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.

NORTHERN

NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION

REPORT

OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING

ITHACA, NEW YORK

DECEMBER 14 AND 15,

1911

PRESS OF THE ITHACA JOURNAL
ITHACA, NEW YORK
1912

Errata

Page 3, under "Officers" transpose addresses of President and Vice-President.
Page 23, line 5, for "Pennsylvania" read "Louisiana."
Page 103, line 2, for "Siebold" read "Nebo."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OFFICERS

MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION

Constitution and Rules of the Northern Nut Growers Association.

Name. The society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association.

Object. The promotion of interest in nut-producing plants, their products and their culture.

Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality, subject to the approval of the committee on membership.

Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, and a secretary-treasurer; an executive committee of five persons, of which the president, vice-president and secretary shall be members; and a state vice-president from each state represented in the membership of the association.

Election of Officers. A committee of five members shall be elected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers for the subsequent year.

Meetings. 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 executive committee 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 executive committee.

Fees. The fees shall be of two kinds, annual and life. The former shall be two dollars, the latter twenty dollars.

Discipline. The committee on membership may make recommendations to the association as to the discipline or expulsion of any member.

Committees. The association shall appoint standing committees of three members each to consider and report on the following topics at each annual meeting: first, on promising seedlings; second, on nomenclature; third, on hybrids; fourth, on membership; fifth, on press and publication.

The Northern Nut Growers Association

President Schurman, whose time at this period of the year is much monopolized and who is by previous engagements occupied very completely this morning, has asked me to say to you that he hoped to be able to come over and join us informally some time during the afternoon. I wish then to impress the thought that, although the official representatives of the University and College are not with us, they have not forgotten this meeting. As a member of the Executive Committee, in charge of the sessions, I have made up a tentative program for this morning for the purpose of starting the meeting off; and as the President will undoubtedly tell you later on, this program is subject to revision and change according to the convenience of the members. It is proposed to occupy this morning with regular program subjects, and it has been suggested that this afternoon we take a couple of hours' leisure which we may use in examining the exhibits or in viewing the University, if you care to consider that an exhibit worth while. It will be our pleasure to furnish guides for those who desire to make an excursion around and through the University buildings.

Let me say in conclusion that I hope you will make use of the opportunities and facilities that are at your full disposal. The Department of Horticulture is located on the second floor. I would like you to make that office your headquarters, and make use of our clerical force, and such facilities as are available, to the fullest measure possible, so that your visit will be pleasant, as I am sure it will be profitable.

President Morris: The next order of business will be the report from the Secretary-Treasurer, and the report of the last meeting.

Doctor Deming: A meeting for organization of Northern Nut Growers was held, on the invitation of Dr. N. L. Britton, at the Botanical Museum in Bronx Park, New York City, on Nov. 17th, 1910.

Dr. Britton called the meeting to order, stated its purpose and presented specimens.

Those present were:

• Dr. N. L. Britton, Director N. Y. Botanic Gardens.
• Dr. Robert T. Morris, 616 Madison Ave., New York City.
• Prof. John Craig, of Cornell University.
• Mr. T. P. Littlepage, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C.
• Mr. A. B. Malcomson, Orange, N. J.
• Mr. Henry Hales, Ridgewood, N. J.
• Mrs. Joseph L. Lovett, Emilie, Bucks County, Pa.
• Mrs. Yardly (with Mrs. Lovett).
• Dr. Geo. Knapp, (at the request of Simpson Bros., Vincennes, Ind.) 21
• Claremont Ave., New York City.
• Mr. C. A. Schwartze, 92 Stagg St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
• Mr. Nash, of the Botanical Museum.
• Dr. W. C. Deming, Westchester, New York City.

On the retirement of Dr. Britton Dr. Deming acted as temporary chairman and read a number of letters from persons interested in nut culture encouraging the formation of an association.

The chairman appointed Prof. Craig, Dr. Morris and Mr. Littlepage a committee to draw up a tentative constitution or set of working rules until permanent organization could be effected. The committee made the following report which was adopted with the understanding that the executive committee should consider the question of constitution and by-laws and report at the next regular meeting.

Name. The society shall be known as the Northern Nut Growers Association.

Object. The promotion of interest in nut-producing plants, their products and their culture.

Membership. Membership in the society shall be open to all persons who desire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residence or nationality.

Officers. There shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary-treasurer and an executive committee of five persons, of which latter the president and secretary shall be members.

