Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting Part 30

~For Highway Planting~--No other native trees lend themselves so admirably to highway use as the so-called northern or native pecan, the black walnut, and the hickories. These nut trees are all generally well-shaped, reach considerable heights particularly on fertile soils, are stately in appearance, and add beauty and attractiveness to the landscape wherever they are grown.

SOILS AND FERTILIZERS

~Soils Needed for Good Growth~--The nut trees adapt themselves to a very wide range of soil conditions. In fact, few other trees are capable of such a wide range of adaptability to soil types. The uplands usually planted to corn and wheat and the flood plains of the river basins may both be well suited to nut growing.

For good growth and production deep well-drained soils are required.

Under proper conditions the trees develop rapidly, have an extensive root system, and eventually may reach a great age. Furthermore, nut trees cannot grow successfully on wet poorly-drained land where water stands on or just beneath the surface a considerable portion of the year. Lowlands which may be found well adapted to the growth of willow and gum trees, may be too wet and sour for the growth of nut trees. It would also be well to avoid dry, very thin, and very sandy soils.

In their native range the pecan, hickory, and walnut thrive on the alluvial soils of the Missouri and Mississippi River Valleys. They grow well also on the upland sandy loam soils adapted to the growth of corn, oats, and wheat. All of these nut trees are usually influenced more by the fertility, humus, and moisture content of the soil, than by any particular soil type.

~Fertilizers for Nut Trees~--The deep rich alluvial soils of river and creek valleys do not present the same fertilizer problems as light and heavy upland soils. Manure supplemented with superphosphate at the rate of about 20 to 30 pounds to a ton should prove to be a satisfactory fertilizer on depleted soils. It is spread in a circle around the trees extending out about twice the spread of the branches and plowed or harrowed into the soil. A moderate application would range from 8 to 12 tons to the acre.

Leguminous cover crops are particularly valuable for building up the nitrogen and humus content of the soil when plowed under. Their judicious use with non-leguminous cover crops and supplemented with commercial fertilizers to increase the tonnage for plowing under, will usually bring good returns in growth and production.

CARE OF THE PERMANENT PLANTINGS

Since but few diseases and insects attack nut trees in Missouri, very little if any spraying work will be required while the trees are young.

As the trees grow older, however, it may be necessary to give pest control more attention. Caterpillars that infest the foliage of the trees in late summer and early fall can usually be destroyed by cutting off the comparatively few branches on which the worms have cl.u.s.tered and burning them. The pest may also be destroyed on high branches by means of torches. If the trees can be sprayed thoroughly, a.r.s.enicals and other insecticides used in spraying apple orchards will be found very effective while the worms are small.

As in the care of a young apple or peach orchard, it is important that the young trees for at least the first two or three years be given cultivation and some fertilization on lands of lower fertility if a good growth is not being made. A heavy mulch of straw or litter around the trees may prove very satisfactory.

Moreover, livestock should be kept away from the trees until they are established and the branches of sufficient height to be out of danger of injury. It is a serious mistake to plant or grow from seed small nut trees and leave them unprotected from farm animals. If the land is to be grazed, each tree may be guarded with strong posts and barbed or woven wire s.p.a.ced about 8 to 10 feet from the trees.

Once the young nut orchard is thoroughly established and growing thriftily, gra.s.s may be grown beneath the trees and furnish nearly as much hay or pasture as though the trees were not present. If livestock is allowed to graze in the orchard, which is a questionable practice while the trees are young, the trees should be pruned and trained to fairly high heads.

~s.p.a.cing for Nut Trees~--The growing of nut trees for timber alone requires a s.p.a.cing of about 25 to 35 feet apart with other species of trees common to the area growing up later between the nut trees to facilitate the development of tall clean trunks. Under such conditions nut production is inhibited and harvests may be comparatively small. Nut trees grown mainly for nut production rather than for timber may be planted 60 to 80 feet apart on the square plan.

The Thomas black walnut may bear a few nuts the second year following transplanting. Different varieties and species of grafted walnuts, pecans, and hickories often begin bearing from two to four years after setting. Chestnut seedlings may also bear in the second or third year.

Black walnuts from seed sometimes bear a few nuts at 8 to 10 years of age. Profitable bearing, however, may not be expected in the average nut orchard until the trees are at least 10 to 12 years old.

PRUNING WALNUT, PECAN AND HICKORY NUT TREES

For the most part these nut trees do not require heavy pruning.

