Mr. McCauley: Yes, I think that I would. If I had assurance that I was going to get 22 per cent kernels I would be very pleased to pay double. It would pay me, if I were shelling, to pay twice as much for that variety for the simple reason that I only have one cost of picking. Now, the average cost of picking black walnuts kernels is about 11-1/2 cents a pound. At least, that's the best I have ever been able to do with them. And if you sold me a walnut that would give me twice as many kernels with one cracking and one picking, I'd make money and I could pay you twice as much money for that nut.
Dr. MacDaniels: What volume would a cracker have to have to make it interesting? What quantity would have to be produced and offered to a cracker to make it interesting? That is, say I have 50 bushels of Thomas. That isn't any good to you, because your cracking plant—
Mr. McCauley: Why wouldn't it? If I had 50 bushels, that is 2500 pounds, right? All right, Tom could run his plant for two hours and a half, we will say, on 2500 pounds, and in that two hours and a half he would be getting as much kernels as he would otherwise in five hours. That's good business.
Mr. Chase: I'd just like to comment on that 18 per cent kernel you mentioned as the average you'd like to think of. Mr. Zarger has run a study on the sample trees in the Tennessee Valley to measure the kernel content in some 130 trees for about seven years running, and it pans out to about 18 per cent. I thought you'd just like to know.
Mr. McCauley: I didn't want to make a definite statement and then have somebody throw something back in my face. That's why I said I'd like to think.
Mr. Fisher: Since this question has come up and a cracker is here, and that is the question, whether the commercial cracker would be willing to pay a premium price for premium nuts, I wonder if Tom will answer the question, would he pay twice as much?
Mr. Mullins: Certainly.
Mr. Chase: Mr. Acker is another sheller who operates in Morristown, Tennessee, and Broadway, Virginia, who just dropped in on us. I'd like to ask him that same question.
Mr. Acker: What is the question again?
Mr. Chase: Would a considerable quantity of walnuts such as Thomas be worth more to you?
Mr. Acker: We'd be inclined to buy them according to the value we get out of them.
Dr. MacDaniels: What would you do, run sort of a pilot test on them?
Mr. Acker: If I can buy something for a dollar and make money on it, I am willing to try.
Mr. Chase: I made a little unscheduled talk last night in which I said from my information from shellers in Nashville, particularly, that they at this time would not be able to pay any premium price for higher quality nuts simply because they do not have time to examine each bushel, each hundred pounds that comes in and see whether they would pay a special price for better walnuts. Is that the general situation?
Mr. McCauley: Yes, I think generally that is. They take everything at the price of seedling variety. However, you gentlemen who are growing cultivated nuts shouldn't be too disturbed, because of the fact that there is going to be a time in the not-too-distant future where you can dispose of those nuts according to the kernel content within the nut.
President Davidson: I think that's the answer. Eventually it will come.
Mr. McCauley: It's good business. Stop and consider. We go right back to that point where we are going to get twice the amount of merchandise out of a hull which must be broken, which must be picked, which must be cleaned, which is one operation. In a two and a half hour period, which is what it would take, we will say, to run 2500 pounds, you would get the net content on a Thomas variety that you would ordinarily receive in five hours of actual operation. You are saving two and a half hours labor, you are saving two and a half hours machine time, and you are getting just twice as much.
Mr. McDaniel: You'd have twice as many girls on the sorting belt, wouldn't you, to examine that volume?
Mr. McCauley: No, not necessarily. When it gets to that point it isn't necessary. Sometimes the machine gets too far ahead of them, but the machinery is fast getting to a point where it is going to be more or less mechanical. It's an inspection proposition.
Mr. Taylor: May I ask you this question? In other branches of farming you have what you call seed certification, as with certified potatoes, and people who certify those potatoes. Wouldn't it be possible for the same Government agency to certify growers of walnuts so that when you bought from certain members of this association they would be certified so you would know what you were getting? Would that be possible?
Mr. McDaniel: Certification has to do with planting stock.
Mr. Taylor: I mean a different type of certification.
Mr. McDaniel: What you have in mind probably is U. S. Grades on fruit. For instance, if it is stamped "U.S. 1" it should be considerably better than orchard run, and I don't know why it shouldn't be possible for nuts in the shell. It is used in California.
Mr. McCauley: It is in peanuts. All peanuts are Government graded, and that's in the shell. But this black walnut situation is going to take a little longer than that. But I am sure that there are people in the shelling business who would buy Thomas variety or the other varieties if you just go ahead and tell them that's what you have. People are always looking for something better, and I am sure that your cultivated varieties are going to be better, but you are going to have to keep talking them up all the time and getting them to the people who will buy them.
President Davidson: Right. We'd all like to go on with this, but we must really go on with the program, too. We will next hear something about pasteurization. The Production of Bacteria-Free Walnut Kernels will be discussed by Mr. Pease of West Virginia University. Mr. Pease.
Production of Bacteria-Free Walnut Kernels
ROGER W. PEASE, Assistant Hillculturist, West Virginia University,Morgantown, West Virginia
Mr. Pease: Before I go into any detail about the construction of the pasteurizer, I am going to review the bacillus that causes the trouble very briefly. Most of you will know more about it than I do, but some of you may know less.
When the farmer takes the hulls from the black walnuts he generally spreads his hulled crop to dry almost anywhere. Rats will go over them, and these rats or mice infect the hulled walnuts with an organism calledBacillus colithat is on the outside of the shell. They go from there to the cracking plant, go through the cracker which thoroughly mixes up the infected nuts with the clean ones. They go from there to the separator, which does a better job at spreading the bacteria. Then they go on the market. If they are shipped from one state to another they are subject to inspection by Federal authorities. If they find this organism in the kernels, they may at their discretion heave the whole shipment into the river. They don't always do it. They haven't worked out yet a definite scheme to follow. In other words, they will not tell us, "If your kernels have a certain number of theseB. coliin them we will let them by." As it reads, there should be not one organism there, and I can assure you that's almost impossible to get if a rat has crawled over those things.
Now, to get rid of poison ivy the best way is not to get it, and it's just the same with this organism. The place to get rid of it would be for the farmer to store the nuts to dry where the rats and mice cannot get to them and for the cracking plants to do the same. Unfortunately, this isn't done and sometimes isn't practicable. The next place to hit them would be before they are tumbled, that is, before the black powder on the outside of the shells is shaken off in a tumbler, or immediately after that to disinfect the shell without hurting the kernel.
