THE HAZELS.
There are two species of hazels native to Canada—the common hazel (Corylus Americana) and the beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta). The hazels have a wider range than other nut-bearing plants in Canada, being found in almost every province from Nova Scotia westward to British Columbia and as far north as Edmonton in Alberta and Prince Alberta in Saskatchewan. In Ontario the beaked hazel grows as far north as Hudson Bay and in many other parts the common hazel grows very abundantly and bears heavily. In Norfolk County it is very common and in places almost covers the roadside in the little traveled sections. Dr. N. E. Hansen of Brookings, South Dakota, has made a few selections of the common hazelnut found in Manitoba and is now propagating the best of these for distribution.
A few filberts have been planted in Ontario but have not done very well. The growth of wood has been good but little or no nuts have been produced. In Guelph there is a filbert about fifteen feet tall growing on the grounds of J. W. Bell, but like most other filberts in this province it has not yielded nuts.
THE BEECH (Fagus grandiflora)
This tree grows in the hardwood region from Nova Scotia westward to the western end of Lake Superior.
On suitable soils it attains a height of eighty or ninety feet and a diameter of four feet. The nuts are much appreciated by old and young, but on account of the slow rate of growth and the irregularity of bearing very little has been done to plant this tree.
THE ALMOND (Prunus amygdalus).
Almonds have been tried to a limited extent in the warmer parts of Canada but only with indifferent success except on Vancouver Island. It is possible that a satisfactory strain will eventually be found that will extend the range of this desirable nut-bearing tree.
Introduction of New Species
In addition to the efforts to gather data regarding nut trees I decided to introduce some good exotic species for trial with the hope that some of these might prove hardy enough for our climatic conditions. I thought that northeastern Asia would be the most promising region from which to obtain nuts for planting. Therefore, I wrote to the Mission Boards of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican Churches and obtained the names of their missionaries in those fields. I then wrote to several of these missionaries and outlined my programme and asked them to send me samples of the best nuts growing in their respective sections. Here again I received great encouragement and assistance. Several packages of fine chestnuts and walnuts were received from China and Japan. Some of these nuts were planted at the College and the remainder were distributed throughout the province to interested parties. Owing to the length of the period between the gathering of the nuts and their arrival at Guelph many had lost their germinating power, consequently I only succeeded in getting ten walnuts to grow and failed entirely with the chestnuts. However, we may succeed in germinating a few more walnuts after a winter's frost.
I am aware that we might not get as good nuts from these plantings as the parents were, but it is also possible to get a real good tree which would be hardy enough for our climatic conditions. Should we succeed in this endeavor it would be a desirable acquisition and a great improvement on our native black walnut.
Improvement of Native Trees
Attempts were made to improve ordinary black walnut trees by grafting. Scions of the Persian walnut and the Japanese walnut were obtained and grafted onto some of the seedling black walnuts planted by myself years ago. I regret to state that in this phase of the work I was greatly disappointed. Not one scion grew but the stock trees grew amazingly after being cut back and would have been fine for budding this summer if I had been able to get the buds at the proper time.
Educational Work
An attempt has been made to bring before all our students at the O. A. C. the advantages of paying more attention to nut culture. These lectures have always been well received and almost invariably have aroused special interest in the minds of those who are horticulturally inclined.
Addresses on nut culture have been given to Kiwanis Clubs and Horticultural Societies and articles have been written for the agricultural and horticultural press.
A small bulletin is being written and it is hoped that it will be available for distribution in a short time.
Plans for the Future
The activities outlined above will be continued on a larger scale and in a more thorough manner, provided I can get the necessary funds to carry on the work. The search for superior trees and bushes will be continued and nuts from good trees in China and Japan will be introduced in much greater quantities for test purposes. The conversion of poor or ordinary native nut trees into superior trees by grafting will receive special attention.
In this way, ladies and gentlemen, I hope to attain the ideal of all true horticulturists, e. g., "To make our country more beautiful and fruitful and thereby help to serve the æsthetic and physical needs of our people."
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DOCTOR MORRIS: Mr. Chairman: Canada is the next country in which great developments in all of the branches of science will occur. It is to develop, of course, in our present cultural period and I hope this movement for the development of nut culture in Canada will keep pace with the other developments.
I want to speak about one point of Mr. Corsan's. Game breeding can go very well with nut raising. Wild geese will graze like sheep, they will keep the grass and weeds down, and after they are ten days old they need no feeding at all until winter comes. They will graze like sheep, live out of doors like sheep, take the place of sheep, and will return to the land immediately valuable fertilization.
The pheasants Mr. Corsan spoke about are tremendous destroyers of insects. I have had pheasants in my garden this year and the other morning I looked out of the window and saw a pheasant in the midst of a nest of fall web worms. The pheasants will destroy insects of every sort. The only difficulty is that where there are rosebugs in abundance they will kill young pheasants.
I hope every one will take a copy of this "Game Breeder" that Mr. Corsan has left on the table. The subscription price is very small and we may profitably add game breeding of certain kinds to our nut breeding with benefit all around.
MR. BIXBY: Mr. President: There are some points brought out upon which I could throw some light. I have some specimens of Juglans mandschurica which were sent by E. H. Wilson from Korea. I also have a young tree growing that is apparently larger leafed and with thicker shoots than even Juglans cordiformis. The nut is rougher than the other.
