THE

NUT CULTURIST

A TREATISE

ON THE

PROPAGATION, PLANTING AND CULTIVATION

OF NUT-BEARING TREES AND SHRUBS

ADAPTED TO THE

CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES,

WITH THE SCIENTIFIC AND COMMON NAMES OF

THE FRUITS KNOWN

IN COMMERCE AS EDIBLE OR OTHERWISE USEFUL NUTS

By ANDREW S. FULLER,

Author of the "Grape Culturist," "Small Fruit Culturist," "Practical Forestry,"

"Propagation of Plants," etc., etc.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY

1896

Copyright, 1896,

BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY

PREFACE

Believing that the time is opportune for making an effort to cultivate all kinds of edible and otherwise useful nut-bearing trees and shrubs adapted to the soil and climate of the United States, thereby inaugurating a great, permanent and far-reaching industry, the following pages have been penned, and with the hope of encouraging and aiding the farmer to increase his income and enjoyments, without, to any appreciable extent, adding to his expenses or labors. With this idea in mind, I have not advised the general planting of nut orchards on land adapted to the production of grain and other indispensable farm crops, but mainly as roadside trees and where desired for shade, shelter and ornament, being confident that when all such positions are occupied with choice nut-bearing trees, to the exclusion of those yielding nothing of intrinsic value, there will have been added many millions of dollars to the wealth of the country, as well as a vast store of edible and delicious food.

This work has not been written for the edification, or the special approbation, of scientific botanists, but for those who, in the opinion of the writer, are most likely to profit by a treatise of this kind. Unfamiliar terms have been omitted wherever simple common words would answer equally as well in conveying the intended information. There being no work of this kind published in this country that would serve as a guide, I have been compelled to formulate a plan of my own, and to describe all the newer varieties from the best specimens obtainable, and these may not, in all cases, have been perfect. Under such circumstances, this work must necessarily be incomplete, and especially where the possessors of claimed-to-be new and valuable varieties have either refused or failed to give any information in regard to them. On the contrary, however, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to many correspondents, who have so generously placed specimens of both trees and nuts of rare new varieties in my hands for testing and describing, as well as assisting me in tracing their history and origin.

That this treatise may become the pioneer of many other and better works on nut culture is the sincere wish of

THE AUTHOR.

Ridgewood, N. J., 1896.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

No special amount of prophetic acumen is required to foresee that the time will soon come when the people of this country must necessarily place a much higher value upon all kinds of food than they do at present, or have done in the past. In this we are pre-supposing that in the natural course of events, our population will continue to increase in nearly the same ratio it has since we assumed the responsibilities of an independent nation.

The very existence of animal life on this planet depends upon the quantity and quality of available food, and while some sentimentalists may assume to ignore and even attempt to deprecate the animal desires of their race, nature compels us to recognize the fact that there can be no fire without fuel, and the great and useful intellectual powers of man are the emanations of the animal tissues of a well-nourished brain. The brawny arm that rends the rock and hurls the fragments aside, gets its power through the same channel and from the same source as those of other members of society, whatever the nature of their calling; for mankind is built upon one universal and general plan, varied though it may be in some of the minor details of construction. We certainly have no cause to fear that the theories of Malthus, in regard to the overpopulation of the earth as a whole, will ever be verified in the experience of the human race, because with necessity comes industry, also the inventions of devices to enable us to avoid just such dangers, and if these fail to keep pace with our wants and needs, wars, earthquakes, drouths, floods, and contagious, epidemic and other diseases, become the weapons which nature employs to prevent overpopulation. But we cannot deny that nature does sometimes encourage or permit a somewhat redundant population in certain favorable countries and localities, and then follows a struggle for existence, and food becomes the paramount object in life. To ward off danger of this kind and keep the supply in excess of the demand, is a problem which should seriously engage the attention of every one who takes the least interest in the general welfare of his countrymen, even though the day of want or scarcity of food may be very far distant.

Among the various sources of acceptable and nutritious food products heretofore almost entirely neglected in this country, the edible nuts stand preëminently and conspicuously in the foreground, awaiting the skill and attention of all who seek pleasure and profit—to be derived from the products of the soil. For many centuries these nuts have held a prominent position among the desirable and valuable food products of various European and Oriental countries; not only because they were important and almost indispensable in making up the household supplies of all classes of the people, but often because available for filling a depleted purse, and the thing needful for this purpose has, in the main, been received from far-distant nations, who through indifference and neglect failed to provide themselves with such a simple and valuable article as the edible nuts.

Much as we may boast of our immense natural resources and advantages, we have not, as yet, availed ourselves of one-half of those we possess, and the remainder is still awaiting our attention. We also neglect to avail ourselves of the many superior domestic traits and practices of the foreign nations with whom we are in constant communication. It may be that the absence of incentives has made us careless and indifferent in regard to a day of need, which in all probability will come to us sooner or later; but whatever the cause, the fact remains that we have been spending millions annually on worthless articles and sentimental problems and projects, which have brought us neither riches nor honor; in truth, to use a homely phrase, we have been following the bellwether in nearly all of our rural affairs and pursuits. As a natural result we are spending millions for imported articles of everyday use which might easily and with large profit be produced at home, and in many instances the most humiliating part of the transaction is that we send our money to people who do not purchase any of our productions and almost ignore us in commercial matters. I am not referring to those products ill-adapted to our climate, nor to those which, owing to scarcity and high price of labor, we are unable to produce profitably, but to such nuts as the almond, walnut and chestnut, which we can raise as readily as peaches, apples and pears. There certainly can be no excuse for the neglect of such nut trees on the score of cost of labor in propagation and planting, because our streets and highways are lined and shaded with equally as expensive kinds, although they are absolutely worthless for any other purpose than shade or shelter, yielding nothing in the way of food for either man or beast. Can any one invent a reasonable excuse for planting miles and miles of roadside trees of such kinds as elm, maple, ash, willow, cottonwood, and a hundred other similar kinds, where shellbark hickory, chestnut, walnut, pecan and butternut would thrive just as well, cost no more, and yet yield bushels of delicious and highly prized nuts, and this annually or in alternate years, continuing and increasing in productiveness for one, two or more centuries. Aside from the intrinsic value of such trees, they are, in the way of ornament, just as beautiful as, and in many instances much superior to those yielding nothing in the way of food except, perhaps, something for noxious insects.

I am not attempting to pose as the one wise man engaged in rural affairs, but am merely recounting my personal observation and experience, having in my younger days taken the advice of my elders, and at a time when a hint of the future value of nut trees would have been worth more than a paid-up life insurance policy. But as the hint was not given, I selected for roadside trees ash, maples, tulip, magnolias, and other popular kinds, all of which thrived, and by the time they were twenty years old began to be admired for their beauty, although their roots were spreading into the adjoining field, robbing the soil of the nutriment required for less vigorous-growing plants. Later, however, the discovery was made that I was paying very dearly for a crop of leaves and sentiment, neither of which was salable or available for filling one's purse. When thirty years of age the very best of my roadside trees were probably worth two dollars each for firewood, or one dollar more than the nurseryman's price at the time of planting. The greater part of these trees, however, have since been cremated, a few being left as reminders of the misdirected labors of youth and inexperience.

In this matter of following a leader in tree-planting along the highways, it appears to be a predominant trait of our rural population and as old as the settlement of this country, for nowhere is it more pronounced than in the New England States, where the American elms attracted the attention of the Pilgrims and their contemporaries and descendants, and even continued down to the present day. No one will deny that the American elm is a noble tree in appearance, is easily transplanted and of rapid growth, and yet it is one of the most worthless for any economic purpose. It may be that its worthlessness for other purposes made it all the more acceptable for streets and roadsides, the better kinds being reserved for firewood, fencing, furniture, and the manufacture of agricultural and other implements. But whatever the cause or object, the elm became the one tree generally selected for planting in parks, villages, cities, and along roadsides in the country, not only in the older but in many of the newer States. From present indications, however, the glory of this much over-praised tree is on the wane, for the imported elm-leaf beetle (Galeruca calmariensis) is slowly but surely spreading over the country, defoliating the elms of all species and varieties, and it is a question whether we should bless this insect for the work it is doing or look upon it as a pest. Perhaps future generations will sing pæons in its praise, and they certainly will have reasons for rejoicing if better and more useful kinds are planted in the places now occupied by the worthless elms.

In other localities some pioneer or leader in roadside ornamentation selected or recommended some species of maple, linden, catalpa, poplar or willow, but it made little or no difference as to kind, because, as a rule, all his neighbors followed without a thought or question in regard to adaptation to soil, climate, or fitness in the local or surrounding scenery, or of its future economic value. The result of this want of taste and forethought may be seen in whatever direction one travels throughout the older and more thickly settled portions of this country.

Had the early settlers of the New England States planted shellbark hickories, or even the native chestnut, in place of the American elm, they would not only have had equally as beautiful trees for shade and ornament, but the nutritious nuts would scarcely have failed to bring bright cheer to many a household and money to fill oft-depleted purses, while their descendants would have blessed them for their forethought. Of course there are other valuable kinds of nuts which thrive over the greater part of the New England States, but I refer only to the two, which were so abundant in the forests that one or both could have been obtained for the mere cost of transplanting. But it is not fair to prate about the remissness and follies of our ancestors, unless we can show by our works that wisdom has come down to us through their experience.

What is true of the New England is equally true of all the older States, and is rapidly becoming so in many of the newer, little attention being paid to the intrinsic value of the wood or the product of the trees planted along the highways. There are also millions of acres of wild lands not suitable for cultivation, but well adapted to the growth of trees, whether of the nut-bearing or other kinds. But for the present I will omit further reference to the planting of nut trees except on the line of the highways, just where other kinds have long been in vogue and are still being cultivated for shade and ornament,—with no thought, perhaps, on the part of the planter, that both could be obtained in the nut trees, with something of more intrinsic value added. The nut trees which grow to a large size are as well adapted for planting along roadsides, in the open country, as other kinds that yield nothing in the way of food for either man or beast. They are also fully as beautiful in form and foliage, and in many instances far superior, to the kinds often selected for such purposes.

The only objection I have heard of as being urged against planting fruit and nut trees along the highway is that they tempt boys and girls—as well as persons of larger growth—to become trespassers; but this only applies to where there is such a scarcity that the quantity taken perceptibly lessens the total crop. But where there is an abundance, either the temptation to trespass disappears, or we fail to recognize our loss. As we cannot very well dispense with the small boy and his sister, I am in favor of providing them bountifully with all the good things that climate and circumstance will afford. It is a truism that conscience is never strengthened by an empty stomach.

A mile, in this country, is 5280 feet, and if trees are set 40 feet apart—which is allowing sufficient room for them to grow during an ordinary lifetime—we get 133 per mile in a single row; but where the roads are three to four rods wide, two rows may be planted, one on each side, or 266 per mile. With such kinds as the Persian walnut and American and foreign chestnuts, we can safely estimate the crop, when the trees are twenty years old, at a half bushel per tree, or 66 bushels for a single row, and 133 for a double row per mile. With grafted trees of either kind we may count on double the quantity named, presuming, of course, that the trees are given proper care. But to be on the safe side, let us keep our estimate down to the half-bushel mark per tree, and with this crop, at the moderate price of four dollars per bushel, we would get $264 from the crop on a single row, and double this sum, or $528, for the crop on a double row—with a fair assurance that the yield would increase steadily for the next hundred years or more; while the cost of gathering and marketing the nuts is no greater, and in many instances much less than that of the ordinary grain crops. At the expiration of the first half century, one-half of the trees may be removed, if they begin to crowd, and the timber used for whatever purpose it may best be adapted. The remaining trees would probably improve, on account of having more room for development.

There has been a steady increase in the demand, and a corresponding advance in the price of all kinds of edible nuts, during the past three or four decades, and this is likely to continue for many years to come, because consumers are increasing far more rapidly than producers; besides, the forests, which have long been the only source of supply of the native kinds, are rapidly disappearing, while there has not been, as yet, any special effort to make good the loss, by replanting or otherwise. The dealers in such articles in our larger cities assure me that the demand for our best kinds of edible nuts is far in excess of the supply, and yet not one housewife or cook in a thousand in this country has ever attempted to use nuts of any kind in the preparation of meats and other dishes for the table, as is so generally practiced in European and Oriental countries.

The question may be asked, if the demand is sufficient to warrant the planting of the hardy nut trees extensively along our highways or elsewhere. In answer to such a question it may be said that we not only consume all of the edible nuts raised in this country, but import millions of pounds annually of the very kinds which thrive here as well as in any other part of the world.

I have before me the records of our imports from the year 1790 to 1894, but as I purpose dealing more with the present and future than with the distant past, I will refer here only to the statistics of the four years of the present decade, leaving out all reference to the tropical nuts, which are not supposed to be adapted to our climate.

Of almonds, not shelled, and on which there is a protective duty of three cents per pound, we imported from 1890 to the close of 1893, 12,443,895 pounds, valued at $1,100,477.65. Of almonds, shelled, on which the duty is now five cents, we imported 1,326,633 pounds. The total value of both kinds for the four years, amounted to $1,716,277.32. Whether this high protective duty is to remain or not is uncertain, but it is quite evident that it has had very little effect in stimulating the cultivation of this nut except in circumscribed localities on the Pacific coast.

Of filberts and walnuts, not shelled, and with a duty of two cents per pound, we imported during the same years from eleven to fifteen million pounds annually, or a total for the four years of 54,526,181 pounds, and in addition about two million pounds of the shelled kernels, on which the duty was six cents (now four) per pound. The total value of these importations amounted to $3,176,085.34.

I do not find the European chestnut mentioned in any list of imports, although an immense quantity must be received from France, Italy and Spain every year, and they are probably imported under the head of miscellaneous nuts, not specially provided for, and upon which the duty was two cents per pound in 1890-'91, but was later reduced to one and a half cents.

Under the head "miscellaneous nuts," or all other shelled and unshelled "not specially provided for," there was imported during the period named 6,442,908 pounds, valued at $235,976.05. The total for all kinds of edible nuts imported was $7,124,575.82. These figures are sufficient to prove that we are neglecting an opportunity to largely engage in and extend a most important and profitable industry. It is true that in the Southern States considerable attention has been given, of late, to the preservation of the old pecan nut trees and the planting of young stock, but it will be many years before the increase from this source can overtake the ever-increasing demand for this delicious native nut. Californians are also making an effort to raise several foreign varieties of edible nuts on a somewhat extensive scale, but all these widely scattered experiments are mere drops in the ocean of our wants. Under such conditions I ask, in all seriousness, if it is not about time that our farmers and rural population generally began to count their worthless and unproductive possessions, in the form of roadside and other shade trees—which have probably cost fully as much to secure, plant and care for during the few or many years since they were set out, as would have been expended upon the most beautiful and valuable nut-bearing kinds. If our ancestors were at fault in the selection of trees for planting, we need not expect that posterity will excuse us for continuing and repeating their folly, especially when our dear-bought experience should teach us better.

