From the Wisconsin Horticultural Society we obtained a pound of English or Persian walnuts in 1937. So far we have some 23 seedlings struggling to keep alive. They range in height from 18 inches to 7 feet and are definitely out of their range. Some years they grow 4 feet of new wood and some winters it all kills back. There seem to be differences in hardiness and--who can tell?--they might even bear a nut some day. Bark injury, which may be winter sun scald, has damaged some of the trees. One tree of the Broadview selection is alive after four years and may make a go of it. Hickories grow wild in certain parts of Minnesota, but this doesn't happen to be one of those parts. They seem to do best where soil is acid in reaction and here we are amply supplied with lime. That may account for the slow growth of a grafted Hales hickory tree. It was 3 years old when set out in 1921. For the first 9 years it had just 2 leaves per year. Now approaching 30, the tree is 7 to 8 feet high and going up at the rate of 8 to 12 inches a year. Nuts from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota wild hickories, have done better. At 8 years the trees are from 1 to 2 feet high, with a couple of Shakespeares, (geniuses) towering a foot above them. This may not be hickory country, but, by gum, they're growing! A couple of years ago, Dr. Brierley from the Central Station, Division of Horticulture, who has nut propagation as one of his minor projects, gave us 7 seedlings of shellbark hickory, (Carya laciniosa), from a tree planted many years ago by Peter Gideon of Wealthy apple fame. After 2 winters, these 7 seedlings are still with us and seem to grow faster than the shagbarks (ovata). Other attempts to vary our diet (if we live long enough) are a few Chinese chestnut seedlings. A couple secured from the Nut Tree Nurseries, Downington, Pa., in 1940 are now 3 and 4 feet high and apparently in a good state of health. They are leisurely growing, which may be a good thing. Trees like the Manchurian walnut which grow 6 to 8 feet of new wood in a year, seem to freeze back and start over more frequently than the trees which poke along but harden their wood before cold weather. In 1946, a few more seedlings from D. C. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa, were set out and most of them have survived the first winter. Carl Weschcke reports that chestnuts do best for him at River Falls, Wisconsin, in sandy soil with an acid reaction. If I ever raise a chestnut, I'd like to send him one.