The Fresh Droppings of Animals
| Bacteria Per Ounce | |
|---|---|
| Calf | 450,000,000 |
| Horse | 750,000,000 |
| Goat | 2,070,000,000 |
| Cow | 2,400,000,000 |
| Oyster Juice | 102,000,000 |
The bacteria in meats are identical in character with those of manure, and are more numerous in some meats than in fresh manure. All meats become infected with manure germs in the process of slaughtering, and the number increases the longer the meat is kept in storage.
Ordinary cooking does not destroy all of the germs of meat.
The importance of suppressing this intestinal putrefaction is becoming more and more evident as medical investigation and discoveries are continually bringing out new facts which show an intimate relation between intestinal poisons and many chronic maladies, including gall bladder disease, high blood pressure, heart disease which kills 300,000 Americans annually, Bright's disease, insanity and premature senility. Many physicians are on this account saying daily to patients, "Eat less meat." "Cut out beefsteak and chops," and "Change your intestinal flora so as to clear your coated tongue and eliminate the poison that taints your breath."
Nuts have the great advantage that although richer in protein than is meat, they are much less putrescible. Fresh meats are practically always in a state of putrefaction when eaten while nuts are delivered to us by the generous hand of Nature in aseptic packages, ready to eat, and presenting pure nutriment in the most condensed and refined form known to science. Fresh meats are always contaminated with colon and putrefactive germs with which they become contaminated in the slaughtering process. If flesh is to be used as food, animals should be killed with the same antiseptic precautions which are employed in modern surgery. This is never done, and within a few days after killing, the flesh of a slaughtered animal is swarming with colon germs, and when long kept for use of hotels and many restaurants, is covered with a beard of green mold. Such food is fit only for scavengers. Hamburger steak and pork liver often contain more manure germs than the fresh droppings of animals.
The liberal substitution of nuts for meats would save billions annually.
According to Prof. Baker, of the Department of Agriculture, fully 80 per cent of the total feed and food products in the United States is consumed by live stock. Most of these animals are consumed as food.
The enormous loss involved is shown by the fact that 100 pounds of digestible foodstuffs are required to produce 3 pounds of beef.
According to an announcement by the United States Bureau of Statistics, the per capita annual cost of meat in the United States is more than $80.00, which totals for the whole population nearly $10,000,000,000 per annum.
Prof. Baker suggests that the annual per capita consumption of meat might without injury be reduced from the present 170 pounds to fifty pounds, which would make a saving of $6,000,000,000 at least, for $1,000,000,000 would easily supply from nuts and other plant sources more than enough food to replace the discarded meats.
The general belief that nuts are an expensive food is an error. When a man pays a dollar for three pounds of steak, he is probably not aware of the fact that three-fourths of what he buys is simply water, so that the actual solid nutriment purchased amounts to not more than three-quarters of a pound, making the actual cost of the water-free food $1.33 per pound.
Two pounds of almonds or other nut meats which might be purchased at the same cost, would yield twice as much and better food.
If the whole beef industry were wiped out, the country would be the gainer.
What the nut industry needs most is a campaign of education to tell the American public about the superior values of nuts and to correct the errors broadcasted by the Meat Board. The public must not only be taught the value of nuts as set forth in Mr. Russell's admirable book, but should be encouraged by government aid to plant nut trees on barren mountain sides and areas devastated by lumbering operations. If every lumberman had been required by law to plant a nut tree for every ten timber trees cut down during the last 50 years, a food source would have been provided which would insure more than an ample supply of precious protein and satisfying fat to feed 120,000,000 of Americans if the cereal food crops were destroyed by a drouth or predatory insects.
If nut trees were planted along all our highways and railway thoroughfares, a food crop would be produced of greater nutrient value than that yielded at the present time by the entire live stock industry.
That an educational campaign may be made to succeed was shown by the experience of the raisin producers of California.
Some years ago, when the raisin industry was prostrate, I received a letter from the secretary of an association organized for the purpose of trying to revive the industry, asking for information concerning the food value of raisins. I called attention to the fact that the raisin is rich in food iron and a good source for this food mineral and suggested that if the people were made acquainted with this fact through a broad advertising campaign, the demand for this delectable fruit might be greatly increased. "Have you eaten your iron?" soon appeared in the newspapers throughout the land, and the raisin farmers of California found it necessary to enlarge their vineyards.
A discouraging feature of the nut industry to beginners is the long time required to bring trees to bearing. On this account, it seems to me that state and federal governments should lend the industry a helping hand. I would suggest that this association should instruct its president and secretary to make an earnest effort to persuade state and federal governments to give more attention to the planting of nut trees in their reforesting operations.
A broad belt of nut trees running the length of the great timberline which is to be created for the protection of the western states from a recurrence of drouth, might prove a more dependable protection to our food supply than the possible effect of a narrow strip of woodland upon the country's climate.
