WALNUT 



WALNUT 



3503 



3991. Juglans cinerea 

 of the eastern states. 

 Sometimes known as 

 white walnut. ( X H) 



ground and the remainder are shaken off by means of 

 nooks attached to long poles. The pickers receive 

 from 80 cents to $1 for 100 pounds for gathering the 

 nuts and placing them in barley sacks. The nuts ripen 

 through a period of a month or six weeks ; therefore two 

 or three pickings are made, followed by a gleaning of 

 scattered nuts. 



The nuts are washed, dried 

 (Fig. 3993), culled, and sacked 

 on the farm. They are then de- 

 livered to a central packing-, 

 house to be bleached. This is ac- 

 complished by spra ying with elec- 

 trolyzed salt-brine, or dipping in 

 a solution of chloride of lime and 

 sal soda, to which sulfuric acid 

 is added. Either process re- 

 moves all discoloration from the 

 shells and gives them a bright 

 light tan color, attractive in ap- 

 pearance. There are many ways 

 of handling the nuts after 

 bleaching to hasten their drying. 

 Some packing-houses pass the 

 nuts through a warm air-current 

 in long drums, thence they are 

 elevated to the bins, where they 

 arrive nearly dry enough to sack. 

 Other houses dry the nuts for 

 about twenty-four hours in wire 

 or lath bins. By putting each 

 grower's nuts into several bins as 

 the nuts come from the bleacher, 

 and then drawing from several 

 bins at the tune the nuts are 

 sacked, a thoroughly mixed uni- 

 form product is packed in each bag. Each bag contains 

 100 pounds of nuts. 



The grading of California walnuts has developed 

 rapidly within the last decade, as compared with sales 

 in the past of seedling nuts ungraded and unbleached, as 

 plain walnuts; the grading has gradually reached a 

 stage where part of the nuts are sold under their 

 variety name and another larger portion is disposed of 

 after being bleached and strictly graded according 

 to size, shape, color of the meat, and quality of same. 

 The California Walnut - Growers' Association has 

 recently introduced a one- and two-pound 

 carton and has standardized the product 

 handled in this package as strictly as break- 

 fast foods and canned goods are graded 

 and packed. 



Although the walnut industry has not an 

 established reputation for profitableness which 

 is comparable with citrous fruits of Califor- 

 nia, it has nevertheless maintained its posi- 

 tion as a stable, conservative, permanent crop 

 within this state. The income to the acre for 

 this product will vary widely according to 

 variety, soil, and climatic conditions as well 

 as the personal element of management. 

 Such incomes will fluctuate from $100 to 

 $300 an acre. Whereas the average yield of 

 walnuts for the state is between 800 and 1,000 

 pounds, the better groves will average 

 from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds to the acre an- 

 nually. 



The future development of this industry 

 seems to be drifting gradually inland, giving 

 way in Orange and Los Angeles counties to 

 citrous culture. The inland valleys were 

 formerly thought to be poorly adapted to 

 walnut-production because of the darkening 

 of the meats by the intense hot sunshine; 

 however, there are several sections which 

 give promise for development along these 



lines with the proper choice of varieties adapted to 

 these particular environments. 



The walnut industry enjoys one of the most notable 

 features of any fruit industry of the country, inasmuch 

 as its product may be successfully stored awaiting dis- 

 posal for a period of at least twelve months if necessary. 

 This has given the industry a very stable character and 

 has freed this product from the speculative manipula- 

 tions which are frequently found hi connection with 

 the perishable fruit products. It is interesting to note 

 that the importations of walnuts into the United States 

 have gradlually increased during the last ten years and 

 within this same period the total production and the 

 prices to the growers of California have also gradually 

 increased. This may be taken as only one of many 

 indications that the walnut is being looked on more 

 and more as a necessary food by the people of this 

 country. 



From present indications, this industry is less liable 

 to the dangers of over-production than almost any 

 other agricultural or horticultural crop within the 

 borders of the state. 



The chief insect and fungous troubles of the walnut 

 are the walnut aphis, and also the walnut blight or 

 bacteriosis (Pseudomonasjuglandis). The aphis may be 

 controlled by means of tobacco sprays; this is rarely 

 done, however, as the damage is only occasional. There 

 is no means of control known at present for the blight 

 or bacteriosis (Fig. 3995). The wide variation among 

 seedling trees in their susceptibility to the disease gives 

 promise of eventual relief through the selection of blight- 

 resistant varieties. Minor losses are due to red-spider, 

 codlin-moth, and nielaxuma. 



Bibliography. 



Lewis, C. I., "The Walnut in Oregon," Oregon 

 Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 43 

 (1906); "Walnut Special," Better Fruit, Vol. 4, No. 2 

 (1909). Wickson, E. J., "The English or Persian Wal- 

 nut," California Fruits, pp. 510-24 (1910). Kraus, E. 

 J., "A Method of Budding the Walnut," Oregon Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station Circular No. 16 (1911). 

 Smith, R. E., "Walnut Culture and Walnut Blight," 

 University of California Bulletin No. 231 (1912). 

 Lake, E. R., "The Persian Walnut Industry of the 

 United States," United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin No. 254 



3992. The southern California wild walnut Juglans califomica. 



