August 29, 1950
DR. MacDANIELS: I want to make the remark that this isn't church, you
can sit up front if you want to.
The first paper this morning has to do with a nut tree disease that is
bothering a good many of us, I think, particularly in Michigan, as you
recall from Mr. Becker's paper, the Bunch Disease of Walnuts, by Dr. H.
L. Crane and Dr. J. W. McKay. I don't know which one is going to give
it. Dr. McKay?
The Bunch Disease of Walnuts
Discussion
(Manuscript too late for publication.)
(Drs. Crane and McKay reported that there had been little further
development in knowledge regarding the walnut bunch disease since 1948,
when G. F. Gravatt and Donald C. Stout of the U.S.D.A. Division of
Forest Pathology reported on it with illustrations at the N.N.G.A.
meeting (see our report for 1948 pp. 63-66.) Since then the state of
California has prohibited the entry of all walnut nursery trees and
scions from the Rocky Mountain states or farther east.—Ed.)
DR. CRANE: I'd like to make one additional remark. You see, we call this
trouble "bunch disease" rather than "brooming," to distinguish it from
other diseases that are caused by known parasites. We have a disease
very similar to this one affecting walnuts and pecan and hickory, and
that one has been studied more carefully than has the bunch disease. It
is unquestionably caused by virus, and in our pecan orchards we have a
situation that exists that is a parallel to what it is in the black
walnut. The variety Stuart practically never has shown any symptom of
the bunch disease. Yet it performs very much like a lot of our black
walnuts do. They just don't bear; they don't have the proper foliage;
they don't make the proper kind of growth. So we are not sure whether
they are symptomless carriers, that is, in terms of the lack of
expression of virus growth and this bunchy condition on them.
Really, we feel that all people that are interested in the walnuts and
that are trying to grow them should make careful observations on these
trees to study just what the situation is, how it develops, and note the
performance of these trees that become diseased; because we feel that
it's a much more serious thing than people appreciate at the present
time.
In much of Eastern Shore Maryland and of the area around Washington and
Beltsville and over in Virginia, a great majority of the trees are
affected by it, particularly Japanese walnuts of all types and the
butternuts. I feel it is so bad on Japanese walnuts and butternuts that
they shouldn't be propagated in the area.
MR. McDANIEL: I had the bunch growth developed on a new species this
year in my planting in north Alabama, a 12-year-old tree of ~Juglans
rupestris~. It is a growth that looks practically the same as the bunch
disease on the Japanese walnut. I believe that's the first time it's
been observed on that species. There are no butternuts or Japanese
walnuts on the farm. There are dozens of black walnuts (seedlings and
several varieties) none of which show the bunch symptoms. However, it is
typically developed on some Japanese trees a few miles away.
At Whiteville, Tenn., Dr. Aubrey Richards has a suspicious looking tree
among some two year old seedlings of ~Juglans major~ from Arizona seeds.
MR. CHASE: I'd like to add to that, too, Mac. In our walnut arboretum we
had some ~rupestris~, and I had been suspicious of its being diseased for
a number of years. I finally have decided that it had the bunch disease,
and those trees down at Norris have all passed out.
MR. McDANIEL: My tree came from Norris, 10 years ago.
DR. MacDANIELS: ~Juglans rupestris~ killed by the disease.
MR. STOKE: Just because this is a little contradictory to what you have
heard, I want to say that my experience has been this: I have an old
nursery—well, there is a butternut in the row and also heartnut—Japs.
One of those Japs has had the bunch disease for six or eight years. None
of the others has been affected. It was a variety I wanted to
perpetuate. I took an apparently healthy scion from that and put it on
another tree, and that grafted tree also had the disease. But there has
been no evidence of contagion from this Jap to the other Japanese,
butternuts and black walnut in the same planting in the immediate
neighborhood—in fact, they crowd each other. That's a statement of
fact.
I spoke a little while ago of an old black walnut tree that had that
disease for a number of years and none other in that planting had it.
MR. O'ROURKE: Is there any correlation between the age of the tree and
the expression of the disease?
DR. McKAY: It's been our observation that we haven't had it in our
nursery to any extent. We have seen it in the nursery of J. Russell
Smith on Persian walnut. It, to my knowledge, is the only place where we
have seen it on nursery trees. It may be that our nursery happened to be
free of the inoculum, because it's been about a mile from the orchards.
MR. O'ROURKE: Would you by any chance think it might be seed borne?
DR. McKAY: We have no information on that virus.
MR. GILBERT SMITH: I have one statement to put in at this time. Dr.
Crane questioned whether the Japanese walnut should be grown. I wonder
if the Japanese walnut might not be a safeguard in the area where they
don't have the disease, in that you will detect the disease the quickest
on the Japanese walnut, and in that way anyone would become wise to it,
rather than if it was in the black walnut. It might be so insidious that
it could be well spread before persons knew they had it at all. I
wonder if the Japanese walnut, through its quickness in showing the
disease, might not be a safeguard to the other walnuts?
DR. MacDANIELS: That's a technique that's used with some other plants.
MR. CORSAN: I go on the principle that a tree that's well fed might not
resist every disease, but it will resist a great many diseases and most
of the diseases, if it's well fed. Now, the feeding of trees is very
important. I noticed that in going back and forth between Florida and
Toronto. I examine the pecan situation every fall and spring, and just
to think of Stuarts—you know the size of Stuart pecan—coming in good,
big crop of nuts that size (indicating with fingers). Can you see that?
And you know that is less than half the size the Stuart should be. It's
a great nut for cracking by machinery. In fact, a lot of people grow
nothing but Stuart. And last year they had such a crop. Last year I
pointed to a farm right near the highway. "Do you see that? For years I
have been trying to get you to put that sawdust, which is nearly 40 feet
high in a pile, around your pecans and see the vast difference in your
pecans." You know there was no rain down there all last summer, and the
pecans were half the proper size. Now, that sawdust would keep the
moisture in. I am a great believer in the use of sawdust. It's a tree
product itself and it has some of the constituents of what the pecan
should feed on.
As Dr. Waite told us one time in Washington—you will probably remember
the remark he made about the pecan trees in an orchard which were
absolutely fruitless year after year. He went through that orchard, and
he saw a pecan here and a pecan there that had a good, big crop right
among the empty trees. He examined them and found signs driven into the
trees, and some of the signs were put up with zinc covered nails. Those
signs that had the steel covered nails had no nuts on, but those that
had zinc in had a huge crop. It excited the growth of the female
blossom.
Now, we have got an awful lot to discover, as you gentlemen say in this
nut culture, way beyond the imagination of the human mind.
DR. MacDANIELS: We had better limit discussion to this particular
problem. Is there more comment?
MR. McDANIEL: On that problem, I have observed the brooming in the
heartnut seedlings about three years old, which were seedlings of the
Fodermaier variety growing at Norris in the late 30's. Brooming
developed in some of them in either the second or third year from seed.
DR. MacDANIELS: That answers their remark about the young trees.
MR. SLATE: A plant that is well fed and making very vigorous growth may
be more attractive to the insect vector. Therefore, a healthy tree might
take it.
MR. McDANIEL: These trees were very vigorous.
DR. MacDANIELS: How many growers of nut trees have this bunch disease on
their property?
MR. KINTZEL: Black walnuts?
DR. MacDANIELS: On anything at all. (Showing of hands.) There are at
least a dozen.
When Mr. Burgart up in Michigan finds out that the limiting factor
practically cleans him out, there is this question of bunch disease with
witches'-broom resulting from ground deficiency. I know in the Wright
plantings in the vicinity of Westfield they had brooming trees of the
Japanese walnut which apparently recovered after treatment with zinc.
And, of course, we know on the West Coast you get witches'-broom in the
Persian walnut which cannot be cured by zinc.
Is there any other discussion on this point?
(No response.)
We will go on to the next paper.
MR. CORSAN: Anybody passing through Toronto can drop in and see my
Japanese walnuts with 24 to the cluster and not a sign of bunch disease.
DR. MacDANIELS: Yes, you may not have the bunch disease near you. We
hope you haven't.
The next paper is by J. A. Adams, who is from the Experiment Station
here at Poughkeepsie. This experiment station is a branch of the Geneva
Agricultural Experiment Station. I believe that's right, isn't it, Mr.
Adams?
MR. ADAMS: That's right, and it is concerned primarily with the fruits
down here in this region.
DR. MacDANIELS: His subject is "Some Observations on the Japanese Beetle
on Nut Trees." Let me say Mr. Adams would like to show some slides, but
it didn't seem feasible to close this window down.
The Japanese Beetle and Nut Growing
J. A. ADAMS
Associate Professor of Entomology, New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station, Geneva and Poughkeepsie, New York
It is a pleasure to attend this meeting of the Northern Nut Growers.
Association and to take part in your program. I shall discuss the
Japanese beetle as it seems to affect nut culture, and outline our
methods of control.
The Japanese beetle evidently came into this country in the soil about
some roots of plants imported to a nursery near Philadelphia nearly 40
years ago. Since 1916, its distribution, habits, and control have been
closely studied by the federal Japanese Beetle Laboratory at Moorestown,
New Jersey. The insect has become generally distributed in the coastal
area, as far north as Massachusetts, as far south as Virginia, and as
far west as West Virginia. Beyond these limits, it has established local
colonies in New Hampshire, Vermont, Western New York, Ohio, Michigan,
and North Carolina. In most of the states affected there is an
investigator who, like myself, carries on local studies, more or less in
cooperation with the federal laboratory. In New York we now have, in
addition to the generally infested areas on Long Island and in the
Hudson Valley, about 50 isolated infestations in the central and western
parts of the state.
Might I have a showing of hands by those who have Japanese beetle
already? (Showing of hands.) There is quite a sprinkling of you who have
them. Many of you do not have them yet, but, since the insect is
spreading every year, you can expect them some day, especially if you
live in the Northeast. It is expected that this pest will not thrive in
the drier central States, but it might become established in the Pacific
States some day, unless prevented.
You can see these beetles anywhere in and around Poughkeepsie. From
Poughkeepsie I have watched them spread in the past few years to
Pleasant Valley and eastward. This morning as I parked my vehicle by
this building I picked these specimens from the smartweed, ~Polygonum
persicaria~. (Passing of specimens.) These insects also feed on the
flowers and foliage of purple loosestrife, ~Lythrum salicifolia~, so
plentiful and showy in our swampy fields. The most conspicuous damage is
done to the foliage of wild grape vines. You will observe this when you
visit Mr. Stephen Bernath's nut plantation. You will note the
conspicuous defoliation of the vines on the fence rows. Willow is
another host heavily attacked. I believe you have the beetles at your
plantation at Wassaic, Mr. Smith?
MR. GILBERT SMITH: Plenty of them.
DR. ADAMS: You will also observe the damage at Mr. Smith's place. You
will see that it is strictly a matter of skeletonization of the leaves.
A MEMBER: They eat the fruit, too.
DR. MacDANIELS: You have damage on fruit.
A MEMBER: They eat berries.
DR. ADAMS: Yes, but on nut plants the damage above ground is confined to
leaf skeletonization. It varies widely, depending on the kind of nut
plant. Before visiting Mr. Bernath's planting, I sought out the
botanical names of the commoner nut plants in Dr. MacDaniels' Cornell
Extension Bulletin No. 701, on "Nut Growing." Of the ~Juglans~ species,
the black walnut, ~J. nigra~, is sometimes heavily attacked. There are
large black walnut trees near one of our peach orchards. I have seen
hordes of beetles gather in these trees in July and August,
skeletonizing the leaves until the defoliation reached 40% or more. Late
in August the beetles seemed to leave the walnut foliage and descend
upon the ripening peaches. The heart nut, ~J. sieboldiana~ var.
~cordiformis~, was moderately fed upon at Mr. Bernath's nursery. The
butternut, ~J. cinerea~, is only lightly attacked, as a rule.
The hickories and pecans are not attacked to any appreciable extent, but
at least some of the chestnuts are very attractive to this pest. I have
seen shoots of ~Castanea dentata~ with their foliage reduced to lace. Some
of the small Chinese chestnuts, ~C. mollissima~, at Mr. Bernath's place,
were about one-fourth defoliated in mid-August.
The hazels seem to be attractive to these beetles. When the Japanese
beetle spreads to Prof. Slate's plantings of ~Corylus~ at Geneva, we may
get more information on varietal preferences. I find that exposed
foliage of ~C. americana~, the common wild hazel here, is sometimes fairly
heavily fed upon. I am holding up to the window a portion of a hazel
bush; you can see that the leaves along one side are skeletonized. It is
probable that the species, hybrids, and varieties of ~Corylus~ will show
the same marked variation in susceptibility that is shown in so many
other genera of plants.
Among the oaks, the pin oak, ~Quercus Palustris~, and the English oak, ~Q.
robur~, are commonly one-third defoliated while the common white and red
oaks are almost immune. Among the maples—to go farther afield from
nuts—the Norway, ~Acer platanoides~, and the Japanese, ~A. palmatum~, are
often severely injured, where the sugar maple, ~A. saccharum~, is only
lightly injured and the delicate-leaved red maple and silver maple, ~A.
rubrum~ and ~A. saccharinum~, remain untouched.
Since the Japanese beetle is here to stay, and to spread, these
differences are worth considering where plant materials are being
selected for new ornamental plantings. In our bulletin on Japanese
beetle (Cornell Extension Bulletin 770) we have to warn the reader that
planting chestnuts may bring him trouble with the Japanese beetle,
trouble which he would not have with flowering dogwood, ~Cornus florida~,
or the common lilacs, ~Syringa vulgaris~, which are immune to this pest.
It may be, however, that some of the chestnuts carry immunity factors.
In the U. S. Department of Agriculture Circular No. 547, published in
1940, "Feeding Habits of the Japanese Beetle," by I. M. Hawley and F. W.
Metzger, ~Castanea crenata~, the Japanese chestnut, is listed with beech
and chestnut oak as "generally lightly injured." I understand you
consider the nut of this species poor, but if resistance factors are in
the genus, there can be hope of finding or developing a chestnut
resistant to Japanese beetle.
We might be able to do with chestnuts what has been done with poplars.
The common poplars range from the Lombardy, ~Populus nigra italica~, which
is heavily damaged by the beetle, to the white, ~P. alba~, which is
immune. The forest geneticist, E. J. Schreiner, has written an article,
"Poplars can be bred to order," which appears on pages 153 to 157 in
"Trees," the Yearbook of Agriculture for 1949, published by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture. Schreiner provides an interesting diagram of
random planting of 102 poplar hybrids, in plots of 50 trees each,
representing 30 parentages. He writes, "Japanese beetle infestation was
heavy in ~1947~; as late as September 9 beetles were as numerous as 10 to
12 per leaf on the most susceptible plants. Although the insects were
feeding everywhere on the sparsely scattered weeds growing under the
hybrids, beetle feeding was found on only nine hybrids, representing
four parentages. Three of these parentages include hybrids that were
entirely free of beetle feeding during the entire infestation." Among
five hybrids of ~P. charkowiensis~ and ~P. caudina~, three were highly
susceptible, one moderately susceptible and one was non-susceptible.
Japanese beetles, when infesting rows of plants of the same variety,
usually occur unevenly on the individual plants. Some of the factors
have to do with the vigor or color of the tree. In my observation on
peach, I have repeatedly seen a sickly, yellow and half-wilted tree with
thousands of beetles in it, while other similar but healthy trees in the
same row averaged only a few hundred beetles. You can make one branch of
a tree more attractive to the insects than the rest of the branches by
partly girdling it or permitting borers or cankers to damage the base of
the branch. This observation suggests that the increased sugar content
raises the attractiveness of the leaf. It coincides with what is already
known that extracts of plants preferred by the Japanese beetle have, in
general, a higher sugar content, or more of a fruit-like odor than those
not attacked. (Metzger et al, Jour. Agric. Research, ~49~ (11): 1001-1008.
1934. Washington, D. C.)
There are other observations you can easily make yourselves. The
Japanese beetle avoids shade, except on the hottest days, and its
feeding in dense trees shows up most in the tops; its feeding on uniform
plantings tends to show up most in the edge rows. Nursery-size trees are
more extensively defoliated than larger ones. At this point we must
consider that the insect usually has to fly into a planting from the
outside, for it breeds chiefly in lawns and meadows. If the foliage mass
of the nut planting is small and the grass areas nearby are large, the
beetles are likely to do heavier damage than where the planting is very
large and grass areas negligible. A small planting in a suburban area,
beside a large golf course, cemetery or dairy farm, is going to be more
heavily attacked than a large one set in a clearing in the woods.
~Control of the adult:~ The safest, most direct measure is to pick or
knock the beetles off the plants, preferably in the early morning, when
they are cool. They may be dropped in a pail with a little kerosene in
it. Some plants can be shielded with thin nets which can be placed on
them by day. We do not recommend Japanese beetle traps. These yellow
traps, which are baited with geranoil and other essential oils, can draw
beetles in from a considerable distance but we have found that, possibly
because many beetles miss the trap, the population of beetles remains
high near the trap, in spite of heavy daily catches. Although the use of
one trap to the acre on a block 10 miles square would probably get
results, the use of a few traps on a small nut planting is likely to be
disappointing.
A MEMBER: Will birds or any kind of poultry eat them?
DR. ADAMS: Yes, poultry will eat them, as far as they can reach. Certain
birds, of course, will feed on them to some extent, but birds, in
summer, seem to have plenty of other things to eat, and they certainly
leave plenty of beetles in plain sight uneaten. We can see that the
birds are a fairly constant helpful factor, but are not to be relied
upon to prevent injury occurring in a beetle outbreak.
Rotenone, which, I believe, is one of your main insecticides in nut
culture, is fairly effective on Japanese beetles. It kills the beetles
hit with the spray and gives protection for several days thereafter. If
you apply it often enough, rotenone can take care of the plants so that
they don't become disfigured by the beetles. Using cube powder, you may
apply five ounces of 4% rotenone in 10 gallons of water. Of course, in
many cases there is no objection to using DDT wetable powder or dusts,
unless you are afraid of a mite problem arising after DDT is used. If
DDT can be sprayed on the plants, it needs to be applied only about
three times during a summer, or sometimes only twice. For plants that
are growing very fast, the new growth, of course, has to be kept
treated. You may prefer to spray once heavily over all the plants in
July and then, after that, keep the beetles off by spraying or dusting
the new growth, during August. For more directions see U.S.D.A. Farmers
Bulletin No. 2004.
Now, there are new chemicals that will kill Japanese beetles very
quickly. Parathion will kill them, but its toxicity necessitates great
care in handling and, on peaches, we find it protects the plants for
only a few days. Chlordane, which has a very important use in connection
with these insects in the grub stage, is not recommended above ground;
it is too brief in its action. Methoxychlor may be used instead of DDT.
It is less effective, but much less poisonous, and should be applied
more frequently.
Now, the other aspect of control is to try to reduce beetle production
over the whole area so that you don't have so many beetles flying in to
the plants during the summer and you don't have to spray so frequently,
if at all. This is the phase to which I wish to give particular
attention, after we consider the life history.
~Life history:~ The Japanese beetles in the adult stage are in evidence
here from late June to late September, or, roughly, for the summer
season. The adults lay their eggs in the soil, mostly in lawns, mowed
grassy fields and pastures. The adults die but the eggs give rise to
tiny, bluish-gray larvae which feed chiefly on grass roots. The larvae
grow through the fall and spring, and, if more numerous than about 40 to
the square foot in September, or about 25 in April and May, can cause
severe lawn damage.
MR. CORSAN: That's the stage when the pheasants and starlings eat them.
DR. ADAMS: Yes, in the grub stage.
MR. CORSAN: I see thousands of starlings gorging themselves.
DR. ADAMS: Yes, scratching birds, crows and skunks can take them out;
the starlings make a hole the size of a pencil point to do so. In our
survey areas grub populations sometimes seem to drop rapidly in May,
when the birds are feeding their nestlings. In June, the surviving
larvae mostly change into pupae, and by July they are appearing as
beetles. From the lawns and grassy fields they readily fly to weeds,
shrubs, grapevines and trees. They fly at least a few hundred yards, if
need be, to find their host plants. Well kept, sunny, lawns with good,
moist soil, which carry 40 grubs to the square foot in the fall may
still have plenty at transformation time in early summer. A lawn of
5,000 square feet could thus produce 100,000 beetles. Yards, roadways
and pastures commonly produce as many as six beetles to the square foot,
which means a quarter million to the acre.
~Chemical control in the grub stage:~ In New York we suggest that on a
home property the more valuable sections of permanent lawn be
grub-proofed with chemicals as soon as there are 5 to 10 grubs to the
square foot. This grub-proofing has two effects: (a) it stops beetle
production from that lawn, and (b) it prevents the lawn grass being
damaged by the grubs of this and other annual grub species and by the
birds and animals, including moles, which damage grubby turf. For
grub-proofing I prefer to use chlordane. It may be applied in a spray,
at 8 ounces of 50% wettable powder to 1,000 square feet, or it may be
purchased in the more bulky 5% form and applied dry with a two-wheeled
lawn fertilizer spreader. For each 1,000 square feet I take 5 pounds of
5% chlordane and, since it tends to clog the spreader, I mix it in a
cardboard drum with 5 pounds of a dry, granular material such as the
activated-sludge fertilizer known as "Milorganite." The ten pounds of
mixture is then spread on the 1,000 square feet, half east and west,
half north and south.
If applied in the fall or early spring there will be no beetles coming
out in July and no grubs for several years. DDT at 6 pounds of 10% DDT
to 1,000 square feet will give an even longer grub-proofing effect. Our
plots so treated in 1944 are still grub-free. The possible trouble with
DDT is that it is too nearly permanent, and if you should plow up a
piece of lawn treated with it and try to raise tomatoes or strawberries,
you might find the soil too toxic.
~Biological control in the grub stage:~ The chemical grub-proofing of the
sunny parts of the front or main lawn on a property is desirable for the
reasons stated, but it does not usually stop more than a fifth of the
beetle production around the property, because there are usually plenty
of neighbors' lawns, pastures, public grounds, and other
beetle-producing turf areas nearby. How are you to reduce the beetle
crop on these places, mostly on ground you don't control? Here is where
biological control comes in, something which I feel will appeal to you
in this group. The parasitic insects known as spring Tiphia, imported
from the Orient and well established on hundreds of estates, golf
courses, and cemeteries around Philadelphia and New York, may be
introduced in your vicinity when grubs reach about 5 to the square foot.
The parasites, which are like flying ants, appear above ground in spring
and feed on honey-dew. The female burrows in the soil and attaches her
eggs singly to Japanese beetle grubs. A maggot hatches and consumes the
grub. I have charge of the distribution of these parasites in New York.
I like to liberate at least one colony in each village or town division.
Some of you may help me plan the liberation for your vicinity, possibly
on a cemetery near your place. The colonies enlarge to about a square
mile in 10 years, and may cut beetle production by 50%.
Another biological agent which can be added to grub-carrying turf is the
bacterium causing Japanese beetle grubs to turn milky white and die. A
powder is made from diseased grubs and talc and this milky disease spore
inoculum is applied with a teaspoon in dots or spots over the turf. The
important point is that the spore powder must be used on a plot where
there are grubs to get the disease, and not on chemically grub-proofed
soil. Milky disease spore powder is sold under three brand names,
"Japidemic," "Japonex" and "Sawco-Japy." One-half pound, suitably
applied, will cost you about $2.50 and be an act of good citizenship,
for the disease slowly spreads to any grubby soil in surrounding
properties. I can supply addresses of the producers and detailed
reprints of my studies.
Discussion
MR. McDANIEL: Does this disease affect any other beetles we have in
America, besides the Japanese?
MR. ADAMS: Yes, one other species; it causes some sickness in the grubs
of the turf pest known as the Oriental beetle.
MR. McDANIEL: How about the green June beetle?
DR. ADAMS: No, unfortunately, it doesn't work on that beetle, which is a
pest on Long Island and in the South.
A MEMBER: How much area would a (1/2-pound) can like that treat?
DR. ADAMS: It depends. You can apply a half-pound to a quarter acre, or
any smaller space you want to put it on. If you want to put spots down
closer together, say every three feet, it will treat about 1,000 square
feet. It suggests on the label that you do. But if you treat a plot on a
large field, I'd recommend you put it out at about a teaspoonful every
ten feet. In other words, I wouldn't put less than a half-pound on the
plot set aside for it on my place. The application is just a starter to
introduce the disease in the area, and it doesn't matter too much
whether you spot it at 10-foot intervals on a pasture or put it at
fairly close intervals on an area about the size of this room. The point
is that it mustn't be broadcast, because that spreads the spores too
thin. Grubs don't get the disease if they eat only a few spores. We
assume that where you put the spots down on the ground the grubs under
those spots will get the disease and wander off and die. When a grub
dies, it multiplies the number of spores up to many millions. That
portion of soil becomes infective, and more grubs going through the
infective portions carry the disease to intervening areas until the
whole piece of turf is unhealthful to these grubs. Droppings of birds
feeding on sick grubs spread the disease.