I append a table which shows the high food value of nuts as compared with other common foods. One pound of walnut meats equals in food value each of the following:
| Pounds | |
| Beef loin, lean | 4.00 |
| Beef ribs, lean | 6.50 |
| Beef neck, lean | 9.50 |
| Veal | 5.50 |
| Mutton leg, lean | 4.20 |
| Ham, lean | 3.00 |
| Fowls | 4.00 |
| Chicken, broilers | 10.00 |
| Red Bass | 25.00 |
| Trout | 4.80 |
| Frog's legs | 15.00 |
| Oysters | 13.50 |
| Lobsters | 22.00 |
| Eggs | 5.00 |
| Milk | 9.50 |
| Evaporated cream | 4.00 |
Dr. Deming:
I am sure everyone feels that the trip here would be worth while if we didn't receive another bit of information but your paper, and they would really like to develop some kind of an ailment so that they could place themselves under your care.
Mr. Reed:
About five years ago I spent a few hours here in Battle Creek, largely as a guest of Dr. Kellogg over at his home. While I was there he introduced me to quite a variety of soy bean products and he rather disturbed me by telling me that beans had much the same food values as nuts. He reminded me that you could grow a crop of beans every year. You can't be sure of doing that with nut trees. He gave me an economic idea to think about. I wonder if he has anything to say about beans now. Are beans going to supplant nuts?
Dr. Kellogg:
I confess that it seems to me, from a practical and economic standpoint, that the soy bean is a very strong rival of the nut industry. I would like to inquire how many acres are at the present time planted in nuts. How many acres have been added in the last twenty years? There are, at the present time, more than 3,000,000 acres of soy beans being planted every year. It has only been a short time since they were first introduced and there are more being planted every year.
I believe that the government ought to take an interest in this matter of nut tree planting, for I believe that is the best way in which it can be promoted. I have for several years been trying to find someone who has made a fortune out of raising nuts but I have not yet found such a man. I believe, however, that it is a veritable gold mine of value but will have to have governmental aid. I think the government should require all of these slaughtering lumbermen to plant nut trees in the place of the trees they are cutting down.
Mr. Corsan:
The nut tree is one of the things that will make the boys and girls of the farm love their homes. In a few years boys and girls will be going back to a beautiful farm, not to pig pens, but where there are beautiful trees.
Nut Culture Work of the Living Tree Guild
By Miss Dorothy C. Sawyer, New York
The Living Tree Guild appreciates the privilege of presenting a paper at the silver anniversary convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association. We feel in a humble mood when talking to you. We are new comers in the field and the work we have done in furthering interest in the subject of northern nut culture is only taking what you have created and endeavoring to make it intelligible and useful to the public. It is something which arouses our enthusiasm. We have great faith in the value of planting grafted nut trees in the North. This new resource for beautifying and making idle land productive is no longer restricted to this small group of nut culturists, but it is now practical, for anyone with a little land and the urge to grow things, to enjoy the planting of nut trees.
Our function is in educating more people to an appreciation of what improved nut trees are and what they can do as they are at present developed. Nut growing is just beginning to come into its own and the nut tree should take its place as a valuable shade tree, should be included in the home orchard and used as a paying crop by the farmer in the North. The Guild is especially interested in introducing and popularizing new horticultural developments. It publishes a new type of tree as a publisher does a book. We serve as a connecting link between the horticulturist and the layman, aiming to coordinate the work of horticulturists and to interpret the meaning of this work to prospective planters of trees. We act as a sort of educational sieve, our aim being to extend the number of tree planters. This is a sales job and the Living Tree Guild is a sales organization. We work through the press by means of conservative advertising and publicity articles, through personal contact by means of exhibits and individual interviews and through the mails by means of carefully prepared bulletins of information and well selected photographs. We work to gather all the authentic information and offer this to our customers as a unique service. Frankly we believe that there is no other organization in the country that is as closely associated as we are with the authorities on tree planting. Dr. Morris, whom we all know as the dean of northern nut culture, is a member of our Board of Advisors.
In order to symbolize the grafted nut tree the Guild has adopted a brand name, Guild Pedigree, based on the fact that the mother trees have been carefully selected and are well known for their quality. Experiments have shown that they represent a selected family line and develop true to its characteristics.
We have been in touch with northern nut tree planting for a good many years, but our sales work has been limited to the past three years which, of course, means that we have never tried to sell nut trees in so-called normal times. Yet Guild Pedigrees have bucked these economic obstacles and they are becoming recognized as offering a remarkable opportunity to the business man who has property and to the busy farmer to make their idle land productive with a minimum amount of care and attention. They realize that the difficult operation of grafting has been successfully accomplished and that they need only prepare the ground for planting according to the character of the soil and with a little pruning and cultivation within a few years may be assured of a new type of crop for which there is a growing demand. They recognize the value of these trees over ordinary fruit trees which require numerous sprayings a year and whose extremely perishable crop must be carefully picked from the trees. Everyone knows that a certain amount of effort is required to get good returns from farming, but comparatively speaking improved nut trees have a decided advantage in their facility of growth, which means that they can be planted by a much wider range of growers than almost any other kind of crop.
