142 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



states. The particular object of enlist- 

 ing- local interest failed in Connecticut 

 and for the first time in the history of 

 the Association. One of the friends of 

 a prominent worker in the Association 

 said in this connection, "That's Con- 

 necticut a- I know it." 



Prize Offers for Nuts. 



The Northern Nut Growers Associa- 

 tion wishes to interest the Boy Scouts 

 the Girl Scouts, the Campfire Girls, the 

 Woodcrafters and similar organiza- 

 tions, in its efforts to find and preserve 

 the valuable native nut trees of Amer- 

 ica. 



For that purpose it offers, through 

 the kindness of one of its members, a 

 special additional prize of five dollars 

 ($5) to any member of one of these or- 

 ganizations who shall win any one of 

 the Association's prizes. These prizes 

 are as follows : 



For a Hazel nut of pure American 

 origin that shall compete with the im- 

 ported filbert, $5000. 



For a Shagbark Hickory better than 

 those now being propagated, $25.00. 



For a Pecan better than those now 

 being propagated, $10.00. 



For a better Black Walnut, $10.00. 



For a Beechnut worthy of propaga- 

 tion, $10.00. 



For a blight resistant American 

 Chestnut, $15.00. 



For the best butternut sent in, $5.00 ■ 

 second, $3 ; third, $2; and five prizes of 

 $1 each. 



Also prizes of from $1 to $5 will be 

 awarded to the sender of any of the 

 following nuts that shall be deemed by 

 the judges worthy of propagation : the 

 western shellbark, pignut, mocker nut 

 or other hickory, Japanese walnut, pine 

 nut, almond, English walnut or hy- 

 brids. 



Mere size of nut is not of greatest 

 value, except, perhaps, with the hazel 

 Before size come cleavage, or the ease 

 with which the meat may be taken from 

 the shell, plumpness, richness and 

 flavor of kernel, and productiveness of 

 tree. Any nut, even a small one, if it 

 ranks high in these three points, may 

 be of value. 



Send at least twelve nuts from each 

 tree, pack them securely in a box or 

 bag, address them to Dr. Deming 



Secretary Northern Nut Growers As- 

 sociation, Georgetown, Connecticut, 

 and be sure to put your name and ad- 

 dress on a slip of paper inside the pack- 

 age. The secretary will acknowledge 

 the receipt of each specimen and write 

 his opinion of the merit of the nut. 



Mark the tree so as to be sure you 

 can identify it. 



Valuable nuts are named after the 

 sender and the name goes on perma- 

 nent record. 



Senders of good nuts will find oppor- 

 tunity to sell cuttings from the tree at 

 the usual rate of five cents a foot. 



Prize winners must furnish one lot 

 of scions, or cuttings, for experimental 

 propagation, at the request of the As- 

 sociation. 



All packages must bear postmark not 

 later than December 31. 



Our valuable native nut trees are dy- 

 ing or being cut down every year and 

 so being lost to the world. If you can 

 help us find them first we can have 

 scions grafted from them on young trees 

 and so the nut may be grown forever 

 just as we have found and saved most 

 of our native fruits, the Baldwin apple 

 or the Bartlett pear, which would have 

 been lost forever if some one had not 

 had the wit to graft scions from the 

 original tree. Trees do not come true 

 from seeds- 



The Northern Nut Growers Associa- 

 tion, whose interests as a body are en- 

 tirely educational, experimental and 

 scientific, appeals to the patriotic spirit 

 of the young people of America to help 

 us save the precious possession of our 

 native nut trees. 



We sometimes get nearer to God in 

 proportion as we get — far from men. — 

 Henry W T ard Beecher. 



The English, confronted with a ser- 

 ious food shortage, are waking up to 

 the loss caused by various destructive 

 creatures. It is calculated that the 

 house sparrow alone costs the British 

 Isles no less than $40,000,000 each year, 

 with twice as much more to the dis- 

 credit of the starling and the blackbird to- 

 gether. Rats are said to destroy about 

 $75,000,000 worth of property annually, 

 and altogether the loss is not far from 

 $200,000,000. 



