PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

"The proposed legislation would appear to be desirable and to lend far-reaching encouragement to agriculture and benefit to the general public."

Thomas A. Edison, who is also quoted in the Committee report, said:

"Nothing that Congress could do to help farming would be of greater value and permanence than to give to the plant breeder the same status as the mechanical and chemical inventors now have through the patent law. There are but few plant breeders. This (the bill) will, I feel sure, give us many Burbanks."

It is certainly to be hoped that many of those interested in northern nut culture, as well as in fruits and ornamentals, will avail themselves of the privileges of this bill to give us something better. We are not satisfied with our varieties today and should not be. The greatest problem in nut culture, as well as fruit and ornamentals, is the question of variety. It will also be the most important question a hundred years from now, but the man who produces these better varieties should do so with the knowledge that under this law the fruits of his labor will be protected and he will at least have the same opportunity to receive remuneration therefrom as the inventor of a gadget.

Dr. Colby: I have talked with a number of men interested in the law. While they agree that it is a step in the right direction they feel that it will be a rather difficult thing to administer it. Plants differ from other objects or things or "gadgets" and considerable experience will be necessary on the part of the administration before the law will be made workable.

A banquet was held at the Hotel Montrose on the evening ofSeptember 17 at which about forty members and guests were present. The menu follows, and it will be noted that nuts were featured:

After the banquet the President spoke as follows:

Once upon a time I read a poem, which unfortunately I do not have here but in effect it was this: In our progress through life a great deal of injury is wrought by not showing our appreciation of people while they are with us. Let us give them our flowers now. We do want now to say a few things about the founder of our organization. In my history of this association Dr. Deming was the person who first proposed an association of this kind. I believe this was about 21 or 22 years ago, perhaps longer than that. At any rate the association has been going for some time and it was brought into existence through the thought of Dr. Deming. We should be very glad to hear from Dr. Deming.

Dr. Deming: Thank you. It is very gratifying indeed but I wish you hadn't. It is very difficult to express gratitude properly. I cannot make a speech like our friend Dr. Smith here, who I hope will make one. I can't tell a good story like our President. In fact, I feel like that man who said, "How happy is the moron, he does not give a damn. I wish I were a moron. My God! perhaps I am."

David Fairchild says that it takes the energies, the fortunes and the lives of pioneers, the best people of our country, to build up a new plant industry. I congratulate you all in being included in that classof pioneers, the best people of this country. But we haven't yet built up the great nut industry that we would like to build.

I might tell you how the idea of the nut growers association arose. In 1907 I got a little farm of forty acres in Connecticut. In 1908 I read an article by Dr. Morris, "Nut Culture as a Side Line for Physicians." I immediately wrote the doctor and he said in fifteen years I could have an income of $100.00 an acre from nuts alone. That seemed to me exactly what I wanted, $4,000 a year and live very comfortably. So I bought all the nut trees I could find. I bought nut trees from every nursery in this country that offered them in the North. I got pecans from the South. I sent to California and got filberts and English walnuts. I sent to Europe for English walnut seeds. I bought twenty acres of chestnut sprout land and grafted the sprouts. Just as the chestnuts were beginning to bear the blight came along. That ended them. The English walnuts I set around in fence corners and they grew a little smaller every year and, finally disappeared. That was the end of the English walnuts. At that time I couldn't graft hickories. With great labor I collected hickory scions and sent them to nurseries in the South and had them grafted. They arrived in the North after the ground had frozen. I told the hired man to heel them in. He heeled them in but left the top of the roots out. In the spring they were all dead. By that time my dander was up a little. I thought there must be other men who were having the same trouble. If we could have a little organization we could tell each other our troubles and perhaps work them out together. I wrote Dr. Morris, John Craig, Professor Close, Mr. Hales, and one or two others, and we met together in the Botanical Museum in Bronx Park and organized the Northern Nut Growers Association. That is all I had to do with it. Whether we will ever come to the place where they will have bands out and ticker tape flying, when we come to town—that is the thing I used to dream about a little when we first started. But I don't think we are destined to burst wide the gates of fame yet. We may after we have achieved our objects. As Dr. Fairchild has said, all our money, lives and energies must be devoted to them. We then may achieve post-mortem fame.

I want to say one thing, however, before I stop. We can't advocate the planting of nut trees if there are no nut trees to be had. Therefore, I think the Northern Nut Growers Association should do all that is possible to encourage the nursery men who are propagating nut trees. We should consider the propagating nursery men as a vital and essential part of the work we are trying to do.

The President: Dr. Deming made some reference to stories. Once in a while a story does flit across my mental horizon. I want to tell you how the word "nut" may have a very humorous interpretation. Once upon a time in Michigan a man died. After he died the local minister went around to console the widow. When he came of course the lady was grieving. This clergyman was a very young man and he attempted to console her thus: "Now, my dear Mrs. Smith; that which you see is just the husk, the nut has gone to heaven." Another time I addressed the Women's Canadian Club. I was invited to address this group on nut culture and the President in introducing me told a story about a minister too. In this case the minister got up in his pulpit and made an announcement: "My dear friends, my sermon is on liars. I am glad to see so many present." This lady said, "Of course, Mr. Neilson cannot say 'I am going to talk today on nuts, I am glad to see so many present'." I would like to give you an outline of the progress made during the past year. In writing this I had to inject into it a great deal of my own activities. I simply couldn't get out of it. I ask you to overlook the frequent references of a personal nature.

This is our twenty-first meeting and the first one to be held in the state of Iowa where tall corn grows, where good nuts thrive and good people live. We are glad to come to the midwest and meet some of its people, and see what our friends the Snyder Brothers and others are doing to extend the culture of nut trees in Iowa and other midwest states.