In all of this we speak primarily of the black walnut which we recognize as the best nut tree for extensive planting in the North. We believe the hazel hybrids and filberts are of value as a secondary nut crop, as fillers-in between the black walnuts or used as ornamental bushes for screening around the grounds. Where local conditions justify it we recommend that the home orchard include a variety of nut trees, the English walnut, the northern pecan, certain hybrid hickories and a highly blight-resistant chestnut. The Guild has realized from the start that most laymen know little or nothing about the planting of nut trees. We, therefore, work with them individually, advising them in detail on their particular plantings. We keep a record of all Guild Pedigree nut trees, particularly of the black walnut, each one of which bears a tag with a serial number. We keep a record of this number and are gradually building up a case history of each tree, in so far as possible, in some instances complete with photographs. We include the conditions under which the tree was planted, whether as an orchard or as an ornamental tree, the amount of care and attention given it and its gradual development and increase in bearing. This is also being done with every tree that is included in the experimental orchard the Guild is operating in the Connecticut River valley.
The data that we are obtaining in this way is aiding us in publishing the latest authentic information on what happens when nut trees are planted by laymen under varying conditions. We believe these records will be a unique contribution of the Guild to northern nut culture. By this means we can already point to certain Guild Pedigrees as having made unusual growth or only average development, together with the probable explanation, and of course to some that have died from natural causes or from attacks by woodchucks or the like. We can offer records of plantings of Pedigrees that have been made in practically all the leading states, Canada and even abroad. Perhaps one of the most interesting case histories is that of Pedigree No. 1527 which was planted in the spring of 1932 as a Washington Bicentennial tree. This tree, set as a single specimen, came into full leaf immediately after planting and a year later was all of seven feet tall and had three mature black walnuts for its first crop. It is the proud possession of two small boys.
Young as we are in the field we have given authentic information on the planting of northern nut trees to several thousands of tree lovers. We have found a definite demand for detailed knowledge, and recognition of our work has been shown by the great interests in exhibits we have staged and from several awards which we have received from such organizations as the Horticultural Society of New York. An analysis shows that Guild nut tree plantings range from the true farmer to the gentleman farmer, from the small lot owner to the owner of hundreds of acres of non-dividend paying land, from the keen horticulturist to the youth who is taking his first step in following a fascinating new hobby.
The selling of nut trees is a very special problem. It is not like selling other kinds of trees. We recognize the fact that those who plant Pedigree nut trees are in a class by themselves and we, therefore, set up a separate department for them, making a special study of the subject. We feel certain that there is a great future ahead for nut growing in the North with our associations cooperating in the distribution of information and stock developed from actual experimentation over a period of years. Above all it is important to understand what others are doing, and appreciate that the commercial side should go hand in hand with the purely horticultural.
Progress Report on Nut Growing in the Ithaca, N. Y. Region
By Dr. L. H. MacDaniels New York
The status of nut growing in the Ithaca region was reported at the Washington, D. C. meeting of this association in 1932. Since that time there has been little change in the situation except that a few more of the varieties have come into bearing, and the severe winter of 1933-34 has injured the trees of many varieties.
The plantings in the vicinity of Ithaca are confined chiefly to those of the Department of Pomology at Cornell University, and those of Mr. S. H. Graham who is a member of this association and has been planting nut trees for many years. Other than these there are only scattered trees either native or planted around the dooryards by amateurs without any very keen interest in northern nut growing. The purpose of the plantings at Cornell University is primarily to test out varieties for their suitability for growing in the rather rigorous climate of the region. Farmers and others throughout New York state look to the experiment stations for information regarding the possibilities of nut culture and the varieties which might be planted to advantage.
As has been pointed out previously, the number of varieties adapted to the region is distinctly limited because of unfavorable climatic conditions. These climatic conditions are more fully described in Bulletin 573 of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell entitled "Nut Growing in New York State." The breeding of new varieties and other investigational work is being carried on at the Geneva Experiment Station where, as you know, Prof. G. L. Slate has been growing many varieties of filberts for some years.
The university plantings at Ithaca consist of about an acre set about 20 years ago, including a number of varieties of different nuts recommended for planting at that time. There is also about an acre of "butterjaps" which are growing vigorously but have shown little promise of value because of a lack of hardiness and generally poor cracking quality. The most important planting is about 5 acres of cleared woodland in which many hickories have come up naturally. These have been top worked to many of the leading hickory varieties. A considerable number of walnut stocks have also been planted in this area and top-worked to walnut varieties. Plans are under way to acquire 10 or 15 additional acres to be used for further variety tests as new varieties are brought to light in the various nut variety contests which are being carried on.