Meetings. The association shall hold an annual meeting on or about Nov. 15 and such other special meetings as may seem desirable, these to be called by the president and executive committee.

Fees. The fees shall be of two kinds, annual and life. The former shall be $2.00, the latter $20.00.

In addition to the large number of letters showing a wide spread interest in nut growing, communications of especial interest were received from Prof. W. N. Hutt, State Horticulturist of North Carolina, Mr. W. N. Roper, former editor of the American Fruit and Nut Journal, and from Mr. Henry Hicks of Westbury, Long Island.

The election of officers resulted as follows:

President—Dr. Robert T. Morris, New York City.

Vice-President—Mr. T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C.

Secretary-Treasurer—Dr. W. C. Deming, Westchester, New York City.

Executive Committee: Prof. John Craig, Cornell University; Henry Hales, Ridgewood, N. J.; Prof. C. P. Close, College Park, Md.

Exhibits of nuts, nut literature, trees, grafting methods, a budding tool, etc., were received and shown from nineteen different contributors. A detailed account of these has been published and is on file.

The following resolution, introduced by Mr. T. P. Littlepage, was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, that the Northern Nut Growers' Association express its appreciation of the attitude of the National Nut Growers' Association in encouraging the organization of associations which have for their purpose the development of the nut industry, and we hereby pledge our support to, and our cooperation with, said National Nut Growers' Association. And be it further

Resolved, that we hereby acknowledge our great obligation to the many pioneer nut growers of the South who have done so much to put nut culture on a scientific basis, and that we express to them our deep gratitude for the fund of valuable information and data which they have worked out and made available.

The meeting then adjourned.

The Secretary-Treasurer has received for membership fees $108.00, and expended for postage, printing and stationery, telephone and telegrams, $59.27. Remaining in treasury, $48.73.

The following leaflets were issued during the year:

A reprint of Dr. Morris's article "Nut Culture for Physicians."

A list of societies, books and other publications devoted to nut culture.

A list of some of the chief nurserymen carrying nut trees in stock.

The President also published in the Garden Magazine for May an article on nut culture, in which he referred to our organization, as a result of which some 45 letters of inquiry were received by the secretary, covering the country from Canada to Texas and from British Columbia to Panama.

The leaflets, and notices of the annual meeting, have been sent to about 321 addresses, including the members, agricultural journals, nurserymen and nut dealers, government and state officials, state horticulturists, correspondents and persons who it was thought might be interested.

The following letter was sent to 21 leading nurserymen:

Two nurserymen have accepted the invitation. Evidently the others do not yet think the northern nut grower one whose acquaintance is worth cultivating. We hope to convince them to the contrary.

The following letter has been sent to the state horticulturists of the northern states and the provinces of Canada.

Cordial replies have been received from M. B. Cummings, Secretary of the Vermont Horticultural Society; from Le Roy Cady, Chief of the Division of Horticulture, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station; and from J. H. Poster, Professor of Forestry, New Hampshire Agricultural College.

Fifty postal card reminders of this meeting were sent to members and others a week ago.

The secretary has also made investigation by correspondence on the hickory bark beetle and the identity of Juglans mandshurica.

The response from all communications to the various officials of the Department of Agriculture at Washington has been prompt, cordial, interesting and helpful. This should certainly be very encouraging, if encouragement is needed, coming from men likely to be far-seeing as to the needs for, and the possibilities of, nut culture. Prof. Frederick V. Coville is conducting experiments in rooting hickory cuttings sent by the secretary. Prof. Walter Swingle offers his cooperation in experiments in propagation.

The general correspondence received by the secretary shows an interest and an enthusiasm that reveals the growing appreciation of the importance of the purposes for which this association stands.

(The following figures are brought up to date of going to press.)

Eighteen of our 60 members are from New York, 8 from Connecticut, 6 from Pennsylvania, 4 from New Jersey and Illinois, 3 from the District of Columbia, 2 each from Indiana, Virginia and Minnesota, and one each from Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Panama and Canada. Thus seventeen states, the District of Columbia, Panama and Canada are represented in our membership.

Eight of our members are women, one of them a life member, nine are professional nurserymen, eight are physicians, six are connected with educational institutions, three are lawyers, five agriculturists, two at least are capitalists, and all expect to be, two are in literature and there are one each of the following: clergyman, painter, insurance, secretary, railroads, senator.

