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 GRAVESConnecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn.andDivision 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 theNew Haven Registerby 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 theStazione Sperimentale di Selvicolturain Florence, Italy, two tubes of pollen of the European chestnut,Castanea sativa, of the varietiespistoleseandselvatico. 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 themollissima-seguinihybrids to M. C. Schad of theStation 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 betweenCastanea henryi, the Henry Timber Chinkapin from southern and central China, which is said to attain a height of 90 feet, andC. mollissima, the Chinese chestnut. Sincehenryiblooms very early, much before ourmollissima, the Division of Forest Pathology mailed us pollen ofC. mollissima, which reached us just in time to be applied tohenryi. 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 HeightHybrid Location Age in yrs. in ft. Remarks———————————————————————————————————-J × A Row 4 Tree 10 19 30 Repeatedly inarchedJ × A " 4 " 4 14 33 Grafted on Jap.stock, Apr. 1937J × A " 4 " 12 19 29 Repeatedly inarchedJ " 7 " 5 20 23C " 1 " 4 24 30-3/4CJA " 60 " 39 13 29CJA " 61 " 48 13 24CJA " 8 " 8 4 14 Grafted on Chinesestock, spring, 1947.Fruited this yr.1st time.————————————————————————————————————J=Castanea crenataA=Castanea dentataC=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. crenataandsativa.) During June and July, pollen ofC. dentatacame from Mr. E. J. Grassmann, Elizabeth, N. J., Mr. Paul Maxey, Montcoal, W. Va., Mr. Malcolm G. Edwards, Asheville, N. C.;C. mollissimaanddentatafrom the Division of Pathology, U.S.D.A.;C. sativa, vars.pistoleseandselvaticofrom Dr. Aldo Pavari,Stazione Sperimentale di Selvicolture,Florence, Italy; andC. pumilaanddentatafrom 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 tallmollissimasat 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 ourSleeping Giant Plantations by bee experts of the staff of the Conn.Expt. Station. Improved results in pollination and the resulting nutharvest cannot be affirmed with only one season's trial.
A Method of Controlling the Chestnut Blight on Partially ResistantSpecies and Hybrids of Castanea
ARTHUR HARMOUNT GRAVESConnecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New HavenandDivision 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 suckersabovethe 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 ofLong 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 theSiers but does not crack thick shelled hickories very well. On the otherhand 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 theWright 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.