Fig. 37.From American Nut Journal, Petersburg, Va.Fig. 37.Nut Crackers of different types.
To remove the kernels without breaking, grasp the nut with the crackers as close to the end as possible, and gently but firmly apply sufficient pressure to forcethe sharp teeth of the crackers into the shell. Revolve the nut and repeat the operation until the end is marked with a ring of indentations. Then apply a little greater pressure to start a slight crack, and follow the crack around until the end of the shell drops off. Treat the opposite end in the same way. Next, place the nut lengthwise between the crackers, so they will grasp the side, having the backs of the two halves of the kernel, not the space between the halves, towards the bars. This must be emphasized, because, if pressure is applied at right angles to the edges of the halves instead of against their backs, the chances are that they will be broken when the shell is broken. Having the crackers in position, apply sufficient pressure to crack the shell. Shift the crackers a little to one side of the crack, apply pressure again and a piece of the shell breaks out. A few gentle squeezes will remove the remainder of the shell and the kernel drops out intact.
A hand-power cracker, capable of quite efficient work, is manufactured by Thomas Mills & Bro., Philadelphia, Penn. It has a capacity of one hundred pounds per day, and is capable of giving ninety per cent. of perfect halves.
For factory use, two machines, for extracting kernels at a rapid rate, have been invented, one by Mr. Robert E. Woodson, St. Louis, Mo., and the other by Mr. Grim, New York city. These make it possible to extract pecans in large quantities for commercial purposes. The nuts are fed into a hopper and the machine then takes care of them. In regard to the Woodson machine shown in the adjoining illustration, the inventor says that "in cracking one hundred pounds of nuts there were obtained 39-1/2 pounds of perfect halves and 3-1/2pounds of broken pieces. This test shows 92 per cent. of perfect halves. I do not claim that this result may be obtained at all times and under all conditions, for the hardness of the shell and the dryness of the nuts make a difference in the results."
Pecans which have become somewhat dry should be soaked in water over night. This renders them much more easily cracked.
Fig. 38.Fig. 38.Woodson's Power Kernel Extractor.
Oil extracted from almonds, peanuts, cocoanuts and other nuts is now used for various purposes, and at no distant time it is probable that pecan oil may also be placed on the market. Only the cheaper, inferior grades of nuts can be used in oil-making, as the largerand better quality of nuts are worth too much for dessert purposes.
Ordinary nuts will run about fifty per cent. kernels, and these kernels analyze about seventy per cent. oil or fat. On this basis one hundred pounds would give approximately thirty-five pounds of oil. Of course the better grades of nuts will give sixty per cent. kernels, and would consequently yield more oil.
Pecan oil might be used as a salad oil. It might be put to other culinary uses, as well as finding a possible place among medicinal oils.
But little has been written on the culture of the pecan. The following brief list of bulletins, articles or chapters in general works, comprises practically all that has appeared from the pens of American writers:
Budd, J. L. and Hansen, N. E. The Hickory Nut; Pecan Propagation, in American Horticultural Manual, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright 1902, 1904. Part I, pp. 301-303.
---- The Pecan, in American Horticultural Manual. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright 1903; Part II, pp. 452-454.
Burnette, F. H., Stubbs, Wm. C, Morgan, H. A. Pecans. Baton Rouge: Truth Book and Job Printing Office, 1902; Illustrated; pp. 847-884. Bulletin No. 69, Second Series, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.
Corsa, W. P. Pecan, in Nut Culture in the United States. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896. Illustrated; pp. 49-64. Bulletin Division Pomology, United States Department of Agriculture.
Fuller, Andrew S. Hickory Nuts, In the Nut Culturist. New York: Orange Judd Company. Copyright 1896. Illustrated; pp. 147-202.
Goff, E. S. The Pecan, in Lessons in Commercial Fruit Growing. Madison: University Co-Operative Association. Copyright 1902; pp. 110-114.
Gossard, H. A. Insects of The Pecan. St. Augustine: The Record Company, 1905, Illustrated; pp. 279-320. Bulletin No. 79, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
Hansen, N. E. See Budd, J. L.
