122 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



give ten trees to the acre. In tins case it will be necessary to raise some- 

 th'ng else on the land to utilize the space between the trees for a number 

 of years. Cultivated farm crops with occasional rotations in clover or 

 vetches can be grown, or small fruits or filberts, according to circumstances 

 and the taste of the planter. In some places prunes may be used as 

 "fillers," or other fruit trees which do not rapidly develop into large 

 It will probably be most satisfactory to set the trees about forty feet apart 

 trees. 



If it is intended to rely upon seedling trees for the nuts to ^oe produced 

 and in thinning take out the trees which prove inferior either as trees or in 

 quality or yield of product. 



The walnut enjoys rich soil and thorough cultivation. Unless the land 

 is new and rich in vegetable matter and available nitrogen it will pay to 

 grow the c;>mmon vetch (vicia sativa) as a winter cover-crop to be worked 

 into the soil in the spring. 



In order to obtain a shapely tree with its head sufficiently high to keep 

 the lower branches off the ground it is necessary to use heavy stakes about 

 the length of a fence rail. If not staked while young the trees are almost 

 certain to lean badly and may even break off near the ground before the 

 trunk has become strong enough to support the top. 



JIARVESTING AXD CURING THE CKOl". 



The walnut ripens in Oregon in October. When the pods have com- 

 menced to break open and allow the nuts to drop it is time to start the 

 work of harvesting the crop. Some growers use long poles to whip the 

 branches and shake out the mature nuts. Mr. Thomas Prince of Dundee. 

 Oregon, prefers to use a padded mallet. A man climls a tree and strikes 

 the limbs with the mallet. The jar causes the nuts which are mature to 

 drop out of their pods. It is necessary to go through the grove several 

 times, as the nuts on a tree do not all mature at the same time. If the 

 weather is cool the nuts will lie on the ground several days without injury 

 in this State, and are not damaged by rains, which are much dreaded by 

 growers in California. 



As soon as the nuts are gathered they should bo well washed in clean 

 water. This can readily be done in any properly equipped prune-drying 

 house by the use of the dipping apparatus. A cylinder made of strong and 

 coarse-meshed wire cloth arranged so that it can be rotated in a vat of 

 water will be found convenient for this work, and the same cylinder can 

 be used (without the water) for the final polishing of the nuts. When 

 washed the nuts are spread upon trays such as are used for drying fruit 

 and placed in the drying chamber. The experience of Mr. Prince shows 

 that a steady circulation of air at low heat is best. He prefers not to 

 have the air warmer than 85 degrees Fahrenheit. He would under no cir- 

 cumstances allow the heat to rise above 110 degrees in the drying chamber. 

 If a higher temperature is used it tends to make the nuts oily and to de- 

 prive them of the fine delicacy of flavor which is so greatly admired by 

 connoisseurs and is characteristic of Oregon-grown walnuts. A little ex- 

 perience will enable the operator to determine when the nuts are suf- 

 ficiently dried. After the nuts come out of the drying chamber they 

 should be placed in bins and kept there about two weeks. While in the bin 

 they should be examined frequently, and if they show moisture, or mould 

 appears, they should be dried again. When there is no doubt of the nuts 

 being sufficiently dry they can be sorted and packed for market. It is not 

 the practice in Oregon and Washington to bleach the nuts in any way, but 

 to place them on the market with their natural color. As bleaching with 

 sulphur is very objectionable and other methods «re rather expensive and 

 add nothing to the value of the fruit, it will probably be well to continue 