In looking over the records of the past year we find the usual experiences common to the lot of man. We find loss and gain, sorrow and joy. Our sense of loss and sorrow is heightened when we think of the passing of our good friend and efficient secretary Mr. Henry D. Spencer of Decatur, Ill. His sudden death was a shock to us all and we feel that his passing is a distinct loss not only to our association but to his city and state. It is also a loss to us as individuals in the severance of those helpful friendships which do so much to cheer us on our way and make life worth while.

In association matters, Mr. Spencer was most active and efficient. He was zealous, original and energetic, and did a lot to create interest in nut culture in his state and other midwest areas. Of him, as of others who have labored faithfully for an ideal and passed to their reward, may it be truly said, "The just die in their turn, but falling as the flowers, they leave on earth their fruit that outlives them."

While we have lost a capable secretary and good friend we have been fortunate in securing the services of Dr. A. S. Colby as a successor to Mr. Spencer. The news of Mr. Spencer's passing came just before your president left Lansing to address the Illinois State Horticulture Society on nut culture. In casting about for a new secretary, it occurred to me that Dr. Colby was the logical man for the position. While at Urbana where the Horticultural Society met I broached the matter to Dr. Colby. At first he was unwilling but after some discussion he finally consented to take the position provided the universityauthorities at Urbana would agree to his taking on new duties. Dr. Blair, head of the Horticultural Department at Urbana, was then approached on the matter and graciously consented to allow Dr. Colby to assume the secretaryship for the balance of the year. Dr. Colby has fulfilled his position in a very capable manner and I am sure the other executives and members are grateful to Dr. Colby and Dr. Blair for their cordial cooperation and help in our time of need.

As president I am also deeply grateful to our good and faithful friend Dr. W. C. Deming for taking over the duties of secretary while Dr. Colby was in England attending the World's Horticultural Congress in London, and enjoying a well deserved holiday. I trust Dr. Colby has returned to his duties with renewed zeal and increased knowledge and I hope he will be able to share some of that knowledge with those of us who were not fortunate enough to attend that great congress of horticulturists.

At our last meeting our late Secretary, Mr. Spencer, outlined the worthy scheme of staging a nut exhibit at the Chicago Garden and Flower Show, held in the stadium at Chicago. Considerable work was done by Mr. Spencer before he died, and afterward by Dr. Colby when he took over the secretaryship. Your president was able to assist Dr. Colby in various ways, such as staging the exhibit, in helping financially, and in personally attending the exhibit for five days. This exhibit of nuts was made up of entries from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario and British Columbia. It attracted a great deal of attention and I am sure was the means of creating interest and disseminating a lot of useful information on nut culture. We were ably assisted in this project by Mr. J. W. Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana, and Mr. Frank Frey of the Rock Island Railway, Chicago. Both of these gentlemen contributed valuable exhibits and gave generously of their time during the progress of the exhibition. Our past president, Mr. Snyder, also sent very useful exhibits.

In the carrying out of his duties as Specialist in Nut Culture for the Michigan State College, your President feels that some progress has been made since April, 1929. During that period arrangements have been definitely made, or are about to be made, by that princely public benefactor, Mr. W. K. Kellogg, which will set aside severalhundred acres for nut culture. About thirty acres of this area have already been planted to seedlings and grafted walnuts, chestnuts, hickories, heartnuts, hazels, and filberts. These trees have done as well as could be expected under the hot, dry weather of these past two summers. Arrangements are actively under way for planting 55 acres next spring and a much larger area in the following spring. We expect to assemble a first class collection of the best hardy varieties of native and introduced nut trees and hope as the years roll on that definite progress will be made.

In September 1929, a nut contest was drawn up and announced to the public of Michigan and adjoining states. This contest created a great deal of interest and many entries were received. Cash prizes of $50.00 each were offered for walnuts and hickories and awards of merit were given for other species. There were 451 plates composed as follows: black walnuts 313, English walnuts 11, butternuts 7, heartnuts 7, Japanese walnuts 13, hybrid walnuts 4, hickories 85, chestnuts 10, hazels 1.

These entries were used in staging what is said to be the largest exhibit of nuts ever displayed in the northern United States. From these numerous entries several selections of value were made. From these selections, six black walnuts, two heartnuts, three hickories and four chestnuts were chosen for propagation. Some of these have been propagated and plans are made to propagate a greater number next year.

The writer spent one week in Ontario during March for the purpose of introducing scionwood and trees of promising varieties of English walnuts, heartnuts and hybrid walnuts. Thirty trees of the Carpathian strain of the Persian walnut were introduced and all are now alive on our grounds at Lansing. These Carpathian walnuts have endured several winters at Toronto and Montreal and so far have not shown any winter injury. If further trials show that this strain is hardy it will be a decided improvement over any other Persian strain in the northern states or Canada.

Good varieties of heartnuts and filberts were brought in from British Columbia and are now growing nicely at the Kellogg Farm.

Grafting demonstrations were given at nine different places throughout the state during the month of May. These demonstrations were attended by fair sized audiences and much interest was shown in the operation.

In addition to the address before the Illinois Horticultural Society, your president gave an address on nut culture to the Michigan State Horticultural Society at Grand Rapids in December last, and also had on display a large collection of Michigan nuts. The address on nut culture and the display of nuts created considerable interest. He was also invited to address the Iowa State Horticultural Society on nut culture and the Iowa State Nurserymen's Association on the paraffin treatment of nursery stock, but could not do so because of a previous engagement. Arrangements have been made however to give these addresses at the meeting of the above associations at Shenandoah, Iowa, in November next.