That is where we should have started at West Virginia, but we didn't. We began at the other end after the thing was through and began studying pasteurization. The Government had recommended, I believe, temperatures of up to 300°F. for pasteurization. We found out right away—that is, I didn't, Dr. Colmer and Harvey Erickson, who are now—one of them—in Baton Rouge and the other one in Seattle, and they would know about it. They found out that after temperatures of over 300° the nuts tasted toasted and they would not keep nearly so well or so long as an unpasteurized nut.
After inspecting what pasteurizers they could get access to they concluded some work was necessary, so they spent 12 months and found that at a temperature of 160 and humidity of 80 per cent a more efficient job of pasteurization was done, and at the same time the kernel was not hurt at all. The taste was identical with an unpasteurized nut, and it would keep just as long. At that point one of them, as I say, went to Louisiana and the other went to Washington, and the research fell on my shoulders, that didn't know much about it.
We started to construct the machine. Meanwhile, Mr. Erickson told me he had developed a new strain of bacteria which was much more hardy and 160 degrees at 80% humidity would not kill the thing. So we constructed our machine to run a temperature of 180 at 70% humidity for 30 minutes, and that will kill them.
Now, in 15 minutes I can't give you anywhere near all the details of construction of that machine. I can give you a few of the principles. On the outside, of course, is a well insulated box. The nuts are fed through the top with a revolving drum with fins on it. They comes down to a belt that travels this way for six feet, drops to another, travels back, a series of five belts. It takes them just half an hour to go through. The layer of nuts is perhaps three-eighths of an inch thick. The temperature is kept up with electric coils. It is regulated with a thermostat.
We had some difficulty with the humidity. Try it and see. As we raised our temperature it was hard to keep our humidity up. Finally we went back to the simplest thing, which usually works. We just took a pan of water, with a solenoid valve and float such as you have in the modern hot air furnaces and put a magnetic switch on it. As the water boiled it helped raise the temperature, and it gave off vapors. The automatic switch and the wet and dry bulb from the thermometer and thermostat will shut the water off and shut the heat off automatically when you get the required temperature and the required humidity. In that machine our nuts start at the top, take 30 minutes to travel through. From the time they start at the top until the time they get to the bottom they have a standard temperature of 180° plus the 70% humidity.
Then the second problem, if you want to make one, is to get that temperature standard in all places. I know one man who made one of these machines and put four fans in at different places, and when he closed it up and got it to working, the center of his machine was still cold, because your hot air acts differently from free air. We put at the bottom a shelf with a tube in it and a big fan in the middle. The air is drawn down from the top here, driven through there, hits some baffles and comes across each belt. In that way it works.
Now, if you want, any of you, to get the details of the pasteurizer you could write to Mr. Erickson, College of Forestry, University of Washington, Seattle 5, and he who designed it would be very glad, I believe, to help with your problems, or you could write up to our Agricultural Engineering department, and they would do the same.
I will tell you this, that after we drew up the plans, I took the plans to several manufacturers, and the cheapest bid I got was $5,000 to make it. We made it ourselves for a little less than $1,200 not counting labor. Not that they would have made that much profit, but I tell you that to show you it's a rather inexpensive machine. On the other hand, you can save considerable money by getting it made up yourselves.
I am going to stop with the thing there. If there are a few questions that you wish to ask, I will try to answer.
* * * * *
A Member: What is the name of the bacteria you are killing?
Mr. Pease:Bacillus coli, that's the chief bacteria, and the others that cause the damage are similar to that, and they are always spread by the rats or the mice.
A Member: Do the kernels properly pasteurized show any brownness of kernel?
Mr. Pease: No, they are identical with an unpasteurized kernel at that temperature.
Mr. Korn: I buy kernels at the plant in Nashville, and some of them have been toasted.
Mr. Pease: They have 350 degrees.
Mr. Kays: You mentioned you should have started on the other end a while ago. Could you treat those nuts before they are cracked and do the same thing for less money?
Mr. Pease: I believe you could.
Mr. Kays: The other question I have is how about using ultra-violet light?
Mr. Pease: I have written to a good many authorities, and some of them say yes and some say no.
Mr. Kays: In pecans that is one of the practices.
Mr. Pease: I believe you could use it in our present machine.
Mr. Stoke: Isn't this heat to remove contamination? After the nuts are cracked is there any examination of the nuts?
Mr. Pease: No, there is not.
Mr. Stoke: Could there be any possible value in sterilizing the nut before it is cracked?
Mr. Pease: Yes. You see, the bacteria is on the shell, on the outside.Then when you crack it, it gets on the nut.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you very much, Mr. Pease. I do hate to cut these discussions short. You get as much out of them or more, sometimes, than we do otherwise. There is just one thing I'd like to say before we take a five-minute recess. Mr. Acker is here. He is another man that you might talk to in addition to talking to Mr. Mullins during the recess.
(Recess taken.)
President Davidson: The meeting will come to order. The first thing on the program is a talk by Dr. Cross, Head of the Department of Horticulture, Oklahoma A. & M., Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Pecan Selection in Oklahoma. Dr. Cross.
Pecan Selection in Oklahoma
DR. FRANK B. CROSS, Head, Department of Horticulture, Oklahoma A & MCollege, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Dr. Cross: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: The present status of the pecan industry in Oklahoma is the result of close cooperation between the growers and the experiment station combined with a resource which we have in that state consisting of thousands of native pecan trees which may be quickly and economically changed into producing trees instead of just wild forest trees.
I am going to utilize my time this afternoon to discuss, first, briefly the present situation as we find it with reference to pecans in Oklahoma, because there is the important phase of nut growing which we follow in that state. We do grow some walnuts and we have a great many men interested in walnuts, but far and away our major interest is in pecans.
We might divide the work and interest in the state into two phases. First, but of least importance, is that connected with the planting and production of varieties. We have a great many men in the state who wish to plant land to pecans, and, of course, in cases like that the varieties which are available are always selected for planting, and nursery trees, of course, are utilized. The latest phase of that type of development is the planting of apple trees for filler trees with the expectation that the apple trees will be removed after 15 or 20 years, thus leaving the pecan trees at a large size to fully occupy the ground, and in the meantime the apple trees, of course, have produced a profitable crop.
