Progress Report from Connecticut Experiment Station, Dated November 15, 1943
Many years ago, at a time when the American chestnut was still the king of the woods, a farmer set out a small orchard of nut trees on the bank of the Connecticut River flood plain north of Hartford. Now, some 60 years later, one lone Japanese chestnut survives. Dr. Donald F. Jones of the Agricultural Station in New Haven, who recently investigated the tree, believes it is by far the oldest living chestnut in the State. And the most interesting thing about the tree is that it shows no signs of blight, the disease that destroyed all the native chestnuts.
Dr. Jones' attention was called to the tree late last fall by a hunter who noticed a deposit of chestnut hulls in the river bank. On investigation, the man discovered the tree and was impressed by its size. This fall the tree was visited in search of nuts. There, rising above the brush and brambles of what is now a tobacco field, stood the chestnut, 30 foot high and 18 inches in diameter. The men were able to rescue only six nuts, their visit being a little late for the main harvest. The nuts were among the largest Dr. Jones has seen. They have been planted at the Experiment Station farm in Mount Carmel.
Inquiry in the neighborhood of the chestnut revealed that two or three people knew about the tree and had gathered the nuts that are produced profusely every other year. One of the neighbors recalled that 60 years or more ago, when he was but 12 years old, a man named John P. Jones had set out the nut trees. But the original source of the trees is unknown and it remains a question whether the planter got the trees from a nursery in this country or directly from the Orient.
Though the lone survivor is somewhat neglected, with several dead branches that have been left untrimmed, a neighbor was interested enough in its possibilities to plant some of the nuts. This resulted in one six-year-old seedling tree. Unfortunately, this already shows blight and is apparently the result of pollination by some blighted American seedling or sprout in the neighborhood. The nuts collected this fall may also give disappointing results but should transmit to later generations the blight-resistance of this Japanese parent. In addition to planting the nuts, Dr. Jones will take scions from the tree for grafting on young trees at the Station's Mount Carmel farm. Those should produce results more quickly than the seeds. Next summer pollen will be collected from the tree for use in hybridizing some of the young trees already growing here.
Dr. Jones has for many years been interested in the development of a useful chestnut for Connecticut conditions. Some of the young trees, crosses between American and Asiatic types, show promise but will take several years of testing to prove their value. The new "find" may be of considerable help in shortening the length of time necessary to get a tree that is blight resistant, of large fruiting habit and of good timber quality.
(Note by Editor—This tree has been known to me for probably fifteen years. It was brought to my attention by Mr. Charles Vibert of East Hartford and named by me the "Vibbert," [with two b's to insure the right pronounciation]. The name has been published and I have sent scions to a number of people and grafted trees myself. The tree bears a very large nut, twelve selected ones weighing over a pound. I have gathered a good many quarts of them and exhibited them in Hartford and Litchfield. So far as my observation goes this large size is at least partly due to the fact that there is only one filled nut in a burr, the other two being aborted. This fact, and the fact that the crops are small, I have attributed to the partial inefficiency of self-pollination, there being no evident outside source of pollen. One year I grafted several other varieties into the top of the tree. Most of those grew a year or two but then died. I have believed that this was due to blight. There has been much dead wood in the tree ever since I have known it and I had supposed that this was blight.)
Report of Committee of Ohio Nut Growers
A. A. Bungart, Chairman
On September 5, 1943, members of the Northern Nut Growers' Association living in Northern Ohio met at the Wooster Experiment Farm to discuss nut growing in the State. At this meeting a committee was formed to work out plans and suggestions for a twenty-year nut growing program. It was felt that greater progress would result if something more definite were done by way of coordinating the work of the Forestry Department with the effort of individuals. The committee, meeting here on October 31, 1943, submits the following report. The chairman has attempted to incorporate most of the material submitted by members of the committee and by others.
The committee recommends the appointment of a full time research man in nut culture, or two part-time workers. This man, or men, would form the hub around which the 20 year program would be built. There should be a division of labor: certain individuals already embarked on a program of their own should continue their work and coordinate it with a specialist at Wooster, or whatever place is designated as headquarters. For example, Mr. Silvis favors the hickory over all other nut trees. As a young man he can reasonably look forward to many years of experimentation with various varieties and under different conditions. Mr. Davidson is following a plan of planting large numbers of black walnut seed from blocks of trees in which natural crossing might combine the desirable characteristics of several better-than-average named varieties. Mr. Sherman has collected English walnuts from trees in the northern part of the state. Already he has seedlings of many varieties growing at Canfield.
Now, each of these projects is excellent and should be encouraged in every way. Whenever members of our organization find new and better nuts of those species, they should send nuts, or scions or data about the trees, to these gentlemen.
As time goes on there should be opportunities to farm out projects to individual growers. Mr. Fickes, for example, by experience and because of his favorable location could well carry out experiment suggested by a specialist, (or as a research worker to help with one of his own.)
It would seem, apart from large scale operations to be mentioned later, that the specialist or expert should make his headquarters a clearing house for information sent by members. It should be his job to study some of the scientific phases of nut culture, such as artificial crossing, pollenizing data on various species and varieties of nut trees, genetic investigations, value of the proper root stocks, and, as time and information would warrant, the publishing of monographs on phases of nut growing. Finally such specialist might consider broadly the problems of securing an increased food supply from Ohio forests.
