the variety of black walnut
known as the Ohio, one of the best sorts for this northern climate
except for hardiness, has often demonstrated that it has a peculiarity
which might be caused by lack of outside pollen or because of the action
of its own pollen on its pistillate bloom. This peculiarity is the often
found one-sided development of the Ohio walnut kernel when the tree is
isolated from other pollen bearing black walnuts. One lobe of the kernel
is therefore full-meated while the other half or lobe is very
undernourished or it may be a thin wisp of a kernel as is the appearance
of the Weschcke variety in similar circumstances.

[Illustration: _Stabler variety of Black Walnut grafted on a Minnesota
seedling stock bore many years but was winter killed. Photo by C.
Weschcke_]

Cutting scionwood early one spring, I noticed that the sap was running
very fast in the grafted Stabler tree previously referred to. Later when
I came back to inspect this tree, I noticed that the sap had congealed
to syrupy blobs at the ends of the cut branches. My curiosity led me to
taste this and I found it very sweet and heavy. I mean to experiment
some time in making syrup from the sap of this tree as I believe its
sugar content to be much higher than that of the local sugar maple. This
makes the Stabler a 3-purpose tree, the first being its nuts, the second
being the syrup, and the third being, at the end of its potentially long
life, a good-sized piece of timber of exceptionally high value. The tree
is one of beauty, having drooping foliage similar to that of the weeping
willow. This is another point in its favor, its being an ornamental tree
worthy of any lawn. However, the Stabler is now considered as a tender
variety and is not recommended for northern planting.

[Illustration: _Stabler graft on old seedling grafted in May, 1938
bearing in August of the same year. Photo by C. Weschcke_]

[Illustration: _Cut Leaf Black Walnut. Scions furnished by Harry Weber
of Cincinnati, Ohio. Variety was hardy on Minnesota seedling for about 5
years. Photo by C. Weschcke_]

The aesthetic value of the black walnut does not cease here since there
are some varieties which are exceptionally attractive. One of these is
the cut-leaf black walnut which has the ordinary compound leaf but whose
individual leaflets are so scalloped and serrated that they resemble a
male fern. Everyone who has seen one of these has evinced pleasurable
surprise at this n