Dr. Morris: It is a great convenience to be able to pollenate at the same moment when you emasculate.
A Member: I would like to have you kindly explain to what extent cross pollenation can be made practical to the ordinary grower.
Dr. Morris: Let's say that in case of the butternut we wish to experiment with removal of the thick shell, and also to obtain less of that strong oily flavor; we wish to get rid of those two things. In order to do that I would first think of the Japanese walnut, juglans cordiformis, which has a much thinner shell and is less oily and more bland. Crosses between this Japanese walnut and the butternut we may fairly expect will sometimes give us a large, thin shelled butternut of good character. The next question is, who is going to do it? The men about my place are pretty busy, and this is rather delicate work. It is going to be a most inspiring field for the young folks and the ladies, because it is nice, pretty, ladylike work, and beside that its returns may be large. If your little daughter, ten years of age, knows that she may get $2,000 for a single cross that she has made, it is stimulating, because it is not every child ten years of age who can put $2,000 in the bank, as personal earnings of increment.
Mr. Mosely: I would like to ask just what results you expect from the cross pollenization of these nuts, and just how far they will differ from the parent type?
Dr. Morris: You are bound to have continuance of one parent type, but in crossing with pollen from hybrids you may carry desirable characteristics through a series of generations and breed for what is wanted, possibly to the sixth generation or even further with some species.
Mr. Mosely: Then the type is not fixed until pollenization?
Dr. Morris: By selecting the one showing the dominant characteristics you wish to preserve, you could breed through several generations and have an ideal type eventually.
Mr. Doan: I would like to ask how far the buds are developed in cold storage before the pollen can be used?
Dr. Morris: For instance, take the hazel when its catkins are just beginning to elongate. It may be put in the ice house and kept there, for two or three weeks dormant. When we wish to develop those flowers we put the branches in a jar of water in a warm room and in about three days the plants are shedding pollen. I got some hazel catkins this spring that were elongating. It was the latter part of February when we had one or two warm days and I believed my pistillate hazels were about ready for pollen. I got those branches from Rochester. We had unexpected cold weather and storms and my pistillate hazels did not bloom until more than two weeks later. I kept these undeveloped catkins that I had received in a cold dark place. When I wanted to use them I put them in a jar of water and in less than three days they were shedding pollen freely, at a time when my pistillate flowers were ready for pollen.
Mr. Mosely: I would like to know the object in crossing the oak on the chinkapin.