69 



The President : One of our important visitors is Professor 

 James A. Neilson, Guelph, Canada. The title of Professor Neilson's 

 paper is, " Nut Culture in Canada." This is an especially interesting 

 subject to me. 



Professor Neilson : Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen : I 

 want to express my appreciation of your kind invitation to attend 

 your convention and for the opportunity of talking to you for a 

 M^hile on the subject that is more interesting to me than any other 

 branch of horticulture. I had looked forward to coming to this con- 

 vention but wasn't just sure that I would be able to be here. There- 

 fore when I got a wire from your president I immediately got busy 

 and pulled the wires at the college and asked them to authorize me 

 to come here at college expense. I am very glad to be here. It has 

 been most interesting to me, and I am very pleased, indeed, to meet 

 so many whom I knew already by reputation. 



NUT CULTURE IN CANADA 



J. A. Neilson, B. S. A. 



Lecturer in Horticulture, Ontario Agricultural College 



Guelph, Canada 



The conservation and improvement of our native nut trees and 

 the introduction of suitable species from foreign countries has not 

 received much attention by horticulturists in Canada, except in Brit- 

 ish Columbia and in Ontario. In British Columbia, Persian walnuts, 

 Japanese walnuts, filberts, almonds and European varieties of chest- 

 nuts have been planted to a limited extent in the fruit districts and 

 small plantings have been made at the Dominion Experimental 

 Farms located at Aggaziz on the mainland and at Sidney on Van- 

 couver Island. 



In Ontario very little had been done by the Provincial Experi- 

 ment Stations to test the different varieties of nut trees until about 

 one year ago when the Vineland Station undertook to establish ex- 

 perimental plantings. A few enthusiasts like G. H. Corsan of 

 Toronto, Dr. Sager of Brantford, Dr. McWilliams of London and 

 William Corcoran of Port Dalhousie are about the only parties who 

 have attempted anything along the line of nut growing. These 

 remarks of course do not apply to those people who have planted a 

 few black walnuts or Japanese walnuts on the home grounds or 

 along the roadsides. Of such plantings there are a few here and 

 there in the older settled parts of the province. 



For some years the writer has felt that something should be 

 done by the Horticultural Department of the College to interest the 

 people of Canada in planting more and better nut trees and in con- 

 serving the remnant of the many fine nut trees which formerly grew 

 so abundantly in parts of Ontario and elsewhere. Therefore an 



