My Experience in Growing Nut Trees on the House Lawn
Reading edition
By M. Glen Kirkpatrick Orchard Editor, Farm Journal, Philadelphia, Pa.
Coming at the end of a program such as you have had here today, I am reminded of a story my father used to tell me as a boy.
"There was once a mouse that lived in a cellar. One day he was attracted by some moisture on the floor that was seeping from a barrel of cider. The cider was in the stage of becoming vinegar. The mouse took two or three helpings and then said, 'Now bring on the cat!'"
I would be just as foolish as the mouse if I tried to contribute any technical matter. Ten minutes will be ample to tell you of my experiences.
My interest in nut trees is due to Mr. John W. Hershey. I wish now that some of my apple trees were replaced by walnuts. I planted my trees about 8 years ago. The pecan is about 18 feet high, the English walnut about 12 feet high. The English walnut has blossomed but has never borne fruit. The pecan has blossomed this year for the first time. My Barcelona has about a pound of nuts on this year. It is from 12 to 14 feet high. My Du Chilly has produced fruit one year.
The thing I like about nut trees is their cleanness. My English walnut has never been troubled by pests, neither has the pecan, except there is one thing I hold against the pecans and that is the borers on the branches. It is ten times as bad as English walnuts. But the trees are clean and nice to have, and I really prefer them to apple trees. With apple trees you are at all times troubled with apples on the lawn and it is a job to keep them cleaned up. You have nothing of that sort to contend with in nut trees.
My trees have not been given special advantages. The pecan is in with a lot of shrubs and the English walnut is surrounded by roses. The filbert has just taken pot luck with the rest.
That is my experience and if I can tell you anything further I shall be glad to do it.
Dr. Zimmerman: I would like to ask you a question about the Japanese beetle. Have you had any trouble with your black walnuts?
Mr. Kirkpatrick: I have had one black walnut die.
Dr. Zimmerman: Do you know if the Japanese beetle attacks the chestnut or chinquapin?
Mr. Shaw: Maybe I can answer that question. In New Jersey the Japanese beetle attacks the chestnut but I do not know about the chinquapin.