Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 13th Annual Meeting / Rochester, N.Y. September, 7, 8 and 9, 1922

by Unknown

DR. WALTER VAN FLEET

In the death of Dr. Walter Van Fleet on January 26, 1922, the United States has lost one of the greatest plant breeders in its history, and garden rose growers an ardent advocate and sincere friend. Since a lad he had been interested in these lines of work and the products of his unremitting and painstaking energy, combined with unlimited patience, are known by garden lovers all over the country, as well as in Europe.

Rosarians naturally know him best by his roses, of which there were many, among them that splendid variety that bears his name, as well as such others as Silver Moon, American Pillar, and Alida Lovett. Many more are still in the trial grounds of the United States Department of Agriculture at Bell Station, one of which, christened Miss Mary Wallace, will be available in two or three years.

The ideal rose for which he was striving, in all his later work at least, was a garden rose with foliage that would compare in healthfulness and disease resistance with the best of the rose species, that would be hardy under ordinary garden culture, and that would be a continuous bloomer. His experience taught him what would be likely to give the desired results, but often he could not come directly to the ends sought. For example, when he wanted to combine the characters of some newly found species with the Hybrid Tea roses, he would often find the two could not be crossed directly with one another. He would then seek some other rose that would combine with the new species, without changing the characteristics which he wished to preserve, after which he would grow the resulting hybrids and cross them with the hybrid tea. Sometimes he would need to make another cross before he could get the seedlings for which he was striving. When it is realized that each cross of this kind would take from three to five years before he could take the next step an idea is gained of the patience required. Sometimes the results of these crosses would be infertile, producing neither perfect pistil nor viable pollen, as in the case of a handsome scarlet rugosa growing in the National Rose Test Garden which he was unable to use for further breeding on this account.

His great love of his work is shown in his having given up a successful medical practice in 1891 to devote all his time to plant breeding. He did this, even though he had taken a post graduate course in medicine at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1886-7, after having graduated at the Hahneman Medical College in the same city in 1880. His first work after this change was primarily with the gladiolus on a farm between Alexandria and Mount Vernon, Va. The soil was not adapted to his purpose so he abandoned it and went from there about 1892 to the Conard and Jones Company of West Grove, Pa., then to Little Silver, N. J., and in 1897 to the Ruskin Colony in western Tennessee as the colony physician.

In 1899 he became associated with the Rural New Yorker and lived at Little Silver, N. J., where he continued his breeding work on his own place. As associate editor for the following ten years and as writer of the column of "Ruralisms" in this paper he has left much valuable information on plant life and plant growing. From 1902 to 1910 he was also Vice-President of the Rural Publishing Company. While at Little Silver he was breeding fruits, roses, chesnuts, lilies, freesias, azaleas, and other ornamentals.

In 1909 he went to the Plant Introduction Gardens of the United States Department of Agriculture, at Chico, Cal. As the climate did not agree with his wife, he remained at Chico but a year and moved to Washington, D. C., where his official work was with drug plants and chestnuts, but his own time was largely devoted to breeding work with a wide range of other plants, a continuation of much of the work he had been doing at Little Silver. The move to Chico, Cal., resulted in a great loss to his breeding work. Some of his material was left at Little Silver, much of it died in the uncongenial climate at Chico, and other promising plants were lost in the long shipment across the continent, both going and coming.

In 1916 he was transferred to the office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations where he was permitted to devote himself to plant breeding along such lines as looked promising to him, while at the same time he continued his work with chestnuts and chinquapins and a few drug plants.

Dr. Van Fleet was born at Piermont, N. Y., June 18, 1857. His early years were spent on a farm but later he lived at Williamsport, Pa. In early life he made a study of birds, his first book being "Bird Portraits," published in 1888, apparently being a reprint of magazine articles, one of which dates back to 1876. He was also a successful taxidermist, having studied under Maynard, and trained several of the leading taxidermists of his generation, including Charles H. Eldon of Williamsport, Pa. At nineteen he spent a year in Brazil, first connected with a party constructing a railroad around some of the rapids of the upper Amazon, and later in connection with the Thomas scientific expedition collecting birds and plants.