At the present time there might be some difficulty in procuring, at the nurseries, a choice selection of nut trees in any considerable quantity, suited to roadside planting, because heretofore there has been little demand for such stock; and nurserymen are only human, and conduct their establishments on business principles, propagating the kind of trees in greatest demand, regardless of their intrinsic or future value to purchasers. They will also continue producing such stock just so long as the demand will warrant it, and further, it is but natural that they should sometimes recommend and advise their customers to purchase worthless, and even pestiferous kinds, such as the ailanthus and white poplar, because the profits in raising these trees are large and there is little danger of loss in transplanting. But if purchasers will insist on having better kinds and refuse to accept any other, they will soon be accommodated; and if not, then let everyone who owns a plot of ground become his own propagator of trees. It is not beyond the ability of any moderately intelligent man (or woman, for that matter) to raise nut trees, and as readily as one could potatoes or corn.

Where farmers want a row of trees along the roadside, to be utilized for line fence posts, they cannot possibly find any kinds better adapted for this purpose than chestnut, walnut and hickory; and these will give just as dense a shade, and look as well—besides, in a few years they may yield enough to pay the taxes on the entire farm, the crop increasing in amount and value not only during the lifetime of the planter, but that of many generations of his descendants.

This appeal to the good sense of our rural population is made in all sincerity and with the hope that it will be heeded by every man who has a spark of patriotism in his soul, and who dares show it in his labors, and by setting up a few milestones in the form of nut-bearing trees along the roadsides—if for no other purpose than the present pleasure of anticipating the gratification such monuments will afford the many who are certain to pass along these highways years hence.

It is surely not good policy to enrich other nations at the expense of our own people, as we are now doing in sending millions of dollars annually to foreign countries in payment for such luxuries as edible nuts that could be readily and profitably produced at home. There need be no fear of an overproduction of such things, no matter how many may engage in their cultivation, because in such industries many will resolve to do, and even make an attempt, but a comparatively small number will reach any marked degree of success.

CHAPTER II.

THE ALMOND.

Amygdalus, Tournefort. Name supposed to be derived from amysso, to lacerate, because of the prominent sharp, knifelike margin of one edge of the deeply pitted, wrinkled nut. Martius, an Italian botanist, suggests that the name came from the Hebrew word shakad, signifying vigilant, or to awake, because after the rigors of winter the almond tree is one of the earliest to hail the coming of spring, with its flowers. The common English name is from the Latin amandola, corrupted from amygdala. In French it is amandier; in German, mandel; Portuguese, amendoa; Spanish, almendro; Italian, amandola, mandalo, mandorla, etc.; Dutch, amendel; Chinese, him-ho-gin.

Under the natural classification of plants the almond belongs to the order Rosaceæ, and in the tribe Drupaceæ. Linnæus placed the peach and almond in the same genus, and they are now generally considered to be only varieties of one species,—the wild almond tree is probably the parent from which all the cultivated peaches and nectarines have descended. In most of our modern botanical works these fruits are classed as a sub-section of Prunus, the plum. They are mainly deciduous shrubs, or small trees. The flowers are variable, both in size and color; but in the almond they are usually somewhat larger than in the peach, almost sessile, and from separate scaly buds on the shoots of the preceding season, appearing in early spring, before or with the unfolding leaves, the latter being folded lengthwise in the bud. Leaves three to four inches long, tapering, finely serrate, with few or no glands at the base of the blade, as seen in many varieties of the common peach. Fruit clothed with a fine dense pubescence in both peach and almond; but in the latter the pulpy envelope becomes dry and fibrous at maturity, cracking open irregularly, allowing the rough and deeply indented nuts to drop out; while in the peach the pulpy part becomes soft, juicy and edible, the reverse of the almond. The nectarine is only a smooth-skinned peach.

History of the Almond.—As with most of our long-cultivated fruits and nut trees, very little is now known of the early history or origin of the almond, and even its native country has not been positively determined, although it is supposed to be indigenous to parts of Northern Africa and the mountainous region of Asia. Theophrastus, who wrote a history of plants about three centuries before the Christian era, mentions the almond as the only tree in Greece that produces blossoms before the leaves. From Greece it was introduced into Italy, where the nuts were called nuces græcæ, or Greek nuts.

Columella, about the middle of the first century of our era, was the earliest Roman writer to mention the almond as distinct from the peach. From Italy this nut was slowly disseminated, making its way northward mainly through France, reaching Great Britain as late as 1538 (Hortus Kewensis). But its cultivation has never extended in Britain, beyond sheltered gardens and orchard houses, owing to the cool and otherwise uncongenial climate, and the same is true of Northern France and other regions to the eastward in Europe. But in the south of France, also in Italy, Spain, Sicily, and throughout the Mediterranean countries, both in Europe and Africa, the almond thrives, and has long been extensively cultivated. These nuts are an important article of commerce, immense quantities being exported by Spain, mainly from Valencia, while the so-called Jordan almond comes from Malaga, as very few are raised in the valley of the Jordan. Bitter almonds come principally from Mogador in Morocco.

As for almond culture in the United States, very little is to be said further than that, while we have few experiments to refer to as having been made east of the Rocky Mountains, not one of our great pomologists, in their published works, has ever given any reason for the almost entire neglect of this nut. Mr. Wm. H. White, author of "Gardening for the South" (1868), throws no light upon the subject, merely describing a few of the well-known varieties of the almond. Downing's "Fruit and Fruit Trees of America," Thomas' "American Fruit Culturist," Barry's "Fruit Garden," and a score of other standard pomological works may be consulted, without obtaining therefrom any information in regard to the culture of this nut further than to be assured that the hard-shelled varieties are hardy in the North wherever the peach tree thrives, and the thin, or paper shelled, succeed only in warm climates. All these authors agree in saying that the propagation and cultivation of the almond is the same as practiced with the peach.

Coming down to recent years for information in regard to almond culture, we find H. E. Van Deman, pomologist to the Department of Agriculture, dismissing the subject in his report for 1892, as follows:

"I only mention this nut to state to all experimenters that it is useless to try to grow the almond of commerce this side of the Rocky mountains, except, possibly, in New Mexico and southwestern Texas. This is thoroughly established by many reports from those who have tried it in nearly every State and for many years past. It is too tender in the North and does not bear in the South. In California it is an eminent success.

"The flavor of the hard-shelled almond, so far as I have tested it, is little or no better than a peach kernel, and is therefore practically worthless. The tree of this variety is about as hardy as the peach, and bears quite freely. The attention paid to the almond in the Atlantic and Central States might well be given to other nuts."

This is certainly a very easy way of disposing of the cultivation of a nut which has so long figured among our importations from European countries; besides, no experiments are cited, experimenters named, or reasons given why almond culture is a failure in the Southern States. But fortunately there are men in the South who are able and ready to give reasons for their opinions and statements, in regard to the cultivation of crops or plants with which they have become familiar through personal experience. When I asked Mr. P. J. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga., president of the American Pomological Society, for information on this point, he promptly replied as follows:

"The reason that almonds are not cultivated in Georgia and other Southern States is because of their early blooming, as spring frosts usually destroy all the blossoms. We have tried many varieties of the soft-shell without success. The hard-shell will occasionally bear a crop of fruit, as it blooms later, and the blooms seem to resist cold better than the other varieties. In middle Florida soft-shell almonds are sometimes successful, but they have been tried so sparingly that I cannot obtain any satisfactory reports."

Admitting, as we do, that President Berckmans' long experience in the cultivation of nut and fruit trees in the South enables him to speak with authority on this subject, still, we have some encouragement for continuing experiments with the almond in regions known to be favorable for the cultivation of its near relative, the peach. Furthermore, experiments seem to be wanting with the almond in the more elevated regions of the northern line of Southern States, also in Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey, near the seacoast, or other large bodies of water, which, as is well known, have considerable influence in retarding the early blooming of fruit trees, as well as warding off late spring and early autumn frosts.

It is scarcely reasonable to suppose that a region of country as extensive as that of one-half of the Middle and all of the Southern States, with a range of climate admitting of the successful cultivation of such hardy fruits as the apple and pear, and from these down to the pineapple and cocoa-nut, should not yield a locality or localities admirably adapted to the cultivation of the half-hardy almond tree. It is no doubt true that there are extensive regions in the South where late spring frosts are exceedingly troublesome, and sometimes disastrously so, to fruit growers; but even these have their limits, as shown in the vast quantity and variety of fruits annually produced in the Southern States. But great local variations in climate are natural to all countries in the temperate zone, and we frequently find the most favorable and the unfavorable for fruit culture within a few miles of each other.

If there are not thousands and tens of thousands of acres of land located in favorable positions between Virginia and Florida, adapted to produce the commercial almond in some of its varieties, then we must confess that the study of climatology is of little use to the pomologist. Furthermore, all the varieties of the so-called hard-shelled almonds which thrive in our northern States are not worthless, neither are the kernels of all of them "bitter," and even if they were, they would still be worth cultivating, else we would not import such vast quantities from Morocco to supply the demand.

If none of the thin-shelled varieties heretofore tried in the South are successful, it is time that either our experiment stations or individual horticulturists made some attempt to produce those that are adapted to that region of country. But until we have some more definite information than heretofore disseminated, in regard to almond culture in the South, it is safe to conclude that failures in the past have been due mainly to want of judgment, or knowledge of varieties and of positions for the orchard, with, perhaps, some neglect in care and cultivation.

In California almond culture has been pushed with vigor for several decades, but at first with rather indifferent results, because growers depended upon noted European varieties, which, as experience proved, were not adapted to the soil and climate of the country. In a paper read before the American Pomological Society at its session held at Sacramento, Cal., Jan. 16-18, 1895, Prof. E. J. Wickson, of the University of California, alluded to this subject of almond culture in the State as follows:

"In no branch of this effort for improved varieties has our success been more marked than in the development of seedling almonds. The achievements of A. T. Hatch in this line are too well known to require but a passing allusion. It is not too much to say that this work rescued almond culture to California. When he began, the almond, because of almost universal failure of the old varieties, was a jest and a byword in our horticulture. Nine-tenths of all the almonds planted during the preceding twenty-five years had gone for firewood or were carrying the foliage of the prune to conceal their hated stems. At the present time, through the dissemination of Mr. Hatch's varieties, the almond, in all regions decently adapted to the tree, is productive and profitable and has a future."

[FIG. 1.] A CALIFORNIA ALMOND ORCHARD.

That almond culture in California is rapidly becoming an important and successful industry, we have an ocular demonstration in the tons of these valuable nuts received from there in the past few years, and placed on sale in Eastern markets. If one man, by his individual efforts, can revolutionize or establish a great industry in a region as large as the State of California, it is not too much to expect that something of the kind could be done elsewhere, with the combined efforts of several men. If the varieties heretofore tried in the East are unsuited to the climate, it is certainly within the range of probabilities that others better adapted to surrounding conditions can be produced. The native grape, raspberry and strawberry have had a history similar to the almond, but now all are extensively and successfully cultivated.

Propagation of the Almond.—The propagation of the almond is identical with that of the peach: that is, from seed to procure new varieties, or by budding the more desirable ones, when obtained, upon seedling almond, peach or plum stocks. The half-wild hard-shelled almond is probably the most congenial and best stock for this purpose, but seedlings of the peach are most generally employed because the most abundant and cheapest. Under certain conditions, such as cold, heavy, moist soils, and where rather dwarfish trees are desired, the plum may be employed with advantage as a stock, but it is not to be recommended for general orchard culture. In mild climates seedlings of the best of the soft-shelled varieties may be raised and planted in orchards without budding, but the nuts from such trees are likely to be somewhat variable in size and quality, although the trees will usually prove to be as healthy and productive as those subjected to artificial modes of propagation. If, however, the grower desires a uniform product, he must resort to the usual means of obtaining it; that is, multiplying superior or distinct varieties by budding, either upon peach, almond or other stocks. It is advisable, as well as exceedingly important, for all who intend or feel inclined to cultivate almonds in regions where the adaptation of this nut has not been fully established by years of practical experience, that seedlings should be raised in large numbers, and from these a selection be made to meet the requirements of the climate and other conditions under which they are to be propagated and grown. If spring frosts have been heretofore inimical to the cultivation of the almond, then the production of late-blooming varieties would be a remedy. There will also be variations in the season of ripening; some may come on too early, others far too late for special localities, but all these faults or variations may be readily overcome by raising seedlings, and then selecting for propagation those coming nearest fulfilling the requirements of local conditions or circumstances. It is by such experiments and means that fruit culture has reached its present position in this and all other countries, where it is practiced as an art or industrial pursuit. Varieties that have become exceedingly popular and profitable in one locality or country, may not have succeeded elsewhere, and this holds good with all cultivated plants.

In making experiments with the almond in regions where it has not been cultivated, but under conditions which appear to be favorable, I would certainly advise testing the well-known varieties first, and if these fail, then see what can be done in the way of producing new ones adapted to the locality and climate.

Raising Seedlings for Stocks.—In warm or moderately mild climates the nuts, whether peach or almond, may be planted soon after they are gathered in the fall, but should the weather continue warm and moist the nuts will sometimes sprout prematurely and the young sprouts get frosted later in the season, and for this reason it is better to store them in a cool room, packed in dry sand or soil, until the approach of steady cold weather, and then plant. Having lost choice kinds of nuts from being in too great haste in getting them into the ground in the fall, I am prompted to give this warning to those who have had no experience in raising nut trees. If not convenient to plant in the fall, nuts of all kinds may be packed in barrels, boxes, or similar vessels, mixed with or stratified with sharp sand or light soil, then stored in a dry, cool place,—a very cool cellar will answer, but in my experience, out of doors is preferable,—and in the shade of some evergreen tree or on the north side of a building, and there banked over with earth just sufficient to keep the nuts at an equably low temperature. It is advisable to have a few small holes in the bottom of the barrels or boxes, to insure proper drainage, should any considerable amount of water get in at the top; but this will not occur if the vessels are properly covered with boards when placed in position for winter.

It must also be kept in mind that mice, squirrels and chipmunks are fond of almonds and other kinds of edible nuts, and if placed where these little rodents can find them, they are sure to take a share, or perhaps the entire store, before their visits are discovered. I have known field mice to dig down under boxes of nuts, enlarge the holes left for drainage, and spend the winter among the chestnuts which I had put away for planting in spring. The safest way is to place fine wire netting on the bottom of the box, and then cover it with the same. Owing to the abundance of mice and other little nut-eating animals, I have never dared to plant out nuts in the fall, and so have always stored them in sand, but out of doors during the winter, and well covered with earth. In other localities it may be safe to sow in autumn, and if protection from vermin is required, coat the nuts with gas tar, the same as practiced by farmers in protecting seed corn against the attacks of crows and other corn-pulling birds. One pint of warm tar will be sufficient for a bushel of nuts, and the application is readily made by placing the nuts in a barrel, pouring the tar on them, and stirring with a stick until every nut is coated. To prevent the tar sticking to the hands in planting, dust the nuts with dry wood ashes, land plaster, or fine dry sand.

