THE ROYAL WALNUT 69 



by the second generation seedlings of the 

 Paradox. 



In one important respect, however, the Royal 

 hybrid differed fundamentally from the other. 

 Instead of being relatively sterile, it exhibited 

 the most extraordinary fecundity. The first 

 generation hybrids probably produce more nuts 

 than any other tree hitherto known. At sixteen 

 years of age one of these trees produced a harvest 

 of nuts that filled twenty apple boxes, each 

 about two feet long by one foot in width and 

 depth, and in one year I sold more than a thou- 

 sand dollars' worth of nuts from a single tree. 



The nuts themselves are closely similar in 

 appearance to those of the parent trees, but 

 are individually larger. Unfortunately seed- 

 lings grown from the nuts cannot be wholly 

 depended upon to reproduce all the good quali- 

 ties of their hybrid parents. Like most second 

 generation hybrids, they tend to "throw back" 

 to the divergent grandparent strains. 



To propagate the race extensively, therefore, 

 it is advantageous to adopt the well-known 

 method of grafting or selection of the strongest 

 growing seedlings. 



It has been found that rootstocks of the Royal 

 hybrid furnish very valuable stocks on which to 

 graft the English walnut in California. On most 



