anting the nut to see what
kind of foliage the seedling will have rather than in cracking it for
examination to determine its value as a nut.
Throp Walnut
The parent Throp tree stood bordering a road along the Ralph Throp farm
in Indiana, 40 miles from my home. About six years ago, with the
permission of Mr. Throp, and being a very old tree, it was cut down as
its branches interfered with overhanging wires. When I last saw the
stump early in 1942, it had staged a come-back by throwing numerous
suckers. However, the main point in mentioning this tree is to register
the fact that it bears two kinds of nuts, single-lobed, or peanut type,
and doubled-lobed, with the peanut type predominating. A Throp tree of
mine showed this variation, and on my next visit to the Throp farm, in
the presence of Mr. G. A. Gray, one of our members, Mr. Throp definitely
confirmed the fact that the parent tree bore the two kinds of nuts
aforesaid and that the peanut type predominated.
I am prompted to make this statement for the reason that one of our
prominent members, well versed in the performance of our best varieties
of northern nut trees, had not been aware of the dual performance of the
Throp tree, until I called it to his attention.
Black Walnut Nursery Studies
S. B. Chase, Tennessee Valley Authority, Norris, Tennessee
Briefly summarized, here are the results of a series of black walnut
nursery studies undertaken in 1940 and 1941 by the Tennessee Valley
Authority. The object was to develop nursery practices which would yield
the large uniform seedlings most desirable as understocks for grafted or
budded trees.
Germination and Stratification
It is known that either fall- or spring-planted walnuts germinate
readily if the nuts are viable and if those planted in the spring are
properly stratified over winter. To find out just what effect spring and
fall planting has on germination and to compare various methods of
stratification, three seedlots were given the following treatments on
November 28, 1940:
1. Planted in seedbeds 5. Stratified at 65-75 deg. F
2. Stratified outdoors 6. Stored dry at 45-50 deg. F
3. Stratified at 38-40 deg. F 7. Stored dry at 45-50 deg. F
4. Stratified at 45-50 deg. F subsequently soaked in
water prior to planting
Nuts from the three seedlots were kept separate and planted in random
plots
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