gins to think about calling up the sawmill
to see if there is any need for some good walnut logs.

MR. MAGILL: That's a mighty good discussion. I see Mr. Ward has been
observing walnut trees closer than I assumed he had.

Mr. Chase, I know you have seen a lot of things in Tennessee that you
are not going to tell us about, but I suggest that you discuss some of
the things you have observed about walnut trees bearing anywhere.

MR. CHASE: Alternate bearing has been a problem with fruits and nuts
since time immemorial. I know a tremendous amount of work has been done
with the apple, which has a definite biennial bearing habit. There have
been all sorts of things tried to make it bear annual crops, and as far
as I know, there has not been anything effective developed along that
line. Of course, there are varieties of apples that tend to bear annual
crops.

As Mr. Ward brought out--he took all my thunder, so I don't have much to
say--a tree may set a heavy crop of nuts one year because frost or poor
pollination the year before destroyed the crop so that a large amount of
carbohydrates were built up in the tree. Now, the tree in producing a
heavy crop of well filled nuts utilizes every bit of carbohydrates it
has stored and can manufacture. While it is doing this the terminal bud
is being formed for next year's crop, and if there isn't a sufficient
amount of carbohydrates in the tree at that critical period, there is
not likely to be a flower bud formed.

This is not limited just to walnuts, but occurs with nearly all fruits
and nuts, with the possible exception of the chestnut.

We made a study which was reported in the 1946 report by Mr. Zarger in
which he reported the bearing habits of some 135 trees over a 10-year
period, and there were definite bearing cycles, or bearing habits. It
was not always an on year followed by an off year, but possibly two
years in a row, then nothing. There were some trees that went three
years without a crop, then a crop. Very few, however, had annual crops,
and the annual crops were heavy or moderately heavy, followed by what we
consider a light crop.

These trees were scattered through seven states and, of course,
conditions were not the same. They were all seedling trees, but careful
records were kept on the bearing habits. There was a group of trees that
could not be classified into any definite bearing habit. In those
instances we suspected unfavorable weather at pollination time,