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Title: Walnut Growing in Oregon
Author: Various
Editor: J.C. Cooper
Release Date: December 28, 2006 [EBook #20202]
Language: English
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[Illustration: WALNUT BLOSSOMS]
WALNUT GROWING
IN
OREGON
Edited by J. C. Cooper
PUBLISHED BY THE
Passenger Department Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co.
Southern Pacific Company Lines in Oregon
Portland, Oregon
COPYRIGHT, 1910. BY WM. McMURRAY. GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT
[Illustration: An Oregon Walnut Grove. Prune Trees for Fillers.]
[Illustration: _Walnut Confections_]
WALNUT GROWING IN OREGON
A COMING INDUSTRY OF GREAT NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
English walnuts for dessert, walnut confectionery, walnut cake, walnuts
in candy bags at Christmas time--thus far has the average person been
introduced to this, one of the greatest foods of the earth. But if the
food specialists are heard, if the increasing consumption of nuts as
recorded by the Government Bureau of Imports is consulted--in short, if
one opens his eyes to the tremendous place the walnut is beginning to
take among food products the world over, he will realize that the
walnut's rank as a table luxury is giving way to that of a necessity; he
will acknowledge that the time is rapidly approaching when nuts will be
regarded as we now regard beefsteak or wheat products. The demand is
already so great that purveyors are beginning to ask, where are the
walnuts of the future to come from?
In 1902. according to the Department of Commerce and Labor, we imported
from Europe 11,927,432 pounds of English walnuts; each year since then
these figures have increased, until in 1906 they reached 24,917,023
pounds, valued at $2,193,653. In 1907 we imported 32,590,000 pounds of
walnuts and 12,000,000 more were produced in the United States. In
Oregon alone there are consumed $400,000 worth of nuts annually.
When we consider the limited area suitable to walnut culture in
America--California and Oregon practically being the only territory of
commercial importance--and the fact that the Old World is no longer
planting additional groves to any appreciable extent, there being no
more lands available, we begin to realize the important place Oregon is
destined to take in the future of the walnut industry: for in Oregon,
throughout a strip of the richest land known to man--the great
Willamette basin with its tributary valleys and hills, an area of 60 by
150 miles--walnuts thrive and yield abundantly, and at a younger age
than in any other locality, not excepting their original home, Persia.
In addition, Oregon walnuts are larger, finer flavored, and more uniform
in size than those grown elsewhere; they are also free from oiliness and
have a full meat that fills the shell well. These advantages are
recognized in the most indisputable manner, dealers paying from two to
three cents a pound more for Oregon walnuts than for those from other
groves. Thus the very last and highest test--what will they bring in the
market?--has placed the Oregon walnut at the top.
However, in all of Oregon, throughout the vast domain that seems to have
been providentially created to furnish the world with its choicest nut
fruit, there are, perhaps, not more than 200 acres in bearing at the
present time. The test has been accomplished by individual trees found
here and there all the way from Washington and Multnomah counties on the
north, to Josephine and Jackson counties, bordering California. In a
number of counties but two or three handsome old monarchs that have
yielded heavy crops year after year, without a failure for the past
twenty to forty years, bear witness to the soil's suitability; in other
counties, notably Yamhill, sturdy yielding groves attest the soil's
fitness. In none of the counties of the walnut belt has but the smallest
fraction of available walnut lands been appropriated for this great
industry. People are just beginning to realize Oregon's value as a
walnut center and her destiny as the source of supply for the choicest
markets of the future.
Were it practical to plant every unoccupied suitable acre in Oregon this
year to walnuts, in eight or ten years the crop would establish Oregon
forever as the sovereign walnut center of the world; and the crop,
doubling each year thereafter for five years, as is its nature, and
then maintaining a steady increase up to the twentieth year, would
become a power in the world's markets, equal if not superior to that of
North American wheat at the present time.
[Illustration: _More Nuts than Leaves. Tree of D. H. Turner._]
[Illustration: _Garden Stuff, Melons Pumpkins, Prunes and Children
growing among the Walnuts. The Walnuts will in a Few Years put out all
but the Children_]
The United States Year Book for 1908 estimates the food value of the
walnut at nearly double that of wheat, and three times that of
beefsteak.
Colonel Henry Dosch, the Oregon pioneer of walnut growing, says: "As a
business proposition I know of no better in agricultural or
horticultural pursuits."
Prof. C. I. Lewis, of the Oregon Experiment Station, writes: "In
establishing walnut groves we are laying the foundation for prosperity
for a great many generations."
Mr. H. M. Williamson, secretary of the Oregon Board of Horticulture,
writes: "The man who plants a walnut grove in the right place and gives
it proper care is making provision not only for his own future welfare,
but for that of his children and his children's children."
Felix Gillett, the veteran horticulturist of Nevada City, California,
wrote shortly before his death: "Oregon is singularly adapted to raising
walnuts."
Thomas Prince, owner of the largest bearing walnut grove in Oregon,
expresses the most enthusiastic satisfaction with the income from his
investment, and is planting additional groves on his 800-acre farm in
Yamhill county, in many cases uprooting fruit trees to do so.
HISTORY IN BRIEF
The so-called "English" walnut originated in Persia, where it throve for
many centuries before it was carried to Europe--to England, Germany,
France, Spain and Italy--different varieties adapting themselves to each
country. The name "walnut" is of German origin, meaning "foreign nut."
The Greeks called it "the Royal nut," and the Romans, "Jupiter's Acorn,"
and "Jove's Nut," the gods having been supposed to subsist on it.
The great age and size to which the walnut tree will attain has been
demonstrated in these European countries: one tree in Norfolk, England,
100 years old, 90 feet high, and with a spread of 120 feet, yields
54,000 nuts a season; another tree, 300 years old, 55 feet high, and
having a spread of 125 feet, yields 1,500 pounds each season. In Crimea
there is a notable walnut tree 1,000 years old that yields in the
neighborhood of 100,000 nuts annually. It is the property of five Tartar
families, who subsist largely on its fruit.
In European countries walnuts come into bearing from the sixteenth to
the twenty-fourth year; in Oregon, from the eighth to the tenth year;
grafted trees, sixth year.
The first walnut trees were introduced into America a century ago by
Spanish friars, who planted them in Southern California. It was not
until comparatively recent years that the hardier varieties from France,
adapted to commercial use, were planted in California and later in
Oregon. They were also tried in other localities, but without success.
Since the prolific productiveness of the English walnut on the Pacific
Coast has been assured, many commercial groves have been set out.
TEST TREES OF OREGON
The first walnut trees were planted in Oregon in limited number for
purely home use, "just to see if they would grow," and they did. Thus
the state can boast of single trees close to sixty years of age, each
with admirable records of unfailing crops, demonstrating what a fortune
would now be in the grasp of their owners had they planted commercially.
In Portland, Oregon, on what is known as the old Dekum place, 13th and
Morrison streets, there are two walnut trees, planted in 1869, that have
yielded a heavy crop every fall since their eighth year, not a single
failure having been experienced. The ground has never been cultivated.
The nuts planted were taken at random from a barrel in a grocery store.
During the "silver thaw" of 1907, the most severe cold spell in the
history of Oregon, one of the trees was wrenched in two, but the
dismembered limb, hanging by a shred, bore a full crop of walnuts the
following season.
N. A. King, at 175 Twenty-first street, has some fine, old trees that
have not missed bearing a good crop since their eighth year.
Henry Hewitt, living at Mt. Zion, Portland, an elevation of 1,000 feet,
has many handsome trees, one, a grafted tree fifteen years old, that has
borne since its fifth year. Another tree of his buds out the fourth of
July and yields a full crop as early as any of the other varieties.
In Salem, there is what is known as the famous old Shannon tree, fully
thirty years old, with a record of a heavy crop every season.
Mayor Britt, of Jacksonville, has a magnificent tree that has not failed
in twenty years.
Dr. Finck, of Dallas, has a large tree seventeen years old that bore 70
pounds of nuts in its thirteenth year, and has increased ever since.
C. H. Samson, of Grants Pass, has a grove of 250 trees, now ten years
old, that bore at seven years.
Mr. Tiffany, of Salem, has a fifteen-year-old tree that at thirteen
years bore 115 pounds.
Mr. E. Terpening, of Eugene, has four acres of walnuts grafted on the
American black, which in 1905 produced 700 pounds, in 1906 produced 1200
pounds, in 1907 produced 2000 pounds, and in 1908 produced 3000 pounds.
He tried seedlings first, but they were not satisfactory. The Epps and
Reece orchard near Eugene produces about 100 pounds per tree, at 12
years of age.
