THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 81 



moisture from them will destroy the pollen. Then, after separating the 

 pollen from the refuse of the catkins and stems, I dry it thoroughly and 

 place it in dry pasteboard boxes and keep it in a dark, dry place until 

 the pistillate blossoms of the Eastern Black, which I have selected, 

 come out three or four weeks later, and are ready to receive the pollen — 

 having previously removed the catkins from the Eastern Blacks. Then 

 I place a quantity of pollen in several folded thicknesses of gauze, tie 

 this to the end of a long bamboo fishing pole and by this means I can 

 dust the pollen over the surface of the Eastern Black walnut trees, so 

 as to pollenize the pistillate blossoms. If I watch carefully and pollenize 

 at the proper time, I will have most of the nuts pollenized without the 

 trouble of removing the catkins from the Eastern Black, but, of course, 

 I will not get them all. Then after these nuts mature in the fall, I 

 gather them, sprout them in the spring, and plant them in the nursery. 

 These are first generation hybrids. Now, if I allowed one of these nuts 

 to grow and produce a tree, the nuts which that tree produced would be 

 a second generation hybrid. Again the nut from that tree, if allowed 

 to grow and produce a nut, would be a third generation and so on. Of 

 course, a few nuts may be pollenized from the catkins on the same tree 

 or from treas in the neighborhood, and these will have to be rejected 

 'when they come up in the nursery row in the spring. Indeed, I have 

 attempted to pollenize a tree and failed to have one hybrid — due to my 

 not doing the work at the proper time. After they grow a short time 

 in the nursery, it is easy to tell by the character of the leaves and the 

 rapidity of their growth which are hybrids and which are not. The first 

 generation of the Paradox hybrid may be procured in the same way, by 

 using pollen from the English walnut trees on California Blacks. I 

 have often heard people say that a hybrid tree was not as good as, or no 

 better, than the straight California Black; this is due to their using a 

 second, third or more generation nut. The most skeptical are convinced 

 when they see the first generation hybrids grow in the nursery along 

 side of straight California Blacks or second or third generation trees. 

 These hybrids grow at least one-third faster, produce a tree earlier and 

 give larger crops, due to the increased size and vigor of the tree. The 

 Royal hybrid root is the best all around root. It does well in heavy 

 soil and stands lots of moisture. The Paradox hybrid root is just as 

 vigorous a grower, but having the English walnut strain in it, w^ill not 

 stand as much moisture as the Royal hybrid root. It is a better root 

 for light and dry soils. 



Another thing which affects the Paradox hybrid root is the oak root 

 fungus, which originated in the roots of oak trees and affects most 

 deciduous fruit trees. I have known it to kill Avalnut trees on English 

 walnut roots. I know of no case in which it has affected the Paradox 

 root. I have had Paradox hybrid roots planted in spots where the 

 English was killed for the past three years and they have not been 

 affected as yet. If I should plant a walnut grove on land that had 

 previously been covered with oak trees, I would hesitate about planting 

 the Paradox hybrid, as it is too serious a matter to take a chance of 

 having them killed in ten or twelve years when the Royal hybrid root 

 can be planted and there will be no trouble. 



It is just as important to select your buds as it is to choose the proper 

 roots. The buds should be selected not only from the most thrifty and 



