Part 19 (1/2)

As Dr. Waite told us one time in Was.h.i.+ngton--you will probably remember the remark he made about the pecan trees in an orchard which were absolutely fruitless year after year. He went through that orchard, and he saw a pecan here and a pecan there that had a good, big crop right among the empty trees. He examined them and found signs driven into the trees, and some of the signs were put up with zinc covered nails. Those signs that had the steel covered nails had no nuts on, but those that had zinc in had a huge crop. It excited the growth of the female blossom.

Now, we have got an awful lot to discover, as you gentlemen say in this nut culture, way beyond the imagination of the human mind.

DR. MacDANIELS: We had better limit discussion to this particular problem. Is there more comment?

MR. McDANIEL: On that problem, I have observed the brooming in the heartnut seedlings about three years old, which were seedlings of the Fodermaier variety growing at Norris in the late 30's. Brooming developed in some of them in either the second or third year from seed.

DR. MacDANIELS: That answers their remark about the young trees.

MR. SLATE: A plant that is well fed and making very vigorous growth may be more attractive to the insect vector. Therefore, a healthy tree might take it.

MR. McDANIEL: These trees were very vigorous.

DR. MacDANIELS: How many growers of nut trees have this bunch disease on their property?

MR. KINTZEL: Black walnuts?

DR. MacDANIELS: On anything at all. (Showing of hands.) There are at least a dozen.

When Mr. Burgart up in Michigan finds out that the limiting factor practically cleans him out, there is this question of bunch disease with witches'-broom resulting from ground deficiency. I know in the Wright plantings in the vicinity of Westfield they had brooming trees of the j.a.panese walnut which apparently recovered after treatment with zinc.

And, of course, we know on the West Coast you get witches'-broom in the Persian walnut which cannot be cured by zinc.

Is there any other discussion on this point?

(No response.)

We will go on to the next paper.

MR. CORSAN: Anybody pa.s.sing through Toronto can drop in and see my j.a.panese walnuts with 24 to the cl.u.s.ter and not a sign of bunch disease.

DR. MacDANIELS: Yes, you may not have the bunch disease near you. We hope you haven't.

The next paper is by J. A. Adams, who is from the Experiment Station here at Poughkeepsie. This experiment station is a branch of the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station. I believe that's right, isn't it, Mr.

Adams?

MR. ADAMS: That's right, and it is concerned primarily with the fruits down here in this region.

DR. MacDANIELS: His subject is ”Some Observations on the j.a.panese Beetle on Nut Trees.” Let me say Mr. Adams would like to show some slides, but it didn't seem feasible to close this window down.

The j.a.panese Beetle and Nut Growing

J. A. ADAMS

a.s.sociate Professor of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva and Poughkeepsie, New York

It is a pleasure to attend this meeting of the Northern Nut Growers.

a.s.sociation and to take part in your program. I shall discuss the j.a.panese beetle as it seems to affect nut culture, and outline our methods of control.

The j.a.panese beetle evidently came into this country in the soil about some roots of plants imported to a nursery near Philadelphia nearly 40 years ago. Since 1916, its distribution, habits, and control have been closely studied by the federal j.a.panese Beetle Laboratory at Moorestown, New Jersey. The insect has become generally distributed in the coastal area, as far north as Ma.s.sachusetts, as far south as Virginia, and as far west as West Virginia. Beyond these limits, it has established local colonies in New Hamps.h.i.+re, Vermont, Western New York, Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina. In most of the states affected there is an investigator who, like myself, carries on local studies, more or less in cooperation with the federal laboratory. In New York we now have, in addition to the generally infested areas on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, about 50 isolated infestations in the central and western parts of the state.

Might I have a showing of hands by those who have j.a.panese beetle already? (Showing of hands.) There is quite a sprinkling of you who have them. Many of you do not have them yet, but, since the insect is spreading every year, you can expect them some day, especially if you live in the Northeast. It is expected that this pest will not thrive in the drier central States, but it might become established in the Pacific States some day, unless prevented.