312 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



sacks. The sack should be spread open with a piece of stick, sharp- 

 pointed at both ends, placed in one side of the mouth, thus making 

 the opening triangular. Place a pecan nut in the lower corner of the 

 sack, tie one end of a piece of stout twine about it as it lies in the 

 corner, and then tie the other end of the twine to the center of the 

 mouth of the sack opposite the stick. The twine should be short 

 enough to draw the bottom and top of the sack close together, leav- 

 ing an opening through which the arm may be thrust and the sack 

 slung over the shoulder. 



As soon as the greater percentage of the burs have opened, 

 the crop should be gathered. It will not do to wait until all have 

 opened, neither is it advisable to pick the trees over a number of 

 times. Pick them clean at one picking. The burs of those nuts 

 which are fully matured will open ; the burs of immature ones may 

 not. The latter should be discarded. 



The men should climb the trees and pick the nuts by hand, 

 using the bamboo poles only for those which are entirely out of 

 reach. Even this should be done carefully so as not to injure the 

 bearing wood of the trees. Care in picking good nuts by hand will 

 amply repay the grower, because the beating and shaking of the 

 trees will cause a considerable quantity of fruit to be lost, and a few 

 pounds saved will repay all the time and trouble. Of course, in very 

 nigh trees, there is frequently nothing to do but to shake and thrash 

 the crop off the trees. The plan of covering the ground beneath the 

 trees with a large sheet would work well and assist in reducing losses. 

 As soon as taken from the trees the nuts should be spread out under 

 a shed or in a building to dry. A very convenient plan, and one 

 which will save space, is to provide a sufficient number of trays, 

 three feet by four feet, and tnree inches deep, with half-inch mesh 

 wire bottoms, and place the nuts in these, two or two and a half inches 

 deep. Racks can be provided around the room in which to place 

 these. In from ten days to two weeks from the time of picking, the 

 nuts should be cured. 



Grading. The variety should be made the basis of the grade ; 

 that is, each variety should be picked, packed and marketed by itself. 

 This besides gives an excellent opportunity to compare the com- 

 mercial value of different kinds. When a grower has a large number 

 of different kinds of seedling nuts, and a small quantity of each, they 

 may be graded by passing them through screens. 



At the present time practically all of the common market nuts 

 are both polished and colored. Coloring should not be resorted to, 

 and in the case of good varieties of nuts polishing should not be done. 

 In the case of small or mixed lots, however, polishing is useful in 

 making the nuts more uniform. It can be accomplished by putting 

 the nuts with a little dry sand in a barrel fixed so that it can be ro- 

 tated like a revolving churn and turning until the nuts receive the 

 desired polish. The better nuts, however, should be put on the 

 market just as they come from the trees. The markings, dots and 

 streaks on the outside are their trademark, and should not be inter- 

 fered with. 