I had the privilege of talking to Doctor Wilson regarding his travels in Japan, particularly in relation to the Japanese walnuts. He tells me that Juglans sieboldiana is a wild tree he has found all through the Japanese islands, from the southern part of the northern island Yezo to the mountains of Kyushu, the southern island. He says that Juglans cordiformis is a cultivated tree found in only three or four provinces in central Japan where the walnuts are cultivated. He also tells me he has never seen any of the so-called Japanese butternut type with the rough shell.
I devoted some time three or four years ago to finding out what this so-called Japanese butternut really was. I could never find any instance of where Japanese walnuts, either cordiformis or sieboldiana, had been imported from Japan and planted here and trees grown from them, where those trees had borne rough-shelled nuts like butternuts. In every case where I found any trees bearing those so-called Japanese butternuts they were grown from nuts, Japanese walnuts, which had been grown in this country. In a number of instances I was able to find that the nuts which were planted were smooth-shelled nuts, either sieboldiana or cordiformis. When they were planted and the trees grew they bore these rough shelled Japan nuts. In a number of instances I was able to find native butternut trees not far away.
The other question was about the varieties of the American hazel. We have here specimens of the best variety which we have found, the Rush hazel. The gentleman who asked about it may see specimens on the table. I believe that will be commercially valuable.
THE PRESIDENT: I think you have all enjoyed Professor Neilson's address quite as much as I have. I wonder, Professor, if it would be agreeable to you that we, as an association, should communicate with these people who answered your questionnaire, inviting them to membership in this association.
PROFESSOR NEILSON: Mr. President, I think that would be an excellent suggestion, and I would be very glad indeed to prepare a list of those that I know are interested in nut growing, and also give you a list of the names of people who gave me exceptionally good replies.
THE PRESIDENT: That's fine. That's perfectly fine.
PROFESSOR NEILSON: Yesterday when you were talking about a membership campaign it occurred to me that it might be well for me to write personally to several people whom I know are interested in nut growing, asking them to join.
As a matter of fact there is one gentleman in southwestern Ontario who suggested to me that we form a Canadian branch of the Northern Nut Growers' Association.
THE PRESIDENT: Don't do it. Just let us all be one.
PROFESSOR NEILSON: I think that's the better way to do it.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Is Mr. John Watson here?
MR. OLCOTT: He asked me to state in his behalf that he really didn't have much to say, he noticed your program was pretty well filled up, and he asked to be excused. I hoped Mr. Watson would say something here, but what would be more important would be for him to speak before the nurserymen and induce them to take more interest in our work. Mr. Jones is here and Mr. Watson was here. Of all the nurserymen in this nursery center here that is the only representation.
Nursery catalogues list seedling trees for the most part. One nurseryman wrote me the other day saying he was continually receiving requests for nut trees but he couldn't supply them and knew nothing about them. He asked me for a list of nurseries growing them. Nursery nut trees are not being produced in very great quantities except by Mr. Jones, and they are unlisted in the nursery catalogues, or only listed in an incidental way, very much as though they were tacking on something in the way of citrus fruit, or something of that kind.
A subject that this association might well take up in the enlisting of the nurserymen's interest in this work. Mr. Brown, by the way, of Queens, New York, was here last night. There was a third one here, the head of a very large nursery down there. I talked with him. He was here with Mr. Dunbar. He was interested mildly but not from a practical point of view. I don't know what is the reason for this lack of interest. I thought maybe Mr. Watson could tell us.
THE PRESIDENT: This thought occurs to me in connection with Mr. Olcott's remarks, that it might be desirable for us to send a representative from this association to the annual meeting of the national nurserymen, and let such representative put before the nurserymen the possibilities of making the growing of nut trees in their nurseries a real feature.
MR. SPENCER: Mr. President, several years ago when I first became interested in nut raising I wrote to the University of Illinois which has really one of the great agricultural schools. It is especially famed for its soil fertility studies and for engineering. I asked them what they were doing in the way of spreading information in regard to nut trees, and if they could give me a list of persons from whom I could purchase reliable stock. To my amusement they said they had no list of nurserymen who produced nut trees. I wrote back to them and said that it seemed to me that in a country which is a nut country they ought to know the products of their own state, and I sent them a list of the people from whom they could get trees.
Now I think it would be good policy to send information to the various agriculture schools, giving them what we know of their particular territory based on our experiences, and also send this information to the farm bureaus.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Olcott, what do you think about the suggestion to send a delegate to the nurserymen's convention. You are familiar with the nursery trade.
MR. OLCOTT: That's a good suggestion, Mr. President. I don't know—I had thought of Mr. Jones, who is in the nursery business. It might mean competition for him but I didn't think he would be able to supply all the trees that might be needed. Mr. Jones, by the way, is a regular attendant at the nurserymen's association.
THE PRESIDENT: He would be the man of all men to carry the message and I am sure that he would be very glad to.
MR. CORSAN: Mr. Chairman, I have an idea that the best thing we can do is carry on a magazine campaign this winter. Now my wife is a very good magazine writer and can fix up anything in good shape. Send me along all the photographs you can to the Brooklyn Central Y. M. C. A., where I will be located this winter, and on cold, wet days and odd days I don't work, why, we can get up some magazine articles on nut growing.
THE PRESIDENT: It affords me great pleasure to introduce Mr. Bixby.