WIARD--This is another Michigan variety, apparently of much merit. Vague bits of information regarding it have reached the department at Washington from time to time since June, 1926, when Greening Bros., of Monroe, stated to the writer that Mr. Everett Wiard, a fruit grower near the eastern outskirts of Ypsilanti, was grafting a promising seedling of his own origin. This clue was not successfully followed up until 1932, when a few specimen nuts were obtained. These were found to be of medium size and of excellent cracking quality. The kernels were plump, bright, rich in quality, and of pleasing flavor.
On February 12, 1934, Professor Neilson wrote the department that this seedling had come to his attention during Farmers' Week, held shortly before, at East Lansing. He stated that to him this appeared to be one of the best seedlings thus far discovered and that he was recommending it for propagation. He added that the nut was "of medium size, somewhat diamond-shaped, thin-shelled, easy to crack and of excellent extractive quality." Very likely more will be learned of this variety in the future.
The American butternut, Juglans cinerea, although commonly held to be a slow grower, a tardy and light bearer, and a producer of thick-shelled nuts hard or impossible to crack without extreme difficulty, is frequently quite the opposite in one or more, or all, of these respects. Under favorable environment the trees grow rapidly, bear early, and oftentimes the nuts may be easily cracked and the kernels extracted in perfect halves. Probably more than a dozen varieties from various portions of the North have been named. A few of these appear to be of considerable promise.
The northern range of the butternut extends from Nova Scotia over Maine, across New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, the upper peninsula of Michigan, and through Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota to South Dakota south to Georgia and Arkansas.
Butternut flavor is preferred by many people to that of any other nut. Throughout New England the kernels are used to no inconsiderable extent in the making of highly pleasing food products. Oftentimes the ground kernels are used in the home manufacture of pastries and confections which are either consumed at home or sold on roadside markets at good profit.