Communication from John W. Hershey, 1934
I called at the experimental nut planting place of the late J. W. Waite, at Normandy, Tennessee, on June 1st and found he had been dead about eight months. I talked with a native who told me he was one of the most plucky men he had ever seen, having had, because of some disease, both legs amputated, was all crippled up otherwise, and traveled in a wheel chair. He even use to milk cows and drive around in an old buggy.
This setting at the Waite place is going to be of immense value to the T. V. A. tree crop program. I met the daughter who knew very little about the trees, but the first thing she mentioned was the wonderful nuts they got off the McCalister tree.
I could identify a few of the trees but will not make much progress at it until this fall, when the nuts are ripe. They are heavily set with bloom now. To assist me in this work, I am wondering if the Association has anything in its files pertaining to the varieties that he has. As you know, one can identify a tree quicker if he knows what he is looking for.