If peach stones are to be planted for stocks they may be put into the ground as soon as ready in autumn, because they are rarely disturbed by vermin; or if more convenient, mix with common soil, and in heaps, in the open ground, and leave in this position until spring, then pick out as they begin to sprout, and plant. The hard-shelled almond may be treated in the same way, only they are not to be handled quite as roughly as peach stones, and for protection it is best to put them in barrels or boxes, as described above.

When ready for planting take out the nuts and drop them in shallow drills, one every ten or twelve inches, then cover with about two inches of soil. It is to be supposed, of course, that a seed bed has been prepared, by thorough working over and enriching, if necessary, in advance of planting. The distance between the drills or rows should be sufficient to admit of cultivating the plants with a horse or mule, and cultivator, during the summer, and if this is done and the soil stirred often enough to keep down all weeds, the stocks should become large enough to admit of budding the first season; if not, then this operation must be deferred until the following year. But in case the seedlings are raised from choice varieties and to be left in their natural condition for fruiting, they may be lifted when one or two seasons old and set where they are to remain permanently.

The Season for Budding.—So much depends upon climate, location, and variation of seasons, that no special date or time can be given for budding trees of any kind, but it is always to be done while the stocks are in active growth, because the bark must part freely from the wood underneath, in order to admit of inserting the bud under it. If the buds are set too early in the season there is danger of a premature growth; that is, of pushing out a shoot in the fall instead of remaining dormant until the following spring. Under certain conditions, however, and for special purposes, it may be advisable to force the buds as soon as they have formed a union with the stock, but as a rule, in the propagation of hardy and half-hardy trees, it is better to keep the buds dormant during the cool or cold winter months.

Here in the Northern States we usually begin to look over our stocks during the latter part of July or first week in August, and note their progress and condition. Should they show the least signs of cessation of growth, we begin budding them, and push the work as rapidly as possible. If the season is a wet one the stocks may continue to grow and remain in good condition for budding until the middle of September; but in a dry season they may cease to grow in August, and it is these variable conditions which gives to the close observer and man of experience such an advantage over the novice in the propagation of plants. It is better to begin budding too early than to be a few days too late.

The operation called budding consists in taking a bud, with a small portion of the bark adjoining, from one plant, and inserting it in another, or in some other part of the same plant from which it was taken. The physiological principles which govern the operation are, that there must exist an affinity between the plant from which the bud is taken and the one upon which it is to be placed, and the nearer the relationship the more readily will it unite and the more perfect the union. For instance, the cultivated peach and almond are supposed to be of the same origin, and descendants of one original species; consequently there is a close relationship between the varieties of both sections, and their seedlings may be employed indiscriminately for stocks. The next nearest relatives in the family line are the plums (Prunus), some of which answer very well as stocks for the almond, although very rarely used for this purpose. The next group in the line of botanical relationship are the cherries (Prunus cerasus), but these are too far removed to be employed as stocks for either the peach or almond.

[FIG. 2.] BUDDING KNIFE.

[FIG. 3.] YANKEE BUDDING KNIFE.

For budding are necessary a small knife for preparing the buds for insertion and making an incision in the bark of the stock to admit them; and a quantity of some material to tie around the stock, so as to hold the bud in place. Budding knives are made after various patterns; one that is commonly used has an ivory or bone handle, made very thin at the end, that is used to peel the bark from the stock where the bud is to be inserted (Fig. 2). Another form of budding knife is made with a horn handle, and a small tapering piece of ivory fastened in the end. These knives, of various shapes and sizes, can be had at the seed stores; but another and quite a different form of budding knife is shown in Fig. 3, and is known as the "Yankee budding knife." It is merely a small one-bladed pocket knife with a thin blade, round at the end. The cutting portion extends about one-third around the end of the blade and two-thirds of its length, leaving the lower part dull. Although this form of budding knife has been in constant use in some of the older nurseries in this country for nearly a century, it does not appear to have been manufactured for the general trade, but only on special orders for nurserymen. It is so simple a knife, however, that with a little grinding almost any small one-bladed pocket knife can be transformed into one of these handy budding knives. The rounded end of the blade is used for lifting the bark, and for rapid work it is far more convenient than any form of knife that must be reversed in the hand every time a bud is inserted. In addition, a polished bit of steel is smoother and far less likely to lacerate the alburnous matter between the bark and wood than the best piece of bone or ivory. It may be said, however, that it is immaterial what form of knife is employed, provided it has a keen edge and is dexterously used.

[FIG. 4]. PREPARED SHOOT.

The material most commonly used in times past for tying in the bud is the inner bark of the linden or basswood tree, usually called bass, and always to be procured in the form of mats, or as prepared from our indigenous basswoods and kept on sale at the seed stores. Recently, however, another excellent tying material has come into use, known in the trade as raffia or roffia. It is the cuticle of the Jupati palms. One species (Raphia tædigera) is a native of the lower valley of the Amazon and Orinoco, and another (R. Ruffia) of Madagascar and adjacent islands. Raffia is somewhat softer and more pliable than the ordinary bass, although it does not hold its form quite as well; but it is so cheap, soft and strong, that it has become very popular, and is extensively used for budding and many other purposes. But if none of these tying materials are at hand, the inner bark of the persimmon, corn husks, cotton twine, woolen yarn, or even strips of old muslin and calico may be employed with equally as good results, although not as handy and convenient for such purposes. The amateur, with only a few stocks to bud, can readily improvise implements and materials for doing the work, even if they are not of the regulation type. In selecting buds, the young shoots of the present season's growth are preferred, and these should be taken from the most healthy and vigorous branches of bearing trees, if possible. The leaves should be immediately removed, not by breaking or pulling off with the hand, but by severing the leaf-stalks with a knife, as shown in Fig. 4. If the leaves have fallen from the twig, the buds may be too ripe, with some kinds of plants, but with the almond, and where only a few leaves near the base have dropped, all may be used with fair success. If there are any soft and immature buds on the upper part of the shoot, or any undeveloped ones at the base, they should be rejected. Success in budding depends very largely upon the condition of the stocks at the time the operation is performed. Unless the sap is flowing and in sufficient abundance to allow the bark to part or peel readily from the wood underneath, the bud is certain to fail. If the buds used should happen to be a little over-ripe or wholly dormant when placed in direct contact with the living tissues and the juices of the stock, they will absorb moisture and nutriment, and be as likely to unite and live as under opposite conditions.

[FIG. 5]. INCISION FOR BUD.

In performing the operation of budding, the following rules may be observed: Take the twig from which the buds are to be removed, in the left hand, with the small end pointing under the left arm; insert the knife-blade half an inch, or a little more, below the bud, cutting through the bark and a little into the wood; pass the knife under the bud, and bring it out about the same distance above it, taking off the bud with the bark, and a thin slice of wood attached, as at c, Fig. 4. Then, if using the Yankee budding knife, or one of similar form, let the forefinger clasp the lower part of the blade, make the horizontal incision in the stock first, and from this an incision downward about an inch long,—or it may be twice this length without doing any harm,—being careful not to cut too deep. Lift up the edge of the bark by passing the back of the end of the blade (without removing it) up to the horizontal incision. Lift the bark on the other side in the same manner, the two incisions making a wound in the stock resembling the letter T, as shown in Fig. 5. If other forms of budding knives are used, the thin end of the ivory handle is thrust under the bark, raising it sufficiently to admit the bud. The budder holds the bud between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand while making the incision in the stock; and as the knife leaves it he places the lower point of the bark attached to the bud under the bark of the stock before this falls back into place, and thrusts it down into position. If the upper end of the bark attached to the bud does not pass completely under the bark of the stock, it must be cut across, so as to allow that which remains with the bud to fall into place and rest firmly on the wood of the stock, as shown in Fig. 6.

When the bud is in position and fitted to the stock, as shown, wind the raffia, or other material used, around the stock, both above and below, covering the entire incision, leaving only the bud and part of leafstalk uncovered. Of course experienced propagators have their own individual systems and modes of operation, but the above may be taken as a safe guide for the amateur budder. The ligatures should be loosened or removed as soon as the bud has become firmly united with the stock, which will usually be in ten or fifteen days, if at all. When the buds have failed, others may be inserted, provided, of course, the stocks are in condition to admit of the operation. Exceptions, however, may be made where the budding has been done so late in the season that the stock has ceased to grow by the time the buds have taken, and in such cases the ligatures may be left on later and removed any time before winter. In cold climates the snow, ice and water are likely to get in around the bud if the ligatures are not removed. But where the stocks are vigorous and the buds set early, there will be danger of the ligatures cutting into the bark as the stocks swell or increase in diameter, unless they are loosened or entirely removed.

[FIG. 6.] BUD IN POSITION.

Under ordinary circumstances budded stocks should not be headed back until the following spring, and then should be cut off two or three inches above the inserted bud; and when this pushes into growth, all suckers and sprouts below and above it should be rubbed off as they appear, for the object is to throw the entire strength of the stock into this one bud, and when this has made a growth of two or three feet the short stump of the stock above the base of the shoot may be carefully removed with a sharp knife. This is usually done the last of July or first of August, which gives time for the healing of the wound before the close of the growing season. Sometimes it may be necessary to place small stakes by the side of these shoots for their support and to prevent breaking at the point of union with the stock; but this will rarely be necessary, except in very exposed situations.

If the young trees make a fairly good growth they will be ready for planting out in the orchard the following spring, and one-year-old almond trees are usually preferable for transplanting than older. It is not advisable to prune these young trees during the growing season the first summer, but allow all the side shoots or branches to grow unchecked, for by so doing we secure a more stocky plant, if not as tall a one, than we would if trimming up was practiced. But when the trees are taken up for transplanting, in the late fall or early spring, then they may be pruned and the lateral branches cut off close to the main stem, leaving a naked rod, and if low-headed trees are desired (and they usually are), cut back the main stem to about three feet from the ground. If the young trees have made a growth of from four to six feet, then prune away the lateral branches to a hight of three feet or a little more, and cut in all branches above this point to within four to six inches of the main stem, leaving the buds on these stumps to form the head of the tree. Four or five branches at the top of the stem will be sufficient for the foundation for an open, round-headed tree, or in what may be termed a vase form, which is the best for almonds.

Soil and Exposure for Almonds.—The almond requires a warm, rather light and well-drained soil. Cold, heavy clays, and low, moist soils, whether light or heavy, are always to be avoided for the almond and closely allied trees. That the soil should be moderately rich is, of course, a condition required with all cultivated nut and fruit trees, but over-stimulation may result in excessive and immature growth late in the season, this leaving the twigs in such a state that they will be unable to resist even a few degrees of frost, to which they may be subjected the ensuing winter. In what are generally termed mild climates, or where the temperature seldom goes more than four to six degrees below the freezing point, hardy trees, if they have made a late growth, are often injured more than they would have been in a colder climate, with early matured wood. There are many kinds of what we consider very hardy trees and shrubs here in the North, that are very likely to be winterkilled or severely frosted when grown at the South, simply because the conditions are such that they do not ripen up in time to resist the cold.

In touching upon the subject of location for an almond orchard east of the Mississippi, I should be inclined to relegate this valuable nut to semi-tropical Florida, were it not for the fact that almost a score of ornamental species and varieties of the same genus,—to say nothing of the widely cultivated peach,—flourish over a very wide range of country and climate, and nowhere better than near the Atlantic ocean in the Middle and some of the Northern States. It is also generally conceded that several of what are called hard-shelled varieties thrive and bear fruit in nearly all of our best peach-growing regions. From all that I have been able to learn of almond culture, and with my own limited experience with this nut, experiments are wanting to prove that it cannot be successfully cultivated in the peach-growing region of the Eastern States. I will not say "profitably" cultivated, for this is a rather vague term when applied to horticultural operations of any kind. Success is not synonymous with profit; in fact, it is frequently quite the opposite, and an abundant crop may mean glutted markets and a corresponding loss to the producer. But, to return to location, the principal cause of failure in almond culture, where it has been tried in the older States, seems to be the early blooming of the trees and subsequent destruction of the embryo fruit by frosts. To avoid this, high, open, airy situations, and even the north side of hills, would certainly be preferable to southern slopes and protected locations, especially in the South or where the temperature in winter does not go low enough to kill the wood of the previous season's growth. Theoretically, we might suppose that there are many locations favorable to almond culture in the elevated regions of North Carolina and Tennessee, as well as in the northern tier of counties in Alabama and Georgia. But in the absence of carefully conducted experiments in these regions, we have only to wait for their consummation at some future time, to prove the truth or falsity of our theory.

In the rich, warm valleys of New Mexico, Arizona and California, congenial locations are plentiful, inasmuch as almost every variety of climate is at hand, with a temperature ranging from that of perpetual summer to the opposite extreme, and all to be found within a few miles, and frequently to be found in the same county. Under such conditions, it rests with the would-be cultivator to decide upon the kinds of fruits desired, then to seek a location best adapted to his purpose.

If, as claimed,—but not proven,—there are no limited or extended areas fitted for almond culture east of the Mississippi river, there are certainly plenty of such west of it, awaiting the industrious and intelligent nut culturist. Almond orchards have been planted in California and Arizona, and the quality of the nuts, as well as the quantity, is very satisfactory; but a greater number and more extensive orchards are needed to meet the home demand.

Planting and Pruning.—In planting and pruning the almond tree the same system should be adopted as with its near relative, the peach. One-year-old budded trees are preferred for planting in an orchard, to older, except in the case of seedlings, then two-year-old may be selected, because these are seldom larger than one-year budded trees. The trees should be set fifteen to eighteen feet apart, varying the distance according to variety, soil, and other local conditions, and it is best to place them in rows and at right angles, in order to admit of cultivating both ways, as it is termed, thereby saving as much hand labor as possible. For the first two or three years after planting, all weeds and grass should be kept away from the stems and over the roots, either by frequent hoeing, or covering with a mulch. The best way, perhaps, to prevent the growth of weeds, is to use the land among the trees for some low-growing crops, such as beans, tomatoes, melons or potatoes, then see that the workmen, when hoeing these crops, hoe up the weeds and grass about the trees at the same time. We might reasonably suppose that the most careless cultivator of trees would think of this, but, unfortunately, extended observation proves quite the contrary, and it is scarcely possible to go through any very extensive fruit-growing region without seeing many such instances of neglect. A square yard or more of tough sward is frequently left for years undisturbed about the stems of all the trees in an orchard, while the little annual plants growing near by, and not worth, at an extreme valuation, five cents each, are cultivated with the greatest care.

The first pruning of the trees should be done at the time of transplanting from the nursery rows, as directed on a preceding page, and from the top of the stem only three or four shoots allowed to grow the first season, all others being rubbed off as soon as they appear, or when they have made a growth of two or three inches. These three or four upper branches are to become the foundation of the future head of the tree, and should be allowed to grow unchecked the first season; the next spring cut back one-half to two-thirds of their original length. This pruning will force out strong side or lateral shoots near the base, thus giving a sturdy foundation to build upon later, the pruner keeping in mind that the weaker the growth the more severe should be the pruning. Better leave a few strong buds, from which vigorous shoots will be produced, than a great number succeeded by many feeble twigs. If blossoms and fruit appear on the young two-year-old trees, a limited number may be left to mature, although no considerable crop ought to be gathered before the third year.

