+------------------------------------------------------------------------+|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 YORKDECEMBER 14 AND 15, 1911

PRESS OF THE ITHACA JOURNALITHACA, NEW YORK1912

+--------------------------------------------+|Transcribers' note: || ||The errors listed below have been corrected. |+--------------------------------------------+

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. "

[Illustration: MR. HENRY HALES OF RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY _And theOriginal Hales' Paper Shell Hickory Tree_]

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

 Officers and Committees of the Association 3

 Members of the Association 4

 Constitution and Rules of the Association 6

 Proceedings of the meeting held at Ithaca, New York, Dec. 14th and 15th, 1911 7

 Address of Welcome by Professor Craig 7

 Secretary's Report of the Meeting for Organization held in New York Nov. 17th, 1910 8

 Secretary-Treasurers' Report for the Year 10

 Discussion on Juglans Mandshurica 12

 President's Address. The Hickories, Robert T. Morris, M. D. 14

 Discussion 21

 The Chestnut Bark Disease. J. Franklin Collins, Washington, D. C. 37

 Discussion 43

 Nut Growing in the Northern States. C. A. Reed, Washington, D. C. 49

 Discussion 56

 The Indiana Pecan. T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C. 62

 Discussion 74

 Executive Session 75

 The Bench Root-Grafting of Persian Walnuts and Pecans. C. P. Close, Washington, D. C. 79

 Discussion 80

 The Hales' Paper Shell Hickory. Henry Hales, Ridgewood, New Jersey 85

 Discussion 86

 Nut Promotions. W. C. Deming, M. D. , New York 89

 Some Facts Concerning Pecan Trees for Planting in the North. W. N. Roper, Petersburg, Virginia 92

 Discussion 95

 The Scolytus Beetle. Prof. G. W. Herrick, Ithaca, New York 96

 Discussion 99

 The Persian Walnut in California. Prof. E. R. Lake, Washington, D. C. 100

 Discussion 102

 Is There a Future for Juglans Regia and Hicoria Pecan in New York and New England? Prof. John Craig, Ithaca, N. Y. 106

 Resolutions and Executive Session 109

 Exhibits 110

 Appendix 111

 Miscellaneous Notes 111

 Report of Committee on Exhibits 111

 Prize Nuts 112

 Report of the Committee on the Nomenclature of Juglans Mandshurica and the Shellbark Hickories 114

 The Hickory Bark Borer. Circular and Correspondence 116

 Resolutions of the Pennsylvania Conference on the Chestnut-tree Bark Disease 122

 OFFICERS

 President Robert T. Morris New York

 Vice-President T. P. Littlepage Indiana

 Secretary and Treasurer W. C. Deming Westchester, New York City

 COMMITTEES

 _Executive_

 John Craig C. A. Reed W. N. Roper And the Officers

 _On Promising Seedlings_

 T. P. Littlepage C. A. Reed W. C. Deming

 _On Hybrids_

 R. T. Morris Henry Hicks C. P. Close

 _On Membership_

 W. C. Deming E. R. Lake J. G. Rush W. N. Roper

 _On Nomenclature_

 John Craig R. T. Morris W. C. Deming

 _On Press and Publication_

 W. N. Roper T. P. Littlepage W. C. Deming

 STATE VICE-PRESIDENTS

 Connecticut Charles H. Plump West Redding Florida H. Harold Hume Glen St. Mary Georgia G. C. Schempp, Jr. Albany, Route 3 Illinois Dr. F. S. Crocker Chicago Indiana R. L. McCoy Lake, Spencer Co. Louisiana J. F. Jones Jeanerette Maryland C. P. Close Washington, D. C. Massachusetts Bernhard Hoffman Stockbridge Minnesota C. A. Van Duzee St. Paul New Jersey A. B. Malcomson West Orange New York A. C. Pomeroy Lockport Ohio J. H. Dayton Painesville Panama B. F. Womack Canal Zone Pennsylvania J. G. Rush West Willow Virginia W. N. Roper Petersburg

 MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION

 Abbott, Frederick B. , 419 9th St. , Brooklyn, N. Y. Barron, Leonard, Editor The Garden Magazine, Garden City, L. I. Benner, Charles, 100 Broadway, New York City. Button, Herbert, Bonnie Brook Farm, Cazenovia, N. Y. Chute, Miss Bessie, 1024 University Ave. S. E. , Minneapolis, Minn. Clendenin, Rev. Dr. F. M. , Westchester, New York City. Close, Prof. C. P. , Expert in Fruit Identification, U. S. Dept. Of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Coleman, H. H. , the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. , Newark, N. J. Craig, Prof. John, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. Crocker, Dr. F. S. , Columbus Memorial Building, Chicago, Ill. Dayton, J. H. , Painesville, Ohio. Representing the Storrs & Harrison Company. Deming, Dr. N. L. , Litchfield, Conn. Deming, Dr. W. C. , Westchester, New York City. Deming, Mrs. W. C. , Georgetown, Conn. Dennis, Dr. Frank L. , The Colchester, Colorado Springs, Colorado. *Hales, Henry, Ridgewood, N. J. Hicks, Henry, Westbury Station, L. I. Hoffman, Bernhard, Stockbridge, Mass. Holden, E. B. , Hilton, N. Y. Holmes, J. A. , 127 Eddy St. , Ithaca, N. Y. Hume, H. Harold, Glen St. Mary, Fla. Hungerford, Newman, 45 Prospect St. , Hartford, Conn. +Huntington, A. M. , 15 W. 81st St. , New York City. James, Dr. W. B. , 17 W. 54th St. , New York City. Jessup, Miss Maud M. , 440 (40) Thomas St. , Grand Rapids, Mich. +Jones, J. F. , Jeanerette, La. Kiefer, Louis W. , 901 N. Elm St. , Henderson, Ky. Lake, Prof. E. R. , Asst. Pomologist, Dept. Of Agric. , Washington, D. C. Littlepage, T. P. , Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. Lovett, Mrs. Joseph L. , Emilie, Bucks Co. , Pa. McCoy, R. L. , Ohio Valley Forest Nursery, Lake, Spencer Co. , Ind. Malcomson, A. B. , 132 Nassau St. , New York City. Mayo, E. S. , Rochester, N. Y. Representing Glen Brothers. Meehan, S. Mendelson, Germantown, Phila. , Pa. Representing Thomas Meehan and Sons. Miller, Mrs. E. B. , Enid, Oklahoma, R. 7, Box 47-1/2. Miller, Mrs. Seaman, c/o Mr. Seaman Miller, 2 Rector St. , N. Y. City. Morris, Dr. Robert T. , 616 Madison Ave. , New York City. Moses, Theodore W. , Harvard Club, 27 W. 44th St. , New York City. Pierson, Miss A. Elizabeth, Cromwell, Conn. Plump, Chas. H. , West Redding, Conn. Pomeroy, A. C. , Lockport, N. Y. Potter, Hon. W. O. , Marion, Ill. Reed, C. A. , Div. Of Pomology, U. S. Dept. Of Agric. , Washington, D. C. Riehl. E. A. , Alton, Ill. Roper, Wm. N. , Arrowfield Nursery Co. , Petersburg, Va. Rose, Wm. J. , 413 Market St. , Harrisburg, Pa. Rush. J. G. , West Willow, Pa. Sensenig, Wayne. Schempp, G. C. , Jr. , Route 3, Albany, Ga. Shoemaker, Seth W. , Agric. Ed. Int. Corresp. Schools, Scranton, Pa. Smith, Goldwin, Highland Creek, Ontario, Canada. Smith, Percival P. , 108 S. La Salle St. , Chicago, Ill. Tuckerman, Bayard, 118 E. 37th St. , New York City. Van Duzee, Col. C. A. , St. Paul, Minn. Walter, Dr. Harry, The Chalfonte, Atlantic City, N. J. Wentink, Frank, 75 Grove St. , Passaic, N. J. Williams, Dr. Charles Mallory, 48 E. 49th St. , New York City. Williams, Harrison, Erie R. R. Co. , 50 Church St. , New York City. +Wissmann, Mrs. P. DeR. , 707 Fifth Ave. , New York City. Womack, B. F. , Ancon Canal Zone, Panama. 

 *Honorary member. +Life member. 

 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

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1911, 10 A. M. 

ROOM 191, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, ITHACA, NEW YORK. 

President Morris: The meeting is called to order and I will first askProfessor Craig to make a few remarks on behalf of the College Directorand the President of the University. 

Professor Craig: It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome therepresentatives of the Northern Nut Growers' Association in this, theirsecond annual meeting, to the New York State College of Agriculture. Iregret exceedingly that Director Bailey, who has been avoiding out ofstate engagements this winter quite generally, made one about two monthsago for this day, about a thousand miles away, which makes it absolutelyimpossible for him to be with us. He regretted this very much, and askedme particularly to impress upon you the idea that he was most anxiousthat this Association should meet here, and that all the facilities ofthe College of Agriculture should be placed at your disposal, for thepurpose of making your meeting as profitable and as pleasant aspossible. 

President Schurman, whose time at this period of the year is muchmonopolized and who is by previous engagements occupied very completelythis morning, has asked me to say to you that he hoped to be able tocome over and join us informally some time during the afternoon. I wishthen to impress the thought that, although the official representativesof the University and College are not with us, they have not forgottenthis meeting. As a member of the Executive Committee, in charge of thesessions, I have made up a tentative program for this morning for thepurpose of starting the meeting off; and as the President willundoubtedly tell you later on, this program is subject to revision andchange according to the convenience of the members. It is proposed tooccupy this morning with regular program subjects, and it has beensuggested that this afternoon we take a couple of hours' leisure whichwe may use in examining the exhibits or in viewing the University, ifyou care to consider that an exhibit worth while. It will be ourpleasure to furnish guides for those who desire to make an excursionaround and through the University buildings. 

Let me say in conclusion that I hope you will make use of theopportunities and facilities that are at your full disposal. TheDepartment of Horticulture is located on the second floor. I would likeyou to make that office your headquarters, and make use of our clericalforce, and such facilities as are available, to the fullest measurepossible, so that your visit will be pleasant, as I am sure it will beprofitable. 

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

 * * * * *

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

Dr. Britton called the meeting to order, stated its purpose andpresented 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. ) 21Claremont 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 chairmanand read a number of letters from persons interested in nut cultureencouraging the formation of an association. 

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

 * * * * *

_Name. _ The society shall be known as the NORTHERN NUT GROWERSASSOCIATION. 

_Object. _ The promotion of interest in nut-producing plants, theirproducts and their culture. 

_Membership. _ Membership in the society shall be open to all persons whodesire to further nut culture, without reference to place of residenceor nationality. 

_Officers. _ There shall be a president, a vice-president, asecretary-treasurer and an executive committee of five persons, of whichlatter the president and secretary shall be members. 

_Meetings. _ The association shall hold an annual meeting on or aboutNov. 15 and such other special meetings as may seem desirable, these tobe called by the president and executive committee. 

_Fees. _ The fees shall be of two kinds, annual and life. The formershall be $2. 00, the latter $20. 00. 

In addition to the large number of letters showing a wide spreadinterest in nut growing, communications of especial interest werereceived 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 YorkCity. 

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

Exhibits of nuts, nut literature, trees, grafting methods, a buddingtool, etc. , were received and shown from nineteen differentcontributors. A detailed account of these has been published and is onfile. 

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

Resolved, that the Northern Nut Growers' Association express itsappreciation of the attitude of the National Nut Growers' Association inencouraging the organization of associations which have for theirpurpose the development of the nut industry, and we hereby pledge oursupport to, and our cooperation with, said National Nut Growers'Association. And be it further

Resolved, that we hereby acknowledge our great obligation to the manypioneer nut growers of the South who have done so much to put nutculture on a scientific basis, and that we express to them our deepgratitude for the fund of valuable information and data which they haveworked out and made available. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

The Secretary-Treasurer has received for membership fees $108. 00, andexpended 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 nutculture. 

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

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

The leaflets, and notices of the annual meeting, have been sent to about321 addresses, including the members, agricultural journals, nurserymenand 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:

 "The President of our association, Dr. Robert T. Morris of New York, asks me to suggest to you that it might be well for your firm, or some member of it, to join the association, to be present at the meetings and to take up the matter of raising such nursery stock as is in constant and growing demand by the members. We need to be in touch with those who are growing things commercially and if they are present at the meetings they will know what we want. The national association is largely made up of professional nurserymen. "

 Nov. 15, 1911. 

Two nurserymen have accepted the invitation. Evidently the others do notyet think the northern nut grower one whose acquaintance is worthcultivating. We hope to convince them to the contrary. 

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

 "The Northern Nut Growers' Association desires your interest, your aid and advice, your membership and, if possible, your attendance at the meetings. 

 It would also be of help to the association in its work if you would give it information of those persons in your state who are interested in nut culture. "

 Nov. 15, 1911. 

Cordial replies have been received from M. B. Cummings, Secretary of theVermont Horticultural Society; from Le Roy Cady, Chief of the Divisionof 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 andothers a week ago. 

The secretary has also made investigation by correspondence on thehickory bark beetle and the identity of _Juglans mandshurica_. 

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

The general correspondence received by the secretary shows an interestand an enthusiasm that reveals the growing appreciation of theimportance 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 fromPennsylvania, 4 from New Jersey and Illinois, 3 from the District ofColumbia, 2 each from Indiana, Virginia and Minnesota, and one each fromMassachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Panama and Canada. Thus seventeen states, theDistrict of Columbia, Panama and Canada are represented in ourmembership. 

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

The national association has 273 members of whom 52 are from thenorthern 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 tonut growing. He would consider it a favor if the members would send himinformation of anything of this kind that may come to their knowledge. 

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

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 ina very promising manner. He has not merely performed the routine dutiesof the secretary, but he has studied the case, and has presented in ananalytical and striking form a good many facts not apparent on thesurface, had he only given us the stereotyped matter in the conventionalway; and it seems to me that this augurs well for the future of theSecretary'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 twomatters arising out of the Secretary's report which are worthy ofspecial action? One is the question of the invasion of the Scolytusbeetle; the other is the nomenclature of _Juglans mandshurica_. Itoccurs to me that it might be well to appoint committees on thesesubjects to report during the sessions of the society. I might say onthe Scolytus matter, that I have conferred with Professor Comstock, whohas been kind enough to say he would place the matter in the hands ofone of his assistants, who will present to the society the latest wehave on that subject; and in the event of a committee being appointed, Iwould suggest that that person, Professor Herrick, be made the chairmanof that committee. 

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

In this connection, I will have to say, however, that I neglected tobring my correspondence relating to the nomenclature of _Juglansmandshurica_. I can say a word that the committee may wish to use. For along while, I have been trying to trace the origin of the name _Juglansmandshurica_. It is applied to two different nuts. The one described inthe United States government bulletin is the nut originally described byMaxim as _Juglans mandshurica_ more than thirty years ago. Thatnomenclature has priority for two reasons: first, because of the date, and in the second place, because of the recognized standing of Maxim asa botanist. The Yokohama Nursery Company has been sending out a verydifferent nut which they call _Juglans mandshurica_, evidently of therace of _Juglans regia_. The _Juglans mandshurica_ of the governmentbulletin is like the butternut, the _Juglans mandshurica_ of the nurserycompanies is evidently a race of _Juglans regia_. I have conferred withDoctor Britton, Sargent, and other authorities, and we have never beenable to trace the name given to this walnut of the _Juglans regia_ type, _Juglans mandshurica_, until by accident I happened to get word from theYokohama Nursery Company to the effect that they had made up that namein the office a few years ago, not knowing that a previous _Juglansmandshurica_ existed and had been named by Maxim. So that traces therodent to its hole. The name _Juglans mandshurica_ by Maxim is theproper name for the worthless butternut-like nut from China. De Candollenamed the valuable walnut that has been sent out by the Yokohama NurseryCompany _Juglans regia sinensis_. So both of these nuts have beenpreviously named, and by authority. 

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

President Morris: Yes, a question of priority; but really the YokohamaCompany had no right to make up that name. It was simply made up in theoffice as a matter of trade convenience, and they attached to this_Juglans regia_ nut a name that had been applied to an entirelydifferent 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 havebeen 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, butthe mandshurica nut has six ridges in addition to the suture ridges. Theleaf of _Juglans mandshurica_ is sometimes a yard in length, withtwenty-seven to thirty-one leaflets, sometimes--an enormous tropicalleaf. The nut is usually too small to be valuable. 

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

President Morris: The general outline of the nut is about the same inboth, but the air chambers are very much larger in the _mandshurica_than they are in the butternut and there is a marked difference in theflavor. 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 perhapsone hundred and fifty on a creek corner on one of my farms. 

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

Mr. Littlepage: I saw them in Michigan. 

President Morris: I will state, that from two until four the memberswill view the collections, and make the tour of the Campus buildings. During that time the report on competition, or at least examination ofspecimens in competition, should be made, and I would like to appointProfessor Reed and Mr. Littlepage on that committee, and I will serve as_ex-officio_ member of the committee. The other committees I can make upa little later. The next order of business will be the President'saddress. Mr. Littlepage, will you take the chair?

THE HICKORIES. 

ROBERT T. MORRIS, M. D. 

So far as we know, the hickories, belonging to the Juglandaceae, areindigenous to the North American continent only. Representatives of thegroup occur naturally from southern Canada to the central latitude ofMexico, in a curved band upon the map, which would be bounded upon theeast by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the westroughly by the Missouri River, until that river bends east from theeastern boundary of Kansas. From the angle of that bend the hickory runsapproximately southwest into Mexico. 

The exact number of species has not been determined as yet, because ofthe open question of specific or varietal differences in some members ofthe family. Sargent's classification at present includes eleven species:Hicoria pecan, H. Texana, H. Minima, H. Myristicaeformis, H. Aquatica, H. Ovata, H. Carolinae-septentrionalis, H. Laciniosa, H. Alba. H. Glabra, and H. Villosa. To this list may be added H. Mexicana (Palmer), which so far seems to have been found only in the high mountains ofAlvarez, near San Louis Potosi in Mexico; and H. Buckleyi from Texas, which was described once by Durand, and since that time overlooked bywriters, excepting by Mrs. M. J. Young in 1873, who included the speciesin her "Lessons in Botany. " Professor Sargent tells me that the Buckleyhickory will be included in the next edition of Sargent's "Manual of theTrees of North America. " This brings the number of species up tothirteen. In addition we have well marked varieties: H. Glabra odorata, H. Glabra pallida, and H. Glabra microcarpa, making sixteen well definedhickories that have been described. 

Nuts of all of these hickories are in the collection of "Edible Nuts ofthe World" at Cornell University, with the exception of nuts of thevarieties H. Glabra odorata and H. Glabra pallida. 

In addition to the sixteen described varieties and species of hickoriesin America, we have an endless variety of hybrid forms, becausecross-pollenization seems to take place readily between hickories ofsynchronous flowering time. 

Five of the hickories: H. Pecan, H. Texana, H. Minima, H. Myristicaeformis, and H. Aquatica belong to the open-bud group, whilethe rest belong to the scale-bud group. The winter buds of the open-budgroup resemble the winter buds of the walnuts in a general way, and inartificial hybridization experiments I seem to note a close relationshipbetween the open-bud hickories and the walnuts. 

There is no more promising work for the horticulturist than crossinghickories with walnuts, and crossing hickories with each other. Fivehundred years from now we shall probably find extensive orchards of suchhybrids occupying thousands of acres of land which is now practicallyworthless. The hickories are to furnish a substantial part of the foodsupply of the world in the years to come. At the present time wildhickories held most highly in esteem are: H. Pecan, H. Ovata, H. Carolinae-septentrionalis, and H. Laciniosa. Several other kinds haveedible kernels, sometimes of excellent character, but not readilyobtained except by boys and squirrels, whose time is not valuable. Inthis 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 thinshells and plump kernels, we have a bitter or astringent pellicle of thekernel. 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 thebitter and astringent qualities have been recessive. 

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

Concerning the first reason, the enormous taproot of young hickoriesrequires so much pabulum for maintenance that when the trees aretransplanted, with destruction of root-hairs along with the feedingroots, transplanted stocks may remain a year or two years in the groundbefore they are ready to send out buds from the top. On this account, the Stringfellow method has in my locality proven of value. Thisconsists in extreme cutting back of root and top, leaving little morethan a short club for transplantation. The short club does not requiremuch pabulum for maintenance, and new feeding roots with theirroot-hairs get the club under way quickly, because there is littleuseless load for them to carry. The Stringfellow method further includesthe idea that stock should be planted in very hard ground, and seems tobe practicable with the hickories. The root-hairs which take upnourishment from the soil find it difficult to carry on osmosis in loosesoil. The close contact obtained by forcing a way through compact soilfacilitates feeding. On this account, autumn is perhaps a better timefor transplantation of hickories, in the northern latitudes, at least. Callus forms over the ends of cut roots at all times when the ground isnot frozen, and the more complete the callus formation the more readilyare feeding roots sent out. 

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

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

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

While the hickories prefer neutral or alkaline soil, most of them willgrow fairly well even in acid glacial tills. Their preference, however, for neutral or alkaline soils would suggest the use of a good deal oflime 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 ofcompetition with other trees. The more sunlight they can have thebetter. Most of us are familiar with the hickory tree standing alone inthe cultivated field, which bears a heavy annual crop, when theneighbors at the edge of the forest bear sparingly. Hickories in forestgrowth put their energies into the formation of wood chiefly, and in thestruggle for food and light devote very little energy to fruiting. 

The best method for cultivation of hickories has been worked out onlywith the pecan up to the present time. With this species, it has beendetermined that clean cultivation with plenty of fertilization givesbest results, as with apples. It is probable that Stringfellow's sodculture method will come next in order, and will perhaps be mostgenerally used by nut orchardists, because it is less expensive andrequires less labor. The sod culture method includes the idea of cuttingall grass and weeds beneath the trees, in order to take awaycompetition, allowing these vegetable substances to decompose beneaththe trees and furnish food. There is no objection to adding artificialfertilizer, or a still greater amount of vegetable matter. 

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

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

I find a large borer at work on some of my hickories, but have not asyet determined its species. It may be the painted hickory borer(Cylene), or the locust borer. It makes a hole as large as a small leadpencil, directly into the trunk or limbs, and excavates long tunnelsinto the heart wood. The painted hickory borer is supposed to occurchiefly on dead and dying hickories, but the borer of which I speak isfound 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 theinvolucre, interfering with the development of the kernel. 

The hickory twig girdler (Oncideres) is abundant in some localities, butnot as yet very destructive. 

Hickory nut weevils destroy many nuts in some localities, and theircolonies increase about individual trees markedly. In such cases, it isimportant to collect the entire crop each year from a given tree, takingpains to destroy all nuts which contain weevil larvae. These may beselected in a general way by dumping the freshly gathered nuts into atub of water. Nuts containing weevil larvae will float for the mostpart, and in order to make sure of the destruction of larvae in theremaining nuts they may be placed in a closed receptacle, and carbonbisulphide poured over them. 

One of the bud worms is sometimes very destructive to individual hickorytrees which have developed colonies, the larvae destroying the axillarybuds, 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 theinvolucre of the butternut. With the introduction of exotic walnuts, thebeetle has changed its habits, and lays its eggs in the herbaceousshoots of walnuts and hickories. The larvae tunnel into the center of ashoot, and destroy it, or seriously interfere with its nutrition. 

Among the enemies of the hickory we must not forget the common fieldmouse, and the pine mouse, which burrow beneath the surface of theground, and in winter feed freely upon the bark of the roots of thehickories. They have destroyed many thousands of young hickories ofvarious kinds in my nursery, and in digging up roots of old hickoriesfor experimental root grafting I find that mice have been living freelyfor 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 forspeculation. 

Are we likely to find more species among the hickories than the onesalready described? If so well described a species as the H. Buckleyi hasalmost escaped observation, and if H. Mexicana is confined, as it seemsto be, to a very limited area, and if most of the hickories grow inregions where few botanists are at work, it seems to me probable thatseveral species remain as yet undiscovered. These are likely to bespecies which lack means of defence, and which are restricted to certainsmall areas. If we make a parallel with other observations of recentdiscoveries, one thinks, for instance, in Ichthyology of the Marston'strout, the Sunapee sabling, Ausable greyling, and the Kern River trout, confined almost to a certain stream or lake, and remaining undiscoveredfor years by naturalists, although familiar to thousands of localfishermen. 

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

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

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

If the Satsuma orange grafted upon trifoliate orange stock gives aheavy, well flavored fruit, while the same variety grafted upon sweetorange stock gives a spongy fruit of little value, we may assume thatsimilar changes in character of fruit will follow nut grafting. Perhapsthe astringent feature of the pecan nut will be found to disappear whenthe pecan has been grafted upon certain other hickories. Sometimesundesirable results are obtained from such grafting; for instance, thepecan grafted upon water hickory stock has been found to grow freely forfour 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, likethe shagbark, when scions of the latter are grafted upon such stocks. Atthe 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 ofstock upon scion. 

In cross pollenization of hickories, I have not as yet discovered thebest way to prevent the development of aphides and of other insectsunder the protection of the paper bags (which cover the pistillateflowers) sometimes to the point of destruction of flowers before nutsare started. It is probable that sprinkling the leaves with Persianinsect powder, and leaving a little insect powder in the bag, willsettle the question. 

I have not as yet learned how to prevent squirrels from getting athybridized nuts while they are still upon the tree. Squirrels cutthrough mosquito netting which is tied about nuts to prevent them fromfalling to the ground, and if wire gauze is used, they cut off thebranch, allowing gauze and all to fall to the ground, and then manage toget the nut out of the gauze. The red squirrel particularly is a pest inthis regard, and will even cut off the tape which is tied about thebranches for marking purposes, for no apparent reason aside from puremischievousness. 

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

It is probable that some of the hickories will be grown in forest formin future because of the increased value of the wood of the species. Forgrowing hickories in forest form, it is probable that they should be setnot more than six or eight feet apart at the outset. At ten years of agethe first thinning will give a valuable lot of hoop poles. The secondthinning will give turning stock. The third thinning will give wood fora large variety of purposes. I know of no tree which promises to returna revenue more quickly when planted in forest form than hickories likethe shagbark and the shellbark, mocker-nut and pignut. These trees willnot be expected to bear nuts, because in the struggle for food and lighttheir energies will be directed toward making trunks. 

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

 * * * * *

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

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

President Morris: In answering that question, I am speaking from memoryand may not speak correctly. I have made crosses back and forth betweenshagbark, bitternut, mocker-nut, pignut, and pecan. In the crosses Imade, using pecans, pollen was received from the South and put upon theothers. The number of crosses that are fertile I cannot state as yet, because I have not had experience enough in protecting these nuts, andmany of the hybrid nuts were lost. Squirrels and mice destroyed thelabor of three of my men and myself during one season. I have securedfertile hybrids between the pecan and the bitternut and between thepecan and the shagbark. If I remember correctly, those are the onlyfertile hybrids I have between hickories at the present time. In regardto crossing hickories and walnuts, I have crossed back and forth severalof the walnuts, our black walnut, our butternut, the Siebold walnut, with the pecan, and with the bitternut, and have fertile hybrids. Theseare open bud hickories, and the open bud hickories seem to crosspollenize freely with the walnuts back and forth, while the scale budhickories do not accept pollen readily from the walnuts. I would ratherperhaps not make a report to this effect for publication at the presenttime, for two reasons. In the first place, I am speaking from memory; inthe second place, rats, mice, squirrels, small boys, visitors, and highwinds have made such inroads upon my specimens, and upon my work, thatit is not quite time to report. I am merely speaking offhand in ageneral way, stating that the hickories, open bud and scale bud, bothseem to cross rather freely back and forth. Open bud hickories and thewalnuts seem to cross rather freely back and forth, while the walnutsand the scale bud hickories apparently do not cross so readily back andforth. 

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

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

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

President Morris: I have tried practically every method that has everbeen described, and the only successful method that I have now has beentopworking vigorous sprouts of one year's growth. That is, I would cutoff the tops of the trees now. Next spring those tops send out veryvigorous sprouts. I bud those early in August or the latter part ofJuly, or else in the following spring, sometimes, we graft them; and ingrafting, it is quite important to cut longitudinally at one side of thestock, and go clear to the cambium layer. That gives the flexible sliceon 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. Itell my men to do it, but it is rather new work for them, and I givethem so much to do that things are apt to be neglected; and just amoment of neglect at the wrong time will wipe out a whole year's work. Ihave 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 thepresent time seem desirable; but I believe if that is done in hot houseswith the ground warmed from the bottom, it is very apt to succeed. Givethem 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 thepurpose. 

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

President Morris: _Hicoria villosa_, that you find from Carolinasouthward. 

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

President Morris: It seems to be one of the hardiest anyway. EvenVirginia 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 allright. I would say that the Stuart is quite as hardy as those. 

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

President Morris: We have a number of pecan trees about New York thathave been grown on private estates. Pecans have been planted inConnecticut and Massachusetts. You run across seedling trees here andthere, and a good many of them are perfectly hardy. They are very apt tobe infertile. The staminate flowers are apt to be destroyed because theymature so late, and they may not carry any nuts. Pollination isimperfect 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 havestood 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 theirwood, and if they mature their wood, they are likely to mature staminateand pistillate flowers. 

Mr. Littlepage: While it is true they may mature staminate andpistillate blossoms, the question arises whether or not the growingseason is going to be long enough at the end to mature the nuts. Inotice in going through wild groves in Indiana, once in a while you havea tree which never matures any nuts, though it has bountiful crops. Thefrost gets them. 

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

Mr. Roper (Virginia): I think it does, but that is discussed in a paperwhich I shall read some time here in the meeting. Both the Stuart andMoneymaker have done better with us than any other of the southernvarieties when they are budded on hardy stocks. The grafted trees do notdo well with us. 

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

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

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

Mr. Reed: We haven't devoted a great deal of attention to thehybridization of nuts in our Department work. There is one thing thatoccurred to me, as I sat here, merely of passing interest. A gentlemanin Mississippi sent a specimen of foliage, together with berries, fromwhat he said was a hybrid between the pecan and the China berry; and hehad the evidence, because the parent pecan tree stood right there, andthe China berry was the other parent tree! He wanted world wideattention called to that. They were taken to the botanist, and herecognized them as one of the ordinary soap berries. There was a similarcase this fall. A gentleman in Texas exhibited some nuts at the StateFair at Dallas that he said were a hybrid between the mocker-nut, thecommon hickory there in Texas, and the pecan. He said that the parenttrees stood near one another and that the pecan blossomed some yearsabout the same time that the hickory did, and in those years the hickorynut was long, and in other years it was short. Somebody sent one of thenuts to Mr. Taylor, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Hesent the nut on to me, and I looked it up. I struck Texas on one ofthose cold wave days, and drove five miles out and back in a Texaslivery rig, and found an ordinary hickory that bore nuts just a littledifferent from others. That is one way the Department is called upon toferret these things out. 

