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+————————————————————————————————————+ |DISCLAIMER | | | |The articles published in the Annual Reports of the Northern Nut Growers| |Association are the findings and thoughts solely of the authors and are | |not to be construed as an endorsement by the Northern Nut Growers | |Association, its board of directors, or its members. No endorsement is | |intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not| |mentioned. The laws and recommendations for pesticide application may | |have changed since the articles were written. It is always the pesticide| |applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current | |label directions for the specific pesticide being used. The discussion | |of specific nut tree cultivars and of specific techniques to grow nut | |trees that might have been successful in one area and at a particular | |time is not a guarantee that similar results will occur elsewhere. | +————————————————————————————————————+
[Illustration]
NORTHERN
NUT GROWERS
ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED
39th Annual Report
[Illustration]
CONVENTION AT NORRIS, TENN.
SEPTEMBER 13-15
1948
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fruiting Chinese Chestnut Branches (Courtesy Dr. H. Reid Hunter) 2
Officers and Committees 6
State and Foreign Vice-Presidents 7
Constitution 8
By-Laws 9
Proceedings of the Thirty-ninth Annual Convention 12
Address of Welcome—George F. Gant 12
Response—Dr. L. H. MacDaniels 14
President's Address—John Davidson 15
Secretary's Report—J. C. McDaniel 16
Treasurer's Report—D. C. Snyder 18
Other Business of the Association, Committee Election and Reports 19
The Development and Propagation of Blight Resistant Chestnut in
West Virginia—Ralph H. Quick 26
The Present Status of the Chestnut in Virginia—R. C. Moore 31
Growing Chinese Chestnuts in Lee County, Alabama—G. S. Jones 34
Processed Chestnuts on the Market throughout the Year—J. C. Moore 38
Chestnut Growing in the Southeast—Max B. Hardy 41
Mr. Hardy and Some Chestnuts Prepared for Storage 41
Marketing Chestnuts in the Pacific Coast—Carroll D. Bush 51
Chestnut Weevils and Their Control with DDT—E. R. Van Leeuwen 54
Diseases Affecting the Success of Tree Crop Plantings—G. F. Gravatt and Donald C. Stout 60
Chinese x American Hybrid Chestnut Trees 62
The Brooming Disease of Walnuts 64-65
Trees Killed by the Persimmon Wilt 67
Round Table Discussion on Chestnut Problems—Spencer B. Chase,
Presiding 69
Greetings from a Kentucky Nut—Dr. C. A. Moss 83
Nut Trees for West Tennessee—Aubrey Richards, M.D. 85
Marketing Black Walnuts as a Community Projects—Rev. Bernard
Taylor 87
Experiences with Tree Crops in Meigs County, Tennessee—W. A.
Shadow 88
Nut Hobbying in Eastern West Virginia—Wilbert M. Frye 91
A Look, "Backward and Forward" into Nut Growing in Kentucky—W.
G. Tatum 93
Round Table Discussion on Judging Schedule for Black Walnuts—Dr.
L. H. MacDaniels, Chairman 95
Fruiting Black Walnut at Brooks, Alberta, Canada 103
Present Outlook for Honeylocust in the South—J. C. Moore 104
Possibilities of Filbert Growing in Virginia—E. L. Overholser 111
Filberts for Food and Looks in Kentucky—N. R. Elliott 116
J. F. Jones, Introducer of Many Nut Varieties—Clarence A. Reed 118
J. F. Jones 118
Mildred and Wesley Langdoc 125
The Value of Nut Trees in Tennessee—F. S. Chance 126
The Development and Filling of Nuts—H. L. Crane 130
The Grafted Curly Walnut as a Timber Tree—J. Ford Wilkinson 139
The Black Walnut Situation in Tennessee—George B. Shivery 142
Grafting Walnuts in Ohio—Sylvester Shessler 145
Grafting Walnuts in the Greenhouse—George L. Slate 146
Nut Investigations at the Pennsylvania State College—William S.
Clarke, Jr. 148
Black Walnuts: A New Specialty at Renfro Valley—Tom Mullins 149
Marketing Black Walnut Kernels—F. J. McCauley 152
Production of Bacteria-Free Walnut Kernels—Roger W. Pease 157
Pecan Selection in Oklahoma—Dr. Frank B. Cross 160
Pecan Improvement Program for Southwestern Kentucky—W. W.
Magill 164
Pecan Production in South Carolina—T. L. Senn 167
Preservation of Shelled Pecans by Drying and Hermetically
Sealing—Hubert Harris 169
Follow-Up Studies on the 1946 Ohio Black Walnut Prize Winners—L.
Walter Sherman 174
Final Business Session, Election of Officers, Reports of Committees 177
Odds and Ends—Dr. W. C. Deming 181
The Birth of a New Walnut Cracker—B. H. Thompson 183
Marketing of Black Walnuts in Arkansas—T. A. Winkleman 183
Further Notes on Nut Tree Guards for Pasture Plantings—Oliver D.
Diller 184
Wire Guard Around Young Chestnut Tree 185
A Pecan Orchard in Glouchester County, Virginia—Mrs. Selina L.
Hopkins 186
Indiana Nut Shows Have Educational Value—W. B. Ward 188
View of an Indiana Nut Exhibit 189
The Importance of Stock and Scion Relationship in Hickory and
Walnut—Carl Weschcke 190
Progress with Nuts at Wolfeboro, New Hampshire—Matthew Lahti 195
Breeding Chestnuts in the New York City Area—Alfred Szego 196
Winter Injury to Nut Trees at Ithaca, New York, in the Fall and
Winter of 1947-48—L. H. MacDaniels and Damon Boynton 199
What Came Through the Hard Winter in Ontario—George Hebden
Corsan 201
Filberts Grow in Vermont—Joseph N. Collins 202
Report of Necrology Committee 203
Carl E. Schuster 203
Mrs. Laura Selden Ellwanger 204
M. M. Kaufman 205
Norman B. Ward 205
Attendance 206
Northern Nut Growers Association, Membership List 209
Exhibitors at the 39th Annual Meeting 222
Announcements 223
+Please Note: The membership list is in the back of this volume.+
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION 1949
President—H. F. Stoke, 1436 Watts Avenue, Roanoke, Virginia
Vice-President—Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, Dept. of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Treasurer—Sterling A. Smith, 630 West South Street, Vermilion, Ohio
Secretary—J. C. McDaniel, Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture, State Office Bldg., Nashville 3, Tennessee
Directors include above officers plus: John Davidson, 234 E. Second Street, Xenia, Ohio; and Clarence A. Reed, 7309 Piney Branch Road, N. W., Washington 12, D.C.
Dean—Dr. W. C. Deming, 31 S. Highland, West Hartford 7, Connecticut
Nominating Committee—Dr. H. L. Crane, Harry R. Weber, Dr. William L. Rohrbacher, J. Ford Wilkinson, George L. Slate
EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS
Press and Publications—Editorial Section: Dr. Lewis E. Theiss,
Dr. W. C. Deming, Dr. L. H. MacDaniels, C. A. Reed, Dr. A. S. Colby,
George L. Slate, Dr. J., Russell Smith
Publicity Section: Dr. J. Russell Smith, C. A. Reed, Dr. A. S. Colby,
Carrol D. Bush, A. A. Bungart, J. C. McDaniel
Printing Section: John Davidson, Harry R. Weber, J. C. McDaniel
Program—H. L. Crane, R. P. Allaman, George L. Slate, C. A. Reed, J. C.
McDaniel, Raymond E. Silvis
Place of Meeting—Dr. A. S. Colby, J. F. Wilkinson, D. C. Snyder,
Carl F. Walker, H. H. Corsan
Varieties and Contests—Spencer B. Chase, G. J. Korn, J. F. Wilkinson,
Gilbert Becker, A. G. Hirschi, L. Walter Sherman, C. A. Reed, Dr.
L. H. MacDaniels, Dr. J. Russell Smith
Standards and Judging section of this committee: Dr. L. H. MacDaniels,
Spencer B. Chase, C. A. Reed, Dr. J. Russell Smith
Survey and Research—R. E. Silvis, plus the state and foreign
vice-presidents
Membership—Mrs. Harry Weber, Mrs. Blaine McCollum, Mrs. Stephen
Bernath
Exhibits—R. P. Allaman, Carl Weschcke, Fayette Etter, A. G. Hirschi,
G. J. Korn, J. F. Wilkinson, G. L. Smith, Seward Berhow, Royal
Oakes, H. H. Corsan, G. H. Corsan
Necrology—Mrs. Herbert Negus, Mrs. Wm. Rohrbacher, Miss Jeannette F.
Johns, Barbara Sly
Audit—Dr. Wm. Rohrbacher, E. P. Gerber, Raymond E. Silvis
Finance—Harry Weber, D. C. Snyder, Carl Weschcke, Sterling Smith
Legal Advisers—Sargent Wellman, Harry Weber
Official Journal—American Fruit Grower, 1370 Ontario St., Cleveland 13, Ohio
State and Foreign Vice-Presidents
Alabama LOVIC ORR
Alberta, Canada A. L. YOUNG
Arkansas A. C. HALE
British Columbia, Canada J. U. GELLATLY
California DR. THOMAS R. HAIG
Connecticut GEORGE D. PRATT, JR.
Delaware LEWIS WILKINS
Denmark COUNT F. M. KNUTH
District of Columbia GEORGE U. GRAFF
Ecuador, South America F. A. COLWELL
Florida C. A. AVANT
Georgia WM. J. WILSON
Idaho J. E. MCGORAN
Illinois ROYAL OAKES
Indiana FORD WALLICK
Iowa IRA M. KYHL
Kansas DR. CLYDE GRAY
Kentucky DR. C. A. MOSS
Manitoba, Canada A. H. YOUNG
Maryland BLAINE MCCOLLUM
Massachusetts I. W. SHORT
Mexico FEDERICO COMPEAN
Michigan GILBERT BECKER
Minnesota R. E. HODGSON
Mississippi JAMES R. MEYER
Missouri RALPH RICHTERKESSING
Nebraska GEORGE BRAND
New Hampshire MATTHEW LAHTI
New Jersey MRS. ALAN R. BUCKWALTER
New Mexico REV. TITUS GEHRING
New York GEORGE SALZER
North Carolina DR. R. T. DUNSTAN
North Dakota HOMER L. BRADLEY
Ohio A. A. BUNGART
Oklahoma A. G. HIRSCHI
Ontario, Canada G. H. CORSAN
Oregon HARRY L. PEARCY
Pennsylvania R. P. ALLAMAN
Prince Edward Island, Canada ROBERT SNAZELLE
Rhode Island PHILIP ALLEN
South Carolina JOHN T. BREGGER
South Dakota HERMAN RICHTER
Tennessee THOMAS G. ZARGER
Texas KAUFMAN FLORIDA
Utah HARLAN D. PETTERSON
Vermont A. W. ALDRICH
Virginia H. R. GIBBS
Washington CARROLL D. BUSH
West Virginia WILBERT M. FRYE
Wisconsin NORMAN KOELSCH
CONSTITUTION
of the
NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED
(As read at the annual meeting, Guelph, Ontario, September 5, 1947, and adopted September 13, 1948, at Norris, Tennessee)
NAME
ARTICLE I. This Society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers
Association, Incorporated. It is strictly a non-profit organization.
PURPOSES
ARTICLE II. The purposes of this Association shall be to promote interest in the nut bearing plants; scientific research in their breeding and culture; standardization of varietal names the dissemination of information concerning the above and such other purposes as may advance the culture of nut bearing plants, particularly in the North Temperate Zone.
MEMBERS
ARTICLE III. Membership in this Association shall be open to all persons interested in supporting the purposes of the Association. Classes of members are as follows: Annual members, Contributing members, Life members, Honorary members, and Perpetual members. Applications for membership in the Association shall be presented to the secretary or the treasurer in writing, accompanied by the required dues.
OFFICERS
ARTICLE IV. The elected officers of this Association shall consist of a
President, Vice-president, a Secretary and a Treasurer or a combined
Secretary-treasurer as the Association may designate.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ARTICLE V. The Board of Directors shall consist of six members of the Association who shall be the officers of the Association and the two preceding elected presidents. If the offices of Secretary and Treasurer are combined, the three past presidents shall serve on the Board of Directors.
There shall be a State Vice-president for each state, dependency, or country represented in the membership of the Association, who shall be appointed by the President.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE VI. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been read at the previous annual meeting, or copy of the proposed amendments having been mailed by the Secretary or by any member to each member thirty days before the date of the annual meeting.
BY-LAWS
(Revised and adopted at Norris, Tennessee, September 13, 1948)
SECTION I.—MEMBERSHIP
Classes of membership are defined as follows:
ARTICLE 1. Annual members. Persons who are interested in the purposes of the Association who pay annual dues of Three Dollars ($3.00).
ARTICLE 2. Contributing members. Persons who are interested in the purposes of the Association who pay annual dues of Ten Dollars ($10.00) or more.
ARTICLE 3. Life members. Persons who are interested in the purposes of the Association who contribute Seventy Five Dollars ($75.00) to its support and who shall, after such contribution, pay no annual dues.
ARTICLE 4. Honorary members. Those whom the Association has elected as honorary members in recognition of their achievements in the special fields of the Association and who shall pay no dues.
ARTICLE 5. Perpetual members. "Perpetual" membership is eligible to any one who leaves at least five hundred dollars to the Association and such membership on payment of said sum to the Association shall entitle the name of the deceased to be forever enrolled in the list of members as "Perpetual" with the words "In Memoriam" added thereto. Funds received therefor shall be invested by the Treasurer in interest bearing securities legal for trust funds in the District of Columbia. Only the interest shall be expended by the Association. When such funds are in the treasury the Treasurer shall be bonded. Provided: that in the event the Association becomes defunct or dissolves, then, in that event, the Treasurer shall turn over any funds held in his hands for this purpose for such uses, individuals or companies that the donor may designate at the time he makes the bequest of the donation.
SECTION II.—DUTIES OF OFFICERS
ARTICLE 1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and Board of Directors, and may call meetings of the Board of Directors when he believes it to be to the best interests of the Association. He shall appoint the State Vice-presidents; the standing committees, except the Nominating Committee, and such special committees as the Association may authorize.
ARTICLE 2. Vice-president. In the absence of the President, the
Vice-president shall perform the duties of the President.
ARTICLE 3. Secretary. The Secretary shall be the active executive officer of the Association. He shall conduct the correspondence relating to the Association's interests, assist in obtaining memberships and otherwise actively forward the interests of the Association, and report to the Annual Meeting and from time to time to meetings of the Board of Directors as they may request.
ARTICLE 4. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall receive and record memberships, receive and account for all moneys of the Association and shall pay all bills approved by the President or the Secretary. He shall give such security as the Board of Directors may require or may legally be required, shall invest life memberships or other funds as the Board of Directors may direct, subject to legal restrictions and in accordance with the law, and shall submit a verified account of receipts and disbursements to the Annual meeting and such current accounts as the Board of Directors may from time to time require. Before the final business session of the Annual Meeting of the Association, the accounts of the Treasurer shall be submitted for examination to the Auditing Committee appointed by the President at the opening session of the Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE 5. The Board of Directors shall manage the affairs of the Association between meetings. Four members, including at least two elected officers, shall be considered a quorum.
SECTION III.—ELECTIONS
ARTICLE 1. The Officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting and hold office for one year beginning immediately following the close of the Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE 2. The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of officers on the first day of the Annual Meeting and the election shall take place at the closing session. Nominations for any office may be presented from the floor at the time the slate is presented or immediately preceding the election.
ARTICLE 3. For the purpose of nominating officers for the year 1949 and thereafter, a committee of five members shall be elected annually at the preceding Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE 4. A quorum at a regularly called Annual Meeting shall be fifteen (15) members and must include at least two of the elected officers.
ARTICLE 5. All classes of members whose dues are paid shall be eligible to vote and hold office.
SECTION IV.—FINANCIAL MATTERS
ARTICLE 1. The fiscal year of the Association shall extend from October 1st through the following September 30th. All annual memberships shall begin October 1st.
ARTICLE 2. The names of all members whose dues have not been paid by
January 1st shall be dropped from the rolls of the Society. Notices of
non-payment of dues will be mailed to delinquent members on or about
December 1st.
ARTICLE 3. The Annual Report shall be sent to only those members who have paid their dues for the current year. Members whose dues have not been paid by January 1st shall be considered delinquent. They will not be entitled to receive the publication or other benefits of the Association until dues are paid.
SECTION V.—MEETINGS
ARTICLE 1. The place and time of the Annual Meeting shall be selected by the membership in session or, in the event of no selection being made at this time, the Board of Directors shall choose the place and time for the holding of the annual convention. Such other meetings as may seem desirable may be called by the President and Board of Directors.
SECTION VI.—PUBLICATIONS
ARTICLE 1. The Association shall publish a report each fiscal year and such other publications as may be authorized by the Association.
ARTICLE 2. The publishing of the report shall be the responsibility of the Committee on Publications.
SECTION VII.—AWARDS
ARTICLE 1. The Association may provide suitable awards for outstanding contributions to the cultivation of nut bearing plants and suitable recognition for meritorious exhibits as may be appropriate.
SECTION VIII.—STANDING COMMITTEES
As soon as practicable after the Annual Meeting of the Association, the
President shall appoint the following standing committees:
1. Membership 2. Auditing 3. Publications 4. Survey 5. Program 6. Research 7. Exhibit 8. Varieties and Contests
SECTION IX.—REGIONAL GROUPS AND AFFILIATED SOCIETIES
ARTICLE 1. The Association shall encourage the formation of regional groups of its members, who may elect their own officers and organize their own local field days and other programs. They may publish their proceedings and selected papers in the yearbooks of the parent society subject to review of the Association's Committee on Publications.
ARTICLE 2. Any independent regional association of nut growers may affiliate with the Northern Nut Growers Association provided one-fourth of its members are also members of the Northern Nut Growers Association. Such affiliated societies shall pay an annual affiliation fee of $3.00 to the Northern Nut Growers Association. Papers presented at the meetings of the regional society may be published in the proceedings of the parent society subject to review of the Association's Committee on Publications.
SECTION X.—AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS
ARTICLE 1. These by-laws may be amended at any Annual Meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present provided such amendments shall have been submitted to the membership in writing at least thirty days prior to that meeting.
PROCEEDINGS of the Thirty-ninth Annual Convention of the Northern Nut
Growers Association, Inc.
Meeting at NORRIS, TENNESSEE SEPTEMBER 13-15, 1948
The meeting was called to order by President John Davidson at 8:45 o'clock, a. m.
Address of Welcome
GEORGE F. GANT, General Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville,
Tennessee
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: It is a distinct pleasure to welcome you to Norris and to the Tennessee Valley. You have had very fine weather here, and we hope that you will enjoy the climate and the scenery and the fishing and the pleasures of this part of the country during your short stay.
The Northern Nut Growers Association is a much older organization than I had thought, and it is much older than the Tennessee Valley Authority, but a review of some of the things, you have done and some of the interests you have expressed from time to time indicate that we have many interests in common, your organization and the TVA.
You are concerned with experimentation of new and better ways of growing tree crops. You are concerned with the environment in which tree crops must find a place in our economy and in our culture, because, as I understand it, your interest goes beyond mere economics to the full use of trees.
Now, the Tennessee Valley Authority is likewise concerned with experimentation. As a matter of fact, it is an experiment, a new and different way of achieving a better use of natural resources.
There is nothing new in what the TVA does. There are no activities conducted by TVA that have not been or are not being conducted by other agencies all over the country and which have been conducted by Federal agencies for many, many years. The TVA has no new regulatory or coercive functions. As a matter of fact, the TVA has no coercive functions. It has no new or unique or different governmental functions. There is only one thing that is different about TVA, and that is the way in which it approaches the job of resource use on an overall basis.
Now, I might illustrate that by referring to the construction of dams and reservoirs. In the Tennessee Valley the TVA builds dams and reservoirs to prevent floods, to produce a navigable channel, to produce power, and in its reservoirs it also has the responsibility of achieving the best uses of reservoirs and reservoir lands in the interests of fish and wild life, in the interests of recreation, and in the interests of malaria control.
Now, the unique fact here is not that these things are going on or being done, at least in part, through a Federal agency, but that one Federal agency is responsible for achieving a balance between all of these activities and with the administrative responsibility for doing that. In other efforts the situation is different, with as many as eight agencies having something to do with the development of some one of these activities in a way which might or might not be integrated.
Now, the second illustration, I think, is that unity can be accomplished only if all of the agencies which are concerned with the use of resources have an environment in which they can work effectively. The Federal Government is not and should not in the Tennessee Valley be developing all of these resources itself. It feels that the unified development of the resources depends upon the participation of the people of the Tennessee Valley and their institutions, the local and the state agencies. There can't be unity any more if local agencies are conducting one program and a Federal agency conducting another program, than there can be if several Federal agencies are conducting several programs.
Consequently, the Tennessee Valley Authority, except for the operation of these huge new facilities which have been added to the resources of the Tennessee Valley, conducts its activities in collaboration with local and state agencies. That not only avoids the expense of duplication, but it achieves the collaboration, the participation, the active interest of the people in getting a full job done.
That is true in the field of forestry. Forestry has a particular role in the Tennessee Valley. First of all, the TVA is concerned with the effective use and control of water, not only in the river channel itself, but on the land. Forestry, together with engineering and agriculture, must come together, not only come together within the administrative framework of TVA, but within the framework of what our colleges and state departments are doing and with what the land owners are doing in these watersheds.
Further than that, the TVA is fully aware that watershed protection cannot be achieved except within the economy of the region. That means that the best use of forest lands from the economic point of view, from the productive point of view, as well as from the conservation point of view, must be taken into account.
For these reasons the TVA is concerned not only with multiple-purpose dams, but with multiple-purpose land use. These activities are not conducted directly by TVA, but in cooperation with the land grant colleges and with the appropriate state departments.
I think and I hope that as you review the several activities which are going on in the Tennessee Valley area that you will keep these characteristics of TVA in mind. We are very happy to have you here. I hope that many of you will be able to extend your visit or to come back and see us another time.
* * * * *
President John Davidson: I am personally very glad to have heard this talk. I know quite a bit more about the fundamental principles of the work underlying TVA than I did before.
Dr. MacDaniels, will you say a word on behalf of the Association?
+Response+
Dr. L. H. MacDaniels: Mr. President and members of the Northern Nut Growers Association, I am sure that I voice the sentiment of all of the Association to you, Mr. Gant, and all of the Tennessee Valley Authority our very great appreciation of your allowing us to come and meet with you and use the very fine facilities which are available here in Upper Norris Park.
As far as I am concerned, and probably I am in the same situation as most of you in the North; we have heard a lot about the Tennessee Valley Authority, but mostly it is bandied around in the newspapers and usually connected with some sort of a political argument of one kind or another. And I think that to come here and to see the place and to live in the cabins and drive through the forests, to swim in the lake, as some of us did yesterday afternoon, went far away around the bend, and went in swimming—I think you might improve the mud bottom in some places, which is not too good, but it reminds us of our youth, at least—and to fish in the lakes, although not too successfully. After we have done that we certainly know much more about what sort of a development the Tennessee Valley Authority is.
Another thing, as a member of the Northern Nut Growers Association and as you are members, I think we all appreciate what the Tennessee Valley Authority has done for the Northern Nut Growers Association. The Tennessee Valley Authority has been the first, you might say, large agency which has taken northern nut growing seriously and has used the knowledge which has been developed by this Association in an extensive way in the planting and developing of new varieties, developing of new techniques in the use of the plants, the nut trees and the persimmons, and what not, with which the Northern Nut Growers Association has been concerned.
As we drive up the valley here and we see these thousands of walnut seedlings which are still to be used and see the plantings which you will see more intimately later, we can realize just how extensively the Tennessee Valley Authority has been concerned with the development of our forest resources and particularly these plants which are of economic value, inasmuch as they are nut trees, and their relationship to wildlife and a project of this kind in which forest resources and tree resources are to be made use of.
I have noticed that you did mention fishing as one of the things that has been developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority. I also am reminded of the fact that some of us, including our president, tried to go out and exercise some of these fish, without much success, and I have been trying to think of the reason. I know, as far as we are concerned, we used all the plugs and spinners and floating baits and sinking baits, and I went completely through my tackle box and pulled out the one that we call the "Christmas tree," a big bunch of spoons with a place to put a minnow on the end, and we dragged that around, almost swamped the motor, but did get around; didn't catch anything.
It reminds me of an incident there at Cornell. We have a director, who was head of the Pomology Department at that time. He had a dog that wasn't disciplined very well, he wouldn't come when he was called, and so on. The foreman out at the orchard had a dog that was very well disciplined. He'd say, "Go get my hat," and he'd get the hat, and "Go quickly," and he'd go quickly. And this head of the department asked the foreman, "Well, how was it that you trained this dog, and how do you train a dog, anyway?"
"Well," he said, "first of all, you have got to know more than the dog." Perhaps that's the case with some of us and the fish. Anyway, we didn't catch any fish.
I don't care to say any more, except, Mr. Gant, to express our appreciation to you for the excellent facilities which you have furnished.
President Davidson: Thank you, Dr. MacDaniels.
I believe the next order is the little talk by myself.
President's Address
JOHN DAVIDSON, Xenia, Ohio
When I was notified that this Association, in session at Guelph, had named me as its president, I was surprised and deeply honored. I suppose there is not a single member of this body who does not have the feeling that the Northern Nut Growers Association is "different," unique, and, very special: Here are all kinds: scientists and rule-of-thumb planters, experienced professionals and inexperienced amateurs, conservationists and hobbyists, all bent on one objective—to enlighten Americans and themselves on the values and opportunities that lie in the study and practice of planting forest trees which bear crops—specifically, nuts.
But the interest of most of our members is rather broader than our name would indicate. Forest crops, not merely nuts, are the logical outgrowth in interest that such an organization as ours stimulates. Dr. Zimmerman's work with papaws is a case in point. Mr. Wilkinson's work with the Lamb curly walnut is another. The persimmon, the papaw, the mulberry, the haws, the juneberries—you are likely to find them all, sooner or later, among the nut trees of our members. You will hear presently about a wood from one of our nut trees that is so valuable, and so possible to grow, that we may presently be planting for extraordinarily beautiful and valuable timber.
Patience is what it takes, and faith. Trees are an example to us. If we could only look at the procession of the centuries with the eyes of the sequoias, we should see creation moving on marvelously with magnificent fruitfulness, and we should take courage.
Has the process of evolution been more successful with plants than with the human race? Should benevolent creation fail at its highest point? Certainly it should not. Nevertheless it certainly will fail there so long as so large a body of the race is undernourished, ill-born, hopelessly submerged—dragging downward rather than lifting upward.
Who knows the total answer? Education, of course, is a part of it—in industry, in eugenics, in moral responsibility. But you can't preach education effectively to a starving or half-starved man or child. The multiplication of population, the better distribution of goods throughout the world (which means in the end the avoidance of extremes of over and under-production)—these are the world's next greatest problems. I personally have the feeling that we are on the verge of an almost unthinkable increase in food productiveness through chemurgy's better and more complete use of plant life. We shall yet learn to gauge population to food supplies and food to population. Both are essential.
We need more plant breeders and more organic chemists at work on food supply all over the world. We need more people of good will and long vision, fewer political and social parasites; more producers.
Singularly, at the very moment of writing these words, a letter from a well known plant breeder is dropped upon my desk. In it he turns down the idea of an hypothetical executive position which most people would regard as promotion. The importance and interest of his work is so great in its own right that he would not think of changing.
That is what I mean. We need more of his kind in the world. It is hoped that in this Association such men may find the kindredship and comradeship they so richly earn.
