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24 chapters
GROWING NUTS IN THE NORTH
GROWING NUTS IN THE NORTH
A personal story of the author's experience of 33 years with nut culture in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Includes his failures as well as final successes. Scientific as well as readable for the amateur horticulturist with many illustrations. Tells how to grow and to propagate nut bearing trees and shrubs....
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GROWING NUTS IN THE NORTH
GROWING NUTS IN THE NORTH
Only a few books have been written on the subject of nut trees and their bearing habits, and very little of that material applies to their propagation in cold climates. For these reasons I am relating some of the experiences I have had in the last thirty-two years in raising nut trees in Wisconsin. To me, this has been a hobby with results both practical and ornamental far beyond my original conception. I hope that the information I am giving will be of help and interest to those who, like mysel
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FIRST ENCOUNTERS
FIRST ENCOUNTERS
Almost everyone can remember from his youth, trips made to gather nuts. Those nuts may have been any of the various kinds distributed throughout the United States, such as the butternut, black walnut, beechnut, chestnut, hickory, hazel or pecan. I know that I can recall very well, when I was a child and visited my grandparents in New Ulm and St. Peter, in southern Minnesota, the abundance of butternuts, black walnuts and hazels to be found along the roads and especially along the Minnesota and C
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FIRST ATTEMPTS
FIRST ATTEMPTS
When I was about fifteen years old, my family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where my home now is and where my experimental work with nuts was begun. St. Paul is in the 45th north parallel, but although it is farther north, it is as favorable for the growth of nut trees as New Ulm or St. Peter, because it lies in the Mississippi River valley and is farther east. Bodies of water and altitudes have as great an influence on plant life as latitude; at least, they can have, and these are factors that
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BLACK WALNUTS
BLACK WALNUTS
I have spent more of my time cultivating black walnuts than any other kind of nut tree and given more of my ground area over to them. Yet it was with no great amount of enthusiasm that I started working with these trees. Obviously there could be nothing new or extraordinary resulting from my planting trees of this species either on my farm or at my St. Paul home, since there already were mature, bearing black walnut trees at both places. It was only with the idea that they would be an attractive
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HAZELS AND FILBERTS
HAZELS AND FILBERTS
In October 1921, I ordered from J. F. Jones, one hundred plants of what is known as the Rush hazel which was, at that time, the best known of the propagated hazels. In ordering these, I mentioned the fact that I expected to get layered plants or grafted ones. Mr. Jones wrote me at once to say that the plants he had were seedlings of the Rush hazel which are said to come very true to seed, but that if I did not want them as seedlings he would cancel the order. Rather than lacking a profitable fil
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HAZELS AND/OR FILBERTS
HAZELS AND/OR FILBERTS
There is a certain amount of confusion in the minds of many people regarding the difference between filberts and hazels, both of which belong to the genus Corylus. Some think them identical and call them all hazels dividing them only into European and American types. I see no reason for doing this. "Filbert" is the name of one species of genus Corylus just as "English walnut" is the commercial name of one of the members of the Juglans family. There is as much difference between a well-developed
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PECANS AND THEIR HYBRIDS
PECANS AND THEIR HYBRIDS
At the same time, October 1924, that I purchased Beaver hickory trees from J. F. Jones, I also procured from him three specimens each of three commercial varieties of pecan trees, the Posey, Indiana and Niblack, as well as some hiccan trees, i.e., hybrids having pecan and hickory parents. Only one tree survived, a Niblack pecan, which, after sixteen years, was only about eighteen inches in height. Its annual growth was very slight and it was killed back during the winter almost the full amount o
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HICKORY THE KING
HICKORY THE KING
The acknowledged autocrat of all the native nuts is the hickory. Perhaps not all the experts admit this leadership but it is certainly the opinion held by most people. Of course, when I speak of the hickory nut in this high regard, I refer to the shagbark hickory which, as a wild tree, is native as far north as the 43rd parallel in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and somewhat farther in the eastern states. Wild hickory nuts have been commercialized only to a slight extent. Its crops are almost entirely
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BUTTERNUT
BUTTERNUT
Like the hickory tree, the butternut shares in the childhood reminiscences of those who have lived on farms or in the country where butternuts are a treat to look forward to each fall. The nuts, which mature early, have a rich, tender kernel of mild flavor. Only the disadvantage of their heavy, corrugated shells prevents them from holding the highest place in popularity, although a good variety cracks easily into whole half-kernels. Butternuts grow over an extended range which makes them the mos
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PIONEERING WITH ENGLISH WALNUTS IN WISCONSIN
PIONEERING WITH ENGLISH WALNUTS IN WISCONSIN
The convention of the Northern Nut Growers' Association at Geneva, New York, in 1936, brought many interesting subjects to the attention of nut enthusiasts. None, however, commanded as much attention as an exhibit by Paul C. Crath, of Toronto, of walnuts from the Carpathian Mountains in Europe. There were more than forty varieties of walnuts represented in it, in sizes ranging from that of a large filbert to that of a very large hen's egg, and in shape being globular, ovate or rectangular. The e
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OTHER TREES
OTHER TREES
Heartnut The heartnut is a sport of the Japanese walnut (Juglans sieboldiana). Since its nut is heart-shaped, it has the name of "cordiformis" added to its species name. There are many of these sports, some of which have been propagated under the varietal names of Faust, Lancaster, Fodermaier, Wright, Walters, Canoka, Okay and Gellatly. I think this is the most ornamental of all nut trees. In shape, it is similar to an apple tree, spreading out rather than growing tall, but its long, compound le
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PESTS AND PETS
PESTS AND PETS
