I will say in conclusion that I believe there are wonderful possibilities in Nut Culture in this country of ours. We know it is an established fact that nuts are entered into the dietary of our upwards of one hundred and ten million inhabitants of the United States of America more and more from day to day. We have evidence of this in our importations of nuts, which have increased from year to year until they have nearly reached the enormous value of $57,000,000 for the year 1919 as stated by the American Nut Journal. Then, too, there certainly can be no more fascinating branch of horticulture combined at the same time with financial reward.
Now, let me thank you for your attention and say that I only wish that every one of you might join us in our big meeting of the National Association at Austin, Texas, next week.
Mr. Foster: A thought occurs to me in connection with Dr. Morris' idea of paraffin for use in warm climates. I happen to know as a patent attorney that in the manufacture of candles in order to give paraffin heat resisting qualities they introduce stearic acid. I have no doubt that it would be just as successfully employed in paraffin for the purpose of grafting. I think in candle making they add something like ten or fifteen per cent to the ordinary paraffin.
Mr. Littlepage: I think we are very fortunate to have with us Mr. Bechtel and Mr. Perry from down South who are really in the nut business. The problem before us is varieties. If you want to plant black walnuts what walnut do you want to plant? Just because I happen to say that Stabler is a first-class walnut does not make it so. If you want to plant English walnuts what variety? I said to Dr. Van Dazce a few years ago, "I wish I knew more about that variety." He said: "Don't bother about that. You will be top working them all in a few years." (Applause.) I have found a bigger pecan down in Indiana than the Major. It is a big type and I wish we knew more about it. I wish the Department of Agriculture would make an investigation and find out. What nuts to plant and what soil to plant them on and what varieties to plant it seems to me ought to be the trend of our talk here at these meetings, and I am glad that Mr. Bechtel has taken up that question.
Mr. Olcott: I think the members of the association would be interested in hearing a brief account from Mr. Bixby of the only commercial nut planting proposition in the North at present,—a very successful one. He has visited it within a week and I think he could tell us what varieties they have planted.
The Secretary: About a week ago I was at Alton, Illinois, at the place of Mr. E. A. Riehl. He has been a pioneer in many things, in fruit culture and what interests us more today in nut culture. He is outside the native chestnut belt and many years ago he planted some native American chestnuts. When the Rochester chestnut came out he planted it and he obtained from the late J. R. Parry of Parry, N. J., his best Japan chestnuts including the Reliance. He also obtained Boone trees from the originator the late Geo. W. Endicott, Villa Ridge, Ill. He has raised many seedling trees from the above varieties and planted a small hillside to them. Out of those he has selected the best and is propagating from them. He has chestnuts there that I wish I might show here, some that are fifty per cent larger than Paragon and with a better flavor. Furthermore they will drop out of the husks so that it is not necessary to pick up an unopened burr and heat it or pound it to get the nuts out. He has now between one and two thousand chestnut trees. Most of his chestnut trees however are seedling trees which do not bear nearly as well as his best trees. The greater part of his trees are in land that has never been cultivated. Many of his trees are not yet in bearing. Some of his trees however are now 25 to 28 feet spread and bearing heavily. He is certain that the yield of his orchard could be greatly increased by top working the poor bearers and that he is doing. Still he told me be obtained not less than 35¢ per pound for any of the crop and for some as high as 40¢ and 50¢ wholesale. In 1920 he produced over 4000 pounds.
In this connection a short history of the Boone tree will be of interest. In the spring of 1895 Mr. Endicott fertilized blossoms of Parry's Japan Giant chestnut with pollen of a native American chestnut and planted the nuts. This cross was made with difficulty for the American and Japan chestnuts do not bloom at the same time and it was several years after he had made up his mind to make the cross before he was able to do it. In the fall of 1897 one of the trees produced six burrs filled with nuts and was named the Boone. Since then it has borne as follows: 1898, 1 lb.; 1899, 3 lbs.; 1900, 5 lbs.; 1901, 6 lbs.; 1902, 8 lbs.; 1903, 12 lbs.; 1904, 17 lbs.; 1905, 25 lbs.; 1906, 31 lbs.; 1907, 43 lbs.; 1908, 50 lbs.; 1909, 56 lbs.; 1910, 5 lbs. (small crop due to hard freeze in April); 1911, 80 lbs.; 1912, 76 lbs.; 1913, 140 lbs.; 1920, 153 lbs. I am not informed as to the crops in 1914 to 1919 inclusive. Two other trees of the same parentage planted at the same time bore 128 lbs. and 168 lbs. respectively in 1920. If we consider that chestnut trees are set 40 feet apart each way, which means 27 trees to the acre, and estimated the crop at a fraction of that borne by the Boone tree we shall still have figures sufficient to show the wonderful possibilities of the chestnut in those sections outside of the native chestnut area of the country where it will succeed.
Mr. Riehl also has black Walnuts. He procured a Thomas black walnut from Joseph W. Thomas & Son, King of Prussia, Pa., fifteen or sixteen years ago. From that original Thomas tree he has top worked a lot of seedling black walnut trees and he has I should think between one and two hundred in bearing at the present time many of them bearing heavy crops. It is very evident that Mr. Riehl has in his chestnuts and in his black walnuts gotten northern nut culture down to the point where it pays. I wanted to get Mr. Olcott to go there on his trip and get some facts from Mr. Riehl to present at this meeting. When I was there I had another mission in mind and I spent the time in getting what I went for. Consequently I did not get all the practical details and results in dollars and cents which we ought to have to demonstrate that it has been a commercial success. But I am satisfied that it is because he is constantly increasing his plantings.
Mr. Jones: Two years ago he favored black walnuts.