This was the spirit with which our Association was organized by Dr. Robert Morris, Dr. Deming, and a few far-sighted men in the early days of this century and carried on by them, by Mr. Reed, Dr. Zimmerman, Professor Neilson and their kind since. We salute them all. Their works follow and honor them by their multiplied fruits.
I shall not take the time in this full program to review the events of the past year. Some of our speakers will do this far better than I. But I wish to greet our visitors and the new members who may not have been with us before. We hope you will feel very much at home in our family of kindred minds.
Also, these remarks would not be complete without recognition of the efforts of those who unselfishly and unstintingly have given of their time and strength to this important work: our Secretary, Joe McDaniel! You all know him by his exceptional service to us all. (Let's rise and give him a hand.) And while we are on our feet—one of the best treasurers any organization ever had, efficient, kindly, but a veritable watch-dog of the Treasury, Mr. Snyder! Also a hand to the members of our important committees, Mr. Chase, Dr. MacDaniels, Mr. Slate, Mr. Stoke—I can't name or praise them all as they deserve. The NNGA could not possibly be what it is without them.
And now let us get on to the business before us.
Secretary's Report
J. C. McDANIEL, Nashville, Tennessee
The membership of the Association seems to be increasing fairly steadily. When I checked the mailing list early last October, it had 667 names, as compared with 691 listed in the 37th Annual Report. When I left Nashville last week, the number had increased to 742, according to my stenographer's latest count. There have been some discontinued memberships, as will happen almost every year in any organization, but the new members have more than compensated for them, in numbers.
We did not add up a total on all the mail sent out in response to inquiries, but it has been voluminous. Close to 800 requests for our nut nursery list have been received solely as a result of Mr. Stoke's Southern Agriculturist chestnut article in last February's issue, and they are still trickling in. Some new memberships have resulted from these contacts, but more have come as a result of our column in the American Fruit Grower, and a Chinese chestnut article in The Flower Grower early last spring, which gave our Association a boost.
Some members have said they did not find their American Fruit Grower subscriptions of much value to them, particularly since the inauguration of The Nutshell, our news bulletin which has been issued four times since the last annual meeting. I will take some of the blame for this, since as editor of The Nutshell, I am somewhat in the position of competing with myself as columnist for the Fruit Grower. Space is limited in the latter publication, too, and sometimes publication of the "Nut Growers News" column is deferred a month or two, and again, I have been known to miss a deadline. Most of the columns, as in the previous years, are digests of material previously given in our Annual Reports. This practice seems to be justified as a matter of keeping nut news before the orcharding public and as a means of attracting some new memberships for the Association. I do not know of a better conditioned list of prospects than the more than 150,000 American Fruit Grower subscribers all over the continent, who are at least interested in some kind of fruiting trees or plants. In that many, by the law of averages, are many with some interest in nuts. Several hundred will write to the secretary or other N.N.G.A. members who are mentioned during the year, and at least a few score normally will join us.
This does not minimize the desirability of having other publicity outlets. More of you who have a knack at writing should try your own contributions to national, regional or even community-wide publications. Even short letters to the editor, in such cases, may be read by "kindred spirits," and you will be read by men and women whose interest in nut trees (even though it may have been a dormant interest) will be stimulated to the extent of becoming N.N.G.A. members. Then it is up to our officers, the program committee members, and our contributors to keep them interested enough to renew their memberships another year!
Your comments on The Nutshell have been quite flattering to its editor. You all can help make it a better publication by contributing short original observations or clippings of good items on hardy nut trees from other sources.
There is a continuing shortage apparent in the supply of good named varieties of hardy nut trees in nearly all areas. This seems particularly the case with Chinese chestnuts. Few propagators at present have them in even enough quantity to catalogue, and the demand which has been built up by the good publicity on chestnuts exhausts most nurseries' supplies each spring before all orders can be filled. Our nursery list in the Winter issue of The Nutshell has gone to some 2,000 people and has helped the nurserymen to sell out their trees quickly. We hope this will lead to a sound expansion in the commercial propagation of good nut trees.
I should again call attention to our affiliation with the American Horticultural Society. This enables our members in good standing to receive their good quarterly publication, The National Horticultural Magazine, for only $3.50 a year. You may obtain your affiliate membership through our Treasurer, or directly from the American Horticultural Society, Room 821, Washington Loan and Trust Building, Washington 4, D. C.
* * * * *
President Davidson: You have heard the Secretary's report. Has anyone any revisions or modifications of this report to suggest?
Dr. MacDaniels: I move acceptance with thanks.
(The motion was seconded, a vote taken, and the motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: If the Secretary will also read the Treasurer's report, we will proceed with it.
Mr. McDaniel: Mr. Snyder wrote recently, regretting that he would miss this meeting (for reasons of health). He says he can not accept the position of Treasurer another year.
Treasurer's Report for Year September 1, 1947 to September 1, 1948
D. C. SNYDER, Center Point, Iowa
INCOME
Dues $1,396.00
Reports sold 153.75
Bond Dividends 25.00
Advertising 5.00
Miss Jones' Postage Acc't. 36.85
C. A. Reed Typesetting 32.50
Miscellaneous 7.60
_________
$1,656.70
DISBURSEMENTS
Fruit Grower Subscriptions 100.80
Reports, Stationery etc. 1,105.06
Secretary's expense 100.30
Treasurer's expense 58.17
Reporting Guelph Meeting 25.00
Miscellaneous 15.60
Bank service charges and checks returned N.G. 12.90
________
1,417.83
_________
Balance gained during year 238.87
On hand September 1, 1947 1,790.44
Paid out for Bonds 1,100.00
_________
680.44
_________
Cash total on hand, September 1, 1948 (subject to minor
bank service charges and checks which may be
returned) $ 919.31
Bonds in box at Peoples Bank & Trust Company $2,500.00
* * * * *
President Davidson: You have heard the Treasurer's Report. Any remarks? It is a very good report. It shows that the organization is creeping up financially and in very good condition due to the continuous care that the Secretary and the Treasurer both have used in keeping up with our membership, keeping dues paid up, and so on. I will entertain a motion to accept our Treasurer's Report.
Dr. MacDaniels: I so move.
(The motion was seconded.)
Mr. O'Rourke: It should be accepted for audit.
Dr. MacDaniels: I will accept the amendment.
President Davidson: It is moved now, then, that the report be accepted for audit. Are there any remarks?
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: The next order of business is the regular business meeting of the Association. I think perhaps the first thing we should do might be to proceed with the election of a Nominating Committee and the Auditing Committee. I believe both, if I am not misinformed, are elective and not appointive. The chair will entertain nominations for the Nominating Committee.
+Nominating Committee Elected+
(The following were nominated for the Nominating Committee: Dr. H. L.
Crane, Harry R. Weber, Dr. Wm. L. Rohrbacher, J. F. Wilkinson, George L.
Slate. Upon motion that the Secretary cast a unanimous ballot for those
nominated, vote was taken and motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Am I correct in saying that the Auditing Committee is elective, rather than appointive by the Executive Committee?
Mr. Silvis: I understood it was three members and just appointed.
Mr. McDaniel: Yes, under Article I of the by-laws, it is appointed.
President Davidson: In that case we will do nothing about that now.
I think perhaps we might proceed with a few resolutions or motions before going to the further order of business. The chair will entertain a motion that the Association give its thanks to Mrs. Baker and her committee of the ladies for their entertainment of last evening and for future entertainment.
Mr. Weber: I so move, Mr. President.
(The motion was seconded, a vote called for, and the motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Also the chair will entertain a motion that the Secretary be instructed to send Dr. Deming our usual affectionate greetings and assure him that his beloved association is still carrying on in the spirit of the founders.
Mr. McDaniel: By the way, I have a letter from Dr. Deming. Should I read that?
President Davidson: That would be fine if you would, yes.
+A Letter from Dr. Deming+
(Secretary's note: We substitute a more recent letter, dated May 9, 1949).
"… You are giving me much consolation for all my broken promises to get out the annual report at an early date. I suggest that you have a lawyer draw up a contract for the printer to get out the report at a given date or forfeit so much per day for all delay. If you don't do that the printer will put you off for something that will give him a little more profit. I don't know that we ever got out a report in plenty of time for the members to get their orders in early or get other benefits from the report if it arrived before planting time.
"I note in the announcement of our Connecticut state medical society that it scheduled a recess of 15 minutes or so at intervals for members to 'view the exhibits.' It looks to me like a good idea….
"Congratulations on the fast work of Joe, Jr. The idea is to get plenty of limbs before letting him bear. Have you tried the sweet buckeye on him? [See page 181.]
"We have Spring here, too, as well as you in Nashville, and it is good.
"I get awfully tired after very little exertion. I'll be 87 on September 1. Too old to undertake any obligations.
"Best luck.
"Yours,
s/W. C. DEMING"
President Davidson: That is expressed beautifully, as usual. May I have that motion?
Dr. Crane: It has been moved and seconded that the Secretary be instructed to send Dr. Deming our affectionate greetings and assure him that his beloved association is still carrying on in the spirit of the founders.
(A vote on the motion was taken, and it was carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Another, that the Association accept with deep regrets the resignation of D. C. Snyder, and that the Secretary be instructed to send him our affectionate greetings and thanks for his long, efficient and outstanding services as Treasurer of this body. Are you in favor of such a motion?
Mr. Weber: Take out the accepting the resignation part, and the rest will be O.K.
President Davidson: That is right. As amended then, with the omission of that "accepting the resignation."
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
+Clarence A. Reed Elected Honorary Member+
President Davidson: One more. The chair will entertain a motion that the Secretary be instructed to send C. A. Reed our greetings and as a small measure of the esteem we have for him and in recognition of his long and extraordinary services to this Association, we elect him a life member there-of.
Dr. MacDaniels: I think it should be an "honorary member" rather than a "life member." A life member contributes $75.
President Davidson: I believe that is correct, an honorary member. With that amendment, then.
Dr. MacDaniels: I would so move, Mr. President.
Dr. Crane: Second the motion.
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
Dr. Crane: Mr. President, I would like at this time, if I may, to say a few remarks in regard to Mr. Reed. I saw him last Friday afternoon, and he asked me to convey to the Association his very deep regrets that he was unable to attend. He had planned to attend, but his doctor said absolutely no. So he has learned from experience that he has got to pay more attention to his doctor's orders than he has in the past.
He wanted me to tell the members of the Association that although he wasn't here in body he was in spirit and in mind.
President Davidson: That's fine. I think perhaps we should proceed first with the reports of committees.
The Finance Committee. Mr. Weshcke is not here. Mr. Weber is next in order on that committee. I presume there would be nothing special to report at this time.
Mr. Weber: Nothing.
President Davidson: Press and Publication. Mr. Stoke is chairman of that committee. Mr. Stoke is not present at this time. Dr. MacDaniels, would you have anything to say in the matter of Press and Publications Committee? Have you any recommendations or reports to make?
Dr. MacDaniels: Mr. Chairman, I hadn't planned to make any report. As a matter of fact, I had very little to do with the work of the Publications Committee this year. I have been rather happy that it has been handled otherwise, and I think our thanks are due to our Secretary, who has carried the brunt, in fact, almost the entire burden of the publication of the proceedings. Also of The Nutshell. That occurred through a series of circumstances which I don't wish to outline here. I think probably the chief determining factor was that the contract for printing was awarded to a firm in Nashville, which almost automatically made it at least convenient and expedient to have the matter handled in Nashville. I believe you will concur in that general opinion.
Mr. MacDaniel: Yes.
Dr. MacDaniels: So that our Secretary has had an unusually heavy burden which we should not expect him to carry again.
President Davidson: Thank you, Dr. MacDaniels.
The chair will entertain a motion to accept Dr. MacDaniels' report on behalf of the Press and Publication Committee.
(It was so moved and seconded, a vote taken and motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: On Varieties and Contests. Mr. Zarger is not going to be with us, I am afraid, and if there is any other member of that committee present who has something to say on the matter of variety and contests, we would be very glad to hear from him. I don't hear anything, so we will proceed to the next one.
The report of the Survey Committee. Mr. Silvis is chairman of that committee, and I will say on his behalf that he was raring to go and would have gone if it had been the feeling on the part of some of the other members that a survey was timely at that time. It happened that that was not the feeling, it was not a good year to make a survey, and on that account I wrote to Mr. Silvis that possibly it would be well to put off any important survey for the year 1947.
Do you have anything to say, Mr. Silvis, in addition to this?
Mr. Silvis: Well, on the cuff, no, and off the cuff I would like to make this remark, that I just had one question I was going to require every member to answer to me for, and that was what kind of a nut tree should I plant, and thereby try to establish a zone between frost-free dates for various locations or states or territories. It didn't develop.
I received as late as last week John Bregger's note explaining why it was his reply came late. But I do want to make this remark, and for our able Secretary's first issue of The Nutshell I know this to be a fact, that with it, it's the nuts, and without it, it's hell.
President Davidson: What shall we do with Mr. Silvis's report? We have some action to take presently on the matter of survey in addition to this report. Could I have a motion to accept the report of the Survey Committee?
Dr. Crane: So move.
Mr. Weber: Second.
(A vote was taken on the motion, and it was carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Mr. Chase disappeared again. He is chairman of the
Program Committee. We all have evidence of what he has been doing.
Perhaps his program is sufficient to report.
Mrs. S. H. Graham is chairman of the Membership Committee. I think Mrs.
Graham is not here, so perhaps we can pass on.
Report of the Necrology Committee fortunately is blank.
Mr. McDaniel: There is one that I know of. Mr. Schuster of Oregon passed away last winter.
President Davidson: I think that points out a little weakness in our organization. The death of Mr. Schuster should have been reported and some notice of it taken, perhaps.
Mr. Stoke, you are here as chairman of the Exhibits Committee. Would you like to say something?
Mr. Stoke: I don't know that I have anything to say. The exhibits speak for themselves back there. I wish to thank those who made contributions to that exhibit, and some still came in this morning that you haven't seen. I think it's been fine cooperation.
I feel an apology is due for not getting out more publicity on behalf of the committee. I had hoped that another copy of The Nutshell would be out before this meeting so I could make another call for exhibits, but it wasn't, and I didn't get my material in to our Secretary in time for the earlier one.
Mr. McDaniel: I believe we did have a notice in the summer issue.
Mr. Stoke: Yes, there was a notice. At any rate, we have had exhibits here all the way from Georgia to New York. I am not sure whether they have any from Canada or not. I think it makes a very nice display, and I certainly appreciate your cooperation.
Dr. MacDaniels: In connection with these exhibits, we were driving along talking to Mr. Slate about the desirability of the Northern Nut Growers Association sending an exhibit to the Harvest Show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. That was done about ten years ago, and the Society gave us a silver medal at that time. I know from talking with Mr. Nehrling that they would be pleased to have such an exhibit put on, and I think that if we could take much of the material from our exhibits here and send it there that that would make an acceptable exhibit, and we almost assuredly would get not only considerable publicity out of that, because it would be an exhibit of the Northern Nut Growers Association, but we might also get either a cash award or a medal. I think if we work behind the scenes, if we preferred the cash we could get that, which would be of some value to the Association.
Now, I speak of this merely to bring it to your attention and to point out that any of the personally furnished exhibits that you wish to turn over for that purpose, you may arrange with Mr. Stoke for that.
(Further discussion on the details of sending in the above-mentioned exhibits.)
Dr. MacDaniels: I would move this Association favored sending an exhibit to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Harvest show, provided material is available.
Dr. Crane: Second the motion.
Dr. Silvis: May I make this remark and also be in the form of a motion, that those exhibitors report immediately at the adjournment of this session to Mr. Stoke and make known to him whether yes or no, whether their exhibits can be sent up.
President Davidson: Do you make that motion in the form of an amendment?
Dr. MacDaniels: I will include that in the motion.
Dr. Crane: I accept it.
(A vote was taken on the motion as amended, and it was carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Place of Meeting Committee. I judge that that committee is not ready to report, is it, Mr. Slate, for this following meeting?
Mr. Slate: The chairman didn't realize until just before we were ready to leave that he was a member of that committee. I have given the matter some thought on the way down, and in the previous years I have usually gone fishing for invitations some time before the meeting. I did drop a line overboard a few days ago, but I didn't catch anything more than I caught in this big lake up here.
Now, from previous experience I don't believe we can consider going to the Middle West. Mr. Snyder, Mr. Becker in Michigan, and Dr. Colby at Illinois, have not thought that they had enough material to make it worth while to go out there. That throws it back to the East, and we have been to some of the better places in recent years; Ronoake, Virginia, Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Boston.
I think there are two places that we should consider. I think we should consider Beltsville and the New York City region. We all know that there is plenty of material at Beltsville. We have not been there for some time. And in the New York City region we have the plantings of Gilbert Smith, who is probably 85 or 90 miles above New York. He is not far from Poughkeepsie where I am sure there are ample facilities for handling the crowd. Then there may be possibly some of Dr. Graves' plantings that would be worth seeing on a field trip.
Now, of course, the committee will be very glad to receive invitations from anyone here and consider them, and we will make the final report at the final business session at the time of the banquet, I believe. But between now and then I want you to consider the matter rather seriously and let me know what you are thinking about.
President Davidson: I think it would be desirable, if it were possible, for Mr. Slate to wire the proper authorities at Beltsville or Poughkeepsie.
Mr. Weber: Mr. President, one of our members is Mr. Bernath, who has been quite faithful in attending nearly all our meetings, and he has, I imagine, much of interest to show to the members, and he is located near Poughkeepsie. I am just throwing that out for the members to think over as to what they would think about Poughkeepsie as a possible meeting place.
President Davidson: That's worth listening to.
Would it be advisable, do you think, for Mr. Slate at the expense of the Association to wire to Poughkeepsie or to Beltsville to see whether an invitation is available or not?
Mr. Slate: Those places are well represented now.
Mr. Weber: I imagine Mr. Bernath can speak for himself.
Mr. Bernath: I don't know, I think if we could delay it another year, Mr. Smith is going to retire from the State School, and he will have plenty of time. I am very busy, and he will have loads of time on his hands, and then he can give it his attention. I think that would be all right next year.
Mr. Slate: That's up to the Association to decide.
Mr. Bernath: We would like to have you come at that time.
Mr. Slate: Beltsville is very well represented in Dr. Crane.
Mr. Weber: Mr, Chairman, in view of what Mr. Bernath says, I'd accept Mr. Bernath's suggestion and have Poughkeepsie on the list for the year following.
Mr. Bernath: That's right.
President Davidson: Dr. Crane may have something.
Dr. Crane: Mr. President and members of the Association, we'd like to have the Association meeting at Beltsville again. However, we have had four years of May freezes in Beltsville Station, and I am going to tell you all is not in any too good condition. A lot of it has been pulled, and we have had to replant an awful lot of the stuff that is now just planted this year. We lost a lot of the plantings that were made last year because of injury. As you folks probably know that have been there before, we labored under very great difficulties on soil conditions in that we have mostly sands and gravel.
So we are kind of in a mess there right now. We'd be glad to have the Association meet at Beltsville, and we have right good facilities there for meetings, but as far as any plantings in the area, a lot of the work we are doing, we are kind of going through a period of change right now and getting re-established, and I want you to know the situation.
President Davidson: Well, we have been forewarned. It's a case, I judge, of not being unwilling to see us, but you are not so anxious, for us to see you, is that it?
Dr. Crane: I wouldn't want you to come there under false hopes that you would see a lot.
Mr. Gravatt: I would like to say we have done quite a lot of work in breeding chestnuts and also work with forest types, crossing American chestnuts and Chinese. But I agree quite with Dr. Crane, that we haven't so much to show you there. Of course, it's a dog-gone good thing to get familiar with these diseases and see what you are up against, because all through the history of nut culture, and so forth, one of the basic defects has been the failure to appreciate the importance of insect and disease factors. And we are very much in need of more basic research along those lines, but I agree with Dr. Crane that at present we have a limited amount to show you there.
Of course, there is the Plant Industry Station there with a lot of experimental work, greenhouse work and all sorts of basic research work, fertilization work, and so forth, going on there. A lot of people like to come to Washington. Our plantings are pretty much the same condition as Dr. Crane's and not a display proposition such as you have here at TVA.
President Davidson: Suppose we regard this report, then, as temporary and hear more from you later.
I think that concludes the reports.
The Board of Directors, unless there is some other order of business to be taken up, have some recommendations to make to the Association. One is the recommendation that the Association place the annual membership fee at $3, the supporting membership fee at $10 and the life membership fee at $75. They didn't wish to take the responsibility of doing anything more than referring that matter to this Association.
Dr. MacDaniels: That could be handled in the by-laws under the constitution.
President Davidson: We still also have another rather important matter that's been referred to the Association, and that is the matter of a sufficient amount of remuneration to permit our Secretary to hire a stenographer to do the extra amount of work that is gradually accumulating in that office. The resolution that is referred to you calls for a payment of 50 cents per member to the Secretary for this purpose…. We have no right to be set up so that the work of the Association would encroach upon a person's job as it is set up at the present time. That recommendation was that it was contingent, of course, upon raising the dues to $3.00 and take 50 cents of that to offset the stenographic help and try to re-organize our affairs between the Secretary and Treasurer so that as much as possible of the routine mailing, and routine stenographic work would be carried in this way.
(Discussion on the above recommendation.)
Mr. Weber: I move that the additional remuneration be granted, 50 cents per member, to the Secretary.
Mr. Smith: I will second the motion.
Mr. Fisher: I'd like to make an amendment to that, that the dues be raised to $3.00 in order to make this possible.
Mr. Weber: I will accept the amendment.
Mr Smith: And I will second the motion contingent, of course, to the raising of the dues.
(Vote taken, motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: We will appoint a Resolutions Committee.
+Resolutions Committee+
Sterling Smith, H. L. Crane, Raymond E. Silvis, H. F. Stoke.
President Davidson: I think so far as I know that's everything except the report of the Committee on the Constitution. Unless I hear otherwise we will proceed with that report.
(Discussion on Constitution.)
(Constitution and by-laws approved as set out in another part of this report, the Constitution having first been read at 1947 meeting)
President Davidson: As I understand it, then, this constitution, unless we make some other provision, is in effect as of now.
Mr. Weber: Now with these by-laws in effect there will have to be a fresh nominating committee elected for the next year.
Mr. Smith: Mr. President, I make a motion, if it's in order, that the Nominating Committee as elected previously for this meeting also continue and serve for next year.
Mr. Clarke: Second the motion.
(Vote taken, motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: There is one other matter that was brought up at the directors' meeting, and inasmuch as the directors did not have a quorum, it should be voted through here, I think, and that is that a motion is in order to pay Mrs. Gibbs $25 for her services as stenographer at our meeting. That was done, I believe, at Guelph, and it involves a lot of important work.
Mr. Korn: I second the motion.
(Vote taken, motion carried unanimously.)
President Davidson: Shall we adjourn, with a continuance of the business meeting at the banquet?
(Recess taken until 1:00 o'clock p. m.)
+Monday Afternoon Session+
President Davidson: Shall we come to order?
We now come to the interesting part of our program, and we will listen first to Mr. Quick of West Virginia, who will take the place of Mr. Sayers, the State Forester at Charleston, West Virginia. Mr. Quick.
The Development and Propagation of Blight Resistant Chestnut in West
Virginia
RALPH H. QUICK, Conservation Commission, Charleston, West Virginia
Mr. Quick: Ladies and gentlemen of the Association, your guests and friends: In substituting for the State Forester of West Virginia I realize that I am undertaking a big job. A few of you know Mr. Wilson Sayers, who is the State Forester, and those of you who do may assure the rest of the group what a big job I am undertaking, because I feel that I am in pretty good-sized shoes.
The subject that has been assigned is The Development and Propagation of Blight Resistant Chestnut in West Virginia. Now, being a forester, I am perhaps interested in blight resistant chestnut from a little different standpoint than the majority of this group. As representing the Conservation Commission of that state I might say that we are interested primarily from the game-food viewpoint. Now, that's a little bit different, I expect, than most of you have been thinking about, or some of you, at least. But that is the standpoint from which we are interested.
So I would like to go along with you this afternoon and discuss some of the things that we have done and some of the things that we are learning—there are a few yet—that lead us along that line to believe that we can do something with blight-resistant chestnuts in West Virginia as a game food. We are just at the beginning, so to speak—that is, the Conservation Commission of that state is just at the beginning of our study. We have been fooling with it a little off and on since back in the middle '30's, but interest has lagged and then has picked up again two or three times.
I am sure that as far as the production of good strains of blight-resistant chestnut, better strains of Chinese, and so on, that there are people in West Virginia who are more capable of telling you what has been done from a private viewpoint than anyone with the Conservation Commission, but we are interested in learning about it and producing it in large numbers for a game food, and, of course, if we are interested in distributing from our nursery over the state for that purpose, we are interested in producing better strains of blight-resisting chestnut as we go.
Along back in the 1920's a few plantations, or a few trees were planted in the state by what was then the old Fish and Game Commission, and the records have been lost, as has been true in many other states. But then, apparently, the beginning was made. In going over some of those early plantings I will only have time to hit the high spots and the ones in which we are particularly interested in our line, but the first ones were back there somewhere in the '20's.
One of the best plantations, the one that we are particularly interested in at the present time, is in Jackson County, West Virginia, and it is of the University of Nanking strain, and there were 34 trees planted there back in 1926, and we are told that they were planted from 2-0[1] stock, from nuts that came from China in 1924. Twenty-six of those trees survived, and we think they are pretty good nuts. You may be interested to know that that plantation now averages 22 feet in height and has an average diameter at breast height of 8 inches. The spacing in that plantation was 26 by 26 feet.
Now, we can't take credit, nor do we want to take credit, for that plantation. The state agency had nothing to do with it. It was put in there through the cooperation of the gentlemen from Beltsville, but we are very much interested in that plantation; so interested that we have gone to the owner, along with the permission of the fellows from Beltsville, and sewed the thing up for a five year period, during which time we hope to get the seed and to improve our own strains and establish blocks of our own on state-owned land under different conditions and on different sites where we expect in the future to be able to secure seed for our use and production at the nursery.
In the first few years that this plantation that we are speaking of in Jackson County produced, not many people paid much attention to it or attached much significance to it. The man who had charge of it gave the nuts away for experimental purposes or for any reason that anybody happened to ask for them, and shipped a lot of them free. But along in the early 1940's he began to find out what he had, and he started selling seed and made a pretty good thing out of it.
Last year was the first year that we had gotten seed from that plantation. We got 75 pounds of good nuts taken in the fall of 1947.
We have another orchard, another plantation that led us to become interested, I guess, in producing blight-resistant chestnut as a game food and along forestry lines, and that is the orchard that we have on nursery property. It was one of the early ones, and I expect one of the earliest in the state, but it was planted along back in 1936, fifty-one trees.
When we started in this we didn't know anything about it at all, so we have built up our small knowledge in the last few years. But it didn't take us long to realize that our orchard on our nursery property was of badly crossed material, and it had some very undesirable trees. If we succeeded in doing anything with them as a game food we would have to eliminate, and only last year did we get around to the place where we could secure authority to eliminate the undesirable species. We have about half of the stand left now, but we are pretty sure that the trees that we do have are of good strain.
It might be interesting for you to note—maybe some of you can top it—we were interested when this orchard was planted, in what would happen if the trees were planted and allowed to grow as a forest stand. So they were planted in six-by-six spacing. Of course, we got a lot of self-pruning and a lot of competition, as we would in forests by the trees growing up and competing with each other and reaching for height and light. Some of them died and some were so badly suppressed that they failed to make any growth at all. But there is one tree that we still have in that orchard that we are proud of, not from the standpoint of nut production, nor does it produce a very good nut as far as the human taste is concerned. But it has made a single stick that far surpasses any other tree we have in the orchard. It looks like a forest tree. In 1945—it might be hard for you to believe—it grew nine feet. That isn't an exaggeration. It was measured. We thought that was a lot better than fair growth. Of course, it hasn't made any growth like that since, and I don't think it ever did before, but it just had the push to go and went nine feet in one growing season.
