall and in many cases its upper part does not harden
well, wrap the budding with straw for winter.
4. _Harvesting_
In the Carpathian Mountains when they gather the walnuts in the fall
they mash them down with a very long and quite thin hazel sticks. Doing
that they beat off the thin tops of the walnut branches. They say such
an operation causes a better crop of the nuts next season.
5. _Giant Walnuts and their problems_
Some giant walnuts on the same tree have sometimes small kernels or
withered ones. In the Carpathian Region they do not know what to do with
such a problem.
It seems to me that we in Canada have to solve it. Maybe it is because
of the bacterial disease, or it may be a lack of the proper fertilizer.
In Warsaw I have seen the giant walnuts sold not being dried.
6. _Reforestation with the Carpathian Walnuts_
Crath's Carpathian English walnuts could produce for Canada a very
valuable forest and in shorter time than other trees do. We should
always remember that in the Caucasian Mountains there are huge walnut
forests. Some trees are of primeval age. Before the First World War
English buyers often paid a Caucasian farmer from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles
for a tree.
Walnut Wine
There in the Town of Kooty Mrs. Babiuk, a good wife of a local burgher
told me about the walnut wine as follows:
"In my girlhood in this region there raged an awful epidemic of cholera.
Many people died. But those who drank the wine made of green English
Walnuts did not die."
The recipe that she gave me is as follows:
Take equal parts of walnuts in which the shells are not yet hardened,
and the same quantity of sugar. Cut each green walnut in half a dozen
parts, mix them with the sugar. In a couple of days the juice will be
extracted by means of the sugar and ensuing fermentation which continues
about one month. In two months it is ready to be consumed.
On my return to Canada I made wine from the Canadian black walnuts. The
color of the wine was dark brown and quite pleasant. It stops stomach
ache.
Also we should not forget the walnut oil and the use of walnuts in
confectionary.
Walnut Candies
Take equal quantities of walnut kernels and honey. Mix. Boil, watching
that the honey does not over-run. Mix with a wooden spoon. In half an
hour cool to see if the honey has turned into taffy. If not, boil
longer. When it is ready put upon a wooden board, with a spoon. When
cooled the candy is ready.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 23: Mr. Crath died late December 1952]
Nut Tree Plantings in Southeastern Iowa
ALBERT B. FERGUSON, _Center Point, Iowa_
Last year on our return from the Nut Growers Assn. tour, Mr. Snyder and
I stopped to see the Schlagenbusch Brothers and their nut plantings. We
thought at the time that it would be profitable to the Association to
have a report on their work. Mr. Snyder and I went down a month ago to
visit them again.
Sidney and Carl Schlagenbusch live in the southeastern part of Iowa. The
walnut orchard is on high land overlooking the Mississippi River bottom.
The ground was formerly oak and hickory timber. Most of their other
plantings are near the farm buildings which are just below the higher
ground.
The first planting of the walnut orchard was made in 1928 and was
completed 8 or 10 years later. It consisted of 205 trees. Later
additions have been made. There are about 325 grafted trees in the
orchard at present, most of them of bearing age. The trees are spaced 50
feet by 50 feet in staggered rows. Some of the branches are beginning to
touch. The diameter of the larger trees is 18 inches. The orchard is in
grass which is not grazed close. The larger portion of the orchard is
the Thomas variety. They have a selection of their own which was first
in the Iowa contest a few years ago. I thought it outstanding, but they
consider it a little small.
The nuts are gathered in a wagon and run through a corn sheller, then
cleaned in a device they made themselves. The nuts are then floated and
dried. Over half of the crop is cracked and sold as kernels. They have
been getting around a $1.20 per pound in Fort Madison. No crop to date
has exceeded a thousand dollars in value.
They also have several hickories and hybrids. The shellbark variety,
Wagoner, is outstanding--the best I've seen. It is large, thin shelled,
cracks easily, and is of good quality. A small tree grafted on shagbark
is bearing well. They have the common varieties of pecans, a few
chestnuts, a few English walnuts, Japanese walnuts and hybrids. The
Winkler Hazel has not been very productive with them.
They had several trees of Stabler, which were not satisfactory so they
cut the trees off close to the ground and put 6 or 8 bark grafts in the
stump. They saved the largest one as the main trunk and taking a graft
or a large sprout from the opposite side of the stump, inarching it into
the main trunk two or three feet up. This prevents the wind from blowing
the graft off of the stump. It also makes it possible to utilize the
strength of the roots from the opposite side of the stump. They had
several trees worked this way which are now of good size.
In addition to caring for their large farm, nut orchard and a choice
herd of Hereford cattle, Carl has found time to do some breeding work
with Oriental poppies from which he has made some very choice
selections. They have also worked with several other perennials. Sidney
and Carl Schlagenbusch are true horticulturists by nature and are fine
folks.
On the way home from this recent trip, we stopped to see Corliss
Williams near Danville. His brother Wendell Williams, located the
Winkler Hazel, before the first world war in which he served and never
returned. We saw a Persian walnut, 25 or 30 years old, in Mr. Williams
front yard. It was a U.S.D.A. introduction from Russia. It seems to be
perfectly hardy, bears well and is of excellent quality. The shagbark
hickories are plentiful in his locality. He has top-worked 200 or more,
many of them to Burlington, which is productive and fills well with him.
Rockville as a Hickory Interstock
HERMAN LAST, _Steamboat Rock, Iowa_
As a nut-grower I am afraid I have been over-rated; I make my living
tilling the soil and dabble in my nut grove only when I can find a few
moments to spare--in fact all I know about nuts and nut-grafting, I owe
to my good friend, Edgar Huen. I shall always remember that balmy May
morning 25 years ago when Mr. Huen came over with a kit full of hickory
scions, and suggested we go out in my pasture and do some grafting. In
that bag were Stratford, Rockville, Des Moines, Marquette, Hagen and
Monahan.
We grafted all that day--that is Mr. Huen did the grafting and I watched
him. Today these trees are living monuments of our work.
The only tree of these varieties that has ever borne enough nuts to feed
a squirrel is the Stratford.
Meanwhile I have been doing a little grafting myself. I acquired a few
pecans for understocks but the only variety that was congenial with
pecan as far as I knew was Rockville, but it produced no nuts--it was
just a nice tree to look at.
One spring my brother-in-law who lives just across the line in Missouri
sent me some shellbark scions from a tree in his pasture. I grafted
these scions on a pecan and they took off like a house on fire. This
variety proved to be a rugged individual and bore every year but the
nuts were no good--all cavities like a true shellbark.
Then one spring morning I grafted some of these shellbark scions on
Rockville; the grafts took and I soon noticed a transformation. The
grafts had blended with the understock and the offspring was different
from either parent. The best part of the new hybrid was that it bore
abundantly and the nuts are of fine quality.
To those who have some young Rockville trees for top-working, I can
furnish a limited amount of scionwood of this shellbark which I have
named my Super X, it being so rugged and hardy.
To me the grafting of trees is a noble work. Someone has said that he
who plants a tree is a true lover of his race and I don't know of
anything that will live longer in the memory of our children and those
who follow in our footsteps than a row of hickories laden with nuts.
A Fruitful Pair of Carpathian Walnut Varieties in Michigan
GILBERT BECKER, _Climax, Mich._
I would like to tell you briefly my experience with the difficulties of
Persian walnut pollination. It took 8 years before I got any nuts,
although they had nutlets time and again! It was after I had Crath #1
bearing, that all proceeded to fruit, and then heavier every year, until
1951 when the freeze of November 1950 eliminated the nuts.
Crath #1 has done so well that I feel it well worthy of being a
commercial prospect for us. The size and shape are so attractive. (The
accuracy of the numbering was once questioned by Mr. Stoke, so I do not
know if it is the same No. 1 that others have had from Crath. This was
named by Prof. Nielson. It definitely is not Broadview, as Stoke at
first thought.)
My Crath #1 had over four bushels of hulled and unhulled nuts (as they
are picked up, after shaking) this fall. It was grafted on black walnut
in 1938.
At my folks' place I planted a grafted Crath #1, and a Carpathian "D",
side by side. There are no other Persian walnuts near, and they have
always had nuts, since they started to bear. I feel that this is a
proper combination. I do not know whether the blooming periods overlap.
Suggested Blooming Data to be Recorded for Nut Tree Varieties
J. C. MCDANIEL, _Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Ill._
Such experiences as Mr. Becker's (extracted from a letter to me) are
well worth knowing, and we need similar information for several years
and at different locations, for all the promising Persian seedlings and
new varieties. I would suggest that all of us who have them flowering in
our plantings (even if only one tree) make an effort in 1953 to record
as much as possible of the phenological data on them. A form such as the
following might be used, for flowering, fruiting, and related data.
Year: 19_____ Location: ____________________
Data by: _______________ First freeze previous fall: (Date) _______________
Minimum temperature previous winter: _____°F. on (Date) _______________
Last killing frost this spring (Date) ______________________________
+---------+-----+-------+---------+--------+---------+----------+-----+-------+
|Variety |Age |Date |First |End |Date |Nuts |Yield|Remarks|
|(or |of |from |catkins |of |pistils |harvested | | |
|seedling |tree |new |shedding |shedding|appear |(date) | | |
|No.) |or |growth |(date) | |receptive| | | |
| |graft|scion | | | | | | |
+---------+-----+-------+---------+--------+---------+----------+-----+-------+
|1. | | | | | | | | |
+---------+-----+-------+---------+--------+---------+----------+-----+-------+
|2. | | | | | | | | |
+---------+-----+-------+---------+--------+---------+----------+-----+-------+
|3. | | | | | | | | |
+---------+-----+-------+---------+--------+---------+----------+-----+-------+
Under "Remarks" could be recorded such information as the distance and
direction to trees furnishing pollen in the period when a given variety
has sticky appearing pistils, the abundance of pollen shed, apparent
winter killing of catkins, etc. The list of items could be expanded, if
desired, but it is thought that those included here are among the most
important in determining the potential performances of varieties and
variety combinations in specific climates. A compilation of such data
for a period of about three years, supplemented with data on the nuts
themselves, would be of very practical value as a basis for selecting
varieties most promising to plant or propagate. The same data form would
be applicable to other walnuts, hickories, pecans, and filberts, and
perhaps to a lesser extent with chestnuts.
Note on Chinese Chestnuts
HARWOOD STEIGER, _Redhook, N. Y._
My earliest Chinese chestnuts are ripening. Stoke Hybrid is earliest and
the nuts are so attractive, too bad they are not better in quality. It
is an exciting time here as there are always a few seedlings that are
ripening for the first time. Honan, which ripens later, has been one of
my best grafted trees. One of my seedlings has very large nuts, very
early ripening, nuts are now falling, and it is prolific, nearly every
burr has from two to three large to very large nuts. The quality seems
good. We like the large nuts as they are easier to peel and we like them
boiled and served as a vegetable. The boiled nuts keep well when frozen.
I think this tree is superior to any of my grafted and named varieties.
Scott Healey--An Obituary
Scott Healey was born December 3, 1881, in Wheatley, Ontario, Canada,
and came to Otsego, Michigan, in 1904. He married in 1908. Mr. Healey
was a chiropractor for a number of years.
In 1921, Mr. Healey and his cousin, Lewis Healey, formed the Healey &
Healey Lumber and Coal Company, in Otsego, which they operated together
until a few years ago, when Mr. Healey retired due to ill health.
Mr. Healey was a director of the State Savings Bank in Otsego for many
years. He was a member of the first Baptist Church in Otsego.
He became interested in nut culture while the late Professor James A.
