Dr. Zimmerman:
One or two interesting seedlings have come to our attention during the past year. One a hickory nut that was drawn to the attention of the Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association January last. It is a rather good nut and bears very well. I think Mr. Hershey has some of the trees for sale.
The other, a very interesting shellbark, came to my attention. The nut is large, the best cracker for a shellbark that I have seen, the tree itself is beautiful and, although the party who owns it says it bears every other year, it seems to me to produce a good many nuts every year that I have seen it.
Another, probably worthless, but interesting, seems to me to be an English walnut x butternut hybrid. The party insists she planted walnuts from a typical English walnut tree, but the trees from these nuts, of which there are a number bearing small nuts, certainly have the earmarks of the butternut. These plants will be kept under observation and a later report given concerning them.
We have a number of first generation hybrids, but so far as I am aware we have no second or following generation hybrids in the nut line. It seems to me that if we plant a lot of the nuts from these first generation hybrids and, when the plants are large enough, distribute them to parties who will give them space and care for them until they come into bearing, somebody sooner or later will get hold of some valuable material. Work along this line I expect to advance through our committee as rapidly as practical. It seems to me that the seedlings of our first generation hybrids should not be destroyed as has frequently been done in the past.
Prof. Neilson:
I have seen quite a few hybrids between the heartnut and the butternut. I believe the Mitchel is about the best.
Dr. MacDaniels:
We found that the tree had stood the winter very well and that it was bearing a good crop. We brought along a few samples labeled the Mitchel hybrid heartnut. It looked to me to be a promising nut.
Prof. Neilson: