Walnut Growing in Oregon Part 3

"It is over twenty years since I first experimented with nut culture, more especially English, or, more properly speaking, French walnut culture, and by persistent effort in keeping this matter before the horticulturists am more than gratified to know that this important industry is at last receiving the attention it deserves; and a few who took my advice in the beginning and planted on a commercial basis are now reaping the benefit, as their products command the highest price in the market.

"First generation nuts are produced on original trees, or on trees grafted from the original trees. Those nuts when planted produce second generation trees, and the nuts from these second generation trees are a little larger than the original or first generation, which is due to the peculiar soil and climatic conditions of the Pacific Northwest, so well adapted to nut culture. Trees grown from second generation nuts retrograde very rapidly, producing nuts not half so large as even the first generation trees, and finally running out altogether. Hence it is very essential that we plant nuts from the original trees, or trees grown from the original nuts or grafted from the original trees."

A tree on John E. Brooks' claim, Casey Place, is one of the earliest and most important trees in the country. It has borne a good crop every year for thirty-five years, and in all that time has led a strenuous life. It was planted first in Portland from a nut supposed to have been brought from the Rhine in Germany by a German sea captain. It was broken down by stock when Amasa Brooks saw it, and with the consent of the owner transplanted it to its present site, on the side of a red hill a few rods above the house and about 100 feet above the level of the valley.

There it was much abused by stock, and exposed to other accidents. When it began to bear, the squirrels would gather the nuts as soon as they were big enough to attract them. When the tree was visited in August, 1909, for the purpose of getting a photograph it was found that a squirrel had burrowed under the roots, making an opening large enough to admit a good-sized foxhound, and a quant.i.ty of nuts hulls were piled about it and scattered beneath the tree. It is 23 inches in diameter and has a branch spread of nearly 60 feet. Trees of the fourth generation from this tree are in bearing near McMinnville and are producing fairly good nuts, some better than the original tree, demonstrating that the seedling walnut tree can be improved here by seed selection.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A Grafted Walnut_]

The above is a two-year-old grafted tree in the orchard of Mr. Prince.

It was sent to him by Judge Leib, of San Jose, in order to convince him of the superiority of the grafted tree. You will note that the little bush has two good-sized nuts, and also that it bore one last year, the first year from the nursery. With this ratio of increase at 20 years of age it would produce about three and one-quarter tons of walnuts, counting 42 nuts to the pound, the weight of first-cla.s.s Oregon walnuts.

But this is not probable.

GRAFTED TREES

The testimony in favor of the grafted tree is not yet very abundant in Oregon, as the grafting business is new; but with the evidence at hand it will surely have a standing in court.

Prof. Lewis speaks plainly on this subject. He says:

"One of the main points of discussion is, Which are preferable--grafted or seedling trees? Let us consider the seedling tree first. There are men who claim that these are superior to grafted trees, especially in size, prolificness, etc.; that there is something about our wonderful Oregon climate that causes the so-called second generation trees to bear larger and better fruits than the parent plant. And these writers love to dwell on the subject of generation. There is at times a sort of mystery, an uncanny vagueness connected with this subject that is baffling and bewildering to the layman, and causes him to listen with mouth agape. It is the same sweet silly story that we have had to learn by bitter experience with other nuts and fruits, and some of us will evidently pay dearly for it in the case of the walnut. The term 'first generation' is generally applied to the parent tree--some say the original tree, while others put the clause on the original grafted tree.

Nuts taken from such trees and planted produce the second generation trees. These may be equal, may be superior, or may be inferior to the original stock. It is this very variation and instability that makes the seedling to a more or less degree a gambling proposition."

The following is taken from a paper on walnut culture by Luther Burbank, read before the annual meeting of the California Fruit Growers convention:

"In all cases the best results will be obtained by grafting on our native California black walnut or some of its hybrids. No one who grows English walnuts on their own roots need expect to be able to compete with those who grow them on the native black walnut roots, for when grown on these roots the trees will uniformly be larger and longer lived, will hardly be affected by blight and other diseases, and will bear from two to four times as many nuts, which will be of larger size and of much better quality. These are facts, not theories, and walnuts growers should take heed.