2. Devote the 9 acres at Apple Creek to nut tree planting. Plant two or three trees of each variety that has especially good traits. Also set out numbers of seedling stock upon which to graft scions of promising trees. By having the main planting near the Experiment Farm, the plant breeder at Wooster should also attend to nut trees.
3. The Forestry Department should procure seed of hardy English walnuts and of other nut trees; grow one-year seedlings and distribute these in small numbers (not over five or six) to people who will plant them in good locations. Such action should be started at once; in twenty years or less something good might result.
4. Continue the planting of all promising varieties of the different species of nut trees at Mahoning so that the bearing habits, production, etc., could be under strict observation and study, and so that a supply of scion wood might be available for other plantings and for commercial propagation.
5. Establish a similar project in some other section of Ohio; the southeastern section would seem to be the logical place when nut growing becomes a commercial industry in Ohio.
6. a. Graft promising hickories in the tops of established hickory seedling trees. There is a volunteer stand of such hickories on the lands of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District that would be ideal for such top-working. No doubt many other such places could be located.
b. Same as "a" but using black walnuts.
c. Same as "a" but using English walnuts.
Suitable black walnut seedlings are now growing on the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District for projects 6b and c.
7. Encourage the planting by the Forestry Department of better seed from the best named varieties. While this would be a long-range program it would be preeminently worth while. The forests of Ohio have all but disappeared. Organizations with vision and unselfishness must begin to replace them.
8. Urge a program of education. Nut trees require good soil and proper care. It would be folly for an organization to sponsor a program for nut tree planting, unless the growers are provided with proper cultural directions. The tendency in the past has been to plant nut trees in out-of-the-way places, and let nature take her course. Nature took her course; the result, scrubby trees and disgruntled planters.
9. Initiate future nut contests for the purpose of arousing public interests in nut growing and for bringing to light new varieties. Four-H clubs, county agents, boy scout troops, sport clubs, all might be urged to co-operate with the Forestry Department, or with our own organizations, in making a state-wide survey for better nuts. One member of the committee thinks that the Ohio Farmer contest did not bring to light all the good wild trees, although every nut grower is indebted to that splendid paper for its cooperation in the past.
10. Favor a moderate amount of publicity. Any plans, developments, or discoveries should be put before the public in scientific journals, farm papers, and the daily press. But propaganda of a sensational of exaggerated nature ought to be discouraged. In other words, the committee thinks that false claims and high pressure publicity on new varieties would do more harm than good.
11. Study the pollenizing problems of all the better varieties of nut trees, especially the black walnut, chestnut and hickory species, and test the better varieties to find those best suited to Ohio conditions.
12. Develop and perfect a simplified means of propagating nut trees and incorporate this information in a bulletin for all who are interested in nut trees. Many farmers and fruit growers shy from nursery prices for nut trees. If they could propagate their own they would be more likely to plant them.
13. a. Urge a means of developing better kinds of nut trees and nut hybrids for Ohio. Specifically, embark upon a program of artificial crossing and hybridizing. While some might object to the length of time required to check results, the committee thinks it possible to check three generations within a 20 year program. This could be expedited by budding or grafting the crossed seedling upon the stock of a bearing tree. The original seedling should be saved to check its growth, shape and other characteristics not apparent in the grafted branch. A Thomas-Elmer Myers cross might possibly combine the desirable traits of both parents, or a McAllister-shagbark cross might increase the productivity of the former. A nut, for example, having the cracking qualities of the English walnut, and the hardiness and retention of flavor when cooked or baked of a black walnut, would be a worthy achievement. Also, securing pollen from a hybrid English black walnut and back crossing with either species might produce the dream tree.
N. B. Hybrid vigor might be a blessing for the quicker growth of all forest trees. Experiments in nut trees might be applied to other species.
13. b. Establish in the same tree two varieties suitable for crossing. This seed should be distributed for propagation by the Forestry Department to public institutions and to others for reforestation on waste lands or water-shed project or private grounds.
By selecting isolated trees for this mating, the nuts would either be self-pollinated or a cross of the desirable varieties. This it would seem would yield better nuts than the hit-an-miss methods of nature.
14. Use a new yard stick for measuring the value of nut trees for commercial production. Size of nut, thickness of shell, cracking qualities are desirable traits but they might not be deciding factors in evaluating a tree. Other factors equally important perhaps even more so, are size of nut clusters, rate of growth, consistency in bearing annual cross, yield per tree of shucked nuts, resistance to blights and insect nests.
15. Compile a list of the best articles that have appeared in the N.N.G.A. reports and print them in pamphlet form for distribution to Ohio growers. All the articles on black walnuts would be found in the one booklet, and so on for all other trees in which Ohioans would be interested.
16. Check carefully the experiences and observations of all the members so as to assemble data on the behavior of nut trees. This information would be more useful in determining what crosses would be desirable. The Thomas nut, for example, has been both praised and condemned. What would be the concensus of opinion on the merits of this much debated variety?
17. Make northern Ohio the nucleus of the N.N.G.A. Geographically and climatically, this section of the state represents an ideal spot for nut tree experimentation, in the northern states. The experiment farms at Wooster and Canfield, the Findley State Forest, the various state properties, all could be brought into a closely knit functioning project.