The work in nut culture by the Department of Agriculture antedates the present Bureau of Plant Industry, and to confine the history of the work to the present Bureau of Plant Industry would not quite do the subject justice. From the time of the beginning of fruit work in the Department of Agriculture, in 1885, nuts have received more or less attention. After the formation of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in 1901, special appropriations were received from Congress for the support of nut investigations, and individuals were appointed to that service in the department. Mr. C. A. Reed, whom you all know very well, was the first appointee of this service, devoting his whole time and attention to the work. He has been with the department for several years, and has given his time exclusively to the nut problems of the country. Naturally, the nut problems are not confined to any geographic area, but are nation-wide; but certain of the plants which have entered into the problems of nut culture have demanded more attention than others, for reasons that are the same as in fruit culture. The older fruits, those better known and longer in cultivation, whose problems are better understood, require less attention from the grower and from the experimenter than do the newer ones in the field. Nut culture in America, as I understand it, not being a nut culturist myself, consists of two types of projects. We have one type that has long been practiced by man, that we imported from European countries and established on this continent. People have cultivated these nuts more or less intensively for generations, and many of the problems have been worked out, so far as Europe is concerned. Of course, when introduced in America, new problems confronted the growers here. The other type of nut industry is based upon indigenous nuts of which we know little, either from the orchard standpoint or as to the varieties concerned. Our native nuts, particularly the pecan, have forced themselves upon the attention of investigators of the department to much greater extent, perhaps, than any other nut with which we have to deal. Being a native, indigenous plant, not yet under cultivation, there is immediately presented the problem of the choice of varieties, adaption to changed conditions, and all of the problems arising in connection with a rapidly developing commercial industry; certain enthusiasts soon become enamored with the possibilities in the southern parts of the United States for pecan culture, and they immediately transplant it into new and untried regions, and as a result their problems have become legion.