Developing a Walnut Grove as a Side Line Job as a Bee Keeper L. K. Hostetter Lancaster, Pennsylvania

In discussing this topic I shall give you some of my doings in my bee business and nut growing.

About 30 years ago, I started out in the bee business with three colonies of bees. This number increased gradually until I had 170 colonies. During these 80 years I would sometimes have a bumper crop of honey and then again sometimes a total failure. This past summer happened to be one of those off years. It is, however, the income from this bee business that started me off in the growing of a grove of 800 black walnut trees, also a few shellbarks, pecans, heartnuts, English walnuts, hicans, hardshell almonds and filberts.

In the spring of 1926, I had a nurseryman graft 6 small black walnut trees to the Thomas and Stabler varieties with 5 catches, 4 Thomas and 1 Stabler. In the spring of 1927, I bought the homestead farm and planted 2 Thomas, 2 Stabler, and 2 Ohio black walnuts, 2 shellbarks, 2 hardshell almonds and 6 filberts. This spring I also planted about a bushel of seedling black walnuts and, as it happened we had an exceptionally wet summer, these seedlings made a wonderful growth.

In the spring of 1928 I transplanted about 15 acres to these seedlings. In 1929 I planted another 20 acres, and in 1930 another 10 acres. Some of these trees were planted 60 feet each way and some 30 feet apart.

Some of these trees were grafted the same year they were planted but most of them were grafted two years later. At this time I had little experience in grafting and, naturally, my 2 acres in getting catches were accordingly. When I started out I thought it would be cheaper to plant seedlings and graft them, as explained above. I have gotten along fairly well in getting my grove started but I found it to be far more work than I expected it would be and I would not do it that way again. Because of some failures each year I still have many trees that have not yet been successfully grafted. I am not in a great hurry to get my grove on a paying basis as I am getting a lot of fun playing with the developing of it and I don't believe there will be so very much difference in the size of these trees 25 years from now. I would say, however, that for the man who wants to get a nut grove developed as soon as possible, he should buy his trees from the expert nut tree nurseryman.

My entire grove is now seeded to blue grass for a permanent pasture. About 25 acres is pastured by 160 head of sheep and the balance is cut for hay to feed the sheep in the winter time. My reason for seeding to blue grass is to prevent erosion. Possibly if I should keep my trees cultivated during the summer they would make a better growth. But then my sheep will make quite a bit of manure and I spread much of this manure under the trees every winter and, as it is, my trees are making a very good growth every year.

I now have a grove of about 800 black walnut trees. These are mostly of the Thomas, also quite a few Ohio and Stabler and a few Ten Eycks. The Stablers, Ohios, and Ten Eycks seem to fill the shell so full of meats with me that they are hard to remove in large pieces. I think I shall regraft most of these to the Thomas and some of the later varieties.

About 600 of my trees are now 7 years old from seed. These trees had about ½ bushel of hulled walnuts last summer and I expect to have about 2 bushels this summer. Last summer I also had about a peck of hard shell almonds from my two trees that were planted in 1927. In 1931 my 6 filberts had about ½ peck of nuts. These trees are now big enough to have at least a bushel or two of nuts if the catkins had not frozen this past winter.

Dr. Zimmerman: Mr. Hostetter, I would like to suggest, from the fact that we know so little about pollinization of nut trees, that you do not be in too big a hurry to cut out your odd varieties. Instead why not do this, let them come into bearing and then each year cut the variety out and note if there is any change in the bearing of the Thomas, of which you say your orchard is mostly made up? Should you happen to note a lack of pollinization or bearing in the Thomas the year after a certain variety is cut out, you can then start checking and may find that variety the best pollinator for the Thomas. I certainly would not be in too big a hurry to eliminate all my test varieties if I were you.

The President: Last year Prof. Reed gave us a very valuable paper on pollinization.

Dr. Zimmerman: I have a Taylor hickory at my place and every year it has several nutlets but as soon as they get any size they tumble off. I have never seen any catkins on that tree.

I have been fooling around for several years with persimmons. I have particular reference to the Kawakmi which is supposed to be a hybrid of Munson. I have never had any fruit from that particular tree. I wrote to Munson's and told them and they sent me some of the fruit. I wanted to get the seeds. My tree blooms heavily but has no pistillate flowers.

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