"Although not popular among nurserymen, yet the best way to produce a paying orchard of walnuts is to plant the nuts from some vigorous black walnut tree, three or four in each place where a tree is to stand. At the end of the first summer remove all but the strongest among them. Let the trees grow as they will, for from three to six years, until they have formed their own natural, vigorous system of roots, then graft to the best variety extant which thrives in your locality, and if on deep, well-drained land you will at once have a grove of walnuts which will pay, at present, or even with very much lower prices, a most princely interest on your investment. By grafting in the nursery, or before the native tree has had time to produce its own system of roots by its own rapid-growing leafy top, you have gained little or nothing over planting trees on their own roots, for the foliage of any tree governs the size, extent and form of the root system. Take heed, as these are facts, not fancies, and are not to be neglected if you would have a walnut grove on a safe foundation.

"I hold in my hands a record, and also a photograph, of one of the Santa Rosa walnut trees, grafted, as I recommended, on the black walnut, 1891; this was handed to me by the owner, George C. Payne, of Campbell. The record may be of interest to you: Dimensions (1905)--Spread of top, 66 feet; circ.u.mference one foot above ground, 8 feet 9 inches. No record of nuts was kept until 1897, which amounted to 250 pounds; 1898, 302 pounds; 1899, 229 pounds; 1900, 600 pounds; 1901, 237 pounds; 1902, 478 pounds; 1903, 380 pounds; 1904, 481 pounds; 1905, 269 pounds; 1908, 712 pounds.

"The walnut has generally been considered a very difficult tree to graft successfully. Mr. Payne has perfected a mode of grafting which in his hands is without doubt the most successful known; by it he is uniformly successful, often making one hundred per cent of the grafts to grow. Who can do better by any method?

"When you plant another tree, why not plant a walnut? Then, besides sentiment, shade and leaves, you may have a perennial supply of nuts, the improved kinds of which furnish the most delicious, nutritious and healthful food which has ever been known. The old-fashioned hit-or-miss nuts, which we used to purchase at the grocery store, were generally of a rich, irregular mixture in form, size and color, with meats of varying degrees of unsoundness, bitter, musty, rancid, or with no meat at all.

From these early memories, and the usual accompanying after-effects, nuts have not been a very popular food for regular use until lately, when good ones at a moderate price can generally, but not always, be purchased at all first-cla.s.s stores.

"The consumption of nuts is probably increasing among all civilized nations today faster than that of any other food, and we should keep up with this increasing demand and make the increase still more rapid by producing nuts of uniformly good quality. This can be done without extra effort, and with an increase in the health and rapid and permanent increase in the wealth of ourselves and neighbors."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Row of Eleven Year Old Top Grafted Black Walnut Hybrids_]

An American black walnut growing on a lot on the east side of Grant street, residence of J. C. Cooper, McMinnville, grafted by Mr. Payne May 14, 1908, grew 7-1/2 feet in 95 days and was still growing when the terminal buds were nipped by the early September frost of that year. The sprouts were pruned back to 12 inches. The tree made a vigorous growth in 1909, making a spread of 13 feet. Some think the American black a better tree for grafting stock that the California black. One of the n.o.blest and grandest trees in any American forest is the American black walnut, and while a little slow at the beginning of its career it is only a question of time when it will overtake all others. It knows no disease or pests, and he who plants it lays a foundation for 20 to 50 generations to come as well as for himself and those of his own household.

A four-year-old hybrid, 4 inches in diameter, grafted in by Mr. Payne, grew a sprout as shown, 7 feet 9 inches high in four months from the setting of the graft. It is growing on the east side of D street near the Presbyterian church in front of the residence of Mrs. Sarah Updegraf, McMinnville, Oregon. Three trees there all show the same vigor, with little or no cultivation.

John H. Hartog, formerly of Eugene, wrote of the experience of Mr. E.

Terpening, one of the most successful walnut growers near that city.