MR. FRYE: One application is all that's needed?
DR. ADAMS: One application is all that's needed. Control is slight at
first, but increases with the passage of the years.
MR. CORSAN: Quail feed on them. Why can't we have quail around the farms
instead of shooting them?
DR. ADAMS: I would be for that, but we have to find other methods for a
lot of people. Besides, we need something that will intercept some of
the grubs in the fall, before they get big. After all, by the time the
quail are interested in them, they have already done some damage in the
ground. In the ground the grubs can do two kinds of damage. They can
make turf loose so it can be rolled back like a rug. Second, if you
should plow up a piece of sod that has many grubs in it and try to plant
row crops or nursery stock, they may eat the roots off the planting in
the spring.
DR. McKAY: I'd like to ask what effect low temperature has on them and
how far north you think will be their limit?
DR. ADAMS: The soil temperature at which the grubs begin to die in
hibernation is 15 degrees, and I have never seen the soil temperature
that low here under turf. (I operate a soil thermograph on my lawn.)
A MEMBER: How far down do they go?
DR. ADAMS: They hibernate at 4 to 8 inches in the ground. It's rare to
have it drop below 27 degrees at these depths.
MR. STERLING SMITH: What do you mean, Fahrenheit?
DR. ADAMS: That is Fahrenheit.
A MEMBER: That's frozen solid. That's at 32 degrees.
DR. ADAMS: The deeper soil will drop only a few degrees below freezing.
The soil here usually remains no lower than 32 degrees, except within an
inch or two of the top.
A MEMBER: Do you think soil temperature is going to be a limiting
factor?
DR. ADAMS: I think the limiting factor northward is the coolness of the
summers. In Northern Japan their life history gets altered because of
the shortness of the summer, and I think in the Adirondack area they
won't be serious for that reason.
MR. WEBER: Will this spore powder kill other kinds of grubs that are in
the sod?
DR. ADAMS: Not to any practical extent. It does not control the grubs of
the "June bugs," or brown June beetles, or what are called "white
grubs."
MR. LOWERRE: Would the DDT kill the parasitic wasps?
DR. ADAMS: Turf treated with chlordane or DDT is grub-proofed and is not
of any use to the flying parasites as a place to lay eggs, or for
bacteria to multiply. So we don't want to put chemicals on top of
biological control plots. For instance, on an average home property I
would treat the front lawn, the more valuable piece, with chemicals so
that it would be 100% grub-proofed to protect the turf and to take that
much turf out of beetle production. Then on the back lawns or grassy
fields adjoining, I would apply at least a half-pound of this milky
disease material, and in that way provide a complete treatment; the
parasites can be added on some large public turf area nearby. And don't
think you are going to stamp the Japanese beetle out just by spraying
all the adult beetles you see each summer on the cultivated plants,
because there are lots more on the shade trees, weeds and vines.
A new book, "The Insect Enemies of Eastern Forests," contains a great
deal of information on the insects feeding on nut trees. Unfortunately,
it isn't indexed to crops, so you can't look up "walnut" and find what
insects bother you. You have to know what the insect is, and you will
find it with its insect family. That is U. S. Department of Agriculture
Miscellaneous Publication 657, by George E. Craighead. Price $2.50, from
the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
MR. CORSAN: What in the world has become of the black walnut
caterpillar, that big, black fellow with the grey hairs?
DR. ADAMS: Maybe they are at a low point in a cycle. Mr. Bernath will
show you a few of them.
MR. CORSAN: He might show me a few of them, but I have been pestered
with them for years, and this year I haven't got any.
DR. ADAMS: I suppose natural conditions have taken care of them for a
while, but they will come back again.
(Applause.)
DR. MacDANIELS: Thank you, very much, sir. We will take a few minutes
recess now.
(Whereupon, a short recess was taken.)
Editor's Note: The following paper which was delayed, was originally
scheduled for our 1949 Report.
Insecticides for Nut Insects
E. H. SIEGLER United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural
Research Administration Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine
Fortunately, the growers of nuts do not have to combat a large number of
injurious insect species. However, some species do at times cause a
heavy loss of nuts and may also damage the vegetation growth of the
trees. Injury by insects will vary from year to year, due to various
causes, and insects frequently show varietal host preferences. Timely
use of insecticides is the most effective means of combating many
harmful species.
Until the beginning of World War II a rather limited number of
insecticides was available, such as lead arsenate, cryolite, nicotine,
mineral oil emulsions, and rotenone. Some injurious insects were
satisfactorily controlled through the timely application of one or the
other of these materials, or combinations of them; others survived in
damaging numbers in spite of all attempts to suppress them.
During and since World War II, both in the United States and abroad,
work on insecticides has been stepped up markedly. As a result, many new
insecticides have been developed and are available for general use.
The first of the new insecticides about which we heard was DDT.
Actually, the compound itself was not a new one, since it was prepared
by a German student chemist in 1874. However, no use was found for it
until 1939, when a Swiss chemist found it promising as an insecticide
against the Colorado potato beetle. It was first tested in the United
States a few years later.
Since the successful introduction of DDT, promising new insecticides
have become available more frequently and in greater numbers than ever
before. Among these materials are certain chlorinated hydrocarbons
related to DDT. These include methoxychlor and TDE, neither of which is,
on the whole, as useful as DDT but both of which are of value and have
an important advantage over DDT in that they are reported to be less
toxic to warm-blooded animals. Other new chlorinated hydrocarbons
include benzene hexachloride, synthesized in 1828 and first tested
against insects in France in 1941 and discovered about the same time in
England; chlordane, developed in the United States a few years ago; and
toxaphene. Several organic phosphorus compounds, including hexaethyl
tetraphosphate, tetraethyl pyrophosphate, and parathion, have also been
developed.
Technical benzene hexachloride is a mixture of several isomers, the
gamma isomer being the most toxic to insects. The practically pure
isomer is known as lindane. A handicap to the general use of benzene
hexachloride on fruit is its tendency to cause off-flavor condition when
applied too close to harvest. Lindane is less likely to cause off-flavor
in fruit than technical benzene hexachloride but may not overcome this
fault altogether.
The organic phosphate insecticides, like DDT, were first found of value
in Europe and were introduced into the United States after the close of
World War II. Parathion in particular shows great promise for the
control of many insect pests. Although these compounds are very
poisonous and must be handled strictly in accordance with the
manufacturers' recommendations, a recent announcement by Arnold J.
Lehman, of the Food and Drug Administration, indicates that their
residues are not likely to be harmful. He has stated that "parathion is
not stored in the tissues to an appreciable extent—it is rapidly
destroyed by the tissues of the body which in turn is an added mechanism
for the prevention of tissue accumulation." Residues of hexaethyl
tetraphosphate and tetraethyl pyrophosphate persist for only a short
time and residues of parathion drop to a low level within 10 to 14 days
after application. This information, however, does not make it
unnecessary for the user to observe strictly all warnings and
precautions issued by the manufacturers of parathion and of other
organic phosphates. Serious effects and deaths have occurred though
excessive exposures to parathion.
General Information Regarding the Use of the New Organic Insecticides
~Handling the insecticides.~ All the new organic insecticides, the organic
phosphates in particular, are to some degree toxic not only to many
insects but to man and animals as well. Even the most toxic ones can be
used, however, without harmful effects on the operator, provided all the
cautions issued by the manufacturer are properly followed. Special care
must be taken in handling concentrated insecticides preparatory to
making diluted spray or dust applications.
~Spray concentrations.~ DDT has been used more extensively than any of the
other newer insecticides and for this reason there is considerable
information relative to the spray concentrations known to be effective
against insects susceptible to it. For spray purposes DDT is generally
employed at the rate of 1-1/2 to 4 pounds of 50 percent wettable powder
per 100 gallons of water.
Parathion is being used at 1/2 to 1-1/2 pounds of 15 percent wettable
powder per 100 gallons of water for mites and up to 2 pounds to 100
gallons of water for insects more resistant to it. The occurrence of
injury to the foliage and fruit of some varieties of apples when this
insecticide is used is under investigation.
Benzene hexachloride (10 percent gamma isomer, wettable) is being used
at 2 to 4 pounds, and sometimes less depending upon the insect, per 100
gallons of water. Wettable mixtures containing 25 percent of lindane
(approximately pure gamma isomer) are used at dosages which would give
an equivalent quantity of the gamma isomer in the diluted spray.
Chlordane is usually employed at the rate of 2 to 3 pounds of 50 percent
wettable powder and toxaphene at 2 to 4 pounds of 40 percent wettable
powder per 100 gallons.
These insecticides are also being sold for use as dusts, either ready to
use or in a more concentrated form which can be reduced to dusting
strength through the addition of inert material.
~Spray Residues.~ Spray residues are not important on nut crops, but on
fruits it is important to time the insecticide applications so that
harmful residues are avoided. Animals should not be allowed to graze
vegetation beneath trees recently treated. Instructions on the packaged
insecticide should be followed.
~Effect on beneficial insects.~ Since the more potent of the newer organic
insecticides are toxic to many parasitic and predatory insects, all of
which help to reduce the populations of injurious species, these
insecticides, if used, must be largely relied upon to effect control by
themselves. Often no immediate assistance is forthcoming from beneficial
insects after these materials have been used.
Nut Insect Investigations
Except for studies on the chestnut weevils, nut insect investigations by
the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine are being conducted
primarily on the pecan at southern laboratories. Many of the remarks in
this paper are therefore based on information obtained from these
laboratories. In view of the short time the new organic insecticides
have been available, work to determine their place in nut insect control
programs is largely in the experimental stage. Much further work will be
necessary before detailed instructions can be given for their general
use.
Insects Attacking the Nuts
~The Pecan weevil.~ The adult of the pecan weevil[8] is a snout beetle
that attacks not only pecan throughout the South but also hickory in the
eastern half of the United States. During mid-season, previous to the
formation of the kernel, nuts are frequently punctured for feeding
purposes. This results in failure of the nuts to complete their
development. The principal injury, however, is caused by grubs that
develop from eggs laid in the nuts after the kernels have formed. This
is usually during September on pecans in the South. The grubs feed on
the kernels and may consume them completely (Fig. 1).
[8] ~Curculio caryae~ (Horn).
Applications of sprays containing 6 pounds of 50 percent DDT wettable
powder per 100 gallons of water just previous to and during the
oviposition period have proved effective against this pest.
[Illustration: Fig 1.—Nut infested with larvae of the pecan weevil.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.—Larva of the butternut curculio in Japanese
walnut shoot.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3—Adults of the walnut husk maggot on black walnut.
Enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig. 4.—Adult of a leaf-footed bug. Enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig. 5.—Defoliation caused by the black pecan aphid.]
Nut curculios. Several species of curculios, such as the butternut
curculio[9] (Fig. 2) and the hickorynut curculio,[10] infest the fruit
of these and other nut trees. Their life histories and methods of attack
are somewhat alike and for the purpose of this report the butternut
curiculio is given as an example. This insect lays its eggs in both
the young shoots and nuts, which usually drop as a result of the injury.
The larvae then develop to maturity within the dying tissues after which
they enter the soil and transform to adults. Subsequently they leave the
soil to pass the winter above ground protected from low temperatures by
weeds or other vegetation.
[9] ~Conotrachelus juglandis~ Lee.
[10] ~Conotrachelus affinis~ Boh.
Lead arsenate, 4 pounds per 100 gallons of water, has been relied upon
in the past for control of various nut curculios. Among the newer
insecticides, benzene hexachloride (6 percent gamma), 4 to 6 pounds per
100 gallons, has shown promise against a shoot curculio on pecans when
applied soon after the trees start growth in the spring.
~Hickory shuckworm.~ The hickory shuckworm[11] is another serious pest of
pecan and hickory nuts. Early in the year, previous to the hardening of
the shells, the kernels are eaten. This injury causes many of the nuts
to drop. In the fall, the later generations tunnel within and feed upon
the shucks only. The affected nuts are usually smaller than normal; in
addition the shells are often stained and are more difficult to separate
from the husks.
[11] ~Laspeyresia caryana~ (Fitch).
Extensive experimentation in the control of this insect has been carried
out without much success. No effective insecticide treatment can be
recommended for its control.
~Walnut husk maggot.~ The adult of the walnut husk maggot[12] is a fly
(Fig. 3); it is related to other injurious fruit flies such as the apple
maggot, Mediterranean fruit fly, and the oriental fruit fly, which has
recently been found in Hawaii. Adults emerge from the soil and fly to
the trees in midsummer. Egg laying follows in 1 to 3 weeks, the eggs
being deposited on the husks of several kinds of nuts. The maggots feed
within the husks. Not only is the quality of infested nuts lowered, but,
in addition, the husks are more difficult to remove. A closely related
species is particularly damaging to the Persian or English walnut in
California.
[12] ~Rhagoletis suavis~ Loew.
Lead arsenate, 2 to 4 pounds per 100 gallons of water, in combination
with an equal quantity of hydrated lime is quite effective in destroying
the adults of the walnut husk maggot when applied at the time they are
present.
~Stinkbugs and leaf-footed bugs.~ There are a number of stinkbugs and
leaf-footed bugs (Fig. 4), in addition to the species mentioned,[13][14]
which are responsible for important injuries to pecans, filberts, and
other nuts. These insects puncture the immature nuts with their beaks.
The punctured areas become spongy, somewhat dark in color, and are
bitter to the taste; on pecan the typical injury is referred to as black
pit and kernel spot.
[13] ~Nezara vizidula~ (L.).
[14] ~Leptoglossus phyllopus~ (L.).
Crops of favorable host plants such as cowpeas and soybeans should not
be planted in or adjacent to nut orchards subject to attack by these
sucking bugs. In general, orchard sanitation should be practiced.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.—Galls produced by the pecan phylloxera.]
[Illustration: Fig. 7.—Injury to young pecan tree by the fall webworm.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8.—Larvae of the walnut caterpillar.]
[Illustration: Fig. 9.—Caterpillar of the hickory tussock moth.]
[Illustration: Fig. 10.—Rose chafer beetles on chestnut blossoms.]
Insects Attacking the Foliage
~Black pecan aphid.~ Pecan trees at times suffer sufficient damage from
the black pecan aphid[15] to cause considerable defoliation (Fig. 5)
during the latter part of the season. The injury to foliage in its
earlier stages consists of irregularly shaped yellowish areas which turn
brown when the tissues die.
[15] ~Melanocallis caryaefoliae~ (Davis).
This aphid is usually controlled with nicotine sulfate (40 percent
nicotine), 3/8 pint plus summer oil emulsion, 2 quarts per 100 gallons
of spray. Parathion and benzene hexachloride have given good results in
experimental work but are not yet generally recommended.
~Pecan phylloxera.~ The pecan phylloxera[16] is related to aphids. It
attacks principally the vegetative parts of the tree such as the leaves,
petioles, and shoots on which galls (Fig. 6) are produced. Pecans,
hickories, and other species of nuts are subject to infestation.
[16] ~Phylloxera devastatrix~ Perg.
In the past a spray of nicotine sulfate (40 percent nicotine) 13 ounces
combined with either lime-sulfur solution, 2-1/2 gallons per 100 gallons
of water, or lubricating-oil emulsion, 2 quarts per 100 gallons, applied
in the late dormant period has been the standard recommendation. In
recent experiments in the South with some of the new organic sprays,
benzene hexachloride and some of the dinitro compounds have indicated
good promise.
~Fall webworm,~[17] ~walnut caterpillar,~[18] ~and hickory tussock
moth.~[19] The caterpillars of these species (Figs. 7, 8, 9) are
frequent pests on the foliage of nut trees. They often defoliate entire
branches.
[17] ~Hyphantria cunea~ (Drury).
[18] ~Datana integerrima~ (G. and R.)
[19] ~Halisidota caryae~ (Harr.)
The best time to apply control measures is as soon as possible after the
caterpillars hatch. The insects can be readily destroyed with lead
arsenate, 3 pounds, or DDT (2 pounds) of 50 percent wettable powder, per
100 gallons, applied when they appear. Other new organic insecticides
may also be effective but have not been widely tested.
~The rose chafer and Japanese beetle.~ Adults of the rose chafer[20] (Fig.
10) and the Japanese beetle[21] are voracious feeders on the foliage of
nut trees and must be destroyed if severe injury is to be avoided.
[20] ~Marcordactylus subspinosus~ (F.).
[21] ~Popillia japonica~ Newm.
Fortunately these insects may now be controlled by spraying with DDT, 2
pounds of 50-percent wettable powder per 100 gallons of water, when the
beetles appear. In the case of the Japanese beetle a second application
may be necessary if the infestation is heavy.
~Spider mites.~ Nut trees, especially those which have been sprayed with
DDT, may become seriously injured by various species of mites.[22] DDT
is very toxic to the natural insect enemies of plant-feeding mites and
therefore the mites build up to injurious numbers.
[22] ~Tetranychus~ sp. and others.
Of the various miticides recently tested on pecan, a spray of parathion
was the most promising. In some recent tests for the control of spider
mites on chestnut trees, 1-1/2 pounds of 15 percent parathion wettable
powder per 100 gallons of water was effective. Do not use parathion
unless you observe all the precautions contained on the package label of
the material.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.—Larva of the twig girdler. Enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig. 12.—Adult of the flatheaded apple tree borer.
Enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig. 13.—Larvae of the flatheaded apple tree borer.]
[Illustration: Fig. 14.—Scars on trunk of pecan tree caused by cutting
out flatheaded apple tree borers from their tunnels.]
[Illustration: Fig. 15.—Adult of the buffalo treehopper. Enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig. 16.—Twig scarred as a result of egg laying by the
buffalo treehopper.]
Insects Attacking the Trunk and Branches
A number of insects cause important damage to the trunk and branches of
nut trees.
~Obscure scale and others.~ The obscure scale[23] infests a variety of nut
trees. On pecan the chief injury results from attacks on branches under
three inches in diameter.
[23] ~Chrysomphalus obscurus~ (Comst.).
The obscure scale and other scale insects can be controlled with
lubricating-oil emulsion during the dormant period. However, nut trees
are often susceptible to oil damage, especially at 3 percent
concentration. Since healthy trees are more resistant to oil injury, it
is therefore advisable to watch for scale infestations so as to spray
them before the trees are weakened.
~Twig girdler.~ Nut trees are sometimes attacked by the twig girdler[24]
(Fig. 11). This beetle lays eggs in the twigs, which are girdled so as
to stop the flow of sap that would normally prevent hatching. The
girdled twigs usually become detached from the trees and as a result the
nut-bearing wood is reduced.
[24] ~Oncideres cingulata~ (Say).
The standard recommendation for control of this insect has been to
gather and destroy the infested twigs in the orchard and from any
infested trees nearby. Recent tests on pecan in northern Florida
indicate that DDT and parathion may be effective against this insect.
Three applications (the first on August 26 when the first girdled twigs
were observed and the others on September 9 and 23) of DDT, 4 pounds of
50 percent wettable powder per 100 gallons of water, or parathion, 3
pounds of 15 percent wettable powder per 100 gallons, gave complete
control. Further experiments will be required to determine the minimum
effective concentration of spray and the number of applications needed
for control. It is suggested that DDT be used for the control of this
insect until more information is available on how to handle and to use
parathion.
~Flatheaded apple tree borer.~ The adult beetle of the flathead apple tree
borer[25] (Fig. 12) deposits its eggs throughout the summer season,
preferably in the small grooves of bark on the unshaded portions of the
trunk of pecan and other trees. The borers (Fig. 13) hatch and tunnel
through the bark to the cambium layer. Young trees may readily be
girdled (Fig. 14).
[25] ~Chrysobothris femorata~ (Oliv.).
To avoid this insect as far as possible, orchard sanitation should be
practiced and the trees should be kept in a healthy condition. In some
plantings wrapping the trunks with paper or burlap to protect against
egg laying and maintaining low branches to shade the trunk have been
helpful. Cutting out the borers with a knife has also been resorted to;
trunk washes have likewise been used but have not been very effective.
~Buffalo treehopper and periodical cicada.~ Buffalo treehoppers[26] (Fig.
15) and the periodical cicada[27] weaken twigs by inserting their eggs
in them. The injured bark becomes roughened as it heals (Fig. 16), and
the growth of the limb is retarded.
[26] ~Ceresa bubalus~ (L.).
[27] ~Magicicada septendecim~ (L.).
Pruning of weakened twigs is recommended for wood injured by the cicada.
If treehoppers are a pest, clean cultivation will help. Cover crops of
cowpeas or clovers should not be planted. In preliminary tests two or
three applications of tetraethyl pyrophosphate (20 percent), 3/4 pint
per 100 gallons of water, have given promising results in controlling
the periodical cicada. The first application should be made after the
cicadas appear and the others as needed to prevent damage.
Observations on Effects of Low Temperatures in Winter 1949-1950 on
Walnuts and Filberts in Oregon and Washington
JOHN H. PAINTER
Horticulturist, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural
Research Administration, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and
Agricultural Engineering, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon
In western Oregon and Washington, where the Japan Current is supposed to
keep the winter temperatures moderate, something happens every now and
then and we get really severe winters. We can't blame it on the "A" bomb
because we had severe winter injury in 1919 and 1935 long before the "A"
bomb.
The last two winters have been exceptionally cold, but this past winter
of 1949-1950 was much more severe than the previous one.
In 1948-1949, the cold came rather suddenly in the latter part of
December. In the past winter, 1949-1950, the real cold came on January
30, with temperatures ranging from 10 to 30 degrees below zero F. Most
official temperatures were higher; but at Corvallis the official
temperatures were taken at least 60 feet above the ground level, on the
roof of the Agricultural Building, which is over a steam-heated building
and is old enough to be not very well insulated. This cold continued in
somewhat modified form for a week.
During the previous winter the lowest temperature recorded in the nut
growing areas was about 10 to 11 degrees above zero F., and the severe
cold lasted for only a couple of days.
In both winters the ground was fairly well covered with snow, but with
considerably more snow this past winter than the previous winter.
No apparent damage to Persian walnuts was observed as a result of the
cold in the 1948-1949 winter, but in certain low-lying areas catkins of
Barcelona and Daviana filberts were killed, especially those of the
latter. Considerable dieback of filberts occurred; but during the
following growing season recovery was effected and at the end of the
summer very little evidence of winter injury was visible.
The injury resulting from the cold weather of the past winter was much
more severe than that of the previous winter. Whereas filberts were the
only nut trees injured in 1948-1949, they escaped with relatively little
damage in 1949-1950 in comparison with Persian walnuts.
On February 11, 1950, ten days after the really severe week, several
walnut growers of long experience held grave fears for the entire
industry. Peach and apple trees, which seem to exhibit winter injury
more quickly than walnuts, showed so much damage then that walnut
growers thought the injury to the Persian walnut would be even worse.
From February 11, 1950, to the present date (July 30) I have been making
observations from time to time in different locations with special
attention to walnuts and with some to filberts. It is thought that
certain of these observations might be of interest to nut growers in
other areas, even though there is nothing particularly new or startling
about them. They do, however, tend to show how surprisingly well the
Persian walnut trees can withstand severe cold if it occurs after they
have once gone into dormancy.
Generally speaking, the winter injury to walnuts has been spotty. No
areas of great size have been either free of injury or severely injured.
Usually, where a difference in severity of damage is found between areas
close together, some reason for the difference can be found, but it is
not always evident on the surface.
Injury to Walnuts
With the possible exception of southern Oregon, it is safe to say that
100 percent of the walnut trees in Oregon and Washington suffered some
twig injury as a result of last winter's cold. In many cases the
subsequent dieback of the twigs may extend only a few inches, but
sometimes the injury involves not only the past season's growth but that
of three or even four years back.
As might well be expected, this twig injury of necessity has meant the
loss of many terminal and lateral buds which bear the female flowers; so
for that reason, if for no other, this twig injury has assumed serious
aspects.
In many cases the catkins were severely injured even where there was
little or no twig injury. The catkins of the Persian walnut seem to be
extremely sensitive to cold. Many Persian walnut trees in Oregon this
year failed to produce any catkins at all. Some produced very few normal
catkins, but some half-developed and deformed catkins. An examination of
these partially injured catkins, however, revealed the fact that they
did produce some pollen. It will always remain a mystery to me how as
many walnuts were pollinated and set as there were, with the scant crop
of catkins.
In practically every orchard examined, where the temperature got as low
as minus 10 degrees F., the pith cells were blackened. This is not
uncommon in other tree crops following severe winter injury. Fairly good
peach crops have been borne in Georgia on trees that had the pith cells
completely blackened.