Leaving that orchard for a few minutes, there were 38 plantings of from 10 to 50 trees each made by the Soil Conservation Service and the Division of Forest Pathology of the Bureau of Plant Industry in the spring of 1939. These were examined by Dr. Diller of that Bureau in the spring of 1940 and in 1947. He has told us that he graded those plantings as he found them, 10 being good, and he said the next 15 were only fair and he put 13 down as total failures.
Of those 13 that failed—from the forestry standpoint now, remember—he said that 7 of the failures were due to poor site selection, three were suppressed by surrounding hardwoods and other competing growth, and three had been destroyed by cattle.
[Footnote 1: Meaning, two years old, not transplanted in the nursery.—Ed.]
+A Commercial Chestnut Nurseryman+
I don't know whether any of you know of—I expect you do—the Gold Chestnut Nursery in West Virginia near Cowen, and it is owned and operated by Mr. Arthur A. Gold. He has been interested in blight-resistant chestnuts from a commercial standpoint, selling from his nursery for a good many years. He has worked with us some in the Conservation Commission and has given us the benefit of his experience. And if any of you have the opportunity I think you would be interested in seeing Mr. Gold's nursery. He was an old-time nurseryman that handled most of the conifers found in a commercial nursery, but in the last few years he has gone into chestnut production almost entirely, and if you have an opportunity, I am sure Mr. Gold would welcome you to his nursery in Webster County.
The Game Division of the Conservation Commission of West Virginia established three or four small plantings on the state forests in 1938 and 1939, but they had low survival. Dr. Diller in going around with some of us and checking on those has found that we were back there where all of us were trying to find something and trying to learn something and that we made many mistakes and that we picked poor stock, for one thing, and poor sites for another thing, but the great disadvantage and the biggest limiting factor was our poor selection of sites there in the beginning.
In handling chestnuts that you people handle maybe in small or large quantities where all of your time can be devoted to that particular thing, you probably have a lot of things that you do that we don't have time to do because at the nursery in West Virginia we are interested primarily in producing conifers and other forest trees for the reforestation of abandoned land. So in handling this Chinese chestnut as a game food we are working on a sideline. We have to pick it up as fast as we can do the job and do as much as we can and learn about as much as we can. And, of course, we learn slower than people who have the time to spend and perhaps the money to spend at it. But we are limited in those two respects.
But seed collections are made, and we find it necessary in collecting from two of the orchards that we are now using for seed to collect twice a day in the season that the nuts are ripening, because both of those orchards which we prize are close to forest lands and squirrel country, and they really give us a race for it. The fact of the matter is the orchard at the nursery has attracted the squirrels on that particular side of the mountain. I have hunted on opening day and killed my limit of squirrels without going outside of the residence and been back at work time at eight o'clock. It really attracts them on that side of the hill. We are going to compete with the squirrels, but as you will see, we have just about given up that orchard as a seed source.
We find it necessary to treat the seed, of course, before we plant it. Many of you people, of course, go into the spraying end of it before the nut ever develops. We haven't the time or the money right now to go into it that way, so we try to take care of the nut after we collect it and bring it in.
I expect it is not necessary for me to go into any of the details on any of the methods that may be used to get rid of the weevil, because you are all familiar with that. Maybe it suffices to say that we at the nursery now are using the hot water treatment. The little weevil is found in there and not always apparent. In fact, most of the time it isn't apparent that the nut is infested, but they are, and if we take measures to kill the weevil we haven't any germination of the weevil. We used gas once, but we are limited in that at present. It is a lot more expensive.
We have, in the first few years that we tried to produce chestnuts at the nursery, stratified them. We got along pretty well with that in damp sand, we got along fairly well in sawdust, and we got along especially well with damp sphagnum moss. But in the end we determined that we are getting better results if we plant the nuts as they are collected. In other words, the seed was taken from the orchard, treated to kill the weevil and put in the ground in the fall.
Now, you can't get away with that everywhere. Our orchard is far enough away from the nursery that we don't have any rodent damage. We have had some trouble from skunks, and they finally find out that the nuts are in there in a row where we have planted them, and they go right down and get them. But we have no trouble from mice or rats. We are far away from woodland and buildings.
We find that some people have trouble with wind or water erosion. We don't have that. So we can get by and do a better job and produce better trees by sowing nuts in the fall, and we sow them in the fall, just as if we were sowing black walnuts for production and distribution over the state.
By the next fall when we are ready to distribute those seedlings as 1-0 stock we find that we have produced seedlings of about 14 inches in height as 1-0 stock. From what I have seen that isn't a bad size to produce as 1-0 stock, though it is better in some places. We find, too, in the spring before germination, that in our particular section of the state along the Ohio River valley we sometimes get a dry spring and find it necessary to irrigate that land where we planted the chestnuts, just as the seed beds where we planted pine, in order to keep the ground moist and keep it in a condition where seeds will germinate freely.
We weed our chestnuts just as we do every row planted in the nursery, cultivate with the tractor about three times in a season, which is all the time we have to give to it, and hand weed it once. Perhaps it ought to have a little more than that. Some seasons I am sure it should, but that's about the time we are allowed or the time that we can allot to that.
I hope, Mr. Davidson, you will check me here on this time. I don't want to get too far out and upset the schedule.
President Davidson: All right, if necessary.
Mr. Quick: In distributing, the seedlings or blight-resistant chestnut seed in West Virginia we began back in 1943 putting them out in quantity. We had to limit them, the only thing in the nursery we had to limit the amount as to seed. That was because everybody in the state became very much interested, and the Conservation Commission makes those available to any land owner in the state free of charge if he will plant them as a game food but not under other circumstances. He can't use them for ornamentals, and he can't use them for shade purposes in his yard. But he can receive a limited number if he is willing to use them for game. So in scattering them over the state, so many people wanted so many of them that if we didn't watch we'd have all of our chestnuts planted in three or four, or half a dozen spots in the state, and we are interested in learning as much as we can by having them put out at different elevations, different sites and under different conditions, so we had to limit it to ten to an individual in 1943. We have gradually upped that as our production has gone up, from 15 to 20, then 40, and this year we are offering 50 to any land owner in the State of West Virginia.
Now you can see why we are interested in trying to improve the nut. If we are going to distribute them all over the state, let's distribute a good nut, a nut that is not only a heavy bearer for the game, but a nut, too, that is fit for human consumption.
In our site recommendations we have been trying to follow pretty well the ideas of the boys from Beltsville, and we found out that what they have been telling us is just about right. In other words, we are setting our chestnuts in the cove types, moist with gentle slope, preferably on the north, and we are getting better growth there. It doesn't mean as far as we are concerned that it doesn't grow well on drier land and on rich hill-tops but the growth is so much greater when it's put in good ground and under those conditions. In other words, it needs a tulip poplar site; where tulip poplar is growing or has recently grown might be one way to select a site for our chestnuts.
In these five year now that we have been distributing these chestnuts we have distributed something like 200,000. Now, we know that all of those seedlings haven't been good strains, but they have been the best we could do at that time as we were going along. We hope to learn from you people, and we hope you can give us help in improving our strains so that we can distribute better chestnuts over the state.
We haven't had a good system of checking up, until the present time, on plantings that have been made in the past, but we are initiating a system just now wherein all plantations that have been made from forest stock will have regular examination all over the state of West Virginia, and we are including chestnuts in that. We have made some checks in the state on certain selected sites and have found out, strange enough, that these little plantations that are spotted around on the farms, if they were put in correctly and handled properly according to our instructions, have given us a survival of about 80 to 85 per cent, which is, as you will remember, about the percentage in the Nanking strain planting in Jackson County, 26 out of the 34 original trees. That seems strange, but it has proved true all over the state in the few checks that we have made. But we are going into it and checking these plantations and by so doing I believe we can eliminate a good many of our own troubles, along with your help.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Quick for a very interesting paper.
Is Professor Moore, present? Our next talk will be on The Present Status of the Chestnut in Virginia, by Professor R. C. Moore of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute of Blacksburg, Virginia. Professor Moore.
The Present Status of the Chestnut in Virginia
R.C. MOORE, Department of Horticulture Virginia Agricultural Experiment
Station
Briefly reviewing the past, Virginia has been in the same position as many other states in regard to the large number of native American chestnuts that once grew wild before the blight epidemic occurred. Most of the chestnuts were found on loose, open type soils rather than on heavy limestone soil. In mountainous parts of the state, considerable income was obtained from the sale of wild chestnuts. Men, women, and children gathered these nuts and traded them at the stores for merchandise. One small country store, in Floyd County, southwest Virginia, assembled and shipped between sixty and eighty thousand pounds annually. A small town, Stuart, in Patrick County, shipped three carloads daily during the peak of the season. These nuts found their way to city markets, where chestnut roasters were as commonly seen as popcorn poppers. Since many of these native chestnut trees grew in forests or on wasteland, there was little expense involved except in the time required to gather them. The demand was good but frequently the sale price was rather low, especially during years when the crop was heavy.
After blight destroyed the wild trees, a considerable amount of timber was cut from the dead trees. At present this wood has largely decayed beyond usefulness except for firewood, although in some areas it is being gathered for pulpwood. Sprouts have arisen from the bases of the trunks and have borne nuts, but blight sooner or later destroys those sprouts.
Chinkapins are found in many counties of Virginia, especially on shale or sandy loam soils. Blight affects chinkapins to a considerable extent; but because of their bushy type of growth, new shoots arise to replace blighted shoots, thus perpetuating the plants so that they have not died out. Chinkapins are gathered by children for eating and for sale along the roadside, but at present they have little total economic value.
+The Asiatic Chestnuts+
Since the native American chestnuts passed out of existence, there has been a gradually accumulating interest in the Asiatic species, especially Chinese chestnuts, which appear superior, in blight resistance and nut quality to the Japanese species. The growing of these Chinese chestnuts is such a new enterprise that its problems are not fully solved nor its opportunities fully explored.
The earlier plantings of seedling Chinese chestnut trees were made by cooperating growers and nurserymen. They were interested in a forest type chestnut that might replace the dead native trees. A few of these plantings were made under semi-forest conditions, on cut-over timber land or on dry ridges. The first lesson that was learned was that the Chinese chestnut is an orchard type tree requiring rather fertile soil and ample moisture. It would not compete favorably with most native forest trees, but rather was a slow growing, shallow rooted type of tree. Under these unfavorable growing conditions the trees tended to be small and to sprout from the bases of the trunks. The weakest seedlings died.
In other cases the trees were planted in yards, back lots, along the sides of ravines, or in other locations where the soil was fertile and moist. Under these favorable conditions most seedlings have grown and produced crops of nuts, especially when the trees were pruned and competing weeds and brush were mowed. Very few of these first seedlings of the Chinese chestnuts showed much promise although a few of them were fairly satisfactory.
Several old Japanese chestnut trees have been observed. One of these is estimated to be 50 years of age with a trunk diameter of 18 inches and a height of about 50 feet. It is growing in a very fertile spot and heavy crops in the past have broken its limbs. Chinkapins growing nearby appeared to have supplied pollen. Recently the nearest chinkapins were cleared away and hence at present the nuts fail to fill well. Another large tree in eastern Virginia produces many burs but the nuts fail to develop, indicating self-sterility. The nuts of both trees are rather coarse and of poor quality.
More recent plantings have been rather widely scattered over the state, although the total number of trees is not large and no one person has planted many trees. One large general nursery, serving this area, reported sales last spring of 196 Chinese seedling trees to thirty-five different customers. The largest single sale was for fifty trees. Several customers purchased only one tree each.
+Problems Encountered+
In visiting and corresponding with individuals who are growing Chinese chestnuts, I have made a few observations, as to problems that have arisen.
+1. Site and Soil.+ The most successful trees from the standpoint of growth and production were those growing on fertile, well drained soil in which moisture was plentiful. The Chinese chestnut tree appears to be shallow rooted and to require good growing conditions. Dry ridges were unfavorable for growth, and in bottom land the trees frequently were subjected to late spring freezing of tender shoots.
2. Blight injury to the trees and weevil damage to the nuts seemed to be the most serious enemies of chestnuts. Seedlings varied considerably in their resistance to blight. Some of them showed no indications of blight; others were damaged but outgrew the injury; and a few trees were weakened and died.
Weevils appeared to be quite prevalent. One grower reported almost 100% wormy nuts. It is my understanding that a spray program has been developed for control of the weevil. Mr. H. F. Stoke of Roanoke believes that the Illinois No. 31-4 chestnut (a hybrid) is resistant to weevil, probably because of its thick burs and closely set spines.
+3. Cultural Care.+ Chinese chestnuts benefited from pruning; it being especially important to cut away the sprouts at the bases of the trunks. Mowing weeds and brush around the trees seemed helpful. Applications of nitrate of soda stimulated more rapid growth of young trees, and in limited amounts benefited the older trees. It appears, however, that there may be a danger of overstimulation which increases the hazard of limb breakage by snow and ice, especially in the case of younger trees. The largest crops of nuts, however, were frequently produced on trees of only moderate vigor.
+4. Freezing damage to the bark of the trunks and large limbs.+ This occurred in the VPI Horticultural Department planting in 1945, when a temperature of about 17°F. occurred after the trees had started growth in the spring. This injury appeared as a darkening of the outer bark and cambium. Trees that were severely damaged became weakened and tended to sprout vigorously from the bases of their trunks. Other trees overcame a slight injury with little apparent ill-effect.
+5. Seedlings or Varieties.+ The question is whether to grow seedlings or grafted varieties. Seedlings are more easily propagated, the nursery plants less expensive, and the trees longer lived on the average; but seedling trees and nuts are quite variable. Named varieties are difficult to propagate, the nursery plants expensive, and stock-scion incompatability may occur; but the trees and nuts are uniform. Seedlings serve a useful purpose in developing new varieties; but with more planting of superior varieties and a fuller understanding of propagation methods, and of cultural care, chestnut growing on a commercial scale may be more likely to become a reality.
+Future Prospects+
For the present, at least, it appears that growing Chinese chestnuts may be limited to small specialty plantings rather than any large commercial enterprise. The trees seem well adapted to yard and back lot planting as ornamentals and to furnish the family with nuts. Also hobbyists and specialists find them to be interesting plants with which to work.
The industry is new and involves uncertainties and risks, which a commercial grower should not be expected to assume. Further study is needed to clear up the uncertainties, especially as to production costs, markets, and profits to be expected. As additional trees come into bearing over a wider area, a better understanding may be had of the economic value of these chestnuts in the various sections of the state. There is a market for high quality chestnuts, but it remains to be seen whether there will be sufficient profit with the risks involved to attract commercial growers.
+Summary+
In conclusion, the following points are to be stressed in regard to growing chestnuts in Virginia:
(1) Chinese chestnuts are adapted for home planting or for planting by hobbyists and specialists; but their commercial prospects as yet are uncertain.
(2) The trees require fertile soil with ample moisture but should not be planted in frost pockets.
(3) Weevils and blight have been the most serious pests.
(4) Seedlings serve a useful purpose in developing new varieties; but greater progress should be expected from growing superior named varieties.
(5) Additional study is needed to determine the profit prospects, to evaluate varieties, and to work out details of cultural practices, harvesting, and storage of nuts on a variety basis.
Although the chestnut blight has destroyed the native Castanea dentata trees, it is hoped that breeding programs may produce a blight resistant, hardy tree, of a size that will lend itself to orchard planting and cultural practices, and which will be regularly productive of high quality nuts.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Moore.
The next thing on the program is the talk by Mr. G. S. Jones of Phenix
City, Alabama, on Growing Chestnuts in Lee County, Alabama.
Growing Chinese Chestnuts in Lee County, Alabama
G. S. JONES, R.F.D. 1, Phenix City, Alabama
Ever since childhood, chestnuts have held a fascination for me. How well I remember the delightful Sunday afternoon trips we used to make in the fall up on Earkett's Hill to gather a few small nuts from some native trees which often had been burned by woods fires. I occasionally revisit this area to see these trees, which are in better condition now than then. Native chestnuts were never, to my knowledge, very abundant in our area and are now indeed scarce, but I still hear of a few living trees, some of which grow as far south as North Florida.
I first became interested in Chinese chestnuts from an article I read in the early '30's in a Department of Agriculture yearbook which I think had been written by Mr. Gravatt. This article told about these trees being introduced into this country because of their high resistance to blight. Until this time I had heard little about chestnut blight. In order to find out more about these trees I wrote Mr. Gravatt, who in reply said seedling trees were available for distribution on an experimental basis. I applied for some of these, more, I must admit, to get them to grow on our place just to have some chestnuts than with any thought of disease resistance. When these trees came in the spring of 1934 I even had some trouble in getting permission to set them in an open field near the house, for chestnuts were considered as a tree of minor importance, to be grown in some out of the way place.
These trees were set in sandy loam soil with a porous yellow subsoil in a field of medium elevation which has excellent air drainage so I have had little damage from cold injury. The soil is of fair fertility for the Upper Costal Plain area. Of the trees sent me, fourteen of the ML selection, originating, I am informed by Mr. Gravatt, from seed obtained in Anhwei Province of China, and 10 MO selection originating in Chekiang Province were set in my orchard. Only two of these failed to survive, leaving a total of twenty-two. These were cultivated with the field crops, mostly cotton and corn, and I must admit didn't have much individual attention for several years. I even left the side branches to minimize injury from the mule and plow used in cultivation. Some leaves and trash were put around them at times and they received some benefit from the fertilizer of the row crops. I mention this to show that my chestnuts grew quite well though only moderately fertilized, but receiving good cultivation while young. I might mention that I set two trees in stiff Piedmont clay soil a few miles above here, to try them under woodland conditions. These have never done well, although one had burs but I found no nuts. Other trees which I observe have not been given cultivation grow very slowly, although I have not seen any tried on what I would consider good woodland areas.
My trees, spaced about 40 x 40 ft., have grown quite rapidly so that now some of the limbs are almost touching. Tree ML No. 2, which is about average size, measured last fall in diameter 12-1/2 inches, in height 24 feet, with a limb spread of 30 feet. By 1943 the trees were getting so large that cultivation was discontinued. An attempt is made to keep all litter possible in the orchard, which, with the shade of the trees, has caused much of the soil to become loose and mellow. Since our sandy soil is very low in calcium I applied limestone one time at the rate of about 1500 lbs. per acre. This I hoped would improve the texture of the soil and make better conditions for growing bur clover between the trees. Basic slag which contains about 10% phosphate was applied at the rate of about 600 lbs. per acre in the early '40's. For the last four or five years I applied about 200 lbs. of guano (4-10-7 usually) and 200 lbs of basic slag annually. Since 1944 I have been adding about 50 lbs. of minor mineral elements to the above mixture. Whether it is a coincidence or not I cannot say, but the next year after applying these elements my yields increased from 430 lbs. the previous year to 961 lbs. and have remained high ever since. Minor mineral elements show beneficial results on our garden crops, and I am inclined to believe they are needed, since our soil is so sandy and porous, and especially the soil that has been cultivated so long. Since my trees have produced so well with this moderate fertilization, I have made no check against higher rates of application. In fact I am against the use of large amounts of mineral guanos since I know certain tender shrubs and plants are injured by their use and some soil bacteria and animal life are also harmfully affected, according to reports I have read.
Three of my trees bore a few nuts at four years. No record of yields was kept until the seventh year or 1942, in which I gathered about 328 lbs. of nuts. After that my records show for 1943, 554 lbs., 1944—430 lbs; 1945—961 lbs; 1946—1722 lbs; 1947—1554 lbs. No individual tree records were kept except in a few cases. I kept a rough record by looking at the burs at the end of the season, and classed trees as excellent, good, or poor producers, along with other characteristics of the trees. However, I know several of my trees produced over 100 lbs. each in 1946 and one tree, ML No. 2, of which I kept a record by weight, in 1947 produced a little over 150 lbs. of nuts.
[A note from Mr. Jones early in 1949 reports a crop of 1,836 pounds of chestnuts harvested from his 21 trees in 1948, the largest yield to date. His ML No. 2 tree produced 165 pounds.]
Nuts on a few of my trees begin ripening the latter part of August, but September is the heavy month, with some extending to the middle of October. Their early ripening period while the weather is usually hot and dry, I think tends to cause damage to nuts from the effects of the hot sun and rapid drying. Damage to the nuts and consequent spoilage can be kept at a minimum if they are gathered promptly, which should be daily.
+Preparing Chestnuts for Market+
Here is how I generally handle my crop. As soon as the nuts are gathered I put them in a container with water and remove the nuts that float. This eliminates practically all spoiled nuts and those beginning to spoil. Those that sink are then placed in coarse mesh burlap bags (about 25 lbs. to the bag) which are tied near the top. These bags are laid on a slatted platform under a shade tree and pressed out flat, so nuts will not be thicker than 2 or 3 inches. These bags are thoroughly wet with water once or twice daily, depending on the weather, until I can carry them to cold storage and store at 30°F., or they are marketed fresh, advising buyer of the perishable nature of these nuts. Last year my nuts kept excellently in cold storage, and after remaining there about six weeks had dried sufficiently to keep much better after taking out than when they were fresh.
Nuts for planting purposes can be kept in excellent condition for several weeks by spreading them thinly between layers of damp sphagnum moss and storing in a cool place. This cannot be allowed to get very wet or sprouting will begin. While holding the nuts out of cold storage I attempt to keep sufficient moisture available so the nuts are not allowed to dry much, and yet have plenty of ventilation to keep them from heating or souring. Until I began using this method, a large percentage of my nuts began spoiling soon after gathering, which caused me much discouragement, as I did not want to offer such a product for sale. Since then my losses still run around 12%, but this could be reduced still further by more prompt gathering and by the elimination of several trees which retain nuts in the burs to a large extent.
I have been able to dispose of my nuts quite easily in near-by Columbus, Ga. and for the last few years have had quite a demand for nuts to use in planting.
My orchard as a whole has been very healthy, showing no blight signs that I can detect, although there is little chance of exposure to blight in my section. One tree is slowly dying, which may be due to cold injury, as it comes into leaf early and also ripens very early. So far I have noticed no damage from chestnut weevils. As my trees are seedlings, there is quite a bit of variation in size of nuts and production of individual trees.
+Undesirable Traits in Seedling Trees+
I might mention some undesirable traits which I notice in my trees. First, I would place retention of nuts in the burs as the worst trouble. This is quite bad in five or six of my trees. Next, nuts too dry and loose in the hull at time of falling, which is present in four or five trees, some of which retain nuts in the burs and some which do not. The dry textured nuts seem to spoil more easily than plump well filled ones. Some trees produce too small nuts but the trees which produce extra large nuts do not usually yield nearly so heavily as those producing small to medium size nuts. I consider too early ripening as undesirable, for those that ripen later are usually better keepers, but this does not always hold true as some of the later ripening ones are also poor keepers.
This year my trees have an excellent crop of burs and show promise of a good average yield on each tree. Considering all things, I am highly pleased with my Chinese chestnuts and believe they have a good future in our section if no greater troubles arise than I now know of although there is much room for improvement.
+Other Tree Crops+
Although Chinese chestnuts are my largest producing tree crop, I am working with a number of other trees and shrubs for both nut and fruit production, as well as other purposes. I have several Thomas black walnuts which I set about 1938. Three of these have grown quite rapidly and are beginning to produce nice crops of nuts, although the kernels have a tendency to be spongy at times.
Of course, I have a small orchard of budded pecans, which do so well in our section. These trees, which are young, are just coming into production. Some other nut trees which I am trying in field plantings include native chestnuts, chinkapins, hazel nuts, native black walnuts, and scaly bark hickory (Carya ovata). Since most of these are young and grow so slowly, I cannot say much about their production yet. I have also planted quite a large number of white oaks from a high production tree in hopes of producing acorns for hogs and wild life, also some cork oaks on an experimental basis.
Among non-nut producers I am trying honeylocust, persimmons, and mulberries. I also grow catalpa and black locust for fence posts. This makes no mention of the great variety of native timber trees such as pines, tulip poplar, and others which I try to protect from fires so as to get as great a variety of trees as possible to use for various purposes. I also encourage the growth of ornamental trees and shrubs such as dogwood, redbud, and holly to add beauty to the landscape in season.
Dr. J. Russell Smith's book, "Tree Crops" has been a great inspiration to me along these lines, and I am attempting to study and use as many trees, shrubs, and plants here on my place as possible because I believe we can live easier and better and make better use of the land both for ourselves and nature when we learn how to use our various native plants to the best advantage along with many of the exotic ones.
I might end by saying that I would much rather work in the shade of trees than in the open sun and benefit by their long life and varied uses than to depend so heavily on short lived crops which often require such intensive care.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Jones. A very interesting paper with details that are worth listening to.
Professor J. C. Moore of the Department of Horticulture, Alabama
Polytechnic Institute, will give us a talk on Processed Chestnuts on the
Market throughout the Year.
Processed Chestnuts on the Market throughout the Year
J. C. MOORE, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.
Professor Moore: Mr. President, members of the Association: I have a few packages here that I just wanted to pass around after we get through with a short discourse on processed chestnuts. It might be somewhat of an inspiration to look while I talk a few minutes about it.
These nuts, of course, have been put up from the 1947 crop, but I have nuts put up in 1945 that are still in fair shape. The quality on the 1945 product is not too good. The quality on the 1947 product is excellent when the nut is hot. For instance, a toasted chestnut, I think, has a quality that no other nut has. When the nut sits in a bag sealed for several weeks and gets cold it still is good, but it doesn't have quite the crispness that it has when it is really fresh and hot.
We were very much disappointed with Chinese chestnuts when they first began to bear at Auburn. We got some plants from Mr. Gravatt and the Bureau of Plant Industry in Beltsville in 1938. They were planted; some of them started bearing in 1941. The nuts were large in size; the trees seemed to be perfectly healthy. The early bearing habit gave us a great deal of encouragement. Then we sampled these nuts, and the quality was not good. While the nuts were green and in storage the nuts decomposed in just a few days' time.
The first nuts that we harvested in 1941 were picked, placed in paper bags, set in the office, and we forgot about them, because they were not good when we put them in the bags, and we just put them back for our record purposes. A few days afterwards they were moldy and ruined. In 1942 we had a little better crop, but again the nuts rotted. In 1943 we had a still larger crop, and the nuts rotted again. We did not know how to take care of those nuts at the time.
In 1944 Mr. L. S. Holden was with the Soil Conservation Service. He was transferred to Auburn at the time I was transferred down into Haiti to do some work on rubber production, and he took my place at Auburn on the hillculture project. In the fall of 1944 Mr. Holden had an idea that he could can those chestnuts and preserve them. So he took the nuts, cracked the hull off of the nut, ground it with a little food chopper, and placed the nuts in cans, pints and quarts, put them in a pressure cooker at 15 pounds pressure and cooked them for 15 minutes.
During the fall of 1944, or after the crop was produced, Mr. Holden left Auburn, and he told me when he left that he had sent some of the samples to different parts of the United States and had gotten favorable replies from the samples that he had sent out. That gave me a renewed courage, and along with that in 1945 we sold quite a few raw nuts on the market at Auburn. Those nuts sold just like hot cakes for 40 cents a pound. There were quite a few comments came back to us about those nuts. They were the most beautiful nuts the people had ever seen, and several different ones made comments that the nuts toasted had excellent quality and the nuts boiled had excellent quality, and raw nuts after they were cured had an excellent quality.
