In this Issue...

• Event Announcement
• Report on the 1985 Spring Picnic
• Survey of Member's Interests
• New Appointments to Convenorships
• New Member for the Month
• Nut Rolls
• Editor's Note
• Notes from the Horticulture SIG
• Reminder of Forthcoming Events

The Executive of the Ottawa Area Chapter of SONG and theSilviculture Group are pleased toannounce the Chapter's Summer Field Day and the 1985 Annual General Meeting of SONG willbe held concurrently at the Baxter Interpretive Center, Baxter Conservation Area, nearKemptville, on Saturday the 27th of July 1985 starting at 11:25 AM

This year, our Chapter is hosting the 1985 AGM of our parent organization, the Society ofOntario Nut Growers. The meeting will be publicised in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec,and the public will be invited: Helen Bender is handling publicity.

The day's program includes:

For more information, call Cliff Craig at the RVCA, 692-3571, during the day, or Hank Jones,731-5237 in the evenings.(continued)

Report on the 1985 Spring Picnic

Ottawa, in its own right, has many pertinent nut tree sites yet to be discovered. Therefore it wasfitting, that instead of going out of town for this year's annual spring picnic on June 16th, wegathered at Ottawa's Billings Estate. Even though the sky threatened rain, about a dozen hardysouls met at the museum estate. After some of us took the proffered tour of the building, we metfor a prearranged lunch in the basement lunch room. Most brought their own, but some tookadvantage of the estate's lunch service which provided a large tray of sandwiches, drinks andcakes (including a nut loaf!). This lunch service was fun and nobody went hungry!

After lunch, George Truscott, who has explored the adjacent regions, led us on a tour of thegrounds and the nearby ravines, in search of nut trees. He showed us two good-sized butternutsnear the estate cemetery. Across Bank St., in Sawmill Creek Ravine, we found a good stand ofbutternut, probably suitable for superior seed collection. One giant tree is about 3' DBH, over 8'around. Along the way, those of us new to nutting were given pointers on recognizing nut trees.We also saw evidence of acid rain damage: we should investigate the possible harm it might bedoing to nut trees. As we returned to the estate, George showed us a stand of 6 black walnut, allabout 4 to 5" in diameter.

All in all, it was a most pleasant and worthwhile day! Our thanks to George and the MembershipSIG for this experience.

Polly Forrestall

Survey of Member's Interests in Nut Tree Growing.

This is a questionnaire. Over the years, the executive has been developing programs and projectsaccording to the original interests of our membership. For example, the special interest groups,with their technical projects, represent one of these programs.

In the last year, our membership has grown dramatically to nearly 70 souls. It is time for us toexamine the needs of this expanded membership, and to review the scope of our programsaccordingly.

To begin this process, the executive has prepared the following 4-section questionnaire. Pleasetake a few moments to answer the questions, then send your answers to the Chair, HankJones at 94 Cameron Ave., Ottawa K1S 0X1, or hand them in at the next meeting (at the BaxterInterpretive Center, 27 July).

New Appointments to Convenorships

There are two new appointments to Chapter Special Interest Group Convenorships. (The lastissue of the Nuttery reviewed the present status of all the SIGs and how to get in touch with theirconvenors - this is an update to that article.

First, Irmi Underwood has enthusiastically accepted the convenorship of the Silviculture SIG.Irmi is the owner and founder of Woodhouse Tree Farms, and a professional silviculturalist.

Our special thanks to the retiring convenor, Lorne Harrison, who has been the group's convenorsince it was first established. Lorne has the distinction of being the first member to haveproduced seed from seed planted in after the establishment of the Chapter.

If you wish to know more about the Silviculture SIG and its projects, or if you are not presently aparticipant, or you have a relevant project you want the group to undertake, Irmi can be reachedat 839-5563 in Carp.

Polly Sue Forrestall, our Carleton University student, has graciously accepted the convenorshipof the Nut Use SIG. Polly says she is interested in learning more about all aspects of nut tree use,and at the moment she is specially interested in learning to identify trees in the field. We canlook forward to lots of useful information from the Nut Use SIG in the future.