Our growers, however, and the industry in the state are far more concerned with the utilization of the native trees. To talk about these native trees is almost—well, we might borrow a Texas expression—these trees grow both in Oklahoma and Texas—and the Texans say whenever a Texan tries to tell the truth everybody knows he is lying. That's the way everybody knows about some of these native trees. When we think of a huge, tall tree 20 or so feet in circumference over a hundred years of age and realize that the white man has occupied that particular territory for only a little over 50 years, we wonder about the history of that tree for the first 50 years of its life when wild Indians were roaming the territory and buffalo were grazing under these trees which were getting started.
These trees occur along the streams, very seldom out away from the streams for any considerable distance, as one of the native forest trees and in sufficient number so that when all other trees are removed the stand of pecan trees remaining is in many cases more than adequate to make a complete stand of pecans for commercial production. So that after having removed the oaks and elms and cottonwoods and willows and the other native trees, we have the opportunity of making a considerable selection of desirable native or seedling trees by observing the type of nut which each tree produces.
We are not, in making this selection, concerned so much with the size of the nut produced as we are with the kernel percentage which will be yielded by the nut upon cracking and extracting the kernels and by the ease of separation. Within comparatively recent years many cracking and shelling plants have been established throughout the state, and the history of the industry I think will record that the establishment of these cracking plants in the territory where the pecans are produced will be a great stimulus to the production of that kind of nuts.
I don't know whether I have made the picture clear or not. Throughout the eastern part of the state, that part which you in your old geographies knew under the name of Indian Territory, and particularly concentrated in the middle of the state there are native trees which if properly handled, that is, cultivated and sprayed and thinned so that each tree stands out individually by itself, will produce in paying quantities.
On the experiment station we have a half mile of such territory lying between cultivated fields on both sides of a creek which had eroded a considerable basin. The area was unsatisfactory for cultivation, and so it was fenced out. Back some years ago the area was cleared of grape vines and other trees, and we have since that time pastured sheep in this tract of land. It Is narrow, not over three or four hundred feet wide at any place and, of course, varying in width from one end to the other, and the creek meanders along. There really is more than a half mile of total length.
The potential production of that half mile is now, in terms of dollars and cents, about $2,500 to $3,000, and before wheat and cattle attained their present prices that was no mean income for a quarter section of land. Naturally, with that opportunity prevalent over a great part of the state, we in Oklahoma are interested in the production of native or seedling pecans to be sold to the cracker. We feel that the future of the pecan industry is undoubtedly headed toward the utilization of pecans as kernels and not nuts in the shell. Such being the case, we are not interested particularly in large size. We are interested in kernel yield and in the potential production of each individual tree.
There are a great many problems connected with the industry, and we have more or less taken those into consideration and classified them under insects and diseases and marketing and harvesting and varieties. I will not have time to touch upon very many of these. Our harvesting situation is completely chaotic. Within the last two ot three years shaking machines have been developed, and we are indebted to the West Coast growers for these inventions, which are very helpful. Previous to that a, long bamboo pole was used to knock the pecans from the trees, and then they were picked up off the ground. There are two machines now waiting for the present crop to be harvested which are supposed to pick up the nuts by vacuum picking.
If the industry can be mechanized in that manner, getting away from harvesting pecans as we have been harvesting them, it is just like cradling wheat as compared to the present-day 12-foot, self-propelled combine that cuts the wheat so rapidly. If this mechanization can be put into effect, then the native seedling territory in Texas and Oklahoma will be able to produce pecans at a price which the market will accept.
I don't know whether you know it or not, but the pecan market situation has apparently reached a condition of saturation. It was very difficult to sell pecans last fall, not because there is over-production, no, but because there is under-consumption.
There are two things which will remedy the situation. The pecan is unquestionably the finest nut that is produced in the United States. If the people of the North can be acquainted with the pecan, there is no question in my mind but that it will be possible to vastly increase consumption. The Oklahoma growers and buyers hope to put before the legislature a proposition to assess a tax of a quarter of a cent or something like that per pound, which will be used in an advertising campaign to advertise pecans outside of the state, so maybe you folks in New York and elsewhere, if the campaign is successful, will hear more about Oklahoma pecans in the future.
Well, these seedling trees—I must get on with my story—are cultivated and sprayed. We are sometimes accused of producing wild nuts at no cost. This is not the situation distinctly. It costs just as much to produce these native seedling nuts as it does to produce the varieties, the advantage being that we start with a large tree which is capable of producing from 50 to 200 or 300 or even 400 pounds of nuts within four or five years after the operation is started instead of waiting 20 or 25 years to get good commercial production.
As I said, a selection is made of the trees at the beginning. The selection is continued with each succeeding year as the trees grow larger and additional trees are thinned out so that they stand eventually a hundred or 150 feet apart, giving to each tree adequate room.
Throughout the state we have a great deal of interest in propagation by topworking of varieties of pecans. The experiment station made the serious error for 15 or 20 years in the early development of the interest in the work in centering on the idea of changing these natives over to varieties. We now are swinging back to a proper evaluation of the native nuts, and nobody is satisfied with the present varieties, our interest of developing and the exploration and discovery of new varieties being such that the Northeast Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association arranged two years ago to finance a contest for the discovery of seedling nuts which could be utilized in that territory and be more profitable than any variety that we now have.
We don't like the Stuart because of its low quality. We don't like the Stuart because it doesn't come into production until it reaches a considerable age. We just simply will not have the Mahan, because it doesn't fill. We do not like the Success because it has a tendency to over-bear every other year and does not fill. We cannot use the Squirrel's Delight which for ten years or so we had at the top of our list, because a special strain of scab fungus came in and completely wiped them out, and so on throughout the list of varieties that we have.
Well, these growers decided to take the matter into their hands and in cooperation with the experiment station have been, during the past two years, attempting to find some nuts which would be more desirable, and I thought those of you who are in the walnut exploration work would be interested in learning how this is worked out.