Superfluous branches, dead limbs, and unsymmetrical ones, should be removed from time to time while the trees are young and becoming established. A uniform top is desirable. The pruning is begun when the trees are 2 or three years old by removing the lowest branches. The rule is to cut away only one branch a year. But trees making a very strong growth may stand more pruning and those making a poor growth may need none.

Cultivation and other orchard practices may be greatly simplified in commercial plantings by pruning and training the tree heads to heights of six or eight feet. Even then the lower branches will ultimately be pressed downward by the weight of nuts and foliage when bearing begins.

Regular annual pruning is required generally to prevent the limbs from interfering with orchard practices. Furthermore, branches lower than six or eight feet high, should be subdued by cutting back while the trees are young. These limbs should be removed ~only~ when the trees have become anch.o.r.ed strongly enough in the soil to prevent the directions of the trunk being influenced by the prevailing winds.

THE BLACK WALNUT

There is something about the distinctive flavor of our native black walnut kernels that appeals to the American people. And there is much about the black walnut tree itself that makes it much admired and respected.

It grows rapidly, and yet it is one of our most valuable timber trees.

It is an excellent tree for the grounds about the home. Not only does it yield an annual crop, but it is a lovely shade tree--beautiful to look at--and has the further advantage that the lawn gra.s.ses grow well beneath it.

~Has Wide Distribution~--It is a very cosmopolitan tree in that it will thrive almost anywhere if given half a chance. From lower Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, it may be found in various states of production. On the fertile lands, however, of the Mississippi and Ohio River basins it reaches perhaps its highest development. The 10 high ranking states in walnut lumber production are as follows, in order of their importance: Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, and Texas.

~Valuable Timber Tree~--Some of the main or princ.i.p.al uses of the wood may be enumerated as follows: For the making of gun stocks, it stands supreme. Since walnut does not warp or swell when wet it does not interfere with the action of the gunlock in gun stocks. The wood also may be made into a sharp edge and fit snugly against the metal parts, while the dark color and beautiful grain produces an attractive implement. It is a standard and a favorite for musical instruments notably pianos and organs; sewing machine tables, cases, small airplane propellers, picture frames, caskets, cabinet work, moldings and many forms of ornaments. The sh.e.l.ls of the nuts were, during World War I, manufactured into carbon and used for gas masks.

The wood possesses unusual and rare combinations of qualities which make it superior in the manufacturing of the articles mentioned above. Its freedom from warping, checking, or splitting when subjected to alternate wetting and drying is an unusual quality. It works easily with all kinds of tools, has remarkable durability in the presence of wood-decaying fungi and insects. Moreover, it is hard, durable, heavy, stiff and strong. The dark color of the wood does not allow soiling stains to show and the grain of the wood and its texture make it easy to grip.

~Produces a Nutritious Food~--The kernels of the black walnut are now used not only in candy making but to a large extent in breads, cakes, salads, waffles, and other forms of food. In the cities the kernels are sold yearly in increasing amounts not only from wholesale and retail grocers but by street venders as well. One may often find the kernels for sale at food stands and in other places where fruits and vegetables are sold.

~Changing Seedling Trees to Named Varieties~--On nearly every farm, walnut trees are growing along ravines, fence rows, and on rough land which is more or less out of the way and inaccessible. Most of these may be top-worked by one or more methods to the named and more desirable kinds of black walnuts without imparing the value of the timber. In 5 to 7 years seedling trees ranging in age from 15 to 40, if topworked, may produce crops equal to untreated trees. Still younger and smaller trees from one to 10 or 12 years old, may generally be top-worked with less difficulty than older trees.

~Results from Top-working Experiments~--Cleft grafting work performed at the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station has been very successful.

In fact, walnut top-working has been but little if any more difficult than apple or pear top-working. With reasonable care and fairly good technique the grafting operation is not difficult to perform. It is believed, however, that the common practice in top-working pecan, hickory, and walnut has been to dehorn too severely. This may induce insect and disease injury which often results in a very poor tree after 10 or 12 years. For good results, six inches in diameter should be the maximum size of the limb for top-working.

~Encourages New Industry~--A wider interest in black walnut kernels has caused a new industry to spring up. This consists of nut cracking or sh.e.l.ling establishments which have been located in the walnut growing districts. The plants in many instances buy walnuts in large quant.i.ties.

The nut meats are removed and sold at wholesale, usually in barrel lots containing 180 pounds of nut meats. In most districts the new industry is in operation for most of the year.