In after years a somewhat different system of pruning may be adopted, keeping in view the fact that the fruit buds and fruit are always produced on the young shoots of the previous season's growth, and for this reason an annual renewal of such parts of the tree is absolutely required, in order to secure a good crop on trees of any age. In some localities and countries it may be possible that almond trees produce a crop every year; but this is scarcely to be expected anywhere. Consequently a system of pruning should be followed which will conform to the variations of circumstances and conditions; and this brings us to the consideration of—

The Proper Time to Prune.—If the growth of the trees and their fruiting were always uniform, then we might readily adopt some invariable system and season for pruning; but as we are dealing with uncertainties, our rules must be equally flexible and variable. If the season is favorable, and the trees bloom freely and fruit sets abundantly, we may proceed to prune as soon as the embryo nuts are as large as peas,—but only cutting back some of the largest bearing shoots, and thinning out others here and there, just enough to equalize and evenly distribute the crop through the head of the tree. But in case the frost or cold of winter has destroyed the crop for the season, then as soon as this is discovered, prune and cut back all the shoots and branches sufficient to insure a vigorous growth of young bearing wood for the ensuing year. Under this system of pruning we fix the time as after blooming in the spring, in order to have our work correspond to circumstances and conditions, and where there is a crop in prospect the pruning is comparatively light; but if there is to be no fruit, or but little, then one should aim to produce an abundance of bearing shoots for the following season. In other words, we prune severely in non-bearing years, whether they occur alternately or otherwise; but this system is only applicable to trees like the almond and peach, which produce their fruit on the shoots of the preceding year's growth.

VARIETIES OF THE ALMOND.

Almonds are usually divided into three groups, viz.: Bitter, hard-shelled, and soft, or paper-shelled. In each there are many varieties, although they are rarely known in market except by the general name of the group to which they belong. If they are soft, hard or bitter, this is sufficient designation for commercial purposes, with, perhaps, the addition of the name of country in which they were grown, or that of the city or seaport from whence exported.

Bitter Almond, Amygdalus communis amara.—The varieties of this group are not specifically distinct, and some have soft, thin shells, while others are thick and hard; but the kernels are very bitter, hence the name. But in the countries where these almonds are most extensively cultivated, as in the South of France, Austria, Spain and Greece, the trees are generally raised from the nut, and, as might be expected, the crop produced under such conditions is exceedingly variable, the nuts being large or small, and the shells of various degrees of hardness, with an occasional tree producing both bitter and sweet kerneled nuts. These wilding trees are, in the main, more hardy than the improved varieties, hence are largely employed as stocks for the better sorts, as well as for the plum and apricot. It is also claimed that, as a rule, the bitter almond trees bloom later in the spring than those of the other two groups, and for this reason are not so liable to be injured by spring frosts. The trees are hardy in all of our most favorable peach-growing regions of the Middle and Northern States, but some of the varieties ripen rather too late for localities north of the latitude of New York city. All this, however, and other obstacles, will soon disappear, whenever the time arrives for our horticulturists to take up almond culture and pursue it with half the zeal they have the cultivation of the peach and many other kinds of fruits.

Hard-Shelled Almond, A. c. dulcis, or sweet-kerneled almond.—The varieties of this group, as a whole, differ from those of the next only in the firmness of their shells, which are moderately firm, with a slightly rough and deeply pitted surface, as shown in Fig. 7. Varieties of this group are fully as large as, and perhaps a little longer than the thin-shelled, and the kernels are fully as valuable when removed and sold as shelled almonds. It may require a little more labor to crack and remove the kernels for market, but the difference is scarcely worth taking into consideration by the grower.

The common sweet, hard-shelled almond thrives in peach-growing regions as far north as Central New York, and I well remember of seeing trees loaded with these nuts, in my boyhood days, in the western part of the State. The late Patrick Barry, in the Fruit Garden, when referring to this nut, says:

"This is a hardy and productive tree, succeeding well in the climate of Western New York, and still farther north. Nut very large, with a hard shell and a large sweet kernel; ripe here (Rochester) about the first of October. The tree is very vigorous, has smooth, glaucous leaves, and when in bloom in the spring is more brilliant and showy than any other fruit tree."

[FIG. 7.] HARD-SHELLED ALMOND.

Nearly every one of our noted horticulturists who have said anything about almond culture in the North, agree with Mr. Barry in regard to the beauty of this tree and its productiveness; but it is well to keep in mind that it is no more to be depended upon than the peach, and the barren years will far outnumber the bearing ones. But the almond is probably as certain here as in France, where it is cultivated extensively as an article of commerce, although a full crop once in about five years is about all that is expected. We can probably do much better than this, especially if proper attention is given to the production of new varieties adapted to our climate, as has been done in California with the almond, and here in the East with the peach and many other kinds of fruits; and when such have been secured, proceed to multiply them in the usual mode of budding upon seedling stocks.

Soft, or Brittle-Shelled, A. c. fragilis.—In this group we have many distinct varieties, besides others which are known by local names, but have no permanent and pronounced distinguishing characteristics that would aid in separating them, should this be desired. The most common form, widely known as the sweet-kerneled thin-shelled (Fig. 8), is one of the oldest in cultivation in European countries. The flowers usually appear with the leaves, or before they unfold, and are large and of a pale rose color. The tree is rather tender for latitudes north of Philadelphia, but succeeds southward, and westward to the Pacific, if late frosts do not come to destroy the flowers or embryo nuts.

[FIG. 8.] THIN-SHELLED ALMOND.

Large Fruited Almond, A. c. macrocarpa.—This is an old French variety, and perhaps most widely known as the Sultana, although the latter name is often applied in market to almost every variety of sweet almond. The leaves of the genuine variety are much broader than those of the preceding groups, and are smooth and deep green. Flowers very large and showy, of a pale rose color, and always appear in spring before the leaves, and for this reason it has long been cultivated in England as an ornamental tree. Fruit large, depressed or flattened at the base, but pointed at the top. Shell rather hard and firm, and will withstand rough handling and transportation long distances. Kernel very sweet and tender, hence highly prized everywhere. There are several sub-varieties; one, known as the Pistache almond, is highly esteemed for the table, on account of its delicate flavor, although it is very small and not popular for commercial purposes.

The Peach Almond, A. c. persicoides.—This is another old variety, described by Du Hamel about the middle of the last century, under the name of Amandier-Pecher, or peach-leaved almond. Leaves similar to those of the common peach. Fruit ovate, obtuse; husk slightly succulent; shell of a yellowish color, and the kernel sweet-flavored and excellent. Du Hamel says the fruit varies widely, even upon the same tree or branch, some having a dry, thin husk, while on others it is soft and fleshy, somewhat like that of the peach. As the almond and peach are of the same species, it would not be at all strange if an occasional variety raised from the seed of either class should diverge towards, or even pass completely over to a closely allied group.

From the varieties found in the forementioned groups we must seek to find, or produce therefrom, those which will succeed in this country wherever it may be thought desirable to attempt the cultivation of this nut. So far as my knowledge extends, no attempts have, as yet, been made to produce distinct American varieties in the Eastern States, as with its near relative, the peach, but all the almonds thus far cultivated here are of well-known foreign varieties. Perhaps the demand for almond trees has not been sufficient heretofore to encourage very extended experiments in this direction, but I cannot believe that our people will continue for another century to import millions of pounds annually of almonds if it is possible to raise them in this country. That it is possible on the Pacific coast has already been fully demonstrated, but we want to see the field greatly enlarged, and give the people of the Eastern States a share in what is evidently soon to become a large and profitable industry.

Ornamental Varieties of the Almond.—These are only referred to because some of the many in cultivation belong to the groups producing the most valuable nuts, but the greater part of the purely ornamental varieties are worthless for other purposes. Amygdalus cochinchinensis grows to quite a large tree in its native country, or thirty to forty feet high; flowers small, white, produced in long racemes; tender. A. orientalis, a small shrub, with grayish or hoary leaves, and small rose-colored flowers; sometimes cultivated under the name of argentea, or Silvery almond. A. incana (hoary) is another dwarf species, from the Caucasus, with solitary red flowers. A. nana and A. pumila are oriental species of very dwarf shrubs, with either red or white flowers. The double-flowering varieties of these have long been inhabitants of our gardens.

Properties and Uses.—For domestic purposes the almond is highly esteemed wherever it is known, and is employed in hundreds of different ways in the preparation of appetizing dishes and dainties for the table. In countries where this nut is in cultivation, it is brought to the table in the half-opened green husk, for at this time the kernels are just passing from the milky stage, and are considered more readily digested than later, or when fully ripe. But it is only when they are fully mature that they are gathered for market, and after thorough drying they are placed in strong sacks and distributed among dealers in all parts of the world. But only certain varieties are exported in this condition, and principally those with very thin shells, because these are most in demand, for the table and dessert, where the almond is not a home product. Other sweet varieties, whether with very hard or very tender shells, are cracked and only the kernels exported. The importation of shelled almonds into this country is somewhat in excess of the unshelled, and as they are of greater value per pound, the duty levied is proportionally higher. There is also a great saving to the importer and consumer,—not only in freight, but the extraction of the kernels is done in countries where labor is abundant and cheap. Whether the almond shells are used for any purpose in European countries, or are considered as wholly a waste product, I have been unable to learn, but it is asserted, and by men whose word is worthy of credence, that almond shells ground into a fine golden colored flour, is much used in this country for adulterating red pepper, cinnamon and other spices.

Almonds are not only used extensively at all times and seasons, by persons of all ages and sexes, at table and elsewhere, but they are employed largely in the making of fancy confectionery with sugar, or in the form of salted almonds, the kernels having been first thoroughly steamed or scalded, to remove the skin, and then rolled or dusted with fine salt. Prepared in this way they are usually considered more readily digestible and healthful than in their natural state.

Sweet almonds are also valued in the form of emulsions, as a medicine in pulmonary disorders, and the oil of almonds is a common standard article in the stock of druggists everywhere, as it enters into the composition of cosmetics, syrups, pastes and powders of various kinds.

The kernels of the wild bitter almond contain a poisonous principle known as hydrocyanic or Prussic acid, which does not exist in the sweet varieties, although found in their leaves and the bark of their twigs. But as bitter almonds are not palatable, there is little danger of anyone being poisoned from eating them, should these nuts ever be cultivated here for any special purpose, as in other countries.

Insects and Diseases.—Whenever the almond tree becomes common here in orchards it will doubtless suffer from the attacks of the same kinds of natural enemies as affect the peach. One of the most widely distributed of these pests is the common peach-tree borer. The parents of these borers are small, slender-bodied, bluish, transparent-winged moths, the male somewhat smaller than the female. These moths usually appear in this latitude during the month of June, and the female deposits her eggs on the stems of the trees near the surface of the ground, or a little below it if she can find a convenient opening to suit her purpose. The eggs deposited soon hatch, and the young larvæ bore through the tender bark at this point, and when fairly under it, branch off, cutting galleries through the soft alburnum underneath. When a number of these borers are at work on the same tree they sometimes girdle and kill it the first season, especially if it is young or a small specimen. But if the tree is not killed outright it will show, by the check to its growth, that borers are at work. The borers continue feeding throughout the remainder of the season, and up to the time freezing weather sets in for the winter, and if not full grown at this time they will finish their growth early in spring, then crawl to near the outside, or just under the old bark, and there spin a thin cocoon, in which they are transformed to the pupal stage, remaining in this form for a few weeks, then issuing in the winged or moth stage.

In the line of preventives and remedies there is nothing better than clean cultivation about the trees, and annual examination of each tree early in summer and the crushing of every borer found. The next best thing, in the way of a preventive, is to wrap the stems from a little below the surface of the ground to a foot or more above it with heavy paper, cloth, or bark of some kind, to keep the moth from laying her eggs on the bark of the tree. I have used common tar paper for this purpose, not only because it is very cheap and does not decay when exposed to the weather, but the exhalation or odor of tar seems to be offensive to the moths. In the use of this material I have never found that it was in the least injurious to the bark underneath. Painting the stems with soap, cement, clay, or even common mineral paints, will answer very well if a little care is given to keeping down the number of insects by removing the larger part of the borers with knife or gouge.

In recent years a pest known as the "shot-hole borer" (Scolytus rugulosus) has appeared in many and widely separated localities, in both the Eastern and Western States, attacking the almond, peach and plum tree. It is supposed to have been introduced from Europe with imported nursery stock, and thence rapidly distributed, by similar means, through the country. In its perfect stages it is a minute brown beetle, about one-twelfth of an inch long and one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter. This pest appears about midsummer, boring numerous minute holes through the bark and into the sapwood underneath, and in this the female deposits her eggs, and from these are hatched the little grubs found later feeding on the soft inner bark and alburnous matter beneath it. From every hole made in the bark a small globule of gum will soon appear, drying upon the surface—thence onward until autumn—and glistening in the sun, an immutable sign of the presence of a minute but destructive enemy.

When the beetles and their eggs are once in possession there is no practical way known of removing them, and the best thing to be done is to cut down and burn every infested tree, and just as soon as it is known to be in this condition. There are also several indigenous species of bark beetles, which will very likely attack almond trees as soon as they are as abundant as peach trees, but all may be destroyed with the same, or very similar weapons and materials.

What are called preventives consist mainly of substances to be applied to the stems in a semi-liquid form, and of such a nature as to be offensive to the beetles because of their odor, taste, or because so hard that the insects cannot cut through them with their mandibles. Common lime whitewash, soft soap, whale-oil soap, or a thin mineral paint made of pure linseed oil, will answer very well for this purpose if applied often enough to keep the bark constantly coated.

Of the fungous diseases affecting the almond in this country, very little is as yet known, although we may safely include under this head all those that have been inimical to the peach, for the transition from this tree to the almond would only be a natural sequence. The peach-leaf curl (Taphrina deformans) would not be far from home on the almond leaf, neither could we expect that almond orchards would be wholly exempt from that mysteriously distributed and uncontrollable disease known as "peach yellows."

In California an almond-leaf blight has already appeared and seriously affected the trees in some of the orchards. It is caused by a fungus known as Cercospora circumscissa Sacc. This fungus attacks the leaves and young twigs, causing the former to fall off early in the season, thereby checking the growth of the tree and preventing the maturing of the fruit. It is thought that remedies may be applied to check this disease, and there will probably be some form of copper solution employed for destroying it, as with various species of fungi on other kinds of fruit trees.

CHAPTER III.

THE BEECHNUT.

Fagus, Linn. The Beech. The Latin name of the genus (Fagus) supposed to be an equivalent of the Greek phegos, an oak, or it may be derived from phago, to eat; the nuts of this tree having been used as food by man in all ages and countries where it is a native. The modern English name, beech, was probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon bece or boc; in Dutch it is beuk; French, hetre; Icelandic, beyk; Danish, bog; Swedish, bok; German, buche or buoche; Russian, buk; Italian, faggio; Armenian, fao; and in Welsh ffawydd.

