123 



This nut althougli awarded the highest for quality and flavor, and 

 within one point for color of kernel, failed to win because of small size, 

 low cracking quality and small proportion (%) of kernel. I tried 

 cracking one nut between tubes but while it showed a little better yet 

 it was not very much better. I did not have enough nuts to make any 

 extensive study of cracking methods with this variety. 



I did notice that when cracked on end with the tubes, the kernel 

 generally came out in larger pieces than when cracked on the side be- 

 tween flat surfaces, so I believe cracking on end between tubes or 

 between parts with hollow ends will be the way black walnuts are 

 cracked commercially. If this is the fact nuts for judging in the con- 

 tests should be cracked the same way although from the evidence we 

 have so far there would not seem to be very much diff"erence in figures 

 for nut contests between cracking black walnuts in this way and crack- 

 ing on the side between flat surfaces as heretofore. 



I consider the contest a most successful one both from tlie number 

 of nuts received, above 1200 and from the fact that tliere were seven- 

 teen nuts that ranked with those now being propagated, one being 

 better than the best we have. 



The tests on the propagated varieties which gave sixty points for 

 the Stabler, fifty-two for the Ohio and fifty-one for the Thomas would 

 lead me to think it would be well to ])ropagate experimentally all the 

 nuts, ranking as high as the Thomas or higher. I would propagate 

 experimentally also the following which have outstanding charac- 

 teristics. 



Vandersloot (25) Largest 



Myers (22) ■ Thinnest shell 



Thomas (36) Whitest kernel 



Adams (18) Large proportion of kernel 



Kelling (30) Large proportion of kernel 



Ogden (21) Easiest removed pellicle 



These six latter would seemingly be valuable for breeding pur- 

 poses. This would make twenty-three nuts from this contest added to 

 the black walnut varieties we have. This is too many, of course, but 

 I do not believe that we should attempt to determine too much from 

 what we can learn from a contest; from now on more and more of our 

 knowledge must come from the test orchard, and we cannot get this in- 



