Col. Sober: I cut scions any time between now and March. I don't take them out of storage until we use them. We graft up to the middle of June.
The Chairman: I found some hickory scions that had been accidentally overlooked, kept under leaves, and the buds in the cambium were perfectly good after two years. In regard to winter injury—in the vicinity of Stamford, Conn., the nurserymen reported greater losses of all kinds in nursery stock than they had had before in their experience. I noticed that some small branches of the Persian walnuts had been injured, and particularly where grafts had started a little late and had not lignified quite thoroughly I lost whatever grafts had not had time to lignify. Last winter the injuries in our vicinity consisted chiefly of two kinds; occasional killing of the small branches—this does little harm because, where the branch is killed and dies back for a certain distance, we have three or four more branches starting up, so that perhaps it is not sophistical to say that it does the tree good. We get a larger bearing area than if it were not for this occasional freezing of small branches. Another form of injury occurs in the spring. The sap will start to ascend when we have warm days in February and March; then a few cold days come and, if we have absolutely freezing temperature at night, this sap freezes and when it freezes it expands, as water does everywhere, and the result is a bursting of the bark. That is an occasional happening with all trees but particularly with exotics. One kind of winter injury has been overlooked in connection with the walnut. The very last thing which the tree does in the autumn is to complete its buds for female flowers. That is the very last job the tree has on hand and if the tree cannot complete the buds for female flowers perfectly, then a very little wood killing will make that a barren tree, although it appears to be a good strong tree. That covers the kinds of winter injury I have seen in the vicinity of Stamford, Conn.
(Here Col. C. K. Sober of Pennsylvania showed lantern slide views of his orchards of paragon chestnuts and his methods.)
The Chairman: We will have now Mr. Reed's address with lantern views.
A 1912 REVIEW OF THE NUT SITUATION IN THE NORTH
C. A. Reed, Washington, D. C.
In taking up the question of the present status of the nut industry of the Northern States, we have to do more with what has not been accomplished than with what has been. Very little has been done toward developing the northern chestnut. What has been done has been mostly with the European species and so far that has not been very satisfactory. The European species is quite subject to the blight. The Japanese nut is not ordinarily of a quality equal to that of the American. It is thought, too, that with the Japanese chestnut the chestnut blight has been introduced, which has been so serious to our native species. The walnut has not become well established in the eastern states. So far, most of the European nuts that have been imported have been too tender to adapt themselves to our climatic conditions, and the filbert, when brought from Europe, proves quite subject to a blight that prevails everywhere with our native species, but with them is not so serious. In running over these slides, I will begin first with the chestnut. That is perhaps the best known species in this locality. That shows one of our native chestnut trees as it is familiar to you all in a great part of this territory under discussion, that is, the part of the United States east of the Mississippi River and north of the Potomac. That photograph was taken some time last June or July when the tree was in full bloom. The chestnut is one of the most beautiful of our native nut trees. This tree has the blight in one of the earlier stages and it is shown here merely to call attention to the disease, because no discussion of the chestnut industry at the present time can be complete without at least calling attention to the seriousness of that blight. That tree, perhaps, has not been affected more than two years, possibly one. Is that right, Mr. Pierce?
Mr. Pierce: About two. That's an 18 or 20 inch tree, isn't it?
Mr. Reed: Yes, sir.