36 The Bulletin. 



From the foregoing tables it will be seen that there is considerable 

 variation in different varieties in the number of nuts to the pound. 

 This is the same as saying that pecan nuts vary much in size and 

 weight. The larger and heavier the nuts of any variety the fewer it 

 takes to make a pound. In the table it will be seen that the nuts 

 vary in size all the way from Stuart, running 44 per pound, to seed- 

 ling 'No. S, of Avhich it requires 143 nuts to make a pound. The 

 large nuts are of course most attractive and valuable. Ko seedling, 

 the nuts of which run more than 100 per pound, could wisely be 

 recommended for propagation unless there were some other very 

 remarkable characteristics to warrant it. 



Often seedlings grade well in size, but have other unfavorable quali- 

 ties that detract from their value and render them unfit for propaga- 

 tion. It will be seen further from the tables that different samples 

 of the same variety vary in size and weight from year to year. This 

 is true of other crops as well as of pecans. If conditions of growth 

 are especially favorable the nuts will be somewhat larger in size. If 

 the tree be overloaded the nuts will, like other fruits, grade smaller 

 in size. 



In cracking out pecan nuts they average on the whole about half 

 meat and half shell. Thin-shelled, well-filled sorts give a larger per- 

 centage of meat and a smaller percentage of shell. It will be noticed 

 in the tables that the variety Schley gives as high as 63 per cent of 

 meat and has only 37 per cent of shell, while the Teche in one sample 

 was as low as 45 per cent of meat with 55 per cent of shell. Many 

 of the seedlings give a still smaller proportion of meat. 



The cracking quality of a nut is best shown in the variety that 

 gives the largest number of unbroken meats. Large kernels are 

 necessarily more difficult to get out whole than smaller ones, and 

 this is why small inferior seedlings will so often give a larger per- 

 centage of whole meats per pound. Shriveled kernels which separate 

 from the shell will give a larger proportion of whole meats than a 

 variety with a very full and plump kernel that fits the shell snugly. 

 This is another reason why many of the seedling nuts show up so 

 well in the cracking test. There are, however, in this test two seed- 

 lings that are remarkable crackers. Seedling No. 15, sent in by 

 Capt. B. P. Williamson of Kaleigh, cracked out so perfectly that 

 there was not a single broken kernel in the whole sample. Seedling 

 No. 11, sent by Mr. George N. Ives of New Bern, N. C, gave almost 

 a perfect record. As nuts get old and dry there is a larger per cent 

 of broken kernels than with fresh but mature nuts. 



