HORTICULTURE 313 



For shipping small quantities of pecans by express nothing is 

 better than a box. Barrels are best for larger shipments. For mail 

 shipments stout pasteboard, wooden or tin boxes or tin cans make 

 good packages. Frequently shipments are made in sacks, but the 

 sack does not afford sufficient protection to the contents and should 

 not be used. As a rule the box should be made so that a given weight 

 will fill it, but this difficulty may be overcome, to a certain extent, by 

 putting in a pad of paper or excelsior paper being preferable. Fill 

 the packages on a solid floor, shaking them down well and putting in 

 all they will hold, placing the pad, if one has to be used, in the 

 bottom. 



On the outside of the packages before shipping should be placed 

 the name of the grower, the variety, the number of pounds and the 

 shipping directions. Small boxes to be shipped by express for the 

 holiday trade should be wrapped in good quality wrapping paper 

 before shipping. 



Marketing. The best plan for marketing good pecan nuts is 

 to build up a private trade. As a matter of fact, at the present time 

 but very few of the large, full-meated pecans find their way into the 

 general market. They are either taken by seedsmen or consumed by 

 private customers. In building up a private trade advertising has 

 its place, of course. Advertisements inserted in magazines or papers, 

 particularly in those which are published in the tourist towns of the 

 State, may be found helpful. 



The object and aim should be to give each private customer a 

 package, bright, neat, attractive and containing the best quality of 

 nuts. If a certain price per pound is fixed for a given quality, then 

 this should not be varied under any circumstances. Each year the 

 same quality of nuts should be given to each customer. It will not do 

 to give large ones one year and smaller ones the next; this tends to 

 create dissatisfaction. In some of the larger cities there are high-class 

 fruit dealers who handle nothing but fruits, nuts, etc., of the very 

 highest quality. Under some circumstances it might be well to enter 

 into negotiations with such firms. 



A satisfactory commercial pecan nut must be prolific, of good 

 size, good quality, must not be spasmodic in its bearing, plump, with 

 a bright, presentable exterior and preferably a light-colored kernel. 

 The nuts should besides yield sixty per cent or upwards of kernels. 

 All these things in one variety makes a difficult combination to 

 secure. Undue weight must not, however, be given to size, for size 

 and quality are usually antagonistic to each other. In fact, in pecans 

 as in other fruits we must go to the small or medium sized ones for 

 the best quality. No variety of pecan is superior to San Saba in 

 quality, yet it is a small nut. Other varieties which may be regarded 

 as standards of quality are Schley and Curtis. The former is a 

 medium to large nut and medium prolific variety, while Curtis 

 is of medium size, precocious and prolific. (Fla. E. S. B. 54, 85.) 



THE WALNUT. 



The English walnut (Juglans regia) has been grown for cen- 

 turies in western Asia, especially Persia, whence it has been intro- 



