th of nut trees as New Ulm
or St. Peter, because it lies in the Mississippi River valley and is
farther east. Bodies of water and altitudes have as great an influence
on plant life as latitude; at least, they can have, and these are
factors that must be understood thoroughly. Soil conditions also vitally
affect plant life, particularly deep-rooted trees such as nut trees
usually are. Each has its own requirements; hickory, Japanese heartnut
and Persian walnuts favor an alkaline soil, which chestnuts, wanting
acid will not grow in; chestnuts thrive best in a slightly acid,
well-drained soil; hazels will grow in either alkaline or acid soil as
will black walnuts and butternuts; almonds need a light sandy soil,
similar to that suitable to plums, pecans do well in either rich river
bottoms, which may be slightly acid, or in clay soil on high hillsides
which are alkaline. A deep, sandy or graveltype soil is usually accepted
by the chestnuts even though it may not be slightly acid, and successful
orchards have been grown on a deep clay soil on hillsides.

It is not always easy to obtain black walnuts and butternuts to eat.
Hickory nuts have been a favorite of mine since I first tasted them and
I often have found it difficult to procure fresh ones, ones that were
not slightly rancid. Because I liked eating these nuts, I thought I
would try to grow some for my own consumption and so avoid having to
depend on a grocer's occasional supply of those shipped in, always a
little stale. Raising nuts appealed to me economically too, since
obviously trees would need little care, and after they had begun to bear
would supply nuts that could be sold at interesting prices.

I turned the back yard of my home in St. Paul into an experimental plot.
Here I set out some of each kind of tree I planted or grafted at my farm
in Wisconsin. I had purchased a farm 35 miles east of St. Paul, beyond
the influence of the St. Croix River Valley. My experiments really began
there. The farm was covered with butternut trees, hazel bushes, and a
wild hickory called "bitternut." This last is well-named for I have
never found an animal other than a squirrel that could endure its nuts.
Possibly the white-footed mouse or deer-mouse could--I don't know. He
usually eats anything a squirrel does. I learned to appreciate these
bitternut trees later and they became a source of experience and
interest to me as I learned to graft on them many varieties, species and
hy