The ancient parable of the sower who went forth to sow and who scattered seed on stony ground, by the wayside and on good soil, had a successful manifestation in the president's experience this last year. In March, 1929, I gave an address on nut culture to a small but influential audience in St. Thomas, Ontario. This meeting was due to the enterprise of Dr. C. C. Lumley, the capable secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in St. Thomas and one of our valued members. At this meeting I displayed a collection of Canadian grown nuts and suggested the use of nut trees for roadside and ornamental planting as well as for other purposes. These suggestions fell on rich soil, figuratively speaking, and bore fruit in an astonishing manner. In a short time an Elgin County Nut Tree Growers' Association was organized and a definite plan of operations outlined. One of the projects consisted in planting the Kings Highway, No. 3 in Elgin county, with walnut trees. With the cooperation of horticultural societies, service clubs, schools, etc., over 7000 nut trees were planted in one day last spring, and besides that more than 4000 other nut trees were planted on the home grounds of the people in this county. The encouraging feature of this project was the statement by Dr. Lumley that your president was the inspiration of all this planting. Without a sympathetic and energetic audience I could not possibly have donemuch by myself, and I am sure Dr. Lumley and his associates deserve great credit for their vision and energy. May their numbers be multiplied and their shadow never grow less. "And some seed fell on rich soil and brought forth a hundred fold."

You will very likely be pleased to learn that your president is interested in an advisory capacity in a project having for its object the gift of a good nut tree to every member of the Women's Institute of Ontario. This organization is composed almost entirely of rural women and is one of the most active and helpful societies in the country. The institute gave me hearty support in my efforts to promote the culture of nut trees in Ontario, and on several occasions passed resolutions asking the government to adequately support my work. There are over 40,000 women in this organization and it will take time and money to accomplish the objective, but no worthwhile movement ever progressed without a vision and a plan.

In conclusion I would like to read a beautiful little selection entitled "Save the Trees in Portugal." In reading this I am going to ask you to transpose the title to "Save the Trees in the Mid-West," and to think in terms of nut trees.

Travellers in Portugal report that in many places where timber trees are to be found, in woods, parks and gardens, one sees the following inscription headed, "To the Wayfarer":

"Ye who pass by and would raise your hand against me, hearken ere you harm me.

"I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter night, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts, quenching your thirst as you journey on.

"I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.

"I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.

"I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.

"Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer; harm me not."

A practical application of this beautiful message would add to the beauty and productive capacity of this country and would give pleasure and profit to its people.

Dr. J. Russell Smith was here called upon and gave entertaining and amusing accounts of his early struggles with nut culture and of some of his travels in foreign lands.

The President: I would just like to add to what I have said that the Rev. Paul Krath of the United Church of Canada is now about to leave for a five year absence in central Europe. He tells me he would like to sell the balance of those hardy Carpathian walnuts. I have faith in them. I think they are worth the price he asks for them for an experimental purpose alone.

Dr. Smith: Do you know where the seed was procured?

The President: On the high slopes of the Carpathian mountains. The winter temperatures go down rather low. In fact lower than in Toronto.

Mr. Hershey: Juglan regia?

The President: Yes. In early September the buds were quite matured, wood was ripened up and favorable for enduring the winter temperatures of Toronto. I have an impression that it gets 15 to 18 below zero. The trees have come through the winter at Montreal where they have even lower temperatures.

Member: How would we get them in? Get a permit from Washington?

The President: It can be done.

Dr. Smith: An application for the lot can be made.

The President then asked for the report of the Secretary.

The year 1929-30 has been one of growing interest on the part of the public, laying the foundation for a more rapidly increasing membership and wider influence on the part of the association.

Following the untimely death of Secretary H. D. Spencer, of Decatur, Illinois, we were asked by your president, Professor Neilson, to carry on the work of the office for the remainder of the year, in view of our previous experience. This we were glad to do because of our interest in the work. The great loss of the association in the death of Mr. Spencer should be here recorded. Mr. Spencer was keenly interested in nut growing in the North. He believed in its future and because of his retirement from active professional work could give his attention to the many details connected with the development of our program. His loss is keenly felt among the membership.

Your secretary has attempted to make the public, only more or less awake to the possibilities of our work so far, more nut culture minded. The burden of correspondence has become increasingly heavy. Hundreds of inquiries have been received, many from those mildly curious, but a large share from people anxious to learn of the possibilities of northern nut culture both for pleasure and profit. We have noted an increasing interest among those able to take up our new enterprise and have done what we could to make it an intelligent interest through radio, newspaper, and magazine publicity, speaking engagements at horticultural society and farmers' institute meetings and classroom instruction. The enthusiastic support of officials of these and similar organizations should be noted here. Space has been freely offered for use in fruit growing magazines and state horticultural society publications to supplement the columns of our official organ to spread the information regarding our activities, thus reaching a wider circle of potential members. We are glad to report some membership gains the past season.

In these activities we are handicapped by lack of funds. We have been particularly fortunate these past few months in having the co-operation of the University of Illinois in that your secretary has beenable to handle hundreds of letters through the Department of Horticulture channels free of cost to the association except for the stationery and postage.

