The desire for bigger, better and more useful nuts led to the planting of a couple of acres to seed from various trees of known value. These will not come true of course but it is hoped that some day they may serve as material for a small nut breeding project in which an attempt will be made to combine some of the more desirable chromosomes into a single tree that retains the best of what we have in present selections, and adds a little more hardiness between growing seasons. Who can tell? We might find a tree that the walnut worms didn't like!
The squirrels didn't fancy our plans to grow trees in rows according to parentage, so they tried to improve our technique. We almost called in the F. B. I. to circumvent their machinations. Jamming an open tin can over the planted nut seemed to help. When the sprout came up we turned up the edges of the split can bottom just enough to let the tree through, but the sharp jagged edges seemed to discourage marauders. A lot of other methods were also tried.
From the Wisconsin Horticultural Society we obtained a pound of English or Persian walnuts in 1937. So far we have some 23 seedlings struggling to keep alive. They range in height from 18 inches to 7 feet and are definitely out of their range. Some years they grow 4 feet of new wood and some winters it all kills back. There seem to be differences in hardiness and--who can tell?--they might even bear a nut some day. Bark injury, which may be winter sun scald, has damaged some of the trees. One tree of the Broadview selection is alive after four years and may make a go of it.
Hickories grow wild in certain parts of Minnesota, but this doesn't happen to be one of those parts. They seem to do best where soil is acid in reaction and here we are amply supplied with lime. That may account for the slow growth of a grafted Hales hickory tree. It was 3 years old when set out in 1921. For the first 9 years it had just 2 leaves per year. Now approaching 30, the tree is 7 to 8 feet high and going up at the rate of 8 to 12 inches a year.
Nuts from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota wild hickories, have done better. At 8 years the trees are from 1 to 2 feet high, with a couple of Shakespeares, (geniuses) towering a foot above them. This may not be hickory country, but, by gum, they're growing! A couple of years ago, Dr. Brierley from the Central Station, Division of Horticulture, who has nut propagation as one of his minor projects, gave us 7 seedlings of shellbark hickory, (Carya laciniosa), from a tree planted many years ago by Peter Gideon of Wealthy apple fame. After 2 winters, these 7 seedlings are still with us and seem to grow faster than the shagbarks (ovata).