Neilson was nut specialist at the Michigan State College. Mr. Healey
planted a nut orchard of about eighty grafted nut trees in 1933, which
Professor Neilson helped him plan. Most of the trees were black walnut
varieties, chiefly Thomas. However, there were some Ohio, Stabler,
Allen, Crietz, Stambaugh, Ten Eyck, and Rohwer trees. There were also
some filberts, several Chinese chestnuts, and some heartnuts he had
raised from seed. One nice tree of the McCallister hican makes good
shade, but has never borne any nuts. He did some topworking in a large
black walnut tree in the backyard, where he got a Persian walnut to
grow.
Mr. Healey was very much interested in nut culture, and had planned on
having a nut grove for a hobby to keep him busy when he retired.
Mr. Healey joined the Northern Nut Growers Association in 1933. He and
his wife attended the Battle Creek meeting one year later. They also
attended the Rockport, Indiana meeting in 1935, and the one at Geneva,
New York in 1936.--"The rest of the time he couldn't go or was in too
poor health to go."
They sold their home, with the nut planting, to a young couple, Mr. and
Mrs. Lewis Lovett, in 1948, moved into Otsego; and retired.
Mr. Healey died, January 18th, 1952 at their winter home in Port Richey,
Florida. Surviving are his wife, Mabel, and one son, Virgil.
GILBERT BECKER
A Letter from Dr. W. C. Deming, the Only Living Charter Member of the
Association
Northern Nut Growers Association,
Dear Old Friends:
The 42nd Annual Report has recently come to me. Think of it, the 42nd
Annual Report! How familiar to me are a great many of the names of the
officers and members! I can even recall the very features of many of
them. I am myself now ninety years old and practically house-bound.
Though yesterday, a day almost like summer, I did take a taxi and a
drive through the park amid the brilliant foliage, with Miss Dorothy
Hapgood, who by the way is a member of our association a thing with
which I may have had something to do. Recently I was in the Veterans
Hospital at Newington for a couple of weeks. The doctors called it
"_polycythemia_", the direct opposite of "_anaemia_", did 10
phlebotomies taking 5 pints of blood which they said they used for
transfusions on ward patients, much to my gratification. I now have in,
or had put in me, a dose, of radio-active phosphorus P32 which, they
assure me will be getting in its good work for the next three months.
Nothing like being up to date, even if valetudinarian.
You have made me Dean of the association. In the beginning Clarence Reed
was always back of me with his abilities and vast fund of information.
Although I believe I am, by virtue of my office, exempt from dues and
entitled to the annual reports, I wish my five children to be at least
once represented in the membership. I append their names and addresses:
Hawthorne, the eldest, is with the Gen. Electric Co. in New York. I
don't know what he does but presume that with the other New York
millionaires he is busy accumulating wealth. This hint may guide you in
soliciting alms for the association some day. His home is in Hamilton
Lane, Larien, Conn. But I don't know if he knows a nut from a lunatic.
He has two kids, one now preparing for Korea. God preserve him.
Benton is already a member. He has a few acres in the town of Avon,
Conn. where, among the rocks and the native rattlesnakes and copperheads
he tells me he has Chinese chestnuts growing. Recently he got two of the
copperheads. He is an energetic chap. He rises at 4 a.m. and drives the
several miles into Hartford where he broadcasts from 7 to 8, for
people's breakfasts, I suppose, and is released at 10 a.m. He has just
contracted for a television program once a week in New Haven.
Olcott is a consul in the U.S. Embassy in Tokio, transferred from a
similar position in Siam. If there is something you want from Japan I
guess he is your boy. Mention my name! He has a lovely wife and three
children.
Una King, my elder daughter, whose husband was killed in an accident,
interviews VIP's on the same radio station as brother Ben.
Joan Howe (Mrs. Paul) and her husband, who is in a bank in New York,
live in my old home on Umpawaug Hill, Redding, Conn. She writes of
having had a crop of black walnuts from one of the trees I planted. I've
forgotten all the others there may be there. Nothing of value I guess.
Joan has two daughters. Ben has a son and daughter.
That makes five children I'm responsible for and they have acknowledged
the eleven grandchildren for me. I want you to make four of my children
(Ben is already ensnare) members of the association, for which I will
enclose a check for $12.00 (if I don't forget.) (The many typing
mistakes of this letter are due mostly to the age of the machine, not
mine.)
My two sisters who live in our old home in Litchfield and who are close
behind me in years, recently sent me a handful of nice chestnuts,
Chinese, from a tree 40 feet or more high in our backyard. They have to
divide them, very unequally, with the squirrels. The only other
noteworthy trees in our little place are a few papaws. Asimina triloba,
too shaded to bear. This fruit might be worthy of a little attention
from the nut growers. The dictionary speaks of several other species of
papaw.
Any of you who have outgrown the labor of caring for nut trees might
find interest in mycology in which I found diversion and edibles for a
while. Only beware the deadly Amanita and others of that ilk.
I cannot adequately express to you my heartfelt joy at the prosperity of
our association. For one thing the great increase in the membership, for
another the birth of three branch state associations, but above all the
success in the production of nuts. In my time we had mostly, if not
entirely, the promising production of specimen nuts only. We had nothing
like the Jacobs Persian walnut with its imposing spread and its
production of 200 pounds of nuts in one season; Mr. Kyhl's orchard with
its many varieties of Persian walnuts; his success in grafting and his
reporting of a tree which bears three or four bushels of heartnuts
yearly; Mr. Best's 5,000 grafted pecan trees; Mr. Hirshi's chestnuts;
the splendid results of the Persian walnut contests; and the almost
spectacular increase in the number of nurseries selling grafted nut
trees of many varieties. These facts, and many that I have not
mentioned, make it certain that nut growing is now a firmly established
and surely increasing industry. You may be sure that these facts give me
great delight.
Some years ago while I was in possession of a mind as good as it had
been at any time, I did a little grafting of nut trees in a commercial
way for people at their country places, and I had the nerve to charge
them fifty dollars a day. What's more I got paid and never got kicked,
nor did I hear mutterings or see scowls. But then, you see, there was no
other grafter, of the kind, around my part of the country. Almost a
monopoly and, of course, a wicked one. But here my mind goes blank. I
can't recall what luck I had with the grafting, nor can I recall the
name of a single one for whom I did such work.
I strongly advise every one of you to have a good book in which you keep
personal and geographic records of all your work with nut growing. All
the details are vividly in your mind now, but when you get to be ninety
you may find them, as I do, faded away and all washed up. Please go on
with the good work.
Some more good friends have just taken me for a round trip to Litchfield
where my little sister, who is 84, has just partly circumvented the
squirrels and by going out very early in the morning to the chestnut
tree has succeeded in getting a good big double handful of chestnuts,
nice big ones.
She also called to my attention a good-sized Persian walnut which she
says I once grafted on a black walnut and this year was quite well
covered with nuts which she says the squirrels cut off while green, and
she says they were helped by one of the black plumaged birds. Some time
ago she gave me one of the nuts and I tried to husk it with my knife.
But it was too immature. They would have matured this fall, I think but
for the pests.
_William C. Deming_
Sweepstakes Award in Ohio Black Walnut Contest
L. WALTER SHERMAN, _Canfield, Ohio_
This I believe, is the third report to the Northern Nut Growers
Association concerning the black walnut contest held in Ohio in 1946.
The first report was given soon after the close of the contest. During
the year following the contest (1947), I visited each of the ten prize
winning trees, photographing them, and getting as complete a case
history of each as was possible.
This, the third report, concerns mainly the process used to determine
the winner of the $50.00 sweepstakes award given in 1951 for the best
performance of a black walnut tree for a five-year period. The owners of
the ten prize-winning trees in the 1946 contest were asked to report the
amount of crop harvested each year as well as to send in samples of the
nuts for a cracking test.
Complete data were recorded each year from the samples just as they had
been for the 1946 contest. The average weight of nut, recovery of kernel
at first cracking, total kernel content, and per cent of kernel content
were recorded.
From these data tables and charts were compiled to make a visual
comparison between the various nuts. Walnuts other than the prize
winners were not excluded from this five-year competition and quite a
few were submitted. However, only one of them, the "Chamberlin" was of
special merit and it was given a place on these charts. No samples or
crop records were received from the Davidson (sixth prize) and the
Jackson (tenth prize) nuts, and so they are not shown on all the charts.
One sample from the 1949 crop of Penn walnuts was lost to a pilfering
squirrel, and the 1949 data used on the chart for the Penn walnut was
therefore the average of all other samples of this variety. The weight
of total crop harvested in 1949, however, is actual.
Table No. 1 gives the average weight in grams of the sample nuts. The
Duke, (first prize) was the largest nut of all, in 1945, averaging just
over 27 grams; but the Orth, in 1948, averaged almost a gram more. The
Kuhn, which was the smallest of the eight nuts in 1946 and again in
1950, was the largest nut in 1949, and its size in 1949 was exceeded
only four times by any of the other nuts during the contest. The nuts
were large in size during the off year when only a small crop was
produced and they were small when there was a heavy crop.
In table No. 2 the weight in grams of the kernel recovered on first
crack, secured without the aid of nut pick, is recorded. In this
comparison the Duke, because of large size, might be expected to be an
easy winner and it was in 1946 and in 1950; but in 1948, though second
in average weight of nut for that year, it was in fifth place in
recovery of kernel at first cracking.
Table No. 3 records the average weight in grams of the kernels. Here the
Duke, due largely to its size, is a consistent winner in all three years
it produced nuts. However, in 1949, a small crop year for the Kuhn, the
nuts of this variety were large and contained more kernel than the Duke
did in 1948 or in 1950.
The per cent of kernel in the nuts as recorded in table No. 4 is
interesting. The Burson, which was the smallest nut in 1947, had the
highest per cent of kernel and also had the highest total kernel content
of any sample in that year. Evidently the per cent of kernel is higher
in well-filled nuts and this is largely determined by the weather and
available food supply late in the season.
A comparison of the numerical score of the various nuts, figured out
according to the T.V.A. score system, is given in Table No. 5. By this
system, no variety had a consistent high score, but each varied greatly
from year to year.
The nut characters studied so far in charts 1 to 5 inclusive have varied
so much from year to year that any judgment based on these characters
for any one year could not be relied upon.
What characteristic of a black walnut, then, can be used in evaluating
it? In table No. 6 the percentage of the total kernel that is recovered
at first cracking is given. Oliver and Penn show considerable
consistency in that they remain above 91 per cent in all samples, but
look at the Kuhn. It was perfect in 1950 but in 1948 only 65 per cent of
the kernel was recoverable in the first cracking and Duke was nearly as
bad, varying from 69 to 98 per cent recovery.
After careful study of these six charts, I am sure you will have to
admit that any judgment of a black walnut variety based on these
characters only is none too dependable.
These are the nut characters that we have been using in our contest!
Some further method of evaluation is needed! Individual nut characters
alone are not enough. A good farmer is concerned in quality of his
produce but quantity is of more importance for financial success. The
Elberta peach well illustrates this. There are many peaches of better
quality, but the Elberta peach is a prolific producer and this is one
reason more Elberta peaches are raised than any other variety. Quality
without quantity means little.
With this in mind, the $50.00 sweepstakes prize was offered for the tree
with the best five-year record. The judges interpreted this to mean the
most pound of kernels produced that were recovered on first crack. Going
back over the records, we find some trees have been much more productive
than others.
At first it would seem unfair to compare the crop from trees of
different size and age, but this time luck was with the judges. Take a
look at Table No. 7 which gives the ages and sizes of the trees. There
is not too much difference in size or age to make reasonable comparisons
possible. However, it should be clearly understood that only trees of
the same age growing in the same orchard and receiving the same care can
be accurately compared. The trees we are dealing with were in different
localities, with vast differences in soil conditions, air drainage,
climate, etc.
Table No. 7 gives the total production for the five-year period for each
tree, in bushels, the total amount of kernel as well as the amount of
kernel recovered at first cracking. Only five trees had produced over
four bushels of nuts each during the five year period.
