W. J. STRONG
There was very little interest in nut growing in the early days of the Horticultural Experiment Station although back in 1914 a few filberts and Persian (English) walnuts were planted.
The first nut orchard at the Station was set out in 1922 and since then several lots of nut trees have been added from time to time, principally filberts and Persian walnuts. Also a few black walnuts, Japanese heartnuts, Chinese chestnuts, hickories, pecan and several hybrids were planted.
In 1922 twenty varieties of filberts were obtained from a nursery near Rochester, N. Y. These were reputed to be some of the better sorts imported from Germany but when they came into bearing only one was true to name, this being Italian Red. Another un-named variety in this lot (field number 3 R 1 A T 10, 11, 12), proved to be hardy and very vigorous. The nuts were only of medium size but very well filled and of good quality. The rest of these were a nondescript lot of worthless varieties or seedlings and so after a few years nearly all were uprooted and discarded.
At this time (1922) four varieties of Persian walnuts were planted, Franquette, Mayette, Hall and Rush. The Franquette and Mayette have not grown very well here and have given very poor yields. Both Hall and Rush made good growth the first 15 or 20 years from planting but latterly, growth has been poor and yields have fallen off considerably, although this year (1947) there is a very fair crop showing, but with rather much dropping. The nut of the Hall variety is quite large but the husk is thick and the shell is thick and coarse, also in some seasons the kernel has not filled out very well. The Rush has given good crops of medium-size nuts. It seems to be rather susceptible to bacterial blight.
Five named varieties of black walnuts also were planted at this time (1922), Thomas, Ohio, Stabler, Ten Eyck and McCoy. The Thomas has proven to be the best of these and the value of the others was pretty much in the order named. The last two were quite inferior as to nut, while the Stabler lacked vigour and did not yield very well, although it is a nice nut and the kernel comparatively easy to extract.
Eight Persian walnut seedlings in the same plantation, set out in 1926, have made poor to fair growth. They have given very few nuts until this year (1947) when two of them are showing a very fair crop.
About 1928 twenty Japanese walnuts and hybrids with the butternut, and about the same number of Persian walnut seedlings, which have been brought in by the late Professor Jas. A. Neilson, were transplanted to the permanent fruiting positions. The Japanese walnuts and hybrids were worthless and so were discarded. The Persian walnuts, however, seemed to be of more value, several are quite nice nuts and one, at least, looks to be worthy of increase for further trial or limited distribution. This seedling (field number 13R3T14) has made very fair growth and has shown only slight winter injury. For the last five or six years it has given moderately good yields of very nice looking nuts. The nuts are large, rather long and oval, resembling somewhat the Franquette. The shell is smooth and moderately thick, well sealed but easy to crack. Usually they are quite well filled and the kernel is mild in flavour and of nice quality.
Another Persian walnut, set out about the same time, is the McDermid. The original tree was found on the property of a Mr. McDermid at St. Catharines, Out. One grafted tree and four seedlings were planted on the Station grounds. They grew well and showed very little killing back and for several years gave quite nice crops of nuts, but of recent years the yield has been rather small. The nut is blunt-oval in shape and of good size with a fairly hard shell which is well sealed but not any too easy to open. The quality is fairly good but the pellicle is rather strong flavoured.
The year 1936 may be considered the high water mark in nut planting at the Station. A variety block of filberts was set out that year and fifty one-year-old Persian walnut seedlings (Carpathian strain) were planted in a nursery row, and in permanent location in 1937. The filbert planting consisted of from three to nine bushes each of twelve varieties, including Aveline (white), Barcelona, Bixby, Bolwyller, Buchanan, Cosford, Daviana, Du Chilly, Medium Long, Red Lambert (?) and Jones hybrid. These were planted in a compact block, 18 feet apart each way on the square. A lesser distance no doubt would be sufficient for upright growing sorts like Du Chilly but some of the more spreading kinds can use the greater distance.
Most of these filberts started to yield a few nuts at five to seven years from planting and at nine or ten years were giving good crops. Yields have fluctuated considerably from year to year, and also between varieties and different bushes of the same variety. Yields obtained from individual ten-year-old bushes and size of nut are given in the following table.
| Name | Quarts[2] (with husks) | Pints, nuts (without husks) | Size of nut No. per pint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 11 | 8 | 101 |
| Bixby (1) | 11 | 9 | 130 |
| Bixby (2) | 22 | 12 | 148 |
| Daviana (1) | 10 | 6 | 94 |
| Daviana (2) | 11 | 7 | 90 |
| Du Chilly (1) | 20 | 11 | 93 |
| Du Chilly (2) | 17 | 12 | 92 |
| Medium Long | 11 | 8 | 115 |
Higher yields have undoubtedly been obtained from other plantations and from other individual bushes and certainly lower yields, also, may be expected. Those given above are for 1946 from the best ten-year-old bushes in a plantation of forty plants.