Mr. Muecke, of Aurora, planted a dozen walnuts from his father's estate
in Germany; they made a splendid growth, and at six years bore from 500
to 800 nuts to a tree.
Mr. Stober, of Carson Heights, planted nuts from Germany with
satisfactory results.
Mrs. Herman Ankeny, of New Era, has seven young trees that in 1907
netted her $15 a tree.
[Illustration: Here is a Santa Barbara soft-shell on the lawn of Mr. E.
C. Apperson, in McMinnville, which at the age of eight years bore 32
pounds of walnuts. It stood the frosts and winter of 1908-'09 and bears
every year; it is now 11 years old, 12 inches in diameter and has a
branch spread of 40 feet.]
[Illustration: _The "Cozine" Walnut Tree_]
Cozine tree on A street, McMinnville. Seedling, 15 years old; bears good
crop of nuts every year. At 14 years old the crop was 125 pounds. Is 16
inches in diameter and has a spread of 42 feet.
One sixteen-year-old tree near Albany netted its owner $30.
A Franquette walnut near Brownsville yielded eight bushels at ten years.
The French varieties planted in and around Vancouver commenced bearing
at seven years, and have never failed. Prominent growers are A. A.
Quarnberg, A. High, Mr. H. J. Biddle, C. G. Shaw.
In Yamhill county, Ed. Greer, James Morison, F. W. Myers, D. H. Turner
and Bland Herring all won prizes at the first walnut fair held in the
state, on nuts from their groves.
WOOD OF THE ENGLISH WALNUT
The wood of the English walnut is very hard and close grained, and
nearly as hard and tough as hickory. It will no doubt be valuable for
furniture, finishing lumber and any other use that may require a
first-class hard wood.
YOUNG GROVES OF OREGON
The Prince walnut grove of Dundee, Yamhill county, thrills the soul of
the onlooker with its beauty, present fruitfulness, and great promise.
Lying on a magnificent hillside, the long rows of evenly set
trees--healthy, luxurious in foliage, and filled with nuts--present a
picture of ideal horticulture worth going many miles to see. There is
not a weed to mar the perfect appearance of the well-tilled soil; not a
dead limb, a broken branch, a sign of neglect or decay. In all, 200
acres are now planted to young walnuts, new areas being added each
season. From the oldest grove, about forty-five acres, the trees from
twelve to fourteen years old, there was marketed in 1905 between two and
three tons of walnuts; in 1906 between four and five tons; in 1907 ten
tons were harvested, bringing the highest market price, 18 and 20 cents
a pound wholesale, two cents more than California nuts. The crop for
1908 was at least one-third heavier than for 1907. One tree on the
Prince place, a Mayette, that has received extra cultivation, by way of
experiment, now twelve years old, has a spread of thirty-eight feet, and
yielded in its eleventh year 125 pounds of excellent nuts. Mr. Woods,
the superintendent of the Prince place, considers walnut growing a
comparatively simple matter; he advocates planting the nut where the
tree is to grow, choosing nuts with care; and then thorough cultivation.
The soil is semi-clayey, red, hill land.
Near Albany, Linn county, 700 acres are planted; the soil is a rich
loam, and seems admirably adapted to walnuts.
Near Junction City, in Lane county, there are 200 acres of young trees.
Every condition seems present for the best results.
Eugene has two small groves.
Yamhill county, where the greatest demonstration thus far has been made,
has close to 3,000 acres in young trees, the planting having been both
on hill and valley lands.
At Grants Pass, Josephine county, there is a promising grove of 600
young trees.
Near Aurora and Hubbard, Marion county, where the soil is a rich, black
loam, rather low, a number of young groves are making a growth of four
and five feet a season.
J. B. Stump, of Monmouth, Polk county, has a very thrifty young grove.
[Illustration: _A Young Willamette Valley Grove_]
This is a view of a part of the R. Jacobson orchard one and one-half
miles west of McMinnville. The land was bought for $60 per acre and when
planted to walnuts sold for $200. The orchard is now five years old and
could not be bought for $600 per acre. It is located on a hill 150 feet
above the level of the valley.
The largest single grafted grove in Oregon is situated one mile from
Junction City, the property of A. R. Martin. He has sixty-five acres.
Washington county is rapidly acquiring popularity as a walnut center,
many fine orchards being now planted. Mr. Fred Groner, near Hillsboro,
is now planting 100 acres to grafted trees. The Oregon Nursery Company
is establishing large walnut nurseries in Washington county.
In Douglas county, vicinity of Drain, little attention has been paid to
walnut culture, but a sufficient number of trees are doing well to
insure good results from large plantings.
In Jackson county, near Medford, a number of young groves have been
planted, and individual trees throughout the Rogue River Valley furnish
ample evidence of correct soil and climatic conditions in that section.
Even when apple trees have been caught by frost the walnuts have escaped
uninjured, bearing later a full crop.
In Tillamook county only sufficient trees have been planted to
demonstrate favorable soil conditions.
While western Oregon is universally conceded to be the natural walnut
center, eastern Oregon also has its localities where walnuts bear
heavily, and will prove a good commercial crop. In Baker county there
are thousands of acres of land adapted to walnuts; young groves are
being planted, and a number of trees have produced fine crops.
When one considers the years of the future when the trees of each of
these young groves will lift their symmetrical heads fifty, sixty,
ninety feet into the air, laden to full capacity with a plenteous crop,
each October dropping their golden-brown nut harvest that falls with the
clink of dollars to the commercial-minded, but with an accompaniment of
finest sentiment in the hearts of those otherwise inclined, one turns
away with a desire to repeat the wisdom of these pioneer planters and
start a grove of his own. With what grander monument could one
commemorate his little span on earth?
LOCATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL GROVES
Much is heard, in a general way, of necessary climate and soil
conditions for walnut culture, some giving preference to the hillsides,
others to valley lands; some contending for a deep, rich loam, others
for sandy soil. But a careful examination of the soils of Oregon and the
trees now bearing thereon produces convincing evidence that almost any
deep, rich, well-drained, western Oregon soil--and some in eastern
Oregon--not underlaid by hardpan, will insure a good harvest, providing
the right varieties are planted. The whole question resolves itself into
a matter of intelligent choice of trees to suit varying conditions.
For example, the famous Prince grove is producing magnificent crops on
soil decidedly clayey; but the place is thoroughly cultivated and
careful selection has been made of hardy trees, the Mayette being
preferred.
Another young grove is proving that walnuts do well on clayey hill land
of buckshot nature, where the drainage is good and there is no rock or
hardpan.
In contrast with the hill land, young groves are making admirable growth
on the rich loam about Aurora and McMinnville.
Mr. Henry Hewitt, of Portland, has fine, young seedlings on a hillside,
elevation 1,000 feet, that made four feet of growth in one season.
[Illustration: _View of a Yamhill Orchard_]
In the neighborhood of all these groves, there are hardy, bearing trees
that amply foreshadow the future of the larger plantings. Colonel Henry
Dosch, the pioneer walnut grower of Oregon, who has experimented rather
thoroughly, even goes so far as to claim that rocky soil is not
objectionable, providing there is no hardpan.
In this, as in all other horticultural pursuits, naturally the richer
soils are best; but the industrious horticulturist, by cultivation,
fertilization, and proper care, can produce a fairly good grove on
unfavorable lands. However, so much of Oregon is favorable by nature
that growers will hardly undertake to enrich the few less desirable
areas for a good many years to come. Land that on the Atlantic slope
would be seized readily enough, in Oregon is passed by, as there is
still so much untouched that nature has made ideal. Years hence growers
accustomed to the less fertile conditions of the far east will
undoubtedly turn their attention to even the few poorer areas in Oregon,
and make of them glowing garden spots.
It is a simple matter to determine the presence of hardpan; you have but
to make a series of tests--four or five to the acre--with a plumber's
auger; and this care should be taken in every area where soil conditions
have not been fully determined.
PLANTING
Gather the walnuts during the fall or winter, fall is better, and put
them in boxes about the size of ordinary apple boxes, putting in first a
layer of sand (the sandy loam along the valley streams is excellent)
about four inches deep, then a layer of walnuts about the same depth,
then cover these over with three or four inches more of sand. Place
these boxes out in the weather on the ground where the water will not
rise in them. The reason for putting the walnuts in boxes instead of
beds, as advised by some planters, is that the boxes may be taken to the
field or nursery and the nuts lifted carefully from the sand and placed
where they are to grow. It sometimes happens in a wet and backward
spring that the walnuts will sprout before the ground is ready for
planting, in which case they must be handled with the tenderest care and
not exposed to the atmosphere any longer than can be helped.