I don't suppose you can see this. It Is an entry blank for the grower. Annual prizes of $50, $25, $15 and $10 are awarded. Ten awards are made each year, and the ten winning growers this year will have their particular nut automatically entered in a grand prize contest hoping that some of those nuts will be worth naming, and if any should be worth naming, after further study, naming and introducing, the grower will be awarded a prize of $1,000.
Four of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, crackers are financing this work by putting in $75 each annually. The college is cooperating in this respect, and when I say the college, I also mean the Extension Division. The Extension Director is pushing the matter and tells the county agents to pay attention to these entry blanks when they come, and get as many growers in each county to send in samples as possible.
The contest closes on November 25th. Those samples are sent to the college, and in three or four days—and those of you in colleges will recognize the Thanksgiving holiday—in three or four days' time those nuts are cracked and evaluated and placed. Last year, the second year of the contest, there were over 200 entries, and it was no small job to finish in time to get them on display at the annual meeting and show of the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association in early December.
We are not content with the evaluation of the nut. It is just one phase of successful production to have a nut which is satisfactory for cracking and consumption; unless those trees are free from disease and productive and otherwise satisfactory we could never think of introducing a variety. And so the staff at the college, as soon, as the show is over, goes out and locates each of these trees individually and puts a tag on it. We visit each of those trees a sufficient number of times during the year to properly evaluate the tree.
The things that we are looking for, of course, are productiveness, freedom from disease and other characteristics of that type. If, after five years of observation, the tree characteristics are satisfactory, then the nut will be certified as worthy of propagation.
We are getting some place with this program, as evidenced by the data on last year's cracking contest. Normal seedling pecans yield about 33 per cent kernel to the packing plant. In last year's contest, as I say, there were over 200 entries, and I was just looking to see what the low was. I really haven't paid enough attention. The lowest entry apparently was about 33 per cent, and the highest entry was 59 per cent kernel. Over 30 of these seedling nuts yielded better than 50 per cent kernel, and that is better than most popular varieties.
These nuts are relatively small. The cracker doesn't care how small they are, he wants a nut that handles well in the cracker, a nut that is the shape of a football. A miniature football is an ideal cracking type of nut. The cracking docks come together from the ends. We cannot use a round nut. About two-thirds of these good nuts which yielded over 50 per cent kernel were so round that the machinery in cracking would not place the docks on the ends, but they were apt to hit anyplace. So they had to be discounted.
It is quite a job to evaluate these nuts. We have been arbitrary about it. We haven't developed any scoring system, because there are so many variable factors that it seems to be almost impossible to do so. In our general plan of operation in the state we expect this native grove improvement program that I described to continue, and as the trees get larger the growers will topwork sprouts which develop from the trees which have been removed so that the thing goes on and on with a constant improvement in the quality of the nut.
We also have many, many acres of nuts being propagated by topworking to varieties rather than by letting the seedling continue to produce. That is the reason why we are so much interested in getting a better type of pecan.
One man who makes it a commercial practice puts on thousands of scions every year. We in Oklahoma can't understand why you all seem to have so much trouble propagating nut trees. It is just as easy to propagate pecans and walnuts—not quite as easy—as apples, but then it isn't too difficult. I think it is the attitude and frame of mind in which you go about it.
Thank you very much, I appreciate the time.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you. Now, then, Mr. Magill of the University of Kentucky, will give us "A Planned Program for Improving the Pecan Industry in Southwestern Kentucky."
A Pecan Improvement Program for Southwestern Kentucky
W. W. MAGILL, Extension Horticulturist, University of Kentucky
The production and marketing of seedling pecans in extreme southwesternKentucky has been of major importance for many years.
This industry naturally extends into northwestern Tennessee and parts of Missouri directly across the state line in the Mississippi River bottom. It might be said that this industry was developed by nature, because in the Mississippi River bottoms we find seedling pecan trees which undoubtedly are more than 100 years old. Some native seedling pecan trees in this area are five feet or more in diameter; some have a spread of branches covering a radius of 60 feet, and are more than 100 feet in height.
This industry took on considerable momentum about seven years ago when a group of local business men at Hickman, the county seat of Fulton County, developed a cracking plant known as the Roper Pecan Company. They now have thirty modern cracking machines, with sorting belts, grading machines, and other complete equipment, so that they are in a position to receive and process a large tonnage of native seedling pecans, merchandise the kernels and other by-products and, therefore, are able to purchase a large quantity of seedling nuts and operate their plant for eight months each year. Not having sufficient local nuts ("Kentucky Kernels") to take care of their business, they also buy not only Kentucky nuts but also from Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas.
+Young Native Trees Top-Grafted+
Realizing that this industry is here to stay and that many farmers of that district have many young seedling pecans growing on their farms, the Kentucky Agricultural Extension Service, cooperating with some of the leading farmers of the district, has launched a program of top-working these native seedling pecans with some of the known, improved varieties that have a reputation for producing good yields of high quality nuts. The beginning of this top-grafting program was in late April of 1948, when some 200 trees were top-worked mostly on the farm of the late Roscoe Stone, a farmer in this area who had considerable land holdings. It is highly pleasing to our Extension workers to observe what we think is an outstanding success in this first year of development, for we find that over 90% of the five to ten year old trees that were top-grafted have developed a new growth from the spring grafting, to the extent of from two to eight feet of new growth. John Watts, County Farm Agent of Fulton County, who pioneered this pecan improvement development, tells me that we already have requests for top-working over 500 other trees in this area for the spring of 1949.
+Northern Varieties Preferred+
The best information available was sought from such pecan authorities as Ford Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana, Dr. A. S. Colby, chief in nut culture, Horticulture Department of the University of Illinois, Bob Endicott of Villa Ridge, Illinois, and others. They are of the opinion that this southwestern Kentucky area approaches the northern limit of successful production of known southern varieties of pecans, and that our success in our pecan grafting program can best be assured by top-working to the hardy northern varieties of pecans such as the Major, Greenriver, Niblack, Giles, Goforth, and others.
Thanks to our pioneers of this generation who located some outstanding seedling pecans in the Ohio Valley, such trees as the original Major, Greenriver, and others have proved their worth as hardy northern pecans and they have been used for propagating purposes rather than being destroyed by farm hands who burned piles of debris left by high water around many of these early trees.
