or
our locality. Some day it may produce well in orchard form if trees
become available. One thing is certain about it--it is very hardy and is
reasonably easy to propagate.

And so we can conclude the walnut chapter by saying that at least we
have some giants in the orchard to show for our trouble and expense,
which bear nice edible walnuts in favorable seasons. When comparing this
with the wild butternut crop from butternuts in the adjacent woods,
which has consistently failed each year for the last ten years, it is
quite encouraging.

It was my hard luck to have an uncongenial soil for my experiments in
chestnuts, and the knowledge of this came so late that I thought the
chestnut was not meant to succeed in our territory. So I put my efforts
on hickory nuts and filberts. Both of these succeeded to a degree and
with my present knowledge and experience on hickory nuts I would not be
a bit afraid to start an orchard on good deep clay or other
satisfactory soil which hickories like, using grafted trees of
Bridgewater and Weschcke.

A few Kirtland and Deveaux No. 2 would be planted for extra pollination
and the extra variety in nuts. There are of course many other varieties
of hickories that have succeeded in this territory but those above
mentioned, have possibilities of commercial success in orchard
formation.

The hickory is a difficult tree to transplant and I would advise that
grafted trees be dug with a ball of dirt for shipping, similar to an
evergreen, as I have found that, with the greatest of care and
experience, the hickory is very slow to re-establish itself unless
handled that way.

The hybrid hazels are perhaps the hardiest and certainly bear the
earliest of any of the nut trees. My own hybrids show great
possibilities for commercial enterprise, but as yet no nurserymen are
carrying these varieties and I have not found help enough to promote
them myself.

I am convinced that had I spent as much time with the chestnuts on
favorable soil as I did with hickories that they would probably head the
list of successful nut trees growing. Recently I have purchased an
adjoining piece of property which has the necessary well-drained, sandy
or gravelly soil, which chestnuts seem to like, and I have started my
chestnut orchard there along with a sprinkling of hickory and walnut
trees, merely as a matter of test.

This year the chestnuts are again putting on a fair crop for the number
and the size of the trees