"Mr. Terpening is a devotee of the grafted tree. And why? A burnt child spurns the fire, says the proverb. Mr. Terpening set out second generation Mayettes and Franquettes, expecting that these seedlings would produce true, but when they commenced to bear, behold his amazement at finding that he had a variety of almost every kind. This was enough to convince him that in the future he would use grafted trees, and know what he was doing and what kind of nut he was raising.

"Counting out trees of other kinds, he has four acres in walnuts, and these produced--

In 1905 700 pounds In 1906 1200 pounds In 1907 2000 pounds In 1908 3000 pounds

"This spring he set out 450 more trees and wisely he put them 50 feet apart and will grow peaches in between for a few years. While it is generally said that walnuts come into bearing after 8 years, Mr.

Terpening states that the grafted tree will bear commercially in 6 years, which tallies exactly with my experience.

"The Terpening walnut trees are grafted on American black and his favorite variety is the Mayette and lately the so-called Improved Mayette."

WALNUT GRAFTING

Walnut grafting is in a cla.s.s by itself, and walnut budding is not a success as practiced at the present time, although the ordinary method is shown in the cut. The top grafting method shown is easy and sure if you have "the know-how and skill." One of the important things to remember in tree surgery as well as other kinds, is to work quickly and deftly. Don't let the wounds of the scion or stub remain exposed longer than necessary. Make the cuts smooth with a very sharp knife, kept sharp by frequent "stropping.'" Expert walnut grafters are few, but the ordinary skillful orchardist or amateur can do fairly successful work by a study of the drawings in "Details of Walnut Grafting" on next page, and using common sense methods.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Details of Walnut Grafting]

Cut off the branch or stock to be grafted with a sharp priming saw at a point where the stump will be from one to two and a half inches in diameter. Split through the center of the stub with a sharp knife as shown in figure 1, using a mallet. Depress the point of the splitting knife and strike with the mallet, cutting the bark and sap down the side of the stub instead of tearing it, then depress the handle and cut down the other side in the same way. Open the split slightly with a hardwood wedge, as in figure 2. Slightly bevel the split, cutting upward, with a sharp knife as in figure 3. Insert the carefully fitted scion as at figure 4, being careful to have the cambium layer, the inner layer of the bark, of both stub and scion come together.

When the scion is carefully fitted remove the wedge and fill the split with paper as shown at figure 5. Then cover all wounds over with wax brushed on warm as at figure 6. The melted wax should be about the consistency of thick honey. Tie a paper sack over all as at figure 7.

This should remain until scions begin to grow. It keeps them warm and prevents drying out by hot winds. In from ten days to three weeks the scions will have started sufficient to gradually remove the cover as at figure 8. In eight or ten days from the time grafts are set a small opening should be cut or torn in the north side of the paper sack so that the sprouting buds may have air and their growth noted.

When the stock is too large to split through the center it should be split to one side of center as shown in figure 9. The method of shaping the scions is shown in figures 10, 11 and 12. Good scions and poor are shown in 13 and 14. Scions with buds not too far apart are best. p.r.o.ng grafting is shown in figures 15 to 18, and flute budding in 19 and 20.

In grafting the stock should not close on the scion with sufficient force to bruise or injure it, but just tight enough to hold.

Scions should be of last year's wood and pruned or cut from the trees in late winter, when the tree is dormant, and cut into about 12-inch lengths, long enough to make three or four grafts. Select upright wood.

Drooping branches make a sprawling and sometimes a barren tree.

The dormant scions should be packed away in a cool, dark cellar in damp sand or moss, or put in cold storage and kept dormant until ready for use. Do not allow the buds to swell. It will be well to look at them occasionally to see that they do not get too dry nor be so damp as to mold.

In the spring when the sap is well up and the trees to be grafted have sprouted and are growing during April and May the grafting should be done. Work may be continued even after the catkins are out and the leaves half grown.

The methods described are those practiced by Mr. George C. Payne, probably the most successful walnut grafter in the business.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Tools Used in Walnut Grafting_

Plate One. Furnished by Oregon Agricultural College]

GRAFTING WAX

The following formula is the grafting wax used by Mr. Payne: