No. 4.1 NUT CULTURE FOR MASSACHUSETTS. 203 



NUT CULTURE FOR MASSACHUSETTS. 



MR, WILLIAM C. DEMING. 



It is within the range of sane belief that, had the nut tree 

 been as easy of propagation as the apple or peach, the hills 

 of New England would now hold as many orchards of nut 

 trees as of the other fruits. The best specimens of our native 

 nuts would have been selected, grafted and sold by nursery- 

 men. Foreign nuts would have been introduced, and accli- 

 mated varieties of the Persian and other walnuts, almonds 

 and filberts developed. 



At first thought it seems strange that this has not already 

 been done, but a little reflection will disclose the reasons. 

 To hundreds of men has occurred the idea of growing nuts. 

 The natural thing would be to plant the nuts themselves, 

 choosing fine types and planting the best. The results were 

 always disappointing. Filberts grew well but died off about 

 the time they were beginning to bear. Almonds either died 

 from the effects of climate, or did not bear, or what they 

 bore was of little value. The shagbark, butternut and black 

 walnut grew slowly because never given cultivation or fer- 

 tilization, rarely bore before they were fifteen years old, 

 often not until they were twenty-five, some bore little or 

 nothing, and of those that did bear freely the nuts were 

 almost always inferior to the planted nuts. The same re- 

 marks apply to the pecan, except that in the north few trees, 

 raised as they almost all were from Texas or Louisiana nuts, 

 could stand the climate, and those that did either bore no 

 nuts, or those they bore did not fill or were too small to be 

 of any value. The " English " walnut has been often 

 planted, and while a few trees have survived and are the 



