oductivity of the plants to use as mother
plants is an important one. In the work of the Department of Agriculture
in connection with citrus fruits, it has been found that the individual
bud carries over into its progeny the ability to produce fruit not only
of a given type, but also the productivity of the parent to the progeny.
A long series of records of the behavior of individual trees have been
secured; we are building up a mass of information on which to base
selections for better parent trees than any available at the present
time. If the pecan behaves like the citrus fruits of California, we will
be able in the future to have strains and varieties which will be very
much less variable than those at the present time.

The propagation, selection, disease and cultural work covers the field
that is handled by the Bureau of Plant Industry. We always like to dream
of the future, and we are pleased to have the dreams come true. We must
have in mind the possibility of better black walnuts than we have at
present; and after the great inroad into the industry made at the time
of the War, when the trees were used for timber purposes, there should
be a greater effort on the part of the people in the northern districts
to propagate black walnuts, not only for nuts but also for timber. The
black walnut is a very great asset not only for timber and for
ammunition purposes, but for food as well.

The hickory tree is in the same class as the black walnut--it is a
valuable timber tree as well as nut tree. No other timber is as valuable
for the construction of wheels as hickory, and while the "disc wheel"
has served a useful purpose in railroad car construction, it is not
likely that it will replace hickory altogether in the construction of
wheels of motor vehicles. We are veritably a nation on wheels and we
will always be looking for material with which to carry us through the
country. As I have said, we are a nation of people on wheels, and if
your propaganda did nothing more than to stimulate an increased interest
in the production of hickory for timber purposes, it would be
accomplishing a great result. But I believe that there are varieties
among the hickories which should be to the North what the pecan is to
the South. There are those which are very large and those which are
thin-shelled, and those of fine flavor; as a food product I think the
shellbark is second only to the pecan. And I should hail the day with
great inter