+Some Superior Local Nuts+
We are of the opinion that other seedling varieties are now growing in this Reelfoot Lake area, maybe in Kentucky, maybe in Tennessee, or across the line in Missouri, that are equally as good pecans, and, we hope, better, than the already named seedlings which have been mentioned above.
During early August it was my pleasure to spend a day in the Hickman bottoms with County Agent Watts and Mr. Ernest Fields, manager of the local nut cracking factory, together with Mr. C. B. Toombs, of Hickman, at which time we inspected a number of recognized successful native pecan groves. Mr. Toombs knows that whole area and is familiar with the pecan trees of outstanding quality and yield history, just as you and I knew where every tree stood in the old home apple orchard or that of grandfather, where as boys we made frequent trips to get a pocketful of those outstanding local variety apples.
Mr. Toombs pointed out to me a tree on his own farm that he said bears a crop every year of from 300 to 400 pounds of nuts. In his own language he described the tree in detail but the thing which impressed me was the fact that he had developed standing orders for private sales to individuals from the crops of this one tree each year because they are of outstanding value. He showed us another tree on a neighbor's farm, one which produced 700 pounds of nuts one year; another tree on which the nuts were ready to harvest a month ahead of the nuts from other pecan trees in that region. (Mr. Wilkinson, it strikes me that propagation from this early maturing tree might well find a place several miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line where normal fall frosts often injure the crops.)
We are of the opinion that with organized effort we can locate these outstanding individual trees, get enough scion wood from them and put it in the hands of a good pecan grower, and in a few years develop sufficient grafting wood so that we can top-work thousands of these young native trees in the district, thereby increasing not only the number of pounds produced per tree, but have a volume of production of the very best quality of nuts. They tell me that one of the trees I observed has a cracking percentage of above 60 as compared to many of the native seedlings which have a cracking percentage of only 20-30 of nut kernels.
+First Annual Nut Show in 1948+
In an effort to locate these outstanding seedling trees in an organized way, our Kentucky Extension Service, cooperating with the Fulton County Farm Bureau, local civic organizations, the local nut cracking plant, and the Northern Nut Growers Association, through its secretary, Mr. J. C. McDaniel, has made plans for a nut show to be held at the county court house in Hickman, Kentucky, in early December of 1948. The feature of the show with be the cash prizes offered for the best seedling pecans. We request that the owners give us a history of the trees, the age, regularity in bearing, etc., with the nut show management reserving the right to cut a few sticks of grafting wood from the winning trees. Prizes will also be offered for hickory and walnut seedling trees. An educational program is also planned in connection with the day's show, and it will include a visit to the farm of the late Roscoe Stone, where a top-working program was started last spring, as well as a visit to the local nut cracking firm. This nut show is set up to become an annual affair, and we feel that the sky is the limit for the good that can come out of such an organized program as it affects the pecan industry in that area.
There are thousands of acres of excellent pecan land in this southwestern Kentucky area, that can be profitably developed into pecan groves. The land is deep, very fertile, and is already well supplied with moisture. We cannot question its being a natural home for pecan production, for nature proved this point to the public two generations ago.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT DAVIDSON: Pecan Culture in South Carolina by Mr. A. M. Musser, Head of the Department of Horticulture at Clemson Agricultural College is next. Mr. Senn will read the paper because Mr. Musser is not able to be here.
Pecan Production in South Carolina
T. L. SENN, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Clemson, South Carolina
In the southern colonies on the Atlantic coast, the pecan was first described by Thomas Walter in his publication "Flora Caroliniana" in 1787. He was an Englishman who had a plantation in St. John's Parish on the Santee River, South Carolina, where he made an extensive collection of southern plants. After describing the tree, evidently a nursery specimen, he ended with the words, "The fruit I have never seen." It is known now that the native range of pecan did not extend to the present state of South Carolina. One of the first large pecan plantings in the state dates back to 1890; This was a seedling planting of 1000 trees made by John S. Horlbock at Charleston. Some of these trees are still producing. The planting never proved profitable and has changed ownership several times.
There are several small plantings of black walnuts, Chinese chestnuts, and Persian walnuts in various parts of the state. Persian walnuts do well in the Piedmont soil region and in 1947 the trees there had a good crop.
+Commercial Pecan Plantings+
The pecan, is one of the most popular tree nuts and is the only one grown on a commercial scale in South Carolina. Pecans are grown in every county, although there is a comparatively small number of trees in most of the Piedmont and Mountain counties, and several counties in the lower Coastal Plain. Orangeburg County, with the largest number, had 27,528. Pickens County, with the fewest trees, had 801. The total for the state was reported as 227,027 trees.
Pecans are an important money crop of the state. During the last five years the production of pecans has averaged three million pounds, which brought farmers a yearly average of $500,000. The average yield per tree of bearing age in 1947 was only about 7 pounds, or 100 pounds per acre. Eighteen cents was the average price received for improved varieties, and twelve cents for seedlings, during the ten-year period 1935-1944. With these prices and yields per bearing tree, it is easily seen that there is plenty of room for improvement, for the production of pecans in South Carolina by the average grower has not been very profitable during the past nine or ten years. South Carolina has ranked fifth or sixth in the production of pecans of improved varieties during the past several years. While production from year to year has been up and down, the general trend is up.
There are two general classes of pecan trees grown in South Carolina: seedlings and named or improved varieties. The average crop figures over the ten-year period 1933 to 1942, show that six times as many nuts of improved varieties were produced as of seedlings. South Carolina produces about 6% of the pecan nuts of improved varieties in the United States and less than 1% of the seedlings. The seedling trees are for the most part given very little attention, receiving neither fertilizers nor sprays. They produce nuts of miscellaneous size, shape, and quality, and are usually smaller than the improved varieties. The cost of production of seedling pecans is small for they are usually grown in back yards, in chicken ranges, and in pastures.
There are a number of pecan varieties that are adapted to and grown inSouth Carolina. The most popular varieties are Schley, Stuart, Successand Moneymaker. A number of other varieties, including Teche, Frotscher,Mahan, Pabst, Delmas, Van Deman, and Moore are grown in some sections.
Schley is very susceptible to scab and should not be planted if a spray program is not carried out. Moneymaker, Stuart, and Success are not so very susceptible to scab and are satisfactory where a complete spray program is not used. Some years ago several growers in one county ordered Stuart trees and these trees, now bearing, turned out to be Teche, so there is some uncertainty as to the variety names in some sections.