Mr. Littlepage: I would like to ask Mr. Reed what information he has asto the success of pecans bearing when grafted or budded on othervarieties of hickory? I say that because I know from traveling aroundthrough the country that there is a widespread impression that it ispossible to have very extensive pecan orchards throughout the North bytopworking the wild hickory. I have had some little experience alongthat line, but I don't know what the facts are; and Mr. Reed has made anextensive trip recently for the Department of Agriculture, collectingdata in reference to the pecan. 

Mr. Reed: The present situation, so far as we have been able to gatherthe information, is just this. The pecan has been grafted on a good manyspecies of hickory, all the way from Virginia south to Florida, and westto Texas; but rarely ever can we find an instance in which they haveproduced satisfactorily after they have come to a bearing stage. We findthat they unite readily ordinarily, and grow rapidly; but the pecaneventually proves to be a more rapid grower than the hickory, and whenit catches up and is the same diameter, then the pecan growth is slower, and while they bear a little the first few years, later on they are notproductive. I don't wish to say that is final, but it has been theexperience so far. You will find most enthusiastic advocates of pecan onhickory where it hasn't been tried for any length of time. The men whotry it find it unites readily and makes this quick growth, and think thequestion is solved. But aside from a few instances in Texas, I don'tfind very encouraging reports. It may be due largely to the fact thatthe right varieties of pecan haven't been used. We know that in theearly history of pecan culture the Rome and Centennial and some othersthat are light bearers were used; and then the pecan on hickory has beenlooked at as so much saved, and they haven't been given much attention. It is still very much a matter of doubt, but is not in a very favorablelight at present. 

Professor Craig: I would like to ask Mr. Reed if he has looked over Mr. Ramsey's work recently at Austin, Texas. 

Mr. Reed: I was at Mr. Ramsey's last year, and I don't recall that thatmatter came up at all. 

Professor Craig: Didn't you see his plantation of top worked hickories?

Mr. Reed: I didn't know he had topworked hickories. He has topworkedpecans. Professor Kyle of the Station in Texas has recently issued abulletin on that very thing, and he cites a number of cases in which heconcludes that there will be a favorable outcome; but for some reason, in the instances which he cites, the trees haven't borne very much. Theyattribute it this season in one instance to the fact that they had astorm at pollinating time, and last year some other accident happenedthat prevented them from maturing after a quantity of nuts had set. 

Mr. Littlepage: I mention this at this time because I want to get Mr. Reed's testimony in the record, because I think that every prospectivenut grower must go through this stage. A year ago I undertook on my farmin Indiana to bud the pecan into other varieties of hickory--I have agreat many wild hickories growing all over my farm, --shagbark, shellbark, and different varieties of those even. So I went to work andbudded perhaps one hundred of those trees, and for a while it seemedthat there was going to be a great degree of success. I budded them allupon the limbs where the bark was thinner, and tied the bud in withwaxed cloth very tightly; and by absorption the majority of the budslived a week or ten days. After that, there was perhaps a third of themalive. For the next two weeks, we could find an occasional bud thatremained green, and then the number became so very small that I gave upthe idea that any would live. But this spring I found a few of these hadstarted to grow, but I had tied them so very tightly that in someinstances where there had been a growth of an inch or two, the bud parthad been cut in two. Then I undertook it on a much smaller scale. I cutback eight or ten small hickory trees three to four inches in diameter, let them throw up water sprouts, and budded into these. The bud wood Iused stuck very tight, and I examined the buds in November, and therewere quite a number alive of the Greenriver and Huntington varieties ofpecan. Whether they will grow finally remains to be seen. 

 (A discussion then occurred as to holding the afternoon session and it was decided to continue the business during the afternoon, instead of visiting the Campus. )

President Morris: I would like to comment on one point made by Mr. Littlepage. He has given us perhaps the reason why pecans die back whengrafted upon other stocks. Mr. Reed, that is an extremely importantpoint. He has shown that the pecan grows so much more rapidly than otherhickories that when it has arrived at a proportion to be supported bythe root of the other hickory, it then ceases bearing because all theenergy is required for maintaining this new pecan top that tries to growfaster than the hickory, if that is my understanding of this point. 

May we not graft freely back and forth hickories of kinds which haveabout the same rate of growth, and may we not graft other kinds ofhickories upon pecan stock, for we don't care how much nourishment isgiven to a fine young shagbark?

Mr. Littlepage: That is a fine point. 

President Morris: I am very glad Mr. Reed brought up that point. It isgoing to save thousands of dollars if it is a fact recognized in time, because many would go to putting pecans upon other hickories. We maylearn that certain kinds of hickories can be grafted to advantage uponother stock, however. 

Mr. Reed: There is another point right there I would like to have yourviews on, and that is, the smaller the hickory is at the time the pecanis grafted on it, the greater will be the influence of the pecan on thehickory. 

President Morris: It can drag the stock along perhaps. It has beenproved, I think, that a graft has a certain influence upon the stock, and in some cases can drag it along willy nilly to a certain extent. Theroot and the top get to balance each other fairly well if the root isvery small at the time the graft is put on. Most of the trees that havebeen topworked to pecan have been various kinds of large hickories. Perhaps if you were to take a shagbark hickory one to two years of ageand graft it, the pecan top would dominate or control that root, nomatter whether it wanted to grow or not. 

Mr. Reed: The claim is sometimes made that if the pecan is grafted onother hickory young enough, it will transform the hickory completely. Itwill make a sufficient root system to feed the pecan as well as thepecan root would. But I have never seen that demonstrated. 

President Morris: That is speculative. It is a very valuable point, oneof the sort of points that would naturally be brought out at a meetingof this kind. 

Mr. Reed: Have you seen that with other fruits, Professor Craig?

Professor Craig: Yes. Each variety of apple produces its own kind ofroots without reference to the seedling stock. That is to say the scionoverrules the root in budding or grafting upon one or two year oldseedlings. 

President Morris: A parallel that comes to mind now is the grafting ofBurbank's Royal walnut upon ordinary walnut stock. When that was done, his Royal walnut was said to drag the other walnut along. 

Professor Craig: I think it is a very valuable suggestion. I am not sureI will go as far as the President has gone; but I think it isexceedingly suggestive, and worthy of careful consideration. 

Mr. Rush (Pennsylvania): I find the same experience in some instances, that the graft outgrows the stocks. That is a peculiar instance of thework of improper unions. Eventually the stock pushes up and forms aperfect union in growth, with the Persian walnut. This is particularlyapplicable to pecan and hickory. I suppose Mr. Reed will bear me out inthat, with regard to English walnut and black walnut. 

Mr. Reed: Oh, yes. 

President Morris: You occasionally see a variety of apple grafted onanother in which the graft part gives the tree a sort of slipshodappearance. How about the bearing in that kind of a tree?

Professor Craig: They usually bear heavily where the food supply isrestricted. 

Mr. Reed: That would make our pecans bear more heavily on hickory stockthan on their own. 

Professor Craig: As a matter of theory, they ought to. The bearingought to be increased, because it is a system of girdling, or bringsabout the same effect, --in other words it restricts the return flow ofthe elaborated food. The food is checked at the point of union. Anotherparallel is in the case of _Prunus domestica_, the European plum, whenworked on _Prunus Americana_, the American plum. In that case, the topalways outgrows the stock, and in ten years it presents a very curiousappearance. It presents the appearance of a very top-heavy head on avery spindling stem. The bearing is usually encouraged, but the fruit isusually small. The amount of fruit measured by numbers is increased, butthe amount of fruit measured by the size of individual specimens isdecreased. 

Mr. Collins: Isn't the size of the fruit increased in the case ofapples?

Professor Craig: By topworking, usually, it is, but that doesn'tcontemplate such an extreme case as that. It means when the union isreasonably uniform, when there is a reasonable affinity between stockand scion. But in extreme cases we get the opposite result. Reproductionis encouraged, but size of fruit is checked. 

President Morris: I would like to hear from Mr. Rush or Mr. Pomeroy inconnection with the hickory. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I haven't ever tried any experiments with the hickory. 

President Morris: We will discuss further some of the points that havebeen suggested in this paper, because it seems to me we are along a goodline of cleavage, and this line of cleavage may dispose of somequestions that we haven't discussed. One question brought up was if thebitter, astringent qualities are likely to be recessive among hybrids inthe trees which have bitter nuts. 

Mr. Littlepage: I made a trip through Missouri and Arkansas a year ago, and while there, took occasion to go into the forests, and investigateto some extent the Arkansas and Missouri hickory and pecan. Among otherthings, I found two hybrids, one of the pecan and one of the pignut, oneof which was bitter and inedible, the other a fairly good nut. I haveboth of them with me here today. One of them was very astringent andbitter, the other had taken more the quality of the pecan as to meat, and was a fairly good substitute. I don't know what the reason for itis, that one is fit to eat, and the other isn't, when they are bothhybrids between the pignut and the pecan. 

Doctor Deming: How did you know they were hybrids, by the appearance?

Mr. Littlepage: Yes, the appearance is unmistakable. The pignutcharacteristics are very prominent, also the pecan characteristics. 

President Morris: Have the members anything to say about theStringfellow method of transplanting hickories?

Doctor Deming: I have had very little experience in transplantinghickories, but I set out two Hales hickories I got from Meehan, and theyare both living, although they have made little growth in some threeyears. Can you tell us what stocks the Hales hickory is grafted upon?

Mr. Brown (Pennsylvania): Upon the bitternut. All there are have beenupon the bitternut from the start. 

Doctor Deming: Mr. Littlepage, what do you think of the future oftopworking our seedling hickories in the North with improved varietiesof hickory or pecan, --the commercial future?

Mr. Littlepage: It is largely speculative. I suppose it is the provinceof every nut enthusiast to have an opinion about these things. In fact, I find it is encouraging to talk to the fellow who has an opinion. Mynotion is that there is a great future for topworking the variousvarieties of the hickory in the North to the desirable forms of thehickory, that is, of the hickory other than the _Hicoria pecan_. On myfarm I expect next year to devote some time to topworking the varioushickories I have to the desirable varieties of the shagbark. I thinkthat can be done throughout the whole country. The shagbark seems to beindigenous to such extensive latitudes, that it seems to me there aregreat possibilities along that line. I observe that around here we findmany of those trees. I have some very beautiful shagbarks that came fromCanada. My opinion is that it will be successful. I think the reason thepecan has not proved very satisfactory upon the other species of hickoryis that most of those hickories have a close grained wood, and that thedistribution of available food depends largely upon the amount of sap. The _Hicoria pecan_ is a much coarser grained wood. The flow of the sapupward is facilitated much more than the flow of the sap upward throughthe hickory stock of other varieties. I believe that is the reason thetheoretical rule would probably not work in this case, simply becausethe distribution of sap cannot take place fast enough through the tight, close grained stock of other varieties of hickory. Otherwise, I don'tsee why the rule would not obtain, as with fruits. The experiences Mr. Reed gives, I think, are generally recognized by those who haveexperimented with them to any extent. I noticed in visiting Mr. Roper'snursery he had one very beautiful specimen of the pecan grafted on ahickory. That was the Stuart, was it not?

Mr. Roper: The Moneymaker. It had made a growth of four or five feet intwo years. 

Mr. Littlepage: Do you know the variety of hickory that it was topworkedto?

Mr. Roper: Just our common hickory, I suppose the pignut. 

Mr. Littlepage: It made beautiful growth from the wood standpoint. 

Mr. Roper: Mr. Reed's point was that it would do that till it got by theperiod of good nutrition from the root. Professor Craig says theelaboration of food from the pecan top more than overcomes thedeficiency. 

Professor Lake: I would like to question Mr. Littlepage's physiologicalground for the lack of proper fusion of liquids between the pecan andthe other hickories. I believe it is not authenticated that the watersupplies from the earth would not distil as fast in the close grainedhickories as in the more open grained pecan. At least, the very closegrained, firm woods of the tropics transmit a tremendous amount ofwater, much in excess of many of our fine grained woods of the North. And it seems to me I wouldn't like to have this Association go on recordas vouching for this explanation exactly. It seems to me there arebetter explanations. Lack of fusion is not due to the amount of waterthat is carried up, but rather to the fact that the root system of thehickory does not develop fast enough to collect water to transmit. 

Mr. Littlepage: I am very glad to hear Professor Lake's statements. Mysuggestions were given only as a possible theory that occurred to me, and I don't vouch for their accuracy. There must be some explanation tocontrovert the general rule which Professor Craig has given us. 

Professor Craig: May I add one word? When a stock and scion unite, theunion is really a mechanical one. It is a union of cells, and in thatrespect it is simply mechanical, not a physiological union. Thedifferent life types or character of the scion and top do not fuse, butwe have a mechanical union of cells, and that mechanical union is asclearly shown forth as possible when we make a section through the pointof union. If your type of cell in the stock differs very materially fromthe type of structure in the scion, the union is unsatisfactory. If thetypes of tissue are much alike, the union is good and you do not haveeither overgrowth of stock or undergrowth of scion very much, but youhave what is called a good union. It is to some extent a question ofmechanics, in my judgment, influenced by the cell structure of stock andscion. If you have a good, smooth union, the two grow equally. Where youhave overgrowth of scion, you usually have a starved root, because thefood which is to be returned elaborated is checked at the point ofunion, the root is starved, and you have a short lived tree, becauseyour root system, which ought to receive its share of the distributedfood, is underfed, finally weakens, and the whole structure fails. 

Professor Lake: You may have mechanical union, but you can't have theafter fusion in which you are going to have proper function of stock andscion. 

Professor Craig: Each cell functions after its own kind. It is aquestion of passage or transmission of food through that carrier, afterthe union is effected. If the character of the two types differs verymuch, the transmission of food is checked and is difficult. 

President Morris: There is another mechanical point I'd like to askabout. When the two types of cells differ, will the difference in degreeof capillarity regulate the amount of pabulum distributed, or does itdepend upon negative and positive pressure?

Professor Craig: That is a very difficult question, because it isn'tsettled at the present time what credit we should give to capillarityand what to root pressure in sap circulation. 

Mr. Reed: There is another question I would like to ask Professor Craig. Supposing you have a mechanical union perfected, what is the differencein the food that different species of the same genus transmit? Has thatbeen worked out?

Professor Craig: I don't think so. Of course, there is a difference inthe food. That is proven, because there is a difference in the qualityof the food. The tree machine, the tree factory speaking individually, evidently makes different products, and that is shown by the differentquality of nuts. That is all we know about it. 

Professor Lake: That part below the scion still continues to be normalhickory, and that part above, pecan, so really it is not a matter ofdistribution of water supply by gravity or other pressure, but rather adistribution of the proper amount of elaborated food; and that istransmitted through the cell itself, not the cell walls. Because thistop makes a food that is different from the normal requirements, orbecause the latent character of those cells below does not respond tothe food supply as actively as the part above, is the whole question, itseems to me. If the cells below functioned as the cells above, therewould be no question about the stock and scion being the same. 

Mr. Littlepage: Of course there must be sufficient flow of sap todistribute food. The hickory root might not send the flow of sap as fastas the pecan top would like. 

Mr. Reed: Is Mr. Lake's point always true, that the stock below thepoint of union remains a normal hickory?

Professor Craig: I don't believe there are more than one or twoexceptions noted to that, and those exceptions are recorded under grafthybrids. 

Mr. Reed: A seedling pecan tree owned by Mr. B. M. Young of Morgan City, Louisiana, was top worked with scions from the McAllister hican someseven or eight feet above ground, and later on the bark of the pecantrunk below the point of union became scaly like that of the hicanabove. 

Professor Lake: That would suggest something worth while, if that partbelow would produce fruit like the part above, but I would want toquestion a little the modification in bark characteristics being adirect result of cross grafting. 

Mr. Reed: Of course, it was no check--only one instance. 

Professor Craig: There are one or two others that are authentic. I haveknown a case of plum. Here we have the plum stock, we will say it is_Prunus Americana_, grafted with _Prunus triflora_, the Japanese, thenlater on, _Prunus domestica_ is put on top. I have seen a sprout fromtriflora bearing Japanese plums, while the top of the tree bore _Prunusdomestica_, although there was only a small section of stem in therebetween our two distinct species. They were perfectly normal. 

President Morris: Each elaborates its own kind of food in its own kindof cell. I would like to hear from Mr. Brown and Mr. Wilcox on thismatter of grafting--the influence of stock on scion. 

Mr. Wilcox: We had a good show of stocks, but instead of allowing themto become established in the pots, we grafted them as they started intogrowth after rooting. Had they been established, we would have expectedbetter results. 

Professor Craig: What method do you employ?

Mr. Wilcox: Side grafting. 

Professor Craig: Do you mean whip grafting?

Mr. Wilcox: Side whip grafting. 

Doctor Deming: I would like to ask Doctor Morris what he thinks of thepractical future of grafting our hickory seedlings with improvedvarieties of hickory or pecan, and the method most likely tosucceed, --whether grafting or budding, and at what season. It isimportant to learn whether we can so graft or bud our hickory sproutsthat within a few years we can hope to get something from them. 

President Morris: We can only make a parallel with the pecan. If we knowthat it requires fifteen or twenty years for coming into bearing as aseedling tree, and if we know that it bears frequently in two, three, orfour years after being grafted we can anticipate analogous action withother species of hickories. I haven't been able to get testimony frommen who have grafted hickories. One man told me he thought shagbarkgrafted upon other shagbark, topworked, came into bearing in seven oreight years. Another man told me that his came into bearing in a muchshorter time than it would otherwise, while with one particular variety, the Hale, I think that twelve years has been required for the tree tocome into bearing. 

Doctor Deming: I have a communication from Mr. Hales in which he speaksof a tree grafted in 1880, but doesn't say when it began to bear. 

Mr. Littlepage: He told me it has taken some of them twenty years. 

Doctor Deming: But the pecan on hickory has been known to bear thesecond season, that is, topworked. Can we expect such results intopworking our own hickories?

Mr. Littlepage: I think so. 

Doctor Deming: Are we going to have success in topworking, and by whatmethod?

President Morris: I believe in the South they can graft, but in theNorth we have got to do it by budding. My best results have been lateJuly or early August. I believe herbaceous budding promises a good deal. 

Mr. Rush: Were those buds then of the year previous?. 

President Morris: Those were buds from the year of the scion, andherbaceous stock of the year. 

Doctor Deming: Mr. Littlepage has had some success in budding hickoryvery early, haven't you?

Mr. Littlepage: I was just stating that I started in last year to bud. Ithink it would be possible to make a pecan orchard bear early by buddinginto these hickories, ten, fifteen, or twenty years old. This next yearI am going to try hickory on hickory. I am going to try three processes. I am going to try bark grafting, and whip grafting in the body of thetree which has been cut off. Then, I have quite a number of hickorieseach four or five inches in diameter that I have sawed off and allowedto put up clusters of water sprouts, and I am going to whip graft someand put paper sacks over them, and see which is the best. 

President Morris: I have found budding the best. 

Mr. Reed: Doctor Morris referred to the analogy of the pecan grafted onpecan as coming into bearing in two years. Do you account for that inthe fact of its being a graft, or the fact that the wood you selectedcame from a tree that had the characteristic of early bearing?

President Morris: No doubt that characteristic was transmitted, andfurther, no doubt the grafted stock was used from bearing wood. Thosepoints are all of interest. 

Mr. Reed: Does the mere operation of grafting or budding influenceearliness of bearing?

President Morris: Yes, if I understand the question rightly. A tree thatmight not bear for fifteen years as a seedling may bear in three yearsgrafted. 

Mr. Rush: I have Persian walnuts that bore two fine nuts the secondyear. I have young trees, one about thirty inches, and I am sure itwill be full of nuts next year, unless some providential misfortuneshould intervene. 

Mr. Reed: At what age did the original trees begin to bear?

Mr. Rush: Those were buds shipped to me from California. 

Mr. Littlepage: I am firmly convinced that there is something in theprocess of budding or grafting that stimulates the growth. For example, I have scions that were not over four to eight inches long grafted onone year seedling pecans which, at the end of this season's growth, wereas much as thirty inches high. All along in the same row where seedlingpecans were not grafted, there is none over eighteen inches high. 

Mr. Reed: To have made exact comparison, you would have had to take budsfrom your seedling nursery trees, and graft on other trees. You arecomparing these buds from one tree with seedlings of another. 

Professor Lake: I would like to ask if you didn't bud or graft the beststocks in the row too?

Mr. Littlepage: We took the whole row, as we came to it, but thatparticular tree might have been on some particularly favorable stock. Itis a matter of a good deal of interest to see why a seedling whichwasn't budded at all didn't grow as high as a scion which was budded insummer, stratified all winter, then put into the ground in an unnaturalposition. 

Professor Craig: It is the same principle, I think, which we discover inpruning. If we prune heavily during the dormant season, the effect isincreased vegetative growth. If we wish to stimulate the growth of anold tree somewhat debilitated, we go to work and cut off a large portionof the top. We don't disturb the root. The effect is that with the sameamount of pushing power from the root, we have a decreased area overwhich that energy is spread, and it results in apparently increasedgrowth. I am not quite sure if we were to measure it up in a scientificway, we would actually find it was increased growth. There are fewerbranches, but they have made greater length. In the case of grafting ourpecans, we cut off our tops, set a two-bud scion in the root, andusually but one starts and receives all the vigor from the establishedroot, instead of the vigor being distributed over several buds on theoriginal seedling top. We have as a result of that concentration ofvitality increased growth. I think that theoretical explanation willstand fairly well, because it seems to be directly in line with theeffect of winter pruning. 

Mr. Reed: I would like to ask Professor Craig to what extent he wouldselect seed for nursery purposes? What influence would the characters ofthe parent tree from which the seed came have on the grafted tree?

Professor Craig: I don't believe that we can expect the characters ofour stock to affect the scion to any extent. I think what the nurserymenshould have in mind and keep in mind is a good, vigorous stock, and asmany stocks as possible, --as he can get out of a pound of nuts. Otherwise, I don't think it cuts much figure. In that connection thereis a principle which I have discovered by experience, namely, that ifyou are growing stocks it is wise to get your nuts as near your ownlocality as possible. My experience last year in planting five hundredpounds of northern grown nuts in a southern locality, and five hundredpounds of southern grown nuts in the same locality, gathered in thatlocality, is that I got fifty per cent more trees from my southern grownnuts than northern, and trees that were fully thirty per cent better. 

Mr. Littlepage: Where were your northern grown nuts stratified?

Professor Craig: They were not stratified. They were planted as soon asthey were received, and they were received within two weeks from thetime they were taken from the trees. 

Mr. Littlepage: I am inclined to believe that if your northern grownnuts had been stratified in the North, and undergone the customaryfreezing and thawing, then had been taken up in the spring, you wouldn'thave seen that difference. 

Professor Craig: I think that point is well taken. 

President Morris: There is no doubt about that. In that sameconnection--I would choose nuts for seed purposes of a mean type, forthe reason that nature is all the while establishing a mean. The bigpecan is a freak. If you plant big or small nuts, you don't get big orsmall nuts in return. You get both big and little seeking a mean. 

Mr. Roper: The large nut will give a better tree. We have tested thatout. 

President Morris: Does that work out logically in that way, is it acomparative matter all the time?

Mr. Roper: We haven't worked that out in the bearing, but in the nuts inthe row, the small nuts did not produce as large trees as the largenuts. We never tested the mean nuts. We did select some of the verysmallest we had, and planted one of the northern and one of the southerntype. They came up, but the trees amounted to nothing. 

President Morris: The idea I meant to convey was that both very smalland very large nuts are freaks, and neither likely to give as good atree as mean types. What would you anticipate, Professor Craig?

Professor Craig: I think that would resolve itself on a practical basisfrom the practical standpoint. I think the mean or average sized nutwould give you the best results. There is no doubt, as Mr. Roper said, the very small nut would give you weak seedlings. On the other hand, youcouldn't afford to use the very largest, so that a mean between largeand small would be the natural thing to choose. But we should do nothingto discourage the planting of the finest specimens, with the possibilityof getting something unusually good. That is certainly the work forevery amateur. 

Professor Lake: Does that statement, that you think it doesn't make muchdifference about the parent of the nuts for stock, apply to walnuts?

Professor Craig: I haven't had any experience in walnuts. 

Mr. Littlepage: I would like to ask Mr. Roper if he knows of anyexamples where selection of fine varieties of seed has not resulted ingetting a more productive variety of the plant which he was producing?

Mr. Roper: Only one, and that wasn't in a tree. 

President Morris: In regard to coming true to type, I think records havebeen made of many thousands of pecans, and I don't know of any instancewhere the progeny resembled the parent closely. 

Mr. Pomeroy: Maybe someone could explain one of my failures a few yearsago in planting some Persian walnuts. I went to another tree in westernNew York, and got a peck or more. They were planted the same day, in thesame ground, and all came up. Those I got from another tree resembled ahill of beans, and stayed that way for three years. Why wouldn't thosegrow? In soil three feet from those, there were trees growing. Thosenuts never did make trees. The nuts were of good size. 

Colonel Van Duzee: As a practical nurseryman, I wouldn't think ofplanting nuts from a tree that I didn't know individually. We have hadvery much better success with nursery stock where we have chosen as seedmedium sized nuts from vigorous trees with which we were acquainted. Inthe case of Mr. Pomeroy, I don't think there is any question but thatthe history of his tree would account for the failure. In other words, his nursery stock was undoubtedly from the results of years of slowgrowth on the part of the original tree, or unfavorable conditions ofsome kind. I don't quite agree with Professor Craig on the question ofthe influence of stock, because I believe it is really a very importantpoint. 

President Morris: We are not here to agree upon anything. 

Colonel Van Duzee: I can't speak from the scientific standpoint, but Iam quite sure that in the nursery business I shouldn't care to overlookthat influence. 

President Morris: When men agree, it means we are on stale old groundwhich has been thrashed over. 

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 14, 1911. 

President Morris: The meeting is called to order. The first paper thisafternoon will be that by Mr. J. Franklin Collins of the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, on the chestnut bark disease. 

THE CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE. 

J. FRANKLIN COLLINS, Washington, D. C. 

I presume some of you know as much about certain features of thischestnut disease as I do myself; for I have only worked over certainsides of the whole question. I also presume that you are all acquaintedwith the fact that this disease, which is known as chestnut blight orthe chestnut bark disease, is without doubt the most serious disease ofany forest tree which we have had in this country at any time, that is, so far as its inroads at present appear to suggest. 

I want to call your attention to certain general historical facts inconnection with the disease, facts which are familiar to some of you, but unfamiliar possibly to others. The Forester of the Bronx ZoologicalPark, Dr. Merkel, discovered in the fall of 1904, or had his attentionparticularly called in 1904 to the fact, that a good many chestnut treeswere dying in his vicinity, a number sufficient to have attractedespecial attention. He looked at the matter carefully, and decided thatthere was a definite disease on these trees. He handed specimens over toDoctor Murrill of the New York Botanical Garden; who worked out thedisease, and decided that it was a new fungus which was causing thetrouble. He named it _Diaporthe parasitica_, the name under which it isgenerally known today, although there is some question as to whetherthat is the one which should be applied to it. This, you remember, wasin 1904--in the fall. 

The first publication which appeared on the disease was in 1906, as Irecall it. The publication which then appeared was Doctor Murrill's uponhis investigations. The disease has spread very rapidly since then, sothat today we know the disease in a general area indicated by the redcolor on this map. The green area indicates in a general way the naturaldistribution of the common chestnut. Since 1904 investigations upon thegeographical range of the disease have been carried on so far as to showthat the disease is now known over approximately the area indicated inred on that map. The northern limits of the disease are perhaps in NewYork State. Further east, it is known as far north as northernMassachusetts, mainly in the western part, and it is also known inBoston. There have been two or three cases of the disease found in theArnold Arboretum. On the west, we have two cases in West Virginia, andthe most southern station which I know of is in Bedford County, Virginia. But those are isolated stations beyond the area which isindicated here. I shall have a little more to say in regard to thedistribution. 

Before speaking of that, I want to call your attention to a few pointsin regard to fungi in general, points of common knowledge to all whohave studied fungi or mycology. A fungus is a kind of plant which doesnot, on account of the absence of the green coloring matter, manufactureits own food. It is a plant which has, in other words, no green foliage, and as it has no green foliage, it must obtain its organic or elaboratedfood from some other source. The fungi have very aptly been termed thetramps of the vegetable kingdom, that is, they live on food prepared bysomebody else. They can take certain organic substances and change themapparently into other organic matter which can be used by the plant. Inthe case of this chestnut fungus, we have a fairly typical fungus incertain respects. We have a vegetative stage of the fungus which isnothing more or less than a lot of threadlike structures penetrating thebark of the chestnut, the inner bark or the middle bark, and theredrawing the organic matter from the bark of the chestnut andappropriating it to its own use. Fungi, like practically all otherplants, have two stages of existence, one the vegetative or growingstage, the other the reproductive stage. Sooner or later the fungus willproduce the fruiting bodies, after it has obtained a sufficient amountof food to justify the formation of these more highly organizedstructures. In the case of the fruiting body of the chestnut fungus, wehave very small, pinhead-like structures, which come out to the surfaceof the bark, the vegetative portion developing through the interior ofthe bark. On smooth bark we find that these fruiting pustules are apt toappear all over the surface. With bark that is sufficiently old to haveridges and crevices, we find these fruiting bodies only in the crevices. 

These fruiting pustules which you will see on this bark are thestructures which produce the reproductive bodies, these latter beingknown as the spores. There are two types of spores which are produced bythis fungus. One is the type which is commonly spoken of as the summerspore, the other the type which is spoken of as the winter spore. Thewinter spore is known from the point of view of the mycologist as theperfect stage of the fungus, that is, it is the more characteristic ofthis particular fungus. If we should make a cross section of the bark, we should find that the vegetative stage is running through the middlebark, and commonly the inner bark, sometimes in one place only, sometimes in the other only, sometimes in both. This vegetative stagelater sends up in various ways a mass of tissue which results in theformation of pustules. These appear on the surface, sometimes more orless regularly rounded, sometimes rather irregular. In the case of thesummer spore stage, we have inside the pustules a mass of tissue whichis formed into spores. The interior of the spore mass, or at leastportions of it, is somewhat mucilaginous, so that when moisture isapplied a swelling of the interior mass is produced at a certain stageand something has to break. As a result, we have a mucilaginous masspressed out through the break in the shape of a twisted thread, much thesame as if you take a collapsible tube of paste and pinch it. 

