LITERATURE CITED
1. Bernthsen, A. and A. Semper Ueber die Constitution des Juglons und seine Synthese aus Naphtalin. Ber. d. deutsch. Chem. Gesellsch. 20: 934-941. 1887.
2. Brissemoret et Michaud Sur une nouvelle classe de médicaments de la peau; les quinones peroxydes. Jour. pharm. et chim. 7e ser. 16:283-285. 1917.
3. Brown, Babette I. Injurious influence of bark of black walnut on seedlings of tomato and alfalfa. Northern Nut Growers' Assn., Proc. 1942:97-102. 1943,
4. Combes, R. Sur un procéde de preparation et de purification des dérivés oxyanthraquinoniques et oxynapthoquinoniques en genéral, du juglon et de l'émodine en particulier. Bull. soc. chim. 4c ser. 1: 800-816. 1907.
5. Cook, Mel T. Wilting caused by walnut trees. Phytopathology 11:346. 1921.
6. Davis, Everett. The toxic principle of Juglans nigra as identified with synthetic juglone, and its toxic effects on tomato and alfalfa plants. Amer. Jour. Bot. 15: 620. 1928.
7. Greene, K.W. The toxic (?) effect of the black walnut: Northern Nut Growers' Assn., Proc. 1929: 152-156. 1930.
8. Jones, L. R. and W. J. Morse The shrubby cinquefoil as a weed. 16th Ann. Rpt, Vt, Agr. Expt. Sta. 188-190. 1902-03.
9. MacDaniels, L. H. and W. C. Muenscher Black walnut toxicity. Northern Nut Growers' Assn., Proc. 1940 172-179. 1941.
10. Massey, A. B. Antagonism of the walnuts (Juglans nigra I. and J. cinerea.) in certain plant associations. Phytopathology 15: 773-784. 1925.
11. Pirone, P. P. The detrimental effect of walnut to Rhododendrons and other ornamentals. Nursery Disease Notes 11; 1-4. 1938.
12. Plinius Secundus, C. The historie of the world. English translation by P. Holland, A. Islip, London. 1601.
13. Schneiderhan, F. J. The black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) as a cause of death to apple trees. Phytopathology 17: 529-540. 1927.
Possible Black Walnut Toxicity on Tomato and Cabbage
By Otto A. Reinking
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
The toxicity or antagonism of black walnut roots and those of certain other plants has been a controversial question. L. H. MacDaniels and W. C. Muenscher in a report on page 172 of the Thirty-first Annual Meeting of the Nut Growers' Association held in 1940 cited evidence pro and con relative to the toxic effect of black walnut on various crops. They concluded that because of conflicting evidence, the problem of walnut toxicity was still unsolved and needed further investigation. In 1942, Babette I. Brown reported on page 97 of the Thirty-third Annual Report of the Northern Nut Growers' Association, on the injurious influence of bark of black walnut roots on seedlings of tomato and alfalfa. It was concluded, from carefully conducted tests, that walnut roots produce a substance that may be injurious to certain other plants. Experimentation showed that the walnut root bark produces a substance that is injurious to alfalfa and tomato seedlings.
During the past years, a number of instances of stunting and wilting of tomato plants in the vicinity of black walnut trees has been observed. In 1942, a very definite case of wilting and stunting was noted in cabbage plants growing in the vicinity of a black walnut tree.
Severely wilted tomato plants were observed on July 30, 1943, in a field of tomatoes near Egypt, New York. This case was typical of others observed in tomato fields in recent years. The wilting and stunting were all located in one corner of the field, on both sides of which large black walnut trees were growing, and extended out in the field for a distance somewhat greater than the height of the trees. The rest of the field planted with the same stock of tomatoes was entirely healthy. The field had been planted to beans in 1942 and prior to that had been in grass for at least 7 years. The vascular bundles of affected plants were browned as in Verticillium or Fusarium wilt and in some bacterial diseases. No cankers or discolorations were observed on the external parts of the plants. In order to determine whether or not the wilting was caused by a fungus or bacterium, plants were collected for microscopic examination and for culturing to show possible presence of pathogens. The microscopic examinations showed the absence of fungi or bacteria in the vascular system or other plant tissues. The browning in the vascular bundles appeared to be confined to the phloem tissue. All attempts to culture a pathogenic fungus or bacterium from affected tissue was negative. Portions of diseased plants with discolored vascular bundles were placed in a damp chamber and no fungus or bacterial growth developed from the vascular system. From these field and laboratory studies, it was concluded that the wilting and stunting were not produced by a plant pathogen. Since the affected plants in the field were all confined to the area adjacent to black walnut trees, and the fact that it had been shown that the bark of this tree does produce a substance that is toxic to certain plants, it was concluded by circumstantial evidence alone that the wilting possibly was due to black walnut toxicity or antagonism of some sort.