The national association has 273 members of whom 52 are from the northern states. We ought to have all of these.

The secretary is keeping a record of the scattered articles, communications to agricultural journals and other literature relating to nut growing. He would consider it a favor if the members would send him information of anything of this kind that may come to their knowledge.

Mr. Littlepage: I move that the report of the Secretary-Treasurer be approved.

Professor Craig: I second that motion. I would like to add just a word, to the effect that it seems to me that the Secretary has started out in a very promising manner. He has not merely performed the routine duties of the secretary, but he has studied the case, and has presented in an analytical and striking form a good many facts not apparent on the surface, had he only given us the stereotyped matter in the conventional way; and it seems to me that this augurs well for the future of the Secretary's office. I trust he can keep up the gait. (Carried.)

Professor Craig: May I say that it seems to me there are one or two matters arising out of the Secretary's report which are worthy of special action? One is the question of the invasion of the Scolytus beetle; the other is the nomenclature of Juglans mandshurica. It occurs to me that it might be well to appoint committees on these subjects to report during the sessions of the society. I might say on the Scolytus matter, that I have conferred with Professor Comstock, who has been kind enough to say he would place the matter in the hands of one of his assistants, who will present to the society the latest we have on that subject; and in the event of a committee being appointed, I would suggest that that person, Professor Herrick, be made the chairman of that committee.

President Morris: I will appoint Professor Herrick and Professor Craig on the scolytus committee, and on the nomenclature committee I will appoint Doctor Deming and Mr. Barron.

In this connection, I will have to say, however, that I neglected to bring my correspondence relating to the nomenclature of Juglans mandshurica. I can say a word that the committee may wish to use. For a long while, I have been trying to trace the origin of the name Juglans mandshurica. It is applied to two different nuts. The one described in the United States government bulletin is the nut originally described by Maxim as Juglans mandshurica more than thirty years ago. That nomenclature has priority for two reasons: first, because of the date, and in the second place, because of the recognized standing of Maxim as a botanist. The Yokohama Nursery Company has been sending out a very different nut which they call Juglans mandshurica, evidently of the race of Juglans regia. The Juglans mandshurica of the government bulletin is like the butternut, the Juglans mandshurica of the nursery companies is evidently a race of Juglans regia. I have conferred with Doctor Britton, Sargent, and other authorities, and we have never been able to trace the name given to this walnut of the Juglans regia type, Juglans mandshurica, until by accident I happened to get word from the Yokohama Nursery Company to the effect that they had made up that name in the office a few years ago, not knowing that a previous Juglans mandshurica existed and had been named by Maxim. So that traces the rodent to its hole. The name Juglans mandshurica by Maxim is the proper name for the worthless butternut-like nut from China. De Candolle named the valuable walnut that has been sent out by the Yokohama Nursery Company Juglans regia sinensis. So both of these nuts have been previously named, and by authority.

Professor Craig: It is a question, then, of priority.

President Morris: Yes, a question of priority; but really the Yokohama Company had no right to make up that name. It was simply made up in the office as a matter of trade convenience, and they attached to this Juglans regia nut a name that had been applied to an entirely different nut, not knowing that this name had been previously applied. So there is a Juglans mandshurica and a Juglans regia sinensis, respectively.

Mr. Littlepage: Is the walnut, Juglans mandshurica, which you have been discussing, similar to the ordinary butternut of the Middle West, the Indiana white walnut?

President Morris: You can find nuts much alike on first inspection, but the mandshurica nut has six ridges in addition to the suture ridges. The leaf of Juglans mandshurica is sometimes a yard in length, with twenty-seven to thirty-one leaflets, sometimes—an enormous tropical leaf. The nut is usually too small to be valuable.

Mr. Littlepage: I have seen the butternut of the Middle West nearly similar, but it grows on the ordinary tree with white bark, and has small leaves.

President Morris: The general outline of the nut is about the same in both, but the air chambers are very much larger in the mandshurica than they are in the butternut and there is a marked difference in the flavor. You can distinguish them readily enough.

Mr. Littlepage: The butternut grows wild throughout the Middle West, usually along small water courses and alluvial lands. There are perhaps one hundred and fifty on a creek corner on one of my farms.

President Morris: They are very plenty here at Ithaca. In fact, you will find them in Maine and Nova Scotia.

Mr. Littlepage: I saw them in Michigan.