Harcourt, Helen. The Pecan, in Florida Fruits and Howto Raise Them. Revised and Enlarged Edition. Louisville: J. P. Morton & Co. Copyright 1886; pp. 207-214.
Heighes, S. B. See Corsa, W. P.
Herrick, Glenn W. Insects injurious to Pecans. Agricultural College, Miss.: Tucker Printing House, 1904. Illustrated; p. 42. Bulletin No. 86, Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station.
Hume, H. Harold. Pecan Culture: a Preliminary Report. Jacksonville: H. & W. B. Drew Co., 1900. Illustrated; pp. 181-212. Bulletin No. 54, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
---- Top-working Pecans. Gainesville: Hill Printing Co., 1901. Illustrated; pp. 357-380. Bulletin No. 57, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
---- Pecans, in Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Report, 1900-1901. De Land: E. O. Painter & Co., 1901. Illustrated; pp. 77-84
Merrill, L. H. See Woods, Charles D.
Morgan, H. A. See Burnette, F. H.
Oliver, George W. Budding the Pecan. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. Illustrated; p. 18. Bulletin No. 30, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture.
Parry, John R. Pecan (Hicoria Pecan, etc.), in Nuts for Profit. Parry, N. J.: John R. Parry. Copyright 1897. Illustrated; pp. 93-118.
Risien, E. E. Pecan Culture for Western Texas. San Saba: E. E. Risien. Copyright 1903-1904. Illustrated; pp. 6-55.
Stuart Pecan Company. The Pecan and How to Grow It. Chicago: Woman's Temperance Publishing Co. Copyright 1893. Illustrated; pp. 9-80.
Stubbs, William C. See Burnette, F. H.
Taylor, William A. Pecan, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1893. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894, pp. 295-296.
---- Pecan, in Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Horticulture.New York: The Macmillan Company. Vol. III. Copyright 1901. Illustrated; pp. 1252-1256.
---- Pecans, in Yearbook, United States Department of Agriculture, 1904. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905. Pls. 2; pp. 405-416.
Van Deman, H. E. Nuts, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1891. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892; p. 395.
---- The Pecan, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1890. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890. Pls. 2; pp. 415-416.
Wood, Wm. H. S. Pecans, in The American Fruit Culturist, by John J. Thomas. Twenty-first Edition. New York: William Wood & Co., 1903. Illustrated; pp. 449-453.
Woods, Chas. D. and Merrill, L. H. Pecan (Hicoria pecan) "Food Analysis" In Nuts as Food. Orono, 1899; pp. 74-75. Bulletin No. 54, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station.
Acrobasis nebulella,138Analysis,12Annular budding,78Balantinus caryae,146Bogus trees,99Bordeaux Mixture,133Botany,19Broken trees,118Budd, J. L. publication by,153Budding,78Budding knives,72-74Bud-sticks,77Bud worms,137Burnette, F. H. publication by,153Care of top-worked trees,87Caseworms,138Catocalas,140Classification,27Chip-budding,79-80Cleft grafting,80Corsa, W. P. publication by,153Cross pollination,23Cultivation,109Cultivated range,16Curing,124Datana interrigma,142Diseases,130Elaphidion villosum,144Exports,15Fall webworm,142Family—Juglandaceæ,20Fertilization,112Fertilizers—applying,115bearing trees,114nursery trees,112young trees,114Flowers,22Food value,12Fuller Andrew S. publication by,153Genus—Hicoria,20Goff, E. S. publication by,153Gossard, H. A. publication by,153Grading,124Grafting,80Grafting iron,72time,77wax,74Grapholitha caryae,146Hansen, N. E. publication