Yield and size of nut while of major importance are not the only criteria for appraising the value of a nut variety. In filberts, such points as ease of husking, amount of fibre and, of course, quality must be considered. Also, as in other nuts, thickness of shell and proportions of kernel to shell are quite important. Vigour and hardiness of bush and hardiness of flower, male and female, are assumed, as without these high yields are not to be expected.
Most of the filbert varieties in bearing at the Horticultural Experiment Station with a few of their outstanding qualities are noted below.
Barcelona has a rather thick shell and too much fibre. It matures early, first week of September, and the nuts drop out of the husk fairly readily. The plant is strong and vigorous and somewhat spreading in habit of growth. It appears to be hardy.
Du Chilly is not always hardy and it is difficult to husk. Some bushes of this variety have given quite low yields.
Medium Long is a useful nut. It is not as large as the former two, but it fills well and there is very little fibre; also the shell is thin. It ripens somewhat later than Barcelona and is easy to husk.
Bixby is of medium size, somewhat pointed with a medium thick shell but almost no fibre. It is late in maturing, first week of October, and does not husk readily.
Daviana is a large, attractive nut with a moderately thin shell and has very little fibre. The quality is good. The nuts are mostly borne singly but with some pairs and they are apt to cling to the husk.
Cosford is a very nice nut. It is similar to Medium Long, somewhat smaller and of good appearance. It has a thin shell and is of good quality. It ripens early and separates readily from the husk. Perhaps not always hardy.
Bolwyller is hardy, yields moderately well and has nice quality.
Buchanan, much like Bixby, but a more vigorous grower. Rather difficult to pick. The nut has good quality and very little fibre.
Italian Red, one of the best but not hardy.
The filbert plantings have been added to from time to time. In 1942, 200 open-pollinated seedlings of the hardy seedling (3R1AT 10, 11, 12—1922 planting) were set out and are now (1947) beginning to bear a few nuts. The main purpose of growing these seedlings is to find a larger nut of good quality with the vigour and hardiness of the female parent.
In 1944 a bush each of Beethe, Buchanan, Luisen and Volkugel varieties were set out, also bushes of the following hybrids:
Rush x White Aveline No. 21
Rush x Kentish Cob No. 110 and 111
Rush x Barcelona No. 157 and 159
Rush x Bolwyller No. 200
Rush x Red Lambert No. 394 and 398
Rush x Du Chilly No. 485 and 555
Rush x Daviana No. 529 and 521
This material was supplied by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station for test purposes. So far none of these has come into bearing.
The seedling Carpathian walnuts (1937 planting) are nearly all bearing a few nuts. Some began in 1943 while other bore nothing until several years later. One tree in 1946 gave six pints of nuts, without the husks, another four pints and several two pints, but most of them much less. As in other seedling trees there is much variation in this lot of walnuts. They vary considerably in habit of growth and vigour, also in nut characteristics. They have shown little or no winter injury. It is too early yet to pass judgment on these seedlings. Undoubtedly many of them are worthless, others are on the border line, and a few may be better than seedlings already growing in the Niagara fruit belt. It is possible that some may have sufficient hardiness for planting in the less favoured sections of Ontario.
Other types of nuts growing at the Horticultural Experiment Station are of general interest. The chestnuts and most of the pecans are very young and so are not bearing. Several hickories, Carya ovata and C. laciniosa, and Japanese walnuts bear some nuts occasionally. The Persian walnut x black walnut hybrids bear a few nuts sometimes but are worthless; the trees however, are nice as ornamentals. The Japanese walnut x butternut hybrids usually have a nice crop but the nuts are of questionable value. The trees are nice ornamentals although subject to wind injury.
Several seedling Chinese chestnuts were topworked to selected Chinese chestnuts, grafts of which were obtained from the Division of Forest Pathology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately these were all destroyed at the result of construction work.
In addition to plantings made at this Station, nuts and nut seedlings have been distributed to people who wished to grow a few nut trees on their own places.
Cultural practices have been very simple at the Station. After planting, the trees were cultivated for a year or two, then the space between sown to grass and clover and the space just around the trees was mulched with manure, hay, etc. The grass is cut several times a year and placed around the trees as additional mulch. Small quantities of a good commercial fertilizer such as 4-8-10 have been applied occasionally and some nitrogen also has been used.
Pruning has been reduced to a minimum, a light thinning out of branches being given as required. Very little attempt has been made to keep filberts to a single stem, but the walnuts have been kept to a single low-headed trunk.
There has been a marked increase in interest in the planting of nut trees in Ontario since the first plantings were made at the Station. These Station plantings serve to demonstrate in a small way that nut trees can be grown in the Niagara fruit belt of Ontario. The feasibilty, however, of growing nut crops in a commercial way, even in this district, is still open to question, although it is felt that farmers and others should be encouraged to plant a few nut trees on their property both for the sake of the nuts and because of the ornamental nature of the trees.