Appendix. 177 



and whiteness of the shell, a more important point than a good many 

 of your readers may have an idea of, and as important as the shape and 

 size of the nuts; then the meat, filling the shell well, being as nutty and 

 sweet as are our best walnuts here; and last, the kernel being invested 

 with a pellicle of a pale yellow color, making them perfect in every way. 

 From the southern part of Washington very fine nuts were also sent to 

 me, and what surprised me the most was to receive fi-om Whitm.an 

 Countj', in Eastern Washington, and where in winter the therm.oneter 

 sometimes goes down to 20 degrees below zero, as fine Franquette wal- 

 nuts as were ever raised here in California. The young trees, it must 

 be well understood, when planted in such cold climate, must be pro- 

 tected the first two or three years or till they are branched, to prevent 

 injury from the severity of the winter. 



Now, I want to make your people understand that the market for 

 walnuts is divided into two distinct classes; one class including walnuts 

 with their shells, and mostly sold as dessert nuts, such as the first grade 

 of Mayette, Franquette, Parisienne; the second class including ail 

 smaller grades and shipped to market, either not shelled or shelled, is 

 used for the manufacturing of walnut candy and walnut cake. I nee J 

 not say that dessert nuts bring the best prices; so, for instance, the 

 Mayette in its home in France, sells at wholesale from 7 to 8 cents a 

 pound, while in inferior grades of Dordogne nuts, of all shajjes and 

 sizes, sell at 3 cents to 4 cents a pound. Enormous quantities of 

 walnuts are imported into this country from Europe, shelled and not 

 shelled, and I couldn't help but smile at the ignorance of some walnut 

 growers down in the southern part of this State, who claim that since 

 California was producing such large quantities of walnuts, the imports 

 were getting less and less every year. Well, let us see: 



In 1902 the imports of walnuts were as follows : Not shelled, 9,702,558 

 pounds; shelled, 2,224,879 pounds; total, 11,927,432 pounds. 



In 1903— Not shelled, 8,936,438 pounds; shelled, 3,035,970 pounds; 

 total, 11,972,408 pounds. 



In 1904— Not shelled. 19,456,012 pounds; shelled, 3,579,941 pounds; 

 total, 23,033,953 pounds. 



In 1905— Not shelled, 16,312,138 pounds; shelled, 4,198,009 pounds; 

 total, 20,490,147 pounds. 



These figures having been obtained through the courtesy of Mr. O. P. 

 Austin, chief of Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and 

 Labor, at Washington, must be regarded as correct. 



Thus it is seen what enormous figures the consumption of walnuts in 

 this country amounts to, especially when we take into consideration the 

 large quantities of walnuts produced in this State, with the bulk of it 

 shipped East. In two years the imports more than doubled, and I ask, 

 With such figures staring us in the face, can there be any fears on our 

 part for the walnut business getting to be over done as the prune busi- 

 ness has been? But it is right here that I want to call the attention of 

 HOR.— 12 



