208 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



best sections of Virginia, but the trouble here has been the lack of care in 

 handling and preparing for market. 



In Virginia, peanuts are generally hand-picked, all faulty and blemished 

 nuts removed, and the balance then cleaned and polished by machinery 

 or a system of revolving brushes, which gives the shell of the nut a bright, 

 handsome, clean appearance, and which aids greatly in their sale and 

 price. 



To hold our own with the trade on this coast and as competitors for the 

 trade west of the Missouri River, which properly belongs to us, we must 

 adopt like methods — otherwise our wide-awake eastern friends will " walk 

 away with the cake." 



Almonds. — The output this season has been large, as will be seen by our 

 figures, and of general good quality. The new season opened with very 

 light stocks and prospects of good fair prices ruling for the new crop. This 

 undoubtedly would have been realized were it not for the ill-advised con- 

 signments of certain large producers here to Chicago, which had the effect 

 of frightening dealers there and breaking the market completely, from 

 Avhich demoralization it has not as yet rallied. 



Nothing, perhaps, is more calculated to injure the producers of Califor- 

 nia, and to break down values on themselves and every one else interested, 

 both here and East, than the system which is prevalent to some extent of 

 declining fair prices in cash at home and consigning on a venture to vari- 

 ous eastern markets. If growers so consigning came out at the top of the 

 heap no one could complain, but in about nine cases out of ten, as most of 

 them will testify, they net less after, perhaps, a long delay, than they could 

 have sold for at home for cash. We believe, however, that most of our 

 large producers who have had some experience in this line the past season 

 or two — much to their sorrow — are not apt to repeat it again. 



The market for our almonds is constantly widening, and notwithstand- 

 ing the efforts of New York importers to decry them, it is nevertheless a 

 fact that nearly the entire West and many of the great western cities now 

 draw their supplies of almonds largely from California. The outlook for 

 this industry is bright. 



California Walnuts. — From a careful inquiry, we place the crop for 1885 

 at 1,250,000 pounds, a very gratifying increase over 1884. So well have 

 our walnuts now become known East, and over this entire coast, that they 

 have become as staple an ai-ticle of export as any other well known Cali- 

 fornia product. The principal sources of supply as yet are Los Angeles, 

 Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties, with perhaps a 

 little preference among the trade for the nuts from the Los Nietos section, 

 though the best Santa Barbara and Ventura nuts are undoubtedly the 

 equal of any. This year more or less bleaching of the nuts with sulphur 

 has been resorted to, and while this has brightened the shell somewhat, it 

 is not believed that it has added any to the quality of the meat. On the 

 other hand, it is claimed by many that the bleaching of walnuts is a posi- 

 tive injury to the kernel of the nut. The almond is a tight shell, and can 

 be safely bleached, but the walnut has an opening at the end, through 

 which, it is asserted, the sulphur fumes permeate, injuring the flavor and 

 keeping quality of the meat. However, we presume as long as the majority 

 of the trade demand and are willing to pay an extra fancy price for 

 bleached walnuts, the bleaching of which costs but a trifle, that it will be 

 done. It would be better, however, in our opinion, if the nuts could be 



