our
pecans." You know there was no rain down there all last summer, and the
pecans were half the proper size. Now, that sawdust would keep the
moisture in. I am a great believer in the use of sawdust. It's a tree
product itself and it has some of the constituents of what the pecan
should feed on.

As Dr. Waite told us one time in Washington--you will probably remember
the remark he made about the pecan trees in an orchard which were
absolutely fruitless year after year. He went through that orchard, and
he saw a pecan here and a pecan there that had a good, big crop right
among the empty trees. He examined them and found signs driven into the
trees, and some of the signs were put up with zinc covered nails. Those
signs that had the steel covered nails had no nuts on, but those that
had zinc in had a huge crop. It excited the growth of the female
blossom.

Now, we have got an awful lot to discover, as you gentlemen say in this
nut culture, way beyond the imagination of the human mind.

DR. MacDANIELS: We had better limit discussion to this particular
problem. Is there more comment?

MR. McDANIEL: On that problem, I have observed the brooming in the
heartnut seedlings about three years old, which were seedlings of the
Fodermaier variety growing at Norris in the late 30's. Brooming
developed in some of them in either the second or third year from seed.

DR. MacDANIELS: That answers their remark about the young trees.

MR. SLATE: A plant that is well fed and making very vigorous growth may
be more attractive to the insect vector. Therefore, a healthy tree might
take it.

MR. McDANIEL: These trees were very vigorous.

DR. MacDANIELS: How many growers of nut trees have this bunch disease on
their property?

MR. KINTZEL: Black walnuts?

DR. MacDANIELS: On anything at all. (Showing of hands.) There are at
least a dozen.

When Mr. Burgart up in Michigan finds out that the limiting factor
practically cleans him out, there is this question of bunch disease with
witches'-broom resulting from ground deficiency. I know in the Wright
plantings in the vicinity of Westfield they had brooming trees of the
Japanese walnut which apparently recovered after treatment with zinc.
And, of course, we know on the West Coast you get witches'-broom in the
Persian walnut which cannot be cured by zinc.

Is there any other discussion on this point?

(No response.)

We will go on to the next paper.

MR. CORSAN: Anybody passing thro