﻿63 
  

  

  WALNUT 
  OBSERVATIONS 
  IN 
  CALIFORNIA* 
  

  

  L. 
  D. 
  Batchelor, 
  University 
  of 
  California, 
  Citrus 
  Experi- 
  

   ment 
  Station, 
  Riverside, 
  California. 
  

  

  The 
  walnut 
  industry 
  of 
  California 
  is 
  just 
  entering 
  a 
  transition 
  

   period 
  from 
  the 
  planting 
  of 
  seedling 
  groves 
  to 
  the 
  established 
  plant- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  grafted 
  trees. 
  Just 
  as 
  other 
  seedling 
  fruit 
  trees, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   orange, 
  apple, 
  peach, 
  almond, 
  etc., 
  have 
  been 
  ehminated, 
  so 
  too, 
  

   the 
  seedling 
  walnut 
  groves 
  of 
  California 
  seem 
  doomed 
  to 
  be 
  re- 
  

   placed 
  by 
  clonal 
  varieties. 
  In 
  many 
  ways 
  this 
  industry 
  is 
  as 
  much 
  

   in 
  its 
  infancy 
  as 
  the 
  apple 
  industry 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  was 
  sixty-five 
  

   years 
  ago, 
  when 
  varieties 
  first 
  began 
  to 
  be 
  propagated 
  in 
  a 
  com- 
  

   mercial 
  way 
  by 
  grafting 
  and 
  budding. 
  This 
  readjustment 
  in 
  the 
  

   walnut 
  industry 
  is 
  well 
  started, 
  and, 
  although 
  it 
  is 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  

   gradual 
  in 
  its 
  evolution, 
  and 
  wisely 
  so, 
  the 
  change 
  seems 
  neverthe- 
  

   less 
  certain. 
  There 
  are 
  but 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  seedling 
  trees 
  for 
  sale 
  at 
  the 
  

   present 
  time 
  by 
  the 
  progressive 
  nurseries, 
  and, 
  in 
  fact, 
  only 
  a 
  very 
  

   few 
  such 
  trees 
  have 
  been 
  set 
  out 
  in 
  groves 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  four 
  or 
  

   five 
  years. 
  The 
  demand 
  for 
  grafted 
  trees 
  has 
  been 
  brought 
  about 
  

   largely 
  by 
  the 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  variation 
  in 
  walnut 
  seedlings 
  as 
  re- 
  

   gards 
  their 
  productivity, 
  commercial 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  nuts, 
  season 
  of 
  

   harvest 
  and 
  ability 
  of 
  the 
  trees 
  to 
  resist 
  the 
  walnut 
  blight. 
  

  

  Ill 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  recent 
  propagation 
  of 
  the 
  walnut 
  by 
  grafting, 
  

   which 
  has 
  extended 
  over 
  only 
  about 
  ten 
  to 
  twelve 
  years, 
  it 
  is 
  rea- 
  

   sonable 
  to 
  expect 
  that 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  varieties 
  thus 
  propagated 
  

   so 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  industry 
  are 
  only 
  partially 
  suited 
  

   to 
  the 
  needs 
  of 
  the 
  walnut 
  grower. 
  The 
  nuts 
  from 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  

   grafted 
  varieties 
  fall 
  considerably 
  short 
  of 
  the 
  commercial 
  standard 
  

   for 
  high-grade 
  walnuts. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  heaviest-bearing 
  sorts, 
  such 
  

   as 
  the 
  Chase, 
  Prolific 
  and 
  El 
  Monte, 
  produce 
  nuts 
  that 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   sold 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  best 
  grade 
  of 
  the 
  commercial 
  product. 
  On 
  the 
  

   other 
  hand, 
  the 
  Placentia, 
  which 
  produces 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  nearly 
  

   ideal 
  commercial 
  nuts, 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  heavy-producing 
  variety, 
  especially 
  

   in 
  the 
  northern 
  walnut 
  sections, 
  and 
  is 
  quite 
  as 
  susceptible 
  to 
  wal- 
  

   nut 
  blight 
  as 
  the 
  average 
  seedling 
  tree. 
  Again, 
  the 
  Eureka 
  variety, 
  

   which 
  seems 
  to 
  successfully 
  avoid 
  the 
  walnut 
  blight 
  during 
  many 
  

   seasons 
  by 
  its 
  lateness 
  in 
  coming 
  into 
  bloom, 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  moderately 
  

  

  ♦Paper 
  No. 
  21, 
  Citrus 
  Experiment 
  Station, 
  College 
  of 
  Agriculture, 
  University 
  of 
  California, 
  

   Riverside, 
  California. 
  

  

  