In the case of walnuts this year, many growers were considerably worried
by the fact that even the wood tissue outside the pith region was black
and watersoaked. However, to date (July 30, 1950) this condition has
not proven serious; as long as the cambium cells were not injured no
real trouble has developed. In some cases under observation, even where
some injury to the cambium cells was known to have existed, enough live
ones have been left to effect recovery. Compared to peach, holly, and
even apple trees the Persian walnut has put up a marvelous fight to
recover from the injury sustained.
Factors Accentuating Winter Injury in Walnuts
After the several months of observation, certain factors appear
invariably to account for excessive damage to walnut orchards. Elevation
seems to be a principal factor. The hillside orchards or those on upland
sites (soils) were far less injured than the river-bottom or
valley-floor orchards, even though the latter may be on a better soil as
far as fertility is concerned. My early prediction of 50 percent of a
crop in the hillside orchards seems now to have been about 10 percent
short, unless other factors become involved. On the other hand, my early
prediction of 25 percent of a crop in the valley-floor orchards has been
close to correct. Of course, certain valley-floor orchards with a
combination of adverse factors won't have even a 5 percent crop.
Older orchards were more severely hurt than younger orchards with
otherwise similar conditions. This is possibly due to the lack of vigor
and of reserve material, resulting from crowding and competition for
elements of nutrition.
The size of the crop the preceeding year seems invariably to have had an
effect upon amount of damage done. The matter of reserves is again
involved. Two orchards that bore a reduced crop last year because of
spring frost injury have come through much better than some other
similar orchards, at practically the same elevation and age, that bore a
crop last year.
Two adjacent hillside orchards show considerable difference in degree of
winter injury and crop prospects for this year. It is believed that this
difference was due to the fact that in one orchard 35 percent of the
crop was destroyed by blight last year, in comparison with a 1 percent
loss in the other. The owners and I estimate that there is at least 20
percent larger crop this year in the orchard which had the heavy loss
from blight last year.
In several orchards where different levels of fertilization have been
used by the grower, it appears that the more liberal the application of
fertilizer, particularly nitrogen, the less severe was the winter damage
sustained.
At the college orchard in Corvallis, the one tree that got no additional
nitrogen last year and that bore the heaviest crop of nuts is
outstandingly the most severely winter injured of the 17 trees involved.
Only two varieties of walnuts have been studied, Franquette and Mayette,
and some Carpathian seedlings in one orchard. Here in Oregon the Mayette
seems to have generally withstood the winter injury better than the
Franquette. It is my belief that they are just naturally a little more
vigorous than the Franquette. Yet they never seem to overproduce as the
Franquette sometime does. Last year was the "on" year for Franquettes
and that might easily account for the generally apparent better
condition of the Mayettes this year.
Carpathians Resist Winter Best
Near Ontario, Oregon, I saw 7 seedling Carpathian walnut trees early
this spring. They were leafed out and the catkins were elongated before
any Franquettes, even in the Willamette Valley, had started breaking
buds. No sign of winter injury was apparent on the Carpathian trees at
that time, yet Franquettes at the Malheur Experiment Station, a mile
away, were obviously killed to the groundline. The owner, Mr. Peter
Countryman, says these trees are often damaged by spring frosts but they
always produce some nuts.
A letter dated August 4, from Mr. Countryman, indicates that a hard
frost on the morning of April 24 when the temperature dropped to 22
degrees, did considerable damage to the new growth and catkins on the
lower half of the Carpathian walnut trees. He estimates not to exceed
one-third of a crop on these Carpathian trees this year; but he says
that since the freeze the trees have made good growth, the new terminals
being about 18 inches in length and the nuts on them are very large.
To sum up the walnut situation, then, the encouraging thing is that no
walnut orchards have been called to my attention that were completely
killed. Several badly neglected orchards and two orchards where it is
said that the temperature dropped lower than minus 25 degrees F. are so
severely damaged that it is impractical to try to save them, but even
these are not completely killed.
Injury to Filberts
From the less comprehensive observations made on filberts following the
severe winter just past, it appears in general that when the filbert
tree has gone into dormancy it is more tolerant of cold than the walnut.
The difference of one month in time of occurrence of the cold in the two
winters seems to have had more bearing on the damage to filberts than
the difference in temperature. In the Forest Grove, Oregon, area, and in
Clark County, Washington, filbert trees, however did suffer severely
from the cold last winter, but these two areas were the "cold spots" of
the Northwest.
It seems as if the same factors that accentuate winter damage in walnuts
work in a similar way on filberts, except that the elevation factor
does not seem to be of so great importance. Age of tree, level
of nutrition, and size of preceeding year's crop seem to be more
important than elevation. Young filbert orchards, on either hillside or
valley-floor sites, seem to be much less severely hurt than older
orchards on the same sites. It is the acreage of young filbert trees
that will make good the agricultural statistician's estimate of 40 to 50
percent of a filbert crop this year.
I have seen one 32-acre orchard of 24-year-old filbert trees that was
injured beyond repair, but they were crowded and unfertilized. At the
very same location a 14-acre orchard of 15-year-old filberts with
adequate spacing was not seriously injured, even though the trees were
not fertilized.
One other orchard in a poor location and on waterlogged soil, which has
had little or no care, has likewise been lost. Filberts definitely were
hurt in the two "cold spots" previously mentioned, but official reports
of minus 18 degrees F. were common in that area.
There was a noticeable difference in damage to catkins between Daviana
and DuChilly. Very few Daviana catkins produced pollen; but DuChilly
seemed to be fairly normal.
Injury in filberts was confined mostly to the catkins and twigs.
Excessive sucker growth up and down the main trunk and branches has
taken place in the filberts, as is the case in walnuts.
In neither walnuts nor filberts was there much splitting of the bark on
the trunk. This was probably because there was no sudden fluctuation in
temperatures and sunshine was not excessive during the critically cold
days.
It has been previously stated that the filbert is possibly more tolerant
of cold than the walnut. In spite of this there probably has been more
extensive damage to filberts than to walnuts; but it must be remembered
that filberts are the principal nut crop in those two "cold spots." Not
many walnuts are grown there, but the ones that are were likewise
injured.
Editor's Note: Mr. Gellatly's following papers were read by title.
Effects of the Winter of 1949-50 on Nut Trees in British Columbia
J. U. GELLATLY
Box 19, Westbank, B. C.
(Orchard at Gellatly, B. C.)
Our district is just recovering (in August) from the effects of the
toughest winter we have experienced here in the past 50 years. This gave
the weather test to the tune of -22° F., official. The unofficials were
of 30 to 40 below—depending on distances and location from Okanagan
Lake, a deep body of water three to four miles wide and eighty miles
long. This lake rarely freezes over completely, especially near our
section; so the open water acts as a thermostat during most winters. But
the past one pulled a new stunt and it froze over completely giving zero
winds a vast open sweep, so that to be near the lake was a disadvantage,
for it was colder there than it was farther back, in more sheltered
locations.
Heartnuts and Hybrids
The bright spot in the nut tree picture is our heartnut trees. They all
came through in good shape, making rampant growths and carrying a heavy
crop. These include: 2 Walters, 4 O.K. Heart, 1 Canoka, 1 Slioka, 1
Rover, 2 Calendar, 1 Westoka, 1 Nursoka, 1 Aloka, 1 Symoka, 15 select
unnamed bearing seedlings, yet on trial. All are promising. Also we have
three of the Elfin paper shell heartnut hybrids. I have failed to find a
good pollinator for these Elfins, so they are shy croppers, although
producing plenty of the female blooms. All of the above trees are 6
inches in diameter and up to 20 inches.
Then come the Buart nuts. I coined this name to designate the hybrids I
had made having the butternut (~J. cineria~) as the pollen parent and
Calendar heartnut (~J. sieboldiana cordiformis~) as the mother tree.
Possibly the seven best of these are: Leslie, Dunoka, Fioka, Okanda,
Kingsbury, Penoka, Flavo. These trees are all carrying crops and most of
them are making good growth.
Filberts
Ackerman, Brag, Comet, Craig, Holder, Petoka, Carey, Baroka, Barcelona,
Bawdin, Firstoka (Gellatly No. 1). These have made a good showing, as
the majority of the trees or bushes under 4 to 6 inch crown diameter of
these varieties, are doing well and carrying good crops, while many
above these diameters suffered in varying degrees from slightly to
severely, apparently regardless of variety, location, or soil on which
they grew. It may be noted that all these varieties have been hardy in
the past, but age was adding up and age evidently had somewhat to do
with their inability to take the punishment they got this past winter.
For all my large Bing and Lambert cherry trees were severely injured or
entirely winter killed, as were nearby peaches, apricots, pear, and some
apple trees, particularly in the larger sizes, while many of these
younger trees were uninjured, except that they are fruitless this
season.
Soft Shell Walnuts
(Juglans regia)
Broadview variety on Gellatly Farm, of 20 bearing trees, all suffered
winter injury for first time in 20 years. This injury varied all the way
from freezing back two to three feet of all higher branches and twigs,
to an actual loss of one-third to two-thirds of entire tree and trunk.
At date of writing all are staging a good comeback with no care but a
"wait-and-see" policy as to final treatment. There was so much loss as
to involve too much work if pruning and after care of sprouts were
undertaken. It was decided to leave the dead limbs and branches as a
protection to the fast growing new sprouts, which, without this
protection, would probably have been badly damaged by wind and rain
storms. Even large birds lighting on these new sprouts might break them
down.
The dead limbs will be gradually removed later, as the new limbs harden
up and take over. Many of these will be left as supports for at least
two years, when I expect most of these trees will be back in production,
if we get a return to normal (minus 10° F.) winters, many will produce
in 1951, as the new wood is showing a good growth of catkins. Although
all bearing trees on my place were injured, the younger trees in my
nursery were not hurt to any noticeable extent. At Summerland
Experimental Station, 25 miles south of Gellatly, grow two large
Broadview walnut trees supplied by myself. I had grafted on these black
walnut roots (~J. nigra~) at the ground line, in every respect like my
own. These trees are carrying a good crop. One shows slight winter
injury, the other none at all. The official low for their location was
22° below F. with nearby unofficials to 30° below.
Their present location is at least 200 feet above lake level, and on
very well drained sandy loam. Mine are about 30 feet above the lake and
on somewhat heavier loam. I note that trees on my more gravelly soil
came through in the best shape at official-22° F., unofficial 24 to 28
below. My Broadview that made best survival had grown the previous year
in a chicken yard. Ground was well scratched over and droppings
incorporated in top 4 inches of soil. Tree was flood irrigated three or
four times in dry season. On this tree only outer new branches were
killed and tree gives every indication of being back in crop in 1951
season.
The crop record on this tree is from 1945 and reads '45—35 pounds;
'46—75 pounds; '47—91 pounds; '48—36 pounds; '49—100 pounds. Weight
is for clean, undried, and partly dried nuts at time of picking up. Some
of the other Broadview trees have higher crop records, although of same
age and size, with possibly a bit better soil, in same grove. One tree
in six years, '44 to '49 inclusive, had an average of 74 pounds per
year; another had an average for the same years of 104 pounds per year.
Just recently I made a special trip to see how the parent Broadview tree
had wintered. I found it had sustained severe damage to two-thirds of
the upper part of the trunk and main branches. The lower third was
staging a good comeback, despite unofficials of 35 to 40 below zero F.
as reported by neighboring farmers.
The following varieties of soft shell bearing walnut trees were also
winter injured: Munsoka, badly, top two-thirds of trunk; Linoka, badly,
top two-thirds of trunk; Myoka (Jumbo type) one-third of top branches;
Geloka (Jumbo type) frozen to ground line but sprouts two feet high now
growing. On Sirdar (a Jumbo type long nut), only outer tips of branches
were killed. This was a surprise to me, as it is a second generation
seedling of Italian source. The parent tree grew and cropped well for
many years on bench land at Sirdar, in southern interior of B. C. until
the winter of 1935-36, when it was so badly damaged that the owner had
it removed. I rather looked for a similar fate in this one. There is
this difference: mine was not as old nor had it been cropping heavily as
yet. The season here is barely long enough to develop fully the kernels
of Sirdar.
Crath Carpathian Walnut No. 46
This walnut was grafted on black walnut (~J. nigra~) root in 1944 and
planted here on low loam soil in 1945. It never has been hardy under our
conditions, winter killing some every winter since it was planted. This
past winter it was killed to below snow line 18 inches above union,
whereas Broadview trees alongside, which are the same in every respect,
never were injured until this past winter. Then only minor damage to
soft new growth was done. So it looks as though Broadview is still the
best bet for our conditions.
I am of the opinion that extreme temperature is not the sole determining
factor in causing winter injury to nut or other trees. This opinion is
based on the behavior of trees that have winter killed continuously
while in certain soil, but on being moved to another spot having
enriched soil of similar make-up and drainage located only 200 yards
away, have never winter killed since removal, and have taken much worse
winters, including the one just past.
The fact that many of our introductions grow and thrive 150 to 200 miles
north of here, where temperatures drop to minus 35° to 40°, with
occasional drops to 54° below zero. Check this on your map of Interior
of B. C. on 53° latitude at Quesnel, B. C. I see a geology map lists
that district as sedimentary and volcanic rocks. My informant grows
butternuts, chestnuts, and filberts. Another grower at Clinton, located
on 50° latitude, central B. C. with temperatures to minus 40° F., grows
Japanese and black walnuts, also Pioneer almond. We are sure that the
same temperatures with our conditions would kill most of our trees.
Recipes
J. U. GELLATLY
Walnut Honey Sandwich
1 Teaspoon crystallized Honey (the coarser the crystal the better)
3 Broadview walnut half kernels or quarters.
Place honey on one-half kernel, then stick the other half on the honey,
making a small sandwich, or kernel covered ball of honey. This is a
delightful confection.
Potato Nut Soup
1. Grate 1 tablespoon onion.
2. Grate 1 good-sized potato.
Place in double boiler, stir while adding boiling water, to a thin
paste. Stir until cooked clear like corn starch pudding. Add hot whole
milk to bring to creamy soup. At this stage add one-fourth cup filbert
kernels. First put nuts through one of the new nut planing gadgets.
These are better than the old grinder shredders or choppers, as shavings
are so thin and soft they just melt in hot liquid. (Also delightful on
ice cream or fresh fruit.) Have potatoes well cooked before adding milk
or nut flakes. Cooking nuts too long sets up some chemical change that
thins the creamy texture of the soup.
Description of Filazel Varieties[28]
[28] Since the Peace River hazel is apparently ~Corylus rostrata~ these
filbert hybrids of Mr. Gellatly belong to a different category from the
"hazilberts" of Mr. Weschcke and the "Mildred filberts" which had ~C.
americana~ parentage.—J. C. McD.
J. U. GELLATLY
The name (Filazel) I coined to designate those crosses I had made,
having the Peace River hazel as the mother tree and Craig and others of
our large filberts as the pollen parent.
Peoka
Has thin shell. Clean, well-filled kernel. Is heavy cropper and free
husker. Nuts mature early. Are well filled by August fifth with shells
starting to brown. Fully ripe by August tenth to fifteenth.
Manoka
One of the best of my first selections. Very attractive, heavy cropper,
well-filled kernels by August first, shells coloring by August fifth.
Ripe and falling August fifteenth.
Fernoka
Good cropper of roundish nuts, having short open husks and good clean
kernels.
Myoka In clusters 1 to 6. Has short open husks. Leaves color well in the
fall. Has ornamental value.
Fairoka
One to 7 nuts in cluster in fancy frilled and rolled back husk. Nuts
roundish, of fair size and color. Flavor, good. Leaves color well in
fall. Has ornamental value.
Maroka
Medium-sized nut exposed in clusters 4 to 6. Open husk, folded back.
Ureoka
Medium size for Filazel. Thin-shelled roundish nut, 4 to 6 in clusters.
Very short, partially closed husk.
Orvoka
Two to 5 nuts in cluster. Clean kernels. Husk half-inch longer than nut.
Has open side. Good cropper.
Brenoka
Long husk like parent hazel, but lacking prickles of the wild. Medium
sized nut in clusters, 1 to 4.
Eloka
Two to 4 in cluster. Medium sized nut with clean kernels in open husks.
No. 500
Four to 10 nuts in cluster. Has short open husk. Good-sized nut of
Barcelona type. Is a good cropper of clean kernels. Shell heavy.
No. 502
Largest Barcelona type Filazel that has fruited to date. Clusters
contain 4 to 8 nuts enclosed in heavy medium-length closed husks.
No. 503
One to 9 nuts in cluster, having clean, full kernels in thick shells
enclosed in short open husks.
No. 505
One to 6 nuts in cluster, having closed, medium length husks. A good
cropper.
No. 509
Two to 6 roundish nuts in long closed husks free of prickles so common
on wild hazels. A good cropper. The parent hazels used for these crosses
mature the nuts by the first of August and were winter hardy at-60° F.
in Peace River, Alberta.
Other Hazels
Manchurian short bush hazel, distinctive clipped off top on leaf with
some colored (of reddish hue). This bush retains leaves all winter, and
would make a good protective covering for wild life. Has well-flavored,
clean kernels fully developed by August seventh, 1950. Kernel is
enclosed in heavy, squat shells encircled with distinctive short closed
husk, as if folded together just covering nut. The leaf shape and
markings carry through and appear in the young seedlings.
Experiments with Tree Hazels and Chestnuts
J. U. GELLATLY
Corylus jacquemontii
(Smooth Bark) India Tree Hazel
Tree No. 1. Location—N.W. corner Lot 6, subdivision Lot 487, Scions
from Kew Botanical Garden, England. Top grafted on Craig filbert 10 feet
from ground line. This made good annual growth and compatibly well
adjusted unions, which after many years are still in line and not
readily detected except by difference in color and character of
bark—the grafted top being smooth and lighter of color than Craig
stock. Although stocks were bearing when cut for grafting, and scions
were from bearing trees and had catkins on when received, grafts were
trained to take over and become the main growth and leading tree from
the Craig crown. This grafted tree did not produce catkins or nuts for
four or five years, but branches on the stock went right on bearing, as
did also other Craig sections on same root crown or filbert clump used
for grafting above tree hazel. At date of writing, and following the
severest winter of the past 45 years, when temperatures dropped to -24°
F., followed by brief, bright sunshine and rapid rise of temperature,
all ungrafted filberts of over three to four inches in diameter are dead
or nearly so, while suckers 2-1/2 inches in diameter and smaller are
quite sound and making good growth. So, also, are the stocks or sections
top grafted to the tree hazel—even the larger 4 to 4-1/2 inches in
diameter trunks. I ask why, as by all ordinary results the grafted trees
should have been the easiest damaged. This tree, and the other sections
of filberts on same crown, had cropped for three years past, so that
from that angle they should have been on an equal footing. Only a few
clusters of nuts grew on this ~Corylus jacquemontii~ this 1950 season.
Data on tree size: Height 32 feet—was grafted about 10 feet above
ground line. Circumference of tree—12 inches above ground is 15 inches.
At 4 inches below the graft, it is 10 inches, and the same four inches
above graft union, which is very uniform, and if this combination could
be reversed we would have an ideal non-suckering stock for commercial
filbert orchards. ~Jacquemontii~ also buds well on cork bark ~C. colurna~
tree hazel.
Corylus jacquemontii
Smooth Bark India Tree Hazel on
Cork Bark Turkish Tree Hazel
Corylus colurna Stock
Tree No. 2 Location—S.W. corner of Lot 6, subdivision Lot 487. Budded
August 15, 1941, at six feet from ground line, to one inch two year
growth. Two years later top was removed and bud made to take over
leadership. From then on it made good growth. Removal of top was not
done at one operation, but first year leader was cut one-third way
through, on long slope from bud downward on both sides, and allowed to
callus over one year. Second year leader was cut further and when
callused, top was then removed. This treatment gave good coverage of
wound on trunk. Tree bore first crop 1949, eight years after budding.
Nuts 1/2 inch in diameter, moderate shell of roundish form, well filled,
with good flavor, clean kernels. August 4, 1950—Tree has a base
circumference at ten inches above ground of 18-1/2 inches—at six feet
above, 14 inches—below union circumference is 14 inches, while four
inches above union it is 11 inches. No evidence of any winter injury
after taking a-24° F. temperature. No crop this year, but has a good
crop of catkins showing for 1951.
Corylus hetrophyllia Japanese Tree Hazel
Tree No. 3. Location—N. W. corner of Lot 6, subdivision Lot 487. Scions
from Kew Botanical Gardens, England, top grafted on Craig Filbert stocks
10 feet from ground line. Made very good union. Present circumference
four inches below union is 7-3/4 inches, and four inches above union is
8 inches.
The bark on this graft is similar to the Craig on which it is growing
but lighter in color. There is no winter injury in evidence at this date
except a very much lighter crop than usual. Has small, oval,
light-colored nut of good flavor and color—clean kernels.
Corylus colurna (Thin Bark) Turkish Tree Hazel, also Cork Bark
Tree No. 4. Source of Scions—Oregon, U.S.A. Top graft on Craig stock
six feet above ground. This Craig filbert clump has several divisions.
Main one now six inches above ground. Has a circumference of 20 inches,
and just above this branches into four main limbs of similar size, which
at a height of six feet were grafted—two to the thin bark above, and
two to the cork bark type. The thin bark type have made very compatible
unions—well healed over. The circumference four inches below the graft
is now 9-1/2 inches and at similar distance above is now 10 inches.
July, 1950:—These are bearing a few nuts, following a winter
temperature of-24° F. Although the two branches worked to the cork bark
type have no crop this season, they have over-grown graft unions, and
the tops are oversize for stocks. Circumference four inches below union
is now 7 inches, and at same distance above is 9 inches. Both these
types have thick shelled roundish nuts which are hard to get out of the
husks, and so far have many blank nuts. India tree hazels also contain
many blanks and are very difficult to separate from the husks. Trees are
all hardy and vigorous.
Best of 25 seedling ~C. colurna~ (cork bark tree hazels). Circumference
twelve inches above ground line is 31 inches, and at six feet above
ground is 25 inches. Height about forty feet. On August 3, 1950, I
climbed thirty feet into upper branches to see if there was any crop,
but none was to be seen, but heavy crop of catkins was developing for
1951. I have many hybrids from all of these tree hazels and filberts,
nearing the bearing age, and they give interesting promise of new
strains, as all sorts of crossing are evident.
Tibet Hazel (C. tibicia)
Vigorous grower, upright, good cropper, fair size round nuts. Clean
kernels, nut clusters, 4 to 6 nuts in open medium husks. Nuts fall free.
These clusters differ from usual run of filberts or hazels in that each
husk is separate on short neck from center of cluster.
Timber Type Tree Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima)
Seed secured direct from China. All select large nuts. So far, only a
very few produce trees that yield nuts of as large size as those
planted. All that have are timber type trees. All the bush or dwarf
spreading type trees yield small to medium-sized nuts, all of good
quality and flavor. (Selection to 1950 date referred to.)
One Chinese Chestnut Selection Named
Skioka. Most promising timber type to date of this group of seedlings.
Has one straight trunk 38 feet tall, base circumference 1 foot above
ground, is 22 inches; and 6 feet above ground line circumference is 15
inches. To date, tree is sparse cropper. Started bearing in 1945, with
three very large sized nuts in large fleshy burs. It has borne every
year since, with gradual increase in number. In 1949 it matured 12 large
nuts of 1-5/8 inch diameter. A good peeler and solid kernel. I have four
other trees of similar size and all winter hardy this past winter, at
24° below. Skioka is the most promising to date of the four as to size
of nut.
Bush or Peach Tree Type of C. mollissima
Of this type I have about 30 trees. Many seem 100% hardy and came
through in good shape. However, for some years they, with the tree type,
seemed to be having trouble with some soil deficiency or else some
excess of soil salts which caused a lot of leaf fading, followed by
browning and drying up. Some trees almost defoliate themselves, while
others nearby and alongside are O.K., possibly due to individual
tolerance of conditions.
* * * * *
DR. MacDANIELS: The first paper after recess has to do with the
varieties of hickory nuts. I know of no one who is in a better position
to talk on this subject on their performance here in this part of New
York State than Gilbert L. Smith of Millerton. He began a number of
years ago topworking trees on a hillside and propagating trees as a
nurseryman and probably is, as far as I know, one of the best men in nut
shade trees and hickory varieties that there is anywhere in the country.
Mr. Gilbert Smith.
MR. SMITH: I am no good at making a speech, so I am just going to read
this. This is our experience with hickory varieties so far. That's just
up to date, but not any further.
Our Experience with Hickory Nut Varieties
GILBERT L. SMITH, Route 2, Millerton, N. Y.
Because we are located so far north, 41° 45' North Latitude, we have
paid particular attention to the earliness of ripening of the various
varieties of hickory.
While we have living grafts of more than a hundred named varieties of
hickory, only a comparative few have started to bear nuts. Of these, I
will give a brief discussion, starting with the earliest and going
through the list in order of their ripening.
