Mr. Sober's nurseries are devoted almost entirely to the cultivation of chestnut trees. Mr. Rush's specialty is the Persian walnut. Mr. Wilkinson naturally specializes in Indiana pecan trees. At Rochester, N. Y., James S. McGlennon and Conrad Vollertsen have produced interesting results with filberts imported some years ago from Germany. They have five-year-old bushes bearing; these have proved hardy in every way and they have no blight. The nuts compare favorably with the best of the imported kinds. Nursery stock will soon be ready in quantity, and they now have 500 plants suitable for transplanting.
Filbert and walnut are the only nut trees grown commercially to any extent in the nurseries of the northwest. A few almond and chestnut trees are grown there, but the demand for them is very light. J. B. Pilkington, Portland, Ore., a well-known grower of a general line of nursery stock, advertises French, Japanese and Italian chestnut trees and the American Sweet. Filberts are being produced to a considerable extent. At present the nurseries cannot supply the demand for filbert plants, owing to the limited number of mother plants in the northwest. Practically all the nurseries have Barcelona and Du Chilly for sale, and a number have the Avelines. From one nursery or another De Alger, Kentish Cob and a few other varieties can be had. Persian walnuts are grown on a larger scale. Groner & McClure, Hillsboro, Ore., are the largest exclusive walnut nurserymen in the northwest. They produce close to 6,000 grafted trees annually. These sell at 90c. to $1.00 per tree in lots of 100. The Oregon Nursery Company, Orenco, Ore., produce a large number of both grafted and seedling walnut trees, asking up to $2.00 per tree for grafted and 35 to 50c. for seedlings. Many of the smaller nurseries procure their nut trees from California nurseries. Each year the proportion of seedlings planted is less. Franquette is the popular variety that is propagated.
The Northern Nut Growers' Association and one or two other similar organizations have labored for years to extend interest in nut culture. The files of the secretary of this association will show in heaps of letters and piles of newspaper clippings the marked success in view of the means that were at hand. And it has all been upon a high plane. The campaigns have been marked by the utmost degree of conscientious effort to arrive at the truth regarding, adaptability of varieties and cultural methods. This work is still in progress--indeed, the need for it will never end. But in the opinion of the writer there should from this day go hand in hand with investigation and experiment a very practical application to orchard purposes of what has been learned. The sooner northern nut trees come into bearing in grove form the sooner will general interest in nut culture increase. I would urge constant effort in that direction; even, if need be, to the exclusion of some of the further study on varieties.