ell. Only six sell kernels. The
others sell whole nuts.
Owing to a misreading of the question, few reported on profitable
varieties. Those who did, reported Thomas as first, then Stabler and
Ohio. Of pecans, Major first, then Greenriver, Busseron, Indiana,
Niblack. Of chestnuts, Hobson is the only one mentioned, and of filberts
only the Jones hybrid. Most growers reported on species instead of
varieties. Of these, black walnuts stand first, then pecans, chestnuts
and filberts. In the far northwest, filberts stand first. Most growers
have the feeling that the hybrid chestnut, _mollissima x dentata_, is
coming fast and offers one of the best chances for profitable commercial
planting. At present only three reporters who specifically commit
themselves on the subject say they count upon the sale of nuts as an
important item in their income. Fifty-one do not. Fifteen definitely
expect, and sixteen others have hopes, that nuts may some day become, at
least to an extent, good income producers for them. Practically all
express themselves as willing to sell or exchange either nuts or cions
for propagation purposes.
_Discovery of Promising Nut Trees._ Some thirty-odd "wild" trees which
bear nuts of unusual promise have been reported by discoverers in their
answers to this survey. It is more than likely that some of them have
been previously reported. The committee has no means of knowing.
However, it is hoped that, out of the lot, one or two may be good enough
for propagating or for contributions of pollen for cross-pollination.
The names and locations of the owners of these trees have been turned
over to Mr. C. A. Reed, Associate Pomologist, U. S. D. A., Beltsville,
Md., for further investigation. It has been found that such information
should not be prematurely published, since it leads to trouble for the
owners and to possible undue valuations being placed upon the trees in
question.
_RATING OF VARIETIES._ First, it will be best to state how the committee
arrived at a rating. Certain well-known varieties were printed by name,
and blanks were left to be filled, if desired, with names of special
favorites of the reporter. Those listed by name were not all good, but
were widely planted. We wished to know exactly what the planters'
experience had been not only with the better varieties but with other
old stand-bys which were suspected of being below standard.
We asked reporters to mark their sheets with the following scale
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