Planting and Pruning Walnuts. 415 
winter, and in August following, ring buds are put on as many 
of the new shoots as may be desired. In grafting, the common 
cleft graft is used, but the split should not be made through the 
pith, but at one side; the scions should be whittled so as to show 
as little pith as possible. This is done by cutting down to a 
point at one side and not in the center of the scion. Care should 
be taken to cover all exposed surfaces. Grafting over in this 
way is desirable either for substituting a better variety of Eng- 
lish walnut, or for working over a California black walnut into 
an English variety. : 
Planting Walnut Orchards—There is much difference in 
practise in planting out walnut trees in permanent place. 
Some advocate the use of trees two or three years from the seed, 
getting as much of the taproot as possible; others allow the tree 
to remain in nursery until it throws out laterals, which is usually 
done the fourth or fifth year. Two-year-old trees are generally 
preferred, but walnut trees of many times that age can be suc- 
cessfully transplanted if the work is carefully done. Walnut 
trees are usually set forty feet in squares, though some give the 
larger-growing varieties fifty feet. Planting in hexagonals at 
forty-five feet distance gives very satisfactory results. Some 
growers plant in squares at thirty feet distance, intending to re- 
move alternate trees as they crowd each other, first cutting back, 
for a time, the trees which are finally to be removed. 
Intercultures with the Walnuts—lIn the- southern walnut re- 
gions it is common to grow beans, squashes, etc., between the 
rows of trees until the latter reach bearing age; root crops which 
attract gophers should be avoided. Inter-planting of smaller, 
early-fruiting trees is also practised to a considerable extent. 
Pruning the Walnut—The walnut is usually headed higher 
than ordinary orchard trees, but preference is now given to start- 
ing the first branch at about four feet from the ground instead of 
six feet as formerly. All the pruning needed is in shaping the 
tree as described for the fig. Upward trend of the branches 
should be secured, sometimes by cutting out the shoots which 
grow downward, sometimes by tying them up for a time to the 
central stem until they are stiff enough to retain this position. 
Placing branches on the stem according to the principles ad- 
vanced in Chapter XII, should be borne in mind. The stem 
should be protected from sunburn until the foliage accomplishes 
this. Whenever shoots are killed back by sunburn or by frost, 
they should be cut off cleanly below the black mark which shows 
how far the injury has extended. If this is done, the die-back 
down the branch is usually prevented. 
Bloom and Bearing of the Walnut——The walnut has its stam- 
inate and pistillate blooms separate, but both occur on the same 
