ds. I haven't had
time to see it since two years ago when it was brought to my attention.
If I am any judge of quality this is the finest hickory nut I have ever
found. Its eating quality is just ahead of anything I know of in the
hickory line, and it's of fair size, a little above medium and a good
cracker and a long keeper. I have frequently tested them. I only got a
handful to start with. I have tested these time after time to see how
long it was going to keep. The last time I tested it was this last
spring and it was in excellent condition. There are a good many of our
hickory nuts that turn rancid in six months. But a nut that keeps two
years, and I don't know but what they are good yet, is going to be a
very big item in hickory nut culture.

DR. DRAKE: Have you kept these eighteen months in good order?

MR. SNYDER: Yes.

MR. HERSHEY: Would soil conditions have anything to do with it?

MR. SNYDER: Possibly but I don't think so. The Fairbanks, for
instance, from different soils; I can see no difference in their
keeping.

MR. HERSHEY: I know that is true of grapes that are grown in
different sections.

MR. SNYDER: I can see no difference in the Fairbanks. In a few
weeks' time it loses its edible qualities. I wouldn't care for it after
it is a few weeks old. After it is thoroughly cured and dried, I don't
think the Fairbanks fit to eat.

MEMBER: How about the Stratford?

MR. SNYDER: The original Stratford was cut for fire wood in
1926. Just before it was cut it bore a heavy crop of nuts. Yesterday I
cracked one. I was right hungry and needed something to eat. I could eat
them yet. It is a great keeper. I know it was four years old or over.

MEMBER: How does it crack?

MR. SNYDER: It is a good cracker and very thin shelled. The
Stratford is, I think, a hybrid of the shagbark and bitternut. It is
very evident that it is a hybrid by the appearance of the nuts. But it
doesn't have that property of the Fairbanks of spoiling as it dries. The
two nuts are very different in that. You will find a great range of
quality in these hybrids.

I believe that puts me through the list of hickories of which I have
made a list. I have a number of others under observation that may in the
future be of importance.

I have several black walnuts that have made their appearance since our
contest was completed. We now have one called the Finney. This stands in
Marshall County right beside the Northwestern Railroad track. I sent