In August of 1942, studies were made on wilted and stunted cabbage plants growing in a semicircle on one side of a field adjacent to a walnut tree (Fig. 1). The field was located near Hall, New York, in a region known to be infested with cabbage yellows. From a distance, the affected plants appeared to have yellows, but upon close study, it was found that they were merely wilted and stunted and did not show the other typical symptoms of the yellows disease. The root systems of wilted plants did not show the presence of club root or black rot infection. The plants in the field were all of one variety and came from the same seed bed. Microscopic studies and attempts to culture a fungus from the vascular bundles of affected plants showed the absence of any fungus that might have caused, the disease. Since the affected plants showed no symptoms of known cabbage diseases and as they were growing in a semicircle adjacent to a walnut tree, it was concluded that the presence of the root system of this tree might have been the cause of the trouble.
Fig. 1. Wilted and stunted cabbage plants growing in a semicircle adjacent to a black walnut tree. Note large, healthy plants in foreground, side and background about a semicircle of smaller, wilted plants, growing in an area affected by the root system of the black walnut tree.
These two instances of wilting and stunting of plants in the vicinity of walnut trees give further circumstantial evidence that the trouble might have been caused by the toxicity or antagonism of black walnut roots. Detailed experiments with the plants in question would have to be run to prove this assumption.
Preliminary Studies on Catkin Forcing and Pollen Storage of Corylus and Juglans
L. G. Cox, Cornell University
Methods of collecting and storing pollen are of great interest to those engaged in plant breeding. Very little reliable information is available for the various nut species compared with many other horticultural plants. The following preliminary experiments were conducted to obtain data on germination media, forcing methods, and storage conditions for Corylus and Juglans Sieboldiana pollen. The former was mostly from hybrid plants produced by crossing the Rush filbert (Corylus americana) with European varieties.
The optimum temperature and sugar concentration for germination of Corylus pollen.
The cut ends of Corylus branches with mature catkins collected March 1, 1942 were immersed in water and forced into shedding pollen in a room at a temperature of approximately 20° centigrade. The collected pollen was sifted upon the surface of a thin layer of sugar-agar in petri dishes.
Commercial cane sugar was used in preference to purified sucrose, because other studies have shown it to contain impurities which stimulate pollen germination. A range in sugar concentration from 5% to 55% by weight in 5% intervals was made up in distilled water containing 1.5% agar, heated to boiling and poured into the petri dishes.
The pollen was incubated at 10° C. and at 25° C. on the agar medium for 48 and 24 hours respectively prior to making the germination counts. Pollen was assumed to have germinated if the length of the pollen tube exceeded the diameter of the pollen grain.
At 25° C. germination was prompt and uniform with a maximum of 19.5% at 25% sugar concentration. At 10° C. the rate of germination was very slow and incomplete at the end of 48 hours with a maximum of 9% germination at 35% sugar concentration. For subsequent work a temperature of 25° C. and a sugar concentration of 25% by weight was taken as a standard.
The effect of temperature and humidity during forcing on the viability of the pollen
Pollen shed from catkins forced in a warm, dry room (about 75° F.), and in a cool, humid greenhouse (60° F.) gave pollen germinating 36% and 69% respectively, which indicated that the air temperature and humidity surrounding the developing catkins may have considerable effect on the viability of the maturing pollen.
The experiment was repeated by forcing the catkins at 10° C., 18-20° C., and 24-26° C., at two humidity levels. The low humidity level corresponded to the natural room humidity, about 25% and the higher level of nearly 100% was achieved by enclosing the branches with catkins in large sealed cans over a water surface. As soon as a majority of the catkins began to shed their pollen or to absciss their full developed anthers, the catkins were removed and dried on a sheet of smooth paper at room temperature until the pollen was shed. The pollen was then collected and stored at 4° C. until used. The results obtained are given in table 1.
Table 1. Percentage germination after 24 hours of Filbert pollen
forced at different temperatures and humidities.
| Temperature | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10° C. | 18-20° C. | 24-26° C. | |
| Low humidity | 80 | 31 | 7 |
| High humidity | 96 | 60 | 12 |
Later experiments indicate that the pollen viability is greatly lowered if the catkins are removed from the higher humidities prior to the maturity of the anthers as indicated by their tendency to shed their pollen. Apparently the high humidity hinders the dehiscence of anthers and shedding of the pollen grains.
Effect of catkins extracts on pollen germination
The failure of pollen to germinate in the catkins at 100% humidity suggested the possibility that the catkin tissue might contain some substance which prevented germination of the mature pollen grains until after it was shed.
