36 OREGON WALNUTS 



Harvesting and Marketing. 



As soon as the nuts are ripe in the fall, the hulls generally 

 split and the nuts begin to drop. It will be necessary to make 

 three or four gatherings of the nuts at intervals of from three 

 to five days apart. The work can be so handled that it takes 

 about five days to make one picking, and then the crew can 

 start over the orchard the second time. During the first pick- 

 ing, it is unwise to shake the trees vigorously, as such shaking is 

 very apt to cause immature nuts to fall. Many nuts still have 

 their husks tightly sealed and they will drop if the tree is shaken 

 vigorously. Bamboo poles with hooks can be used to jar the 

 branches. Care must be taken, however, not to bruise or injure 

 the branches with the hooks. 



At the second picking, it will be well to shake the trees some- 

 what, but no attempt should be made to remove all the nuts at 

 this time. 



At the third picking, nearly all the remaining nuts should 

 be properly matured. However, in the seedling orchards there 

 is a wide period of maturity. In fact, a few trees never mature 

 their nuts properly. 



Some of the growers have each picker carry two pails. In 

 one they place the culled nuts, and those to which the hull 

 strongly adheres. In the second, the well matured nuts, those 

 free from hulls. The two grades are kept separate in sacks as 

 they are brought to the washer. 



Some growers have found that often those nuts which have 

 not shed their hulls will do so in a few days and make a prac- 

 tice of throwing them up near the trunk of the tree, gathering 

 them the second time. However, there will always be some nuts 

 that will never shed their hulls and are practically worthless for 

 commerce. It does not pay to try to pull the hulls off by hand, 

 as small portions are apt to stick to the nuts, and even though 

 the hull is removed, the nuts are apt to remain discolored. Such 

 nuts are also often poorly filled. 



The nuts should not be allowed to remain in the sacks very 

 long because, in their damp condition, mold will start very 

 rapidly. 



