The average nut set per tree is 7,567, up 38 percent from 1996. The Nonpareil average nut set of 7,714 represents a 55 percent increase from last year's set. The average kernel weight for all varieties sampled was 1.59 grams, down 14 percent from last year. A total of 97.9 percent of the nuts sized were sound. To determine tree set, nuts are counted along a path within a randomly selected tree.
Work begins at the trunk and progresses to the end of the terminal branch.
Since at each forking only one branch is randomly selected to continue the path, the procedure is random. A branch's probability of selection is directly proportional to its cross-sectional area. This methodology is used because of its statistical efficiency. The method also makes it possible to end up at any one of the tree's numerous terminal branches. Since the selected path has a probability of selection associated with it, this probability is used to expand counts along the chosen path and then arrive at an estimated set for the entire tree.