December 11, 1946--My chestnut trees this fall produced slightly over 1,722 pounds. The nuts seemed to keep better than usual which I attribute to the cool rainy weather which we had during the ripening period. Hot, dry weather causes the nuts to begin spoiling quickly. My records show August 7th as the beginning of the ripening period and October 3rd as the ending. So one can see that this is often a hot and dry period in our section. * * * * * EXCERPT FROM LETTER TO SECRETARY FROM MRS. W. D. POUNDEN Dairy Department--Ohio Agric. Expt. Sta. Wooster, Ohio October 14, 1946 I am glad to give you the method I used in canning pecan kernels. Spread the shelled pecans in a shallow pan and place in a warm oven just long enough to heat the kernels through. Have clean jars--preferably pints so that the heat will penetrate more easily in processing--which have been warmed in the oven to be sure they are thoroughly dry inside before adding the pecans. Fill the jars with the pecans (do not add any liquid), place the lid on the jar (I prefer the Kerr self-sealing type), and process the nut-filled jars in a 250 deg. oven for 30 minutes. I have kept pecan meats for over a year using this method and they are as crisp and good as when they came out of the shell. HYBRIDS At an informal meeting at Dr. Diller's cabin the evening before the Convention, Mr. Slate was asked to say something about hybrids. Mr. G. L. Slate: Hybrids between black and Persian walnuts were made at Geneva about 1916 by Professor W. H. Alderman, now of the Minnesota Experiment Station. After these trees had fruited all but five were removed to permit the remaining trees to attain full size. The trees have produced very few nuts and have been absolutely no good. Various persons have attempted to raise second-generation seedlings from these trees, but from my observation no one has succeeded. From what I know of these hybrids and what Reed has published about those with which he is familiar I am convinced it a waste of time and effort to attempt to produce hybrids between black and Persian walnuts with the hope of getting desirable nuts. The trees themselves are very rapid growing, handsome and well worth while as shade trees. But the walnut breeder will have more to show for his efforts if he confines his labor for the time being to improving the black and Persian walnuts by crossing among themselves the many clones within each species. However, the unsatisfactory hybrids between black and Persian walnuts, of between butternuts and Persian walnuts should not blind us to the fact that there are many species-hybrids of great pomological value. The hybrids between the Rush variety of Corylus americana and various varieties of C. avellana produced by the late J. F. Jones are very much worth while. Some of our finest red raspberry varieties are hybrids of the European and American species.