Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-30
Nuts
~ Frederic }. Haskin.

American food crops -thhb ~ INC NUS
wild and tame.
The nut has fallen into such sad dis
yepute In this country taht the very word
has come ~ be fguratiyely applied W
humans who are slightly difficult fr
sooietyto assimilate. Nearly everyone re-
yards nuts as indigestible They are there
fore given no regular place IN the bill
of-fare, but are always tackled onto the i
end of t. This is place where they are /
admirably calculated ~ maintain Their 4
reputation for indgestibllty. For nuts 7
are rich and heavy food, and are not +
| in the least suited TO be eaten on top of a T
| lot Of other nourishing food. lhey cguid
much more appropriately take the place
| Of meat. for thay are rich IN fat ana con
| tain a good deal Of protein. They are
| u-eat energizers. To get the good out u
| them they need only 70 be chewed thoro-
ugblv and TO be eaten with other lighter
| foods in order 10 form balanced diet
No doubt an enormous food resoirce
| goes To waste in the Wild nuts that are
never gathered, but It s doubtful whether
| II would paw 10 do the work of gathering
| them in most places Down in Texas the
Wild pecans are gathered regularly and
a thousand carloads Of them, " more, are
shipped out N the state every year, -
! that they constitute real source oi
wealth for the Texans.
few carloads Of chestnuts ufed 20 be
,hiuped out Of western Marylar every
wear. but the trapid spread of the chest-
nut blight has about put an erd TO that
industry. The Department ot AgrlcI-
ture IL experimenting IN crossrg tne
native chestnut with japanese variety,
which in somewhat more resistant 70 tne
blight, and there is a hope that the chest-
nuf NAV be saved as ar orchard tree N
this way, but the great Wild groves 81
chestnut are dead or doomed
THE BLACK WALNUT
There !, no. much need for mournir 2
over the chestnut however when thsre
are other fine native nuts which thrive
uerfec.Iy and which are almost wholly
reelected The black walnut T. case
in uoint II u fine rich nut of excellent
flavor, ard grows over large part oi tne
United States, from southern Nev frg
lard 10 Florida ia the Fast and from Mn
re.o.s n Texas in the West, while there
i a snecial variety on the Paclflc Coas'
; Tho black wal1ut tree viii grow on waste
land, which will support little other
timber II i an admirable shade tree
about the house ard slorZ roads ard
ferce. II il al@o one NJ the most vslusble
timber trees native ~ the nited StttHs
n \. this later fact that doomed T.
Tho pioncers rared little about me puts
ard much about the timber Hence fhf
treee were cIt down ruthlessly. hs ha'
not only made il n relatively ararce tree
brit hn- destroyed much of the stock
from which an improved nut might have
baen derived For Wild mt trees, grown !
IN the woods. seldom yield a yeluhbif
crou. fhe stock of the trees that oear
tho he4t nuts must he selected and prop
aVated. In this wav larger nuts nth
thinner shells ard better favor are slow J
nrodurod bv selectivs breeding. Nhii'
older and more thoughtful peoples Ter'
Tins improving their native nut trees
American. were destroying theirs. A.
a natural result. We import many mllllorJ
~ pounds Of nuts every year and pay
hirh prices for them, when re mlgh'
nave had an abun dant supply of natiV'
nuts. Alao the ut culture Industry =
small ore based largely on imported var
ietie~. which grow Only IN limited sectlon'
clirnatically suited to them. In CaEforrlf
there = a cor siderable industry n n
raIsirg Of Persian and Fl gllsh walnut'
and almonds, but il does not Leariy sup
DIV the local demand, and Il cannot o
much extended because these specisl
Il do NOT thrive elsewhere. II the Dlaci
walnut had been properly developed
averv farmer might nave q few goo'
walnut trees il his yard, Just e ne "a
q few apple trees. ard local market
would have been abundantiy supphe'
from local sources.
The PECAN
The only native American nut whlc
bas b.en developed at al i the pec21
II i native 10 almost all Of the Souther
states as far south as tlorida, and as =
Vest as Texas. In LouisI2E a. FlorIdl
y. lssisslppi, Texas. ana Georgia. u
te raIsl, z Of pecaIs ) 3 consiGera Die Z
dustry. Despite high prlces Tor the nut
ard a steady demaL c i IS SAID tnat "a
rumber Of persocs who have mace =
established commercial success OF tn
hIsil ess is comparatively small. Il
still IN many WAYS IN an experiment L
stage. but il Is almost sure 70 grow 81
.:eyelop. he "a ge q the VI 5 BEL! e
Y. tended northwarl too / here are 10
bearing trees in Penn SYLVIA ia, Mary sai
ard New Jersey Ii seems probable tns
the pecan will most likely become Il
common cultivated native lut tree hlt
We 50 sadly lack.
The pecan il dlstry has been lrvtre
by another common ard typical Anerics.
fsili, g-that Cf VI sou. dpTOmOtoo. Ever,
ore is familiar with the advertise me;
ard prospectuSes OF pecan groves
which NoQ are H'FAlSA ~ a. ~ 80
rs sayi, gs and from which YOU are promise
enormous return in few wears. y
doubt these comPaI les operate ~ a
good faith. but the experts here who ha'
watched them say that o. " s. very ie
have been successful. ard that thousal {
Of persors have lost their savit Is I SUI
ventures. The land Is often bought &
as kittle as 10 or * dollars All acre au
alter beng planted with Young trees
sold for FIVE hundred 10 seven hundre
dollars an acre. on very large marg
az profit. II v6u want o raise peca'
YOU are advised to - and study the bus
ness on the ground, buy your own IAN
and vour own trees. You must then
prepared to wait : to 10 years for a 60,
return. although YOU may get Somethir
out OF the land III the meantime by plaa
~ ing cotton between the rows 81 young ire
y The hickory is another native nut whi'
+ has great possibilities Of developmei
4 and these possibilities are being tested
y an experiment tai way. The butternut.
Z lear relation OF the black walnUt.
II also An excellent possibility and Gro'
y farther north than most q the ther Eu'
II Experts III the Department ot ArgCl
II tire Il q that persors who have wards
II