ANTHONY, shagbark—We believe that this is Anthony No. 1 but as there
are four or five varieties named Anthony with a number following the
name, we are not absolutely sure. This variety has ripened very early
with us. It is rather small but cracks very well and has borne well with
us. We consider it to be an excellent variety.
WESCHCKE, shagbark—Is our second earliest variety so far. It is also
rather small, with a distinctive shape, tapering from a rather broad
blossom end to a sharp point at the stem end. Our graft has had one very
good crop, but it is younger than many of our other grafts. We consider
it a very good variety.
CROWN POINT, shagbark—Is our third variety in order of ripening. This
is a rather small nut with some of them being very small; that is, there
is quite a variation in the size of the nuts. It cracks quite well and
is of very good quality. It has also borne as well or better than any
other variety we have under test. We have never propagated it for sale
as we have hardly thought it quite good enough.
In fourth place of ripening order, we have four ties, namely; Bauer,
Cedar Rapids, Hines, and Independence.
BAUER, shagbark—Has borne well, is of good size, good quality and
cracks well. It is also a very good shaped nut. We consider it to be one
of the very good hickories.
CEDAR RAPIDS, shagbark—While our graft of this variety has borne but
moderately, we consider it to be a very good variety. It is of good
size, cracks well, is of good quality and attractive shape.
HINES, shagbark—While our graft of this variety has borne well, cracks
well and is of good quality, it is so small that we have never
propagated it for sale.
INDEPENDENCE, shagbark—The nuts of this variety are so small that we
have paid little attention to it.
FOX, shagbark—This variety is in fifth place in order of ripening.
Fox won first prize in the 1934 N.N.G.A. contest. But there is a deep
mystery connected with this variety as subsequent crops, grown on
grafts, have not produced nuts of such top qualities. There have been
many theories advanced but no one has solved the mystery yet. One theory
is that there is bud variation in the parent tree and that Mr. Fox,
quite naturally, cut scion wood from the lower parts of the tree, which
were most readily accessible. During the war, I secured a special
allotment of gasoline and made the trip to Fonda, N. Y., to cut scions
from all parts of the tree. The scions from the various parts of the
tree were labeled separately and were grafted on stocks in our test
orchard. While not all of these grafts lived, we have living grafts from
nearly all parts of the tree. I note that at least one of these grafts
has nuts on it this year. If there is bud variation we hope that we will
have at least some grafts of the superior Fox nuts.
In spite of all this, Fox is an excellent variety, being of good size,
cracks well, and is of very good quality. While it is fifth in order of
ripening, it is still an early hickory and will succeed considerably
farther north than our location.
In sixth place we have two varieties, namely; Clark and Stocking.
CLARK, shagbark—Our graft of this variety has borne well, the nuts
being of good size, crack well and are of good quality. We consider it
to be a very good variety.
STOCKING, shagbark x bitternut—While our graft has grown very well, it
has produced but very few nuts. We were not very greatly impressed with
these.
In seventh place in order of ripening, we have two varieties, Camp No. 2
and Stratford.
CAMP NO. 2, shagbark—We did not find this variety good enough to
interest us very much. Subsequent crops may show up better.
STRATFORD, not sure whether shagbark or hybrid[29]—Our Stratford graft
has been poorly tended and has had little chance to show its merits. So
while it has an excellent reputation, we know very little about it.
However we have several good sized grafts of it, growing in nursery row,
which have several nuts on this year, so we will find out more about it
soon.
[29] It is a bitternut hybrid.—Ed.
In eighth place we have three varieties; Proper, Shaul, and Wilcox.
While being in eighth place, these are still medium early varieties.
PROPER, shagbark—This is a little known variety, our graft is rather
young and we have had too few nuts to form any opinion of this variety
as yet.
SHAUL, shagbark—While this is a very good nut, being of good size,
cracks well and of good quality, our graft on shagbark stock has grown
slowly and it is the one variety so far that we have found will not do
well on our bitternut stocks.
WILCOX, shagbark—So far this is our favorite variety. The graft has
grown into a fine tree and has borne good crops of nuts which are of
good size, crack almost perfectly and are of very good quality.
MINNIE, shagbark—While we have not had a crop of this variety since
starting to keep a ripening record, it ripens about the same time as
Wilcox and is a very good variety.
Ninth on our list we have two varieties; Davis and Peck Hybrid. It so
happens that I discovered both of these varieties.
DAVIS, shagbark—First prize winner in the New York and New England
Contest of 1934. Incidentally, a sample of Fox nuts was awarded tenth
place in this same contest. You will note that this was the same year in
which Fox won first place in the N.N.G.A.
Davis has pretty well lived up to expectations. Grafts of this variety
are rapid growers. It is the only variety we have ever succeeded in
making live on pignut stocks. While the grafts are slower growing on
pignut stocks, they have lived for several years and have borne nuts.
But as the squirrels have stolen all of the nuts, we do not know how
they compare with the nuts grown on other stocks.
Our grafts of Davis have borne well, the nuts are of good size and crack
well, although not as well as those of Wilcox. It is also of very good
quality. We consider it to be a top rate nut.
PECK HYBRID, shagbark x bitternut—The nuts of this variety are large,
thin shelled, crack well and are of good quality. It also bears well.
The drawback is that only about one third to one half of the nuts are
well filled. I can take freshly shucked nuts of this variety and by
placing them in water can pick out a sample of nuts that are just about
as good hickory nuts as you can find anywhere, but these will be only
about one third of the nuts involved. For this reason we have never
propagated it for sale.
In tenth place we have three varieties; Berger, Strever, and Triplett.
BERGER, shellbark—While this variety is quite small for a shellbark, it
is quite large when compared with the shagbarks. Our graft of the Berger
has borne fairly well, cracks well and is of very good quality.
Incidentally our graft is the true Berger. There was some mix-up with
the Berger wood, and some who thought they had Berger found that they
had something else when their trees started to bear.
STREVER, shagbark—The original tree of this variety is growing near
Pine Plains here in Dutchess County, on the Old Strever Homestead. This
property was later sold to people named Owre, who tried to have the
variety named after them. I believe that Strever is the more proper
name.
While this variety is of good size and quality, it has not cracked quite
well enough to rate it as a top flight hickory.
TRIPLETT, shagbark—This is a large shagbark which cracks well and is of
good quality. Our graft bears well. I believe that it was discovered by
Dr. Deming and the late Mr. Beeman. This is a variety which can well
bear considerable attention in the future. We are propagating some of
the trees for sale.
In eleventh place we have nine varieties, namely: Bridgewater, Griffin,
Hagen, Harman, Kirtland, Lingenfelter, Manahan, Oliver, and Wampler.
BRIDGEWATER, shagbark—A large fine variety, cracks well, yields well
and is of good quality. This is another discovery of Dr. Deming's and
Mr. Beeman's. We have started to propagate it for sale.
GRIFFIN, shagbark—I have mislaid my comments on this variety and cannot
remember much about it, except that it is of good size and bears well.
HAGEN, shagbark—We have not had enough nuts of this variety to enable
us to form an opinion of it.
HARMAN, shagbark—A large nut. We did not think much of our first crop
of this variety but the second crop was very good.
KIRTLAND, shagbark—This is a fine large nut, but with the one good
crop, we have had, only about half of the nuts were well filled. The
other half were floaters, only partly filled.
LINGENFELTER, shagbark—Here again we have had too few nuts to enable us
to form an opinion. Mr. Reed thought very well of it.
MANAHAN, shagbark—This nut is of southern origin and I fear that we are
too far north for it. However we have had one crop that was very good.
All other crops have not been matured. It is evidentally a very good nut
where it can be grown.
OLIVER, shagbark—Too few nuts to form an opinion.
WAMPLER, shellbark—Too few nuts to form an opinion.
In twelfth place on our list, in order of ripening, we have Bowman and
Redcay. These are both shellbarks and the nuts have not been well
filled, as borne on our grafts.
In last place on our list, we have a southern shagbark, Booth, and two
hicans, Bixby and Burlington. We have not been able to form an opinion
of Booth. Bixby and Burlington have, so far, been very shy bearers and
the nuts have not been well filled. They are of very large size and very
excellent quality.
The time elapsed between the earliest and latest ripening of these
different hickory varieties was 36 days. The time between the different
steps were about three days. I do not give the dates because they will
vary from year to year. In early years, Anthony has been ripe very early
in September.
Summarizing this report shows that our tests so far indicate that the
following varieties are good and well worthy of propagation: Anthony
(probably No. 1), Weschcke, Bauer, Cedar Rapids, Fox, Clark, Wilcox,
Minnie, Davis, Berger, Triplett, Bridgewater, Manahan (farther south).
Instead of listing these 13 varieties alphabetically or in order of
their merits, I have listed them in order of their ripening, earliest
first, and so on. Those varieties in the first half of the list can be
grown in locations considerably farther north than our location, which
is 41° 45' North Latitude, while those in the last half of the list are
not likely to be adapted to locations farther north than ours.
You will note that five of these varieties are not well known, but are
good varieties. They are, namely; Bauer, Cedar Rapids, Clark, Triplett,
and Bridgewater.[30]
[30] The Bridgewater pollenizes the male-sterile Weschcke variety in
Wisconsin. See Mr. Weschcke's discussion, pp. 193-95 in NNGA Report for
1948.—Ed.
This is only a preliminary or progress report, and should not be taken
as final in any respect. Neither does it cover all or near all, of the
top-rate hickory varieties. For instance, you will note, the variety
named Glover has not been mentioned. This is because our grafts of it
have not started to bear yet, so we have no comparable basis for
including it in this report. Yet there can be no question as to the
merits of Glover, for it is one of the very best. There are, no doubt,
many other very excellent varieties not mentioned here.
The hickory is the slowest growing, takes the longest to start to bear,
is the nurseryman's headache (it taking about five years to grow stocks
large enough to graft or bud, during which time they should have been
transplanted at least twice to develop a better root system), they are
about (the hardest of the nut species to transplant and their nuts are
one of the smallest of the nut species only the filbert and the chestnut
being as small). Yet because of their delicious flavor and other good
qualities, hickories are probably the favorite nut of more people than
any other of the nut species that can be grown in the northern part of
this country.
(Applause.)
DR. MacDANIELS: I think we need more reports of that kind to get us
oriented with our hickory varieties. I think when we get through with
the walnut survey that the hickory nut survey would be next.
MR. CORSAN: Hickory was Dr. Charles S. Sargent's favorite tree, and he
planted poison ivy under all of them, and it's there yet and they can't
get rid of it. He wanted to keep the boys from gathering the nuts.
DR. MacDANIELS: I have poison ivy under some of mine, but not for that
purpose.
MR. McDANIEL: It grows under all good trees.
DR. MacDANIELS: The next paper is one which George Slate kind of foisted
off on me. He came around and said he thought something more should be
said about the butternut and asked if I would get out a report and
discuss the standards for evaluation. That is the reason for this paper,
which I will read. It will take only about ten minutes.
How About the Butternut?
DR. L. H. MacDANIELS, Ithaca, New York
The purpose in presenting this paper is to summarize what is known about
the butternut in the light of my own experience, and to find out from
you in discussion what additional facts are available and what some of
the problems in the culture of butternuts may be. A good summary by S.
H. Graham is to be found in the 34th Annual report of the Northern Nut
Growers Association, and short reports appear elsewhere. In general,
however, judging from the proceedings of this Association, the butternut
has not received much attention through the years. The lack of interest
in the butternut indicates unsatisfactory experience with this nut on
the part of those who have tried to grow and use it. An analysis of its
good and bad characteristics is in order.
Of all the species of nuts with which the Association is concerned, the
butternut is the most hardy and the most likely to succeed on poor soil.
In general, the trees are easy to transplant, are early bearing,
sometimes within two years from the graft, and are easy to grow. The
flavor of the butternut is very distinctive and palatable, and usually
much more flavorful than similar nuts derived from the Japanese
butternut and the heartnut. Some people consider the butternut flavor
the best of all nuts.
On the other hand, the butternut has a reputation for being short lived
because of susceptibility to various diseases. The seedling trees which
are usually sold are slow in bearing. The common wild nuts are hard to
crack with a hammer, and the better named varieties are not well known
or widely grown. The trees also have a reputation for being difficult to
propagate. Of these faults, probably the difficulty of propagation and
cracking are the most important in restricting its use.
Botanically the butternut (Juglans cinerea) belongs to a group of
species within the genus Juglans that bears its fruit in long clusters
or racemes, as contrasted with the walnut group which bears nuts singly
or in clusters of two or three. The butternuts also have the fruit and
leaves covered with sticky hairs instead of being smooth. The group is
further characterized by having a cushion of hairs above the leaf scars
and pointed terminal buds on the twigs. Other species within the group
are the Japanese butternut J. Sieboldiana, its variety cordiformis,
the heartnut, and several less well known species including J.
mandshurica and J. cathayensis, both native to central Asia. These
closely related species apparently hybridize with each other, but
accurate information as to the nature and extent of such hybridization
is not available.
The natural geographical range of the butternut covers a broad area of
Northeastern North America, extending from New Brunswick southward to
the mountains of Georgia and westward to Western Ontario, Dakota, and
Arkansas. In this range it is most frequent in calcareous soils,
reaching its best development in rich woodland, but persisting on poorer
upland soils also. It thus has the most northern range of our native nut
species, along with the Pignut, Carya glabra, and one species of
hazelnut, Corylus rostrata. The other related species are of variable
and uncertain hardiness and are not reliable in this northern range.
It is recognized that the butternut has little commercial value except
as it is used in the New England states, particularly in Vermont, where
it is combined with maple sugar in making maple-butternut candy. Anyone
who has travelled through the New England states is familiar with the
roadside advertising of this excellent product. On the general market,
butternut kernels are not sold in quantity comparable to those of the
black walnut, but are somewhat comparable to the kernels of the hickory
which also do not have a commercial outlet except locally.
The greatest use of the butternut is, and will continue to be, for the
home grounds and local consumption. I think it is highly probable that
if the easy cracking varieties already named were better known, they
would be much more widely planted. The common wild butternuts are really
difficult to handle. They crack only after considerable hammering with a
heavy hammer and then, when cracked, the kernels shatter to such an
extent that recovery is very unsatisfactory for the labor expended.
After butternuts have been gathered from the wild with some enthusiasm
during the fall months, they often remain in the cellar or attic without
ever being used. Even the squirrels and the rats will not go to the
bother of extracting the kernels if other nuts are available.
For best results the nuts are usually cracked with a heavy hammer, the
nut being held vertically against a solid vice or block, so it can be
hit on the end. A glove to protect the fingers holding the nut is useful
if many are to be cracked. Good results can be secured by holding the
nut on its side and tapping it on the suture. This, however is
difficult, as it necessitates shucking the nut and even then it is
difficult to identify the suture.
Through the years many varieties of butternut have been named. Mr. R. L.
Watts in the 35th annual report of the Association lists 26 names, and I
am sure there are others. I personally have had experience with only
three or four varieties. One of these, the Crax-ezy, has borne good
crops and the nuts crack well. Another one, which I have named the
Johnson, coming from Tonawanda, New York, cracks well but is a smaller
nut. At one time I had Thill variety topworked on Juglans Sieboldiana
stock, but the stock was killed by cold winter. Samples of Kinnyglen and
Mandeville were furnished by Mr. Graham for testing. We do not, however,
have any comparative rating of many varieties based on comparative
tests, nor are there recognized standards of quality.
In order to set up standards of quality for butternuts, the following
tentative schedule for judging has been worked out along the same lines
as the schedule for judging black walnuts. Twenty-five nuts are used in
a sample and the score is made up of the weight in grams of the kernels
recovered on the first crack, plus total weight of kernels divided by 2,
plus 1/2 point for each whole half kernel recovered. A nut should not be
considered worthy of propagation unless practically all of the kernels
come out in whole halves.
Proposed Schedule For Testing Butternuts
25 Nut Samples
Score = Wt. kernels first crack + total wt. kernels ÷ 2 + no. whole
halves ÷ 2.
Weight Total
Kernels Weight
1st crack Kernels No.
Variety Grams Grams Halves Score Remarks
Kinnyglen 52.0 57.5 36 98.8
Crax-ezy 48.0 56.0 44 98.0
Mandeville 53.6 66.0 10 91.6
Johnson 38.5 45.5 40 81.3
Seedling No. 1 36.5 45.0 7 62.5
Seedling No. 2 26.0 43.0 22 58.5
Seedling No. 3 20.0 44.5 10 47.3
In this schedule the crackability of the sample is measured by the
weight of first crack and the number of halves. The yield of kernels is
measured by the total weight of kernels in the sample. The first crack
includes only those kernels that either fall out or can be removed
easily with the fingers. The remaining kernels are rescued with a pick
or by recracking. In my judgment, the score accurately measures the
merit of the samples. In the Mandeville, the large size is measured by
the weight of kernels which in part offsets poor cracking quality. Poor
cracking is usually caused by the edges of the halves being curved so
as to be bound in the shell. Much more testing should be done to
determine the value of the schedule.
Opinions regarding the ease of propagation of the butternut differ, but
mostly it is considered difficult to propagate, with often complete
failure. This merely means that the matter is not well understood. In my
own experience I have had just about as many failures as successes, and
must confess that I do not have much idea of what has been responsible
for either success or failure. Best results have been secured by using
inlay or bark slot grafts on stubs about 2 inches in diameter. This
agrees with the experience of Mr. Burgart, of Michigan, and Mr. Weshcke,
of Minnesota, who report that grafts must be made several feet from the
ground and not at the crown.
Shield budding has apparently not been satisfactory. Mr. D. C. Snyder
writes that chip budding is more successful. It is recommended by others
and I agree that grafting should be done early, just as growth starts
rather than later when trees are in leaf. Special care must be used in
tying the new shoots of the graft to braces to prevent breakage by wind
or birds. The butternut wood is very brittle and the grafts are often
lost by breakage. The whole matter of butternut propagation merits
further careful study.
Butternut varieties may be grafted on black walnut, butternut, or J.
Sieboldiana stocks. Mr. Burgart, Mr. Weschcke, and Mr. D. C. Snyder
consider black walnut to be better than the others, giving a more
vigorous long lived tree. Varieties on butternut stocks are apparently
relatively short lived and J. Sieboldiana stocks have a different
growth rate and are not hardy. Mr. Burgart uses bark slot grafts on
black walnut seedling stocks, 2-3 years old.
Butternut trees on their own roots transplant relatively easily because
there is no taproot as with the black walnut and the hickory, and there
are many fibrous surface roots that can be lifted when the tree is dug.
Black walnut stocks are not difficult to manage, particularly if the
taproots are cut on the seedlings. Culture is no special problem.
Mulching and supplying nitrogenous fertilizer is good practice.
The butternut has the reputation of being susceptible to disease and
hence being short lived as a tree. Whether or not this is actually the
case is perhaps questionable. Many butternut trees, particularly those
in favorable situations of soil and moisture, live to be of large size
and old age. Trees on poorer, thinner soils apparently die off earlier
than those under better conditions. In any case, it is well recognized
that the butternut has a shorter life span on the average than the black
walnut, which frequently lives to a large size and old age. There are
two common diseases of the butternut. One is leaf spot caused by the
fungus Marsonia, which defoliates the trees fairly early in the season
and probably predisposes them to injury from other fungous attack. This
is the same leaf spot that attacks the black walnut leaves. The other
disease, which may cause trouble, is a fungous walnut blight known more
specifically as Melanconis blight. It has not been established that this
disease is an active parasite. The evidence indicates rather that it
attacks trees that are already somewhat weakened by defoliation or other
injury. It is a fact that many of the dead limbs on butternut trees are
found to be affected with the disease. It is a matter of observation
that trees growing under favorable conditions are less damaged by the
disease than those growing under poor conditions of soil and water,
therefore, keeping trees vigorous is good practice.
As with other nut tree species, there are troublesome insects. One of
these, the butternut snout beetle or curculio, attacks both the
butternut and the Japanese walnut. Control has apparently been secured
by dusting foliage with DDT. Sometimes the leaves of butternuts are
badly distorted with galls caused by mites. The bunchy top or
witches'-broom caused by a virus, that is serious on the Japanese
walnut, Juglans Sieboldiana, does not appear to be so virulent on
butternut. This, however, is a matter of personal observation and is not
based on a thorough study.
In conclusion, let me say that in my judgment, the butternut is worthy
of more attention than it has had so far received, particularly by home
owners in the northern states who would like to have trees in their
yards that will bear nuts under conditions that are unfavorable for most
other kinds. If it were publicized that varieties are available that
will crack out in halves with relatively little effort, the chances are
that with these facts in mind those interested in nut trees would give
the butternut much more attention. The difficulty at the present time
seems to be related to a lack of knowledge as to the relative merit of
different varieties and a scarcity of trees because of difficulty of
propagation. If we have time and the chairman will permit, I would
welcome comments on the propagation problem and would also like to
obtain any information on the merit of the named varieties. Let me also
state that if any of you have a sample of 30 nuts of any named variety
in this or last fall's crop that you can spare, I would be much pleased
to have you send it to me for testing.
Discussion
MR. STOKE: It grows in New Brunswick, and I have had specimens from
north of Lake of the Woods.
MR. CORSAN: They grow at Brooks, Alberta. I have the Helmick and it
grows 14 to the cluster, has a thin shell and heavy meat, and the leaves
are persistent. They don't drop off the first of September. That's the
Helmick. It's grafted on black walnut stock, and the black walnut stock
comes up like that (indicating) and the Helmick recedes.
DR. MacDANIELS: The black walnut overgrows it. There are about 40
varieties, and I would like very much to get hold of any of the samples
I can get.
MR. CORSAN: Go up to Silver Bay, Lake George, and on the shore there the
Indians have bred the butternut, and it's 10 to the cluster among those
trees by Silver Bay, Lake George, New York. Ernest Thompson Seaton and I
examined that grove years ago.
DR. MacDANIELS: Wish we had them where we could get at them. Any other
comment on the butternut?
MR. McDANIEL: The Helmick is considered to be a "butter-jap" seedling of
heartnut, possibly the other parent was a butternut.
DR. MacDANIELS: That is something we will have to decide in the
Association, whether or not we are going to throw in these hybrids and
the heartnut along with the butternuts in standards or try to keep them
separate.
MR. CORSAN: Hybrid heartnut cross is very, very superior in every way to
the butternut in my estimation, except for hardiness.
MR. STOKE: That is a hybrid. I have it. The Mitchell hybrid.
DR. MacDANIELS: The ordinary run of seedlings are not worth keeping, no
question about that, and it's too much work to recover the kernels.
There are several announcements I'd like to make. One has to do with
this hall. It is the American Legion hall, which they do not charge rent
for. They do, however, and will expect some sort of a token of
appreciation that will be fairly substantial. There is no provision for
that in the budget, so any of you who are feeling a little mellow and
flush, if you want to approach the treasurer with a contribution towards
the use of this hall, that will be appreciated; otherwise, the matter
will have to be settled out of the treasury as such.
MR. CORSAN: How about a dance in this hall?
DR. MacDANIELS: If we stay over, we might do something like that.
Then there is the other matter, and that is the prize for the proposed
Carpathian walnut contest. There is no prize money available at the
present time. If any of you wish to provide a first, second, or third
prize, we might even tag it with your name, if that would be possible.
I think probably they will be able to get some publicity backing through
farm papers and what not, but still if we have a backlog of prize money,
why, that's much to your advantage.
Do you want to say anything further on that, Mr. Chase?
MR. McDANIEL: Mr. Sherman, I believe, has a word.
MR. SHERMAN: Not in this connection.
MR. PATAKY: Do any of the members here have shelled butternuts or
hickory nuts that they would sell? If they do, I'd like to get their
names and get in touch with them. I do have a demand for some shelled
butternuts which I have trouble getting, and I do have trouble getting
shelled hickory nuts. It is for the Wideman Company out of Cleveland. I
got shelled butternuts before the war, but since the war they don't have
the trade, but if they could get them, I think that would be the company
that would take them. The Wideman Company of Cleveland, Ohio. They are a
big wholesale house. Write to Christ Pataky, Mansfield, Ohio, R.D. 4.
MR. KINTZEL: Do you sell them in the shell?
MR. PATAKY: I do sell them in the shell, too, but there are a lot of
people who won't buy them in the shell. We do have a demand for them,
not too much on the butternut, but we do have for hickory nuts. I think
we could sell a lot more hickory nut meats than hickory nuts even at the
difference of the price. I know the price was quite high before the war.
They paid somewhere around a dollar a pound before the war for shelled
ones, and we even sold them at a profit for that, and we haven't been
able to get any since the war. I don't know what happened, whether the
kids are too busy playing basketball or football.
DR. MacDANIELS: They get too much for mowing lawns.
MR. WEBER: There is a nut crackery at Mitchell, Indiana. The man who
cracks them cracks hickory nuts and puts them out in his name, John
Eversol. Mr. Wilkinson can tell you exactly what his name is. He was
down there last year. He is cracking walnuts, and in addition cracks
hickory nuts and puts them in fine shape.
