Mrs. Bixby is survived by three children: Willard F., of Cleveland,
Ohio; and Katherine Elise and Ida Tielke, of Baldwin.
Letters to the Secretary; Notes; Extracts
EXCERPT FROM LETTER TO SECRETARY FROM G. S. JONES
July 4, 1946. From G. S. Jones, R 1, Box 140, Phenix City, Lee County,
Alabama.
My trees (Chinese chestnuts) appear to be healthy and grow vigorously. (They were given me by the Bureau of Plant Industry in 1934.) They began bearing in 5 or 6 years and have now been bearing quite large crops for 3 or 4 years. There are 22 trees in the orchard, and the approximate yields have been: 1943—550 pounds; 1944—450 pounds, and 1945—950 pounds. The enormous increase in 1945 was due partly, I am quite sure, to mineralized fertilizer (Es Min. El.) which I began using in 1944.
As my trees are seedlings they vary considerably in productivity and in size of nuts. Most of the nuts are of good size and quality when first gathered. This is where the trouble begins. The keeping quality is very poor, sometimes half of them spoil during the first month after being harvested. Since this is the case, you can see that germination may be very poor, unless they are handled in a special way. Refrigeration helps for a short while only. During the last two years, I have had good results in germination by stratifying the nuts under the trees, just as soon as they fall. In this way, the nuts are not allowed to become too dry as they are not exposed to the hot sun but are kept in the shade. Our falls are usually dry and our soil is sandy so there is little danger of the nuts becoming too wet during the winter. The danger of spoilage does not seem to be so great by the time winter rains set in. By this plan, I have had from 60 to 90 per cent germination during the last two years. I dig the nuts just as soon as they begin to sprout in late winter and line them out in nursery rows where they are to grow during the first year. Sometimes the sprouts become from 4 to 6 inches in length before I get to do the moving, but they transplant easily. I believe the micorrhiza from the soil of the old trees helps the young ones to grow better.
December 11, 1946—My chestnut trees this fall produced slightly over 1,722 pounds. The nuts seemed to keep better than usual which I attribute to the cool rainy weather which we had during the ripening period. Hot, dry weather causes the nuts to begin spoiling quickly. My records show August 7th as the beginning of the ripening period and October 3rd as the ending. So one can see that this is often a hot and dry period in our section.
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EXCERPT FROM LETTER TO SECRETARY FROM MRS. W. D. POUNDEN
Dairy Department—Ohio Agric. Expt. Sta. Wooster, Ohio
October 14, 1946