Northern Nut Growers Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-First Annual Meeting | Page 8

on September 5th, a period of 55 days later, and
during that time growth was 25 inches. I am sure it can be worked very
successfully with different fruit trees. It is especially valuable in
replacing dead grafts. These grafts went through the very severe winter
very successfully. I am sure I appreciate this opportunity to appear on
the program, and I hope to continue with the work at Ames and perhaps
appear at future dates.
MR. WEBER: May I ask how hot it got that summer?
PROF. MANEY: Oh, the temperature was up to 100, 103 and 104.
MR. WEBER: What kind of paraffin did you use?
PROF. MANEY: Just ordinary paraffin.
MR. WEBER: Did you notice any bad results?
PROF. MANEY: No, apparently no ill effects.
MR. WEBER: Paraffin has a tendency when it gets extremely hot to
run down and kill the graft.
DR. SMITH: What would be the effect of putting in some beeswax?
PROF. MANEY: I think that would be all right.

MR. WEBER: Paraffin this summer killed two nut grafts for me.
DR. ZIMMERMAN: Are you sure it was the paraffin? I have finally
come to the conclusion that when the sun gets hot enough to melt the
wax it will kill the graft anyway.
MR. WEBER: I noticed the heat did not kill another one that I did not
use the paraffin on. Previous years it simply scorched the tree.
DR. ZIMMERMAN: The heavy coating of wax protects a little from
the heat, I thought.
MR. HARRINGTON: In very hot weather I put heavy paper around the
graft and a handful of dirt. That protects it from the sun.
MR. WEBER: I have tried that.
THE PRESIDENT: I am very much interested in seeing Professor
Maney's spraying apparatus. We also tried to spray and got something
like snow. We also found that the wax congealed in the nozzle. Last
spring I almost blew my head off. I am now experimenting with a
material which acts as an emulsifying agent on waxes and resin. I have
developed a formula, paraffin 5 pounds and Pick Up Gum one pound. I
dissolve the emulsifying agent and heat the wax. This solution can be
sprayed on trees without difficulty when it is warm. When it gets cool,
however, we have to heat it again. I hope to have some definite reports
to make as to the feasibility of this later on, and possibly on conifers as
well. We have been up a tree when it came to spraying wax and we
have been at a disadvantage in transplanting conifers. Regarding the
comments as to paraffin wax melting, I do have a little difficulty on the
south side and sloping to the northeast. The sun's rays would be rather
direct. I think the suggestion Mr. Weber made was very good.
Two-thirds paraffin and one-third beeswax. Possibly we would have to
increase the beeswax where trees are growing on a southern slope.
DR. ZIMMERMAN: I found the hottest place 2 inches above the soil. I
shade grafts with a piece of shingle.

THE PRESIDENT: The principle in grafting trees is to regulate the
moisture and the temperature factors. As a means of regulating the
moisture I use German peat around the graft.
MR. HERSHEY: Have any of you had experience in grafting on the
north side of the stock? I found that quite a good scheme, so that the
heat doesn't kill the grafts. We grafted on the 15th of June this year.
THE PRESIDENT: Professor Drake has done a good deal of work in
locating good varieties of black walnuts in the southwest and I am sure
he will be glad to tell you what he has found. Let me repeat what I said
about Mr. Snyder's work, that the most valuable work that is being
done is the discovering of new varieties of nuts.
PROF. DRAKE: I shall talk about the methods I use in scoring the
black walnut in Arkansas. Color of kernel. The way I have determined
that is to first make a measuring scale. Get walnuts whose kernels show
different color. The lightest I call number one. It is quite easy to divide
them into five different groups. I feel that this grading can be pretty
well done, except possibly for the flavor, all the way through. Applying
this method to different nuts, here is the result that I have obtained with
the best ones:
I find the Stabler to rank first, with total grade points of 71.66. For
making the test with the Stabler I have had Stabler nuts from a number
of different places, Snyder, Reed, University of Missouri and nuts I
have grown myself.
The next two will be a surprise to you and I feel quite sure that after
further tests they