August 7, 1883, he married Sarah C. Heilman of Watsontown, Pa., who was associated with him in his medical practice and in his breeding work, and has been a sympathetic and helpful companion, and who survives him.

His was a most lovable personality. Those who came into contact with him day after day appreciated best his sterling qualities. He was kindly and considerate and nothing was too much trouble, and yet he had an intolerance of hypocrisy and cant that was almost violent. He was steadfast of purpose and there is nothing that shows this better than his lifelong work in plant breeding and the ruthless manner in which he rooted out his inferior seedlings as soon as he felt them to be valueless. His likes and dislikes were strong. Above all, he was modest and retiring in the extreme. He not only avoided, but shunned publicity. He avoided the outdoor meetings of the American Rose Society in the National Rose Test Garden as much from the fear of publicity that we, his friends, could not refrain from giving him, as for any other reason. He regretted in his later years that he had given up, during his editorial career, the little public speaking that he had previously done and had gotten so out of practice that, with his disposition, he could not again take it up.

He was an amateur musician with a thorough knowledge of orchestral and band instruments, harmony, theory, and orchestration but during the last few years none but intimate frequenters of his home had the privilege of hearing him, although until within the last two or three years he often played the violin.

In 1918 he was awarded the George Robert White Medal of Honor for eminent services in horticulture by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, probably the greatest honor that can come to a horticulturist in this country. He had also been awarded three medals for the rose Miss Mary Wallace, a gold medal by the American Rose Society, a gold medal by the City of Portland, Oregon, and a silver trophy by the Portland (Oregon) Rose Society. He was associate editor of the magazine "Genetics" at the time of his death.

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Although he was an honorary member of the association I think very few of us knew that he had such varied activities in his life as this little biography tells us he had. The death of Dr. Van Fleet has been a great loss to American horticulture and nut growing.

Also during the year Colonel Sober has died. Colonel Sober, as you know, was a man who had made a very great success of growing the Paragon chestnut. His was the first commercial success in nut growing in the North. Then the blight came along and wiped out his industry. The Colonel was loath to admit for a long time that he had the blight or that his trees were not immune and that his nut growing was going to be a failure on account of the blight. I have no biography of Colonel Sober to read but one was published in the American Nut Journal for August.

THE PRESIDENT: I feel that we ought to make some record here of our feeling for these two men. I knew them both personally. I met Dr. Van Fleet at Washington two years ago and Colonel Sober seven years ago when the convention was held here. I had a great deal of correspondence with Colonel Sober. I think that we should adopt a resolution now and send copies of it to the families of these two deceased gentlemen to let them know the high regard in which this association held them as members and men.

MR. O'CONNOR: I make that motion.

THE SECRETARY: I second that motion and ask that the President appoint a committee on resolutions, which will also cover any other resolutions that may be necessary during the course of the meeting.

(See Appendix for Report of Committee on Resolutions.)

THE PRESIDENT: I will appoint on that committee Dr. Morris, Mr.
Patterson, Dr. Deming, Mr. Jones and Mr. Rick.

THE SECRETARY: I have still a number of things here that will take up a good deal of time. I don't know that it is particularly interesting to any one outside of the association but I have a letter that I think is interesting to the members, especially those who have attempted chestnut culture, from Mr. G. F. Gravatt, assistant pathologist, United States Department of Agriculture, in which he says as follows:

As you may be asked questions at the Northern Nut Growers' Association meeting at Rochester regarding chestnut blight work of the Office of Forest Pathology I am sending the following letter:

By means of short field trips and correspondents I am keeping up in a general way with the spread of the chestnut blight. The disease is steadily spreading southward and westward. Infections are now known in seven counties in Ohio and thirteen counties in North Carolina. There is every reason to expect that the disease will ultimately cover the range of the native chestnut and chinquapin.