One grower had a bed of hybrid black walnuts. The season was late and
when the ground was ready for planting many had started to grow. He
engaged some boys to grabble out the nuts from the sand beds, urging
care, but many of the best were broken and injured. Some of them had
sent down a taproot nearly or quite three inches in length. These early
ones, under proper conditions, are the most vigorous and surest growers,
but in the treatment they received many were injured and killed.
Black walnuts are slow to germinate, sometimes laying in the ground two
years before sprouting. But if kept properly they will start by June or
July.
For the nursery the ground should be plowed deep and thoroughly
pulverized. Plant the nuts 6 to 12 inches apart in rows about 3 feet
apart. Put a handful of the sand from the boxes around each walnut. Our
soil will appreciate the sand or silt from the drifts along the valley
streams, as it has proven to be one of the best fertilizers known. If
anyone doubts this let him try a quantity of it on his kitchen garden.
[Illustration: _A California Black Walnut near McMinnville_]
On the Ford place, near the North Yamhill bridge, is one of the finest
trees in the county, 33 inches diameter, height 75 feet, spread of
branches 60 feet. Bears an abundance of nuts every year. It is 34 years
old. The seeds are much used to raise grafting stock.
Nearly all of the black walnut seed produced in the Willamette valley
will partake more or less of a mixed or hybrid nature, whether from a
California black, Japanese black, or American black. The black walnuts
are very susceptible to cross pollinization and the English walnut also,
for be it known that
With wandering bees and the sweet May breeze,
That virile tide goes far and wide.
The nut should be planted two or three inches deep. A good authority
says to place the nut on its side as it would lay after falling from the
tree. If the nut is sprouted make a hole in the well pulverized soil and
put the root carefully down into it.
The best way for planting in the orchard is to bore a hole with a post
or well auger 4 or 5 feet deep where the tree is to grow, put in a stick
of dynamite and break up the ground thoroughly.
Or, better still, bore down to permanent moisture and fill the lower
hole with good soil or other root food, then dynamite 4 or 5 feet of the
upper section of the hole. Nothing will produce a vigorous and thrifty
tree like a deep and vigorous root system, and no tree responds to
cultivation and care as does the walnut, white or black. After bursting
up the soil, excavate and put in a half bushel of barn or other mould,
well rotted. This will force the tree in the earlier years of its life
and can be no hindrance to it later. Cover the manure with a foot or two
of soil and plant. Both before and after planting the ground should be
ploughed and harrowed until it is as mellow as an ash heap. Plant three
or four nuts in a hill 6 to 8 inches apart and at the end of the first
season's growth pull out all but the most vigorous one. For
transplanting from the nursery the same methods should be followed in
the preparation of the hole and the soil as in planting the seed nuts.
If one wants to lay the foundation for a fine orchard and a fine fortune
as a consequence, these preliminary steps must not be neglected. Because
in time you expect this tree to pay you a rental of $8 to $12 a month.
If you are building a cottage that would bring in that sum, you would
put in much more work and money besides. The wise grower would rather
have a man plant six trees for him in one day than sixty. The walnut is
usually a very vigorous tree and will fight its way among adverse
conditions and surroundings, but its golden showers are much more
abundant if it is protected from the scars of battle, especially in its
youth. It almost seems to respond to the love and affection given to it
by a kind master. Animals respond to kindness, and why not the domestic
trees? It will pay you a big salary after a while when your other bank
accounts and your health and strength fail.
[Illustration: _American Black Walnuts_]
A magnificent row of nine American black walnuts, 35 or 40 years old.
The tree in the foreground is 20 inches in diameter of trunk. The
tallest of the trees is nearly 60 feet and they have a spread of more
than 70 feet. They are at the residence of Dave Johnson on the Portland
road about 8 miles from McMinnville. Seed from such trees as these would
produce the very best trees for grafting upon.
There are very few California blacks of pure strain in the country. The
hybrids or crosses with the American or eastern black walnut, are better
trees for grafting stock than the pure Californias. They are more hardy
and better adapted to our climate.
WHAT TO PLANT
Horticulturists of equal fame and experience take different views on the
subject of planting, some contending that the nut should be planted
where the tree is to grow; others that seedlings are the thing, and
still others that trees should be grafted. And as all three plans have
produced good results in Oregon, the individual planter may take his
choice, according to the circumstances in which he is situated. The
truth is that the walnut is one of the hardiest of trees, and with good
attention will not disappoint if the right kinds are properly started.
In planting walnuts to raise seedling trees the best available seed nuts
should be used. Select the best and most prolific variety and the one
most suited to the climate.
It is claimed that the nuts from a grafted tree will produce the best
seedling trees. This may be true as a rule, as the nut from such a tree
will have some of the characteristics of the stock upon which the parent
tree was grafted. It may inherit some of the resistant qualities of the
black walnut or the rapid growth of the California hybrids. It may have
early ripening qualities. It is well to consider all these points as
well as the quality of the nut when selecting seed.
By careful selection and cross pollination many and better varieties
will be produced. No doubt a nut superior to any that has yet appeared
in any country will yet be originated in the Willamette Valley, as in
the case of the Bing and Lambert cherry and some other fruits.
The improvement of the walnut in this section is one of the most fertile
fields of investigation to be found anywhere and one that promises big
reward to the successful culturist. And the walnut grower need not wait
long to find whether he has a prize or not, for just as soon as the
little sprout comes from the ground and has hardened sufficient to
handle, a skillful grafter can place it in a bearing tree and the second
or third year know the result of his experiment by the production of
fruit, and this not more than three or four years from the planting of
the seed.
The advantage of planting walnuts, providing you secure first generation
nuts of the right variety for your soil and atmospheric conditions, is
in simplicity and inexpensiveness. You merely purchase your nuts of a
reliable concern, or from an isolated grove of one variety (many send
direct to France, where pure strains can be more readily gotten), and in
February plant them on their sides in a shallow box of moist sand; keep
in a cool place. In April, or as soon as they sprout, dig a hole 2-1/2
or 3 feet deep, put in surface loam, and plant three or four nuts to a
hole about 2 or 3 inches deep. They will come up by June and make a
growth of a foot or so the first season.
It is contended by many that nothing is gained by planting seedlings in
the nursery, as the set-back from transplanting prevents their bearing
any earlier than trees of the same age grown from nuts.
Grafted trees, on the other hand, are difficult to obtain in large
numbers, are expensive, but produce nuts of uniform size and beauty, and
the pollination is said to be more sure.
The industry is still too young in Oregon for the final word to have
been spoken on this point. The future will undoubtedly add much valuable
information as larger experience supplants theory with facts.
The vital point is to plant good nuts or reliable seedlings from a pure
strain.
In choosing varieties be governed by your location. If frosts are to be
feared get late-blooming varieties, the leading ones established in
Oregon being the Mayette and the Franquette. Other varieties will
undoubtedly be introduced in the next few years that will withstand
frost in regions where walnut planting now seems impractical. Mr. Henry
Hewitt's one tree that blooms the fourth of July, at an elevation of
1,000 feet, is evidence of the possibilities in this direction. Air
drainage is necessary.
The tested varieties in Oregon to date, and the results, are as follows:
Mayettes (the famous "Grenoble" of commerce) and Franquettes are first
choice for hardiness and for reliable commercial crops, the nuts being
of good size, fine flavor and in every way meeting the highest market
demands.
Praeparturiens bear earlier than other varieties, are very productive
and as fine flavored as a hickory nut, but the nuts are small for best
commercial prices.
The Chaberte is a hardy tree, good for the uplands, and prolific; a
delicious nut, small but excellent for confectioners use.
The Ford Mammoth, Glady and Bijou are too large to find favor for
commercial purposes.
[Illustration: _A Fine Japanese Hybrid in Lafayette_]
The Parisienne, Meylan and Lanfray are newer varieties that give much
promise, but have not been thoroughly tested.
H. M. Williamson, Secretary Oregon State Board of Horticulture, in an
article says:
"The extremely unfavorable weather of the past winter (1908-9) has been
one of the best things which could have happened to many heedless
persons who planted walnut trees without first taking pains to learn
anything about the business. The destruction of many young trees of the
Santa Barbara type was a blessing to those who planted them, and the
planters deserve no sympathy, for the warnings not to plant trees of
that type have been ample for many years past.
"The fine condition of suitably located groves of walnut trees of
Franquette, Mayette and other French varieties, after a winter which
proved the most trying to fruit trees of all kinds which we have known
during a long period of years, has given firm confidence to those who
are leading in the development of the walnut industry in Oregon.
