238 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 10 
producing 1 chestnuts in variety, Persian walnuts, 
filberts, butternuts, black walnuts, pecans, shellbarks 
and chinquapins, is a much more attractive place to 
live than one where nothing of the kind is to be 
found. Then add to these as great a variety of fruit 
and vegetables as the latitude will permit; and you 
are making the farm one of the grandest places on 
earth. But don’t forget the beautiful flowers, to 
beautify the ground. Make the homes attractive, 
both in and out of the house, by having every con - 
venience possible ; the allurements of the cities will 
then have lost their charms for our boys and girls. 
Delaware. j. w. killen. 
A Talk About Foreign Nuts. 
The R. N.-Y. has received many inquiries about 
the importation of chestnuts and other nuts. The 
impression seems to be general that the nuts can 
just as well be produced in this country. With a view 
of getting at the facts in connection with this busi¬ 
ness, I interviewed Mr. A. Zucca, of this city, an ex¬ 
tensive importer of fruits and nuts, and who, I am 
told, is one of the best-posted men on the subject of 
nuts to be found in New York. I asked him first, 
“ Mr. Zucca, how many chestnuts are imported annu¬ 
ally, and from where ? ” 
“About 10,000 packages of chestnuts are imported 
annually, most of which are from Piedmont, north 
Italy, quite a quantity from Naples, and a few from 
France.” 
“ How are these nuts produced, that is, do they 
grow wild, or are they culti¬ 
vated ? If the latter, are 
there different named varie¬ 
ties ? ” 
“The chestnuts that come 
from Europe are all culti¬ 
vated ; probably there are 
some that grow wild, but all 
the trees have been grafted, 
and there are several varieties, 
properly called chestnuts, and 
properly called m a r o n i, 
piccoto chestnuts, and piccoto 
maroni. The difference be¬ 
tween chestnuts and piccoto 
chestnuts, and between 
maroni and piccoto maroni, 
is that the first-named are 
gathered from the ground 
as they fall from the trees, 
while the last-named (piccoto) 
are taken from the trees, 
cured and shipped here, there¬ 
fore keep the longer. It makes 
a vast difference whether 
chestnuts are picked in dry 
weather, and cured, or in 
rainy weather; if picked in 
dry weather, they keep, other¬ 
wise do not. The difference 
between chestnuts and maroni 
is that chestnuts are divided, 
and if peeled and boiled, are 
in two parts, but the maroni 
is all one piece, can be peeled, 
boiled and sugared, in the one 
piece, as Marone GlacA” 
“ About what is their value 
laid down in this country ? ” 
“Prices range from 4 to 10 cents per pound, ac¬ 
cording to the time of arrival, condition and demand.” 
“Do they deteriorate in quality by being brought 
across the ocean ? ” 
“ The best piccoto chestnuts can be shipped with- 
out any fear of spoiling, the others can not. The 
others deteriorate according to the time picked, how 
shipped and how stowed in the steamer.” 
“ How do selling prices here compare with those of 
our native nuts ? ” 
“The selling price cannot be compared with the 
native nuts ; merchants and dealers take the imported 
article, as an entirely new and different quality of 
nut. Prices are ruled simply by the quantity arriv¬ 
ing of that particular kind.” 
“ Which do the consumers of nuts prefer ? ” 
“ Most of the American consumers prefer the do¬ 
mestic, as they think that they are, and really they 
are, more tasty; but in later years, the people are 
becoming more educated, and they are beginning to 
see that the imported chestnuts are not wild, and not 
horse chestnuts.” 
“ How are the nuts best kept, if held for any length 
of time ? ” 
“ The piccoto chestnuts will keep most anywhere, 
but a cellar kept at about 40 to 50 degrees is, of 
course, the best,[for them. The other chestnuts, if 
not in a good ventilated place, will rot.” 
“ Are the imported nuts troubled by worms like our 
native nuts ? ” 
“The cured or piccoto chestnuts are not troubled 
with worms, the others are.” 
“ Does the appearance or size of the nuts affect 
their sale ? Is any particular shape preferred ? ” 
“ Of maroni, people prefer the large, and the larg¬ 
est bring the biggest price ; but of chestnuts, the 
smaller and sounder nuts have the preference.” 
“ At what time of year are the best sales of nuts ?” 
“ They sell the best from November 1 up to Janu¬ 
ary 1.” 
“ Is there any reason why these nuts cannot just as 
well be produced in this country as to be imported?” 
“ I believe that the imported chestnuts can be 
planted in this country, but it would take a number 
of years to get any returns.” [We have seen Paragon 
chestnut trees that were bearing at three years of age, 
and bore good crops at five and six years. —Eds ] 
“ What about the pecans grown in the South and 
those imported? Which have the thinnest shells and 
are of the best quality ? ” 
“This country is the best for pecans—Europe has 
scarcely any. Mexico has some, but the quality is 
not so good as those of Texas and Louisiana.” 
“ Are any methods of coloring, bleaching or polish¬ 
ing nuts adopted by dealers to improve their appear¬ 
ance ? Do these processes injure the quality ? ” 
“ The bleaching, coloring and polishing of nuts, 
generally gives them a better appearance, but some¬ 
times destroys the oil and their taste, consequently 
there are some people who prefer having them in 
their original state, instead of polished.” f. h. v. 
How To Graft the Chestnut. 
