30 NUT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



I the city. The finest and most fruitful specimens reported are at Fordham, N. Y. ; 

 Princeton, N. J. ; Germantowu and Philadelphia, Pa. ; and Georgetown, D. 0. ; some 

 of these being a hundred years old and bearing large crops of nuts of fair quality. 



From Marietta, Pa., H. M. Eugle reports this tree " as hardy as the oaks." In 

 Virginia, at lied Hill, there is a tree thirty years old, reported by I. B. Townley, that 

 has been bearing a small quantity of nuts annually for six years. This tree was 

 brought from Edinburgh, Scotland, when six months old, planted in New York, where 

 it remained three years, thence removed to Staunton, Va., and after two years removed 

 to its present location. In consequence of these frequent changes the tree died back 

 badly when first planted at Red Hill, but has since recovered and is making a thrifty 

 growth. It is now 20 feet high, with a trunk 8 inches in diameter at the ground. At 

 Falls Church, Va., a number of trees planted by H. C. Williams in 1855 are thus 

 reported on in 1891 by his son, Franklin Williams: "The trees planted in 1855 are all 

 dead, but some planted a few years later are still alive. Their location is high and 

 dry, and the soil is a rich sandy loam, a mixture of sand and gravel with a subsoil of 

 yellow clay. When young the trees are healthy and grow rapidly, bloom and set well 

 with little nuts, but the nuts drop when about the size of a pea. Occasionally we find 

 a few matured nuts on different trees." 



In Delaware a few trees have been planted, but no large ones are reported. The 

 trunks after a few years become covered with "sores" on the south and southeast 

 sides, apparently caused by the scalding effects of the sun's rays on the unshaded 

 trunks. This can be almost entirely prevented by the use of a wooden shield made 

 of 6-inch boards nailed together in the form of a V trough and driven into the ground 

 at a sloping angle, about 1 foot to the southeast of the tree. This furnishes the 

 required shade for the trunk until the top makes growth enough to furnish protection. 

 It is probable tlnit the same object could be accomplished by the use of common 

 4-foot plastering laths held in place by twisted wire and wrapped around the tree, as 

 is done in Wisconsin and Minnesota to protect fruit trees from the sudden extremes 

 of temperature caused by sun and wind. 1 



Reports from Florida are almost unanimous in declaring the Persian walnut a 

 failure there, the only exceptions being Mrs. Seth Snow, of Panasoffkee, Sumter County, 

 who says: "It succeeds admirably in sandy loam overlaying clay:" and D. R. Pils- 

 bury, of Sanford, who reports: "Mine made a great growth last year [1890] and bids 

 fair to do the same this year, 1891." 



There is a very general complaint in the South that the trees freeze down to the 

 ground in winter, but the most probable cause of chis general failure in Florida and 

 the Gulf States is found in the destructive work of the Anguillula, a microscopic 

 worm that infests much of the soil in those States and causes the "root knot" 2 of 

 trees and vegetables. 



Mr. C. E. Robbins, of Alba, Fla., writes: "I have one living tree. I have planted 

 hundreds of nuts, but these have all died after the second year, from Anguillulce." 



From the Mississippi Valley there are very few reports of successful growth. 



In Michigan this tree is rarely planted. Some 6-year-old trees at Holland are 

 reported to be growing well. Most reports from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are that 

 the trees winterkill, though W. H. Ragan reports that in Fulton County, Ind., trees 

 are healthy and bear well; while at Viucennes there are yet standing some trees 

 planted by the early French settlers. E. Hicks Trueblood, of Hitchcock, Ind., writes: 

 " Our climate is suited to their growth on rich, loose soil." From Kentucky and Ten- 

 / nessee there are a few reports of trees making satisfactory growth on rich soil. A few 



'See description and illustration, Report of Poinologist in Report of Secretary of Agriculture, 

 1892, pages 268, 268. 



* A full description of "root knot" may be found 111 Bulletin No. 20 of the Division of Entomology 

 by Dr. J. C. Neal, from which we quote at some length on page 33, under " Stocks for the Persian 

 Walnut". 