Now, one of those summer spore threads may contain anywhere from one tofive million spores. I have tried to estimate the number in a thread ofthis sort which was about an eighth of an inch long, and by taking acertain portion of that thread, mounting it in a drop of water, and thencounting over a certain measured area under the microscope, I haveestimated, by multiplying, that there were 2, 400, 000 spores in that onethread. So you can imagine how many of these spores may be produced by asingle diseased area which has produced perhaps four or five hundred ofthose pustules, each pustule containing anywhere from one to twentythreads. Each one of those spores may develop a new diseased area, provided it is transported to a fresh break in the bark of a chestnuttree. Fortunately, only a very small fraction of one per cent everreaches the proper place for growth. 

This last is what I alluded to as the summer spore stage. There is awinter spore stage, or technically, the ascospore stage, which comes, asa rule, later in the development of the fungus. In this same pustule, later in the season, certain sacs are formed. These have long neckswhich extend to the top of the pustule. These sacs are sufficientlylarge to be seen with the naked eye. They are dark colored. Insidethese, we have a lot of smaller transparent sacs or cases in each ofwhich we get eight spores, sometimes in one row, sometimes in two rows. Each spore can propagate the fungus. 

We have, then, two types of spores, either one of which can reproducethe fungus under suitable conditions. There is still another way bywhich the disease may be kept going. The vegetative stage can survivethe winter and continue growing the following year. 

I will say right here that I am planning to give you merely an outlineof this disease, and have time afterwards for questions which I think ina meeting of this sort are one of the most productive sources ofinformation. 

In regard to the rapidity of spread of this disease, I will merely callyour attention to two cases as illustrations, or to certain facts, rather. One is that the disease, so far as our attention has beendirected to it, has developed over the area indicated on the map sincethe fall of 1904. Another case is one which has occurred in RhodeIsland, where I have had a chance to watch its development a little moreclosely than in other places, that is, more constantly. In the fall of1908, after I had made over thirty excursions around Rhode Island, I wasunable to find a single trace of this disease, and no one else was ableto find a single case of the disease in Rhode Island. In May, 1909, Ihappened to be about five miles west of the city of Providence, and Ifound two or three cases, all in one rather restricted spot. Later, itwas discovered a little farther south, and soon, a little to the north, so that at the end of the season of 1909 we knew of about ten cases inRhode Island. At the end of 1910, a season in which very few trips weremade with the special object of surveying for the disease, we had morethan doubled the number of infections found. That led to putting someoneinto the field in 1910 to make a survey of Rhode Island. A man was alsoput into the state of Massachusetts for the same purpose. Mr. Rankin, incooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture, made asurvey of New York State, which has resulted in this map. A man was putinto Pennsylvania and one into Maryland for the same purpose. As aresult of the survey in Rhode Island, where at the end of 1910 we knewof less than fifty cases at the outside, we now know of very nearly 4000cases. It has been much the same story in Massachusetts. At thebeginning of this year, there were four towns in which the disease wasknown; now there are seventy-one. At present in Connecticut, the diseaseis known in one hundred thirty-two towns of the one hundred sixty-eightin the state, and the southwestern part of Connecticut is very badlyinfected, just as badly as the adjoining portions of New York. [A]

[Footnote A: Since this statement was made the disease has beendefinitely reported in approximately 164 towns in Conn. [J. F. C]]

So much for illustrations of the rapidity with which the diseasedevelops. I am not going to say at this time anything special about theorigin of the disease, simply because we haven't yet decided what wasthe probable origin. I will merely say there are some different theoriesin regard to the origin. One is that it was imported from the Orient, another, that it is a saprophyte, a fungus which has lived normally upondead organic matter, but which has taken on the parasitic form, whichdevelops on living organisms. 

In connection with any disease of this sort, one naturally inquires, howare we going to recognize this disease? This past summer Pennsylvaniahas put into the field thirty or more men who have been trained torecognize this disease, with the idea of locating the infections inPennsylvania. As perhaps all of you know, the legislature ofPennsylvania has passed a law relating to this particular disease, andhas appropriated $275, 000 to see if the disease can be controlled. Theiridea is that they have perhaps fifty million dollars' worth ofchestnuts, and if $275, 000 can show whether or not this disease can becontrolled, it is economy to try it. 

So far as Pennsylvania is concerned, it means possibly the saving of thechestnuts in the middle and western parts of the state; but it alsomeans that if they can check it there, it is likely to save the greatarea of chestnut growth along the southern Appalachians. I don't want tomake any prophecy as to how that experiment is likely to come out, but, however it comes out, it will be a very great object lesson as to whatcan be done on a large scale with a disease of this sort. 

One of the first things which had to be considered in Pennsylvania wasto train a number of men to recognize the disease, so as to go over thecountry and locate the diseased spots. The method of recognizing thedisease I will briefly outline. Of course, over a large country, manyhundreds of square miles, it is a long, and laborious operation to lookover every tree. It is perhaps impossible without a very much largerforce than $275, 000 could put into the field. But there are certainclues to the location of the disease which can be seen a long distance, a quarter of a mile, at any rate. The means of recognition is by what Icommonly call danger signals. This fungus, when growing through thebark, starts from the common point of infection and grows in alldirections, up the stem, down the stem, and around the stem. Whereverthis vegetative stage, technically known as mycelium, penetrates, thebark is killed; and of course, you all know what that means. When thishas succeeded in reaching around a twig, branch, or trunk, everythingbeyond that girdled area dies, not immediately, perhaps, but sooner orlater it dies; and it dies in such a way that the leaves change colorduring the summer. The first obvious change which can be noted is aslight wilting of the leaf; then the leaf assumes a pale green color, and from the pale green it takes on a yellow stage; from this a reddishyellow stage, and then a brown, till the leaf is the ordinary dark dullbrown of the dead leaves. This coloration which takes place isconspicuous. There is your guide, your danger signal. If the disease hasworked very long, half a season, in one locality, you are almost sure ofgetting some of these danger signals. Where one is present, you can goand look up the cause of that danger signal. It may be a broken twig, but the point is to find out if it is this disease which has caused thedanger signal. We start by looking at the danger signal, then at thebase of the dead area. If we find here some of the reddish pustuleswhich have been shown on this bark we are quite sure that the diseaseis present. Then by cutting into the bark a little, instead of thenormal buff or yellowish tint of the fresh clean bark, we get, when thedisease is present, a rather mottled effect, varying from a brownish tolighter or even darker. There is a peculiar fan-like effect to thismycelium which penetrates the bark, so that by shaving off the surfaceof the bark, you get this mottled appearance, which gives you anothermeans of identifying the disease. So we look for the danger signals, andthen look for the meaning of the danger signals. If we find those twothings, the pustules and the mottled mycelium, we can very safely saythat this disease is present. 

There are a few fungi which closely resemble this chestnut disease ingeneral appearance, but they are not very common, and are not confusedwith the disease, as a rule, when you get the lens on them. 

In regard to the experiments for the control of the disease. I want tosay a few words. As far back as 1907, the United States Department ofAgriculture began experiments on certain experimental plots, particularly in Long Island near the region where the earliest cases ofthis disease were known, to see if it could be controlled on individualtrees after they had become infected. Later, experiments were undertakenalong the same line in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Spraying wastried, although there was no idea that it would be of any use, becausethe vegetative stage of this fungus is running through the interior ofthe bark, where no spray could reach it. Thus spraying was found to beof no use whatever. Then the operation of cutting out the disease wastried. Where the diseased spot appeared, it was cut out with a gouge. Then the exposed area was covered in various ways with antiseptics. 

This gave, for a year or two, very promising results, but about thethird year the disease appeared to get over on to the margin, where ithad been cut. This led to the later discovery that the disease had beenrunning in the wood, as we had previously suspected. So the cutting outof the bark alone is not sufficient. This year cutting has been done soas to include a portion of the sap wood. 

There is just one other topic which I want to allude to. That is inregard to the immunity question. It has been found that this diseaseattacks the common native chestnut, the chinquapin, the variouscultivated European chestnuts, but very rarely the Japanese. In regardto this point. I hope that Doctor Morris will tell us something abouthis experiments on the breeding of chestnuts with the idea of producinga new and immune variety. 

You will understand that I have just made an outline of this disease, and I hope that, if there are any questions to be asked, you will makethem easy, so that I can answer them. 

President Morris: This very interesting paper is now open fordiscussion, and I hope that we can get some points which will allow usto know how to control the disease. With the wind-borne spores that arecarried miles and miles by a single sharp gust of wind, this disease isa difficult matter to control. We must, I believe, find some naturalenemies, if we can. I don't know where to look for these. I will have toask the mycologists what we may anticipate along the line of naturalenemies. I would like to ask if it is common for a weak species tobecome a devastating species. Have we many parallels in the field ofmycology? The point relating to raising immune kinds is one fordiscussion. Are we to raise immune chestnuts? The history of mostplants, I think, has been this, that where they have met their enemiesin their natural environment, the fittest survive; and it seems to methat this is a case in which we perhaps have survival of the fittest inNorth Asia; for the North Asian chestnuts certainly resist the diseasebetter than any others, but the chestnuts of southern Asia are quitevulnerable to it. In my own orchards, I have twenty-six kinds ofchestnuts, and have followed them along, for the purpose of determiningwhich ones would resist the blight best. I cut out last year 5000 oldAmerican chestnut trees on my property. There is not a tree in all thatpart of Connecticut, the vicinity of Stamford, that is not blighted, andvery few that are not dead. Now, in the midst of this disaster, what wasthe behavior of my experimental chestnuts of various kinds? It was this. I had about one thousand Koreans that lived up to five years of age, growing in the midst of blighted chestnuts, and none of these blighted. It occurred to me that it might be well to graft these on the stumps ofAmerican chestnut, because these Koreans resisted the blight; but when Igrafted them on the sprouts of American stumps, at least fifty per centof the Koreans blighted, showing that the pabulum wanted by the_Diaporthe_ seemed to be furnished by the American chestnut. I had somechestnuts from North Japan that resisted the blight, and yet thesegrafted on the sprouts from American chestnuts blighted. I had someChinese chestnuts, and none of those have blighted as yet; and ingrafting them, two or three have not been blighted. I have perhapstwenty-four chinquapins, both the western form and the eastern, and onlyone branch of one tree has blighted. Of the southern Japanese chestnuts, very many are blighted. They are not as resistant as the northern. Ihave a good many chestnuts of European descent, and among these someresist the blight pretty well; and some of the American progeny, likethe Hannum and Ridgely, seem to resist well enough, so that now I amgrafting these upon many different sprouts. This should be worked out, and I wish to know what men have tried experiments along this line. Iwould like to ask Professor Reddick to discuss this question. 

Professor Reddick: I have very little that I can add at the presenttime. The points the talk has raised here are of the greatestimportance, and there is certainly room for a great many people to work, though here in this state we have only one man who is devoting hisattention particularly to this disease. I find in connection with thework that Professor Collins is doing, and in connection with thePennsylvania work, that there are some people engaged on these veryvital and important problems. They are not giving any particularattention to field work, but are working on these special problems. Ithink you all appreciate that progress of investigations on this kind ofsubjects is rather slow, and in the meantime the man who has his treesand his nurseries blighting is surely up against it. 

I have only one thing in mind, a thing which I suggested to Mr. Rankinwhen he first started on this work, and it is a thing which Doctor Peck, our state botanist, suggested at the chestnut bark conference that washeld in Albany not long since. Doctor Peck says that he has lived a goodwhile, and he has seen epidemics come and go. Certain plants, certainvarieties were threatened with extermination, yet at the present timethey are still with us. I suggested to Mr. Rankin that, while it lookedas if chestnut blight was going to be with us indefinitely, the chanceswere it would all be gone before he had a chance to find out all thethings he thought he was going to. Our friend Doctor Clinton ofConnecticut would have us think it is only a matter of a few years tohave conditions come around so that the chestnut blight will not be athing of serious importance. In other words, Doctor Clinton stoutlymaintains that, while this fungus is doing so much now, it is largelydue to the condition to which our trees have come, owing to a successionof very unfavorable summers and winters; and as soon as the conditionsget around to normal, the disease will be no more. Some of us are notinclined to agree with him entirely. 

Professor Craig: Perhaps you can tell us what Mr. Rankin has been doingthis year. 

Professor Reddick: At the beginning of the past summer, from the surveysand observations that had been made almost entirely by the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture authorities, it was known that the chestnutdisease had extended up the Hudson River perhaps as far as Poughkeepsie. It was our idea that he would probably find the border line of healthyand diseased trees somewhere in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, so Mr. Rankin located it opposite Poughkeepsie at Highlands. During the courseof the summer, the assistance of the State Survey Commission and theState Department of Agriculture was enlisted, and there were six oreight men who spent part of July and all of August surveying the portionwhich now appears on this map in red. The results of this survey showthat the entire Hudson River Valley, with the exception of a small partin the vicinity of Albany, is now infected. In fact, it is the generalopinion that there is no use whatever to attempt in any way to save thetrees in this locality. Very fortunately there is a strip of territorywhich is almost solid spruce forest, and in which there are almostabsolutely no chestnut trees. We have already, then, abandoned theHudson River Valley, but with this great natural barrier, you see thatit is going to be relatively easy, so far as the State of New York isconcerned, to put some sort of an artificial barrier across the littleneck there. This all depends on what can be done in Pennsylvania. Thiscross-hatching of red along the Delaware River represents an area inwhich the infection is only partial, and the few dots of red shown aboutBinghamton represent localities in which the blight has now beenexterminated. The diseased trees have been taken out, stumps killed, andbark burned. We are in hopes the disease will not reappear there. Idon't believe things have been definitely settled at Albany in theDepartment of Agriculture, where the control work naturally lies, butCommissioner Pearson is very anxious that something be done to try tocontrol or prevent the further spread of the disease in our state. Plansare being made so that a large number of men will be located in thisterritory next summer, making very careful inspection, removing theoccasional diseased trees, killing stumps, and burning bark; and aforester will be connected with the work, for the purpose of advisingwith regard to the use of the diseased timber. I might call attention tothe fact that our state agricultural law, as it now reads, empowers ourCommissioner of Agriculture to quarantine against this or any otherdangerous fungous disease, --a very broad step from what it was beforethat time, when the only fungous disease he had any power to act againstwas the black knot of plums. 

Mr. Reed: From the chart, it appears that the disease is more common inthe vicinity of streams and bodies of water. 

Professor Reddick: That is an observation that has often been recorded. 

Mr. Reed: How is it elsewhere than in New York?

Professor Collins? The question has been asked more often thanotherwise, why do we find the disease on the tops of hills away from thewater? I think there isn't a sufficient amount of evidence orobservation on that point to say whether it is more common near or awayfrom bodies of water. 

I will call your attention to one experiment that can be performed byanybody with the microscope. Take a piece of one of those spore horns orthreads, put it in a drop of water on a microscope slide. Inside of twominutes, it will disappear entirely. It is dissipated in the water, andthe spores are so small you cannot see them with the naked eye. If youlet the water dry on the slide, then put that slide under the microscopeand try to blow those spores off, you can do it just about as easily asyou can blow the shellac off a door. You can brush that film under themicroscope, and you can't see that a single spore has been disturbed. The explanation, I think, lies in the fact that these spores are of amucilaginous nature, and when they dry, they stick to whatever they comein contact with. That does not mean that these spores cannot be blown, because they may lie on fragments of leaves and be blown about by thewind. Again, some of the spores may be detached in a mechanical way andthus blown by the wind. But I am quite convinced that the spores are notblown broadcast, simply because they are of a sticky nature. 

Now, those spore threads are forced out under certain conditions, moisture conditions, as a rule. It has been shown after repeatedobservation that these spore threads are pushed out a day or two after arain. Of course, in the springtime, the atmosphere is much more moistthan later in the season. Consequently, we find more of these sporethreads in the spring than at any other time. You will recall that thelast week of August this year was a week of almost continuous rain. Twodays after that ceased, I saw as many of these spore threads as I hadseen at any one time all summer. So that, although conditions are bestin the spring for greater abundance of these spores, they may occur atany time. If a bird alights on these spore masses, there is no reasonthat I see why they should not be carried. We know the rain waterrunning down the trunk dissolves these spore masses, and they arecarried down, there to reinfect the tree when insects crawl around. 

President Morris: My brother has some Japanese chestnuts twenty-five orthirty years of age. By cutting off one branch at a time as fast as theyblighted, he has saved those trees. 

Professor Collins: You spoke, Doctor Morris, of grafting Japanese on toAmerican stock. I have seen repeated cases where the Japanese has beengrafted on to American stock. The whole Japanese tree has been killed, and we find the disease has killed the tree by girdling the Americanstock below the graft. 

President Morris: Yes, I find this over and over again. In one casewhere I had a very choice variety of Burley's chestnut, the _Diaporthe_attacked the American stock underneath this, and had practically girdledit when I saw it. There remained a fraction of an inch of good bark. Icut off all except that, and put tar over it, and grafting wax overthat, and this year the graft has grown a foot or more. So by giving agreat deal of attention to some one little injury, we can overcome theeffect of it. 

Mr. Jensen: In your grafting, what was the relationship of the rapidityof the growth of top after grafting, compared with the old stock?

President Morris: When these grafts are put on the stock, on rapidlygrowing shoots from a large root, they grow enormously, and sometimes wehave had nearly one hundred feet of growth in one year. That, however, would be a chestnut like the Scott or the Ridgely. We frequently getthirty, forty, or fifty feet growth in one year. 

Mr. Jensen: Does the plant grow more rapidly when it is grafted than onits own stock?

President Morris: I have not grafted Japanese on Japanese stock, but theJapanese and Korean grafted on American stock does grow more rapidlythan it does on its own roots. 

Professor Craig: Mr. Hall has another interesting instance of chestnutblight. 

Mr. Hall: On the ground where the blight appeared, there were fourchestnuts set by a nurseryman, two Japanese and two European chestnuts. Of the European chestnuts, one has succumbed to the blight, and theother has been continually attacked for the past four or five years, twice in a period of four years, and it is still alive and recentlyappears to be in a more healthy condition than for the past four or fiveyears. During that time it has never borne any chestnuts. The companiontree of the same kind was girdled in two or three years. 

President Morris: There is comparative resistance. Some of my trees wentdown instantly, and went all to pieces, while others stood up for fouror five years. Chestnuts of the Paragon type I hoped were going to befairly immune, but they are going pretty fast. I have advised people whohave asked about Paragon chestnuts to buy them, but be prepared to haveto cut out blighted branches as they appeared. It is a question whetherI can advise even buying them much longer, because I have lost nearlyall my Paragons, but they have not gone as fast as the Americans. 

Doctor Deming: Ought we not before we leave this subject either toappoint a committee, or to pass resolutions urging action on the part ofthe state similar to the action taken by Pennsylvania in attempts tolimit this disease? I would make such a motion, that the Northern NutGrowers' Association urge legislative action similar to that alreadytaken by the State of Pennsylvania to limit the spread of the chestnutbark disease. 

Mr. Littlepage: I second the motion. (Carried. )

Professor Craig: Should not the Secretary be empowered to send a copy ofthose resolutions to the Commissioner of Agriculture? I think the motionincludes that. 

Mr. Reed: It seems to me that this disease is of as much importance toother states as it is to New York and Pennsylvania, and that thissentiment, as this action can only be a sentiment of the Association, should be sent to the Commissioner of Agriculture in other states, aswell as in New York. This is not the New York Nut Growers' Association. I would make that as a motion, that the sentiment of this Association infavor of state action similar to that of Pennsylvania be pressed uponthe Commissioner of Agriculture in each state where that disease isprevalent. 

President Morris: Shall we make Mr. Reed's motion take the place ofDoctor Deming's?

Doctor Deming: I would accept that as an amended motion. (Carried. )

Professor Craig: Inasmuch as we have gone that far, should we not takeanother step, and that is, fearing lest the United States Secretary ofAgriculture should feel slighted, should we not as the Northern NutGrowers' Association draw his attention to the fact that here is aserious disease sweeping over the whole northern part of the country, representing a very considerable portion of his domain, and ask his aidand cooperation with the various states which are attempting to do suchgood work?

President Morris: Will that have to go as another motion or as anamendment to Doctor Deming's?

Professor Craig: I move that a resolution of a similar type be passed, and forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States. (Carried. )

Mr. Wilcox: May I ask some of the gentlemen who have experience alongthis line if we may look for any cure or help for it in the future, andif so, along what lines will it be possible, along the lines ofisolation, of natural enemies, or some other preventive or cure?

President Morris: Yes, I would like to ask if anyone has a definiteproposition beyond the one that has been proposed, restricting it bycutting out the advance agents of the blight. I believe that has beenthe only proposition so far. We certainly can't kill off the birds thatwill carry off blight on their feet. We don't know if a fungous enemy islikely to follow it up, or if it is a weak species, brought intoactivity by certain conditions, which will be brought back to its normalmode of life again. I don't know that anything definite could be statedtill we know more about it. 

Professor Craig: Perhaps Mr. Collins or Professor Reddick might offersomething in the way of suggestions on that. 

Mr. Collins: I don't think that I have anything to propose beyond thepoints suggested by the President. I think there are a good many pointswhich should be kept watch of, and I don't know any one that looks anymore promising than the other, except perhaps this of cutting out thedisease. But this is an expensive method. 

Mr. Reed: Have you ever found any individual trees in infested districtsthat were immune?

Mr. Collins: Only the Japanese, but I think Doctor Morris has found theKorean even more immune. I shouldn't use the word "immune, " perhaps, but"highly resistant" to the disease. I have watched quite a number oftrees, in the midst of disease, which seemed to be resisting thedisease. I explained it in some cases by the fact that the bark was veryfree from injury--maybe that was the reason why they did not take thedisease so easily as they might otherwise. 

President Morris: The next paper will be that of Mr. C. A. Reed of theUnited States Department of Agriculture on "The Present Status of NutGrowing in the Northern States. "

NUT GROWING IN THE NORTHERN STATES. 

C. A. REED, Washington. D. C. 

With the exception of the chestnut, no species of native nut-bearingtree has become of prominent commercial importance as a cultivatedproduct in that portion of the United States lying east of theMississippi and north of the Ohio and Potomac Rivers. The growing offoreign nuts has attracted greater attention than has the development ofthe native species. Almost with the beginning of our national history, the culture of Persian walnuts attracted considerable attentionthroughout the East, especially in the States of the Middle and NorthAtlantic Coast. The European and Japan chestnuts, the European hazelsand the Japan walnuts have since come into considerable prominence inthe same area. 

Within the district so outlined, which comprises practically the entirenortheastern quarter of the United States, there are few sections oflarge extent to which some species of native or foreign origin has notalready demonstrated its adaptability to the soil and climaticconditions, or to some other locality of approximately similarconditions. 

In order of importance, the species of native nut-bearing trees known tobe suited to some portion of the area under discussion, the followinglist is probably not incorrect: The American chestnut (_Castaneadentata_); the shagbark (_Hicoria ovata_); the American black walnut(_Juglans nigra_); the butternut (_Juglans cinerea_); the pecan(_Hicoria pecan_); the shellbark (_Hicoria laciniosa_); and the hazels(_Corylus americana_; _Corylus rostrata_). The American beechnut (_Fagusatropunicea_, Sudworth) naturally belongs to this list, but as it isprobably not under cultivation as a nut tree at any place in the UnitedStates, it will not be discussed at this time. 

The principal foreign species which have been tried in theNortheastern States are: The European and Japanese chestnuts(_Castanea sativa_ and _C. Japonica)_; the Persian (English) walnut(_Juglans regia_); the Japanese walnuts (_J. Sieboldiana; J. Cordiformis_ and _J. Mandshurica_); the European hazels (_Corylusavellana_ and _C. Tubulosa_). 

THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT (_Castanea dentata_, Marsh). 

Representatives of the American species of chestnut are found native toa large area. The species seems to avoid extremes of temperature, cold, alkaline or acid soils, and an excess of moisture. It is apparently atits best in the sandy and coarse gravelly soils of the uplands fromlower New England to the southern extremity of the Piedmont Plateau inthe East and from the extreme southern part of eastern Michigan tonorthern Mississippi on the West. 

Although the quality of the American chestnut is unapproached by most ofthe foreign species, comparatively little attention has been paid to itsdevelopment, while considerable effort has been directed toward theintroduction and cultivation of the large European and Asiatic species. Comparatively few varieties of the American species have beenoriginated, and of these none have been widely disseminated. The onevariety, which, because of its size, productiveness, and quality, hasbeen extensively propagated and widely planted, is the Paragon. Thisvariety originated at Germantown, Pa. , and was introduced about 1888. Itis believed to have originated from a seed grown from a nut obtainedfrom a European seedling, then in one of the gardens of Philadelphia. This variety has been propagated very extensively both in the nurseryand by grafting on native stumps and sprouts of cleared-over forestlands. In the nursery it is now chiefly grafted to seedlings grown fromParagon nuts. This variety is both precocious and prolific. In a 25 acreorchard of young nursery grown trees planted near Boonville, Indiana, during the spring of 1910, nearly every tree set a number of burs duringthe same season. From two or three to from fifteen to seventeen burs hadto be removed from each tree in order to prevent over-taxation. 

Mr. Charles A. Green of Rochester, New York, Mr. E. H. Riehl of Alton, Illinois, and Mr. G. W. Endicott of Villa Ridge, Illinois, are theintroducers of a number of improved varieties of the American sweetchestnut, illustrations and descriptions of which may be had uponapplication to these gentlemen. 

The extreme severity of the chestnut blight throughout the section whereit has made its appearance, the rapidity with which it has spread sinceits discovery, and the present practical impossibility of keeping itunder control have put the future of the chestnut industry of thiscountry much in doubt. As has already been made clear during the presentmeeting, this disease has resulted in the entire destruction ofthousands of forest and park chestnut trees in the sections where it hasappeared, and as evidence of the further apprehension with which thechestnut blight is taken into account by the authorities familiar withit, it may be well to state that at the last meeting of the PennsylvaniaState Legislature, the sum of $275, 000 was appropriated for use instudying and combatting this disease. Above every other question bearingupon the subject of chestnut culture, that of this disease is by far ofthe greatest importance to the prospective planter. 

THE SHAGBARK HICKORY (_Hicoria ovata_). 

This species is native to the greater portion of the area underdiscussion. It is not common north of southern Maine and is much lessabundant than the chestnut in the lower New England and North AtlanticStates. It is best adapted to regions of deep fertile soils wellsupplied with moisture, yet without standing water. It is very difficultto propagate by asexual methods and ordinarily requires from twelve totwenty years to bring it into commercial bearing. For these reasonsexceedingly few varieties have been called to public attention. Thelocation of several individual trees of superior merit to that of theaverage are now known and arrangements are being made for their earlypropagation. 

The most practical means of obtaining young trees for nut purposes itthe present time is to plant nuts from selected trees. This method will, of course, lead to the wide variation common with seedling trees, butuntil experienced propagators meet with better success in their effortsat grafting or budding this species than in the past, there is littleuse for the amateur to undertake it. 

THE AMERICAN BLACK WALNUT (_Juglans nigra_). 

The American black walnut is common to much the same general area as theshagbark hickory. It is much less exacting in its soil and moisturerequirements than that species and is much more frequent within the samearea. Its representatives, either native or planted, are found in almostevery kind of soil and at nearly every degree of elevation from thewell drained lowlands to the mountain sides. As with the shagbark, fewvarieties of the black walnut have been introduced. The same interest isnow being shown by leaders in nut culture in their efforts to locate andinsure for propagation superior varieties of black walnuts as with theshagbarks. 

THE BUTTERNUT (_Juglans cinerea_). 

The butternut or white walnut, as it is sometimes called, is one of themost neglected of our native nut bearing trees. In the forest it aboundsunder much the same conditions as does the black walnut, to which it isclosely related. Its native range within the entire United Statesextends further to the East and North and is not found so far to theSouth or West as is the black walnut. Like the shagbark, it is generallyless abundant within the area of its native range than is either thechestnut or the black walnut within their respective native areas. 

So far it is known to the writer, not a single variety of the butternuthas been introduced. 

THE PECAN (_Hicoria pecan_). 

The pecan is native to a very small portion of the area underdiscussion. North of the 38th parallel it is found native along theriver bottoms bordering on the Mississippi River and its tributaries toDavenport, Iowa, Terre Haute, Indiana, and nearly to Cincinnati. 

Scattered individual trees are by no means rare in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, as far north as the 41stparallel, and they are occasionally found in the lower parts ofMichigan, New York and Connecticut. In rare instances, they have beenreported near the Atlantic coast in Massachusetts. 

It is doubtful if any of these northern trees which are well outside ofthe area included by the native range of the pecan have yet borne nutsof good size and quality to an important extent. The efforts to carrythe pecan beyond the limits of its accepted range have thus far beenmainly by the planting of seedling nuts. During the past 3 or 4 years, intelligent efforts have been made by several persons in the State ofIndiana to locate wild or seedling trees of sufficient merit to justifytheir propagation as named varieties for northern planting. Already theyhave called to attention and are propagating as rapidly as possible theIndiana, the Busseron, the Major, the Greenriver, the Warrick, and theHinton. Some of these varieties compare favorably in the matter of sizewith the average pecans of the South, and while none of those yetdiscovered are of extremely thin shell, in points of plumpness, richness, bright color of kernel and pleasant flavor one or two of thesenorthern varieties are not excelled by any of the southern sorts. Scions and buds from these trees have been used in the propagation ofnursery trees, and already a few trees have been disseminated. Severalnurseries are now propagating these varieties but all combined theiroutput will necessarily be very limited for some years to come. 

Somewhat in advance of the steps taken in Indiana two varieties, theMantura and the Appomattox, have been introduced from southeasternVirginia by Mr. W. N. Roper of Petersburg. 

The Mantura pecan is distinctly of the southern type, --large, thinshelled and a ready cracker. It has been disseminated throughout theNorth to some extent when grafted upon the stocks of southern seedlings. None of the trees are yet in bearing. It is now being propagated bygrafting to stocks of northern seedlings and it is highly probable morehardy trees will be the result. 

The Appomattox pecan has not yet been propagated to great extent. Sincethe variety was called to public attention, a horse stable has beenerected immediately under the tree; and consequently, being greatlyover-supplied with nitrogen, it has been unable to normally develop itscrops. Good specimens, therefore, have not been obtainable fordescription during the past several years. 

In the mind of the introducer, however, it is a valuable variety, andwell worthy of further observation. 

THE SHELLBARK HICKORY (_Hicoria laciniosa_). 

The shellbark hickory is much less common and far less well known thanis the shagbark. In its native range it appears in certain counties ofcentral New York, eastern Pennsylvania and in parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. According to Nut Culture in the United States, [B] this species attainsits "greatest development along the streams of southern Kansas andMissouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. "

[Footnote B: Published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1896. ]

The nuts of this species are considerably larger than those of theshagbark and of much thicker shell, and commonly do not have as plumpkernels. Exceedingly few have been propagated. 