"The varieties which are best adapted to culture in this state are those
which produce the finest nuts known to the world."
[Illustration: _Walnut Groves, Dundee, Oregon_]
SEEDLING WALNUTS
The leading commercial orchard in the state is that of Mr. Thomas
Prince, of Yamhill county, and is composed almost entirely of seedling
trees. The history of this orchard is best told by Mr. Prince in the
following very conservative letter:
"About 17 years ago the Ladd Stock Farm of Yamhill, Oregon, by the
advice of Mr. H. E. Dosch, then Secretary of the Oregon Horticultural
Society, purchased from the late Felix Gillett, Nevada City, Cal., and
planted quite a number of young walnut trees which are now in bearing.
The first few years their cattle received first attention and the young
trees were not cultivated as much as they should have been to make good
growth. They therefore do not grow the quantity of walnuts they would
have produced with better cultivation. Two or three years after this Mr.
Z. T. Davis, of Dundee, Oregon, also by advice of Mr. Dosch, purchased
of Mr. Gillett some 500 one-year-old seedlings. One year later the
writer, who had some land adjoining Mr. Davis, also became interested
and set out about 1,500 additional trees, and about two years later
purchased the place belonging to Mr. Davis, and became owner of the
young trees at Dundee, with the exception of a few purchased by several
neighbors. All are now in bearing.
"Those who do not know the facts are inclined to give the writer more
credit than he is entitled to. Mr. Dosch, the Ladds, Mr. Davis and Mr.
Gillett were first to interest themselves and should receive the credit
to which they are entitled.
"We have now in Oregon and Washington quite a few trees in bearing, and
we believe they can be grown here with profit. There is much to learn.
We find the young trees should be carefully set out and receive good
cultivation for the first few years. That the selection of the trees and
the location in which to grow them are very important. The number of
trees to the acre, and whether to grow seedling or grafted trees; and if
grafted whether root grafting or top grafting is best must be
considered.
"I think growing of walnuts has the advantage of many other products.
The crop is easily grown, harvested and marketed; the labor greatly
economized and the net profits a larger per cent of the gross receipts;
while sometimes with other crops the results are just the reverse--the
net profits but a small per cent of the gross receipts.
"The question is often asked how much is land worth that is suitable;
how long before trees will bear, and how much will they produce, etc.
The price of land depends largely on location; generally it is worth
from $50 to $150 per acre. Seedling trees come into bearing from 7 to 9
years of age, quantity from 10 to 50 pounds per tree; number of trees
per acre, 20 to 40."
[Illustration: _Sixty Year Old Walnut Trees on Derr Place_]
These trees are about 60 years old and were planted by I. M. Johns, who
took the donation claim two miles southeast of McMinnville, about 1844,
now the Derr farm. The trunk of the largest one on the right is 10 feet
in circumference, and is probably the largest English walnut tree in
Oregon. They have some nuts every year, but are shy bearers, due no
doubt to lack of proper pollination. The nut is not large, but is full
of good meat and resembles the Parry. The trees are about two hundred
yards from the Yamhill river, are hale and hearty and seem good for a
few centuries. In fact, all of the seedlings examined in this county are
healthy and vigorous.
There are half a dozen or more walnut trees growing in the woods and
about the garden of Mr. J. T. Jones, seven miles west of McMinnville,
which are a valuable study to the walnut grower. They are seedlings from
the Casey tree, and they all bear full crops every year. The largest is
21 inches in diameter. One of them has a much larger and finer nut than
that grown on the Casey tree. Hardpan is reached about 18 inches below
the surface, which would indicate that no tap root were needed were it
not for the fact that a tiny brook runs down through the garden not far
from the trees.
Following is the testimony of Col. Henry E. Dosch, taken from "Better
Fruit" of August, 1908:
"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 quantity 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.
[Illustration: _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-class 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; circumference 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-class 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."
[Illustration: _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
noblest 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 class 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.
[Illustration: 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. Prong
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.
[Illustration: _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:
Rosin, 5 pounds.
Beeswax, 1 pound.
Finely pulverized charcoal. 1-2 pound.
Raw linseed oil, 1 gill
Be sure that the charcoal is finely pulverized. First melt the beeswax
and rosin, being careful not to have the fire too hot. Add the charcoal,
stirring constantly, and then add the oil. Mould into bricks by pouring
into greased pans. When desiring to use break off a few lumps and melt
in such a contrivance as is shown in the plate of grafting tools. The
wax must be quite liquid if applied successfully.
Nursery grafting, or root grafting, is not a success as practiced at
present. The best grafters do not succeed with more than 10 to 15 per
cent. This makes the grafted tree cost from $1.50 to $2.00 per tree, and
makes that kind of walnut planting expensive. However, Col. Dosch, in
his article, quotes Professor Leckenby, the noted agrostologist, as
saying that if directions are religiously followed ninety per cent of
the grafts will grow. The directions are as follows:
"For walnut grafts on scions use one gallon of water with four
teaspoonfuls of sulphate of quinine. Cut scions submerged in the
solution, and wash the cut on tree at once, to prevent it from turning
black, acting as an antiseptic; then insert, the scion as on other fruit
trees."
This, from such authority, is worthy of a trial. A great amount of
experimenting has been done in walnut grafting and a way to success will
be found.
BEST STOCK ON WHICH TO GRAFT
Mr. Burbank, Judge Leib, and George C. Payne, all of California, think
the California black or some of its hybrids make the best stock in
California. Mr. Groner prefers the hybrid for Oregon.
Mr. A. McGill, of Oregon, thinks that neither the California black nor
its hybrid are suited to this climate. Few have had more experience,
costly experience at that, than Mr. McGill. He thinks the American black
better for Oregon.
It is sometimes asked, why not plant seedling walnuts and top work those
that are not good bearers? Because the grafts will not do so well on the
English stock as on the black; and it is also found that the English
stock does not make as good a foundation as the black.
Therefore, the best growers in Oregon conclude that the seed from a
thrifty American Black, or close hybrid, is best for this state. In
three or four years after planting cut off the trunk about as high as a
man's waist or shoulder and put in the graft from the best variety
available. The third year from setting of the graft you will have a crop
of nuts.
Mr. Payne can set 250 to 300 grafts in a day. His wages are $8 a day,
and he furnishes the wood. So you see that your trees would cost very
little. Good black walnut seed can be had very cheap, probably at a cost
of 50 cents to $1 per bushel, the Oregon product preferred.
Some of the California hybrids make rapid growth, but too rapid growth
of wood may not be desirable. It may mean early maturity and early
decay, and too few walnut bearing boughs.
GOOD PLAN FOR WALNUT ORCHARD
(3)---------<1>---------(3)---------<1>---------(3)
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
<1>.........(2).........<1>.........(2).........<1>
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
(3)---------<1>---------(3)---------<1>---------(3)
| \ : / |\ : / |
| \ : / |<.\.......6:0....../..>|
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
| \ : / | \ : / |
<1>.........(2).........<1>.........(2).........<1>
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
| / : \ | / : \ |
|/ : \ | / : \ |
(3)---------<1>---------(3)--30 _ft_--<1>--30 _ft_--(3)
Mr. Prince, of Yamhill county, has modified his views somewhat in regard
to the grafted and seedling trees. He thinks that possibly the permanent
orchard should be of the grafted variety, possibly on the Royal or
California hybrid of rapid growth. He proposes the above form of an
orchard. The principal grafted trees should be placed in square form 60
feet apart, represented by figures 3. In the center of these squares at
figures 2 he would either plant the same trees or some other seedling
variety which will bring the trees about 42 feet apart. Midway between
the main grafted trees he would plant other trees, or apple trees,
represented by figures 1 in the little squares. This would make trees
30 feet apart. At the end of 15 or 20 years, when the trees possibly
become crowded, he would remove the No. 1 trees. If this were an apple
tree, it would already have served its best days and no great loss would
be had by its removal. At the end of 25 or 30 years we would remove No.
2, if the trees became crowded, leaving a permanent orchard of trees 60
feet apart, 12 trees to the acre. This is an excellent arrangement, and
no doubt about the best that has yet been proposed for walnut culture in
Oregon.
It is best to plant in square form, a tree to the center of each square,
forty to sixty feet apart is the rule. Berries, small fruit, potatoes,
vetch, peas, beans, etc., can be grown between the trees while they are
young, leaving six or eight feet free to be cultivated each side of the
trees.
Many plant apples, peaches, prunes or cherries between walnut trees,
planning to cut them out when the latter are of such size as to need all
the space.
