Coming considerably nearer home, we find the parent tree of the Butterick variety situated on the Illinois side of the Wabash River a short distance below Vincennes, Indiana. The range of the pecan, as the most of you probably know, extends well up into Iowa along the bank of the Mississippi River and also into Central Illinois along the Illinois and other rivers and north to Terre Haute, Indiana, along the Wabash. The Butterick has been regarded as one of the most promising northern varieties. Reports which seem to be fairly well authenticated are to the effect that this fine tree has since partially died because of having its roots cut in the digging of a ditch.
Two years ago, Dr. J. B. Curtis (who is present in the audience) and myself spent a week's vacation in Eastern Maryland. At Easton we were greatly surprised to find what we agreed was the largest planted pecan tree we had ever seen. During the past summer, this tree has been photographed and its measurements taken: It has a girth measurement at breast height of 15 feet. Its spread is 129 by 138 feet. Its height was estimated at approximately 135 feet. It is not one of the largest pecan trees of the country as larger trees are not uncommon in many sections from Southern Indiana, south and west to Texas but they are native and not planted trees. We know this to be a planted tree as there are no native pecans in the state of Maryland. This tree bears with a fair degree of regularity. We are told that in 1917 it yielded approximately twelve bushels of nuts which, although small, were exceedingly good and a delight to the children of the whole neighborhood.
Taking up the almond industry, the view before you is of interest because of historical reasons rather than otherwise. It is one of the few remaining large orchards planted by the late Mr. A. T. Hatch known as father of the principal varieties of California today. Mr. Hatch planted several hundred acres of almonds in the vicinity of Suisun about midway between Sacramento and San Francisco but cold winds from San Francisco Bay prevent almond trees in that section from being commercially productive, and as result, the section has been abandoned as an almond center. Nevertheless, this picture is of interest because it was in these very orchards that were originated the famous Hatch varieties, the Ne Plus Ultra, Nonpareil, I. X. L. and the Drake. A great part of this orchard has since been topworked with prunes.
Almond orchards in bloom afford some of California's most beautiful sights during February. The two trees in the foreground are typical specimens of I. X. L. while in full bloom. The almond begins bearing at about the same age as does the peach; at 5 or 6 years from the time the trees are planted, they begin to pay a little more than the cost of up-keep, and at 8 years, they are regarded as being in full bearing.
This scene was taken in one of the oldest orchards in the state of California. The trees were planted in about 1870. The picture affords a typical illustration of one of the methods of harvesting. The nuts are being thrashed or "knocked" from the trees to heavy canvas sheets spread upon the ground which are drawn from tree to tree by horse power. The nuts are loaded loose in wagons or in sacks and taken to some central plant where they are run through hulling machines and the nuts separated from the hulls after which they are spread out in trays and left in the sun to dry. At that season of the year, there is practically no danger of dew or rain and, after being exposed for several days and nights during which they are frequently stirred, they are taken to the nearest exchange point, bleached and put forth into final shape for the market.
A very important factor in the success of almond production is the honey-bee. Bee keepers shift their hives from orchard to orchard during the blossoming period making a profit out of the honey and at the same time charging a rental to the orchard owners. The bees, of course, attend to the matter of interpollination.
In some sections, it is necessary to equip the orchards with smudge or fire pots which are kept filled with crude oil and fired at the moment the temperature goes down to below the freezing point during the blossoming period. In one district these pots were this last year fired again and again but after all the temperature went down to a point such that a great part of the crop was lost. We are told that it is possible to raise the temperature 26 to 34 degrees. It is tedious work and a dirty job. The oil is placed in the pots in the daytime and the firing usually takes place in the latter part of the night, very often after 5 o'clock in the morning.
We come now to the filbert industry. One of the reasons why filberts were planted in the northwest was because the native hazels grow there with great vigor. This picture shows a typical stool of the native hazel as it is commonly seen in the western parts of Oregon and Washington. Not infrequently it attains a height of 30 or 35 feet and when trained to single stems, the trees not infrequently develop trunk diameters of from 6 to 8 inches.
The Mr. Vollertsen of the Northwest is Mr. A. A. Quarnberg of Vancouver, Washington. In 1893 Mr. Quarnberg read an article by the late Professor H. E. Van Deman in which the latter urged the experimental planting of the filbert in the Northwest. Mr. Quarnberg ordered two trees of the Du Chilly variety from Mr. Felix Gillett, a Frenchman and then proprietor of the Barren Hill Nurseries, Nevada City, California. These were planted in February of 1894 and are believed to have been the first trees of that variety shipped to the Northwest. They are so close together that they are considerably crowded but still they have done fairly well, bearing in some years as much as 45 pounds together.
This is a view of the first filbert orchard planted in the Northwest. It consists of three hundred trees mainly of the Barcelona and Du Chilly varieties obtained from Mr. Gillett in January of 1901 by Mr. Quarnberg and planted by him for a neighbor, Mr. John E. Norelius.