by,153Harcourt, Helen publication by,153Heighes, S. B. publication by,154Herrick, G. W. publication by,154Hexagonal—planting,104Hicoria,20Hicoria minima,61High-headed trees,116Hume, H. Harold publication by,154Humus,109-110Hybrid pecans,57Hyphantria cunea,142Imports,15Insects,135Judging pecans,62Kernels,148Laying out,105Leaf blight,130Literature,153Low-headed trees,116Marketing,126Merrill, L. H. publication by,154Morgan, H. A. publication by,154Native range,16-21Number per acre,103Nursery cultivation,70Nut-crackers,14Oak pruner,144Oil,151Oliver, G. W. publication by,154Oneideres,143Orchard crops,110Packages,125Parry, John H.cultivation by,154Patch budding,78Pecan botany,19caterpillar,142diseases,130Insects,135tree borer,145kernels,148oil,151outlook,11stocks,68varieties,26weevil,146Phosphoric acid,113Picking,123Planting-board,107Planting distances,102Planting nuts,69Planting systems,103Planting time,102Planting trees,106Planting Systems—square,104Hexagonal,104Pollination,22Potash,113Proteopteryx deludana,137Pruning,116time,117Propagation,66Purchasing trees,97Planting trees,102Quicksand,89Rectangular planting,104Risien, E. E. publication by,154Root pruning,119Rosette,132Scab,131Scions, selection of,75Seedling trees,66Selection of varieties,93Sesia scitula,145Shuck worm,146Soils,89preparation,91Stocks,68Storing,127Storing seed nuts,69Stuart Pecan Company, publication by,154Stubbs, William Co. publication by,154Taproot,120Taylor, William A. publications by,154Top-working,84Twig girdler,143Van Deman, H. E. publication by,155Varieties—Alba,28Alley,28Atlanta,28Bacon,28Bacon's Choice,28Bartow,29Beauty,29Belle,29Biediger,29Biloxi,29Black Jack,29Bolton,29Bourgeois,55Brackett,30Bradley,30Briden,30Bullets,30Capital,30Carman,30Castanera,52Centennial,31Century,49Chiquita,31Clark,31Colorado,31Columbia,49Columbian,49Curtis,31Curtis No. 2,31Curtis No. 3,48Curtis No. 5,38Daisy,32Dalzell,32Deimas,33Dewey,33De Witt,34De Witt Mammoth,44Domestic,34Duminie Mire,55Early Texan,34Egg,34Eggshell,34Eggshell,35Excelsior,34Extra Early,34Faust,35Favorita,35Floyd,57Franklin,35Frotscher,35Frotscher's Eggshell,35Georgia,36Georgia Giant,36Georgia Melon,36Giant,37Gonzales,37Graff,37Halbert,37Hamilton,37Harcourt,37Havens,37Hollis,37Hume,38Hybrids,57Ideal,38Idlewild,38Jacocks,38Jacocks' Mammoth,38James' Giant,39James No. 1,39James' Paper-shell,39James' Perfection,47Jewett,40Jumbo,40Kate Schaifer,50Kennedy,40Kentucky Gem,40Kidd,40Kincaid,41Krack-Ezy,41Ladyfinger,41Lamar,42Lewis,42Longfellow,42Louisiana,42Majestic,35Mammoth,49McCallister,57Magnum Bonum,43Mammoth,43Mantura,43Mexican Paper-shell,44Meyers,44Monarch,44Money,44Money-maker,45Moore,45Morris,45Nelson,46Nigger,46Nussbaumer,58Olivier,35Pabst,46Pan-American,46Paragon,55Pearl,47Pegram,47Perfection,47Petite,47Pooshee,57Post,47Post's Select,37-47President,47Primate,47Pride of the Coast,40Randall,48Repton,48Ribera,48Risien,48Robson,48Rome,49Russell,49Russell No. 1,50Russell No. 2,50San Saba,50Schaifer,50Schley,51Schneck,59Senator,52Senator Money,44Southern Beauty,55Southern Giant,49Sovereign,52Steckler's Mammoth,43Stevens,52Stuart,52Success,53Sweetmeat,54Texas,54Texas Prolific,54Thomas,54Turkey Egg, Jr.,54Turkey Egg, Sr.,54Turner,54Twentieth Century,49Valsies,55Van Deman,55Westbrook,61Willingham,56Young,56Varieties recommended,93Alabama,95Florida,95Louisiana,96Mississippi,95North Carolina,94South Carolina,94Texas,96Virginia,91Veneer Shield-budding,78Waxed cloth,75Weevil,146Whip-grafting,81Woods. Charles D. publication by,155Woods, W. H. S.publication by,155
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