leas, Deveaux, Rockville, Green Bay, Hope
pecan, Stanley shellbark, Platman, Kirtland, Glover, Barnes, and many
others which are hardy and get along well with the native bitternut root
system, some of them having lived more than fifteen years grafted in
such combination. The Bridgewater is the only variety which bears a fair
crop of nuts as compared to the prolific Weschcke, and is the pollinator
for the Weschcke when used in orchard planting.

[Footnote 33: See author's added remarks following.--Ed.]

+Are Pecan Stocks Desirable for Hickory Scions?+

It would appear, therefore, that it is necessary for stocks to be at
least as vigorous as the variety to which they are grafted, and to
insure this it would seem to me that the northern pecan seeds, such as
grow around Des Moines, Iowa, would be the proper seedling stock for
almost any variety of hickory, as they outgrow bitternuts and shagbarks
by quite a margin. I have only one Weschcke grafted on a pecan of this
sort, and it makes much greater growth each year than does this variety
grafted on the native bitternut stocks. However, it has not started to
bear yet and the reason is that it is still very young, and is
over-topped by plum brush and apple trees.

Since it requires about ten years here for a native bitternut to acquire
the proper size of one-half inch to three-quarter inch diameter, which
is about the size necessary for grafting, you have some idea of how
slowly this native species grows. The forest trees, of which there seem
to be thousands on my property, very seldom exceed a diameter of six
inches, yet they appear to be very old trees. Occasionally we find one
that reaches the diameter of a foot or more, and generally it is one
that is located where it has plenty of space to grow, as in open
pasture. The tree is rather easy to graft to many varieties of
hickories. No doubt if it were grown in large numbers, in the proper
soil, the time for producing seedling stock ready for nursery
propagation could be cut down. But it appears more likely that some
northern pecan seed can be found which will produce a hardy understock
to furnish a seedling of sufficient vigor and size for propagating
purposes in five years or less.

+Records of Bearing+

Our first successful grafting of Weschcke hickory on bitternut hickory
(_Carya cordiformis_) was in 1927, but these grafts did not bear for
about ten years. We know now that this was because there was a lack of
p