In Ohio several orchards have been reported as infected by State authorities. The blight is now present on native and planted chestnut in a number of localities in the Northwest quarter of that state. State authorities have reported one orchard in Indiana as infected.

It is evident that chestnut orchards located in the middle west are in danger of becoming infected with the blight. The most important means of spread to localities outside of the range of native chestnut are by chestnut poles and lumber products, and by infected chestnut nursery trees. Owners of chestnut orchards should keep on the watch for the disease and any suspicious specimens will be gladly identified.

There is some disagreement among pathologists as to the practicability of controlling chestnut blight in orchards located outside of the range of native chestnut or in localities within the range of the native growth where the native trees are very scattering, such as in many parts of Ohio.

My personal opinion is that the orchardist thoroughly familiar with the disease who will systematically inspect his trees, properly remove any infection as soon as it becomes visible and who has eliminated the sources of new infection in his neighborhood has a good chance of success. Control of the disease in some orchards is being tried out and I am desirous of getting in touch with other chestnut orchardists who have infected trees.

The chestnut breeding work at Bell, Md., started by Dr. Van Fleet, is being continued. Mr. Reed is looking after points relating to culture, quality of nuts, productions, etc., while I am looking after the hybridization and disease work. The Chinese chestnut seems to be the most resistant to the disease though a number of trees of this species have been killed primarily by the blight.

A number of reports of chestnut blight becoming less virulent have been
investigated but in all cases the reports were incorrect. Professor
Graves is continuing his observations on resistant trees around New York
City.

That, I think, summarizes the chestnut blight situation very well.

I have a letter from Mr. Reed from China; it is a long letter and I will only read from it one or two extracts which tell why he was sent to China:

My task is that of obtaining a summary of the so-called "Manchurian" walnut industry of this country. So many walnuts from here are being delivered in the States each year that our own industry is considerably affected. The extent of production, its present rate of growth and its probable character and magnitude ten years hence are things our own people needed to know. So serious is the situation that Thorp, manager of the California Association left San Francisco for over here more than two months ago to get a short general glimpse, then to go to European points for the same purpose.

The consuls here have reported that no walnuts are grown in Manchuria, except in half wild, low-grade, scattered product which is assembled in small quantities only and probably not exported. The exported nuts are mainly from the provinces of Chihli, Shantung, Shansi and Honan. Tientsin and Hankow are the chief points of export.

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Mr. Reed expects to be back about Thanksgiving time. We miss Mr. Reed very much here at the conventions because he is the Government representative of the nut industry. He has a wider general knowledge of the nut industry in the United States than any other man.

In connection with the suggestions that our President has made, I think
I ought to call the attention of the association again to the address of
Dean Watts that he delivered at the convention last year in Lancaster.
(This address, entitled "A National Programme for the Promotion of Nut
Culture," will be found on page 80 of the report of the proceedings at
the twelfth annual meeting.)

I have brought here a cluster of burrs from some chinkapin bushes that have been growing in Elizabeth Park, Hartford, for 23 years. They are loaded with nuts and although attacked by the blight, the fact of their being there so many years shows how resistant they are. I have also some clusters of burrs from chinkapin bushes in my own garden. They bore a full crop the second year from transplanting.

MR. O'CONNOR: Before I forget it, I want to say a word in regard to chinkapins. Right close to where I live there was a fire swept through the place and burned them down to the roots. But they have come up from the roots and are full of chinkapins at the present time; I have seen where the blight has hit them and they died back to the ground and they have shot up new shoots again and are bearing. The chinkapin is a coming nut; the school children are looking for them like I used to look for the butternuts in the early days.

THE PRESIDENT: That is very interesting information, Mr. O'Connor, and I am very glad you have stated it.

THE SECRETARY: Mr. Wycoff of Aurora, N. Y., has brought here a little branch containing two well developed Indiana pecans grown on a grafted tree. I think that is the first instance in which a grafted pecan tree of the Indiana variety has borne in the North. Mr. Snyder says he has fruited a Witte pecan at his place. A number of us have been striving to make the record for first bearing of a grafted "Indiana" pecan tree in the North. Mr. Wycoff has won it.

