The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-01-05
NU1-BfARINC TREES FURNISH
RROfIT AS WELL AS SHADE
There Are Number of Them That
Grow as Rapidly as Naples or
Elms-,More Attention Given Nut.
Tree Planting Than Formerly.

They were gathered about the farm
house fire in the mellow light of q
swing lamp, and the head of the house
sent his youngest so nto the garret for
butternuts. A little later, with an iron
lapstone on his knees and hammer in
hand, he was producing rhythmic
p-rap-rap-cra -clink, as the
crinkly brown shells split open and
were tossed into basin, exposing
their delicately favored twin meats.
ibis is the last crop fro mthat old
tree. he remarked, thoughtfully,
pausing after Il few minutes of fas-
c;nating labor. "Rotted out, and the
wi d got it last night. And | have
gathered nuts from that tree since
was little tike in short breeches."
The hammer rested for few mo-
ments, and the fingers of the farmers
left hand ran meditatively through
the pile Of richly laden shells
"Fifty years." he mused. "Fifty
springs I've seen the green come out
on the leaves; fifty falls l or my child
ren or grandchildren have picked up
bushels of nuts; and fifty winters I've
sat by the fire here and cracked them.
mat butter-nut tree has been q good
old friend" '>
None to Take Its Place.
Yet with all the pleasure that he
had obtained from that tree, the far
mer, thrifty in nearly everything, had
no new butternut trees coming up to
take the place of the patriarch which
tn" wind destroyed
1t is only recently that serious at
te"tlon has been paid to nut-tree plant
ing. Landowners set out orchards and
plant trees in dooryards and on the
highways for shade; but nut-bearing
trees, which usually require 8 to Is
years to come into bearing, have
been IN a measure neglected.
There are d number Of nut bearing
snerlts, say specialists of the United
states Department of Agriculture,
which gorw as rapidly for shade as the
mapl" or elm and which will yield
pleasure and some revenue for a
Clar'cr or half a century after the
first few years of cultivation.
Iha butternut is no wbeing produced
by nurscrymcn and grows farther
north than most other species. But
irinnt trees will bear in about eight
Ncrrs and form an attractive yard or
roa'%'Te ornament, especially in the
Eol thcnn States.
More attention, however, is being
nlld to its relative, the black walnut.
ne late war made heavy inroads on
@unstocks. airplane parts, and other
material; but nurscrymcn already had
npG'in to grow young trees to make up
the loss. Contrary to the common
idea, the black wa!nu: is not neccs-
SarllY slow grower. Under good
conditions of culture, it becomes one
OF our most rapid growing trees, cs-
Ipeclally of the more valuable woods.
1t has been known to bear a few nuts
in six years. At Is to 25 it is a heavy
producer. and in oil dagc it is always
a resource for timber.
The chestnut, whicn has been an
important resource for centuries, is
now one of the tragedies of freedom,
Que to the bark disease brought from
Japan. The United States DEPART
mcnt OF Agriculture and various nut
culture associations arc now work n ,
with some promise of success to de-
vclop varieties whic,, are blight-resist
ant. Until th"y arrive at est 'blishe,.
results, it will probably not be wise
TO plant cheStnLts in any section
WI ere the bark disease is prevalent.
The shagbark hickory makes a
handsome shade tree, and quite few
var cites hive been propagated.
'hagbarks generally come into bear
ing after l. Of % years. A few
HitkO'y trees pl3ntcd now would be Il
comfortable resource for another
generation.
Th" beech is a slow grower, and can
scarcely be classcd as a commercial
nut, but is an attractive and honey
;r,e whore there is room for its
! spread. Bcccnnuts f.nniSh daintic.;
for an evenings chat or left on the
ground in woods and pastures they
furnish fattcning material for pigs
md turkeys. If the cch trno is head
ed low, it offers l"sS chonc" for dcfac-
n% its smooth bark with iackknifc
hciroglyphics.
| One other interesting nut tree is the
hilbert, of European hazel. 1t is one Of
our most tntaliZing species, for while
1t can be made to grow in many parts
| nf the North, no variety has yet been
found to boar proht&bly east of the
Rocky Mountains, due to the fact that
! 1t flowers early and is caught bv frost.
In the Pacific Northwest it bids fair to
soon become an important nut
! Pecan a Favorte
The pecan is easily the favorite AMI
| most important nut of American o,.iv