experience with other nuts and fruits, and some of us will
evidently pay dearly for it in the case of the walnut. The term 'first
generation' is generally applied to the parent tree--some say the
original tree, while others put the clause on the original grafted tree.
Nuts taken from such trees and planted produce the second generation
trees. These may be equal, may be superior, or may be inferior to the
original stock. It is this very variation and instability that makes the
seedling to a more or less degree a gambling proposition."

The following is taken from a paper on walnut culture by Luther Burbank,
read before the annual meeting of the California Fruit Growers
convention:

"In all cases the best results will be obtained by grafting on our
native California black walnut or some of its hybrids. No one who grows
English walnuts on their own roots need expect to be able to compete
with those who grow them on the native black walnut roots, for when
grown on these roots the trees will uniformly be larger and longer
lived, will hardly be affected by blight and other diseases, and will
bear from two to four times as many nuts, which will be of larger size
and of much better quality. These are facts, not theories, and walnuts
growers should take heed.

"Although not popular among nurserymen, yet the best way to produce a
paying orchard of walnuts is to plant the nuts from some vigorous black
walnut tree, three or four in each place where a tree is to stand. At
the end of the first summer remove all but the strongest among them. Let
the trees grow as they will, for from three to six years, until they
have formed their own natural, vigorous system of roots, then graft to
the best variety extant which thrives in your locality, and if on deep,
well-drained land you will at once have a grove of walnuts which will
pay, at present, or even with very much lower prices, a most princely
interest on your investment. By grafting in the nursery, or before the
native tree has had time to produce its own system of roots by its own
rapid-growing leafy top, you have gained little or nothing over
planting trees on their own roots, for the foliage of any tree governs
the size, extent and form of the root system. Take heed, as these are
facts, not fancies, and are not to be neglected if you would have a
walnut grove on a safe foundation.

"I hold in my hands a record, and also a photograph, of one of the Santa
Rosa walnut trees, grafte