The pocket gopher is an herbivorous animal which attains approximately the size of a gray squirrel. It has a sleek, grey-brown coat of fur which is almost as fine as that of the mole and would, I think, make a good quality fur except that the skin is too tender to stand either sewing or the wear that fur coats have to undergo. I learned this by trapping them and having a furrier try them out, as I knew that the quickest way to get rid of a pest is to eat it or use its hide. Since I found its hid
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STORING AND PLANTING SEEDS
STORING AND PLANTING SEEDS
Most nut tree seed requires ideal storage conditions to preserve its germinating power or viability. Under natural circumstances, such nuts as black walnuts, English walnuts, butternuts, hickory nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, filberts and almost all other nuts, will be planted by squirrels, mice and other rodents. Although most of these will be eaten by the animals who buried them, a large percentage of the ones which are not eaten will sprout. The sprouts which achieve maturity and bearing age, howev
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TREE PLANTING METHODS
TREE PLANTING METHODS
Since nut trees usually have deep, well-developed root systems of the taproot type, they are more difficult to transplant than such trees as plum, apple, elm or maple which have many small fibrous roots. Taproots have a long, main trunk like a parsnip, from which lateral roots branch. These roots are heavy and may extend deep into the ground even in trees only two or three years old. In moving such a tree, the lower part of the central taproot must, of course, be cut off, but as many of the side
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WINTER PROTECTION OF GRAFTS AND SEEDLINGS
WINTER PROTECTION OF GRAFTS AND SEEDLINGS
It is not enough to make a successful graft and to watch it carefully during the growing season, picking all sprouts off the stock, spraying it so that insects will not chew the tender leaves and bark, bracing it against windstorms and perching birds. Each graft must also be protected from winter injury. For many years I have studied and experimented to find a successful way of achieving such protection. To enumerate my many experiments, from simple to far-fetched, would be to write another book
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TREE STORAGE
TREE STORAGE
If it is necessary to store trees through the winter months, one of several procedures may be followed. If the trees are quite small, their tops may be dipped in melted paraffin or beeswax, not hot enough to injure the buds. If the trees are too large for this to be practical, wax may be painted on with a brush. Roots should be protected by heeling them in dirt. An unheated cellar with a dirt floor is a very satisfactory place for storing trees. Select a corner of the cellar far from any source
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SUGGESTIONS ON GRAFTING METHODS
SUGGESTIONS ON GRAFTING METHODS
Grafting, including budding, may be defined as inserting a piece of wood which carries buds of a desired variety, on a root stock sufficiently compatible to accept it, for the purpose of propagation. Methods vary, each nurseryman having one or more which he prefers, but the principle is always the same. Scionwood may be cut the fall before grafting is to be done, after the growing season has ended, but some prefer to cut the scions in early spring. This means that the scions must be stored until
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GRAFTING TAPE VERSUS RAFFIA
GRAFTING TAPE VERSUS RAFFIA
It is necessary that a person who is grafting trees and developing hybrids experiment not only with the plants he is interested in, but also with the equipment and materials he uses. For more than twelve years, I used raffia to tie the grafts I made, becoming more annoyed and irritated with its limitations each year. Finally, I began trying other materials, until I found one which I think is very satisfactory. This is a rubberized grafting tape. At my nursery, we make our own tape. We buy pure r
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EFFECTS OF GRAFTING ON UNLIKE STOCKS
EFFECTS OF GRAFTING ON UNLIKE STOCKS
It is unquestionably a great shock to a tree when 90% of its top is cut off. If it is healthy and vigorous, the root system will try to recover, using every means possible to do so. If a new top is grafted to it, the stock must either accept and nourish that foreign and sometimes incompatible new part, or give up its struggle for life. Nature and the tree stock usually accept the challenge and the graft begins to grow. In an attempt to continue with its own identity, the stock will bring into ac
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DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIONS
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIONS
Loss of identification markings from my grafted trees has, on occasion, caused me much confusion. There was one time when I had from six to ten varieties of hickories and their hybrids grafted on wild bitternut hickory stocks, totally lacking in identification. Although this disconcerted me considerably, I knew of nothing I could do except to wait for the grafts to bear nuts and determine the varieties from these. As I continued my experimental grafting, I made sure that the tags I used were not
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HYBRIDIZING
HYBRIDIZING
Working with nature to develop new varieties of trees is fascinating although it requires infinite patience and study combined with skill and concentration. A person without experience may taste of this pleasure, however, by trying his hand at cross-pollination, and there is no end to the number of hybrids possible. In attempting to make crosses, one must necessarily understand the botanical relationship between the trees to be crossed. Trees of the same species cross readily in almost all cases
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TOXICITY AMONG TREES AND PLANTS
TOXICITY AMONG TREES AND PLANTS
Although quack grass will grow luxuriantly up to the trunks of both black walnut and butternut trees, I know, from things I have seen myself, that the roots of the latter and probably of the former have a deadly effect on members of the evergreen family. I have seen northern white pine and other pines, too, suddenly lose their needles and die when, as large trees, they have been transplanted to the vicinity of butternut trees. To save as many of these transplanted trees as possible, it was neces
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CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
If I had written this book twenty years ago, I would have prophesied a future for nut culture in the north, full of wonder, hope and profit. If I had written it ten years ago, I should have filled it with discouragement and disillusion. Now, after growing such trees for more than 30 years, I realize that the truth lies somewhere between these extremes, but nearer the first. It is seldom practical to move native trees very far from their natural range, nor is it necessary to do so in this part of
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