NUT GROWING 



1429 



we left that country for Illinois in 1865 

 the hilltops were covered with chestnuts 

 and hickory nuts, and the hillsides were 

 covered with butternuts, black walnuts 

 and hickory nuts. After forty years I 

 returned and visited the place, and to my 

 surprise there was not a tree standing 

 that was there when we left, and scarce- 

 ly a tree of any kind. The soil had been 

 carried away by the action of the ele- 

 ments and left the bare rocks and the 

 heavy clay on which nothing of value 

 would grow. Now, the ctuestion is, wheth- 

 er it would not have been better for the 

 one who bought it to have left those nut 

 trees, planted others of improved varieties 

 and handed down to his children after 

 forty years one hundred acres of bearing 

 nut trees, than to have given them an in- 

 heritance of bare hills, mostly rocks and 

 an impoverished soil. I am persuaded 

 that two acres of chestnuts and pecans on 

 that farm would have yielded more money 

 than the one hundred acres now yield, 

 and my contention is that if nut trees 

 were planted on the rough hillsides that 

 cannot be utilized for ordinary field 

 crops, and cannot be profitably planted to 

 fruit on account of the difficulty of cul- 

 tivating, spraying and picking, that these 

 lands, now of no commercial value, could 

 be made sources of profit, that they would 

 grow better instead of poorer for the fu- 

 ture generations, and that if this course 

 were generally followed America would 

 be immensely wealthier than it now is, 

 because she would add to her commercial 

 products something for which we pay an- 

 nually millions of dollars to European 

 growers. 



While it is true that nut trees will 

 grow and bring profitable returns on lands 

 that are difficult to cultivate to other 

 crops, it is equally true that they are 

 sensitive to good soil and good treatment, 

 and will yield better returns where the 

 conditions are favorable, and the best soils 

 will produce the best results. 



In the growing of pecans it is especially 

 true that a rich deep soil should be se- 

 lected in which the roots may penetrate 

 deeply. Walnuts incline more to put out 

 strong lateral roots and will succeed on 



a shallower soil, while chestnuts will 

 thrive on upland clay. 



Gkanville Lowthee 



*Compositioii of IVuts and Their Uses as 



Food 



The constantly increasing consump- 

 tion of nuts throughout the United 

 States augurs well for a better apprecia- 

 tion of their food value. The time when 

 nuts were considered merely as a luxury, 

 or as something to be eaten out of hand 

 at odd times, is rapidly passing away. 

 In earlier days the native hickories, but- 

 ternuts, walnuts, chestnuts, pecans and 

 many other nuts found in the United 

 States were to be had in country regions 

 for the gathering and were of no com- 

 mercial importance. On the other hand, 

 the English walnuts (to give them their 

 most common name), almonds, cocoa- 

 nuts, etc., brought from other countries, 

 were relatively expensive luxuries. 



Some nuts, like the native hazelnut 

 and beechnut, still have practically no 

 commercial value and, though palatable, 

 are almost never offered for sale, doubt- 

 less because they are so small and diffi- 

 cult to gather in quantity. The chinqua- 

 pin, a small nut allied to the chestnut, 

 finds a limited sale in Southern cities, 

 but is doubtless seldom if ever seen in 

 other markets. In general, however, 

 conditions have changed and our prin- 

 cipal native nuts are now staple market 

 commodities and bring good prices. At 

 the same time, owing to changes in mar- 

 ket conditions, and to the growing of 

 foreign nuts in quantity in this country, 

 the price of the imported nuts has 

 dropped so that they are well within 

 the reach of the majority. 



From available statistics it appears 

 that in 1910 the total quantity of al- 

 monds, cocoanuts, Brazil nuts, filberts, 

 peanuts, walnuts and other nuts, shelled 

 and unshelled, imported into the United 

 States was, in round numbers, **115,093,- 

 000 pounds, with a value of $13,291,667. 

 In 1910 the total almond crop in Cali- 

 fornia reached 6,692,000 pounds and the 



* U. S Department of Agriculture Farmers' 

 Bunetin SH2 



** Approximate — Ed. 