President Morris: I will state, that from two until four the members will view the collections, and make the tour of the Campus buildings. During that time the report on competition, or at least examination of specimens in competition, should be made, and I would like to appoint Professor Reed and Mr. Littlepage on that committee, and I will serve as ex-officio member of the committee. The other committees I can make up a little later. The next order of business will be the President's address. Mr. Littlepage, will you take the chair?

THE HICKORIES.

There is no more promising work for the horticulturist than crossing hickories with walnuts, and crossing hickories with each other. Five hundred years from now we shall probably find extensive orchards of such hybrids occupying thousands of acres of land which is now practically worthless. The hickories are to furnish a substantial part of the food supply of the world in the years to come. At the present time wild hickories held most highly in esteem are: H. pecan, H. ovata, H. Carolinae-septentrionalis, and H. laciniosa. Several other kinds have edible kernels, sometimes of excellent character, but not readily obtained except by boys and squirrels, whose time is not valuable. In this group we have H. alba, H. glabra, H. villosa, H. glabra pallida, H. glabra odorata, H. glabra microcarpa, H. Mexicana, H. Buckleyi, and H. myristicaeformis. In another group of hickories with temptingly thin shells and plump kernels, we have a bitter or astringent pellicle of the kernel. This group contains H. Texana, H. minima, and H. aquatica. Sometimes in the bitter group we find individual trees with edible nuts, and it is not unlikely that some of them represent hybrids in which the bitter and astringent qualities have been recessive.

Among the desirable species of wild hickories there is much variation in character, and selection of trees for propagation is in its infancy. One reason for this has been the difficulty of transplanting hickories. Another reason is the fact that hickories do not come true to parent type from seed. A third reason is the length of time required for seedling hickories to come into bearing.

Concerning the first reason, the enormous taproot of young hickories requires so much pabulum for maintenance that when the trees are transplanted, with destruction of root-hairs along with the feeding roots, transplanted stocks may remain a year or two years in the ground before they are ready to send out buds from the top. On this account, the Stringfellow method has in my locality proven of value. This consists in extreme cutting back of root and top, leaving little more than a short club for transplantation. The short club does not require much pabulum for maintenance, and new feeding roots with their root-hairs get the club under way quickly, because there is little useless load for them to carry. The Stringfellow method further includes the idea that stock should be planted in very hard ground, and seems to be practicable with the hickories. The root-hairs which take up nourishment from the soil find it difficult to carry on osmosis in loose soil. The close contact obtained by forcing a way through compact soil facilitates feeding. On this account, autumn is perhaps a better time for transplantation of hickories, in the northern latitudes, at least. Callus forms over the ends of cut roots at all times when the ground is not frozen, and the more complete the callus formation the more readily are feeding roots sent out.

One of the main obstacles to propagation of hickories has depended upon the fact that nuts did not come true to parent type from seed. This is overcome by budding or grafting, and we can now multiply the progeny from any one desirable plant indefinitely. In the South grafting is nearly as successful as budding, but in the North budding seems to be the better method for propagation. The chief difficulty in grafting or budding the hickories is due to slow formation of callus and of granulation processes which carry on repair of wounds.

The propagation of trees from a desirable individual plant can be accomplished also by transplanting roots. A hickory root dug from the ground, divested of small rootlets, cut into segments a foot or more in length, and set perpendicularly in sand with half an inch protruding, will throw out shoots from adventitious buds. In my experimental work with hickory roots, in covered jars, surrounded by wet moss, but with the entire root reached by light, adventitious buds have started along the entire length of the root, and we may find this an economical way for root propagation, dividing up sprouting roots into small segments. The chief objection to this method of propagation as compared with budding is the length of time required for seedling trees to come into bearing, propagation from roots probably requiring the same length of time as propagation from seed, whereas by budding or grafting the bearing period begins very much earlier. Forty-six years ago Mr. J. W. Kerr of Denton, Maryland, planted three pecks of large shagbark hickory nuts, but of the progeny only about twenty were satisfactory, most of the trees bearing inferior nuts. These trees required from thirteen to eighteen years to come into bearing, and young trees that Mr. Kerr purchased from nurseries and planted were twenty-five years old before they began to bear. Others who have planted shagbark hickories and pecans state that nearly twenty years are required for the trees to come into bearing on an average. When budded or grafted the pecan sometimes comes into bearing in two years, and frequently in four years. We may anticipate that other hickories will act analogously.

