The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-06
NUT CULTURE DESIRABLE
TO FARMERS WHO
WOULD INCREASE THEIR INCOMES.
The Commercial Importance of vari-
Gus Kinds Of Nuts--Most of the
Trees Have a Timber Value.
Boston Transcript.

cultural Society, to-day, on Nuts and Nut
| Culture" Mr. Bartram said in part:
In 1897 the United States imported more
| than 81, coo worth of nuts, and when we
| consider that most of this was for kinds
| that may be easily raised within our own
borders, it does not speak well for our
boosted enterprise 1t seems incongruous
| to say so much of opening up and fostering
| markets abroad for the agricultural prod
ucts of the United States when we ignore
the expenditure of our own people going to
| foreign purses. 1t is the varieties of nuts
| that enter most largely into United States
commerce and consumption that we will
| consider here-those whose culture mas al
ready become reality in some parts of the
| country.
The industry is comparatively young; it is
scarcely thirty years since nut culture as
sumed commercial Importance. The almond
and Persian walnut in California. and the
pecan in the South, are in the advance of
| the movement. Much interest is taken in
chestnuts throughout the Atlantic States.
The claims of desirability of nut culture
are numerous. Trucking requires ground of
great fertility and suitable for high culture;
nut trees are not fastidious. and hillsides
are often their home. Truck must be
planted annually, while a nut orchard
might almost sing with Tennyson, Men
may come and men may go, but 1 go on for
ever" Nuts are not perishable; they may
be stored and marketed at ones pleasure
or need. They are a concentrated product,
lessening the proportion of freight charges.
Not requiring constant and detailed atten-
| ton, they will appeal to the large planter.
while on the other hand, these virtues will
suggest nut culture side issue, for on
fn, 10 ic
alive, admirably suited to nut trees, es-
pecially hill sides, and here the foresters,
attention will be arrested.
We are aware of the benefits of forests,
| principally in moderating extremes of
flood or drought, and many kinds OF nut
trees are adapted to forest planting, and
their timber is highly esteemed, for exam
pie oak, beech, chestnut hickory, walnut,
and even the hazel bush finds place as a
pioneer in soils too barren for oJher trees,
and by rapidly adding organic matter IN
the abundant crop OF leaves prepares the
way for the more valuable timber trees.
The ornamental value OF certain nut trees
is so far beyond question that thoughtiess-
ness and custom alone must be held respon-
| sible for depriving of so much possible
| enjoyment of beautiful trees. The area
about many suburban homes is hmlled'
| why not plant a chestnut or hickory, IN
| stead of choice trees which bear only
| leaves, and get a tree of good appearance,
whose fruit will be a source of continual
pleasure TO young ana old
AMERICAN ALMONDS.
| Foremost in acreage, value and ease of
bud propagation among American-grown
nuts is the almond, and American-grown
almonds are foremost in the world as re-
! CARDS flavor. California is the main field of
! production.
| Next to the almond stands the Persian
walnut; its origin is in Persia, but it re-
ceived the name in England, and in Ameri-
| ca we call it the English walnut though
| the appropriate appellation Persian walnut
| is becoming more common The rlch moist
valleys of Southern California, with steady
| supply of water, have claimed a monopoly
! of this crOn. The selection OF varieties
| whose buds start late in the spring is IN
creasing the area Tor prohtaple piantntng 81
bearing at the age of nine or ten years, ana
| no one knows how long they continue 10 40
| so. There are several distinct strains grown,
| some of which are of French origin. The
| Chill walnut comes from South America
| and has three divisions to the shell instead
| of the usual two of European strains. Out
! side California the Persian walnut is rare
| except along the Atlantic coast between
| New Jersey and Carolina. 1T may De Iouno
| as far north Massachusetts, where It's
! stateliness beauty, freedom from dlsease
| and insect pests, heartily recommend 1t aS
! an ornamental tree, and its product VIII
| be much enioyed at home Disappointment
! has often resulted from lack or pollen
caused by a lack of simultaneous blooming
/
| edy for this will be found in the planning
| together of suitable varieties
| The Pacific coast black walnut is very
| precocous in Philadelphia, where an eight
| foot tree bore fifty nuts, though no otner
tree was near it, The American black wal al,
| nut has been much gathered in the East Tor
! home cheer and sold in considerable guam
titles The only reason for pricing these
nuts nuts fha1 cam tnb se of great Value
The white walnut, or butternut, thrives
| in. drier and poorer soil than the black
| WNlnut and further north the kernels find
| a place in confectionery, but are hard to
separate from the shell, and the wood is
not nearly as valuable for timber purposes
Three Eastern Asiatic walnuts, called
'Sieboldiana, Cordiformis and Manchurlca'
resemble the butternut. The Cordiformis,
| from Japan is by far the most valuable of
| the three The nut is pointed, heart-shaped,
smooth and fat and Sh h tap sep ARE of
| good quality and already priced by contec-
f! TONERS. The trees bear very young and are
The pecan is cultivated along the Missis-
| sppi river and it's tributaries, as far as
Iowa and Ohio. Here IN the alluV W Dol
| culture of the world, when seem destlned
| to maintain this prestige. Florida and Cali
| fornia also tell of successful cultivation Oh
| the necan Closely allied to the pecan bo-
| tanically is the hickory nut or shellbark.
The trees are desirable Tor lawn ana road
side planting, the nuts are sdldpie' anu tie
| timber is valuable
CHESTNUTS PROFITABLE.
From a commercial standpoint the chest
| nut, for this vicinity, seems to me by Tar
| the most promising of nuts. We know the
/ tree thrives and bears here, which are inn
| portant factors already established. The
market takes all the American chestnuts,
and many thousand pounds besides which
are imported from Italy and France. They
are mostly sold along the Streets much as
| peanuts are Consider the vast increase
possible in this line and the far greater
demand when they become as frequently
used for desserts and relishes as their
merits deserve Mark the frequency with
| which the chestnut appears in newer cook
books for StuflngS, dressings, etc. and re-
member that chestnutS are even now found
with vegetables upon that class of Ameri-
can tables that soon have innumerable
| which is small indeed, compared with the
possible and probable consumption when
chestnuts dried ground into flour, and
become the staple article of diet that they
have so long been in southern Europe. Not
only chemistry but the experience of gen.
erations has demonstrated the fitness of
chestnut meal for human food.
Chestnut trees do best on high, we'll
drained land with open SubSoil; such hill
sides as abound in New England Stony
land is no objection; chestnuts do not bruise
| in falling as plums would. Once established,
| a chestnut orchard continues IN profit for
decades or even centuries. No protection
and very little pruning are required. No
large fertilizer bills encroach upon the prof
it's; their roots go deep into the ground and
get fertility far below the reach of annual