One outstanding event of the season in the line of publicity sponsored by the association was the exhibit at the Central States Garden and Flower Show held in the Chicago Stadium April 5-13, 1930. Preliminary arrangements had been made by Mr. Spencer with the manager, Mr. John Servas, insuring us free space. Mr. Servas cooperated with us to the fullest extent and the appreciation of the association was expressed to him by your secretary at the close of the show. We spent considerable time both in the preliminary arrangements and on the ground, being in attendance throughout the week except when President Neilson, Mr. Wilkinson, and Mr. Frey were in charge. To these gentlemen, as well as to Dr. Robert T. Morris, Dr. J. R. Smith, and Mr. S. W. Snyder, who with President Neilson contributed the $30.00 necessary for rental of the glass show case, and to many of our members in the Middle West who sent samples of nuts, we owe a debt of gratitude. Our exhibit also included books and magazines on nut culture, nut-cracking machinery, grafting tools and waxes, and other material of interest to the prospective grower, all contributed by members or others interested in our work. The exhibit attracted much interest as a part of the magnificent show. We were busy from morning until night answering questions, most of them intelligent, and made many friends among a group of people whose intelligence level is high. Two hundred people asked for further information relative to some particular subject and a mimeographed sheet was prepared in the secretary's office after our return which went out to them.

We have had the cooperation of the Illinois State Department of Agriculture more than ever this past year, as evidenced by their support of our exhibit at Chicago, through providing funds for the preparation of a case of nut varieties suitable for planting in Illinois and, secondly, through the cooperation of the State Forestry Department. An immense tract of land has been acquired for reforestation in southern Illinois and money was available this past spring for the purchase of nut trees for planting there. Your secretary has been working with R. B. Miller, of the state department, in the selectionand planting of the better named varieties of nuts. Additional plantings will be made there and it is believed that a fine beginning has been made toward the establishment of a nut arboretum in that section.

There are many new things of interest developing in our field and those relating to it which need further study as a means of developing our usefulness.

The plant patent law, new methods of propagation, the variety question, the disease factor, new methods of harvesting, grading and marketing, to mention a few problems, are bringing about a new era in northern nut growing and need our combined efforts in their solution. We believe that the time is fast approaching for the appointment of a paid secretary who can devote more time to the development of our work. We will leave to you the working out of the details.

Dr. Colby supplemented his report with a talk about his trip to Europe during the summer where he went primarily to attend the World Horticultural conference in London. After some further informal discussion the meeting adjourned.

The second day, September 18, 1930, was given over to a visit to the Snyder Fruit and Nut Orchards at Center Point in the morning, where the group inspected the varieties being grown with great interest, an excellent lunch at noon under the trees, prepared and served by the Snyder brothers and Miss Snyder, their sister, and an afternoon spent in the Snyder nursery where the various nut trees which can be grown in Iowa were observed.

Meeting called to order by President Neilson. A vote of thanks was extended to Miss Snyder and the Snyder brothers for their hospitality. S. W. Snyder responded briefly.

The meeting place for next year was then discussed. Invitations were extended from Rochester, New York, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Geneva, New York, and other places. It was finally voted to meet in Geneva, New York, in September 1931 during the week of theannual meeting of the New York Fruit Testing Association. The selection of the date was left in the hands of the executive committee.

The report of the nominating committee was then called for. The association re-elected Professor J. A. Neilson as president, C. F. Walker as vice-president, and Karl Green as treasurer for the ensuing year. Professor A. S. Colby was unable to continue as secretary and that office was held open. The president and board of directors were instructed to appoint a new secretary.[A]

The financial status of the association was next discussed at length. It was voted that a letter be prepared and sent to the membership asking for contributions.

The report of the nut survey was then briefly presented by C. F. Walker, chairman of the committee, as a progress report. He stated that 1600 nut trees of various varieties had been recorded and data concerning tree performance and adaptation were being collected.

Frank H. Frey reported that he did not feel it advisable at this time to affiliate with the American Fruit & Vegetable Shippers' Association because of the expense to be incurred.

The secretary extended greetings of Mr. Ellis of Vermont whom he met at the meetings of the International Horticultural Congress in England last summer, and of Mr. Howard Spence of England to the association. It was a pleasure to report that Mr. Spence had been instrumental in having experimental work with nuts initiated in England.

The third day was devoted to a tour of the country round about Burlington where Mr. Snyder and Mr. John Witte showed us many of the most valuable parent trees found in that section. Some of these trees included the Witte and Elmer pecans, the two varieties recommended by Mr. Snyder for planting in that section; the Hill and Iowa shellbark hickories, the two best so far found in Iowa; the Burlington, Tama Queen, and Eureka hickories, the Oberman and Campbell pecans, and the Swartz black walnut.

[A]NOTE: Mr. W. G. Bixby was appointed and accepted the office.

NOTE—Although the expenses exceeded the receipts, no actual overdraft occurred because certain bills were not paid until funds from the next year came in. However, both overdraft and loan have been taken care of through contributions made during November and December, 1930.

Respectfully submitted,

KARL W. GREENE,

Treasurer.

The native nut crops in the northern portion of the country, east of the Rocky Mountains, offer a possible source of considerable income, if gathered while in prime condition and properly prepared for market. Thousands of bushels of highly edible nuts annually go to waste in that portion of the country covered by the great Mississippi Valley, the Appalachian region and the Middle Atlantic seaboard. These are chiefly black walnuts, hickory nuts, and butternuts, although it is probable that several hundred tons of beechnuts which annually go ungathered should be included. These last are too small for human consumption in this country, under the existing relations between human labor and the quality of available food. Nevertheless, there are ways by which they can be put to profitable use.

The kernels of black walnuts and butternuts are in great demand. The potential supply of the former is usually abundant but the small number of butternut trees in the country automatically makes the possible supply of nuts of that kind very limited. The kernels of both these, walnuts and butternuts, and also of the best northern hickories, particularly the shagbarks and shellbarks, are highly palatable and nutritious. In these respects they compare favorably with any other kinds of nuts on the market. These northern species are singularly free from an impregnation of tannin in the pellicles which leaves a bitter after taste so familiar with certain of their chief competitors in the nut market.

