In our 1942 Report there was a note that our only Chinese member, P. W. Wang, had probably died, since he had not been heard from since 1930. Mr. Wang, we are happy to report, has recently written to us from Hong Kong. Many of the nut trees he planted while secretary of the Kinsan Arboretum at Chuking (not Chungking) in Kiangsu Province had survived the Japanese invasions and were fruiting in 1945, but are now in Communist hands. Mr. Wang hopes some day to be able to send to America scions of a fine pecan (seedling of Teche variety) which he fruited at Chuking. Meanwhile, he wishes to have nut literature and catalogues sent to him at his present address: P. W. Wang, c/o China Products Trading Corporation, 6 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong.
Letters
Nuts in Quebec
July 16, 1950
Dr. George L. Slate,
Associate Professor,
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station,
Geneva, New York
Dear Dr. Slate:
I am very much flattered by your invitation to prepare a paper on nut culture in Quebec. My only regret is that for two reasons I am unable to comply with your request.
The first is that I am quite ignorant on the subject. It is only lately that I have developed an interest in this matter when I suddenly found myself responsible for a so-called "arboretum" which is now mainly empty space that I am endeavoring to fill. The fact that shagbark hickory and butternut were common in our woods and that some of our neighbors have apparently flourishing individual trees of black walnut served to arouse my interest in the question. One neighbour has a tree of what he calls "French walnut" because they came from near Lyons, France, which are evidently the ordinary English or Persian walnut. Furthermore, I have been advised that there is quite a grove of black walnut near Lotbiniere, Quebec, which is on the south shore of the St. Lawrence not far from the city of Quebec. I understand that it was planted some seventy-five years ago and trees are now timber size. Indeed, I was told that the owner was offered a considerable sum during the war—the wood was wanted for gun stocks. I have not been there to verify this. However it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to get several specimens of various nut species that might grow here to place in the arboretum—this might incidentally give some information on what species would survive our winters.
The second reason that I am unable to write any article on nut culture in Quebec is because as far as I know there is no nut culture here. Most of the trees I refer to were simply planted as ornamentals. I have never been able to locate anyone who has taken any particular interest in growing them for the nuts.
I would like very much to extend my knowledge on the subject by attending your meeting at Poughkeepsie, New York, on August 28th to 30th, but unfortunately I will be absent in Nova Scotia on those dates.