The planting distance varies considerably, depending somewhat upon fertility of soil and length of growing season. Most of the plantings are too close, having as many as 20 or more trees per acre. Because of the longer growing season in the lower half of the state, trees grown there will be larger at a given age than those grown in the Piedmont section.
+Cultivation Methods+
Intercrops or cover crops are usually grown to increase the income of the farm. Cultivation programs vary according to the intercrop grown. Pecan trees are grown on various types of soil, which also vary greatly in their fertility. Different fertilizers are recommended for these varying conditions. Fertilizer is usually applied late in February or early in March, several weeks prior to the swelling of the buds. The exact time of application varies according to the area in the state in which the trees are grown. Many of the soils of the state are probably too acid for best growth of pecans and the necessary winter cover crops that should be grown in the plantings. In some soils that have been limed, or where the soil pH is 7.0 or approximately so, the application of zinc, to the soil has not eliminated rosette. Few such conditions exist in South Carolina, but where these conditions do prevail, zinc treatment is being tried in the form of sprays, using commercial spray materials.
Unfavorable weather at blooming time often prevents pollination. Instances of cross-incompatability occurring between the varieties grown in this state are practically unknown. Late spring frosts sometimes kill the male or female flowers or both.
The pecan in South Carolina is subject to attack by numerous insects and diseases, just as it is in other places. Scab is the worst offender. Several species of borers are found attacking the trunks, the twig girdler severing the tips of twigs, the shuck worm and case-bearer affecting the husk, and the pecan weevil affecting the nuts. Many of the trees growing in South Carolina are not planted in sufficiently large groves to justify the expenditure necessary for spray equipment. Contract spraying has been done to some extent and has possibilities in South Carolina. Where the number of trees is small this will be the only way in which growers can afford to obtain the use of high pressure equipment.
+Marketing Conditions+
South Carolina Circular 301 gives the following account of the pecan marketing situation in South Carolina. "Most of the pecans in this state are sold in small lots. The assembling at a number of locations of these small lots into lots large enough to make handling economical has been a great problem. It is believed that three auction markets properly located in the state would be the most satisfactory marketing arrangement. If each of these markets would have one sales day per week so that buyers could attend sales at each place, the cost of marketing could be greatly reduced." There are nine companies in five counties that handle pecans.
This is a rather brief discussion relating facts about the pecan industry in South Carolina, and most of the figures given are average figures. Those plantings receiving good cultural practices give more satisfactory returns. The pecans enterprise can be made a profitable one if the grower will carry out a complete program to overcome the problems of fertilization and control of diseases and insects and not just leave the trees to fight the battle alone.
+References+
Rawl, E. H. and Nettles, W. C.—Pecan Production, S. C. Circ. 183, 1940.
Musser, A. M., et al—Pecan Production and Marketing in S. C., S. C.Circ. 301, 1947.
* * * * *
President Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Senn. I think this program is just tops. I don't know how you feel, but I think it is a wonderful program.
The Storage of Shelled Pecans will be told to us by Professor Harris of the Department of Horticulture of Alabama Polytechnic Institute of Auburn, Alabama. Professor Harris.
Preservation of Shelled Pecans by Drying and Hermetically Sealing
HUBERT HARRIS, Associate Horticulturist, Alabama AgriculturalExperiment, Station.
Without some special treatment, storage life of pecans at ordinary temperatures is rather short. Nuts held in common storage from fall harvest show noticeable flavor losses by spring. Staleness and rancidity are likely to follow as summer weather approaches.
These facts emphasize the need of a better method that might be used both commercially and in the home for preserving the pecan over a long period at common storage temperatures. A satisfactory method might be used not only for preserving nuts for year-round use, but for carrying them over from heavy crop years to light crop years.
This report presents the results of experiments conducted at the AlabamaAgricultural Experiment Station on methods of preserving pecans.
+Storage Troubles+
Some of the common pecan storage troubles are staleness, rancidity, color changes, molding, and insect injury. Molding occurs only when the product is stored in a moist atmosphere at ordinary temperatures. Insect infestation usually results when the shelled kernels are held in unsealed containers under ordinary storage conditions. Rancidity develops during the summer months when the product is stored by common, methods at ordinary temperatures.
Rancidity is probably the most common of pecan storage troubles; it has been considered the most difficult to control. Rancidity is usually preceded by general loss of flavor followed by staleness of kernels. Color gradually becomes darker as the typical rancid condition develops. These changes are associated with and caused by certain chemical reactions that progress at a slow rate. The oils and fats are slowly oxidized to aldehydes, ketones, and other chemical compounds (10), which cause the undesirable aromas and flavors characteristic of the rancid condition.
+Review of Previous Work+
The period during which pecans will remain free of rancidity and other forms of spoilage varies considerably with storage conditions and other factors. Common storage periods ranging from 3 to 12 months have been reported. Wright (10) placed the common storage life at 3 to 5 months. Blackmon (1) suggested 6 months as the maximum period. Medlock (11) was able to keep them in edible condition for periods up to 12 months. The wide ranges of time as observed by the different investigators are due, no doubt, to storage conditions, variety, quality of the nuts, and seasonal variations.
Cold storage was effective in preserving pecans for periods up to 2-1/2 years. Wright (10) reported effective periods of 13 to 30 months, and Medlock (11) was able to keep them for more than 2 years. Shelled pecans did not keep as long either in common or cold storage as the unshelled nuts.
+Methods and Procedures+
Results of preliminary tests made at the Alabama Station in 1937 indicated that pecans kernels might be kept at common temperatures by drying them in an oven and storing in sealed containers, which prevents absorption of moisture from the air. Since storage tests reported by other workers did not include studies of the relationship of moisture content of kernels to their storage life, it was felt that this phase of the problem should be investigated.
Preliminary tests were made to determine suitable temperatures and periods for the drying process. Temperatures of 200 to 225°F proved to be most satisfactory. These temperatures dried the kernels quite rapidly without appreciable scorching or discoloration. The drying period was varied to give desired moisture contents for the various treatments.
Four methods of sealing the jars were used in the experiments. They were the "cold seal," "steam seal," "hot seal," and "vacuum seal."