THE AMERICAN HAZELS (_Corylus Americana; Corylus rostrata_). 

Shrubs of these two species are often seen growing together throughoutthe greater portion of the area under discussion. The former (_C. Americana_) is of somewhat the better quality. Neither has beenpropagated asexually or cultivated to any extent, but it is doubtful ifany native species of the nut tree offers a more inviting field forimprovement than do these two species of hazels. The same methods ofsearching out the individuals of superior merit to that of the generalaverage for propagation by grafting and budding by which other nut treesare being improved should be followed with the hazels. 

THE CHINKAPIN (_Castanea pumila_). 

Except as a wild product, this nut has perhaps the least commercialimportance of any species mentioned in this paper. A few cultivatedvarieties are in existence but the nuts are commonly looked upon byexperienced growers as novelties rather than as products worthy ofspecial attention. The species is merely that of a dwarf chestnutgrowing as a shrub instead of as a tree. It is less hardy than thechestnut, being evidently best adapted to the climatic conditions of thesouthern portion of the chestnut area and even farther south. 

FOREIGN NUTS. 

THE EUROPEAN AND ASIATIC CHESTNUTS (_Castanea sativa_; _Castaneajaponica_). 

It is probable that within the area under discussion greater attentionhas been paid to the introduction of European and Asiatic chestnuts thanto any other foreign species. The former is a moderately strong growerusually, with a low, rather broad top. The latter makes a small treechiefly of value for ornamental purposes. Both are grown principallyfrom second generation seedlings, which seem better adapted to Americanconditions than do imported trees. 

As in the case of the American sweet chestnuts the existence of thesespecies in the United States is threatened by the swiftly spreadingchestnut blight. 

THE PERSIAN WALNUT (_Juglans regia_). 

The Persian walnut was among the first nut species to be introduced. Thearea east of the Rocky Mountains within which it seemed most successfulprevious to 1896 was described in Nut Culture at that time as being "Alimited area along the Atlantic Slope from New York southward throughNew Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania, central Virginia, North Carolinaand Georgia. " Continuing, the same publication said, "The tree enduresthe winter in favored localities near the coast as far north asConnecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but has never been plantedthere except in a small way. "

What was then said is still very largely correct. However, contrary tothe construction which might be implied from the wording, there are fewcommercial orchards of Persian walnuts anywhere east of the Rockies;one, that of Mrs. J. L. Lovett of Emilie, Bucks County, Pa. , of fromfifty to seventy-five trees, approximately twenty years of age, isbearing fully as well as could be expected under its presentenvironment. The trees appear to be entirely unaffected by the severityof climatic conditions, but being seedlings altogether, anduncultivated, the crop production is irregular. Reports fromnorthwestern New York and Pennsylvania indicate that this species may besafely grown in those sections when within the zones which are temperedby the influence of the Great Lakes. 

Ordinarily the trees scattered over the Eastern States do not seem ableto permanently withstand the severe winters, as in most cases they arenot infrequently severely frozen back. In eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York City, the writer recentlyinspected numbers of fine trees apparently from 50 to 75 years of agewhich showed no indications of winter injury. The owners seemed to beentirely ignorant of the reputation of the species with respect to itsinability to withstand severe weather. 

The nuts from many of these trees were of such large size and goodquality that a number are to be extensively propagated in the nearfuture. 

THE JAPAN WALNUTS (_Juglans sieboldiana_; _Juglans cordiformis_;_Juglans mandshurica_). 

These nuts are of comparatively recent introduction into the UnitedStates, having been brought from Asia since 1860. All are generallyhardy; the first two are rapid growers, very productive and serve to anexcellent purpose as ornamentals; the last is well known. The nuts ofthe former two are smaller than those of our native black walnut, ofabout equally thick shell, usually of no better quality, and as yet arenot in great demand on our markets. A few trees, however, shouldcertainly be given a place about the home grounds. 

THE EUROPEAN HAZELS (_Corylus avellana_; _Corylus tubulosa_). 

Numerous efforts have been made to introduce these species into theEastern states, but owing to the severity of a blight everywhereprevalent with the American species in this section, such efforts haveusually met with failure. There have been very few instances in whicheither species has been cultivated in the Eastern states for any greatperiod of time without being destroyed by blight. 

The future of hazel nut production in this section evidently dependsupon the development of our native species or by hybridizing with someof the foreign species. 

In concluding this article, it may not be amiss to throw out thefollowing suggestions as to the steps by which all may help in thedevelopment of the nut industry:

(1) Ordinarily, stick to the native species. 

(2) Plant nuts or seedling trees only when budded or grafted varietiescannot be had, but do not fail to plant nut trees of some kind. 

(3) Whenever a tree or shrub is located which because of the superiorquality, size, thinness of shell and quantity of nuts appears to beworthy of propagation, specimens should be sent to the officers of thisAssociation; to the State Experiment Stations or to the U. S. Departmentof Agriculture at Washington, D. C, for examination. (Franks for themailing of such nuts to the U. S. Department of Agriculture withoutpostage will be sent upon application. )

(4) Nut trees must be accorded the same degree of cultivation andhorticultural attention given to other fruit-bearing trees, ifcommercial production of nuts is to be expected. 

President Morris: This interesting paper is now open for discussion. Iwill start it by saying that the criticism of the Japanese walnut iscorrect, so far as it goes; but we have there a fine opportunity forgood new work, and if the nurseries would take up this question in theright way, they could open up an enormous trade for stock. Let us takethe _Juglans mandshurica_, and the _sieboldiana_, which have beendistributed more than any others over this country because of the beautyof the trees. They grow rapidly, and are tremendously hardy, althoughnot so much so as the best of the Japanese walnuts, the cordiformis. Itwas found on the Pacific Coast that the cordiformis went largely towood. In the East, it bears well, is perfectly hardy and the nut isdelicious. Individual trees bear thin shelled nuts, and individual treesbear large nuts. In fact, I have seen the nut quite as large as the nutof the average American butternut, and thin shelled, at that. The thingfor the large nurseries is not to sell Japanese nuts under that name, but to sell the cordiformis, and sell only that, and only grafted trees. In that way we would get rid of the less desirable varieties, just aswith the hickories a thousand and one shagbarks that we find are notremarkable, and yet we will find here and there one that is worthgrafting and propagating. It is the same way with the Japanese walnuts, but particularly this cordiformis which is hardy and growing native in aclimate which corresponds to Nova Scotia. If the nurseries will put outthis nut, grafted, they will have a very valuable nut to give us. Inotice that the speaker distinguished a "little shagbark. " Now, Iwonder if that is not a question worthy of discussion right here. Thenames shagbark, shellbark, and scaly bark, are applied indifferently to_Hicoria ovata_, _Hicoria cinerea_, and _Hicoria septentrionalis_. Wecan distinguish them much better if we take different names for thelittle and the big shagbark, --if we call the little one shagbark and thebig one shellbark, it makes a distinction; and the reason why thatdistinction seems legitimate is that the bark comes off like greatsheets from the big shellbark, and the little shagbark has the scales ofthe bark coming off in smaller scales, shelling off. At the same time, it is more scaly than the other. If we call the shaggy one, _Hicoriaovata_, shagbark, and call the big western one shellbark, it seems to mea distinction that we may as well make in our discussions, and fix thenames in such a way as to afford convenience. 

Mr. Reed: My reference was to _Hicoria ovata_. 

President Morris: Yes, that is for the little one, and if we call the_laciniosa_ shellbark, that will make a distinction. Shall we call thelittle one shagbark, and the big shagbark shellbark, or must we alwaysdepend upon the scientific names in classifying?

Mr. Collins: May I call attention to another complication? To botanistswho are not particularly nut growers, there is another tree which isknown as the little shellbark, --that is the _microcarpa_, with a nutabout one-half to three-quarters of an inch long. 

Professor Lake: Have we a committee on nomenclature?

President Morris: We haven't appointed that committee yet. 

Professor Lake: I was going to move that the matter go to them, with thesuggestion that they take official action. 

President Morris: Supposing we extend the function of the committee onthe nomenclature of _mandshurica_ to include this question of the namingof the shagbarks. 

Doctor Deming: Then had we not better include the President, _ex-officio_, on that committee?

President Morris: We may as well begin, because there is no need ofhaving this eternal confusion. 

Doctor Deming: I have never been able to understand why more attentionhasn't been given to the hazels. Here we apparently have a nut which iseasy to transplant, which is perfectly hardy, which comes into bearingearly, which bears a valuable nut--so valuable that when I went into aconfectionery store in New York, I saw trays of nut meats lying side byside, and pecan meats were priced at $1. 00 a pound and filbert meatswere $1. 25. I understand the only obstacle to the growth of the filbert, which might well fill the early waiting years of the nut grower, is thehazel blight. I tried to get information on the hazel blight from DoctorWaite of the United States Department of Agriculture, and also from Mr. Kerr of Denton, Maryland, who, I know, has grown hazels for a long time, and done it very successfully; but I have not succeeded in getting anyaccurate information on the blight, and as I understand it, no accurateexperiments have been carried out in the treatment of the blight, or inits prevention. It seems as if the blight, being an external fungousdisease, ought to be one amenable to treatment by sprays. I am not awareof any experiments which have been made with that object. 

President Morris: Henry Hicks of Westboro has given as much attention asanybody to this matter. He made a great effort to introduce the Europeanhazels for years. They all went down with the blight. Specimens of theblight you can get without difficulty. 

Doctor Deming: Did he practice spraying experiments carefully?

President Morris: He told me he had tried all. What have the Meehansdone?

Mr. Wilcox: They have never had any trouble with the blight. 

President Morris: How long do they keep them in the nurseries?

Mr. Wilcox: We keep them to six or eight feet. 

President Morris: Do you have the common hazel abundant?

Mr. Wilcox: Yes, along the water courses. 

President Morris: This blight is more apt to attack the exotics, andover where Mr. Kerr lives there are no native hazels. He happens to beon an island. He started Europeans where we have no American hazels, sothat accounts for his immunity. 

Mr. Reed: His trees are practically all dead now. He has given up. 

President Morris: That has been the history everywhere. That is the lastinstance I have been able to find of successful raising of hazels. Oneline, it seems to me, offers promise--that is the making of hybrids. Iam making hybrids between the American hazel and various European andAsiatic. 

Mr. Rush: I have had some experience with the hazel. I have exchangedwith Mr. Roody of Washington. He has sent the Barcelona and Du Chilly, and they are growing very hardy without the least indication of blight. There are two kinds of American hazels. I have them growing as large inthe bush as twenty to twenty-five feet. And then we have a small bush. The small type is worthy of propagation. The Barcelona and Du Chilly arethickly set with catkins this fall, and by all indications there will bea very nice crop next summer. 

President Morris: The rule is they begin to blight about the fifth year. About the eighth they are gone. 

Doctor Deming: Isn't that a most promising field for experiment, inproducing blight-free varieties, and also in spraying?

President Morris: As I understand it, this fungus lives in the cambiumlayer of the bark, very much as _Diaporthe parasitica_ does, and at sucha depth that spraying is not much advantage. The fungus does not attackthe native hazel, except when it has been injured. 

Professor Craig: We haven't heard from Mr. Barron. 

Mr. Barron: I don't know that I have anything to say. I came here togather some information. I am chiefly interested in the possibility ofthe use of nut trees for landscape effect. 

President Morris: This belongs right with this paper, because the usesof nut trees are not limited to the nuts for fruit purposes. Theirdecorative value is one Mr. Barron brings in very properly, and it seemsto me we may replace thousands of practically useless trees in the parkswith wonderfully beautiful nut trees. What had you in mind particularly?Had you thought it out?

Mr. Pomeroy: The nurserymen must have done something to induce people toset out horse-chestnuts. There can't be anything more unsightly. It isalways shedding something in the way of filth. There are two or threevarieties of Japanese walnuts that are beautiful, at the time of yearwhen they are in blossom, with that long, red blossom. It seems as ifthe nurserymen might do something to induce people to set out these. 

President Morris: What could be finer than your English walnuts?

Mr. Barron: Mr. Hicks has given up hazel, but right close by Mr. Havemeyer is starting right in again. He has had them there for twoyears. 

Doctor Deming: One of my correspondents wrote, asking me what varietiesof nut trees were most rapid growing and best for shade or screens. Ithink that is a very good subject for investigation. 

President Morris: We can discuss it right here. 

Doctor Deming: I said the most rapid growing trees were the Japanesewalnuts, and perhaps the best for screens were the Japanese chestnuts. Ishould hardly know what to say are the best for shade, because all ofthe nut trees are so good. 

Mr. Reed: It would depend very largely on the locality. Of course, thereare some of us here who are disciples of the pecan, and where you cangrow the pecan successfully, it is doubtful if there is a prettier shadetree and one that makes less litter, or that grows faster. Some of thehickories--the mocker-nut especially, _Hicoria alba_, makes a verybeautiful growth, and has a dense foliage of rich, dark green. For otherpurposes, there is no prettier tree than the chestnut, aside from theblight. It grows to greater size than most of the hickories and morerapidly. The Japanese chestnuts I am not familiar with. The butternut isnot usually a compact enough grower to be a beautiful tree, but theblack walnuts and certain of our hickories, the rapid growinghickories, are very fine, and this Rush chinquapin, I expect, would bevery fitting for hedge planting. It is a very compact grower, and growsup about fifteen or twenty feet, making a very pretty tree. But everyone of these trees we are mentioning has its particular place in thelandscape. You can't use any one of them in all places. 

President Morris: The objection to black walnut and butternut is theearly loss of leaves in autumn. I have heard others speak about it as anobjection. Among the rapid growing ones, there is no doubt the Japanesewalnuts are tremendously rapid growers, during the first few years. Forscreen purposes, the chestnuts and chinquapin certainly would doremarkably well. We have forgotten the beech altogether, simply becausewe haven't been classifying it as a nut tree. But the nurserymen can putout beech trees grafted from trees that bear fine, valuable nuts, andgive us the beech as a tree of double value. 

Mr. Reed: Dr. Deming raised the question as to why the hazel nut was notgiven more attention. It occurs to me that we have an analogy in thepecan situation. The pecan is native up and down the Mississippi Riverand out in Texas, and in that district you will find that a great dealless attention has been paid to development of varieties of the pecan asan orchard tree than farther east. All through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, we find new varieties by the scores. It seems tobe a case of distance lending enchantment. 

Professor Lake: Going back, I wanted to ask you, Doctor Morris, if inyour work of reproducing the hazel, you had used the Pacific Coast hazelfor stock. 

President Morris: Yes, the Pacific Coast hazel is really the samespecies as ours, only it grows thirty or forty feet out there, and Ihave seen it nearly thirty feet high up in the Hudson Bay country. Insome of the rich valleys in the far North, both on the Pacific andAtlantic Coasts, the hazel becomes almost a tree. I have used it forgrafting stock, but I haven't used it for crossing as yet. I have a lotof hazels ready for pollenizing next spring. 

Professor Lake: It seems to me it would be a most excellent thing ifthis Association could do something in the way of stimulating theimprovement of varieties of the native hazel. I can't help thinking thatbush is entitled to much more attention than we have given it in thepast. 

President Morris: Some work has been done along that line. I devoted theentire nut-collecting part of one year to studying the hazel. I wentover many thousands of hazels. One day, when I asked a neighbor if Imight go over his grounds, he said, "Yes, but what better hazel do youwant than that one that grows above your north bars?" He said, "We haveknown of that for one hundred years about here. " He couldn't find it. Finally it was found, covered by a ton of grape vine. It has wonderfulhazels on it. I have transplanted it. It is a large, thin-shelled, finehazel, but a shy bearer. I have three very fine American hazels I amgoing to use in crossing. This big, thin-shelled one is a wonderfulhazel, except that it is a shy bearer, and it is difficult totransplant. I have transplanted four American hazels, and it took meabout two or three years to get them under way. It is a nuisance withus. It grows in our pastures so rapidly the cows have to get out of theway--crowds everything out. I have no doubt a great deal more work willbe done with the hazel. Now my bushes are all ready for pollenizing. Ihave crossed a lot of them this year. 

Professor Craig: I think Mr. Barron's point in reference to theornamental or esthetic value of the nut trees is very well taken, indeed. It is a fact that nurserymen have paid more attention in thepast to those forms which are particularly striking in some way, ratherthan to the forms which are actually and intrinsically beautiful. Anything which has variegated leaves or purple leaves is sure to catchthe eye. As a matter of fact, I believe there are few trees which aremore picturesque than the hickories here in New York. The summer seasonis not the season in which they carry their most beautiful forms. Thewinter is the time when we see that picturesque framework standing outagainst the sky, distinctive in every respect. 

Mr. Collins: Isn't this subject one in which the Association mightinterest itself?

President Morris: I have found that nurserymen to whom I have talked forthe most part were men of naturally esthetic taste, but dropped theiresthetic taste in order to adjust themselves to economic principles. Ifa customer says, "Please give me a thousand Carolina poplars, " thenurseryman knows these will be beautiful for about fifteen years, thenragged and dead and unsightly; but the customer wants them, and thenurseryman has to furnish Carolina poplars. 

Mr. Barron: The nurseryman, as a rule, doesn't take much trouble towardseducating the people up to the better stuff. 

President Morris: I believe that if the nurserymen make a concertedmovement--or not necessarily a concerted movement--if any one firm ortwo or three firms will make a business of introducing beautiful, usefultrees of the nut-bearing group, they will open up a new group. Peoplejust haven't thought about it. They give an order for trees in a sort ofperfunctory way, because they must have them. 

If there is no further discussion, we will go on to the Indiana pecan, by Mr. T. P. Littlepage, and this will be the last paper of theafternoon. 

THE INDIANA PECAN. 

T. P. LITTLEPAGE, Washington, D. C. 

The subject of the northern pecan is one that I have been interested infor more than thirty years. Away down in Spencer County, Indiana, on thebanks of the Ohio River, stand many large native pecan trees, and someof my earliest recollections and most pleasant experiences are connectedwith gathering the nuts from under these large trees; and, withoutrealizing it, I acquired much of the information in those early daysthat has of late enabled me to carefully discriminate between thedesirable and undesirable varieties of pecans, viewed from thestandpoint of one who propagates them for orchard purposes. My interestin the various points connected with pecan growing was at that time avery direct interest, and the only motive I had for determining variousfacts was the fundamental motive which largely dominates the worldtoday, and that is the question of securing the thing we desire for ourimmediate use. 

The large, magnificent pecan trees growing on the banks of the beautifulOhio year after year became a matter of the deepest interest to me. Ihave seen the Ohio surging swiftly through their branches in the winter, have seen them withstand the storms and vicissitudes of snow and ice andraging floods; and as the spring came on I have beheld them, with moreor less surprise and pleasure, laden with blossoms. As summer advanced, I watched the growing clusters of delicious nuts; and as the nuts beganto ripen in the fall, I soon learned to pick out the best bearing trees. It was not a matter of science or unselfish research that enabled me todetermine the fact that some trees rarely ever missed a crop, whileothers were very uncertain; that some nuts were large, thin-shelled, andof fine flavor, while others were small and hard to crack, and otherwiseundesirable; that some of the trees ripened their nuts early, longbefore frost, while others seemed to hang on and resent the coming ofautumn with all their might. At the age of nine, I could take manydifferent varieties of Indiana seedling pecans, separate them, andlocate the trees from whence they came, and give the essential points oftheir bearing record. I could also tell whether the respective ownerswatched them very carefully, kept a dog, or lived at a safe distanceaway, all of which points were just as essential so far as I wasconcerned as the size of the nut and its quality. The pecan captured meearly in life, and I have been a willing victim ever since. My interestin this nut of late years is based on more scientific principles, but Idoubt if the facts arrived at are any more reliable than the facts whichcame from the simple desire to appease a boyish appetite with the bestnut that nature has ever produced. 

When I was about fourteen years old I came into personal possession oftwelve acres of land which had descended to me from my father's estate. The land was almost valueless for general cropping purposes, but I hadalready, at that age, determined something of the value of a pecanorchard, and I proceeded to gather nuts from the best trees in thatsection, and the following spring planted the whole twelve acres inpecans. I knew, however, that even though the ground was not veryproductive it would have to be cultivated that summer, so I planted thepecans around stumps where the young trees would be protected. Myinformation as to the value of pecans was accurate and unerring;however, there were several things I had not taken into consideration. First, that a pecan that is kept in the dry all winter is very slow togerminate in the spring, and in fact the percentage of them that doesgerminate is very small. Second, that the field mice have an abidinghunger for pecans. Third, that the pecan does not come true to seed, andthat an orchard of seedlings is of very questionable value. The firsttwo facts, which I failed to take into consideration--that is, the poorgerminating qualities of a dry pecan, and the appetite of the fieldmice, relieved me from the embarrassment of the third, for it isneedless to say that this attempt made twenty-five years ago was acomplete failure, and for the time being discouraged my ambitions inthis direction. But after many years they revived sufficiently tostimulate me to action again in the line of pecan culture. 

I mention the above facts merely to show my credibility as a witness onthis subject. Being a lawyer by profession, I have learned long sincethat the value of one's opinion, and especially the value of testimonyis directly in proportion to one's knowledge of and interest in thesubject matter at issue. Therefore, trusting that I have sufficientlyestablished my credibility, at least to my own satisfaction, I shallproceed to make some observations relative to nut culture in the North. 

First, let me say that I most heartily endorse the line of workundertaken by our Association--that is, the work of collecting anddiffusing information in reference to nut culture that will be valuableto the prospective grower. Our southern brethren have very largelypassed this stage in nut work in the South. They still have manyproblems before them, but the fundamental problems of the determinationand propagation of the most desirable varieties of pecans have beenalready worked out and they are producing in their nurseries hundreds ofthousands of fine budded and grafted pecan trees. There is such a lackof information on this subject in the North that it is indeed opportunethat our Association should at the beginning of the interest in nutculture in that section take up these various question and give thepublic the benefit of our experience and information in reference tothem. There are yet many people who think that you cannot transplant apecan tree, and that if you cut the tap root it will not produce, whilethe fact is that the pecan tree can be transplanted with almost as muchsuccess as can fruit trees. Two years ago I transplanted a number ofcherry trees. At the same time I transplanted some pecan trees, and Ihad a higher percentage of loss among the cherries than among thepecans. There are some who believe that it is even a benefit to cut thetap root. I have never belonged to the school which endorses cutting theroots of any tree to accelerate its growth, except, of course, where itis necessary to take up a tree and reset it, in which case it isnecessary to cut some of the roots. It is unquestionably true that ifthe roots are cut too severely the tree receives too great a shock, butthe pecan tree seems to recover as quickly as any other variety of tree. However, there are hundreds of farmers today who would not undertake toraise pecans, for the reason that they think they cannot betransplanted. Also, in every community where the pecan is native, can beseen many seedling trees ranging anywhere from ten-to twenty-five yearsold that have never borne a nut. These trees are pointed out by thegeneral public as horrible examples of the uselessness of attemptedpecan culture. Near my home at Boonville, Ind. , is a row of seedlingpecan trees planted in a garden. The trees are now old enough to bear ahalf bushel of pecans every year, but so far as I know they have neverborne a nut. The general public throughout the North and Middle Westhave not yet learned that the average seedling pecan is an uncertainquantity, grows slowly, bears irregularly, if at all, and probablyinferior nuts. However, once in a while, nature, through her wonderfulworkings, has produced a tree that bears large crops of fine nutsregularly, and when the seedling pecan is grafted or budded from thiskind of tree the trees so propagated take on the qualities of the parentand begin bearing very early. I have frequently taken pictures of smallpecan trees not over three feet high, each bearing a cluster of large, fine nuts. This, of course, is unusual, but shows the tendency of thegrafted or budded tree. I mention the above two points not for thepurpose at this point of entering into a discussion of the propagationof the pecan, but to show the necessity for general enlightenment on thepossibilities, and to dispel some of the bug-a-boos that exist in theminds of many persons. Those of you here who have engaged in the variousphases of nut culture may think these points primitive and unnecessary, and they are, perhaps, unnecessary to the expert, but it is my pleasureevery summer to spend considerable time in the rural sections of thecountry, and it is surprising how very little is known, even by our mostenlightened farmers, on the subject of nut culture. I have made manytrips throughout the South, and I find the farmers in that section haveread the various proceedings of the National Nut Growers' Associationuntil a knowledge of nut culture throughout the South is becoming verygeneral. It is, therefore, the duty and the province of the Northern NutGrowers' Association to diffuse as much information as possible amongthe farmers of the North and Middle West on this subject. 

This is important for many reasons. At a recent meeting of the NationalNut Growers' Association held at Mobile, Ala. , in discussing the subjectof the Extension of the Pecan Area, I used the following language:

"In my opinion nothing is more important to the permanency of the pecanindustry than the development of the pecan area in different parts ofthe country, and having orchards cultivated under as many differentconditions as are consistent with the known probable successful area. This is important, for the reason that this more than anything else willinsure a supply of pecans each year, and this will develop a publicdependency upon this most valuable nut. Nothing can be more detrimentalto any industry than a spasmodic and irregular supply of the productupon which that industry depends. "

I quote this language for the reason that the culture of the pecan inthe North is just now in its infancy, and it is peculiarly the functionof our organization to get before the public the essential facts uponwhich its success depends. We are under great obligation for the workthat has been done in the South and the information that is madeavailable through the National Nut Growers' Association. Much of this isvaluable in the North, but there are a great many of the essentialpoints that have yet to be worked out, as the climatic conditions makeit impossible to follow exactly in all cases the line of work that hasbeen done in the South. 

The fake promoter and the crooked nurseryman will no doubt come in fortheir inning in the North, as they have in the South, and the publicwill be imposed upon by inferior and "doctored" trees, and all sorts ofget-rich-quick orchard schemes will no doubt make their adventthroughout the North; but it is very probably that our Association, through its proper committee, having in mind the experiences of theSouth, can keep closely in touch with the general work that is going onand have on hand sufficient information to protect those who will takethe trouble to make inquiry. Nothing in the horticultural line is moresatisfactory, more beautiful or more valuable than a fine young grove ofgrafted or budded pecan trees of good varieties; but like all other goodthings, it will attract the counterfeiter. 

Coming now more specifically to the subject which has been assigned tome by the committee--that is, "The Indiana Pecan and My Experience inNut Culture, " I want to explain what is meant by the "Indiana pecan. "It is true, of course, that some of the very finest of the northernpecans have originated in Indiana, yet I prefer to speak of pecans inthat whole section of the country as belonging to the "Indiana group. "Taking Evansville, Ind. , as the center, there grow, within a radius offifty miles, in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, many thousands of wildpecan trees; and after an investigation extending through a number ofyears, there have been selected from these various wild groves a fewtrees from which it has been deemed desirable to propagate. In thisconnection I want to mention the valuable work that has been done alongthis line by Mason J. Niblack, of Vincennes, Ind. ; Prof. C. G. Woodbury, of Lafayette, Ind. ; R. L. McCoy, of Lake, Ind. ; and J. F. Wilkinson, ofRockport, Ind. These men, with the assistance of others throughout theState, have for several years been making investigations of these pecanswith a view of determining the most desirable varieties from which topropagate. It has been my privilege to have the benefit of theinformation gathered by these gentlemen, which, added to my ownexperience, has given me a fairly comprehensive view of the desirablenuts in that section, and, as the geographical center of the presentknown desirable varieties seems to be about Evansville, Ind. , I will, for matter of convenience, designate them as belonging to the "IndianaGroup. "

We have been able to determine with some certainly the desirability ofsix or seven varieties of pecans for propagating purposes. We have anumber of others under observation. In investigating a pecan forpropagating purposes, it is necessary to examine it from twostandpoints, first, the tree qualities, and second, the qualities of thenut itself. 

The tree must be of a thrifty nature, a rapid grower, not especiallysubject to any particular diseases, must bear regularly, and the cropsmust be of a good average as to quantity. When observing a great numberof pecan trees, it soon becomes apparent that some varieties grow muchfaster than others. This is first noticed in the nursery rows, and it ishighly desirable to select not only those varieties which grow fast, buteven the best growing trees of any particular variety. Most of the treesfrom which propagating is done are generally full grown, and it issometimes difficult to tell from observing them in the woods what theirgrowing qualities are, yet it is occasionally apparent from observing atree that it is thrifty and strong, while another tree may look entirelydifferent. The growing quality, however, does not usually becomeapparent until after they are propagated and put under proper conditionsof cultivation. 

The bearing record of a tree can be determined only by observing thetree for a number of years and measuring its crops. There are many treesthat are almost infallible producers, but some years the crop islighter than others, although it is not probable that an orchard, evenfrom one of these unusual bearers, can be obtained which will notoccasionally miss a crop. 

The influence of the stock upon the scion is something that has not yetbeen fully worked out, and for that reason it is impossible to say whythe grafted or budded tree does not always take on the bearing qualitiesof the parent, although it is pretty safe to say that as a rule itsqualities are very closely approximated, and by careful selection it ispossible to get grafted and budded trees that begin bearing very earlyand bear with a great degree of regularity. 

In visiting a tree while the nuts are green, one can get some idea as toits bearing quality by the number and size of the clusters hanging onthe limbs. A tree that is a poor bearer, or bears only a fair crop, usually bears its nuts in clusters of one to three, while a good bearerproduces clusters of from three to six. I have seen as many as eightnuts in a cluster in the South, and have seen some clusters of seven onsome of our Indiana trees, but as a rule good bearing trees of theIndiana group have clusters of about four to five nuts each. 

After the tree qualities have been determined, it is then necessary toconsider the nut itself. The nut must be of fair size, of good flavor, thin to medium thickness of shell, well filled, and of good crackingquality--that is, the conformation of the shell and kernel must be suchthat a large percentage of the kernels can be taken out as whole halves, and the convolutions of the kernels must be wide enough that thepartitions do not adhere to them. When all of these qualities, both ofthe tree and nut, can be combined, we then have a desirable tree fromwhich to propagate, and it is very surprising how few come up to thestandard. In one wild grove in Kentucky, on the banks of the Ohio Riverjust across from Indiana, near the mouth of the Green River, there arenearly 300 acres of wild pecan trees. In this grove are perhaps morethan a thousand trees, and so far as I have been able to determine up todate, there are but three trees out of the whole grove that come near mynotion of the standard. 

