Find the wiki

Just to let you know there'll be a new string to the bow from now on. Somewhere to post files without extensive editing so that they fit on the page. Products, activities, all that stuff.

http://BlackWalnutsdotCa.wikispaces.com

Not planning a full migration just yet, but we'll see. This is not yet a private wiki, so you should be able to access it, but just in case I convert it to a private site send me an email for your invitation to join. Tell me who you are, and why you're interested in black walnuts.

Line Index Explained

The following values have been calculated for five lines (trees) as an example. Please note that data collection on this portion of the farm only began in 2006, so not all variables were quantified every year. For the table to fit this window, 2006 data had to be excluded.

Line (Tree)			2007					2008
			A S	NY	SI	DBH	K%	NY	SI	DBH	ABNY
1	1	14	1	3.51	0.69	13.5	21.9	3.27	0.70	15.4	0.50
1	2	12	1	0.65	0.61	16.7	25.7	7.88	0.51	18.5	0.75
1	1	17	1	1.81	0.69	12.5	19.5	0.00	0.70	14.7	0.90
1	7	12	2	5.49	0.67	8.6	21.8	2.93	0.70	10.1	0.61
1	4	27	3	1.49	0.57	10.0	24.2	3.44	0.55	11.3	0.24

Codes

AS: Anthracnose Score - Incidence of Leaf Spotting Disease 1 (low) to 5

NY: Nut Yield - Number of nuts per sq cm trunk diameter at DBH

SI: Shell Index - Shell weight per cc nut volume

K%: Kernel Percentage - Kernel proportion of nut by weight

DBH: Diameter at Breast Height - Measure of tree size (at 135cm from ground)

ABNY: Alternate Bearing Index (from NY) - Annual variability in NY 0 (low) to 1

On the far right-hand side are the calculated (multi-year) Alternate Bearing Indices, where it can be seen that 1-4-27 and 1-1-17 are the two extremes, the latter so far expressing high alternate bearing (closest to 1). If you find this hard to understand, or want to know how to calculate it from the above data, several references to this characteristic can be unearthed by searching on the term on the internet. High ABI or ABNY is not desirable, unless the biennial compensation in NY makes up for non-production in the off years. I am not ready to thin out 1-1-17 just yet.

In a future post I will discuss using the combination of these variables as a selection tool.

Line Index Variables

What is the Line Index? It is my quantitative description of the best nut producers (the ‘3’ trees, if you are familiar with the term from previous blogs), using the variables I currently think the most important. These are:

· Anthracnose Score (AS)

· Nut Yield (NY)

· Shell Index (SI)

· Kernel Percentage (K%)

· And, derived from NY, the Alternate Bearing Index (ABI or ABNY)

Below is an explanation of each variable, but not the reason why I consider them the most important. Just be content for the moment that a range of quantitative descriptors has been attached to each line (line = a single tree, which may or may not have an identifiable maternal parent on or off-farm). DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) is included for interpretation.

Anthracnose Score (1-5). The expressed incidence of leaf-spotting disease (which may have non-anthracnose components), which is commonly considered to depress a tree’s productive ability. 1=low, 5=high, thus a 1 indicates nill expression, which can be considered a strong tolerance (if not outright resistance) to leaf-spotting disease.

Nut Yield (no.nuts per cm² of trunk diameter at DBH). A measure of productivity based on nut count per tree, adjusted for the tree’s size. All trees in a plantation will vary in growth rate.

Shell Index (shell wt proportional to nut volume: g per cm³). A measure of the energy partition occurring at the individual nut level.

Kernel Percentage (kernel weight as a proportion of dry nut weight). A measure of the edible yield of the nut. Can be used in combination with NY to determine Kernel Yield (KY).

Alternate Bearing Index (0-1). A measure of the consistency in nut production. Black walnut shows variable biennial productivity. Here adjusted for DBH, thus accounting for tree size, and calculated from NY, thus more truly ABNY, not ABI which, used by others, does not account for change in potential productivity across time based on tree growth.

Diameter at Breast Height (cm). A standard, convenient measure used to determine annual change in tree size at 135cm from the ground. DBH, for all its convenience, is a moving target. While it remains constant in relation to the ground, it does not remain constant in relation to the top of the tree. Thus, successive annual measures of DBH are taken at different points within a tree’s geometry.

Core Business - Line Index

Things have been a little slow among the walnuts for the past six months, or rather I have been. Catching my breath, and trying to refocus on the core business. Not so much a reconfiguration, as a reconfirmation. The result is the development of the Line Index, which will tell you about the top trees here at the farm, and the order in which I rank them. Look for the Line Index section. Removed from the blog will be that cursed entry of Nov 2007, which attracts every human soul who wants to know what happens when we take a chainsaw to a standing tree. I can’t actually use the description of the process, otherwise every search engine from here to Australasia might pick out those few words, thus defeating my purpose. Sorry about this, but my core business has to do with black walnut, not educating every Tom, Jane or Harry about the carbon cycle. There, I can already hear the hits….