The hickories prefer rich, well drained soil for best development of nuts, and an abundance of moisture, provided the land is well drained. Many of the hickories, however, are so adaptable to various soils that they often thrive in lands that are sandy, and dry, and almost barren. In the latter case, they have to maintain an enormous root system for feeding purposes, and this is detrimental to good bearing qualities. The mocker-nut, pignut, and hairy hickory, perhaps adapt themselves best to sandy soils. This feature may make them valuable species for planting when one has no other soil, because the stocks can be used for grafting better kinds.

While the hickories prefer neutral or alkaline soil, most of them will grow fairly well even in acid glacial tills. Their preference, however, for neutral or alkaline soils would suggest the use of a good deal of lime in acid soils, when hickories are to be grown in orchard form.

All of the trees in the hickory group are intolerant of shade and of competition with other trees. The more sunlight they can have the better. Most of us are familiar with the hickory tree standing alone in the cultivated field, which bears a heavy annual crop, when the neighbors at the edge of the forest bear sparingly. Hickories in forest growth put their energies into the formation of wood chiefly, and in the struggle for food and light devote very little energy to fruiting.

The best method for cultivation of hickories has been worked out only with the pecan up to the present time. With this species, it has been determined that clean cultivation with plenty of fertilization gives best results, as with apples. It is probable that Stringfellow's sod culture method will come next in order, and will perhaps be most generally used by nut orchardists, because it is less expensive and requires less labor. The sod culture method includes the idea of cutting all grass and weeds beneath the trees, in order to take away competition, allowing these vegetable substances to decompose beneath the trees and furnish food. There is no objection to adding artificial fertilizer, or a still greater amount of vegetable matter.

The enemies of the hickories are not many in the forest, where the balance of nature is maintained, but when man disturbs the balance of nature by planting hickories in large numbers in orchard form certain enemies increase, and must be met by our resources. Fungous and bacterial enemies are beginning to menace some varieties of the pecan in the South, and both in the North and in the South certain insect enemies are becoming important in relation to all valuable hickories.

The bark boring beetle (Scolytus) has been reported as destructive to hickories in some sections, the trees dying as a result of depredations of the larvae of this beetle.

I find a large borer at work on some of my hickories, but have not as yet determined its species. It may be the painted hickory borer (Cylene), or the locust borer. It makes a hole as large as a small lead pencil, directly into the trunk or limbs, and excavates long tunnels into the heart wood. The painted hickory borer is supposed to occur chiefly on dead and dying hickories, but the borer of which I speak is found in the vigorous young hickories in the vicinity of my locusts, which are riddled with locust borers.

In some localities involucre borers make tunnels between the nut and the involucre, interfering with the development of the kernel.

The hickory twig girdler (Oncideres) is abundant in some localities, but not as yet very destructive.

Hickory nut weevils destroy many nuts in some localities, and their colonies increase about individual trees markedly. In such cases, it is important to collect the entire crop each year from a given tree, taking pains to destroy all nuts which contain weevil larvae. These may be selected in a general way by dumping the freshly gathered nuts into a tub of water. Nuts containing weevil larvae will float for the most part, and in order to make sure of the destruction of larvae in the remaining nuts they may be placed in a closed receptacle, and carbon bisulphide poured over them.

One of the bud worms is sometimes very destructive to individual hickory trees which have developed colonies, the larvae destroying the axillary buds, and burrowing into the base of the petioles of leaves.

A new enemy which I found this year for the first time is the Conotrachelus juglandis. This beetle ordinarily lays its eggs in the involucre of the butternut. With the introduction of exotic walnuts, the beetle has changed its habits, and lays its eggs in the herbaceous shoots of walnuts and hickories. The larvae tunnel into the center of a shoot, and destroy it, or seriously interfere with its nutrition.

Among the enemies of the hickory we must not forget the common field mouse, and the pine mouse, which burrow beneath the surface of the ground, and in winter feed freely upon the bark of the roots of the hickories. They have destroyed many thousands of young hickories of various kinds in my nursery, and in digging up roots of old hickories for experimental root grafting I find that mice have been living freely for years upon the bark of some roots.

RANDOM NOTES

Aside from the facts which have been grouped together in this paper, certain notes may be of interest, as introducing questions for speculation.

