Hybrids in California.—Mrs. Ninetta Eames, writing, in the American Agriculturist, of new varieties of walnuts in California, refers to certain species and varieties growing in that State, as follows:
"On one of the avenues in Santa Rosa there are some dozen or so ornamental shade trees, which invariably attract the passers. It is not only that they are uncommonly beautiful, but that there is something unfamiliar about them. One unhesitatingly pronounces them 'walnuts,' from their unmistakable likeness to both the English walnut and the native species found growing along the streams of middle and southern California. They are, in fact, a cross between the Juglans regia and J. Californica, the wild black walnut of this State. In its appearance, this magnificent hybrid is nicely balanced between both parents, but it is superior to either of them in beauty and luxuriance of foliage, and in its phenomenal growth. There is, indeed, but one tree, the eucalyptus, that grows more rapidly. In speaking of this quality in the new walnut, Mr. Luther Burbank says: 'It often excels the combined growth of both parents, adding twelve to sixteen feet to its hight in one year. Given like conditions, a budded six-year-old hybrid is twice as large as a black walnut at twenty years of age.'
[FIG. 78]. HYBRID WALNUT. J. nigra × J. Californica.
[FIG. 79]. HYBRID WALNUT, SHELL REMOVED.
J. nigra × J. Californica.
"The clean cut, bright green leaves make a remarkable showing, being all the way from two feet to a yard in length, and of graceful, drooping habit (Fig. 77). They are sweet-scented, too,—a delightful fragrance, resembling that of June apples. Another admirable feature of this hybrid walnut is its smooth, grayish bark, with white marblings not unlike the Eastern sugar maple. The wood is compact, with lustrous, satiny grain, and takes an elegant polish, which gives it unmistakable commercial value. Like the majority of hybrids, though blossoming freely it yields a scant crop of nuts, one or two annually on a single tree, and this only after twelve years of persistent barrenness. The seed, when planted, goes back to its parent distinctiveness,—one-half turning out to be English walnuts and the other half black walnuts,—the true hybrid being only reproduced by grafting on a thrifty young Juglans Californica.
"Another handsome novelty in shade trees, is a hybrid from the Juglans nigra, or well-known Eastern black walnut, and J. Californica (Figs. 78 and 79). It makes a charming ornamental tree, and bears, in its season, a prolific crop of unusually large nuts, which have little value except in the eyes of school children. Several of these hybrids are growing in Santa Rosa, and present an interesting study to the pomologist.
[FIG. 80]. JUGLANS SIEBOLDIANA RACEME.