Our appreciative thanks to Timo Aasen, who has been the SIG's convenor during this last year.Timo started a bibliography of nut use literature on his home computer, and we hope such workcan continue, so that a bibliography can be published in the Nuttery soon.

To get information or to get involved in the Nut Use Group, call Polly in Ottawa at 233-5189.

Our thanks to Bill Dickson, who recently retired and is now a travelling man, for steering theMembership SIG since its inception. Bill says since he wouldn't be around much for the nextcouple of years, a new convenor would be a good idea. Anyone keen on publicity, recruiting andmembership services call the Chair Hank Jones at 731-5237 in Ottawa.

Also, the Survey SIG is looking for a new convenor. Cynthia Ross, to whom we are mostgrateful for her efforts in surveying local seed sites, is moving out of the area soon and thinks sheshould pass the convenor's flame! The job entails managing Inventree, organizing the Chapter'sFall Field Day, and supporting the Survey SIG's projects. If you want more information, callCynthia at 729-9115 in Ottawa, or call Hank.

As you know, convenors can make things happen! If you have ideas to implement, get on thephone to put your bid in toute suite.

The Chair

New Member for the Month

We wish to welcome Loretta Marquardt of Marquardt Printing where our Nuttery goes to presseach issue. Hope to see you at our next meeting at Baxter.

Nut Rolls

24 slices white sandwich bread½ cup soft butter1 fresh pineapple1½-2 cup finely chopped pecans or cashews

Trim crusts from slices of fresh white bread and spread each with softened butter. Turn buttered-side down. Place a finger length stick, 1/3" square of fresh pineapple across one end of slice androll up tightly (buttered side will be on the outside). Roll each in finely chopped nuts. Wrapsecurely in waxed paper and chill until ready to serve.

Editor's Note

The new appearance of the type face in this issue of the Nuttery is due to the new Olympia NPdot-matrix printer on the computer system that composed our Nuttery. I hope you like it! We areable to get about 30% more information in the same space with the new system.

We need more technical/scientific authors. We are asking for articles on any subject, such asgrafting, transplanting, field identification, nursery maintenance, etc. If you are able, or youknow someone who is, call the Editor at 722-5338 right away.

Notes from the Horticulture SIG

The contents of the Stratification Pit at Baxter were distributed by the members of our SeedDistribution Committee on 27 April 1985. The names and addresses of 59 recipients wererecorded. We hope that all will report on the success of their plantings on the questionnaire to bedistributed to them later. A sum of $46 was contributed by them towards the cost of the project.

This project was a resounding success and the chapter owes the committee a considerable debt -Dr. Gordon McArthur, Dr. George Christie and Dr. George Truscott.

A second item in the vein of seed management is the prospective seed collection this comingFall, 1985. Encouraged by the success of the seed program in 1984/85, the Hort SIG plans torepeat the operation in 1985/86. There may not be a bumper crop this fall, but we have learned ofnew sources that might make up any deficiency. The next issue of the Nuttery will contain moreinformation on plans.

In particular, the Nuttery's Technical Section will include note on the criteria for selectingsuperior sources of seed, and on other aspects of seed selection, storage, and handling. Thisinformation is coming directly from Peter Janas, Head of the National Tree Seed Bank atPetawawa, who is also a member of our Chapter.

If you want in on the action, call me as soon as possible. Alec Jones, Convenor, Horticulture SIG828-6459 Ottawa.

Reminder of Forthcoming Events

1. Fall Field Day, Oct. 12, 1985
2. Project Report Meeting (evening), Nov. 27, 1985 (new)
3. Winter Meeting (evening), Jan 15, 1986
4. AGM at Baxter Area, Mar. 15, 1986

Executive meetings are held Fridays on the following dates: Sept. 13, Oct. 25, Dec. 6 1985, andFeb. 14 1986.

Provided by ECSONG. Feel free to copy with a credit.