102 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
ashore. By selecting choice strains of nuts 
for seeds, the cultivation of the cocoanut 
may be attempted near the shore where 
only light frosts occur, however, it is 
questionable if profitable returns can be 
expected. The nuts may be planted in 
place fifteen to twenty feet apart or bet¬ 
ter planted in trenches in moist soil and 
transplanted after the seed leaf is well 
developed. 
Little is to be done in way of cultiva¬ 
tion except to prevent other plants from 
encroaching on the young palms for a 
few years. Mulching is advantageous as 
also is the use of fertilizer, however, the 
returns will not admit of much outlay. 
Our supply of these nuts is derived, for 
the most part, from the wild groves of 
the tropics. The palm is an attractive 
plant and finds considerable use as an or¬ 
namental. 
THE CHESTNUTS. 
Three species of the chestnut are culti¬ 
vated in America: The native American 
chestnut, the European chestnut, and the 
Japanese chestnut, besides we have the 
chinquapin, a dwarf and small fruited 
Castaneas, though occasionally the chin¬ 
quapin is found to be a tree of considera¬ 
ble size. A few chinquapins of large size 
are being propagated which apparently 
will succeed here, yet it is rather too 
early to say they will prove of sufficient 
merit to deserve extensive planting. 
These are supposied to be hybrids com¬ 
bining the size of the chestnut with the 
good flavor of the chinquapin. Trees 
may be set twenty feet and thinned after 
crowding begins, thus securing several 
crops on land otherwise unoccupied, else 
they may be given greater distance and 
field crops grown between the trees until 
the land is given up to them entirely. 
Clean culture is to be recommended du¬ 
ring the spring. Spraying with Bordeaux 
will hold in check the fungus diseases, 
but for the weevils, which are the most 
serious pests, there apparently has been 
no satisfactory remedy proposed. 
WALNUTS. 
The commercial growing of the walnut 
in this country is confined to the English 
or Persian walnut and while this species 
is hardy in the east as far north as New 
York, and trees known to bear frequent¬ 
ly in the southern and eastern states, no 
attempt is made to grow this nut on a 
large scale in these localities. In south¬ 
ern California, however, the production 
of walnuts has assumed important pro¬ 
portions and perhaps ranks only second 
to the citrus production of the state. Lit¬ 
tle encouragement for growing the En¬ 
glish walnut in a commercial way in 
Florida can be given, but in as much as 
bearing trees are reported to exist in the 
state it is worthy of trial in a limited way. 
A rather open alluvial soil seems best for 
this species. One disadvantage here is 
root-knot, but this may be avoided by 
using the black walnut as a stock. Trees 
bear in four to six years. 
The Japanese walnuts will thrive in our 
state and should have a place in every 
nut growers collection. The cordifor- 
mis is the most desirable variety and may 
be grown from seed. This tree is attrac¬ 
tive and is being used as a shade tree. 
Some towns and cities in the south are 
now planting them on their streets. The 
Black or native walnut of the east -does 
well here and while the nut is exceedingly 
rich the thickness of the shell is against 
it as a commercial nut. It is held in 
greater favor in the north than in the 
south and there commands a price, but 
one that is too low to make the cultiva- 