MR. CORSAN: Isn't it true that nuts have more Vitamin E than any other
food in the world, and isn't Vitamin E the greatest antidote against
anemia?
DR. MacDANIELS: I wouldn't know. You have a medical man here?
DR. WASHICK: I don't think you are right.
MR. CORSAN: In the West they say Vitamin E is a cure for anemia and they
are having wonderful success, and they claim there is more vitamin E in
nuts than any other food. I don't know, they are keeping me alive.
~Editor's Note~: Green walnuts are rich in Vitamin C. See 1942 Report,
page 95.
DR. MacDANIELS: You are Exhibit 1.
I think Mr. Salzer has slides he wanted to show this afternoon.
MR. SALZER: I had a few. Perhaps we can use those blankets and just fix
up, perhaps, a few of these windows in front, and I think we could
probably show the slides.
DR. MacDANIELS: If you can leave the blankets here for a short time, we
will get them later.
Any other questions?
I think our lunch is ready for us downstairs. We will come back up here
at one o'clock.
(Whereupon, at 11:50 o'clock, a. m., the meeting was recessed, to
reconvene at 1 o'clock of the same day.)
DR. MacDANIELS: Calling the afternoon session to order.
This afternoon I am going to turn the gavel over to our good friend,
Spencer Chase, to carry on.
MR. CHASE: Thank you, thank you.
All of us are interested in the various experiment stations doing more
work with nut trees, and we are very fortunate this afternoon in having
two experiment stations represented, and we will first hear from Bill
Clarke from Penn State, who will talk on, "Progress in nut culture at
the Pennsylvania State College." Mr. Clark.
Progress in Nut Culture at the Pennsylvania State College
W. S. CLARKE, JR., State College, Pennsylvania
Work in nut growing at the Pennsylvania State College was formally begun
in 1946, when a project on this subject was approved by the college
authorities. A few acres of land were set aside for this work, and the
following spring about half an acre was planted with a few nut trees of
different species. At the present time an area of about twenty acres is
set aside for nut plantings, although a few spots on this land are not
plantable on account of rock outcrops.
We now have out in the field sixty black walnuts, all but three of them
named varieties, which were received from Tennessee in 1949. Seventeen
varieties are represented in this collection.
In the nursery are more than 200 seedling black walnuts. These were
planted from nuts gathered from local trees in the fall of 1946. They
were transplanted at the end of their first season and have remained in
their present position for three years. They were planted largely for
the sake of experience in handling the nuts and the young trees. Some of
them have been grafted, and this year a few grafts of Thomas and Stabler
were successful. On account of their size, all these trees will have to
be taken out at the end of the present growing season.
About twenty Persian walnuts have been received from the United States
Department of Agriculture. These are all budded trees, the buds having
been taken from special selections with the best nuts from trees
originally introduced from northern Europe and central Asia. Three out
of four seedling Persian walnuts and one out of two Japanese walnuts
planted in 1947 have survived and are included in our planting. One
named variety of butternut is in our collection, and a number of
seedlings in our nursery.
It has been our experience that walnut trees can be moved rather easily.
The percentage of loss in transplanting has been negligible. On account
of an emergency, this spring we had to move several walnuts which were
already in full leaf. Some of the leaves were trimmed off, and the trees
have survived and have even made some additional growth.
On our grounds is one Chinese chestnut left from a planting of eight in
1930. It was killed back to the ground in 1934 after winter temperatures
of close to 30 degrees below zero, but it has since grown up to be a
tree of moderate size. It suffered considerable injury to buds and twigs
in 1948 from temperatures down to 23 degrees below zero, but has since
recovered. In several years it has borne a crop of burs, but no other
tree is available for cross-pollination, and the nuts have seldom
filled.
Twelve seedling Chinese chestnut trees from different sources have been
planted, and an area of several acres has been set aside to extend the
work on chestnuts.
A start has been made toward a collection of filberts. Five named
varieties of European filberts were planted in 1947. All have suffered
from winter injury, but only one tree has been killed outright. Very few
nuts have been produced. About 25 seedlings of European filberts and 25
of the American were received from Tennessee two years ago. About 90%
have survived and are growing nicely.
Several other species of nuts have been tried without success. Two trees
of the red hickory were set out several years ago, but they failed to
leaf out. Four young trees of the golden chinkapin of the Pacific Coast
were planted and grew well the first summer, but all four were killed by
the first freeze in the fall. About a pound of nuts of the Turkish tree
hazel were planted several years ago; these failed to come up the first
year. The next winter the mice and rabbits discovered them and ate up
most of the planting. A few germinated, but most of these were lost in
transplanting, and today only two are left of the entire lot.
MR. CHASE: Thank you, Mr. Clarke.
(Applause.)
Discussion
MR. SHERMAN: I'd like to say, just before you leave this subject, that
the speaker barely mentioned the fertilization experiment that was
started in Pennsylvania on black walnuts. I think the members of the nut
survey stuck their necks out and got their heads hit a little bit when
we said that the black walnut as an orchard industry in Pennsylvania was
sick. We hadn't been able to find crops of black walnuts. We found
individual trees, but we couldn't find orchards of black walnuts, and as
a result of that, this fertilization experiment was started, in a
55-acre black walnut orchard with Ohio, Stabler and Thomas varieties.
The owner, Truman Jones, said, "I don't care what you do with the
Stablers, you can't hurt them, anyway; they are no good to begin with."
But this orchard, evidently from all outward appearances, has been
growing very slowly for quite a number of years. It isn't the size it
should be, and we think the main trouble there is lack of fertility, and
that's the reason why this fertilization experiment was started.
It's quite an ambitious experiment. It takes in about 93 trees in the
center of a 55-acre planting of black walnuts. They haven't had a crop,
I think, for five or six or seven years. They don't have a crop this
year, but we are hoping that some of them next year will have a crop,
but if not then the year following.
They are asking about the cultivation. There has been no cultivation
there in the orchard for a number of years. It's down in a pretty heavy
bluegrass sod. In a portion of that we put the disc in on the tractor
and disced and redisced until we got what we thought was a pretty fair
seedbed. They found that vertical profile a mixture, and we are hoping
to have clover sod instead of bluegrass sod. That's combined with
fertility work. I won't take time to go into that, but I think this
group is interested in knowing that there is quite an extensive
fertility experiment on black walnuts to see why the large plantings are
not producing.
I might say in this connection, Mr. Hostetter isn't here this afternoon,
hasn't been here, but he has a dandy bang-up nice crop of nuts this
year, and Ohio and Thomas are his main varieties.
MR. CRAIG: Did he use any fertilizers?
MR. SHERMAN: Yes, the fertilizer was disced in, and he tried to disc
under that bluegrass sod and get that rotting under there. There are
quite a few ramifications to that program.
MR. CORSAN: Did you mention Turkish tree hazel?
MR. CLARKE: Yes, we have two trees of it left.
MR. CORSAN: It takes two years to sprout from the time you plant the
seed. Have you tried the European beechnuts in your locality?
MR. CLARKE: No, we haven't.
MR. CORSAN: It will produce far more than the American beechnut and is
more successful in every way. They can be gotten from Holland quite
cheaply. They sell the European beech, and they are beautiful and loaded
with nuts and the Europeans think far more of them than the Americans
do. The cut-leaf beech is an European beech, and I have seen the tree in
Southern Michigan and at the Old Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio, loaded
with nuts. And frequently, not just once in every 13 years, like our
beechnut. And they are a bigger nut.
Nut Tree Culture in Missouri
T. J. TALBERT, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
The wide interest now being shown in the planting of nut trees
throughout the State emphasizes the need of information on nut culture.
Although nut trees may be grown with less care and attention than fruit
trees, yet to be successful in starting plantings a knowledge of
successful practices developed by the Missouri Agricultural Experiment
Station at Columbia should prove of great value.
The information which follows applies particularly to the native black
walnuts, butternuts, hardy northern pecans, hickories, chinkapins, and
hazelnuts. All these nut plants are native to Missouri and may do well
if given proper attention in the various districts of the state to which
they are adapted.
Nuts are now given in the diet a higher rating than ever before. This is
true because recent studies in nutrition show that they supply not only
the elements needed for health and growth, proteins, oils, and
carbohydrates but also an abundance of vitamins A, B1, and G. In fact,
the nuts compare very favorable with meats in rankings for the above
vitamins. Most of the nuts are especially noteworthy in high vitamin A
and B1 content. It is also believed generally that nuts contain nearly
all of the mineral essentials demanded for the promotion of healthy
nutrition.
Moreover, nuts are usually palatable in the raw stage and are prized
most highly for dessert purposes. The black walnut is particularly
outstanding because it retains its flavor after cooking. Nuts now have a
very extensive use in the preparation of confectioneries, cakes, breads,
and salads. They enhance the flavor of many other foods.
The value of nuts as food accessories has long been recognized. They
also supply so much body fuel in so compact a form that they are
particularly well suited for the use of mountain climbers, "hikers," and
even soldiers engaged in long marches and maneuvers.
~As Shade Trees~—If during the past 40 or 50 years, a large portion of
the shade trees planted had been nut trees like the native walnut,
pecan, hickory, chestnut, and chinkapin of the better varieties, it is
easy for anyone to see that great benefits would have resulted.
~For Highway Planting~—No other native trees lend themselves so admirably
to highway use as the so-called northern or native pecan, the black
walnut, and the hickories. These nut trees are all generally
well-shaped, reach considerable heights particularly on fertile soils,
are stately in appearance, and add beauty and attractiveness to the
landscape wherever they are grown.
~Soils Needed for Good Growth~—The nut trees adapt themselves to a very
wide range of soil conditions. In fact, few other trees are capable of
such a wide range of adaptability to soil types. The uplands usually
planted to corn and wheat and the flood plains of the river basins may
both be well suited to nut growing.
For good growth and production deep well-drained soils are required.
Under proper conditions the trees develop rapidly, have an extensive
root system, and eventually may reach a great age. Furthermore, nut
trees cannot grow successfully on wet poorly-drained land where water
stands on or just beneath the surface a considerable portion of the
year. Lowlands which may be found well adapted to the growth of willow
and gum trees, may be too wet and sour for the growth of nut trees. It
would also be well to avoid dry, very thin, and very sandy soils.
In their native range the pecan, hickory, and walnut thrive on the
alluvial soils of the Missouri and Mississippi River Valleys. They grow
well also on the upland sandy loam soils adapted to the growth of corn,
oats, and wheat. All of these nut trees are usually influenced more by
the fertility, humus, and moisture content of the soil, than by any
particular soil type.
~Fertilizers for Nut Trees~—The deep rich alluvial soils of river and
creek valleys do not present the same fertilizer problems as light and
heavy upland soils. Manure supplemented with superphosphate at the rate
of about 20 to 30 pounds to a ton should prove to be a satisfactory
fertilizer on depleted soils. It is spread in a circle around the trees
extending out about twice the spread of the branches and plowed or
harrowed into the soil. A moderate application would range from 8 to 12
tons to the acre.
Leguminous cover crops are particularly valuable for building up the
nitrogen and humus content of the soil when plowed under. Their
judicious use with non-leguminous cover crops and supplemented with
commercial fertilizers to increase the tonnage for plowing under, will
usually bring good returns in growth and production.
Since but few diseases and insects attack nut trees in Missouri, very
little if any spraying work will be required while the trees are young.
As the trees grow older, however, it may be necessary to give pest
control more attention. Caterpillars that infest the foliage of the
trees in late summer and early fall can usually be destroyed by cutting
off the comparatively few branches on which the worms have clustered and
burning them. The pest may also be destroyed on high branches by means
of torches. If the trees can be sprayed thoroughly, arsenicals and other
insecticides used in spraying apple orchards will be found very
effective while the worms are small.
As in the care of a young apple or peach orchard, it is important that
the young trees for at least the first two or three years be given
cultivation and some fertilization on lands of lower fertility if a good
growth is not being made. A heavy mulch of straw or litter around the
trees may prove very satisfactory.
Moreover, livestock should be kept away from the trees until they are
established and the branches of sufficient height to be out of danger of
injury. It is a serious mistake to plant or grow from seed small nut
trees and leave them unprotected from farm animals. If the land is to be
grazed, each tree may be guarded with strong posts and barbed or woven
wire spaced about 8 to 10 feet from the trees.
Once the young nut orchard is thoroughly established and growing
thriftily, grass may be grown beneath the trees and furnish nearly as
much hay or pasture as though the trees were not present. If livestock
is allowed to graze in the orchard, which is a questionable practice
while the trees are young, the trees should be pruned and trained to
fairly high heads.
~Spacing for Nut Trees~—The growing of nut trees for timber alone
requires a spacing of about 25 to 35 feet apart with other species of
trees common to the area growing up later between the nut trees to
facilitate the development of tall clean trunks. Under such conditions
nut production is inhibited and harvests may be comparatively small. Nut
trees grown mainly for nut production rather than for timber may be
planted 60 to 80 feet apart on the square plan.
The Thomas black walnut may bear a few nuts the second year following
transplanting. Different varieties and species of grafted walnuts,
pecans, and hickories often begin bearing from two to four years after
setting. Chestnut seedlings may also bear in the second or third year.
Black walnuts from seed sometimes bear a few nuts at 8 to 10 years of
age. Profitable bearing, however, may not be expected in the average nut
orchard until the trees are at least 10 to 12 years old.
For the most part these nut trees do not require heavy pruning.
Superfluous branches, dead limbs, and unsymmetrical ones, should be
removed from time to time while the trees are young and becoming
established. A uniform top is desirable. The pruning is begun when the
trees are 2 or three years old by removing the lowest branches. The rule
is to cut away only one branch a year. But trees making a very strong
growth may stand more pruning and those making a poor growth may need
none.
Cultivation and other orchard practices may be greatly simplified in
commercial plantings by pruning and training the tree heads to heights
of six or eight feet. Even then the lower branches will ultimately be
pressed downward by the weight of nuts and foliage when bearing begins.
Regular annual pruning is required generally to prevent the limbs from
interfering with orchard practices. Furthermore, branches lower than six
or eight feet high, should be subdued by cutting back while the trees
are young. These limbs should be removed ~only~ when the trees have become
anchored strongly enough in the soil to prevent the directions of the
trunk being influenced by the prevailing winds.
There is something about the distinctive flavor of our native black
walnut kernels that appeals to the American people. And there is much
about the black walnut tree itself that makes it much admired and
respected.
It grows rapidly, and yet it is one of our most valuable timber trees.
It is an excellent tree for the grounds about the home. Not only does it
yield an annual crop, but it is a lovely shade tree—beautiful to look
at—and has the further advantage that the lawn grasses grow well
beneath it.
~Has Wide Distribution~—It is a very cosmopolitan tree in that it will
thrive almost anywhere if given half a chance. From lower Canada to the
Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, it may be
found in various states of production. On the fertile lands, however, of
the Mississippi and Ohio River basins it reaches perhaps its highest
development. The 10 high ranking states in walnut lumber production are
as follows, in order of their importance: Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, and Texas.
~Valuable Timber Tree~—Some of the main or principal uses of the wood may
be enumerated as follows: For the making of gun stocks, it stands
supreme. Since walnut does not warp or swell when wet it does not
interfere with the action of the gunlock in gun stocks. The wood also
may be made into a sharp edge and fit snugly against the metal parts,
while the dark color and beautiful grain produces an attractive
implement. It is a standard and a favorite for musical instruments
notably pianos and organs; sewing machine tables, cases, small airplane
propellers, picture frames, caskets, cabinet work, moldings and many
forms of ornaments. The shells of the nuts were, during World War I,
manufactured into carbon and used for gas masks.
The wood possesses unusual and rare combinations of qualities which make
it superior in the manufacturing of the articles mentioned above. Its
freedom from warping, checking, or splitting when subjected to alternate
wetting and drying is an unusual quality. It works easily with all kinds
of tools, has remarkable durability in the presence of wood-decaying
fungi and insects. Moreover, it is hard, durable, heavy, stiff and
strong. The dark color of the wood does not allow soiling stains to show
and the grain of the wood and its texture make it easy to grip.
~Produces a Nutritious Food~—The kernels of the black walnut are now used
not only in candy making but to a large extent in breads, cakes, salads,
waffles, and other forms of food. In the cities the kernels are sold
yearly in increasing amounts not only from wholesale and retail grocers
but by street venders as well. One may often find the kernels for sale
at food stands and in other places where fruits and vegetables are sold.
~Changing Seedling Trees to Named Varieties~—On nearly every farm, walnut
trees are growing along ravines, fence rows, and on rough land which is
more or less out of the way and inaccessible. Most of these may be
top-worked by one or more methods to the named and more desirable kinds
of black walnuts without imparing the value of the timber. In 5 to 7
years seedling trees ranging in age from 15 to 40, if topworked, may
produce crops equal to untreated trees. Still younger and smaller trees
from one to 10 or 12 years old, may generally be top-worked with less
difficulty than older trees.
~Results from Top-working Experiments~—Cleft grafting work performed at
the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station has been very successful.
In fact, walnut top-working has been but little if any more difficult
than apple or pear top-working. With reasonable care and fairly good
technique the grafting operation is not difficult to perform. It is
believed, however, that the common practice in top-working pecan,
hickory, and walnut has been to dehorn too severely. This may induce
insect and disease injury which often results in a very poor tree after
10 or 12 years. For good results, six inches in diameter should be the
maximum size of the limb for top-working.
~Encourages New Industry~—A wider interest in black walnut kernels has
caused a new industry to spring up. This consists of nut cracking or
shelling establishments which have been located in the walnut growing
districts. The plants in many instances buy walnuts in large quantities.
The nut meats are removed and sold at wholesale, usually in barrel lots
containing 180 pounds of nut meats. In most districts the new industry
is in operation for most of the year.
Power driven machines feeding from large hoppers are used for cracking
the nuts. Nearly all the workers pick the meats from the cracked nuts.
Women are generally employed and are paid on a piece-work basis or by
the pound. Moreover, employees are often given a premium for nut meats
removed from the shells with the "halves" unbroken.
This new black walnut industry has increased and heightened the interest
in planting the trees for both nut and timber production. Consequently,
in the districts where these nut cracking mills have been established,
many producers are planting either small or large blocks of black walnut
trees. In some cases the plantings are made up of grafted or budded
trees of named varieties, while in others the nuts are planted and the
seedlings later top-worked to the kinds desired.
The named varieties and better seedling sorts bring the highest price in
the form of nuts and as kernels. In fact, the nuts of the named
varieties usually sell for twice the price paid for the average seedling
nuts. Some of the chief varieties most highly prized for their thin
shells, weight of kernels, cracking quality, and flavor are Thomas,
Stabler, Tucker, Ohio, and Miller.
To obtain a marketable and paying product, care in the gathering,
husking and extracting of kernels, is necessary. Culling the nuts and
cracking none but the good ones are also important. Through such
methods, many producers are able to supply city markets and roadside
stands with kernels which sell readily and at good prices.
~Returns from Trees~—Walnut trees will give returns in general in
proportion to the care given. They are fairly rapid growers under good
culture. At an age of 20 years the trees may reach a height of 35 feet
with 50 feet at 30 years and about 70 feet at 50 years. In other words,
a growth of about 2 feet a year for 20 years is not unusual. After this
age the trees slow down gradually to about a foot of growth a year.
It is estimated that walnut trees from 60 to 70 years of age will
produce on the average from 100 to 150 board feet of lumber. Trees of
such an age may also produce an average of all the way from four or five
bushels of nuts per tree each year up to as many as ten to fourteen or
more bushels per year.
Among our native walnuts the butternut is valued highly especially for
home use. On the markets, however, the rough shell and comparatively
small size of the kernel have in general tended to keep prices low and
the demand limited. There are now prospects for the introduction and
growing of superior hybrid varieties. Grafted varieties which bear
particularly good nuts are becoming more available through nut
nurseries.
The trees may become very large in height, spread and trunk diameter.
They are attractive and stately in appearance and it is the hardiest
member of the walnut genus as its native range extends well into Canada.
The bark is gray in color and the wood is soft. Heartwood decay is
common in old trees, although they may reach great age. The species has
a rather restricted range within the Eastern states, but it occurs
naturally as far west as eastern Kansas and Nebraska. In Missouri, its
growth is confined largely to the central and northern areas where black
walnuts are plentiful.
The nuts are oblong, sharp-pointed at the apex, cylindrical, bluntly
rounded at the base, rough and jagged over the surface, and as a rule
thick-shelled. In spite of this, some varieties have good shelling
quality, and the kernels possess usually a rich, agreeable flavor. In
confections the butternut kernel may compete successfully with the
popular flavor of the black walnut kernels. The butternut may be
propagated and grown successfully by adopting the practices suggested
for the culture of the black walnut. As is true with the black walnut it
may be inter-grafted upon other walnuts or used as a stock for them, but
its propagation, particularly as an understock, is more difficult.
The pecan is a member of the hickory group and its range in this
continent extends from Iowa to Mexico. Other hickories extend into
Canada. The hickories are valuable for both nuts and timber. Fifteen
different species of the hickory group have been recorded. Of these only
three or four produce nuts of outstanding value. In nut production, the
pecan hickory is the most important of all the hickories. For crop value
of nuts it rivals the Persian (English) walnut and the tree is one of
the largest east of the Rocky Mountains. The pecan tree is native to the
south and south central parts of the United States and it is found in
the forests as a native tree throughout Missouri.
Commercial production within the state may reach 800,000 pounds or more
in good crop years, and according to the State-Federal Crop Reporting
Service there are now about 88,000 pecan trees in the State of bearing
age. All of these consist of seedling groves except the comparatively
recent orchard plantings of the southeastern area. Commercial culture of
standard varieties in the United States is confined largely to Georgia,
Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
The natural habitat is along streams and on river bottom lands. At the
present time the commercial varieties consist mainly of the large
so-called "paper-shell" sorts of southern origin. These require a
comparatively long growing season for their development. Consequently
the southern types may not be productive in the more northern regions.
The cultural range of the pecan may be divided into two rather large
belts, known as southern and northern. In fact, pecan culture is
sometimes designated as "southern" and "northern" due to differences in
size of nut, thickness of shell, and time required for maturity of nuts.
The approximate northern limit of the southern area is near the extreme
southeastern boundary line between Missouri and Arkansas. The northern
belt extends into Nebraska and Iowa and includes approximately the
entire state of Missouri.
The chief difference between these areas is the length of the growing
season. In general, the southern or "paper-shell" varieties require from
240 to 250 days to mature their nuts, while the northern varieties which
produce usually nuts of smaller size with somewhat thicker shells need
from 180 to 200 days.
There is no factor in pecan growing of greater importance than the
proper selection of varieties for planting. Fertile soils and good
culture will not make poor varieties profitable or low yielding kinds
fruitful.
Only in southeast Missouri are the southern varieties such as Stuart,
Pabst, Moneymaker, Success, Schley, and others a success. This is true
because the fruit buds of these varieties in other sections of Missouri
are generally killed by winter cold. Furthermore even if they escape the
winter cold, the growing periods for all sections except southeast
Missouri may not be long enough for the full maturity of the nuts.
Since none of the sorts adapted to the southern belt are sufficiently
hardy to justify their planting in Missouri except in the southeastern
section, growers in other parts of the state should confine their
interests and selections to the so-called northern varieties. Some of
the best of these are the Major, Niblack, Giles, Indiana, Busseron,
Greenriver, and Posey.
Chance seedlings which have not been named are now and then found that
may be equally as worthy or better for planting locally than any of the
named varieties listed above. In fact, these suggested sorts were
derived from chance seedling trees. Producers generally, therefore,
should be on the lookout for seedling trees of merit. When so
discovered, the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station at Columbia
will be glad to make tests free of charge and report upon the cracking
percent, amount of kernel, appearance, flavor, texture, quality, oil
content, etc.
The nuts produced by the hardy varieties adapted generally to Missouri
conditions are usually smaller in size and have somewhat thicker shells
but may possess equally as high or even higher oil content and kernel
quality than the southern sorts. The better varieties of this group,
however, rank high enough to compete favorably on the markets of the
country in both shelled and unshelled state with the southern varieties.
A full crop of pecans would run from 30 to 35 carloads, the majority of
which are produced along the Mississippi river in the bottom lands from
Ste. Genevieve southward. Heavy shipments are made in a good year
especially from Ste. Genevieve, St. Mary's, Menfro, Caruthersville and
Hornersville, and in these sections are some of the largest and best
nuts.
Pecans are found along the Mississippi river from St. Charles north to
Hannibal, but too generally in that area the trees are scarce and the
production smaller, with nuts of thicker shells.
Pecan trees are also found growing wild along the Missouri river bottom
as far west as Lexington, and up the Grand river bottoms to Chillicothe,
and the nuts in this area are about the size of those in the north
Mississippi valley section, but are sweet with high oil content.