Mr. O'Connor, I think, has brought with him a number of branches of pecans grown in Maryland.

MR. O'CONNOR: I have some hazels and also some chinkapins.

THE SECRETARY: Have you any pecans fruiting down there this year?

MR. O'CONNOR: Several nights of frost hurt us pretty bad this spring. We have one tree that has got a few pecans on this year; last year the same tree had over a hundred; this year it hasn't got more than a dozen, but it promises to have a heavy crop next year.

THE PRESIDENT: What variety of pecans?

MR. O'CONNOR: If I am not mistaken, it is the Indiana. There are several trees that promise to bear heavily next year. In the spring we had a severe frost for seven nights in succession and that hurt our trees pretty bad. We are in the frost belt down there. Last year we didn't have any apples or peaches; this year we have some apples and some peaches but the grapes were severely hurt by the frost, also there are very few walnuts on the trees this year.

MR. CORSAN: From traveling around as much as I do I can vouch for that gentleman's statement in regard to the frost. I was up in the extreme northern part of the United States, northern New York, and I never saw such a crop of hickory nuts in my life and I have gathered nuts since I am able to remember. I have also seen more peaches up in Ontario and even north of Ontario. When you talk about frost and the South having such an advantage over the North, it is entirely wrong; I have had that idea knocked out of me for a good many years.

THE SECRETARY: I wish also to say that I brought here a small branch from the Hartford pecan tree bearing two nuts. The Hartford pecan tree is undoubtedly the largest pecan tree in the North. It is about ten feet in circumference, over seventy-five feet high and has a very large spread. I will ask Mr. Weber if he will give us the account again of the finding of that black walnut in the river and tell us the result of his investigation.

MR. WEBER: Whenever I come across a black walnut I want to open it up and see what it looks like inside. Following that custom when I found a walnut that had lodged against the dyke north of the central part of the city, I was surprised when I opened it because the partitions were very thin, like an English walnut. Later on I found another similar nut lodged against the dyke of the river about a quarter of a mile along. Then through a statement in the paper and an advertising campaign we tried to locate the tree. Finally we got the name of a man in Floyd, Va., who said he knew of the existence of such a tree, but a few years previously they had cleared the land and it had been cut down. So that finished that. But he gave me the name of the man who had owned the place and said that there were some other trees that had originated there and that they were bearing. It is down in Virginia at the extreme western end and off the railroad and rather hard to get to. I thought possibly on my way home I would get there this trip.

THE SECRETARY: As an example of nut enthusiasm here is the corporation counsel of the city of Cincinnati, who on his walks abroad picks up nuts that he finds and examines them. He finds one on the dyke of the river that he considers remarkable and in conjunction with the president of this association conducts an advertising campaign in the watershed of the river where that nut was found in order to locate the tree, and succeeds eventually in doing so.

Mr. President, here is a communication which I received in July from the Secretary of the American Pomological Society inviting us to become a member. I didn't feel that I had the authority to send him a check for ten dollars, but I would like to put before the association the question as to whether we ought not to make this association a member of the American Pomological Society. I would ask, Mr. President, that you put that matter up for discussion, if you think it is of sufficient importance.

THE PRESIDENT: I do, Mr. Secretary, and think it would materially help in gaining names in our plans for increasing the membership if we were able to say we were a member of that society. What do you suggest relative to the procedure in that connection?

THE SECRETARY: I think all that is necessary is the motion by some member that the treasurer be authorized to take out a membership for the association in the American Pomological Society.

BY A MEMBER: I so move. They will know we are in existence and if we take an interest in their work they will take an interest in ours.

Motion duly seconded and carried.

