ipiS 



BETTER FRUIT 



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mark that these trees make an unsatis- 

 factory growth and are often crippled 

 by late frosts that occur regularly each 

 fall. These trees rarely make more than 

 two-thirds of the growth made by trees 

 that start at a normal time in this 

 climate, which I shall place as about 

 May 1st, and more rarely do their nuts 

 mature early enough to avoid the frosty 

 nights of the declining year. 



On the farm which I own and oper- 

 ate jointly with Mr. W. T. Stolz, five 

 miles north of Salem, Oregon, forty 

 acres of land is planted to seedling wal- 

 nut trees, mostly of the Franquette 

 variety, ranging in age from four to 

 seven years. In this planting, consist- 

 ing of more than one thousand trees, 

 about ten per cent were observed to 

 be "sleepy," that is, not leafing until 

 July the 1st of each year. The trees 

 were undersized as compared with 

 those having normal habits, and were 

 otherwise deemed to be valueless as 

 permanent trees. The question of their 

 treatment or their extirpation became 

 imperative and on account of their root 

 and body development, it apepared that 

 a treatment, if practicable, would bring 

 quicker pecuniary returns than the 

 removal of the trees. Consequently, on 

 July -J, 1915, two of the trees were limb 

 worked to Franquette scions that had 

 been carried over in cold storage, in- 

 volving six separate grafts. Three of 

 these grafts survived and three per- 

 ished; those that endured attained a 

 growth of approximately five feet. The 

 spring of 1916 witnessed a perfect revo- 

 lution in the conduct of these trees. 

 The season-old grafts commenced to 

 grow about May 1st in response to the 

 parent tree from whence they came, 

 and continued to grow in the manner 

 and along the custom prescribed by 

 their more intelligent ancestors, until 

 they were abruptly stopped by that 

 killing frost in the early days of Octo- 

 ber. 



Encouraged by the success of late 

 grafting in the summer of 1915, I de- 

 cided to operate upon the remaining 

 sleepy trees this summer, so during the 

 dormancy of the trees last winter I 

 caused a number of scions to be taken 

 from selected Franquette walnut trees 

 and placed the cuttings in cold storage, 

 where they remained incased in damp 

 muss until June 18, when the work of 

 limb and body grafting commenced. 

 Ninety-two grafts, covering eighty-four 

 trees, were placed upon these back- 

 ward trees with result that forty-eight 

 grafts grew until cut down by the frost 

 of October, The percentage of those 

 thai lived was as 52 is to 100, and each 

 experienced a luxuriant growth, in some 

 instances as much as six feet. It will 

 he remembered that during the 18th and 

 19lh days of June, last, when the work 

 was performed, the days were exceed- 

 ingly hot, and fur that reason, the meth- 

 ods employed will be outlined briefly. 

 The scions were placed on the trees in 

 the usual manner, and at the base of 

 the graft was tied a double handful of 

 damp moss wrapped in oiled paper, and 

 over all was placed a six-ounce paper 

 bag. The principle involved in the 

 using of the moss was to maintain the 



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humidity in the atmosphere and to con- 

 serve all the freshness and coolness 

 possible. To my satisfaction, I have 

 demonstrated that the sleepy tree will 

 conform its habits to the scion when 

 once installed, so that it is both pos- 

 sible and practicable to make the body 

 and root system of an undesirable tree 

 perform the functions of one that an- 

 swers the requirements of the most 

 exacting culturist. 



But, you ask, properly, is it necessary 

 to wait until about the third week in 

 June, or later still, July 1st, when the 

 lire shows life and the flow of sap is 

 abundant to insert the graft? Pri- 

 marily, I supposed that the only lime 

 properly to grail was when I he lice 

 first experienced hearty circulation of 

 sap, IhiI latterly, I am convinced other- 

 wise, and now believe (hat a tree should 

 he grafted when the occasion is most 



propitious lor Hie scion. Thai trees ex- 

 perience a rest period has been abso- 

 lutely demonstrated by man} thought- 

 ful investigators and that a walnut 

 scion having a different habit of life 

 will control a tree showing a different 

 and more backward disposition has 

 been developed by my own experience, 



which is infinitesimal as likened to 

 many other growers of this popular nut. 

 While it is not my purpose to enter 

 upon a physiological discussion of the 

 many principles involved in an elabo- 

 ration of this question, for the reason 

 of my acknowdedged unfitness for the 

 task, yet I shall state my reasons for 

 concluding that the time to top work a 

 walnut tree must be governed by the 

 readiness of the scion for action rather 

 than that of the stump upon which the 

 graft is placed. Students of horticul- 

 ture have proven that by means of vari- 

 ous treatments, the rest period of plaids 

 can be broken, causing them to begin 

 growing within a short time following 

 the application of the method invoked. 

 One of the agencies thai I have ob- 

 served is a shock superinduced by a 

 severe culling of the tree, thus the cut- 

 ling of a tree hack iii ;i slump produces 

 such a shock lo the tree as In sliniu- 

 late il into a much earlier growth than 

 it would have experienced by the 

 oiiiissiiin lit the treatment. In other 



words. Hie pomologist would say thai 



ihis violence to the lice would stimu- 

 late Hie enzymes into activity. Further, 

 the walnut tree is never really dormant 



