Nut grower

“ What varieties will succeed under his conditions? Will the meats of the nuts fill out in the average season? Are the seasons long enough, etc. The fact is in most cases we do not know. In most parts of New York state we are extending a natural range of many of the nut trees and they have not been grown long enough under the new conditions to make it possible to answer these questions with certainty. On the other hand, we can tell the prospective nut grower that nut growing is in its experimental stages and under certain conditions has great commercial promise. ”

“ Every grower of nut trees knows that problems and troubles continue to arise which tax his knowledge and experience. How much more baffling such difficulties are to the layman who is just embarking on the venture of growing trees.
I have planted nut trees and have seen them grow to maturity and yield bountifully. I have seen a few farm tree plantings which have more than repaid the time and effort. Though the varieties now grown by nurserymen are inferior to those that I am confident will be produced at some future time, they still have sufficient merit to warrant planting. ”

“ You may wonder if many of our nut growers know nut varieties well enough to detect any but the most obvious sports. Nut improvement through bud selection within the variety lies ahead of us.
Among fruit growers the search seems to have been for fruits of different or more pleasing color. As nut growers we are more likely to be interested in nut sports having better size, kernel, cracking qualities, etc. Trees that are able to ripen their nuts in short or cool seasons are especially desirable in some of our more northern states. ”

“ Naturally, the nut problems are not confined to any geographic area, but are nation-wide; but certain of the plants which have entered into the problems of nut culture have demanded more attention than others, for reasons that are the same as in fruit culture. The older fruits, those better known and longer in cultivation, whose problems are better understood, require less attention from the grower and from the experimenter than do the newer ones in the field. ”

“ The profitable production of fruit on nut trees under cultivation has no doubt been influenced by several factors. Assuming that the present-day seedlings and propagated varieties are winter hardy and the tree of bearing age, 10 to 15 years old, one may expect a reasonable harvest. It is somewhat disappointing to the owner of a single nut tree or for the grower on a semi or commercial basis to find that the tree or several trees have failed to set fruit. ”

“ Successful farm nut growers, dotted over the region, will, therefore, increase the chance that finer strains will appear.
But whether the farm nut grove ever abets science and produces the long sought superior nut, is of little importance compared to its value to the farm. It is incumbent, therefore, upon every nut enthusiast, who has a hand in bringing to the attention of farm owners the value of nut trees, to be meticulous in giving instructions for their planting and care. ”

“ You as nut growers know the answer, but the general public does not. Even some of you have made the mistake of planting one tree by itself and expecting it to produce. This seldom happens. Mixed plantings of several varieties or several seedlings planted close together is the safe rule to plant by.
I know of one planting of ten grafted trees of one variety of Persian walnuts, now twenty years old, that has never produced any nuts even though they are planted so that cross-pollination would be expected. In 1950 only a few catkins developed. ”

“ These differences are pointed out for the reason that many amateur nut growers want to grow certain nuts outside of their native range in places where unsuitable climatic conditions prevail, and they cannot understand why success is not possible. ”

“ We nut growers have been in the habit of thinking of growing nut trees on land which is good for nothing else, so that it is interesting to find nurseries using this good land and making a success of nut tree growing. ”

“ In the interest of science and of American horticulture the Northern Nut Growers Association is making an effort to find nut trees of various kinds which produce superior nuts which can be used for propagation. ”

“ Pomeroy and other interested amateurs are doing throughout the country, in selecting a good type of seedling here and there and growing seedlings from it. This homely old method of producing new types through seedling selection is, I think, going to do a great deal to ameliorate conditions the country over. I simply wanted to impress that idea, that if we nut growers are going to do something to help the nut interests of the country, we can do it by planting nuts and selecting nuts from the best types, again taking the best nuts from the best types and planting them ”

“ An important phase of nut growing to which I have given little attention is the search for new varieties. I find my interest in this aspect growing as I associate with the group of nut growers in Ohio, who through prize contests and active personal work are trying to discover superior nut trees in nature, yet I do not find in this the opportunity I seek for experimentation unless it may be in the matter of hybridization. ”

“ From time to time I have submitted articles for our annual report, as well as other publications, which had to do more or less specifically with certain species of nut trees, but since there are so many species, and since most nut growers are interested in at least two or more, it might be well to bring the story up to date of how a nut orchard might be viewed or evaluated after twenty years. ”

“ When the Nut Growers' Association celebrates its one hundredth anniversary, it is safe to predict that the descendants of the present generation of nut growers who have followed the example of their forebears, will be living in opulence and will be regarded as the saviors of their country, while the great abattoirs and meat packing establishments will have ceased to exist, and the merry click of the nut cracker will be heard throughout the land. ”

“ Of course, we got a lot of self-pruning and a lot of competition, as we would in forests by the trees growing up and competing with each other and reaching for height and light. Some of them died and some were so badly suppressed that they failed to make any growth at all. But there is one tree that we still have in that orchard that we are proud of, not from the standpoint of nut production, nor does it produce a very good nut as far as the human taste is concerned. But it has made a single stick that far surpasses any other tree we have in the orchard. ”

