nters of western New York are frequently quite severe. The winter
of 1911-12 was a very severe one, zero weather prevailing most of the
time and frequently it was way below zero for days. No injury was done
to the Persian walnut trees and a good crop of nuts was harvested in the
fall of 1912.
In May, 1913, on the nights of the 11th and 12th it was so cold that ice
formed an eighth of an inch, or more, in thickness. The staminate
catkins on the Persian walnut trees were fairly well developed and it
was thought the nuts were gone for this year surely, but the last of May
the pistillate blossoms came out, the staminates matured and the results
have already been told you.
I think that Persian walnut trees pay better than apples, and that there
is no danger of an oversupply.
The cost for labor in caring for the trees and in harvesting the crop is
very much less than for any other fruit crop. No spraying and no picking
are necessary.
The cost of production is slight, yet the demand and prices for this nut
have been steadily increasing for several years.
* * * * *
THE CHAIRMAN: I would like to have a good discussion of this paper,
because it seems to me that in all the activities of the Northern Nut
Growers Association the Persian walnut offers the highest possibilities.
The Pacific coast people and southern people have always thought that
only the hickory or black walnut could be raised in the northern parts
of the country, and now we find that the Persian walnut also does well
there. The Secretary has sent out a letter recently asking for
information about the Persian walnut trees in the vicinity of each
person addressed. This letter was gotten out for the reason that in the
culture of the Persian walnut the Pacific coast people have distanced
us, and it is probable that we have not learned the possibilities of
these splendid nuts in the East. We have a few very fine varieties of
these eastern nuts, and it looks as if, by use of these varieties, the
eastern part of this country can produce these nuts in as large
quantities as the western. Mr. Pomeroy originated the walnut bearing his
name, and we have another nut that offers very good promise, and I
believe the originator is here this morning. Mr. Rush we would like to
hear from you.
MR. RUSH: I am satisfied that Persian walnut culture can be made just as
profitable on the Atlantic coast as on the Pacific and in France. We
have
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