g the English on the black. We don't down
our way. Both of those men are in regions where the land is inclined to
be alkali. The land where my orchard is, and where Mr. Littlepage's and
Mr. Wilkinson's orchards are, is inclined to be acid. I am of the
opinion that, to make a success of the English walnut, we are going to
have to use lime, and use it extensively, not only in the nursery, but
until the time when the trees begin to bear.

THE PRESIDENT: It is one of the common pieces of knowledge of all the
agriculturists of France that the walnut does well on lime soils, and
they don't expect it to do well on acid soils.

MR. JONES: Mr. President, I think, if Mr. McCoy will examine his trees,
he will find that the root dies first.

MR. MCCOY: Well, why should they rot?

MR. JONES: That is like a good many other things, Mr. McCoy. We don't
know why.

MR. LITTLEPAGE: A pecan top-worked on a water hickory will sometimes
kill the whole tree, top and all. It is the top that does it.

MR. M. P. REED: This year we made some observations of different
varieties, as to time of leafing out, and we found the Eastern varieties
leafed out about the first of April, and the Franquette and Mayette
about the fifth of May, and one variety we got from the Department, No.
39,884, didn't leaf out until the twenty-fifth of May. That seemed to
indicate that the French varieties were going to prove better than the
Eastern varieties, because late frosts cannot hurt the blossoms.

MR. LITTLEPAGE: That is correct. I watched them this spring at Mr.
McCoy's. Franquette and Mayette, over there and with us, were anywhere
from ten days to two weeks later leafing out. Some of the buds were
entirely dormant and some just bursting when many of our Eastern
varieties were in full leaf. But my experience here in Maryland on
walnut trees from all sections was that every one winter-killed except
one Nebo tree and a top-worked Potomac. I have a Potomac which has made
ten to twelve feet of growth, and it didn't winter-kill the slightest,
and my Nebo tree hasn't winter-killed any, but the Franquette, the
Meylan, the Rush, the Holden, and several others winter-killed very
badly. At least, Mr. McMurran said that was what it was, and I thought
it was, too.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Mr. Littlepage, isn't "winter-killing" rather a
relative term, dependent partly upon the climate and partly upon the
condition of the tree at the end of the growing season? Was there