“ The practical farmer, or the inexperienced man who desires to escape the tyranny of city work by way of the soil will find that a walnut grove offers an immediate home, a living from small fruits and vegetables while his trees are maturing, and at the end of eight or ten years, the beginning of an income that will every year thereafter increase, while the labor exacted will gradually lessen until it amounts to practically nothing. Like rearing children, a walnut grower's troubles are over with the trees' infant days. ”

“ One of the noblest and grandest trees in any American forest is the American black walnut, and while a little slow at the beginning of its career it is only a question of time when it will overtake all others. ”

“ New York dealers who cater to the costliest trade throughout the United States, and who have never handled for this purpose any but the finest types of imported nuts, pronounced the Oregon product satisfactory from every standpoint—finely flavored, nutty, meaty and delicious. They were glad to pay an extra price to secure all that were available.
In the home market the leading dealers of Portland and Northwest cities readily dispose of all of the Oregon walnuts obtainable at an advanced price. In fact, the Oregon walnut has commanded a premium in every market into which it has been introduced. ”

“ If we have this pre-eminence at the beginning of the industry, what may we expect when intelligent cultivation has produced the best grade of walnuts of which our soil and climate are capable?
To Oregon, then, with its vast areas adapted to this industry, must the world look for its great annual walnut harvest in the years to come. The far-seeing man will secure an interest in Oregon walnut lands now, before speculation and a general awakening to their real value have boosted the price to that of walnut lands elsewhere. ”

“ In comparing walnut culture with fruit, one must take into consideration the fact that distance from transportation facilities is not a detriment; that there is very little expense in putting out or maintaining a walnut grove; that insects, blight and disease are unknown to walnut groves of Oregon, thus obviating the cost of spraying; that the expense of harvesting is exceedingly light; that no nut-fruit perishes—that it does not need to be sold at once, but will keep indefinitely, making a lost crop practically impossible. ”

“ When you plant another tree, why not plant a walnut? Then, besides sentiment, shade and leaves, you may have a perennial supply of nuts, the improved kinds of which furnish the most delicious, nutritious and healthful food which has ever been known. ”

“ Much is heard, in a general way, of necessary climate and soil conditions for walnut culture, some giving preference to the hillsides, others to valley lands; some contending for a deep, rich loam, others for sandy soil. But a careful examination of the soils of Oregon and the trees now bearing thereon produces convincing evidence that almost any deep, rich, well-drained, western Oregon soil—and some in eastern Oregon—not underlaid by hardpan, will insure a good harvest, providing the right varieties are planted. ”

“ For this reason no fibre of the tap root should be disturbed, but rather encouraged by a well auger hole, bored before the tree is planted, down to the reservoir of moisture that will not fail in the dryest season.
The moisture in a dry season as a rule is nearer the surface in the valley than in the hills and gives a better filled nut. In a wet season, when the ground everywhere is full of moisture, the hills may produce a more abundant crop than the valley, but in the run of years it will require more time to prove which is most valuable for walnut culture. ”

“ Colonel Henry Dosch, the pioneer walnut grower of Oregon, who has experimented rather thoroughly, even goes so far as to claim that rocky soil is not objectionable, providing there is no hardpan.
In this, as in all other horticultural pursuits, naturally the richer soils are best; but the industrious horticulturist, by cultivation, fertilization, and proper care, can produce a fairly good grove on unfavorable lands. However, so much of Oregon is favorable by nature that growers will hardly undertake to enrich the few less desirable areas for a good many years to come. ”

“ For transplanting from the nursery the same methods should be followed in the preparation of the hole and the soil as in planting the seed nuts. If one wants to lay the foundation for a fine orchard and a fine fortune as a consequence, these preliminary steps must not be neglected. Because in time you expect this tree to pay you a rental of $8 to $12 a month. If you are building a cottage that would bring in that sum, you would put in much more work and money besides. The wise grower would rather have a man plant six trees for him in one day than sixty. ”