The beech belongs to the order Cupuliferæ, or oak family. The genus contains about fifteen species of handsome deciduous and evergreen trees, or shrubs, very widely distributed throughout the temperate and colder regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres. Male flowers are bell-shaped, in long-stalked drooping heads; calyx five to seven cleft, containing numerous stamens. Female flowers two to four in a cluster on the summit of the scaly-bracted peduncle; the inside scales uniting, forming a four-lobed involucre of imbricated bracts, the whole becoming at maturity a somewhat prickly, scaly bur, within which are found a pair of sharp-edged triangular nuts, containing a tender and sweet-flavored kernel.

History of the Beech.—The common beeches of both Europe and North America are so closely related that the two species may be considered as one for all practical purposes, such as propagation, cultivation, and value of the wood and nuts. It is true, however, that our native beech is not environed with ancient myths and stories of love and war, neither is it celebrated in poetry and song, yet it has, doubtless, played just as noble a part in human affairs among the pre-historic races of America as those recorded of its European contemporary. As the beech in Europe is found in the forests of Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, and southward to Constantinople, Palestine, Asia Minor and Armenia, it was well known and highly appreciated by all the early inhabitants of these countries, and is frequently referred to by the earlier writers of Greece and Rome who touch upon the rural affairs of their times. It is supposed that Theophrastus refers to the beech under the name of Oxua, and Dioscorides as Phegos, and the latter author places it among the oaks, in which he was not far out of the way, because the beech is a member of the oak family in our modern classification. Virgil and Pliny speak highly of the little triangular nuts, and the people of their times set considerable value upon beech-nuts as an article of food. Pliny also assures us that at the siege of Chios, the besieged inhabitants lived for some time entirely on these nuts. We are inclined to think, however, that both Virgil and Pliny are in error when they tell us that the beech was propagated by being grafted on the chestnut. They were probably led astray in this by some romancing gardener of their time, for we even have some of the same ilk with us at this day. Pliny refers to the beech several times in his writings, and places a much higher value upon this nut than he does upon the chestnut; in fact, speaks rather contemptuously of the latter, and seems to be surprised that nature should have taken such care of the nuts, which he calls "vilissima," as to enclose them with a prickly involucre or bur.

But my limited space will not allow of tracing the history of the beech from ancient to modern times, although it has always been esteemed as food for man, as well as for wild and domesticated animals. Swine fattened on beech and oak mast have for ages been noted for their excellent flesh, and the value of many an old estate in Great Britain was determined more upon the mast the forest produced, than the area or number of square miles they contained.

As a monumental tree the beech has no rival, for its smooth gray bark, perennial and almost unchangeable, has ever been a convenient place to register challenges to enemies, epitaphs, epithets, and probably more frequently than all, the initials of the name of some loved one, who might possibly pass that way and find her name engraved on the beechen tree. I doubt much if there is a beech grove in all Europe or in America, within a convenient distance of a city, country village or schoolhouse, on which the bark of the trees is not scarified by the knives of boys in recording the initials of their own names, and those of their favorites of the opposite sex. These living registers were long ago recognized by the poets, and more than eighteen centuries ago Virgil admits it in these lines:

"Or shall I rather the sad verse repeat,
Which on the beech's bark I lately writ."

In more modern times Tasso hints of the same habit, in Jerusalem Delivered, to wit:

"On the smooth beechen rind, the pensive dame
Carves in a thousand forms her Tancred's name."

That the Spanish youths were not oblivious to their opportunities for recording the names of their favorites we must assume to be true, from the lines of Don Luis de Gongora, who tells us that:

"Not a beech but bears some cipher,
Tender word, or amorous text.
If one vale sounds Angelina,
Angelina sounds the next."

Propagation of the Beech.—The beech, in all its species and varieties, may be propagated by the usual modes, viz.: By seed, layers, budding and grafting. The seeds, when gathered, should be mixed with clean, sharp, moist sand, placed in boxes, and then stored in a cool or cold place and carefully protected from mice, until the time arrives for sowing in spring. They may also be sown in the fall and lightly covered with leaf mold or other light soil, but unless coated with tar or some offensive poisonous substance, vermin of some form will be very likely to find them and leave few to grow. Seedlings are used for stocks upon which to work the many varieties in cultivation; but as I am not writing this for the encouragement of propagators of purely ornamental trees, I will omit giving any very extended description of the different modes of propagating the beech, further than to say that should remarkably fine varieties with extra-sized nuts be discovered or produced, they can be perpetuated and multiplied by the same processes adopted for other kinds of nut trees.

Soil and Location.—The beeches of Northern countries, in their many varieties, thrive best in a cool, moist soil, for their roots rarely penetrate very deeply, but spread out widely and near the surface, forming an intricate network, which will try the patience of the woodman who attempts to clear away a forest of beech and break up the ground. In this country, as well as in Europe, the beech thrives in calcareous soils, or what is usually termed limestone regions; consequently, when transplanted or raised in sandy soils, or on the red sandstone formation, light applications of lime are usually found very beneficial; but more than all, the beech requires moisture, and if not planted in a moist soil the surface over the roots should be kept constantly covered with some kind of mulch.

Species and Varieties of the Beech.—In the Dictionary of Gardening, edited by George Nicholson, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, the following species of Fagus are briefly described, viz:

F. antarctica.—Leaves ovate, blunt, glabrous, attenuated at the base, doubly dentate, alternate, petiolate, one and a half inches long. A small deciduous tree or shrub, with rugged, tortuous branches. Native of Tierra del Fuego, S. A.

F. betuloides (birch-like). Evergreen beech.—Leaves ovate, elliptic, obtuse crenulate, leathery, shining glabrous, round at the base or short footstalks. An evergreen tree, native of Tierra del Fuego, S. A.

F. ferruginea (rusty). American beech.—Leaves ovate, acuminate, thickly toothed, downy beneath, ciliate on the margin. A large deciduous tree, very closely resembling the common European species, from which it is distinguished by its longer, thinner and less shining leaves.

F. obliqua (oblique). Chile beech.—Leaves ovate, oblong, oblique, somewhat rhomboid, blunt, doubly serrated, entire at the base, attenuated into the petiole, and somewhat downy. A hardy deciduous tree, native of the cooler elevated regions of Chile, S. A.

F. sylvatica (sylvan). European beech.—Leaves oblong, ovate, obscurely toothed; margin ciliate. A well-known large deciduous tree, widely distributed in Europe from Norway southward to Asia Minor. From this species a large number of ornamental varieties have been produced, many of them merely accidental variations of the wild forms of the forests, while others have originated in the seedbeds of nurserymen. But so far as I am aware, no variety has ever been introduced bearing superior or improved forms of nuts.

Our American beech (F. ferruginea) is a widely distributed tree, extending from Nova Scotia in the north, south to Florida, and westward to Wisconsin and Missouri. Formerly it was exceedingly abundant, but like many other of our most valuable forest trees, it is disappearing before the axe of the woodman, who has always found a ready sale for beech timber. It is used in the manufacture of plane stocks, shoe lasts, handles for paring chisels, and hundreds of similar articles. Beech wood is hard, firm, and takes a good polish, but is not very flexible. It makes excellent fuel, and ranks next in value to hard maple and hickory for this purpose. In the more northern States and where the beech grows to its largest size, the heartwood is usually of a reddish color; but here in New Jersey and farther south, the wood is usually white almost to the center of the tree, no matter how large it may be. The color of the wood, however, does not in any way detract from its value, for fuel and many other purposes, although some European dendrologists have been deceived into supposing that the white beech was almost or quite worthless. Loudon, in Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, Vol. III, in referring to our beech, says: "The wood of the white beech is little valued in America, even for fuel; and the bark is used for tanning, but is little esteemed," etc. But if any one, in these later years, has had occasion to purchase beech timber for any purpose, he has probably learned, from the price charged, that it is esteemed, even for such base purposes as firewood.

I am not, however, attempting to extol the American beech as a timber tree, but ask that it be given a place among the select ornamental nut-bearing kinds. And I think every farmer who has a pasture lot could afford a place for at least one beech tree, and if there is a low, moist spot in the field, or a stony corner, this will be a suitable place for such a tree; and the horses, cattle or sheep out in pasture during hot days in summer will be very grateful for the shade which a wide-spreading specimen will give them. It may be that the owner of said pasture may recall the lines of Garcilaso:

"But in calm idlesse laid,
Supine in the cool shade
Of oak or ilex, beech or pendant pine,
Sees his flocks feeding stray,
Whitening a length of way,
Or numbers up his homeward-tending kine."

He may be sure of one thing, and that is, the beech-nuts produced by one or many trees will always be acceptable to the children, and of these hungry mortals there is likely to be a few, at least, roaming about in ages to come, as in times past.

The beech is not really a desirable tree to plant on a lawn or near one's dwelling, because of its persistent foliage, which clings to the twigs very late in winter, and the rustling of the wind through the dry leaves is not soothing to one's nerves, although not quite as dismal as the moaning pines. In summer, and until late in autumn, the American beech is a noble and graceful tree,—and if I may be allowed the expression, one of the cleanest of trees; its large, thin, bright-green and glossy leaves retain none of the dust and cast-off material of other trees which may be floating through the air, but are ever bright and pure. The tree has naturally wide-spreading and somewhat drooping branches, and should be given plenty of room for development when planted for the nuts or as an ornamental tree. Its leaves and the small slender branchlets (Fig. 9) are eaten with avidity by all kinds of farm animals; consequently, protection may be required until the trees have reached a hight to be safe from such depredators.

Beech seedlings do not usually come into bearing in less than twenty to thirty years, but as no one in this country has ever attempted to cultivate this tree for its nuts, or search our forests for precocious and superior varieties, we have to admit that the field remains unexplored, and as barren of results as it was when our ancestors first discovered America. Every hunter, woodman, farmer and botanist who has roamed through forests where the beech trees grow, is well aware of the fact that distinct varieties are not at all rare, some having nuts twice the size of others in the same woods or groves, and it is possible and probable that some nut culturist in the near future will find time to select these choice wild varieties for cultivation and propagation. It would not, in my opinion, be beneath the dignity of our national department of agriculture, or some of its numerous costly annexes, to occasionally take into consideration the natural products of this great country, and determine, by a series of experiments, whether or no they were not worthy of attention.

[FIG. 9. ]BEECHNUT LEAF, BUR AND NUT.

Insects Injurious to the Beech.—No disease has, as yet, been known to seriously affect the beech, and as for insect enemies, it probably has a less number than any other denizen of our forests. It is true that transplanted trees, and those left exposed by cutting away protecting neighbors, are sometimes attacked by borers in the stem, branches and twigs, but these enemies naturally follow in the train of debility, it being one of the immutable economic laws of nature to hasten the demise and decomposition of the half-starved or otherwise enfeebled members of both the animal and vegetable kingdom.

Isolated beech trees growing by the roadsides in parks and fields are occasionally attacked by a large grayish, long-horn beetle, the Goes pulverulenta. It is about one inch long, and a rather sturdy beetle of a light grayish color, and usually infests the branches, but may occasionally attack the main stem. It is not abundant, and has seldom been found infesting the beech. There are also two or three borers of the Buprestis family of beetles which occasionally attack beech trees. They are distinguished by the broad heads and flattened bodies of the grubs, and they work just beneath the bark in the sapwood, causing dead patches, mainly on the south side of the stem and larger branches. If the dead bark is removed and the wounds painted they will soon heal over, unless the tree is suffering for moisture and nutrients at the roots. A few twig borers, with an occasional colony of caterpillars on the leaves, embody about all the insect enemies of the beech calling for any special attention, but there are a host of different species and kinds ever ready to pounce upon a sickly or dead tree, whether found in the field or forest.

Properties and Uses.—The beechnut has been so long and favorably known that very little need be said here in regard to its properties and uses. In the forests it affords food for many kinds of birds, such as the wild turkey, partridge or grouse, and especially the pigeon, and immense flocks of these collect in the beech forests in autumn to feed upon the nuts. Deer are very fond of these nuts, and so are all of the squirrel family, and the little ground squirrel or chipmunk, Tamias striatus, of our Northern States, gives us a good practical lesson in the way of preserving the nuts over winter. These little rodents pack away the nuts in small pockets in their burrows and from two to three feet below the surface, where they are protected from excessive moisture and any considerable change of temperature. The chipmunk always stores the nuts in the ground, and not in hollow logs, as is sometimes asserted. The deer-mouse (Hesperomys leucopus), however, does select such places for putting away his winter's supply, but more frequently he chooses a hollow in the stem of some old tree, and several feet from the ground. Unlike the chipmunk, this mouse cleans the shells from the kernels, storing only the latter, and I have often found a quart or more when cutting down trees in winter. These kernels are usually so clean, bright, and free from odor, that it is to be feared the finder always confiscates them for his own use.

As the beechnut contains considerable oil, many schemes have been set on foot, in European countries, for its extraction and use as a salad oil. Early in the last century (1721) Aaron Hill, an English poet, proposed to pay off the national debt from the profits to be derived from the manufacture of beechnut oil; but his scheme fell through, like many others of its kind. It is also stated that Henry Fielding, so well known by his delightful stories of English society, once speculated rather largely on the manufacture of beechnut oil. In France, however, beechnut oil was formerly made in considerable quantities, and used in cooking fish and as a salad oil. In Silesia it is used by the country people instead of butter, and the cakes which remain from the pressure are given to fatten swine, oxen and poultry. The forests of Eu and of Crécy, in the department of the Oise, it is stated by Duhamel du Monceau, have yielded, in a single season, more than 2,000,000 bushels of mast, but probably this referred to all kinds of nuts, and not beech-nuts alone. Years later, or in 1779, Michaux states that the forests of Compiègne, near the Verberie department of the Somme, afforded oil enough to supply the wants of the district for more than half a century. In some parts of France beech-nuts are roasted and served as a substitute for coffee. Many of these old forests have disappeared, but other kinds of nut trees are still being planted in France, and the product is simply enormous, and a source of wealth to the peasant, as well as the owners of extensive forests and orchards.

The beechnut has never been an article of commerce in this country, and it is rarely seen on sale in either country villages or our larger cities, not because of its scarcity or want of demand, but all that the country boys and girls find time to gather are wanted for their own pleasure and use. Picking up beech-nuts among the leaves in a forest, or even after raking off the leaves and then whipping the trees, is, at best, slow and rather tedious work, as I know full well from experience, and only once do I remember of having secured a rounded half bushel as the sum total of many raids on the beech trees in the neighborhood. But as the beechnut is the diamond among the larger and less precious gems of our forests, we should set a higher value upon it because small and rather difficult to obtain.

CHAPTER IV.

CASTANOPSIS.

California chestnut. Western chinquapin. Evergreen chestnut.

