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THE CUBAN WALNUT 



Good nuts are comparatively scarce in the tropics, and Cuban plant breeders have, therefore, 

 a great opportunity in the possession of this wild species of walnut. It compares favorably 

 in size of nuts with the North American black walnut, and should easily yield to selection 

 and hybridization, as well as furnishing a stock on which to graft temperate varieties. 

 Photograph from H. A. Van Hermann. (Fig. 11.) 



however, a native sp3cies, Vitis caribaoa, 

 which might, through hybridization 

 with some of th^ cultivatsd grapes, givj 

 rise to a race which would be of th? 

 greatest value to tropical regions. 

 The vigor and productiveness of this 

 wild grape suggest that it might also 

 be of value as a stock on which to graft 

 varieties of the vinifera type. Even in 

 its present form this grape is equal, in 

 size and quality, to many of the wild 

 grapes of North America; the individual 

 berries are about yi of an inch in 

 diameter, dark purple, juicy, and pro- 

 duced in good sized clusters. The 

 plant is a strong climber, sometimes 

 covering trees 18 or 20 feet high. At 

 Santiago de las Vegas it has been 

 cultivated on trellises and has done 

 remarkably well. Two distinct forms 

 have been noted in different parts of 

 Cuba, one with a close, compact fruit 

 cluster, the other producing looser 

 clusters and fewer berries. 



Another native plant of possible 



economic value has recently been 

 brought to the attention of horticul- 

 turists by H. A. Van Hermann and 

 Dr. Juan T. Roig. This is the Cuban 

 walnut, Juglans insularis, a tree occur- 

 ring in the mountains of the island and 

 producing nuts which compare favorably 

 in size with th3 northern black walnut. 

 The kernels are difficult to remove from 

 the shell, however, and the partitions 

 are thick. The tree is not at all 

 common, and horticulturally speaking 

 it is practically unknown, yet it might 

 be of great value as a stock on which to 

 graft some of the cultivated walnuts, 

 or through selection it might be con- 

 siderably improved. There are very 

 few nuts which succeed in Cuba, or in 

 the tropics generally, and the addition of 

 a walnut to those already cultivated 

 would be a distinct advance. It may 

 be mentioned that the Queensland Nut, 

 Macadmnia ternifolia, has been fruiting 

 for several years at Santiago de las 



561 