Those few different peoples comment on the material and Mr. Holden's work that he had done on canning gave me an idea that maybe he had something, and I have worked since that time trying to perfect a product that would be edible from the hand from a cellophane-bag standpoint. At the present time we have a plan worked out whereby we can produce large quantities of Chinese chestnuts in Alabama.
The thing that is going to confront us in the near future is the marketing possibility. We have to handle Chinese chestnuts rapidly if we put them on the market raw. This processed method that we have has been worked out to perfection, we think, for cold storage purposes.
Now, you can put Chinese chestnuts raw in cellophane bags and seal them with a hot iron. These bags are not sealed. It is a non-sealable cellophane. I didn't get hold of the type of cellophane that you can seal. They are unsealed. They have been in this package about a week, and the nuts are in good shape. On cold storage I have held those nuts for 40 days. Last year was the first time that I tried them in sealed cellophane, but sealed in cellophane bags in cold storage last year they remained perfectly good for 40 days. At that time the cold storage plant went bad, and, of course, the nuts molded.
We think that on the cold storage proposition, and if you have followed food processing and cold storage possibilities on strawberry shortcake, strawberry pies, apple pies and other types of cold storage products, I think when you go to the locker and pick out a little bag of lima beans in a cold storage locker or any other kind of cold packed foods, if you see a pack that looks attractive, chestnuts, after you get accustomed to their flavor especially, it will be a difficult thing for you to fail to pick up a bag of chestnuts and walk out with them among your other grocery purchases. That type of marketing has possibilities throughout the year.
With that possibility from last year this crop came in. We had an excellent crop. I contacted Mr. Harris, who is one of the professors working with food processing at Auburn, and we went over the work quite carefully together, what I had done and the possibilities for the work in the future, and with some suggestions from him and with his help we think we have just about fixed a product that will be a permanent thing on the grocery shelves throughout the year.
Up to the present time all of the nuts that were canned in cans with the shells on developed throughout the year somewhat of a soured condition. When you opened the can and smelled, the odor was foul. When you cracked the shell and tasted the nut, the flesh had just the least bit of a foul odor. Mr. Harris suggested that probably that was a flat sour. We weren't sure that it was flat sour, but we haven't had the bacteria check to find out whether it was caused by one of the thermophilic bacteria or not, but we are pretty confident that it was a flat sour that caused the foul odor. With careful heating and careful drying we have developed some products here that I think have a possibility, and these products will maintain their quality throughout the year.
+Nuts Cured Before Canning+
I have canned chestnuts that have been canned for three years, and the quality is just as good as it was a month after they were canned. The product, however, when it is canned green does not have the quality that it does when it is canned after curing. The way we handle these, to begin with, is to take the nuts from the field, put them on a woven wire and elevate the wire so that air can go under and over, cure at room temperature for about three days. If you cure longer than three days you will lose quite a few of your nuts. That is a rapid cure. We have not tried curing under cooler conditions to see if we can eliminate part of the damage that is caused by deterioration, but curing the nuts rapidly you get a deterioration on quite a few of the nuts after the third or fourth day. If you take the raw nuts three days cured rapidly where the air can circulate over and under, the quality is excellent raw, and I have those nuts cured for three days in cellophane bags on cold storage that can be sold throughout the year. Those nuts must be heated enough to stop the deterioration, whatever it is. It may be a physiological condition, I am not sure, it may be a vitamin reaction, I am not sure, but when the nut dries too fast it turns white on the inside, gets hard, loses its flavor, and it is no good.
This nut (indicating) canned in cans, I will give you the treatment for it. I told you we cured them on those drying racks for three days. Then we put them in a pressure cooker and run the temperature up to about 10 pounds pressure for 30 minutes, take them out of the pressure cooker and hull them, and at that stage they hull quite easily. The hull itself will turn loose from the nut quite easily if you heat it a little while before you try to hull. A machine which can thresh the hulls off very easily will be simple to develop. After the shell is taken off, then they are put in an oven (a drying oven that has an automatic control at 270 degrees), for about 10 minutes in order to evaporate the excess moisture that you get in the steaming process. Then they are put in the cans hot, set back into the oven and heated for just a few moments to get your temperature up again and you put lids on at a boiling temperature. You get quite a vacuum created by sealing them hot. We have had as high as fourteen and a half pounds of vacuum on those cans the third day after they were canned, and if you can get a vacuum like that by sealing the nuts hot, you can preserve their quality for a long period.
I don't care if you open any bag that's here and taste these products. You will find that the ones with the shells off are much better than the ones with the shells on. I believe you will find that. However, the quality of the nut with the shell on is excellent.
[Illustration: Mr. Hardy and some chestnuts prepared for storage
(Courtesy Southern Agriculturist)]
Chestnut Growing in the Southeast
Max B. Hardy,[2] Leeland Farms, Leesburg, Ga.
+Introduction+
Just about forty years ago the first blight resistant chestnuts were introduced into the Southeast. This event was to have more far-reaching effects than could be foreseen at that time, as is illustrated by the present extensive interest in the growing of these chestnuts as an orchard crop.
Chestnut blight, a fungus disease of the native American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh) Borkh), first appeared on Long Island in 1904 and destroyed this magnificent nut and timber tree. A Phytophthora root disease added its toll so that a bearing tree of this species is a rarity in the East at the present time. The U. S. Department of Agriculture began making introductions of two species of chestnut from the Orient in 1906, both of which were resistant to the blight which was then destroying the native American chestnut. Of the two species, the Japanese chestnut (C. crenata Sieb. and Zuce.) and the Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima Bl.), only the latter proved to have much merit other than blight resistance and chestnut growing in the eastern United States in recent years has been confined almost entirely to the Chinese chestnut.
About twenty-five years ago, after the first introduction from the Orient of seed nuts of blight resistant chestnut species, the U. S. Department of Agriculture distributed a few seedling trees to various interested growers in the Southeast. Some of these trees are still growing and bearing good crops of nuts and have reached rather large size. The distribution of trees produced from nuts imported at subsequent intervals was continued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture until rather widely scattered planting of several species under varied soil, climatic, and cultural conditions was attained. As time passed it became clear that only the Chinese chestnut had promise as a commercial crop for the production of nuts. As a timber tree none of the introduced species has as yet shown outstanding merit.
[Footnote 2: Formerly Associate Pomologist, U. S. Pecan Field Station,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, Georgia.]
+General Observations+
The Chinese chestnut grows well throughout the southern part of the natural range of the American chestnut and southward to the Gulf Coast, and possibly even into central Florida. Farther north it apparently grows and produces better crops along the Atlantic Coast than inland, thus indicating the need of this species for a long growing season and freedom from late spring and early fall frosts. In the plantings in Georgia, from Atlanta to the southward, no loss of crop from late spring frosts has ever been noted. In the Gulf States and northward along the Atlantic seaboard the Chinese chestnut tree is vigorous, healthy, and productive, coming into bearing at a fairly early age and thereafter producing regular crops. The trees grow to be rather large in size, developing a somewhat rounded form with a spread of branches about equal to the height. Without pruning when young many sprouts usually develop near the ground so that the mature tree has numerous trunks of about equal size, with the lower lateral branches resting on the ground.
Nearly all of the Chinese chestnut trees being grown at the present time are seedlings and exhibit a wide range of tree and nut characteristics. A few trees develop a somewhat more upright type of growth than that commonly seen, but this type is generally less productive than trees of more spreading habit, and the nuts are smaller and less desirable. Some trees showing the most upright type of growth originated from nuts imported from the more northern provinces of China and may represent a distinct strain or form of Castanea mollissima. The degree of incompatibility exhibited when southern China strains are grafted on northern China strains would indicate the same conclusion. Unfortunately, several different species or strains have been included in the plantings of most cooperators with the U. S. Department of Agriculture so that seedlings resulting from cross-pollination of these types may exhibit an even wider range of characteristics and performance from the standpoint of commercial production than is commonly seen at present. A few of these hybrids may be superior to pure C. mollissima seedlings in certain important respects because of hybrid vigor, but taken as a whole the best types of C. mollissima seedlings are superior to the other blight resistant species for purposes of nut production.
The earliest introductions of blight resistant chestnuts from the Orient are represented by very few trees in the Southeast, but a small number of plantings of trees distributed in 1926 have been observed. These are producing good nuts and the trees are quite healthy, regardless of conditions of planting except when they have been given no attention of any kind. In one planting the trees were planted about 10 feet apart on the square with the result that they are tall and spindly with nut production only in the tops and very light on a per tree basis, which indicates the need of adequate spacing if the trees are to be vigorous and productive. Incidentally, this close spacing has not resulted in a desirable timber type of growth.
In two other plantings the trees are planted in cleared areas in cut-over timber and then given no further attention. In both locations a few trees are still living but are of no value either for timber or nut production. In still another planting on a bench about halfway up a mountain, where infrequent cultivation or mowing is practiced, the trees are growing and producing moderately well but the nuts are small. A few other scattered plantings of a few trees each are doing well around homes though receiving only moderately good care.
The distribution of trees by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1935 and 1937 has resulted in a few plantings that have done moderately well. In one planting the trees are growing fairly well without care but are producing few nuts. In another planting the trees are planted on rather heavy soil that is terraced; they are given applications of commercial fertilizers and infrequent cultivations and have been producing fairly good crops of nuts in recent years. Still another planting of a considerable number of trees has been entirely removed through lack of interest of the new owner. The plantings described have all been on private property.
Plantings at various experiment stations have received somewhat more attention in general than those on private property; but because of lack of keeping quality of the nuts have not for the most part been accepted as a promising crop and have been the subject of very little study.
From the foregoing observations it is evident that the Chinese chestnut cannot withstand the effects of crowding either in a solid planting or in competition with native growth. The trees have performed moderately well with a minimum of care, but respond to good care by increased production and nut size. The rotting of the nuts soon after harvest as a result of improper methods of handling and storage has prevented an earlier acceptance of the crop as of potential economic importance in the Southeast.
+Experimental Studies at the U. S. Pecan Field Station, Albany, Georgia+
In 1926, twenty-eight seedling trees of Castanea mollissima were planted in the Champion experimental block at Philema, near Albany, Georgia. These trees grew well and began producing nuts in 1932. In 1935, an additional 16 trees were planted in the same block. The trees in both plantings have shown good vegetative vigor and have been fairly productive. All the variations common to any group of Chinese chestnut seedling trees have been in evidence. One or two trees have lacked vegetative vigor but have produced heavy crops of nuts for their size. Type of bur opening has varied from free dropping of nuts to those burs from which the nuts are removed with difficulty; nut size has varied from about 35 to about 90 nuts per pound; the date of earliest and latest ripening of the nuts varies by about three weeks; nut color has ranged from light browns to dark mahogany and dark chocolate brown; and keeping quality and eating quality have ranged from good to poor. However, nut production, as shown by the data presented in Table I has been good and nut quality has been acceptable, so that with increasing knowledge of the storage requirements of the nuts the trees have paid a good profit in recent years. One of the older trees has consistently produced close to 150 pounds of nuts each year for the past few years.
Some of the trees in this planting have been topworked to selections from other plantings, including the variety Carr which showed up very poorly in comparison with most of the seedlings. Some of the trees have been culled out because of poor yield or nut size; and some have died as a result of poor drainage.
An additional planting at Philema in the Brown tract was made in 1938. The trees were planted in a portion of a five-acre block at some distance from the original plantings, with a spacing of 25 feet apart on the square in soil of rather light and sandy texture with fair subsoil drainage. The fertility was low but has been improved through the use of winter leguminous green manure crops and commercial fertilizers. Some of the trees planted consisted of trees grown from carefully selected Castanea mollissima nuts imported from south China and designated by the initials MBA, MAY, MAZ, and MAX. Others carried the designating letters of "FP." The nuts from which these trees were grown were imported by the Division of Forest Pathology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture which also grew and distributed the trees. Still others were selections of C. crenata, the Japanese chestnut; and C. mollissima selections from an experimental planting in California were also included. In 1940 the remainder of the five-acre block was planted with trees grown from seed produced by the original Philema planting.
Table I. Summary of chestnut yields at Philema, Georgia.
______________________________________________________
| |
| HARVEST DATA |
|______________________________|
| |
| 1926 and 1935 Planting[3] |
Length |______________________________|
Date Harvest | |
Year Harvest Period | Yield No. Trees Av. Yield |
Began in Days | in Lbs. Bearing per Tree |
_______________________|______________________________|
| |
1932 | 14 3 4.7 |
1933 | 7 7 1.0 |
1934 | 80 16 5.0 |
1935 8-29 22 | 222 22 10.1 |
1936 8-26 33 | 379 25 15.1 |
1937 8-26 37 | 278 18 15.4 |
1938 8- 6 42 | 480 21 22.9 |
1939 8-15 42 | 995 26 38.3 |
1940 8-27 38 | 740 34 21.8 |
1941 8-14 51 | 1,467 38 38.6 |
1942 9- 3 41 | 876 32 27.4 |
1943 9- 9 26 | 1,335 38 25.1 |
1944 8-15 44 | 560 29 19.3 |
1945 8-18 34 | 1,450 27 53.7 |
1946 8-20 41 | 1,455 28 52.0 |
1947 8-26 43 | 1,975 27 73.1 |
_______________________|______________________________|
_______________________________________________________________
|
| HARVEST DATA
|_______________________________________
|
| 1938 and 1940 Planting[4]
Length |_______________________________________
Date Harvest |
Year Harvest Period | Yield No. Trees Av. Yield Range in
Began in Days | in Lbs. Bearing per Tree Yields
_______________________|_______________________________________
|
1941 8-14 51 | 44 63 .7 .1-6.9
1942 9- 3 41 | 30 46 .7 .1-5.2
1943 9- 9 26 | 357 108 3.3 .1-29.7
1944 8-15 44 | 716 136 5.3 .1-37.0
1945 8-18 34 | 3,025 208 14.6 .1-50.7
1946 8-20 41 | 1,447 173 8.4 .1-48.3
1947 8-26 43 | 6,615 188 35.2 .1-108.5
_______________________|_______________________________________
[Footnote 3: 28 trees planted in 1926 and 16 planted in 1935, at spacing of 25 to 40 feet.]
[Footnote 4: 274 trees planted in 1938 and 60 in 1940, at spacing of 25 feet on square.]
The yield's produced in the 1938 planting have been outstanding, as indicated by the data in Table I, The trees began bearing when younger and developed heavier production than those of the 1926 planting, whether judged by age of tree or years of bearing. Many of the trees have produced nuts of outstanding size, attractiveness, eating quality, and keeping quality. There has been the usual degree of variation common to any collection of seedlings, but the best trees in this planting have been superior to any previously seen. Nut size has varied from 23 to more than 100 to the pound; the color of the nuts has varied from light tan to deep mahogany, and a few are nearly black. All have been of good eating quality. The keeping quality has varied materially, some keeping very well and others quite poorly.
Bur opening, has likewise varied so that at one extreme the nuts drop entirely free from the burs on some trees and at the other extreme the burs drop with the nuts in them and considerable work is required to remove the nuts. It is out of this group of trees that the three seedlings have been selected that the U. S. Department of Agriculture is considering worthy of variety status. These have not yet been officially released and no official description is yet available. The yield data for these three selected Seedlings are given in Table II.
Table II. Yield data by years, of three seedlings tentatively proposed for variety status, Philema, Georgia.
————————————————————————————————————- Tree Proposed Yield in Pounds by Years Total yield No. Nuts (in Lbs.) per Lb. ———————————————————- No. Name 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 from Planting ————————————————————————————————————- 7880[5]Meiling .2 3.6 20.9 36.9 23.9 73.1 36.9 195.5 38-43 7919 Kuling 4.0 3.8 5.8 6.5 13.8 34.2 50.2 38.2 168.5 35-43 7930 Nanking .1 3.8 28.0 37.8 1.0 87.7 54.6 213.0 30-43 ————————————————————————————————————-
[Footnote 5: Meiling ("Beauty") is the first name of Mme. Chiang
Kai-shek.]
The trees of the "FP" designation and, of other species were grown to fruiting, but have since been removed or topworked in entirety because of their lack of desirable characteristics and because they produced pollen for cross-pollination which would result in undesirable progeny when the Castanea mollissima nuts were used for seed. Furthermore, a number of trees of the three-letter designations have been removed or topworked because they produced very small nuts, or showed poor keeping quality, or because of some other undesirable characteristic. Therefore, the nuts now being produced in this experimental orchard are of pure C. mollissima inheritance of the best type, and, as such, represent some of the best and purest seed nuts available in this country today. This procedure is being continued so as to maintain the quality of the nuts for seed purposes at its present standard.
Unfortunately, many of the nuts offered in the general trade for seed purposes at the present time are coming from orchards composed of a mixture of species or types comparable to the 1938 Philema planting before culling. This is very undesirable because of the great variability in the nuts produced by trees with such an origin. When grafted or budded trees of the newer and improved varieties are available to orchardists chestnut growing for nut production may be based on the same sound practices as the other fruit industries.
In the topworking of "FP" trees at Philema with scions from other strains of Castanea mollissima the degree of incompatibility has been so great, that the scion tops will have either blown out or died at the end of four or five years from grafting. At the present time this failure can only be attributed to the fact that the stocks were of mixed ancestry. On the other hand, scions of pure C. mollissima placed on the same stock strains have made good unions and are entirely normal after as long as 13 years from grafting. This problem of incompatibility between stock and scion is one that yet remains to be completely solved.
The topworking of trees in the five-acre block at Philema has been generally successful where incompatibility is not a problem. Bearing-size trees topworked one spring will generally produce a few nuts in the second subsequent growing-season. Growth the first year after grafting will frequently be as much as 12 feet long and very stocky. Both cleft grafting and inlay bark grafting have been practiced, the latter method proving to be the more satisfactory from all standpoints. In this method of grafting scaffold limbs from 1 to 6 inches in diameter are cut off square across. Scions 6 to 8 inches long are prepared by making a slanting cut 2 to 3 inches long and ending about three-fourths through the scion at its basal end. A strip of bark just wide and long enough to receive the scion, with about one-half of the upper end of the bevel showing above the cut surface of the stub, is then removed from the stub. The scion is then nailed into place with 5/8-inch nails and painted over with melted grafting wax. Two or three scions are required for most stubs. This work is done just as growth is starting in the spring and the bark is slipping well. The scions may generally be cut directly from the trees, but sometimes they may need to be cut several days earlier and stored in damp material in a refrigerator to keep them dormant.
In south Georgia the Chinese chestnut normally begins growth soon after March 1, but in some years it has started as much as a month after this date. Between south and north Georgia there is a differential in the time growth starts in the spring of one to two weeks. This differential also carries over into the date of blossoming and the date the harvest period begins. In south Georgia pollination generally occurs during the latter part of April and early part of May, and the harvest period begins about 100 days later. The peak of harvest averages 185 days after the initiation of growth in the spring. Dormancy comes only after the first frost sufficiently heavy to kill the leaves, usually about two months after nut harvest is completed. This period between harvest and leaf fall is undoubtedly an important factor in the annual bearing habit of the chestnut in the Southeast since it permits the food reserves in the tree to be replenished after the crop is mature. This is true under favorable conditions but does not hold under conditions of crowding, low soil fertility, or premature defoliation. For best growth and production the tree should be in foliage approximately nine months out of the year.
+ORCHARD MANAGEMENT+
The planting of chestnut trees in the Southeast should be done as soon as possible after the trees become dormant in the nursery. They should be planted on fertile soil which is well drained but not subject to serious drought injury. The Chinese chestnut cannot withstand a high water table, or free standing water, but appears to be somewhat resistant to drought injury when once well established. The chestnut trees have not yet reached an age at which their largest potential size has been attained, but trees of 50-foot spread have been observed. It appears likely, then, that orchards should be planted at 50 to 60-foot distances on the square, unless closer planting and subsequent thinning is resorted to in order to build up high nut production per acre at an earlier age of the orchard. Planting distances of 25 x 25 feet, 30 x 30 feet, 25 x 50 feet, and 30 x 60 feet are recommended for this reason, but only if the orchardist will plan to thin the stand at 10 to 15 years of orchard age and at later intervals as required. In no case should the branches of adjacent trees be allowed to touch as under such conditions competition between trees will reduce the yield per tree and nut size, and induce alternate-year bearing.
In planting the young tree it is usually advisable to fill the hole in which the tree is to be set with top soil, packing it firmly around the roots as the hole is being filled. Usually no fertilizer is used at the time of planting, although mixing about a handful of bone meal with the soil around the roots has given a higher percentage of living trees and has increased growth the first year. A shallow basin around the tree to facilitate watering when necessary during the first growing season, or the application of a mulch around the tree, or both, will be helpful in obtaining a high percentage of living trees and good growth. Adding water at the time of planting is good insurance that the soil will be well settled around the roots. A wrap of newspaper tied loosely around the trunk of the young tree will aid in preventing winter injury and sun-scald.
Under conditions of little or no care the seedling chestnut tree will generally develop several trunks as a result of the forcing of multiple sprouts from near the ground line. The tree should be trained to one trunk, as such a form seems to be less susceptible to winter injury while young and makes a much more desirable orchard tree when older. Pruning of the young trees subsequent to the development of the head at a 4 to 5-foot height should be confined to the removal of crossing branches and those so near to the ground as to interfere with the necessary cultivation and harvesting work under the tree.
Most soils in the Southeast are somewhat low in fertility and must receive good care if chestnuts are to grow well. The annual application of commercial fertilizers is generally required as is the growing of a winter green manure crop, preferably a legume. One of the most satisfactory systems is to plant hairy vetch, Austrian winter peas, or blue lupine[6] in late October or early November, applying broadcast at the time of planting from 400 to 600 pounds per acre of a 0-14-10 or 0-14-7 fertilizer mixture. This green manure crop should then be disced in by April 15 of the following spring, with subsequent shallow cultivations at about six-week intervals through the growing season. The ground should be clean by the middle of August to facilitate harvesting the nuts. If such a system of culture is not feasible, as on too steep slopes or around buildings, mowing or mulching can be used to advantage, but the trees must be given annual applications of a complete fertilizer mixture, such as 4-8-6, 6-8-8, or 5-7-5. These should be made each year about a month before growth starts at a rate of 2 to 3 pounds for each year of tree age. This should be broadcast under and slightly beyond the spread of the branches.
It has not yet been found necessary to spray the trees for the control of any disease or insect. This does not indicate that control measures may not be required at some time in the future, for it is the history of horticultural crops when planted in any concentration that diseases and insects increase in number and degree of injury. As yet, the chestnut weevil has not been found at the lower elevations in the Southeast.
In a few plantings a condition causing some premature defoliation has been observed at infrequent intervals. The condition begins as a leaf scorch which may or may not develop to the point where the leaf drops. It is thought to be caused by some mineral deficiency or unbalance associated with erratic weather conditions, but the exact cause is yet unknown. A leaf spot disease has been observed but has caused no appreciable defoliation and no control measures have been thought necessary.
[Footnote 6: Blue lupine is winter-hardy only in the warmer coastal areas, not adapted north of Columbus, Georgia, Meridian, Mississippi, or Shreveport, Louisiana. Ed.]
+Harvesting and Nut Storage+
Harvesting of Chinese chestnuts has proved to have definite requirements if the nuts are to be obtained in the best possible condition. The nuts are quite susceptible to rots of several kinds and must be properly handled to keep losses at a minimum. They are also very easily and quickly injured by exposure to the sun, with the consequent, high temperatures and drying. If the nuts are to be stored for any length of time, as is necessary when they are to be used for seed purposes and as will be necessary when they are to be marketed for eating purposes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, it is paramount that they be picked up from the orchard at not more than two-day intervals. Cleaning up all dropped nuts at daily intervals is most desirable.
At the end of each day the harvested nuts must be placed in cold storage at temperatures between 32°F. and 45°F. It has been found that a nearly air-tight container is required in order to maintain a relative humidity of 100% and prevent too much drying of the nuts. A 50-pound tin lard can with one 20d nail hole in the side near the lid has proven to be a good container for large quantities and these same cans also make good shipping containers merely by wiring on the lids. One-gallon friction top syrup cans with a single nail hole in the side make a good container for smaller quantities. In air-tight containers the nuts do not decay but germination capacity is quickly destroyed and bitter flavors develop quite rapidly. Nuts to be used for eating purposes shortly after harvest may be stored at lower relative humidities but should be placed in cold storage. A loss of about 15% in weight from the fresh weight of nuts is necessary to reach proper eating quality. Nuts dried to this extent are sweet and palatable but cannot be stored for any length of time and fail to germinate well when planted.
The experimental study of chestnut storage problems is being continued with the hope of working out still better methods. The manner of marketing chestnuts so that they will reach the consumer in a desirable condition also is still to be worked out, but it appears possible that retail cold storage and packaging in moisture-proof bags which are pervious to CO_{2} and O_{2} give promise at present. Probably the most promising aid to an increased storage life of chestnuts will come through the selection of trees for propagation and planting that produce nuts of superior resistance to storage rots. There is rather great variation among seedlings in this respect, some being-quite superior, although no completely resistant seedlings have yet been found.
+Discussion and Conclusions+
The perishable nature of the nuts of the Chinese chestnut has probably been the greatest drawback to an earlier acceptance of this crop as an adjunct to the horticulture of the Southeast. It has been only in the past few years that enough has been learned about the harvesting and storage requirements to permit the storing of these chestnuts so that they can be marketed in an orderly manner either for eating or for seed purposes. Storage losses through periods up to six months have been held to less than 10% for a mixture of nuts from all the trees at Philema. Storage tests of nuts from individual trees have shown a range in keeping quality from no loss after six months' storage to nearly 100% loss. By culling out the trees producing nuts with a high rate of spoilage under the best storage conditions it should be possible to reduce storage losses to a minimum. Every grower of seedling trees should follow this same process of culling out or topworking trees producing nuts of poor keeping quality if the industry is to grow and prosper, since otherwise the offering of spoiled nuts for sale to the consumer will soon destroy the demand for the nuts.
There is no question but that the Chinese chestnut tree is very well adapted to the Southeast. It has proven to be healthy, vigorous, and productive. Yield records at Philema show actual yields of more than 1,000 pounds per acre and potential average annual yields of 1,500 or more pounds per acre are not out of reason. In 1947, in the Brown tract at Philema, if all the trees that bore nuts had been collected into a solid block the yield per acre would have been nearly 2,500 pounds. Crowding of the trees in the Brown tract is becoming serious at 11 years of age with a 25 x 25 foot spacing. Alternate-year bearing is becoming apparent and the stand of trees must be thinned immediately. Because of such potential yields and because rather extended storage of nuts of varied keeping quality is now economically possible the future of the chestnut industry in the Southeast is very promising.
The selection and propagation of selected seedlings is desirable as a means of advancing the industry at a more rapid rate. The propagation of selected seedlings offers a problem because of lack of compatibility between some stocks and scions. Since the chestnut is almost completely cross-pollinated it may be necessary to develop special plantings of two or three selections as a source of seed nuts for the production of stocks. Such plantings might possibly produce seedlings of quite uniform and desirable characteristics, but this prospect, is not very promising. Certainly, the evidence points to the conclusion that scion selections must be worked on stocks of the same strains if incompatibility is to be held at a minimum.
There is a further problem in the propagation of varieties on seedling rootstocks in the nursery. Only one propagator appears to be having much success in this art but others must learn it. Topworking of older trees by the inlay bark graft is generally successful and older seedling orchards can be worked over to improved selections without difficulty so long as the stocks are of compatible strains. Time will be required to work out the details of the solution for this problem but they will be worked out.