The Oliver tree produced 1.8 bushels and 25 pounds more kernels than the
Penn tree. The Kuhn tree, though producing four bushels less nuts than
the Penn tree, did produce 4.1 pounds more kernels, with the same amount
recovered on first cracking from the nuts of each tree--almost a photo
finish for second place.
The sweepstakes award of $50.00 was therefore given to Mrs. Oliver
Shaffer, of Lucasville, Ohio, who sent in the Oliver entry.
Referring to the case histories of these trees as written up in 1947,
you will find that the Oliver, Kuhn, Penn, and Orth trees were reported
on favorable sites, while the Duke and Burson were on very unfavorable
ones so that the above results are only what might have been expected.
The Orth tree, however, is in a favorable location and better production
could have been expected of it.
Table 1. Size, as Weight of Unshelled Walnuts (Approximate).
====================================================================
Grams 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 Average[24]
per nut
--------------------------------------------------------------------
28 Orth
27 Duke
Duke
26 Penn
Oliver
Orth Duke Kuhn
25
Penn Orth Duke
Duke
Athens Penn
Williamson Penn Penn
23 Orth Williamson Oliver Oliver
Oliver Orth
Williamson Kuhn Duke
22 Oliver
Chamberlin
Burson Williamson
21 Oliver Penn
Athens Kuhn Burson Burson
Burson Burson, Athens Burson Kuhn
Athens
20 Athens
Chamberlin Williamson
19 Kuhn
18 Chamberlin
17
16
Kuhn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Judges for the contest were C. W. Ellenwood and O. D. Diller of the Ohio
Experiment Station and L. Walter Sherman, then with the Department of
Agriculture, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 24: Average of five years for Duke, Oliver, Burson and Kuhn;
four years for Penn, which was not cracked in 1949, but interpolated in
charts.
Note: To save time and the expense of redrawing and reproduction, these
seven tables are printed instead of Mr. Sherman's graphic charts. With a
ruler and pencil, lines can be drawn through the "D's of Duke", and so
forth, to give an approximation of the original graphs.--Editor.]
Table 2. Kernel Recovery at First Crack, in Grams Per Nut (Approximate).
========================================================================
Grams 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 Average[25]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7
Duke Orth Orth
6
Williamson Duke
Penn, Kuhn Duke, Orth Williamson Duke
Oliver Athens Kuhn
Burson, W'ms.
Athens Duke
5 Burson, Williamson
Ch'lin
Athens, Burson Orth, Oliver Penn, Burson
Penn Burson, Kuhn Kuhn, Oliver
Athens
Orth Oliver, Kuhn Penn Oliver, Penn
Ch'lin
Duke Bur., Wms., Ath.
Oliver Chamberlin
4
Kuhn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 25: See note with Table 1.]
Attendance Register, Rockport, Ind., 1952
Ontario, Canada
O. Filman, Aldershot
District of Columbia
Howard Baker, Washington
Mr. & Mrs. E. L. Ford, Washington
Florida
Mrs. R. B. Pattie, St. Augustine
Georgia
Max B. Hardy, Leesburg
Mr. & Mrs. W. J. Wilson, Fort Valley
Illinois
Mr. & Mrs. R. B. Best, Eldred
C. R. Blyth, Urbana
S. C. Chandler, Carbondale
T. F. Clark, Peoria
A. S. Colby, Urbana
E. A. Curl, Urbana
Albert Dahlberg, Chicago
O. J. & Karl Eigsti, Normal
Mr. & Mrs. O. H. Fuller, Joliet
Mr. & Mrs. Louis Gerardi, Caseyville
J. C. McDaniel, Urbana
Mrs. R. E. Norris, Shawneetown
Mr. & Mrs. Royal Oakes, Bluffs
Elizabeth Sonnemann, Vandalia
Mr. & Mrs. W. F. Sonnemann, Vandalia
A. M. Whitford, Farina
Cullen Zethmayr, Westmount
Gordon Zethmayr, West Chicago
Indiana
Ralph Andrews & Son, John, Marion
Howard Bloomethol, Evansville
Ferd Bolton, Linton
L. E. Cooper, Rockport
Virginia M. Darning, Rockport
K. A. Dooley, Marion
Peter Glaser, Evansville
Jo Ann Hall, Rockport
A. W. Hamilton, Vincennes
Ray Kaufman, Peru
Charles Myer, Evansville
George Oberman, Evansville
Edward W. Pope, Marion
Carl Prell, South Bend
Adolph Risko, Monticello
L. E. Sawyer, Terre Haute
Ralph Schruber, New Albany
Barbara Sly, Rockport
Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Sly, Rockport
J. E. Talbott, Linton
Ford Wallick, Peru
Mr. & Mrs. W. B. Ward, West Lafayette
J. F. Wilkinson, Rockport
Iowa
A. B. Ferguson, Center Point
E. F. Huen, Eldora
Ira M. Kyhl, Sabula
Elizabeth Rohrbacher, Iowa City
Wm. Rohrbacher, Iowa City
D. C. Snyder, Center Point
Kentucky
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Alvis, Henderson
W. D. Armstrong, Princeton
W. W. Magill, Lexington
J. E. McClure, Owensboro
Maryland
John Flick, Riverdale
G. F. Gravatt, Beltsville
J. W. McKay & Family, College Park
Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Negus, Hyattsville
Michigan
Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Becker, Climax
J. A. Becker, Climax
W. N. Beckert, Jackson
Ralph Emerson, Detroit
Frank J. Keplinger, Farwell
Edwin W. Lemke, Detroit
Mr. & Mrs. F. L. O'Rourke, East Lansing
L. L. Ricky, East Lansing
Missouri
H. W. Guengerich, Louisiana
R. E. Mangelsdorf, St. Louis
New York
Mr. & Mrs. S. Bernath, Poughkeepsie
David Caldwell & family, Syracuse
L. H. MacDaniels, Ithaca
Mr. and Mrs. George Salzer, Rochester
Rodman Salzer, Rochester
G. L. Slate, Geneva
Alfred Szego, Jackson Heights
Ohio
G. E. Craig, Dundas
F. L. Davell & family, Masillon
Mr. & Mrs. John Davidson, Xenia
John A. Gerstenmaier, Massillon
Edward A. Grad, Cincinnati
Frank M. Kintzel, Cincinnati
Shumzo Kodera, Columbus & Tokyo, Japan
Paul E. Machovina, Columbus
Christ Pataky, Jr., Mansfield
Sylvester Shessler, Genoa
Mr. & Mrs. R. E. Silvis, Massillon
Mr. & Mrs. John Underwood, Urbana
Martha Weber, Cincinnati
Pennsylvania
Mr. & Mrs. R. P. Allaman, Harrisburg
W. S. Clarke, Jr., State College
John Rick, Reading
Tennessee
Spencer Chase, Norris
H. O. Murphy, Chattanooga
Dr. & Mrs. Audrey Richard, Whiteville
Mr. & Mrs. W. J. Robinson, Jackson
Virginia
Bessie J. Gibbs, Linden
H. R. Gibbs, Linden
Miss Eloise Saddler, Fazewell
H. F. Stoke, Roanoke
Northern Nut Growers Association Membership List
As of February 24, 1953
* Life member
** Honorary member
§ Contributing member
+ Sustaining member
ALABAMA
East Alabama Nursery, Auburn. Chestnut, pecan and persimmon nurserymen
+Hiles, Edward L., Hiles Repair Shop, Loxley. Auto repair
Long, Pope M., Box 33, Cordova. Real Estate
ARKANSAS
+Hale, A. C., Fairview School, Camden
Schlan, Mrs. Agnes, Rt. 2, Mountainburg
Vaile, Joseph E., Dept, of Horticulture, U. of Ark., Fayetteville
Wade, Clifton, Forest Ave., Fayetteville. Attorney
Wylie, W. D., Dept, of Entomology, U. of Ark., Fayetteville. Entomologist
BELGIUM
Vanderwaeren, R., Bierbeekstraat, 217, Korbeek-Lo. Horticultural Adviser
CALIFORNIA
Andrew, Col. James W., Box 12, Hamilton A. F. B.
Brand, George, See Nebraska
+Buck, Ernest Homer, Three Arch Bay, 16 N. Portola, South Laguna
Fulcher, E. C., 5707 Fulcher Ave., North Hollywood
+Haig, Dr. Thomas R., 3021 Highland Dr., Rt. 2, Box 2357, Carlsbad
Gililland, Guy S., L.V.S.R. Box 342, Lucerne Valley
Jeffers, Harold W., Lt. U.S.N., USS Dixie, AD 14, c/o F.P.O., San
Francisco
Kemple, W. H., 216 W. Ralston St., Ontario
Linwood Nursery, Rt. 2, Box 476, Turlock
Pentler, Dr. C. F., 1322 Martin Ave., Palo Alto. American Friends Service
Committee
Pozzi, P. H., 2875 S. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa. Brewery worker, farmer
Serr, Dr. E. F., Jr., Agr. Experiment Sta., Davis. Pomologist
Stewart, Douglas N., 633 F St., Davis
Sullivan, C. Edward, Garden Highway, Box 447, Yuba City
Welby, Harry S., 500 Buchanan St., Taft. Private and Corp. Hort.
CANADA
Collens, Adam H., 42 Seaton St., Toronto 2, Ontario
**Crath, Rev. Paul C, 129 Felbrigg Ave., Toronto 12, Ontario
English, H. A., Box 153, Duncan, B. C. Farmer, fruit and nut grower
Gage, James M., 76 Water St. E., Burlington, Ontario
Gellatly, J. U., Box 19, Westbank, B. C. Plant breeder, fruit grower,
nurseryman
Harrhy, Ivor H., Rt. 7, St. Thomas, Ontario. Fruit grower and poultry
Holmes, B. T., 320 Deloraine Ave., Toronto, Ontario
Housser, Levi, Rt. 1, Beamsville, Ontario. Fruit farmer
+Lefevre, H. E., 354 St. Catherine St. E., Montreal 18, Quebec
Lossing, Elgin, Norwich, Ontario
*Neilson, Mrs. Ellen, 5 Macdonald Ave., Guelph, Ontario
Papple, Elton E., Rt. 1, Cainsville, Ontario
Porter, Gordon, Rt. 2, Harrow, Ontario. Chemist
Smith, Edward A., Box 6, Sparta, Ontario. Farmer
+Snazelle, Robert, Forest Nursery Rt. 5, Charlottetown, P.E.I. Nursery
Supt.
Trayling, E. J., 509 Richards St., Vancouver, B. C. Jeweller
Wagner, A. S., Delhi, Ontario
+Walker, J. W., McCarthy & McCarthy, 330 University Ave., Toronto 1,
Ontario
Wharton, H. W., Rt. 2, Guelph, Ontario. Farmer
White, Peter, 30 Pear Ave., Toronto 5, Ontario
Willis, A. R., Rt. 1, Royal Oak, Vancouver Island, B. C. Accountant
Woods, David M., 48 S. Front St., West Toronto, Ont. Vice Pres., Gordon
McKay, Inc.
Young, A. L., Brooks, Alberta. Dairy farmer
COLORADO
Boyd, A., 1232 Clayton, Denver. Salesman
+Forbes, J. E., Julesburg. Banker
CONNECTICUT
Corcoran, H. F., International Silver Co., 169 Colony St., Meriden
Daniels, Honorable Paul C. See Ecuador
David, Alexander M., 480 S. Main St., West Hartford
Deming, Benton H., Radio WTHT, Hartford
Deming, Hawthorne, Hamilton Lane, Darien
**Deming, Dr. W. C, Litchfield. Dean of the Association
Frueh, Alfred J., Rt. 1, Sharon
+Graves, Dr. Arthur H., P.O. Box 129, Wallingford. Consulting
Pathologist, Conn. Agr. Expt. Station, New Haven
Hapgood, Miss Dorothy A., 745 Farmington Ave., Hartford
Henry, David S., Blue Hills Farm, Rt. 2, Wallingford
Howe, Mrs. Paul, Umpawang Hill, Rt. 1, West Redding
*Huntington, A. M., Stanerigg Farms, Bethel. Patron
King, Mrs. Una, 57 Meadowbrook Rd., West Hartford
*Newmarker, Adolph, Rt. 1, Rockville
Pratt, George D., Jr., Bridgewater
Schukoske, John A., Rt. 2, Box 257, Saybrook Rd., Middletown
White, George E., Rt. 2, Andover. Farmer
DELAWARE
Brugmann, Elmer W., 108C Thomas Dr., Monroe Pk., Wilmington.