Up to and including 1934 the black walnuts that have fruited are the Thomas, the Ohio, and the Stabler. Of these the Thomas is the only one which is at all satisfactory. This variety has fruited 3 years in succession and has matured well-filled nuts every year. The Ohio and Stabler have been shy bearers and in addition the nuts have been small and not well filled. Both are evidently adapted to a longer growing season than that at Ithaca. In 1934 one Stambaugh graft matured about 40 nuts. This variety appears promising but needs further testing. In another year or two at least a dozen more of the promising varieties of black walnuts should come into bearing.
Among the hickories the Barnes, of which there are 3 trees, has fruited several times but in no case have the nuts been filled. The Brooks, the Stanley, and the Weiker have also fruited sparingly but the nuts have not been filled. During the past season, 1934, a few nuts were borne on the Taylor, Kentucky, and Vest hickory trees, which were well filled. It may be that these varieties will prove suitable for the region. The Kentucky looks particularly promising. The Beaver and the Fairbanks have borne a few nuts but the quality is not sufficiently good to make them worth growing. The Burlington hybrid pecan makes a very beautiful tree and has set nuts in several seasons, but they are not well filled. About half a dozen varieties of northern pecans have been fairly hardy but the seasons are too short to mature the nuts. They have always been frozen on the trees while still very green.
During the past winter the temperature went down to -35° F. at the University orchard. This killed most of the Persian walnuts outright. Even the hardy varieties, Rush and Hall, were killed back to a few buds on the trunks and larger branches. This experience has been quite general throughout New York where the temperature went down below -25° F. It is to be hoped that some of the new sorts being introduced from the Ukraine will be better able to stand the low temperatures experienced in New York. The low temperature very seriously damaged the 60 Chinese chestnuts growing in the University orchard, killing the terminals back for several feet and the sapwood all the way out to the combium and down to the snow line. The trees so injured made only fair recovery and it is doubtful if they are worth saving. Some Chinese chestnut trees nearer Cayuga Lake where the temperature only reached -27° F. were only slightly injured. It would seem, therefore, that around -30° F. was the critical temperature for the Chinese chestnut. The Japanese walnuts were not injured seriously by the cold weather of the winter. Many of the more tender seedlings had already been eliminated by the cold winters of the past. The Japanese walnuts were, however, badly damaged by the late spring frost which froze off the catkins and new shoots. This has occurred several times in the last ten years and is a serious drawback to the bearing of this species. Hickories and black walnuts for the most part showed no injury except in the case of rapidly growing grafts. All of the McCallister hican grafts were killed outright as were a number of grafts of the shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa). At Enfield Park where the probable temperature was about -27° F. one McCallister pecan graft survived. The filberts were quite generally damaged both in wood and catkins, except the Rush, which fruited heavily. Northern pecans had their terminals killed back about 6 inches but were otherwise uninjured.
In my judgment the greatest need of northern nut growing is the discovery and testing of new varieties adapted to the different northern regions. To find and test these varieties is probably the greatest service that the Northern Nut Growers' Association can perform. We cannot expect that nurserymen will propagate commercially the new nuts which are discovered until they are sufficiently tested to establish the value of the variety for different regions. As has been pointed out, the Northern Nut Growers' Association is in much the same position as was the American Pomological Society 100 or more years ago when information regarding new varieties was the main interest of the fruit industry. In this connection it would seem to me well worth while to carry out the idea proposed by Dr. Deming last year which he called the Roll Call of Nut Varieties. The older sorts have now been planted sufficiently widely by members of the association to make it possible to get some adequate idea of their suitability for growing in various localities. Those who have the interest of the association at heart should do all they can to obtain and grow any new varieties that offer any promise of being adapted to their locality. It is only by carrying out such a program that we shall have any real basis for making recommendations as to varieties adapted to different regions.
I must confess that I am still skeptical about a commercial nut industry in New York on the basis of our present varieties. After more than 20 years of variety testing in Ithaca only the Thomas black walnut has shown any real merit. All the other sorts that were propagated and recommended have shown themselves to be quite unsuitable to the climate. A grower setting out a commercial orchard 20 years ago on the basis of our knowledge of varieties at that time would now have practically nothing to show, except as he happened to have the Thomas black walnut, or possibly some of the hickories of northern origin. At the present time the number of promising varieties known has been greatly increased. They are, however, not available in the trade, nor will they be until they have been adequately tested to establish their merit. Fortunately some of the nurserymen growing nut trees are willing to run test orchards as well. They are few in number and of course their work must be augmented by the work of others in the association. What we need more than anything else are test orchards in different localities in which the relative yield of the different varieties over a period of years will be kept. On the basis of such data recommendations as to varieties to plant can be made with some degree of assurance that the information given is sound.
