Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting Part 7

Local grown Persian walnuts were found on sale last fall in the farm markets of York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg and at many grocery stores.

Wherever we found such local nuts on sale, we asked where and by whom they were grown. Many of them came from Halifax and Linglestown, in Dauphin County; from Lampeter, Lancaster County; and from Seven Valleys, York County.

Farther investigation revealed the facts that in all but one of the centers of production, the trees were seedling trees and that there were from four to 23 trees planted relatively close together. In one instance, a lone tree produced the nuts being sold, and in another case the nuts were from several grafted trees.

The lone tree, which produced three bushels in 1949, was of interest.

Investigation revealed that the nearest Persian walnut tree was at least a city block distant. Was this lone tree self pollinating or receiving pollen from a tree this far away? We still are not sure of the answer.

Jacob Houser, of Lampeter, was selling Pomeroy seedling nuts and nuts from three Rush Persian walnuts grafted on black walnut stock. They were growing close enough for cross-pollination.

Driving through the counties of southeastern Pennsylvania, we found many thousand seedling Persian walnut trees as shade trees about the farm homes. Investigations revealed that most of these trees never produced any nuts. Repeatedly we are told that, "my tree never has any nuts, but a certain tree on an adjoining farm always produces," or "I have two trees, one of which bears quite regularly but the other never has borne." They are the same age and both seem to be growing equally well.

Some produce only a few handfulls of nuts when they should be producing five to ten bushels, judging by their size.

You as nut growers know the answer, but the general public does not.

Even some of you have made the mistake of planting one tree by itself and expecting it to produce. This seldom happens. Mixed plantings of several varieties or several seedlings planted close together is the safe rule to plant by.

I know of one planting of ten grafted trees of one variety of Persian walnuts, now twenty years old, that has never produced any nuts even though they are planted so that cross-pollination would be expected. In 1950 only a few catkins developed. These produced pollen early and were on the ground before the pistilate bloom opened and was receptive. I never saw a nicer pistillate bloom on any Persian walnuts than these trees had, yet not a single nut set. They are in the center of a fifty-five acre black walnut orchard, and when the pistillate bloom was at its peak, the black walnuts surrounding were shedding pollen. Do not try to tell me that native black walnuts will satisfactorily pollinate the Persian walnut. After this demonstration, I know different. Were all the Persian walnut trees of Pennsylvania properly pollinated, the crop of nuts, in my estimation, would be increased a hundredfold over what it is normally. Lack of pollination is probably the greatest factor causing non-production in our Persian walnuts. It is far more important that the fertility factor which is so important in production of the common black walnut. (2)

Fayette Etter and Milo Paden both feel that the Broadview variety is self-pollinating, but even this variety may prove to be benefited by cross pollination.

The Persian walnut has developed in Pennsylvania and Ohio in a rather interesting pattern. Trees planted fifty to a hundred and fifty years ago managed to live and produce nuts. From these trees, seedlings were grown and planted by neighbors and friends. These trees and their seedlings in turn have now grown to producing age. Some few that produce good crops of nuts you hear about, but the vast majority are just non-producing shade trees. Until you look for them you little realize how numerous they are.

At Linglestown, Dauphin County, however, we find a striking exception to this. Here all the trees are productive. The question there is not why don't my trees produce, but is quite spirited as to who harvests the largest crop and best nuts.

About seventy-five years ago Alfred Kleopfer planted some Persian walnuts of unknown origin, but probably from Germany. He grew three trees which were planted, one beside the village blacksmith shop, one across the street, and the third at a neighbor's. One tree lived for only a short time. The blacksmith shop has been replaced by a modern dwelling but the walnut tree was saved and has grown to be a tree 6' 6"

in circ.u.mference and probably 60 feet high. The one across the street is of nearly equal size but the top has been damaged by storm and the tree is not as tall.

These two trees were able to cross-pollinate and one tree was especially productive. Miles Bolton recognized its value and began growing seedling trees and distributing them to his neighbors. Some of them were quite skeptical and even refused to take them as a gift and plant them.

However, he got the village pretty well planted to Persian walnut trees, so that today there are 145 nice trees within the village, and two small orchards on farms nearby.

Standing in the village square, one can see at least six Persian walnut trees higher than the house tops. Pollination is not a problem, and all trees are good producers. Young trees are in demand for planting, and seedling trees, coming up in the flower beds, compost piles, fence corners, and other places where squirrels have hidden nuts, are carefully transplanted to permanent locations.

The story of the development of the Persian walnut at Linglestown, with minor variations of course, can be repeated many times in southeastern Pennsylvania. In Linglestown, the development has been concentrated within a village, whereas in most places it has been spread over a farming community, with less opportunity for cross-pollination. The result has been a very high percentage of barren trees. However, Persian walnut seedling trees have taken over and are making good in this milder climate area of Pennsylvania.

About the same can be said of northern Ohio, though the development is probably 50 years behind that in Pennsylvania. The climate there apparently is not so well suited to the Persian walnut, and fewer trees have been able to thrive. A few, however, are growing nicely and their seedlings are rapidly spreading. The Jacobs tree at Elmore, Ohio, produced 300 pounds of nuts in 1947, at 30 years of age, and many nuts from this tree are being planted. The Ohio Nut Growers are propagating vegetatively from the outstanding trees and rapid development is taking place. Named varieties are thus being developed from superior trees, and future success will be based on these named varieties rather than on seedlings.

During the last few years, some of the seedlings developed from the Crath Carpathian importations are coming into bearing in parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and wherever I have seen them they look very promising indeed. The Crath Carpathians are doing well at Mt. Jackson, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, along with Broadview, for Riley Paden and Howard Butler. A. W. Robinson, of Pittsburgh, has five trees of Crath seedlings, two of which are in bearing. All these trees seem to be perfectly hardy. The nuts of course vary, but all are good.

