I had the usual ill-success of a beginner. I
failed in attempts to top work trees and had no better results with
bench grafting although I began early in the season and continued my
efforts till the time arrived for planting the trees. I stored the
grafted material in a cool apple storage house from the time they were
grafted until they were planted. Then somehow I learned that walnut
wounds would not callous over except at relatively high temperatures.
Accordingly, I placed my next bench-grafted trees in a warm greenhouse,
where growth started at once. This marked my first successful grafting
of black walnut. Later, Mr. W. R. Fickes of Wooster, explained to me his
technique of "boxing off" or "bleeding." By following his instructions,
I was able successfully to top work some of the seedlings I had grown
for the purpose. My next steps were to procure some of the nuts from
Rev. Crath which he had brought from Poland and to make a personal
importation of seed from an experiment station in Russia. With these two
lots I started out to raise Persian walnut seedlings.

The first grafted trees set out at the Farm were obtained from Homer C.
Jacobs of Kent, Ohio, in 1937. That year we began planting a three-acre
tract. The trees were grown with scions cut from prize winning seedlings
brought out as a result of the Ohio nut contest held in 1934. The trees
were set 25 feet each way in order to conserve room. This distance
allowed for but 69 trees to the acre and available space was quickly
occupied. By 1944, it became necessary to add two more acres. The new
land was from an abandoned berry ground. It was plowed, limed heavily
and fertilized. The alternate rows were used for peach trees as fillers.
The main rows were mostly filled with new varieties of Persian walnut
from northern Ohio which had been grafted on black walnut stocks. Some
of the room was used for growing black walnut seedlings for use in
grafting with scions of prize winners in the next Ohio contest, plans
for which were already under way.

In 1944, four plantings of Persian walnut trees located some distance
from each other in northern Ohio, all had good crops and all produced
superior nuts. A half bushel of the nuts were planted at the Farm during
the following spring. All lots grew remarkably well. The resulting
seedlings, together with grafted trees, which by then were growing in
the Farm nursery, made it necessary to further add to the orchard room.
The incr