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While growing trees of the various varieties of nuts tell us something 

 before they come into bearing, and as they begin to bear, it is only 

 after they have begun to bear fair crops, and to bear them with 

 reasonable regularity, that they really begin to be very useful, and 

 The fine varieties that we have, so far, have all been discovered, 

 that is some one found a tree bearing fine nuts and brought it to the 

 attention of the Association or the Department of Agriculture, or to 

 some nut nurserymen, and they have been multiplied by grafting, 

 budding or some other means of vegetative propagation. The study 

 that has been put on the fine varieties of nuts that we have has shown 

 an increasing number to be hybrids between species. In some in- 

 stances the parents are known and they are notably inferior to their 

 offspring. While this does not mean that it is not important still to 

 keep up the hunt for the best nuts of eaeh species now growing, for 

 it is not yet believed that all meritorious nuts have been found, it does 

 point out a method of getting improved nuts, which probably event- 

 ually will be the means of getting greatly improved ones. This is 

 by the systematic production of hybrids between selected parents. It 

 is the method by which the wonderful modern advances in flowers and 

 other plants has been obtained. When we know that some of the best 

 nuts we have are hybrids between parents that ordinarily would be 

 considered of little value, it indeed seems most likely that greatly im- 

 proved forms would result from carefully conducted hybridization 

 between selected parents. 



After hybrid nuts are produced they should then be carefully pre- 

 served until time to plant them. The young trees that grow from 

 these hybrid nuts should then be planted out, allowing each space 

 enough to fruit. Probably it will be advisable to transplant once be- 

 fore setting in permanent places. After they fruit the best will be 

 preserved and the others destroyed or top-worked to other varieties. 



For best results a large number of hybrids should be made, for, 

 witliin certain limits, the larger the number made the greater the 

 probability of getting worthwhile new varieties. Some hundreds of 

 acres of land should be available that these new varieties may grow 

 to bearing. It will thus be seen that the testing of new varieties of 

 nut trees is going to take considerable money to purchase the necessary 

 land, and more to keep up the work after the land is secured. If 500 