In the selection of improved seedlings for propagation the strictest attention should be paid to the important characteristics of tree vigor, precocity, productiveness, nut size, attractiveness, and keeping and eating quality, and type of bur opening. These characteristics have been previously discussed but it is well to emphasise their importance. The tree that comes into bearing at an early age seems likely to be more productive in later years. The nuts should be no smaller than 45 nuts to the pound and be attractive to the eye of the buyer. Most individuals prefer nuts with a bright and shining surface free of fuzz and with a fairly rich mahogany or chocolate color. Keeping quality is, of course, of great importance and should be carefully determined. Eating quality is generally good but distinctly superior selections may be found in the future. For the most part eating quality is dependent on the proper curing of the nuts. The type of bur opening is more important than usually considered, as it materially affects the satisfactory harvesting of the nuts. From the commercial standpoint it appears that the most desirable bur should drop from the tree with the nuts still in it but be well split so that the nuts can be readily removed. Such a bur type prevents exposure of the enclosed nuts to the hot sun while on the tree and reduces injurious drying to a minimum yet permits rapid gathering of the nuts in the burs for later mechanical separation. Nuts that drop free from the burs are more subject to injury by drying and require more hand work in gathering. Burs that do not split readily would be more difficult to separate mechanically; and mechanical aids will be necessary for the economical daily gathering of the nuts in commercial orchards.
If is encouraging to note that many of the present new plantings in the Southeast are being made by orchardists rather than hobbyists. Many home owners are planting a few trees but the acceptance of the Chinese chestnut for commercial production by men already growing other orchard crops portends the future success of the industry. The hobbyist has been of great service and should be given full credit for his far-sighted interest in a crop that now has commercial promise, especially in the Southeast. Much experimental work is still needed by both State and Federal agencies and by individuals. This work needs be concerned now more with details of refinement rather than with basic possibilities of the crop.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Mr. Carroll D. Bush, of whom I am sure you have
often heard and whom very few of you, including myself, have met, of
Grapeview, Washington, will now tell us something about the Marketing of
Chestnuts on the Pacific Coast. Mr. Bush.
Marketing Chestnuts on the Pacific Coast
CARROLL D. BUSH, Grapeview, Washington
Mr. Bush: Friends of the Association: There are so many here that I have known through correspondence that I have welcomed this opportunity to say something to you today. I don't think that I will add very much to anything that has been said. I hope perhaps we will have some ideas from what we have been doing on the Coast.
We were in the nursery business near Portland, and during the war we went out of it, but we are working back in trees again[7], and all this time we have been preaching the gospel of nut trees, and we find that we can't preach a gospel unless there is some reward. There is no market for chestnuts in our section of the country, and yet we had quite a few of them around Portland. We could not talk about chestnut trees when there was no market. Buyers there had been offering as low as three cents a pound or not buying them at all, and we, ourselves, had quite a few nuts to sell. So I took a trip up to Seattle and found a commission man there that would take our nuts and arranged with him, and we have sent nuts to Seattle ever since that year and got a very good price. Then a neighbor had me send some of his, and we are still sending nuts.
+Introduced on Mid-West Markets+
The next year through Carl Weschcke of St. Paul I got in touch with a reliable Minneapolis firm. They evidently had been burned and they were somewhat skeptical. They said if we would send a sample there they would look them over. So I went out and picked up a mixed sample and shipped to Minneapolis, and they said if we could send nuts as good as the sample they could use some.
We began to send them. When we shipped them we made sure we sent nuts that were considerably better than the sample, and the rewards for shipping there were also very good. Then we went on to Chicago, and we have been shipping to Chicago over since. At this time I am out here to find a little more market for some of the nuts that we have in Oregon.
At first we put the nuts in cold storage at about 32 degrees, expecting to get a better price on the Thanksgiving market. We found out that we were making a mistake and that the earliest nuts on the market brought us our best price. So now we are shipping just as early as we can ship.
We first adopted the western cranberry box as being open enough to allow a little drying off and tight enough so that it wouldn't allow too much and yet we didn't get any mold. We were very much afraid of that, because a good many of the California chestnuts had molded on the way to market. Later we turned to the splint bushel basket, and lately we have been in favor of the half-bushel basket. There seem to be buyers who don't like to stock up more than a half bushel at a time, chestnuts being of a rather high price. They dry out too fast.
We found that cold storage above 32 degrees keeps chestnuts in good condition with little dry-out. One dealer in Oregon we know of wraps his cold storage nuts in waterproof paper, keeps them that way clear on into January. A very little mold will develop on chestnuts kept in storage from 32 to 35 degrees, but not enough so we take any precaution. We have had a few batches that people have stood in sacks on damp nights, and they started to mold, especially on the open end, and we find we can kill the mold with Clorox. We have just used a little Clorox in water. We think this would prevent mold from developing on all nuts if they were put through a chlorine bath. We haven't taken the trouble to do that. I might say our walnuts, and filberts have been put through a chlorine solution, and, of course, after a chlorine solution is used you have to put the nuts through water again and wash that off.
We have on our place a nice washer. We have graded the European varieties, which we handle mostly, into three grades: standard, fancy, and extra fancy, by size. All our grading has been done by hand, except we expect to have a simple grader this year.
[Footnote 7: Mr. Bush informed the secretary by letter, early in 1949, that he did not then have any nursery stock ready for sale at his Eagle Creek, Oregon, nursery. From that location about 10 years ago he introduced, under numbers, three selections of Chinese chestnuts grown from seed imported in the early 30's. Two of these, in 1941, were named Abundance and Honan. The Abundance is now considered one of the most desirable varieties from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, while Honan is slightly less desirable.—Ed.]
+"Sweet" Nuts Sell Faster+
We have a few "sweets." All of those on our farms are Riehl varieties, hybrids, I think. All of our European chestnuts have an astringent pellicle, heavy with tannic acid. We classify as sweets any of those that have a pellicle that is sweet enough to be eaten. We label these the sweets and mark them as they go into the market. And while, I say, we don't seem to get a better price for the sweets than for the European, they do sell faster. There are some people in the eastern cities that are grabbing these in preference to the large ones. While the large nuts sell very well, I suppose they go to the Italians and Europeans who are used to cooking them, and out on the West Coast nothing but the large nut goes; the larger the better. In the Seattle market we try to send in large nuts.
We also grade out all "cracks" by hand. They mold easily, and we have a lot of cracked nuts in our climate there, but we have been able to dispose of all of these through the Seattle market where they move off very fast and are lower priced.
+California Supplies Distant Markets+
Last winter we went to California and looked into the chestnut market there. We found them in the Sierras and found them growing in the Coast Range without irrigation, but the largest growers were in the San Joaquin Valley near Stockton. The largest grove was 30 acres at Linden owned by Caesar De Martini. He gave us our best insight into California chestnut growing. He used to grade and package his own, and he still has his cylinder grader. It has three different size holes, one inch, one and a quarter and one and a half. Anything that goes through the one-inch hole is discarded as a cull. That leaves three sizes, the size that goes through the one and a quarter, the one and a half, and the size that goes out the end, which is, of course, a class of jumbos.
All the chestnuts in California, I think, now go to buyers to do the grading and packing much as De Martini worked out. All of the California nuts have to be soaked in water just as Mr. Jones does, as they come to the packer dried out. The largest buyer that we found in California shipped about seven carloads, and he shipped them all over the world, the Philippines, Honolulu, Alaska, and other places where the chestnut hasn't been growing.
+Early Autumn Best Marketing Season+
Now, I am going to sum up what our experience has been and what we recommend as general from our experience. Your experience may be different. We clean the nuts, wash them, if necessary, grade them; large and small nuts do not sell well together. We would pack in baskets, half bushel for sweets. We are trying to make that half bushel basket the mark of the sweet nut in the markets where we sell, so that when a buyer comes in there and sees a half bushel basket he knows that's sweets. Then we ship as wet as possible, and they dry out on the way. And just as fast as we can get those nuts off the ground we pack them and ship them. Our greatest trouble now is, of course, the imported chestnut. They are beginning to come in in great quantities, and they hit the market in Chicago last year at about the 20th of October, and we tried to beat that line if we possibly can with our nuts, because just the minute the carloads of chestnuts come in on the East Coast the market drops right down.
Without question we could use some of the preparations that we use on filberts to put a gloss on the chestnut, run them through, I think it is a paraffin mixture, put a gloss on the shell and give us a better chestnut in the market, make it look nicer and, of course, make it sell better.
+"Stick-tight" Burs Preferred for Pacific Coast+
I disagree, I think, with two of the former speakers in regard to the chestnut that falls free from the bur. I would prefer a chestnut that sticks tight to the bur. We have threshers out there that thresh them out. We can pick up those nuts in the bur with a shovel or fork, throw them into the wagon, take them in the wagon, thresh them out. You have a cleaner nut, you don't have to pick around on the ground with rubber gloves that we use, which is easy enough, but it certainly adds a great deal of work as compared to threshing them out easily after they are once picked up.
I thank you.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Bush. We are glad to have that western angle. It is going to be very useful to us.
Next on the program is a paper on the Control of the Chestnut Weevil, the author of which is absent, but I believe Mr. Gravatt is going to read that.
Chestnut Weevils and Their Control with DDT
E. R. VAN LEEUWEN
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research
Administration, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Division of
Fruit Insect Investigations.
Failure of the American chestnut to resist the chestnut blight has resulted in the planting of a few blight-resistant species obtained from foreign lands. These foreign chestnuts would now be planted more extensively in certain districts, were it not for the fact that the nuts are injured by two species of weevils, for which heretofore there has been no practical control.
The 1947 season marks the fourth year of the experimental use of DDT for control of the chestnut weevils. During these years our knowledge of the spray and how best to use it has been advanced by conducting laboratory and field tests. Unfortunately, few chestnut orchards now exist in the Eastern States, and the scattered plantings consist mostly of a large number of Asiatic seedlings, some of which had to be top-worked to other Asiatic species and varieties. Many of these trees are grown for ornamental, shade, or timber purposes rather than for nut production. Owing to these conditions and to a series of spring frosts since 1945, it has been impossible to conduct insecticide experiments on an adequate basis of replicated plats.
Although much is to be learned regarding time of application of the sprays and the proper dosage, the use of DDT can be recommended as a standard practice, because it has proved highly valuable in protecting chestnut trees from heavy losses due to the chestnut weevil. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss some of the experiments that have been made with DDT and the observations made on the time of egg deposition.
+Nature and Extent of Injury+
The worms attacking chestnuts are the larvae of two very similar species of weevils, one larger than the other. The adults are medium-sized beetles having extremely long, slender beaks. With these they drill through the husk of the nuts, making openings through which they insert their eggs into the nuts. From these eggs the familiar worms develop. Weevil injury varies greatly in different chestnut-growing localities. It is not unusual for 50 to 75 percent of the nuts to be wormy, and often infestation reaches 90 to 100 per cent. The small weevil does the most damage, but there are indications that this may not always be true. Because the mouth parts of the adult are situated at the end of an extremely long and slender beak, it can obtain most of its food from beneath the surface of the host plant. For this reason, stomach poisons applied to trees have not been eaten by these weevils, and hence have been of no practical value. As DDT kills by contact, it is necessary only for the body of the insect to come in contact with DDT.
+Life Histories of the Weevils+
In the vicinity of Beltsville, Md., the adults of the large chestnut weevil[8] leave the soil about August 15. The date will vary, of course, with season and locality. Both males and females soon begin to feed by piercing the burs with their long beaks. Mating begins soon after the weevils collect on the trees, and egg laying follows shortly. The eggs hatch within a few days and the worms develop within the nut. A few of the worms will complete their growth and leave before the nuts fall, but most of them emerge from the nuts after they have fallen. The worms then enter the soil, where they build cells and remain until they change to pupae the following summer. This weevil has a one-year cycle, or one generation a year.
The life history of the small chestnut weevil[9] is somewhat similar, except that in the vicinity of Beltsville the weevils leave the soil late in May or early in June, when the trees are in bloom. Several weeks later the females deposit eggs in the nuts. At Beltsville, egg laying begins late in August and continues for several weeks. After the nuts have fallen from the tree, the full-grown larvae leave them and enter the soil. Earthen cells are constructed at a depth of 4 to 12 inches, where some of the larvae remain for two winters.
The small chestnut weevil completes its life cycle in two years, and a small percentage requires three years, whereas the large chestnut weevil completes its transformation from egg to adult in one year. The large weevils pass the winter as larvae, whereas the small weevils pass one winter as larvae and the second winter as adults. With the few individuals of the small weevil which require three years for transformation, the first two winters are passed in the ground as larvae and the third in the same location as adults. This habit of the small weevil complicates control measures, as one season's spraying with DDT does not reduce the entire infestation of weevils.
[Footnote 8: +Curculio proboscideus+ Fab.]
+Proper Time for Spray Applications+
Application of DDT sprays at the proper time is very important. An examination in 1944 of many unopened chestnut burs disclosed the fact that eggs of the small chestnut weevil were being deposited many weeks before the burs would open. It was also noted that great numbers of the larvae were leaving the nuts soon after the burs cracked open. Evidently these full-grown larvae had hatched from eggs deposited several weeks before the burs split.
In 1945, 1946, and 1947, cloth bags were tied over developing burs at various intervals during the season to prevent further egg laying in the nuts. At harvest time, the bags were removed and the nuts examined. Occasionally adults were hidden among the spines of the burs and were inadvertently enclosed in the bags; therefore, all nuts in bags containing female adults that might have continued ovipositing were discarded. The data in Table 1 show the approximate time prior to which the nuts were infested.
Because of difficulty in obtaining sufficient burs for bagging, and other orchard conditions, the results of these studies were far from conclusive. They indicated, however, that many eggs had been deposited in the nuts before the burs had reached maturity. They also suggested that the seasonal histories of the two species are closely parallel. At Glenn Dale, Md., and Fairfax, Va., the small weevils predominated, constituting about 69 to 90 per cent of the total numbers taken. At Elkton, Md., only 42 per cent of the weevils were of the small species.
[Footnote 9: Curculio auriger Casey.]
Table 1. Results of studies to determine the time of oviposition of the chestnut weevils.
Nuts Infested with
Date of Total Small Large Wormy
Bagging Nuts Chestnut Chestnut Nuts
Nuts Bagged Weevil Weevil
Year and Orchard
Number Number Number Percent
1945 July 9 52 2 5 13
Glenn Dale, Md. Aug. 1 46 4 2 13
Aug. 15 107 18 11 27
Fairfax, Va. Aug. 21 110 22 13 32
Sept. 12 123 63 11 60
1946 July 12 65 0 0
Glenn Dale, Md. July 18 40 0 0
July 26 67 0 0
Aug. 1 71 0 0
Aug. 9 29 1 0 3
Aug. 14 88 3 2 6
Aug. 23 53 18 2 38
Aug. 29 53 23 11 64
Fairfax, Va. July 26 98 0 0 0
Aug. 15 168 0 0 0
Sept. 4 164 139 16 95
1947 Aug. 15 54 5 1 11
Glenn Dale, Md. Aug. 25 38 8 0 21
Sept. 2 24 7 1 33
Sept. 9 42 18 4 52
Sept. 15 56 29 7 64
Sept. 22 90 27 11 64
Sept. 29 143 83 22 73
Fairfax, Va. Aug. 26 35 9 1 29
Sept. 10 58 25 4 50
Sept. 28 50 35 7 84
Oct. 7 217 177 22 92
Elkton, Md. Aug. 21 139 11 13 17
Sept. 4 83 22 25 57
Sept. 18 116 21 35 48
Oct. 1 108 31 44 69
+Spray Experiments in 1944+
Shortly after adults of the large chestnut weevil first appeared in the orchards in 1944, six trees isolated from other chestnuts were selected for treatment. Five trees were sprayed with from 1 to 5 pounds of technical DDT plus 1/2 pound of sodium lauryl sulfate to 100 gallons of water, and the sixth tree was left untreated as a check. A thorough application of a coarse, drenching spray at a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch was used in an attempt to force the DDT between the many spines of the burs. The DDT used was very coarse, and difficulty was experienced in getting a proper suspension. This formula was used, however, in preference to one which contained other ingredients that might have formed a protective coating over the particles of DDT. Heavy rains prevented later spray applications.
Adult weevils obtained by jarring untreated trees were then confined in screen cages placed over the lower branches of the trees. At the end of each cage was a cloth sleeve which was tied to the limb to hold the cage in place. The treatments used and the results are given in Table 2.
Table 2. Percentage mortality of chestnut weevils placed in field cages on trees at different intervals after they had been sprayed with with DDT, 1944.
Strength of
DDT (lb. per Small Chestnut Weevil Large Chestnut Weevil
100 gal.) 48 Hrs. 96 Hrs. 144 Hrs. 48 Hrs. 96 Hrs. 144 Hrs.
1 0 61 100 25 50 100
2 19 69 100 0 34 100
3 4 50 100 0 40 100
4 27 87 100 0 50 100
5 18 50 100 30 46 100
Check 0 0 0 0 7 7
Although the results obtained the first few days in the cages containing treated foliage were somewhat irregular, because of the small numbers of tests made, all weevils were killed within 6 days. The results indicate definitely that DDT is toxic to the adults of both species of weevils. No consistent differences between species were noted.
As the matured nuts dropped from the treated trees, daily collections were made, and one-third of each collection was used as a sample in determining the percentage of wormy nuts. At the time the nuts drop, the holes in the shell through which the eggs were inserted are very difficult to detect. The nuts were therefore held in wire baskets to permit most of the larvae to emerge before the final examination. All nuts not showing exit holes were cut open to find out whether they were wormy. The marked increase in clean nuts after all treatments indicates that DDT is a promising insecticide for use against the weevils. The treatment and infestation records for the sprayed trees and the check tree are given in Table 3, which also includes the results obtained in later years.
+Spray Experiments 1945 to 1947+
Spring frosts in 1945 destroyed 95 per cent of the crop of chestnuts in the Eastern States. Only six trees of different species and ages in the Government orchard at Glenn Dale, had sufficient nuts for experimental purposes. Applications of a 50 per cent DDT wettable powder in the proportions of 4 and 6 pounds plus 1/2 gallon of summer oil as a sticker to 100 gallons of water were made on August 20 and September 9.
Spring frosts again damaged the orchards in 1946, destroying about 80 per cent of the possible chestnut crop, and leaving only eight trees in the Government orchard that were suitable for experimental purposes. The remaining trees having a small scattered crop were disregarded. A mixture consisting of equal parts by weight of DDT and kaolin 41 was used in the strength of 2 pounds of DDT to 100 gallons of water. The time and number of applications were varied.
Table 3. Results of spray tests with DDT against chestnut weevils, 1944-1947.
Larvae Emerging from Sample
Reduction
Nuts Small Large Wormy of
DDT (per Application in Chestnut Chestnut Nuts Injured
100 gal.) Sample Weevil Weevil Nuts
Year
Pounds Number Number Number Percent Percent
Government Orchard, Glenn Dale, Md.
1944 1 Aug. 14 533 1896 21 44 42
2 646 402 45 25 67
3 712 421 5 18 76
4 951 814 5 22 71
5 1844 850 10 16 79
0 976 3238 100 76
1945 2 Aug. 20 & Sept. 9 660 434 38 30 57
3 305 285 58 22 69
0 297 1164 61 70
1946 2 Aug. 15 & 30, Sept. 11 621 131 12 9 90
2 Aug. 15 & 30 371 171 23 19 79
2 Aug. 30 & Sept. 11 292 87 21 26 71
2 Aug. 15 & Sept. 11 949 553 190 43 53
2 Aug. 30 1267 1407 98 43 53
2 Aug. 15 1212 3207 66 43 53
2 Sept. 11 368 1832 53 58 36
0 870 5364 134 91
1947 2 Aug. 13 & 29, Sept. 12 4084 3817 234 30 66
2 Aug. 13 & 29 2618 4255 151 52 40
2 Sept. 12 3029 9498 402 79 9
2 Aug. 13 2639 5049 198 51 41
0 974 4714 121 87
Van Reynolds Orchard, Elkton, Md.
1947 2 Aug. 21, Sept. 4 & 18 1153 264 64 14 84 2 Sept. 4 & 18 338 5 118 67 23 2 Aug. 21 & Sept. 18 149 18 59 34 61 2 Aug. 21 & Sept. 4 669 102 12 51 41 2 Sept. 18 324 63 129 77 11 2 Sept. 4 270 303 67 56 36 2 Aug. 21 500 192 127 57 34 0 338 152 118 87
Sprays containing DDT were applied in two orchards in 1947, the Government orchard at Glenn Dale, and the Van Reynolds orchard at Elkton, Md. Spring frosts injured 50 per cent of the chestnut crop at Glenn Dale and 70 per cent at Elkton, and as a result only a few trees suitable for tests were available. The remaining trees were not sprayed. Four pounds of the standard mixture of equal parts of DDT and kaolin were used to 100 gallons of water in all applications.
In Table 3 will be found information on the quantities of DDT used, the schedules followed, and the results obtained during the period 1944 through 1947.
These results indicate clearly the effectiveness of DDT in chestnut weevil control, in spite of numerous discrepancies brought about by the small number and variability of the trees available for the tests. As might be expected, programs of three applications were more effective than those of only one or two. Of the single applications, those put on during the latter half of August were much more effective than those made during the first half of September, presumably because most of the eggs had been laid by the early part of September.
These experiments gave fairly exact information on the relative abundance of the two species of weevils. At Glenn Dale the small chestnut weevil constituted 92 to 98 per cent of the population; at Elkton, 61 per cent.
The matured nuts that fell from count trees were collected daily, and one-third of each lot collected was used as a sample for determining the percentage of wormy nuts. It was possible, therefore, to obtain a rough estimate of the numbers of larvae produced on each tree. In 1946, from 1,863 nuts on a tree sprayed three times, 429 larvae emerged; and from a comparable unsprayed tree having 2,610 nuts 16,494 larvae emerged. In 1947, 1,350 larvae were produced on 9 trees with an average crop of 1,361 nuts sprayed three times, compared with 14,505 larvae from 2,922 nuts on an unsprayed tree. These figures indicate that DDT sprays bring about large decreases in the numbers of weevils and that the proper use of DDT sprays on all host trees over a period of a few years would doubtless reduce the infestation to a point where fewer applications would be necessary for effective control of the chestnut weevils.
+Tentative Recommendations+
For the benefit of those who wish to try DDT for chestnut weevil control, the following tentative recommendation is made:
Thoroughly apply +to all parts of the tree+ 2 pounds of DDT in 100 gallons of water. For example, use 4 pounds of a wettable powder that contains 50 per cent of DDT, or 8 pounds of one that contains 25 per cent of DDT. Make three applications, the first about 30 days before the first nut is due to drop, and the second and third after intervals of 12 days. Unless the entire bur, especially that portion near the stem end where most of the feeding punctures are made, +is thoroughly covered+ with a film of DDT, the weevils may feed without being affected by the insecticide. In handling DDT, one should use the same care as with such well-known poisons as lead arsenate, Paris green, calcium arsenate, and nicotine.
* * * * *
Mr. Gravatt: I might say that Mr. Van Leeuwen has used only a small section of our experimental orchard, and right near-by would be large sections not used. The weevils are not killed quickly by the DDT, they are somewhat resistant, and so we think quite a number of weevils come over and deposit eggs before they are killed by this DDT, because they don't lose any time getting to work on the nuts. He hopes to have much better results where the entire orchard is sprayed. This year we sprayed our entire orchard twice, and it is a real pleasure to go out there now and gather up nuts and not be eating weevils when we do eat them.
President Davidson: Well, Mr. Gravatt will now give us a talk on Diseases Affecting the Success of Tree Crop Plantings, and I am sure we all are on our toes to hear about that. Mr. Gravatt.
Mr. Gravatt: I only ask a few minutes to show a few slides.
(Slides shown.)
Diseases Affecting the Success of Tree Crop Plantings
G. F. GRAVATT and DONALD C. STOUT
Division of Forest Pathology, Plant Industry Station, Beltsville,
Maryland.
Mass plantings of many trees of the same kind frequently result in an increase in the severity of insect pests and diseases. Leaf diseases, for instance, spread quickly through such plantings when weather conditions favor growth of the causal organisms. Plants on sites unfavorable to a specific tree species also are responsible for disease increases. Chinese chestnuts grown on a site where they are subject to early-fall and late-spring frosts will fail. Not only will crops be reduced by the killing of buds or blooms, but the twigs, or even whole trees, may be killed by freezing. The blight fungus develops rapidly on such injured trees and may mislead people into thinking that the blight fungus is the primary cause of the killing.
Still another factor that determines the damage by diseases, and thus the success or failure of nut tree plantings, is the ignoring of soil and fertilizer requirements. Trees weakened by drought, because they are on a site having a soil too shallow for good root growth, are much more subject to attack even by weakly parasitic fungi than those growing on a site with deeper soil. Innumerable dying twigs and branches with fungi growing on them are sent to the U. S. Department of Agriculture or State experiment stations with requests that the disease be identified, when the real trouble is lack of water for the roots. Weak trees are much more subject to winter injury than vigorous ones.
Trees require a good supply of plant food materials and water to produce profitable crops. Tho heaviest bearing chestnut trees we have observed were grown in an irrigated orchard in California and in a poultry yard in the East where chicken droppings actually formed a mulch under the trees. However, if you wish to kill a young chestnut tree quickly, just apply a very heavy application of chicken manure; the point is that trees must become adjusted to chicken manure by gradual applications.
Another way to damage a tree is to keep it growing late in the fall by cultivation and fertilizers so that it does not harden off properly. Many plantings, representing heavy investments, fail because of lack of organic matter in the soil. This is related to water-holding and water-supplying capacity of the soil, and lack of proper fertilizer. Dr. Harley L. Crane and his assistants, in their work with tung and pecan trees, have shown the vital need for certain elements on some soils. Trees weakened by the lack of these elements are early prey for some diseases. The element most frequently deficient is nitrogen, but sometimes boron, copper, or iron is lacking; or the elements are not in balance, because of the excess of some, or the lack of others.
By adjusting the various soil, water, and site factors necessary for a continuous, vigorous growth of trees, many so-called disease conditions are eliminated. Many fungi and viruses, however, will attack trees in the pink of condition; a few of the more important of these are treated in the following sections.
+Chestnut Blight+
The destruction by blight of the native stands of the American chestnut, and of the small eastern orchard industry based on European and American chestnuts and their hybrids is almost complete. Blight has been found in the planted European chestnut orchards of the Pacific Coast from time to time, but it has been kept under control by eradication. Chestnut trees or nuts from the eastern States, where blight is common, should not be shipped into the Rocky Mountain or Pacific Coast States.
Finding the Asiatic chestnuts resistant to the blight, the Division of Forest Pathology sent R. Kent Beattie to Asia to make selections of chestnuts for introduction into this country. Later Peter Liu, a Chinese collector who worked with Mr. Beattie, continued to select Chinese chestnuts for introduction. These introductions, together with the earlier ones made by the Division of Plant Exploration and Introduction, were grown at Chico, Calif., Savannah, Ga., and Bell, or Glenn Dale, Md. Altogether some 300,000 chestnut trees, of pure species and hybrids, were distributed to cooperators for forest and orchard plantings. (Fig. 1.) These constituted a fine lot of material from many parts of Asia as a basis for selecting the best ones for our use. Private nurseries and State game and forestry departments are now growing these chestnuts and the Division of Forest Pathology has discontinued general distribution of trees to cooperators.
Chinese chestnuts have proved to be the most valuable for forest, orchard and ornamental use. The Japanese chestnut is being discriminated against because of the poor quality of its nuts. Orchardists having mixed plantings containing Japanese chestnuts are advised to top work the trees or remove them, if the seed is to be used for plantings. In fact, for orchard plantings, nuts should be used only from the best individual trees of the Chinese chestnut.
