North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran and Donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

 Pete and all,
    There are some wild trees of both in our general area, and I can tell
you that the wild shagbarks are a LOT easier to crack than the wild
shellbarks.  I don't think anyone has found any shellbarks that crack out as
well as most shagbarks, at least in terms of  % of kernal to shell.
Fortunately shellbarks are supposed to make perfectly good rootstocks for
shagbarks.  UNFORTUNATELY, we have neither on our property.  It took me
about 5 years to conclude that we had mockernuts and shagbarks (remember I
grew up Florida, where the few hickories I saw were merely large bushes).
It took a few more years for me to realize that we had pignuts, not
shagbarks, and become depressed because supposedly they were hopeless
rootstocks.  Then it took a few more years to conclude that we had the sweet
pignut that is considered by some to be intermediate between pignut and
shagbark and become hopeful that I could put any old shagbark on them.  16
failed grafts this spring imply otherwise.  I did have 2 takes but they
quickly died.  In the intervening years, I'd gotten a few things from Ted
Danieki... 'Fox' and 'Davis' are shagbarks that are supposed to be graft
compatible with pignut and mockernut, I forget which one goes on what, but
the one on pignut has survived and grown.  James hican is supposed to be
compatible with mockernut, but the one I put on pignut by mistake has done
well.  I have 3 of them, now.  I have 2 other hicans that have taken on
mockernut.  It really doesn't make any sense that something as remote as a
hican would graft better than a shagbark, but like I say, maybe it's the
drought or the parafilm I'm using.
    I have read my old NNGA book till it's worn out, and I still find new
info in it, or at least info that's newly relevant to me.  Hickories are not
profitable nursery trees because they are a pain to transplant and they grow
too slowly.  They take a good 15 years to crop.  However, considering that
most of the trees I have been grafting to are some 10-15 years old, that
puts me way ahead.  AND they like our worthless soil, which is a major plus!
I didn't even have to plant them, they were already here.  Something else
has turned me in this direction... My husband and I both like fruit as much
as the next person, but it seems that too much fruit doesn't set so well
with our digestions.  Nuts on the other hand, store well without having to
can or dry them and they are very nutritious and good tasting.  As someone
who has always craved fatty foods, I never fell for the "Fat is bad for you"
BS.  Seeing as it turns out that margerine actually contributes to heart
disease, I feel vindicated.  If you will just take the trouble to do the
opposite of whatever the FDA tells you to do, you'll probably live longer
and healthier than those who trust them. You can start by eating eggs, and
planting  nut trees.  And remember, the FDA says that conventional food is
as good as organic, which means it's not.  (It's like reading Pravda, easy
once you get the hang of it. )             Donna