48 NUT GROWING 



year and were overlooked. I then planted a large 

 number by simply laying them in rows and stepping 

 upon them, leaving a part of the shell exposed to 

 sunlight, freezing and rain. Practically every one 

 of this lot started sprouting within a few days. Nuts 

 which were damp and cold on one side and with 

 alternating sunshine and rain on the other side 

 wanted to get out of that uncomfortable situation 

 promptly. In order to accomplish that it was nec- 

 essary for them to get into action. A more scien- 

 tific explanation perhaps would relate to unequal 

 expansion of the shell. Another object lesson in 

 this connection was furnished by some California 

 black walnuts, planted in a wire cage. None of them 

 sprouted in the first or second years. In the third year 

 I dug up a couple and finding them spoiled threw 

 the whole lot out along with some loose dirt and 

 left the heap to be cleaned up later. Here appeared 

 one of the compensations for my careless way of 

 doing things. A number of the walnuts which evi- 

 dently had not spoiled began to sprout in the loose 

 heap unexpectedly, instead of expectedly in the first 

 year of careful planting as they should have done 

 in order to be conventional and proper according to 

 my way of thinking. We are familiar with the fact 

 that seeds of plants which have been cultivated for 

 centuries usually sprout a few days after planting. 

 We are prone to forget that seeds of wild plants may 

 wait for more than a year for the advent of some 

 combination of temperature, moisture and light be- 

 fore sprouting. 