The Chinese chestnut should be planted on sites with good air drainage as it is very susceptible to injury from early-fall or late-spring freezes. Many persons think their trees have been killed by the blight when the primary cause of the trouble was injury to the trunk by freezing followed by growth of the blight organism over the injured parts. This fungus may grow for many years in the outer layers of the bark without doing any material damage to the tree. An important factor in resistance of the Chinese chestnuts to the blight is to keep the trees growing vigorously. Avoid late growth in the fall as this favors fall freezing damage.
[Illustration: Figure 1.—F1 hybrids between the Chinese chestnut and the American chestnut.]
+Nut Spoilage+
In the Southern States one of the most serious problems with some selections of the Chinese chestnut is the spoilage of the nuts. Marvin E. Fowler made a study of this trouble at Savannah, Ga., and found that most of the trouble in that restricted area was caused by a Gleoesporium-like fungus that infects the nuts at the tip.[10] Because spraying experiments did not give control, the more susceptible trees have been removed. In most parts of the South, however, this fungus is not the primary cause of nut spoilage and the limited work so far carried out has not revealed the cause. Part of the trouble may be due to physiological break-down. As individual trees vary greatly in susceptibility to this deterioration of the nuts, orchardists are advised to top work or eliminate the more susceptible trees. Some people have believed that exposure of the nuts to the hot sun while in the bur or on the ground may cause damage. The market for Chinese chestnuts can be ruined by shipping nuts that are partly spoiled by the time they reach the consumer.
[Footnote 10: Gravatt, G. F., and Marvin E. Fowler. Diseases of chestnut trees and nuts. Northern Nut Growers Assoc. Rept. (1940) 31: 110-113. 1941.]
+Phytophthora Root Disease of Chestnut+
Phytophthora root disease, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi, is treated briefly here, and interested nut growers can consult the detailed earlier article.[11] Briefly, this fungus is considered as introduced into this country over a hundred years ago. It killed the chestnut and chinkapin growth over large areas in the southern States. Asiatic chestnuts are highly resistant to this disease, and when grown on well-drained soils have not been damaged. Our test plantings of Chinese chestnuts growing in the same soils where susceptible trees of American and European chestnuts were killed, continue to make a vigorous growth. The European and American chestnuts and their hybrids growing in the western States are in danger from this fungus as it has now been reported in the West. This same fungus sometimes kills thousands of young nursery trees of the black walnut, but these epidemics are usually brought on by unusual weather conditions. Poor soil aeration, induced by excessive rainfall and poor drainage, makes ideal conditions for damage to the walnut and other hosts by Phytophthora. Even the very resistant Chinese chestnut roots are invaded by the fungus when the soil remains waterlogged for extended periods.
+Brooming Disease of Walnut+
A systemic brooming disease, observed on planted walnuts as early as 1917, has been the subject of considerable discussion during recent years, because it has now spread widely into the native black walnut growth. In 1932 Waite published that he had been observing the disease for some 15 years but that "it was unknown on the black walnut in the wild in this country or on planted trees away from the Japanese walnut." The disease has continued to increase in prevalence in recent years and is now widely distributed in native black walnut growth in Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. This extensive spread into the native growth during the last 15 or 20 years and the fact that reports indicate that all of the early cases of the disease were found near nursery-grown trees offer some evidence that the disease is an importation from another area or continent into the eastern black walnut zone. From the literature and oral reports, it seems that the disease is now present also in North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Michigan. Surveys probably would uncover the disease among native wild and planted walnuts in other States.
[Footnote 11: Crandall, B. S., G. F. Gravatt, and M. M. Ryan. Root diseases of Castanea species and some coniferous and broadleaf nursery stocks, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi. Phytopathology 35: 162-180. Illus. 1945.]
+Economic Importance and Hosts+
The black walnut is a valuable native forest tree, widely but not abundantly distributed in the eastern United States. It is extensively planted as a forest tree. The numerous plantings and natural stands around farm homes, along fences, and in pastures are also very valuable. More and more grafted ornamentals, and orchards of black walnut are being planted. For these the per-tree investment is high.
[Illustration: Figure 2.—The brooming disease of walnut. Severe brooming on Japanese walnut.]
The ultimate effect of the brooming disease on the black walnut is not known. Dr. Waite stated, "Trees even moderately attacked soon become worthless for nut production." Some affected black walnut trees, however, continue to produce small crops of nuts. Visible symptoms have been known to disappear. In addition, some seedlings, and probably large trees also, are infected without showing symptoms. Such observations indicate the complex nature of the disease. Detailed studies are needed, but at present this Division is not in position to do more than limited, part-time work on the disease.
The butternut, a widely distributed forest tree of minor importance, is seriously injured or killed by this disease. The disease severely damages or kills the Japanese walnut, which has been planted to a limited extent but is of little importance. According to Dr. Waite's report, the Persian, or English, walnut is attacked, but very few trees of this species are planted in the eastern States. Precautions should be taken to prevent the introduction of this disease into areas where it is not now present, particularly the western states.
Symptoms expressed by infected trees are viruslike, and Hutchins and Wester[12] were able to produce the brooming symptoms on a small number of trees by means of bark patch grafts, indicating that the brooming disease probably is caused by a virus.
[Illustration: Figure 3.—Brooming disease on black walnut. Ascending type, upright, sucker growth is typical of this species.]
+Description of Symptoms+
The entire range of symptoms of the brooming disease has not been determined. Symptoms are recognizable during mid-July but they are most pronounced during September and October. Curling and cupping of leaflets, chlorosis, narrowing and basal tapering of leaflets appear to be associated with early stages of the disease. On severely affected trees there are distinct broomlike growths at branch terminals, along primary or secondary branches, or on the main stem to the ground line (Fig. 2). The broomlike growths are formed by the continuing abnormal development of normally located buds into short, succulent branches. Upright, suckerlike branches appear on primary and secondary branches and on the main stem of the affected tree. (Fig. 3).
The broomed parts usually die back during the dormant period following their appearance. The dead brooms on trees that appear to be healthy during the early months of the growing-season indicate that the trees are infected. Usually the diseased trees, even those severely affected, exhibit normal growth during the early summer months.
Evidence that walnut trees may be infected for a considerable time prior to appearance of recognizable symptoms was obtained when 37 per cent of a total of 300 severely pruned trees exhibited brooming disease symptoms. These trees had looked healthy until they were pruned. Unpruned control trees showed a 4 per cent increase in disease during the same period.
[Footnote 12: Hutchins, Lee M., and Horace V. Wester. Graft-transmissible brooming disease of walnut. Phytopathology. 37 (1): 11. (Abstract) 1947.]
+Summary+
There is strong evidence that a virus disease is active among certain species of walnut in central and eastern United States. The disease exhibits distinctive symptoms and appears to damage infected trees, sometimes severely, over several growing seasons. Present data indicate that recognizable symptoms of the disease may not appear for some time after infection, unless the host is subjected to severe shock. Thus, nursery stock may be one means of spreading the disease into new areas. It is recommended, without experimental work to back up the recommendation, that walnut nurserymen remove infected trees in the vicinity of their nursery sites.
Investigation of this disease to the present time has been limited. General observations indicate that severely broomed trees produce poor nut crops. Mortality caused by the disease appears to be quite low among black walnut trees. Butternut and Japanese walnut trees are, in general, more severely affected by the disease than the black walnut and many seem to be killed by it, although the killing process is slow. As a result of experience with other virus diseases, orchardists who have only a few infected trees among their black walnuts are advised to remove them. Whether the disease can be kept under control by repeated roguing is uncertain. If an owner has just a few trees of value as ornamentals as well as nut producers, one hesitates to advise him to remove a lightly infected tree until more information is obtained concerning the disease.
This Division will welcome information from persons having experience with the brooming disease of walnut, as it is in a position to do only a limited amount of work on the disease.
+Persimmon Wilt+
Persimmon wilt is very destructive to the native persimmon (Fig. 4). It is caused by the fungus Cephalosporium diospyri, which was described in 1945 by Bowen S. Crandall[13]. The fungus grows in the wood of the trees, producing discolored streaks. Most trees are rapidly killed, with yellow, wilted leaves making quite a contrast to the normal green trees.
This disease was found in spots from central Tennessee south to the Gulf, east into Florida, and up the coast into North Carolina. The American persimmon seemed to be in danger, as this quickly killing disease appeared to be spreading. The limited work on this disease was discontinued because of the war and the transfer of Mr. Crandall to Peru. However, this summer Mr. Crandall and the senior writer spent two weeks surveying some of the old infections and nearby territory, and were pleased to note that the disease had made very little progress into new territory. On several small areas where the disease was present some six years ago practically all of the larger trees had been killed, but some new small trees were coming up. At Chattanooga National Park, where the wilt was rampant about six years ago, it is continuing to kill trees, but many new ones are coming up. No northward extension of the disease in Tennessee or North Carolina was noted in the limited time spent in inspection.
[Illustration: Figure 4.—Small persimmon trees killed by the wilt.]
What does the disease mean to the grower of grafted persimmons, both native and Oriental? The Japanese or Chinese persimmons do not grow as well on their own roots, although they are quite safe that way as these two species are very resistant to the wilt. In the East, most of the Oriental persimmons are grafted on American root stocks, and trees in one case were killed by the wilt fungus getting in on the susceptible root stock. No attempts to control the wilt have been made, and these recommendations are based on procedure with other diseases and on knowledge of the spore production of this fungus. An owner of a valuable planting of grafted trees in a region where the disease is present should watch his trees for the first indication of trouble. The planting will be safer, if there are no nearby native trees; and if native trees are growing nearby and cannot be removed, they should be given a general inspection. Prompt removal and burning of any infected trees found is advisable. The fact that usually fungus spore production does not take place until after the tree has been dead for a while makes the prospect for control better than with most diseases. Care should be taken not to bring in scions or trees from infected areas.
Most members of the Northern Nut Growers Association have only a few grafted persimmon trees, usually located outside of the infected zone and therefore in little danger. Persimmon scions and trees should not be shipped from infected to healthy regions. The disease has not been reported in nurseries, but it could occur there because it attacks small trees.
[Footnote 13: Crandall, Bowen S. A new species of +Cephalosporium+ causing persimmon wilt. Mycologia 37 (4): 495-498. 1945.]
+Thyronectria Disease of Honeylocust+
Honeylocust is widely distributed both in native stands and in plantations. Some farmers plant this species or leave native trees in their pastures for the pods, which have a high sugar content, up to 38 per cent. J. C. Moore, of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, reported preliminary tests indicating a per-acre yield of livestock feed equal to that of oats.
In many areas the growth of honeylocust is seriously affected by a canker and twig fungus, Thyronectria austro-americana. The disease often kills many twigs and branches and sometimes results in death of the tree. In most areas it causes only slight injury. Bowen S. Crandall and Jesse D. Diller have made a few observations on the prevalence and damage by this disease, which is present from New England south into the Gulf States and west into the Great Plains States.
The fungus causing this disease is morphologically somewhat similar to the chestnut blight fungus, having two spore stages produced in reddish-brown pinhead-size fruiting bodies on the bark. Cankers are produced on the smaller branches, but they usually are not noted until some of the affected ones wilt and die. In the exposed outer wood of a branch cut above or below the canker there are reddish-brown streaks several inches long, indicating that the fungus has grown in the vascular system.
As no control experiments are known, recommendations are based on general knowledge of sanitation. If an owner has only a few valuable planted trees, he should cut off the diseased parts a foot or more back from the lower edge of the affected bark and burn or bury them in the soil. If he has many trees scattered over extensive pasture areas, it is questionable whether any action other than elimination of the more susceptible trees is justified. We will be interested in the results obtained from control work.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Now I will turn over the chairmanship of the meeting to Mr. Chase, who will have charge of the Round Table Discussion.
Round Table Discussion on Chestnut Problems
SPENCER B. CHASE, Presiding
Panel of Experts: Max E. Hardy, Carroll D. Bush, H. F. Stoke, G. F. Gravatt, J. C. McDaniel.
Mr. Chase: Gentlemen, in the last hour and a half we have heard perhaps more about chestnuts from qualified specialists than we will ever hear in any meeting of ours, and we requested each one to withhold questions until this point. So now we will have some questions from the floor, please.
Mr. Slate: What is the present status of breeding chestnut species for timber purposes?
Mr. Gravatt: The prospects are coming along. We have one cross between a none-too-promising Chinese chestnut and an American chestnut, with a good bunch of hybrids and they are different from other hybrids. It looks like they will stand up against blight. They will have blight canker growth from 10 feet down to the ground but it doesn't go into the cambium region. It is too early to evaluate the hybrids, but they do have the upright form and rapid growth of the American chestnut.
Now when we take these first-generation hybrids, cross them back with the Chinese and get more resistance, as we have done so many times in the past, we lose that rapid and more upright growth habit of the American chestnut. But we have a lot more work to do before we are ready to say anything final on this question.
Dr. Arthur H. Graves, formerly at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is now consulting pathologist at the New Haven, (Conn.) Experiment Station. We have been working with him and partially supporting his chestnut breeding for a good many years. He has a lot of hybrids up there. We expect to have something later, but have nothing to release yet.
A Member: Do you have any sprays to control diseases and insect pests in the tree that when they go into the soil won't destroy our ground friends?
Mr. Chase: Mr. Gravatt?
Mr. Gravatt: I don't know what insects you are after, in the first place. We have a lot of trouble with Japanese beetles. Around Washington, Dr. Crane's and my plantings there would be defoliated if they weren't sprayed for Japanese beetle control, and it is the same way with filberts.
A Member: The same sprays have a tendency to work against most of the pests, do they not? Of course, DDT will take one, the arsenate of lead takes another, Black Leaf 40 another, but if we had a spray that we can use around on—well, not limited to the chestnut—that would be neutralized in the earth. Now, we have a good deal of friendly bacteria and insects in the soil that we want to keep.
Mr. Gravatt: I would say that I am a pathologist, and insect work is out of my line.
Mr. Chase: Does anyone else have a comment on that? Dr. Cross, did you hear the question?
Dr. Cross: I didn't get his question.
Mr. Chase: Would you stand and repeat your question?
A Member: Is there a spray that we can use for combating the insect pests of our trees that when it is washed off and goes into the soil doesn't kill our soil friends. We have the friendly bacteria in the soil, as well as insect and worm life. Do we have a spray that will be neutralized as it hits the soil so we can spray the tree and not kill our lower friends?
Dr. Cross: Sorry, Mr. Chase, that's beyond me.
Mr. Gravatt: You are thinking of arsenate of lead poisoning the soil where you keep on spraying with it?
A Member: Yes.
Mr. Gravatt: I think DDT may build up a little in the soil, but it is broken down, isn't it, Dr. Crane?
Dr. Crane: Yes, DDT is broken down and it is not a fungicide and it is not a bactericide. It is an insecticide that kills insects through affecting the nervous system, according to my understanding of it. I am not an entomologist, but that's what the entomologists say. So far we haven't any evidence to my knowledge of any build-up of DDT in soils that has been detrimental. I don't know what the situation would be if DDT was used to the same extent as arsenate of lead. It was not uncommon for some growers to put on anywhere from 6 to 15 lead sprays in a season in order to control codling moth, as they used to do in certain apple orchards, particularly in the West.
I was talking to Dr. Van Leeuwen just a day or two before I had to leave for the meeting, and he is not ready yet to say anything about it, but he has already tested some very promising insecticides as far as the control of weevil is concerned. This DDT and some of the other new insecticides are very easily decomposed, and, of course, that's one of the disadvantages of them. Under certain climatic conditions they would need to be less readily decomposed to give control over a longer period. I know that we have not had enough experience to know all about those new spray materials.
Mr. McDaniel: There has been one instance reported where DDT in the soil was injurious to fruit plant growth. That was Goldsworthy's and Dunegan's work on strawberries. Where they used large amounts of technical DDT in the soil, they found that it inhibited the growth of the strawberry plant. I believe that's the only instance I've heard of, where soil application of DDT hurt growth of fruit plants. Benzene hexachloride, and some other chlorinated hydrocarbons, and parathion actually appeared to have a stimulating effect on the berry plants.[14]
Mr. Frye: Why would there be any more danger of affecting the soil in a chestnut orchard than there would in the apple and peach orchard by spraying seven, eight and ten times? That's the only question that arises with me.
Mr. Chase: Let's get back to chestnuts specifically, now, gentlemen.
Mr. Kays (Oklahoma A. & M. College): Since I don't come from a chestnut area, my impression of the nut samples supplied by Mr. Moore of Auburn, was: "I'd like them if they had salted them." I am wondering if it wouldn't have affected their rancidity if they had been treated—salting material added, prior to or in the process somewhere along the line.
Mr. J. C. Moore: I'd just like to say I have tried putting salt in the water, to boil the nuts with salt, and then I have tried shelling them and sprinkling salt, and I find that salt does not add anything to the flavor. Tasting the nuts raw, I, too, get the impression salt is what I want, but I haven't been able to add it satisfactorily. I don't say that it cannot be done.
Dr. MacDaniels: Mr. Chairman, in view of the whole situation of chestnut incompatibility of stock with scion, what would be the position that we in the Northern Nut Growers Association can take in advising people what kind of chestnuts they should plant? Should they be encouraged to try to get grafted trees? What should be our position?
Mr. Chase: Mr. Stoke, would you care to comment on that?
Mr. Stoke: You are asking me to stick out my neck, and it seems as if I have always done that. The Chinese chestnut is in the Johnny Appleseed stage, in my opinion, and we are investigating to find out the best varieties, that is, the best specimen, best performance, best quality, best in blight resistance, growth, and other qualities and when we winnow out all we have and arrive at the best, we are going to find—now, this is just my personal opinion—I will say that for myself I'd rather have one acre of the best selections we have budded or grafted—asexually propagated, than five acres of seedling trees as a financial good bet, because I say that one acre of our very best produce virtually as many nuts as five acres of seedlings. I have trees from seed I imported through the Yokahama Nursery Company, and I think it came from Korea. The nuts run very small, and compared with those I am sure the others will pay much better, and I think it would be profitable to pay three or four or five times as much for your trees if you get good trees of good, known varieties and grafted or budded.
Don't misunderstand me. We shouldn't ask the American public to wait until those can be furnished, because they won't wait, and they shouldn't. But I say as a commercial proposition, to plant trees commercially, I would exercise caution and I would encourage my customers to exercise caution unless they are willing to follow up and do their own top working later on, and a Chinese chestnut doesn't top work as readily as a black walnut.
Mr. Chase: I don't believe that's quite the answer he wanted. The comment that I think Dr. MacDaniels is after is what position should the Northern Nut Growers Association take in regard to planting seedlings or planting grafted stock. Is that the point?
Dr. MacDaniels: Yes, it seems to be seedlings against grafted stock.
Mr. Stoke: May I answer? I don't think the Northern Nut Growers Association should take any position. They should present the facts and let the buyer decide. I don't think we need to go on record, and I don't think we should. There is too much diversity of opinion.
Dr. MacDaniels: Between ourselves—and this is not an academic question—we get continual inquiries regarding the Chinese chestnuts and what should they plant and where can they get the trees, and so forth. It isn't good enough in most of these cases to write several pages explaining what the whole situation is, the if's, and's, and but's. But I just wonder what the opinion is of the people who know best in this regard. Who has a good orchard of 20-year-old grafted Chinese chestnuts? Where are they? I don't know: I am asking for information.
Mr. Chase: Dr. Drain, are those trees you have grafted trees or seedling trees?
Dr. Drain (University of Tennessee): They are seedling trees. They have produced a rather nice quality nut, and we have enjoyed propagating seedlings from them. That's really all we know. We haven't grafted any.
Mr. Chase: Mac, would you care to comment on this?
Mr. McDaniel: I am ashamed to say that at present we have no grafted chestnut trees on my own north Alabama farms. We have about 50 trees that are 8-year-old seedlings from imported (Chinese) nuts, growing next to a commercial peach block, and find the production quite variable on the different trees. I am aiming at top-working most of these with the named varieties, beginning this year. At present I can't answer the question of seedlings vs grafted trees. I have been advising people who are interested in trying them in Tennessee that for their first planting (to test the adaptability of their locations) they can get the seedlings generally quite a bit cheaper than the grafted trees. With the experience we have had over the State and the high mortality of trees, both grafted and seedling—killing of the tops and in some cases the whole tree—the seedling might be best economically to begin their experimenting with. I am not recommending that anyone plant seedlings commercially, but just in a small way for trial. They are well worth a trial anywhere peaches are doing well. When we find a suitable site, then is the time to think about using the more expensive grafted trees.
Pres. Davidson: I just want to give a little bit of my experience along that line. Way back in 1934 I planted a few seeds that I got from Amelia Riehl. They were nuts of the Riehl hybrids. [Ed. note: Mostly American—European crosses.] She named one Dan Patch and another Gibbons. They are now about 13 years old. Each of them is bearing burs this year. They have borne burs, a few of them, in the past, but no nuts. So far in 1948, the burs that have fallen to the ground, of course, have no nuts, but whether the burs that are still on the trees have nuts I don't know. I want to know whether those trees are normal—-whether a hybrid of that kind is likely to be sterile or not. That's another matter that might be discussed. Anyhow, you are taking a chance, no question about that, when you plant seedlings.
Mr. Stoke: Mr. Chairman, if you will pardon me for saying one more word, here is a suggestion I will make. Now you can check for yourself. The whole thing hinges on whether we can get permanent grafts on the tree and get the characteristics in the grafted tree that the parent has—in the good selected tree. Now you take the reports sent us by Mr. Hemming; you take the reports of the station at Albany—of individual trees in those plots. You take the worst trees and you will find they are nothing but boarders. You take the best and you will find they are very profitable. You take the average and it will fall somewhere in between.
Now, why keep a lot of boarders that don't pay—free boarders—or why use run-of-mine seedlings, if we can graft successfully—and some people like to dispute that—and produce nothing but the best? And you can check it on any of those tables. [Mr. Hardy's paper.] We have a few tables in our former Reports. You can check it and figure it out for yourself.
Dr. Crane: To clear up this situation I wanted to ask Mr. Hardy a question, and then I wanted to make a statement. In this report from the 1938 and 1940 planting at Albany, Georgia, in the Brown tract in 1947 there were 188 trees that bore crops, but that planting consisted of 274 trees planted in 1938 and 60 trees planted in 1940. Why weren't those 274 trees plus those 60 trees represented in the 100 with the yield records of 1947?
Mr. Hardy: Dr. Crane knows the answer, so I will let him ask the question and answer it, too.
Dr. Crane: In 1936 we planted 1,000 trees of the same Peter Liu selections on the Station farm at Beltsville, Maryland. They were of the same number and letter designations as others that were distributed to cooperators. Out of the thousand trees that we planted on the Station farm some of them came into bearing at four and five years after planting. But the nuts were small in size and were not much good. With one or two exceptions, out of that planting there were none bearing satisfactorily to suit us after ten years. In 1945 we applied the ax, because a Chinese chestnut tree, from an orchard standpoint, if it's not in bearing in ten years after planting is not worth keeping. We haven't got time to wait. So out they came. And in addition to that we have had other trees that have done the same thing.
Now, out of this 274 plus the 60 at Albany, Georgia, we have three trees that we now figure are good enough to be raised to a variety status, plus possibly two or three more. Now, you can figure your percentage of good trees when you plant seeds.
Dr. Overholser: Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question, whether these three seedlings to which they propose to give variety status have been propagated in sufficient number that they are able to give distribution in other areas.
Mr. Hardy: Dr. Overholser, they are not available yet in quantity. That same answer is part of the answer I wanted to make to Dr. MacDaniels. The present situation in the chestnut industry is that there are very few nurserymen who know how to propagate nursery grafted trees successfully. There is going to have to be quite a bit of work done on that. If some of you here know how to do it, I would like to know, myself. There are a lot of nurserymen who would like to know, according to the reports I have, how to graft or bud a nursery chestnut tree.
As long as the situation is that way I would say to recommend seedling trees because of their low price, but—and every grower who has trees can fall in line with this—the seeds should be from properly culled-out orchards of the highest type, leaving nothing in there producing nuts or pollen but what is the highest type. I think all of you who have more than one type of chestnut in your plantings should cull them all down to the pure Castanea mollissima. I don't mean by cutting out the whole tree, but go ahead and top-work them. If they won't take the top, then cut them out. But if you can top-work them and the grafting is good, you can increase your planting of good trees in that manner.
The improved quality of the seed will improve the quality of seedlings going to the buyer, and the chances of a higher percentage of good seedlings showing up will be greater. I think it will improve the industry through a period of years.
Dr. MacDaniels: I think I agree with his position. In fact, that's exactly what we are telling the inquiries that come in: At the present state of our knowledge, better try seedling trees.
But I didn't hear anybody get up and say they had an orchard of 20-year-old grafted chestnut trees. I have tried to get them, I have grafted successfully, I suppose, 7 or 8 different varieties on many different Chinese stocks that I have bought, or had given to me, and numbers of grafted trees. I have nothing left. They grow fine, 7 or 8 feet the first year, 3 or 4 feet the next year, then they go along for a while and then they die. In other words, there is an unsolved problem there, so that it seems to me at the present state of our knowledge we had better admit it and say, "If you are an amateur, you better get the best seedling trees that you can and wait awhile."
Mr. J. C. Moore: I just want to give some data on some of the class work at Auburn with Chinese chestnuts. We were studying Chinese seedlings, and we attempted to bud those Chinese chestnut seedlings, and on some of the larger seedlings we top-worked. We had some 3-year-old seedlings, and we top-worked the limbs. We put in patch buds, and we put in T-buds or shield buds, and in practically every case on some of the trees the buds stuck beautifully.
In June and again in August, with another class, we had the same results, either with T-bud or shield bud or patch bud. Some of the seedlings wouldn't take the buds at all. I can't think why one seedling would take 100 per cent of the buds and another seedling growing right by it wouldn't take any buds.
Mr. Weber: The oldsters here will remember Colonel C. K. Sober, one of our former members who propagated what he later named the Sober's Paragon chestnut. It was a grafted tree and apparently it was grafted successfully on native stocks, and it grew until the blight got it.
Dr. MacDaniels: I am not talking about European or American, I am talking about Chinese chestnuts.
Mr. O'Rourke: It may affect the nursery industry. The nurserymen are looking to the Northern Nut Growers Association, Federal bureaus and State experiment stations to guide them in the propagation of desirable trees. We know now that the Chinese chestnut is becoming quite prominent, is becoming quite popular in many sections of the country, and many nurserymen are now getting requests to supply the public in their states with Chinese chestnuts. They, in turn, would like to know what they should do. If they sell Chinese chestnut trees which have been propagated vegetatively and they only grow five, eight, 10 or 15 years and then die, it's going to come back on the nurserymen. They should like to know whether they should do that or whether they should rely upon seedlings which they can develop into pure lines as best they may.
Now, that really is a serious question. I am wondering from what Mr. Hardy has told us today if it may not be an understock problem, and if it is an understock problem—if there are certain strains of understock which are compatible with certain scions, possibly we should ask for some investigations, some more research to be done in this direction.
Then possibly, on the other hand, we should also ask that certain investigations be carried out so that we will have some idea of the inheritable characters that may be "fixed" through seed selection. I really think that this seed selection should be very seriously considered, and that nurserymen in particular and the public in general would benefit greatly by such consideration.
Mr. Hardy: Mr. Chase, may I make this suggestion: I think it is something that a number of individuals could try, perhaps they should be backed up by agricultural institutions, either Federal or State. We are all interested and concerned with stocks, and I think a large part of our trouble with grafting chestnuts is a stock-scion relationship.
