202 HOME FRUIT GROWER 



thoroughly dry the nuts may be picked off the vines, otherwise they 

 will shrivel and be worthless. After picking they should be covered 

 with dust and kept dry and well ventilated till needed. The varieties 

 most cultivated in America are Virginia Bunch, Virginia Runner and 

 Spanish. Other well-known kinds are Tennessee Red, Valencia and 

 African. The last four are small-seeded kinds. 



PECAN 



Ry far the most important native nut is the Pecan, both because 

 it has hardy Northern varieties and because other varieties are of the 

 "paper-shell" and "solid meat" classes. During the past two or three 

 decades it has been planted so enormously in the South that it bids 

 fair to be the most important nut grown in this country, thus outranking 

 the Persian Walnut (page 203) . The hardy varieties can be grown from 

 Long Island to Iowa and southward; the tender ones in the Gulf States, 

 the Atlantic Coastal Plain, as far north as Virginia, or even Southern 

 New Jersey and in favored localities on the Pacific Coast. 



It does best in well-drained, deep, fertile loams, but readily adapts 

 itself to less favorable soils. The trees, preferably budded or grafted 

 varieties, are planted and managed like other orchard trees except 

 that they should be set not less than 60 feet apart, preferably 75 feet. 

 Until they fill this space other crops may be grown between. Among 

 the hundred varieties so far named, the most valued for the Atlantic 

 Coastal Plain and to Mississippi are: Schley, Van Deman, Stuart, 

 Alley, Curtis, Rradley, Pabst, Russell, Moneymaker, Success, Delmas, 

 and President. In Texas, Kincaid, Colorado, San Saba, Halbert, and 

 Sovereign are leaders. These two groups are apparently not inter- 

 changeable as to territory. They both fail also farther inland. 

 Indiana and Illinois have given most of the hardy Northern kinds: 

 Warrick, Major, Russeron, Niblack, Greenriver, Indiana, Ruttereck 

 and Posey. 



PISTACHIO 



The Pistachio, though a native of Syria and Persia, is becoming 

 popular in Southern California and West Texas. It has been success- 

 fully grown in Kansas and one has even withstood the Winters of 

 Connecticut. Properly it is a mild climate tree which grows to about 

 20 feet in well-drained soil. It is slower growing than either the 

 Persian Walnut, the Almond or the Pecan. 



The "Green Almonds," as the nuts are often called, form loose 

 clusters inside a leathery sheath. They have stout but thin, smooth 

 shells which generally open on one side when roasted. The green, 

 delicately flavored kernels are eaten with salt after being roasted, but 