These crops between the rows produce an income during the eight years'
waiting for the walnuts to come into bearing. Each grower must decide
this point according to his situation, always avoiding grains and
grasses.
THE TAP ROOT
Some experimenting has been done and much speculation has been indulged
regarding the tap root. One writer disposes of the whole subject in this
manner:
"The cutting of the tap root in planting seedlings has been a question
for much discussion, many growers formerly holding that to cut it meant
to kill the tree. This has proved a mistake. It has been practically
demonstrated that the tree thrives better with the tap root cut if
properly done with a sharp instrument, making a clean cut. New growth is
thereby induced, the abundance of lateral roots feed the tree more
satisfactorily and the trees come into bearing from two to three years
earlier than would otherwise be the case."
[Illustration: A Well Planted Tree]
Before accepting this as final it would be well to make further inquiry.
The summers of western Oregon are practically rainless and when the
kernel in the formed shell is maturing unless there is irrigation a
distress call is sent down to the roots for moisture, if the weather is
very dry. The lateral roots cannot supply this dire need and if the main
pump is not working away down deep in the moist earth the kernel will
not fill well and may perish entirely. For this reason no fibre of the
tap root should be disturbed, but rather encouraged by a well auger
hole, bored before the tree is planted, down to the reservoir of
moisture that will not fail in the dryest season.
The moisture in a dry season as a rule is nearer the surface in the
valley than in the hills and gives a better filled nut. In a wet season,
when the ground everywhere is full of moisture, the hills may produce a
more abundant crop than the valley, but in the run of years it will
require more time to prove which is most valuable for walnut culture.
Trees grow in either place, but he who cuts the tap root in any soil
does so at the peril of his crop in dry seasons.
Of the taproot, Wm. M. Reece, of the firm of Epps, Reece & Tillmont,
Eugene, Oregon, writes:
"The peculiar climatic conditions of the Willamette Valley, which
at a certain season of the year becomes semi-arid, fully justifies
the statement that trees not having a tap root are annually checked
in their growth when irrigation is not used; while those that do
have a tap root, as do walnuts, continue to grow and thrive even in
the driest weather. The walnut should be planted, however, in soil
having a subsoil free from any hard substance that will permit the
tap root to grow downward into the strata of perpetual moisture.
"This has been most thoroughly demonstrated in our walnut orchard
this, the driest year in the memory of old settlers in the Valley.
"When the growth of our apple, cherry and peach trees ceased
because of the dry weather, our walnuts kept on growing as if
supplied by continuous rains. It is true that liberal cultivation
through the dry season will materially aid the growth of all kinds
of trees not having a tap root and is indispensable to the growth
of young walnut trees, trees that have not extended their tap root
down to perpetual moisture.
"Walnut trees, in the opinion of the writer, cease growing upward
when they cease growing downward; that is to say, when rock, shale
or impenetrable hardpan stops the growth of the tap root, the tree
has practically reached its height.
"Therefore, in planting a walnut grove, borings should be made to
test the depth of the soil and character of the subsoil.
"Unquestionably the best variety for this climate is the Franquette
and next the Mayette.
"Grafted trees are to be preferred to seedlings. Grafted trees bear
much sooner and the fruit is more uniform in size, though a
seedling that has attained the bearing age will produce as much
fruit as a grafted tree of the same age; this we have occasion to
observe from comparisons in our own orchard.
"We have trees 14 years old that bore 100 pounds at the age of 12
years and the product sold for 25c a pound for planting purposes.
"Those who had the misfortune to have the tender shoots of their
walnut trees killed by the unusual frost early last May, should not
be discouraged. Just examine the limbs now and you will find that
three or four more shoots grew out where the one was killed. This
makes more fruit buds for next year and the shortage of crop this
year will be more than made up next.
"The writer believes that walnut growing will prove to be the most
profitable industry in the Willamette Valley.
"WM. M. REECE."
It seems to be a characteristic of the walnut and hickory, and possibly
other nut trees, to send down a tap root deep into the earth to draw up
the distilled and purified moisture that has been refined and sweetened
in the lower depths. The older boys of the Middle Western states can
recall the time when they wandered through the woods in late winter
time, with a long pole or rail on their shoulders with which they
"pulled hickory root." The young sprout was "withed" around near one end
of the pole, then all hands put their shoulders under the long end and
with an "altogether, heave, oh," draw up a tap root 4, 6 and 8 feet
long. The lowest end was the choicest and sweetest. It was delicious and
in the division of a day's hunt some of these found their way to "his
best girl" at school.
Whether the water down in these lower depths possesses these qualities,
and that they are necessary to give the Oregon walnut its superiority is
yet a matter of speculation, but that these conditions exist is well
known and should have fullest consideration by the intelligent walnut
culturist.
[Illustration: _Tap Root of a Two-year-old Black Walnut showing how the
root grows down to permanent water level, thus insuring full crops
regardless of weather conditions_]
Cut of tap root of a 2-year-old American Black which grew in the lower
red hill land of Yamhill County. There is but one lateral root near the
surface and this was probably caused by the tap root striking harder
soil on its way down to permanent moisture level.
This tap root is 3 feet long and nearly 6 inches in circumference. It is
one of the best object lessons to be had in walnut culture in Oregon.
Though the Willamette Valley has practically four rainless months of
sunshine, irrigation is unnecessary. There is no other country
comparable to it. Its cool and dewy summer nights, together with its
great subterranean reservoir supplied by the winter rains, are the
reasons why its crops never fail and why its fruits fill "red, round and
luscious," and why the walnut has so persistently shown its preference
for this favored region.
WALNUT CULTIVATION
While the walnut is the hardiest of trees and in many cases has borne
heavily in Oregon without cultivation, experience has proved that, like
fruit trees, cultivation up to the tenth or twelfth years increases the
growth, the yield and the quality of the product. After full maturity no
further cultivation is necessary, the tree taking care of itself with
the independence of any forest tree.
With a young grove it is best to plow between the rows after the rains
cease in the spring, and then stir the ground occasionally all through
the summer with the harrow or disk; this holds the moisture. When some
trees seem backward a trench should be dug some two feet or so away, and
a couple of feet deep, filled with fertilizer and closed over. This will
encourage hardier and more rapid growth. Lime can also be used with good
effect, it being customary in England to haul wagon loads to the walnut
lands. Continually hoeing and digging constitute the best treatment, as
one tree on the Prince place, a Mayette, has proved. It was given daily
cultivation, by way of experiment, and more than doubled the size and
yield of other trees of the same age not so treated.
PRUNING WALNUTS
Walnuts require very little pruning. However, to do well they must have
plenty of light and air, and there must be room under the trees to
cultivate. To this end, keep all lateral growths removed the first two
years, pushing the strong terminal growth. Young trees so treated often
make five or six feet in that time. They must be staked and tied with a
broad strip of cloth. Cross the cloth between the stake and the twig so
as not to bruise the tender wood. As the limbs begin to grow take out an
occasional one to prevent the tree becoming too thick. When large limbs
are removed, cut on the slant, carefully waxing to prevent decay.
Heading-in is often beneficial when the tree does not seem to be
fruitful. Train the trees upward as much as possible.
In Roumania and some of the eastern countries of Europe, some of the
walnut trees have such an enormous spread that a flock of five hundred
sheep can lie in comfort beneath the shade of one tree and have ample
room. If this vine-like tendency to spread can be obviated by
intelligently training the trees upward, and its productiveness
maintained or increased, the walnut grower of Oregon will have
accomplished much in the conservation of our resources.
At present we can make a tree that will produce 500 pounds of walnuts in
25 to 30 years. With 12 trees to the acre, will give 6000 pounds of
nuts; two and one-half times that of wheat at 40 bushels per acre, and
they will not require the expensive refrigerator cars and rapid transit
of perishable fruits.
TRAINING THE TREES
It will only be necessary to train the limbs in seven or eight feet all
round to be able to double the number of trees to the acre. Then train
the trees skyward and increase the number of nut-bearing boughs, and the
yield will be increased accordingly. If the nuts on the higher branches
fill as well as on the lower, the tree can not be made to grow too high,
because we have no violent storms to throw down the trees, and the nuts
are self-gathering. These and many other valuable and interesting
problems in the industry are to be worked out.
According to Prof. Lewis, who is good authority, a later and better
method is to cut the young tree back to 4 feet and make it throw out
three or four laterals. When these laterals are fully grown, bind them
up in a bundle one or two feet diameter with soft strands of rope. In
the dormant season cut these laterals back to about two feet. This will
multiply the branches. Cut back the new growths again the next year, and
so on; this will greatly increase the nut-bearing boughs and will train
the tree upward. This seems to be the most sensible method of pruning
yet proposed.
