kory nuts, pecans,
hazelnuts, filberts and almost all other nuts, will be planted by
squirrels, mice and other rodents. Although most of these will be eaten
by the animals who buried them, a large percentage of the ones which are
not eaten will sprout. The sprouts which achieve maturity and bearing
age, however, will be only a very small percentage--some say only a
fraction of 1%--of the number that sprouted. This is an expensive and
wasteful method, horticulturally speaking, but it does indicate that it
is best to plant nuts as soon as possible after they have properly
ripened and been dried.

After walnuts, hickory nuts, butternuts and hazels have been gathered,
they should be dried until the hulls have lost most of their moisture.
The husks should be removed from filberts before they are dried. While
this preparation is not essential, nuts are less likely to mold if they
are dried somewhat before they are planted. However, I have planted
freshly-gathered black walnuts and butternuts and most of them sprouted.
If nuts are to be stored in large quantities, the drying-out process is
absolutely essential and should be carried to the point of completely
drying the hulls. The system I followed in doing this is to gather the
nuts after they have fallen and spread them out in the sunlight on roofs
or floors where air can circulate around them. After the hulls are dry,
such nuts as black walnuts, English walnuts and butternuts may be put in
barrels or burlap bags and stored in an unheated basement without
seriously deteriorating. English walnuts are most safely stored when
they are hulled before being packed in burlap bags. These bags should be
suspended above the floor of the cellar by a rope or wire. These are
additional precautions which allow better circulation of air, further
prevention of mold, and safety from mice and squirrels.

Chestnuts, beechnuts and acorns require more care when they are to be
stored, for their viability is very sensitive to dryness. I have found
that these soft-shelled species of nuts should be treated in a different
manner than the walnut and hickory types of seeds if we are to get the
most out of their germination. Since chestnuts are very prone to molding
or rotting, the best way to maintain their viability and freshness over
winter is to stratify them in a can or box between layers of a peat
moss. This peat moss must be decidedly on the acid side and must be
dampened, but must not be so wet