Black walnut kernels in particular appear to be firmly entrenched in the markets of this country. They are in keen demand with many classes of manufacturers. This demand is on the increase with no apparent possibility of foreign competition, as the eastern black walnut,Juglans nigra, the finest of the American blacks, is grown nowhere outside of the United States except in certain districts of anarrow adjoining fringe of neighboring Canada.

The present year may be one of the best likely to occur soon in which to harvest and prepare these nuts for the market or home consumption on the farm. The drought has undoubtedly reduced the crop as a whole, although at this writing the yield appears considerably greater than that of 1929. At harvest time it will probably be found that many of the nuts are below normal size and that the kernels are imperfectly developed. The quantity of the finished product which it would be possible to place on the market would therefore appear likely to be small.

On its face, with a light crop of poor grade in prospect, it may be difficult to understand why this should be a propitious year to inaugurate a systematic harvesting and marketing campaign. However, in explanation of this,first, there are no carry-overs from last year. So short was the crop of 1929 that manufacturers found the supply exhausted before the end of last January. Many sent out urgent appeals hoping to find some source of supply. They offered the inviting price of 65 cents a pound for good grade kernels, f. o. b. the farmers' shipping point. Yet it was all in vain as the kernels were not forthcoming.

Second, as a result of the recent extreme drought and the consequent shortage of some of the more staple crops, there will likely be considerable slack time on many farms. Where this is the case and there are nut crops in the field it will likely be found in many cases that they may be gathered and sold to good financial advantage, assuming that right methods are employed in harvesting and preparing for market.

Third, where there are nuts in quantity too limited to justify gathering and preparing for market, they should still be gathered and as carefully prepared as though for the market and used on the home table. They will be found to be most excellent and pleasing food.

To obtain the highest prices for black walnuts or butternuts, certain fundamentals should be kept in mind.

1. They should be sold only in the shelled condition.

2. The kernels must be delivered early.

3. They should present an attractive appearance.

4. They should be in thoroughly sanitary condition.

The explanation as to why they should be sold in the shelled condition is simple. The weight of shell is too great to justify shipment in that condition. In the shell, walnuts and butternuts seldom bring more than $1.50 or $2.00 per bushel and the demand is exceedingly limited, especially after the earliest part of the season. Again, the shells are of no value except for fuel. Fuel of this kind by freight or express is exceedingly costly. Again, the nuts must be cracked somewhere and the kernels removed before they can be used, and farm labor is much cheaper than that of the city. Regardless of where the labor is from, the cost of cracking the nuts and picking out the kernels, or "shelling" as the operation is called in the trade, is charged back to the farmer. The shelling of these nuts is something in which the whole family on the farm can join.

Delivery should be early as it is then that prices are best. The use of shelled nuts is practically an all-year affair, yet, just as soon as the supply begins to bulk up in the hands of the wholesalers, prices promptly go lower.

The condition in which black walnut kernels reach the market is ordinarily very poor. Little attention appears to be paid to the matter of sanitation, and practically no thought is given to their appearance. As a rule, shipment is made in burlap bags of double thickness. Little thought is ever paid to separating the kernels according to shade of color and it is rare that the kernels are properly cured after being removed from the shells. Oil and moisture given off by the kernels are taken up by the burlap bags, and by the time delivery is made to the wholesaler, the kernels are in no sense attractive and are often unsanitary. Fortunately, the kernels are carefully gone over by employees of the wholesaler by whom all spoiled pieces are removed and, in the process of manufacture, the kernels are usually so heated as to dispel any danger from ill effects due to the unsanitary condition.

The successive steps essential to harvesting and preparing for market may be grouped as follows:

1. Harvest the nuts as soon as mature.

2. Remove the hulls promptly.

3. Cure the nuts somewhat.

4. Crack the shells and remove the kernels very soon.

5. In cracking, the kernels should be separated into five grades—Lights, darks, intermediates as to color, small pieces and crumbs.

6. Before packing for shipment the kernels must be artificially cured until they no longer feel moist to the hand when it is run through the container.

7. Barrels or boxes of wood, or strawboard lined with water-proof paper, should be used in packing for shipment. These should not be closed until immediately before shipment.

8. As soon as received by the buyer the containers should be opened and the kernels spread out in clean bins where they may receive frequent inspection.

The nuts should be picked from the ground within three or four days from the time they fall. If possible the limbs should be jarred so as to shake the nuts from the tree. Good nuts will usually be found to mature within a very few days and may readily be shaken down.

At this time the hulls will be perfectly sound and not objectionable, in so far as staining the hands is concerned. But if the hulls be broken open the juice which they emit will leave a lasting stain on the hands or garments. But the hulls need not be broken to any great extent.

The ordinary corn sheller on the farm is undoubtedly the most practicable instrument for removing the hulls, generally available at this time. If the hulls are still green enough to be firm, the nuts may be placed in the machine by hand. Otherwise, some arrangement may be worked out by which the nuts may automatically be fed into the machine. After hulling by this method the nuts should be put into a tub or tank of water and thoroughly washed with a broom or stiff brush. When the nuts are hulled promptly and well washed it will be discovered that the natural color of walnuts is light or whitish and notblack. The dark color is wholly due to stain from the green hulls. This stain, by the way, loses its effectiveness as soon as the hulls turn dark. Stains from nut hulls which have lost all trace of green color, so that the hulls are black, are readily washed from the hands.

