
Some Hickory nuts, life size. F— Fairbanks. S= Stratford. 
Search by the Northern Nut Growers 
Association 
This organization of persons interested 
in nut trees in the North (see my 
price list) has been offering prizes and 
searching for the best wild nut trees in 
America for the last 380 years. As a re- 
sult of this search many Shagbarks of un- 
usual quality have been found. At least 
60 varieties are now under test. Some of 
them yield many of their kernels in com- 
plete halves. so that the time has come 
for the Shagbark to become a lawn tree 
of double merit. 
The Growth of the Shagbark Tree 
This tree, like the Pecan, also is not 
a nurseryman’s delight. We can buy an 
apple root in December, graft it in Feb- 
ruary, plant it out in April, and have a 
one-year tree to sell in October. With the 
Shagbark, we buy the nuts in October, 
plant them in March. In two years we 
transplant the piddling little tree to keep 
it from sending its roots clear to China. It 
takes it about two years to recover from 
transplanting, after which it begins to 
grow. In the sixth or seventh year we can 
graft it. Then the surprise occurs. It 
staggers for a year and then begins to 
grow. Some of them will grow 2 or 3 feet 
a year. Sometimes even more if well 
fertilized. And if you put a grafted Shag- 
bark in your lawn you can have a big tree 
much sooner than most persons would 
expect. 
12 
This tree differs from the Pecan in 
many respects. Not only will it grow in 
Maine. Vermont, upper New York, Michi- 
gan, Minnesota. but it is quite at home on 
good upland soils, as is shown by the way 
it grows in rocky upland woods and pas- 
tures in a dozen states. 
A Good Lawn Tree 
Many people for some unknown reason 
eover their lawns with maples, which an- 
nihilate the grass with their dense foliage 
and multitude of surface roots, The Shag- 
bark, like the Walnut and the Pecan, 
being a deep rooter, lets grass grow up 
close to it. Also its tall cylindrical shape 
is an aid to the grass. and it gives the 
trees a very distinetive and pleasing ap- 
pearance, 
Fertilizing the Shagbark 
Do not Iet the Shagbark deceive you by 
the fact that it grows naturally on upland 
soils. It likes fertilizer. Its bearing is 
likely to be very greatly influenced by the 
amount of plant food. There have been 
some startling results following the ap- 
plication of an abundance of phosphorous 
fertilizer to Shagbarks and other nut trees 
of the Hickory family. Therefore, I would 
suggest that you give the tree liberal 
supplies of fertilizer high in phosphorus 
and potash. If the tree is 20 feet high I 
would recommend 10 pounds of a com- 
mercial mixture of 4-12-4 or even 4-12-8, 
and if it is a 50Q-foot tree, give it 15 
pounds, at least every other year. You are 
likely to be abundantly rewarded. 
Shagbark Varieties. (See price list.) 
