Nuts are a fine luxury food, but in a way they can quickly become a necessary food by being used as a replacement for meat. I don't like to use the term "substitute for meat" as it implies that nuts are inferior to meat, and nothing could be further from the truth. Nuts are more _NUTricious_ than any meat, pound for pound, and what meat can you store away that will keep as sweet and edible as a nut for so long a time!
Plant nut trees to save your income not to increase it. You will never have to pay a tax on that saving.
The winter of 1942-43 was one of the coldest ever known here. One day it was 33° below zero and another it was 38° below. Filberts did not seem to take any notice of the severe cold and my Stranger Jap heartnuts that are said to be tender went through with flying colors. One or two varieties of Russian walnuts (J. regia) froze to the ground as did all the Pomeroys. Some of the Crath walnuts froze from a few inches to a yard, but the majority did not lose a bud. Strange to say all the extremely large varieties of J. regia came through unscathed as did my Chinese. Asiatic tree hazels missed cropping but came through unscathed. Winkler and Rush hazels were not harmed, though the Rush is a bit tender and succumbed the winter of 1933-34. In fact 1933-34 was a harder winter on trees than 1942-43 as that winter all but my Daviana filberts were hit more or less.
Last fall (1943) all trees went into their winter's sleep in most excellent condition and the twigs are hard to the top buds. Signs on twig terminals indicate a large crop of nuts for the fall of 1944. Thus I hope to be able to have on display for the convention-to-be a most interesting show. Besides nuts of all the hardy varieties I always have a real big show of hardy and tropical water lilies and lotus, a complete collection. Also a complete collection of grapes and many other horticultural curios rarely seen.
I was many years finding persimmons hardy enough to survive our winters, but at last I have at least 2 and maybe 3 varieties that passed last winter in perfect condition. I am north of Lake Ontario and just a mile west of Toronto. I doubt that northern pecans, big western shellbarks and hicans will have a long enough season to ripen. The Weiker hickory, which is a cross between shagbark (Carya ovata) and shellbark (C. laciniosa) hickories, ripens completely each season. Catawba grapes won't ripen except in a rather long summer. Just across the lake the golden muscatel grapes have ripened two or three times in my memory.