8B -A Class Book i m Copyright}! . COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. ENGLISH WALNUTS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PLANTING, CULTIVA- TING AND HARVESTING THIS MOST DELICIOUS OF NUTS (Compiled by Walter Fox Allen) u (Copyright 1912) ECI.A309583 Foreword. REALIZING the tremendous in- terest that is now being directed by owners of country estates everywhere to the culture of the Persian or English Walnut, I have compiled this little book with the idea of supplying the instruction needed on the planting, cultivation and harvesting of this most delicious of all nuts. I have gathered the material herein presented from a large number of trust- worthy sources, using only such portions of each as would seem to be of prime importance to the intending grower. I am indebted to the United States Department of Agriculture and to numer- ous cultivators of the nut in all sections of the country. I have aimed at accuracy and brevity and hope the following pages will furnish just that practical information which I have felt has long been desired. The Compiler. English JValnuts. VIEWED as a comparatively new in- dustry, the culture of the Persian or English Walnut is making remark- able strides in this country. Owners of farms and suburban estates everywhere are becoming interested in the raising of this delicious article of food, thousands of trees being set out every year. There are two important reasons for the rapidly growing enthusiasm that is being manifested toward the English Walnut: First, its exceptional value as a food property is becoming widely recog- nized, one pound of walnut meat being equal in nutriment to eight pounds of Page Fi'--r - X 1 ■ * **;■ . (, - * Mr. E. C. Pomeroy, Gathering English Walnuts on His Farm in Lockport, N. Y. The uncertainty of a crop is often due to the very early blooming of the kinds planted. These start to grow at the first warm spell in the latter part of the Winter or at the first blush of Spring, and almost invariably become victims of frost and consequently produce no fruit. Planting in the Northwest and the East until recently has been limited to an extremely narrow area. There was need of a variety possessing strong, distinct characteristics, hardy, late to start growth, and with the pistillate and staminate blossoms maturing at the same time and bearing a nut of good quality and flavor with a full rich meat. This variety has now been found, as will later be shown. English Walnuts grown in the North command from three to five cents more a pound than the other nuts in the markets, as the meat is plumper and the flavor better. Most fruit is at its best at the Northern limit of its range. One experienced grower, in reference to transplanting has said: "I have trans- planted all the way from a year to six and Page Fifteen the trees have grown and done well, but so far as my experience goes, I prefer to move them at three years of age or about that time. The best trees I have were transplanted at this age." The following extract on tree planting P I* « . in general, pertaining to all kinds p, .. ? of trees, is contributed by O. K. White of the Michigan Experi- ment Station: "The advisability of Fall or Spring planting depends upon several con- ditions. Fall planting has the advan- tage over Spring planting in that the trees become firmly established in the soil before Winter sets in, and are able to start growth in the Spring before the ground can be marked and put in condition for planting. This is important because the trees get a good growth in the early part of the season before the Summer droughts occur. On the other hand there is more or less danger from Winter injury during a severe season or from the drying out of the trees if Page Sixteen Thirty Year Old Parent English Walnut Trees in Background, Young Bearing Tree in Front the Winter is long and dry. Fall planting is much more successful with the hardy apples and pears than it is with the tender plums, cherries and peaches. "The convenience of the season will determine in a majority of cases whether or not the planting shall be done in the Fall or Spring. Very often the rush of the Spring work induces the grower to hurry his plant- ing, or to do it carelessly; and as a result a poor start is secured, with crooked rows. Others have large crops to harvest in the Fall and would find it more convenient to do the planting in the Spring. If there is any doubt as to the best time to plant, let it be in the Spring." We now come to the subject of fer- tilization. Up to the time when the young trees come into bearing, cultivation and fertilization will Fertilizing help them enormously, the cul- tivation keeping the soil in condition to hold the moisture of the tree. In Page Seventeen fertilizing, a mulch of stable manure in the Fall is considered by most growers to be the best, but the following prepara- tion is thought to be exceptionally good for all young orchards : Dried blood, 1,000 pounds; bone meal, 550 pounds; sulphate of potash, 350 pounds. Total, 2,000 pounds. This should be applied close up and about the tree, extending out each year in a circle somewhat beyond the spread of the branches. This provides a quickly available plant food, rich in nitrogen and especially recommended for rapid growth. After the tap-root reaches the sub-soil moisture it is well able to take care of the tree; and both cultivation and fertiliza- tion may then be stopped. In fact, by this time practically no further care is needed in the nut orchard with the ex- ception of that required at the harvesting time, and this is a pleasant and easy occupation, especially in the Northern and Eastern states where the frost opens Page Eighteen the shuck and the nuts drop free upon the ground where they may be picked up and put into sacks of 110 to 120 pounds each, ready for the market. Just before the first frost it is a very good idea to remove all leaves from the ground so that when the nuts fall they can be readily seen and gathered. An excellent method of accomplishing this is by means of a horse and rake. The nuts may be left on the ground to dry or may be removed to any convenient place for that purpose. There are three distinct kinds of Eng- lish Walnuts — hard-shell, soft-shell and paper-shell, the soft-shell being the best. Each of these three is divided into a number of varieties, the The names of some of the more pop- Different ular ones being the Barthere, Kinds Chaberte, Cluster, Drew, Ford, Franquette, Gant or Bijou, Grand Nob- lesse, Lanfray, Mammoth, Mayette, Wiltz Mayette, Mesange, Meylan, Mis- sion, Parisienne, Poorman, Proepar- Page Nineteen turiens, Santa Barbara, Pomeroy, Sero- tina, Sexton, Vourey, Concord, Chase and the Eureka. The