Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report: at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948
Science
Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report: at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948
Northern Nut Growers Association -- Periodicals; Nut trees -- Periodicals; Nuts -- Periodicals
Under drought conditions the temperatures of the air and of surfaces
exposed to the sun are often very high, and this sometimes results in
sun-scald or burning of the hulls or shucks. In severe cases the injury
extends through the hull or shuck to the shell and kernels. The
pellicle, or skin of the kernel, turns brown or amber color, as does the
portion of the kernel that has developed at the time of injury. Further
development of the affected portion of the kernel is arrested; and on
drying it becomes shriveled because of lack of filling. The greatest
amount of damage from sunburn occurs on the south and southwest sides of
the trees. Little can be done to prevent this type of injury other than
to grow good, strong, vigorous trees that bear a heavy dense foliage
that shades the nuts.
+Heterosis or hybrid vigor:+ The pistillate flowers of certain nut
species, such as the almond, chestnuts, and filberts, must be
cross-pollinated with pollen from another variety if satisfactorily
crops of well filled nuts are to be produced. These species are
self-sterile or self-unfruitful. On the other hand all walnut, pecan,
and hickory species are self-fertile and cross-fertile, but may be
self-unfruitful because of dichogamy, because they may shed their pollen
either before or after the stigmas of the pistillate flowers are
receptive to it. In all nut species cross-pollination is generally
recommended so as to assure a set of nuts. With cross-pollination a
better set of nuts is to be expected than with self-pollination, as well
as better filling of the kernels. It has recently been found that when
the pistillate flowers of a certain variety are cross-pollinated with a
pollen from another definite variety the embryo or nut kernel is larger
and better filled. This is a manifestation of hybrid vigor, or
heterosis. Heterosis has been found in the chestnut and in the pecan. It
likely will be found in other nut species. Some day the principles of
selected and controlled parentage underlying hybrid vigor may be
utilized in producing superior nuts, as these principals are now so
widely used in producing hybrid seed corn.
* * * * *
President Davidson: That paper was so extremely important that I
hesitated very much to stop it, but we are already at the point where we
should have adjourned. Now, unfortunately, we have some very important
things, I think, yet before us, but if the speakers can give their talks
from now on in the form of, shall we say, syntheses of the whole thing
and give us the conclusions rather than the details, it will be
appreciated by us all. Mr. Wilkinson is going to give us a very
important talk on what he has done with the propagation of the Lamb
curly walnut. Mr. Wilkinson.
The Grafted Curly Walnut as a Timber Tree
J. FORD WILKINSON, Rockport, Indiana
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account