NUT TREE SEEDLINGS 69 



In propagating chestnuts it is always better to select for seed the largest, 

 finest and healthiest nuts ; in the fall or beginning of winter the nuts have to be 

 planted in a box of damp sand, by layers, the box being kept in a cellar. The 

 nuts may be stored in a hole in the open ground, a layer of chestnut leaves being 

 first thrown in the bottom of the hole, on top of that a layer of nuts, then another 

 layer of leaves, and so on to the top, which has to be properly covered with two 

 or three inches of earth so as to prevent the fros.t injuring the nuts. In February 

 or March, according to location, the nuts are taken out and planted in drills to a 

 depth of three to four inches ; less for smaller seed like American chestnuts. 



In growing seedlings of English walnuts, Mr. J. Luther Bowers, 

 of Santa Clara, has shown that water-soaking of nuts may make it 

 unnecessary to undertake storage in damp sand, if the nuts are of the 

 last crop. He describes the method as follows : 



The nuts should be large and thin shelled and should be of last year's crop. 

 To ascertain this, break a few and split the kernel open at the germ end, or the 

 point where the root starts. If the meat of the kernel shows a clear color they 

 are of last year's crop, but if the flesh shows any discoloration they are old and 

 will not germinate. I have often got hold of a lot that were mixed, old and new 

 together. Never risk a lot of this kind, for failure will follow. After the nuts 

 have been selected place them in some kind of a tin vessel ; a five-gallon oil can, 

 with the top removed, is just the thing. Then cover them with hot water at not 

 over 110 degrees F. Let them remain in this water for 24 hours 

 and plant at once, keeping them in the water all the time. Do not let them 

 become the least bit dry, and be sure the soil is moist, and put every nut in with 

 the sharp point exactly straight down. The root starts from this point and will 

 go straight down, and if not molested will the first year be about three times 

 the length of the top ; that is, if the top grows one foot, the straight tap root 

 will be three feet or more long, and will be from three-fourths to an inch thick 

 where it grew out of the nut, tapering both up and down. 



Tribble Brothers, of Elk Grove, give the following as their practice 

 with native black walnuts : 



Gather the nuts as soon as most of them have dropped from the trees, and 

 put them in a trench. Cover with leaves, and on the leaves put a thin layer of 

 earth, leaving them until sprouted and ready to plant in rows. When ready to 

 plant, assort the nuts according to the growth of the sprouts, and as we find 

 the longest sprouts make the most rapid-growing trees, and by selecting we 

 can get even growth in the nursery rows. In our soil we plant the nuts about 

 five inches deep. 



Imported Seedlings. A very large proportion of some kinds of 

 the cherry, pear and apple trees produced in this State are worked 

 upon imported seedling stocks. These stocks are cheap, convenient 

 to handle, and are therefore popular. It is easy enough to grow 

 peach, almond, apricot, and Myrobalan seedlings, but small seeds, like 

 apples and pear, often do not show up well in the spring, especially 

 if the soil is of a kind that crusts over with\ rain and sunshine. There- 

 fore our nurserymen import these seedlings in the winter, plant them 

 out, as has already been described, and bud in the following summer, 

 grafting the next spring where the buds fail. If the seedlings are 

 large when received, they are often root-grafted at once, and then one 

 summer in the nursery gives a tree suitable for planting out. 

 These stocks are of better/ budding size during their first summer than 

 California seedlings, which are apt to overgrow. 



Myrobalan plum seedlings were formerly imported to a large ex- 

 tent, but are now chiefly home-grown, and seedlings are used instead 