Chemical Engineer
+Logue, R. F., Gen. Mgr., Andelot, Inc., 2098 Du Pont Bldg., Wilmington
DENMARK
Butzow, O., 49 Bredgade, Copenhagen
Carøe, Mr. J. F., "Meulenborg", Helsingor
Granjean, Mr. Julio, Hillerod
Knuth, Count F. M., Knuthenborg, Bandholm
Pers, Mr. Plantageejer E., Edelgaard, Vejstrup
Reventlow, Johan Otto, Damgaard, Fredericia
Sørensen, Director K. Kaae, Dyrehavevej 22, Klampenborg
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
American Potash Inst., Inc., 1102 16th St., N. W., Washington
Ford, Edwin L., 3634 Austin St., S. E. Washington 20
Kaan, Dr. Helen W. See Md.
Reed, Mrs. Clarence A., 7309 Piney Branch Rd., N. W., Washington 12
Woycik, Dr. Peter W., 1835 I St., N. W. Washington. Dentist
ECUADOR, SOUTH AMERICA
Daniels, The Honorable Paul C. American Ambassador, American Embassy,
Quito
O'Rourke, Prof. F. L., Trop. Agric. Exp. Sta., Pichilingue, c/o U.S.
Consul, Guayacil
FLORIDA
+Avant, C. A., 940 N. W. 10th Ave., Miami. Real Estate, Loans,
(Pecan orchard in Ga.)
+Estill, Gertrude, 153 Navarre Dr., Miami Springs
GEORGIA
Avant, C. A., Jr., Rt. 2, Box 253, Albany
Cannon, J. W., Jr., Cordele
Funsten R. E. Company, Sandison, Arthur O., P.O. Box 1046, Albany
+Hardy, Max B., Leeland Farms, P.O. Box 128, Leesburg. Nurseryman farmer
Hunter, Dr. H. Reid, 561 Lake Shore Dr., N.E., Atlanta. Teacher, nut
farmer
Noland, S. C, Box 1747, Atlanta 1. Owner, Skyland Farms
Sasseville, Exra M., 605 Rhodes Bldg., Atlanta
Wilson, William J., North Anderson Ave., Fort Valley. Peach and pecan
grower
HAWAII
Keaau Orchards, John F. Cross, Mgr., P.O. Box 1720, Hilo. Macadamia
growers
HONG KONG
+Wang, P. W., China Prod. Trading Corp., 6 Des Voeux Rd., Central
IDAHO
Bailey, Robert G., 332 Main St., Lewiston. Print Shop
Dryden, Lynn, Peck. Farmer
Hazelbaker, Calvin, Rt. 1, Box 382, Lewiston
Horn, Anton S., 920 N. 20th St., Boise. Ext. Horticulturist
ILLINOIS
Allbright, R. D., Allbright Nurseries, 4237 Western Ave., Western Springs
Allen, Theodore R., Delavan. Farmer
Anderson, Ralph W., Rt. 3, Morris
Andrew, Col. James W. See California
Anthony, A. B., Rt. 3, Sterling. Apiarist
Baber, Adin, Kansas
Barrow, J. M., P.O. Box 54, Urbana
§Best, R. B., Columbia Seed Co., Eldred. Farmer
Best, Mrs. R. B., Columbia Seed Co., Eldred
Best, R. C., Eldred
Best, R. L., Eldred
Best, Virgil, Rt. 4, Mattoon
§Blyth, Colin R., Math. Dept. U. of Ill., Urbana
*Boll, Herschel L., 2 Hort. Field Lab. U. of Ill., Urbana. Pomologist
Booth, Earl, Rt. 2, Carrollton
Borchsenius, Wayne L., Rt. 2, Sheridan
Brock, Arthur S., 1733 N. McVicker Ave., Chicago 39
Canterbury, C. E., Cantrall
Carlson, Dr. R. J., 320 Sherman Ave., Macomb
Chandler, S. C, Southern State Univ., Carbondale
Churchill, Woodford M., 4323 Oakenwald Ave., Chicago 15
Clark, Thomas F., Northern Regional Research Lab., Peoria.
Chemical Engineer
Colby, Dr. Arthur S., Univ. of Ill., Urbana
Crabb, Richard, Box 306, Wheaton
+Dahlberg, Dr. Albert A., 5756 Harper Ave., Chicago 37
+Daum, Philip A., 203 N. Sixth St., Carrollton
Decker, Honas H., R.F.D. Rutland. Factory worker
Dietrich, Ernest, Rt. 2, Dundas. Farmer
Dinkelman, L. F., State St. Rd., Belleville
Dopheide, Henry A., 1331 Jackson St., Quincy
Douglass, T. J., 309-1/2 North St., Normal
Draner, Willard G., Rt. 1, Mendota. Farmer
Eigsti, Dr. O. J., Funk Bros. Seed Co., Bloomington. Research Botanist
Estill, Mrs. Harry, Power Farms, Cantrall
Fordtran, E. H., Rt. 2, Box 197A, Palatine
Frey, Frank H., 2315 W. 108th Place, Chicago 43. Asst. to V. P., CRI
& P RR
Frey, Mrs. Frank H., 2315 W. 108th Place, Chicago 43. Housewife
+Fuller, Owen H., 1005 Oneida St., Joliet
Gerardi, Louis, Rt. 1, Caseyville. Nut and fruit nurseryman
Gettings, Wm. A., Rt. 1, Eldred
Glidden, Nansen, W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb
Govaia, R. M., O.D., Room 19, Greer Block, Vandalia. Optometrist
Grefe, Ben, Rt. 4, Box 22, Nashville. Farmer
Griffith, Chris, W. Filmore St., RFD, Vandalia
Hall, E. L., Rt. 1, Drew Ave., Hinsdale
Hall, Dr. William A., 25 S. Broadway, Aurora
*Heberlein, Edwin W., Rt. 1, Box 72A, Roscoe
Helmle, Mrs. Herman C, 526 S. Grand Ave. W., Springfield
Hermerding, Ted, Russell Miller Millg. Co., Jerseyville
*Hockenyos, G. L., 213 E. Jefferson St., Springfield
Hoelscher, Bernard, Rt. 5, Mt. Sterling
Ikesty, Q. J., Funk Bros. Seed Co., Bloomington
Jennings, Charles L., Box 321, Grayville
*Jungk, Adolph E., Rt. 1, Jerseyville
Kammarmeyer, Glenn, 1711 E. 67th St., Chicago 49
Knoeppel, J. A., Bluffs
*Kreider, Ralph Jr., Rt. 1, Hammond. Farmer
Krug, Carl B., Rt. 2, El Paso. Farmer
Kruse, William, Honey Lee Apiaries, Godfrey. Apiratist
Langdoc, Mrs. Mildred Jones, P.O. Box 136, Erie. Nursery, farm, housewife
Laatz, Mrs. Lenore, Rt. 3, Morris
Leighton, L. C., Arthur
McDaniel, J. C., Hort. Field Lab. Univ. of Ill., Urbana. Horticulturist
McDaniel, J. C., Jr., Urbana
McKee, Mrs. Myrtice, Mt. Morris
Marsh, Mrs. W. V., Rt. 2, Aledo
Moeser, William V., Rt. 1, Belleville
*Musgrave, Carl, 5200 S. Laflin St., Chicago 9. Machinist
Newman, Roy, P.O. Box 51, Martinsville. Orchardist
*Oakes, Royal, Bluffs
*Opat, Joseph C., Opat Chinchilla Ranch, Rt. 3, Hinsdale. Pharmacist,
Chinchilla Rancher
Peers, Frank B., Box 321, Highland Park
Pierson, Stuart E., Carrollton. Bank President
Price, Harold G. Sr. See Utah
Raab, Irvin M., Rt. 4, Belleville
Ried, Robert J., 1137 Winona St., Chicago 40
*Reisch, Louis C., Rt. 4, Carrollton. Farmer
Robbins, W. J., 885 N. La Salle St., Chicago 10. Insurance
Robertson, Virgil E., Virginia. Retired farmer
Schubert, Kenneth, Rt. 1, Millstadt
Seng, Chas. W. & Son, 920 Lafayette Ave., P.O. Box 247, Mattoon
Sokolowski, F. W., M.D., 2503 Donald Ave., Alton
*Sonnemann, W. F., Experimental Gardens, Vandalia. Lawyer, farm operator
Sparks, Maurice E., 1508 Ash, Lawrenceville
Turner, Jonathan B., Fayett Co. Farm Bureau, So. 5th St., Vandalia
Voiles, William, Eldred
Vortman, Elmer, Rt. 1, Bluffs
Whale, Fred, Rt. 1, Fieldon
Whitford, A. M., Farina. Nurseryman
Wright, William, Vandalia
Zethmayr, Gordon, Rt. 1, Box 130, West Chicago
INDIANA
Andrew, John, Matter Park Rd., Marion. Student
*Andrew, Ralph, Matter Park Rd., Marion
Aster Nut Products, Inc., George Oberman, Mgr., 1004 Main St.,
Evansville 8
Babcock, Dan, Rt. 14, Box 342, Indianapolis 44
Bauer, Paul J., 123 South 29th St., Lafayette
Boller, G. Evert, Rt. 6, Box 101, Marion. Farmer
Bolten, Ferd, Rt. 3, Linton. Farmer, fruit and nut grower
Boyer, Clyde C., Nabb
Buchner, Dr. Doster, 533 W. Washington Blvd., Ft. Wayne. Physician and
surgeon
Clark, C. M., C. M. Clark & Sons Nursery, Rt. 2, Middletown. Nurseryman,
fruit farmer
Cole, Charles W. Jr., Madison Rd., Rt. 6, Box 112A, South Bend
Coleman, Robert G., Indiana Farmers Guide, Huntington. Field Editor, The
Indiana Farmer's Guide
Cunningham, Earl E., 612 E. 4th St., Anderson
Doeden, Johan, Rt. 4, Attica. Farmer
*Dooley, Kenneth A., Rt. 2, Marion. Gardener
Eagles, A. E., Eagles Orchards, Wolcottville. Walnut grower, apple
orchardist
Eisterhold, Dr. John A., 314 Southeast Riverside Dr., Evansville 8.
Medical doctor
*Fateley, Nolan W., 26 Central Ave., Franklin. Auditor and cashier
Glaser, Peter, Rt. 9, Box 328, Koering Rd., Evansville
*Grater, A. E., Rt. 2, Shipshewana
Harrell, Franklin M., Rt. 1, Griffith
Jasperson, Marion E., Rt. 1, Box 819, Indianapolis 44. Clerk
Johnson, Raymond M., 8605 Manderlay Dr., Indianapolis
Kaufman, Ray, Rt. 4, Peru
Kem, Dr. Charles E., Rt. No. 3, Box 52, Richmond
Kenworthy, Owen, Rt. 3, Crown Point. Farmer
Kyburz, Benjamine E., Rt. 1, Idaville
Larue, A. R., Box 147, Bloomington
Layman, J. C., Rt. 1, Peru
Lennon, Robert E., Rt. 1, Warren
Letsinger, J. E., 1202 Lower Huntington Rd., Ft. Wayne 6. Electrical
engineer
Lukemeyer, Edwin J., 825 Line St., Evansville
Moldenhauer, Carl J., Rt. 7, Huntington
Neimeyer, Harry D., West Lebanon. High school principal and farmer
Newman, Jesse D., Jr., Rt. 2, Culver
Oare, William T., 650 Associate Bldg., South Bend 1
*Pape, Edw. W., Rt. 2, Marion
§Prell, Carl F., 1414 E. Colfax Ave., South Bend 17. NNGA Treasurer.
