44 JAMESTOWN CONGRESS OF HORTICULTURE 



cases by reducing the set of nuts in full crop years by judicious prun- 

 ing or even by hand i binning of over productive varieties of some 

 species. Regularity of abundant cropping is tbe exception rather than 

 llu- rule under the fores! condition and doubtless the most certain and 

 economical way of insuring it is by systematic orchard cultivation. At 

 least this lias been found true with the almond and the Persian walnut 

 on llu- Pacific coast where tbe production has assumed most import- 

 ance. There may be exceptions to this general rule as with the pecan 

 on alluvial soils that are abundantly fertile and moist and there may 

 be cases where the cheapness of the land and its inadaptability to 

 other profitable uses may justify an investment in nut growing where 

 only occasional full crops may reasonably be expected as with the 

 sprout Drafted chestnut orchards of the rough lands of the Alleghany 

 and Blue Ridge mountain regions. But the important commercial 

 development of the industry now under way and likely to show large 

 increase during the next de-cade will undoubtedly be along lines of 

 orchard practice not differing much in principle from those now recog- 

 ni/ed as essential in tbe production of the deciduous tree fruits. 



Of the present status of nut culture in the United States little can 

 be shown in statistical form. The figures as compiled from the twelfth 

 census, covering the crop year of 1899, were as shown in the following 

 table: 



Nut trees and product in Continental United States, census of 1900: 



Trees. Pounds. 



Almond 1.619,072 7,142,710 



Cocoanut 48.664 136,650 



Pecan 643,292 3,206,850 



Persian or English Walnut 726,798 10,668,065 



Miscellaneous nuts 634,460 380, L'M 1 



Acres. Bushels. 



Peanuts 51(i.r,:,j 11,964,109 



Value of tree nuts. $l,<)4'.),'j:n. In all U. S., $1,950,161. 



Value of peanuts, $7,270, .M.~>. 



Total value of nuts produced, $'.), 220,446. 



No statistics nor reliable estimates of later date relating to the 

 entire country are available, but by combining the known data on 

 imports of almonds and walnuts with the commercial estimates of the 

 yields of those nuts in California a fair notion of the quantity of those 

 nuts required to meet the present demands may be gained. 



Approximate quantity of almonds and walnuts consumed in United 

 States, 1902-3 to 1906-7 : 



ALMONDS. 



1902-3. 1903-4, 1904-5, 1905-6, 1906-7, 

 It's. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. ll.s. 



Imported 8,142,164 9,838,852 11,745,081 15,009,326 14,233,613 



Home grown 6,540,000 6,400,000 1,600,000 4,200,000 1.400,000 



Total 14,682,164 16,238,852 13,345,081 19,209,326 15,633,613 