Are we likely to find more species among the hickories than the ones already described? If so well described a species as the H. Buckleyi has almost escaped observation, and if H. Mexicana is confined, as it seems to be, to a very limited area, and if most of the hickories grow in regions where few botanists are at work, it seems to me probable that several species remain as yet undiscovered. These are likely to be species which lack means of defence, and which are restricted to certain small areas. If we make a parallel with other observations of recent discoveries, one thinks, for instance, in Ichthyology of the Marston's trout, the Sunapee sabling, Ausable greyling, and the Kern River trout, confined almost to a certain stream or lake, and remaining undiscovered for years by naturalists, although familiar to thousands of local fishermen.

Sometimes there is a very apparent reason for the check to distribution of a species. The men whom I employed to go into the mountains of Alvarez for the Mexican hickory tell me that the trees are so loaded down with mistletoe that they rarely bear a crop, and there are few nuts with well developed kernels to be found.

Distribution of a powerful species of hickory, like the pecan, seems to be limited in the North by incomplete development of the pistillate flowers. These are borne on the ends of the herbaceous shoots of the year, and the pecan has such a long growing season that in the North the pistillate buds, which are last developed, are exposed to winter killing. Southern limitation of hickories which have a very short growing period, like the shagbark, may be due to the fact that after a period of summer rest, new growth begins in the autumn rains, and this new growth may not lignify for winter rest.

By artificial selection we can extend the range of all hickories far beyond their indigenous range, which is limited by natural checks. Extension of range, adaptation to various soils, and changes in the character of the nut are likely to occur from grafting hickories upon different stocks of the family. Thus we can graft a shagbark, which does not thrive in poor sandy soil, upon the mocker-nut, which does grow in such soils. Some varieties of the species may grow freely far out of their natural range if they are simply transplanted. For instance, the Stuart pecan, which comes from the very shores of the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the hardiest pecans at the latitude of New York. I don't know about its northern fruiting as yet.

If the Satsuma orange grafted upon trifoliate orange stock gives a heavy, well flavored fruit, while the same variety grafted upon sweet orange stock gives a spongy fruit of little value, we may assume that similar changes in character of fruit will follow nut grafting. Perhaps the astringent feature of the pecan nut will be found to disappear when the pecan has been grafted upon certain other hickories. Sometimes undesirable results are obtained from such grafting; for instance, the pecan grafted upon water hickory stock has been found to grow freely for four or five years, and then to die back unaccountably.

Stocks of rapidly growing hickories, like the pecan and the bitternut, may serve to shorten the bearing time of slowly growing species, like the shagbark, when scions of the latter are grafted upon such stocks. At the present time I have shagbark grafted upon stocks of the pecan, shagbark, bitternut, mocker-nut, and pignut, but these are all young, and I cannot at the present time discern much difference in effect of stock upon scion.

In cross pollenization of hickories, I have not as yet discovered the best way to prevent the development of aphides and of other insects under the protection of the paper bags (which cover the pistillate flowers) sometimes to the point of destruction of flowers before nuts are started. It is probable that sprinkling the leaves with Persian insect powder, and leaving a little insect powder in the bag, will settle the question.

I have not as yet learned how to prevent squirrels from getting at hybridized nuts while they are still upon the tree. Squirrels cut through mosquito netting which is tied about nuts to prevent them from falling to the ground, and if wire gauze is used, they cut off the branch, allowing gauze and all to fall to the ground, and then manage to get the nut out of the gauze. The red squirrel particularly is a pest in this regard, and will even cut off the tape which is tied about the branches for marking purposes, for no apparent reason aside from pure mischievousness.

Nuts which are to be planted must be kept away not only from the squirrels, but from rats and mice. One of my farmhouses got the reputation of being haunted because of mysterious noises made by rats in rattling hybrid nuts worth a dollar apiece about between the partitions. The best way that I have found for keeping nuts for sprouting purposes is to have a number of large wire cages made. These are set in the ground, nuts are stratified in sand within these cages, and allowed to remain exposed to the elements during the winter.

It is probable that some of the hickories will be grown in forest form in future because of the increased value of the wood of the species. For growing hickories in forest form, it is probable that they should be set not more than six or eight feet apart at the outset. At ten years of age the first thinning will give a valuable lot of hoop poles. The second thinning will give turning stock. The third thinning will give wood for a large variety of purposes. I know of no tree which promises to return a revenue more quickly when planted in forest form than hickories like the shagbark and the shellbark, mocker-nut and pignut. These trees will not be expected to bear nuts, because in the struggle for food and light their energies will be directed toward making trunks.

