NUT -CULTURE 



pected that California will, within a few years, prodnee 

 ail that our home markets require. 



Propagation and Tillage. — The larger numberof l)car. 

 ingr trees are seedlings, but those grafted or l>utMril 

 with choice varieties are far preferatile, and suili in rs 

 will form the walnut orchards of the future. Thr dis- 

 tance for the trees to st:iml apart in the orchard is I'miii 

 25to50feet, accordini; i.. i 1m v ;_.ir i-i i he variety and the 

 richness of the .soil, i i : L.-st for the trees 



until they reach bearin in- ground may be 



seeded to some gras.s tliai - ni>i make a compact sod. 



If hoed crops are grown l.t-iut-tii iIil- ut-ts until that time 

 it will do no harm and ecuiiomiae the space. Almost no 

 pruuing is uimmIi-iI for this tree, except to keep the 

 branches from getting so low as to interfere with tillage. 

 See Walnut. 



The Chestnuts.-. I <... •■■, .,„ s,,, . ;, s,-Like the wal- 

 nuts, our native chestin.i M i cl.sirable for mar- 

 ket purposes as thosi- 1 1 I Mitries. The wild 



American chestnut, <.'<: I. <iiia, is richer in 



quality than any foreign kiiai.iiui ili. ,izi' is less than half 

 that of the introduced nuK. riiT.iiiijIamt the largerpart 

 of the eastern United .^lai.'^. anl > \irnding into lower 

 Canada, there are unt.Dlil niilhuns ,it' native chestnut 

 trees, yielding a wealth of nuts that And ready sale in 

 the markets, so far as they are gathered ; but the prices 

 are only about half those of the large cultivated and im- 

 ported product. At the present time there are but few 

 attempts made to cultivate this species. Some of the 

 choice varieties with the largest nuts are being collected 

 for experiment, and there is reasonable prospect that by 

 hybridization and selection of seedlings we may yet 

 have varieties combining the vigor and hardihood of the 

 wild trees with the characteristic natural sweetness and 

 large size of the foreign nuts. 



The chinquapin, C. pumila, is the smallest of the 

 chestnut family, in size of both nut and tree. Rarely is 

 it anything more than a mere bush. It has rarely been 

 cultivated, although the bushes are productive and the 

 nuts of good quality. 



European Speciex. -The Old World chestnut, C sal- 

 iva, has been upder cultivation almost as long as his- 

 tory goes. It was brought to America in the first 

 century of its settlement by Europeans; but not until 

 within the last 25 years has there been more than an 

 occasional tree found on our shores. The accidental 

 finding of a chance se.allu,-. wlii. I, was finally named 

 Paragon and sent out i.. tl,. |,iii.li,- al".nt 1887, and the 

 bringing to notice o( lln l.'ili;, I, v shortly before that 

 time, were the means ..i i \. ii m- He lirst general inter- 

 est in chestnut .Mltui. in Ann ii a. la.th these kinds, 

 and a great nian\ nana naneal \ are ti.-s, are now being 

 propagated anil Matt(r.al laiand \w\,-. They are all of 

 large size but n..i av v\m . t a-s .mi native chestnuts, and 

 generally have l.itt. r -.kin>. The trees are of robust 

 character and vry protluctive, but more tender than our 

 natives. 



Japanese Sprries. —About the time that the European 

 species was becoming iiopuhir in Ameriea attention was 

 drawn to a number of scaallinL'- ti- m nuts that had been 

 brought from Japan (inn a J . i l [a. \inus years. The 

 most of them were laraa a a ai had been known 



before, either in this .i.ia i a a, lana.|ie. Many of 



them are now la <laaa ■ .! 'iian..!. Some of 



the smaller v a 1, ,_ il].ening. 



Nearly all of Ha i a : , . ■ and are 



even more pia.dia 1 1 . i aaa i a.- a . .aaai- .a na l-iuropean 

 species. In .ju.iUiv, iln- nui., ...t uiu.^i ,.1 ilnni are not 

 quite so sweet as 'the Europeau kinds. The habit of 

 growth is less vigorous than that of other chestnuts. 



