A Test Which Proves The Best Pecans Cheapest In The End
A comparison of equal weights of five grades
A comparison was made of equal weights of the following grades of pecans:
First, Common wild pecans selling at about 25c per pound.
Second, Common seedling selling at about 30c per pound.
Third, Selected seedling selling at an average price of 40c per pound.
Fourth, Average Paper Shell Pecans, retailing at an average price of about 75c per pound.
Fifth, Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans selling at $1.25 per pound.
This comparison—on the five points (A-B-C-D-E) detailed below on this page and on the following page—shows which gives you the most for your money.
Tested on five counts
A—Before Cracking.—Though size of the nut whole counts for but little in judging pecans, as compared to the quantity and quality of the meat within the shell, those making the test were interested to note that even in the case of the few paper shell pecans in Class Four which seemed larger than an average Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecan, these larger shells were later found to be only partially filled with meat, or with many kernels shrivelled.
B—Opening Process.—The Hess Brand Paper Shell was found to open more readily in the hand without nut crackers, than did the other classes of nuts when nut crackers were used. When the fragments of shell were compared it was easy to see why—superior thinness of shell distinguishes Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans.
The meat in the Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans filled the shells completely, while large air spaces were noted in many varieties in Class Four.
C—Separating Meat From Shell.—When various lots of nuts were carefully opened, in separate piles, a careful comparison was made of the meat and shells in each pile.
“Nature has prepared the soft shell pecan for man’s food by making the kernel easier both to extract and to digest,” says a well known pecan specialist.
The number of whole kernels was counted—no other pecan had four-fifths as many whole kernels as were found among the Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans. The common wild pecan and the common seedling had such hard shells that the meat was practically all broken to small fragments in opening the shells. No detailed comparison was necessary between these crumbs of nut meat, mixed with shell and pith, and the whole kernels or half kernels of the Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans.
D—The Pith Test.—In the Hess Brand Paper Shell and in the Paper Shell Pecans of the Fourth Class there was practically no pith—the inner partition taking the form of a thin membrane which was easily removed, instead of the thick, bitter wall of the two cheaper classes of pecans.
The most meat per dollar from the highest priced nuts
E—The Final Test.—When the nut meat, which was in appetizing or edible form, was separated from the shells and partitions in each case, it was found that for table use the Hess Brand Paper Shell gave the greatest weight of nut meat for every dollar invested in the nuts, carriage and opening costs included. The average paper shell variety which costs nearly as much as the Hess Brand Paper Shell was a poor second, followed closely by the Third Class (the selected seedlings), while the two cheap grades were in the end the most costly investment—because they yielded so small a quantity of satisfactory nut meat for each dollar invested.
This is also confirmed by many other tests, which show that even including small particles of nut meat, which are far from appetizing in form, the wild pecan and the common seedling yield less than four pounds of meat to each ten pounds of nuts; the Selected Seedling Pecan and the common Paper Shell about five pounds of meat to each ten pounds of nuts; and the Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecan about six and three-quarters pounds of meat to each ten pounds of nuts.
With such superiority proven for Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans, it is no longer a question whether the public will pay the higher price. It is paying it.
Oskaloosa, Ia., Jan. 8, 1920.
The nuts certainly are life size and look good enough to eat. Every one who was so fortunate as to get some of the nuts, and they were quite a few, pronounced them the finest ever. Here is wishing all good things for the pecan company.
R. S.