Castanopsis, Spach. Name derived from Castanea, the chestnut. Order, Cupuliferæ. A genus of evergreen shrubs and trees, intermediate between the oaks (Quercus) and the chestnuts (Castanea). There are about a dozen species indigenous to Eastern Asia and the adjacent islands. Blume, in "Flora Javae," Vol. II, 1828-36, describes three species under Castanea, which he found in the mountains and more elevated regions of the Javanese islands. Very little, however, is known of these oriental evergreen chestnuts outside of the herbariums of professional botanists, and they are rarely referred to, even in standard botanical dictionaries, or dictionaries of gardening, and when mentioned they are usually placed in the genus Castanea. Edouard Spach, a half-century or more ago, gave a synopsis of the genus, for which he proposed the name of Castanopsis, and although not recognized by botanists in general for a number of years, it is now accepted by botanical authorities everywhere. We have but one indigenous species, and this on the Pacific coast, viz:

[FIG. 10.] LEAVES AND NUT OF CASTANOPSIS CHRYSOPHYLLA.

Castanopsis chrysophylla, A. de Candolle. Castanea chrysophylla, Douglas. Castanea sempervirens, Kellogg.

"Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, lanceolate or oblong, one to four inches long, acuminate or only acutish (Fig. 10), cuneate at base and shortly petioled, entire green and glabrous above or somewhat scurfy, densely scurfy beneath, with none or few yellow scales; male aments one to three inches long, densely pubescent; styles three, stout, glabrous, divergent; fruiting involucre with stout divergent spines (Fig. 11) one-half to one inch long, subverticillately many branched; nut usually solitary, obversely triangular, six lines long."—"Geological Survey of California," Botany, Vol. II, p. 100.

"This handsome broad-leaved evergreen tree is indigenous to the elevated regions, from Monterey, California, northward to the Columbia river in Oregon. It is also common in the Sierra Nevadas at elevations of six thousand feet, but in its southern limits rarely below ten thousand feet elevation."—C. S. Sargent ("Woods of the United States").

In the warmer and drier regions of California it is a mere shrub two to six feet high, and these dwarf forms have, in some instances, been described as varieties. As, for instance, Castanea chrysophylla, var. minor, Bentham; C. chrysophylla, var. minor, A. de Candolle; and C. chrysophylla, var. pumila, Vasey. But northward, where the climate is more moist, it becomes a large tree fifty to one hundred and twenty feet high, with a stem two to three feet in diameter. In its wide variation in habit of growth, this western chinquapin is similar to our Eastern dwarf chestnut, which is mainly a low shrub in the more Southern States, but becomes a fair-sized tree in the Middle States, or near its northern limits.

[FIG. 11]. CASTANOPSIS BUR.

I have introduced the Western chinquapin here among the nut-bearing trees, not with the idea that it will ever be extensively cultivated for its edible nuts, but because it is a beautiful broad-leaved evergreen tree, and of which we have far too few kinds in cultivation to give warmth and a cheerful aspect to our gardens and pleasure grounds in winter. It is true that, so far as can be learned at this time, no extended experiments have ever been made to introduce or cultivate the Castanopsis in the Atlantic States, consequently nothing positive is known as to whether it will succeed here or not. In its northernmost range it thrives in forests among many kinds of trees and shrubs that are already common in our gardens, and this leads me to think that specimens or seeds of this tree procured from the mountains of northern Oregon will withstand the rigors of our climate.

Mr. S. B. Parsons writes me that he first saw Castanopsis chrysophylla in Kew Gardens (Eng.) thirty-five years ago, and procured specimens, which were planted in his gardens at Flushing, N. Y., but they failed, presumably because not hardy. It may be that his specimens were raised from nuts procured in the warmer part of California, and, as with many other Pacific coast plants, proved to be tender, while later introductions of the same species collected in colder localities have proved hardy here. In my experience I have found a great difference in the hardiness of trees and plants obtained from the higher and lower levels of the mountains from Colorado westward to the Coast range, for in those regions acclimation extending over thousands of years has developed and fixed certain physiological attributes, which enables them to readily adapt themselves to similar conditions elsewhere, especially in the line of temperature. It may make no difference to those who want plants for warm climates, whether they are obtained from mountain or valley, but it certainly does to those who value hardiness above all other merits.

In horticultural matters we are supposed to confine ourselves within certain natural lines in making experiments, but if we fail in one, or one hundred, it proves little beyond the bare fact that we have not been successful. I have experimented enough to have become somewhat wary of deciding that a thing cannot be done, or is impossible, because of my own and others' failures. Every practical horticulturist can call to mind many productions which had evaded the pursuit of experimenters for decades and even centuries.

For specimens of the nuts, burs and plants of this handsome nut-bearing tree I am indebted to Mr. J. J. Harden, of Stayton, Oregon, who informs me that it grows in the mountains near by to a very large size, and among such well-known kinds of shrubs and trees as Rhamnus Purshianus, Cornus Nuttalli, Corylus rostrata, and various species of conifers which are now more or less common in our Eastern gardens and parks. The twigs and leaves are shown in Fig. 10, and below a nut, and in Fig. 11 a bur, all of natural size. The small conical nut is slightly triangular, with a rather firm, brittle shell, not fibrous as in the acorn and chestnut. The burs are produced singly, but sometimes several on a twig, and when mature, instead of opening by valves, as in the true chestnut, they break up irregularly. The kernels are sweet and excellent flavored, and are sought for by various kinds of birds, as well as by all the squirrel tribe, and for this reason it is very difficult to procure specimens, unless gathered before they are fully ripe. The nuts do not mature the first season, but pass the winter in a partly developed stage, usually ripening the second year about midsummer or, in northern Oregon, in July.

It is quite probable that this Castanopsis, when planted in the Atlantic States, will require a little shade or protection, like the American holly and similar broad-leaved evergreens, and while it may not thrive anywhere north of Delaware and Maryland, it is worth trying, as the sole native representative of a genus containing several species of noble evergreen trees.

CHAPTER V.

THE CHESTNUT.

[FIG. 12]. CHESTNUT FLOWERS.

Castanea, Tournefort. The ancient classical name derived either from Castanis, a town in Thessaly, or one in Pontius, as historians disagree in regard to its derivation. The genus belongs to the order Cupuliferæ.

Male flowers irregularly clustered in long, naked, cylindrical catkins from the axils of the leaves and on the new shoots of the season. Calyx five or six parted; stamens or pollen-bearing organs seven to fifteen; anther two-celled. On old, mature trees, the male catkins are usually crowded near the end of the short new twigs, as shown in Fig. 12, the terminal one productive; but on young thrifty trees, wide apart. Female flowers always on and near the base of a late-developed male catkin, sometimes two or three together,—or even six or eight on the chinquapins,—oval or ovoid, scaly, prickly, two- to four-valved involucre or bur; calyx usually with a four- to six-lobed border crowning the three- to seven-celled ovary; stigmas bristle-shaped, and as many in number as there are cells in the ovary. Shell of the nut leathery, not brittle, ovoid, two or more together in the larger species, in others solitary, or only one in a bur. Kernel very thick, fleshy, and somewhat plaited, sweet and edible.

Both male and female flowers appear late in spring, the males usually exceedingly so, exhaling a slightly nauseating odor. The productive male catkins appear the latest, their base becoming the rachis or stalk supporting the burs, this rather anomalous arrangement appearing to be a natural provision to secure fertilization in case the earlier catkins failed.

The genus Castanea, as now restricted, contains shrubs and large trees, with simple, alternate deciduous leaves, coarsely serrate, with pointed spiny teeth. Indigenous, and widely distributed over northern Africa, southern Europe, Asia and the eastern half of the United States.

The common English name of this nut is supposed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon cystel, chestnut, and cyst-beam or cisten-beam, chestnut tree; Old English, chastein or chesten; Old German, chestinna or kestinna; Modern German, kestene or kastanie; French, castaigne or chataigne; Provencal, castanha; Spanish, castana; Italian, castagna, from the Latin castanea.

History of the Chestnut.—The so-called European chestnut is supposed to be indigenous to Asia Minor, Armenia, Caucasus and northern Africa, and from these countries it was introduced and became naturalized throughout the greater part of temperate Europe, where it has been cultivated from time immemorial. The Romans are supposed to have distributed it northward through France and Great Britain, and in the latter country there were trees centuries ago of such large size that many of the early English authors claimed this tree was indigenous. But in the absence of any natural forests of chestnut, the claim had to be abandoned. In parts of France, Italy and Spain, the chestnut has become thoroughly naturalized and, as we may say, run wild, but as one of the early investigators says, in speaking of the abundance of old chestnut trees on the Apennines, they are generally scattered over the surface like trees on a well-arranged lawn, and not crowded and massed, as they would be in a state of nature or in a forest. On the south side of the Alps the trees grow up to an altitude of twenty-five hundred feet, and on the Pyrenees some two or three hundred feet higher.

There are old trees of immense size almost everywhere in the milder regions of Europe, and the celebrated monarchs of Etna have been many times described by travelers. The largest measure one hundred and eighty feet in circumference near the root. All the early Roman writers who have anything to say about rural affairs, mention the chestnut as one of their valuable trees, producing nuts used for various purposes. Pliny enumerates eight varieties, but Columella appears to place more value upon the timber, especially the sprouts, for stakes, than he does on the nuts. But long before the Romans began to cultivate the chestnut, the Greeks held it in high esteem under the name of Sardianos Balanos or Sardis nut, and still later it was called Dios Balanos Lopimon.

The European chestnut has been so frequently and extensively referred to by ancient and modern authors that it would not be at all difficult to fill a large volume with brief extracts from their works, but my aim is not so much to show what has been done with this nut in other countries as what we may do with it here. All nations who have any experience with it admit its value as food for many wild and domesticated animals, as well as for the human race, and we know, from our long experience with the native species, that it is highly esteemed wherever known, although it must be admitted that our sparse population and the abundance of other kinds of food, have tended to make us careless and neglectful of the indigenous chestnut.

It may be well, before dismissing this brief history of the chestnut, to add that while nearly all the ancient authors, in referring to it, employed its present scientific name of Castanea, still, when botanists first attempted what has since been recognized as the scientific classification of plants, many of them placed the chestnut in the same genus as the beech, retaining the generic name of Fagus for both.

Linnæus, in his Systema Naturæ, 1766, Vol. II, p. 630, describes two species of the chestnut and one of beech in the genus Fagus, although Tournefort, in his "History of Plants Growing About Paris," published seventy years before that of Linnæus, had recognized the distinctive characteristics of these two groups of nut trees, and he adopted the present name of Castanea for the generic name of the chestnut, and Fagus for that of the beech. But nearly all of the English and earlier American botanists adopted and followed Linnæus in his classification, ignoring the works of the earlier as well as contemporaneous continental botanists. I merely refer to this matter of botanical nomenclature because some of my readers may have occasion to consult the earlier authors who describe American plants, as, for instance, such works as John Clayton's "Flora of Virginia," 1739, Thomas Walter's "Flora Caroliniana," 1787, or Humphrey Marshall's "American Grove," 1785. In all of these, and others, the chestnut is described as a species of beech (Fagus).

Propagation of the Chestnut.—The usual mode of propagating the chestnut is from seed, when trees are wanted for general planting or for stocks upon which to graft improved and rare varieties. Under some conditions and circumstances, it is best to plant the nuts soon after they are ripe in autumn, and this appears to be the most natural method; in fact, it is the way in which forests have been produced and are constantly renewed and perpetuated, when man does not interfere to prevent it. But nature is in no hurry in such matters, while man always is, because his time is limited; consequently, in our attempts at the multiplication and cultivation of plants we aim to save both time and material, therefore cannot afford to adopt nature's slow and wasteful processes.

The principal objection to planting chestnuts in the fall is the danger of having them destroyed by vermin, which abound almost everywhere. There is also danger of the nuts sprouting prematurely in the autumn, and of the young growth being killed by cold or by excessive moisture during late fall rains. But these natural enemies and obstacles prevent an excess in number and the overcrowding of trees in our forests. It is, no doubt, possible and practicable to smear the nuts with poisonous substances, or those sufficiently offensive to prevent the depredations of vermin, but taking all things into consideration, I am decidedly in favor of preserving the nuts in bulk and in a dormant state until the season arrives for insuring a rapid and continuous growth, and then planting them. To do this in our cold northern climate, as well as in the South, requires more care and attention with chestnuts than with the harder-shelled kinds, like the walnut and hickory nut. As a rule, it may be said that all the hardy kinds of nuts sprout at a rather low temperature and a few degrees above the freezing point, and for this reason it is well to select as cool a spot in the open ground as possible for their winter quarters, and then examine them as early as can be done conveniently in the spring.

In this matter of manipulating and preserving chestnuts for planting, as well as what follows in regard to transplanting, pruning and grafting, I shall give my own practice, with results; and while it may differ from that of other propagators, it is one evolved from long experience, many successes, and a few failures.

Gathering and Assorting Nuts.—When the nuts begin to ripen and fall, gather as soon as possible, and if the trees are on your own grounds and will admit of such an operation, thrash them and secure the entire crop at once. The object of this early gathering is to collect the false and weevil-infested specimens and destroy them. But in whatever way the nuts are collected, they should be stored in the shade and in shallow boxes, or spread out on a tight floor; but the better way would be on screens over a floor, and then when the grubs worked their way downward through the nuts and screen, they would fall upon the floor, from which they could be taken up and burned or otherwise destroyed. The nuts, while on the screen or other receptacle, should be stirred over daily for two or three weeks, and by that time they will be in good condition for either planting or packing away for the winter. But before finally disposing of the nuts in either way, they should be carefully looked over, and every shrunken specimen, as well as all with punctured shells from which the grubs have escaped, removed from among the sound stock, because these damaged nuts are not only useless, but are very likely to decay and affect all with which they come in contact. It is not to be expected that by such means or handling we can get rid of all the grubs enclosed in the nuts when gathered, for there will always be a few not more than half grown at the time, and these will remain hidden in the nuts until midwinter, or later, but the greater part of the brood will reach maturity within two or three weeks after the nuts are ripe. Of course, what is said here about chestnut weevils is only applicable to chestnuts grown in this country, but all species and varieties, when planted here, are subject to the attacks of this pest—at least, everywhere in the Eastern and Southern States.

Having assorted the nuts carefully, the sound ones should be reserved for planting; these should be mixed with or stratified with moist, sharp sand, and stored in boxes of convenient size for handling and examination, whenever this is required. In preparing the boxes, bore a number of small holes through the bottom, and over each of these lay a piece of a broken flower-pot, brick or stone, then cover the bottom one inch deep with the moist sand, and on this place a single layer of nuts, then fill in all interstices with sand, and also use enough more to fairly cover the layer; and proceed in this way until all the nuts are disposed of or the box is full, covering the top layer one or two inches deep, because the sand will settle some after the work seems complete. The boxes may be covered with fine wire netting or with narrow strips of boards, fitting these so that mice cannot get in, but should not be air-tight. They may then be buried in the open ground, selecting some knoll or dry spot for this purpose, for the nuts should not be placed where they will be submerged, or even be water-soaked, at any time during the fall, winter or early spring. If no such spot is conveniently near, then set the boxes on the top of the ground, and on the north side of some building or in the shade of an evergreen tree, and bank over with soil, covering the boxes a foot deep. If the spot selected is under the eaves of a building, place boards over the heap of soil, to carry off the water, for the object is to keep the nuts moderately moist, cool, and where they will not be subjected to frequent changes of temperature. In our Northern States the nuts, under such conditions, usually become frozen during the coldest weather, but this does not injure them if the sand is moist and they remain frozen, as there will be no danger of germination; while if kept too warm, they may start to grow before the seedbed is ready, in spring, for their reception. I have tried keeping the nuts mixed with sand in a cool cellar, also in outbuildings, but have not found any other place so certain as pits in the open ground.