Office: 825 J.M.S. Bldg., South Bend 1
Reed, Frank, Daleville. Toolmaker
Rehm, Walter T., Rt. 4, Logansport
Richards, E. E., 2912 York Rd., South Bend. Studebaker Corp.
Risko, A., Tioga Orchards, Monticello
*Russell, A. M., Jr., 2721 Marine St., South Bend 14
Schram, Emil, Rt. 1, Peru
Schreiber, Ralph, 245 Cherry St., New Albany
*Shafer, John, Jr., 3031 N. Roselawn Dr., Logansport
Skinner, Dr. Chas. H., Rt. 1, Thorntown
Sly, Miss Barbara, Rt. 3, Rockport
Sly, Donald R., Rt. 3, Rockport. Nurseryman, nut tree propagator
Summers, Floyd, Rt. 2, Box 68, Winchester
Talbott, John E., Rt. 3, Linton
§Wallick, Ford, Rt. 4, Peru
Ward, W. B., Horticulture Bldg., Purdue Univ., Lafayette. Ext.
Horticulturist
Westerhouse, George F., E. Ohio St., Monticello
Whitsel, Gilbert L., Jr., Rt. 3, Peru
Wichman, Robert P., Rt. 3, Washington. General farming
Wilkinson, J. F., Indiana Nut Nursery, Rt. 3, Rockport. Nurseryman
Wittick, Eugene C., Box 68A, Rt. 4, Valparaiso
Woodward, Howard, Rt. 3, Syracuse
IOWA
Berhow, Seward, Berhow Nurseries, Huxley
Boice, R. H., Rt. 1, Nashua. Farmer
Cole, Edward P., 419 Chestnut St., Atlantic
Eads, Carroll, RFD, Miles. Farmer
Eller, W. E., Eldora
Ferguson, Albert B., Center Point. Nurseryman
*Ferris, Wayne, Hampton. President of Earl Ferris Nursery
Goodwin, William T., 1121 S. Riverside Dr., Iowa City
Greig, John E., Box 157, Estherville
Hoke, Russell O., Rt. 2, Anamosa. Laborer
Huen, E. F., Eldora. Farmer
*Inter State Nurseries, Hamburg. General nurserymen
Iowa Fruit Growers Assn., c/o Sec'y. State House, Des Moines 19
*Kaser, Mrs. J. D., Winterset
Kern, Dr. W. R., 741 Rundell St., Iowa City
Kosek, Frank J., 87 Sixteenth Ave., S.W., Cedar Rapids
Kyhl, Ira M., Box 236, Sabula. Nut nurseryman, farmer, salesman
Lysinger, Addison, Lomoni
*Martzahn, Frank A., Rt. 1, Davenport. Farmer
McLeran, Harold F., Mt. Pleasant. Lawyer
Meyer, Clemens, Rt. 1, West Union
Orr, J. Allen, 4000 W. 4th St., Sioux City 17
Petsel, George E., 815 W. Park Rd., Iowa City
Rohrbacher, Dr. William M., 811 E. College St., Iowa City. Practice
of Medicine
Schlagenbusch Bros., Rt. 2, Fort Madison. Farmers
Snyder, D. C., Center Point. Nurseryman, nuts and general
Tolstead, W. L. See Nebraska
Troyer, Ralph, Rt. 4, Kalona
*Wade, Miss Ida May, Rt. 3, La Porte City. Bookkeeper
Welch, G. L., Mt. Arbor Nurseries, Shenandoah
White, Herbert L., Box 264, Woodbine. Rural Mail Carrier
*White, Rev. L. P., Greeley
Williams, Wendell V., Rt. 1, Danville. Farmer
Williams, R. Alan, 1890 8th Ave., Maion
JAPAN
Deming, Olcott, U. S. Embassy, Tokyo
Yoshizaki, Chiaki, International Collaboration of Farmers Ass'n.,
17 Ichi Bancho Chiyodaku, Tokyo
KANSAS
Baker, Fred C., Troy. Entomologist
Borst, Frank E., 1704 Shawnee St., Leavenworth
§Breidenthal, Willard J., Riverview State Bank, 7th & Central, Kansas
City 1. Bank President
Funk, M. D., 600 W. Paramore St., Topeka. Pharmacist
Gray, Dr. Clyde, 1045 Central Ave., Horton. Osteopathic Physician
Harris, Ernest, Box 20, Wellsville. Farmer
Jackson, Walter, Osage City
Leavenworth Nurseries, Carl Holman, Proprietor, Rt. 3, Leavenworth.
Nut nurseryman
Mondero, John, Lansing
Stark, M. F., Hawthorne Pl., Hiawatha. Supt. City Schools
Thielenhaus, W. F., Rt. 1, Buffalo. Retired postal worker
Underwood, Jay, Riverside Nursery, Uniontown
*Wales, Max, 1534 MacVicar St., Topeka
KENTUCKY
Alves, Robert H., 302 Clay St., Henderson
Armstrong, W. D., Western Kentucky Exp. Sta., Princeton. Horticulturist
Bray, Terrell, Bray Orchards, Bedford
Funsten, R. E. Company, Robert Walker, P.O. Box 142, Henderson
Hopson, J. R., Rt. 2, Cadiz
Magill, W. W., Horticulture Dept., Univ. of Ky., Lexington
*Miller, Julien C., 220 Sycamore Dr., Paducah
Moss, Dr. C. A., Box 237, Williamsburg. Bank President
*Rouse, Sterling, Rt. 1, Box 70, Florence. Fruit grower, nurseryman
Shakelford, Thomas B., P.O. Box 31, Compton
Tatum, W. G., Rt. 4, Lebanon. Commercial orchardist
Usrey, Robert, Star Rt., Mayfield
Widmer, Dr. Nelson D., Lebanon
LOUISIANA
Hammer, Dr. Harald E., USDA Chemical Lab., 606 Court House, Shreveport
47. Chemist
Smith, Dr. C. L., USDA Pecan Laboratory, 607 Court House, Shreveport
Perrault, Mrs. H. D., Rt. 1, Box 13, Natchitoches
MAINE
Hamilton, Mrs. Benj. P., Waterboro
MARYLAND
Barrett, Harvey E., P. E., 17 Maple Ave., Catonsville 28. Naval Architect
Crane, Dr. H. L., USDA Plant Industry Sta., Beltsville. Principal
Horticulturist, USDA
Dengler, Harry William, Ext. Forester, Univ. of Md., College Park
Diller, Dr. Jesse D., USDA Plant Industry Sta., Beltsville. Forest
Pathologist
*Eastern Shore Nurseries, Inc., P.O. Box 743, Easton. Chestnut growers
§Gravatt, G. F., Plant Industry Station, Beltsville. Forest Pathologist
Jones, George R., Rt. 2, Aberdeen
Kaan, Dr. Helen W., 8335 Grubb Rd., Silver Spring. Research Associate
Kemp, Homer S., Bountiful Ridge Nurseries, Princess Anne. General
nurseryman
McCollum, Blaine, White Hall. Retired from Federal Government
McKay, Dr. J. W., Plant Industry Sta., Beltsville. Horticulturist
*Negus, Mrs. Herbert, 5031 56th Ave., Roger Hgts., Hyattsville
*Porter, John J., 1199 The Terrace, Hagerstown. Farm Owner
Quill Farm, Attn. Philip S. Parkinson, Barclay
*Shamer, Dr. Maurice E., 3300 W. North Ave., Baltimore 16. Physician
MASSACHUSETTS
Babbitt, Howard S., 221 Dawes Ave., Pittsfield. Service station owner
& farmer
Barthelmes, George A., Rt. 1, Leicester. Machinist
*Bradbury, Rear Adm. H. G., Hospital Point, Beverly
Brown, Daniel L., Esq., 60 State St., Boston
*Bump, Albert H., P.O. Box 275, Brewster
*Davenport, S. Lothrop, 24 Creeper Hill Rd., North Grafton. Farmer,
fruit grower
*Faulkner, Luther W., RFD, Westford
Fitts, Walter H., 39 Baker St., Foxboro. General foreman, instrument
company
*Ganz, Dr. Robert Norton, 262 Beacon St., Boston
Kendall, Henry P., Moose Hill Farm, Sharon
*Kerr, Andrew, Lock Box 242, Barnstable
La Beau, Henry A., North Hoosic Rd., Williamstown. Engineer
Murphy, John D., 19 Boulevard Rd., Wellesley
Rice, Horace J., 515 Main St., Wilbraham, Attorney
*Russell, Mrs. Newton H., 12 Burnett Ave., South Hadley
Stewart, O. W., 75 Milton Ave., Hyde Park 36
Vance, Dr. Robert G., 262 Beacon St., Boston 16. Physician
Viera, Manuel, Main St., Vineyard Haven
*Wellman, Sargent H., Esq., Windridge, Topsfield
Wood, Miss Louise B., Pocasset, Cape Cod
York, Stanley E., 480 Branch St., Mansfield. Supervisor
MICHIGAN
Allen, Howard H., 2925 Francis St., Jackson
Andersen, Charles, Rt. 2, Box 236, Scottville. Nurseryman
Armstrong, Dr. Robt. J., Rt. 8, Box 83, Kalamazoo. Physician, farmer
Barlow, Alfred L., 13079 Flanders Ave., Detroit 5. Secretary, MNGA
*Becker, Gilbert, Climax. President, MNGA
*Beckert, W. M., Mich. Dept. of Conservation, P.O. Box 451, Jackson
Boylan, P. B., Rt. 1, Cloverdale
Breitmeyer, Howard T., 12955 Dale Ave., Detroit 23
Bumler, Malcolm R., 2500 Dickerson, Detroit 15. Insurance trustee
Burgart, Harry, Michigan Nut Nursery, Box 33, Union City. Nurseryman
Burgess Seed & Plant Co., 67 E. Battle Creek St., Galesburg
Burr, Redmond M., 320 S. 5th Ave., Ann Arbor. Railroad telegrapher
Chester, Dr. William P., 742 MacCabees Bldg., Detroit 2
Corsan, H. H., Rt. 1, Hillsdale. Nurseryman
Dennison, Clare, 4224 Avery, Detroit 8
*Desmet, Mrs. Agnes, 14450 Houston Ave., Detroit 5
Dillow, Harold R., P.O. Box 479, Franklin
Drake, Virgil, Rt. 2, Bangor 2
Emerson, Ralph W., 161 Cortland Ave., Highland Park 3
Estill, Miss Gertrude. See Florida
Groos, Alfred P., Rt. 1, Gladstone
Hagelshaw, W. J., Rt. 1, Box 394, Galesburg. Grain farmer, contractor
*Hav, Francis H., Ivanhoe Pl., Lawrence. Farmer
Hubbard, W. G., Box 146, Hudsonville. Dealer, bottled gas
Johnson, Leonard A., 620 E. Buno Rd., Rt. 3, Milford. Mechanical engineer
Kennedy, Robert M., 45354 Deneweth Rd., Mt. Clemens
Keplinger, Frank J., Farwell
Klever, Edward F., Rt. 2, Grant
Korn, G. J., 345 N. Burdict St., Kalamazoo
*Lee, Michael, P.O. Box 16, Milford
Lemke, Edwin W., 2432 Townsend Ave., Detroit 14. Engineer, nut orchardist
Long, Louis C, 6117 State Rd., Goodrich
Maycock, Harry J., 580 Fairground St., Plymouth
Michigan Nut Growers Association, 13079 Flanders Ave., Detroit 5
*Miller, Louis, 417 N. Broadway, Cassopolis. Forester
Nitschke, Robert A., Tilbury Pl., Birmingham
O'Rourke, Prof. F. L. See Ecuador
Pickles, Arthur W., 760 Elmwood Ave., Jackson
Prushek, E., Rt. 3, Niles. Plant breeding
Ricky, Lowell L., 1009A Birch St., East Lansing
Schmidt, Wilhelm G., 22037 Poinciana, Detroit 19. Printer
Simons, Rev. R. E., Flat Rock
*Somers, Lee, Rt. 1, Perrinton. Farmer, nurseryman
Sweet, Dale V., 530 South Capitol, Lansing
*Tate, D. L., 959 Westchester Way, Birmingham
Tolles, G. S., Rt. 5, South Haven
Ullrey, L. E., Rt. 1, Vicksburg
Wieber, Giles E., Fowler
*Wyman, Miles L., 40 North St., Highland Park 3. Certified public
accountant
MINNESOTA
*Dubbels, Charley, Elgin
Hodgson, R. E., Department of Agriculture, S.E. Experiment Station,
Waseca
Hormel, Jay C., Austin
Sanders, Parker D., Fifth & Jefferson Sts., Redwood Falls
Wedge, Don., Rt. 2, Albert Lea. Wedge Nursery
Weschcke, Carl, 96 S. Wabasha St., St. Paul. Proprietor Hazel Hills
Nursery Co.