Two mature catkins plus remnants of their unshed pollen were ground in a mortar with a small amount of water in clear quartz sand. One cubic centimeter of the resulting turbid suspension was added to 10 cc. of warm fluid agar and mixed by rotating the petri dish.
Pollen which gave a 91% germination on the standard medium showed only 50% germination on this catkin extract. Germination was distinctly abnormal with short stubby pollen tubes, often with numerous nodular swellings. In general the pollen tube grew up into the air away from the surface of the agar, rather than down into it or parallel with the surface as in normal germination.
Storage of Corylus and Juglans Sieboldiana pollen
Sulphuric acid solutions to give humidities from 10% to 100% in 10% intervals were made up. The storage chambers consisted of Atlas one-pint, wide-mouth fruit jars. In the bottom of each was placed a small 1-oz. bottle containing 20 cc. of the sulphuric acid solution. The pollen was placed in small glass vials loosely stoppered with cotton.
Two lots of Corylus pollen of 80½ and 96½ initial viability respectively, and one lot of Juglans Sieboldiana pollen of well over 50% viability were used in the experiment. Storage temperatures of 0° 40° and 10° were used.
The Corylus pollen was placed in storage March 20, 1942, and the Juglans April 12, 1942. The pollen was taken out of storage November 28, 1942 and germinated on the standard agar-sugar medium at 25° C. for 24 hours. Results are given in table II.
Table II. The effect of storage temperature and humidity on
percentage germination of Corylus and Juglans pollen
| Kind of Pollen | Temperature Centigrade | Degrees Per cent relative humidity | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | ||
| Corylus | 10° | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Juglans | — | 0 | — | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| Corylus | 4° | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Juglans | — | 0 | — | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Corylus | 0° | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 8.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Juglans | — | 0 | — | 12.0 | — | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | |
This preliminary work indicates that Corylus pollen can best be stored at 0° C. at 30 to 40% relative humidity and Juglans pollen at 0° C. at 40 to 60% relative humidity.
Summary
1. The optimum sugar concentration for germination of Corylus pollen is around 25% by weight in 1.5 per cent agar at 25° C.
2. Forcing the catkins at a low temperature (4° C.) and at high relative humidity (80%) favors the development of a high percentage of viable pollen.
3. The catkins contain some substance which when added to the germination media inhibits pollen germination and causes abnormal types of germination.
4. Preliminary results on pollen storage indicate that Corylus americana pollen can be stored for eight months or more in a viable condition at 0° C. with a range of 30 to 40% relative humidity. Juglans Sieboldiana pollen can be stored at 0° C. at 40 to 60% relative humidity. Whether or not pollen stored for this length of time would be effective in plant breeding should be tested by actual trial. The supposition based upon studies with other pollens is that germination tests are a reliable indication of the effectiveness of pollen in fertilization.
Storage and Germination of Nuts of Several Species of Juglans
W. C. Muenscher and Babette I. Brown
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
While working on the general problem of the possible toxic effect of the roots of species of Walnut (Juglans) upon other plants we have had occasion to germinate the nuts to produce seedlings for experimental use.[1] The storage treatment employed previous to planting the nuts provided a successful method of supplying viable nuts. The simple treatment used, a modification of that suggested by Barton,(2) is briefly described and the results that may be obtained are indicated in a report of some germination data from the plantings of 1943.
The nuts were harvested after they had fallen from the trees and were stored in a cool place as soon as possible thereafter until the time when the husks were removed. Those harvested at Ithaca were put in cold storage at once; those harvested in California or Texas were delayed a few weeks during shipment. The husked nuts were stratified between layers of moist peat 2 cm. thick in two-or five-gallon crocks. The uppermost layer of nuts was covered with peat to a depth of about 10 cm. The nuts were placed in a cold room at 1 to 3° C. in late autumn and left until they were planted, between April 15 and June 2. Nearly all species used germinated well after about five to six months of cold storage.
Table 1 shows the results obtained from treated nuts of ten species of Juglans when they were planted in the open field, in soil in the greenhouse or in moist sphagnum in the greenhouse. While some variation in germination is observed, most of the species gave a good germination under all treatments. The field planted seeds were somewhat slower in appearing above the soil surface than those planted in the greenhouse. This delay may have been caused by the cold rainy weather soon after planting. The firmness of the soil, a clay loam, may also have retarded the emergence of the seedlings.
The germination percentages are based upon lots of 100 nuts except in a few species in which only 50 nuts were used. Differences in the percentage of germination obtained from various plantings of the same species are slight in most species. Even the larger differences in germination obtained in a few species cannot be considered significant but probably indicate variations in the quality of the original lots used.