Results of 1950 Persian Walnut Contest
| Prize | Entry | Submitted By | Nut Weight | Kernel Weight | Kernel Percentage |
| 1. | 030 | Mrs. W. H. Metcalfe, Webster, New York | 11.9 | 6.5 | 54.5 |
| 2. | 011 | (Hansen) S. Shessler, Genoa, Ohio | .8 | 5.8 | 58.5 |
| 3. | 002 | (McKinster) Roy McKinster, Columbus, Ohio | 12.5 | 6.4 | 51.2 |
| 4. | 012 | (Jacobs) S. Shessler, Genoa, Ohio | 12.9 | 6.0 | 47.0 |
| 5. | 006 | Lewis Weng, Dayton, Ohio | 12.4 | 6.4 | 51.9 |
| Honorable Mention | |||||
| 001 | Mrs. Gale Harrison, Pemberton, New Jersey | 14.7 | 6.2 | 42.2 | |
| 008 | A. C. Orth, Dayton, Ohio | 14.7 | 6.7 | 45.8 | |
| 014 (Burtner) | Fayette Etter, Lemasters, Pennsylvania | 10.4 | 4.6 | 44.4 | |
| 016 (S-66) | G. L. Smith, Millerton, New York | 15.1 | 6.8 | 44.9 | |
| 025 | P. F. Countryman, Ontario, | 13.9 | 6.3 | 45.3 | |
| 031 (Colby[19]) | A. S. Colby, Urbana, Illinois | 10.8 | 5.9 | 54.1 | |
| 032 (S-M-9) | Royal Oakes, Bluffs, Illinois | 15.8 | 6.6 | 41.5 | |
| 033 | S. Elwell, Homer, Michigan | 19.2 | 8.3 | 43.2 | |
A brief history of the prize-winning trees follows:
Entry 030: A Carpathian originally obtained through the Wisconsin Horticultural Society in 1936 (Rev. Crath's selections). In 1950 this tree was 14 years old, 22 feet high, with a trunk circumference of 23 inches. It has withstood 18 degrees below zero without damage. The tree began bearing a few nuts in 1947, 4 quarts in 1948; 1 peck in 1949; and 1/2 bushel in 1950.
Entry 011: This is the Hansen variety which was given second place in the 1949 contest. The origin of this tree is uncertain. It is estimated to be 50 years old and 25 feet high. It has withstood 15 degrees below zero without damage. Just when this tree began bearing is unknown, but it produced 2 bushels in 1947; 3 pecks in 1948; 1 bushel in 1949; and 3 bushels in 1950.
Entry 002: This is the McKinster variety which was judged the best entry in the 1949 contest. It is a Carpathian originally obtained through the Wisconsin Horticultural Society in 1939 (Rev. Crath's selections), and was 11 years old in 1950. It is 29 feet high with a circumference of 22 inches. It has withstood 17 degrees below zero without injury. This tree began bearing in 1943. In 1947 it produced 1/2 bushel; 1 bushel in 1948; 3 pecks in 1949; and 3 pecks in 1950.
Entry 012: This is the Jacobs variety which placed third in the 1949 contest. The nut which produced this tree originally came from Germany some 70 years ago. It has withstood 15 degrees below zero without injury. This is a large tree which has been bearing since 1915. It produced 300 pounds in 1947; 100 pounds in 1948; 200 pounds in 1949; and 200 pounds in 1950.
Entry 006: A Carpathian originally obtained through the Wisconsin Horticultural Society in 1936 (Rev. Crath's selections). In 1950 it was 14 years old, 25 feet high, with a circumference of 30 inches. It has withstood 10 degrees below zero without injury. This tree began bearing in 1949; in 1950 it produced 15 pounds of nuts.
It should be emphasized that this contest was based entirely on nut characteristics. In another year the placing of the same entries might be considerably different, because of seasonal variation. However, it is significant that the McKinster, Hansen, and Jacob varieties which were among the prize-winners in the 1949 contest were also among the prize-winners in 1950.
Contests such as this are valuable as a first step in the selection and development of improved varieties. The prize-winners and those given honorable mention are all very promising hardy Persian walnuts. The next step will be to test these selections to determine their adaptability to our varying conditions.
Colby, a Hardy Persian Walnut for the Central States
J. C. McDaniel, Extension Horticulturist, University of Illinois
When the Reverend Paul C. Crath of Toronto imported walnut seeds and scions from his native Ukraine region and adjacent areas of Poland in the 1920s, he started a chain of propagation and selection which promises to establish the Persian walnut (Juglans regia) as a commonly grown nut in southern Ontario and the north central states. The best of his importations, and seedlings from them, are fruiting in such states as Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, showing in many cases a degree of hardiness which must reverse the conclusion of an older generation of pomologists that Persian or "English" walnuts were too tender for successful cultivation in most of the middle west.
The time has now arrived when there are enough fruiting trees of the "Crath Carpathian" walnut seedlings in many states that comparisons can be made and the more promising ones named and disseminated for propagation. The nuts which the Reverend Mr. Crath imported in greatest quantity during the middle 1930s came from more than 100 different seedling trees selected in Poland. Their seedlings exhibit much variability in characters of trees and nuts. Some are much less hardy than others under our conditions. Not all are as large fruited as their seed parents (and some of the parent trees bore small nuts). Though many have smoother shells than Mayette or Franquette, there is also much variation in shape, thickness, and color of shells. Color and flavor of kernel vary from tree to tree. The season of nut maturity, though variable, is generally early enough in locations where the trees are winter hardy. The parents were selected for good filling of kernels, and this character generally has carried over to the seedlings fruited in America. As with other walnuts, some of the Carpathian seedlings are apparently more susceptible than others to fruit damage by the husk maggot. Walnut blight has infected them in some localities.
The COLBY Persian walnut, named in August 1951, and released to nut nurserymen for propagation early in 1952, is the best to date of thirteen Carpathian seedlings (each from a different parent tree) planted at the University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station from 1937 to 1939. It is the first Persian walnut variety to be named at this station.
The name, Colby, honors Dr. Arthur S. Colby of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Illinois, who has been in charge of nut investigations here since 1919. It was given to this variety, with his permission, by members of the Northern Nut Growers Association during their 42nd Annual Meeting, held at Urbana in August, 1951. Dr. Colby is a former president of the Northern Nut Growers Association.
Colby is a seedling of the tree designated as Crath No. 10. The seed was collected in 1934 from the parent tree near Cosseev, in the Carpathian mountain region of southern Poland as then constituted, planted in the nursery of S. H. Graham, Ithaca, New York, and the seedling transplanted to Urbana, Illinois at the age of two years. It has been fruiting annually here since 1942, with crops of up to 1-1/4 bushels in recent years. The accompanying cut shows nuts of the 1951 crop, a little less than 2/3 natural size. They are thin shelled, like the parent Crath No. 10, well filled with kernels of rich flavor, and are medium in size for varieties of this species.
