“ However, no one should anticipate a great fortune as the result of any nut tree of which he may find himself the owner. It is not possible for a variety to be of especial value, no matter how promising the parent tree may appear to be, until it has established proof of its adaptability and merit in other sections remote from that of its origin. Except in rare cases it has been only after a variety of any kind of fruit has become well known by many who have tested it and spoken for it that it has become popular or in great demand. ”

“ The conservation of natural resources, the creation of new ones is a topic which combines the qualities of science, service and utility.
Of all our resources the soil is the most vital. Most of the others have some possibility of substitution, but for the soil there is no substitute. ”

“ For the first and second classes of land we need a new type of agriculture, the crop-yielding trees. Our agriculture, which depends so largely now upon those members of the grass family which we call grains, is the result of accident, not the result of science. At the dawn of history man had practically all of these small grains, which have probably resulted from the selection and seed saving of the primitive woman, as the race came up from savagery into agriculture. ”

“ So long as we are in a semi-civilized state, we cannot talk about beautifying our roads, as does Germany. Germany has set an example of efficiency for the entire world, no matter what your opinion may be as to the present conflict. At the present time she is perhaps believing that she is carrying on a utility crusade. One of the German methods is to line the roadways with fruit-bearing trees, including nut trees, in such a way that the income pays the taxes for some villages. ”

“ Yet there is really no waste land in New York, as every square foot of the state which is covered with any soil at all is capable of producing good forest trees. It is this great area of idle land enclosed within our farms which seems to have unusual promise in the development of nut culture in the state. There is a great deal of land now idle in the form of steep hillsides or ridges or rocky slopes upon which we may grow with comparative ease our walnuts, butter-nuts, hickories, hazelnuts, in the wild form at least. ”

“ Of course blight immunity is not the only factor to be considered in selecting a variety of walnut. A profitable yield of good commercial nuts is the real test of the superiority of any variety. A very heavy yielding tree with a small amount of blight may prove more profitable than a light yielding variety that is totally immune to this disease.
The production of a medium grade nut which would grade only as a seedling No 1, might prove more profitable if the tree is at least partially blight immune than the production of such a high grade nut as the Placentia with its susceptibility to blight. ”

“ We must not accomplish everything in civilization this year. Be generous; leave something for others to accomplish later. Nut trees grown in forest form say to themselves: "Here are trees enough. We shall store up cellulose." Therefore the trees store up cellulose, make great trunks and timber, and little fruit. A nut tree on the other hand which is growing alone in a field says, "Here are not trees enough. I shall be fruitful," and therefore it bears much fruit. Consequently, nut trees to be grown as forest are out of the question as nut producers, but may be very valuable for timber. ”

“ I urge upon the organization a campaign of education, a campaign which will reach through the women's clubs, civic organizations, schools and state associations in a way that will cause the people to demand more nuts for food and more nut trees as an absolutely indispensable part of the complete utilization of both the agricultural and forest soils of the state. ”

“ A few years ago, when I was setting out an orchard of nut trees, a neighbor of mine came over and looked very doubtfully with a trace of pity in his expression and said, "When do you expect all those trees that you are setting to bear?" I replied, "I am not sure, but I do know that they will bear a long time before those trees that you are not setting." Topworking, however, gives quick results and enables one to take advantage of the long-established thrifty root systems of the wild black walnuts, hickories and pecans growing in economic spots, around the fences, corners, creeks and hillsides. ”

“ The pistachio, the walnut, the filbert and the chestnut are all important tree crops in parts of the Mediterranean countries and many American travelers have probably seen the chestnut orchards of France and Italy, which I have found by examination are able to make the rough and unplowable mountain-side, bristling with rocks, as valuable as the level black prairies of Illinois.
The natural objection may be raised that the utilization of so much hilly land in fruit and nut-yielding trees will give such supplies of new food that people will refuse to use them. ”

“ There is ever-increasing competition among the farmers of the state as the standards in animal, milk and fruit production are ever increasing. In view of the amount of idle land and of our financial condition it seems to be an unusually opportune time for those interested in nut culture to bring before the farmers and other landowners of the state the idea of planting nut trees, the products of which will add to the annual income from the land. ”

“ The tree crop agriculture seems to hold the possibility of letting the worst third of our soil (Class 1 as mentioned above) become as productive as the best land (Class 3) , while (Class 2) the hill land can probably be doubled in productivity. This is a goal well worthy of much endeavor on the part of the plant breeder.
Tree crops offer equal possibilities for the arid land. The grains with their period of crisis are an uncertain dependence on land of such uncertain rainfall as exists in the United States west of the 100th meridian. ”

“ I believe that alfalfa and tree crops will be two of the greatest factors in the rehabilitation of the farm, especially the nut trees, for the reason that nut trees do not require the same high degree of care, spraying, pruning, as do apple and peach trees, nor are the products as perishable. A crop of nuts can be harvested and stacked up in barrels, and boxes, in the smoke house, the barn or in a flat car and go to the market tomorrow, next week or next month. ”

“ The oak whose acorns probably made the pig what he is, is almost neglected in America; yet for ages the Indians of the Pacific coast have made their bread from acorns of two species of oak, one of which is now gathered by the farmers of California, put into their barns and [Pg 34] bought and sold as stock food. The beechnut and the hickory nut are rich and much prized swine food.
Legumes, of which there are many species, can be grown between nut-yielding trees to maintain the fertility of the soil through the nitrogen gathering nodules upon their roots. ”

“ If one will look over his hazel bushes once a year and simply whip out the few slices of bark carrying the blight, it is done so easily and quickly that we now need to have no fear whatsoever for the future of hazel culture in this country. ”

“ As it often seems desirable to cultivate trees of this character where possible, the tree crops agriculturist is above all others able to adjust his crop and the one device that permits the tillage of hilly land—terracing. Terraces interfere with machinery which is so increasingly essential in the cultivation and harvesting of the present crops. But terracing interferes least of all with the tree crop agriculture, because the trees can stand in the terrace rows and make a fortunate combination of the heavy yielding tree crops and the soil preservation through terracing. ”