The establishment of hardy blight resistant chestnuts of good quality is an important objective in our nut cultural project, and one in which only partial success can be reported. Approximately 700 Chinese and Japanese Chestnut trees have been planted but only about 260 of these trees are living. Some of these casualties were due to dry weather, rabbits and woodchucks, but the major part were due to unsuitable soil conditions. Our observations show that the Asiatic chestnuts will not thrive in an alkaline soil, as nearly all the losses occurred on an area that had a heavy application of marl. On the area where the trees are now growing well the soil is acid and supports several acid tolerant plants.
A superior strain of Chinese Chestnut was found in a lot of about 60 trees which the writer sent to Mr. W. R. Reek of the Experiment Station at Ridgetown, Ontario, in 1927. The best tree has made a good growth, and bears large nuts of good quality. Scions of this tree were obtained last spring and grafted onto several Chinese seedlings at the Kellogg Farm. An attempt will also be made to graft a few large—unfruitful Japanese chestnuts at various places in the State with scions of this good Chinese strain.
An interesting bit of information on the hardiness of the black walnut and butternut has just come to hand from Col. B. D. Wallace of Portage, La Prairie, Manitoba. Col. Wallace reports the occurrence of a seedling black walnut in his nursery that is quite hardy and which bore fully matured nuts at an early age. He also has a fine grove of butternuts that are entirely hardy and which bear good crops of nuts. These butternut trees grew from nuts secured from France about twenty years ago. The trees are quite hardy but other butternut seedlings from Ontario seemed to lack hardiness. No data are at hand to show where the French butternut trees came from, but inasmuch as the butternut is not a native of France it is almost certain that the trees came from North America and probably Quebec Province. In any case the trees are hardy and are reported to give satisfaction to the people in the Prairie Provinces.
Mr. Kroodsma, Extension Forester, reports the occurrence of a moderately large black walnut which bears nuts of good quality and fair size at Houghton in the extreme northern part of the Upper Peninsula. These accessions to our knowledge of the hardiness of the walnut and butternut are valuable and would suggest that these species can be grown much farther north than their native range.
In a former report reference was made to an attempt while in the service of the Ontario Department of Agriculture to interest the members of the Womens' Institute in Ontario in planting nut trees, but not much progress was made until last spring. The writer had in Ontario about 800 fine seedling heartnuts which he was unable to sell and which had to be moved. It seemed regrettable to destroy them and finally the trees were given to Mr. Geo. Putnam, Supt. of Institutes for distribution in my old home county and in another county where I worked for some time. The trees were readily accepted and much interest was aroused. So much in fact that I was kept busy writing letters to people who wanted to share in the distribution. Unfortunately, I did not have enough trees to meet all demands and so had to refuse many an Institute member who was anxious to try these heartnut seedlings.
Notes on the Filbert Orchard at Geneva
By G. L. Slate
Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y.
Winter killing of the wood and catkins is probably the limiting factor in growing filberts in Western New York. Satisfactory varieties must possess catkins hardy enough to provide sufficient pollen for pollination purposes. There must also be very little killing of the wood or the crop will be reduced in proportion to the amount of wood that is winter injured. Several years observations in the Station filbert orchard at Geneva have shown a great variation in hardiness of filbert varieties. With some varieties the catkins are severely injured each winter, with others, very little injury occurs. Because of this great variation in hardiness we must accumulate as much data as possible concerning the ability of varieties to withstand our winters, especially the mild winters, before we are in a position to make definite variety recommendations.