There is a pecan production district along the Osage river and the
Kansas border, with heavy shipping section at Rockville and Schell City.
Missouri pecans are classed as Westerns in the commercial market. They
are favored by the confectionery trade. A great many native trees are
found in the south Mississippi section, but there is a growing interest
in budded pecan trees, especially around Caruthersville.
The total of the budded varieties of pecan trees in Missouri does not
constitute more than approximately one per cent of the total of growing
trees.
Many years ago a large acreage of the bottom lands along the Mississippi
river were thick with immense, heavy-producing pecan trees—but most of
this pecan timber was cut down either for fuel wood or saw timber.
Short-sighted people have been known to chop down trees simply to secure
the nuts.
The native hickories of Missouri have been held in high esteem since
early settlements were established. They are notorious on account of
their slow rate of growth yet they offer greater possibilities to nut
growers than is usually believed. As shade trees they have a high
ranking.
Promising varieties may now be had by obtaining scions from superior
bearing seedling trees and from young named and grafted trees in the
nurseries of commercial concerns. Grafted trees may come into bearing in
three or four years after the operation.
Perhaps as many as five species are native of Missouri. The big
shellbark or kingnut is common to the south and southwest regions, but
its range is not as wide as others. The shagbark which is the most
valuable nut producer of all the hickories, is rather widely distributed
particularly in northern and central Missouri. Numerous varieties have
been described and named because of their particular merits. Shellbark
nuts may be large and attractive, but are often poorly filled.
The pignut, mockernut, and bitternut have a rather general distribution
especially in the central and northern parts of the state. These nuts
are not considered of great value except for their hybrids with other
species. Perhaps the most natural type of hybrid occurring among the
hickories is crosses between the shagbark and shellbark, one of the best
varieties of which is Weiker.
The pecan and shellbark hybrids include McAllister, Nussbaumer, and
Rockville, while the Burton is believed to be a pecan-shagbark cross.
The natural crosses of the pecan and hickory found in the wild have not
been entirely satisfactory. The trees vary greatly in fruitfulness and
the nuts in thickness of shells, size, shape, and kernel quality. A
strong tendency to produce nuts with imperfect kernels is common among
the pecan-shellbark crosses.
Local varieties selected from the wild may have merit for use in
top-working hickories or pecans. The pecan is suggested because it makes
a good stock for the hickories and as it grows more rapidly. Some of the
best of the older named sorts for planting or for use in top-working
appear to be the following: Barnes, Fairbanks, Stanley, Weiker,
Kentucky, Swain, Laney, Kirtland, and Rieke.
The chinkapin is related closely to the chestnut and resembles it
strikingly in most of the important characteristics. It occurs in two
well known forms. West of the Mississippi River, the Ozark chinkapin
tree may reach a height of sixty feet in good soil, while the other form
(Allegany chinkapin) in the eastern range grows to a height of about 15
feet. Each may be grafted or budded upon the other without difficulty.
Named varieties of the chinkapin are not available at this time. The
Japanese, Chinese, and European chestnuts are introduced species.
The blight disease has almost wiped out the great American chestnut
forests of the East. As yet, however, the malady has not been
introduced into Missouri. (The oak wilt, however, has been found
there.—Ed.) The chinkapin of this area is highly resistant to the
blight and some of the hybrids carry the resistant quality and bear nuts
of good size and high quality. The native chinkapin forests especially
of southwest Missouri are valued highly not only for their nuts but
particularly for post timber.
The native chinkapin tree in Missouri grows to large size in good soil
and it may be found as one of the largest forest trees on the stony
ridge lands of southwestern sections of the Ozark Mountains. The nuts
are very much like those produced by chestnut trees except they are
smaller. In flavor and quality the nuts may be found equal or superior
to the chestnuts.
Both the chinkapin and chestnut may be grafted or budded one upon the
other. In fact, the western chinkapin may be used successfully as a
stock for the chestnut.
The European chestnut is very susceptible to the blight. A very large
coarse nut is produced by the Japanese chestnut and it does not blight
quite as readily as the American sorts. The Chinese chestnut is the most
resistant to blight and it is admired for its beauty as a lawn tree.
Promising varieties include Abundance, Nanking and Meiling.
Some desirable varieties of the American and hybrid chestnuts for
growing in Missouri are as follows: Boone, Fuller, Paragon, Progress,
Rochester, and Champion.
The European filbert which is grown so successfully in Oregon and
Washington has not been generally successful in Missouri. This has been
due mainly to winter injury, resulting either in the killing of the
staminate catkins by cold, or of the developing catkins by late spring
freezes and frosts. For good fruiting they need cross pollination. Some
of the well-known and popular filbert varieties are Barcelona, Du
Chilly, Medium Long and Italian Red. Rush, Winkler, and others, are
partly or purely American hazelnuts.
The native hazelnut which may be found throughout the State is hardy and
generally a fairly regular cropper. Seedling nuts, while not as large
usually as the Northwestern filbert, are found now and then that
approach them closely in size and cracking quality. Furthermore, the
native seedling nut kernels may excel occasionally in flavor and
quality.
Interested nut growers are, therefore, urged to perpetuate the most
promising hazelnuts of the wild by simple layerage. Until hardier
varieties of the filbert are found, the chief attention may be well
spent on the propagation and culture of the native seedling sorts of
merit. As yet none of the Missouri native seedlings have been described,
named and propagated for sale and distribution.
Tip or simple layering seems to be the most satisfactory method of
propagating the hazelnut and filbert. Shoots or suckers, one-year old
and arising from the base of the plant are used. They are left attached
to the mother plant and are bent over until the ends of tips rest upon
the soil.
To encourage root growth, the underside of the branch to be covered with
soil is frequently notched or ringed. The part of the branch in contact
with the moist soil is then covered leaving a small portion of the end
protruding. The branches are sometimes pegged down with forked sticks or
weighted with stones. After one season's growth, the branch should be
established with roots and top. It is then cut from the parent and
removed for transplanting to its permanent location.
Well, now, my good friends, I have talked about five or ten minutes
longer than I intended to, but you just listened so attentively you
encouraged me, so it's your fault. I am happy to be here. Show me an
organization like the Northern Nut Growers Association, as full of vim
and vigor and vinegar and going ahead, and I will show you a successful
organization.
Thank you.
MR. CHASE: Thank you, Professor Talbert, for a very nice message.
I am still a little angry at Professor Talbert because I realize now
that if he had accepted my invitation to come to another good southern
state two years ago our meeting would have been a much better one at
Norris.
Now, we have several papers here which deal with chestnuts, and there
seems to be a good deal of interest among the membership concerning
chestnuts this year, and perhaps before we get into chestnuts for nut
production we might hear a short resume of Dr. Graves' breeding work for
timber type chestnut. This problem of chestnut for timber purposes, of
course, accounts for the presence of Chinese and Japanese chestnuts in
the country today, and yet most of our efforts to establish chestnut
plantings for timber purposes have been unsuccessful. You heard from Dr.
Diller last year concerning these efforts.
This paper will deal with the breeding work which is now under way by
Dr. Graves in Connecticut, and I have asked Dr. McKay to give us a brief
digest of this paper.
Chestnut Breeding Work: Report for 1950
ARTHUR HARMOUNT GRAVES
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn.
and
Division of Forest Pathology, U.S.D.A. Plant Industry Station,
Beltsville, Maryland
In southern Connecticut the 1950 season for vegetative growth and
development was excellent except for the dry period in September. The
chief fault lay in much more cloudy weather than usual,[31] and the
deficiency in sunlight coupled with a slightly lower average temperature
in the spring, and cool nights, combined to delay the chestnut flowering
season for as much as ten days. The main body of our cross pollination
experiments did not begin until July 4, whereas last year it began on
June 23 and 24, and was nearly completed by July 4.
[31] For example, the report of the U. S. Weather Bureau at New Haven,
Conn., for May, 1950, says, "The feature of the month was the lack of
sunshine which retarded the growth of crops in this area." See also
report of the New York City Station for April, 1950.
This year 103 crosses were made, not all different combinations, but
each one with either different or reciprocal parents. The principal
combination was a cross of Japanese chestnut with Chinese-American or
American-Chinese, a mixture that in recent years has given excellent
results. This year also, as in the past, our CJA's were crossed with
American chestnut.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Cross pollinating Chinese chestnuts. Sleeping
Giant Plantation, Hamden, Conn. Trees near left of center and at left,
with drooping catkins, are Japanese-American hybrids. Photo July 13,
1950, by B. W. McFarland.]
~Cooperation with Italy.~ A considerable part of the cross pollination
work this year has been undertaken for the benefit of the Italian
authorities, namely experiment stations at Florence and Rome. This has
been done at the suggestion of the Division of Forest Pathology,
Beltsville, Md., which has been working along the same line.
As is now generally known, the chestnut blight was discovered in Italy
in 1938, and has been making rapid headway in a country 15 percent of
whose forests are in chestnut. To the Italians the chestnut means much
as an article of food. They use the timber also, and the various ages of
coppice growth in many ways[32]. Particular effort this year has been
directed toward the breeding of promising nut-bearing types for them and
especially resistant strains that bear large nuts like the cultivated
European chestnut.
[32] Graves, Arthur Harmount. Breeding Chestnut Trees: Report for 1946
and 1947. 38th Ann. Rept. Northern Nut Growers Assn. p. 85. 1947.
Now, we have found that many of our Chinese chestnuts are practically
immune to the blight. Even if the disease does appear, in most cases it
is in the outer bark only, and is soon healed over. Moreover, the
Chinese chestnut has a large nut, comparable in size to the cultivated
Europeans with pollen from our best Chinese trees, and at the same
successful crosses of the European and Chinese are made.
Last fall, as a result of an article in the New Haven Register by Mr.
A. V. Sizer, I learned of two European chestnut trees of bearing age in
New Haven back yards. So, this summer we have crossed these Europeans
with pollen from our best Chinese trees, and at the same time have taken
the pollen from one of them (in the other the pollen was sterile) and
applied it to the female flowers of our Chinese trees. Most of the
resulting nuts have been sent to the Italian scientists in the hope that
some of them will develop into desirable nut-producing,
disease-resistant hybrids. Some will be retained for testing here. If
the resulting trees are not sufficiently blight-resistant, they will be
crossed again with the Chinese.
In the summer we received by air mail from Dr. Aldo Pavari, of the
Stazione Sperimentale di Selvicoltura in Florence, Italy, two tubes of
pollen of the European chestnut, Castanea sativa, of the varieties
pistolese and selvatico. These pollens were also applied to our best
Chinese trees. They resulted in 12 good nuts which have been shipped to
Dr. Pavari.
Further, we have on our Sleeping Giant Plantation, Hamden, Conn.,
several hybrids, now 16 years old, of the Seguin and the Chinese
chestnuts, the former species being also a native of China, but dwarf
and everblooming and remarkably prolific. These hybrids are excellent as
nut producers, since they inherit the large-sized nut of the mollissima
parent, combined with the increased productivity of the Seguin parent.
Furthermore they are extremely blight-resistant.[33] These hybrids have
therefore been intercrossed among themselves this year, chiefly for the
benefit of the Italian people. One hundred and eight nuts from
reciprocal crosses of these hybrids were shipped to Italy. Also, in
response to a request, we sent nuts of our best Chinese and Japanese
trees and of the mollissima-seguini hybrids to M. C. Schad of the
Station d'Amelioration du Chataignier, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
[33] These hybrids will shortly be put on the market, under the
sponsorship of the Conn. Agr. Expt. Sta. and the Division of Forest
Pathology, U.S.D.A. As regards the everblooming habit of the Seguin
parent, that character seems to be lost or at least partly suppressed. A
second flowering of one of the hybrids usually occurs in August.
~Other crosses.~ Two Chinese-American trees in our plantation at the White
Memorial Foundation near Litchfield, Conn., bore a considerable number
of female flowers this year for the first time. They have been crossed
with the fine Japanese tree of Mr. A. N. Sheriff at Cheshire, Conn.,
figured in my report for 1948-49. (P. 92, fig. 3, of 40th Rept. of
N.N.G.A.) From them, 75 nuts were harvested of the combination CAxJ.
Four crosses were made on the trees at Redding Ridge, Conn., in the
cooperative plantation of Mr. Archer M. Huntington, resulting in 73
nuts. Also, the resistant Americans on Painter Hill, Roxbury, Conn.,
were again crossed with CJA's and Chinese from our Sleeping Giant
Plantation and from these were obtained 247 nuts. Finally, we have this
year succeeded in making a cross between Castanea henryi, the Henry
Timber Chinkapin from southern and central China, which is said to
attain a height of 90 feet, and C. mollissima, the Chinese chestnut.
Since henryi blooms very early, much before our mollissima, the
Division of Forest Pathology mailed us pollen of C. mollissima, which
reached us just in time to be applied to henryi. Seven good nuts of
this cross were gathered.
Altogether, as the overall result of our cross pollination work, we
harvested 1259 nuts, more than twice as many as obtained in any other
year since we began this work in 1930.
———————————————————————————
TABLE 1
Heights of Some of Largest Trees, as of Oct. 1, 1950.
All at Sleeping Giant Plantation, Hamden, Conn.
Species or Height
Hybrid Location Age in yrs. in ft. Remarks
———————————————————————————————————-
J × A Row 4 Tree 10 19 30 Repeatedly inarched
J × A " 4 " 4 14 33 Grafted on Jap.
stock, Apr. 1937
J × A " 4 " 12 19 29 Repeatedly inarched
J " 7 " 5 20 23
C " 1 " 4 24 30-3/4
CJA " 60 " 39 13 29
CJA " 61 " 48 13 24
CJA " 8 " 8 4 14 Grafted on Chinese
stock, spring, 1947.
Fruited this yr.
1st time.
————————————————————————————————————
J=Castanea crenata
A=Castanea dentata
C=Castanea mollissima
~Nuts, Scions and Pollen Received.~ During the fall of 1949 we received
nuts from New Hampshire, Mass., Conn., N. Y., N. J., W. Va., N. C.,
Ohio, and Ill. Scions were received in March and April from Mr. R. M.
Viggars of the Bartlett Tree Expert Co. station at Wilmington, Del. (C.
dentata); and from Messieurs Schad and G. A. Solignat, Centre de
Recherches Agronomiques, Clermont-Ferrand, France, (C. crenata and
sativa.) During June and July, pollen of C. dentata came from Mr. E.
J. Grassmann, Elizabeth, N. J., Mr. Paul Maxey, Montcoal, W. Va., Mr.
Malcolm G. Edwards, Asheville, N. C.; C. mollissima and dentata from
the Division of Pathology, U.S.D.A.; C. sativa, vars. pistolese and
selvatico from Dr. Aldo Pavari, Stazione Sperimentale di
Selvicolture, Florence, Italy; and C. pumila and dentata from Mr.
Alfred Szego, Flushing, N. Y. This list is presented as evidence of the
widespread interest in our work. It is a pleasure to acknowledge this
cooperation and to thank the many donors. We are especially glad to
report that several "catches" have been made with the C. sativa scions
from France and those of the tall mollissimas at Mt. Cuba, Del., from
Mr. Viggars.
May I again caution those who send us nuts not to allow them to become
dried out. The embryos, when dried, are killed. The nuts should be
wrapped in moist cotton, peat moss, or something similar, and mailed to
me not later than a few days after harvesting, at 255 South Main Street,
Wallingford, Conn.
~Insects, bad and good.~ The cankerworms were rather destructive in May at
our Sleeping Giant Plantation (not at the others) but fortunately later
than usual. The mite, Paratetranychus bicolor, attacked the leaves of
some of the trees on the Sleeping Giant Plantation rather late in the
season, so that on September 8 we sprayed with the Station's power
sprayer, using Aramite effectively. Shade and humidity seem to favor the
spread of this pest. Japanese beetles appeared but have never been very
destructive with us. As happened last year, we sprayed twice for the
weevils, August 14 and September 8, with excellent results.
This spring in early June, four hives of bees were placed in one of our
Sleeping Giant Plantations by bee experts of the staff of the Conn.
Expt. Station. Improved results in pollination and the resulting nut
harvest cannot be affirmed with only one season's trial.
A Method of Controlling the Chestnut Blight on Partially Resistant
Species and Hybrids of Castanea
ARTHUR HARMOUNT GRAVES
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven
and
Division of Forest Pathology, U.S.D.A. Plant Industry Station,
Beltsville, Maryland
This method has been in use since 1937 on our chestnut plantations, and
has been so remarkably successful that we believe all chestnut growers
should be thoroughly acquainted with it.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
Whenever chestnut trees are attacked by the blight fungus, suckers arise
below the lesion, and if the lesion is at or near the base of the tree,
as often happens, these suckers grow from the base of the tree, i.e. at
the root collar. It is then a simple matter to cut out the diseased bark
of the lesion with a sharp knife, paint over the wound, and graft the
tip of one or more of these suckers above the lesion, into the healthy
bark. Of course the sucker must be long enough to reach the healthy part
of the bark above the lesion. It is measured roughly by the eye and then
cut off at a proper length, usually a little longer than seems
necessary. The tip is then sharpened into two beveled surfaces coming up
to a thin sharp transverse edge like a long wedge. (Fig. 1a.) The tip
edge must be very sharp in order to push up easily between the bark and
wood. Now, or rather, before trimming the sucker, in the healthy bark
above the blight lesion cut an inverted T, making the cut into the bark
as far as the wood and then cut a gradual slope from the surface of the
bark down to the horizontal part of the inverted T. Next, lift the bark
gently from the wood above the horizontal cut and insert the end of the
sucker. If the sucker, or scion, is slightly longer than the upper end
of the cut, it can be bent outward at the same time that the scion is
being inserted and thus a spring is secured making it easier to force
the scion up between bark and wood. I should add that if the lesion is
not at the base of the tree, suckers usually arise just below it in any
case, and these can be inarched in the same way as the basal shoots.
[Illustration: Fig. 2
Fig. 2 Showing inarching method of controlling the chestnut blight a
Chinese-Japanese hybrid chestnut, 13 yrs. old, infected toward base with
Chinese type of blight, i.e. in outer bark only. Right: sucker inarched
in spring of 1946; left, inarched spring of 1950. (The black figure
resembling an arrow, about half way up, is accidental, being a cluster
of labels.) b. Grafted tree (the large tree of Japanese-American
chestnut on Japanese stock); graft made in 1937 where finger is
pointing; left: inarch of 1947, itself inarched near base in 1950;
right, inarch of 1949. c. Japanese-American hybrid chestnut with
principal inarch made in 1943; other later inarchings showing in part.
All photos by Louis Buhle, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and loaned courtesy
of the Garden.]
The next step is to bind together the parts being grafted, winding
strong, cotton string firmly around the cut with its scion enclosed,
covering practically all of the vertical cut of the inverted T. Finally,
melted paraffin—not too hot—is applied to the union, every part being
carefully covered in order to exclude air and thus prevent drying out.
We use Clarke's melter which, with adjustment of the flame, will keep
the paraffin at a temperature slightly above the melting point and thus
will not get too hot. Grafting wax may also be used instead of paraffin.
The best time to perform the operation in Connecticut is during April or
early May.
Our first scions or inarches, grafted in 1937, are now 6 inches in
diameter at ground level and constitute the main tree. If they become
blighted, other suckers are inarched into them, and so on. The purpose
of the inarching is to restore the communication between leaves and
roots, which is so essential to the life and health of the tree, and
which the diseased bark of the blight lesion interrupts, eventually
causing girdling and death of the trunk or branch attacked. A series of
these inarchings of different ages is shown herewith. (Fig. 2.) On our
plantations we no longer dread the chestnut blight, since we can usually
circumvent it by this method. However, with the American chestnut,
because the fungus advances rapidly in this species, the girdling is
often completed before the scions can take hold. Therefore, with that
species or with the least resistant hybrids the method is often though
not always ineffectual.
This method of grafting is not new. It is similar to bridge grafting and
has been known and practiced for centuries. The only credit we can claim
is for its application to the chestnut blight as a method of control.
MR. CHASE: We will now hear from Mr. George Salzer, Rochester, New York,
"Experiences with Chestnuts in Nursery and Orchard in Western New York."
Mr. Salzer.
Experiences with Chestnuts in Nursery and Orchard in Western New York
GEORGE SALZER, Rochester, New York
My work with Chinese chestnut trees during the past ten years has been
most interesting. The first trees were grown in our back-yard garden;
then, when more seed was available locally, a building lot was purchased
for use as a nursery. Seed is planted in the spring because when fall
planting was tried, the rodents took most of the nuts.
Up until last year, chestnut seed was stratified in perforated cans in
the open ground with fairly good results. Last fall, we tried the method
used and described by Dr. Crane and Dr. McKay in the 1946 report of this
Association. Crimp top cans were used with nail holes in the top and
bottom. Instead of using regular storage facilities, the cans were
stored in a concrete block storage pit built below the floor of the
garage. This proved very successful. Not only were the nuts in excellent
condition for eating in the spring, sweet and of good flavor, but a much
larger percentage of the seed germinated. This storage pit also serves
to hold trees dormant and in good planting condition from digging time
in March until early June.
Last year, many young seedlings were lost during the dry weather and
hand weeding between the trees was next to impossible. This spring, we
tried the method of planting used and described by Mr. Sam Hemming in
the 1947 report of this Association. We planted the seed in a narrow
trench two inches deep; then filled the trench with saw dust; level with
the surface. The saw dust serves as a mulch to hold moisture for the
young seedlings and hand weeding between trees is reduced to a minimum.
It is also possible to use the wheel cultivator between the saw dust
marked rows before the shoots appear. This was a great help in
controlling early weed growth.
We were troubled with cutworms cutting off the new seedlings close to
the ground, the same as they cut off young tomato plants. We controlled
them by using a poison-bran bait as described in Leaflet Number Two
issued by the Department of Agriculture.
All trees are grown from seed of trees growing in the Rochester area.
These had their origin from north of Pekin, China. Most of the trees are
three years old when sold and have been transplanted at least once. This
gives us a good sized tree that transplants well and should bear some
chestnuts in three or four years. Sales are to people in our locality,
although a few mail orders have been filled. So far, we have had no
complaints. These are all seedling trees and until grafting or budding
of named varieties becomes stabilized, I believe we should concentrate
on growing large numbers of seedlings at a price within the reach of all
who want chestnut trees.
This spring some large chestnut seed received from a southern grower was
planted for experimental purposes. I will bring them into bearing to
learn whether they will bear as large a nut in our climate as they do in
the southern states, and whether the kernel will be as sweet and have as
good flavor as those grown in upstate New York. I have yet to see a tree
growing in the Rochester area bearing as large a nut as those grown in
the southeast, and all the large nuts I have tasted did not seem to be
as sweet as ours. Probably the old saying "the smaller the nut, the
sweeter the nut" is true. Of course these are all seedling trees, but by
this time we should know whether size of nut and sweetness of kernel are
determined by climate or individual trees.
Our largest trees are eleven-year old seedlings of unknown origin. One
is, I believe, outstanding. It started bearing when four years old and
has consistently been a good producer. The nut is real chestnut in color
and good size, running about seventy to the pound. I have not found a
tree in this area bearing a larger nut. The kernel is sweet and the
flavor excellent. The tree has good shape and limb structure, always
sending up a central leader. This is the tree I would like to propagate.
Small Nuts Sell Better
Last fall, I tried a selling experiment with chestnuts for eating, and
sold small quantities of small and medium sized nuts at the rate of
$1.50 a pound. However, no one seemed interested in the larger ones.
They thought they were European chestnuts that sold here for $.25 a
pound. I did not have many for sale, but I am convinced there is a
market for good sweet chestnuts. It seems useless to compete with those
imported from Italy. Ours are far superior, and many who remember the
American chestnut, will, I believe pay a luxury price for good quality
chestnuts.
In 1946, we purchased a 10-1/2 acre piece of land, 16 miles southwest of
Rochester for the purpose of planting a chestnut orchard. This land had
not been worked for about twelve years. The soil is heavy and fertile,
typed as Poygan clay loam. Bed rock is sixty feet below the surface. The
following spring, we planted about 300 trees and each year more are set
out. There are now about 700 trees from two to five years old, and most
of them are growing well.
The rows are twenty feet apart and the trees stand fifteen to twenty
feet apart, in the row. I know this will be too close when the trees are
full grown, but we have the trees and I want to bring as many into
bearing as possible, searching for the ideal tree. We also expect to
lose some trees through wild life and other causes.
Many of the first trees planted were lost the following year due to
excessive rainfall, poor surface drainage, rabbit and meadow mouse
damage. In 1948 two 400 foot drainage ditches were dug across the
property. This made it possible to plant trees successfully on most of
the land. However, another ditch is needed to eliminate a low spot, then
all of the land can be used.
The meadow mouse that girded so many trees could not be controlled by
the use of poison bait and the rabbit also did considerable damage.
Through the wild life service of the Department of the Interior, we
obtained a repellant that was effective. It is distributed in the
eastern states by the Rodent Control Fund of the University of
Massachusetts. We have used it now for two years and have no more mouse
or rabbit damage.
The woodchuck does considerable damage even though we have eliminated
all their dens on our land. They come in to feed from the neighboring
areas and will have to be controlled by shooting. Deer are also present
but have as yet caused no damage. Probably, they are waiting for the
trees to grow larger.
Last spring, new growth on the trees was killed by a late freeze—a most
unusual occurance for this area. This was caused by an excessively warm
April, followed by below-freezing temperature in the middle of May. It
was the first time in the memory of the oldest residents that black
locust and native black walnut trees were damaged by a spring freeze.
However, most of the trees recovered, but their growth was retarded.
This spring several of the trees blossomed, but set no burs. In a few
years, I hope to have more to report on this orchard project.
(Here was shown a chestnut tree picture.)
MR. SALZER: If anyone has any comments, if they think it has good limb
structure, that's what we are looking for.
MR. SHERMAN: We could tell you better if we could see it when it's
dormant.
MR. WEBER: What sort of a cultivator do you use?
MR. SALZER: Wheel cultivator.
MR. WEBER: Why don't you get a Wheelmaster? You may not want to
cultivate as often as if you had a power one.
MR. CHASE: We shall now have another chestnut paper by Alfred Szego of
Long Island.
Chestnuts in Upper Dutchess County, New York
ALFRED SZEGO 77-15A 37th Ave., Jackson Heights, New York City
Pulvers' Corners, a collection of farmhouses, a gas station and ice
cream parlor is located about 8 miles from the northern Connecticut
border not too far from the southwestern tip of Massachusetts.
The Berkshire hills roll through here and at this point we find
ourselves at approximately the northern limits of the deciduous hardwood
forest belt.
Here the American chestnut is native formerly growing in great abundance
until stricken a mortal blow by the invincible chestnut blight.
Just a few hundred feet north of here on a hilltop, I started in 1945, a
different kind of nut tree plantation.
Placing main emphasis on the chestnut, a start was made on the
cultivation of the thousands of sprouts and seedlings on my 43 acre
coppice forest.
A cluster of ~Castanea dentata~ seedlings that appeared promising was
selected. The following practices proved fairly successful in keeping a
few trees healthy, and bringing one into bearing in 1950. For the
interest of fellow members working along a similar line, I enumerate the
following practices.
1. Clean and thorough tree surgery, cutting out blight cankers
immediately upon discovery.
2. Removal of all very blight susceptible nearby sprouts and the burning
of all infected branches and material.
3. Artificial watering during drought periods.
4. Application of superphosphate, muriate of potash and trace elements.
Es-Min-El was used in our case. Our soil tests high in nitrogen.
5. Removal of all overstory trees and other interfering growth.
It may be noted that the importance of hygiene and sanitation cannot be
stressed too strongly.
Our own native chinkapin, ~Castanea pumila~ when brought up north proves
itself a delightful subject. Outside of the weevil-infested area, it
becomes a hardy producer of superb little chestnuts. This species offers
great promise to the plant breeder because of its very early bearing
(3-4 years from seed). Perhaps hybridization with ~Castanea mollissima~
varieties may bring something very fine and valuable. This species is
tender during its first year but perfectly hardy afterwards. Northern
growers require special techniques to grow chinkapins from seed.
The strains of Chinese chestnut, ~Castanea mollissima~ in most cases do
not seem extremely happy here. The trees appear to sustain varying
degrees of winter injury. The tips of the branches often freeze. Usually
the branch comes into leaf on the lower part first and then upwards.
However, a few individuals appear perfectly hardy. The outlook is
excellent for the discovery of exceptional individuals suitable for the
northern zones.
The Japanese chestnut, ~Castanea crenata~ shows very good adaptation to
this region. Although my trees of this species are young, very vigorous
growth indicates some value here. Unfortunately, the nuts have a bad
after-taste when eaten raw thus limiting its commercial possibilities. I
have noticed this undesirable characteristic in tasting hybrid nuts
derived from trees possessing ~Castanea crenata~ parentage. I was informed
at Beltsville that the hybrid known as S8, a cross between ~Castanea
pumila~ and ~C. crenata~, was rejected for its poor quality nuts.
I have established many other species of chestnuts and their hybrids.
Some of these are from seed obtained from the Bell experimental plot of
the U.S.D.A. at Glenn Dale, Maryland. Seed from this source has produced
a much better grade of seedlings than those from anywhere else.
A somewhat different version of the tin can planting method is now being
used here. Number two size and larger tin cans have a few punctures made
with a hammer and nail in the bottom. These have their tops removed, of
course, and after being filled with loose soil, are used as pots in
which to start chestnuts.
In the early spring germinating chestnuts are removed from jars, kept in
my refrigerator. One is planted in each can flat side down, barely
beneath the soil level.
After the season has warmed up these "canned plants" are set out in a
trench, buried to the rim. Rock wool is placed around the stems of the
seedlings covering the soil and the nut. This has acted as a rodent
deterrent.
The "canned plants" are then, at leisure, set out in their permanent
places. Just before doing this an ordinary beer can opener is used to
enlarge the punctures in the bottom of the can to permit the roots to
penetrate better. In a few years the can should disintegrate entirely
and at no time will interfere with root growth.
By holding the chestnuts under refrigeration and not planting in the
fall I have kept my plantings free of the chestnut weevils.
I found that by planting the flat side down, the stem seems to go down
very easily, and the sprout coming up from it seems to go up more
easily, also.
Discussion
MR. RICK: Are they planted permanently in the can?
MR. SZEGO: Yes, they are planted in the can. The can will disintegrate
in two or three years.
MR. RICK: Don't you have those in rows?
MR. SZEGO: No, I sometimes place them on the grass. The morning dew
seems to provide enough moisture to carry through the dry spells. But,
again, I live in a mountainous area. This may not apply out in Oklahoma.
MR. CHASE: Next on the program is a demonstration of his method of
propagating nut trees in pots in the greenhouse by Mr. Bernath, who has
been very successful with this method. Mr. Bernath.
Demonstration of Method of Propagating Nut Trees in Greenhouse
STEPHEN BERNATH, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
Here is the way I handle the nut trees when we propagate under glass in
the greenhouse. These are two-year seedlings potted up. That root is cut
away and any large lateral roots that are too large to bend well we cut
them off, and we take all the fibrous roots we can and put them in this
pot. Put your soil around it first, and when you have it nearly full,
just the same as if you take your son and lay him on your knee and spank
the butt good and put the soil around the roots. Then pack it with your
thumb and your potting is done.
(Taking scion) I use only one bud. One bud is good as a dozen.
(Cutting-with pruning knife.)
MR. WEBER: How do you cut above the bud that you use above the graft?
MR. BERNATH: If the nodes are far enough apart I put it farther, but I
like to put it as short as I can but allow not less than half inch or an
inch or more on top, and you cut it away after the union has taken and
the growth started. Sometimes some of them may have a growth of two
inches before you take them out of the case. They are not uniform. Some
of them are way in advance of some of the others. Some of them are
tardy, slow.
This is my budding knife, here, which is about 40 years old.
MR. CHASE: The question is asked, this isn't the time of year that you
would do this, is it?
MR. BERNATH: No, sir. I start in January. You can continue into April.
You can take a batch out and put another batch in.
MR. RICK: How many weeks, usually, before you graft, after these are put
in the case?
MR. BERNATH: I would say that with most of your varieties it's from four
to six weeks, with the exception of ornamentals. That will take six to
eight, sometimes longer, but nut trees generally come on quickly. I have
known them to have two inches of growth, I think, in three weeks.
(Sharpening knife.)
A MEMBER: You are like the violinist. You have to tune up first.
MR. BERNATH: Yes, and never forget to wipe your knife. And remember not
to put your finger on the fresh cut. (Cutting). Here is the cut before I
insert the scion. In cutting your scion wood, now here is the butt. Cut
on the inside. When you cut on this side it throws the bud a little bit
far out because it's on an angle. You know about the depth of the cut
here, and you go like this: (Cutting).
A MEMBER: Do you come down to a pretty good point?
MR. BERNATH: (Holding up scion.)
A MEMBER: Is that a side graft you are making there?
MR. BERNATH: Yes. (Inserting scion in cut.) Now, on this one I am going
to use a rubber strip.
DR. MacDANIELS: Hold it up so we can see the whole thing as you have it
stuck in there. That is a side graft with the bud next to the stock.
MR. BERNATH: That's right.
MR. RICK: The scion was cut on both sides, was it, or one side?
MR, BERNATH: Yes, on both sides.
MR. WEBER: Wedge shape.
MR. KINTZEL: An inch below the bud.
MR. BERNATH: (Wrapping graft) Here is where your thumb comes into play.
As you put this on, start right here (stretching rubber). See how far
that can stretch? You cross it and you can take your finger off. Now
release it. Have your finger on it. Put this finger right here. All
right, you see you get under, pull right up there. There it is, the
graft is done.
MR. EMERSON: You don't use any wax?
MR. BERNATH: No wax whatsoever. Never use any.
MR. CORSAN: Or any latex?
MR. BERNATH: No, nothing at all.
MR. RICK: How do you slope this?
MR. BERNATH: I have a little, miniature box here, and that would
represent a bench in the greenhouse. (Demonstrating).
Here is another one (taking another scion).
MR. CORSAN: That's used by dentists and plastic surgeons.
MR. BERNATH: Now watch the difference. If the scion wood happened to be
smaller than your stock, you cut accordingly. In other words, you are
not going in as far. See (showing). Or else you can cross it. Now, just
a minute, we will get that (making cut in stock; slicing scion off
diagonally). You don't go up as high on this side. Now, then, you take
it, if you are a pretty good hand with a knife. That's all right, even
if it's not shaped at all. There it is (inserting in cut). But one
thing—I want to warn you, if you want to follow this, be careful not to
rub the bud off in handling it. If you do, you might as well throw it
away, because you are licked.
MR. WEBER: That is one reason for having the bud face the stock?
MR. BERNATH: No, but makes a better growth.
Persian walnut, I find, unless it's way far down on the trunk of a tree,
will not form adventitious buds. Now, you can do it with a chestnut. You
can rub the main bud off and you will find two or three of them coming,
or more, right around that place. But one of these walnuts will not form
an adventitious bud, so you might as well throw it away, or if you knock
off even the new growth on it, you might as well dump it, because it
will not form a tree.
Now here is a tape that I use.
MR. KINTZEL: Rubber tape?
MR. BERNATH: No, no, cloth.
MR. STOKE: That's about the same as surgical tape?
MR. BERNATH: Made especially for grafting, Mr. Stoke.
Now, you have to watch it closely because this is a tricky thing.
MR. CORSAN: This is not called Scotch Tape?
MR. BERNATH: No, this is made especially for grafting. You can get this
from some of the boys.
MR. WEBER: A. M. Leonard and Son, Piqua, Ohio.
MR. RICK: That will require more attention than the rubber. The rubber
takes care of itself, where this one you have to take off.
MR. WEBER: No, this decays.
MR. BERNATH: You start right here on the stock. Now you make sure that
the scion—
MR. WEBER: You start at the top?
MR. BERNATH: The top, always on the top.
MR. WEBER: And that has a tendency to keep the scion worked down,
whereas if you started at the bottom you might push it up.
MR. BERNATH: You have quite a pressure right around there—watch it,
because it will tear, and if it tears with you, why, it's so hard to get
straightened out—and then press together.
MR. WEBER: And you don't wax either the top, or anything?
MR. BERNATH: No. Now, the reason for leaving this under stock that long:
if you are not careful, fungus growth will set in. If you cut right
here, then the whole thing is affected with it, see. Wrap it firmly and
that is there on both sides, and when the union forms and the growth
begins here, when you take them out of the case, for instance, now, you
take a sharp pair of shears and cut as close as you can. (Removes top of
understock.) Never mind if you cut the cloth, it doesn't make any
difference. Just cut it right there. Snip it right off. But that is when
you take them out of the grafting case.
A MEMBER: Wouldn't it also be all right to leave that stub on to tie
your sprout to so it won't want to break?
MR. BERNATH: No, you might be better off if you had a stake. Put a stake
on the side of it. When everything is right that surface will callus
over right quickly. It may not seem so. It does make a perfect union
unlike a graft of some other types.
MR. WEBER: When you make that cut of the excess understock, you don't
even wax?
MR. BERNATH: No. You can if you want to, but I don't wax. Just leave it
like that.
Now the next operation. Here is this miniature greenhouse. It's moist
peat. That's just about the right substance. Would anybody like to look
at this? Don't get it too wet. Just walk right up here.
MR. WEBER: It feels as if it's ground up.
MR. BERNATH: It is.
MR. CORSAN: Mr. Bernath, would that be the right stuff to put sweet
chestnuts in in the fall?
MR. BERNATH: You mean for sprouting?
MR. CORSAN: Yes.
MR. BERNATH: That would be all right.
MR. CORSAN: That's not too damp?
MR. BERNATH: No.
MR. CORSAN: I have put it in that and had the greatest success.
MR. CHASE: Now, folks, let's everybody sit down, and please keep quiet
and try to absorb what's going on here. We can't have 10 or 15
individual conversations going on.
MR. BERNATH: Now here we have two pots grafted. Now, of course, the
bench in the greenhouse is wider and longer. Here is what you do. You
start the first row, just move the peat back like that, and you lay them
in like that, one after the other, the pots on the side.
MR. WEBER: With the bud side up?
MR. BERNATH: That's right. Now, you go right along. When you come to the
next row, here is what you do (piling up peat) like that. If you want to
cover the scion, all right; if you don't, perfectly all right. You can
put electric heating coils under it.
MR. RICK: Is there any advantage in sloping the top? Would it matter if
it was flat?
MR. BERNATH: No, no, doesn't matter. This just happened to be an old
melon box. I had started melons early in the spring.
Now, while the grafts are in the process of forming the unions, that is,
when the cambium begins to form, you do not water until you take these
out of the case. Add no more water, but make sure your pots are moist
enough. For instance, in this one, there is plenty of moisture for the
period of incubation.
MR. KINTZEL: How long? Couple of weeks?
MR. BERNATH: No. Sometimes they start to grow in three weeks, but
generally four weeks, maybe a little over. Sometimes less; depends on
everything.
MR. SHERMAN: What temperature in the greenhouse?
MR. BERNATH: Well, if you note in the springtime when the trees are
beginning to grow, you know the night temperature goes down, while
daytime may go up to 75, 80 in the spring. All right, you follow nature,
and you'll never go wrong.
Now, the temperature, at night, if it does go down around the fifties,
or even less, doesn't do any harm. That's the house temperature. But
under the benches where you have your heat coils, that's of course, at
least 60, maybe a little better, and, of course, in daytime it
may—well, it's all right if it goes up to 70, 75. Then, of course, you
have to ventilate through the house, and as a matter of fact, under the
benches. Take a lot of bags and nail them along the walk to keep the
heat under the benches. That gives you the bottom heat.
Now, as I understand, some of our members have tried this method, but
they applied too much heat. They burned them. If they didn't burn them,
fungus growth set in, because there's high humidity in that box. You
will see the moisture condensation on the glass. Drops of water
accumulate, and that's a thing you will have to guard against. So every
morning give it at first about a 5-minute period when you take a dry
cloth and wipe the surface moisture off the glass, the under side, to
prevent the water from dripping on the unions here, to keep it dry. Then
as you go along you can increase that period, but not over 15 minutes,
until around the fourth week, you can generally put a stick under the
glass to give more ventilation. When you see that the union is formed
and everything is all right, take the glass off, take your grafts out
and stand them up straight, and from there on you can water them, but
not before.
And then you cut these stocks off right there as close as you can get
it, sort of an upward movement, like that (demonstrating with knife).
MR. WEBER: It doesn't make any difference if you cut the rubber band
that's on it or not?
MR. BERNATH: No, not too much, if it's callused up good, if the union is
hard enough. And then, of course, you put the glass on, and then you
keep these grafts in the greenhouse. But don't forget now, something
that is important, when you graft these. Here we have a greenhouse over
us. This little box represents the batch of grafts. Don't forget you
have to shade them. If you didn't shade these, they would burn to a
crisp. I have lost several hundred blue spruce grafts by going away on a
day when it was cloudy and I forgot to tell Mrs. Bernath, "If the sun
comes out, raise the sash." When I came home, this part of the
greenhouse was shaded; now, in this corner here I think it was around
250 beautiful grafts but the next day I was going to take them out. They
were burnt to a crisp. I saved a few trees right where it was shady.
MR. CALDWELL: The blue spruce are grafted by the same method?
MR. BERNATH: Yes, I use this method for inside grafting for everything.
MR. CALDWELL: Use this method for shagbarks the same way?
MR. BERNATH: Yes, same way with hickories and oaks.
MR. WEBER: What sort of shading element do you use? Anything real tight,
or how?
MR. BERNATH: Yes, air tight. The grafting case has got to be air tight.
MR. WEBER: The shade?
MR. BERNATH: Oh, any kind of cloth, cheesecloth, muslin. I know that
will do it.
MR. CHASE: Whitewash?
MR. BERNATH: That's all right, too. If you use whitewash, I would
recommend using white lead with gasoline and just spray it on. That will
help a lot, but I generally use a cloth for shade.
MR. O'ROURKE: Why do you place the scions so that the bud is on the
inside?
MR. BERNATH: It makes a straighter tree. The other way it's inclined to
grow out this way (indicating). It grows toward the stock, makes a
straighter tree.
MR. STOKE: I think there is one more advantage there. On the edge next
to the stock you get a better contact than you do on that lip on the
outside, and it leads more directly into the bud.
DR. CRANE: Less danger, too, that that bud will rub off.
MR. BERNATH: Keep them shaded, but only 50 per cent shade. And then in
about two weeks you take the shade off, let the sun shine on it. It
doesn't hurt—over the glass. And then you take these pots when danger
of frost is over, plant them out, in nursery rows, or, if you want to
put them in permanent places, it's perfectly all right. Take this, put
your finger under like that (demonstrating), give her a tap, and the
ball comes out of the pot in your hand. And if it's permanent, plant it
down to here; cover the union.
MR. WEBER: And the scion eventually forms its own root?
MR. BERNATH: It will. You will find that pot will be filled up with
fibrous root.
MR. SZEGO: When do you take the tape off?
MR. BERNATH: Don't take it off at all. It will decay.
MR. MILLER: But the same graft can't be used outside without grafting
wax, can it?
MR. BERNATH: Yes, you have to wax outside. That's right, you have to use
wax. Otherwise the grafting method is the same for top-working.
MR. MILLER: Because in there you have it air tight. Outside you have to
wax.
MR. BERNATH: You can't do it without wax, not outside. But budding you
can do without wax outside.
This is a whole plant right here. That's a whole plant root, and this is
right in this four-inch pot. That tap root is cut away and all the
lateral roots, finer roots, put right in there and put in soil like any
transplanted plant.
DR. ROHBACHER: When do you put that stock in the house?
MR. BERNATH: If you want to start work in January, towards the end of
December after the understock has had the rest period. You can store
them, unless you are in a place where you don't get much frost in your
ground.
DR. ROHBACHER: You have to dig those up in the fall?
MR. BERNATH: You have to dig these up about three weeks before you want
to graft. There is another point I should have been wide awake enough to
tell you in the beginning: when you put these in the bench put them in
peat moss like that, because otherwise it would be next to impossible to
keep those plants moist enough.
MR. WEBER: That's standing upright.
MR. BERNATH: Upright until you graft. That's only the understock. Watch
them closely, say about two weeks, and you may test it. In other words,
knock these out and examine the root system. When you see those little
white rootlets beginning to grow like thin macaroni, white, most of
them, that's a sign that you had better get busy grafting.
MR. WEBER: But not until you see the edges of those roots poking
through.
MR. RICK: And the stock isn't in the case until you are ready to graft?
MR. BERNATH: They are in the benches, but not in the case. No outside
cover except just the glass of the house.
That's about all there is to it. It isn't much.
MR. RICK: It's been a wonderful demonstration.
MR. SZEGO: When do you cut your scion wood?
MR. BERNATH: Oh, I get scion wood from December on, late December,
January and February.
MR. RICK: It would be all right just to go out to the tree and cut your
scions and bring them in and the next day graft?
MR. BERNATH: Yes. Well, no. I like to store them a little bit, for the
reason that the starches will form. It's amazing how wood will act after
you cut it, provided it doesn't dry out. All those cells, you know, in
that they form what we call a certain type of starch. You can do it all
right with apple trees and pear trees. You can put it right on the tree
right from the tree, but I wouldn't advise it on the nut trees.
MR. RICK: Do you keep your scions cool until you are ready to use them?
A MEMBER: My way of keeping it is in fresh sawdust. That's the best
means.
MR. WEBER: Do you dampen it any?
MR. BERNATH: Yes. And I have nothing but an earth cellar where I store
my scion wood, and they keep well until June.
MR. RICK: To prevent fungus would it be a good idea to dip them in a
weak solution of Bordeaux?
MR. BERNATH: I never tried it. I couldn't say. That's one reason why
sometimes some of our members here wonder why I write and say, "Please
do not wax." I do not want a waxed scion. As far as I am concerned, I
would throw them right out. I wouldn't bother to graft them.
MR. CORSAN: You just put them in damp sawdust?
MR. BERNATH: Yes, put them in damp peat or even damp newspaper, wrap it
and ship it.
(Newspaper is very good for this purpose.—J. C. McD.)
MR. CORSAN: And no waxing.
MR. BERNATH: No.
MR. STOKE: I agree with you. I got some scions that were waxed, and the
scion was beautifully green and every bud was dead.
MR. BERNATH: That's it again. The reason for that is that you have to
heat the wax to make it thin enough, and the reaction of the heat is bad
for the scion wood.
MR. STOKE: I don't believe it's that alone. I believe a bud can't go
without air for a great length of time. It is a living organism and
needs the air. Those scions had come from Europe, and every one was
dead.
MR. BERNATH: Mr. Silvis will tell you how he keeps his scions good.
MR. SILVIS: Through Goodrich Chemical Company I was interested in what
Dr. Shelton, another Ohio member who is a chemist, had available, an
emulsion called "Goodrite Latex VL-600." That's the agricultural and
horticultural designation for its use. Otherwise, industrially it's
known as Geon 31 XX, and some other names.
MR. CORSAN: That is the latex that congeals quickly?
MR. SILVIS: Yes. It's water soluble and makes a very stiff; impervious
water barrier on everything it becomes attached to. Therefore, if you
dipped the entire scion—usually I go out and cut scion wood and maybe
even as late as the next day dip it in the latex. Then after it's dried
for five minutes, I can take and throw it in the garage and leave it
there until June, July and August, and I can take it to the
refrigerator, the same thing. I think the refrigerator is the best
place.
MR. SHERMAN: You know last March, at the Ohio meeting there was some
wood dipped there, and the latter part of May I came through and picked
up a piece and brought it in to Harrisburg in the back of my car in the
window where it was cooked in transportation, and it made two inches of
growth in the Harrisburg office just lying on my desk.
MR. SILVIS: I have seen it happen, and it doesn't restrict the growth. I
have had it on filberts, Persian walnut, and hickory. Then when I cut my
stock by using a simple splice graft, in grafting it I use a rubber
band, same rubber band they used here, tie it and just forget about it.
You don't need the additional shading, and you don't need additional
waxing.
DR. MacDANIELS: Can you use that material as a wax? Do you put on
additional wax?
MR. SILVIS: It isn't necessary in a splice graft, because you have got a
good union.
DR. MacDANIELS: Suppose you haven't got a good union?
MR. SILVIS: I wouldn't use it anyway, because you are covering the cut
portion pretty well anyhow.
MR. RICK: Is this outside or inside?
MR. SILVIS: I would say outside. You dip the wax at 70 degrees
temperature. Any colder than that would allow it to congeal. It's thick.
I am not sure about this, but I think you can dilute it with about eight
parts water, if you wish, six or eight parts water to one part latex. It
still will make a complete coverage.
That's for scion storage, and it does eliminate making boxes in some
places where they have storage problems. It eliminates the storage
problem and eliminates waxing immediately after grafting.
MR. WEBER: Your method completely shuts off the air from the bud the
same as waxing would do.
MR. SILVIS: And any water going in.
MR. STOKE: I was wondering how long you kept it. You said it was soluble
in water. You mean before it sets up?
MR. SILVIS: Before it sets up.
MR. LOWERRE: That's if it's a suspension. It is some time before the
water sets up.
MR. STOKE: Retaining moisture and yet being soluble, and that's the
thing I wanted to clarify.
MR. SILVIS: If you leave it out, it is a dispersal, let's call it, but
it appears like shellac after it is dry.
