Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting / New York City, September 3, 4 and 5, 1924

by Unknown

DEVELOPING A NUT INDUSTRY IN THE NORTHEAST

BY DR. G. A. ZIMMERMAN, PENNSYLVANIA

We have all heard of the pecan. No doubt most of us have traveled through the South at some time or other and have entertained a wish for a pecan grove. A personal friend of mine, a minister, told me recently that the only time he was ever tempted to invest in a commercial proposition was when a real estate agent laid a picture of a pecan grove before him. I had entertained the thought that some day I might possess an orchard. Therefore, a couple of winters ago, when I found it necessary to go south for my health, I silently hoped I could kill two birds with one stone, by getting some undeveloped land and starting a pecan grove, which at the same time would keep me in the open air and give me exercise. Consequently, my eyes were always open and I was on the constant lookout for pecans. After miles of travel they appeared. They were very interesting and I went into the subject pretty thoroughly. I was informed that no cheap land was available any more that was desirable for pecans. I am not so sure of that. I was also informed that most of the people who had planted groves had made a mistake, that the pecan business was just beginning under new ideas, and that most of the work would have to be done over. From the amount of trees that are being top-worked I am inclined to believe this is true.

But I didn't kill the two birds with one stone. I did not attempt to build up a pecan grove, but instead I came back with the idea firmly impressed that we have a better proposition for the future right here, that we have right here in the North the building material in the shagbark hickory and the black walnut for a nut industry that will rival or even surpass the enviable position the pecan holds today. Was I correct or was I wrong? A second trip last winter has served only to imbed that idea into a firm conviction.

What ground have I for drawing this conclusion? Some of you, my friends, may disagree with me in some of my remarks, and no doubt insist that I am uninformed. Perhaps I am, but I am giving my convictions nevertheless, and I ask you to withhold judgment for twenty years before deciding against me.

Why has the pecan forged to the front as it has? Because the pecan is a good food, easily available, of pleasant taste and presents a fine appearance. From a commercial standpoint, after 20 years or more on the pecan, there is only one really desirable variety available, namely the Schley, and the fact that it readily sold last fall for 80 cents per pound wholesale, while the choice of the other varieties brought 60 and 65 cents per pound, bears me out in this. I am not referring to the greater productivity and other qualities of some of the other varieties. Many of them are tolerated for various reasons.

How about the shagbark in the North? It is my belief that we do not have at present a shagbark that will anything like meet the pecan of the South, yet the consensus of opinion of the people I know who have eaten both, decides in favor of the shagbark. The quality of a very ordinary shagbark is better than the best of pecans. What then, is lacking? Size, shape, thinness of shell, cracking qualities, color, everything but flavor is lacking in most shagbarks. Don't misunderstand me. I am not condemning what we have, for I believe that if as many years are spent by as many people in finding or developing a shagbark, we will have one that will surpass the pecan. But as the matter stands I am constrained to say that I do not know of a really good nut today that will stand the test of building an industry that will compete with the pecan. We must find or develop a couple of really good nuts that will compete, nuts that are large, smooth, shell thin enough to crack with the fingers, a white kernel that is plump and easily extracted. I do not believe that any thick shell nut will ever meet the favor it should or become extremely popular. The Weiker, one of our best, is of good size, looks fairly well, but the shell is thick and it is poorly filled. It will never fill the place for a real industry, and yet they sell for a good money-making price today.

If we build our groves after this standard we will be in the same place in a few years that many of the pecan growers are now, namely, with a lot of trees on hand that must be top-worked later on. But they are the best we have and, like the old adage that it is better to love and lose than not to love at all, it is better to go ahead with these than not to go at all.

How about the black walnut? This nut will come to the front and be popular for baking purposes and candy-making, for it is the only one that holds its flavor after heating. But its competition will be against the thin-shelled English walnut. It will not be extremely popular until we get one with a shell equally thin. At present we do not have one.

How then can we anticipate a great future industry after meting out this doleful outlook? Are we going to discard everything we have and start again? By no means. The price of nuts, even of the ordinary class, is sufficient even now to well repay any man for his effort, if producing them on a large scale, and what must be done is to encourage more people to become interested.

If we could arrange to have nice exhibits of named varieties of nuts at the various county fairs, and have someone there to explain them, a good deal of interest could be created. I frequently see native nuts displayed, but not named varieties.

I shall not refer to the hazel, chestnut, pecan nor butternut, all of which I believe can be developed into a more or less successful industry but only repeat in closing that I am convinced, after pretty thorough investigation, that the shagbark hickory and the black walnut can be developed into an industry in the Northeast in a much shorter time than it has taken to develop the pecan, to a point that will equal or surpass the enviable position that nut holds today. But, and let me impress this point, we must develop a few new and better nuts to do it. On account of the colder climate, which goes for the developing of fine flavor in all products, I do not believe the pecan will ever equal the shagbark in quality. This is our great natural advantage.

DR. MORRIS: I accept all of the statements by Dr. Zimmerman with one exception. The pecan is tremendously prolific and so productive that there are records of 30 bushels to a tree. I do not know that any of the shagbarks or shellbark hybrids ever will rival that in production. From the marketman's point of view production is of prime importance. In this the pecan out-rivals the black walnut.