I shall not bore you with a list of unsatisfactory varieties nor with the ones that have not had sufficient observation in this section, but shall confine my remarks to less than two dozen varieties.
Pecans I shall touch only lightly, as they are a highly specialized crop only a little farther south. Stuart and Success are favorites here. Schley and Mahan are good if scab can be controlled. Sun scald on newly planted trees is our greatest problem, which I control by a paper wrap made by cutting two inch sections from a 36 inch roll of cheap felt-base wall paper. It gradually weathers away during the second summer. I wrap from the top down in a spiral, and when I reach the bottom, I place a hand full of earth on the end of the paper. No tying is required. In this way I have reduced the mortality rate of young nut trees greatly. I am also a strong believer in cover crops and mulching, for Tennessee weather is very temperamental.
Although we get ample rainfall per annum, it is often not well distributed, especially during mid-summer. During the winter we have several days of balmy spring weather with a drop to possibly below zero occuring overnight.
Thomas black walnut grows well here, but tends to over-bear, with many poorly filled nuts on alternate years. I counted an average of 8 nuts per lineal foot of bearing wood on one tree this season.
Snyder and Stambaugh are excellent nuts, setting about all they can mature.
Elmer Myers is a beautiful thin shelled nut, but so far a little shy in bearing. I believe this can be corrected if I can find another walnut that will shed pollen late enough to catch the Myers pistils. Homeland may be the one to do it. I have set some grafts of it with the Myers to see.
Carpathian D, and a variety of unknown origin from Haywood County are the only Persian walnuts I have fruited. This tree of unknown origin grows alone, is at least 50 years old, is three feet in diameter, has a spread of 40 feet, and is about the same in height. Some years it produces a heavy crop, others, nothing. To my knowledge, it has received no care in the past 20 years.
My 18 Carpathians are all growing with varying vigor and resistance to leaf spot. None has shown winter injury.
Of all the heartnuts, Rhodes is my favorite. The nut does not appear to be as large as some, but the kernel is just as heavy, due to its compact shape which causes it to fall out when the nut is cracked. It is self-pollenizing and also a good pollenizer for all my other varieties, shedding pollen over a long period of time, although it is the latest of all in producing its pistils. It grows vigorously on black walnut stock.
Rush seems to be the best filbert for this section. Its catkins are usually hardy here.