Sometimes, however, a tree or a nut may grade up so high on some onepoint as to make it a desirable variety from which to propagate, eventhough it does not grade high on other desirable points. For example, one of the most desirable southern pecans, perhaps, considering only thenut itself, is the "Schley, " yet the tree is reputed to be of verymedium bearing quality. The nut is so very fine, however, that nosouthern grove of pecans is complete without a fair percentage of"Schley" trees. On the other hand, the "Stuart, " another southernvariety, has not ranked nearly so high as the "Schley, " considering onlythe nut; and yet there are probably twice as many "Stuarts" being putout in the South today as any other variety, for the simple reason thatit is a good-sized nut and the tree has a very fine bearing record. Allthese things have to be taken into consideration by those of us who areundertaking to propagate northern varieties. 

There is unquestionably a large area of country extending approximatelyfrom the latitude of Atlanta, Ga. , to that of Terre Haute, Ind. , inwhich there is a great field for experimenting with the northernvarieties of pecans. It is a great mistake to undertake to bring thesouthern varieties too far north. A majority of the finest of thesouthern varieties originated on the Gulf Coast, and it is true thatthey can be brought a considerable distance north of there, but I havealways doubted their successful growth with any degree of certainty ofcrops north of Atlanta, Ga. ; for I think it is pretty well conceded thatif one undertakes to crowd the northern limits with the southernvarieties of pecans, they become uncertain in their bearing habits andthe pecans are much smaller and not as well filled. On the other hand, it is my opinion that the northern pecan can be taken south of itsorigin with complete safety. The longer growing season will probably addto the certainty of the crops and the size of the nuts. It is also veryimportant for the grower of these northern varieties of pecans torecognize the fact that they cannot be taken too far north of thelocation of the parent tree. The limits, however, both of the northernand southern varieties are not arbitrary, as they depend very much uponproximity to the ocean and other moderating influences. For example, itis very probable that pecans can be cultivated much farther north closeto either the Atlantic or Pacific Coast than they can in the MiddleWest. All of these things remain yet to be determined, but it isimportant to distinguish between the setting of orchards for commercialpurposes and the setting of trees for purely experimental purposes. 

There is unquestionably a great section of the country comprisingapproximately, as I have said, the territory lying between the latitudeof Atlanta, Ga. , and Terre Haute, Ind. , in which pecans can becommercially produced successfully. In the near future I expect to seepecan orchards of these northern varieties producing fine nuts andbearing as regularly in the northern sections as they do in the South. The prospective orchardist, however, must look well to the varietieswhich he selects and the latitude of the parent tree from whence theycome and the geographical conditions that influence the weather. 

I have referred to Evansville, Ind. , as being about the center of theIndiana Group. The average fall frost period at Evansville is about the20th of October. The average period of the last spring frost is aboutApril the 9th. This will serve somewhat as a guide to the prospectivecommercial orchardist. However, most of the trees of the Indiana Groupdo not pollenate until about the 10th of May, and the great majority ofthem ripen their nuts by the 15th of October, and several of the goodtrees ripen their nuts by the 1st of October, though they usually arenot gathered till later. 

The northernmost tree, so far as I know, that has been deemed worthy ofobservation is the "Hodge, " which is native in Illinois, abouteighty-five miles north of Evansville, Ind. , and a few miles southwestof Terre Haute, Ind. It is one of the largest of the northern varieties, and is a fair nut, but does not grade high in filling qualities, and thebearing record of the parent tree has not yet been determined. The treeis crooked and very unprepossessing looking, and stands in the woodswhere it has a very poor chance. When I visited it this year, it had avery light crop of nuts, but I did not condemn it, for the reason thatany tree growing under the same conditions could not be expected to bearvery well. I expect to observe the tree for several years in the future, and determine further as to its bearing record. It is possible thattrees propagated from this variety, under favorable conditions, mayprove to be good bearers. 

The next northernmost trees of the desirable varieties are the "Indiana"and "Busseron, " standing about 100 yards apart, west of Oaktown, KnoxCounty, Indiana, about sixty-five miles north of Evansville. Mr. MasonJ. Niblack, of Vincennes, Ind. , has had these trees under observationfor a number of years, and it is due to his interest that they werebrought to the attention of the public. The "Busseron" is an old treethat is reputed to have a very fine bearing record. A few years ago, theowner of this tree cut all the top out of it, and this crippled the treevery badly and set it back for quite a while. When I visited it lastAugust, it had put up new growth, and the few remaining old limbs thathad been left on it were hanging full of clusters containing four andfive nuts each. "The Indiana, " standing a short distance away, is acomparatively young tree, and is thought to be a seedling of the"Busseron, " as the two nuts resemble one another very much. The"Indiana" has been cut very severely for grafting wood the last fewyears, and it is therefore difficult to give very authentic informationas to its bearing record. It appears, however, to be a very promisingtree, and when I visited it in August it had a fair crop of nuts. Theclusters were not large--mostly two and three each. The tree looked verythrifty, and from the best information that I have been able to gatherin reference to it, I consider it a desirable variety from which topropagate. My choice of the two trees is the "Busseron, " although the"Indiana" has made an excellent showing, considering the severe pruningsfor grafting wood. 

Coming down near the center of the Indiana Group, we have the"Warrick, " growing in Warrick County, Indiana, which took the prize atthe pecan show at Mt. Vernon, Ind. , in 1909, and is a fair nut of morethan average size. It is reputed to have a good bearing record, but Ihave not yet had opportunity to completely verify this. 

In Posey County, Ind. , near Evansville, are hundreds of wild pecantrees, many of which produce good nuts. One of them, from which Ipropagated last year under the name of the "Hoosier, " is a very prolifictree. The nut itself is of medium size, beautiful color and thin shell, but the kernel qualities are not nearly so desirable as many of theother of our Indiana pecans, and it does not take a very high rank inthe estimation of some of our observers. I visited the tree in August, 1910, and at that time it had one of the most bountiful crops of nutsthat I had ever seen growing on a tree. It was hanging full of clusterscontaining five and six nuts each. I visited it again an October andfound that the nuts had ripened very early. This nut took the prize atthe Mt. Vernon pecan show in 1910. 

Crossing the river from Indiana, we have in the Major woods at the mouthof Green River, nine miles from Evansville, three desirable pecans--the"Greenriver, " the "Major, " and the "Hinton. " The "Major" and the"Hinton" have been propagated by Mr. William N. Roper, at Petersburg, Va. , for some time. They are round, well filled nuts, and are consideredby confectioners as the most desirable type of pecan for many of theconfectionery purposes. The "Major" is the best cracking pecan that Ihave ever seen, either North or South, and is a regular bearer, but notas high in flavor as some other varieties. The "Hinton" is anoval-shaped nut, having a corrugated shell, of fine cracking and kernelqualities, but I have not yet satisfactorily determined its bearingrecord. 

The "Greenriver" is a little larger than either of the above nuts, andis one of the very finest medium-sized pecans that I have found. Thetree is reported not to have missed a crop in eleven years, although thecrop this year was very light, probably owing to the fact that it wascut pretty severely last year for grafting wood. All three of thesevarieties coming from the Major woods at the mouth of Green River giveexcellent promise, with perhaps the "Greenriver" in the lead for generalqualities. 

Down on the banks of the Wabash in Posey County, Indiana, and across onthe Illinois side, are several very fine, large, beautiful varieties ofpecans, which Mr. R. L. McCoy, of Lake, Ind. , and myself are observing. Several of these pecans are as large as many of the standard southernvarieties, and when I visited the trees this year in August, they werebearing good crops of nuts. We have not yet named these varieties, butexpect to do so after we have observed them the coming year. There areone or two varieties in this neighborhood that may take rank over allthe northern pecans that have been discovered. It is no longer aquestion of finding nuts in the North of good size, for we have alreadylocated some that rank well with many of the standard southern varietiesin size, and one of the surprising and favorable points of the northernpecan is their fine filling qualities and high flavor. When placed onthe scales their weight is most surprising to those who have not testedthem. 

The problem before the prospective pecan grower in the North is tosecure good trees of these most desirable varieties. Seedling trees arenot worth setting out. Until last year the successful propagation ofpecans in the North was doubted by many, but the experiments conductedby myself and Mr. R. L. McCoy, at Lake, Ind. , who worked in conjunctionwith me, have demonstrated that they can be successfully propagated. Anumber of points, however, must be carefully observed in this work. 

First, in reference to grafting: The grafting should be done on northerntwo-year-old stocks. One-year-old stocks can be used, but two-year-oldsare thought to be better. The stocks must be grown from northernseedlings. There is no place in the North for the southern stock, andright here let me suggest that the individual who buys northern treesgrafted on southern stocks or southern trees grafted on northern stocksis throwing his money away. I set fifty trees last fall of the "Indiana"grafted on southern stocks, and the first freeze that came promptlykilled them all. They put up a few new sprouts last summer, but finallythe roots rotted, and this fall I dug them up. I have a neighbor who putout an orchard of southern grown trees. Some of them seemed to grow allright for six or seven years, and then froze down to the ground, and sofar as I have been able to find out, experiments with southern trees inthe North have been practically a waste of time and money. So it isnecessary to bear in mind that these northern varieties must be graftedor budded on trees grown from northern seed. 

The proper time for grafting in the Evansville latitude is the last weekin March and the first week in April. The scions must be cut fromthrifty growing trees and must be used immediately after they are cut. Experience has shown that scions kept in cold storage or stratified insand for any length of time lose a very large part of their vitality, and success with them is very limited in that section. Last year I cutmost of my scions in November and December, stratified them in sanduntil spring, and my percentage of success with them was very small, while on the other hand Mr. McCoy used scions directly off the tree andhad a satisfactory stand. I am of the opinion that it will be provenlater that the best method of grafting in the North is to graft abovethe ground and tie paper bags over the scions for two or three weeksuntil they start into growth. Our experiments so far have been confinedto root-grafting, and while it has proven fairly successful under properconditions, yet I believe that grafting above the ground will prove moresuccessful. We have not done much budding in our section, but what wehave done gives fair promise of success, and it may be that this willprove to be the best method of propagating nut trees in the North. Ingrafting we use both one and two-year-old wood, but one-year-old wood, if it is thrifty, is more desirable, although it is better to usethrifty two-year-old wood than to use weak scions of one year's growth. Either one or two-year-old growth can be used successfully. 

My experiments and adventures in the work of propagating pecan treeswere made for the purpose of securing enough of the desirable varietiesof these trees to put out an orchard for myself. I found, upon inquiry, that it was impossible to buy hardy northern trees, and furthermore thatbut few of the desirable varieties had been propagated. In fact, I knewthat some of the best ones had never been brought to the attention ofthe nurserymen, and being more anxious to risk my own judgment on thisthan that of anyone else, I started in to produce my own trees. Up todate I have accumulated a vast amount of experience and have a few treesto show for my work, but I would not take many times the cost andtrouble of my work, for the information I have acquired. I have alsosent to some of my friends bud-wood from our best trees for the purposeof getting these varieties propagated for the benefit of those whodesire to grow them. My suggestion is that unless one is looking for theexperience and enjoys a great deal of hard work and some expense, he hadbetter buy his trees from some reliable person who has successfullypropagated them. 

If the farmers in the latitude of the good varieties of pecans were toput out ten to twenty acres on some corner of their farm and cultivatethe trees properly, they would soon be surprised to find that this smallpiece of ground would be worth more money than all the rest of theirfarm, and they would leave not only a valuable estate to their children, but also a monument by which they would be remembered for more than ahundred years after they had passed from the toils of this earth. Tenacres of pecan trees can be cultivated at less expense annually than tenacres of corn, and if the grove consists of the right varieties and hasbeen properly cultivated, it will be worth not less than $500 per acrein ten years. In fact, I do not know of a single grove of pecan trees inthe United States--and I have seen many--of the right varieties that hasbeen properly cultivated that can be bought for $500 per acre at tenyears of age, yet the principal reason that this very thing has not beendone by the farmers throughout the pecan belt is because they have nothad sufficient information on the subject and have had no means ofacquiring it. 

I do not want to close this long paper without saying something aboutwalnuts and hickory nuts in Indiana. While it is true that the pecan isunquestionably the most attractive and valuable nut that grows in theworld, yet there is much profit and satisfaction in the culture ofwalnuts and hickories. In southern Indiana we have some very finevarieties of the shagbark, and I am making some experiments inpropagating it. One of the advantages of this nut is that it will growfar into the north. In fact, I have had some specimens of very beautifulshagbarks sent me by Dr. D. S. Sager, from Ontario, Canada. The shagbarkis a slower growing tree than the pecan, but when properly cultivatedshows a very satisfactory growth. 

I am also experimenting with the propagation of the Persian (English)walnut, and so far have had very satisfactory results. I am trying someof the California varieties--the "Franquette" and "Parisienne"especially--and last spring I grafted a number of them on the wildseedling black walnut and they grew as much as four feet in heightduring the summer. There are several very fine varieties of the Persianwalnut that are hardy throughout our latitude, and when grafted on thenative black walnut stocks, make very satisfactory growth. I have hadseveral Persian walnut trees under observation in Washington, close towhere I live, and have found that some of these trees bear good crops ofvery fine walnuts. I cannot make this paper long enough to go into thedetails of this subject as it has been discussed here by others who knowmore about it than I. I merely desire to mention the fact that so far asour experiments have gone in Indiana up to date with the Persian walnut, everything seems to indicate that it can be very successfully propagatedand grown there, provided the right varieties are selected; but withthis, as with all other nut trees, the prospective orchardist must makevery careful selection of the varieties which he plants. 

In closing, I want to add just a few words more as to the value andbeauty of nut trees. It is very hard to overstate either if the treesare properly cared for. A friend of mine recently asked me how early apecan tree would bear, and how big it would grow within a certain time. I told him that it depended altogether upon who owned the tree. Nothingadds so much to the value of a home or to a farm as beautiful trees, andnothing indicates more the intelligence and taste of the person who ownsa home or farm than the character of the trees surrounding it. In takinga trip through the country, it is very painful to notice how littleattention has been given to trees, and I take it that this is due to thelack of information on this subject. A house can be built in a veryshort time. It can be furnished beautifully if one has taste and money. The science of mechanics can do much toward making an attractive placein which to dwell, but after all, the home that is remembered andadmired, both by its occupants and by others, is the home surrounded bybeautiful trees that bring forth their leaves and blossoms and fruit toplease the eye and the taste and temper the heat of summer. These cannotbe bought with mere money nor made in a day, but when placed there withcare and intelligence come forth with surprising rapidity and beauty andnot only add manifold value to the home and farm, but bespeak for someone a standard of intelligence and nobility that is better than greatriches; for he who plants and cares for a tree is of the true, thebeautiful and the good. 

 * * * * *

President Morris: The paper is now open for discussion. 

Professor Lake: I'd like to ask Mr. Littlepage a question. What is thecondition of the wood of those large growths of walnuts?

Mr. Littlepage: When I observed it in November, it was ripening off verynicely. The average frost period for that latitude is about thetwentieth of October, and we had had quite a number of very hardfrosts, --in fact, there had been some ice. It had not been injured. 

Professor Lake: That is remarkable. 

Mr. Littlepage: I have pictures here of those, taken the twentieth ofJune. There was perhaps three feet of growth at that time. They quitgrowing about the middle of August down there, and to that I attributevery largely the fact that the wood ripened up. 

Professor Craig: What is your minimum temperature?

Mr. Littlepage: I have seen the thermometer ten degrees below zero. Ihave seen the Ohio River frozen over so thick that for a month atRockport the wagons could go across the river on ice. In fact, athreshing machine was hauled over. I don't know how low the thermometergot. I imagine it went lower than ten degrees. 

President Morris: I have seen it lower still on Persian walnuts andpecans. It is the early starting of sap in spring that hurts mine most. 

Mr. Littlepage: The pecans differ from native hickory. The nativehickories in that section opened their buds and began to show strongflow of sap long before the pecans gave any indication whatever. Some ofthe pecans there seem to be very slow about starting sap. Very fewpollinate before the tenth of May. 

President Morris: My trees had to stand twenty-eight degrees one nightonly, but they have had to stand twenty sometimes, and frequentlyseveral degrees below. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I want to ask if he thinks he will have any difficulty intransplanting those black walnuts seven or eight years old?

Mr. Littlepage: That suggests a very painful subject. I have had thatvery thing in mind. They stand six or seven feet apart. I have got tosettle that very question some of these times. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I might suggest that you begin the fall before, and take awhole lot of time in digging around the trees, then leave them tillnearly spring, then finish the transplanting before the ground has achance to thaw entirely. 

President Morris: I believe that is a good point, if you will do yourcutting early, and let the callus form well during the winter. Let ushear more about that particular point. 

Mr. Reed: In view of the fact that this Association is trying to rectifyas many mistakes as it can, and the fact that it is looked upon as anestablisher of precedents, I make the motion that all of our referencesto the nut just under discussion be to it as the Persian walnut, and notas the English walnut. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I second that motion. (Carried. )

President Morris: Let us hear from Mr. Roper. 

Mr. Roper: I don't think I know much about the Indiana pecan trees, except what we have been doing in Virginia with them. I have discussedsome of the results in the paper on pecan trees for planting in theNorth. 

 * * * * *

President Morris: Committee appointments are as follows: Committee onCompetition, Messrs. Reed, Littlepage, and myself, _ex-officio_. Committee on General Exhibits, Messrs. Barron and Roper. Committee onResolutions, Messrs. Reed, Littlepage, and Schempp. Committee onMembership, Messrs. Deming, Lake, and Rush. Nominating Committee, Professor Craig and Col. Van Duzee. 

Professor Lake: Does that complete all the committees?

President Morris: That is all on the list here. 

Professor Lake: I would like to suggest one, because I think it willmaterially help the matter of bringing the nut subject before the peoplein an effective manner, --a committee on score card. That is at the basisof competitions, and when the nut grower gets acquainted with the scorecard, and knows that is going to be the basis of judging thecompetitions, he knows there is going to be something doing. 

President Morris: That is a rather important point. I would like to havethe matter discussed. 

Professor Craig: I think the idea is an excellent one. There is no wayin which we can analyze the qualities of fruit better than by having asystematic method of discussing its different characters. The score carddoes that, --separates each one and makes them stand for what they areworth. In order to unify methods of judging used by the differentsocieties, a score card which this society might develop and recommendwould be a very valuable thing as a guide for nut growers here in theNortheast. The National Nut Growers' Association has a score card forpecans, and a score card has been recommended by the Department ofAgriculture. I am not sure that score cards have been provided for thePersian walnut and for the hickories, and our northern types. I thinkMr. Lake's suggestion is entirely in order and well worthy ofconsideration. 

President Morris: It appeals to me at once. I think we would put Mr. Lake and Professor Craig on a score card committee. 

Professor Craig: I think a score card can be presented, subject torevision, which will answer the present demand. 

FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 15, 1911. 

President Morris: The meeting is called to order. The Secretary willread the proposed amendments to the constitution. I believe there is noprovision in the by-laws for making such amendment. I don't know whatthe customary rule is in the matter. I presume we could submit it to avote. 

Doctor Deming: Under the heading "Committees, " the following isproposed: "The Association shall appoint standing committees of threemembers each to consider and report on the following topics at eachannual meeting: first, on promising seedlings; second, on nomenclature;third, on hybrids; fourth, on membership; fifth, on press andpublication. "

Professor Craig: I move the adoption of this amendment to ourconstitution. (Seconded. Carried. )

Doctor Deming: Under the head of "Meetings, " the amendment is asfollows: "The Association shall hold an annual meeting, to be held atthe time and place to be selected by the Executive Committee. "

Professor Lake: Some way or another, I feel that I oppose that attitude. I believe a delegate will often go to a convention with the idea ofpresenting views upon holding it at some specific place. It seems to mewe ought to give the annual meeting an opportunity to designate theplace of meeting. Some people say they will pack a convention. If theyare sufficiently enthusiastic to pack a convention they are entitled tohave the meeting. I have heard an expression from one or two membersthat they would like to see it at a certain place. It is true they canpresent their views to the Executive Committee, but if the ExecutiveCommittee is not present at this place, it is necessary for them to makeanother trip, or appeal to them by correspondence. I would like to havethat put in such a way that the annual meeting might select the place ofmeeting. 

President Morris: It is a matter for consideration. Is there any furtherdiscussion on this point?

Doctor Deming: It seems to me that the question of the selection of themeeting place is a matter for very deliberate consideration, and itisn't always that a question of this kind will get deliberateconsideration in a meeting which acts very often without considering allsides of the question. It seems to me that, while it would be advisableto have the place of the next meeting discussed by the Association as awhole, the decision as to the place of meeting might very safely be leftto the Executive Committee. 

Mr. Littlepage: I think, as a general rule, it is pretty wise to givesome latitude in these matters, for the reason that conditions maydevelop from time to time which make it desirable to have someflexibility as to the place of meeting. I think, especially with theable Executive Committee we now have, it could safely be left to theExecutive Committee. 

Professor Craig: Since Professor Lake has spoken, I have a good deal ofsympathy with his attitude, and I am rather inclined to think it wouldbe wise to modify that clause in such a way as to give the meeting theprivilege, in case there was an overwhelming element in favor of acertain place, of selecting the next place for the convention; and Iwould suggest a modification of that clause to this effect, that theplace of meeting shall be selected at the annual meeting, or by theExecutive Committee subsequently thereto. That would give the membershipan opportunity of having a word in it, and would open the door so thatit could be considered at the annual meeting; but in the event of thisnot taking place then, it would fall to the Executive Committee toselect the meeting place. I move that as an amendment to the proposedclause. 

Professor Lake: I support Professor Craig's motion. 

Professor Craig: If my seconder will approve, I will offer that as asubstitute instead of an amendment. 

Professor Lake: I accept it. (Carried. )

Doctor Deming: Under the head of "Officers, " the following amendment isproposed: "There shall be a president, a vice-president, asecretary-treasurer, and an executive committee of five persons, ofwhich latter the president, vice-president, and secretary shall bemembers, and a vice-president from each state represented in themembership of the Association. "

Professor Lake: I move that the clause be accepted. 

Mr. Rush: I second the motion. (Carried. )

Doctor Deming: Under the heading of "Election of Officers, " thisaddition is proposed: "The President shall appoint a nominatingcommittee of three persons at the annual meeting, whose duty it shallbe to report to the meeting a list of officers for the ensuing year. "

Professor Lake: I don't want to be an objector. I simply want to file aprotest against this method of election in an organization, on generalprinciples. I am opposed to anything that looks like continuing anadministration. This doesn't give an opportunity for election from thefloor. It might be so amended, that an annual meeting may elect from thefloor. I am thoroughly in sympathy with popular government. I have seena good deal of this, and I would like to get away from the sentiment ofanything of that kind by allowing nominations from the floor. 

Doctor Deming: How would it be if the nominating committee, instead ofbeing appointed by the President, were appointed in some elective way bythe meeting as a whole?

Professor Lake: I accept Doctor Deming's suggestion. That is a mostexcellent way of eliminating both sides of the controversy. I would liketo put that definitely into form, that we have a committee offive, --that is sufficient for the present, --that a committee of five beelected at the annual meeting for the purpose of nominating officers forthe subsequent year. I put that as a motion. 

Mr. Rush: I second that motion. (Carried. )

President Morris: The committee for the nomination of new officers willconsist of Professor Craig and Colonel Van Duzee. This other committeeof five, as I understand it, is not to be appointed now. 

Doctor Deming: The only thing that I have now is the proposition that wehonor Mr. Henry Hales by electing him an honorary member of theAssociation. I would like to move that Mr. Henry Hales of Ridgewood, NewJersey, be elected an honorary member of this Association. 

Mr. Littlepage: I second that motion. (Carried. )

President Morris: On the competition, the committee consisted of Mr. Reed, Mr. Littlepage, and myself. Mr. Littlepage has specimens in forcompetition, and I will appoint Mr. Roper in his place. The next orderof business will be the paper on experiences in propagation, byProfessor Close. 

THE BENCH ROOT-GRAFTING OF PERSIAN WALNUTS AND PECANS. 

BY C. P. CLOSE, U. S. DEPT, OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

The results of my bench root-grafting of Persian walnuts and pecans atthe Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station in 1911 were not assatisfactory as might be wished, partly owing, at least, to theunusually long and hot drought which was disastrous in many respects inthis section of the country. 

PURPOSE AND METHOD OF THE EXPERIMENT. 

The purpose of this experimental work was to devise some method ofprocedure in the bench grafting of nut trees which would be reliable andpractical, especially if done during January, February, and March. Thewhip or tongue method with variation in thinness of tongue to makeclosely fitting unions, was employed. For the Persian walnut cions, black walnut, butternut and Persian walnut roots were used, and for thepecan cions, hardy Indiana and ordinary southern pecan seedlings, wholeroot and piece root, were used. Part of the grafts were planted outdoorsin nursery rows as soon as made and part were placed in soil or decayedsawdust in a cool greenhouse. This was for the purpose of determiningwhether or not it would prove advantageous to go to the extra expenseand trouble of placing the grafts under greenhouse conditions untilApril or May. Ground beds were used and thus bottom heat was notapplied. 

PERSIAN WALNUTS. 

There were 287 grafts of San Jose, Concord and Franquette Persianwalnuts, made from February 15 to April 4, which were planted in nurseryrows very soon after being made. Only 40 of these were alive in October, the best results being obtained with San Jose on black walnut stocks. Sixty-four walnut grafts were placed in decayed sawdust in thegreenhouse in February and March and of these 22 were alive early in Maywhen they were taken out. 

PECANS. 

The pecan grafts, set in nursery rows as soon as made, numbered 474 andconsisted of the following varieties: Mantura, Appomattox, Frotscher, Moneymaker, Van Deman, Stuart, and Pabst. Only one of these, a Pabst ona piece root, lived during the season. 

The grafts which were placed in the greenhouse gave pretty good resultsas shown by the following data given respectively under the headings"Earth Bed" and "Decayed Sawdust. "

EARTH BED. 

Jan. 14. 10 Moneymaker on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 8 alive in May. 10 Moneymaker on Indiana stocks, waxed 4 alive in May. Feb. 14. 10 Mantura on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 8 alive in May. 15 Moneymaker on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 11 alive in May. Mar. 8. 33 Stuart on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 20 alive in May. 30 Stuart on Indiana piece roots, not waxed. 15 alive in May. ___ ___

Totals 108 66

DECAYED SAWDUST. 

Feb. 14. 25 Mantura on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 6 alive in May. Mar. 8. 12 Stuart on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 12 alive in May. 23 Stuart on Indiana stocks, not waxed. 21 alive in May. ___ ___

Totals 60 39

These figures show that 61 per cent of those in the earth bed and 65 percent of those in the decayed sawdust, were alive when they were taken upearly in May. Some had made a growth of from two to eight inches andwere fine little trees. Most of these transplanted grafts were set innursery rows and nearly all succumbed to the extreme drought of theseason. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The season was so extremely dry that the practice of planting rootgrafts as soon as made did not prove successful. However, work done inother years indicated that in normal seasons this may be done withconsiderable success. Placing the grafts in a greenhouse either in earthor decayed sawdust gave encouraging results, but when transplanted inthe nursery the grafts could not withstand the unusually dry and hotweather. The black walnut proved to be the best stock for the Persianwalnut and two buds to the cion are required. Grafting wax should not beused if the union of cion and stock is to be covered with earth; thispoint was clearly proven in previous years. 

 [The foregoing paper, read by title, was the subject of a verbal report by Prof. Lake, who said further:]

Prof. Close performed considerable work in topgrafting and budding onthree and four year old stocks. The top grafts were a failure. The budssurvived, and were in good, strong condition October fifteenth. That wason Persian walnut and pecan, about half and half. 

Mr. Pomeroy: Did he bud on black walnut stock?

Professor Lake: Yes. It was a little higher than a man, and had been cutback to about three feet. The crown grafting was fairly successful, butwould have been much more successful, had they used something to coverthe grafts. 

Mr. Pomeroy: How long should the paper sack be left?

Professor Lake: It would vary with the season and activity of the stock, ten days to two weeks. 

President Morris: I wish you would try further experiments in rootingscions in warm sand in the hot-house. I believe that in some stage youcan probably root those cuttings in moist sand in the hot-house, heatedbeneath; and if you can do that, it is going to settle the question verylargely of hickory and walnut propagation. What do you think about that, Professor Craig?

Professor Craig: I am not very optimistic about the possibility of that. I find it very, very difficult to get roots to develop from _Hicoria_. You can get the callus almost every time, but it is very difficult tosecure the development of roots afterwards. 

President Morris: How about getting callus by three months, we will say, in storage?

Professor Craig: We would have the same trouble. They would developadventitious buds very poorly. Doctor Morris has sent us from time totime some samples, and we have been making experiments. I have useddifferent methods and different propagators. We have one propagator, whohas been most successful usually in striking difficult things, and hehas absolutely failed in this one. I may say that our facilities forpropagation are not ideal at the present time, but we shall have in ashort time a good propagating house with properly regulated benches, asto bottom heat and overhead ventilation and all that; and we shall, ofcourse, keep up the experiments. 

President Morris: In my experiments, I grafted hickory scions on hickoryroots, and the whole thing, root and scion, lived until the root sentout adventitious buds, yet in that case we did not get union between thetop and the stock. How do you explain that, Professor Craig?

Professor Craig: I don't explain it. 

President Morris: Are we likely to have success along that line by somemodification of the plan?

Professor Craig: I couldn't say. You can keep the cuttings alive forthree or four months. 

President Morris: They were in damp rooms, exposed to light, right inthe window. 

Doctor Deming: Professor Coville has made some experiments in rootinghickory cuttings for me. Professor Coville is the one who has made sucha success of blueberry culture. I sent him some cuttings, and he reportsas follows:

"Two experiments were tried with the hickory cuttings received from Dr. W. C. Deming on January 5, 1911. In one experiment some of the cuttingswere placed in a glass cutting bed in live sphagnum covered with sand, the upper ends of the cuttings projecting from the sand. The atmosphereabove the cutting bed was kept in a state of saturation by a covering ofglass. The bed was kept shaded and was subjected to an ordinary livingroom temperature varying from about 55° to 70°, or occasionally a fewdegrees higher. 

On January 11 the cambium ring at the lower end of the cuttings hadbegun to callus. On February 17 the upper bud on one of the cuttingsbegan to push. Later some of the other cuttings began to swellpreparatory to the development of new growth. All the cuttings, however, finally died. It appeared from their behavior that the temperatures towhich they were subjected were too high for their best development. 

In the other experiment the cuttings were placed in sand withoutsphagnum in a greenhouse at a temperature ordinarily of 50° to 65°, rising occasionally, however, on still, sunny days to 70°. After a fewweeks, these cuttings were well callused and the buds began to swellslowly, exposing first their green bracts, and later on some of thecuttings the green compound leaves, pushing out from among the bracts. These cuttings also, however, finally turned black and died, but notuntil after the first of April. 

