382 Editors' Letter- Box. 



C. E. A., Clarksville, Tenn. — I wish to know about almonds, English wal- 

 nuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts, if the Brazil nut can be made to grow successfully 

 in the United States. 



What latitude, what climate, can they be made to grow best in, — bottom lands, 

 or uplands ? Which of the Western States would suit them, or any two of 

 them, — Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, or Texas ? and what latitude of Texas ? 

 Where, from latitude 29° to 45°, would they bear transplanting ? How long from 

 seed before they would bear ? and how much could one expect from a tree on an 

 average ? How far apart put the plants ? and any other general information. — 

 The " Brazil nut " is produced by Bertholletia exceha, which is one of the 

 tallest trees of the South-American forests, frequently attaining the height of 

 a hundred and fifty feet. It is very plentiful on the banks of the Amazon, the 

 Oronoco, and Rio Negro. The leaves are entire, about two feet long, six inches 

 wide, of a bright green ; the flowers are cream-colored. 



You will thus see that it would be as easy to grow bananas and cocoanuts in 

 Tennessee as Brazil nuts. 



Almonds you can grow. They are even hardy enough to live, and sometimes 

 flower and fruit, with us in New England, as they have done in our garden. 



Treat them in every respect like peach-trees. The bitter almond is the 

 hardiest. 



The English v/alnut {Jiiglans regia) would probably prove hardy with you, 

 and be easily cultivated. It grows fifty feet high, with a large spreading top and 

 large trunk. From the nut it would be long in coming into bearing ; iDut the 

 time would depend upon the soil and culture. In a rich- loam, it would grow very 

 rapidly. 



It would not be hardy in Minnesota, nor would the almond or pecan-nut. 



The pecan-nut {Carya olivceformis) is a tall tree, and is perfectly hardy 

 with )'0u, but not in the Northern States. The chief supply of nuts comes 

 from Texas. The tree is very handsome, of rapid growth, and bears immense 

 crops. You can transplant almonds ; but all the walnuts should be sown 

 where they are to stand. They" can be transplanted ; but the chance of loss 

 is great. The time your trees would come into bearing would depend much 

 upon your culture. As a general rule, a seedling-tree is very long in coming to 

 fruit. Almonds might give a little fruit in three to five years ; but English 

 walnuts and pecans would not begin to bear for fifteen or twenty at the earliest, 

 and would not give you large crops for forty. 



The distance between your trees you can easily regulate by the information 

 we have given you as to size. 



The yield of fruit would depend entirely upon the age of your trees and the 

 general culture. 



Waciiuset. — I did not lay down all my grape-vines last season, and I find 

 that many of them are very much injured. Why should they have suffered 

 more last winter than they ever have done before ? — One reason why they did 

 was because, last season being a wet one, the foliage mildewed, and the wood 

 did not ripen well, and was not able to withstand the severity of the winter. 



