106 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



When the nuts are ripe, the husks split open. 

 Then the branches are shaken or beaten, the fruit 

 dropping on canvas spread under the tree. The 

 almonds are hulled by machinery, and then dried, 

 and bleached by sulphur fumes. This process 

 is foolish in the extreme, as it may spoil the flavor 

 of the nuts if any miscalculation is made. The 

 shell easily discolors if it stays on the tree later 

 than the time the husk breaks. Since shell dis- 

 coloration hurts the sale, bleaching is resorted to. 

 The Public pays the price of this extra process, 

 because it imagines that almonds are not first 

 class unless they have bright yellow shells! 



AMERICAN WALNUTS 



A dozen different kinds of valuable trees belong 

 in the family of the walnuts and hickories. They 

 are fruit trees, for most of them bear edible nuts 

 pecans, English walnuts, and shagbark hickory 

 nuts, for examples. They are noble shade and 

 valuable lumber trees. So they have been 

 planted and highly esteemed from the time that 

 men first began to use the fruit and the wood 

 of trees. 



The Black Walnut bears globular nuts, wrapped 

 in spongy husks, smooth and green, like little 



