[Illustration:  Stabler variety of Black Walnut grafted on a Minnesota seedling stock bore many years but was winter killed.  Photo by C. Weschcke]

Cutting scionwood early one spring, I noticed that the sap was running very fast in the grafted Stabler tree previously referred to.  Later when I came back to inspect this tree, I noticed that the sap had congealed to syrupy blobs at the ends of the cut branches.  My curiosity led me to taste this and I found it very sweet and heavy.  I mean to experiment some time in making syrup from the sap of this tree as I believe its sugar content to be much higher than that of the local sugar maple.  This makes the Stabler a 3-purpose tree, the first being its nuts, the second being the syrup, and the third being, at the end of its potentially long life, a good-sized piece of timber of exceptionally high value.  The tree is one of beauty, having drooping foliage similar to that of the weeping willow.  This is another point in its favor, its being an ornamental tree worthy of any lawn.  However, the Stabler is now considered as a tender variety and is not recommended for northern planting.

[Illustration:  Stabler graft on old seedling grafted in May, 1938 bearing in August of the same year.  Photo by C. Weschcke]

[Illustration:  Cut Leaf Black Walnut.  Scions furnished by Harry Weber of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Variety was hardy on Minnesota seedling for about 5 years.  Photo by C. Weschcke]

The aesthetic value of the black walnut does not cease here since there are some varieties which are exceptionally attractive.  One of these is the cut-leaf black walnut which has the ordinary compound leaf but whose individual leaflets are so scalloped and serrated that they resemble a male fern.  Everyone who has seen one of these has evinced pleasurable surprise at this new form of leaf and it may become very popular with horticulturists in the future.  Another interestingly different variety is the Deming Purple walnut which, although orthodox in leaf form, has a purplish tint, bordering on red in some cases, coloring leaf, wood and nuts, resulting in a distinctly decorative tree.  This tree was named for Dr. W. C. Deming who was the founder of the Northern Nut Growers’ Association.  Neither the Laceleaf nor Deming Purple are hardy for this climate but survived several years nevertheless before succumbing to one of our periodical test winters.

Chapter 4

HAZELS AND FILBERTS

In October 1921, I ordered from J. F. Jones, one hundred plants of what is known as the Rush hazel which was, at that time, the best known of the propagated hazels.  In ordering these, I mentioned the fact that I expected to get layered plants or grafted ones.  Mr. Jones wrote me at once to say that the plants he had were seedlings of the Rush hazel which are said to come very true to seed, but that if I did not want them