44 The Bulletin. 



The wonderful value of the nut can scarcely be realized until we 

 consider that it contains proteid, fat, carbohydrate and mineral mat- 

 ter. Its small amount of carbohydrate renders it a very useful food 

 for the diabetic person. It has the great advantage of being com- 

 pact and portable. It enters into the composition of an ever-increas- 

 ing percentage of the commercial candies. It may be eaten fresh or 

 salted ; at the table or out of hand. Greater than all these uses, how- 

 ever, is its place in the average American household. Because of its 

 delicious flavor, as well as its nourishing properties and its superior 

 texture, it is utilized in soups, salads, cakes, macaroons, icings, ice 

 creams, garnishings and almost every form of dessert. It might be 

 said of it, as Izaak Walton said of the strawberry, "Doubtless God 

 could have made a better berry, but doubtless He never did." 



MARKETING PECANS. 



The commercial pecans of the future will be standard varieties, 

 just as our apples, pears and peaches are to-day. The time is 

 rapidly nearing when pecan nuts will be known to the trade and asked 

 for and sold by name, just as Bartlett pears and Albemarle apples 

 are to-day. The painted, unsorted, heterogeneous seedlings now sold 

 in bulk will give place to standard packages of Schleys, Van Demans 

 and Stuarts. These and other fine varieties would scarcely appear to 

 belong to the same species as the painted seedlings that are offered 

 for sale to-day. Seedling nuts are rolled in a barrel with Spanish 

 brown paint to cover up their roughness and give them a more uni- 

 form color and appearance. Most of our named varieties are- so at- 

 tractive in appearance that any pigment rubbed on them would 

 lessen rather than increase their salability. Their natural purple 

 stripes and splashes add very much to their appearance and help 

 to distinguish one variety from another. Nuts of different varieties 

 should not be mixed, for this detracts very much from their uni- 

 formity and salability. For the same reason, undersized, deformed 

 or discolored specimens should be picked or screened out. Standard 

 varieties of pecans are yet too scarce to be known on the general 

 market. There is therefore no standard package yet for marketing 

 pecans. Named varieties of pecans now all go to special customers 

 and sell at from 25 cents to 50 cents per pound. In the past much 

 higher prices than these have prevailed, but this has been largely for 

 seed purposes. Fig. 22 shows a 10-pound box of fancy pecans put 

 up for a special customer. A fancy trade could easily be worked 

 up with private customers by shipping first-class named nuts in a 

 family package somewhat of this nature. 



