81 



That it has not until recently made any very specific recom- 

 mendations of this character is to my mind an evidence of wisdom. 

 There is a legend told of King Canute whose courtiers flattered him 

 by telling of his power, not differentiating between the immense 

 power he did possess from that which he did not, and who persuaded 

 him to try it on the rising tide. The King learned a lesson by the 

 test that he never forgot. Had the association attempted to make 

 very definite recommendations before it could point to specific 

 instances where things had been done it would almost certainly have 

 failed as signally as did King Canute. 



It is not because it did not realize the value that such recom- 

 mendations would have, but because it did realize that the experience 

 necessary had not been accumulated before it could safely make 

 them. It is only through experience that recommendations wort'^ 

 while can be made, and it is because of the need of accumulating 

 this for the various sections that the association has advocated the 

 planting of experimental orchards. 



It is encouraging to note that while these are not being planted 

 as rapidly as we would wish, the work is going on steadily and we are 

 continually learning of new plantings. Some of the older orchards 

 are now giving us their experience. The oldest plantings are those 

 of Mr. John G. Rush, West Willow, Pa., consisting largely of Per- 

 sian walnuts, and of Mr. E. A. Riehl, Alton, 111., consisting of 

 chestnuts and black walnuts. 



Mr. Rush's orchard has given us an American hazel, the Rush, 

 the best native variety that we have and which seemingly has com- 

 mercial value. It has also shown us that the nuts on a young grafted 

 hickory tree, a Weiker, are considerably larger and crack easier than 

 the nuts from the parent tree, and that the English walnut will grow 

 and bear when grafted on practically every species of walnut, black 

 walnut, butternut, and Japan walnut, and it seems likely that this 

 orchard will be a source of knowledge for us for many years to 

 come. 



A number of others have been started some of which are be- 

 ginning to give us evidence of value. Probably more problems have 

 been solved, particularly those relating to propagation on Dr. Mor- 

 ris's and Mr. Jones's than any others so far. Dr. Deming is giving 

 us evidence on grafted hickories of a large number of varieties and 

 Mr. Littlepage's and Mr. Wilkinson's orchards are giving us evi- 

 dence on pecans. There are also a number of others still too young 

 to give us much information. Mr. Riehl's orchard of chestnuts and 

 black walnuts has gotten beyond the experimental stage and is now 

 a commercial success. 



I had a desire to establish an experimental orchard when living 

 in Brooklyn, before I owned any land on which to plant trees, and I 

 bought and set out trees on the land of three relatives before it was 

 possible to set any on my own land. The principal thing gained from 

 these early plantings was experience and the principal things learned 



