FiGUEE 30. — A nut pick. 



Commercial Crackeries and Storage of Pecans 141 



clamped to the table and worked by means of a compound 

 lever or by a spiral central pinion which exerts pressure on 

 the ends of the nut, cracking it without crushing the kernel 

 very seriously. The other general type has two small 



metal rods or handles 

 fastened together at 

 one end by a hinge- 

 like connection and 

 notched or grooved on 

 the inner side at the 

 hinged end for hold- 

 ing the nut. This op- 

 erates on the prin- 

 ciple of the lever. Both types sell at very reasonable prices 

 and give satisfactory results for family use. 



COST OF SHELLING PECANS 



The cost of shelling pecans depends very largely on the 

 kind of machinery used and the volume of business. When 

 good machines and other equipment are installed and when 

 there is sufficient volume of nuts to operate for nine or ten 

 months in the year, the labor becomes more skilled, and 

 the shelling can be done at a lower average cost than when 

 the supply is sufficient to run only two or three months out 

 of the year. Modern cracking machines sell for about $850 

 each, and the power for operating them is also an item of 

 expense. 



Machines crack the nuts very successfully, but as yet no 

 machine has been devised that will successfully separate the 

 shells from the kernels; consequently this work must be 

 done by hand. The kernels are picked out by ordinary labor, 



