average is about
twenty-one inches. Our principal limiting conditions in nut tree growing
is want of sufficient rainfall, though late spring frosts following a
period of balmy weather would be a hazard in some instances. It appears
to me that if a nut tree planting in this part of the country is to
live, every drop of water that falls must be conserved; if it is to
thrive, additional water falling on adjacent uplands and carried down in
flash floods must be diverted to it. Terraces and retainer dams are
usually essential. Cultivation and weed control are necessary. The
addition of a mulch helps.

I have tried the Chinese chestnut here. The plants arrived in good
condition and had excellent care with what I believe was adequate water
and fertile soil. They put out in April and grew off most encouragingly
until about July, and then, in an interval of about a week, every tree
withered and died as though from heat and drouth. But until other
evidence to the contrary comes in, I shall strongly suspect that the
real trouble was that the Chinese chestnut demands an acid soil and is
highly allergic to even a slight alkalinity. My impression is that the
soil here has a reading of about pH 7-7-1/2.

Experience and observation here on the western fringe of the native
pecan belt lead me to believe the pecan, black and Persian walnuts do
well when they can be irrigated, or when they are planted on a site
where a first class water conservation system can be devised and
properly constructed.

The black walnut has not been damaged by any insect, disease or mineral
deficiency of the soil that I know of. A very limited and inconclusive
experience with Clark, Thomas, Myers, Mintle, Sifford, Snyder and
Sparrow varieties led to the suggestion that the Thomas might be a
slightly more thrifty tree.

The pecan (both nut and tree) seems more subject to insect damage than
the walnut. It is also sensitive to a zinc deficiency in some soils. But
a proper mineral and insecticide spray usually serves to control these
problems when they occur.

I have observed only one named variety of Persian walnut--a Mayette. The
tree was a vigorous grower and precocious in putting on nutlets, but to
my knowledge never bore staminate blooms and over a period of several
years matured only one nut. No other Persian walnuts grew in the
locality and I assumed the matured nut must have been pollinized by a
black walnut. The tree never seemed damaged by late spri