“ Our walnuts command a price above that paid for walnuts raised anywhere else. The size, cracking-out quantity, delicate flavor and delicious creamy taste, are the qualities that give the Oregon walnut its surpassing excellence. ”

“ Thus the staminate catkins sometimes fall before the pistillates form, and naturally there is no pollination and no crop. This should not discourage the grower or cause him to uproot his trees. Often by waiting a few seasons—if the tree is of the correct variety—the trouble may right itself. Many growers have gotten a crop from single trees where there was trouble with the pollination by artificially fertilizing, that is, shaking the pollen from fertile trees, even black walnut, over the barren pistillates. Birds, insects, and the breezes carry pollen from one tree to another. ”

“ English walnuts for dessert, walnut confectionery, walnut cake, walnuts in candy bags at Christmas time—thus far has the average person been introduced to this, one of the greatest foods of the earth. But if the food specialists are heard, if the increasing consumption of nuts as recorded by the Government Bureau of Imports is consulted—in short, if one opens his eyes to the tremendous place the walnut is beginning to take among food products the world over, he will realize that the walnut's rank as a table luxury is giving way to that of a necessity ”

“ It is contended by many that nothing is gained by planting seedlings in the nursery, as the set-back from transplanting prevents their bearing any earlier than trees of the same age grown from nuts.
Grafted trees, on the other hand, are difficult to obtain in large numbers, are expensive, but produce nuts of uniform size and beauty, and the pollination is said to be more sure.
The industry is still too young in Oregon for the final word to have been spoken on this point. The future will undoubtedly add much valuable information as larger experience supplants theory with facts. ”

“ Walnuts should be graded as to variety, the varieties should then be graded as to size, but the paramount duty of the grower is to produce a creamy, delicious walnut of excellent flavor. The soil and climate has proven their excellence, and it is now for the intelligent grower to do his part. ”

“ While the walnut is the hardiest of trees and in many cases has borne heavily in Oregon without cultivation, experience has proved that, like fruit trees, cultivation up to the tenth or twelfth years increases the growth, the yield and the quality of the product. ”

“ When some trees seem backward a trench should be dug some two feet or so away, and a couple of feet deep, filled with fertilizer and closed over. This will encourage hardier and more rapid growth. Lime can also be used with good effect, it being customary in England to haul wagon loads to the walnut lands. Continually hoeing and digging constitute the best treatment, as one tree on the Prince place, a Mayette, has proved. It was given daily cultivation, by way of experiment, and more than doubled the size and yield of other trees of the same age not so treated. ”

“ We have now in Oregon and Washington quite a few trees in bearing, and we believe they can be grown here with profit. There is much to learn. We find the young trees should be carefully set out and receive good cultivation for the first few years. That the selection of the trees and the location in which to grow them are very important. The number of trees to the acre, and whether to grow seedling or grafted trees; and if grafted whether root grafting or top grafting is best must be considered. ”

“ The trunk of the largest one on the right is 10 feet in circumference, and is probably the largest English walnut tree in Oregon. They have some nuts every year, but are shy bearers, due no doubt to lack of proper pollination. The nut is not large, but is full of good meat and resembles the Parry. The trees are about two hundred yards from the Yamhill river, are hale and hearty and seem good for a few centuries. In fact, all of the seedlings examined in this county are healthy and vigorous. ”

“ It will only be necessary to train the limbs in seven or eight feet all round to be able to double the number of trees to the acre. Then train the trees skyward and increase the number of nut-bearing boughs, and the yield will be increased accordingly. If the nuts on the higher branches fill as well as on the lower, the tree can not be made to grow too high, because we have no violent storms to throw down the trees, and the nuts are self-gathering. These and many other valuable and interesting problems in the industry are to be worked out. ”