Mr. C. A. Reed:
Prof. MacDaniels may have told you of a number of promising varieties which he personally has been responsible for bringing to light during the last year. If he didn't I hope that he will tell as a matter of record how he came to get them and just what they are.
Prof. MacDaniels:
Prof. O. F. Curtis of Cornell University and I made a pilgrimage of about a thousand miles back to the stamping ground of our youth with the avowed purpose of hunting down some of the best black walnuts of the region. The trip, though a hurried one, was packed with interest. In all, four walnuts were located which seemed well worth testing. Probably the best of these is the Albert Todd. The nut is thin hulled, a little smaller than the Thomas but with a thicker kernel. The tree was about dead when found but scions were procured and are now growing at Ithaca and Geneva. Another variety is the Emerson, located at Madison, Ohio. This is a large round nut with a rather tough shell and high proportion of kernel. Mr. Emerson has a good stand of native walnut growing on bottom land. A few years ago he sold 25 trees to a furniture company for $1000.
The third nut Dr. Curtis found on a previous journey to Ohio. It is a large nut of rather unusual shape being higher than it is long. It has good cracking quality and deserves further testing. The fourth walnut, the Chase, is growing in a dooryard at Oberlin, Ohio. It is larger than any of the others, with good shell conformation. It has the reputation of not always filling out the kernels, a condition which may be seasonal or possibly an inherent defect. Grafts of all four of these walnuts are growing at Ithaca and at Geneva and will be available after a year or two.
We had one disappointment in that a tree that we particularly wanted was found to have died only two years before. It was the old story of being too late. Certainly such experiences ought to spur this association to new efforts in trying to locate the best nut trees before they are destroyed.
Some Random Notes on Nut Culture
By D. C. Snyder, Iowa
Any notes concerning the behavior of nut trees in Iowa this year necessarily recall the trying weather conditions and these must be referred to again and again. Although winter temperatures were quite mild, catkins on the filberts and hazels were so badly injured that none bloomed on the filberts and very few on the Jones hybrids which had previously been hardy. The native hazels bloomed but set very few nuts, apparently because of their repeatedly freezing during the blooming period. The Winkler hazel seems to be a phenomenal individual and a poor parent, not reproducing anywhere nearly true. Thus far all its seedlings have produced nuts inferior to the parent variety even when they were from seed which was cross-pollinated by other choice hazels or filberts. They do, however, show much variation in foliage, bushes and fruit and what the second generation may bring forth is yet to be determined. Established hazel plants endured the extreme heat and drought splendidly, but newly planted bushes did not. Well-rooted layers and divisions planted out early made a splendid start, then backed up and were a total failure before the July rains came.
That you may know how dry it was in Iowa the first six months of 1934, let me tell you that only about two-thirds of the oats sown in April in well prepared soil got moisture enough to germinate then, and about the same part of the corn planted in May germinated. Well, along in June a shower furnished enough moisture to germinate the remaining part, so we had corn 2 to 3 feet high and in adjacent hills only 2 or 3 inches high, and oats which were headed out mixed with others of the same sowing which were just up.
The walnuts endured these extremely dry conditions better than any fruit or nut bearing trees. Young seedlings made quite a satisfactory growth and year old seedlings lined out for future grafting made almost a perfect stand, as did the grafted trees which were unsold and lined out at the end of the selling season. The heavy loss in walnuts was in the grafts set in May. This will be mentioned later.
The shortage of moisture in 1933 apparently was responsible for considerable winter killing of young hickories which were in sod. There was no loss in cultivated ground. The hickories were like the apples this year in that they did not bloom much, and unlike them in that the apples ripened ahead of their normal season, while the hickories ripened later. Stratford nuts are usually ready to gather September 1 but this year are still clinging to the trees. Fairbanks is our most prolific kind. Nuts closely resembling Fairbanks, yet somewhat different from it, keep bobbing up on different sides of us when there is a good crop of hickory nuts. None of them have yet been superior to Fairbanks. Perhaps one should give each a good testing and keep up a search for one with better quality than Fairbanks. Certainly there is no reason for calling Stratford a hybrid. It is one of a group of shagbarks with smaller leaves and buds, and thinner husks than are found in what we would call a typical shagbark. The shagbarks might be divided into several species and be as distinct as some of the species of other trees, such as the ash for example. Vest and Hand represent another group with thin, wavy shells and thereby are quite distinct from the typical shagbarks.