MISSISSIPPI
*Gossard, A.C., U.S. Hort. Field Sta., Rt. 6, Meridian. Horticulturist
*King, John Andrews, Tolten Rd., Lodi
Meyer, James R., Delta Branch Exp. Sta., Stoneville. Cytogeneticist
MISSOURI
Bauman, Ivan T., Bauman Brokerage Co., 4350 Taft Ave., St. Louis
Biggs, Dutton, 248 Elm Ave., Glendale 22
Brecheisen, Paul, 5641 Forest Ave., Kansas City
Buck, Charles L., LaCrosse. Farmer
Degler, Roy H., 1305 Moreland Ave., Jefferson City
Funsten, R. E. Company, Don Walker, 1515 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis 3
Hay, Leander, Gilliam
Heuser, Wesley E., Rich Hill
Howe, John, Rt. 1, Box 4, Pacific
Huber, Frank J., Weingarten. Farmer
*James, George, James Pecan Farms, Brunswick
Lambert, J. O., Laclede. Farmer
*Logan, George F., Oregon
Marquardt, Fred, Rich Hill
§Nicholson, John W., Ash Grove. Farmer
Ochs, C. Thurston, Box 291, Salem. Foreman in garment factory
Oliver, L. P., 511 Monroe Ave., Campbell
Owens, LeRoy J., Willow Springs
Richterkessing, Ralph, Rt. 1, St. Charles. Farmer
Rose, Dr. D. K., 230 Linden, Clayton 5
Sims Fruit & Nursery Farms, Hannibal
Stark Bros. Nursery & Orchard, Atten: H. W. Guengerich, Louisiana
Stephens, A. F., G. M., & O. R. R., 721 Olive St., St. Louis. Gen.
Agr. Agt.
Tainter, Nat A., 420 Jackson St., St. Charles
Wuertz, H. J., Rt. 1, Pevely
Wylie, Wilber J., 902 Grand Ave., Doniphan. Assistant Postmaster
MONTANA
Ford, Russell H., Dixon
NEBRASKA
*Brand, George, Rt. 5, Lincoln
Brandenburgh, A. R., Rt. 2, Bellwood 3
Caha, William, 350 W. 12th, Wahoo
Hess, Harvey W., The Arrowhead Gardens, Box 209, Hebron
Manning, Arch J., 4202 Emmet St., Omaha 3
Sherwood, Jack, Nebraska City
Tolstead, W. L., Dept. of Botany, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln
Ziegenbein, Mrs. Helen M., Box 671, Wasau. Housewife
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Demarest, Charles S., Lyme Center
*Lahti, Matthew, Locust Lane Farm, Wolfeboro. Investment banker
NEW JERSEY
Anderegg, F. O., Rt. 3, Sommerville
Audi, Dr. Eugene J., 466 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock
Blake, Dr. Harold, Box 93, Saddle River
Bottoni, R. J., 41 Robertson Rd., West Orange. Pres. of Harbot Die
Casting Corp.
Buckwalter, Alan R., Jr., Rt. 1, Box 47, Flemington
Buckwalter, Mrs. Alan R., Rt. 1, Box 45, Flemington
Cherry, George D., Paulsdale, Hooten Rd., Moorestown
Cox, Philip H., Jr., 30 Hyde Rd., Blodmfield
Cumberland Nurseries, William Well, Prop., Rt. 1, Millville. Nurserymen
*Donnelly, John H., Mountain Ice Co., 51 Neward St., Hoboken
Dougherty, William M., Broadacres-on-Bedens, Box 425, Princeton. Sec'y.
U.S. Rubber Co.
*Ellis, Mrs. Edward P., Strawberry Hill, Rt. 1, Box 137, Keyport
Grosshans, George, 1309 Summit Terrace, Linden
Lamatonk Nurseries, A. S. York, Prop., Neshanic Station. Nut Nursery
Lehman, Edwin L., 811 N. 4th St., Camden 2
Lippencott, J. C., 15 Mundy Ave., Spotswood
McDowell, Fred, 905 Ocean Ave., Belmar
Parkinson, Philip P. See Quill Farm, Maryland
Ritchie, Walter M., Rt. 2, Box 122R, Rahway
*Rocker, Louis P., The Rocker Farm, Box 196, Andover. Farmer
Schroeder, Harold W., Rt. 2, Boonton
*Sheffield, O. A., 283 Hamilton Place, Hackensack. Dun & Bradstreet
Sorg, Henry, Chicago Ave., Egg Harbor City. Manufacturer
Van Doren, Durand H., 310 Redmond Rd., South Orange. Lawyer
NEW MEXICO
Gehring, Rev. Titus, Box 117, Lumberton
NEW YORK
Barton, Irving, Box 13, Montour Falls. Engineer
Bassett, Charles K., 2917 Main St., Buffalo 14. Manufacturer
Beck, Paul E., Becks Guernsey Dairy, Transit Rd., E. Amherst. Dairy
Executive
*Benton, William A., Wassaic. Farmer, Benton and Smith Nut Nursery
Bernath, Mrs. Stephen, Rt. 3, Poughkeepsie
Bernath, Stephen, Bernath's Nursery, Rt. 3, Poughkeepsie. Nurseryman
*Brook, Victor, 171 Rockingham St., Rochester 7. Sales Engineer
Brooks, William G., Brooks Nut Nurseries, Monroe. Nut tree nurseryman
Caldwell, David H., N.Y. State College of Forestry, Syracuse. Instructor
in wood technology
*Cassina, Augustus, Valatie
Center, Bernard M., 51 Van Buren St., Massapequa Park
Conner, Mrs. Charles J., 460 Flint St., Rochester 11
Dunckel, Lewis A., 2023 S. Salina St., Syracuse 5
*Feil, Harry, 1270 Hilton-Spencerport Rd., Hilton. Building contractor
Ferguson, Donald V., L. I. Agr. & Tech. Inst., Farmingdale
Flanigen, Charles F., 16 Greenfield St., Buffalo 14. Executive manager
Freer, H. J., 20 Midvale Rd., Fairport. Typewriter sales and service
*Gibson, Stanfard J., 56 Fair St., Norwich
*Glazier, Henery S., Jr., 1 S. William St., New York 4
Gould, Mrs. Gordon, 419 E. 57th St., New York 22
Graham, S. H., Bostwick Rd., Rt. 5, Ithaca. Nurseryman
Granjean, Julio. See Denmark
*Hasbrouck, Walter, Jr., 19 Grove St., New Paltz. Post office clerk
Hill, Francis I., Sterling. Letter carrier
Hirshfeld, Dr. J. W., 109 W. Upland Rd., Ithaca
Hirshfeld, Mrs. J. W., 109 W. Upland Rd., Ithaca
Ingalls, Chester W., 82 Chestnut St., Cooperstown
*Irish, G. Whitney, Fruitlands, Rt. 1, Valatie
*Kettaneh, F. A., 745 5th Ave., New York 22
Knipper, George M., 333 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Churchville
Knorr, Mrs. Arthur, 15 Central Park, W., Apt. 1406, New York 23
Kortright, W. E., Rt. 1, Liberty
§Kraai, Dr. John, 84 S. Main St., Fairport. Physician
Larkin, Harry H., 199 Van Rennsselaer St., Buffalo 10
*Lewis, Clarence, 1000 Park Ave., New York
Lowerre, James, Rt. 3, Middletown
*MacDaniels, Dr. L. H., Cornell Univ., Ithaca. Head, Dept. of
Floriculture and Ornamental Hort.
Metcalfe, Ward H., 710 Five Mile Line Rd., Webster. Fruit grower
*Metcalfe, Mrs. Ward H., 710 Five Mile Line Rd., Webster. Fruit grower
Miller, J. E., Canandaigua. Nurseryman
*Montgomery, Robert H., 1 E. 44th St., New York
Mossman, Dr. James K., Black Oaks, Ramapo
Newell, Palmer F., Lake Rd., Rt. 1, Westfield
Norman, Norman B., 64 Rocklidge Rd., Hartsdale
O'Brien, Esmonde M., 25 South St., P.O. Box 2169, New York 4
Perrault, Mrs. H. D., 5400 Fieldston Rd., Riverdale 71, New York
Pura, John J., Rt. 82, Hopewell Junction. Prison Guard
Renshaw, Alfred, Fiddler's Lane, Loudanville
Reynolds, C. L., Rt. 2, Binghamton
Roat, Gordon J., Rt. 1, Canandaigua
Salzer, George, 169 Garford Rd., Rochester 9. Milkman, chestnut tree
grower
Salzer, Rodman G., 169 Garford Rd., Rochester 9
*Schlegel, Charles P., 990 So. Ave., Rochester 7
*Schlick, Frank, Munnsville
Schlick, John, Mill Rd., Vernon Center
Schmidt, Carl W., 180 Linwood Ave., Buffalo
Shannon, J. W., Box 90, Ithaca
Sheffield, Lewis J., 61 N. Magnolia St., Pearl River
§Slate, Prof. George L., Exp. Station, Geneva. Fruit Breeder
Smith, Jay L., Nut Tree Nursery, Chester
*Spahr, Dr. Mary B., 116 N. Geneva St., Ithaca
Steiger, Harwood, Red Hook. Artist-designer
*Szego, Alfred, 35-50 78th St., Jackson Heights, New York
Volcko, Andrew, 607 W. Colvin St., Syracuse 5. Postoffice clerk
Wadsworth, Millard E., Rt. 5, Oswego
*Wheeler, Robert C., 36th St., Albany
*Wilson, Frank C, 27 Liberty St., Arcade
Windisch, Richard P., W. E. Burnet Company, 11 Wall St., New York 5
*Wissman, Mrs. F. de R. Retired
NORTH CAROLINA
Andrus, E. Rex., Rt. 1, Franklin. Farmer
Bass, Claude D., Rt. 1, Kenley. Farmer
*Dunstan, Dr. R. T., Greensboro College, Greensboro
Ellis, W. J., Rt. 2, Advance. Bricklayer
Finch, Jack R., Rt. 1, Bailey. Farmer
Henry, W. V., Rt. 2, Candler
McCain, H. C., Box 794, Tryon
Moorman, L. L., 801 N. Washington St., Rutherfordton
Poe, D. W., P.O. Box 807, Hickory
NORTH DAKOTA
Bradley, Homer L., Long Lake Refuge, Moffit. Refuge Manager
OHIO
Ackerman, Lester, Rt. 3, Ada
Allaman, William W., Trotwood
Antioch College, Glen Helen Dept., Yellow Springs
Barden, C. A., 215 Morgan St., Oberlin. Real Estate
Beede, D. V., Rt. 3, Lisbon
Bitler, W. A., Rt. 1, Shawnee Rd., Lima. General contractor
Borchers, Perry E., 412 W. Hillcrest Ave., Dayton 6
Boye, Dr. E. L., 26 Wildfern Dr., Youngstown
Brewster, Lewis, Rt. 1, Swanton. Vegetable grower
Bridgwater, Boyd E., 68 Cherry St., Akron 8. V.P. Bridgewater Machine Co.
