We will now have an address by Prof. Neilson, of Canada.
PROF. NEILSON: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a real pleasure for me to get back to this convention once more. I tried to come last year but owing to certain difficulties I was not able to do so.
Before I give you my report on nut culture in Canada, I want to tell you some of my troubles. Two or three years ago, when I began to express my interest in nut culture, I thought it would be a good idea to get some nuts from China. I wrote to several missionaries in Northwestern China at about our latitude, and I finally secured five bushels of Persian walnuts and one bushel of Chinese chestnuts. The nuts were a long time on the road and very few were in fit condition to use when they arrived. I stored some of the Persian walnuts in our cellar at the Ontario College. The rest of the nuts I distributed to others.
The nuts at the college did not fare very well. When I left there I gave directions to the members of the Department to look after them carefully. This is how they did it. Someone broke into the cellar where the nuts were stratified in the sand, and ran off with about one bushel. The Chinese chestnuts arrived in about the same condition as the Chinese walnuts. Of these I managed to save about a peck. We divided the nuts into three equal lots. Some we kept at the Guelph Experiment Station, some at Vineland, and some in the Southwestern Station. Of those at Guelph, out of the whole lot, 35 nuts germinated, and of these the mice ate all but five. These five were taken outside and carefully placed in a flat; but someone came along and ran into the flat and smashed those five plants all to pieces.
In addition to this some of my friends tried to tell me that I was chasing wild geese; that nut trees would not ever be important commercially in Canada; that 99 per cent of the value of the nut tree was for shade anyhow (as if he meant shade for pigs and cows); and that they were not even ornamental.
Before I read my paper, however, I will say that the work I am now doing is somewhat different from that I had when I was last here, when I was Prof. of Horticulture. I am now doing extension work for the government.
PROGRESS REPORT ON NUT CULTURE IN CANADA
Jas. A. Neilson, M. S., Extension Horticulturist, Horticultural Experiment Station, Vineland, Ontario
During the season of 1923-24 there has been a marked increase in the interest shown in the culture of nut bearing trees in all parts of Canada where nut trees can be grown. This is indicated by the numerous letters of enquiry and personal requests for information on nut culture which have been received by our Station. A total of 450 letters were received or sent out by our office during the past year besides numerous enquiries answered by a personal visit.
The search for good nut trees has resulted in some interesting additions to the data presented in the paper published in the last report. One of the most gratifying features of this phase of the work has been the discovery of several new localities where the European filbert is growing successfully. It has been located or reported at twenty widely separate points in Ontario, the northernmost of which is on Wolf Island at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in approximately 44,100 N. Lat. This plantation is said to have been established before 1840 and would therefore be nearly 90 years old. Another interesting point in connection with filberts is the amazing way in which they thrive under conditions of absolute neglect. Several of the plantations observed during the past year were not given the slightest attention and yet were doing very nicely. Obviously this is not good practice but it would seem to indicate that excellent results could be secured in Southern Ontario by the proper choice of varieties and the best cultural methods. This survey also showed that the sweet chestnut grew as far north as Georgian Bay.