A tree on John E. Brooks' claim, Casey Place, is one of the earliest and most important trees in the country. It has borne a good crop every year for thirty-five years, and in all that time has led a strenuous life. It was planted first in Portland from a nut supposed to have been brought from the Rhine in Germany by a German sea captain. It was broken down by stock when Amasa Brooks saw it, and with the consent of the owner transplanted it to its present site, on the side of a red hill a few rods above the house and about 100 feet above the level of the valley. There it was much abused by stock, and exposed to other accidents. When it began to bear, the squirrels would gather the nuts as soon as they were big enough to attract them. When the tree was visited in August, 1909, for the purpose of getting a photograph it was found that a squirrel had burrowed under the roots, making an opening large enough to admit a good-sized foxhound, and a quantity of nuts hulls were piled about it and scattered beneath the tree. It is 23 inches in diameter and has a branch spread of nearly 60 feet. Trees of the fourth generation from this tree are in bearing near McMinnville and are producing fairly good nuts, some better than the original tree, demonstrating that the seedling walnut tree can be improved here by seed selection. [Illustration: _A Grafted Walnut_] The above is a two-year-old grafted tree in the orchard of Mr. Prince. It was sent to him by Judge Leib, of San Jose, in order to convince him of the superiority of the grafted tree. You will note that the little bush has two good-sized nuts, and also that it bore one last year, the first year from the nursery. With this ratio of increase at 20 years of age it would produce about three and one-quarter tons of walnuts, counting 42 nuts to the pound, the weight of first-class Oregon walnuts. But this is not probable. GRAFTED TREES The testimony in favor of the grafted tree is not yet very abundant in Oregon, as the grafting business is new; but with the evidence at hand it will surely have a standing in court. Prof. Lewis speaks plainly on this subject. He says: