12 CROPS THAT PAY. 



are often cut for timber and fuel. Cords of good firewood can be 

 taken from each stately shaft which rises fifty feet, straight as an 

 arrow, before branching into its magnificent leafy, dome. Many a 

 forest monarch has been laid low to feed the kitchen fires of Texas 

 pioneers. Other pecan trees, thousands of them, are removed when 

 land is cleared to receive cultivated crops. So destruction of the 

 natural growth goes on from year to year, and the effect of it is seen, 

 more and more, in a steadily diminishing supply of the nuts and m 

 advancing prices. The product of many cultivated trees, not yet 

 planted, will be required to make good the shortage in the supply 

 of pecans, due to these several destructive causes. From the forest, 

 where the nuts are generally free for the picking, countless wagon- 

 loads are trailed to the nearest market town and sold to dealers. 

 These pack them in sacks and barrels and ship to the commission 

 men or nut houses in New Orleans, or some northern city, whence 

 they are distributed through wholesale and confectioners' supply 

 stores to fancy bakers and candy makers, grocers and the various 

 other retail stores interested in their sale. 



But the progress of the pecan from forest to table is interrupted 

 at one stage of the journey. Large shipments may contain nuts of 

 many sizes ; and the dull, gray-brown shells are most likely 

 streaked with black where the lining of the husk has stuck to them. 

 The trade demands uniformity in size, and smooth, clean shells. To 

 the grader and polisher, therefore, go the unsightly nuts for a 

 course of improving treatment to better their appearance. There 

 are "factories" which make a specialty of this work, and the grading, 

 cleaning and polishing are done by machinery, automatically, and at 

 no very great cost. In a revolving cylinder, or "rumbler," con- 

 taining sawdust, chips of leather or other slightly abrasive material, 

 the nuts are slowly turned, over and over, until the rubbing they 

 receive has quite cleaned and polished them. This operation com- 

 pleted they are removed from the cylinder and dumped onto a 

 sieve set at the right angle to let them pass gradually downwards 

 and through its three or four sections. The smallest nuts drop 

 through first, then each larger size in turn, as the openings of the 

 sieve permit. Boxes are placed underneath the sieve to catch the 

 graded and polished nuts which are now ready to pack, but not, 

 in some instances, before they have received a final treatment with 

 rouge to make ihem more attractive for the fancy trade. The largest 

 and best nuts, however, are seldom polished, their size ensuring them 

 a quick sale whenever they are offered; but it is well worth noting 

 that pecans of this kind have never reached the market in quantities 

 great enough to supply the demand. The polishing process is not 

 without risk of loss through overheating the nuts while in the 

 "rumbler." When this happens the shells become greasy and the 

 meat liable to mould. According to a large dealer in pecans, the 

 St. Louis graders classify various sizes as follows : 



NAMES. NO. IN POUND. 



Biggest Louisiana nuts 33 



Jumbo 75 to 80 



Large no " 120 



Medium 120 " 140 



Small 175 " 180 



