CHAPTER ONE
1.0       INTRODUCTION
Nut crops such as walnut (juglas Nigra) and pecans (carya illinoenosis) have potential for small parts of Virginia. Growing and handling are specialized, and while marketing is hands oriented, demand can be good For fresh high quality nuts used both for eating out of hands and for cooking purposes (Carlson  Jones 1940) there are many different edible net species found and gathered in the wild such as hickory (Shell Dark – Shag Dark, Carya sp) chest nut (Juglan Cineralal) is another once plentiful native nut but because of chest nut Blight Diseases, it is now a rare found in the woods (Cornel Disnmic Johnson 1970)
English walnut also called (Carpathan Peisan Walnut, Juglaus regia) almond  (
prunus amygida cus ) and nazdnut (corylvs avellena) represent significant activated and nut production, yet they are limited to specific adaptive areas. California the leading producer of English walnut as well as almonds, while Oregon growers produce 95% of all hazel/nuts (lmore in 1977). In the east, hazelnut are also retrend to as fiibrerts and there are several wild species found with a slumbly habits of growth. Nut production on Eastern filberts is variable and highly affected by weather conditions in the winter typically flowers (cat kins) open in late winter to yearly spring and thought frost tolerant, they can be damaged by hand freezing weather (Hamel,   Dictoskey 1975)
Commercially sputhern pecan (also known as paper sheel type) is the most important nut crop for the Eastern US, followed by wild gathered natives black walnuts the pecan industry is centered in the south and south easts, with Creogia a leading state and in the Sothern plans, many acres are raised in Texas and okahlahoma and even as tarwest as new Mexico (Harloro , , Harrar,  Harden  white 1996) variety development for southern Pecans has been extensive and they are renow for their large size and very thin shells however as a starting  points, good site selection is imperative for success one must have an understanding of the frost potential and season growing length as related to the flowering and fruiting characteristics of the chosen variety. (Moerman 1998) Native black walnut are found in most part of the state there are a number of improved black walnut varieties selection from the wild and from limited breeding programes. In general, timber characteristics (fester growth) has been the focus of these programs dual use potential for black walnut varieties for timber and as a high quality net crop is an important characteristics.