The experiments showed that hickory cuttings, when taken at a suitabletime of year and exposed to conditions suited to other hard woodedplants known to be difficult to root, retained their vitality and passedsatisfactorily through the stages preliminary to rooting. While noactual roots were secured, the experiments suggest that the rooting ofhickory cuttings is not beyond the possibility of attainment. 

As the basis of an experiment this winter, I suggest that you selecthalf a dozen twigs that you are willing to sacrifice on some goodvariety of hickory, and remove a ring of bark at a distance of 4 to 8inches from the top. The ring of bark removed should be about half aninch in length and its upper end should come about a quarter of an inchbelow a bud. At the present season the bark will not peel from the wood. It will, therefore, be necessary to scrape it off, so as to leavenothing but the wood on the girdled area. The bark should be cleanly cutat each end of this area. I hope that we shall still have sufficientwarm weather to induce the formation of a callus on the cambium at theupper end of this ring. 

Later in the winter, some time in January, you can cut off these twigsand send them to me, packed as those were last year. The cutting ispreferably made just below the ring. I would prefer that all the woodfrom the ring to the tip of the twig be of the past summer's growth. Wecan try, however, twigs containing two seasons' growth, if the othersare not easily available. "

President Morris: That is a suggestion, you see, of apparent value, because it has succeeded with blueberries, --this method of cutting off aring of bark before the leaves are shed, allowing a ring to callous, then later cutting off this prepared twig and subjecting it to methodsfor striking roots. It is an extremely interesting suggestion. Just assoon as I heard of this procedure, I went out and prepared about fiftyhickory and walnut twigs myself, but that was this autumn, and I haven'tcut them yet for the experiments in rooting. Has anyone had experiencealong this line?

Mr. Collins: I saw an experiment in rooting, and I am prompted to ask ifanything has been done along this particular line. The method employedwas this. The twig was partially cut from the branch, perhaps cutthree-quarters of the way through with a slanting cut. It was then benta little, and a little sphagnum put in the cut, then a ball of sphagnumwas wrapped about the whole cut area, and it was tied with twine, andthat was kept wet for several months, I think, until, finally, new rootspushed through and appeared on the outside of this ball of sphagnum. 

President Morris: I read of that. It was published in a governmentreport. 

Professor Collins: It was on the rubber plant. 

President Morris: I tried it at that time on the hickory. The difficultywas in getting my men sufficiently interested to keep the sphagnum wetall the time. It promised something. The rubber plants, perhaps, wouldlend themselves more readily to such a procedure than the hickories, because most of the rubber plants are air plants, anyway. All of the_Ficus_ family depend so little upon the ground for their nourishment. 

Professor Collins: I have seen that worked very successfully. 

Professor Lake: You don't know how successful the callousing has been?

President Morris: They calloused all right. 

Professor Lake: How long did it require?

President Morris: I don't remember. It was a good while, longer than Ianticipated. I don't think there was a callus on the hickory in lessthan thirty days. The butternut and black walnut hardly showed anycallus at all after keeping the sphagnum wet as long as my men would doit. 

Professor Lake: At what time was the ringing done?

President Morris: The leaves had fallen this year. Professor Covillesuggested that it be done before the leaves had fallen. But the hickorywill callous after the leaves have fallen. It seems to me hickories areat work all winter long. They have a free flow of sap in January, andany warm day in January they will be like a maple tree, almost, if theyare cut. I have grafted them at that time. 

Mr. Brown: Can anyone give me any information on grafting chestnuts?

Mr. Rush: I have been very successful with the grafting of the chestnut. It is just as simple as grafting other fruit, except the Persian walnut. Tongue grafting and cleft grafting is very successful. There is noparticular secret in connection with grafting chestnuts. 

President Morris: Personally, I found it difficult for two or threeyears, but now I can graft the chestnut about as readily as I can graftthe apple. There is no difference in methods. It seems to me from mypresent experience that one may graft or bud chestnut by almost any ofthe accepted methods pretty freely. What has been your experience, Mr. Littlepage?

Mr. Littlepage: I haven't been experimenting with the propagation of thechestnut yet. I am getting ready. I have three or four thousandseedlings, a few of which will be ready to graft next year. I havetwenty acres of the Paragon chestnuts growing. 

President Morris: In chestnut grafting, we will find that one kind doesnot graft or bud readily upon another kind, perhaps. For instance, thereis some antagonism between the American sweet chestnut and Asiaticchestnuts. There is some antagonism between Asiatic and Europeans; thereis little between Europeans and American sweet. These antagonisms aresomething that one has to learn from experience at the present time, because I doubt if we have had enough experience to know just where westand on this question. 

Professor Collins: Doesn't there seem to be antagonism between easternAsiatic other than Japanese and Japanese?

President Morris: Yes; the Koreans of both kinds, the north Japanese ofboth kinds, and the Manchurian chestnut are the five that I haveexperimented with in grafting, and none of those grow so well onAmerican stock as they should. 

Professor Collins: I mean to say between the Korean and the Japanese. 

President Morris: There is less antagonism. You can graft the Koreanupon the Japanese and the Japanese upon the Korean very readily. Theyhave very much the same texture of wood, the same character of buds andbark. 

Professor Collins: Is there any antagonism between eastern Asian andJapanese?

President Morris: I don't know that my experience has been extensiveenough to say. My men have put on perhaps two or three hundred graftsback and forth between these kinds, the customary accidents havehappened, and we have about given up trying to do much grafting ofJapanese on American, but still plan to graft Japanese back and forthupon each other, and we are now planning to graft European and Americanback and forth upon each other. 

Mr. Brown: What about the position of the graft?

President Morris: I don't know, Mr. Brown, if there is very muchdifference. I haven't found very much. I have grafted all the way fromthe root to the top. 

Mr. Rush: It is better on top. Sometimes the grafting has an effect uponthe stock just at the union. If it is budded low, it blights. The barkgets loose. All those that are grafted high are doing remarkably well. 

President Morris: The next on the list is Doctor Deming's paper on "NutPromotions. "

Doctor Deming: I will read first a communication from Mr. Henry Hales ofRidgewood, New Jersey. 

HALES' PAPER SHELL HICKORY. 

My shagbark (paper shell) hickory tree was on my farm when I bought itin 1868. It had been noticed by the neighbors as bearing a fine nut andwas watched by them for the nuts, but they did not appreciate the valueof them. The late Andrew S. Fuller had not seen them, but asked me tobring him a few. When he saw them he was surprised and at oncepronounced them the finest hickories he had ever seen, and named them"Hales' Paper Shell. " The hickory is one of the most valuable of NorthAmerican nuts. It is of a variable nature. I have over twenty old treeson my place, and no two bear nuts of the same shape or size, andalthough some neighbors planted some nuts from the old tree and producedfruit from them they were only ordinary sized, so that it is necessaryto propagate them to retain their value. About 1880 Parsons & Son, ofFlushing, N. Y. , grafted some in pots under glass, from which treesthese nuts sent are the product. The fruit is fully as fine as theoriginal tree. Prof. C. B. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum has takengreat interest in the nut. I have two trees grafted on wild saplings byJackson Dawson near bearing size. 

Those are the only trees successfully grafted, out of thousands done inthe North outside, from which I am afraid grafting outside in the Northis a failure on hickory stocks. There may be a better chance on pecanstock, which I have not thoroughly tested under favorable circumstances. I have been sending northern pecan nuts and had them planted, and sentscions for working on them in the South; had some failures from naturalcauses. Simpson Bros. Of Monticello, Florida, have had fair successthere. My share of two year old trees are on the way here. Of the valueof these nuts too much cannot be said. Mr. Fuller ranked them superiorto the Madeira nut. It has remarkable keeping qualities. 

It has taken from eighteen to twenty-five years for my grafted trees tocome into bearing. 

I earnestly hope that with the knowledge gained so far, the means ofpropagation on a large scale will soon be discovered and successfullycarried on. What a gain it would be to the wealth of our food productionand luxury. The American hickory would then stand highest on the list ofour native nuts. 

 * * * * *

President Morris: Are there any comments upon this paper of Mr. Hales?So much is being said about the Hales hickory, it seems to me thatpossibly we ought to put on record some thoughts in the matter. Mr. Hales is entitled to more credit than any other man for bringing forwardthe development of the shagbark hickory, and his enthusiasm was basedupon this remarkable nut on his grounds. It is a very large nut, and, like all large nuts, is much coarser in character than small nuts, and, like all large nuts, lacks delicacy of flavor that we find in smallnuts. It is thinner shelled than most of the shagbarks that we would seein many days spent in the woods, but when we have for comparison somesmaller nuts, we find shells very much thinner than the shell of theHales. The Hales, like many other large hickories, keeps much betterthan the small hickories of finer texture and more delicate quality, andit may be very good at three years of age, while some of the mostdelicious of the smaller, more tender and delicate nuts are spoiling atthe end of six months. I don't know that Mr. Hales would take exceptionto my way of stating this, but it seems to me that he ought to feel thatwe give him all honor, that we think it a remarkable nut, that it is anut, because of its size and features, worthy of the enthusiasm he gaveit. There is apt to be some misunderstanding as to the exact positionthis holds in relation to other shagbark hickories. 

Mr. Littlepage: What is its bearing record as to quantity?

President Morris: The tree has been cut so much for scions that it hasnever had a fair chance. It is a prolific tree. It is well worthy ofpropagation. 

Mr. Littlepage: It is, perhaps, --judging from looking at it--a very fineshagbark for commercial purposes. Isn't it true that within the next tenyears there will, in all probability, be a complete reversion in themind of the nut culturist as to the kind and quality of the nut he willpropagate. I will supplement that by saying that heretofore, both in thepecan and other nut fields, the whole tendency has been toward somethingbig. Now, the wise fellows in the South today are beginning to get awayfrom that. I have made many trips down there, and I find there is a verychanging sentiment. I want to say that in my observation the futureprice of the various nuts of the country is going to be determined bythe price of nut meat; that the meats are going to be put on the market, and while there will always be plenty of nuts marketed in the shell, theprice of the nut meat will be the dominant factor. I was walking down GStreet in Washington the other day with an ex-United States Senator, andex-member of Congress, and an ex-Governor, and they passed a nut store, and saw in the window some nuts, also a big box of nut meats. Everyonewent in, and all passed up the nuts and bought the nut meat. Thatexpresses, to my notion, the tendency that is coming; and that thing isgoing, then, to determine very largely the question of quality. 

President Morris: I think we certainly are going to have a completechange in ideas about raising nuts. We are going to raise big ones ofthe kinds where everybody will buy one pound and nobody will buy twopounds. We are going to raise nuts that will appeal to the people whopurchase things in the open market, and who never in their lives gethold of anything that is good. We are going also to raise nuts that willappeal to connoisseurs, and that will be bought by people who know onework of art from another. In other words, we are going to make theprogress in nut culture that has been made in other fields ofhorticulture. At the present time, if one could raise a pear as big as awatermelon and tasting like the rind, that would be the pear that wouldsell in the market. But the connoisseur buys the Seckel in place of it. When there is a pear like the Kieffer that will fill the top of the treeso there is no room for leaves and branches, the market men are going toraise that pear. But when we go into the market, we go around a block toescape the place where they sell the Kieffer pear, and we buy theBartlett. We have precisely the same problems in nut culture. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I have been thinking some on this line. I have spent a goodmany half hours in the last four or five years with an old German inBuffalo. He has a stand on one of the big markets. I find that he has awhole lot to say in regard to what the people buy. He has found thisout, and he has been there a good many years. He says, "I have beengetting black walnuts from the same farmer boy for six or seven years. They are fine; try one. " He has learned something about the differenttrees throughout that section, and about some nuts that are beingshipped in, and he can tell the varieties. He has customers that do comeback after the second package of nuts. He is trying to keep thosecustomers one year after another. He is creating the demand. When I wasa youngster, if I could have received the prices for black walnuts andbutternuts that youngsters get now, I would have thought I was acapitalist. Butternuts are retailing at two dollars and two dollars anda half, and black walnuts the same. 

President Morris: We have got to get away from the idea that we aregoing to find the best hickory nut or the best walnut or the best nut ofany kind in the largest nut. Nature spreads out just so much material inthe way of flavor and good quality of a nut, and if it is in a largenut, those good qualities are spread out thin; if it is in a small nut, they are concentrated. 

Professor Lake: I wish I were as optimistic as Mr. Littlepage in thismatter. That is because he has been studying all nuts for twenty-five orthirty years, and I have only been dabbling around in Persian walnutsfor about twenty years. I have been dabbling with apples twenty-five ormore years, and the real connoisseurs of the apple have been telling usduring that time that the Ben Davis would be wiped out inside of tenyears. I heard that twenty years ago. I believe that there are more BenDavis apples being consumed by the public today than any other oneapple. Notwithstanding that, every man who knows good apples goes outand decries it. It is because that apple can be grown anywhere byanybody at any time, and will be eaten by the people. The kind of nutthat is going to make the money the next twenty-five or thirty years isthe nut that is prolific, of fair quality, that can be grown by any man, and that has a fairly good appearance. I believe that the process ofeducating the public on the matter of quality is going to betremendously slow. It is not always the case, however, that the smallerthe size, the better the quality. A medium size would be better. TheYellow Newtown is quite a large apple, and it is superior in quality tothe Winesap. 

President Morris: I was stating a general rule. 

Professor Lake: I fear we aren't going to be able to educate the people. How many people who eat nuts know anything about their quality? Dr. Morris has got the ideal of the best nut in walnuts, for instance, theFrench Mayette. That is the connoisseur's choice. I know of many peoplewho will tell you very frankly they prefer the American grownFranquette, which is much more starchy in make-up and much less nutty. 

Mr. Littlepage: I think there is a great deal in what Professor Lakesays. I am not sure he has got the cause of the facts he states. Onereason why the Ben Davis is being planted is, as he stated, that it willgrow almost anywhere; but the reason the public accept the Ben Davis isbecause they can't get enough of another at a reasonable price. Thereisn't any doubt that if there were plenty others at a reasonable pricethe Ben Davis wouldn't be used at all. We hear so much today about thishigh cost of living. Of course, there are artificial conditions thathave contributed to this to a greater or less extent; but the principalelement is that we have come up against the problem of feeding the greatAmerican public, that has grown faster than the facilities have grown. The time for low priced food products is gone forever. Yet there is agood deal in this commercial phase of it. 

President Morris: The Hales hickory is going to be like the Ben Davisapple, one of the very most popular in the market. 

Doctor Deming: I will say regarding the retail price of nuts that in NewYork City shelled filberts are priced at $1. 25 a pound, shelled almonds$1. 00, ordinary run of hickories and chestnuts in the shells twentycents, black walnuts in the shell twelve cents. 

President Morris: Hickories will give somewhat over fifty pounds to thebushel; black walnuts about forty. If we make a rough estimate of fiftypounds to the bushel for shagbarks, and forty for Persian walnuts, wewill probably have a good fair average. 

NUT PROMOTIONS. 

BY W. C. DEMING, NEW YORK. 

Promoters attack their quarry with a two-edged sword; one edge is whatthey say, the other what they leave unsaid; and both edges are oftenkeen. What they say generally has a foundation of truth with asuperstructure of gilded staff. You must knock over the staff andexamine the foundations to see if they are laid up in good cement mortaror only mud. Sometimes they are honestly laid but your true promoter canno more help putting on his Coney Island palace of dreams than a yellowjournal reporter can help making a good story of the most everydayassignment. I suppose he takes a professional pride in his decorations, even when the real facts themselves are good enough. Or even, in hisenthusiasm, half believes, and fully hopes, that what he says is true. So you never can say that because of the evident gilding there isnothing worth while beneath. 

What the promoter does not say it is absolutely necessary for the safeinvestor to find out. Deductions from experience in general, and fromknowledge of the business in particular, will help and, when these favorfurther investigation, there are two essentials for a wise decision. First, a study of the records of the promoters, and second, a personalexamination of the property. If these can be thoroughly made, and theresults are satisfactory after a suitable period of mental incubation, if the prospects will stand the candle test for fertility, you may putsome money on the chance of a good hatch; remembering, too, that many agood hatch afterward comes to grief with the pip. 

Some promotions are conceived in iniquity, some in drunkenness and follyand some are abortive from incapacity. Your legitimate and well-born, well-brought-up promotion, fathered by ability and mothered by honesty, it is your problem to recognize, if that is what you are looking for, and to avoid the low-born trickster or incapable. No one can tell youhow to do this any more than he can tell you an easy way to grafthickories. 

The northern nut grower is not yet bothered with northern nutpromotions. At most he is called on to discount the statements ofsellers of trees, and that a little, not too expensive, experience willteach him. The West is apparently too busy selling fruit and fruit landsto lay out nuts to trap eastern nibblers. But the allurements of pecangrowing in the South are spread before us with our bread and butter andmorning coffee. The orange and pomelo properties have been banished fromthe stage, or made to play second fiddle, and now we see in thelimelight the pecan plantation, with a vista of provision for old ageand insurance for our children. And there shall be no work nor care nortrouble about it at all. Only something down and about ten dollars amonth for ninety-six months. And the intercropping is to more than payfor that. It is indeed an enticing presentation. 

Although we have as yet no northern nut promotions we may expect thetime when the sandy barrens of the shore and the boulder pastures of therock ribbed hills will be cut up into five acre plots and promoted asthe natural home of the chestnut and the hickory, holding potentialfortunes for their developers. I hope it will be so for it willpostulate a foundation in fact. But the chestnut blight and theunresponsiveness of the hickory to propagation as yet hold up thesefuture camp followers of the northern nut growing pioneers. So that forthe present there is only the sword of the southern pecan promoter toparry. 

It would be a work of supererogation and effrontery for me to attempt totreat this subject in particular since it has been so clearly and ablydone by Col. C. A. Van Duzee of St. Paul, Minn. , and Viking, Fla. , fromthe standpoint of long experience and full knowledge. His paper shouldbe read by all interested persons. I am permitted to make the followingquotations from it:

"The pecan as an orchard tree has recently been discovered and itshistory has not been written. The record at present is largely based onscattered individual trees growing under abnormal conditions which, as arule, are favorable. .. . 

"Calculations and deductions based upon these results have been madewhich are fascinating, but they are utterly unreliable when applied toorchards of other trees in different localities growing under totallydifferent conditions?. .. 

"No one knows what a pecan orchard grown under such conditions is goingto do. "

Col. Van Duzee, however, expresses firm belief in the success of pecangrowing under proper personal supervision. 

It all comes down to the question, "Can you or I hire our business donefor us, never go near it ourselves and expect others to make a successof it for us?"

And yet, when all is said, I confess that I have been tempted by myfaith in the present and future of pecan growing in the South. I mighthave invested were it not for my firm belief that, in nut growing, theNorth is but a few years behind the South, and that I wish to devote myresources and my energies to having a hand in a development which, Ishare with you the belief, is to be of inestimable benefit to the humanrace. We can picture the day when our dooryards, our roadsides, ourfields and hills shall be shaded by grand nut trees, showeringsustenance and wealth on our descendants, and all people, and bearingthe names of their originators; when the housewife of the future shallsend her wireless call to the grocer for a kilo of Hales' Papershells, the Rush, the Jones, the Pomeroy Persian walnuts, the Black Ben Demingbutternut, the Craig Corean chestnut, the Morris Hybrid hickory, theClose black-walnut or the Littlepage pecan. 

 * * * * *

President Morris: It is a very timely paper. The number of promoters wefind in connection with any subject furnishes an index of thefundamental value of the original proposition. The number of dishonestpeople, the number of fakirs that are now promoting development schemesin connection with the pecan indicates that down at the bottomsomewhere, there is a real gold mine. We will go on to Mr. Roper'spaper. 

SOME FACTS CONCERNING PECAN TREES FOR PLANTING IN THE NORTH. 

W. N. ROPER, PETERSBURG, VA. 

Pecan trees for successful culture in the North must be of hardy, early-maturing varieties, budded on stocks from northern pecans andgrown in nursery under suitable climatic conditions. These arerequisites indicated by practical, experimental work and observationsextending over several years. 

The successful production of large southern pecans in far northernclimates can hardly be looked for except under the most favorableconditions of soil, location and season. There seems no good reason forplanting southern pecans in the far North, except in an experimentalway; for there are northern varieties now being propagated that are theequal of most of the standard southern sorts in quality and very littlebelow them in size. They will prove to be as large or larger in theNorth than the southern varieties grown in the same locality, and muchmore apt to bear regularly. 

The method used in propagating the hardy types is important. Budding androot-grafting each has its advocates among pecan growers in the South, and this would indicate that there is no great difference between thetrees propagated by these two methods when they are planted in thatsection. But based on results with several hundred specimens, root-grafted pecan trees are not desirable for planting in northernclimates. 

During the past six years there have been grown in nursery, in theeastern part of Virginia, near Petersburg, about 2, 000 root-graftedtrees of eight southern varieties of pecans and one Virginia variety, including Stuart, Van Deman, Moneymaker, and Mantura. All these treesare worthless. None of them, though they have been cared for, has everbeen considered by the grower fit to dig and transplant. Most of thesetrees suffer winter injury each year, many of them being killed back tothe graft union. Those that do not die below the ground grow out thefollowing summer, only to be killed back again the next winter orspring. Those damaged only a part of the way down the trunks, even whennot badly injured, do not recover promptly. Several hundred budded treesgrown during the same period in adjoining rows have been entirely freefrom any winter injury. The grafts and buds were inserted on stocks fromnorthern and southern nuts. 

A thousand budded and root-grafted trees received from six southernnurserymen were planted in orchards in the same locality. A very largepercentage of the root-grafted trees died; only a small percentage ofthe budded trees died. Many of the root-grafted trees that survived aremaking poor growth; most of the budded trees are strong and vigorous. The only trees of the Virginia varieties ever reported winter-killedwere root-grafts. 

No root-grafts of the northern types on northern stocks have been madein Virginia, but root-grafts of Indiana varieties on southern stockstransplanted there winter-kill badly. Several Indiana trees root-graftedon southern stocks and in their second year's growth in the nurserywinter-killed in Florida last season. Not a single budded Indiana treein Virginia suffered any winter injury whatever, although the buds weregrown on southern as well as on northern stocks. All the root-graftedIndiana trees transplanted at Petersburg during the past two years havedied from winter injury. 

Northern types root-grafted on northern stocks not having been tested, no definite information can be given, of course; but with all southernvarieties winter-killing in the North, when root-grafted on eithernorthern or southern stocks, and the Virginia variety winter-killingwhen root-grafted on southern or northern stocks, and the Indianavarieties winter-killing both in the North and in the South whenroot-grafted on southern stocks, it seems reasonable to presume that thenorthern varieties root-grafted on northern stocks will alsowinter-kill. The stocks of the root-grafted trees are seldom injured. They send up sprouts except in cases where the graft union is so farbeneath the surface of the soil that after the grafted part is killedthe stock is too deep to grow out. 

Not a single tree out of a total of 40, 000 seedlings in Virginia grownfrom northern nuts planted during a period of six years has ever beenfound affected by winter injury; practically all the trees out of 50, 000or more grown in the same locality from southern nuts, planted duringthe same years had their tops affected by winter injury the first, andmost of them the second season of their growth; but no injury after thesecond season has been noted. 

With the view of making southern varieties better adapted to planting innorthern area, experiments have been made in propagating them on stocksfrom northern nuts. This stock has thus far proved unsatisfactory forsouthern varieties either budded or root grafted. The trees fromnorthern nuts go dormant earlier in the fall and remain dormant later inthe spring than trees from southern nuts. Northern trees in the nurseryrows in early spring, in a perfectly dormant condition, are in strikingcontrast with the southern trees and their fresh, green foliage. Thoughthe growing period in the North is nearly a fourth shorter for thenorthern than for the southern varieties, the native trees in the Northmake equal growth with the southern trees there during the same season. Northern varieties budded on northern stocks grown at Petersburg thepast summer made nearly as much growth during one season as root-graftedtrees of the same varieties on southern stocks grown in Florida twoseasons. The trees at Petersburg were from dormant buds set the previousfall. They were just starting into growth in May when the trees inFlorida had made a growth of six to twelve inches. 

The northern seedlings in the North make better growth in a season thanthe northern seedlings in the South, as far as has been observed. Whenthe growing period begins in the northern climate, the native treesrespond at once to the quick growing season and outgrow the trees thathave been accustomed to a slower growing climate. When their growingperiod is over, they begin promptly their preparation for the winter. The long, slow growing climate of the South does not seem to give thequick growing tree of the North an opportunity for its greatest growthat the important period. There appears to be too much difference betweenthe growing habits of the southern and the northern pecans for either tobe suitable stock upon which to grow the other. 

Two choice trees of Moneymaker and one of Stuart, all well grown andgiving every promise of success, were selected out of a large number ofthese varieties budded on northern stocks, and were transplanted inorchard two years ago for experiment. The Moneymaker trees have madelittle growth and the Stuart tree practically none. All have anunhealthy appearance and are left standing only for further experiments. 

The section of Virginia in which these experiments have been madeaffords very severe climatic tests. The temperature in winter sometimesgoes below zero, the temperature in spring is variable, changingsuddenly from warm to freezing. Pecan trees seem able to endure almostany degree of cold when they are in a thoroughly dormant condition. Thewinter-killing from which they often suffer in the South, as well as inthe North, is due to the effect of sudden freezing temperaturesfollowing warm periods in winter or spring. 

Only well grown, vigorous pecan trees should be planted in the North. Itis a waste of time and money to plant indifferent pecan trees in anylocality, and especially in a locality where they have to contend withsevere climatic conditions. The size of the tree is less important thanits root system and vigor. The purchasers of trees grown on thin, sandysoil, with the root systems consisting almost entirely of straight taproots, destitute of laterals, need not expect success. Most of thesetrees will die early, and many of those that live will linger on forseveral seasons without making much growth, tiring out the patience ofthe planter. 

The work of transplanting should be very carefully done and the treesgiven proper care and culture. 

It has been found that it costs more to grow pecan nursery trees in theNorth than in the South, but it is believed that planters in the Northwill find that these trees have a value which will far offset theiradditional cost. 

Some of the methods of propagation and care are slightly different inthe North from those that usually obtain in the South. But it is notpracticable to go into the details connected with this work. The factsthat have been mentioned are those that are believed to be of mostimportance for consideration by persons planting pecan trees in theNorth. Those who have gone thus far with the work upon which theconclusions are based are continuing as earnestly as they began. 

The outlook for the success of the pecan industry in northern territoryis exceedingly promising where hardy, early-maturing varieties areproperly grown in nursery on hardy stocks under climatic conditions thatwill best fit them for the locality in which they are to be planted. 

President Morris: We can give some time to the discussion of Mr. Roper'spaper. I want to ask if some of the hardy kinds which will stand thewinters well may not carry their ripening season so late that they donot properly mature! Isn't this a line of observation we have got tofollow out in adapting pecans to northern fields? Who has hadexperience?

Mr. Littlepage: That is a very important point, and it is one of thethings that everyone is going to discover who is engaged in northernpecan planting on the extreme limits within the next few years. Thereisn't much danger of the pecan getting frost-bitten in the spring assome imagine, because the pecan tree seems to be a pretty good weatherprophet. They don't get ready, as a rule, till most of the danger ispast. A great majority of the Persian walnuts and pecans don't begin topollenate till the tenth of May, and it is very rare that a tree doesn'tripen its nuts there. But once in a while we discover a tree that sets abountiful crop annually and never matures a nut, because it gets frostbitten. It simply doesn't have the length of growing season. 

Mr. Rush: I remember a pecan tree I received, and have had growing forthe last six years in Pennsylvania. It was never affected with the cold, and made luxurious growth. But I haven't been so fortunate as to get itto bear, although it throws out catkins in the spring. 

President Morris: The pecan tree is known to be hardy as far north asBoston. There are quite a good many near New York City, some of themfine, trees, but not bearing much, and for the most part small nuts. 

Mr. Rush: Mr. Jones of Jeanerette, Louisiana, has been at my place, andhe says that the growth of the pecan is just as luxuriant there as inLouisiana. 

President Morris: The point we want to bring out is this, and I think weought to emphasize it at this meeting--that pecans suitable for northernplanting must include the idea of an early ripening season, earlier thanthe ripening season of southern pecans. 

Mr. Rush: Sometimes there is a provision in nature for that. The treewill adapt itself to the climate, and give a smaller nut. 

President Morris: What has been your experience, Mr. Roper?

Mr. Roper: We have only fruited Stuart at Petersburg. All the nuts havebeen well filled, but much smaller than the Stuart farther south. 

Mr. Pomeroy: Mr. Littlepage made the remark yesterday that nature willattend to this largely for us. He spoke of the wood beginning to ripenthe middle of August. With us in Niagara County, we expect that with alltrees the wood will begin ripening about the first of August, preparingfor the winter. Persian walnut doesn't come into blossom till about thelast of May or the first of June. 

President Morris: It is not mainly a matter of ripening wood, but ofripening nuts, in pecan growing in the North. A good many nuts willremain green, even though the tree will grow well; and we must havenurserymen draw our attention to this difference, when they are sendingtrees out to us for northern planting. That is a thing that may not bedetermined right now, but nurserymen must be able to report uponcomparative ripening times of various kinds of pecans to be sent north. 

We will have the report of the Committee on Nominations. 

[The report was accepted and the nominees elected. ]

President Morris: We have with us Professor Herrick, who will presenthis paper on the subject of the scolytus beetle. Professor Herrick hasprepared his paper at our request since we came here. 

THE SCOLYTUS BEETLE. 

PROF. A. W. HERRICK, ITHACA, N. Y. 

With a residence of a little over a decade in the South, I became moreor less intimately connected with a good many of the nut growers of thesection, especially the pecan growers. I found them there an intelligentbody of men. 

The President has asked me to talk just a little on the hickory barkborer. While in Mississippi, I first came into contact with the hickorybark borer by its work on the hickories on the lawn in front of my houseand on the Campus. It began killing the trees. I had ten or a dozentrees on the lawn that were from six to eight inches through, and theyhad made a fine growth but they began suddenly to die. First, I noticedthe leaves falling in the summer time, then later in the winter thebranches began to die at the top. On investigation, I found that it wasthis little hickory bark borer. We carried out, as a result of thatinvestigation, a few experiments, and extended them over the Campus, following the recommendations of Doctor Hopkins of the Department ofAgriculture, Washington. The results were pretty gratifying. I was ableto save those trees on the lawn, and during three or four yearssucceeding the time we got these experiments into practice, no more haddied, and they had kept on making a good growth; and I believe theravages of the beetle had been checked. 

