28' 



ADDRESS BY DR. L. C. CORBETT 



U. S. Dep-irtment of Agriculture. 



The work in nut culture by the Department of Agriculture ante- 

 dates the present Bureau of Plant Industry, and to confine the history 

 of the work to the present Bureau of Plant Industry would not quite 

 do the subject justice. 



From the time of the beginning of fruit work in the Department 

 of Agriculture, in 1885, nuts have received more or less attention. 

 After the formation of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in 1901, special 

 appropriations were received' from Congress for the support of nut 

 investigations, and individuals were appointed to that service in the 

 department. Mr. C. A. Reed, whom you all know very well, was the 

 first appointee of this service, devoting his whole time and attention 

 to the work. He has been with the department for several years, and 

 has given his time exclusively to the nut problems of the country. 

 Naturally, the nut problems are not confined to any geographic area, 

 but are nation-wide; but certain of the plants which have entered into 

 the problems of nut culture have demanded more attention than others, 

 for reasons that are the same as in fruit culture. The older fruits, 

 those better known and longer in cultivation, whose problems are 

 better understood, require less attention from the grower and from 

 the experimenter tham do the newer ones in the field. 



Nut culture in America, as I understand it, not being a nut cul- 

 turist myself, consists of two types of projects. We have one type 

 that has long been practiced by man, that we imported from European 

 countries and established on this continent. People have cultivated 

 these nuts more or less intensively for generations, and may of the 

 problems have been worked out, so far as Europe is concerned. Of 

 course, when introduced in America, new problems confronted the 

 growers here. The other type of nut industry is based upon indi- 

 genous nuts of which we know little, either from the orchard stand- 

 point or as to the varieties concerned. Our native nuts, particularly 

 the pecan, have forced themselves upon the attention of investigators 

 of the department to much greater extent, perhaps, than any other 

 nut with which we have to deal. Being a native, indigenous plant, 

 not yet under cultivation, there is immediately presented the problem 

 of the choice of varieties, adaption to changed conditions, and all of 

 the problems arising in connection with a rapidly developing commer- 