From these two foreign species we have all of our varie- 

 ties that, up to this time, are worthy of ceneral cultiva- 

 tion. They vary from seed muah a^ .1.. nai^t ,,ther im- 

 proved varieties of fruits, etc., .'nai aaai i in_' ami Imdding 

 must be practiced, which are ex.a , ,iina!\ .liili- nlr to suc- 

 cessfully perform on the chesunit, as i- il iise with 



all other nut trees. They will both unite fairly well 

 with our native stocks; although sometimes the "union 

 is imperfect and the top breaks off. 



<iraflin(j. — 'X'\w most successful method of propagat- 

 ing nut trees, so far as the writer has experimented or 

 learned otherwise, is late bark-grafting. This requires 

 that the eions be cut before there is any possibility of 



NUT -CULTURE 



1099 



the buds starting, and put in some very cool place until 

 after the stocks have begun to leaf out. The stocks are 

 then cut off as for cleft-grafting, but the bark only is 

 s|.lit with a knife for an inch or more at the top of the 

 >r.M k. The cion is trimmed to a long wedge, all from 

 "iia aide. The point of this wedge is introduced under 

 the haik at the top of the slit and gently forced do\vn 

 until the cut surface of the cion is even with the top of 

 the stump. It is then tied fast with a string and the 

 wound securely waxed. Large trees may be thus top- 

 worked in their branches with considerable success. 

 Small stocks should be grafted just under the surface 

 of the ground and banked nearly to the top of the cion. 



Stump Grones. — In several cases large tracts of chest- 

 nut stump lands have been grafted over to the improved 

 varieties of the foreign species with good success. All 

 other trees should be cleared away and only two or three 

 of the strongest sprouts left on each stump. These 

 should all be grafted and allowed to grow until it is sure 



that the 



that are 



not netah d Haaild Im.hi a\v:i\-. In fntnro years more 

 maybeaai . i h.- lamainint,' i laas ample room. 



Chest, ^ ' ■ 111.' la'st laaiiiis are said to be 



attaineil in . la -;aai aiilmre hy jdantini; grafted trees 

 on open land.ahnur lii) feet apart and in regular orchard 

 form. This plan admits of giving the trees good tillage 

 until they have attained large size, when grass may be 

 sown and stock allowed to graze it, except when the 

 nuts are falling. Such orchards are said, by those who 

 have tried them in comparison with grafted sprouts, to 

 yield more than twice as much per acre. Well-drained 

 sandy or shallow lands are the best for the chestnut. 



Weevil. -Thevforst feature of chestnut-culture is the 

 weevil. In some cases the nuts are so badly infested 

 that they are practically worthless. The eggs from 

 which the larvae develop are laid by a long-snouted 

 beetle while the nuts are growing, and by the time they 

 are mature the most of them are either hatched or 

 nearly ready to hatch. By treating the nuts with the 

 fumes of bisulphide of carbon the eggs or larvae can all 

 be destroyed. Scalding with boiling water for about 

 ten minutes will also kill them, but it also destroys the 

 germinative power of the nuts and necessitates drying 

 them. See Castanea and Chestnut. 



The Pecan {Hicoria Pecan).— In the Wild State.- 

 Of all our native nuts the Pecan is the best Its nat- 

 ural habitat is the lower Mississippi basin, from Iowa 

 to the Gulf coast, but it will grow equally as well in any 

 climate and soil of approximately the same character. 

 The tree is alnxjst as hardy as any of the other hickories, 

 except seme .d" it^ neire ~.intliern vari.dies. In size the 



treevaria- I'r nadnini.iai land of M,d iiiary fertility, 



to giganUr |ir.i|ioilaMis ,ai the rali ia\.i-ainl creek bot- 



}4 anincli iniliaiueu-r t.ioljiong and l,'o inches in length. 

 The kernels are exceedingly rich and sweet, and the 

 shells usually thin. Pecans are found in all confec- 

 tionaries, and bring almost as high prices as any of the 

 imported nuts. The largest and thinnest shelled varie- 

 ties are found in Louisiana and Texas. Millions of 

 pounds are gathered annually in those states and sold 

 to dealers, thus bringing a handsome revenue to many 

 people of moderate means. 



Under Cultivation. — The decrease of the wild prod- 

 uct from the cutting down of the trees, and the better 

 prices obtained from large, thin-shelled nuts, have in- 

 duced the planting of pecan orchards. The nuts sprout 

 readily, and the " ... 