Hickories are undoubtedly to be used for decorative purposes in parks and streets by future generations. The stately pecan, the sturdy shagbark, can be made to replace, South and North, the millions of useless poplars, willows, and other bunches of leaves, which please the eye but render no valuable annual or final returns. The chief reason why this has not been done is because people have not thought about it.

President Morris: This paper is not to be considered with the respect that is ordinarily due to a presidential address, but is open for discussion, and I would like to have any of my theories disproven.

Professor Craig: Doctor Morris has covered a very extensive field in his presidential address, and has raised so many interesting questions that I imagine the difficulty with you is to know just where to begin. Personally, and because I am not as thoroughly aware of the field of Doctor Morris' hybridization work as I ought to be, I should like to ask him what combinations of the hickories he has effected thus far. The field of hybridizing nuts is an exceedingly interesting one, and Doctor Morris has been the foremost worker in it. I am sure it would be interesting to you, as it is to myself, to know briefly what ground he has covered in the extensive range of his experiments.

President Morris: In answering that question, I am speaking from memory and may not speak correctly. I have made crosses back and forth between shagbark, bitternut, mocker-nut, pignut, and pecan. In the crosses I made, using pecans, pollen was received from the South and put upon the others. The number of crosses that are fertile I cannot state as yet, because I have not had experience enough in protecting these nuts, and many of the hybrid nuts were lost. Squirrels and mice destroyed the labor of three of my men and myself during one season. I have secured fertile hybrids between the pecan and the bitternut and between the pecan and the shagbark. If I remember correctly, those are the only fertile hybrids I have between hickories at the present time. In regard to crossing hickories and walnuts, I have crossed back and forth several of the walnuts, our black walnut, our butternut, the Siebold walnut, with the pecan, and with the bitternut, and have fertile hybrids. These are open bud hickories, and the open bud hickories seem to cross pollenize freely with the walnuts back and forth, while the scale bud hickories do not accept pollen readily from the walnuts. I would rather perhaps not make a report to this effect for publication at the present time, for two reasons. In the first place, I am speaking from memory; in the second place, rats, mice, squirrels, small boys, visitors, and high winds have made such inroads upon my specimens, and upon my work, that it is not quite time to report. I am merely speaking offhand in a general way, stating that the hickories, open bud and scale bud, both seem to cross rather freely back and forth. Open bud hickories and the walnuts seem to cross rather freely back and forth, while the walnuts and the scale bud hickories apparently do not cross so readily back and forth.

Professor Craig: In growing your hickories from root cuttings, have you had any trouble from excessive sprouting?

President Morris: Anywhere from one to eight sprouts will start from adventitious buds at the circle near the ground, and then I break all these off but one, letting that one grow.

Mr. Wilcox (Pennsylvania): How do you prepare your stocks for budding and grafting, in pots?

President Morris: I have tried practically every method that has ever been described, and the only successful method that I have now has been topworking vigorous sprouts of one year's growth. That is, I would cut off the tops of the trees now. Next spring those tops send out very vigorous sprouts. I bud those early in August or the latter part of July, or else in the following spring, sometimes, we graft them; and in grafting, it is quite important to cut longitudinally at one side of the stock, and go clear to the cambium layer. That gives the flexible slice on one side, and adapts itself to the tying.

Mr. Wilcox: Have you prepared any stocks in pots at all?

President Morris: Yes. I personally have to leave these to others. I tell my men to do it, but it is rather new work for them, and I give them so much to do that things are apt to be neglected; and just a moment of neglect at the wrong time will wipe out a whole year's work. I have not cared very much at the present time for root grafting in pots. I have lost a great proportion of the grafts, and it does not at the present time seem desirable; but I believe if that is done in hot houses with the ground warmed from the bottom, it is very apt to succeed. Give them plenty of time for granulating. They granulate very, very slowly.

Mr. Wilcox: What kind of pots do you use?

President Morris: Some Professor Sargent showed me, long, made for the purpose.

Mr. Collins (Pennsylvania): You spoke of the hairy hickory. What hickory is that?

President Morris: Hicoria villosa, that you find from Carolina southward.

Mr. Littlepage: You spoke of the Stuart as being the most hardy pecan in the latitude of New York. I presume you meant of the southern pecans?