NO DISEASES INJURE OREGON WALNUTS
The soft, moist atmosphere of western Oregon, so favorable to the
English walnut, seems wholly unfavorable to pests that destroy the crop
in other climates. A crop has never been lost or materially injured in
Oregon through these sources; in fact, so free are the Oregon trees of
such enemies that little thought or attention has been given to this
phase of the subject. In a few localities where caterpillars have
attacked the foliage they have been quickly eradicated by an arsenic
spray. Fumigating will kill insect life. A bacterial disease that has
made its appearance in California has not been seen in this state.
Winter spray of lime and sulphur will kill moss and lichens, which are
about the only parasites that attempt to fasten on Oregon walnut trees.
[Illustration: _Old Walnut Trees Planted About 1850 Near McMinnville, on
the Yamhill River_]
[Illustration: POLLINATION
The Walnut]
POLLINATION
Every fruit and nut grower should know the simple theory of pollination.
When a tree appears thrifty but fails to produce, nine times in ten the
trouble is with the pollination. The walnut is bi-sexual and
self-fertile; the staminate catkins appear first, at the end of the
year's growth (see Fig. 1), and the female blossoms, or pistillates,
from one to three weeks later at the end of the new growth (see Fig. 2).
Thus the staminate catkins sometimes fall before the pistillates form,
and naturally there is no pollination and no crop. This should not
discourage the grower or cause him to uproot his trees. Often by waiting
a few seasons--if the tree is of the correct variety--the trouble may
right itself. Many growers have gotten a crop from single trees where
there was trouble with the pollination by artificially fertilizing, that
is, shaking the pollen from fertile trees, even black walnut, over the
barren pistillates. Birds, insects, and the breezes carry pollen from
one tree to another. Therefore, if nuts for seed are desired, keep each
grove of pure strain separate that there may be no deterioration owing
to cross-fertilization. But the mixed orchard may bear best. Some
varieties of walnut trees--notably the Los Angeles--are suitable only
for shade in Oregon and should not be planted with any other thought in
mind. The staminate blossoms of this variety appear six weeks ahead of
the pistillates and, there being no pollination, naturally there are no
nuts.
[Illustration: _Best in the World, Oregon Walnuts_]
[Illustration: _Drying the Nuts_]
THE HARVEST
The harvest comes in October, a convenient season where there are fruit
crops to be taken care of. The process is extremely simple, being little
more than an old-fashioned "nut gathering." When ripe, the nuts fall to
the ground, shedding their hulls on the way. They are picked up by boys,
girls, men and women.
During the harvest three or four rounds must be made through the grove,
perhaps a week elapsing between trips, each time slightly shaking the
trees to make the ripe nuts fall. On the last round, a padded mallet
with a long handle is used to dislodge the remaining nuts. The expense
of harvesting is slight, five or six people being sufficient to care for
a fifty-acre grove.
WASHING AND DRYING
When the nuts are gathered and brought in they are put into a revolving
barrel-churn holding about 12 to 16 gallons. Two buckets of water and
about the same of walnuts are put in together and the churn revolved for
some minutes. Then the nuts are taken out and spread on wire crates and
placed in the sun; they should be raked over two or three times a day.
Or, if the weather is wet, they may be placed in the dry-house in a good
draught at about 70 degrees F. In an artificial drying if the heat
becomes too great the nuts will be rancid, as the oil-cells will burst:
so better err on the side of underheating than overheating. If left out
of doors, cover carefully to protect from dew. The crates for outdoor
drying are placed on trestles in some California groves, in order that
the air may circulate through the nuts. This is much better than placing
them on the ground, where they draw dampness.
SORTING AND GRADING
After the walnuts are gathered, washed, dried and stored for a week or
so to test the correctness of their drying, they are ready to be graded
by passing over a sized screen. The choicest ones will sell at top
market prices, and the culls a little under. The Prince grove harvest is
never graded, as he finds ready sale at highest prices for the entire
output just as it runs after sorting out the few imperfect nuts.
PACKING AND SHIPPING
They are next put into pound cartons, or 50-pound bags, common gunny
sacks, ready for the market.
Not being perishable none are lost in shipping or by keeping. Walnuts
from Oregon groves have been kept two years, tasting as sweet and fresh
as those in their first season. Long hauls are not objectionable, as the
rough handling is not injurious to the well-sealed varieties grown in
Oregon. In this they have an advantage over fruit.
WALNUT YIELD PER ACRE
While it is generally found that seedling trees properly treated come
into bearing the eighth year, this crop is usually light, doubling each
successive season for seven or eight years. From then on there is a
steady increase in crop and hardiness for many years. Often trees in
Oregon bear in their sixth year; while there are instances on record of
trees set out in February bearing the following autumn. This is no
criterion, however, merely an instance illustrating the unusual richness
of Oregon soil, and its perfect adaptability to walnut culture.
Thirty-five acres on the Prince place yielded at twelve years, twelve
tons of fine nuts, which were sold at 18 and 20 cents a pound, two cents
above the market price, making an average of $125 per acre. Another
grove of two acres yielded in their ninth year two tons, or a ton to the
acre, netting the owner $360 an acre.
Mr. A. A. Quarnberg's eleven-year-old trees averaged twenty-five pounds
each. Mr. Henry J. Biddle's ten and twelve-year-old trees averaged
thirty pounds each. One hundred fifty dollars an acre from
twelve-year-old trees is a conservative estimate, though some groves not
cultivated may fall under that figure, while others in a high state of
cultivation will almost double it.
THE WALNUT MARKET
The very fact that in 1907 Oregon-grown walnuts commanded several cents
a pound higher price than those grown elsewhere indicates their market
value. When ordinary nuts sold for 12 and 16 cents a pound Oregon nuts
brought 18 and 20 cents.
New York dealers who cater to the costliest trade throughout the United
States, and who have never handled for this purpose any but the finest
types of imported nuts, pronounced the Oregon product satisfactory from
every standpoint--finely flavored, nutty, meaty and delicious. They were
glad to pay an extra price to secure all that were available.
In the home market the leading dealers of Portland and Northwest cities
readily dispose of all of the Oregon walnuts obtainable at an advanced
price. In fact, the Oregon walnut has commanded a premium in every
market into which it has been introduced.
California walnuts are largely shipped east, the percentage entering the
northern markets being comparatively small. The annual sum expended in
Oregon for imported nuts at the present time is $400,000. When the
Oregon growers are able to supply the home demand alone, shutting out
importations, the population of Oregon will have more than doubled, and
the amount expended in this state for walnuts will approach if it does
not exceed the million-dollar mark. In addition to this the eastern
markets will be clamoring for Oregon walnuts, as they now absorb Hood
River apples, Willamette valley cherries and Rogue River valley pears.
With eastern buyers always ready to pay an extra price for extra grade
products, superior grades of Oregon walnuts will undoubtedly be
contracted for, leaving only the culls for home consumption.
It has been conservatively estimated that at the rate the population of
the United States is increasing, and the rate walnut consumption is
increasing, by the time every available acre in Oregon is in full
bearing the supply will still fall far short of the demand. Judging by
past experience in California this is no chimerical conception. Since
1896 the walnut crop in that state has steadily increased, and in like
proportion has the price advanced, from seven cents in 1896 to twenty
cents in 1907.
COMPARED WITH FRUIT
In comparing walnut culture with fruit, one must take into consideration
the fact that distance from transportation facilities is not a
detriment; that there is very little expense in putting out or
maintaining a walnut grove; that insects, blight and disease are unknown
to walnut groves of Oregon, thus obviating the cost of spraying; that
the expense of harvesting is exceedingly light; that no nut-fruit
perishes--that it does not need to be sold at once, but will keep
indefinitely, making a lost crop practically impossible.
It is estimated by experienced walnut growers that the annual cost of
cultivation and pruning should not exceed $10 an acre, while harvesting
should not exceed 20 cents per hundred pounds. It is a simple matter to
figure the profits.
The original investment in a walnut grove may be made a comparatively
small amount; thus it appeals particularly to those of limited means.
THE POUND PACKAGE
It is difficult or impossible to establish a uniform package good for
every year. Walnuts are not like other fruits; size is not a sure
indication of weight. The pound package used by Mr. Thos. Prince is
3-3/4 x 4-1/2 x 5-1/4 inches, which in 1907 when filled weighed 17
ounces, in 1908 it weighed 16 ounces, and in the dry year of 1909 it
weighed but 14 ounces.
