115 



At first I tried cracking with a hammer in different ways and with 

 various accessory devices. I soon found that the labor was too great 

 and the results unsatisfactory. The commercial development of the 

 black walnut must be considered in connection with machine cracking. 

 After breaking two early models of the Clark Nut Buster I found the 

 third model entirely satisfactory. I am satisfied that this works on 

 the right principle of bursting the nut by pressure exerted through its 

 bipolar axis, with hollowed anvil and plunger, instead of crushing it 

 or siilitting it in halves or quarters, as with a hammer. 



Color of Kernel. This resides in the pellicle. The flesh of all 

 black walnuts, properly cured, is white, or creamy white, beneath the 

 pellicle, I believe. Kernels may be blanched as almonds are blanched, 

 and are very attractive. A few nuts appear to be quite, or almost, self 

 blanching, the pellicle adhering to the shell or being easily rubbed off. 

 Apparently, also, freezing loosens the pellicle but also damages the 

 appearance and quality of the flesh, giving it a water cored look and 

 a tough and impaired quality. 



Generally speaking the very light, almost white, kernels are much 

 more attractive and of better and milder quality, although some of the 

 nuts, especially those from the south, have a rich, brown color and 

 very high quality. But color and quality seem to depend a good deal 

 on the proper curing of the nut. This was recognized by many cor- 

 respondents who apologized for the neglect. Nuts not cured and hulled 

 promptly have the color and quality of the kernels markedly impaired. 

 Future commercial development of the black walnut must take its 

 proper curing very much into account. 



Quality and Flavor. These depend, as already said, much on the 

 curing. The strong taste, that so many object to, depends, partly at 

 least on this. The kernel of a properly cured black walnut is a thing 

 that one gets fond of and I often ate more than I needed when I was 

 cracking some of the good ones. I found that some of my friends, 

 previously unacquainted with the nut, rapidly developed appreciation, 

 and increased demand, for the kernels. Richness and tenderness de- 

 pend on the proportion of fixed oil, and I think that flavor is also 

 bound up with this. If flavor depends on a volatile oil held in the 

 fixed oil it may be that a determination of the percentage of fixed oil 

 will be found to be a fairly accurate way of determining the qualitv 

 of a nut. 