We have some top-worked trees 13 years old that are just as healthy, just as normal as they can be. We have some top-worked trees of various ages below that. The graft-union is good; they are just as healthy and continue to be as productive and vigorous as the parent tree. Where there is incompatibility we run into difficulties very shortly. To a large extent I think we are involved with two problems in the trouble with incompatibility, or perhaps I should say the dying, of grafted trees. One is a stock-scion relationship, the other a mechanical problem.
I think there are these two types of incompatibilities. Now, as to the mechanical part—that can be improved through developing the art of grafting or budding, whichever works out best. The other will require quite a lot of study, perhaps the development of certain strains of the root stocks for certain scion varieties.
I have made this suggestion to two or three. I have started the work myself by putting out with friends two or three or four trees. After they get up to a size where I can top-work them, I will top-work with two varieties. Perhaps I will put Nanking and Kuling on two trees at one particular place. Two or three miles away I will put Kuling and Meiling on two others. At another place I will put Nanking and Meiling. I will get reciprocal pollination, because the chestnut is necessarily cross-pollinating.[15] I can then plant seedlings from both parents, each pollinated by the other. Then by grafting those varieties onto those seedlings stocks I can find out whether there is any reason to go into the work of developing seed orchards of two varieties whereby Meiling pollinated by Kuling may produce the best, most vigorous, most uniform seedlings on which Kuling can be propagated. And by propagating Kuling on such seedlings—the seedlings of such inheritance—we may get 100 per cent of good grafts.
The industry needs a lot of help, and I think it is a matter of time until those things are worked out, but it is going to take time and money and plenty of good effort to work out that problem. I think it probably should be worked out.
Mr. Bush: I don't like the word "incompatibility", and I hardly believe in it, and I presume most of you know that. I have Chinese on European stock, and it has been there for 20 years or more, grafted high. I have Chinese on Japanese grafted under the ground. I think a good deal of our damage is done from wind, from cold, and from sun on the graft just above the ground. I suspect that grafting at that point is what is the matter with many trees in the TVA plantings and others that had low survival. Of late years when I did the grafting (in the last five or six years) I cut the stock underneath the ground and stuck the graft under the ground and seemingly I got far better results. Some of those graft failures showed up. I laid that largely to mechanical damage, and again with the Japanese, particularly, I laid it on the time when the sap comes up. Call it what you will, but the timing of the growth of the two trees is different and we had trouble there. I have grafted some very widely different kinds of chestnuts on the tops of other chestnuts, and am getting them to grow. When we see the break start, we take a twig from below and break and put it above, cut through the cambium and nail it on and they will heal over and the defect disappears. So, again, it seems to be mechanical.
Mr. McDaniel: I believe from observations on a number of trees, particularly Dr. Richards' in West Tennessee, that a large part of our so-called incompatibility in this State is due to winter injury to the stock. So what Dr. Richards meant, evidently, was that he was rather successful in getting a "take" from last summer's propagation but the stock then failed below the union this spring. I saw his trees, and they had the typical discoloration of bark and the dying of various bark areas—these girdling the whole tree in a number of instances. [See Richards' paper in this report.] I would agree in general with what Mr. Bush has just said, but there are certain other instances in which we think the only word for what we see is "incompatibility."
Mr. Slate: What are the prospects of planting those low-grafted trees rather deep?
Mr. Bush: I think that if the roots started to die the grafted tree would start a root above the graft. The sap is going up from the root. It will go down and the root will start above the graft and go out above the graft, thus getting the tree on its own root.
Mr. Stoke: Since we got onto grafting, do you mind if I say a word? Here is a four-branch, top-worked specimen that I chopped off and brought with me. This first tree limb was still alive and had nuts on it, the second was dying and a third dead. This fourth union was still alive, but it was badly damaged, too. That's Illinois 31 -4 on Japanese. Here is another graft of Illinois 31 -4 on Japanese in a small tree, and if that's poor union, I am no grafter!
Mr. Hardy: Mr. Stoke, may I ask you this: Is this [small graft] on the same tree as this? [Indicating larger tree first referred to.]
Mr. Stoke: No. Those four grafts, you see, all went bad. This one is in perfect condition. But I am having a hard time keeping that Illinois 31 -4 alive. I had a union on mollissima three inches in diameter and as perfect as this, two years ago. Last year it began to bulge at the point of union. The top wasn't feeding back to the root, and this year it is in bad condition,—foliage very small and it put on a very full crop of burs which will never mature, and it's going to pass out. It is about four inches in diameter now.
Last year to try to beat this thing I cut out the crown of a small mollissima at the below-ground level and put in several grafts of this same Illinois 31 -4, and I got a nice growth, at least four feet high. When I dug it up to transplant it—it was right in my garden—I found I had a large callus more than an inch and a half in diameter at the union but no roots. I reset it, and I haven't ventured to see whether it was all right or not. This spring I tried again.
I have four little trees, one as high as my head, the others smaller. I grafted each one on branch roots just as they lay in the ground. Didn't dig them up and they grew nicely, and along in July I went around and spaded them deeply and thought perhaps that would produce roots. About a week ago I examined one. I have a magnificent callus but no roots yet above the union. What the ultimate results will be I don't know.
With that particular hybrid I want to try one more thing. I want to grow seedlings of the European chestnut, cut them below the ground, graft Illinois 31 -4 on the root and it may make a union that will not fail, because the European is a very robust grower, and by being grafted under the ground the stock will be away from blight organisms.
[Editor's Note: Mr. C. A. Reed is naming this variety (Ill. 31-4)
"Colby" in honor of the originator, Dr. Arthur S. Colby.]
Mr. Hirschi: I would like to say I put on hybrids similar to that Illinois 31 -4 and they grew the first year, and just made a bulky knot right at the point of union and died the second year.
Mr. McDaniel: What was that combination?
Mr. Hirschi: That was mollissima stock.
Now, speaking about the varieties—this is in Oklahoma—I have tried practically all the older varieties and I have tried some Abundance grafts this last year. I have some Abundance grafts that are two years old that are producing. They have the most vigorous growth of anything, and in our climate we have to have vigor.
I grafted a lot of the Abundance scions on Hobson seedlings. I started out to grow an orchard from Hobson seedlings, and I found out that out of 50 splice grafts of Abundance that I put in Hobson seedlings in 1948, forty-eight grew, and they were put on rather late, in April. That's a little late for us. I have the idea—I don't know whether I am right or not—that if the Abundance proves out as our best variety, we can grow seed for stock of the Abundance and then graft the Abundance back on the seedling from Abundance. If there is so much to this incompatibility, I should overcome it by doing that very thing.
Personally I think it is a crime that thousands of trees—almost millions—are being put out by nurserymen as seedling trees, and if you will note in their price lists they have "6 to 12 inches" and "12 to 18 inches", "2 to 3 feet" and "3 to 4 feet." I venture to say that those are probably all the same age. How would you like to plant some of those 12-inch trees? Somebody is going to get hurt!
Mr. Bush: I'd like to say that you can propagate the Chinese chestnut by layering if you want to, and that will put it on its own. Put a wedge on it or girdle it and keep it damp through the summer.
Pres. Davidson: I think Dr. MacDaniels' question is still not answered. I do think that if a nurseryman sells a seedling he ought to definitely say that it is a seedling and not merely that it is a "blight-resistant chestnut," or something of that sort. He should actually tell the public what he is selling.
Now, then, there seem to be reasons why in some instances a man is justified in planting seedlings when it comes to Chinese chestnuts, but when it comes to the black walnut or filbert or some of these other things, they are still selling seedlings without labelling them as such. I think we should be on record against that practice, because it takes us five or six years, or ten years sometimes, to find out that we have been gypped, and it is so easy to gyp the public when you can't find out about it any sooner than that.
Mr. O'Rourke: I quite agree with Mr. Davidson that the nurserymen should state that a seedling is a seedling when it is a seedling. And I am sure Mr. Hirschi will corroborate that the American Association of Nurserymen is exerting all the influence they can to that end. Is that right, Mr. Hirschi?
Mr. Hirschi: Yes.
Mr. Bregger: I would like to ask, if planters for some years yet will have to rely on seedlings, is there a chance that from certain parents or certain varieties we can get a larger percentage of good seedlings than from others? How much has it been studied and is there a known result from the parent trees in the percent of what their seedlings can do?
Dr. Crane: I wish I could answer that one. It is a matter of time, to find out the seedling characteristics reproduced by a certain descendant. But we know that there is a difference in uniformity of trees in the way they grow, but as far as bearing is concerned, and the type of nut produced, we haven't had enough time yet.
It's just like this: We have made selections for rootstocks in which we have selected trees that were good, strong and vigorous—the most vigorously growing trees that we have known about, and yet at the same time produced a small nut or medium-sized nut that we could use for the production of rootstocks. And we have made progress on that, and we have demonstrated that there is a very marked difference between the graftability or budability of seedlings from certain parent trees. We have demonstrated that some varieties are much easier to propagate than are others. But as for the proper combinations of stock and scion, we still haven't got enough data to recommend any. We know that there are differences, but it is going to take quite a long while, at least four or five years or more, before we know.
Now, there is just one other thing that comes up on propagation. We have found that if you bench-graft and make the graft into the transition zone between root and top just like the old method that the apple propagator used when he piece-root grafted and then plant deep, you can get a hundred per cent of the grafts to grow. In such cases the scion may root and the top will be on its own roots.
Well, there are a lot of these tricks to learn as time goes on. I don't think that we should worry too much about this graft union problem. We know that this Carr variety is a bear-cat. It is the one that gave us so much trouble. When we tried to propagate that one we had a real, nasty cat by the tail. But on the other hand, in answer to Dr. MacDaniels' question if we go out to Dr. J. Russell Smith's plantings up at Round Hill (Virginia), we can see a lot of the oldest grafted trees that I know of anywhere in the country, and the unions are just as smooth and just as slick as anyone would want to see. They are not 20 years old; I don't think there was ever a mollissima chestnut grafted 20 years ago. The first grafting that I know of was about 15 years ago, maybe 18.
Mr. Stoke: In 1932.
Mr. R. C. Moore: Thomas Jefferson grafted European chestnuts.
Dr. Crane: No, I am talking about Chinese chestnuts. We didn't get in any Chinese chestnuts until 1906. We have this problem of incompatibility or graft union trouble, in apples, but do you hear anybody hollering about it? We have it in peaches, plums and cherries. One of the most important diseases they have out in the Pacific Northwest and California on Persian walnuts, is what is called "black line disease." We mustn't get excited about graft union failure. That has been used, in my opinion, by a lot of people, to discourage the propagating of grafted chestnuts. There are thousands of people in the United States who are spending good money for seedling trees, and some of them are going to get stung. We in the Northern Nut Growers Association are going to have this thing backfire on us, just as true as I tell you. I know there are some nurserymen today that are planting unknown chestnut seeds, and they are selling the trees as Chinese chestnut. They are planting seed out of mixed orchards, too, that have C. seguinii and C. henryi and C. crenata trees in them. The C. crenata Japanese has been introduced in the United States for over 70 years and it has never made the grade.
You know, there has been many a thing that has been promoted in the United States—big for a few days and then she backfired, and then it took the industry 50 or a hundred years to recover. You can sell people gold bricks once, but you can't sell them gold bricks all the time!
Mr. McCollum: Last year after Mr. Hemming's speech—you know, he is the nurseryman who sells seedlings over on the Eastern Shore—I asked him if he had been selling those long enough to have heard from customers. "Yes," he said he had, "all satisfied." Now, I don't know anything about that.
Dr. Moss: I am not an expert. They say an expert is someone who, the more he studies, knows less about practically nothing at all. That's a good deal my shape. I planted before the war Chinese seed in Kentucky and a good many of those put on burs in the nursery row. I gave them away in the community. Out of the whole bunch, some of them 20 feet tall, I know of one outstanding nut in that bunch and it's off by itself, apparently a self-pollinizer[16], and puts out a crop of good nuts.
Dr. Cross: I should like to ask Dr. Crane if it would not be possible to investigate the situation in China rather than wait to work this out. Certainly, the Chinese have sufficient knowledge of grafting and propagation to have been working on this long ago, and since these came from there, let's look into that phase of it.
Dr. Crane: I did investigate the situation in China when I was there. Unfortunately in China, although it is one of our oldest countries and longest civilizations, they don't do much grafting. They grow their trees from seed, but they have certain seed trees that they select their seed from, and within a community, within a valley, you will have a certain type of chestnut. They call them varieties. They are not varieties. That's the situation. Most all of them are different, but they have accomplished the fixing of certain characteristics.
Now, in South China the nuts are larger in size, they are stronger growing trees than they are in the North. I think that we will find that that's the situation in this country. The Chinese chestnut is one that does have a high heat requirement, just like pecan, and grown under conditions where they have high heat they are bigger in size and make more growth and probably they come into bearing sooner.
But I didn't see anything grafted in China, and I was all over the country from the most northern parts to the most southern parts where chestnuts are produced. I could make a lot of observations myself, but I had to talk through interpreters, and sometimes you couldn't tell what the interpreter meant. But as near as I could tell, they were all seedlings. When he would tell me there was such-and-such a variety, I would ask him what it meant in English. He didn't know. When I found how they were propagated I found they planted the seed. When I found where they got the seed it was from a certain seed tree.
So we have within the valleys what they call varieties, but they are not varieties, only seedlings grown from certain seed trees.
Now, with the Japanese, on the other hand, the situation is different, because they propagated by budding and by grafting. I got a number of the Japanese publications of propagation methods and their stocks, and so forth, translated into English, and their problems are just the same as we are going through right here now. They propagate true varieties by asexual methods, but the Chinese do not to any extent at all.
Dr. Cross: Have the Russians got any?
A Member: That's the question I ask. Do we have any seed trees in this country that are better than other seed trees?
Mr. Porter: Could the gentleman tell us whether the Chinese graft any chestnuts.
Dr. Crane: Yes, they do so, I was told.
Mr. Porter: Well, the industry spends a lot of money, so do other people, and so on, in a proper way to investigate that. Why don't you find out where in that country they have been doing it?
Dr. Crane: I didn't see any grafted chestnut trees over there.
A Member: You said they grafted, and then you say, "I didn't see any."
Dr. Crane: That's quite right, and I talked to their best horticultural authorities that they have. Practically all of it is produced by seed and not by budding or grafting. It is just exactly as I said with the Persian walnut. China has no varieties of Persian walnuts, although sometimes you will find some farmer that will bud or graft his trees.
Mr. Porter: They graft up on the limb?
Dr. Crane: Yes, sir. Once in a while you will find one. They have a few real horticulturists. I met one man over there that would compare very favorably with Liberty Hyde Bailey.
Mr. Stoke: Dr. MacDaniels asked for concrete evidence. He wanted to know where there was an orchard with 20-year-old grafted Chinese chestnut trees. They haven't been planted that long, but I would like to give him concrete evidence in my own experience.
In 1932 I got scions from the Department, got what ultimately became known as the Hobson, from Jasper, Georgia. I grafted a tree in my front yard which is still bearing nicely, and in fact I have got two grafts on that tree about four feet from the ground, and it is very nice with perfect union. At the same time I grafted a Carr right at the side of my house that also has a perfect union about the same height from the ground. I grafted a scion sent me by Dr. Morris as Morris' best (which was pretty poor), and it is still living. At the present time I have perhaps five Carr trees that will average six inches or more in diameter. The oldest is the one by the side, of the house. The rest of them were grafted about 1935. One out of those five, when it got to be about six inches in diameter, in fact, about three years ago, it went bad. It is girdled and dead. It was grafted about as high as this table from the ground. The others are sound, and you'd find it very difficult to find where they were grafted.
I have Hobson, perhaps a dozen trees anywhere from six to 16 years old, and I have not had a failure on a Hobson that really was once healed over properly and got to bearing, not one. That's concrete evidence, Doctor, and that's all I wish to say.
Rev. Taylor (Alpine, Tenn.): Mr. Gravatt was about to answer a question about our seed trees, wasn't he?
Mr. Gravatt: Would you repeat that question?
Rev. Taylor: Are some seed trees better than others in the high per cent of good seedlings they produce?
Mr. Gravatt: Well, McKay has done some work and published it to show that on seedlings of certain trees you get higher percentage of bud takes than on others.
Mr. Chase: I think the question is a little confused. I think what you are after is, are there parent seed trees from which seed can be planted that would produce a good quality of seedlings.
Rev. Taylor: Yes, of good productive seedlings. No grafting to it.
Mr. Chase: I think that was answered. Apparently there are.
Rev. Taylor: Apparently there are in China, as Dr. Crane brought up.
Mr. Chase: He further brought up that those things are in the process of being tested here now, and he hopes for some information in—what was that?
Mr. Gravatt: We had Professor Beattie over in Japan, China, and Korea for two or three years, and he found in Japan that there were certain selections there, certain grafted varieties that they used for seed stock. We imported those into this country. We were getting ready to go ahead with the Japs. We also brought in a hundred varieties of Japanese chestnuts. But the Japanese varieties didn't do well here. What would produce well over in Japan didn't produce well here. But a number of those scions that we grafted in 1932 and 1933 are still living. We have had very good success with top-working chestnuts in our orchards. We have some grafts there of pure Chinese chestnuts top-worked on some worthless Japanese. Some of those have been there for 12 and 14 years, with perfect unions. But we do receive a number of reports of trees dying from blight and various other and sundry other causes and when we examine them quite frequently these have died back to where the trees had been grafted.
Rev. Taylor: I could enlarge on that question just a little bit to tie in with what Mr. O'Rourke said. If the nurserymen are going to propagate seedling trees for the trade for some time yet, where should they be advised to obtain their seed to get the best possible seedling trees?
Mr. Gravatt: In a lot of our regional distributions we sent out mixtures. In other places we would send out related seedlings, as "MY," "MZ," or "MAX," to different individuals. We have advised all nurseryman, all of our cooperators, to eliminate the Japanese; eliminate the hybrids. It gets down to pure Chinese. We have also advised again and again to take out the more worthless trees and propagate seed from the beat. But there are a lot of hybrid seeds with mixed parentage going into nursery trees.
Mr. McDaniel: How many people are going to take out trees now when they can sell the seeds for at least 50 cents or maybe even $2.00 a pound?
Mr. Gravatt: That's it. However, you take any of those Chinese trees over there at the Eastern Shore Nurseries, for example—nuts from all 19 of them have been sent over here, and they are all good eating. I have been over a lot of the seedlings of Hemming's trees. Mr. Hemming has several hundred at his own place. I have been over other orchard plantings. There is lot of variability among those seedlings. They are not as uniform as the parent tree, for some reason. Why, I don't know.
Mr. Chase: Mr. Howell, as a nurseryman, has propagated the Chinese chestnut tree. Would you care to make a few comments? Mr. Howell has Howell's Nursery in Knoxville and at Sweetwater, Tennessee, and I believe has some of Mr. Gravatt's early seedling trees and has produced a great quantity of seedlings.
Mr. Bruce Howell: A good many years ago we got from the Department five trees, and they grew and have all borne good nuts, and all chestnuts we have propagated since have been grown from seed from those five trees, and most of them are pretty good. One is a small nut, and among more recent seedlings we have got two of them that don't bear at all, or haven't so far. Now, we have got a bunch of them where they were set several years ago in nursery rows. At each end of each row the trees there bear very nice nuts, and when you get out through that row, the crowded trees don't bear at all.
I think those seedlings and those trees practically all make fairly good nuts and some of them excellent. I have got some samples. About six years ago I got a pound of imported Japanese I planted. The third year they bore and they have done very well, and all of them are about the same size chestnuts. They are as good as any after they are roasted or boiled. That's about all. A good many years ago, I guess 30 years ago, I grafted Paragon chestnuts, and they did well until the blight.
Rev. Taylor: Does anybody else have this trouble? In North Central Tennessee we usually have a warm spell about the Middle of February, plowing time. We expect it every year. And then these Chinese chestnuts are the quickest trees to let the buds swell, and the bark softens up all the way to the ground on the young ones. Then we nearly always have a pretty hard freeze, afterward. So, for several years after our experimental planting was set out there they would get killed clear to the ground next year. Is that something others have the same experience with? How do you go at correcting that?
After our trees got to be three or four or five inches in diameter they didn't kill back that way. The bark seemed to be tougher.
Mr. McDaniel: That's very common experience in Tennessee and, I might say, in north Alabama.
Rev. Taylor: Nothing you can do about it?
Mr. McDaniel: On some sites it is not nearly so bad as it is in other locations. A northern or eastern slope with good elevation seems to be best.
Mr. Frye: I have had some trouble and maybe, had a good education about frost pockets. If you get them in high elevations you escape that. I had that trouble two years ago. I got some Chinese trees from Dr. Smith, set them out. They were his best seedlings, three of them, and they started beautifully. I transplanted them. Just about that time they got nipped off. Did that three times and failed to come out the third time.
Pres. Davidson: One other remedy for that that I remember reading about, I am not quite sure in which of our Reports—maybe Mr. Becker was the author, and that is this: He said that he cultivates until August after which he plants cover crops, and he sows cover crops that grow and they hold back this vegetative growth in the late part of the year, and it is really the late vegetative growth that causes the destruction. After he adopted that plan he had very much less winter killing in his plantation. That might be one way of helping the situation.
Mr. Hardy: We have had some killing. Usually in the second year or the first year after we get killing down to the ground, if we will keep the stock pruned back to one shoot that one will make sufficient growth, become hardy enough to withstand any cold, or perhaps sun scald. Also wrapping the trunks of the trees with newspaper helps to prevent the variations in temperature, which in our section is what causes the cold injury. We don't have sufficient cold to cause absolute low-temperature injury, but we do have sudden drops just as you do in Tennessee, apparently, and wrapping with paper does help iron out those changes.
Mr. McDaniel: Wouldn't you suggest the paper wrap in the summer as well as the winter and spring?
Mr. Hardy: Yes.
Mr. Stoke: It is not only the planter of the trees that has sorrows along that line, but the nurseryman does also. I had some nursery seedlings growing on flat land, and they looked all right, passed the winter. When I went out to graft them I found that on these small stocks anywhere from the size of a lead pencil to the size of a finger, the cambium was discolored. It wasn't black nut brown. Any attempts I made to graft those failed, and yet many of those same trees grew on. They were stunted somewhat for a year or two, and they left a brown ring at that annual growth.
I would say that the best guarantee against that kind of thing is to plant your chestnut orchards—and the nurseries—to plant on land that is well air drained. Select the same site as you would for peaches.
Mr. Chase: I will say that we should have allowed more time for discussion. However, we have used up our alloted time for this period. Supper is at six o'clock, and we are due back here at 7:30. I don't know how you folks feel about this little session, but I certainly did enjoy it.
[Footnote 14: —Goldsworthy and his associates published several items along this line in 1948 issues of +Plant Disease Reporter+. His October 15, 1948 item reported a similar result of 25% technical DDT (with 75% clay) inhibiting growth of seedling peach roots on 1-year budded Elberta trees. As low as 25 pound per acre application affected growth in quartz sand cultures, whereas with certain soils, no significant difference was noted until an 800 lb. per acre level of the DDT was reached. It was surmised that possibly some unknown constituent in the technical DDT was responsible for the suppression of new root growth, and consequent slowing down of top growth. In the case of Blakemore strawberries, and also with peaches, this effect has persisted for at least two crop years. Goldsworthy and Dunegan say, "How many other economic crop plants may be injured is unknown, but it appears certain that some caution is necessary in the promiscuous use of the chemical on … plants, either as … sprays or as soil additions…." In these experiments, of course, the DDT-containing material was in direct contact with all the roots. Spray residues ordinarily would be present only in the surface layer of the soil, and should have much less effect on tree roots in that case.—J. C. McDaniel.]
[Footnote 15: —Dr. McKay of the U. S. D. A. found one tree only about 2.5% fruitful to its own pollen.—Ed.]
[Footnote 16: —There is a possibility of pollination from American chestnut sprouts in his vicinity.—Ed.]
Let's adjourn.
(Whereupon, at 5:30 p. m. the meeting was adjourned, to reconvene at 7:30 o'clock p. m. of the same day.)
+Evening Session+
President Davidson: The meeting will come to order, please. We first have the pleasure of hearing from Dr. C. A. Moss of Williamsburg, Kentucky, on Greetings from a Kentucky Nut. Dr. Moss.
Greetings from a Kentucky Nut
DR. C. A. MOSS, Williamsburg, Kentucky
I am glad to see all of these beautiful ladies here this evening. We just had dinner, and I presume I should make an after-dinner speech. I have always wanted to attend a Northern Nut Growers Association convention. I am more or less of what you might call a convention addict and speak on any occasion on slight provocation. I attended a convention at Quebec earlier this year, and after that I went on to Rio de Janiero in South America and attended another convention, but this privilege of being able to attend the Northern Nut Growers Association tops all the rest.
I am reminded of the tale of the man who rushed into the sheriff's office in Texas, and his gun was smoking, and he says, "I have killed a man." The sheriff said, "Who did you kill?" "Oh," he says, "I don't know his name. He is one of these after-dinner speakers." "You are in the wrong room," the sheriff said. "Go back in the hallway three doors to the right to the bounty room. They pay $5 a head for those."
My family fortunes, if there be any, were founded on nuts. My father when he was 16 years old was raised on Straight Creek near Pineville, Kentucky, some hundred miles away from Lexington, and they gathered up a wagonload of the old chestnuts, he and a hired man on my grandfather's place, and they took an ox team and took them to Lexington to peddle them out. It took them three weeks to make the return trip.
I come from Whitney County, Kentucky. It was named after old Colonel Whitney, the man who built the first brick house in Kentucky. It was in the fall of the year, and the mortar was freezing, and they mixed whiskey with their mortar to keep it from freezing.
When I get away from home they ask me if I am a Kentucky Colonel. That's one of the first things I hear, and I tell them that I am. And they want to know why they put that honor upon a small fellow like me, and I tell them it was on account of scientific research that I had done, that I had developed a new way of making egg-nog. I feed the chickens the whiskey mash and they lay bourbon-flavored eggs, and all you have to do is drop one in a glass of milk.
They always ask about the Kentucky Derby, and I tell them that the last
I heard Mint Julep was coming in on the home stretch strong.
I am not qualified with all of these experts to get up here and talk about nuts. They say an expert is a fellow that learns more and more about less and less until he knows practically everything about nothing at all; and that's kind of my shape, sir.
Now, seriously, I have had this hobby of trying to grow nuts for a number of years. I grafted a golf club on a croquet post, and I got some wonderful golf balls. Before the war I ordered some Chinese chestnuts. I got in touch with Sakata and Company in Yokahama, and they finally came in. I didn't have any experience, and about all I had was some imagination, and I planted them out in the fall of the year like I planted any other nuts. I went out in the spring and investigated. There wasn't a darn one come up. The rats had beat me to them and eaten them all up.
I was a persistent cuss and ordered some the next year, and I put them up in fruit jars and figured I would plant them in the spring, and when the spring came they all had the dry rot.
So I ordered them the third year, and I made sacks out of fly screen wire and put those nuts outside, and in the spring they came up and I had a lot of nice sprouts about this high and put them in a seed bed with a board all the way around. My father is blind in one eye, couldn't tell a chestnut from a weed, and he pulled up the weeds and he pulled all the chestnuts up except one.
The fourth year I had better success, and I raised that year 400-and-some-odd chestnut seedlings, and I did more or less the Johnny Appleseed stuff with those. I gave those away in the community. I am, among other things, a banker, and I figured those would be as good as calendars, and I have not been able to follow the history of them. However, there is one of them I think is exceptional. It's a self-pollinator and is bearing heavy crops, and I intend to follow that particular tree up.
