190 Appendix. 



good bearer. The Chaberte was originated over a century ago by a 

 man named Chabert, hence its name. 



(The foregoing descriptions are taken from the catalogue of Felix 

 Gillet, the veteran walnut grower of Nevada City, California.) 



TAPROOT OR NO TAPROOT. 



I have experimented considerably with various fruit trees on the 

 *'Stringfellow method" of root pruning when setting out young trees, 

 that is, cutting away all the roots except a few stumps about three 

 inches long, and obtained mai'velous results; the grand root system these 

 trees developed led me to try it on walnut trees, especially as there is a 

 great controversy whether the taproot must be left on, or if the tree is 

 injured by cutting it off when planting. For this purpose I used some 

 seedling trees of my own growing, and seedling and grafted trees of 

 various varieties from Mr. Felix Gillet, and cut away every particle 

 of the roots except the stumps, scarcely three inches long each, and 

 planted them as you would a stick; simply stuck them into the ground 

 the proper depth. I had great faith in the Stringfellow method, but 

 hardly enough to hope for good results on walnut trees, especially on 

 my poor, heavy, clay soil. For the past six years these trees managed 

 to maintain themselves, and even made some growth, about three to six 

 inches each year, but this year these trees grew from four to five feet, 

 and a number of them produced some beautiful nuts. These tress not 

 only grew new taproots but developed a marvelous lateral root system, 

 to which latter fact I attribute the growth, as ordinarily walnut trees 

 have very few lateral roots. 



However, I am not yet ready to advocate the Stringfellow method of 

 root pruning on nut trees until further investigation, though perfectly 

 satisfied in my own mind that in planting trees generally, especially on 

 clay soils, it is the only proper method to follow. For the purpose of 

 further experiment the Oregon Nursery Company kindly sent to me a 

 dozen of yearling Franquette walnut trees, and hope to be able to give 

 good and satisfactoi-y results next year. 



BUSINESS PROPOSITION. 



As stated in the beginning, there are now many small walnut groves 

 in full bearing, which are as profitable to the acre and soon will be more 

 so than any other horticultural pursuit, even the famous apple. The 

 trees are generally healthy, have few enemies, either insects or fungus, 

 and require but ordinary good care. The nuts fall to the ground as 

 soon as the hull bursts, which it does when the nuts are ripe, and can 

 be picked up easily, and must be promptly, as squirrels are very fond of 

 them. The nuts should then be cured, either in the sun or subjected to 

 a gentle heat in an evaporator to prevent mildew or becoming rancid. 

 In Califoi-nia the nuts are bleached in addition, to give the shell a light 

 color, for which purpose sulphur is used, same as bleaching dried apples. 



As a business proposition I know of no better in agricultural or hor- 



