i6 CROPS THAT PAY. 



and pecans glacees rank among the most esteemed of damty con- 

 fections. It is said that the nut cracking establishments preter 

 Louisiana nuts, as they crack and work more easily than others. 

 Broken pieces sell for considerably less than wholes, and the 

 smallest pieces are made into oil. The shells are sold for fuel and, 

 like the wood and bark of the tree, make an especially fine hre. 

 As an illuminant pecan oil is too costly, but that it would serve 

 the purpose can be shown by lighting a kernel which will be found 

 to bum for some time with a clear, brilliant flame. Care must 

 be used in packing the meats for shipment in order that too great 

 pressure may not slowly but surely squeeze out the oil. And 

 to keep any quantity of the meats on hand they must be put into 

 cold storage or they will become rancid. As an industry the prepar- 

 ing of nut kernels for market is still young in this country, but 

 the time is coming when owners of commercial pecan groves will 

 operate their own cracking plant, pack and ship the kernels, under 

 private brand, direct from the plantation to consumers and dealers, 

 just as now do the more successful fruit growers. This could be 

 easily done, and the value of the crop would be greatly enhanced. 



While the pecan harvest is one of considerable value it is of second- 

 ary importance when compared with that of any one of the leading 

 fruits grown in the United States, and almost of trifling proportions 

 when one thinks of the enormous production of various kinds of nuts 

 in other countries, or even in California. We have seen that Andre- 

 Michaux recommended the pecan for cultivation by Europeans, but 

 the French, Italians and Spaniards have been content, so far, to 

 grow chestnuts, walnuts and almonds as have their ancestors for 

 many generations. It is in the Mediterranean countries of Southern 

 Europe that the nut harvest is of greatest importance. A bad season 

 means loss and privation, if not want, to the thousands who depend 

 largely on these products for their principal food. In i8g6, accord- 

 ing to oSicial reports, Italy had 404,000 hectares (998,324 acres) of 

 chestnut plantations. U. S. Consul A. M. Thackara tells us in his 

 report to the State Department, October 2, 1902, that the yearly 

 crop of table walnuts produced in France from 1897 to 1900, in- 

 clusive, was 41,483,985 pounds, the yield for 1901 being estimated at 

 59,524,200. How small, comparatively, seem 3,206,850 pounds, the 

 total production of pecans in 1899, as reported by the Twelfth U. S. 

 Census. Europe sends us the fruit of her nut trees in annually 

 increasing quantities, the value of which has nearly trebled during 

 eight years ending June 30, 1904, as shown by the United States 

 Bureau of Foreign Commerce : 



1897, total value of nuts imported into the United States. . .$1,728,774 



1898, " 



1899, 

 1900, 

 1901, 

 1902, 



1903. 

 1904, 



2,216,064 

 . 2,727,542 

 . 2,978,834 



• 3,268,855 



• 4,044,341 

 4,866,398 

 5,471,166 



California, with climate unsuited to the pecan, produces an ever 



