The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-12-18
BIG PROFITS IN NUTS.
BEGINNING OF GREAT INDUS.
TRY FOR AMERICA.
Plantations of Walnuts, Pecans, Chestnuts ant
Many Other Varieties Already Started
Permanent Sources OF Annual ~.
x Profit to Him Who Waits.

"Ihe era of nut cultivation in this
country is just dawning," says Chief
Van Deman, of the genealogical divi-
sion in the department. of Agriculture.
''Before long, however, the growing
of nuts for market will become an
enormous industry in the United States,
where now the product depended upon
Tor consumption is either gathered
from wild trees or imported from
abroad. incidentally to the clearing
OF the land for settlement nut bearing
trees are being largely wiped out, and
the wild crop is necessarily diminish
ing in proportion from year to year.
This is especially true of the pecan,
which the pickers are fond of collect
ing by cutting down the trees-a pro-
ceedlng that naturally lessons the pro-
duction of subsequent seasons
lit is only within the last ten years
that nut culture has been tried in this
country, but it is being widely taken
up because of the large profits obtained
from it. and great orchards of hundreds
and even thousands of trees are grow
ing or being planted on every hand.
In central California almond groves of
from 1000 to 5000 trees are not unu-
sual, and in the southern part of the
same state the English walnut, proper
ly called the Madeira nut, is already
extensively raised. The English
walnut is grown also for market in
most OF the other states, and on Staten
Island it is cultivated and sold green
tor pickles and catsup. The pecan is
grown in orchards in the South and
Southwest and the pinon, or pine nut,
though quite unknown to people east
OF the Mississippi, is produced in i'm
mense quantities on the Pacific slope.
Wonderful results are obtained with
nuts by selection and proper grating.
With such care they increase surpris-
ingly in size and become thin shelled.
Here, for example, are some pecans.
l don't wonder that you are astonished
at their bigness. The pecans you are
accustomed to see have been wild
ones, whereas these are cultivated
specimens. You will observe that
they are five or six times as big as the
ordinary nuts and their shells are so
thin that you will notice I break this
one easily between my thumb and
finger, just as l would a peanut
The chestnut is susceptible of the
same sort OF improvement and in not
less degree. 1t is beginning to be ex-
tensively planted and is found a most
profitable agricultural product. You
are familiar with the chestnut called
the 'marron' that we import from
abroad. It is grown in China and
Japan, as well as in France, Spain,
Italy and Portugal. In point of flavor
it does not nearly equal the American
chestnut, but it has a great advantage
in point of size, being as big as horse
chestnut. Now, we can grow these
marrons perfectly we'll in this country
and are already doing so in the central
states, along the Atlantic and as far
west as the Mississippi. Orchards of
seedlings are starting in many places,
and before long the marion will be-
come plentiful native crop. There
are some choice varieties of American
chestnuts, grown mostly along the
Appalachian range in North Carolina.
Georgia and as far north as New York,
which are nearly as big as the foreign
kind. Here are a few that, you see,
are quite an inch and half in dame
ter. These are chestnuts well worth
cultivating. There is plenty of waste
land lying about that could be made
admirable use Of for chestnut planta-
tions, and when I tell you that single
tree can be made to bear from $40 to
$50 worth of the nuts each year you
will perceive that the business of rails
ing nuts is we'll worth the farmers at
tention."