“ We can't advocate the planting of nut trees if there are no nut trees to be had. There [Pg 80] fore, 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. ”

“ One other method that could be used to spread the love of nut growing would be to have the association offer a nut tree to different schools where they would plant it as an Arbor Day tree. In that way the children would learn the value of the grafted nut tree and the value of real first-class nuts. The result would be that other people would become interested in grafted nuts and thus extend the interest in the whole nut-growing proposition, and your membership would most likely increase. ”

“ It has borne nuts since it was six years of age and this year has a very heavy crop. Some of the first crop of nuts were planted and these in turn have developed into trees which have produced nuts. Nuts from the second generation have been planted and will likely make trees which will yield nuts in a few years. An interesting feature of the original planting is the great variation in the size, shape of nut, thickness of shell and yield. Some are large, some are small, some are round and others are pear-shaped. The majority of the trees yield well but a few, however, are light croppers. ”

“ They take everything at the price of seedling variety. However, you gentlemen who are growing cultivated nuts shouldn't be too disturbed, because of the fact that there is going to be a time in the not-too-distant future where you can dispose of those nuts according to the kernel content within the nut. ”

“ Perhaps a friend's Thomas tree in full bearing with its heavy crop of huge, tasty nuts inspired a wish to grow bigger and better producing trees near at home.
It looked easy to transplant vigorous, 6 foot black walnut whips which could be had for the digging. It took 10 years to learn that nuts properly planted would make larger trees in a decade than transplants. Digging 2 deep holes to move one tree seemed a waste of labor when one planted nut would better serve the purpose. Of course nut planting led to a contest of wits with the squirrels. ”

“ It's a long pull, and it is one for our posterity. The thought came to be that it is for those of us who are interested in setting up something for our offspring. The plan has been brought out before of using a grafted known name variety of nuts. Plant those, and perhaps those trees as they grow would first give us that wonderful nut which we were looking for.
Symposium on Nut Tree Propagation F. L. O'Rourke, Leader
MR. O'ROURKE: I believe if you get 10 nut people together, you are going to have eight or nine propagators. It is the one thing that people like to dream and talk about. ”

“ There is no need of taking your time now to recapitulate the many things that ought to be done to promote the planting of nut trees and the scientific investigation of nut growing. Dean Watt's address, published in the 12th annual report, and the letter of the secretary to state vice-presidents, contain outlines for these things. The attention of the present convention is more particularly to be given to advocating nut tree planting on a production basis. ”

“ All varieties of budded or grafted, hardy nut trees for planting in northern localities. In the southern United states, on the Pacific Coast and in Europe orchards of nut trees give the land a greater value than when used for any other crop. Nut trees in many sections are the moat profitable crop that can be raised. Plant now, before everyone is doing it and reap the success the pioneer nut planters in other sections have done. ”

“ Our nut trees are not as yet domesticated. They haven't learned bad habits, and they depend upon peculiarly favorable conditions of moisture, warmth and light. You plant a nut two inches below the surface, but nature doesn't do anything like that. Consequently, that nut is surprised, doesn't know what to do, and stays down there looking for something to happen. But if you put that nut so it is about half buried in the sand, so that it is damp on one side and the sun strikes it on the other side, and the frost and snow affect it naturally, the nut does just what you want it to do. ”

“ In a summary of his report he said, "In viewing the growing of nut trees, I am convinced that it is a wonderful hobby, and that the contributions of various individuals and groups will eventually establish nut growing in the northern states on a commercial basis." ”

“ These grafted portions in the top of these trees under poor conditions—our soil is poor at Beltsville—set tremendously heavy crops, but the nuts are smaller in size than normal, and therefore the crop is not as desirable as it would be if it were grown under good conditions. The point is that those varieties bear even under poor conditions. Bearing is a variety characteristic, and wherever it grows it will bear though it may not produce a good-sized nut. ”

“ We quit, in our breeding work, growing the seedlings beyond one year. We make our crosses now and grow them one year in the nursery. We plant nuts at harvest and grow them until they form leaf buds and graft from the seedlings on old trees cut back. We can save anywhere from one to three, four, or five years. There are a great per cent that will not bear.
MR. MAGILL: In Iowa, out there, what varieties are making good?
MR. SNYDER: There aren't any. As nut producers they aren't worth anything. Why not plant the hicans? They ripen better but don't bear. ”

“ I don't see any difference in taking a nut and planting it and stratifying it. If planted the rodents will get it, but if you put it in something all winter, it will be there in the spring. I don't see any reason for planting a nut in the fall, taking a chance of rodents getting at them. If you plant them in the spring, they come up so much quicker that the rodents don't have a chance to get at them. They got nearly all of mine that I planted in the fall.
MR. HARDY: A good many nuts don't have any rest period requirements. ”

“ There is a popular appeal to the nut business which most of us are susceptible to,—like wanting to produce large nuts,—and of seeing the first nut,—and to again gather nuts like we did as children. Ask a man how large a nut he found and he will lie as he will about a fish he has just caught.
Then, there is the romantic visionary who would transform the whole universe into a sort of fairyland nut grove—where there are no insects, diseases, or squirrels,—and where the nuts fall polished into open bags. ”