Riley Paden, at Mt. Jackson, is grafting Broadview on black walnut stock, and for him this variety is doing well. He has about forty trees of it from two to fifteen years of age. His prize fifteen-year-old tree produced one bushel of nuts in 1949. A sample of these nuts is on the table for your inspection. Paden says he can grow Broadview anywhere peaches will do well. Fayette Etter at Lemasters, Franklin County, considers Broadview too bitter flavored for him. He thinks Burtner, which is a local seedling, superior for his section to all other varieties that he has tested.

With an estimated ten thousand Persian walnut seedlings growing in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania nut growers are faced with a big task to sort out the best and get them tested in different sections of the state. We should find the best half dozen varieties for each section.

The Persian walnut is established in Pennsylvania and in northern Ohio.

There are not just a few scattered trees having a hard time to survive but there are many thousands of them, growing vigorously, some producing big crops of fine nuts, others not producing any. They are ready now for the intelligent development you can give to them. Nature has gone about as far as she will without your a.s.sistance. The job now is up to you nut growers.

REFERENCES

(1) Northern Nut Growers Annual Report Vol. Page Persian walnuts history of in Penna. Rush 5 93 history of in Cal. Reed, C. A. 6 51 introduction of Carpathian. Crath 27 103 distribution of Carpathian. Rahmlow 27 112 survey in Penna. f.a.gan 6 23 (2) Persian walnut protandrous. Craig 2 106

Discussion

MR. FRYE: How about b.u.t.ternuts for pollenization?

MR. SHERMAN: I don't know. I have one hybrid, and that's a sample downstairs that I think is an English walnut crossed with a b.u.t.ternut.

The nut looks like a b.u.t.ternut; the tree looks like an English walnut, but it has the b.u.t.ternut bark. They will occasionally pollinate, I think, but don't depend on them.

MR. CORSAN: I'll tell you how you can tell. That b.u.t.ternut-English walnut cross is the most powerful tree I ever came across, especially for good wood. I got a tremendous one.

MR. STOKE: I produced, I think, 22 seedling trees from the Lancaster Persian walnut. About five per cent are hybrids. There was one strong-growing black Persian hybrid that I am sure of. There are three or four very dwarfish trees that undoubtedly were crossed with the heartnut. They were all dwarf. I haven't been able to get one to bear. I have had one grafted five or six years on a black walnut, but that was the heartnut and not the b.u.t.ternut.

MR. SHERMAN: That study of the hybrid is another story and really doesn't belong in this discussion at all.

MR. CORSAN: Here is a point on that. When they are only that high (indicating)--if they are only babies, I can tell them. You know, occasionally. Look at the leaflets on the compound leaf, and if there are over seven, they are hybrids, and if they are extra vigorous growing, they are hybrids, because they occasionally pollenize.

MR. SHERMAN: Those are all characteristics of the hybrids, but here is what I want to bring out now, and Dr. Anthony is going to stress it on his chestnuts a little bit later: You people have a wealth of material to select from. Nature has gone about so far, and I am just a believer enough in what the Bible says, that G.o.d made the heavens and the earth and put man here to tend and keep it, and made him master of everything above the earth and every creeping thing on the earth and everything beneath the earth, and it is up to you fellows to direct intelligently this ma.s.s of material you have to direct. You have got nuts growing where they are hardy, you have got big nuts, you have got little nuts, you have got everything under the sun you can think of. What more do you want for a nice job ahead? It's up to you fellows to do. It's going to be not a one-year job, not a two-year job, not a five-year job; you will be at this, and your children and your grandchildren.

MR. CORSAN: Make you live long.

MR. SHERMAN: Maybe you will live long enough, but it's a century's job, and not the job for one man's lifetime.

(Loud applause.)

DR. MacDANIELS: Thank you, Mr. Sherman. Any questions?

MR. CHASE: Yes, sir. I want to ask Mr. Sherman, should I be thinking about receiving 10,000 entries in this contest?

MR. SHERMAN: No, because there aren't 10,000 trees producing. Out of that 10,000 maybe there are a thousand of them producing. The nine thousand others are nothing but shade trees, and never produce any nuts.

You don't hear of them, but if you travel through York, Lancaster, and Adams Counties down there and look for Persian walnuts, you will find them on--I was going to say 50 per cent of the farm homes. You can see them along the road everywhere.

My wife travels with me a good deal of the time. She will say, "Why don't you stop and look at that Persian walnut? There are some over there. Why don't you stop there?"

A MEMBER: Don't they bloom a month later than most of the others?

MR. CORSAN: Did you find a good French variety?

MR. SHERMAN: But those French varieties--I can't take you to a good French variety in Southeastern Pennsylvania that has been producing the nuts. They produce the nuts, but folks won't even pick them up.

A MEMBER: They are good for pollen.

MR. SHERMAN: If you want a good pollenizer go to Fayette Etter and get his Burtner. It's a very late pollen producer. This year I took some buds from his Burtner and put them in the top of those ten trees in that 55-acre black walnut orchard to see if I can't do something. Maybe it won't stick--maybe I hadn't better tell you.

MR. CORSAN: Mr. Chairman, there is one point raised by the last speaker that's not understood; that the young black walnut trees, when they first blossom, they come out with a ma.s.s of male blossoms. Then the English walnut, when it comes out, it sometimes comes out with a ma.s.s of pistillate flowers which people might not know are the female flowers.

They make the nuts, but there is not even one catkin. I have seen that time and again.

Those trees in Russia would be dependent upon larger trees to pollinate them. But here you have young trees, and you have to wait till they get a certain growth, and then they produce their catkins.

DR. MacDANIELS: Thank you, Mr. Corsan.