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  • From: Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Black Walnuts
  • Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 12:10:56 -0500

At 10:33 AM 8/3/2006, Tanis wrote:
Nice mistake though, because I for one want to learn more about black
walnuts.

Tanis,
While most 'wild-type' black walnuts produce nuts with thick shells and kernel percentages in the 12-20% range, there are a number of really good selections with thin shells, improved cracking characteristics, and significantly higher kernel percentages - frequently in the 35-40% range. One 'Pounds #2" tree, in Les Wilmoth's orchard, produced a crop last year that averaged 55% kernel/shell ratio.

My friends John & Lisa Brittain (John will be one of the presenters at the upcoming NAFEX meeting in Lexington) offer a number of superior BWs from their Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery -
http://www.nolinnursery.com/Walnuts.htm

Linked below is a good article on commercial BW cultivars, by Dr Bill Reid:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/V1-327.html

Personally, I've always liked "Emma Kay" and "Daniels", but John & Les have been really high on "Thomas Myers" for this area; Gerald Gardner in MO says "Neel #1" is the very best BW he's ever grown - wishes he'd had it available 15 years ago.
Our friend Gordon Nofs likes "Kwik Krop" - best production and flavor for him there in Flint, MI.
Clermont has the thinnest shell I've ever seen in a BW nut; Clifford England suggested to me at one time that he thought Clermont and Elmer Myers were one and the same - but I've not grown EM to compare the two.

More BW info is available online at the NNGA website:
http://www.northernnutgrowers.org

Lucky





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