DR. MACDANIEL: No squirrels.
DR. MCKAY: Wouldn't that be wonderful? I was impressed with another thing he said; I wrote it down here: "People are not going to break down with emotion when we talk about the old hollow tree down in the corner of the pasture where the 'possums were hatched." Language like that, to me, strikes a very harmonious note. I want to continue this digression a little to consider the fact that all of us, in a sense, are hobbyists in nut growing.
Hobbies in this day and age are coming to be more important all the time, because of the fast pace at which we live. We need to leave our regular duties once in a while and get out in the garden or the forest where we can observe nature and get away from some of the stresses and strains that modern living places upon us.
On this trip we were taking a hike along the north rim of Grand Canyon in an organized nature walk. The trees, bushes and flowers were all labelled right down the walk, and we came to this little poem on a regulation label. It goes like this:
"If you keep your nose to the grindstone rough,
And you keep it there long enough,
You will cease to hear the birds that sing,
And the brooks that babble in early spring,
And finally all that your world will compose,
Will be the grindstone and your poor, old nose."
So that little poem strikes a real note about a person's hobby. You keep your nose to the grindstone, you will forget all these things. You need to get away from the grindstone once in a while. I don't mean to neglect your work, but I do mean to at least take a little time to go out and look at your trees and forget your troubles and relax and get away from the stresses and strains that modern living places on us.
Going back now to the subject; we asked you, through the Nutshell and through members of the Program Committee, to send in the biggest problem in connection with whatever nut species you grow.
The seventeen replies received included eight problems as follows: (1) brooming disease of walnut; (2) early vegetating particularly of Carpathian walnut and frost damage resulting therefrom; (3) delayed fruiting of chestnut seedlings; (4) season too short for ripening of fruit; (5) squirrels get the nuts; (6) failure of hicans to set fruit; (7) grafting problems under which are grouped all asexual propagation and cuttings; and, finally, (8) getting hickory trees established.
This is a rather low number, but I think out of those eight problems submitted you have a good representation of some of the things about which members of this Association talk when they come to meetings. I will first ask the audience if there is any one who would like to ask a particular question at this time.
MR. BECKER: At the Weber planting at Rockport, Indiana last year, we saw no nuts on the trees. I would like to know what is the cause for those trees not bearing.