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

by Unknown

NUT CULTURE IN CANADA

J. A. NEILSON, B. S. A.

Lecturer in Horticulture, Ontario Agricultural College Guelph, Canada

The conservation and improvement of our native nut trees and the introduction of suitable species from foreign countries has not received much attention by horticulturists in Canada, except in British Columbia and in Ontario. In British Columbia, Persian walnuts, Japanese walnuts, filberts, almonds and European varieties of chestnuts have been planted to a limited extent in the fruit districts and small plantings have been made at the Dominion Experimental Farms located at Aggaziz on the mainland and at Sidney on Vancouver Island.

In Ontario very little had been done by the Provincial Experiment Stations to test the different varieties of nut trees until about one year ago when the Vineland Station undertook to establish experimental plantings. A few enthusiasts like G. H. Corsan of Toronto, Dr. Sager of Brantford, Dr. McWilliams of London and William Corcoran of Port Dalhousie are about the only parties who have attempted anything along the line of nut growing. These remarks of course do not apply to those people who have planted a few black walnuts or Japanese walnuts on the home grounds or along the roadsides. Of such plantings there are a few here and there in the older settled parts of the province.

For some years the writer has felt that something should be done by the Horticultural Department of the College to interest the people of Canada in planting more and better nut trees and in conserving the remnant of the many fine nut trees which formerly grew so abundantly in parts of Ontario and elsewhere. Therefore an attempt was made during the spring of 1921 to interest the public in the possibilities of nut culture. A letter and questionnaire asking for information on nut trees were prepared and sent to officers of horticultural and agricultural societies, agricultural representatives, agricultural and horticultural magazines, daily and weekly newspapers, school inspectors and other interested parties.

The following is a copy of the letter and questionnaire which were sent out:

"Dear Sir:

"We are investigating the possibilities of nut culture in Ontario and would be pleased to have you assist us by reporting the occurrence and distribution of the various species of native and introduced nut trees growing in your locality. We are particularly anxious to learn of the exact location of superior trees and if any such are found we plan to have these propagated and distributed for test purposes. We would also like to secure the names of people who are interested in nut culture. Please fill out the enclosed questionnaire and return to the undersigned at your earliest convenience.

"Thanking you in anticipation of receiving some interesting information on nut trees, I am, yours sincerely, (signed) James A. Neilson, Lecturer in Horticulture."

Questionnaire:

Q. 1. Are any of the following kinds of trees growing in your locality:

American Black Walnut European Chestnut
Japanese Walnut Japanese Chestnut
English Walnut Chinese Walnut
Butternut Beechnut
Hickory nut Hazel nut
Pecans Filbert
Sweet Chestnut

Q. 2. Do you know of any individual trees of the above mentioned kinds that are superior because of large size of nuts, excellent flavour of kernel, thin shells, rapid growth or high yields? Please give exact location of such trees.

Q. 3. Is any one in your section making a special effort to grow any native or foreign species of nuts? If so please give their name and address.

Name of correspondent
Post Office
Township
County
Province

I am delighted to say that I never did anything in my life that met with such hearty and general approval as this venture. From almost every quarter of Canada I received commendatory letters and offers of assistance. One encouraging feature was the keen interest shown by wealthy business and professional men in our larger centres and by some of our more progressive fruit growers and farmers. Inasmuch as my venture was an innovation there were of course some humorous comments to the effect that we had enough "nuts" in the country now without encouraging any more. I replied to my humorous friends that the "nuts" they had in mind did not grow on trees whereas the kind I had in mind did.

The information I received in answer to my questionnaire was very interesting and instructive and confirmed some of my impressions regarding the occurrence of nut trees in our province. More important still it showed that there were several superior trees of various species growing here and there throughout the country.

Geographical Distribution of Nut Trees in Canada

The chief native nut trees are the black walnut, the butternut or white walnut, the hickory, of which there are four species—the chestnut, the beechnut and the hazelnut. Of introduced nut trees there are the Persian, Japanese and Chinese walnuts, the European, Japanese and Chinese chestnuts, the pecan and the European filberts.

THE BLACK WALNUT (Juglans nigra).

The black walnut is one of our finest native nut trees and is found growing naturally along the north shore of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and around Lake St. Clair. It has been planted in many other parts of Ontario and does well where protected from cold winds. The tree grows to a large size, sometimes attaining a height of 90 feet and a trunk diameter of 5 feet. When grown in the open it makes a beautiful symmetrical tree, having a large, rounded crown with drooping lower branches.

The black walnut is not found growing naturally outside of Ontario. It has been planted in Manitoba but does not do well there because of the cold winter. In 1917 the writer observed a few specimens near Portage la Prairie which were about five feet tall. These trees made a fair annual growth but most of this froze back each winter.

Many people in Canada believe that the black walnut is a slow grower. This impression is not correct as some trees grow very rapidly. About eighteen years ago I planted a number of nuts along the line fence and along the roadside on my father's farm near Simcoe, Ontario. Most of these nuts sprouted and grew and some have done exceptionally well. One of these trees is now thirty-seven feet tall and has a trunk circumference of forty-one inches at the ground. It has borne nuts since it was six years of age and this year has a very heavy crop. Some of the first crop of nuts were planted and these in turn have developed into trees which have produced nuts. Nuts from the second generation have been planted and will likely make trees which will yield nuts in a few years. An interesting feature of the original planting is the great variation in the size, shape of nut, thickness of shell and yield. Some are large, some are small, some are round and others are pear-shaped. The majority of the trees yield well but a few, however, are light croppers.

THE BUTTERNUT (Juglans cinerea)

The butternut is much hardier than the black walnut and has a much wider distribution in Canada. It occurs throughout New Brunswick, in Quebec, along the St. Lawrence basin and in Ontario from the shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario to the Georgian Bay and Ottawa River. It has been planted in Manitoba and does fairly well there when protected from cold winds. West of Portage la Prairie the writer observed a grove of seventy-seven trees. Some of these trees were about thirty-five feet tall with a trunk diameter of ten inches and had borne several crops of good nuts.

The butternut in Ontario sometimes attains a height of seventy feet and a trunk diameter of three feet.

THE ENGLISH OR PERSIAN WALNUT (Juglans regia).

The English walnut, or the Persian walnut, as it should be called, is found growing in the Niagara district and to a lesser extent in the Lake Erie counties. It is stated on good authority that there are about 100 of these trees growing in the fruit belt between Hamilton and Niagara Falls. There are several quite large trees in the vicinity of St. Catharines, which have borne good crops of nuts. One of these trees produced nuts of sufficient merit to be included in the list of desirable nuts prepared by C. A. Reed, Nut Culturist of the United States Department of Agriculture. This variety has been named the "Ontario" and is now being propagated, experimentally, in the United States. In the vicinity of St. Davids, on the farm of Mr. James Woodruff, there is a fine English walnut tree which produced ten bushels of shelled nuts in one season. This tree is one of the largest of its kind in Ontario, being about sixty feet tall with a trunk diameter of three feet at one foot above the ground and a spread of branches equal to its height.

The English walnut is not as hardy as the black walnut and is adapted only to those sections where the peach can be grown successfully. At present this tree cannot be recommended for any part of Ontario except the Niagara district and the Lake Erie counties and even in these areas it should not be planted unless it has been grafted or budded on the hardier black walnut.