On account of extremely hot weather coming so early the nut trees were grafted earlier than usual and in this order: chestnuts, bitternuts, hickory stocks, shagbark stocks and, after a few days, the walnuts and pecans. The grafting was successful in the order worked. Immediately after the walnuts and pecans were worked the temperature began mounting, reaching 114° F. in the shade at one time, and of course much more in the sun and just above the bare dry ground. The chestnuts and bitternuts had time to knit together before the extreme heat and gave a splendid stand. The shagbarks also made a good stand. But the walnuts and pecan stocks were near a total failure. Apparently what occurred was that the grafting wax and paraffin which was coated over the scion melted and penetrated the union, like that much kerosene or penetrating oil, and prevented callusing. The cions remained plump and green for a long time except for a thin layer at the cut surfaces. The usual resin, beeswax, linseed oil and lamp black grafting wax was used. Can anyone suggest a wax which will remain absolutely dry under the conditions described above? What happened, as near as I can tell, is that the extremely hot weather and the continuation of it melted the grafting wax and the paraffin. They fused and made a new combination which looked like grease and absolutely prevented any growth. The shagbark hickories gave a good stand, about as perfect a stand as you could expect in hickories. Last of all the pecan stocks were worked. They should have been the easiest to work but they were a total failure. That is because the hot weather set in less than a week after they were set, while the others had more time. The problem I would like to see solved is one of a wax which will remain absolutely dry during such times, and I think then we will have solved one of the big problems of propagation.
Prof. Neilson:
I've had more or less trouble with grafting waxes since I began to graft nut trees, and I have therefore been looking for a wax that would stand up under extremely hot weather and which could be applied cold and was not too costly. I think I have found one that comes nearest to the ideal. It is an asphalt tree emulsion made by the Flintkote Co. of New York City. This emulsion can be purchased in five gallon drums at 60c a gallon in Detroit. It can be diluted with water and applied in a thin or heavy coating. I used this wax last summer and I am better pleased with it than any other wax I have ever tried.
Mr. Weber:
I thought a few years ago that I had eliminated wax trouble, but finally I came to the conclusion that when you have a temperature that runs beyond the place that will melt ordinary paraffin the heat will kill the grafts.
Mr. Walker:
This question is an old one. Last winter and the winter before I did a little work on the old reports. You will find some mighty good winter reading there. I find things hashed and rehashed over and over again. The subject of grafting wax, of course, was discussed years ago. I might caution you on the asphalt. It will have to be the highest, purest grade.
Member:
You can easily prevent wax from getting in between the scion and the stock by using a paper or cellophane.
Mr. Snyder:
These grafts were tied with tape. I'm sure that this oil would penetrate anything which was not absolutely air tight.
Winter Injury of Filberts at Geneva 1933-34[A]
By G. L. Slate
New York Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y.
Last year I reported to you the winter injury to the Geneva filbert collection resulting from a very mild winter. This year I am reporting the damage resulting from the coldest winter on record in western New York. Varieties that have withstood both winters may be considered sufficiently hardy for anything western New York and regions with a similar climate have to offer in climate.
A brief summary of the winter and its effects on other fruit plants in the vicinity of Geneva will serve as a background for the data on filberts. The first severe cold occurred on December 29 when the temperature dropped to -21° F. This equalled the previous low record established in February, 1896. On February 9 the minimum temperature recorded was -31° F. or ten degrees lower than anything previously recorded in the history of the Station. The minimum on February 8 was -16° F. and on February 10, -18° F.
Fruit trees suffered severe injury from these extreme temperatures. Nearly all the older Baldwin apple trees in the vicinity were killed or so severely injured as to be of no further value for fruit production. Peach fruit buds were all killed and many of the trees succumbed, even in well cared for orchards. Very few sweet cherry buds survived, and many trees were injured or killed. Delaware, Catawba and Niagara grapes were also killed to the ground or lost most of their buds. Japanese plums failed to bloom, and the trees were severely injured. Nearly all climbing roses were killed to the ground. Even the native elderberry, Sambucus canadensis, was killed back in many cases. Such was the winter experienced by the filberts.
Before classifying the filbert varieties as to their hardiness, some general statements regarding the effect of the cold on the filberts may be of interest.
The injury to the wood seemed to be due to a gradual drying out and the clear cut distinction between winter killed wood and live wood so evident in peaches, apples, and pears did not show in the filberts. The wood of the filberts had a dried out appearance with a few brown streaks so that one could not predict definitely in February the amount of injury. It was not until midsummer that a true picture of the injury to the wood could be obtained. This gradual drying out of the wood without the clear cut distinctions between dead and live wood also characterized the winter killing of the wood of grapes and raspberries. In the spring new growth on the injured filbert wood started late. If the injury was slight the foliage soon reached normal size. In some cases the early leaves were very small, but later attained normal size. With trees that were severely injured the leaves remained small until midsummer and then gradually turned yellow and died. Many branches were killed outright and failed to start or only a bud here and there would start. On the trees of a few varieties that were injured the least, a few small leaves were the chief evidence of winter injury.
