12 Keport of State Board op Horticulture. 



the favorite varieties being Black Republican, Royal Ann, Bing, 

 and Lambert; and as they ripen after the markets are bare of Cali- 

 fornia stocks, they command a good price. 



The commissioner calls attention to the proper thinning of fruit 

 and first-class packing in order to realize the highest prices in the 

 markets. 



walnut-growing. 



Commissioner Newell, in his report, discusses to some extent the 

 subject of walnut-growing, and in the appendix will be found an 

 interesting paper by Mr. J. B. Pilkington relative to this branch 

 of horticulture. 



Your Commissioner at Large has also given this industry consid- 

 <.-rable attention. Conditions in Oregon, particularly in the Wil- 

 lamette section, are especially favorable for the growing of English 

 Avalnuts, and that instead of paying out annually several hundred 

 dollars for nuts, we ought in a few years to be exporting them. In 

 a recent ti-ip through Southern California we saw several hundred 

 acres of these beautiful trees, and was informed that no branch of 

 fruitgrowing is more profitable. In some sections, however, it was 

 said that the nuts failed to fill for want of sufficient moisture. The 

 walnut is a great feeder, thrives at times in indifferent soils, but 

 moisture must not be lacking. Trees planted in Oregon 15 and 

 20 years ago bear nuts of larger size and better quality than the 

 imported ones. 



A few years ago we all planted prunes ; this year we ai^e running 

 to hops, but next year it will be walnuts. A word of caution may 

 not be amiss. Do not plant walnuts until you have thoroughly in- 

 vestigated the subject, as success will depend largely on the variety 

 and generation of the trees you plant. I believe that it is a well- 

 attested fact that a second generation tree will bear larger nuts 

 than either the first or third or fourth generation. It follows, 

 therefore, that your trees should be budded or grafted from cions 

 or buds taken from a second generation tree. Again, seedlings grown 

 from nuts however excellent in themselves, may prove unsatisfac- 

 tory from the fact that the flowers from which they were grown 

 had been pollenized by an inferior variety growing in the vicinity. 

 Chestnuts also grow well in Oregon, and it is the writer's opinion 

 that improved American varieties like the Paragon are to be pre- 

 ferred to those coming from Europe, 



