AS AN ADDENDUM to this report, please see the write-up on the History of the Jervis's Hyde Tree Farm, and the details/focus of theField Review portion for The 2002 Fall Meeting, which is attached and immediately follows this report.

A tent was set up to get out of the drizzle and hot gourmet coffee and monkey bread were a favorite of all attending. There were many new faces to get to know and ample time to socialize. Stihl and Polaris were available to discuss equipment. Polaris donated three all terrain vehicles to help move people throughout the day. Other donations that were given away as door prizes came in from many local businesses in Richland, Sauk and Iowa counties.

Topics were diverse and started out with a talk on insurance and landowners liability. The talk was informative and insightful for anyone who owns land and may need some protection. Mid morning was a group discussion on what does it take to make a walnut veneer, current markets and prices. Joe VandeHey from Wilson State Nursery gave a presentation on growing trees from superior selected seed. He discussed the state's work that had been done in the 1980's and the seed orchard that has been established at Wyalusing State Park. The seed orchard will start producing significant enough amounts of seed to collect in the next few years. Ron then took the group on a tour before lunch to show the pruning and crop tree work he has done in one of his plantations.

Lunch was a highlight of the day. Cooked rotisserie chicken and marinated beef tenderloin was catered in. Along with the side dishes it was enough to warm the soul and the body in the cold weather. Desert was vanilla ice cream with a topping of a walnut liqueur that was very satisfying. Door prizes were drawn and everyone present won something. The grand prize was from Stihl, a chainsaw safety hard-hat with faceshield and earmuffs.

Afternoon session took to the field to look at different quality walnuts as they related to different soils. Three soil pits had been dug and Dale Parker led the discussion on each. Everyone then had a chance to look at the tree characteristics around the pits. Aaron Young led the next discussion on crop tree release. Flagging had been put up earlier to mark out what trees to remove and which ones to stay. One area was cut by hand and the other treated with herbicide. Good discussions arose on timing of cutting and the methods.

The final presentation of the day was from the Stihl representative on how to safely cut down a tree. Everything from proper equipment, the chainsaw, sharpening the chain and cutting a proper wedge was discussed. Many good questions were asked and a good presentation was given to catch seasoned cutters to someone doing it for the first time.

Everyone attending stuck it out to the end and braved the cold damp weather. The field day was a positive one with good discussions, good food and a chance to meet some new people. A thank you goes out to Ron Jervis for arranging the field day and providing an excellent property to have this event from. Also a thanks to all the other members who worked hard to make this day happen.

ADDENDUM TO THE REPORT…………………………………..

HYDE TREE FARM
6362 Brotherhood Lane
Ridgeway, WI, 53582
29Aug02. Ron Jervis

History

Ron and Mary Jervis purchased the 160-acre farm ( ¼ of a section )in September 1990. During the winter of January -March 1991, a timber sale occurred on 53 acres across the northern side of the property, involving primarily red and white oak, some walnut, and a few other miscellaneous species.
In the spring of 1991, the first of many annual plantings was completed on the western 2 acres of the 8-acre plantation, located East of the old barn. A mixture conifers and black walnuts were planted alternately on a 12' between rows X 10' within the row spacing. In 1992, the major tree planting occurred with the remainder of the 8-acre plot, and at 4 different locations between the creek and the northern woods. These latter locations are monocultures of black walnuts where the seedlings were planted amongst and next to natural walnut tree stands. All together, about 2000 conifers , 200 red oaks, and 3000 black walnuts were planted by hand using contracted laborers.
Subsequently, some form of tree planting has been done every year since the big planting in 1992, ranging from the…………………….

• 2-acre plot on the East property line, consisting of tamaracks, white spruce and white pine. ( a big battle with willow trees and swamp grass continues).
• Several small groupings of evergreens at various locations for wildlife habitat.
• To the most recent ( 2001 ) specialty planting of sugar maples, shellbark hickory, northern pecan, and red maple on 2-acres next to the creek bridge.

But the primary focus each year was intraplanting within the original plantings to replace those trees lost not only to normal mortality, but mostly trees destroyed by the high population of white-tail deer. On the average, about 400 trees were planted each year with emphasis of maintaining the original " grid " of black walnut trees at all plots south ( the 8-acre plot ) and north of the creek, with the exception of the plot on the center ridge north of the creek. This planting was a mistake by the original tree planters, and the site has been abandoned because of the poor location and infertile soil conditions: however, a lot of walnut trees have survived and continue to struggle growing despite despite the adverse conditions.