WALNUT CONFECTIONERY
The cut on page 5 shows the best method of cracking walnuts to extract
the kernel in halves without breaking. Grasp the nut between the thumb
and forefinger at the seam, place on a hard surface of stone or iron and
strike sharply with a light hammer only sufficient to crack the shell
without crushing the kernel.
This method is used by most manufacturers of great varieties of walnut
confectionery, some of which are shown in the picture. Walnut
chocolates, walnut taffy, walnut log, panoche, nougat and many other
articles, as well as walnut sundries to put on dishes of ice cream are
among the tasty confections for which the demand is very great.
WALNUTS IN COOKING
A few of the delightful ways in which walnuts may be used on the table:
NUT BREAD
1 pound hard wheat flour.
1 pound whole wheat flour.
1 cup good yeast.
1 cup ground walnuts.
1 tablespoonful Orleans molasses.
2 tablespoonfuls melted lard or butter.
Mix with warm water; let it raise quite light, then mould, raise and
bake as other bread.
GEMS
Graham, wheatlet or cornmeal gems are greatly improved by adding a few
walnut kernels ground fine.
NUT CAKE
3 eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately, 1/2 cup--scant--butter, 3/4
cup milk, 1 cup walnuts ground or chopped, 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar,
1/2 teaspoonful each of lemon and vanilla, 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder,
flour to make a moderately stiff batter.
CHOCOLATE NUT CAKE
3 eggs, 3/4 cup each of brown and white sugar, 3/4 cup of coffee and
milk mixed, 1 cup ground walnuts, 4 tablespoonfuls melted butter, 2
teaspoonfuls ground chocolate or cocoa, most of 1 nutmeg grated, 2
teaspoonfuls baking powder, flour to make moderately stiff batter.
More satisfactory results are obtained by baking either of these cakes
in two deep layercake tins and putting the two parts together with any
good filling.
NUT COOKIES
3 cups sugar--Extra C preferred--3/4 pound of butter, 2 or 3 eggs, 1 cup
of water, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1/2 a nutmeg, a little ginger
and cinnamon, 1 cup walnuts ground fine, 4 cups of flour. Roll thin and
bake in a quick oven.
APPLE NUT SALAD
4 cups of good tart apples cut in small cubes or chopped not too fine, 1
cup of coarsely ground, or chopped nuts. Stir lightly into these 1 cup
of sugar and 1/2 of a nutmeg grated fine.
DRESSING FOR SAME
2-3 cup of cold water, 2 tablespoons strong vinegar, 1/2 cup of sugar.
Add one egg, well beaten. Put this on the stove and stir constantly
until well cooked. If this is done carefully it will not curdle. Take
from the stove and add a lump of butter the size of a walnut, grate in a
little nutmeg and stir gently until the butter is well melted and mixed.
Some whipped cream may be added to this when cool if desired or
convenient.
BY-PRODUCTS
In addition to walnuts as nuts, they pay handsomely as pickles. For this
purpose they must be picked green. This could be made a most profitable
side industry in connection with large groves.
One grower had an inquiry for two carloads of green walnuts to be used
for this purpose. Large quantities are imported annually and they sell
at very high prices.
They are also used for dyeing purposes, giving a beautiful brown shade
difficult to obtain except with walnut hulls.
Oil which is often substituted for olive oil is manufactured from
walnuts, thus suggesting another commercial avenue. One hundred pounds
of walnuts produce eighteen pounds of oil.
[Illustration: _No. 1, 1 Vrooman Franquette. No. 2, 2 Mayette. No. 3, 3
Mayette Rouge. No. 4, 4 Parisienne. No. 5, 5 Praeparturien. No. 6 6
Chaberte. No. 7. Cluster._
Plate One]
[Illustration: _No. 1 1 Franquette. No. 2, 2 Glady. No. 3 3 Payne. No. 4
4 Mayette. No. 5, 5 Meylan. No. 6, 6 Parisienne. No. 7, Cluster. No. 8,
Praeparturien._
Plate Two]
[Illustration: Plate Three _The "Prince of Yamhill"_]
VARIETIES
The beautiful nuts shown on Plate 3 are seedlings from the orchard of
Mr. Thomas Prince, of Yamhill county. They are probably the handsomest
walnut as to size, form and color as well as taste that may be found
anywhere. The tree has not had an orchard try-out yet. If it proves to
be a good bearer with the other qualities suitable for this climate and
soil condition, it will enter the field high up in the standard of
excellence.
There is some discrepancy in what constitutes standard varieties of
walnuts. We have endeavored to get nuts both from Oregon and California
to fix a uniform understanding as to the different varieties. The types
submitted by Mr. A. McGill of the Oregon Nursery Co., Plate 1, are No.
1, 1 Vrooman Franquette, No. 2, 2 Mayette, No. 3, 3 Mayette Rouge, No.
4, 4 Parisienne, No. 5, 5 Praeparturien, No. 6, 6 Chaberte, No. 7,
Cluster.
Plate No. 2, by Mr. Ferd Groner, No. 1, 1 Franquette, No. 2, 2 Glady,
No. 3, 3 Payne, No. 4, 4 Mayette, No. 5, 5 Meylan, No. 6, 6 Parisienne,
No. 7 Cluster, No. 8 Praeparturien, are about as near uniformly correct
as we have.
The Chaberte nuts, which confectioners use, are a special industry, the
kernels being slipped out of the shells without breaking, and sold in
this form. All the smaller nuts, the imperfect ones--the culls--find
ready sale both shelled and unshelled for the manufacture of walnut
candy, walnut cake, etc.
WEIGHTS, KERNEL AND TASTE
The first Walnut Show was held at McMinnville, November 1, 1907, and was
judged by H. M. Williamson, Secretary of the State Board of
Horticulture. Most of the following memoranda on weights are taken from
his report:
James Morrison, Franquette 32 to the pound
F. W. Myers, Mayette 34 " " "
F. W. Myers, Seedling 35 " " "
James Morrison, Seedling Franquette 42 " " "
James Morrison, Grafted Mayette 38 " " "
D. H. Turner, Seedlings 42 " " "
James Morrison, Blanche Mayette 34 " " "
James Morrison, Grenoble Mayette 32 " " "
D. H. Turner, Parry 48 " " "
Mayette Shaped Praeparturiens 64 " " "
R. P. Ungerman, Seedlings 50 " " "
Bland Herring, Praeparturiens 38 " " "
Bland Herring, Bijou 22 " " "
Pleasant Cozine, Seedlings 42 " " "
Casey tree, Seedling 55 " " "
E. Estes, fourth generation from Casey tree 52 " " "
Thos. Prince Seedling 40 " " "
Derr Tree, Parry 60 " " "
The investigations in regard to relative weights of kernel and shell of
the different varieties is made up from an article read by Mr. Ferd
Groner before the State Horticultural Society, December, 1909.
The Vrooman Franquette shell and kernel weighed equal.
The Payne Seedling gave slightly more kernel than shell.
The Mayette slightly more shell than kernel.
The Meylan, shell and kernel equal.
The Gladys, shell and kernel equal.
Franquette, near Salem, shell weighed two and one-half times that of
kernel.
Other experiments show that the Praeparturien shell and kernel are about
equal.
While the weight of the kernel is of great importance to the consumer,
the taste and digestibility is still more so. In this is the food value
of the walnut. The food value will in time be the commercial value.
There is very little variation in the taste of any one variety of wild
nuts or fruits, but the cultivated walnut, as well as the cultivated
peach and apple, has a great variety of tastes, and it does not require
an expert to distinguish the good from the poor qualities.
Walnuts should be graded as to variety, the varieties should then be
graded as to size, but the paramount duty of the grower is to produce a
creamy, delicious walnut of excellent flavor. The soil and climate has
proven their excellence, and it is now for the intelligent grower to do
his part.
WHO SHOULD INVEST
Professional men and women, business men and women, those living in
cities and towns and confined to offices, stores and factories, will
find an investment in forty or fifty acres of walnut land at the present
time wholly within their possibilities. Special terms can be arranged
and their groves planted and cared for at small cost. While they are
working their groves will be growing toward maturity, and in less than a
decade they may be free from the demands of daily routine: the grove
will furnish an income, increasing each season until the twentieth year,
and will prove the most pleasant kind of old age annuity, and the
richest inheritance a man could leave his children.
The practical farmer, or the inexperienced man who desires to escape the
tyranny of city work by way of the soil will find that a walnut grove
offers an immediate home, a living from small fruits and vegetables
while his trees are maturing, and at the end of eight or ten years, the
beginning of an income that will every year thereafter increase, while
the labor exacted will gradually lessen until it amounts to practically
nothing. Like rearing children, a walnut grower's troubles are over with
the trees' infant days.
