344 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



« 



At the January meeting, coming close after the holidays, there was such 

 a small attendance that a formal meeting was not opened, but horticultural 

 subjects were freely talked over in a social way between President 

 J. Austin Scott, ex-Gov. Felch, and the recording secretary. The 

 Governor, now a large peach-grower here at Ann Arbor, having been 

 attracted to this meeting by the proposed subject of nut culture, but, 

 owing to the small attendance, this was postponed to the next meeting. 



At the February meeting President J. Austin Scott presided. 



The subject of nut culture, postponed from the last meeting, was taken 

 up, and Secretary, -T. Ganzhorn, read the following paper: 



That the cultivation of nuts in the United States should not have been attempted 

 until the close of the nineteenth century may seem singular, though when we consider 

 that the natural forests in which our country abounds have supplied us with this valu- 

 able product only for the gathering, the reason for delay may be explained. There is 

 now considerable enthusiasm manifested throughout the United States in the cultiva- 

 tion of nuts, and especially in the south, and as the natural supply of the forests has 

 given out, the interest in nut cultivation will be permanent. As tillers of the soil we 

 can not look into this important matter any too soon. 



We all like nuts, and have done so from our youth up. The gathering of nuts for the 

 winter is one of the chiefest delights of boys. The nut is wholesome and very nutri- 

 tious. It is essentially a winter fruit. Its oily substance produces heat, and I can 

 speak from experience that when nuts are freely eaten in the winter season, less craving 

 for meat is experienced. • When the consumption of nuts will be fairly begun and their 

 value become better known, there will be an increasing demand for them just as in the 

 case of any other fruit. 



About fifteen years ago I began to grow grapes here at Ann Arbor. The amount of 

 my first crop was about one ton, and it was all I could sell in this market during the 

 grape season. Now, when I am so fortunate as to get a good crop, I sell a ton every day 

 in the same market, for weeks, and the supply has always given out too soon. But of 

 course we can not expect that the increase in the demand for nuts will be as rapid as 

 for the grape; but, neither can the nut be produced so quickly and rapidly. The nut 

 does not come into bearing so soon, nor does it yield so largely a short time from plant- 

 ing; and although it is a product coming slowly into a profitable investment, it will be 

 a safe and permanent one. 



If varieties are selected adapted to our soil and climate, we have nothing to fear from 

 cold winters, and, for sometime to come, comparatively little from the depredations of 

 insects. 



Nut trees are valuable for their timber also, and this item alone, in the long run, will 

 make a paying investment. The timber grown in orchard form will be more valuable 

 than when grown singly, as is now largely the case. Trees growing together in a larger 

 body, grow up straighter and therefore make more valuable timber. In the case of the 

 hickory, the demand for its timber for handles of a great variety of tools, and for other 

 uses, will be almost unlimited. The supply of this most valuable timber is already 

 giving out, and wood of less strength has to be resorted to. 



As a timber tree the black walnut has never been fully appreciated by Americans. 

 Germany recognized its value long ago, and has made repeated attempts to grow it for 

 its timber, but they have failed. The tree does not seem to thrive there. 



But, going back to nuts, we find them on every fruit stand throughout the country, 

 and the amount consumed in the aggregate must be enormous. That the nut has not 

 found a place in the eleventh census, I think, has been an oversight. To know the 

 amount at present produced, and how produced, by our natural forests as well as by 

 cultivation, would have been valuable information just now, as a universal interest in 

 the nut is awakening. 



A large portion of the nuts used in our country are imported. Not that the foreign 

 nut is better than our own, but other countries went into nut culture sooner than we. 

 I have found no nut growing wild in Germany but the hazel nut. The leading highways 

 in the southern part of Germany are lined with the English walnut. They make hand- 

 some shade trees, and the nuts are an important commercial article. I have a tree of 

 this sort growing on my place, on trial, but it is not yet large enough to bear. 



For richness in quality, I like our American black walnut better. I have had a black 

 walnut in bearing on my place for some years, that I grew from the seed planted in the 

 fall of 1875. I exhibited from this tree as much as a half bushel of nuts some three years 

 ago, at our county fairs. So far there has not as yet been any premiums offered for 