The cold seal was accomplished by placing cool kernels in cool jars and sealing without special treatment.
By the steam seal, air was exhausted from the jars with a small blast of steam and the jars sealed immediately. Condensation of the steam resulted in a partial vacuum in the jars and a slight increase in moisture content of the kernels.
By the hot seal, hot kernels were transferred directly from the oven pans to clean, dry, hot jars, and sealed immediately. Contraction of the air as the jars cooled resulted in a partial vacuum.
The vacuum seals were made in clamp-top fruit jars by means of a home pressure cooker. Filled jars, with covers partially clamped, were placed in the cooker. The cooker cover was lubricated at the sealing surface and screwed down tightly. The pressure gauge in the top of the cooker was replaced with a vacuum gauge. The needle valve was removed. An aspirator was attached to the water faucet and connected to the needle valve opening by means of a vacuum hose. After the desired vacuum had been pulled on the cooker, the vacuum hose was removed from the needle valve fitting thus permitting air to rush back into the cooker. The sudden change in pressure automatically sealed the jars.
+Presentation of Data+
Preliminary studies were made to determine the effect of temperature and time of drying on moisture content, color, and toasting of kernels. Results of these studies are given in Table I.
TABLE I.—Effect of Temperature and Time of Drying on Moisture Content,Color, and Toasting of Pecan Kernels.=================================================Oven Time in Moisture Changetemperature oven in in Degree ofkernels color[25] toastingMinutes Per cent
0 3.7 0.0 020 2.6 0.5 030 1.4 1 137 1.2 2 2225°F 44 1.0 3 451 0.5 6 858 0.3 8 1065 0.2 8 1072 0.1 9 10————————————————————————-10 3.220 3.1203°F 30 2.941 2.450 2.260 1.9=================================================
[Footnote 25: The numbers 0 to 10 indicate varying amounts of change in color or degree of toasting: 0 represents normal color and/or no toasting. 10 represents considerable intensification of color and/or development of typical flavor of toasted kernels.]
The first series of the processing and storage tests was started in December, 1939. The treatments together with results are given in Table II. The different samples were dried in an electric oven at 225°F to moisture contents ranging from 0.1 to 3.4 per cent. They were sealed in glass jars, both with and without vacuum, and stored in a dark room at ordinary temperatures. Those dried to 2.9 per cent moisture or less were still good after 2 years in storage, whereas those with higher moisture content were rancid after one year in storage. Samples dried to approximately 2 per cent moisture were still good September 1, 1948, which was almost 9 years after processing and storing. The color was preserved somewhat better by vacuum sealing. However, the quality of air-sealed samples was practically as good as those that were vacuum sealed. These tests did not show how long kernels might have been kept by drying and storing in unsealed containers.
Table II.—The Effect of Different Amounts of Drying and Different Methods of Sealing on the Storage Qualities of Pecan Kernels (Tests made at Auburn, beginning December, 1939.)
=========================================
Per centNo. min. moistureMethods of Sample in oven in drysealing [28] No. 225°F kernels
Cold-seal (a) 1 0 8.4Hot seal (b) 2 20 2.93 30 1.64 44 1.05 51 0.7Steam-seal (c) 6 0 3.47 50 0.28 60 0.169 65 0.10Vacuum-seal (d) 10 0 3.411 20 2.712 30 1.0
=========================================
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When canned After 12 mo. After 24 mo.______________ _______________ _____________Methods of Samplesealing [28] No. Color Flavor Color Flavor Color Flavor[26] [27] [26] [27] [26] [27]
Cold-seal (a) 1 1 Excellent 2 Medium 3 MediumHot seal (b) 2 1 Excellent 2 good 3 Very good3 2 Very good, 2 Very Good, 3 Good,slightly dry slightly dry slightly dry4 2 Excellent, 3 Very good, 3 Very good,slightly slightly slightlytoasted toasted toasted5 2 Excellent, 2 Very good 2 Very goodtoasted toasted toastedSteam-seal (c) 6 1 Excellent 2 Fair 2 Fair7 3 Excellent, 3 Very good, 3 Very good,toasted toasted toasted8 3 Excellent, 3 Good, 3 Good,toasted toasted toasted9 4 Excellent 4 Good, 5 Good,toasted toasted toastedVacuum-seal (d) 10 1 Excellent 1 Very good 1 Good,slightlyflat11 1 Excellent 1 Very good 1 Good,slightlyflat12 2 Very good, 2 Very good, 2 Medium,slightly dry slightly dry slightlyflat
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[Footnote 26: Color ratings: Nos. 1 to 5 represent different amounts ofdiscoloration.1 = Normal bright yellow color of fresh kernels.5 = Normal brown color of aged kernels.]
[Footnote 27: Flavor ratings: fair means scarcely edible.]
[Footnote 28: Methods of sealing: (a) sealed without heating; (b) hot kernels immediately transferred from oven pans to dry, hot jars and sealed; (c) air exhausted from jars with steam and sealed immediately; (d) sealed under vacuum by method described under "Procedures."]
Table III.—Effect of Moisture Content, Container, and Sealing onStorage Quality of Schley Pecan Kernels—1940.
================================================================
Moisture content Flavor________________ ________________________________
When[29] After 6 After 8 After 12 After 18stored months months months months
Covered 6.00 7.00 Not edible Not edible Not edible unsealed 4.43 6.85 Not edible Not edible Not edible ice cream 3.50 6.75 Not edible Not edible Not edible cartons 1.71 6.80 Not edible Not edible Not edible ________________________________________________________________
Covered 6.00 10.45[30] Not edible Not edible Not edible unsealed 4.43 6.70 Rancid Not edible Not edible glass 3.50 5.00 Fair Not edible Not edible jars 1.71 4.50 Good Fair Not edible ________________________________________________________________
6.00 6.15 Rancid Not edible Not edible Sealed 4.43 4.70 Fair Not edible Not edible glass 3.50 3.30 Good Good Rancid jars 1.71 1.85 Very good Very good Very good
================================================================
[Footnote 29: The cured pecan kernels had a moisture content of 4.43 at the time the tests were made. Samples with moisture contents below 4.43 per cent were oven dried at 200°F for periods necessary to reach the respective moisture levels. Samples with moisture contents above 4.43 were treated in steam to obtain the desired amount of moisture.]
