HARVESTING ALMONDS. 427 



to prevent the nuts from falling through. The floor is about two and one-half 

 feet above the ground, and the lower space is boarded up with tongue and groove 

 also and fitted with small doors every five feet, so that the sulphur pans can be 

 placed underneath the floor. 



Sulphur fumes are applied until the nuts are of a light yellowish 

 color; the proper shade is to be learned by securing approved samples 

 from some trustworthy dealer. 



The following explicit account of handling almonds on a large 

 scale is by Mr. J. P. Dargitz, of Acampo, San Joaquin county : 



"When the hulls on the nuts are loose from the shell, as will be 

 indicated by their bursting open, it is time to begin gathering if you 

 wish to hull them. If they get too dry you will have to wet them 

 before hulling or you will break the shells. If you wish to shell them 

 then, the drier they get the better. It will not pay to begin until the 

 nuts about the crotches of the trees are ready and they will be the last 

 to ripen. When they are all ready you can get all at one gathering. 

 Have some sheets made of heavy unbleached sheeting or light duck or 

 sail cloth. Mine for large trees are 15x30 feet, handled by two men to 

 a sheet and two sheets to a tree. Spread the sheets under the tree, one 

 on each side, lapping the edges where they join. Then the men take 

 willow or bamboo poles and by jarring the limbs cause the nuts to 

 fall on the sheets. Always strike the limbs sideways, for if you strike 

 a glancing blow down the limb, you will reduce next year's crop. 

 The object is to get the nuts and disturb the foliage as little as possible. 

 When the nuts are all off the tree, the men toss their poles to the next 

 tree and then gather up the sheets, one man at each end of each sheet 

 and, lifting them, carry them to the next tree where the process is 

 repeated. When enough nuts are in sheets to fill several lug boxes, 

 the boxes are placed on the ground side by side, and the sheets are 

 emptied into them. These boxes are then stacked up so as to be easily 

 seen, and the teamster hauls them to the sheds where machines for 

 hulling are located. In the very small orchards the hulling is usually 

 done by hand at an expense of about 2 cents per pound. For orchards 

 slightly larger there are small hullers in the market at from $100 to 

 $300, which can be operated by hand or by a small gasoline engine or 

 electric motor. For larger orchards, machines costing up to $800, 

 which can hull up to two or three tons per day, are in the market. 



After the hulling more or less hand sorting is required, as the 

 small machines do no sorting, while the larger machines do more or 

 less perfect sorting of the hulls from the nuts. 



Bleaching. After this hand sorting, the nuts are spread out in 

 the sun to be thoroughly cured before bleaching. After they are 

 cured so that the kernel will break without bending, they are ready 

 for bleaching. The bleaching requires the dampening of the shells. 

 This is accomplished by immersing quickly in water or by a fine spray 

 from a hose nozzle, or by putting on trays and running in the sulphur 

 house and then introducing low-pressure steam not more than 30 

 pounds into the sulphur house for 15 to 30 minutes. The moisture 

 from this low-pressure steam heats or dampens the outer portion of the 

 shell, and then while they are both hot and damp the steam being 



