Northern Nut Growers Association, report of the proceedings at the eighth annual meeting | Page 7

the chairman of the committees on
varietal adaptation and did an immense amount of work on that line. At
the meetings of the society he went alphabetically over the variety lists
of fruits and called for reports on each one from growers all over the
country. This practice was kept up for years and the resulting data were
collated and compiled in the society's reports. In this systematic way
the varietal adaptations of the different classes of fruits were accurately

worked out for all parts of the country. A similar systematic roll call of
classes and varieties of nuts grown by the members of this association
would be of immense value to intending planters of nut trees.
In northern nut-growing, however, it may be questioned if we are yet
arrived at the Patrick Barry stage. What we need is pioneer planters
who have the courage to plant nut trees and take a chance against
failure and not wait for others to blaze the trail. It needs men of vision
and courage to plant the unknown and look with hope and optimism to
the future. So many are deterred from planting by the fact that nut trees
are tardy in coming into bearing and uncertain of results. In these
stirring times we want men of nerve in the orchard as well as in the
trenches. We need tree planters like Prof. Corsan who, at a former
meeting of this association when joked about planting hickories, replied
that he wasn't nervous and could watch a hickory tree grow. It takes
nerve to be an innovator and to plant some radically different crop from
what your conservative neighbors all about you are planting.
The Georgia cotton planters wagged their heads and tapped their
foreheads when Col. Stuart and Major Bacon turned good cotton land
into pecan groves. But the thousands of acres of commercial pecan
orchards now surrounding these original plantings showed that these
pioneer pecan planters were not lunatics or impractical dreamers, but
courageous men of vision, thirty years ahead of their time.
Nut tree planting is not all waiting. It will give the busy man some
surprises as I have reason to know from my own limited experience.
Ten years ago when I planted my first experimental orchard I set about
preparing several other lines of quick maturing experimental work, for I
did not expect those trees would have any thing to report for a decade
or so. You can imagine how surprised and delighted I was when on the
third year there was a sprinkling of nuts, enough to be able to identify
the most precocious varieties. The surprise increased to wonder the
next year when there was an increased number of nuts on the trees that
had borne last year and a number of new varieties came into bearing. In
the eighth year when an 800-pound crop of nuts changed that
experimental planting into a commercial pecan orchard, I was, to use a

sporting phrase, "completely knocked out of the box." The man who
thinks there are no thrills in tree planting has something yet to learn. It
is the surest sign of a real true-blue horticulturist that he wants to set
some kind of new tree or plant.
It is the rarest kind of a plantation that has on it no waste land. Fence
rows, ditch banks and rough or stony places are to be found on
practically every farm. Such spots too often lie waste or galled or at
best are covered with weeds, briars, bushes or useless scrubby trees.
These waste places would make a fine trial ground for testing out nut
trees. A few fine walnuts, pecans or hickories, or rows of chinquapins
and hazels would add profit as well as beauty to these waste and
unsightly places found on most farms.
Following old conservative methods the average farmer sets about his
house and buildings unproductive oaks, elms and maples, with scarcely
a question of a thought that there are as handsome shade trees that will
produce pleasure and profit as well. On our lawns and about our door
yards we could plant to advantage the Japanese walnut and the hardier
types of pecans and Persian walnuts. It would be of interest to try a few
seedlings of these classes of nuts. If such practices were followed in the
planting of nut trees it would not be long until new and valuable sorts
would be found and a great deal of data made available to intending nut
planters. I believe that a great deal of good would result from the
preparation and dissemination of a circular encouraging farmers in nut
planting.
This association is doing a valuable work in offering prizes to locate
high class seedling nut trees that will be worthy of propagating. Sooner
or later