BUDDING THE PECAN 



1669 



pared may to a large extent form a sub- 

 stitute for meat, because they contain 

 much protein and fat in small bulk. 



Among the nuts that yield the greatest 

 amount of nourishment pecans stand al- 

 most first. 



Edible Portion of Nnts— Per Cent 



Their great food value lies largely in the 

 abundance of fatty matter. In fact, there 

 is no other vegetable substance in all the 

 world's food supply that is so rich in fats 

 as the pecan. There is on old English 

 saying that "No man need starve on a 

 journey who can fill his waistcoat pocket 

 with almonds." If that can be said of 

 almonds it can surely be said of pecans, 

 whose fuel value, compared with almonds, 

 is 33 to 29, or 13.8 per cent more. 



While the nutritive value of nuts is 

 high, it cannot be said that they are as 

 easily digested as many of our other com- 

 mon foods. One reason for this is their 

 high percentage of fat. It has been esti- 



mated that one ordinarily large pecan con- 

 tains as much fat as would be absorbed 

 by two dozen well-cooked doughnuts. 



Another reason is because of their 

 dense, compact structure. This can be 

 overcome, either by thorough mastication 

 or by grinding, as for nut butter or nut 

 flour. Still another reason is that their 

 nourishment is very concentrated. For 

 example cheese contains 35 per cent 

 water, eggs 68.2 per cent, lean beef 75 per 

 cent, bread 39 per cent, and pecans only 

 3.4 per cent. These figures show how con- 

 densed the food is within the shell of the 



"^«^°- W. N. HUTT, 



Raleigh, N. C. 



Pecans in tlie United States 



While pecans will grow in most of the states of the Union, yet they are grown 

 for commercial purposes in but few sections of the country. The following states, 

 with the number of bearing trees in each, were reported in the census of 1910: 



Texas, 1,087,619. 



Oklahoma, 96,766. 

 Georgia, 75,519. 

 Mississippi, 60,524. 

 Alabama, 44,618. 



Florida, 42,521. 



Louisiana, 36,527. 



Arkansas, 13,958. 

 I 



California, 4,226. 



Pecans, Pbofits from. See Alabama. 



