BLACK WALNUT: ITS GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT. 41 



care and is more bothersome, but it avoids the rodent problem with- 

 out making necessary the purchase of expensive nursery stock. After 

 the nuts are gathered in the fall they should be stored for the win- 

 ter by "stratifying" ;that is, they should be placed in layers sepa- 

 rated by moist sand, either in a rodent-proof pit in the ground or 

 in a box in a cool cellar, or some such place. Freezing once or twice 

 is not detrimental, but repeated freezing and thawing while the 

 nuts are in the moist sand will cause the death of the seed. The 

 sand must be kept moist, particularly toward the spring, the time 

 for germination to take place. The nuts must be carefully watched 

 at this time. When they split and the radicles appear it is time 

 to plant. The stratified nuts are dug up, and those showing growth 

 are carefully placed in baskets for planting. Sometimes the shells 

 are loose, and the radicles somewhat developed; considerable care 

 is then needed in handling and planting these nuts to prevent fatal 

 injury. A shallow hole should be dug with a mattock in either a 

 plowed furrow or seed spot cleared of grass, and a single nut should 

 be placed in each hole, with the radicle pointed down. The nut 

 should be covered about 1^ inches deep, and the soil should be firmed 

 over the top with the foot. Some of the nuts will remain in stratifi- 

 cation, because germination either has been delayed or has entirely 

 failed. These nuts should be put back in the sand and left for pos- 

 sible use the next spring, for, even with the most careful handling, 

 there will be some unoccupied spots in any plantation. These va- 

 cancies may be filled the following spring from the supply of nuts 

 in stratification, the sprouting of which may have been delayed until 

 then. Because of the short time between planting and the appear- 

 ance of the young trees, and because of the abundance of other 

 natural foods in the spring, the danger from squirrels is a negligible 

 factor, and the planting of nursery stock or home-grown trees is 

 very rarely necessary. 



Planting walnut seedlings is rarely warranted, in view of the two 

 cheap and simple methods above described. The expense involved 

 in planting seedlings is greater than in the case of many other tree 

 species, because of the long taproot which even 1-year-old trees 

 possess. If for any reason it is desirable to plant seedlings instead of 

 nuts, it is not difficult to grow them in a nursery. Nuts may be 

 planted in the fall in a bed prepared as for any garden crop. They 

 should be spaced 2 or 3 inches apart in rows 6 inches apart. The 

 seedlings should be cultivated and cared for during the first year, 

 and should be set out the following spring in their permanent places, 

 in large, deep, properly spaced holes. Care must be exercised in the 

 transplanting because of the length of the young taproot. A seedling 

 left in the nursery bed for longer than one year will develop such a 