After the nuts have come from the sheller they may be handled by shovels or by forks with tines close together. They should then be cured for a few days. For this purpose they should never be placed in piles or deep layers. Preferably they should be spread out in trays with bottoms of wire mesh or narrow cleats so as to be open. These should be put where there will be a free circulation of air all about. Where trays are not available the nuts may be spread on a barn floor and the doors left open during the day. If the weather is bright they may be spread on boards laid on the ground directly in the sun, although it is probable that they should be given partial shade during extremely hot days.

Various methods of hulling other than by the corn sheller are in use. Some involve merely stepping on the nuts with a forward movement of the foot, just as the hulls are softening. This is not particularly satisfactory as the nuts must still be picked out of the mashed hulls by hand. Besides leaving a very persistent stain on the hands this method is unsatisfactory for two reasons; it is not at all rapid and very far from perfect in the degree to which it removes the hulls.

Other methods involve the use of automobile wheels. Sometimes machines are driven over the nuts as they are thinly spread on the ground. Again a wheel is jacked up and set in motion in a tub of water in which the nuts have been placed. Both methods have their advocates. The writer has had experience with the former only, yet he can conceive of little to commend either method.

Still another method is that of pounding off the hulls by hand. Of all common methods this has the fewest conceivable advantages. It is slow, thoroughly inefficient, and extremely objectionable from the standpoint of the stain.

What is perhaps far the most satisfactory method of any yet used for removing the hulls, from every standpoint except that of expense, is one evolved by the Department of Agriculture in 1926. It consistsmerely of running the nuts through large-sized vegetable paring machines. These machines consist of metal containers, circular in form and having a capacity of approximately 1-1/2 bushels. The inner walls are lined with hard abrasive surfaces. A bushel of nuts is placed inside, the lid closed, a stream of water turned into the container, and the machine set in operation. By means of gears attached to the bottom of the container which is separate from the walls, plated and perforated, the bottom spins around several hundred times per minute. The nuts are made to beat violently against the rough walls with the result that, in from 2-1/2 to 5 minutes, depending upon the firmness of the hulls, the nuts are ready to be taken out. They are then perfectly hulled, thoroughly washed and light or whitish in color.

With a few days of drying, the nuts should be ready for cracking.

As soon as fit for cracking, and before becoming so dry that the kernels break badly, the nuts should be shelled. The hammer and a solid block of wood, or a piece of metal with a shallow cupped depression in which to place the nuts while held for hitting, is the most common outfit in use. Various handpower machines are appearing on the market, and already designers are at work attempting to devise power machines. The former have been in use for several years. The latter are mostly quite new and untried. About all that can be said regarding such machines is that they are much needed and that it is not improbable that there will soon be several makes of efficient machines in the field.

As soon as the shells have been cracked, the kernels should be extracted. All large pieces, including chiefly quarters and whatever halves there are, should be separated into three shades: lights, darks and intermediates, as previously mentioned. All sound, small pieces, regardless of shade, should be put into a fourth grade and all unsound kernels and particles too small to separate from minute particles of shell, should be put into a fifth grade and fed to poultry in moderate quantity at one time.

Unless given artificial heat before packing for shipment, thekernels are fairly certain to become moldy and even to cake together in a solid mass while in transit. To do this they should be placed in trays or pans and put above or back of a kitchen stove where they will not get hot enough to be injured. The hand should be run through the kernels not infrequently so as to detect any excessive heat and also to determine by experience the proper degree of dryness.

After being kept warm and being frequently stirred until the kernels seem properly dry they may be removed and allowed to become cool. They should then be re-examined with the hand so as to determine the apparent dryness. If they feel at all moist, they should be returned to the drying position and the operation repeated. The writer has had no personal experience in this matter and so cannot give precise directions. However, the farm wife can probably work out a very satisfactory system in her kitchen.

Although previously discussed, the importance of clean, sanitary and attractive containers for shipment can scarcely be overstressed. Without such precaution no one need hope to work up a permanent business, for, regardless of how secure he may feel with the trade he will eventually find his customers turning to others who are willing to go to this trouble.

When the time comes for shipping the boxes may be closed up and delivered promptly to the transporting agency. The containers should again be opened as soon as the destination is reached and an examination made as to the moisture condition of the kernels.

So far as harvesting and hulling hickory nuts is concerned, the matter is not at all complicated. Good nuts drop with the first sharp frost. Those with good kernels inside become automatically separated from the hulls. Those which do not easily become separated from the hulls should be discarded as they are rarely of any value and should not become mixed with the good nuts. With a moderate amount of curing these nuts should be ready for market. They usually bring better prices in the shell than do walnuts; but on the other hand they are in less demand after being shelled. Perhaps this is because thetrade has not been built up but it is a recognized fact that black walnut kernels are practically in a class by themselves among the nuts of the world, in the extent to which they retain an agreeable flavor in cooking. Hickory nut kernels should be given a much greater place than they now occupy in the cooking and baking for the farm table. A few finely chopped kernels mixed with breads, cakes, or cereals will be found highly acceptable to most palates.

Butternuts are generally too scarce to justify much attention. They could probably be hulled by vegetable paring machines quite as efficiently as are walnuts but, so far as known to the writer, this has not been tried.

Beechnuts make excellent food for poultry and certain kinds of livestock. To convert the crop into cash is largely a matter of using the land under the trees for the right sort of grazing. In European countries beechnuts are highly valued as a source of salad oil. Mr. Bixby of this association is taking steps to procure trees bearing as large sized nuts as possible with a view to subsequent breeding. So far as known to the writer beechnuts in this country are not gathered in quantity.

