Wang who lives near Shanghai and is
secretary of the Kinsan Arboretum there. Some time ago he obtained some
American black walnuts from Japan. He planted them and they grew so much
faster than he had anticipated, and I think faster than any other tree
with which he was familiar, that he conceived the idea of planting the
new highway, which was being made from Shanghai to Hankow, with these
American black walnuts. In due course he sent a money order to pay for
two thousand pounds to the secretary. Last year was not the best year to
get black walnuts, and the secretary forwarded the money order to me and
asked me if I could get these walnuts for him. There was more trouble in
getting them in New York last year than there usually is, but finally I
did get them and had them made up in twenty-two bags and shipped to Mr.
Wang at Shanghai. In due course they arrived and he is anticipating
great things from them. The growth that he reported of this first lot of
black walnuts was something astonishing. It seems to me that they grew
the second year ten feet high. It was a very astonishing growth, a much
more vigorous growth than I ever heard of their making here. At any rate
there are two thousand pounds of American black walnuts that have been
shipped to China, and if nothing happens to them they will grow and
adorn that new road from Shanghai to Hankow.

MR. JONES: A matter that will be of interest is that Mr. Wang
wrote me a letter in which he says that the black walnut grows three
times as fast in China as the Japanese walnut. Here in the nursery we
find the Japanese walnut doubles the black walnut in the first two years
in growth.

PRESIDENT LINTON: We would like to hear from those present who
are familiar with trees, as you all are, as to the merits and demerits
of the various kinds of trees that we desire to plant. In Michigan the
only ones we are considering are the black walnut, the hickory, the
butternut and the beech. The beech in our state grows to be a beautiful
tree, as it does in most states in our country. In addition to that our
state agricultural people are suggesting that we plant the hard maple,
which is a fine tree in Michigan, and the basswood, and one or two
others, to provide food along certain lines. The hard maple, for
instance, produces maple sugar, the basswood the bees draw honey from.
The simple and useful trees and shrubs are the only ones in our state
that we are giving any consideration to.

DR