question of the best varieties for planting in the North as well as in the South is somewhat open to discussion, due largely to a lack of sufficient infor- mation in regard to some of the more promising kinds. There is but little question that the best proven variety for the Northwest is the Franquette and for the East and Northeast, the Pomeroy. Both of these are good producers bearing a fine nut, well filled with a white meat of excellent flavor, and of good shape and commanding the highest market prices. The two varieties are also very late in starting in the Spring making them safe against the late frosts. Their pistillate and staminate blossoms mature at the same time. The white-meated nut is far superior to any other. The browning or staining is caused by the extremely dry heat and sun in the far South. In the North or Page Tnventy English Walnuts Bear in Clusters of Two to Five where the tree has an abundant thick foliage the meat is invariably whiter. The Mission Nut was introduced by the priests of Los Angeles and is the pioneer Persian Walnut of California. Most of the bearing orchards of ji the state are composed of seed- jli* : n M ut ling trees of this type. The nut is medium-sized with a hard shell of ordinary thickness. It suceeds admirably in a few favored districts (of Southern California) but fails in productiveness farther North. Its most prominent faults are — early blooming, in consequence of which it is often caught by the late frosts ; the irregular and unequal blooming of its pistillate and staminate blossoms, and the consequent failure of the former to be fertilized and to develop nuts; and late- ness in ripening its wood in the Fall and consequent liability to injury by frost at that time. The Santa Barbara English Walnut (soft-shell) variety is about ten days later than the Mission in starting growth and Page Tnventy-one in blooming in the Spring. It fruits from four to six years from seed and usually The Santa produces a full crop every year. R h N t S n0 ^ aS s ^ ron S a g rower as the Mission and more trees can be grown to the acre. The shells are thin and easily broken, therefore the nuts are sometimes damaged in long shipment. The kernel is white and of very fine quality. The Pomeroy variety was started in a most peculiar and interesting way. The late Norman Pomeroy of Lockport, New ji York, made the discovery quite D w by accident. When he was in Pomeroy Nut p hila d e lphia in 1876 visiting the Centennial Exposition, he awoke one morning to be greeted by the leaves of a gorgeous tree, which just touched his window and through which the sun shone brightly. He soon was examining a mag- nificent English Walnut tree. On the ground directly under he found the nuts, which had fallen during the night. Their flavor was more delicious and the meat fuller than any he had ever before tasted. Page Tnjoenty-tnvo The shell was unusually thin and Mr. Pomeroy was astonished, for he never believed the English Walnut grew in the East. Knowing the varieties grown in Cali- fornia could not be raised in the East or North, he questioned his landlord and found that this particular tree had been brought from Northern Europe. Mr. Pomeroy determined at once that possibly this variety would be hardy enough for cultivation in New York State. He pro- cured some of the nuts and put them in his satchel which he entrusted to a neighbor who was about to start home. The neighbor reached home all right and so did the nuts — but — the neighbor's children found the rare delicacies and ate all but seven. They would doubtless have eaten these too but fortunately they had slipped into the lining of the satchel where Mr. Pomeroy found them on his return to Lockport. These seven nuts, which had so narrow an escape from ob- livion, are now seven beautiful English Walnut trees, sixty or more feet high and Page Twenty-three the progenitors of the Pomeroy orchards, all of which are now producing nuts like the originals — a very fine quality. English Walnuts to be used for making pickles, catsup, oil and other culinary products, are gathered when the fruit is about half mature or when the Some use* shell is soft enough to yield to of English the influence of cooking. The Walnuts proper stage can be determined by piercing the nut with a needle, a certain degree of hardness being desired. The nut is often utilized for olive oil in some parts of Europe. It takes one hundred pounds of nuts to make eighteen pounds of oil. In England the nuts are preserved fresh for the table where they are served with wine. They are buried deep in dry soil or sand so as not to be reached by frost, the sun's rays or rain; or by placing them in dry cellars and covering with straw. Others seal them up in tin cans filled with sand. Page Tiventy-four As an illustration of the hardiness of the English Walnut, there is a tree at Red Hill, Virginia, which was brought from Edinburgh, Scotland, when Examples of six months old, planted in New H ,. York, where it remained three " mess years, then removed to Staunton, Vir- ginia, and after two years taken to Red Hill. In consequence of so many changes, the tree at first died back, but is now thrifty — twenty feet high; trunk, eight inches in diameter at the ground. During several severe Winters, the thermometer fell so low that some peach trees and grape vines growing near Eng- lish Walnuts on the Pomeroy farm near Lockport, N. Y. were killed, while the nut trees were not in the least injured. Page Twenty-five The English JValnut at its Best. A SMOOTH, soft-shelled nut. Meat full, with sweet, hickory-nut flavor. Nuts fall clean and free from outside shuck. Frosts harvest the nuts — in October. They are self-pruning. Require no care after arrival at bearing age. An alkali sap keeps scales and pests from the trees. Blossoms immune from late frosts, as they start late. Pistillate and Staminate blossoms mature at same time in the best varieties, in- suring perfect fertilization and pro- ductivity. Bears more regularly than other nut trees. Bears heavier crops the older it be- comes, unlike other fruit trees the size and quality of whose fruit degenerates with age. Page Tiventy-six Interesting Figures about the English W^alnut. IN Spain and Southern France there are trees believed to be more than 300 years old which bear from fifteen to eighteen bushels of nuts each, annually. In Whittier, California, is a famous tree which has been leased for a term of years at $500. Orchards seven and eight years old bring all the way from $1,000 to $2,000 per acre and are a fine investment, yielding from 15 to 125 per cent, according to age. The total cost of producing and harvest- ing an English Walnut crop is about one and one-half cents a pound. Page Tiventy-se