El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-10
Pecan Trees Profitable
Millions Of Dollars Are Invested In
the Industry and a Good
Profit Is Realized.
Z
By Frederic J. Haskin-
lc0ntinued from page l. this sectior.)

EGUeFlG -
Continued from page I. this sectiOii.)
where the husk may stick to the she'll
Mexlcans Of both sexes are employed TO
gaIher the nuts in the great California
walnut orchards
After they are gathered, thew are
carried to the washing place Whe-s
they are placed in large revolving
cylindrical drums, having sides OF
coarse wire netting which are slowly
reVOlYed against a stream % water.
after washing, the nuts are trained in
large trays having bottoms COMPOSED
OF wooden Stats half an i.h apart IN
lnese trays the nuts arc stirred and
ofled as quickly as possible. For
merry the trays were placed out OF
doors, but recently rne LARGER n71f
growers resOrted to artificial heat
ana enclosed buildings for drying.
Bleach Nuts by Electricity.
Persian walnuts formerly were
Dleached by chemicals, but there has
been some litigation upOn this sub
Ject and an electrical bleaching pro-
cess requiring SOme elaborate ma
cnlnery IS now useC in California AZ
Ter the bleaching, the nuts go into
the grading room where they are
sorted into number of grades rang
ing IN value from nine to 16 cents q
pound wholesale The size of the nuts
ana the thinness Of the shell are the
chief points considered in determining
quality The walnut growers of CAL
lfornia are organized into cooperative
orSanlzaIlons. which own their own
packing houses, where they handle
lnelr nuts and arr ange with outside
brokers' to sell them upon commission.
Pecan Indusfrs- Yields Profits.
The pecan industry is one which has
also risen chiefly within the present
generation II now represents mil
which is yielding a fair profit. The
industry IS still in its infancy and the
great majority Of the orchards have
Tot yet reached their full maturity.
me aggregated bIdded and grated
trees IN the south probably covered
less than 500 acres in 1900. Their area
IS now cOnservatvely estimated at
I1O,OOO acres and the annual increase
is estimated fully 25 percent. The av-
erage value OF pecan orchard is $500.
Largest Pecan Tree IN Oklahoma.
Like the Persian walnut, the pecan
long has been grown in this country,
DuC Its commercial possibilities were
neglected Some Of the trees are OF
old In M1lledgeVille, Ga, an old pecan
tree stands, which is known to have
been planted by the indians over 100
years ago. The owner values If an
highly that he has recently taken out
$500 fire insurance on 1t because II
has become so closely surrounded BY
buildings that it is endangered. The
largest pecan tree upon record is near
Little Falls, Oklahoma It has an al
utude of 80 feet, a spread OF 10 feet
and a trunk circumference of % feet.
taken four feet from the ground. In
Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and
other sections. pecan trees may be
found in forests reaching 10 feet in
height.
Much interest in pecan growing has
been developed in Texas, which will
no doubt be stimulated by the nut
growers convention The late governor
HOgS expressed a wish that a pecan
be planted upon his grave and the
nuts from IL distributed among the
school children Of his state This tree
is known as the HOgg memorial tree
and it has reached maturity. Con-
Sequently, Frank Ramsey, Of Austin,
has been given a life appointment as
commissioner to distribute these nuts
among the school children Of the state
The children are to plant the nuts in
fulfillment of the dead mans in5unc-
ton TO make Texas a land OF Trees"
RevIFeS Interest In Nuts.
Recently there has been a revival OF
interest in the old fashioned nuts; the
butter nut, hickory nut halle nut and
the black walnut. One Of the efforts
Of the nut growers is towards secur-
ing a black walnut with a thin she'll
COnfectiOnerS have a steady demand
for black walnut kernels. but the
thick shell is an obstacle in its use
Soft shelled hickory nuts would also
command high price
Tuesday-Army Camps for College
Students.
CThis Is one Of the regular features
Of The Fl PasO Herald.)