I told Dr. J. W. McKay about this nearly seven years ago, and he asked for fresh samples of the catkins at different periods which I mailed to him in receptacles that he furnished. He wrote me a very nice treatise on this subject for inclusion in my book which I expected to be published at that time. The book was never published, however, since Orange Judd turned it down during the war for lack of paper as the excuse. I did not try any further to get it published, and since that time many new things should be added to the hazel hybrid chapter. Dr. McKay said that he is familiar with this action on the part of nut trees. I have felt that it was phenomenal since I have had no other such experience among all the nut trees with which I have experimented. However, this loss of pollen saves vitality apparently for the production of several times the pistillate bloom that I have seen on any other hickory with which I have worked and this apparently accounts for the prolificacy of the Weschcke when grafted on the native Wisconsin hickory. (Male-sterility occurs with chestnut and apple.—Ed.)

At first I considered the Weschcke somewhat of a hybrid nut; later I changed my mind about it and considered it a pure shagbark. I have reversed my opinion again and consider the possibility of its being slightly hybrid with bitternut blood. The parent tree at Fayette, Iowa stood close to big bitternuts. The shell, being the thinnest of all hickories (known to me) leads me to suspect the hybridity with the bitternut. It is quite smooth and the ridges are less prominent than in almost any other hickory except such known hybrids as the Beaver. Its shape is oval to long and it is flat so that whenever you throw a handful down to a smooth surface they all assume the same position, and because of this they would no doubt lend themselves to commercial cracking as they would feed through the mechanism of a cracking machine exactly in the same order.

I have not always had such a high opinion of this nut. Dr. Deming has letters from me which have a disparaging note, and although Dr. Deming considered it a valuable nut, he has letters from me in which I indicated that I was sorry that it was not productive and that it had such a small nut. Both these conditions changed with time and within twenty years this nut sometimes becomes one of the largest hickories of the cultivated varieties and its proficacy then probably depended on correct pollination which I was not aware of in the beginning.

I hope you will pardon me for dwelling so on this hickory, but after working with hickories for nearly thirty years it certainly seems remarkable to me that we have such a productive variety that is hardy this far north and west, that is perfectly at home on the native hickory roots, and that matures its nuts from September 15 to October 1, is self-hulling, that has escaped the attack of all sorts of weevils that infest our native nuts. (I have never found one wormy Weschcke hickory nut although sometimes you find empty nuts.) This variety also escapes the spring frosts so that there have been fourteen consecutive years of bearing without interruption. The foliage is vigorous, has no diseases so far; the young branches are sometimes cut off by oak tree pruners or girdlers. This happens to many kinds of trees, including all the oaks, butternut, black walnut, all the hickories and even the chestnuts. When you take into consideration the fact, that no other hickory has such a fine record it makes me very enthusiastic over this variety in spite of the fact that it bears my name. Were you to classify this hickory from casual observation, you would think it is a pure shagbark, and it is only the extreme thinness of shell and the outside appearance pf the nut shell which indicates some slight hybridity.

Progress with Nuts at Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

MATTHEW LAHTI

Inasmuch as I do not expect to be able to attend the thirty-ninth annual meeting, I thought I would report to you on the progress of my nut trees since my letter of a year ago.

Last winter was a severe one in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire (43° 36' north latitude.) We had more than the usual amount of snow, and although the temperature did not get down much lower than 25° below zero at my place, it remained cold for many days at a time without relief. This, and the fact that last fall was one of the driest seasons on record, plus the fact that this spring it rained almost continuously for more than a month, resulted in considerable damage to my nut trees.

My Broadview Persian walnut graft suffered severe damage, with branches up to two inches in diameter being killed. Whether this was from frost or lack of moisture in the fall I do not know, but two Crath Persian walnuts, one of which is situated within fifty feet of the Broadview, suffered no apparent winter injury at all. Neither Broadview nor Crath bore any nuts this year, whereas last year the Broadview produced eighteen nuts.

My Gellatly heartnut also suffered severe winter injury similar to the Broadview Persian walnut, and after it leafed out it looked as if a fire had gone through it because of the dead wood. However, it is bearing thirteen nuts this year.