Bungart, A. A., Avon. Secretary, O.N.G.
Bussey, Roy K., Jr., 1056 Florida Ave., Akron 14
Button, Fred, Rt. 2, McArthur
Cinadr, Mrs. Katherine, 13514 Coath Ave., Cleveland 20. Housewife
Clark, Richard L., 1517 Westdale Rd., South Euclid 21. Sales manager
Cook, H. C., Rt. 1, Box 149, Leetonia
Cornett, Charles L., R.R. Perishable Inspection Agency, 27 W. Front St.,
Cincinnati. Inspector
Craig, George E., Dundas. Fruit and nut grower
Cunningham, Harvey E., 420 Front St., Marietta
Daley, James R., Rt. 3, Foster Park Rd., Amherst. Electrician
Davidson, John, 234 E. Second St., Xenia. Writer
Davidson, Mrs. John, 234 E. Second St., Xenia
Davidson, William J., 234 E. Second St., Xenia
Diller, Dr. Oliver D., Dept, of Forestry, Ohio Exp. Sta., Wooster
Donaldson, Robert G., Rt. 3, Wooster
Dowell, Dr. Glenn C, Jr., 116 26th St., NE, Canton 4
*Dowell, Dr. Lloyd L., 529 North Ave., NE, Massillon. Physician
Farr, Mrs. Walter, Rt. 1, Kingsville
Fickes, Mrs. W. R., Rt. 1, Wooster
Garden Center of Greater Cleveland, East Blvd. at Euclid Ave.,
Cleveland 6
§Gerber, E. P., Kidron
Gerstenmaier, John A., 13 Pond S. W., Massillon. Letter carrier
Goss, C. E., 922 Dover Ave., Akron 20
Grad, Dr. Edward A., 1506 Chase St., Cincinnati 23
Hake, Hanrey, Edon
Hammock, Edwin H., 345 E. State St., Columbus 15
*Hansley, C. F., Box 614, Sugar Grove
Heinzelman, Edward G., 267 Southern Ave., Chillicothe
*Hill, Dr. Albert A., 4187 Pearl Rd., Cleveland 9
Hinde, John G., Rt. 1, Sandusky
Hlywiak, Andy, 2214 S. Tod Ave., Warren
*Hornyak, Louis, Rt. 1, Wakeman
Houlette, William R., Rt. 2, Columbiana
Howard, James R., 2908 Fleming Rd., Middletown
*Irish, Charles F., 418 E. 105th St., Cleveland 8. Arborist
Jacobs, Homer L., Davey Tree Expert Co., Kent
Kappel, Owen, Bolivar
*Kerr, Dr. S. E., Rt. 1, North Lawrence
*Kintzel, Frank M., 2506 Briarcliffe Ave., Cincinnati 13. Principal,
Cincinnati Public Schools
Kodera, Shunzo, 47 E. 12th Ave., Columbus 1
Laditka, Nicholas G., 5322 Stickney Ave., Cleveland 9. Electrician
Leaman, Paul V., Rt. 1, Creston
Lechleitner, Rev. R. D., 270 Westview Ave., Worthington
Lemmon, R. M., 577 Vinita Ave., Akron 20
Lippa, Julius, 4464 Lee Hts. Rd., Warrenville Heights
Lorenz, R. C., 121 N. Arch St., Fremont
Lynn, Edith, Rt. 2, Canfield
*Machovina, Paul E., 1228 Northwest Blvd., Columbus 12. College professor
Manbeck, Willard O., 1359 Croyden Rd., Cleveland 24
McKinster, Ray, 1632 South 4th St., Columbus 7
Meister, Richard T., Editor, American Fruit Grower, Willoughby
Meister, Robert T., Sre. Def., APO 58, c/o Postmaster, New York. Farm in
Ohio
*Metzger, A. J., 724 Euclid Ave., Toledo 5
Oches, Norman M., Rt. 1, Brunswick. Mechanical Engineer
Osborn, Frank C., 4040 W. 160th St., Cleveland 11. Tool and die maker
Page, John H., Box 34, Dundas
*Pataky, Christ, Jr., 592 Hickory Lane, M.R.S., Mansfield. Chairman,
O.N.G.
Pattison, Aletheia, 5 Dexter Pl., E. W. H., Cincinnati 6
Pomerene, Walter H., Rt. 3, Coshocton. Agricultural Engineer
Pomeroy, Howard A., 4803 Rambo Lane, Toledo 13
Purdy, Clyde W., 19 Public Sq., Mt. Vernon
*Ranke, William, Rt. 1, Box 248, Amelia
Robb, Harry C., Rt. 4, Carrollton
Rogers, T. B., P.O. Box 296, Lakemore
*Rummel, E. T., 16613 Laverne Ave., Cleveland 11. Sales manager
Scarff's Sons, W. N., New Carlisle. Nurserymen
*Schoenberger, L. Roy, Green Pines Farm, Rt. 2, Nevada
Seas, D. Edward, 721 So. Main St., Orrville
Sebring, R. G., 1227 Lincoln Rd., Columbus
Shelton, Dr. Elbert M., 1468 W. Clifton Blvd., Lakewood 7
Sherman, L. Walter, 220 Fairview Ave., Canfield
*Shessler, Sylvester M., Genoa. Farmer
Short, Robert M., 122 E. Park St., Westerville. High school teacher
*Silvis, Raymond E., 1725 Lindbergh Ave., N.E., Massillon. Realty
Smith, Sterling A., 630 W. South St., Vermillion. Telegrapher, NYC RR
Spring Hill Nurseries Co., Tipp City. General nurserymen
Steinbeck, A. P., Rt. 2, Ravenna. Rubber worker, Firestone Tire &
Rubber Co.
Stevens, Robert T., Jr., Rt. 1, Lucas
*Stocker, C. P., Lorain Products Corp., 1122 F St., Lorain
Swope, Wilmer D., Rt. 3, Box 183, Leetonia
Thomas, Fred, 773 Bedford Rd., Masury
Toney, Hewitt S., Rt. 2, Cedarville. Mathematician
Toops, Herbert A., 1430 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus 12. College Professor
Underwood, John, Rt. 4, Urbana
Urban, George, 4518 Ardendale Rd., South Euclid 21. Mayor
Van Voorhis, J. F., 215 Hudson Ave., Apt. B 1, Newark
Von Gundy, Clifford R., 851 Nordyke Rd., Cincinnati 30
*Walker, Carl F., 2851 E. Overlook Rd., Cleveland 18. Consulting engineer
Warren, Herbert L., 518 W. Central Ave., Delaware
Weaver, Arthur W., RFD Box 196B, Cass Rd., Maumee
Wheatly, Robert, 406 3rd St., Marietta
*Williams, Harry M., 221 Grandon Rd., Dayton 9. Engineer
*Williams, L. F., Box 386, Mt. Vernon
Yates, Edward W., 3108 Parkview Ave., Cincinnati 13. Mechanical engineer
Yoder, Emmet, Smithville. Farmer
Zimmerman, Erle C., 145 Firestone Bldg., Akron. Chemist
OKLAHOMA
Butler, Roy J., Rt. 2, Hydro. Farmer, cattleman
Cesar, Farin G., State Board of Agr., 122 State Capitol Bldg., Oklahoma
City
Cross, Prof. Frank B., Dept. of Hort., Oklahoma A&M College, Stillwater
Dean, Marion, Jr., Tuxedo Rd., Bartlesville
Gray, Geoffrey A., 1628 Elm Ave., Bartlesville
Hartman, Peter E., Hartsdale Nursery Co., 3002 S. Boston Pl., Tulsa 5.
Nurseryman
Hirschi's Nursery, 1124 N. Hudson, Oklahoma City. Dry cleaning business,
nurseryman
Hughes, C. V., Rt. 3, Box 614, Oklahoma City
Keathly, Jack, Marland
Mayfield, W. W., General Delivery, Sallisaw
Meek, E. B., Rt. 3, Box 16, Wynnewood
Pulliam, Gordon, 1005 Osage Ave., Bartlesville
Riter, John R., 115 E. 1st St., Bartlesville
OREGON
Bebeau, A. V., Box 136, McNary
Countryman, Peter F., Rt. 1, Box 275, Ontario
Graville, Ed, Rt. 3, Box 263, Junction City
Miller, John E., 2200 S. W. Childs Rd., Oswego
Pearcy, Harry L., H. L. Pearcy Nursery Co., Rt. 2, Box 190, Salem.
Nurseryman
Smith, Earl G., Rt. 1, Newberg. Manager, Dundee Nut Growers
Trunk, John E., Gen. Mgr., Northwest Nut Growers, 1601 N. Columbia
Blvd., Portland 11
PENNSYLVANIA
Allaman, H. C., 1812 So. Pine St., York
*Allaman, R. P., Rt. 86, Harrisburg. Farm superintendent
*Amsler, E. W., 707 Main St., Clarion
Anthony, Roy D., 125 Hillcrest Ave., State College. Retired
Horticulturist
*Arensberg, Charles F. C., First National Bank Bldg., Pittsburgh 22.
Chinese chestnut
Banks, H. C., Rt. 1, Hellertown
Beard, H. K., Rt. 1, Sheridan. Insurance agent
Beck, Dr. William M., 200 Race St., Sunbury
Berst, Charles B., 11 W. 8th St., Erie. Inspector, Lord Mfg. Co.
Blittle, George, 107 Lincoln Highway, Penndel
Bowen, John C., Rt. 1, Macungie
Brewer, J. L., Yellow House
*Bricker, Calvin E., Rt. 1, Mercersburg
Brown, Morrison, Ickesburg
Burket, J. Emory, Rt. 1, Claysburg. Fruit grower
§Clarke, William S., Jr., P.O. Box 167, State College
Clewell, Gen. Edgar L., Dimde Farms, Rt. 2, Harrisburg. Retired U. S. A.
Comp, Alton, 5 No. 2nd St., Newport
Damask, Henry, 1632 Doyle St., Wilkinsburg 21. Telephone man
Deagon, Arthur, 61 E. Main St., Mechanicsburg
Ebling, Aaron L., Rt. 2, Reading
Etter, Fayette, P.O. Box 57, Lemasters. Foreman, Electric company
Gardner, Ralph D., 4428 Plymouth St., Colonial Park, Harrisburg.
