At least I have persimmons hardy enough to stand the winters north of Lake Ontario, but I am not sure about the pawpaw. This fruit seems to require shade from the winter's sun.
Many but not all of the Crath importations of Persian walnuts from the Carpathians are hardy and much more so than the Pomeroy varieties. Even the Broadview is not hardy as many of the Crath varieties. Rev. Crath did an immense service to us by his importations which far exceeded our highest expectations. I have here nearly half a hundred varieties of Juglans regia that are doing well, especially the three Rumanian giants that ripen so well here.
List of Some of the Larger and More Important Trees at Echo Valley, Islington, Ontario
Black Walnut
Stambaugh 1926—1st prize.
Thomas from J. F. Jones, late ripener.
Troup, cracks out whole in spring.
Hepler, from Miss Riehl, a long nut.
Elmer Myers, excellent flavor, the thinest shell.
Snyder, medium size, large kernel.
Tasterite, a small nut, origin New York State.
Clark, origin Iowa, very large nut.
Gifford, bears very heavy crop every second year, ripens before Thomas.
Persian (English) Walnut
David Fairchild, seedling Rumanian giant.
Senator Pepper, seedling Rumanian giant.
Paul de Kruif, seedling Rumanian giant.
Chinese, very hardy, medium size.
Broadview, from British Columbia but originally from Russia.
Hickory
Neilson, a true shagbark, nut large flat and very thin shell, flavor is
wonderful. A big tree on highway 24 not far south of where Alexander
Graham Bell perfected the telephone.
Hagen, a true shagbark, a fast grower.
Hand, a shagbark.
Weiker, a shellbark and shagbark cross, a large, heavy bearing nut that
ripens here north of Lake Ontario. Excellent flavor, grafted on pecan.
Papple, a small good shagbark, cracks out whole.
Anthony No. 1 shagbark.
Glover, from Miss Riehl.
Heartnut
Wright, a good bearer and excellent cracker.
Stranger, very heavy bearer, excellent cracker.
Gellatly.
Filbert
Italian Red, medium long with wide base.
Bollwyller, large round.
Du Chilly, long smooth.
Many seedlings of named varieties.
Chestnut
Gibbons, Miss Riehl, hybrid European American.
Chinese, test not completed.
Jap Butternut
Helmick, from Miss Riehl, 14 cluster, regular bearer, very thin shell,
grafted on black walnut.
Report from Beamsville, Ontario
LEVI HOUSSER
About twenty years ago I started to plant nut trees, as I decided nuts were the solution to good health, which I later found was correct. Most of my first trees died. I started gathering nuts all over the country until at last, near my own home, I found a neighbor who had ten trees and two out of the ten were bearing large size nuts of an excellent flavor. I also added filberts to my collection.
About this time I learned of Prof. Neilson, so I went to see him in Guelph. He told me about the Northern Nut Growers Association. I also learned about Mr. Corsan and his work at Islington so I went to see him. He also told me about the Association so I went to the next meeting and joined up. I began to add more varieties to my plantings. My first four acre planting was seeded with oats the second year. All my tress had a nice start. I spent some three hundred dollars that year for grafted nut trees. That second fall I hired a man to watch and stand by each tree as the binder passed. It was impossible for me to be there. The man who cut the oats in his own stubborn way went alone and cut everything as he went, trees and all. My heart was nearly broken! I started again. I bought nuts of good varieties from all over. I decided to make a little nursery this time then plant out after the trees got bigger. Just as I got this started nicely the war came. I also had a fruit farm where I now live besides also planting some grafted stock here. My nursery, seventy-eight miles away on my fifty acres, I had to leave as gas was rationed and I was forced to sell, so remaining there are about one hundred trees which I shall watch. My best trees died but I kept going on planting every year. Today, after all the calamities I had, I have around two hundred trees living.
This year I expect two bushels of heartnuts; about two bushels of filberts; some extra nice ones that ripened early, large and well filled; about two bushels of black walnuts, some very promising. Besides these I have about fifty trees of the Carpathian walnuts from which I have gathered about two quarts of nuts. My oldest tree is ten years old. One I grafted on black walnut stock and it is a very large nut. I gathered five nuts from this. The graft is now five years old. Hundreds of nuts started; nearly all dropped off. Possibly as the tree gets older it will do better as I have planted several other nut trees not far away to help with cross pollination.