The capitalist can find no better place for his money than safely
invested in Oregon walnut lands; the rise is certain and near.
[Illustration: _The "Meat" of the Walnut_]
Some years ago "Outlook," a most conservative publication, spoke of the
English walnut as "a tree of vast commercial importance in the far
west."
Luther Burbank states: "The consumption of walnuts is increasing among
all civilized nations faster than any other food."
CONCLUSION
B. M. Lelong, Secretary of the California State Board of Horticulture,
wrote in 1896:
"California growers have had a long and varied experience with many
failures, and when they finally began to place their walnuts on the
market they were obliged to accept the humiliating price of from 3 to 6
cents a pound less than that paid for imported walnuts."
In Oregon the reverse is true. Our walnuts command a price above that
paid for walnuts raised anywhere else. The size, cracking-out quantity,
delicate flavor and delicious creamy taste, are the qualities that give
the Oregon walnut its surpassing excellence. If we have this
pre-eminence at the beginning of the industry, what may we expect when
intelligent cultivation has produced the best grade of walnuts of which
our soil and climate are capable?
To Oregon, then, with its vast areas adapted to this industry, must the
world look for its great annual walnut harvest in the years to come. The
far-seeing man will secure an interest in Oregon walnut lands now,
before speculation and a general awakening to their real value have
boosted the price to that of walnut lands elsewhere.
[Illustration: _View in Prince Walnut Grove Dundee, Oregon_]
OREGON WALNUT AREA BY COUNTIES
Note: The price of land varies according to location; the cheaper land
is not all cleared.
Groves now Bearing trees. Available land. Price
County. planted. per acre.
Washington Many young A number bear Thousands of
ones. full crops. acres. $25 to $200.
Multnomah Several young Many scattered. Several
groves. thousand. $50 to $200.
Yamhill 3,000 acres. 5,000 trees. 40,000 acres;
every quarter
section has
suitable land. $50 to $250.
Clackamas 100 acres. Many scattered; Several
one grove. thousand. $20 to $500.
Polk Several hundred 100 trees. Many thousand. $25 to $100.
acres.
Marion A few A number in Hundreds
bearing. of acres. $20 to $500.
Benton No record. No record. Many acres $20 to $100.
Linn Several young Several Many hundred
groves. scattered. acres. $20 to $500.
Lane 300 acres. A few scattered; 10,000. $60 to $125.
bear heavily.
Douglas None. Many; loaded Thousands $25 to $100.
with nuts of acres.
Josephine No record. A number; Hundreds
scattered. of acres. No record?
Jackson 30 or 40 acres. Hundreds Several
scattered thousand. $25 to $225.
through valley
loaded with nuts.
Baker A few groves. Many producing Thousands of
(Eastern Ore.) trees. acres. $25 to $150?
GOLD MEDAL WALNUT EXHIBIT (See cut on following page)
Last year the Walnut club of McMinnville made an exhibit of home grown
walnuts at the A.-Y.-P. Exposition and was awarded a gold medal. They
have a very attractive and artistic way of putting up an exhibit,
classifying and arranging the different varieties in glass cases in such
a manner as to attract universal attention and call forth the heartiest
exclamations of admiration. The accompanying cut shows one of their
exhibits in position. It is nine feet high and nearly five feet wide and
is faced alike on both sides.
This club was organized for the purpose of studying the walnut industry
in all its details. They employ scientists and experts to tell how and
to demonstrate the various methods of walnut culture. There are scores
of 5 and 10-acre tracts planted to walnuts in the vicinity, as well as
experimental trees on the lots in town and along the streets. They call
McMinnville "The Walnut City."
[Illustration: _Walnut Exhibit
as prepared by the Walnut Club of McMinnville for the display of
OREGON GROWN WALNUTS
in several of the principal Eastern Offices of the
OREGON RAILROAD & NAVIGATION CO. and SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO. (Lines in
Oregon)_]
RAILROAD REPRESENTATIVES
Who will take pleasure in giving all desired information as to rates,
routes, train schedules, hotel accommodations, etc., and make advance
arrangements for trips.
EAST.
New York: J. B. DeFriest, Gen. Eastern Agt., U. P. R. R., 287 Broadway
New York: L. H. Nutting, Gen. Pass. Agt., S. P. S. S. Co., 366 Broadway
Boston, Mass. Willard Massey, N. E. Frt. & Pass. Agt., 176 Wash. St.
Philadelphia, Pa.: S. C. Milbourne, G. A., U. P. R. R., 830 Chestnut St.
R. J. Smith, Agent, S. P. Co., 632 Chestnut St.
Pittsburg, Pa.: G. G. Herring, General Agent, 707 Park Bldg.
Cincinnati, Ohio: W. H. Connor, General Agent, 53 East Fourth St.
Detroit, Mich.: J. C. Ferguson, General Agent, 11 Fort St., West
MIDDLE WEST.
Chicago, Ill.: W. G. Neimyer, General Agent, 120 Jackson Boulevard
St. Louis, Mo.: J. G. Lowe, General Agent, 903 Olive St.
Kansas City, Mo.: H. G. Kaill, Asst. Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agt.,
U. P. R. R., 901 Walnut St.
St. Joseph, Mo.: S. E. Stohr, Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agt.,
St. J. & G. I. R. R.
Leavenworth, Kan.: J. J. Hartnett, Gen. Agt., Rooms 9-11 Nat. Bank Bldg.
Council Bluffs, Iowa: J. C. Mitchell, City Ticket Agent, 522 Broadway
Des Moines, Iowa: J. W. Turtle, Trav. Pass. Agt., 313 W. Fifth St.
Minneapolis, Minn.: H. F. Carter, Dist. Pass. Agent, 21 South Third St.
Lincoln., Neb.: E. B. Slosson, General Agent, 1044 O St.
Omaha, Neb.: E. L. Lomax, General Passenger Agent, U. P. R. R.
Pueblo, Colo.: L. M. Tudor, Commercial Agent, 312 N. Main St.
Denver, Colo.: Francis B. Choate, General Agent, 941 Seventeenth St.
Wm. K. McAllister, Gen. Agt., S. P. Co., Suite 313 Railway Exc. Bldg.
CANADA.
Toronto: J. O. Goodsell, Traveling Pass. Agt., Room 14 Janes Bldg.
SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST.
Atlanta, Ga.: A. J. Dutcher, General Agent, 121 Peachtree St.
New Orleans, La.: J. H. R. Parsons, Gen. Pass. Agt., M. L. & T. R. R.,
227 St. Charles St.
Houston, Tex.: T. J. Anderson, Gen. Pass. Agent, G. H. & S. A. R. R.
EUROPE.
London, England: Rudolph Falck, General European Agent
No. 49 Leadenhall St., E. C. No. 22 Cockspur St., N. W.
Liverpool, England: No. 25 Water St.
Antwerp, Belgium: 11 Rue Chapelle de Grace
Hamburg, Germany: Amerika Haus, 23-27, Ferdinand Strasse
PACIFIC COAST.
San Francisco, Cal.: Chas. S. Fee, Pass. Traffic Mgr.,
S. P. Co., Flood Bldg.
Lewiston, Ida.: C. W. Mount, District Freight & Passenger Agent
Los Angeles, Cal.: H. O. Wilson, Gen. Agt., U. P. R. R., 557 Spring St.
T. A. Graham, Asst. Gen. Pass. Agt., S. P Co., 600 S. Spring St
Olympia, Wash.: J. C. Percival, Agent, Percival's Dock
Salt Lake City, Utah: D. E. Burley, Gen. Pass. Agt., O. S. L. R. R.
Seattle, Wash.: W. D. Skinner, Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agent, O. & W. R. R.
E. E. Ellis, General Agent, 608 First Ave.
Tacoma, Wash.: Robt. Lee, Gen'l Agt., Berlin Bldg., Eleventh
and Pacific Ave.
Walla Wala, Wash.: R. Burns, District Freight and Passenger Agent
Wallace, Ida.: G. A. Marshall, Commercial Agent
Astoria, Ore.: G. W. Roberts, Commercial Agent, O. R. & N. Dock
Portland, Ore.: C. W. Stinger, City Ticket Agent, 3d and Washington Sts.
R. B. MILLER, Traffic Manager ... WM. McMURRAY, Gen. Pass. Agt.
JOHN M. SCOTT, Assistant General Passenger Agent
Portland, Oregon
[Illustration:
THE OREGON RAILROAD & NAVIGATION CO.
OREGON & WASHINGTON R.R.
UNION PACIFIC
OREGON SHORT LINE
SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO.]
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