The recuperative power of the filbert seems to be nearly as great as that of the peach and pear insofar as this may be determined by observation in the orchard. In spite of the past winter the station filbert orchards present a fairly good appearance except for a few varieties. It is probably safe to consider filberts as hardy as peaches and sweet cherries.
The flowers of the filbert show a greater range in hardiness than those of peaches and sweet cherries. The staminate flowers or catkins of a few varieties are definitely hardier than peach flowers. Not a single peach blossom survived but three filberts bloomed with only slightly more than the usual amount of catkin killing. The pistillate or female flowers are much hardier than peach flowers. The pistillate flowers are also hardier than the wood as flowers were observed on trees the wood of which was nearly dead by midsummer. In the older orchard about 16 varieties bore a number of pistillate flowers that were recorded as medium or greater. These did not all set nuts, however, owing to the scarcity of pollen, but the crop on seven varieties was about medium. It should be emphasized at this point that there were no peaches, practically no Japanese plums, very few sweet cherries, and very few grapes in the Station orchards and vineyards this year. Trees in the partially protected orchard fared somewhat better in regard to catkin injury than those in the more exposed orchard. That full exposure to the wind has much to do with winter killing of catkins is shown by the following. After the severe freeze of December 29 and 30 when -21° F. was experienced, catkins of several varieties were forced in the office. These all opened and shed pollen normally. January 29 and 30 near zero temperatures were experienced with very strong winds. Catkins forced in the office immediately after this were nearly all killed. Since zero temperatures are not uncommon at Geneva in winter, but are rare with strong winds, much of the injury may be attributed to the combination of wind and cold.
Young trees were injured less in wood than old trees. This is well shown by a comparison of two lots of Kentish Cob of different ages. Nine 9-year-old trees were killed back from 50 to 80 percent in addition to considerable weakening of the remaining wood. Eleven two-year-old trees in the same orchard were uninjured.
The importance of exposure to winds as a factor in causing catkin killing is further shown by a comparison of catkin killing in the two filbert orchards at Geneva. In the younger orchard which is exposed to the full sweep of the west wind not a catkin survived on any of the 66 varieties in that orchard. In the other older orchard which is protected on the west and north by buildings and spruce trees, sufficient catkins survived on three varieties to provide for proper pollination. In discussing the effects of winter injury on the different varieties it will be necessary to make a distinction between the two orchards. Orchard 6 is the partially protected planting while Orchard 16 is fully exposed. Most of the trees in Orchard 6 were nine years old, while those in Orchard 16 are six years old or less. Wood injury, catkin injury, and pistil injury will be treated separately.
In the first group are those varieties which suffered very severe wood injury. They are Clackamas, Early Globe, English Cluster, and Oregon. The latter two are very similar and may be identical. These were all nine year old trees located in Orchard 6. The trees were so severely injured that their recovery is doubtful and the development of new trees from suckers will be necessary. Clackamas evidently suffered root killing as only one of the six trees is producing suckers. In this group the trees leaved out, but the foliage was small, usually less than one-fifth the size of normal foliage, and growth weak. By August the leaves were yellow and many were shrivelling.
Varieties moderately to severely injured in Orchard 6 were Barcelona, Kentish Cob (Du Chilly), Fertile de Coutard, Minna, Purple Aveline, Red Aveline, White Aveline, White Lambert, D'Alger, and Montebello. In Orchard 16 the severely injured varieties were Garibaldi, Kentish Filbert, Marquis of Lorne, Princess Royal, Red Skinned, The Shah, Webbs Prize Cob, Bandnuss, Einzeltragende Kegelformige, Liegels Zellernuss, Multiflora, Schlesierin, Sicklers Zellernuss, Truchsess Zellernuss, Vollkugel, Volle Zellernuss, Romische Nuss, Kruse and Rush. The trees of varieties in this group were severely injured, but have a fair chance of recovering. In many cases from 50 to 90 percent of the top was killed outright, and new growth was weak. Most of the trees have a few fairly strong shoots from the trunk or larger branches from which a new top may be developed. Four out of 22 trees of Barcelona were killed entirely, indicating root as well as top killing.
The last group includes those varieties of which less than 20 percent of the wood was killed. The new growth was weakened slightly or not at all. In many cases the tree is apparently uninjured and occasionally a single tree of a variety may be severely injured while the others are unhurt. Varieties in Orchard 6 belonging in this group are Alpha, Buttner Zeller, Cosford, Daviana, Gubener Zeller, Gunzlebener Zeller, Gustav Zeller, Lange Landsberger, Fichtwerdersche Zeller, Noce Lunghe, Italian Red, Large Globe, Medium Long, Bollwiller, Nottingham, Halle, Red Lambert, Gasaway, Guebener Barcelloner, Blumberger Zeller, Bixby, Jones Nos. 83, 207, 269, 310, and Corylus colurna.
