204 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



source of our gi'eat expectations for this nut, most of them 

 did not live or, if they did, either did not bear at all or bore 

 an inferior nut after long years of waiting. 



The chestnut alone has been developed to a large degree, 

 due chiefly to the comparative ease of propagation, and was 

 our only nut certainty, until the blight came and put a halt 

 to progress in this direction. 



Of course it occurred to some to try to bud or graft from 

 choice native trees on native seedlings. But this was almost 

 invariably a failure, as great refinement of technique is nec- 

 essary for success in propagating most of the nut trees. The 

 chestnut, almond and filbert are easier of propagation, but 

 these have all been interfered with by the causes mentioned. 



For these and for other reasons it has been slow work 

 reaching the point which we believe we now have reached, 

 where we can make rapid progress in nut growing, due 

 chiefly to our acquirement of the art of budding and grafting 

 all the nut trees. 



!N^ot all the problems are yet solved, but we thinlc that we 

 can see the way to solve them, though we have not yet ad- 

 vanced so far that we can advise commercial planting. We 

 are still in the experimental stage, and except for a number 

 of chestnut orchards, mostly in ISTew Jersey and Pennsyl- 

 vania, and an orchard of about 225 seedling walnut trees 

 in northern 'New York, there are no bearing, commercial 

 orchards of nut trees in the north. 



The success of the pecan in the south, and of the almond 

 and walnut on the Pacific coast, the gi'owing number of 

 persons able to live in the country, or to have country places, 

 and the consequent increasing interest in the accompaniments 

 of country life, together with the activities of an enlarging 

 group of individuals and societies, farseeing enough to fore- 

 tell the future great impoi*tanee of nuts, — all have contrib- 

 uted to cause an interest in nut growing that is spreading 

 rapidly. 



With our growing population and the increasing restric- 

 tion of our gi'oat cattle ranges, the consequent diminishing 

 meat supply and increase in its cost active minds are look- 

 ing elsewhere for our supply of the important, muscle- 



