109 



by special delivery and one even by air mail. Several were marked 

 fragile though there is hardly any natural object less fragile than most 

 of the black walnuts received. 



One man sent 19 different varieties each neatly packed in a bag and 

 not one of value. Another sent 16 varieties of the same valueless 

 nature. Another 7 varieties all false or shrunken. Many sent the nuts 

 in the liusk and some of these were a festering, mouldering mess when 

 opened. The apartment was filled with fruit flies from one of these 

 cackages. 



One man would send me nuts "if assured of the prize." Several 

 asked me to send postage and one from the South sent a heavy box 

 "express, collect," while one man in the ^liddle West wanted the asso- 

 ciation to send an investigator to see his tree. 



Sources by Sections 

 The South sent by far the larger number of nuts, Tennessee leading, 

 but very few of these were found worthy of consideration, being usually 

 thick shelled and jjoor crackers with dark kernels. On the other hand 

 the nuts from ^'^irgini,•^ and from tlie ^Middle West were usually thin 

 shelled and good crackers with light kernels. 



In New England tlie black wilnut is liardly known as a nut for 

 eating. Most people do not even know it when they see it. This 

 probably accounts also for the small number of nuts sent from New 

 York and New Jersey, although there must be a great number of trees 

 in those states. But in the South the black walnut is so esteemed that 

 many of the trees are regarded with pride and affection by the owners. 

 M-iiiy of the letters were almost pathetic in the love expressed by tlie 

 writers for their trees. The sale of kernels furnishes many families 

 with cash for the outfitting of the children for school. Great size of 

 the nut is a chief source of pride in many of the nut senders, although 

 tlie nuts themselves usually turned out quite worthless for the purposes 

 of this competition. The most extraordinary claims were made for the 

 nuts and usually the sender's opinion of their value was quite worthless. 

 Many seemed quite sure that the first prize would be awarded them as 

 soon as the nut was received. "Grandfather planted it when I was a 

 little girl" was often considered reason enough for deserving a prize. 



Women seem particularly interested in nut trees. The gathering 