In Orchard 16 varieties in this group include Cannon Ball, Duke of Edinburgh, Pearson's Prolific, Barr's Zellernuss, Berger's Zellernuss, Beethe's Zellernuss, Eckige Barcelloner, Grosse Kugelnuss, Heynicks Zellernuss, Jeeves Samling, Kadetten Zellernuss, Kaiserin Eugenie, Kurzhullige Zellernuss, Longe von Downton, Ludolph's Zellernuss, Luisen's Zellernuss, Mogulnuss, Neue Riesennuss, Northamptonshire, Prolifique a coque serree, Imperial de Trebizond, and Russ. Native sorts in this group are Winkler, Littlepage, Wilder, a Corylus americana variety from the east end of Lake Ontario, and a Corylus rostrata from Rhode Island. Seventeen 3-year old French varieties were also uninjured, but in view of the general lack of wood killing, on young filberts, they are not included in this list. It is evident then that we have a number of varieties of which the wood is fairly hardy.
Catkin killing was very severe in both orchards and only those varieties which had a few live catkins are listed. In Orchard 6 the catkin killing on five trees of Italian Red ranged from 20 to 50 percent and on six trees of Red Lambert from 10 to 20 percent. A few catkins on Alpha also survived. The remaining 35 filbert varieties in this orchard lost all their catkins. Several Jones hybrids in this orchard fared somewhat better. A few catkins survived on Bixby. Jones 269 lost 10 percent, Jones 310 lost 30 percent, and Jones 207 lost none of its catkins. All the catkins were killed on Jones 83.
In Orchard 16, the story is soon told. Not a single live catkin was found in the spring on the 66 filbert varieties in this orchard. Of the native hazels Bush lost all its catkins, and Winkler none. All catkins were dead on the Corylus rostrata from Rhode Island.
As stated earlier, the pistillate flowers were hardier than the catkins and nearly all varieties in both orchards had at least an occasional female flower. However, only those in which the number of pistillate flowers was described as medium or numerous will be recorded here. In Orchard 6 these varieties were Alpha, Cosford, Fichtwerdersche, Gubener Zeller, Gunzlebener Zeller, Gustav's Zeller, Longe Landsberger, Noce Lunghe, Italian Red, Medium Long, Bollwiller, White Lambert, Gasaway, Gubener Barcelloner, Blumberger Zeller, and Unknown. Five Jones hybrids including Bixby had a full pistillate bloom. Due to wood injury and possibly to a scarcity of pollen only a few of these varieties bore more than a few nuts. Varieties bearing a medium crop are Cosford, Italian Red, Medium Long, Gubener Zeller, Gunzlebener Zeller, Bollwiller, and Unknown. Four of Jones hybrids including Bixby, are bearing fair crops. The other varieties in this orchard are bearing only an occasional nut or none.
In Orchard 16 the pistillate flowers were described as medium or numerous on the following varieties: Barr's Zellernuss and the Winkler hazel. The other 65 varieties bore only an occasional flower. No filbert pollen was available in this orchard, consequently Winkler is the only variety fruiting.
In Orchard 16 were 534 two-year-old trees from crosses between Rush and various filbert varieties. The cross was made by Mr. Reed and the seedlings were sent to Geneva by the late Mr. Bixby. Of these 534 seedlings, 62 bore catkins. The catkins on 14 of these were uninjured, 19 had varying amounts of injury, and 29 suffered 100 percent killing. Three hundred and ninety-two bore pistillate flowers and 74 of these would probably have had full crops had they been pollinated. In view of the complete loss of catkins on the filbert varieties in this orchard, the survival of catkins on about half of the blooming seedlings is of considerable interest to the filbert breeder. In addition, none of these hybrids experienced any wood killing.
If the list of varieties which passed through the very severe winter of 1933-34 is compared with the list of varieties which were not seriously injured by the very mild winter of 1932-33, only two sorts, Italian Red and Red Lambert are found to be satisfactorily hardy in wood and catkin. Red Lambert is too unproductive to be used except as a pollenizer. Italian Red may therefore be considered the most promising variety now available for western New York conditions. The nut is satisfactory and the tree is one of the most productive. Cosford and Medium Long may also be considered among the hardiest in spite of the complete loss of catkins last winter. In all previous winters they have been among the hardiest in wood and catkins. No variety should be eliminated because of a lack of hardiness during the coldest winter on record in the region where it is being grown, if it possesses other desirable characters.
I think considerable encouragement may be derived from the previous winter's experience. We are at last down to rock bottom and know what is hardy and what is not. It is evident from the behavior of the Jones hybrids and Mr. Reed's hybrids involving a similar parentage that sufficiently hardy varieties will result from this line of breeding work to make filbert culture possible in those sections of the country that are not too cold for peaches.
[A] Approved by the Director of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station for publication as Journal Paper No. 49.