Walnut Cultivation

While the walnut is the hardiest of trees and in many cases has borne

heavily in Oregon without cultivation, experience has proved that, like

fruit trees, cultivation up to the tenth or twelfth years increases the

growth, the yield and the quality of the product. After full maturity no

further cultivation is necessary, the tree taking care of itself with

the independence of any forest tree.



With a young grove it is best to plow between the rows after the rains

cease in the spring, and then stir the ground occasionally all through

the summer with the harrow or disk; this holds the moisture. When some

trees seem backward a trench should be dug some two feet or so away, and

a couple of feet deep, filled with fertilizer and closed over. This will

encourage hardier and more rapid growth. Lime can also be used with good

effect, it being customary in England to haul wagon loads to the walnut

lands. Continually hoeing and digging constitute the best treatment, as

one tree on the Prince place, a Mayette, has proved. It was given daily

cultivation, by way of experiment, and more than doubled the size and

yield of other trees of the same age not so treated.