H. J. E , Hampden., 0 .—After reading- the article on page 20 of 
The R. N.-Y. of January 9, I am tempted to tell my experience in 
chestnut grafting, and a9k for more light on the subject. On 
April 20, 1895, I had grafted about 50 three-bud scions on a very 
thriftv tree on which the buds had not begun to swell. To my 
surprise, only seven started, and grew about two months, when 
all but two died, one of which threw out 24 blossoms, but no nuts 
formed. Not being willing to acknowledge defeat, I sent to the 
same m»-n, Mr. Jos. L. Lovett of Bucks County, Penn., and got 
about 60 more scions of the same variety (Paragon), and he sent 
me the very best of scions and also more than I ordered. These I 
had set in the same tree, but only about a dozen of them started, 
and by August 1, only three remained alive. These last scions 
were set when the buds were beginning to open and the bark 
peeled some. I should have done this last work earlier, but my 
scions were late in getting here. Now I want to cut all the scions 
I can from my five remaining scions this spring, and try to fill 
out the same tree. How shall I do it ? I had the grafting done 
by two different practical and successful grafters on the apple 
and pear. The two scions of the first year, 1895, bore four large 
burrs with three large nuts in each one, of very fine flavor. I 
have the chestnut fever quite bad, especially since I harvested 
those large nuts, and fearing that it might prove fatal, I have 
come to the great physician, The R. N.-Y., for treatment. 
ANSWERED BY H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
The experience of H. J. E. is like that of many 
others, and there is no doubt that chestnut grafting 
and, in fact, the grafting of all nut trees, is a difficult 
job. The past week, I was talking with some of the 
most experienced chestnut grafters in Pennsylvania 
and New Jersey, and find that they have varied suc¬ 
cess and failure. Their work that I examined proved 
that there is something to be learned about it yet. 
The usual desire of these who wish to graft the chest¬ 
nut is, to do so upon wild, native trees or sprouts from 
stumps where timber has been cut off. This has been 
done in several States with quite good success in some 
cases, and in others, the reverse. The Paragon, which 
is a choice variety of the European species, is the com¬ 
mon one used, and, perhaps, the best one ; it unites 
with our native stocks fairly well. On stocks of the 
European species the union seems more perfect, and 
the late H. M. Engle of Pennsylvania, who was one 
of the most extensive chestnut grafters, preferred its 
own seedlings to graft the Paragon upon in the nurs¬ 
ery. He had fair success on wild stocks, and had 
about 40 acres of sprout land grafted mostly to Par¬ 
agon, and was preparing to graft 100 acres more this 
spring. The Parry Brothers of New Jersey, and W. 
A. Moon of Pennsylvania, find that many of the stocks 
of the European species, in the nursery, especially 
those imported from France, seem to be tender and 
make less satisfactory trees than seedlings of our 
native species. I saw many [of them that were dead 
or injured on the south side. The Paragon and 
Ridgely seedlings are healthy as far as I have seen or 
heard. The Japan varieties do not do well on Euro¬ 
pean stocks, but on seedlings of their own, or, those 
of our American chestnut, they work very well. So 
much for the congeniality of stocks and scions. 
Experience and observation up to this time have 
taught me the following things regarding the graft¬ 
ing of all nut trees: Cut the scions in the fall, or, at 
least, before there is any action of the sap in the 
spring. Put them in some 
cool place where they will re¬ 
main moist and perfectly dor¬ 
mant. The sawdust in the top 
of an icehouse is a good place, 
or, in any good refrigerator. 
Buried lightly on the north 
side of some building and 
covered with a little trash, I 
have kept them in very good 
condition. It is highly im¬ 
portant to hold the scions 
back until after growth has 
started in the spring, and the 
trees or stocks are partly in 
leaf. Then, the bark will peel, 
and the sap is in rapid circula¬ 
tion. 
If the stocks are small, if 
possible graft] just below the 
surface of the ground. If 
very small, use the tongue 
style of grafting ; which gives 
good opportunity for a per¬ 
fect union. If the sticks are 
about an inch or more in 
diameter when they are to be 
cut off, make the cut a little 
sloping, andj split the bark 
with a sharp knife on the 
longer side foi an inch down¬ 
ward, as in budding. Trim 
the scion with a long, sloping 
cut on one side only, as in 
splice grafting. Start the 
point of the scion under the 
bark at the top of the stump 
where the slit is, and push it 
well down. Tie firmly and wax 
all cut parts. If at the surface of the ground, bank 
up with earth nearly to the top of the scion. This 
will almost insure success ; as the scion cannot easily 
dry out until it has had time to unite with the stock. 
To reach the same results, where scions are set above 
ground, moss or light rags are sometimes bound 
about the stump and graft, and kept wet by daily ap¬ 
plication of water. This “ slip ” method I find much 
better than cleft grafting for such difficult trees to 
graft as the nuts and persimmons. The main points 
are to cut the scions early, keep them dormant in a 
cool, moist place, until after the stocks begin to grow, 
and then prevent them from dying from evaporation 
after being set until they have grown fast. 
- FOLLOW YOUR KNOWS.” 
Quakers, though sedate, are not, therefore, desti¬ 
tute of humor. One of these, a life-long grower of 
choice fruit, once remarked to me that, “ There is no 
money in orcharding unless the orchardist knows his 
business, and follows his knows.” And right here, at 
this point, will be found the cause of innumerable 
failures in the cultivation of gardens and orchards. 
I say “cultivation”, but the failures are really due to 
lack -of cultivation, in the broad sense of the word, 
including not only tillage, but intelligent work and 
care from the very start. Take the caterpillar sea¬ 
son for instance. A single day’s neglect, or over¬ 
sight, will mark the difference between an almost 
unharmed tree and complete defoliation, causing 
THE KILLEN CHESTNUT. Natural Size. Fig. 107. 