THE PRESIDENT: Your reference to Mr. Reed reminds me that prior to his receiving orders to go to China, he and Mrs. Reed both had promised to come and make addresses at this convention; Mrs. Reed on the subject of nuts as a food and Mr. Reed with a fine exhibit and also an illustrated lecture. He wrote me quite fully just before going saying he was awfully sorry that he could not be here. With reference to the Secretary's remarks regarding Dean Watts, I had the privilege of meeting Dean Watts last year at Lancaster and I think his ideas are very much along the same line relative to increasing our membership and improving our financial condition so that we can do real things. I had a letter from Mr. Littlepage early in the season and he expected to be here. Then he finally wrote me and said it would be absolutely impossible for him to come but he was sending his able lieutenant, Mr. O'Connor. I was beginning to feel a little worried this morning that perhaps Dr. Morris might not be able to get here but I was very happy a few minutes ago to see the Doctor come in and now I feel considerably more comfortable because he is a great aid and help at these conventions. Is there anything further, Mr. Secretary, that you have in mind?

THE SECRETARY: I just want to call your attention to the exhibits; they really hardly need any one to call attention to them, but I would like to mention especially the exhibits at the two ends of the table. The one at the further end of the table by Mr. Dunbar of the Department of Parks of Rochester is really a very remarkable exhibit, especially from a scientific point of view. (See list of exhibits in appendix.) At this end of the table is a splendid exhibition of filberts grown in Rochester in Mr. McGlennon's filbert nursery under the direction of Mr. Vollertsen; it needs no word of praise from any one, it speaks for itself. Also I call your attention to these three English walnut trees in pots, each one bearing fully developed nuts, which were grown by Mrs. Ellwanger. Last of all I will mention again the cluster of Indiana pecans brought here by Mr. Wycoff of Aurora.

MR. DUNBAR: Dr. Deming didn't tell us about the Chinese chestnuts that are fruiting—the castanea mollissima.

THE SECRETARY: Dr. Morris has had them fruiting for a number of years. I don't know whether any others have or not.

DR. MORRIS: They fruit very well and are a good hardy nut. They are on limestone land.

THE SECRETARY: It is a very interesting nut.

MR. CORSAN: Out of twelve varieties of chestnuts that I planted on my place it is the only one that died. I got them in Washington. I looked after them probably too well. I will try them again to be certain they had no climatic reason for dying. It is very strange that that chestnut didn't grow. Nobody near me grows chestnuts so I can cultivate them for a good many years without any worry about blight.

DR. MORRIS: I doubt if the blight amounts to much with you. It is carried by migrating birds. Some birds will take the blight north and our friends in Canada will finally have it, so cheer up, the worst is yet to come, but it will be a good many years.

MR. CORSAN: The blight has got to the extreme northern part of the chestnut growth, that is, to the top of Lake George. The chestnut doesn't go a quarter of a mile beyond Silver Bay.

DR. MORRIS: I have found chestnut trees in Quebec.

PROFESSOR NIELSON: Speaking of the range of nut trees, I have seen the hazelnut in the Saskatchewan several hundred miles north of the international boundary and at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

THE PRESIDENT: That is very interesting to me for about the time that we started in experimenting with filberts I received a letter from an old friend of mine in Canada, Mr. Edward Kennedy; he stated that he believed the hazelnut or filbert would do very well in the Canadian Northwest. At that time we were in the nursery business and were finding it difficult for our general nursery stock to survive the severe winters in the Canadian Northwest. Mr. Kennedy thought that from his observation of the filbert throughout that country it was the one item in the nurseryman's list that would do very well there.

DR. MORRIS: In that connection I would like to say that I have seen the hazelnut growing as far north as Hudson Bay and it is very hard to distinguish it from the elm. The hazelnuts grow to a height of from twenty to twenty-five feet and the elm comes down to about that height. The leaves look so much alike that I found myself looking for hazelnuts under an elm tree.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Patterson told me that while fishing on one of the streams near Albany he had found some of the common hazelnuts in fruit. I have sent down to some of my friends at Albany some of our filbert plants to see how they might do there and the reports up to the present time have been altogether favorable. My thought up to the present time has been that perhaps the climate there is a little too hot.

The next item on our program is the report of the treasurer, Mr. Willard
G. Bixby of Baldwin, N. Y.