NUT CROPS 



231 



grows wild in the hilly region from Virginia to Alabama and thence 

 westward through eastern Oklahoma and Texas. The nuts are 

 small and have a fine flavor. The kernel is enveloped in a shell 

 of a rich mahogany color. 



The chestnut is a large forest tree bearing sweet brown nuts in- 

 closed in prickly burrs. Its named varieties are propagated by 

 grafts which usually begin to bear the second year. It is common 

 to parts of Europe and America. 



Hazelnuts grow on shrubs from four to six feet high, which 

 group themselves in thickets. They are found extending from 

 the New England States west- 

 ward to North Dakota and 

 thence southward to the Gulf. 

 The nut is of a light brown 

 color except at one end, which 

 has a circular spot of a light 

 color. It is used in making con- 

 fectionery and is also valuable 

 as a forage crop for hogs. 



The acorn is the nut of the 

 oak and it is of no special com- 

 mercial value except as a feed 

 for hogs. 



The cocoanut is the fruit of 

 the cocoanut palm, which is 

 widely distributed in all tropi- 

 cal countries, but is never 

 found growing very far from the sea unless transplanted by man. 

 It has a trunk varying from one to two feet in diameter, which 

 rises to a height varying from sixty to one hundred feet. At the 

 top it bears a crown of pinnate leaves which curve downward. 



It begins to bear when about seven years old and continues 

 fruitful for fifty or sixty years. The cocoanuts grow in bunches 

 of five to fifteen at the top of the trunk, and a mature tree will 

 produce from eighty to one hundred cocoanuts annually. 



The cocoanut palm is propagated by seed, the nuts being placed 

 in holes about two feet deep, but only partly covered with soil. 

 As the young seedling grows upward, the hole is gradually filled 



Cocoanuts. 



