Mr. Snyder: Possibly but I don't think so. The Fairbanks, for instance, from different soils; I can see no difference in their keeping.
Mr. Hershey: I know that is true of grapes that are grown in different sections.
Mr. Snyder: I can see no difference in the Fairbanks. In a few weeks' time it loses its edible qualities. I wouldn't care for it after it is a few weeks old. After it is thoroughly cured and dried, I don't think the Fairbanks fit to eat.
Member: How about the Stratford?
Mr. Snyder: The original Stratford was cut for fire wood in 1926. Just before it was cut it bore a heavy crop of nuts. Yesterday I cracked one. I was right hungry and needed something to eat. I could eat them yet. It is a great keeper. I know it was four years old or over.
Member: How does it crack?
Mr. Snyder: It is a good cracker and very thin shelled. The Stratford is, I think, a hybrid of the shagbark and bitternut. It is very evident that it is a hybrid by the appearance of the nuts. But it doesn't have that property of the Fairbanks of spoiling as it dries. The two nuts are very different in that. You will find a great range of quality in these hybrids.
I believe that puts me through the list of hickories of which I have made a list. I have a number of others under observation that may in the future be of importance.
I have several black walnuts that have made their appearance since our contest was completed. We now have one called the Finney. This stands in Marshall County right beside the Northwestern Railroad track. I sent this to Professor Drake of Arkansas for testing and he reported it was a little better than Thomas, so I think we have a variety there that is worth taking care of. I received the sample of nuts through a friend, I believe it was three years ago. I didn't see anything particularly attractive in the outside appearance of the nuts, so threw them aside and didn't test them until some months later. I passed it up at that time as not being better than the Thomas, anyway, and some months later I cracked another one of them. I went on that way for the last year until this last fall. I had quite a quantity of them and every time I came across them I would sample them. Finally I sent some of them to Professor Drake, with the results that I have mentioned. So now I have concluded that it is a very worthwhile variety and I have begun propagating them.
Dr. Drake: Did you call it by another name before?