seed from various trees of known value. These
will not come true of course but it is hoped that some day they may
serve as material for a small nut breeding project in which an attempt
will be made to combine some of the more desirable chromosomes into a
single tree that retains the best of what we have in present selections,
and adds a little more hardiness between growing seasons. Who can tell?
We might find a tree that the walnut worms didn't like!

The squirrels didn't fancy our plans to grow trees in rows according to
parentage, so they tried to improve our technique. We almost called in
the F. B. I. to circumvent their machinations. Jamming an open tin can
over the planted nut seemed to help. When the sprout came up we turned
up the edges of the split can bottom just enough to let the tree
through, but the sharp jagged edges seemed to discourage marauders. A
lot of other methods were also tried.

From the Wisconsin Horticultural Society we obtained a pound of English
or Persian walnuts in 1937. So far we have some 23 seedlings struggling
to keep alive. They range in height from 18 inches to 7 feet and are
definitely out of their range. Some years they grow 4 feet of new wood
and some winters it all kills back. There seem to be differences in
hardiness and--who can tell?--they might even bear a nut some day. Bark
injury, which may be winter sun scald, has damaged some of the trees.
One tree of the Broadview selection is alive after four years and may
make a go of it.

Hickories grow wild in certain parts of Minnesota, but this doesn't
happen to be one of those parts. They seem to do best where soil is acid
in reaction and here we are amply supplied with lime. That may account
for the slow growth of a grafted Hales hickory tree. It was 3 years old
when set out in 1921. For the first 9 years it had just 2 leaves per
year. Now approaching 30, the tree is 7 to 8 feet high and going up at
the rate of 8 to 12 inches a year.

Nuts from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota wild hickories, have done
better. At 8 years the trees are from 1 to 2 feet high, with a couple of
Shakespeares, (geniuses) towering a foot above them. This may not be
hickory country, but, by gum, they're growing! A couple of years ago,
Dr. Brierley from the Central Station, Division of Horticulture, who has
nut propagation as one of his minor projects, gave us 7 seedlings of
shellbark hickory, (Carya laciniosa), from a tree planted many years ago
by