CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES. 



143 



pare favorably in thinness of shell and large 

 proportion oi kernel with foreign kinds. 

 Few nuts have a finer flavor than our shell- 

 bark hickory and butternut, but in their 

 present condition they are not easily cracked, 

 the kernels are rather difficult to remove, 

 and the proportion of shell is too great. 

 There are already, however, in the United 

 States some improved hickories, which have 

 much thinner shells than the ordinary form. 

 The wood of both hickory and butternut is 

 very valuable, and if these two trees could 

 be planted for their nuts, as well as for tim- 

 ber, they would prove even more valuable 

 than they are now. Both of these trees are 

 quite hardy at Ottawa, and although the 

 shell-bark hickor\- does not grow naturally 

 here it succeeds well when planted. It is a 

 slow grower, being different in this respect 

 from the butternut, which makes a rapid 

 growth. 



It is not likely that the black walnut will 

 ever be improved enough to make it valua- 

 ble for its nuts. It is quite possible, how- 

 ever, that hybrids between this tree and the 

 Persian or English walnut {Jiiglans regia) 

 would produce fruit of good quality and 

 prove hardy in the northern parts of the 

 province. One hybrid between these species, 

 Jitghins Vilmoriniana, planted in 1897, is 

 quite hardy so far. The English walnut is 

 not hardy at Ottawa, killing back nearly to 

 the ground every year, but the black walnut 

 is perfectly hardy, producing nuts when from 

 nine to ten years of age. Two years ago, 

 however, nuts of the Persian or English 

 walnut were procured from the mountainous 

 districts of Turkestan, where this nut is 

 grown on a commercial scale, and where 



the winters are ver}- severe. Yearling trees 

 came through last winter without killing 

 back, but they were well protected with 

 snow. It will be interesting noting how 

 this winter affects them. A Japanese wal- 

 nut {Juglans sieboldiami) is perfectly hardy at 

 Ottawa, and bears nuts when from eight to 

 ten years of age. They are of good flavor, 

 very much resembling in this respect our 

 native butternut, but the proportion of ker- 

 nel is so small that they are of no commer- 

 cial value here. 



The European filbert or hazel nut [Cory- 

 Itis avelland) does not succeed in the colder 

 parts of Ontario, nor will it set fruit in the 

 more favored parts of the province. At Ot- 

 tawa the wood, in many cases, kills back, 

 but there are specimens growing here which 

 are almost hardy. The reason why the nuts 

 do not set is that the pollen from the male 

 flowers is shed before the female flowers are 

 in a condition to receive it, the result being- 

 that the latter are not fertilized and no fruit 

 forms. We have, however, two good hardv 

 native hazels in Canada, Corylus rostrata 

 and C. ontericana, which produce nuts oi 

 good quality, and which possibly may be 

 improved. 



The American sweet chestnut (Castanea 

 dentatd) is not perfectly hardy at Ottawa. 

 A few trees, however, out of many tested 

 are quite hardy and have flowered and pro- 

 duced nuts, but no kernels were devel- 

 oped. 



It would be an interesting work for some- 

 one to try and improve our hardy nuts bv 

 selection and hybridization. 



W. T. Macoun, Horticulturist. 



Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 



