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

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 may grade differently. The next highest is the Ogden. I believe it was found in Kentucky in 1926 or 1927. Score of 70.90. The Ogden nuts that I tested were thoroughly dry and gave an excellent cracking quality, and I expect the test would go down a little bit had they not been dried so long. I am sure, however, the Ogden is an excellent cracker. I don't know just how the flavor of the Ogden will be. I have some feeling that the flavor will not be as good as some.
The third is the Adams. This one comes from West Park in the northern part of Iowa. It is one that runs very high in kernel per cent. This gives a total score of 70.87.
While I think of it, there is one point about the method that I use for scoring that is better, I think, than some other methods that have been used, that it gives credit for even a part of a per cent. You will notice that I run these out to the third point.
I can't say about the Adams color. That nut also had been thoroughly dried and I think the cracking quality shows better than it ordinarily would. I think that is a variety that we should keep in mind and especially that it should be used for crossing because of high percentage of kernel.
The fourth comes from Arkansas, that I have called the "Walker." Scored 70. I suppose we can't claim it entirely from Arkansas, although