At this point in time, for the management of the black walnut trees, it is estimated that there are approximately 8000 trees in 3 different categories…………

• 8 - acre plot and the 3 plots north of the creek………….………….5000
• 15 acres of natural tree stands on the "eastern hill ",
  and in a 200-300 ft. wide band at the bottom of the south
  side of the northern hills, plus a band of trees on the West
  property, on both side of the creek…………………………….…….2500
• All other black walnut trees scattered throughout the rest
  of the 160 acres, mixed with oaks and other trees………………….500
• TOTAL...................................................................................8000

Besides the other events and presentations scheduled for the fall meeting, the 2 primary field review events will be……………….

1) The thinning of a natural stand of black walnut trees.
Topics will include, but not limited to………..

• Selection or identification of " future crop trees "
• Which trees should be thinned THIS YEAR??
• Should a thinning be a " project" where- by trees are thinned every
  10 years, or a process where the trees are thinned every 1-3 years??
• Alternative methods for "eliminating " the subject "thinned tree "
  For instance………girding with a chain saw, cutting the tree down
  with a chain saw, or using an herbicide basal spray.
  …….What are the pros and cons for each method???
• Demonstration and correct process for applying the basal herbicide,
  and discussion of different or best herbicides to use.
• Finding a practical and economic use for the thinned walnut " poles ",
  other than firewood.
• Is there a BEST TIME OF YEAR to do the thinning???
• Discussion of other questions by attendees

The location of the thinning session will start at the east property line of the 15 acre natural tree stand plot and move westward in reviewing different densities and conditions within the tree stand.

2) Review of the 8 - acre plot…….the PRIMARY plantation on the site

As stated in the History section, this 8 acre plot was planted in 1991 (2 acres) and 1992 ( 6 acres ) with 2000 black walnut trees, 2000 conifers of different types, and 200 red oak amongst some existing oak and cherry trees, and a lot of black berry , briars, and hazel nut bushes. In hindsight, in not taking an extra year to better prepare the site by eliminating all vegetation initially, was definitely a mistake!…..trying to deal with the weeds, and brush later was a real struggle.
The first two acres were planted on a 12' between rows X 10' within the rows. The next year the planting was changed to 6' within the row, based on the " theory " that when the confers are killed off by the Walnut trees in 25 to 35 years, the walnuts trees will be on a 12' x12' grid, and the eventual CROP TREES will be on a 24' X 24' grid ( or 75 trees per acre )……….Note that the alternating pattern of conifer X walnut occurs in BOTH directions , north-south , and east-west……..so that every walnut is surrounded on ALL 4 SIDES by a conifer.

Diversity

Although the plantation's intent is to become primarily a black walnut forest, there has been some diversification at work by………………….

1) Leaving pre-existing oak and cherry trees at the time of the original planting, along with hazel nut hushes for the wildlife.
2) 200 red oaks were part of the original planting…..located in the south central section of the plot.
3) Several different conifers were planted both initially and over subsequent years, for some interesting different reasons, starting with a concern that blister rust disease might destroy the white pine trees. But the biggest factor was the appetite and taste preferences of THE DEER. They had a priority of which trees they liked the best with white cedar being at the top of the list and spruce at the bottom:; therefore, the reason for the larger than planned number of surviving spruce trees various the pines before the final solution of installing 2' diameter 5" high 2x4 welded wire fences was installed around individual trees ( more about this later )
The varieties of conifers include: white cedar, white pine, red pine
white spruce, norway spruce, jack pine, and scotch pine
4) Intraplantings the last 2 years have included white ash and sugar maple
5) Seedlings of black walnuts were purchased from 2 different sources to increase the genetic diversity……..the DNR nursery in Boscobel and Cascade nursery in Iowa.

Observations and what is to be learned

As with most all other walnut tree growers and woodland owners, reaching perfection in growing the trees is a learning and humbling experience, with unexpected challenges, and opportunities to try different techniques for maximizing the tree's survival and rate of growth.

The Deer Problem……….has been the biggest challenge!, because instead of a "wintering " population of 25 deer per square mile, the actual population ranges somewhere in the 60-80 deer per square mile, mainly due to lack of hunting pressure the north, west and south and the local hunter's reluctance to shoot doe. 12-14 deer are shot each year on the 160 acres, but towards the end of the season, it seems like we hadn't shot any!

