36 



to the market ami' sold as almonds. We had understood that China 

 was quite an important almond-producing country, but \ doubt if 

 there are any .ihrnonds in China. I did not see a tree, nor did I get 

 an indication that there were any there. 



One of the largest chestnut trees that I saw measured eight feet 

 and would have been valuable for timber purposes. It was in one of 

 the very attractive little orchards of chestnut trees in the north of 

 Shansi and northeast of Tientsin. We understood that there were 

 very large orchards to the north, but you might say that there is no 

 such thing as a large orchard in China. , We counted about 100 trees 

 in such orchards, and we made notes as to their bearing habits. We 

 found the chestnuts of pleasing quality, of a fair size, and not quite 

 as large as European nuts but larger than the American. We did not 

 see many of the trees which had been allowed to develop normally. 

 They are not of special value in China, and consequently, the branches 

 are removed as high as possible, and often the tops are cut out. 



The Chinese have a species of native peanut which is very shrivelled 

 and hard; but missionaries from this country have introduced there 

 the American peanut, which is now grown so extensively that Chinese 

 exports have disturbed our market conditions considerably. 



The Chinese allow nothing to go to waste. When the peanuts 

 are removed from the ground and cared for, the soil is sifted so that 

 no peanuts will be lost. The American peanut grown there is served 

 in little butterdishes on the hotel tables, as a delicacy. 



THURSDAY MORNING SESSION, SEPTEMBER 27 



Meeting called to order by President McGlennon, 10:15 a. m. 



The president appointed as Nominating Committee to nominate 

 officers for the ensuing year, Dr. Robert T. Morris, Prof. C. P. Close, 

 J. S. McGlennon. 



Mr. T. P. Littlepage, of Washington, D. C, then spoke on the 

 subject of Commercial Nut Culture. 



This is a very difficult subject to discuss, for the reason that, as 

 yet, there are ver^' few facts upon which to base any conclusions 

 about commercial nut culture in the North. 



First, let me say that the principal point upon which we base our 

 opinion that nut culture in the North has commercial possibilities, is 

 the fact that growing throughout many sections of the North are 