[Footnote 30: Excessive increase in moisture content resulted in heavy molding of product.]
A second series of processing and storage tests was started in December, 1940. These studies included tests of effect of moisture content, type of container, and sealing on storage qualities of Schley pecan kernels. Table III shows a portion of these tests together with the results obtained. It is pointed out that unsealed samples regained moisture and became rancid within 8 months in storage.
+Summary+
Results from the foregoing experiments show that pecan kernels can be kept for nine years by drying them to about 2 per cent moisture and storing them in sealed containers. The best results were obtained by drying the kernels in an oven for about 50 minutes at 200°F. The exact length of the drying period may vary somewhat with the moisture content of the undried kernels and the quantity of kernels dried at one time. The temperature of the oven could probably be reduced without affecting the drying time by using a fan for circulating the air in the oven.
This method will preserve the fresh qualities of pecans for a much longer time and equally as well as such common methods as freezing and canning preserve fresh qualities of other foods. It is felt that the process offers a practical and effective method that might well be used in the home as well as in commercial plants for preserving shelled pecans for year-round use and/or for carrying over surpluses from a heavy crop year to supplement the light crops that usually follow.
+Literature Cited+
1. Blackmon, G. H., 1927, Pecan Growing in Florida. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 191: 86.
2. Kirkpatrick, S. M., 1924. The Pecan. Alabama Pecan Growers' Association, Proceedings, May, 1924, P. 10.
3. The Encyclopedia Americana. Volume XXI: 461.
4. Bailey, I. H., and Bailey, E. Z., Hortus. Second Edition: 542.
5. The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume XVI: 647.
6. Skinner, J. J.; Fowler, E. D.; and Alben, A. O.: 1928, Pecan Soils of the Gulf and Southeastern States and Maintenance of their Fertility, USDA Circular 492: 1.
7. United States Agricultural Statistics for 1941: 279.
8. Davis, P. O., 1924, Some Facts About the Pecan. Alabama Pecan Growers' Association Proceedings, May, 1924: 9.
9. Salmon, W. D., 1924, Nutritive Value of the Pecan. Alabama Pecan Growers' Association Proceedings, May, 1924: 38-40
10. Wright, R. C., 1941, Investigations on the Storage of Nuts, USDA Technical Bulletin No. 770: 1-35.
11. Medlock, O. C. 1931, Pecan Storage, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report, Volume XLII: 50-51.
12. Blackmon, G. H., 1932. Cold Storage of Pecans. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report, 1932: 102-105.
13. Smith, C. L.; Thor, C. J. B.; and Romberg, L. D.; 1933, Effect of Storage Conditions on the Germination of Seed Pecans. Texas Pecan Growers' Association Proceedings 13: 68-71.
14. Harris, Hubert, 1937, Preservation of Pecan Kernels. Department Annual Report of the Department of Horticulture and Forestry, Alabama Experiment Station, 1937. (Unpublished).
* * * * *
President Davidson: I wonder, Professor Harris, whether those methods could be applied to other nuts in addition to pecans. Would your methods with the pecan be adaptable to other nuts or kernels?
Prof. Harris: I have not tried other nuts, but I have thought quite a bit about the black walnut, and I would like to run some experiments. It seems to me that it would be adaptable to other nuts which have constituents similar to the pecan such as black walnut, and perhaps peanuts. We intend to work some on the peanuts down there. Now, of course, in the case of the chestnut we more or less checked it out on that, because when you dry the chestnut down to low moisture content you have a hard product that is not palatable and is quite undesirable.
President Davidson: Now comes the follow-up studies on the 1946 Ohio black walnut prize winners. Mr. L. Walter Sherman has prepared something on that matter but Mr. Sterling Smith, I believe, is going to read that to us.
Follow-Up Studies on the 1946 Ohio Black Walnut Prize Winners
L. WALTER SHERMAN, Mahoning County Experiment Farm, Canfield, Ohio
In 1946 a black walnut contest was conducted in Ohio that brought out roughly 800 samples of nuts from all sections of the state. Judging on the characters of the nuts only, there were ten selected as prize winners.
Notice that I say on nut characters only. In 1950 a grand prize is to be given to the tree selected from these ten trees that has been the outstanding performer for the five year period. We want to know more about these trees. Do they produce regularly? Do the nuts fill well each year? Are the trees young or old? On what kind of soil are they located? Just what are the factors that cause them to produce such superior nuts?
In order to try to answer some of this type of questions each of the ten trees was visited in 1947 and a careful survey of each was made. This was done in August, at which time the crop prospects for 1947 could be noted. Mimeographed blanks such as the following were used to record the desired data.
Tree Name
Latitude ____________
Name of Owner ______________________ Address _____________
County _______________ State __________ State Route ______
Telephone ___________________
TREE Isolated [] ; moderately crowded [] ; dense woods []
LOCATION Types of trees in vicinity _____________________Air drainage ___________________________________
Level [] ; Slope [] ; Direction of slope ______
TREE SIZE Circumference 4-1/2 feet from ground ___________
AND SHAPE Probable age ____ ; limb spread [] ; tall [] ; short [] ;
open-branched [] ; symmetrical [] ; irregular [] ;
SOIL Sod [] ; plowland [] ; bottom [] ; upland [] ; hillside [] ;
CONDITIONS clay [] ; alluvial [] ; loam [] ; sandy [] ; pH [] ;
Distance to subsoil ______ ; kind of subsoil ________
Humus [] ; lack of humus [] .
DRAINAGE Nearness to spring [] ; tile drain [] ; well [] ;
lake [] ; stream [] .
FERTILITY Fertilized [] ; manure [] ; commercial fertilizer [] ;
lime [] ; not fertilized [] .
Resistance to disease and insects:
Blight______; Witches' Broom______; Caterpillars______;
1947 1948 1949 1950
1947 1948 1949 1950
Bearing: G F S F
Good; Fair; Scattering; Failure.
1947 1948 1949 1950
Season: Date of leafing out
Male: Date of blossoming
Female: Date of blossoming
Date of ripening
Date of killing frost
Last in spring;first in fallRate of growth
Moisture; Rainy,dry, average
Clusters: Size 1947 1948 1949 1950Range in number of nutsper cluster
Production: Size of crop in proportion to size of tree