President Morris: It seems to be one of the hardiest anyway. Even Virginia forms don't stand it through the winter as well as the Stuart. Mine are not fruiting as yet.

Mr. Littlepage: What varieties have you there?

President Morris: Appomattox and Mantura are northern ones I have.

Mr. Littlepage: Have you none of the Indiana varieties?

President Morris: Yes, I have the Indiana varieties on northern stocks, but those have only gone through one winter. They went through all right. I would say that the Stuart is quite as hardy as those.

Mr. Littlepage: I have observed the Stuart in Indiana. A friend of mine has a small orchard of several varieties of pecans. I notice some places where the Stuart has lived six or seven years, and then some particularly hard freeze has frozen it back. I have a letter from Mr. Jones in Louisiana, in which he says they had a recent freeze, and every variety of pecan he had there had suffered, except the Stuart. I don't recall whether he mentioned the Moneymaker in a previous letter or not, but he did mention the Russell and some other varieties.

President Morris: We have a number of pecan trees about New York that have been grown on private estates. Pecans have been planted in Connecticut and Massachusetts. You run across seedling trees here and there, and a good many of them are perfectly hardy. They are very apt to be infertile. The staminate flowers are apt to be destroyed because they mature so late, and they may not carry any nuts. Pollination is imperfect as a rule, and nuts may not fill.

Mr. Reed (Washington, D. C.): But trees of Stuart are in bearing?

President Morris: I don't know about bearing. Three years they have stood a temperature of twenty below zero, so that is a pretty good test.

Mr. Reed: You haven't seen any nuts yet?

President Morris: No, I haven't seen any nuts; but they mature their wood, and if they mature their wood, they are likely to mature staminate and pistillate flowers.

Mr. Littlepage: While it is true they may mature staminate and pistillate blossoms, the question arises whether or not the growing season is going to be long enough at the end to mature the nuts. I notice in going through wild groves in Indiana, once in a while you have a tree which never matures any nuts, though it has bountiful crops. The frost gets them.

Professor Craig: There is evidently a lack of summer heat to ripen fruit. Before we get quite away from this subject, I would like to ask Mr. Roper if he has noticed any striking differences in the hardiness of Stuart and other northern forms of the pecan in his particular locality. Does Stuart maintain its reputation for hardiness in his locality? We are interested in that question from the northern standpoint.

Mr. Roper (Virginia): I think it does, but that is discussed in a paper which I shall read some time here in the meeting. Both the Stuart and Moneymaker have done better with us than any other of the southern varieties when they are budded on hardy stocks. The grafted trees do not do well with us.

President Morris: Professor Lake, will you speak on any of these points?

Professor Lake: I am learning much and prefer to continue a learner. I shouldn't know anything about this crossing, except in the case of the Juglans regia and the oaks of California. That is one case that was not mentioned. We have a remarkable hybrid between the native oaks and the Persian walnut. It is remarkable in many ways. It has foliage that is perhaps half way between the oak and the walnut, and the nut on the surface looks like a small walnut, and on the inside it is between a walnut and an acorn. I had an opportunity to sample the flesh, but it is not edible yet. They are interested in the work very much, especially at Chico and the Southern California Station.

President Morris: It is said to be a cross between the live oak and the walnut. It seems absolutely impossible, but I have seen the nuts, and a photograph of the tree.

Mr. Reed: We haven't devoted a great deal of attention to the hybridization of nuts in our Department work. There is one thing that occurred to me, as I sat here, merely of passing interest. A gentleman in Mississippi sent a specimen of foliage, together with berries, from what he said was a hybrid between the pecan and the China berry; and he had the evidence, because the parent pecan tree stood right there, and the China berry was the other parent tree! He wanted world wide attention called to that. They were taken to the botanist, and he recognized them as one of the ordinary soap berries. There was a similar case this fall. A gentleman in Texas exhibited some nuts at the State Fair at Dallas that he said were a hybrid between the mocker-nut, the common hickory there in Texas, and the pecan. He said that the parent trees stood near one another and that the pecan blossomed some years about the same time that the hickory did, and in those years the hickory nut was long, and in other years it was short. Somebody sent one of the nuts to Mr. Taylor, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry. He sent the nut on to me, and I looked it up. I struck Texas on one of those cold wave days, and drove five miles out and back in a Texas livery rig, and found an ordinary hickory that bore nuts just a little different from others. That is one way the Department is called upon to ferret these things out.