The little beetle belongs to a family called the _Scolytidae_--verysmall beetles that burrow through the bark of trees, and between thebark and the wood, partly in the bark and partly in the wood. Thesebeetles are interesting in their life history. The female bores throughthe bark, and then she builds a channel partly in the wood and partly inthe bark. She goes along and digs out little niches all along, and ineach one of these, deposits a tiny white egg. That soon hatches into thesmall grub, and the grub begins to burrow out to get his food, and youwill find these little burrows running out from the main burrow of themother beetle. When these grubs reach their growth, each one of themcomes out and bores a little shot-hole-like round hole through the bark, so that a tree that is pestered with it will finally have the bark fullof these little round holes. You have probably seen a similar thing inpeach, plum, and cherry trees. 

The hickory bark borer is found all over the eastern United States, fromCanada to the Gulf, and as far west as Nebraska. It attacks hickorytrees and walnut trees, and as far as I can find, the authorities sayprobably the pecan. I never found it on the pecan in the South. If itdoes ever come to attack it in any numbers, it will be a serious pestfrom the nut grower's point of view. 

In this state, it was first noticed by its work on hickory trees in thevicinity of New York City, and it is killing a good many of them. Toshow its dangerousness--on the estate of Mr. Wadsworth at Geneseo in1900 and 1901 over an area of two hundred acres, it destroyed ninety toninety-five per cent of the hickories. It really becomes a mostinjurious pest. These little fellows running under the bark cut off thecambium layer and girdle it, and kill the tree as effectually as if wewere to take an axe and girdle it. A few can girdle it very quickly. 

An infested tree in the summer shows some characteristic effects. Theleaves begin to dry and wither, and finally drop. The adult beetles, when they come out in June and July, attack the petioles, leaves, andterminal buds for food, then go down to the larger branches and trunks, and burrow to lay their eggs. The younger top branches begin to die. Ifyou look, you will very often find a little white sawdust in cracks inthe bark. That is an indication that they are present. If you take offthe bark, you will find such an appearance as I have shown you. Later, you will find these holes all over, showing the work of the beetle. 

I will give the life history of the insect very briefly. The insectslive over the winter under the bark, as grubs, and in the spring theychange to the pupa form, and come out along in June and July. Some maybe as late as August. Those beetles go to the branches and leaves, andsoon begin laying their eggs. There is only one brood a season, in thislocality at least. In a longer season, farther south, there might bemore than one, although my experience in Mississippi was that there wasonly one brood. 

A word regarding methods of control. You can readily see that there isno way of getting at the beetle with insecticides after they have gottenunder the bark. Doctor Pelt mentions the value of spraying the trees insummer to kill adults when they are feeding on the petioles and probablythe terminal buds and younger twigs. It is rather doubtful whether itwould pay to spray hickory trees at that time, although the expense ofspraying large trees is not so great as you might think. We have hadexperiences here, because it fell to my lot to spray all the elm treeson the Campus last year. I kept very careful account of this. We sprayedbetween five and six hundred trees. About one hundred are scattered overthe hillsides west of the buildings, some a mile from the water supply. We did the work for about eighty-eight cents apiece, each tree having athorough spray. The largest trees on each side of the street we gave twosprayings for a little less than forty cents apiece. 

The real method of getting at this hickory bark borer is for everybodyto cooperate and cut those trees out, or at least the affected parts ofthe tree, before the first of May. I know of no other effective methodof getting them. Cut them out and burn them. Some say, peel off the barkand destroy that; but if you do that, you have got to cut off thesmallest branches and burn those, and I am afraid you would not get allof the grubs. But it is better, if you can, to actually dispose of thewhole tree in some way. 

There were three trees on the lawn infested and dying. I cut those outin February, and that evidently stopped the ravages of the beetle. Thatwas carried on over the whole Campus, and it must have stopped theinjuries, because during the three or four years I was there after that, we had no dead hickories from that cause. 

That is evidently the only method of getting at them. It has beenwondered if we might not go to the Commissioner of Agriculture, and askhim to take this matter in hand and force people to cooperate, becauseit has become a rather serious problem. It is evident from a perusal ofthe law that he has power to do that, and perhaps if this Nut Growers'Association wishes to pass resolutions to bring before CommissionerPearson, they might induce him to take some steps to control thishickory bark borer. 

President Morris: If we have evidence that the hickory bark borer candestroy ninety per cent of the hickory trees on an estate so well caredfor as the Wadsworth estate, it indicates a menace to the whole hickoryforests of the North. In view of this fact, in view of the possibilityof ninety per cent of our hickory trees being destroyed by this beetle, it seems to me that we should ask our Commissioner of Agriculture totake charge of the matter, as he has taken charge of the chestnut barkdisease, requiring the cooperation of the people in disposing of aquestion which is so vital among the economic problems of our state. Isthere any discussion on this paper?

Doctor Deming: I would like to read an extract from a letter addressedto me by H. W. Merkel, Forester of the Bronx Zoological Park:

"Under Chapter 798 of the laws of the state of New York, passed on July26th, 1911, the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized and chargedwith preventing the spread of just such pests as the Hickory bark-borer, and if this matter be called to his attention promptly and in the rightway by such responsible and interested parties as the Northern NutGrowers' Association, there is, undoubtedly, still time to check thefurther spread of the pest. We have from now until June (the time when anew generation of beetles will emerge) to take whatever action isnecessary, and I urge upon you to persuade the Nut Growers' Associationto take the necessary steps. I would be glad to have a conference withyou on this matter, and will be glad to help you in any way you wish. "

I would suggest the appointment of a committee to draw up a strong setof resolutions to be sent to the Commissioner of Agriculture of theState of New York and perhaps of other states, and to the Department ofAgriculture. (Referred to Executive Committee for report. )

President Morris: We will have next in order the paper by Professor Lakeon the Persian walnut in California. 

THE PERSIAN WALNUT IN CALIFORNIA. 

ABSTRACT OF A LECTURE BY PROFESSOR E. R. LAKE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

The Persian walnut industry of the United States is confined, practically, to four counties in Southern California, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange. The territory covered is, in a generalway, fifty by one hundred and fifty miles in extent, though, of course, only a very small part of this area is planted, and that really the bestland in the territory. This industry which yields practically two andone-half millions of dollars annually to the growers is aboutthirty-five years old, and at present involves the consideration of onevariety, the Santa Barbara Softshell. While it is true that there areabout seventy-five named varieties now grown in the country, the SantaBarbara constitutes the commercial crop and will for some time to come, though effort is being made to find a more desirable variety. 

During the past ten years a troublesome pest in the form of a fungousdisease which attacks the young twigs and young nuts has awakened aninterest in other varieties and at present much work is being done witha view to finding one or more varieties that shall be fully resistant tothis foe. At present the University of California, which is thedirective factor in this investigation, is recommending the trial ofhalf a dozen of the more promising varieties or forms that have beendeveloped through selection, or chance, in the local orchards. As aresult of the effect of this trouble, the crop output has increased veryslightly during the past decade, though the area of planted trees hasincreased very much, hence it is very apparent that some other varietiesmust be found; for it has been quite conclusively proven that none ofthe means so effectively used against the fungous troubles that affectother orchard crops are of any avail in this case. When it is noted thatthere has been practically no advance in the improvement of varietiessince the origin of the Franquette and Mayette about one hundred andfifty years ago, except the accidental appearance of the Santa Barbarawhich was produced presumably from a nut from Chili (!) in 1868 on thegrounds of Joseph Sexton, Goleta, California, it is evident that ournuciculturists have been indifferent, especially as to the possibilitiesof extending the area of production. 

Speaking more particularly of California walnut growing, it may be said:The best of soils are selected for this crop; the trees are beingplanted from forty to fifty feet apart; the best and most common adviceis to plant budded or grafted trees, and so far as this advice has beenfollowed the Placentia, an improved Santa Barbara, has been used, thoughin the newer districts where efforts are being made, with apparentsuccess, to develop this industry, several other varieties are beingused, such as the Wiltz, Franquette, Mayette, Eureka, Chase, Prolific, Meylan, Concord, Treyve and Parisienne. Thus far this work isexperimental, and only time will determine the success and value of it. 

The crop, as with all orchard crops on the Pacific Coast, is cultivatedintensively, clean tillage being given, followed by cover crops and insome cases fertilizers accompanied with intercrops. 

The trees require very little pruning, and though formerly the headswere started high, they are now formed low and the primary branchestrained to ascend obliquely, thus facilitating tillage operations, and, in this respect, even improving upon the high head with spreading oreven drooping main branches. While the more progressive planters favortrees one year from the bud, which have been put upon two year oldstock, some still prefer two year old tops. Stocks are preferablyCalifornia black, northern form. This is a large and vigorous tree, while the southern form is often or perhaps better, usually, a largeshrub or small tree. 

The remarkable behavior of the Vrooman orchard at Santa Rosa, in whichthere are sixty acres of grafted Franquettes, has been the chief meansof stimulating the very extensive plantings that have been made duringthe past five or six years in the Pacific Northwest. This is the largestorchard of grafted nuts of a single type variety in the United Statesand is a most excellent example of what follows grafting. The nuts areexceedingly uniform, and large size. They are marketed in the naturalcolor and are especially attractive, particularly when of areddish-golden tinge. 

The trees begin to bear at five or six years, though many instances arerecorded where two year olds have borne a few nuts. Usually only a fewpounds per year are produced prior to twelve years, after that the yieldincreases rapidly until at sixteen years the trees will averageapproximately fifty pounds or more per tree under favorable soil, tillage, and climatic conditions, providing the trees are of selectedvarieties of good bearing qualities. 

One tree, known as the Payne tree, top worked on to a native black, hasa record of yielding as much as seven hundred and twelve pounds in oneseason, though it is not fair to use these figures in estimating theyield per acre of seventeen trees. 

While the walnut has received little attention in the Eastern UnitedStates, there are sufficient data at hand now to warrant the statementthat several meritorious varieties may be successfully grown infavorable localities. These nuts, though not rated as high as the bestimported nuts or the choice California product, would successfullycompete with the foreign nuts which are now rated as replacement nutsby the dealers in California's best grade. It is not safe to endorsethe view that any waste or abandoned land may be converted intosuccessful walnut orchards, though such lands may in due time producetrees that will bear nuts. A first-class walnut orchard can only beproduced upon first-class land, deep, fertile soil, a low water table, an open subsoil, with choice varieties, grafted upon the most suitablestock and then given first-class tree-care. 

Professor Lake: I think a man now is making a tremendous mistake whothinks for a moment of advising the planting of seedling walnuts. We arebound to meet the problem of grafted fruit right away. The success ingrafting in Washington this year has been such as to make us feelcertain that we may safely advise budding yearling stocks and expectinga return of from seventy to ninety per cent of successful sets. Stocksgiving best success in budding are California black. About two weeksafter the budding is done, the tops are cut off two inches above, andallowed to bend over and protect the buds; and in the West, where theyhave intense sunlight, they have found it necessary to cover the budswith paper sacks. The budding which has given the largest success ishinge budding, a kind that I haven't seen discussed generally in theEast. Instead of being a T at one end, it is a T at both ends. There isa horizontal cut across, another below, and a split between. The budsare taken preferably from the last year's wood. We attempt to take thewood away from the bud, with the exception of that little spongy partthat runs up into the bud, and is the core. 

Mr. Pomeroy: You speak of the hulling. Do they have to hull the Persianwalnuts?

Professor Lake: In many instances, especially in dry seasons, or inthose sections where water is not particularly abundant. Ordinarily, hulling is avoided by irrigating just preceding the time of falling. Frequently the growers of large acreages say that it is cheaper to runthem all through the huller. 

Mr. Littlepage: What would you prophesy about the average seedlingPersian walnut tree as to success and quality of nut?

Professor Lake: I was led to think that all that was necessary to do wasto plant the walnuts, because most of our authorities of twenty yearsago said the walnut would come true to seed. I think out of severalhundred trees planted throughout the state, and many we plantedourselves, not a seedling came true. I should think, normally, we shouldbe very much dissatisfied in ten years from planting seedlings. As soonas anyone buds these with Franquette, Parisienne, Concord, Rush, Pomeroy, and others, I am satisfied he will not want to chance it withseedlings. 

Mr. Littlepage: This dissatisfaction that may result from settingseedling walnuts, such as Rush, Nebo, Pomeroy, and others, would bejust as great, perhaps, as the dissatisfaction resulting in the West, would it not?

Professor Lake: I can't see any reason, but that if there are presentany of the native trees, they are bound to cross-fertilize. InCalifornia we have the Royal hybrid produced at over a mile and a halfdistance from any known American blacks. The Royal is a cross betweenthe American black and the California black. 

Mr. Littlepage: I don't suppose it would be reasonable to expect thatthere is a Persian walnut in the northern or eastern United States farenough from some native black to render it safe. 

Professor Lake: I should hardly think so. Even if it is, I questionwhether a nut of real merit will come true to seed. 

President Morris: Is it true that even from single type orchards thenuts, while coming fairly true to seed, would give trees widelydifferent in bearing propensities?

Professor Lake: That is very true in this Vrooman orchard that has beendeveloped to the very best possible advantage. There are trees thathaven't borne a nut to make them worth while, others have beenremarkably vigorous. From these, a few people, knowing of their realmerits, are propagating select strains for their own use. They havefifteen or sixteen years' record. I question, if you take a hundredFranquettes from the Vrooman orchard miscellaneously, whether you wouldget more than ten per cent that would be really as good as the Vrooman. 

President Morris: In California I went along the coast this summer fromLos Angeles to Oregon and Washington, and looked over orchards. I findthat in the West, as in the East, the tendency is for the Persian walnutto store up an undue amount of starch in the kernel. It is apt also tostore up an undue proportion of tannin, and to be insipid. That meansthat in this country we must develop our own type of walnut, and it isquite the exception to find among any Persian walnuts growing on theAtlantic Coast or the Pacific Coast or in the middle of the countrywalnuts that are free from this tendency to astringency, to insipidity, and to toughness. 

When I was on the Pacific Coast looking over specimens in oneagricultural collection, a young woman who was showing the collectionsaid, "And here is a lot of Franquettes, and Chabertes, and Mayettes, and Parisiennes that we imported; and do you know, we found our walnutsvery much better than those?" I said to her, "Don't deceive yourself inthis matter. This self-deception is a mistake. The thing to do is notto make that kind of a decision, but really to develop in our owncountry walnuts just as good as those, but not like them. "

This was exemplified in a group of walnut raisers. One would say, "Hereis a fine walnut that I raised. " The other would say, "Yes, that lookspretty good, but you have got to hire a good talker to sell it. " Anotherwould say, "Isn't this a fine thin shelled nut?" And the same thingwould be said. Now, the whole conversation of that meeting was to theeffect that "you have got to have a good talker to sell it. " Thosepeople send their good talkers all over the country, and they do sellthe walnuts; and it is going to kill the walnut market, unless this isstopped. Those points are ones upon which I would like to have anexpression of opinion from Mr. Lake. 

Professor Lake: I may say that the western knowledge of the walnut isbased very largely upon the character of the Santa Barbara Softshell, and the people in the West are fully satisfied that the Pacific Coastwalnuts are the best in the world. I am thoroughly of their belief, too. I agree thoroughly with the doctrine that we have got to improve our ownvarieties, and that is being done in the best way that we know atpresent, --by cross-fertilizing and growing the seedlings. A number havebeen developed the past few years. It is very true that the generalpublic's taste, however, is not up yet to the connoisseur's in thismatter, and I am satisfied that the ordinary grade of walnut is going tomeet the public demand for a long time yet. The Santa Barbara Softshellwill sell to the American public for good profitable prices for sometime, and in the meantime, the men who are really wideawake and have aknowledge of the situation are going to endeavor to improve the homestrains. I can't see that we can hope for very much from France, forduring the last two years the real Mayette of France has been imported, because we have trees bearing in Santa Clara Valley a Mayette as nearlike the Mayette of Europe as it is possible to make them. The Frenchhave not been particularly anxious for us to get their best strains. 

President Morris: In this connection, let me say I have seen Mayette, Chaberte, Parisienne, --the best European walnuts--growing in thiscountry, and in this country they do precisely like the best Europeangrapes, --that is, they give us a different product. Imported graftedstock will take from our soil those elements which make an astringent, tough, insipid nut. We have got to recognize it. Don't let us fail to goon record as calling attention to that fact. That means if we import thevery best European kinds and plant these, we are going to have the samerecords as with grapes. 

Professor Lake: This matter of quality is of considerable moment to thegrowers out there. Last year I took occasion to write five of theleading dealers in New York, like Parke and Tilford. They said in theirletters of reply, "We consider the quality as varying from season toseason. Some seasons we get the California product better than theEuropean product; other seasons it is just the other way. " It leads meto think seasonal variation has a great deal to do with the walnut, possibly. In some cases even the large dealers are not yet agreed thatthe American product is not yet good enough for the American market. 

President Morris: Shall we say that nuts for the connoisseur should notbe bleached?

Professor Lake: Modern bleaching consists in running the nuts through acurrent of salt. It is applied in such a way that it does not do anyinjury whatever to the flavor or the kernel, unless possibly salting thekernel in cracked nuts would be considered injurious. The bleaching isbeautiful. They are not over bleached. They use six pounds of salt to athousand gallons of water, and run a current of ninety-five volts. It issprayed on to the nuts as they pass through a revolving cylinder, thespray coming on in a fine mist. As they pass over the cylinder, they aregraded and ventilated, and put into sacks. That is after they have beendried. They are ready in about twenty-two hours to be sacked anddelivered. The old method of processing in soda and lime and sulphurcertainly did injure them. 

Mr. Pomeroy: I am just a short distance from Niagara Falls and Buffalo. When any of you are in that section, I would like to have you come andsee my trees. There are the seven year old trees my father started, andthe orchard is of five or six acres. Some of the seedlings are inbearing now. I have a good many black walnuts in nursery rows, and I amgoing to begin grafting and budding. One thing I came for was to getinformation in regard to budding and grafting. In regard to the caringfor the trees, it is a great pleasure to watch a tree grow and get it inshape. 

Professor Craig: It seems to me that out of the very interestingdiscussion we have had on this question of the Persian walnut, and outof the discussion which has arisen from the papers of Mr. Littlepage andothers on native nuts, we have obtained some very general principleswhich should be emphasized at this time. The one large principle that Iwant to call attention to is the principle which says that, in order todevelop fruits--and we will include nuts in that general group--whichshall be useful to the American public, we shall have to develop themunder American soil and atmospheric conditions. In other words, theimportation _per se_ of European stock of whatever kind is altogetherlikely to meet with failure. This is the history of American fruitgrowing from the beginning. The very first beginning of fruit culture inthis country was the importation of European fruits, and theseuniformly failed. Success came when American colonists began to growAmerican seedlings. The fact that these have prevailed is shown by thepercentage of American fruits the large orchardist produces at thepresent time. Today nearly ninety-nine per cent of our apples are ofAmerican origin. The condition of today means success; the condition ofa hundred years ago meant failure. 

In this Persian walnut business, I think success is going to come to usthrough such work as Mr. Pomeroy and other interested amateurs are doingthroughout the country, in selecting a good type of seedling here andthere and growing seedlings from it. This homely old method of producingnew types through seedling selection is, I think, going to do a greatdeal to ameliorate conditions the country over. I simply wanted toimpress that idea, that if we nut growers are going to do something tohelp the nut interests of the country, we can do it by planting nuts andselecting nuts from the best types, again taking the best nuts from thebest types and planting them; thus by keeping on selecting, we shall winsuccess in the future. 

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR _JUGLANS REGIA_ AND _HICORIA PECAN_ IN NEW YORKAND NEW ENGLAND?

JOHN CRAIG, ITHACA, N. Y. 

[Read by title. ]

It is common knowledge that there have been frequent instances of thesuccessful fruitage of Persian walnuts throughout the entire Northeast. The evidence is forthcoming in attractive samples of nuts. Specimenshave been received during the past two years from New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the lake region of New York, as well asthe Hudson River section. So far as I am aware, however, _Hicoria pecan_has not fruited to any extent further north and east than southernIndiana. 

Is it not remarkable that so little effort has been made to extend thenatural range of this superb native nut northward?

The fruiting habits of _Juglans regia_ may be regarded as fickle, depending in some cases upon pollination, in others upon climaticconditions at the blooming time. One of its defects is its decidedproterandrous habit, which seriously affects pollination and fruitsetting. In general, the Persian walnut is capable of cultivation in allsafe peach growing sections. Yet in the Gulf States the complaint ismade that it is too readily susceptible to stimulating influences ofwarm weather in the spring. Again, the roots in that section areaffected by fungi and insects. Notwithstanding these charges, thereshould be a future in the North, as well as in the South, for this finenut. It is hardly to be expected that success is to be attained in allsections of the country by using exclusively the material, by this Imean the strains and races, we have at the present time. For instance, in the South the root trouble is peculiar to that section, and it isprobable that the root difficulties spoken of may be overcome by usingnative stocks in grafting and budding. The blooming habits, however, canonly be modified by the relatively slow process of breeding. 

In the North, nature has already provided us with foundation materialfor the improvement of _Juglans regia_. We have many promising varietiesthat have appeared more or less fortuitously here and there over thecountry. It is conceded that all of these do not possess the full rangeof desirable qualities, but they are sufficiently attractive certainlyto challenge the best efforts of the plant breeder. We are encouragedtoo by such experiences as has come to us in the crossing of regia withallied species. A number of crosses of _regia_ and _nigra_ are recordedfrom the Pacific Coast. Burbank, Payne, and others have made notableprogress in this line. It is a question, however, whether this lineoffers as certain reward as breeding in narrower lines, using the bestindividuals of _Juglans regia_ which have come to us more or less bychance. The latter appears to me as the best field to operate. 

Among the requirements in the Northeast, it may be said that we needhardiness of tree, coupled with a determinate habit of blooming, morethan any other characteristics. Of course it goes without saying that weneed thin shells, well filled with palatable meat. The work of Messrs. Pomeroy of Lockport, N. Y. , J. G. Rush of West Willow, Pa. , and otherindividuals in the Northeast is worthy of all encouragement. WhereverPersian walnuts are producing good nuts here in the Northeast, the bestspecimens of the best individual trees should be planted in the stronghope of improving the strain. There should be a first rate promise ofsuccess in this field, for many of our walnuts are fruiting asindividual trees, standing alone and isolated, and therefore, areprobably self-fertilized, a circumstance which may assist in shorteningthe process of improvement by breeding. 

_Hicoria Pecan. _ This is undoubtedly the best of all the native nuts, and the most worth while improving. The great popularity which this formof hickory enjoys in the South is undoubtedly due in considerablemeasure to the fact that it is adapted to a considerable range ofterritory. This adaptation is the natural acquirement of many years'evolution. 

At this time of the year, one sees in fruiterers' shops in New York andother cities appetizing looking baskets, containing cracked shagbarksand pecans. These nuts are enjoying a large share of popularity at thehands of the consumers. As these two forms are exhibited together, theobserver may note the essential good qualities of each, and he may makea mental picture of the possibilities of a union which would eliminatethe undesirable features and combine the desirable. The lack ofhardiness of the pecan would be strengthened by the hardy northern form, while the breeder would aim to retain the excellent flavors of each, thegood qualities of meat, but enclosed by a covering of paper shelltexture. We want the hardiness and adaptability of the shellbark, combined with the thin shell, the excellent cracking qualities, and thepleasant flavors of the pecan. Here is a truly attractive field. Thefact that returns may be rather slow in maturing should not deter theplant breeder, for sometimes prizes come quickly. Of course the field isone which appeals more strongly to the institution of indefinite lifetenure than to the individual whose years of activity are relativelybrief. 

What nature has done in the way of extending the range of the pecannorthward has been clearly set forth in the excellent paper presented byMr. Littlepage. This indigenous movement from the natural zone of thepecan towards the North and East has undoubtedly been infinitely slow. The important fact has been established, however, that not only hasnature extended the natural range in the directions indicated, but Mr. Littlepage has shown that here and there a variety of exceptional merithas appeared, fortuitously and without assistance or guidance from man. These superior varieties are being placed under observation byinterested nut enthusiasts like Messrs. Littlepage, Niblack, and McCoy, and others, who are not only studying the nut in its native haunts, butare experimenting with methods of propagation so that we may confidentlylook forward to a stable supply of these natural selections in the yearsnear at hand. 

Here, then, we have the material for founding new races of northern nutsby combining them with our best hardy hickories. Who will gainsay theprophecy that not far distant is the day when we may expect new hybridstrains of great economical importance arising from the union of ournorthern hickories with the most northerly forms of the pecan? Shall wedesignate these hybrids as "shellcans, " "shagcans, " or "hickcans, " afterthe nomenclatural methods of present day plant breeders? The splendidwork of our President in the interbreeding of northern types of nutsgives us strong hope to expect results of this nature. 

In the matter of propagation we have learned certain essentialfundamentals. First and most important is the firmly established factthat southern, pecan stocks are unsafe and generally unreliable in theregion of the northern hickory. We must grow our own stocks fromnorthern nuts. We must propagate by using home grown materialexclusively, and as to methods of propagation, it is probable that wecan follow in general the practice of the southern nurseryman, butunquestionably modifications in procedure will arise out of the sum ofour experience which will tend each year to bring a larger measure ofsuccess. 

This Association will perform an invaluable service in collecting thesevarious experiences, winnowing the sound from the unsound, anddisseminating safe deductions and reliable principles to the rapidlyincreasing band of nut culturists throughout the region of itsactivities. Our second session has been an unqualified success. May thismeeting be surpassed in respect to enthusiasm manifested, experience andknowledge disseminated, by each of the annual conferences to be held inthe years to come. 

President Morris: Discussion as to the next place of meeting is inorder. 

Mr. Rush: I would certainly be very glad to entertain the Northern NutGrowers' Association at Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, and will assureyou in advance that I will give you the best hospitality that thecountry can afford. We have now associated with the walnut interests inLancaster County Mr. Jones of Jeanerette, Louisiana, who has beenthrough that section and is pleased with the work that is being donethere. I think it may be policy for the Association to meet there. Wecan have our night session, and be absent several hours in the morningand look over some of the work. Mr. Jones contemplates topgraftinghickory trees at his new home, and we can have the opportunity of seeingwith what success he meets. 

The Association voted to accept Mr. Rush's invitation. 

President Morris: We will hear the report of the Committee onResolutions. 

RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE NORTHERN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, December 15, 1911. 

(Read by Reed. )

Be It Resolved:

That the Northern Nut Growers' Association assembled does hereby expressits sincere thanks to the President and Faculty of Cornell Universityfor placing at its disposal the facilities for holding its convention atthis time. 

That special thanks be extended to Dean L. H. Bailey of the College ofAgriculture for the invitation to meet at this place and to Prof. JohnCraig for his many courtesies shown the Association and its individualmembers. 

That we hereby express our thanks to President Morris and SecretaryDeming for their labor and untiring efforts to bring about a successfulmeeting. 

That we also tender our thanks to President Morris for the liberalpremiums offered for nut exhibits and to the many who have responded. That special attention be called to "The Morris Collection of the EdibleNuts of the World, " maintained at this place by Dr. Robt. T. Morris, President of this Association. This collection is of the greatestpossible educational value to those interested in the study of nuts andnut products. 

That, in view of the distribution and rapid spread of the disease knownas "Chestnut Blight, " especially among the American species, we expressour hearty approval of the efforts being made by the federal government, the several state departments and especially the action of thePennsylvania State Legislature in appropriating the sum of $275, 000. 00to aid in studying and combatting this dread disease, and

That we urge the importance of continued efforts along these lines andsimilar action in all other states in which the chestnut species is ofcommercial importance, either for timber or nut purposes. 

That the Secretary be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions toHon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, at Washington, D. C, and toCommissioner of Agriculture or Director of Experiment Stations of suchstates as within which, according to his judgment, the chestnut speciesmay be of sufficient importance to justify such action. 

 C. A. REED, T. P. LITTLEPAGE, GEO. C. SCHEMPP, JR. , _Committee_. 

(Read by Littlepage. )

That we thank Messrs. Collins, Reed, and Lake of the U. S. Department ofAgriculture for attendance at this meeting and for their valuableinformation and assistance, and furthermore that we respect-fully invitethem to attend the next annual meeting, and in the meantime lend theExecutive Committee their assistance in making plans for next season'swork and in carrying out the purposes of our organization. 

 T. P. LITTLEPAGE, GEO. C. SCHEMPP, JR. 

The Association voted to adopt these resolutions. President Morris: Wewill adjourn, and the Committee on Competition will meet this afternoonfor examination of specimens and decisions in regard to the respectivevalues of the different specimens exhibited. 

APPENDIX

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 

Those in attendance at the meeting were as follows:

Dr. Robert T. Morris, New York City, PresidentMr. T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C, Vice-PresidentDr. W. C. Deming, Westchester, New York City, Secretary-TreasurerProf. John Craig, Ithaca, N. Y. , Chairman of the Executive CommitteeMr. C. A. Reed of the U. S. Dept, of Agriculture, Special Agent Field Investigations in PomologyMr. J. G. Rush, West Willow, Pa. Prof. J. Franklin Collins, Forest Pathologist, U. S. Dept, of AgricultureProf. E. R. Lake, Assistant Pomologist, U. S Dept, of Agriculture. Col. C. A. Van Duzee, St. Paul, Minn. , and Viking, Fla. Mrs. W. C. Deming, Redding, Conn. Mr. W. N. Roper, Petersburg, Va, Editor American Fruit & Nut JournalMr. Leonard Barron, Editor Country Life in America, Garden City, L. I. Mr. A. C. Pomeroy, Lockport, N. Y. Professors Crosby, de Garmo, Tuck, Herrick, Drew, of the University. Mr. J. A. Holmes, Ithaca, N. Y. Mr. Geo. S. Tarbell, Ithaca, N. Y. Mr. G. C. Schempp, Jr. , Albany, Ga. Mr. H. Brown and Mr. S. V. Wilcox, representing Thos. Meehan & Sons, Germantown, Pa. Mr. F. M. Rites, Slaterville Springs, N. Y. Students of the University and others. 

The thanks of the association are due Professor Craig for hiscontribution to the purposes of the convention of the services of hisprivate stenographer which made possible a complete record of all theproceedings and discussions. The success of the meeting is largely dueto the thorough preparation made by Professor Craig. 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON EXHIBITS. 

By Department of Horticulture, New York State College of Agriculture. 

A collection of the walnuts of commerce, comprising 35 varieties, shownwith a specimen of each in section. 

A collection of 28 varieties of filberts. 

A collection of 35 varieties of pecans. 

The Morris collection of edible nuts of the world. This includes notonly the nuts of the North, but the fullest collection of the nuts ofthe tropics that has ever been brought together. 

By J. G. Rush, West Willow, Pennsylvania. 

Two plates of black walnuts; one plate showing hybridity between Persianwalnut and butternut; one plate Paragon chestnuts; one plate especiallylarge American sweet chestnuts. 

By A. C. Pomeroy, Lockport, New York. 