Although the association has now been in existence 20 years there has so far been little progress, we might almost say no progress, made in getting an improved beechnut.

All have agreed that the flavor of the beechnut was excellent, that it had a shell so thin that it could be opened with a pocket knife, that it was an oily nut and would keep, like the thin shelled hickories, walnuts, etc., and not a starchy one, which would dry out like chestnuts and acorns, that it would grow and bear well in northern sections where the best nuts we have do not grow well, but also that it was so small as to practically nullify the above mentioned excellent qualities. If we ever get a beechnut the size of a chestnut we shall have a most needed addition to our nut bearing trees, but there has been so little hope of finding such that no one has paid much attention to the beech. As a matter of fact not within the last ten years have there been any prizes offered for beechnuts except those provided by the writer at his own expense, neither have there been at any time during the writer's recollection any varieties suggested excepting one or two by Omer R. Abraham, Martinsville, Ind., which nobody has growing, so far as known to the writer.

It was thought that there might be a large fruited species of beech growing in some part of the world as is the case with the chestnut, walnut, hickory and hazel, and that it would only be necessary to import it to get what was needed, or at least to make a good start in getting what was needed. Rehder in his wonderfully helpful "Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs" gives seven species of beech, one in America, Fagus grandiflora, one in Europe, F. sylvatica, two in Japan, F. sieboldii and F. japonica, two in China, F. longipetiolata and F. engleriana and one in Asia Minor, F. orientalis. These are growing in the Arnold Arboretum and leaves, buds and fruits are to be seen in the herbarium there. A day spent there, however, half in the arboretum and half in the herbarium, convinced the writer that there isat present no large fruited species of beech known to botanists. There is an incompletely known species of Chinese beech, F. lucida, whose fruit is not in the Arnold Arboretum. While it is of course possible that there may yet be a large fruited species somewhere in the world, still the relatively slight differences in the leaf, bud and fruit of the seven species already known makes this seem improbable and leads us to conclude that the genus "Fagus" is the most uniform in the species that make it up of any genus of nut bearing trees. This seemingly reduces us to the necessity of seeking variation in species already known.

Fagus sylvatica has been by all odds longest in cultivation and many varieties are known. Rehder lists 17 principal varieties with many other sub varieties. These have leaves varying in color, purple, copper color, pinkish, yellow and whitish spotted with green, beside the usual green, also in shapes of leaves, some very narrow almost linear, some very small and deeply toothed, others large and roundish up to 3 in. broad and 5 in. long. The varieties vary in bark from the smooth bark typical of the beech to bark like that of the oak. They also vary in habit of growth, being mostly erect but some pendulous and some dwarf with twisted contorted branches. But no one seems to have ever heard of a large fruited beech.

It is inconceivable however, that a tree can vary in every particular except in the fruit and it is believed that it only requires sufficient searching to find large fruited varieties. There are difficulties, however, in the way of finding unusual beeches which do not occur with walnuts, chestnuts and hickories, which are trees where the nuts have such merit that they are usually spared even if in the middle of a cultivated field, while the beech is usually a forest tree. A nut contest brings hundreds and thousands of walnuts and hickories but only very few beechnuts. Correspondence with the forestry departments of every state having such departments generally evinced interest in the search for a large fruited beech, but those replying universally disclaimed any knowledge of such.

While it is believed that there are such in America, perhaps as many or more than in Europe, and efforts should be made here to find such, there are many reasons for believing that a search in Europe will bemore immediately productive of results than will the search here. The beech is much more esteemed in Europe than here and has been extensively planted in forests that for centuries have been operated for constant production of timber. It is believed that the contents of those forests are as a class better known to their keepers, at least the beeches there are better known than in the forests in the United States. The number of propagated ornamental varieties noted in the second paragraph gives evidence of this. The history of one or two of these varieties will make this clearer.

Three beeches with red or copper colored leaves as far back as 1680 were recorded as growing in a wood near Zurich, Switzerland. Most of the purple beeches now growing are believed to have been derived from a single tree discovered in the last century in a forest in Thuringia in Germany. There may be or may have been many such in America but they would not have appeared valuable to the woodmen who probably would be the only ones who would see them and then the leaves would not have been visible in the winter when trees are most frequently cut. That the Deming purple black walnut is in existence is due solely to the observation and action of Dr. Deming who gathered scions and got them growing before the original tree had been cut for the purpose of getting space for improving a road. That this tree could be seen from the road was how it came to the attention of Dr. Deming. Had it been in the midst of a large forest it might have been cut in winter for timber without the cutter knowing it was unusual.

That we have such a wealth of varieties of the beech valuable as ornamental trees and none valuable for the large nuts they bear, certainly suggests that the tree varies in every way except in the size of the nuts it bears, but this is not believed to be so. The growing of ornamental trees is an old industry. There are hundreds of nurserymen today growing ornamentals and only few in comparison growing nut trees. It is not so many years ago that there were none growing nut trees. A beech with purple leaves appeared valuable 100 years ago and was disseminated by nurserymen while one with nuts 10 times normal size would probably not have been propagated for there would not have been sale for it. It would have only been known locally as unusual and probably the tree would have been cut for timber when it reached the proper size.

The search for a large fruited beech is not going to be easy but it is believed that persistent work will eventually triumph, much as the 1929 contest brought more shellbark hickories of value to the attention of the association than all previous contests put together. The shellbark is a tree the best varieties of which it is difficult to learn about. Unlike the shagbark hickory it is not generally found growing near buildings or in fields or pastures. Its natural habitat is the bottom lands of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, lands that are overflowed part of the year. There will have to be a campaign, perhaps for several years, till people begin to look for large fruited beeches; then will come a harvest of them.

