462 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



as before recommended ; and if planted where they are to grow, 

 some should be dropped by measvire ten and twent}"- inches apart, 

 and the rest two feet, if to be transplanted, one foot from each 

 other. In this way the value of the vegetable crop will more than 

 pay expenses, leaving- the grove free of cost. At the end of ten or 

 twelve years, the trees should be left in the rows twenty feet from 

 each other. It might be advisable after ten years to stop cultiva- 

 tion, but the trees would do better for a longer one. Probably no 

 tree does less injury to a crop growing near than the walnut. 



One objection to the tree is that sometimes in August or Septem- 

 ber the limbs are broken or branches split from the tree by the 

 winds. No tree, even the elm, has greater vitality than the walnut. 

 Hard maples, growing on well cultivated land for ten years, were en- 

 tirely killed by the drouth of 1894 and last winter, while the walnut 

 was not injured in the least. Trees from nuts which grew in Put- 

 nam county, Indiana, planted in 1868 but not growing till 1869, 

 were killed about seven years ago. These have sent up sprouts 

 which produced v^alnuts this year. The trees now growing from 

 walnuts produced by one of the trees growing in 1869 from Indiana 

 nuts, are much the more hardj'^ and thrift}'. From one of these trees 

 ten or twelve years old.three pecks of unhulled walnuts were gathered 

 last fall. At ten feet from each other each way, 441 would grow on an 

 acre; at twenty feet each way, 100. After eight or ten years, the trees 

 would be of value for posts, and at that age each tree would be worth 

 at least twenty-five to fifty cents, making the value of an acre twenty- 

 five to fifty or one hundred dollars. The essential points in growing 

 the tree are, the walnuts must be grown in Minnesota, their vitality 

 not injured in any way, and a careful cultivation of the land. " Will 

 it pay to grow the black walnut in Minnesota?" can be answered 

 affirmatively by the grower if he will observe and follow the nat- 

 ural laws controlling its growth. The shell bark hickory can be 

 recommended for trial in this state. It is found in Houston county. 

 Trees also from nuts from Indiana, planted in 1869 and killed to the 

 ground twelve or fifteen years ago, sent up shoots which have con- 

 tinued to grow since and came through the season of 1894 and 1895, 

 while the Norway spruce, cultivated alongside siuc^e 1870, were 

 mostly killed. The hickories grow in a very tough bluegrass sod. 



Mr. M. C. Bunnell: Would you recommend cracking the 

 nuts before planting? 



Mr. Cummins: No, I would not. Plant them in the fall 

 about three or four inches deep. 



Mr. Clarence Wedge: Mr. Cummins advised drying those 

 nuts, and it seems to me they ought to have some moisture. It 

 seems to me they would not germinate the second year. 



Pres. Underwood: What is the object of drying them? 



Mr. C. P. Gardner (Iowa): I feel like making a few remarks 

 on this subject. I will state that I have planted black walnuts 

 for almost thirty years, and my experience has been that if 

 those nuts are dried one particle the meats in them will shrivel, 



