Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-02-24

Year
prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
They were gathered about the farm
house fire in rhe mellow light of a
swing lamp, and the head Of the house
sent his youngest son to the
garnet for butternuts. A little later,
with an iron lapstone on his knees
and hammer in hand, he was produc-
ing a rhythmic rap-rap-rap-crack-
;link, as the crinkly brown shells split
open and were tossed into Il basin. tx
posing their d%elicately favored twin
meats.
This is the last crop from that old
tree" he remarked, thoughtfully, paus-
ing after a few minutes of fascinating
labor. "Rotted out, and the wind got
it last night. And | have gathered
nuts from that tree since l was a little
tlke in short b%reeches."
The hammer rested for a few mo-
ments, and the fingers Of the farmers
left hand ran medilativeIy through the
pile Of richly laden shells.
Fifty years." he unused. Fifty
springs I've seer the green come out
on the leaves; fifty falls I or my chill
dren or grandchildren have picked up
bushels Of nuts; and fifty winters I've
sat by the fire here and cracked them.
That butternut tree has been a good
old friend"
None to Take its Place.
Yet, with all the pleasure that he
had obtained from that tree, the farm
Ell. thrifty in nearly everything, had
no new butternut trees coming up to
take the place Of the patriarch which
the wind destroyed.
1t is only recently that serious at
tention has been paid to nut-trees
planting. Landowners set out or
chards and plant trees in dooryards
and on the highways for shade; but
nut-bearing trees, which usually re-
quire eight to fifteen years to come
into bearing, have been in a measure
neglected.
There are a number of nut-bearing
species, say specialists of the United
States Department of Agriculture,
which grow as rapidly for shade as
the maple or elm, and which will yield
pleasure and some revenue for a quar-
ter or half a century after the first
few years of cultivation.
The butternut is now being produced
by n~urserymen and grows farther
north than most other species. But
1"rnut trees will bear in about eight
,Gars and form an attractive yard or
roadside ornament, especially in the
northern states.
More attention, however. is being
paid to it's relative. the black walnut.
The late wal made heavy inroads on
the ranks Of these fine old trees for
g%unstocks, airplane parts, and other
material but nurSerymen already had
begun to grow young trees to make up
the loss. Contrary to the common
idea, the black walnut is not neces-
sarily a slow grower. Under good
conditions of culture, it becomes one
Of our most rapid growing trees, es'
pecially of the more valuable woods,
It has been known to bear a few nuts
in six years. At fifteen to twenty-five
it is a heavy producer, and in old age
it is always a resource for timber.
The chestnut, which has been an i'm.
portant esource for centuries, is now
one of the tragedies of freedom, due
to the bark disease brought from
apan. The United States Depart
ment of Agriculture and various nut
culture associations are now work
ing with some promise Of success to
develop varieties which are blight
resistant. Until they arrive at estab'
lished results, it will probably not be
wise to plant chestnuts in any sec
tfon where the bark disease is preva'
lent.
The shagbark hickory makes q
handsome shadestree, and quite a re"
varieties have beer p~ropagated.' Shag'
banks generally come into bearing
after fifteen or twenty-five years. A
few hickory trees planted now Wouic
ha q comfortable resource for another
generation.
The beech is a slow grower. and car
scarcely be claSsed as a commercial
nut, but is an attractive and honey
tree where there is room for Its
spread. Beechnuts furnish dainties
for an evenings chat, or left on the
ground in woods and pastures they
furnish ~fattening material for pigs
and turkeys. If the beech tree !
headed low, 1t offers less chance FOL
defacing its smooth bark with jack
knife hieroglyphics.
One other interesting nut tree Is thu
, Albert. or European hazel. Vt Is n OF