PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 75 



Bidgely, both seedlings grown in this country from trees of the European 

 type, bear nuts of good size and quality, and both are very productive. 

 The three varieties named are probably the best now obtainable. With 

 good care, in favorable locations, grafted trees can be expected to yield a 

 few nuts within four or five years from planting and a considerable quan- 

 tity at six to ten years of age. They should not be planted in isolated 

 locations; the proximity of trees of the same species adding materially to 

 their fruitfulness. 



Our conclusions may then be summed up as follows: 



1. Recorded experience indicates that with the possible exception of 

 the chestnut, the native nut-bearing species are unworthy of planting in 

 Michigan for their fruit alone. 



2. The large and increasing consumption of nuts makes further experi- 

 mentation with introduced species advisable. 



3. Trees bearing choice shagbarks and chestnuts should be carefully 

 preserved and their product kept apart from inferior nuts for marketing. 



4. The introduced nuts most promising to the experimenter are believed 

 to be the improved varieties of the European and Japanese types of chest- 

 nut, the hardy, early bearing varieties of Persian walnut, and the filbert. 

 The pecan is worthy of trial and will probably make at least a satisfactory 

 ornamental tree if grown from stock secured north of the Ohio river. The 

 almond blooms too early to make its trial advisable outside of the most 

 favored portions of the fruit belt. 



5. There is not sufficient evidence at present to warrant the extensive 

 planting oE any of these nuts in Michigan, but experimental work by 

 growers should be encouraged in order that the limitations and possibili- 

 ties may be determined. 



Mr. B. Hathaway of Little Prairie Ronde: As to the difficulty of trans- 

 planting the shagbark, I have trees in bearing which I transplanted from 

 my nursery, eight out of ten having lived without trouble. Last year I 

 got two bushels of nuts from them besides what the boys took. They 

 were transplanted at two years of age, when they had four or five feet of 

 tap-root to one foot of top. Holes for them were dug with a post-hole 

 digger, giving ample depth for the placing of the tap-root in its natural 

 position. These trees have been planted eighteen to twenty years. 



Mr. Lyon suggested the cutting of the tap-roots a year previous to the 

 transplanting, but Mr. Hathaway objected to this as an interference with 

 the natural habit of the tree. At two years of age they have very few 

 lateral roots and are not likely to supply them if the tap-roots are cut. 