The relatively few beeches that have come in to the contests suggests that methods used heretofore should be somewhat modified in beechnut search. Probably a campaign of education among foresters might be more productive of results than among farmers, at least it should supplement it. The search for improved beechnuts evidently has more different kinds of difficulties than the search for any other nut and considerable thought on the matter leads me to suggest that a committee be appointed to study the nut and to seek large fruited specimens especially to look into methods for getting them and report to the association a year hence, said committee to finance itself.

This suggestion is made because it is believed that efforts made in Europe to find a large fruited beech will be more immediately productive of results than in America for the reasons noted above. Even if the committee consists of but one man correspondence abroad would be better carried on in the name of a committee of the association than in the name of an individual and it is believed would be more productive of results.

This has at last been finished. It is a memorable achievement in many ways. It has taken much longer to award the prizes than at any previous contest, which is a matter of deep regret to me. But, if we except the shagbark hickories and the beechnuts, the value of the nuts is so far ahead of those received in any other contest as to make the results of all previous contests commonplace in comparison.

The highest award for black walnuts in the 1926 contest was for the Stambaugh 63 points, which recalculated using the present constants would be 62 points, while all the 10 prize winners in the 1929 contest were awarded more points than 62, the nut taking the tenth prize being awarded two points more or 64 and the nut taking first prize being awarded 19 points more or 81, the difference being largely in generally superior cracking quality of the 1929 nuts.

The highest awards for butternuts, in print and readily referred to, are in the 1919 report where the butternut taking first prize was awarded 67 points, which after recalculation with present constants would be 65 points, and there were nine prizes awarded this year where the score was higher than 65.

The shagbark hickories were disappointing, none equalling several of the best ones reported in the 1919 contest. This is laid to the general poor quality of the shagbark hickory nuts in 1929. One observing contestant sent in nuts from the 1928 crop, as well as nuts of the 1929 crop, to show us how much better they were normally than were those of the 1929 crop, and as a matter of fact the 1928 nuts sent in by him tested out several points higher than those of the 1929 crop. On the other hand, other hickories, Carya laciniosa and Carya ovalis, which never before were awarded prizes in a nut contest, this year came up into the winning class and we had some large laciniosas of real merit this year, a matter which is likely to be of great importance, as it is noted in considerable detail later on.

The chestnuts were few in number, yet some very good nuts were received, and as most were from trees which had been growing in sections where the blight has been present for many years, it is believed that they will be of value in getting a blight resistant chestnut of horticultural merit. This work now is really under way.

The beechnuts received were but 4 in number and were pretty good although too small to be of horticultural value. Considerable is noted later on the likelihood of getting larger beechnuts and a way is suggested to get them.

Under the headings black walnuts, hickories, chestnuts, butternuts and beechnuts will be found an abstract of the awards of prizes awarded each. It is believed that this will be all that there will be time to present to the convention. The results of each test in detail will be typed out for printing in the report for it is believed these are of permanent value. Results of tests on many of the well known nut varieties will also be given. Some of these appeared in the 1919 report but owing to the change in the constants necessitated by the discovery of new and better nuts these figures are somewhat out of date. Some of these also appeared in the 1927 report but there are serious typographical errors there and it is believed that it will be of value to have results of the tests on nuts of the 1929 contest appear in the 1930 report, in connection with tests on well known varieties.

The prizes to be awarded are as follows:

That there are more than ten prizes, when there were prizes offered but for ten, is due to our custom, when two or more nuts receive the same score and win a prize, to provide an additional prize of equal amount for each one.

There have yet to be awarded prizes for those chestnuts of the 1929 contest which show high resistance after being inoculated with blight spores. This cannot be done for two years at least for scions must be gotten growing and have reached a diameter of 3/8" to 1/2" before this can be properly done.

The writer intended, when the contest reached the stage just now reached to endeavor to get a meeting of those members best qualified to pass on characteristic "quality and flavor of kernel" of those nuts put down by him as prize winners. This is the only characteristic where personal opinion has not been replaced by the precise methods, but time did not permit.

The delay in completing the 1929 contest has been very unsatisfactory. It has been caused by a combination of circumstances which it is not believed will occur again. Instead of a contest limited to one nut, as the 1926 contest was, we had here, as well, butternuts and hickories in large numbers, the hickories in particular being more numerous than the black walnuts, and the nuts came in very late, all of which largely increased the nuts to be gone over and delayed Dr. Deming in the preliminary examination. The nuts did not reach me till the last of April, a time when spring work outside was pressing. It takes a person of some experience before even the weighing methods in force for measuring quantitatively nut characteristics can be properly done and while some work was done on the contest practically every day from April 24th on, only about an hour a day could be put on it, and it went so slowly that after about a month, I set about hiring someone who should devote his or her time to it. It took about six weeks before someone was obtained and properly trained, which brought us into July, since which time the work went on well but the number of nuts was large and I had to personally pass on the final award, which must be carefully done and necessarily a good deal of time was taken, far more than anticipated.

The experience of this year's contest has shown me how to better handle another if it falls to my lot to do so. I would get Dr. Deming to send in the nuts, which after the preliminary examination, he thought worthy of carefully testing, instead of waiting till the preliminary examination of all received had been completed. This would get themhere in the winter when work is light for the man I have here, who is thoroughly trained for making these tests. Those rejected at first by Dr. Deming he could go over again later, as is his custom, and possibly pick out some good ones which did not show up well when first received.

Back to Index Next