Assistant State Fire Marshall
Glasgow, Joseph M., 406 S. Second St., Bellwood
Good, Orrin S., 316 N. Fairview St., Lock Haven. Retired
Gorton, F. B., Rt. 1, East Lake Rd., Harborcreek. Electrical contractor,
Chestnut & evergreen nurseryman
Hales, Alfred R., Jr., Apt. 9 C, Cloverleaf Village Apts., Pittsburgh 27
Halsey, A. Louise, 63 Walnut St., Forty Fort
*Hammond, Harold, 903 So. Poplar St., Allentown
Hartman, Dr. G. W., Keystone Hospital, 3rd & Briggs Sts., Harrisburg
*Hostetter, L. K., Rt. 1, Bird in Hand. Farmer, black walnut grower
Hughes, Douglas, 1230 E. 21st St., Erie
Hull, Miss Margaret L., 1910 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg
Johnson, Robert F., 1630 Greentree Rd., Pittsburgh 20
Jones, Mildred M. See Mrs. Langdoc, Illinois
*Kaufman, Mrs. M. M., Box 69, Clarion
Kirk, H. B., 1902 North St., Harrisburg
Knouse, Charles W., Colonial Park, Harrisburg. Coal dealer
Krone, Herbert B., Rt. 2, Box 330, Lancaster
Krone, Mrs. Herbert B., Rt. 2, Box 330, Lancaster
Leach, Will, Rt. 1, Box 45, Scranton. Lawyer
*Mattoon, H. Gleason, Box 304, Narberth. Consultant in Arboriculture
*McKenna, Philip M., P.O. Box 186, Latrobe
Mecartney, J. Lupton, 918 W. Beaver Ave., State College. Pomologist
*Miller, Elwood B., Mill & Chapel Sts., Hazleton
Miller, Robert O., 3rd & Ridge Sts., Emmaus
Moyer, Philip S., 80-82 U.S.F. & G. Bldg., Harrisburg. Attorney
Murray, James A., Rt. 3, Cambridge Springs. Teacher
Niederriter, Leonard, 1726 State St., Erie
Nonnemacher, H. M., 128 Front St., Alburtis. Line foreman, Bell Tele.
Co. of Penna.
Oesterling, H. M., Rt. 1, Marysville
*Reidler, Paul G., Front & Chestnut Sts., Ashland. Manufacturer of
textiles
Reighard, E. Don, Box 247, Rt. 2, Nut Hill Nursery, Halifax. Nurseryman
Rhoades, Frank S., Rt. 1, Sigel
*Rick, John, 438 Penna. Sq., Reading. Fruit grower and merchant
Ritter, C. Marshall, Dept. of Horticulture, Penna. State College, State
College
Schaible, Percy, Box 68, Upper Black Eddy
Schieferstein, William B., Box 457, Temple
Shreffler, Mrs. W. B., 144 W. Main St., Clarion
Smith, Dr. J. Russell, 550 Elm Ave., Swarthmore. Retired teacher, writer
Smyth, C. Wayne, 1 Prospect St., Troy. Attorney
Springer, Herbert W., 218 Penrose St., Quakertown
Stewart, E. L., Pine Hill Farms Nursery, Rt. 2, Homer City
Theiss, Dr. Lewis E., 110 Univ. Ave., Lewisburg. Retired professor
§Thompson, Howard A., 311 W. Swissvale Ave., Pittsburgh 18
Tomm, Joseph G., Rt. 2, McDonald
Toomy, T. Luke, Wila
§Twist, Frank S., Box 127, Northumberland. Salesman
Washick, Dr. Frank A., Welsh & Veree Rds., Philadelphia 11. Surgeon
Weaver, William S., Weaver Orchards, Macungie
Weinrich, Whitney, Engle Rd., Rt. 20, Media. Chemical engineer
*Wister, John C, Scott Foundation, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore.
Horticulturist
*Wright, Ross Pier, 235 W. 6th St., Erie. Manufacturer
Zimmerman, Mrs. G. A., R. D., Linglestown
RHODE ISLAND
*Allen, Philip, 178 Dorance St., Providence
Loomis, Charles B., 61 Elisha St., East Greenwich
SOUTH CAROLINA
Bregger, John T., Soil Conservation Service, Clemson
Gordon, G. Henry, Union Dry Cleaning Co., 13 Main St., Union.
Returned Mariner
SOUTH DAKOTA
Hanson, Oliver G., Rt. 2, Box 194, Yankton
+Richter, Herman, Madison. Farmer
TENNESSEE
Alpine Forest Reserve, Atten: J. Edwin Carothers, Alpine. Forester
Byrd, Benjamin F., Jr., M.D., Granny White Pike, Nashville. Surgeon
Caldwell, Sam, Rt. 4, Holt Rd., Nashville 11. Radio and writer
Carter, Oscar W., M.D., 2610 Woodlawn Dr., Nashville. Surgeon
+Chase, Spencer B., T. V. A., Norris. Horticulturist
Collier, Robert H., Lutie Rd., Rt. 2, Knoxville. Public administration
Cox, Dr. T. S., 103 Hotel Ave., Fountain City. Dentist
+Dulin, Charles R., Brownsville. Fruit grower
Dye, Mrs. Sherman, Howell Nurseries, Sweetwater. Chestnut & ornamental
nursery
Garrett, Dr. Sam Young, 1902 Hayes St., Nashville. Surgeon
Hardy, J. H., 1315 Mennekahda Pl., Chattanooga 5. Accountant
+Holdeman, J. E., 855 N. McNeil St., Memphis 7
Hoyt, Prof. Garner E., Byan University, Dayton
Jones, D. T., Rt. 2, Midway
McSwain, Barton, M.D., 3514 Hampton Rd., Nashville. Surgeon
Mattern, Don H., 513 Union Bldg., Knoxville
+Meeks, Hamp, Jackson Elec. Dept., Jackson. Electrical engineer
Murphy, H. O., 12 Sweetbriar Ave., Chattanooga. Fruit grower
Patterson, Dr. R. L., Suite 207, Interstate Bldg., Chattanooga
Richards, Dr. Aubrey, Whiteville. Physician
Roark, W. F., Malesus. Farmer, chestnut grower
Robinson, W. Jobe, Rt. 7, Jackson. Farmer
Saville, Chris, 118 Church St., Greeneville
Sells, Paul S., 700 Boylston St., Chattanooga
Shipley, Mrs. E. D., 3 Century Court, Knoxville 16
Southern Nursery & Landscape Co., Winchester. General nurserymen
Waterhouse, Carmack, P.O. Box 258, Oak Ridge. Engineer
Zarger, Thomas G., T.V.A., Norris. Forester
TEXAS
Arford, Charles A., Box 1230, Dalhart. R.R. engineer, amateur
horticulturist
Florida, Kaufman, Box 154, Rotan
Hander, Nelson H., Star Rt., Belton
Kelly, Paul, Box 428, Seymour
+Kidd, Clark, Arp Nursery Co., P.O. Box 867, Tyler. Nut nurseryman
Lancaster, Carroll T., Rt. 2, Box 206, Palestine. Electrolux dealer
Mason, G. L., Rt. 3, Hico. Farmer
Praytor, T. J., Box 667, Seymour
Reasonover, J. Roy, Rt. 2, Kemp
Rubrecht, J. F., Plant Experiment Station, Box 302, Paris
Shelton, David, Box 369, Gonzales
Thomas, J. W., Overton
Winkler, Andrew, Rt. 1, Moody. Farmer and pecan grower
Winkler, Charlie, Rt. 1, Moody
UTAH
Burton, J. O., Meadow. Rancher
Dabb, Clifford H., Rt. 3, Box 448, Ogden
Ericksen, Keith, 883 N. State St., Orem
Petterson, Harlan D., 3910 Raymond Ave., South Ogden. Highway engineer
Price, Harold G., Sr., 1270 E. Crystal Ave., Salt Lake City 6.
(Farm in Illinois)
Shurtleff, Wm. H., D.D.S., Rt. 3, Box 384, Ogden
VERMONT
Aldrich, A. W., Rt. 2, Box 266, Springfield
Ellis, Zenas H., Fair Haven. Perpetual member, "In Memoriam."
Johnson, John R., Deer Valley Farm, Townshend
Reynolds, T. H., 79 Main St., Middlebury
Spahr, Dr. Mary B., Stannard (See New York)
VIRGINIA
Acker Black Walnut Corp., Box 263, Broadway. Walnut processors
Burton, George L., 722 College St., Bedford
Cooper, Lawrence E., Belle Meade. Nurseryman-landscaper
Curthoys, George A., P.O. Box 34, Bristol
Dickerson, T. C., Jr., 316 56th St., Newport News
Filman, O., Box 3551, Va. Tech. Station, Blacksburg
(temporary from Ontario)
Gibbs, H. R., Linden. Carpenter, wood worker
Jenkins, Marvin, Brightwood. Farmer
Jones, E. W., Virginia Tree Farm, Woodlawn
Lee, Dr. Henry, 806 Medical Arts Bldg., Roanoke 11
Miller, T. R., Sword's Creek. Farmer
Moore, R. C., Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Blacksburg 13
Narten, Perry F., 6110 N. Washington Blvd., Arlington 5. Geologist
Pinner, Henry, P.O. Box 155, Suffolk
+Stoke, H. F., 1436 Watts Ave., N. W., Roanoke
Stoke, Mrs. H. F., 1436 Watts Ave., N. W., Roanoke
Stoke, Dr. John H., 21 Highland Ave., S.E., Roanoke 13
Thompson, B. H., Rt. 4, Harrisonburg. Manufacturer of nut crackers
Trump, V. A., Crewe
WASHINGTON
Bechtoe, O. W., Coulee City. Farmer
Eliot, Craig P., P.O. Box 158, Shelton. Electrical engineer, farmer
Erkman, John O., 2113 Symons, Richland. Physicist
Fulmer, W. L., 505 Boylston, N., Seattle 2. Lily grower
Latterell, Miss Ethel, 408 N. Flora Rd., Greenacres. Greenhouse worker
Linkletter, Frank D., 2131 8th Ave., Seattle 1. Retired
Naderman, G. W., Rt. 1, Box 353, Olympia. Caretaker of summer resort
Ross, Verel C., 4025 Rucker Ave., Everett
Shane Bros. Nut Growers, Vashon
§Tuttle, H. Lynn, Lynn Tuttle Nursery, The Heights, Clarkston. Nut
nurseryman
WEST VIRGINIA
Bartholmew, Miss Elizabeth Ann, W. Va. Univ., Morgantown
+Cook, Dr. E. A., 106 First St., Oak Hill
Eckerd, John K., 305 William St., Martinsburg. Engineer, steam
+Engle, Blaine W., Mutual Fire Ins. Co. of W. Va., Goff Bldg., Clarksburg
*Frye, Wilbert M., Pleasant Dale. Retired
Gold Chestnut Nursery, Mr. Arthur A. Gold, Cowen. Chestnut nurseryman
Haines, Earl C., Shanks
Haislip, Fred, P.O. Box 1620 Logan. Farmer
§Hale, Dr. Daniel, Princeton
Hartzell, Benjamin, Shepherdstown
Howard, Mrs. Carl E., The Charleston Gazette, Charleston. Garden editor
+Long, J. C., Box 491, Princeton. Civil engineer
McDonald, Dr. Walter, Augusta
McGraw, S. L., Athens
McNeill, John Hanson, Box 531, Romney. Chem. engineer
+Miller, Edward, Romney
Mish, Arnold F., Inwood. Associational farmer
Pease, Roger W., Dept, of Hort., Univ. of W. Va., Morgantown
+Reed, Arthur M., Glenmont Nurseries, Moundsville. Prop., Glenmount
Nurseries
Williams, Mrs. Dan, Romney
WISCONSIN
Conway, W. M., 2105 Jefferson St., Madison
Coulson, L. W., Rt. 1, Slinger
Eiler, William, Benton
Jach, Peter, 8613 No. 60th St., Milwaukee 16
Ladwig, C. F., Rt. 2, Beloit. Grocer and farmer
Martinson, John L., 408 N. Lake, Madison
Mortensen, M. C., 2117 Stanson Ave., Racine
Raether, Robert, Rt. 1, Augusta
Running, M. H., 5220 N. 29 St., Milwaukee 9
Snowden, Dr. P. W., The Monroe Clinic, Monroe
W. F. HUMPHREY PRESS INC. GENEVA, N. Y.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 43rd Annual Meeting - Rockport, Indiana, August 25, 26 and 27, 1952" ***
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