ach population being by itself, and eight or ten nuts of
each sample were cracked and left on the plate. The seedlings were then
divided into three classes, those that were obviously good, those that
were poor, and an intermediate class that received further attention.
The poor seedlings were marked for discard and if so marked for two or
three years they were pulled out.

The good seedlings were then examined more carefully and sorted into
three groups, as follows:

1. Those that were outstanding in both nut and tree characters.

2. Those that were good enough to propagate for a second test, but not
equal to the best.

3. Seedlings good enough to keep for further observation. These were
usually good in one or more characteristics but deficient or doubtful in
one important feature. If upon further testing these third group plants
proved to be outstandingly productive or hardy they were given a higher
rating.

In examining the nuts, emphasis was placed on size and color of the nut,
the large, bright brown nuts being considered more desirable than the
smaller, duller colored, pubescent nuts. The amount of space between the
shell and the kernel was important. If the kernel fitted tightly it was
easily broken or chipped in cracking the nut. Thickness of shell was of
minor importance as only a few were thick enough to make cracking
difficult.

The kernel characters were of most importance since the kernel is the
reason for producing the nut. The kernel must be plump, smooth, light
brown in color, and free of the superfluous pellicle, or fibrous
material that is characteristic of the Barcelona kernels. Generally,
seedlings with Rush as one parent had very little of this superfluous
fibrous material and the best of them were much superior to Barcelona in
appearance and dessert quality. Flavor received less consideration since
most of the seedlings were reasonably good in that respect.

Given a good kernel, and there were many of them, it became necessary to
rely upon other characteristics to eliminate the less desirable of these
seedlings. It was here that the records of yields and catkin hardiness
were valuable. After several years it became evident that certain
seedlings were consistently high yielding while others were low
yielding. Hardiness of catkin also varied greatly and rather
consistently from year to year. Weather conditions influenced catkin
killing greatly. Catkin hardiness is important since the pollen is