Four plates of walnuts, showing variation of seedlings; grown on treesvarying from six to eight years old. 

By W. N. Roper, Petersburg, Virginia. 

One plate Mantura pecans. 

By T. P. Littlepage, Washington, D. C. 

An exhibit of eighteen varieties of seedling pecans, grown in the Wabashregion of Indiana and Kentucky. These seedlings represent very promisingvarieties, some of them being exceedingly thin shelled, most of themwell filled and symmetrical in form. Of these, five have been named, towit: Greenriver, Warwick, Hodge, Hoosier, and Major. Mr. Littlepageexhibits a plate of _Juglans regia_ and a fine sample of _Juglansnigra_. 

PRIZE NUTS. 

Announcement by the President. 

In the interest of science and of American horticulture the Northern NutGrowers Association is making an effort to find nut trees of variouskinds which produce superior nuts which can be used for propagation. 

Prizes for special lots of nuts are offered. 

Each lot of nuts sent for prize competition is to consist of twelve nutsfrom one tree, and the location of the tree is to be well marked, sothat no mistake can be made later if cuttings are to be purchased fromthe owner or finder of the tree. 

Nuts are to be sent by mail in a box or bag containing a card with thename and address of the sender plainly written. At the same time aletter is to be written separately, describing the tree in a generalway, and giving the name of the town in which it grows. 

Packages of nuts and descriptive letters are to be addressed to

PROFESSOR JOHN CRAIG, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

and all specimens must be sent by November 15, 1911. 

In former years it has happened that several people from the same townhave sent nuts from the same tree. Under these circumstances, if thenuts take a prize, the prize must be given according to the date of thefirst specimens sent. 

In addition to the prizes given, valuable varieties receive the name ofthe person sending them, and this goes on record permanently. 

The sender of these nuts will often have opportunity to sell cuttingsfrom the tree later at the common rate of five cents per foot. 

Prizes are offered for the following nuts:

1st prize is to be two dollars, 2nd prize is to be one dollar, and the amount of postage will be returned for all lots of nuts sentwhich do not receive prizes. 

SHAGBARK OR SCALY BARK HICKORY (_Hicoria Ovata_). Class A. Large thin shelled nuts. Class B. Very small thin shelled nuts. 

SHELLBARK HICKORY, KING NUT, BIG BUD HICKORY (_H. Laciniosa_). 

Size is particularly desired with this species, but thinness of shellcounts high. 

PECAN (_H. Pecan_). 

Pecans sent for competition must be native nuts from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio only, as these nuts are desired for northernhorticulture. 

OTHER HICKORIES. 

Sometimes a tree of various other kinds of hickories will produce a verydesirable nut; consequently first and second prizes are offered for anyhickory nut not belonging to the above three kinds. 

BLACK WALNUT (_Juglans nigra_). 

Thin shelled black walnuts of good quality are desired. 

BUTTERNUT, WHITE WALNUT (_Juglans cinerea_). 

Size and thinness of shell are most important. 

PERSIAN WALNUT, ENGLISH WALNUT (_Juglans regia_). 

American grown varieties the only ones receiving prizes. 

ASIATIC WALNUTS (_Juglans cordiformis_, _J. Sieboldi_, _J. Sibirica_). 

American grown varieties the only ones receiving prizes. 

BEECHNUT. 

Size stands first for prize qualifications for Beechnuts. 

AMERICAN HAZELS. 

Thinness of shell and size are most important. 

CHINQUAPIN (_Castanea pumila_). 

Size is the most important qualification for this species. 

CHESTNUTS. 

On account of the rapid spread of the chestnut blight no other kinds ofchestnut besides Chinquapins are desired at present. 

FREAK NUTS. 

Remarkable freaks of any species of edible nuts may win prizes. Forinstance, a black Walnut with meat growing in only one half of eachshell. 

R. T. MORRIS, New York City, President Northern Nut Growers Association. 

PRIZES AWARDED IN THE RESULTING COMPETITION. 

1. _Hicoria ovata_

Plate II, first prize:Plate I, second prize: Exhibited by Theron E. Platt, Newtown, Conn. 

2. _Hicoria pecan_

Mantura, first prize: W. N. Roper, Petersburg. Va. Major, second prize: T. P. Littlepage, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. 

3. _Hicoria laciniosa_

First and second prizes: C. N. Stem, Sabillasville, Md. 

4. _Persian walnut_

Nebo, first prize: J. G. Rush, West Willow, Pa. Holden, second prize: E. B. Holden, Hilton, N. Y. 

5. _Asiatic walnut_

Juglans Sieboldiana, first prize: J. G. Rush, West Willow, Pa. 

6. _Chinquapin_

No. 2, first prize: J. G. Rush, West Willow, PaNo. 1, second prize: J. G. Rush, West Willow, Pa. 

7. _Freak nuts_

Hickory No. 4, first prize: Lillie E. Johnson, Gowanda, N. Y. 

8. _Butternuts_

First prize: Mrs. Albina Simonds, South Royalton, Vt. 

9. _Beechnuts_

First prize: Malcolm Newell, West Wardsboro, Vt. Second prize: William Davis, Rutland, Vt. 

10. _Black walnuts_

First prize: J. J. Robinson, Lamont, Mich. Second prize: Dorothy McGrew, R. F. D. 6, Box 77, Kent, O. 

The prizes awarded in this competition were contributed personally bythe President. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF JUGLANS MANDSHURICA ANDTHE SHELLBARK HICKORIES. 

The following are the questions sent by the secretary and the answersreceived:

As there seems to be a difference of opinion as to the identity of'Juglans mandshurica' will you be so kind as to answer the followingquestions for the benefit of the Northern Nut Growers' Association attheir annual meeting at Ithaca, New York, Dec. 14 and 15, 1911. 

Q. 1 What type of nut do you consider the "Juglans mandshurica" to be?

J. H. Black, Hightstown, N. J. : Probably a Juglans Regia Manchuria. 

T. E Steele, Palmyra, N. J. : No resemblance to Persian walnut but verysimilar to butternut, a little longer and thicker than butternut and oflittle better quality. 

Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal. : Nigra, or the connecting link betweenbutternut, eastern black walnut and a trace of Sieboldi especially infoliage. 

H. E. Van Deman, Washington, D. C. : It is almost identical with J. Sieboldiana. 

J. M. Thorburn & Co. , 33 Barclay St. , N. Y. City. : Our idea of the typeis that it resembles very closely in size, form and color of the shellthe English walnut or Juglans regia, though the shell is thicker and thequality of the kernel has not the pleasant flavor of the Juglans regia. 

Q 2 Does it resemble the Persian walnut or the butternut?

J. S. Black: Persian. 

T. E. Steele: (See Q. 1). 

Luther Burbank: (Does it resemble the Persian walnut--) _No. _ (--or thebutternut?) Very much in nut but less elongated and not pointed. _Very_thick shell. 

H. E. Van Deman: Not similar to either of them. 

J. M. Thorburn & Co. : (See Q. 1). 

Q. 3 Is it a nut of commercial or other value?

J. S. Black: Yes. 

T. E. Steele: I hardly think it a nut of commercial value as the shellis too thick. I should not consider it much better than the butternut. 

Luther Burbank: Hardly unless improved. Meat sweet like butternut. Juglans Sieboldi var. Cordiformis is the very best of this type, thinshell, _very_ sweet meats. Both these nuts vary _very_ widely in form. 

H. E. Van Deman: Only of value as a shade tree or as a stock from whichto make crosses. 

J. M Thorburn and Co. : As far as we know it has no commercial valuehere. We sell it only for seed purposes. 

Q. 4 How was it introduced into this country?

J. S. Black: By Yokohama Nursery Co. Of New York City. 

T. E. Steele: I do not know. 

Luther Burbank: Some twenty years ago both by myself and the ArnoldHerbarium of Newtown, Mass. 

H. E. Van Deman: By nuts from Manchuria, I have always understood. 

J. M. Thorburn & Co. : We cannot tell. We purchase direct from Japan. 

Q. 5 What are the characteristics of the tree?

J. S. Black: Very similar but hardier than Persian. 

T. E. Steele: Very similar in growth to that of the Japan walnut, notunlike the butternut. In fact many call them butternuts, but Mr. VanDeman was quite sure they were the Mandshurica when he picked one fromthe tree I have in mind. 

Luther Burbank: Much like Sieboldi. 

Van Deman: Very thrifty and luxuriant with large leaves and largegrowth. Bark light colored. 

J. M. Thorburn & Co. : It is a broad-headed tree growing about 60 feethigh. 

Q. 6 Have you raised them yourself or can you say who has?

J. S. Black: We have raised trees but not the nuts. 

T. E. Steele: I have never raised them and know of no one who has. 

Luther Burbank: Young trees. My one tree is more spready than otherwalnuts, and so far though old does not bear. 

Van Deman: No, I have not grown the trees. Think John or Wm. Parry ofParry, N. J. , have them. I have J. Cordiformis. 

J. M. Thorburn & Co: We have never raised them ourselves. 

Q. 7 Can you send samples or say where they can be obtained?

J. S. Black: We can furnish trees. Get nuts from Yokohama Nursery Co. , New York City. 

T. E. Steele: I know of but one tree near here, and I am mailing you onenut that I gathered a year or two ago, too long ago to be of any valueexcept to show the character of the nut. If I can procure another nut ortwo of this year's growth I will do so and mail to you. 

Luther Burbank: Have no samples but enclose usual form. From half shell. (Drawings of this, of the surface character of the nut, and of "size andform of a common sieboldi. ")

H. E. Van Deman: Perhaps from the Parrys. 

No replies were received from R. E. Smith, of the CaliforniaAgricultural Experiment Station, Whittier; from Jackson Dawson, of theArnold Arboretum; or from the Yokohama Nursery Co. , 31 Barclay St. , N. Y. City. 

Summary of Dr. Morris's investigations as given by him on p. 12: The nutdescribed in the U. S. Bulletin as _Juglans mandshurica_ is the oneoriginally described and named by Maxim more than thirty years ago andis a nut of the butternut type. A few years ago the Yokohama NurseryCo. , not knowing that this name had been previously applied, gave it toa nut of the _Juglans regia_ type which they distributed. This nut hadbeen previously named by De Candolle, _Juglans regia sinensis_. 

NOMENCLATURE OF THE SHELLBARK HICKORIES. 

The names "shellbark, " "shagbark" and "scalybark" are at present usedinterchangeably by authors for different species of the hickory. It isadvised that the Association take an arbitrary stand on the nomenclatureand state our choice of the name "shagbark" for _Hicoria ovata_, "shellbark" for _Hicoria laciniosa_ and "scalybark" for _HicoriaCarolinae-septentrionalis_. 

This should become a matter of official record and eventually clear upthe confusion. 

THE HICKORY BARK BORER. 

In Country Life in America for October 15, 1911, there appeared anarticle entitled "Warning!--The Hickory Bark Borer is With Us" byHermann W. Merkel, Forester of the New York Zoological Gardens. 

The following circular was issued by E. F. Felt, New York StateEntomologist, under date of Oct. 31, 1911. 

DYING HICKORY TREES. 

 Numerous magnificent hickories have been killed by the pernicious hickory bark borer in the vicinity of New York city. It has destroyed thousands of trees in the central part of the State, while recent investigations show that it is at work in the Hudson valley near Tivoli and probably is injurious in numerous other places. The severe droughts of the last two or three years have undoubtedly been favorable to the development of this pest, since the vitality of many trees has been lowered and they have thus been rendered more susceptible to attack by insect enemies. 

 The preliminary signs of injury, such as wilting leaves and dead twigs in mid-summer are exceedingly important because they indicate serious trouble before it has passed the remedial stage. Examination of injured trees at the present time may show particles of brown or white sawdust in the crevices of the bark, and in the case of some a few to many circular holes appearing as though they had been made by number 8 buckshot. This external evidence should be supplemented by cutting down to the sapwood. The exposure there of the longitudinal galleries 1 to 1-1/2 inches long, about 1/8 of an inch in diameter and with numerous fine, transverse galleries arising therefrom and gradually spreading out somewhat fan-shaped, is conclusive evidence as to the identity of this pest. Only a little experience is necessary before one can recognize the work of this borer. 

 The insect passes the winter in oval cells as stout, whitish, brown-headed grubs about 1/4 of an inch long, the beetles appearing from the last of June to the last of July. Badly injured trees are beyond hope and should be cut some time during the winter and the bark burned before the beetles can emerge; otherwise many will mature and attack other trees next spring. It is particularly important to locate the trees which have died wholly or in part the past summer, because they contain grubs likely to mature and then be the source of trouble another year. General cooperation in the cutting out of infested trees and burning of the bark as indicated above will do much to check this enemy of our hickories. 

 E. P. PELT. State Entomologist. 

The following "Press Notice" was issued by the U. S. Department ofAgriculture under date of Nov. 15, 1911:--

THE DYING HICKORY TREES, --CAUSE AND REMEDY. 

 Within the past ten years a large percentage of the hickory trees have died in various sections throughout the northern tier of States from Wisconsin to Vermont and southward through the Atlantic States to central Georgia and to a greater or less extent within the entire range of natural growth of the various species. 

 CAUSE. 

 While there are several and sometimes complicated causes of the death of the trees, investigations by experts of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, have revealed the fact that the hickory barkbeetle is by far the most destructive insect enemy and is therefore, in the majority of cases, the primary cause of the dying of the trees. 

 HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE WORK OF THE BEETLE. 

 The first evidence of the presence and work of the beetle is the premature dying or falling of a few of the leaves in July and August caused by the adult or parent beetles feeding on the bark at the base of the leaf stem, but this work alone does not kill the trees. 

 The next evidence of its destructive work is the dying of part of a tree or all of one or more trees. If the trees are dying from the attack of the beetle, an examination of the inner bark and surface of the wood on the main trunks will reveal curious centipede-like burrows in the bark and grooved on the surface of the wood. These are galleries and burrows of the parent beetles and of their broods of young grubs or larvae. The girdling effect of these galleries is the real cause of the death of the trees. 

 HABITS OF THE BEETLES. 

 The broods of the beetle pass the winter in the bark of the trees that die during the preceding summer and fall. During the warm days of March and April these overwintered broods complete their development to the adult winged form, which during May and June emerge through small round holes in the bark and fly to the living trees. They then attack the twigs to feed on the base of the leaves and tender bark and concentrate in the bark of the trunks and large branches of some of the living healthy trees and bore through the bark to excavate their short vertical egg galleries. The eggs are deposited along the sides of these galleries and the larvae hatching from them excavate the radiating food burrows which serve to girdle the tree or branch. 

 The following recommendations for the successful control of this beetle are based on investigations, experiments and demonstrations conducted by the experts on forest insects of the Bureau of Entomology during the past 10 years. 

 RECOMMENDATIONS. 

 1. The best time to conduct the control work is between October 1st and May 1st, but must be completed before the 1st to middle of May in order to destroy the broods of the beetle before they begin to emerge. 

 2. The hickory trees within an area of several square miles that died during the summer and fall and those of which part or all of the tops or large branches died should be located and marked with white paint or otherwise. 

 3. Fell the marked dead trees and cut out all dead branches or the tops of the remaining marked trees which still have sufficient life to make a new growth of branches. 

 4. Dispose of all infested trunks and branches in such a manner as to kill the overwintering broods of the beetles in the bark; (a) by utilizing the wood for commercial products and burning the refuse; or (b) utilizing the wood of the trunks and branches for fuel; or (c) by placing the logs in water and burning the branches and tops; or (d) by removing the infected bark from the trunks or logs and burning it with the branches or as fuel. 

 5. So far as combating the beetle is concerned it is unnecessary and a waste of time to dispose of trees or branches which have been dead 12 months or more, because the broods of the destructive beetle are not to be found in such trees. 

 6. Spraying the tops or branches or the application of any substance as a preventive is not to be recommended. Nothing will save a tree after the main trunk is attacked by large numbers of this beetle or after the bark and foliage begin to die. 

 7. The injuries to the twigs by this beetle do not require treatment. 

 8. The bark and wood of dying and dead trees are almost invariably infested with many kinds of bark and wood-boring insects which can do no harm to living trees. Therefore all efforts should be concentrated on the disposal of the broods of the hickory barkbeetle, according to the above recommendations. 

 In order to insure the protection of the remaining living trees it is very important that at least a large majority of the dead infested and partially dead infested trees found within an entire community of several square miles be disposed of within a single season to kill the broods of this beetle. Therefore there should be concerted action by all owners of hickory trees. 

 On account of the value of the hickory for shade and nuts and for many commercial wood products it is important that the people of a community, county or state who are in any manner interested in the protection of this class of trees, should give encouragement and support to any concerted or cooperative effort on the part of the owners towards the proper control of the hickory bark beetle. 

The following is an extract from a letter from Dr. Felt to Mr. Merkel:

"Replying to yours of the 11th inst. I would state that Chapter 798 ofthe Laws of 1911, a copy of which is enclosed herewith, is, in myestimation, sufficiently comprehensive to include such an insect as thehickory bark borer. "

"It is certainly extremely unfortunate that trees past hope and infestedby thousands of insects liable to destroy those in the vicinity, shouldbe left standing through the winter and the pests allowed to mature andcontinue their nefarious work, especially as they could be checked at acomparatively slight expense and by the adoption of measures whichultimately must be carried out unless the trees are allowed to decay inthe field. I am much interested in the matter. "

The following are extracts from a letter from Dr. Felt to the Secretary, under date of Nov. 21, 1911:

"Your of the 19th is at hand and it gives me pleasure to encloseherewith a copy of a circular summarizing the hickory bark beetlesituation in this State and suggesting the prompt adoption of remedialmeasures. This pest, as you are doubtless aware, is very injurious andhas been responsible for the destruction of thousands of hickories, notonly in the Hudson valley but also during recent years in the centralpart of the State. Only a few weeks ago we found a rather badinfestation in the vicinity of Tivoli. You are doubtless familiar withmy article on this pest, published in Insects Affecting Park andWoodland Trees, N. Y. State Museum Memoir 8, Volume I, pages 275-79. "

At the annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, heldDecember 14th and 15th, 1911, at the New York State College ofAgriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, the followingresolutions were adopted:

"Be it resolved that, in view of the distribution and rapid spread ofthe disease known as the "Chestnut Blight, " especially among theAmerican species, we express our hearty approval of the efforts beingmade by the federal government, the several state departments, andespecially the action of the Pennsylvania state legislature inappropriating the sum of $275, 000 to aid in studying and combating thisdread disease; and

That we urge the importance of continued efforts along these lines, andsimilar action in all other states in which the chestnut species is ofcommercial importance, either for timber or nut purposes. 

That the secretary be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions tothe Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, at Washington, D. C. And to the Commissioner of Agriculture or the Director of ExperimentStations of the states within which, according to his judgment, thechestnut species may be of sufficient importance to justify such action. 

Attention is called especially to Farmers' Bulletin No. 467, "TheControl of the Chestnut Bark Disease, " Issued Oct. 25th, 1911, by the U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 

And be it further resolved that, in view of the depredations in variousparts of the country by the "Hickory Bark Beetle, " to which attentionhas been called by a press notice of the U. S. Department ofAgriculture, by a circular issued by Dr. E. P Pelt, Entomologist of theState of New York, by an article entitled "Warning;--The Hickory BarkBorer is with Us, " by Herman W. Merkel, Forester of the New YorkZoological Park, published in Country Life in America, Oct. 15th, 1911, and by an address before the annual meeting of this association by Prof. Herrick of the New York State College of Agriculture; and

In view of the presence of this destructive insect throughout theeastern states, and as far south and west as Mississippi and Nebraska;and

In view of the presumption that its introduction into the pecan area ofthe United States would be a calamity; and

In view further of the fact that it has been demonstrated that promptaction in the destruction of infested trees will prevent further spreadof this pest, and that it is of the utmost importance that such actionshould be taken before the emergence of a new brood of this beetle inthe spring of the year;

The Secretary be instructed to present these resolutions to the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and to theCommissioners of Agriculture of New York and other states where thehickory bark beetle is a menace, urging immediate and energetic measuresagainst the spread of this dangerous pest which in many localitiesthreatens the hickory tree with serious destruction. "

 Jan. 31, 1912. 

LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO HON. CALVIN J. HUSON. 

The Honorable Calvin J. Huson, Commissioner of Agriculture, Albany, New York. 

Sir:--

I have the honor to transmit herewith the resolutions passed by theNorthern Nut Growers' Association at its annual meeting held at the NewYork State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, New York, Dec. 14th and 15th, 1911. 

In connection with these resolutions I wish to recall to your attentionthe fact that by the Laws of New York, Chap 798, entitled "AN ACT toamend the agricultural law, in relation to fungous growths andinfectious and contagious diseases affecting trees, " which became a lawJuly 26th, 1911, the Commissioner of Agriculture is given full power todeal summarily with these and other pests. 

The testimony of all those fully acquainted with the facts concerningthe "chestnut bark disease, " and the "hickory bark borer" isunanimously to the effect that they have done such an amount of damage, and threaten such continued destruction, as to demand that every effortbe made to check their ravages, and that even large expense will beinconsiderable in comparison with the enormous loss that will beinflicted if these most destructive pests are not checked. 

Attention has been called in the resolutions to the action of the stateof Pennsylvania in appropriating the sum of $275, 000 for taking actionin the case of the chestnut bark disease. Since the passage of theseresolutions it is reported that the Governor of the state ofPennsylvania has called a conference to be held at Harrisburg, February21st and 22nd, for the purpose of considering further action to be takenin the case of this disease. It might be well that your office should berepresented at this conference in order that the united action of thestates may be brought about and that our state may not continue to lagbehind in a matter so seriously affecting so many of its inhabitants. 

Detailed information concerning both these diseases is contained in theliterature to which reference is made in the resolutions. 

May I ask if you will kindly inform me what action, if any, has beentaken by the Commissioner of Agriculture, or other department of thestate government, for the study or the control of either of the diseasesreferred to. 

REPLY FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 

 Feb. 7, 1912. 

I have your communication of the 1st inst. , duly received and containingthe resolutions passed by the Northern Nut Growers Association at itsmeeting in Ithaca on the 14th and 15th of December last. 

Chapter 798 of the Laws of 1911 constitute Sections 304 and 305 of theAgricultural Law, under which this Department has been working forseveral years for the control of such insects as are distributable bynursery stock, and for the preventing of the establishment in the stateof dangerously injurious insect pests and fungous diseases. If theDepartment were to attempt to control the hickory bark borer, it wouldrequire a character of work quite different from anything that we haveundertaken for the reason that this insect would not likely bedistributed in nursery stock. It is an insect that is not only a nativeof the country but is quite widely distributed over the state and is onethat is given to irregular periodic outbreaks. Of late its depredationshave shown seriously in the vicinity of New York along the Hudson Valleyand at numerous places in the state. The pest is not amenable to suchtreatment as can be used against many other deleterious insects. I aminformed that the only way now known to control the insect is to firstlocate it and then destroy all trees or parts of trees in which thegrubs are found before the middle of June. It appears to me that toattempt the suppression of the hickory bark borer, it would require avery large force of men and, of course, considerable money. 

Relative to the chestnut bark disease, we had a conference at thisoffice in the month of October last and the question was discussed bybotanists and foresters from adjoining states and the whole matter wasthoroughly thrashed out by those who were present, includingrepresentatives of the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington. Invitations have been received from the Governor ofPennsylvania to a conference to be held at Harrisburg on February 20thand 21st and I have directed a representative of this Department to bepresent. 

Mr. C. H. Pettis, Superintendent of Forests of the State ConservationCommission, joined in our conference here and I learn that someone willbe sent from that Commission to Harrisburg. 

We have in the hickory bark borer and the chestnut bark disease, twovery serious propositions, the importance of which I fully appreciate. It is not clear to me what methods should or can be adopted which willbe productive of the greatest good. 

Any suggestions that your Association make will be highly appreciated. As soon as I learn of the result of the conclusions at the Harrisburgmeeting, I shall be pleased to take the subject up again. 

 Very truly yours, CALVIN J. HUSON, Commissioner. 

LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 

 March 16th, 1912. 

 Hon. Calvin J. Huson, Commissioner of Agriculture, Albany, New York. 

Dear Sir:--

Your letter of February 7th in reply to mine of an earlier date inrelation to the hickory bark beetle has been too long unanswered owingto a rush of professional and other work. I regret this delay as I wouldlike to do all that I can to expedite the work which should be done assoon as possible to prevent further damage from this insect. 

If I am not mistaken Chapter 798 of the laws of 1911 is a new law underwhich the Department has not previously worked and which statesspecifically that "no person shall knowingly or willfully keep anyplants or vines affected or infected with--or other insect pest orfungous disease dangerously injurious to or destructive of the trees, shrubs or other plants; every such tree, shrub, plant or vine shall be apublic nuisance, etc. " It also states that if the Commissioner ofAgriculture is notified of the presence of any such pests he shall takesuch action as the law provides, and the law provides for thedestruction or treatment of diseased trees. 

This law appears to be not confined in its application to nursery stock, and in this view I am supported by such men as Dr. E. P. Felt, StateEntomologist, and Forester Merkel of the New York Zoological Park. Itappears that the Commissioner of Agriculture not only has the right butit is his duty to take action under this law when his attention iscalled to a matter such as the one in question. 

The methods of procedure under this law seem to be sufficiently clear. Wherever infected trees are known to exist the Commissioner is directedto order the owners thereof to destroy them. Failure to obey theseorders constitutes a misdemeanor and the Commissioner may have hisorders carried out by his own agents. 

I am glad that you fully appreciate the serious nature of this pestwhich threatens great destruction of one of our most valuable timber andnut trees and I hope that no obstacle will be allowed to stand in theway of the enforcement of the full intent of the law. 

This Association will aid such work in any way in its power. 

I would like to call to your attention a report in the Yearbook of theU. S. Department of Agriculture for 1903, page 317, of the successfultreatment of an outbreak of this pest at Detroit, Michigan. Also to anaddress to be published in the transactions of this Association, a copyof which I will send you, by Prof. Herrick in which he recounts thesuccessful treatment of another outbreak. 

 April 3, 1912. 

 W. C. Deming, M. D. , Sec. , Northern Nut Growers' Association, Westchester, New York City. 

Dear Sir:--

I am in receipt of your communication of the 16th of March, and haveconsidered carefully the question of what can be done towards thecontrol of the hickory bark beetle. As this is a species which atirregular intervals becomes abundant and capable of doing considerablelocal damage, yet I am inclined to think that so far as the Departmentof Agriculture can exercise any control, the hickory bark beetle shouldbe classed among such pests as in a way have like habits of injury, suchfor instance as the apple tent caterpillar, forest tent caterpillar, green maple worm, fruit tree bark beetle, pine bark beetle, and otherthoroughly established native and introduced species, all of which exertinjuries at irregular intervals and then disappear. The hickory barkbeetle suggests one of the problems which is difficult to handle, and itdoes not seem that much can be accomplished in a practical way bystarting an agitation on the subject. The entomologist of the New YorkAgricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, says that the insect is commonaround Geneva, and nearly every season an occasional tree succumbs toits work. He further says that he believes that hickory trees have sometime in the past suffered from either a severe winter or drought, andthat the shot-hole borer is attacking the weakened trees. 

Owing to wide distribution, I do not see how I can direct a campaignagainst this particular insect at this time for the lack of funds. Theappropriations at my disposal under Sections 304-305 of the AgriculturalLaw, are scarcely adequate for the large amount of work which hasalready been started, and which, owing to its nature, must be kept upand finished each season. 

It is my opinion that general publicity would result in accomplishingmuch, if individual owners were informed how necessary it is to seek outand destroy the dead trees before the 1st of June, in order to preventthe insects attacking healthy trees adjoining. The habits of theseinsects are thoroughly known and their life histories have been workedout by our entomologists, and very definite information can be given forthe control of the hickory bark borer. 

 Very truly yours, CALVIN J. HUSON, Commissioner. 

RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE CONFERENCE CALLED BY THE GOVERNOR OFPENNSYLVANIA AT HARRISBURG FEB. 20 AND 21 FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THEMEASURES TO BE TAKEN TO CONTROL THE CHESTNUT-TREE BARK DISEASE:

WHEREAS this Conference recognizes the great importance of the chestnuttree as one of our most valuable timber assets, having an estimatedvalue of not less than $400, 000, 000, and

WHEREAS a most virulent fungous disease has made its appearance in widesections of the chestnut timber region, and already many millions ofdollars of damage has been sustained, and the total extinction of thechestnut tree is threatened by the rapid spread of this disease, and

WHEREAS we recognize the importance of prompt action. 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:

That the thanks of this Conference are tendered to Governor Tener forcalling it, and for the courtesies he has shown

That we appreciate the interest of the President of the United States asevidenced by his communication to Governor Tener, showing as it does, that the head of the National Government is not unmindful of the greatdanger presented by the Chestnut Blight problem. 

That the Commission appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania becommended for the earnestness and diligence they have shown in theconduct of their work. 

That we urge the National Government, the States and the Dominion ofCanada to follow the example of Pennsylvania, which is analogous to thatof Massachusetts in starting the fight against the gypsey moth, andappropriate an amount sufficient to enable their proper authorities tocope with the disease where practicable. 

That we favor the bill now before Congress appropriating $80, 000 for theuse of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Chestnut Bark Diseasework, and urge all States to use every means possible to aid in havingthis bill become a law at the earliest moment. 

That we believe trained and experienced men should be employed in fieldand laboratory to study the diseases in all its phases. 

That we believe definite boundaries should be established whereadvisable in each State beyond which limits an endeavor should be madeto stamp out the disease. 

That we believe an efficient and strong quarantine should be maintainedand that it should be the earnest effort of every state, the FederalGovernment and the Dominion of Canada to prevent the spread of thedisease within and beyond their borders. In accord with this thought westrongly commend the efforts being made to pass the Simmons bill nowbefore Congress. 

That we believe strong efforts should be made in all States to stimulatethe utilization of chestnut products, and in order to do so, werecommend that the Interstate Commerce Commission permit railroads andother transportation companies to name low freight rates so thatchestnut products not liable to spread the disease may be properlydistributed. 

That we recommend the National Government, each State and the Dominionof Canada to publish practical, concise and well illustrated bulletinsfor educating owners of chestnut trees. 

That we believe further meetings on the line of this Conferenceadvisable and we hope the Pennsylvania Commission will arrange forsimilar meetings. 

That we thank the State of Pennsylvania for its intention to publishimmediately the proceedings of this Conference. 

That copies of these resolutions be forwarded to the President of theUnited States, to the Governor of every State, to the Governor Generalof the Dominion of Canada, and the members of the Federal and Statelegislatures, with the request that they do all in their power to aid inchecking the ravages of this dread disease. 

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