98 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
NUT GROWING IN THE OHIO VALLEY AND ITS 
PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE 
By W. C. Reed, Vincennes, Ind., Read Before the 
Nut growing in the Ohio Valley, at present is confined 
exclusively to seedling trees, which have sprung up in groves 
or separately. In the past there were many native nut trees 
growing in a wild state in the broad expanse of the forests, 
which provided large quantities of food for the Indian and 
which provided food and luxury for the white man after¬ 
wards as long as these trees were spared from destruction. 
So indifferent, careless and negligent have been the owners 
of large numbers of these delicious nut bearing trees that 
they have allowed them to be felled in great numbers prepara¬ 
tory for the plow and cultivation of the soil, when the crops* 
from the trees felled were worth many times over the agri¬ 
cultural crops. 
The native nuts of the Ohio Valley are the Black Walnut, 
the Butternut, the Hazlenut, the Beechnut, the Hickories, 
the Chestnut and the Pecan. The Pecan will be dealt with 
more in detail in this article because it gives better promise 
of rewards and more is known concerning its culture. 
Before discussing the Pecan, I wish to mention two other 
promising nuts; the Chestnut and the Persian or English 
Walnut. The Chestnut is rapidly gaining attention through¬ 
out the entire country, owing to the introduction of trees 
which are perfectly hardy and bear large nuts which are 
equal in flavor and quality to the seedling sweet Chestnut. 
Chestnut culture is now receiving considerable attention and 
is being engaged in, with profit when intelligently con¬ 
ducted. The demand for the larger nuts has stimulated 
their production and trees are being widely grown. Their 
hardiness and adaptability to different climates commend 
them for general planting. It thrives best on high, well 
drained soil. Another good feature of the Chestnut is, that 
it can be planted on rough waste land or steep hillsides 
that are unfit for agricultural purposes, or the growing of 
other nut trees, thus deriving a large revenue from what 
was before, total waste land. 
For several years men in different parts of the country 
have been experimenting with Persian or English Walnut 
with a high degree of success and find that they cannot only 
be grown in California but in the middle and Eastern states 
as well. They have varieties already which produce under 
our Eastern conditions, fruit equal to the best California 
nuts, in size and appearance and superior to the California 
product in quality and flavor. These trees are found bear¬ 
ing in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan, Indiana 
and portions of New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. In 
some of the valleys of California the trees are said to be 
more or less injured by temperatures of i8 to 22 degrees 
above zero, while hardy varieties show little or no injury 
to the trees after being exposed to temperatures of 18 to 
22 degrees below zero in Pennsylvania. Walnut trees 
require about the same care as apple trees as regards culti¬ 
vation, mulching and fertilizing but the trees should be 
State Horticultural Meeting, Henderson, Kentucky 
planted not less than 40 feet apart. If planted in orchard 
form the land between the trees may be utilized for several 
years for the growing of such truck or field crops as are 
suitable for inter-cropping in an orchard or “fillers” of quick 
bearing fruit trees or small fruits may be planted between 
the walnut trees. These should be removed when the nut 
trees need all the room. By this time the trees should 
be producing profitable crops so that the revenue from the 
“fillers” will not be necessary to carry the expense of caring 
for the grove. Persian Walnut'will grow successfully on land 
that is suitable for apple trees and will thrive and do well as 
far north as the peach belt, which extends up into Michigan. 
Seedling Persian Walnuts do not reproduce in kind, vary so 
much in vigor, hardiness and productiveness that they can¬ 
not be depended upon with any degree of certainty. All En¬ 
glish Walnuts should be budded on the native Black Walnut 
which makes the Persian types more vigorous, adapt them¬ 
selves to a wider range of soils and ripen their wood earlier 
and better in the fall. This would stand, without injury, 
very low temperature. The Persian Walnut is not a native 
of United States and as yet not grown extensively in the 
Ohio Valley, but I can see no reason, that in a few years that 
it will not be grown as extensively as in California. 
It is probable that within the area under discussion, in the 
future greater attention will be paid to the Pecan and Wal¬ 
nut than any other nuts, owing to their adaptability to the 
soil and favorable climate. 
It is true but probably not generally known that the 
Pecan never grew as a native nut in any other part of the 
world than a small part of the United States. It grew 
originally as a forest tree in the Mississippi Valley and some 
of its tributaries, and in the valleys of a few rivers in Texas. 
It grew as far north on the Mississippi as Davenport, Iowa. 
In the Wabash River Valley it grew as far north as some 
forty miles above Terre Haute in Indiana. In the Ohio 
river valley it grew as far up as Cincinnati. From these 
points it grew in Southeastern Iowa, eastern half of Mis¬ 
souri, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Western parts 
of Kentucky and Tennessee. In a very large part of Arkan¬ 
sas, Mississippi, Louisiana and in the Southeast half of Texas. 
It is unknown in any other part of the world except as 
transplanted by man. 
There are few acres of tillable land in the United States 
that will not yield $100 worth of nuts to the acre per year, 
with less care than would be required for almost any other 
crop. Special acres under special cultivation and with 
special kinds of nuts, are at present yielding in the neighbor¬ 
hood of a thousand dollars profit per year. At present the 
demand is so in advance of the supply that we import many 
millions of dollars worth of nuts annually. 
The possibilities of nut growing are unlimited, especially 
the Pecan, as it can only be grown on a small territory and 
