48 NUT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



John S. Calkins, Pomona, Cal., says: " Both nut and tree are inferior to the East- 

 ern species." From the southern portions of California this tree is reported abundant 

 on the hillsides, in the foothills, and along the water courses. In places it is called 

 the ''river nut," from its abundance along streams. The nuts vary greatly in size 

 and form; the larger varieties are reported as being marketed at 2 cents per pound. 



(JUGLANS RUPESTRIS Englemann.) 



This tree is most abundant in Texas and Arizona, extending into California, and 

 covering a portion of the territory occupied bj Juylans Californica. It is found on 

 borders of streams and in mountain canyons, on rich soil. The tree is shrubby and 

 dwarfish, and the nuts small, hard-shelled, and of little apparent value. C. F. 

 Thornton, Chrystoval, Ariz., writes: "In the mountains of central and eastern Ari- 

 zona, at altitudes of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, it appears in stunted growth, with small, 

 worthless nuts. The timber is likewise worthless. 



J. B. Stephens, Bluffdale, Tex., says: "The black walnut [evidently J. rupi'stris] 

 of this country is very different from that of the Alleghauies. The nut is so small 

 that the kernel is almost worthless. It is very abundant." W. J. Maltby, Baird, 

 Tex., says : " They are small and dwarfish, but profuse bearers. Not fit for market." 



THE HICKORIES. 



Of the eight or nine species of the genus Hicoria but four are worthy of the 

 special attention of the nut grower as trees likely to produce marketable fruit in 

 profitable quantities. First among these is the pecan, H. pecan; followed by the 

 shagbark, H. ovata; the shellbark, H. laciniosa, and one or two varieties of the pignut, 

 H.glabra; which, unlike the type of that species, are characterized by sweet kernels 

 and thin shells. These species will be discussed in the order of their pomological 

 importance. 



The hickories, including the pecan and the shellbarks, as well as those species of 

 no pomological value, have their male and female flowers together with the leaves 

 upon growing wo'od; that is, they are all developed from one bud within the season of 

 blossoming. The male flowers are in slender, three-parted catkins, or tassels, that are 

 borne at the base of the shoot below the leaves or in the axils of the lower leaves. 

 The female flower consists of a calyx, including the ovary; from two to four or 

 more of these are clustered in a short spike near the end of the shoot. The fruit 

 becomes lateral on the shoot through the prolongation of the terminal buds. Some 

 observers (see Appleton's American Encyclopedia) have thought the pecan to have its 

 male catkins from buds near the summit of the shoots of the preceding year, instead 

 of being, as in the other hickories, from the base of the shoot of the same season. We 

 have carefully examined the growth and blooming of many pecan trees, and find that 

 while many such buds produce due or oftener a pair of three-parted male catkins, 

 yet these were axillary on a suppressed limb growth, the center of the bud showing 

 plainly that some injury had destroyed it, though the sttiminate buds under the first 

 set of bud scales retained vitality enough to insure a weak growth. The normal 

 growth of the catkins on a healthy shoot proves this view correct and shows that on 

 successive nodes, somewhat closer together than those of most other hickories, the 

 pecan bears from one to three sets of three-parted male catkins in pairs. In planting 

 the pecan near the northern limit of successful culture, it seems worth the effort to 

 plant witli it the more hardy hickories, in the hope of securing a more timely, if not 

 a larger, supply of potent pollen. 