Seedbed and Soil.—It is well to have the seedbed prepared the previous autumn, but it is not absolutely necessary. The soil for the bed should be light, either sandy or loamy, and if not rich, made so by adding very old and fine stable manure, or leaf mold from the forest—I prefer the latter, as it is the most natural for all kinds of seedling nut trees. Whatever fertilizing materials are used, they should be placed on or near the surface, and never worked in deeply, for our aim should be the production of side or lateral fibers, and not coarse perpendicular roots. Furthermore, seedling nut trees grown on light, sandy soils or in pure leaf mold, produce a far greater number of small fibrous roots than on heavy soils, and this is a decided advantage with those which are to be transplanted.

Planting the Nuts.—When the time arrives for planting, take the nuts from their winter quarters, and after sifting out the sand, sow or drop them in drills, covering about two inches deep with fine soil. With the small native varieties my practice has been to sow in wide drills; that is, those made with the blade of a common garden hoe, and of the same width, the nuts being scattered along the bottom two to three inches apart.

The soil is then drawn in over them and pressed down with the back of the hoe, or by passing a light garden roller over the surface. If the size of the seedbed is not limited, or only a small quantity of nuts are to be sown, then the single row would be preferable, because less hand weeding will be needed to subdue the weeds, and for all the larger varieties I should certainly recommend it, because they are of a more stocky growth. The distance allowed between the drills will depend somewhat upon the implements to be employed in cultivation, as well as how long the seedlings are to remain in the seedbed before transplanting, but from two to three feet will be found convenient for the ordinary modes of cultivation.

If the seedlings make a fair average growth the first season they will be from one to three feet high in the autumn, and as soon as the leaves have fallen they may be taken up, or allowed to remain until the following spring and then lifted. But if, from any cause, they have made a feeble growth, it is better to let them remain in the seedbed another year. Where large quantities of seedlings are raised they are usually taken up with a tree-digger drawn by a span of horses or mules, but with only a few hundred or a thousand to dig, a common spade will answer every purpose; and if, when removed from the seedbed, they are found to have produced long perpendicular taproots, these should be shortened to about one-half their original length. For instance, if these taproots are taken up entire and are eighteen to twenty inches long, cut away the lower half, whether it consists of one or more long perpendicular roots, as this pruning will force the plants to produce a greater number of lateral roots, and it is upon these we depend mainly for keeping our trees alive and vigorous if transplanted when larger and older. All side branches should be pruned off close to the main stem, for we aim to favor the latter in its growth upward until it reaches the required hight for either grafting or forming the future head of the tree.

In taking up seedlings, it is not safe to leave them for any considerable time exposed to the sun and drying winds, and they should be carried either to a shed or other building while being pruned, and also covered with blankets in the field, except during moist, cloudy days. A very little drying of the small fibers on such plants is always more or less injurious.

Planting in Nursery Rows.—After the seedlings have been taken from the seedbed and pruned, they should be set out in nursery rows, four feet apart, and the plants about eighteen inches in the row. Trenches should be opened for the reception of the plants, and wide enough to allow all the roots to be spread out in a natural position; and it is well to set a little deeper than the seedlings were in the seedbed, because newly plowed ground will settle some after the planting is finished, although the soil should always be packed firmly about the stems of newly set trees, whether large or small. The more frequent and thorough the cultivation during the ensuing summer, the more rapid will be the growth of the trees.

If the transplanted seedlings have produced any considerable number of side branches,—and especially, low down,—these may be pruned off at any time during the summer, for our object is usually to secure straight, upright stems for grafting the following spring, if they are large and tall enough; if not, we may delay this operation for another year. Of course, small chestnut stocks may be grafted close to the ground, but there is nothing really gained by this, for a good strong stock will push a cion forward more in one season than a weak stock in two or three seasons. But when the stocks have reached a diameter of from three-eighths to one-half an inch three or four feet from the ground, they may be grafted, but I would prefer to have them a little over than under these sizes.

Stocks From the Forests.—It is not necessary for a man who may need a few chestnut stocks for experimental or other purposes, to wait until they can be grown from the nut, because these can always be purchased at the nurseries; but if one does not wish to incur even this small outlay, it may be avoided by obtaining a supply from the forests, provided there are any in the neighborhood where chestnut seedlings are to be found, and the owner will permit their removal. The best wild stocks are usually to be found in recent clearings, or where the larger trees have been cut off for timber, and the underbrush, composed of seedlings and sprouts, is left to grow up again into a forest. There are many thousands of acres in New Jersey, New York, and other Eastern States, from which the timber is cut every twenty or thirty years, and no further attention paid to the land or what it produces. Wherever such clearings are found containing chestnut trees, good stocks can usually be procured by selecting those varying from one to two inches in diameter at the ground, and if the soil in which they are growing is rather poor and stony they will usually have pretty good roots, if carefully taken up. They should be pruned to a single stem, and this cut off at a hight of from five to six feet or less, then planted where they are to remain permanently. Such stocks, if carefully taken up and planted, will throw out numerous sprouts from their stems during the summer, but all should be rubbed off while small and tender, except three or four at the top, and the following spring, if wanted for this purpose, they may be grafted in the same way as the young stocks growing in the nursery, thereby saving three or four years of time in securing bearing trees. Having often employed such wildings for stocks with just as good results as with those raised from the nuts in nursery rows, I am inclined to recommend them, where obtainable, knowing that there are thousands of farmers and owners of small places in the country who can do likewise, but may have never thought it practicable to transplant nut trees from the forest, although well aware of the fact that elms, maples, and similar kinds were obtained there, and in immense numbers, for planting in the streets of villages and alongside country highways.

The Season for Grafting.—The proper time for grafting the chestnut is in early spring, just as the buds begin to swell, but not until all danger of freezing weather is past, although light frosts will not seriously injure newly set cions. The grafting may be continued while the leaves are unfolding, provided the cions were cut early and stored in a cool place, where they remain in a dormant state until used. I usually cut the shoots wanted for this purpose during the late fall or winter, and then pack them away in a cool cellar between layers of damp moss (sphagnum) to be obtained in almost any swamp. Cions may be taken from the tree on the same day that they are used, but there is some risk in this, because we cannot control the weather, and a week of warm rain in spring may delay us in grafting, while it is pushing our stocks into leaf; and then, our dormant cions are available, while those on the trees are not, owing to their expanded and tender buds.

The shoots used for cions are those of the previous season's growth, or as usually termed, one-year-old wood; and in selecting these, endeavor to get such as are plump, well ripened and firm. If taken from young and very thrifty chestnut trees, there is likely to be a considerable portion of the upper end of the shoot that is rather soft, spongy and immature, and this should be discarded, as it would be a waste of time to use it. Of course, I am supposing that the grafter is so fortunate as to be able to make his own selection of the wood desired; if not, then he may be compelled to do the best he can with that obtained elsewhere.

Grafting Materials.—The really essential materials and implements required in grafting nut trees are few in number. Grafting wax must be provided, and while there are many different compositions used for this purpose, I much prefer, for ordinary work in the open air, a wax made after the old formula, and as follows: Take one pound of common rosin, one-half pound of beeswax, and one-quarter of a pound of beef tallow; melt together and stir enough to insure the thorough intermingling of the ingredients, and then set away to cool, or pour into cold water and work up into cakes or rolls and wrap in paper until wanted for use. Larger quantities may be made if required, preserving the same proportions of the materials used. If to be used immediately in grafting chestnuts and similar trees, then procure some sheets of tough Manilla paper of only moderate thickness, and cut this up into sheets about six inches wide and a foot long. While the fresh-made wax is melted, take an old and rather stiff paint brush, dip it into the hot wax and coat the papers thinly with it, and then spread them out on shelves or elsewhere to cool, and let them remain undisturbed until wanted for use. Any thin kind of cloth may be used instead of paper, but I prefer the latter because it will yield to the pressure of the enlarging stock and cion when growth begins, and it will not be necessary to examine the grafted stock so frequently during the summer to prevent girdling, as is usually the case when a tougher material is employed for wrappers. Before these waxed sheets are taken into the field for use, lay each one separately on a piece of board with the waxed side up, and with the point of a sharp knife cut them crossways into narrow strips of from one-half to three-fourths of an inch wide. But for convenience in handling, insert the point of the knife a half-inch from one edge, but cut the other clean through, so that the whole sheet of strips can be lifted together.

In early spring there is usually more or less windy weather, and if waxed sheets of paper are taken out into the field unprotected they are very likely to become tangled up and useless. To prevent this, procure a number of large but very shallow paper boxes, such as can usually be had at the stores and groceries of almost any village, and in these place a single layer of the cut waxed sheets, where they will be protected from wind and dust until removed for immediate use.

Other kinds of grafting wax can, of course, be used, and are usually procurable at the seed stores or made at home, and I have given their composition and the formulas for their manufacture in my work, "The Propagation of Plants;" but, as I have already said, this old standard kind of wax is just as good as any other, although a little more troublesome to use on account of its sticky consistency. Raffia or bass may be employed as ligatures for holding the cions in place, then covered with Leport's or other kinds of liquid grafting wax; but when these are employed it will be necessary to examine the grafted trees frequently, in order to cut the ligatures to prevent girdling.

The best implement for grafting is a common broad-blade pocket knife. One with a blade three to three and a half inches long and three-fourths of an inch wide, is a handy size. It should be of the best material for grafting chestnuts, because the wood of this tree is coarse-grained, and so filled with siliceous matter that it soon dulls the keenest blade, and the grafter will, of necessity, have to use his whetstone frequently. In grinding the knife-blade have the sides a true level, from the back to the edge, especially the underside when to be held in the right hand with the edge towards the body. The importance of having a blade of this form will soon become apparent when the grafter attempts to make a true sloping cut on either stock or cion, and it would be well for the novice to practice for an hour or two in splicing some worthless twigs before commencing upon more valuable material, for even an expert workman is very likely to make some awkward dissections and joints when out of practice. The professional propagator of plants may think such details are unimportant, but I wish to impress upon the amateur that in grafting nut trees we are dealing with kinds that will not respond satisfactorily to such free manipulations as the apple and pear; consequently, better and more careful handling is required to insure success.

When ready to begin operations in the field, take out a quantity of the shoots to be used for cions, and keep them wrapped in damp cloth or packed in a box, basket or other receptacle with wet moss, to prevent drying. If any considerable number of stocks are to be grafted, then an assistant or two will be required, for the grafter cannot be alternately handling the knife and cions and wax, and do good work, but if he only inserts the cions and his assistant applies the waxed ligatures, the operation will proceed more rapidly and satisfactorily.

[FIG. 13]. SPLICE GRAFT.

[FIG. 14]. SPLICE GRAFT INSERTED.

Modes of Grafting.—The only two modes of grafting that I shall recommend for the chestnut are the splice or whip graft, and the cleft or wedge graft. In the splice graft, the cion and stock should be of about the same diameter, but if there is any difference let it be in favor of the stock, and this the largest. In this mode of grafting, the stock is cut off with an upward slope, exposing two or three inches of wood; and about midway on this slope a small cleft or incision is made, forming what is called a "tongue." The cion is then cut in the same way from the upper end downward, with a corresponding incision, as seen in Fig. 13. Then the two are neatly fitted together, the tongue on one entering the cleft on the other, making a close joint, as shown in Fig. 14. The bark of the cion and stock should be exactly even on one side at least; and if they are of the same size, so much the better, for then they will be even on both sides; but we cannot expect to secure such perfect joints on every stock, or any considerable number, although we aim to do so as frequently as possible. When the cion is fitted, the waxed paper is applied by placing one end of the strip at or near the base of the splice, then wind it spirally and firmly upward until the entire wound is covered. If one of the waxed strips is not enough use another, for it will do no harm if they are double on a part or all over the joint. The cion should not be much over four inches long, and a less length is preferable, but not so convenient for handling. One good prominent bud on each cion is sufficient, and this left near the upper end, but on short-jointed wood we may use cions with two or more buds without greatly increasing their length. After the cion is in place and every part of the splice is carefully sealed with the waxed paper, place a small piece or a little wax on the upper end of the cion, just enough to cover the exposed wound and prevent evaporation of the natural moisture or sap in the wood. I have found, in practice, that this sealing the end of the cion is time well spent; in fact, to leave any of the wood cells exposed to the air endangers the success of the operation.

Young shoots from a quarter of an inch in diameter up to five-eighths may be used for cions, in splice grafting; and with a little care in the selection of stocks, or by cutting them off a few inches higher or lower, we may readily manage to have them nearly of the same diameter to match our cions, whether they are large or small, and such unions will soon heal over, leaving no scar at the point where the two have been joined.

If the new growth or shoot to be employed as a cion is slender and feeble, then the base of the cion may be of two-year-old wood, leaving just a bud or two on the upper end of the one-year shoot. But it will seldom be necessary to employ such cions in grafting the chestnut, although it may occur when seeking to secure wood for propagation, from very old trees which have made only a feeble annual growth.

[FIG. 15]. STOCK.

[FIG. 16]. CION.

[FIG. 17]. FIG. 18.

Cleft Grafting.—This method is employed principally upon stocks or branches of trees too large for splicing. The stock is first cut off at the point where it is desirable to insert the cion; then split with a knife, being careful to divide it, so that the edges will be kept smooth, and not rough and ragged (Fig. 15). When the knife blade is withdrawn, the cleft may be kept open with a hard wood wedge, if the stock is too large to admit of opening it with the point of the knife when ready to insert the cion. The cion may be three or four inches long, containing two or more buds; the lower end is cut wedge-shape, as shown in Fig. 16, and slightly the thickest on the side to be set against the bark of the stock. In stocks of an inch or more in diameter, two cions, one on each side, may be inserted (Fig. 17), and if both grow one should be cut away, else the tree, in later years, will be very likely to divide or break apart at this point. In stocks of an inch or less in diameter, one cion is sufficient, the top of the stock to be cut off with an upward slope, as shown in Fig. 18. After the cions are inserted, the entire exposed surface of the wood must be covered with grafting wax or waxed paper, and usually both may be employed with benefit. All the various forms of grafting in the open air, as described in my work on the "Propagation of Plants," may be employed on the chestnut, but the two here given will probably answer just as well as others for those who may have occasion to propagate this tree.

Success in Grafting.—The question has been asked many times, and will, no doubt, be frequently repeated, "What percentage of cions should one accustomed to grafting make grow?" As there are no statistics upon which to base an answer to the question, I can only give my own personal experience, and this leads me to say that seventy-five per cent may be considered an excellent, if not a high average. In some seasons this has been exceeded by at least ten per cent, while in others it has fallen as much or more below, with no apparent reason for the difference. Ninety-five per cent of the cions may push their buds, or even make a growth of several inches, then begin to die off; consequently, the time to count your successfully grafted trees is in the autumn, and not in spring or midsummer, as it is to be feared some are in the habit of doing when making a report upon what they call success in grafting nut trees.

