47 



in California that seedlings are a waste of time and money. I own a 

 few acres of land in Southern California and of course have planted 

 walnuts there. A few years ago I received word that the crop from 

 my trees was being shipped to me. They arrived. There were six 

 nuts. If I were a Cahfornian I might say six bushels. 



Three years ago the trees here bore quite a crop and no squirrel 

 ever hoarded his winter supply with more satisfaction than I had 

 with that first peck or so of nuts. Last year promised well, and 

 many trees had nuts set for the first time, but owing to the intensely 

 hot summer, or some other reason they did not mature. 



There is a question as to the adaptabiUty of Persian walnuts to 

 this climate. The severe winter of 1917-18 with its sudden and 

 extreme changes of temperature killed scores of my peach trees, 

 while the established walnuts came through practically uninjured by 

 a temperature of twenty-three below zero. 



The World War did not take all the black walnuts in the country 

 for gun stocks, for there are many fine trees still in the Genese^ 

 Valley. Every fall I am on the watch for trees bearing an abundance 

 of large nuts which we use for parent stock. 



It would be quite out of place for me to discuss the various 

 methods of grafting before this audience all of whom know so much 

 more about it than I do. But after many trials we have had the 

 best results from grafting in the greenhouse. The black walnut 

 stock is about four years old when potted, and the scions are cut in 

 January or February and used immediately. Fifty per cent, is our 

 average of success by this method, and some of the trees not tv 

 years old are bearing nuts. 



I have tried planting pecan trees, but so far they have always 

 been winter killed. Some Indiana trees planted this spring are 

 growing and I am hoping they may prove hardy. 



The Sober Paragon chestnuts have shown wonderful growth 

 and bear nuts most abundantly. Each year, however, a tree or two 

 is killed by the blight and I suppose soon my orchard will meet the 

 fate of all the other chestnuts in the East, It seems as if someone 

 ought to discover a remedy for this destructive pest. Tomorrow 

 I hope to see you all at my farm where you can see what use one 

 woman has made of her opportunities for nut culture. 



The President: On behalf of the association I am certainly 

 very grateful to you for your paper which contains some very valu- 

 able information. 



Last week I went up to East avenue here to see the Thompson 

 walnut grove and met Mr. Thompson and talked with him. The 

 grove is in a very much run down condition. In fact he is thinking 

 of using dynamite to blow it up and market the wood in Batavia for 

 gunstocks at the gun factory there. He told us that in the thirty-six 

 years that he has had it, he has had only three crops of nuts. One of 

 the crops was an especially good one, I have forgotten the number of 

 bushels he had, but he sold one hundred bushels, he said, to Sibley. 