A genius, he is no better than any of the rest of us. All a genius is is a fellow that's got good digestion so he can eat enough to work long hours and good eyesight so he don't get tired.
So I was reading in a magazine about the Crath English walnut. They sent the Reverend Mr. Crath over to Poland before the war, and I got four pounds of those nuts he collected, and planted them. And every spring a cold spell would come along and get them before I could cut any grafts off of them. And I planted a Nebraska pecan and got some grafts from it, and my wife said that tree never did have a chance because I kept cutting the prunes off so they couldn't grow. I got several to growing, and then they didn't fill out the nuts.
I was talking to a good doctor here from Baltimore last night. We ate dinner, at the same table here, and I told him I didn't see but one thing wrong with this Northern Nut Growers Association: It needed a lot of young people in it, because if it didn't they were going to have to hold a reunion over at the cemetery.
I have done a lot of grafting, and I am not going into the details of that. I am going to say that I am glad to be here, I give you greetings from Kentucky, and I hope that I will meet you all again.
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President Davidson: That certainly was refreshing, Dr. Moss. We enjoyed it.
Next on the program is Dr. Aubrey Richards, Whiteville, Tennessee, who is not here. Nuts for West Tennessee is the subject of that paper, and Secretary MacDaniel will read it for us.
Nut Trees for West Tennessee
AUBREY RICHARDS, M.D., Whiteville, Tennessee
At the present time I am attempting to grow 14 grafted varieties of Chinese and Japanese chestnuts, plus numerous hybrids and seedlings, eight varieties of black walnut, 5 named Persian and 18 unnamed Carpathians, 5 heartnuts, 5 hickory and hickory hybrids, 12 pecans, and 7 hazels and filberts. The total number of trees, including all varieties, is well over three hundred. A few of the trees have been under my observation for 11 years on down to some that I have just acquired.
I shall not bore you with a list of unsatisfactory varieties nor with the ones that have not had sufficient observation in this section, but shall confine my remarks to less than two dozen varieties.
Pecans I shall touch only lightly, as they are a highly specialized crop only a little farther south. Stuart and Success are favorites here. Schley and Mahan are good if scab can be controlled. Sun scald on newly planted trees is our greatest problem, which I control by a paper wrap made by cutting two inch sections from a 36 inch roll of cheap felt-base wall paper. It gradually weathers away during the second summer. I wrap from the top down in a spiral, and when I reach the bottom, I place a hand full of earth on the end of the paper. No tying is required. In this way I have reduced the mortality rate of young nut trees greatly. I am also a strong believer in cover crops and mulching, for Tennessee weather is very temperamental.
Although we get ample rainfall per annum, it is often not well distributed, especially during mid-summer. During the winter we have several days of balmy spring weather with a drop to possibly below zero occuring overnight.
Thomas black walnut grows well here, but tends to over-bear, with many poorly filled nuts on alternate years. I counted an average of 8 nuts per lineal foot of bearing wood on one tree this season.
Snyder and Stambaugh are excellent nuts, setting about all they can mature.
Elmer Myers is a beautiful thin shelled nut, but so far a little shy in bearing. I believe this can be corrected if I can find another walnut that will shed pollen late enough to catch the Myers pistils. Homeland may be the one to do it. I have set some grafts of it with the Myers to see.
Carpathian D, and a variety of unknown origin from Haywood County are the only Persian walnuts I have fruited. This tree of unknown origin grows alone, is at least 50 years old, is three feet in diameter, has a spread of 40 feet, and is about the same in height. Some years it produces a heavy crop, others, nothing. To my knowledge, it has received no care in the past 20 years.
My 18 Carpathians are all growing with varying vigor and resistance to leaf spot. None has shown winter injury.
Of all the heartnuts, Rhodes is my favorite. The nut does not appear to be as large as some, but the kernel is just as heavy, due to its compact shape which causes it to fall out when the nut is cracked. It is self-pollenizing and also a good pollenizer for all my other varieties, shedding pollen over a long period of time, although it is the latest of all in producing its pistils. It grows vigorously on black walnut stock.
Rush seems to be the best filbert for this section. Its catkins are usually hardy here.
Chestnut trees, like gray ghosts, still reach their naked arms high on many West Tennessee hillsides, and occasionally one finds a farmer splitting posts from their remains, for chestnut is an enduring wood. A few of these tenacious individuals are still sending up sprouts that may reach considerable size before they are again struck down.
I have had no serious trouble with blight in any of the named chestnut varieties, either Chinese or Japanese. I have lost some trees by its entrance into the seedling stock, but not many. My greatest headache has been sun-scald and winter killing, or to be more exact, "early spring" killing.
One of the juvenile characteristics of oriental chestnuts is the retention of their leaves all winter. They also grow in a rather sprangling way. This is a protective mechanism, and when we prune them to an upright form, or graft, this wood having lost its juvenile characteristics, we are inviting trouble unless we protect the trunk in some other way. I prefer to use a paper wrap as described under Pecans, as it is quickly done and is inexpensive. This also gives protection to immature callus cells at bud or graft union.
Of the older Chinese chestnut varieties in my hands, Hobson has excelled, with large chestnuts (34 to the pound in 1948.) Zimmerman also produces a good nut. Colossal (Hybrid) is very productive and produces the largest nuts of any chestnut that I have seen grown in Tennessee, but the quality of the raw nut is not equal to Hobson. It refuses to grow on Chinese stock, but thrives on Japanese. It is pollen sterile. I have several newer varieties under observation and although they are growing vigorously I have not had time to form an opinion on them.
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President Davidson: The Reverend Bernard Taylor of Alpine, Tennessee, will next read a paper on The Marketing of Black Walnuts as a Community Project. Mr. Taylor.
Marketing Black Walnuts as a Community Project
THE REV. BERNARD TAYLOR, Alpine, Tennessee
The Rev. Mr. Taylor: I suppose that every community where black walnuts grow wild has a marketing of some kind, some kind of a plan of marketing, maybe just what every boy or every man who has some spare time or some of the womenfolks may do to make something out of the walnuts that are lying around.
In the community of Alpine, which is in Overton County, people used to go out on the ridge with wagons and bring home wagonloads of walnuts, and they would sell them either in the shell or they would crack them and sell them in pretty poor condition, however they could sell them. When we first began selling walnut kernels in Alpine we got 19 cents a pound for the kernels, and that was more than they were worth, I believe, because they were dirty, greasy, and they had mildew gobs in the bunches of kernels. So I don't know how the rolling stores that came around that way could make anything out of them trading them in at that price.
Then we began to study the Government bulletins on how to produce good walnut kernels, and there is a good bulletin on that; all of you are acquainted with it, probably. When we began to harvest those nuts and hull them as quickly as we could and wash them and dry them out thoroughly and then crack them before they got too dry, we organized what was called the Walnut Club. This Walnut Club mostly was composed of some of the women of the community who lived up in one little cove where the limestone outcroppings seem to favor the walnut and the air drainage or whatever it was seemed to favor the crop yields rather regularly. We don't have an every-year good walnut crop.
Well, these women got finally so that they could get 35 cents a pound for their walnut kernels, then 45 cents a pound. Then we found a good friend in Pennsylvania who would take those kernels, all we could send her, and put them up in little pound packages and sell them for whatever she could get and send us all the money. That's altogether contrary to Hoyle I guess.
You merchants, if there are some of you here, who are dealers in walnut kernels know that our people were just getting spoiled. Anytime now that a merchant says, "I will give you such-and-such a price for the walnuts and then I will sell them for such-and-such a price," he looks to them like a robber. They want to sell them for what the people pay who eat them. That isn't quite fair, maybe, but we got $1.39 a pound last year for all the kernels we could produce, and the year before it was $1.40, I believe, and it stays about that price.
That is about the story of the community project. It is a direct contact by way of a benevolent friend between people in the mountains in Tennessee and people in Pennsylvania who say that these kernels taste better than black walnut kernels in Pennsylvania taste. I don't know whether any Pennsylvanians here agree with that or not. I think they are wonderfully mild-flavored, a good many of them very light-colored kernels. Though Mr. Chase has made some beautiful exhibits of how the color changes depending on how long a time you leave them in the hull, we still have some that stay lighter than others. Some of them have rather gray-colored kernels.
There is one of those trees that Mrs. Ledbetter has, on her husband's farm. He was about to sell that tree for a log and a stump. They come along and grub the stumps out and sell the stumps and all for veneerwood. But she wouldn't let him sell it, and over the course of the last few years they sold enough kernels more than to pay for that walnut tree and it is still going to yield a good many years, probably better and better as time goes on.
I think that possibly the community angle of this is a little bit misrepresenting. It's not the entire community, but it is a little group of the community who are interested in the wild black walnut.
Last spring we were very fortunate in having some help in grafting some of the seedlings. This Mrs. Ledbetter's husband got interested in walnuts, and he planted a whole pasture with walnuts spaced every so often, and this spring we went there with the help of God and were able to graft those to Thomas black walnuts. They were just little seedlings, so we hope to go into the named black walnuts as time goes on.
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President Davidson: May I ask, Mr. Taylor, the people, of course, now comply with the Government regulations on pasteurization and so on?
Mr. Taylor: Never heard of it. You will have to tell me about that after a while, if you will, please.
President Davidson: Mr. Shadow, the County Agent of Decatur, Meigs County, Tennessee, will tell his experiences with tree crops in that county.
Experiences with Tree Crops in Meigs County, Tennessee
W. A. SHADOW, Meigs County Agent, Decatur, Tennessee
Mr. Shadow: Mr. Chairman and members of the Nut Growers Association: As President Davidson announced, I am an agricultural agent. About twelve years ago I thought it would be good to have a hobby, and since I was born and reared in the nursery world propagating fruit trees and ornamentals, and due to the fact that John Hershey came by one day and talked to me about the tree crops in the Tennessee Valley, it struck me just right, and I have made that my hobby.
You know, every man who has a job gets fed up on his job and needs to get out and play with himself, or something else, to forget his troubles. So I find in propagating nut trees, top-working them, if you will, top-working trees where I find them to named varieties, is very interesting to me.
John Hershey taught me the technique of grafting nut trees. I had grafted and budded in all kinds of ornamentals and fruits, but I needed training in nut trees. So in the spring of 1935, I guess, I grafted about a hundred Thomas black walnut on trees where I found them in the woodland. At the same time I grafted maybe a hundred Japanese persimmon of possibly a dozen varieties on the common native persimmon. I purchased three, four, maybe five Japanese persimmons and planted these trees in the spring of 1935. All these persimmons, maybe 60 or 70 of them, grew nicely. The Thomas grew very well, and the winter of 1939 or 1940, I don't recall just which, was rather severe. We had below-zero weather, and all of my persimmons were killed—I thought. The next year I found a persimmon tree up in the woods with maybe a peck of great big nice persimmons and later I found that that was a Fuyugaki persimmon. All the rest of mine were winter killed. Those that I purchased were winter killed the first year. I don't know why. I grafted the persimmon about 5 feet high. Those that were grafted at the ground I noticed winter killed the first year, and these that are grafted up about shoulder high seemed to live three or four years before they winter killed, and the one variety that survived as Mr. Kline and Mr. Chase, or someone, has told, is Fuyugaki, I believe. I have a Tamopan persimmon, a great big, nice persimmon about so big, but bitter as the dickens, and about the only thing I think it is good for is to look at. It is pretty. But the Fuyugaki is never bitter. It is very tasty even partially green, and as it ripens my lady thinks it is very good, and I think it is good, myself.
I have about two or three varieties of mulberries. I got them from Glen St. Mary Nurseries in Florida. They make awfully good pig feed and bird feed, and I don't mind eating them myself.
There are some honeylocust, Millwood and Calhoun. I purchased several seedlings of thornless honeylocust from some northwestern nursery and grafted them to Millwood and Calhoun. I also have four trees that are ten years old and they have never borne. Last year there was one tree of that hundred that bore heavily, and the rest of them are barren. It must be lack of pollenization, or something. I am not getting fruit from my honeylocust.
Someone asked me what I am going to do with all this stuff, and I said, "Well, the squirrels and I will have lots of fun anyhow, and the cows will eat the honeylocust if they ever bear."
I have two pecan trees that are bearing nicely. One is a Posey and the other is a Greenriver, bearing very nicely. They are about ten years old. I have some Schley and Delmas and Mahan, and they are not bearing. I don't know why. We are out of the realm of the southern pecan and too far south for the northern pecan, I am afraid.
My Persian walnut, heartnut and Japanese walnut think it is spring too quick, and every year they burst out and grow about so long, and then they fall down and die from freezing, and then they grow out, and this time of the year you look at them and you say, "That's a beautiful tree," But they freeze just enough to get the fruit each year.
Mr. McDaniel came by last spring a year ago and left with me a little scion of a Carpathian walnut, the Bayer selection. I wasn't present, but he left it with my lady and suggested to my lady that I would know what to do with it. I put it on a common black walnut grafted about so high, and it is ten feet high now growing nicely, but this spring I noticed that it, too, thought the spring was here before it was here. I don't know how it is going to bear. I may have to take it out on top of the hill and re-graft it on a high place where it has more air drainage.
Of the Chinese chestnut, I planted about a hundred, but I planted them in a cut-over woodland that was full of native chestnut sprouts. You know how the chestnut sprouts will do. They grow up and blight out and die down, and another sprout comes from the stump. They have been doing that for 30 years over in my part of the country. I planted these chestnuts purposely in that grove where there was lots of blight. Out of that hundred I have eight trees that are alive. The rest of them have died from blight. They are bearing very nicely, but I haven't learned how to care for those fruits so that they are good a long period of time. Someone just told me that you had someone on the program this morning who would tell us that. It is a very interesting subject for me.
And the Thomas walnut is a nice black walnut. The trees are a little bit peculiar about their bearing; sometimes they bear heavily and again they forget to bear. The Stabler doesn't bear at all for me. I just know they are Stablers because someone told me so. I have them labeled. I have Creitz black walnut. I got five from TVA four or five years ago, and they just literally bear themselves to death. They're about so high and bear every year, very nice nuts. I will have to pull the walnuts off long enough to make them grow up and make real trees. I think they are going to be all right.
Mr. Chairman, I am not an expert. I use my hobby to keep from bothering about the troubles that I have with other things, and when I get mad at a neighbor I go to playing on my trees, and it gets me well. I recommend it as a very soothing hobby.
Now, some day we will make a business out of tree crops when we in Tennessee get the bugs out of it and get them so we will have the right varieties to produce. I am not satisfied with the Thomas. Someone suggested it was a wonderful nut. I am not satisfied with it. We need a better walnut than the Thomas. But it's the best I have.
There is a native walnut I found in the valley near Watts Bar Dam. I named it Pineland. It is just a seedling. It is a most wonderful nut if it wasn't for its hard shell. It's hard as the dickens. It is a wonderful bearer, has borne every year for nine years. It happens to be in unusually good soil. But I have grafted a few up away from the river, and the grafted trees are bearing nicely. The trouble is it is hard, but it is a wonderful good kernel and it is a big nut.
Groups like this working with tree crops and nuts over a period of time will develop the right varieties, and if we can get some youngsters interested—and I am in my county getting some youngsters interested in grafting—and tell them not to expect too much but get a whole lot of satisfaction out of the fun of producing something, I think this will be the beginning. Or rather, you have been going a long time. This is a means of progress in tree crops that I am well pleased to take a part in. Mr. Chairman, I think that's about all that I have.
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President Davidson: I know we all wish we had more county agents like that, interested in trees and interested in young folks. Those two things should go together. I wish you would just sort of propagate that idea when you meet other county agents, won't you, Mr. Shadow?
Now, then, Mr. Frye of Pleasant Dale, West Virginia, will tell us something about Nut Hobbying in Eastern West Virginia.
Nut Hobbying in Eastern West Virginia
WILBERT M. FRYE, Pleasant Dale, West Virginia
Mr. Frye: After hearing such wonderful speeches as we have had, with your reading, Mr. McDaniel, I wish I could be all of us, but as it is, I am just myself. I don't know how many know where Pleasant Dale is, but anyhow, you know where Washington, D. C. is; I live just along U. S. 50 and my section is 103 miles west of Washington, D. C. That will locate where we are.
This section of the country is composed of a lot of long ridges with steep hills, narrow valleys, some of them very fertile. These valleys form bases where you will get the draft off these hills down into the valleys. You must keep all the fruit and most of the nut trees out of those places, or you have these frost spots that I have been telling some of you about.
As far back as people can remember that country has been covered with all kinds of nuts except the European (Persian or "English") walnuts, and the early people coming in there used these nuts for food, and the chestnut was their main one. Whenever a person clearing the land found a nice tree he would save it. Then he would show much pride in having a good tree, and it kept on going until there became a rivalry as to who had the best chestnut tree. Some had an orchard of them.
When the blight hit the country I had an orchard of chestnut trees. When I saw the first blight in the top of a tree I didn't like the looks. I kept noticing that. It kept on coming down the tree, and it killed the base. The total result was everybody lost their hobby trees, and then soon they changed to something else.
Now, when the blight took the chestnut out of the country the people began to pride themselves on the walnut, who had the best walnut, who had the best shagbark in the country.
Some distance from where I am is a two-acre grove, a wonderful grove of our larger nuts. Some places it is called kingnut and some places they call it under the name of this big one in the show room, shellbark. Anyhow, there were two acres there and real moist meadows, and every once in a while the frost would kill those nuts, and the next year they would have a wonderful crop. So the climate determines whether we have an annual crop or an intermittent crop on these trees.
Then I always liked to mess around with hobbies with nature. I became interested, got to wondering who did have the best of the best. Then I began to go out and visit all of these farms and ask them for a certain number of the best, and I began to send them around to Mr. Reed and Mr. Zarger and other people to take their word on it. And, of course, I have located some that cracked very well. But every once in a while somebody tells me they have got a better one yet, and the other day I ran across a fellow a hundred miles away—he happened to hear about me, and I have a neighbor who knows him—who has a black walnut that looks like a Persian walnut. So you see, I have a trip of a hundred miles to make to see what he's got. I wrote to him just before I left. I wrote to him to send me at least 20 of those nuts, and just as soon as this fellow sends me the nuts I would come up and see him and later on would try to get some grafting wood and send down to Mr. Zarger of the TVA group.
My job is not to keep them to myself but to put out the best. So we have those different nuts, and now it is time to consolidate the best in what we have and get them in the hands of the nut growers groups and those who will put them out and really make use of them. But first we want to see these best trees all over the country. Some of them are not as good for timber as the others, but I like to incorporate the timber with the nut production.
We talked about the black walnut earlier today. The speaker was not saying much about flavor. That's one thing we want to do in all of our nut work, get as good a flavor as we can. So why not get the best and go putting it out to give it to everybody. Why keep anything within ourselves? That's the main thing we can do.
A brother was talking a while ago about this nut job, a community nut job. Now, two years ago—I will have to use my dad, who is 82 years old, as a little reference—my dad cracked 83 pounds of black walnuts from just the best of them, you might say. Sold them at a price of $1.49 a pound. So that wasn't bad, was it? I thought that was right good.
Last year we didn't have a nut in there because we had a freeze on the 31st of May of around 26° to 28°, depending on where you were and the location. But then in the fall on the 23rd of September we had another drop just when everything was in full growth, due to a dry spell and then a rain. But in the fall on the 23rd of September we had a drop down to 20, so that was what happened to all the remaining nuts in that country. They were just frozen like black mummies.
I had what they call the Texas Thinshell black walnut. I have one tree that is about eight or nine feet high, maybe ten feet high, had 45 nuts on it, nice big ones, and they just looked like mummies, and it made me heartsick, of course. I went out there and looked at the things, and they fell off the tree. I thought, "Well, I might just as well experiment. I will dig me a little trench here along the garden, I will put these in and see what happens." To my surprise 20 of them came up after being frozen. So that might be a question: Will things sprout or germinate without reaching maturity?[17] I don't know how much maturity they had. They certainly weren't in full growth when they were frozen. That's one thing we want to see.
My main aim is just to grow things, for hobby purposes and see just what will grow. Last year we had such a hectic year from that late spring freeze and early fall freeze it discouraged me here where I am, in this frost pocket at an elevation of 1,050 feet. And I said, "Now, on the hill about 4 miles away and 300 feet higher they have a wonderful place for peaches." I have a friend who lives up there, and he has so many peach trees missing in his old orchard. I said, "How about setting out some nut trees in your peach orchard?" Ho said, "Go to it." I set out a nut tree wherever there is a peach tree out. So that gave me a chance to see what they would do. Last spring I started that too late, but I set out 45 or 50 trees, filberts, Persian walnuts, pecans, chestnuts and persimmons, and I will just see what they will do.
And today my kind friend who gave a talk on the nut trees from down in Alabama gave me seed to plant. I expect to put a row of those out and see what they will do. The land I am planting them on at one time was just a great mass of chestnuts, and this friend there on one of those sections, of about three acres, had cut 35,000 feet of this dead timber after the chestnut blight killed them.
That blight was a terrible shock to us. One thing I did note when it came on, prior to the chestnut blight in that country there were these little chipmunks, which, everybody knows, eat chestnuts. You couldn't hear yourself think for the little chipmunks chipping all over the country. You know, they carried off all the nuts. You had to be smart to beat them to them. When the chestnuts disappeared, the chipmunks disappeared, and there were eight or ten years when you were lucky if you got to hear one. In the meantime those little fellows have changed. They died, a lot of them, but now they have learned to eat something else, and now they are coming back.
That little chipmunk always amused me, because I loved to go out and play with the squirrels and things like that. Anyhow, it's just pure hobby work, and as Mr. Shadow says you can get over a mad spell and get out close to nature, because in this nut work you can't get any closer to God's work than to get out and get something better. I think that's all I have to say.
[Footnote 17: Some other members have reported similar behavior of frost-bitten and poorly filled black walnuts.—Ed.]
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President Davidson: Those of you who know Mr. Frye know that he works as well as he talks, and that's pretty good.
Is Mr. Tatum here? (No response.) In that case I am told that Dr.
Rohrbacher will read a paper by Mr. Tatum of Lebanon, Kentucky on "A
Look, Backward and Forward, Into Nut Growing in Kentucky." Dr
Rohrbacher.
A Look "Backward and Forward" into Nut Growing in Kentucky
W. G. TATUM, Route 4, Lebanon, Kentucky
The lumberman's ax, the chestnut blight, forest fires, and the "new ground" hill farmer, together, have destroyed many thousands of our beautiful Kentucky forest acres. Much of this one time "nature lover's paradise" is now ugly, barren, and eroded, and too poor to give a living to either man or beast. Wanton destruction of God-given treasure and beauty is a sin and a shame. Thanks to the men of vision and foresight of the U.S.D.A., state agricultural colleges, and our own fraternity of nut tree lovers, this slaughter is coming to a halt at last. Our fellow citizens are being awakened to the real value of their woodlands. Much reforestation of these steep barren wastes is already under way.
We, of THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INC., can look back to many mistakes we have made in the selection of varieties for our respective climates and soils. Our dates and methods of grafting, budding, and transplanting have not always been right. We have gotten hold of scionwood that we were most sure would not grow when we used it, but we did use it, hoping, and most of it did fail, as we expected.
In our Association, we have a large group of wise experimenters on varieties and methods, well placed all over the U. S. and I have every confidence that, in time, many commercially profitable varieties, and better methods will reward their research. But in the meantime, we should all keep ever on the alert for a new and better idea, or variety.
Here in Central Kentucky, of the many black walnuts I have under test, only Thomas, Victoria, and Eureka have the tendency toward young and heavy bearing. These three do show great promise in my section as young and heavy croppers. And they are all top-bracket nuts, according to tests made by expert testers. There may be newer ones better than these, and we hope there will be yet better ones turn up continually in the future.
There are at least a few Persian walnuts that show promise in my location. Of varieties I have of bearing age, only four are worthy of mention. These are Broadview, Elmore, "Crath-Dunstan No. I" and "Crath-Edmunds No. 3." All of the above have borne well on two year old grafts on large black walnut stocks. Their nuts are in my opinion excellent.
Wright and Walters heartnuts seem well adapted here, and are doing equally well for me on Japanese, butternut, and black rootstocks. These are the only two I have old enough to bear, and they are bearing their first few nuts each this season. I would like to add here, that the wild nut crop in general in my section, is very light, and these nut trees that I mention as bearing this season, are the more to be noticed for their crops in this year of bad nut crops. I am trying "buartnuts" and butternuts, which are growing satisfactorily, but not large enough for a crop.
This is wonderful natural chestnut territory. All of the many Chinese seedlings I have, and the few grafted ones, are growing nicely, and quite a number have burs on them when only about belt high to an average man. I am anxious to get graftwood of superior individuals as they come out, for propagation here in my own planting. I believe this to be a good home for any good chestnut. No blight is showing to date in either my seedlings or grafted ones.
I live on rather deep, fertile upland, and am quite hopeful of good results from many of the Northern pecan varieties that I am trying. The oldest trees I have are only five years old, on small seedling stocks and hardly old enough to yield a crop for at least another five years. Major, Greenriver, Busseron, and Fisher are my oldest, and are making rapid growth. Stuart, of the Southern group, is bearing quite well for my friend, Lewis Edmunds, a few miles southwest of me, and he says it matures its nuts well before frost, but insects cause a goodly part of the crop to fall prematurely.
I have quite a collection of the better known grafted shagbarks on my woodland. These are mostly on wild shagbark stocks. They are all growing well, but I have had no nuts from them as yet. Grainger is the fastest grower of the lot.
To make my nut tree project complete, I have quite a long row of filberts and hazels, set hedge row fashion, which include quite a list of varieties. Those that bear quite regular and heavy crops include four "Jones Hybrids," Winkler hazel, two un-named hazels, and Barcelona filbert.
I have persimmons, too, both American and Chinese named varieties. My
Chinese are young and not bearing yet, but doing well. Kansas and
Josephine are my choice of the natives.
I am trying Millwood and Shessler honeylocusts for the first time this year. They are beautiful grafts, and I am looking forward to the pleasure and profit of adding them to my hill cow pasture in a year or two.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, very much, Dr. Rohrbacher. We have 15 minutes before the next order comes on the program. Suppose you take a recess right now.
(A recess was taken.)
(Mr. William J. Wilson from Georgia showed moving pictures of his pecan orchard.)
President Davidson: The next order of business, we will now hear a report of the Committee on Black Walnut Standards and Judging by Dr. L. H. MacDaniels.
Round Table Discussion on Judging Schedule for Black Walnuts
DR. L. H. MacDANIELS, Chairman
Dr. MacDaniels: During the year your committee has worked on the problem of setting up a judging schedule for black walnuts, mainly through correspondence. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to get together for discussion. Had we done so, I'm sure we could have achieved close agreement upon essentials. As it is, there are several phases of the problem upon which we would like the judgment of the association members. As far as this group here is concerned, I am quite sure that we can't profitably go into a discussion of the various details and ramifications of a judging schedule. I do think, however, that we might discuss the problem of whether our point of view in developing such a schedule should be that of the value of a variety for the commercial buyer or for home use. As far as the committee is concerned, Mr. Chase favors the home use angle. Clarence Reed and Mr. Stoke have not expressed themselves definitely one way or the other. Mr. Stoke is here, and I expect that he will say something about it.
I would like to open discussion on this question at this time, unless you want to go back to the consideration of whether it is desirable or possible, to have any such schedule, at all. May we assume that this is desirable?
Mr. Weber: Could we have a double standard, one for the commercial grower and one for the home grower?
Dr. MacDaniels: In my judgment it would be better to try one at a time.
Another schedule can be developed later.
Mr. Weber: Have you any particular preference, Dr. MacDaniels?