CHAPTER 38 



Nuts and Nut Culture in the United States 



By C. A. Reed 

 Nut Culturist, United States Department of Agriculture 



THE PRINCIPAL NUTS 



The group of trees which bear edible nuts of commercial importance 

 in this country includes a considerable number of species, some of which 

 are important in both hemispheres. The most important of the world's 

 nuts are the cocoanut, the peanut, the Persian (incorrectly called the 

 English) walnut, the almond, the Brazil nut, the pecan, the hazelnut 

 (filbert), the cashew, the pinon, the chestnut and the pistachio nut. Of 

 these, with the exception of the Brazil nut (nigger-toe, Para nut, cream 

 nut, castanea, etc.), which is strictly tropical in its requirements of culture, 

 all are being grown to a greater or less extent, in continental or insular 

 United States. The pili (pe-lee) of the Philippines and East Indies, charac- 

 terized by its reddish-brown (artificial) color, its triangular form tapering 

 to a point at each end, its very thick, hard shell and its single kernel, is now 

 becoming fairly familiar in our principal nut markets. The pili nut is 

 said to be very nutritious and pleasing to the taste when properly matured, 

 but as it commonly appears in this country, it is inferior in quality to the 

 majority of the better known nuts. 



A choice nut occasionally seen in the American markets is the Paradise 

 nut, a near relative of the Brazil nut, which also is indigenous to the low- 

 lands of northern Brazil. Paradise nuts are somewhat longer than are 

 Brazil nuts, but in the main are triangular in form. They are of a light 

 buff color, irregularly grooved lengthwise, and have a close-fitting cork-like 

 shell which encloses a single, delicately flavored kernel of fine texture. 



Both the pili and the Paradise nuts are like the Brazil nut in that their 

 tropical natures apparently preclude any likelihood of their ever becoming 

 commercially important in any part of the United States proper. 



The culture of the cocoanut, together with the drying and shipping 

 of its dried flesh or copra, forms one of the leading industries throughout 

 all tropics. The cocoanut produces the world's most important nut 

 food supply. To some extent the cocoanut palm is grown in southern 

 Florida, but thus far more largely as an ornamental and a curiosity than 

 for commercial purposes. During the winter season cocoanuts are locally 

 in lively demand as souvenirs among the tourists, who place postage and 

 the addresses of northern friends on the smooth outer surfaces of the thick 



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