LUTHER BURBANK 



a related Japanese species of walnut which is an 

 exceedingly prolific bearer, and which is as hardy 

 as our native black walnut. 



Mr. Burbank has experimented in hybridizing 

 this tree with the American walnuts. The results 

 were interesting, in that the hybrids proved ex- 

 ceedingly variable, but they were not commer- 

 cially important. It is certainly worth while, how- 

 ever, to extend these experiments, and it is not 

 unlikely that the Japanese walnut may prove a 

 valuable acquisition if its strains are blended in 

 just the right way with those of the Persian 

 walnut. 



Until recently very few people in the eastern 

 United States have thought of nuts of any kind 

 as a crop for cultivation. Now, however, it is 

 coming to be understood that various nut-bearers 

 are proper candidates for orchard treatment, and 

 capable of holding their own, or more than their 

 own, as market crops, in competition with the best 

 orchard fruits. This is notably the case with the 

 walnut and almond and with the pecan nut, which 

 is a relative of the hickories indigenous to the 

 Gulf states. 



The pecan flourishes as far north as St. Louis 

 and the Mississippi Valley, in all the Gulf states, 

 and along the South Atlantic seaboard. 



The pecan nuts found in the market are chiefly 

 the product of a few varieties that were found as 

 "sports" in one region or another of the South, 

 and propagated by grafting. They do not repre- 

 sent the art of the plant developer, but they iUus- 



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