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pecan is a good food, easily available, of pleasant taste and presents 

 a fine appearance. From a commercial standpoint, after 20 years 

 or more on the pecan, there is only one really desirable variety avail- 

 able, namely the Schley, and the fact tliat it readily sold last fall for 

 80 cents per pound wholesale, while the choice of the other varieties 

 broiiglit 60 and 65 cents per pound, bears me out in this. I am not re- 

 ferring to the greater productivity and other qualities of some of tlie 

 other varieties. Many of them are tolerated for various reasons. 



How about the shagbark in the North ? It is my belief that we do 

 not liave at present a shagbark that will anything like meet the pecan 

 of the South, yet the consensus of opinion of the people I know who 

 have eaten both, decides in favor of the shagbark. The quality of a 

 very ordinary shagbark is better than the best of pecans. What then, 

 is lacking!? Size, shape, thinness, of shell, cracking qualities, color, 

 everything but flavor is lacking in most shagbarks. Don't misunder- 

 stand me. I am not condemning what we have, for I believe that if 

 as many years are spent by as many people in finding or developing a 

 shagbark, we will have one that will surpass the pecan. But as the mat- 

 ter stands I am constrained to say that I do not know of a really good 

 nut today that will stand the test of building an industry that will com- 

 pete with the pecan. We must find or develop a couple of really good 

 nuts that will compete, nuts that are large, smooth, shell thin enough 

 to crack with the fingers, a white kernel that is plump and easily ex- 

 tracted. I do not believe that any thick shell nut will ever meet the 

 favor it should or become extremely popular. The Weiker, one of our 

 best, is of good size, looks fairly well, but the shell is thick and it is 

 poorly rilled. It will never fill the place for a real industry, and yet 

 they sell for a good money-making price today. 



If we build our groves after this standard we will be in the same 

 place in a few years that many of the pecan growers are now, nameh^, 

 with a lot of trees on hand that must be top-worked later on. But they 

 are the best we have and, like the old adage that it is better to love 

 and lose than not to love at all, it is better to go aluad with these than 

 not to go at all. 



How about the black walnut? This nut will come to the front and 

 be popular for baking purposes and candy-making, for it is the only 

 one that holds its flavor after heating. But its competition will be 

 against the thin-shelled English walnut. It will not be extremely 



