Gathering Walnuts. 417 
plume-like pistil, as shown in Fig. 3. The bud marked c in Fig. 
I is a leaf bud. 
Successful fruiting depends upon the appearance of these 
two forms of bloom, without too great interval of time, and the 
lack of bearing of some varieties has been found to be due to the 
fact that the catkins disappeared too long before the pistillate 
bloom was sufficiently developed to receive the pollen. 
The bearing age of the walnut depends upon the variety. 
Some of the French varieties now grown here are very pre- 
cocious and have borne fruit in nursery row at two and three 
years old, but the pistillate blooms were then fertilized from 
catkins growing on older trees. The practical bearing age of 
the English walnut in this State may be rated at six to eight 
years, according to the variety. 
Gathering walnuts is done in different ways; some gather 
them from the ground at intervals during the mouths of Sep- 
tember and October; others use poles and clean the trees at 
one operation; some go over the ground three times; first, 
picking up what have fallen: second, picking up what have fal- 
len, and striking the limbs lightly to dislodge others which are 
ripest; third, picking up again and then knocking off all that re- 
main on the trees. In this wav gathering lasts a month or six 
weeks. Walnuts, after gathering, are usually treated as de- 
scribed by F. E. Kellogg, of Santa Barbara County :— 
As fast as gathered the nuts are placed in slat-bottomed trays 6x3 
feet, by six inches deep, about fifty pounds in a tray, where they are 
allowed to dry for three or four days, being thoroughly shaken up once 
or twice a day. If the weather is very hot, they should be dried in the 
shade. When the nuts are dry they are passed through an inclined, 
revolving grader, making about twelve revolutions per minute, having 
a one-inch-mesh wire screen, and all that fall through this are called 
“seconds.” The lower end of the grader dips into a vat of water, thor- 
cughly wetting the nuts and washing them to a certain extent—entirely 
sufficient for paper shells and soft shells, and usually enough for hard 
shells. A system of buckets attached to the drum of the grader then 
elevates the nuts to a chute, which discharges them into a large box 
4x4x8 feet high, with an inclined slat bottom two and one-half feet above 
the ground. While in this box, they are subjected to the fumes of sul- 
phur for twenty to thirty minutes for the purpose of improving the 
color. The second grade walnuts are also put through the washing and 
sulphuring process. The nuts are next drawn off from the bleachers into 
the drying trays, piled one on top of the other. to prevent the sun from 
shining directly on the nuts, and remain there for ten or twelve hours, 
until the nuts are thoroughly dried off. The trays are then emptied into 
a hopper, from which the nuts are drawn off into bags containing some- 
thing over one hundred pounds each: the bags are securely sewed up and 
stamped with the producer’s brand, and the nuts are ready for shipment. 
Dipping instead of Sulphuring—Sulphuring often injures 
the flavor of the kernel and dipping is coming into wide use. 