Growth of Cions.—Cions set in strong stocks usually make a very rapid and vigorous growth, and if left unchecked, there is danger of loss by being broken or blown off by strong winds during the summer and autumn. To prevent this as much as possible, it has been my practice to pinch off the ends of the young shoots when they are about two feet long. Lateral shoots will then push out freely, and in some seasons it may be necessary to check their growth in the same way later. On feeble stocks, or those quite small, and with the less vigorous growing varieties, no summer pinching or pruning will be required. My experimental grounds are well protected upon the north and west, not only by rising ground, but by Norway spruce and American arbor vitæ hedges twice as high as the grafted chestnut trees in the nursery rows, and yet almost every season some of the stronger-growing grafts are blown out or broken off by the wind. After the first season there is little danger of injury, probably because the union between cion and stock has become stronger.

Grafting Chestnut Sprouts.—In grafting the vigorous sprouts that always spring up from the stumps of old trees that have been recently cut down, we may reasonably expect a prodigious growth of the cion the first season, as well as in succeeding ones, and if all goes well with them we will secure large bearing trees in a very few years, but such stocks are only available where old trees are sacrificed for their timber or other purposes. Having a few such sprouts on my place, they have been utilized from time to time in testing some of the newer varieties. In one instance I allowed the cion, set on a sprout about one inch in diameter, six feet from the base, to grow unchecked throughout the season, as it was in a protected position, and in the fall the entire length of the main stem and lateral branches was sixty-five feet, and all from one bud on a cion set early in the spring. The third year this tree bore about a peck of very large nuts, to which I shall have occasion to refer again under "Injurious Insects."

Grafting Large Trees.—Grafting large chestnut trees with stems of six inches or more in diameter, and with large spreading heads, is possible, but far from being economical or practicable, especially if the trees stand out where they will get the full sweep of prevailing winds. By cutting off and grafting a few of the branches at a time for several seasons in succession, one may, in a few years, succeed in getting the entire head grafted, but there is constant danger of some of the cions being broken out if they make a vigorous growth, leaving a distorted and ill-shapen tree. Having experimented somewhat in this line with variable success, I am not inclined to recommend it, because ten trees can be raised to a bearing age on moderate-sized stocks with less labor, and the results will be more satisfactory.

Budding Chestnuts.—I have frequently tried budding chestnut stocks as described for the almond, and extensively employed with other kinds of fruit trees. But the results of my experiments have been unsatisfactory, although buds were set from very early in summer until late in the fall, also on young and old wood; but so few have taken and remained alive over winter that my personal experience in this mode of propagation will not justify its recommendation to others. Perhaps there is some secret connected with the operation that I have not yet discovered, but which is known to other propagators. Of course, budding with semi-dormant wood and buds in spring, as soon as the bark will peel from the wood, is practicable, but there is really nothing to be gained by this mode of propagation over that of grafting.

Transplanting and Pruning.—There is no tree that will bear or withstand more severe pruning than the chestnut. If trees of one or five hundred years of age are cut down, the stumps are sure to throw up an immense number of sprouts from adventitious buds, as these are readily produced at almost any point on the sapwood or alburnum under the bark; and yet, with this inherent vitality and faculty of recuperation, the chestnut tree does not naturally, like many other deciduous kinds, throw up suckers from the roots. Keeping this peculiarity in mind, the cultivator has only to use his pruning knife freely upon the trees to secure almost any form desired. But after the trees have become well established, very little pruning will be required, except to occasionally thin out or remove a rambling branch, to secure a well-balanced and shapely head to the tree.

In transplanting from the nursery rows, after grafting, and especially if the trees are of some considerable size and large enough to set where they are to remain permanently, there is sure to be a loss of roots, and those that are preserved are likely to remain for a short time inactive and incapable of absorbing nutrients from the soil to which they are transferred, or until new rootlets are produced. Under these conditions we aim to favor the roots by removing or cutting back the greater part of the branches. No matter how carefully such trees are lifted and their roots protected during the operation of transplanting, it will check the growth, and the best and most practical restorative is severe pruning of the top, and every young shoot of the previous season's growth should be cut back to within three or four inches of its base. I am presuming that the trees have been grafted only one year, but if older, and the cions were set high enough to begin the formation of the head of the tree, then the entire young growth may be cut away and some of the older wood, but of course not below the graft. All broken roots must be cut off; and the ends of the larger ones, roughly severed with the spade or other implements employed in digging, should have their wounds smoothed with a sharp knife.

Frequent transplanting and root-pruning young nursery stock tends to keep up a proper root system, and an abundance of small fibrous roots near the main stem, and trees so treated are worth much more, if to be transplanted later, than those left undisturbed; but while the latter may be twice the size of the former when of the same age, they are not worth half as much to the purchaser, or for transplanting in our own grounds.

Staking Transplanted Trees.—This is always necessary for recently planted trees, if they are of any considerable size, or from six feet high and upwards. If not supported by stakes they are sure to be swayed about, if not thrown over, by strong winds in summer. A strong stake, two or three inches in diameter, would better be set at the time of planting the tree, thereby avoiding breaking off or crushing the roots, as frequently happens when stakes are driven down among them later in the season. Set the stakes or drive into the subsoil six inches from the stem, then use strips of cloth, sacks, carpet, or some similar material, for tying, because hard cord or twine will be very likely to cut through the tender bark from the constant swaying about of the stems. Wind the strips around the stem, and then cross between it and the stake once or twice, to prevent the tree from pressing against or coming in contact with the stake. Renew the stakes and tying materials, if necessary, until the trees become firmly established, and provided with lateral roots large enough to keep them in an upright position.

Mulching.—Placing a few forkfuls of coarse stable manure, half-rotted straw, leaves, or any similar material, on the surface about the stems of recently planted trees, will prove very beneficial, in not only keeping down the weeds, but aiding greatly in retaining moisture in the soil about the roots. The application of some such material as a mulch is all the more important with the chestnut, because these trees are always to be planted in a naturally dry and well drained soil.

Distance Between Trees.—How far apart chestnut trees should be planted will depend very much upon the species and varieties, some growing to immense trees, while others are only fair-sized shrubs at maturity. But for the larger-growing varieties, forty to fifty feet between the trees is none too much space, when planted for their nuts and not for timber. If set in a single row along the public highways, farm lanes or around the outbuildings, to serve as shade or ornament, and for their nuts, then about forty feet will answer very well for the larger-growing species; and I will add that, in my opinion, all the larger kinds of nut trees will give better returns if placed in such positions, than when set in orchards or in compact masses. When set in single rows or widely scattered, they are less liable to be attacked by insects and diseases, while they will still serve the double purpose of being both ornamental and useful. I must admit, however, that in my experimental grounds the trees are planted only twenty feet apart, but with the expectation of soon cutting out every alternate specimen.

Soil and Climate.—The chestnut thrives best in light, well-drained soils, and those containing a large proportion of sand or decomposed quartz, slate, or volcanic scoria; but it is rarely found, nor does it succeed, in heavy clays, limestone soils, or on the rich western prairies, where we might think it would grow most luxuriantly. That limestone soils are inimical to the chestnut has often been disputed, but my own observations, which have been somewhat extensive in years and range of country, rather confirm the impression that this tree avoids land containing any considerable percentage of lime. It is true that chestnut groves, and sometimes extensive forests, are found on hills and ridges overlying limestone, but a careful examination of the soil among the trees will show that it is a drift deposit containing little or no lime. Such groves can be found in all the southern tier of counties of New York, also among the hills of northern and western parts of New Jersey, and thence west and south along the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains to the Carolinas, and westward in Tennessee and Kentucky. The chestnut is sometimes found in New Jersey and other northern Atlantic States growing in considerable abundance near streams only a few feet above sea level, but when found in such situations the subsoil is invariably sand, gravel or porous shale.

The range of climate in which the native sweet chestnut thrives is quite extensive, as it is found sparingly in Maine in latitude 44°, extending westward,—but not very abundant on this line,—through New England and New York, crossing the Niagara river, skirting the north shore of Lake Erie in Canada, and thence into southern Michigan, but does not reach Illinois. From this line southward it increases in abundance in Virginia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. But in following this tree southward we meet another indigenous species, widely known as the chinquapin (Castanea pumila). This species is indigenous to southern New Jersey, and sparingly in parts of Pennsylvania, becoming more plentiful as we proceed southward, the two species named overlapping and in part occupying the same region; but the chinquapin extends further south, and also to the westward, near its northern limits crossing the Mississippi into southern Missouri, then extends south again, becoming quite abundant in Arkansas.

The European chestnut, in its many varieties, extends over about the same number of degrees of latitude in Europe as our species do here, although reaching a higher latitude in countries bordering on the Atlantic, as shown in the old chestnut trees of England. The Oriental chestnut has also a very wide range, but the limits are not so well known as those of the European and American species; but a study of its geographical distribution is of considerable importance, now that we are importing these nuts for cultivation. The same is also true of the European varieties, and the cultivator who neglects to take this matter into consideration will fail to secure whatever advantages may have accrued from acclimation, an agency which, undoubtedly, has been active and continuous in modifying and changing the primary characteristics of these plants during unknown ages.

To more fully impress upon the reader the importance of care in the selection of materials to be employed in any pursuit with which he is not perfectly familiar, I am prompted to relate the story of my first personal experience in chestnut culture, as it may serve as a warning to others who may attempt to raise these nuts in a cold climate.

At the time of purchasing the farm which has been my home for the past thirty years, nut trees of various kinds were on my list of things wanted, and the chestnut occupied a leading position, probably because there were already many old and large native trees on the place. My first planting consisted of a number of imported seedlings, obtained from a well-known French nursery. The trees were three or four years old, very stocky and vigorous, and they made a good growth the first season; but the following winter the young shoots were all frozen down to old wood, with the exception of one tree, and thinking that this might prove hardy, cions were taken from it and set in thrifty sprouts growing in a grove near by. The cions made rapid growth, and from one of these I soon had a large tree, which remained in good health for twenty years, but during all that time it produced but one bur, containing two half-developed nuts. Why it was unfruitful I do not pretend to know, but it was certainly not for want of company, for it had large native chestnut trees all about it, and these bearing heavy crops. The seedling trees planted in the orchard also failed to be fruitful, and were finally dug up and burned. Thus ended my first experiment in the cultivation of the European chestnut. Had my location been farther south and in a milder climate, the experiment might have ended differently, but I am relating experience, and not attempting to guess what might have been the results under more favorable conditions. In the meantime, however, I had seen a few trees of the Japan chestnut bearing on Long Island, and had received specimens of the Numbo and Paragon, two now well-known and superior varieties of the European species, although raised in this country. These varieties were secured, and succeeded so well that I have continued to add others from time to time, or as soon as trees or cions were obtainable.

The success which appears to have attended the propagation and dissemination of these two varieties of European parentage has awakened considerable interest in chestnut culture, besides attracting the attention of those interested in such matters to the fact that there are many old trees of the same or similar origin scattered about the country, awaiting the coming nut culturist to propagate them and make known their merits.

It may be well, before leaving this subject, to remind the novice in chestnut culture that seedlings of these hardy and productive descendants of the European species will not come true from the nut or seed, and while it will be admitted that the chances are somewhat better for procuring a hardy variety from such nuts than from those imported, still, there is no certainty of any considerable number being equal in hardiness or other respects to the parent tree. There is an inherent tendency, in tree seedlings of all kinds, to revert to the wild form or type, and the chestnut is no exception to this rule.

[FIG. 19]. AMERICAN CHESTNUT LEAF.

Species of Chestnut.—What is called a "species," among plants, is a particular form or type supposed to have descended from one original stock, whether this was composed of one or more individuals. But variations doubtless occurred at the first inception or multiplication of the original, but so long as the offsprings do not differ so widely as to be untraceable to the proemial types, they are held to be varieties of one species.

Whether all the chestnuts found in the various countries of the world are descendants of one original tree or group of trees is now beyond our ability to determine; consequently, what are now termed species rests very much upon the opinions of botanists, as may readily be demonstrated by consulting the works of hundreds of authors who have essayed to describe and classify the plants of any locality or country, and this, too, without reaching an absolute finality acceptable to their contemporaries, or at all likely to share a better fate with posterity.

For many years after botany began to be recognized as a science, the common American sweet chestnut was considered a distinct species, but in recent years it has been relegated to the position of a widely distributed variety of the European chestnut, and it is so described and classified in most of the botanical works of the present time, and under such names as Castanea vesca, variety Americana; Castanea sativa, variety Americana; Castanea vulgaris, variety Americana, etc.

The Asiatic species or varieties—under whichever cognomen we may find them described in botanical works—have fared little better than our American kinds, for some botanists have described the Japan chestnut as a distinct species, while others only as a widely divergent variety of the common European chestnut.

I regret that there should be any need of giving so much space to this matter of species and varieties, yet presuming that far the larger number of my readers will not be professional botanists, nor persons with a botanical library at hand to consult for unfamiliar terms, I have thought this explanation in regard to classification might assist them in making clear the apparent confusion of names which, in the main, are only synonyms. Furthermore, I purpose retaining some of the older specific names of the distinct groups of varieties, whether it be strictly in accord with the ideas of eminent authorities or otherwise, because it will be more convenient to do so, and certain phases will thus be made clearer to the practical cultivators of nut trees, for whom this work is written. My wish is to assist those who do not know, but want to learn how to obtain, plant and make nut trees grow and bear remunerative crops.

Castanea Americana (American sweet chestnut).—Leaves oblong-lanceolate, serrate, with rather coarse teeth, each terminated with a feeble prickle or spine; smooth on both sides (Fig. 19). Burs thickly covered with sharp, branching spines a half inch long or less, from a fleshy green envelope, becoming hard and somewhat woody; opening by four valves or divisions when mature. Usually three nuts in each bur, the center one flattened by compression, the two outer ones plano-convex. Shell tough and leathery, dark brown, smooth, or more or less inverted, with a silvery pubescence from the point downward; variable in size from five-eighths to an inch in diameter. Kernel sweet and fine-grained. A very large and common tree in the Middle and Northern States, living to a great age.

[FIG. 20]. SPIKE OF BURS OF BUSH CHINQUAPIN. C. nana.

Castanea Nana (bush chinquapin).—Leaves oval-lanceolate, serrate, with feeble prickles on teeth and often wanting; pale green above and white tomentose underneath. Burs in racemes, small; husk thin, opening by two divisions or lobes, instead of four, as in the last species; spines short, somewhat scattering, sessile or very short-stalked; nuts small, pointed, brown, smooth, thin-shelled, solitary or only one in a bur. Kernel fine-grained, sweet and delicious. Common from North Carolina southward to Florida, in dry soils and barrens. A medium-sized shrub or low-spreading bush, rarely reaching a hight of ten feet, the slender twigs usually tomentose. A spike of burs and leaves of this species are seen in Fig. 20.