Power driven machines feeding from large hoppers are used for cracking the nuts. Nearly all the workers pick the meats from the cracked nuts.

Women are generally employed and are paid on a piece-work basis or by the pound. Moreover, employees are often given a premium for nut meats removed from the sh.e.l.ls with the "halves" unbroken.

This new black walnut industry has increased and heightened the interest in planting the trees for both nut and timber production. Consequently, in the districts where these nut cracking mills have been established, many producers are planting either small or large blocks of black walnut trees. In some cases the plantings are made up of grafted or budded trees of named varieties, while in others the nuts are planted and the seedlings later top-worked to the kinds desired.

The named varieties and better seedling sorts bring the highest price in the form of nuts and as kernels. In fact, the nuts of the named varieties usually sell for twice the price paid for the average seedling nuts. Some of the chief varieties most highly prized for their thin sh.e.l.ls, weight of kernels, cracking quality, and flavor are Thomas, Stabler, Tucker, Ohio, and Miller.

To obtain a marketable and paying product, care in the gathering, husking and extracting of kernels, is necessary. Culling the nuts and cracking none but the good ones are also important. Through such methods, many producers are able to supply city markets and roadside stands with kernels which sell readily and at good prices.

~Returns from Trees~--Walnut trees will give returns in general in proportion to the care given. They are fairly rapid growers under good culture. At an age of 20 years the trees may reach a height of 35 feet with 50 feet at 30 years and about 70 feet at 50 years. In other words, a growth of about 2 feet a year for 20 years is not unusual. After this age the trees slow down gradually to about a foot of growth a year.

It is estimated that walnut trees from 60 to 70 years of age will produce on the average from 100 to 150 board feet of lumber. Trees of such an age may also produce an average of all the way from four or five bushels of nuts per tree each year up to as many as ten to fourteen or more bushels per year.

THE b.u.t.tERNUT

Among our native walnuts the b.u.t.ternut is valued highly especially for home use. On the markets, however, the rough sh.e.l.l and comparatively small size of the kernel have in general tended to keep prices low and the demand limited. There are now prospects for the introduction and growing of superior hybrid varieties. Grafted varieties which bear particularly good nuts are becoming more available through nut nurseries.

The trees may become very large in height, spread and trunk diameter.

They are attractive and stately in appearance and it is the hardiest member of the walnut genus as its native range extends well into Canada.

The bark is gray in color and the wood is soft. Heartwood decay is common in old trees, although they may reach great age. The species has a rather restricted range within the Eastern states, but it occurs naturally as far west as eastern Kansas and Nebraska. In Missouri, its growth is confined largely to the central and northern areas where black walnuts are plentiful.

The nuts are oblong, sharp-pointed at the apex, cylindrical, bluntly rounded at the base, rough and jagged over the surface, and as a rule thick-sh.e.l.led. In spite of this, some varieties have good sh.e.l.ling quality, and the kernels possess usually a rich, agreeable flavor. In confections the b.u.t.ternut kernel may compete successfully with the popular flavor of the black walnut kernels. The b.u.t.ternut may be propagated and grown successfully by adopting the practices suggested for the culture of the black walnut. As is true with the black walnut it may be inter-grafted upon other walnuts or used as a stock for them, but its propagation, particularly as an understock, is more difficult.

THE PECAN

The pecan is a member of the hickory group and its range in this continent extends from Iowa to Mexico. Other hickories extend into Canada. The hickories are valuable for both nuts and timber. Fifteen different species of the hickory group have been recorded. Of these only three or four produce nuts of outstanding value. In nut production, the pecan hickory is the most important of all the hickories. For crop value of nuts it rivals the Persian (English) walnut and the tree is one of the largest east of the Rocky Mountains. The pecan tree is native to the south and south central parts of the United States and it is found in the forests as a native tree throughout Missouri.

Commercial production within the state may reach 800,000 pounds or more in good crop years, and according to the State-Federal Crop Reporting Service there are now about 88,000 pecan trees in the State of bearing age. All of these consist of seedling groves except the comparatively recent orchard plantings of the southeastern area. Commercial culture of standard varieties in the United States is confined largely to Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

The natural habitat is along streams and on river bottom lands. At the present time the commercial varieties consist mainly of the large so-called "paper-sh.e.l.l" sorts of southern origin. These require a comparatively long growing season for their development. Consequently the southern types may not be productive in the more northern regions.