It was thought that TUBEX tree shelters……..would be the answer, so 2000 were installed in 1993. They did protect the seedlings for the first few years. But then " dieback " from the harsh cold fronts in October killed 50% of the top part of the trees. So even though the trees do grow 60-70% faster in the tubes, the NET growth per year was only 10-20 %. Another problem was keeping up on replacing stakes which rotted , allowing the tree to fall down,, and then there was the year when a black bear was throwing the TUBEX's 30 feet in search of honey from the bee's nest inside the tubes……….and NOW the last few years, for the tubes that are left, BADGERS climb the tubes and end up breaking the trees in half……….Conclusion…….4-5 ft hi TUBEX'S don't work in Wisconsin, but they work very well in the milder climates on the East coast, and Pennsylvania where we have another small black walnut grove.

The FINAL SOLUTION for deer protection is 2ft.diameter X 4 or 5 ft. high ,
2" X 4" welded wire fencing………..around individual trees. It's purchased from Menard's in 50' long rolls at their annual sale prices. 2 stakes were used initially, but now by " weaving " the wire on one single stake, the cost of stakes is cut 50%…….the material cost for one cage is $2.30, and the stake cost $.45, bringing the total to $ 2.75 per tree.
After installing 200 to 400 of these cages over the last 4-5 years, about 80% of all the trees are now protected with over 1200 cages. At first only the pine trees were caged, but after the deer started also eating the foliage in the spring and summer, in addition to eating the buds in winter, it became obviously that all the hardwoods would also need to be caged. The progression of the installation started at the bottom of the plot on the west end and proceeded up the hill to the south and then eastward…….you can see the differences in the tree height as you follow this path. On the East end where the cages were just installed last year you can observe the rejuvenation of the walnut "bonsai " trees which the deer had kept browsed to a height of only 2 feet. The eastern 2 acres will be caged this fall.
The walnut and oak trees are being pruned every year……………and was started when the trees had reached a height of 6 feet 3-4 years ago, the aim being to establish the straight " leader " as early as possible, and then take corrective action each year to maintain that straight vertical single " leader ". Besides using different kinds of saws and loppers ( hand saw, chain saw, Echo Power pruner ), the other techniques used are COTTON duct tape and rope to deal with " forks " and " Y's ". In those cases where the fork's were not dealt with soon enough, several trees have had to be coppiced, and there are some nice examples of rapid grow -back and correction.

Fertilizing the walnut trees……..was an experiment 2 years ago, and the results were so promising that this year the entire plantation was fertilized using anywhere from an 8 once cupful to 20 ounces of regular lawn fertilizer, depending on the size of the tree, The only downside is that some trees which had been released from the TUBEX'S did not have a strong enough of a trunk to handle the extra foliage on top, so the tree bent to the ground during the summer growth period, and had to be "roped " back up straight.

Using herbicides to control the grass and all other vegetation…………..is absolutely essential as has been proven in one scientific study after another. The only questions that remain then are what herbicides to use and how to apply them. With the situation is this 8 - acre plot, the alternating planting of walnuts and confers presents a real challenge in spraying with ROUNDUP, the most economical herbicide, without damaging the conifers.
For our tree Farm, the best configuration for spraying on these side hills is a John Deere 425 Garden tractor with a locked 2-wheel drive, pulling a 50 gallon sprayer ( with its own Briggs and Stratton engine and pump ) that has a hand held sprayer wand at the end of a long hose. Traveling very slowly with the automatic transmission, the base of the walnut trees can be selectively sprayed without over- spraying the conifer tree 6 ft. down the row.
This year the upper half ( about 5 acres ) was sprayed with Round-up the 2nd week in May. In June, the lower half was with sprayed but Simazine 4L (Princeup ) was added in combination with the ROUNDUP. You can observe the huge difference between the 2 areas……..without the Simazine, the upper half should actually be sprayed twice in one year!
However, 3 years ago just spraying with Simazine over all the trees when they were dormant the last week in October was somewhat successful, and of course was much faster and productive. The sprayer ran continuously and the larger Tractor could move down the rows rather quickly.
In addition, newer herbicides are being introduced every day, so it will be beneficial to stay abreast of the latest developments!