It is not so true with all members of the nut tree
group, some, such as the English walnuts, being receptive for such a
short period that only by very frequent examination and many
applications of pollen can one be sure of making a cross.
Early in the fall, the hybrid nuts should be enclosed in a wire screen
to prevent mice and squirrels from taking them before they are ripe.
Such wire screens may be used in the form of a bag and fastened around
each branch. When the husks turn brown and dry, the nuts are ripe, and
ready to be gathered and planted. Careful handling of the nuts is
advisable to preserve their viability. They should be planted in an
outdoor bed which has been fully protected against the invasion of
rodents. A screen such as I described for other nut seed is satisfactory
for these hybrid nuts but it need not be as large as that. After the
nuts have sprouted and the plants have grown for one season, they may be
transplanted into a permanent location where they should again be well
protected against mice by a trunk screen, and against rabbits by driving
a stout stake deep into the ground on the south side of the tree and
tying it to the tree. This use of a stake discourages rabbits from
cutting off the tree.
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