“ The crop is easily grown, harvested and marketed; the labor greatly economized and the net profits a larger per cent of the gross receipts; while sometimes with other crops the results are just the reverse—the net profits but a small per cent of the gross receipts.
"The question is often asked how much is land worth that is suitable; how long before trees will bear, and how much will they produce, etc. The price of land depends largely on location; generally it is worth from $50 to $150 per acre. Seedling trees come into bearing from 7 to 9 years of age, quantity from 10 to 50 pounds per tree ”

“ No one who grows English walnuts on their own roots need expect to be able to compete with those who grow them on the native black walnut roots, for when grown on these roots the trees will uniformly be larger and longer lived, will hardly be affected by blight and other diseases, and will bear from two to four times as many nuts, which will be of larger size and of much better quality. ”

“ Cut of tap root of a 2-year-old American Black which grew in the lower red hill land of Yamhill County. There is but one lateral root near the surface and this was probably caused by the tap root striking harder soil on its way down to permanent moisture level.
This tap root is 3 feet long and nearly 6 inches in circumference. It is one of the best object lessons to be had in walnut culture in Oregon.
Though the Willamette Valley has practically four rainless months of sunshine, irrigation is unnecessary. There is no other country comparable to it. ”

“ The tallest of the trees is nearly 60 feet and they have a spread of more than 70 feet. They are at the residence of Dave Johnson on the Portland road about 8 miles from McMinnville. Seed from such trees as these would produce the very best trees for grafting upon.
There are very few California blacks of pure strain in the country. The hybrids or crosses with the American or eastern black walnut, are better trees for grafting stock than the pure Californias. They are more hardy and better adapted to our climate. ”

“ It is true that liberal cultivation through the dry season will materially aid the growth of all kinds of trees not having a tap root and is indispensable to the growth of young walnut trees, trees that have not extended their tap root down to perpetual moisture. ”

“ Walnut trees, in the opinion of the writer, cease growing upward when they cease growing downward; that is to say, when rock, shale or impenetrable hardpan stops the growth of the tap root, the tree has practically reached its height. ”

“ The walnut is usually a very vigorous tree and will fight its way among adverse conditions and surroundings, but its golden showers are much more abundant if it is protected from the scars of battle, especially in its youth. It almost seems to respond to the love and affection given to it by a kind master. Animals respond to kindness, and why not the domestic trees? It will pay you a big salary after a while when your other bank accounts and your health and strength fail. [Pg 20]
American Black Walnuts ”

“ Although not popular among nurserymen, yet the best way to produce a paying orchard of walnuts is to plant the nuts from some vigorous black walnut tree, three or four in each place where a tree is to stand. ”

“ Years hence growers accustomed to the less fertile conditions of the far east will undoubtedly turn their attention to even the few poorer areas in Oregon, and make of them glowing garden spots. [Pg 17]
It is a simple matter to determine the presence of hardpan; you have but to make a series of tests—four or five to the acre—with a plumber's auger; and this care should be taken in every area where soil conditions have not been fully determined. ”

“ Let the trees grow as they will, for from three to six years, until they have formed their own natural, vigorous system of roots, then graft to the best variety extant which thrives in your locality, and if on deep, well-drained land you will at once have a grove of walnuts which will pay, at present, or even with very much lower prices, a most princely interest on your investment. ”

“ Trees grow in either place, but he who cuts the tap root in any soil does so at the peril of his crop in dry seasons.
Of the taproot, Wm. M. Reece, of the firm of Epps, Reece & Tillmont, Eugene, Oregon, writes:
"The peculiar climatic conditions of the Willamette Valley, which at a certain season of the year becomes semi-arid, fully justifies the statement that trees not having a tap root are annually checked in their growth when irrigation is not used ”

“ The fine condition of suitably located groves of walnut trees of Franquette, Mayette and other French varieties, after a winter which proved the most trying to fruit trees of all kinds which we have known during a long period of years, has given firm confidence to those who are leading in the development of the walnut industry in Oregon. ”