(Editor's Note: See fuller discussion in 1949 Report, pp. 30-37.)
MR. CHASE: I think we all owe Mr. Bernath a vote of thanks for showing
us this. (Applause.) We will visit his place tomorrow, and if you have
additional questions, I am sure he will be glad to answer them for you.
He has left the grafting case over here for anyone to see.
MR. SHERMAN: In case of heavy rain tomorrow, what are the plans?
MR. SALZER: Wear rubbers.
MR. CHASE: We are not going to have any rain tomorrow.
(He was right.—Ed.)
We have a short paper here that I have asked Dr. Anthony to summarize
for us, "Experiences in Nut Growing Near Lake Erie," by Ross P. Wright,
Erie, Pennsylvania.
DR. ANTHONY: Mr. Wright is a very interesting man and has a very
interesting plantation. He is a manufacturer and fortunately has a son
who is mature and married and as interested in the work as he, so there
is a continuity that we are pretty sure of.
Experiences in Nut Growing Near Lake Erie
ROSS PIER WRIGHT, Erie, Pennsylvania
This report should be made by my son Richard Wright. He is in charge of
the farm but is on a trip to Europe with his family and will not return
in time for your meeting.
The farm is located in the Chautauqua Grape Belt; due to the proximity
of Lake Erie, which acts as a heat reservoir, it is not as a rule
bothered by the late frosts in the Spring or early frosts in the Fall,
this making it a very satisfactory climate for Concord grapes. Peaches
are also grown commercially.
The village of Westfield is located on the main road between Erie and
Buffalo, and the Wright family has lived there for the past 136 years.
We have several hundred acres and really started the endeavor more with
the idea of seeing if nuts might be profitably grown, without any idea
of going into the nut business.
In 1915, 35 years ago, we planted a three acre plot with several
varieties of nut trees obtained from nurseries. They were black walnuts,
hickories, hazel nuts, pecans, English walnuts, and Japanese heartnuts.
The black walnuts are native of Westfield and the trees we planted have
done well. The only hickories that survived were two Siers hickories. We
did not think much of them until recently as they did not fill out any
too well, but the last three or four years they have for some reason
decided to fill better. Due to the extremely thin shell they are very
easily cracked and at the moment we think quite highly of these Siers
hickories.
We have a nut cracker made by the Dazey Corporation of St. Louis,
Missouri, which costs $5.00 or $6.00. It is very effective with the
Siers but does not crack thick shelled hickories very well. On the other
hand it is ideal for pecans and English walnuts.
The filberts in this field are not very satisfactory, with the exception
of the Winkler hazel. These usually bear very well. The trouble with the
filberts is that the catkins are quite prone to winter kill but the
Winkler hazel seems to be more hardy. There again we think more of them
since we have used the Dazey Nut Cracker. The Winkler nuts are rather
small and have quite a hard shell and if a hammer is used it is quite
likely to crush the kernel.
The English walnuts we planted at that time were not of a hardy type and
were prone to winterkill. There are really only two stunted trees left.
The pecans do not winterkill but the nuts do not fill.
The Japanese heartnuts we planted were successful. One of them we
consider very satisfactory and is worthy of propagation. We call it the
Lobular heartnut.
In the Spring of 1923, 27 years ago, we obtained a half bushel of
heartnuts from our representative in Japan and planted them. Three years
later we interplanted some of the trees in a four acre field in which we
were planting as permanent trees some Snyder and Thomas black walnuts.
Reporting on that field as it is today we will say that these walnuts
and heartnuts, up to five years ago, bore very well indeed and the nuts
filled properly, but the last few years the nuts have not filled
properly although they have received nitrate of soda. We are somewhat in
a quandry as to the reason for it.
Adjoining the field is a black walnut tree, probably 150 years old,
which always bore nuts and they have always filled up to the last few
years. In this field where the majority of the seedling heartnuts have
been planted there was the usual interesting difference in the nuts.
Some were of the true heartnut variety, some had the rough shaggy shell
and shape of a butternut and others were round and looked like English
walnuts. Some of the heartnut trees have developed a disease called
witches'-broom or bunch disease. There does not, to date, seem to be any
cure for it. We used some heavy applications of zinc sulphate and
thought the trouble had improved but the improvement seems to have been
only temporary.
In this field also are the trees which Clarence Reed designated as the
Wright heartnut and the Westfield heartnut.
In 1933 to 1935, 15 to 17 years ago, we grafted about 35 hickories with
various varieties. They were grafted in a grove of hickories which were
on our farm and which were perhaps eight inches in diameter. This
endeavor did not prove to be much of a success. Some of the grafts died
after a year or two and the others which have continued to live do not
appear to bear to any extent. We would have to mark that particular
endeavor down as very close to a failure.
Perhaps if we had given the grafting endeavor more attention we might
have had different results but we are in the manufacturing business in
Erie, Pennsylvania, and really look upon the Westfield, New York, farm
as a type of relaxation. In those years 1933 to 1935 industry was
experiencing a major distress and I am afraid most of our attention was
given to our factory rather than our farm. In fact, that situation
applies very largely to all of our nut endeavors. There is an old Scotch
saying "The eye of the master fattens the kine," and during the last 15
or 20 years when we in industry have experienced a tremendous depression
followed by a war it has meant that those interested have had to watch
their manufacturing plants to the detriment of their other interests
regardless of how much they regretted it.
In 1934, 16 years ago, we became interested in chestnuts as a possible
commercial crop. We purchased a quantity from J. Russell Smith,
interplanting them in a vineyard we expected to pull out as it was
getting too old. Two years later, through the cooperation of Clarence
Reed, Dr. Gravatt, also others at Beltsville, Maryland, we got some
2,000 seedlings of various types, some being hybrids. As some of these
bore we planted what we thought were the best nuts in a nursery and at
present have about 3000 chestnut trees ranging from three years old up
to 16 years. There is some blight occasionally showing which appears to
be on the hybrids. About 35 acres of the chestnuts were interplanted in
vineyards which we were planning to pull out. During the war, however,
the price of grapes was quite high and we left the grapes, pulling the
last of them out this Spring. Due to cultivation of the grapes an
appreciable number of the nut trees were cut out accidentally, and have
later been filled in with seedlings, with the result that the orchard
has a rather peculiar appearance. The mature trees, this year, have been
doing, we think, very well, and a great majority of them are bearing
from a light crop to a rather heavy crop.
Up to date we have had no trouble with worm in our chestnuts. In fact we
have not found a single wormy chestnut. This interests us appreciably,
as when the old American chestnuts were common on our farm it would seem
as if hardly a chestnut escaped a worm hole if you kept them long
enough. If you ate the chestnuts immediately it wasn't so bad—the worms
were probably too small to be observed.
We understand that in some sections Chinese chestnuts are attacked by
worms but I repeat we haven't had one to date.
Our chestnuts are planted largely in Volusia clay loam on fields where
chestnuts formerly flourished. This soil is not fertile, as soils go,
and the trees will probably not grow as large nor will they grow as fast
as if planted in a more fertile soil. At first we used a spacing of 36
feet but we now use 24 feet, which we think will be satisfactory for our
farm.
Since the chestnuts have come into bearing and the project has become to
some extent a commercial one, we are more interested in doing what we
can for the trees. We are convinced that the mulching process is to be
recommended. There is some sawdust to be obtained in this section and as
far as it goes we have covered the ground under the branches of the
trees with a mulch of sawdust about five or six inches deep. We will not
know how successful that is for a few years.
We have planted the fields with a cover crop of rye grass and orchard
grass, and this month are cutting it and throwing it under the trees.
We have some adjoining fields which were in hay but which had rather run
out. We are cutting these likewise and throwing the hay under the trees.
We believe if we keep this practice up for a few years we will have a
reasonable mulch under the trees. We have become interested in Reed
canary grass. We have had a few sample patches of it and are going to
plant a couple of outside fields with it to be used for mulch. It grows
stronger than any other northern grass with which we are conversant, and
therefore would produce more mulch. We are also giving the land two
rather heavy applications of mixed fertilizer each year.
We think the chief thing we have learned about chestnuts is that the
first few years the trees should be cultivated, fertilized, watered, and
mulched. You cannot handle them the way you could, for instance,
Christmas trees by simply sticking them in a field of grass. The first
year they should be watered every ten days if they require it, and
watered the second year if there is a real drought.
In closing we would say that as far as our immediate section is
concerned, it is our guess that chestnuts are the only nuts which might
appear to have commercial possibilities. Of course, at present, the nuts
sell at quite a high price and I fear beyond their value. What will
happen when the numerous orchards which have been planted in the last
few years come into bearing is any man's guess.
We do not believe that the black walnuts would ever prove a commercial
success here, although they normally do well. Of course the trouble is
the competition of the wild nuts from other sections. On the other hand,
if some one had the time to give to working up a market for the improved
black walnuts, he might get some profit out of it.
If I were younger, I might want to try growing a number of Winkler hazel
nuts. I think hazel nuts covered with chocolate make a very attractive
candy, and here, in this section, the Winkler seems to be immune to
blight and other troubles. This year, for the first time in our
recollection, the frost got them and the crop is very light.
I do not know just what to say about the heartnuts. They might not have
enough flavor to suit some people, but when eaten with salt I think they
are delicious. They are very free cracking. We have one, the Lobular,
which as soon as they are cracked can be shaken out of the shell. I am
disturbed however over the bunch disease to which some of them are
subject.
Please note that our remarks in regard to the commercial possibilities
of these various nuts has reference to our farm at Westfield and to no
other place.
I regret I am not going to be at your meeting to endeavor to answer any
question which might be asked.
Discussion of Mulches
DR. ANTHONY: Mr. Sherman and I were there a few years ago, and he has
very definitely given up the heartnut and black walnut. Many trees in
this area are affected with this bunch disease, which caused failure to
set, and he has very definitely decided that he is out of those two
nuts.
MR. FRYE: That sawdust, how old must it be, and how green have you used?
DR. ANTHONY: We have used sawdust in our fruit tree work. There is a
period when I don't like it. When it's raw and going down, it uses a
good deal of nitrogen. Also, if it gets dry, it will blow. Also when it
gets dry it will run off with the water, and I would like to use it
pretty well rotted down when I get it, and usually you can find old
rotted piles. If you do use it on trees where nitrogen is a factor, you
probably will have to use additional nitrogen.
Now, with the chestnut where you want to mature them fairly early in the
fall, it might work all right, because it will withhold the nitrogen in
the breakdown of your sawdust. But apparently, it works pretty well. I
think it was Mr. Sam Hemming who suggested using it in the rows. Most of
our State Forests and Waters nurseries in their seedling beds, plant
their seedlings, including chestnuts, make a mixture of sawdust and
sand, about one of sawdust and two of sand, and then broadcast that
right over their seeds. The seeds are broadcast on the firm soil, then
this mixture of sawdust and sand is broadcast over the seeds. That gives
a uniform planting of your seeds and gives a very nice protection. There
is one place that I think sawdust works very nicely.
Straw mulch, any material of that kind, in breaking down takes nitrogen
from the soil. They are all good if you balance that loss of nitrogen
that is lost during the period of breakdown. Now, there comes a time, if
you put a mulch on the soil and let it stay there for six or eight years
and keep building it up, when you pass imperceptibly from straw into
soil, and when you reach that time, your breakdown of your straw is
usually done without taking nitrogen from your soil itself, and from
that time on you may release nitrogen. But until you get that
imperceptible transformation from straw to soil, there is a time when
the breakdown of the straw uses your nitrogen, which is all right, if
it's late in the season, but not early. I'd want to watch my trees and
get my nitrogen on early, then let the straw use it later on.
A MEMBER: The migration of nitrogen—is there some such migration, and
is it just in the case of the sawdust?
DR. ANTHONY: You put it right on top, it's much worse. You can put it
right on top and it will take a year or two to pass through that period
where the utilization in the breaking down of the straw is greater than
the release of nitrogen. If it's mixed in the soil, the tree gets more
of it.
MR. STOKE: How deep is that effect on the soil?
DR. ANTHONY: We have used straw, hay, weeds, sawdust, chips, anything of
the kind, putting on a 5 to 6-inch layer. As I say, it takes from one to
three years to get through that period.
Now, Massachusetts has the longest continuous use—all of New England
has—of mulch, and they are reaching a point now where some of the
mulches are ten years old where the release of nitrogen is too much and
they get poor color on McIntosh. I think with the Chinese chestnut this
is one thing we have got to watch to get good maturity. Going farther
and farther south, you have more trouble. As you go to the north, our
trees color more easily, and there you wouldn't want to force them, as
our New England people find. They are releasing too much nitrogen late
in the season. So I would not want to use long, continued mulch in the
chestnut, I'd watch my maturity, and the minute they get a little slow
in maturing, I'd quit.
MR. BERST: How about corn cobs?
MR. JAY SMITH: How about anything in the street, leaves?
DR. ANTHONY: Anything like that, whether it's oak or maple. One goes
down as quickly as the other.
MR. CORSAN: On the way down here I called in to see Rodale, and we found
him in a mass of brewer's hops and ground up corn cobs. He had them in
the chicken house, and you know how a chicken house smells. He had no
smell in the chicken house. We looked all through his place, and we saw
another big pile of furs, mink, and such trimming off of them, a big
pile about that high (indicating), and that will go down. He had
everything under the sun in the way of mulch, but corn cobs ground up
fine was the chief one in sight.
Personally, I like to grow the mulch on the land right there. We can
grow it—up to 10 ton of green mulch to the acre. I have done it many,
many times. You have something there that goes down quickly. The very
growing of that through the latter part of the summer also uses the
nitrogen and hardens up your trees. Then we turn it down and within two
to three weeks we have it reseeded, and so we are growing a constant
supply in the soil-itself. You get the same effect as hauling in your
mulch. It's cheaper, usually, and you get, I think, a little bit better
control. Your mulches are not dry, they are turned under when—well,
it's crimson clover in the red, right in the blossom. They go down very
quickly. We leave as much as possible on the surface. I think it's a
little cheaper and a little more satisfactory control. I put them on
quite green. I find they rot much quicker.
MR. CHASE: I will now turn the gavel back to Dr. MacDaniels, who will
take over.
DR. MacDANIELS: Thank you, very much, Mr. Chase.
Perhaps we had better take a 10-minute recess.
(Whereupon, a short recess was taken.)
Nominating Committee Elected
DR. MacDANIELS: We will proceed with the election of a nominating
committee. That committee is elected. It is a committee of three, and
the nominations come from the floor. The present nominating committee is
Mr. Stoke, Mr. Sylvester Shessler, and Mr. Sterling Smith. Now, I guess
it is a good plan to change the nominating committee, and I think we
ought to have regional representation. I think that is important. Does
anybody have a nomination? Say we start in the Middle West.
A MEMBER: Mr. Silvis.
DR. MacDANIELS: He will take it. That's middle. Another nomination from
the farther west.
MR. CHASE: Mr. Chairman, I nominate Dr. Crane.
DR. MacDANIELS: That would be South Atlantic.
MR. WEBER: I nominate Mr. Chase.
DR. MacDANIELS: Do you wish to nominate more than three and have a
ballot?
MR. FRYE: I move nominations be closed.
DR. MacDANIELS: Nominations closed. Do you move to have the secretary
cast a unanimous ballot?
DR. McKAY: So move, Mr. Chairman.
MR. WEBER: Proceed with the election.
DR. MacDANIELS: The motion is that nominations be closed and the
secretary be instructed to cast a ballot for the slate as nominated. Any
further discussion? If not, all in favor say "aye."
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
DR. MacDANIELS: Carried.
Resolutions
DR. MacDANIELS: Is the Resolutions Committee here? Mr. Allaman, I
believe you are president of the Pennsylvania group, are you not?
MR. ALLAMAN: Yes.
"In the passing of Clarence A. Reed, who was a nut culturist of the
United States Department of Agriculture, we not only lost a friend in
the experimental field, but also a dear personal friend. Mr. Reed was
keenly interested in all phases of nut culture, devoting practically his
entire life to this work. We are more deeply indebted to him than can be
expressed. Paraphrasing what Lincoln said of the dead soldiers at
Gettysburg, it remains for us to continue the effort and build upon the
foundation to which he so largely contributed.
"Therefore, be it resolved that the secretary of this Association spread
upon the record this resolution and send a copy to Mrs. Reed."
DR. MacDANIELS: You have heard this resolution. I think it would be
appropriate we move to accept and adopt this by a rising vote.
(Whereupon, a rising vote was taken.)
DR. MacDANIELS: There are two other resolutions Mr. Allaman will read.
MR. ALLAMAN: "The Northern Nut Growers Association in its forty-first
meeting expresses its appreciation for the fine accomodations for its
meeting place supplied by Post No. 739 of the American Legion. The
Association also desires to compliment the Post on its foresight in
providing this community with such a satisfactory meeting place.
"May it therefore be resolved that the secretary spread this upon the
minutes and send a copy to the Legion."
Another resolution: "We, the members of the Northern Nut Growers
Association, express our keen appreciation of the very efficient
services of Mrs. Stephen Bernath and Gilbert L. Smith and others for
their splendid accommodations at this convention."
DR. MacDANIELS: These two resolutions, do you wish to accept them or
adopt them together?
DR. CRANE: Move that they be adopted as a whole.
DR. MacDANIELS: Moved that they be adopted together. Any discussion? If
not, all in favor say "aye."
(Whereupon, a vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried
unanimously.)
DR. MacDANIELS: Passed without dissent.
Are there other resolutions anyone has from the floor?
(No response.)
Report of Auditing Committee
DR. MacDANIELS: The auditing committee's report.
MR. WEBER: I have it. "We have found from our examination of the
treasurer's records that his accounts are in proper balance and that the
statement of his bank account, issued by his bank as of August 11, 1950,
shows he had on deposit in the Erie County United Bank of Vermilion,
Ohio, the sum of $2280.37. We feel our treasurer, Mr. Sterling A. Smith,
has faithfully discharged his duties during the current year and
recommend his continuance in that office, nomination for which has
already, of course, taken place. Royal Oakes, Chairman, Auditing
Committee." (Applause.)
DR. MacDANIELS: It all sounds very legal. I think it's all right. I take
it that applause indicates the acceptance of the report. Unless I hear
dissent, we will take that to be so.
DR. CRANE: Move the report of the Auditing Committee be accepted.
DR. MacDANIELS: O.K., we will make it legal. Who will second the motion?
MR. STOKE: Second.
DR. MacDANIELS: Moved and seconded that the Auditing Committee report be
accepted.
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
Election of 1950-51 Officers
DR. MacDANIELS: Next will be the election of officers, and we will ask
the chairman of the Nominating Committee to give his report. Inasmuch as
I am apparently concerned, I will hand the gavel to Mr. Chase for the
election.
MR. CHASE: We'd like to hear the report from the chairman of the
Nominating Committee, Mr. Stoke.
MR. STOKE: Most of you no doubt heard the report of the Nominating
Committee at our first session, but we nominated Dr. William Rohrbacher
of Iowa City, Iowa, for president, and for vice-president our perennial
candidate here, who has disappeared from the scene, renominating Dr. L.
H. MacDaniels. We hope to make him president next time. If he doesn't
make it next time, I think we will have to throw him out. And for the
secretary, our friend, Joe McDaniel. They are not relatives. And the
treasurer, repeating officer, Sterling Smith. The secretaryship and
treasurership shouldn't change any more often than necessary.
MR. STERLING SMITH: I object.
Before you move on that, I'd like to say that it isn't really legal, I
think, that I should have been on the nominating committee, and being
one of the officers, it would be very well taken on my part if there
were any nominations from the floor.
MR. CHASE: We are coming to that.
Any objections that we have nominations from the floor? Are there any
nominations for president?
MR. WELLMAN: Move nominations be closed.
MR. CHASE: Are there any other nominations for vice-president? (No
response.) I am sure we must have one for the treasurer. (No response.)
Do we have any for secretary?
MR. CORSAN: Why not have the former Miss Jones president again?
MR. STOKE: She becomes a member of the Board of Directors, and I think
it would be out of order to elect her to another office.
MR. CORSAN: I withdraw it.
MR. CHASE: Now I will entertain your motion, Mr. Wellman.
MR. WELLMAN: I move it.
MR. CHASE: It has been moved that the slate by the nominating committee
be accepted.
DR. CRANE: Second.
(Whereupon, a vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried
unanimously.)
MR. CHASE: Dr. MacDaniels, you may come in now.
DR. CRANE: We moved that nominations be closed. We haven't accepted
them.
MR. STOKE: When you are through, I have a resolution to offer.
DR. CRANE: Move that the report of the nominating committee be accepted
and we proceed with the election by voice vote. All in favor of having
the secretary cast a ballot for the slate nominated by our nominating
committee please signify by saying "aye."
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
MR. STOKE: I would like to make a motion that we elect a
parliamentarian, and I wish to nominate Dr. Crane.
MR. STERLING SMITH: Second the motion.
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
MR. FRYE: We elected a parliamentarian last year. I wonder how it's
coming on.
DR. CRANE: I have a report on it.
MR. WEBER: Mr. John Davidson, Xenia, Ohio.
MR. McDANIEL: He was parliamentarian before we made him our president.
MR. WEBER: That's passed on to Dr. Crane.
MR. CHASE: Now, Dr. MacDaniels, you may come in.
DR. MacDANIELS: Hope it's legal.
Is there any further business? Do you think of any, Mr. Weber?
MR. WEBER: Hold it open until after the banquet. Then if we think of
something that we have left out, we haven't adjourned.
DR. MacDANIELS: I will adjourn this particular session and give the
gavel to our new president.
MR. WEBER: We adjourn until this evening at the banquet.
DR. ANTHONY: Before you bang it down, may I make one announcement? I
thought you would be interested in an action that the Pennsylvania Nut
Growers have taken. Mr. Allaman, it is O.K. to report that committee
appointment?
DR. MacDANIELS: The question is raised as to the time of the next
meeting. The place has been decided. The time, I think, has to be left
to be worked out with the authorities at Illinois, is that right? Do you
want to say a word, Dr. Colby?
DR. COLBY: It is difficult, if not impossible, to give an exact date
right now, because we don't know at this time what our facilities for
meeting rooms and lodging will be on any particular date in the latter
part of the month of August. We will have to check and find out the best
days, if that is agreeable to the group.
DR. MacDANIELS: Does this group wish to express a preference as to the
last week in August or the first week in September? In other words, it
would be the week before Labor Day, or the week after. That wouldn't
necessarily fix it, but it would give the committee, if there were no
other restrictions as to available facilities, would be a guide for a
choice.
MR. WELLMAN: Call for a show of hands.
DR. MacDANIELS: I will do that. Those who would prefer a meeting date
comparable to this year? (Showing of hands.)[34] Those who prefer the
week after Labor Day? (No hands raised.)
[34] The 1951 meeting will be at the University of Illinois in Urbana,
August 28 and 29, to be followed with a tour in western Illinois for
those who can stay through the morning of August 31.
MR. STERLING SMITH: Maybe those who prefer the after Labor Day date
aren't here now.
DR. ROHRBACHER: I just want to say I appreciate very much the honor that
has been bestowed upon me. I appreciate the fact that the president is
purely an emblem, a figurehead, but with the staff that's under him,
it's the same as in the Post Office Department of the United States, the
head receives all the salary and his understudies do all the work. So
it's a very appropriate setting, and we should go forward under a very
good staff of men that have been elected to the positions under that of
the president.
One thing I want to say in regard to the problem that came up last night
that was discussed: that as the president, I can assure you that the
vice-presidents are certainly not going to be emblems if they expect to
continue on in their positions in the various states that are in the
group, because the working out of this problem, the success of it, is
going to depend on how well these vice-presidents carry out their work.
I thank you.
DR. MacDANIELS: We will close this session until tonight. I will give
Dr. Rohrbacher the gavel.
(Whereupon, at 4:50 o'clock, p.m., the Tuesday afternoon session of the
Northern Nut Growers Association was closed.)
Note on the Annual Tour, August 30, 1950
The third day of the Annual meeting, as is customary with the
Association, was spent touring interesting nut plantings in the
vicinity. The first stop was Bernath's Nursery, southwest of Pleasant
Valley, where he has his greenhouse, young nut plants, and a number of
fruiting trees. The second stop was on the grounds of the State School
at Wassaic, where many grafted nut trees, particularly walnuts, are
thriving, due to the interest and activity of Gilbert L. Smith, when he
was on the staff there. A picnic lunch was served in the recreational
area of the school grounds. Here Dr. W. C. Deming of Hartford, Conn.,
Dean of the Association, was on hand to greet many of his old friends.
After lunch we visited Mr. Stephen Bernath's farm nut planting, then the
topworked hickory woods on Mr. Wm. A. Benton's farm out of Millerton. At
the Benton and Smith Nut Nursery, also on the farm, the tour was
concluded.