Growing Nuts in the North

wever, 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 varieti

findings in the walnut-producing sections of the Polish Carpathians. The subject remained in prominence during the three days of the convention and the idea was suggested that the Association sponsor another

e last time that my father, Charles Weschcke, had encouraged me and had backed his good wishes and advice with money. A professional man and a graduate of pharmacy and chemistry of the University of Wisconsin, he showed an unusual interest in my horticultural endeavors

e decided that the material which he was to gather should include not only English walnuts but also the hazels or filberts native to Poland. The walnuts were to consist of about six hundred pounds of seeds, representing some forty var

permits from the Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington. Because of the vast quantity of material expected, these permits had to be issued in the names of five people. Next, I engaged a New York firm of importers, so that no time would be lost in re-routing the shipment to the prop

sought for some way to break through the "red tape" holding it there. Cables to Rev. Crath were undeliverable as he was back in the mountains seeking more material. In desperation, I wrote to Clarence A. Reed, an old friend, member of the Northern Nut Growers' Association and in charge of government nut investigations in the Division of Pomology at Washington. Through his efforts and under heavy bond pending receipt of the invoice, the walnut and filbert material was released and sent to Washington, D. C. As there was too much of it to be inspected through the usual facilities for this work, it was necessary t

arieties, only one hundred twenty-five took well enough to produce a good union with the stock and to grow. Some of them grew too fast and in spite of my precautions, were blown out; others died from winter injury the first year. By the following spri

both high on the slope of a ravine, one group on the north side, one on the south. It has been suggested that from the remaining seedlings, which number thousands, we select 500 to 1000 representative specimens and propagate them o

common, commercial type of walnut, while the remainder was of more expensive nuts having cream-colored shells and recommended by the Austrian seed firm as particularly hardy

r conditions. The seedlings grown from the light-colored nuts show about the same degree of hardiness as

39 was not especially severe and mortality was low, although it was apparent that all of the varieties were not equally hardy. Even a few of the scions grafted on butternut stocks were growing successfully. I had made these grafts realizi

actual bearing of nuts by three varieties, that in 1940 I did not think this precaution was necessary. Then came our catastrophic Armistice Day blizzard, the most severe test of hardiness and adaptability ever to occur in the north. Many of our hardiest tr

ugh the primary buds on the Firstling were nearly all killed, very few of the small branches were affected and the union itself suffered no injury. Second in hardiness is Kremenetz, much of its top being killed, but its union being only slightly affected. No. 64 was affected in about the same amount as Kremenet

late into the fall is very likely to be of a tender variety. Conversely, among these Carpathian walnuts, I have found that varieties whose bark becomes tan or brown early in autumn show much more hardiness than those whose bark remains green. One variety, Wolhynie, whose bark is chocolate brown, is very resistant to winter injury. Another, whose green bark is heavily dotted with lenticels, shows itself hardier than those having none or only a trace of them. In t

bacterial blight until by 1952 only a fraction of the 12,000 seedlings remained, certainly less than 1,000. All of the originally grafted specimens are dead with the exception of one variety which has been kept alive by constantly re-grafting it on black walnut. We have not named this variety as yet, although it