Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943

by Unknown

Cracking tests by single operator with 10 random replicate samples of
Snyder black walnuts. 1942 crop. 25 nut samples.

Sample	Treatment	Wt 1 nut grams	% kernel 1st crack	% kernel total	Quarters number	Penalty	Score	Remarks
1	Dry as received	18.1	21.8	23.1	85	—9.0	72.7	3 empty, 12 shr.
2	Dry as received	18.5	24.0	25.8	99	—5.0	84.3	10 shr.
3	Soaked 9 hrs., dried 14 hrs.	18.6	25.7	28.0	99	—6.0	87.4	1 empty, 10 shr., 8 bnd. qtrs., 16 hvs.
4	Soaked as above	18.3	26.9	28.4	99	—4.5	91.7	9 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 19 hvs.
5	Held in cellar 4 days (high humidity)	18.0	24.4	25.7	90	—6.5	82.1	1 empty, 11 shr., 8 bnd. qtrs.
6	Held in cellar 7 days	19.0	25.6	27.2	99	—5.0	88.7	10 shr., 7 bnd. qtrs., 3 hvs.
7	Held in cellar 7 days	18.4	23.9	26.1	96	—6.5	82.3	1 empty, 11 shr., 9 bnd. qtrs.
8	Held in cellar 4 days	19.2	24.8	26.6	98	—5.5	86.4	11 shr., 4 bnd. qtrs.
9	Held in cellar 4 days	18.4	23.7	26.7	92	—7.5	81.6	2 black counted as empty, 11 shr., 12 bnd. qtrs.
10	Held in cellar 4 days	18.6	23.5	25.9	94	—5.5	83.4	1 empty, 9 shr., 10 bnd. qtrs.

Another lot of 24 random replicate 25 nut samples of Ohio black walnut from the original tree was made by scooping the nuts out of a bag with a quart berry box which held about 25 nuts. Care was used not to select the samples in any way. The lightest sample 3 weighed 385 grams, the heaviest 22 weighed 434 grams or a difference of 2 grams per nut. The score of these two samples was 85.0 and 85.4 respectively apparently because there were no empty nuts in either sample.

The results of tests on 18 of these replicate samples of Ohio are given in Table 3. The nuts were apparently a uniform lot. The kernels while of good quality were in most cases not quite plump and did not fill the cavities of the shell tightly. This doubtless accounts for the large number of quarters recovered. The kernels on the whole were plumper than with the variety Snyder reported in Table 2 and there were fewer empty nuts. Of the samples that were not soaked the variation of 4.3 per cent in the per cent first crack is of the same order as variation of 3.6 per cent for total per cent kernel and indicates uniform cracking technique.

The data in Table 3 gives evidence of the effect of treatments before cracking. The first nine samples marked with an asterisk were held for several weeks in a damp cellar and have an average test score of 86.6. The last seven samples were held in a dry but unheated room for a week before cracking and show an average test score of 83.7. The average score for the two soaked samples was 93.9. Soaking also increased the number of halves and quarters recovered in the same way as shown with variety Snyder in Table 2. None of these samples was excessively dry. In this table the lowest score (sample 19) is directly related to the presence of 3 empty nuts in the sample. The low score of sample 21 is mostly related to low per cent first crack which is caused by large number of bound quarters and the high penalty related to empty nuts and shrivelled kernels. These scores seem to indicate the value of the samples but bring out the difficulty of obtaining equal scores from such replicate samples. The other scores in the table are probably as close to each other as can be expected with samples of this sort.

In this and the preceding tables the number of bound quarters is given as an indication of cracking technique. With the Hershey cracker the nuts of many varieties will split into four quarters without releasing the kernels. The number of such bound quarters is increased if the operator does not put sufficient pressure on the anvils to crush the shoulders of the nut and free the kernel. On the other hand if too much pressure is used and the anvils brought too close together the kernels will be crushed and the score affected adversely. With some varieties, for example, the Adams as shown in samples 1 and 2 in table 5, the nuts are so pointed at each end that the standard anvils do not strike the shoulders of the nut and many bound quarters result. With such varieties cracking with a hammer would probably give a better score. Anvils with deeper cavities in the ends would be an advantage for such nuts.

TABLE 3

Tests by the same operator of duplicate samples of Ohio black walnuts, treated
in various ways before cracking. 25 nut samples. 1942 crop.

Sample	Treatment	Wt 1 nut grams	% kernel 1st crack	% kernel total	Quarters number	Penalty	Score	Remarks
9	*Dry	16.9	25.8	27.1	98	—0.5	72.7	1 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 7 halves
10	*Dry	16.8	23.8	25.2	95	—3.0	83.5	1 empty, 4 shr., 7 bnd. qtrs.
12	*Dry	16.2	24.5	25.5	97	—2.0	86.1	4 shr., 8 bnd. qtrs., 13 halves
24	*Dry	16.2	24.8	25.7	86	—3.0	84.2	2 empty, 2 shr., 4 bnd. qtrs., 8 halves
17	*Dry	17.3	24.8	27.3	97	—0.5	89.7	1 shr., 9 bnd. qtrs., 12 halves
21	*Dry	15.9	22.0	25.5	96	—4.0	78.2	1 empty, 6 shr., 14 bnd. qtrs., 17 halves
8	*Dry	16.6	25.2	26.9	99	—1.5	88.8	3 shr., 6 bnd. qtrs., 10 halves
15	*Dry	16.6	25.5	26.7	99	—1.5	89.8	3 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 12 halves
23	*Dry	16.4	25.2	26.2	96	—3.0	87.0	6 shr., 4 bnd. qtrs., 10 halves
11	Soaked	16.9	27.0	28.2	100	—1.5	93.5	Soaked 1 hr., moist 18, dried 12 hrs., 3 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 25 halves
16	Soaked	16.8	27.1	28.2	100	—0.8	94.3	Soaked as above, 1 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 16 halves
4	Dry	16.2	23.6	26.4	98	—3.5	82.9	7 shr., 10 bnd. qtrs., 15 halves
5	Dry	17.1	23.6	25.0	93	—3.0	83.1	1 empty, 6 shr., 5 bnd. qtrs., 10 halves
18	Dry	17.0	25.3	26.6	97	—2.0	88.6	4 shr., 6 bnd. qtrs., 8 halves
19	Dry	16.3	21.5	23.7	85	—4.5	75.1	3 empty, 3 shr., 9 bnd. qtrs., 8 halves
3	Dry	15.4	24.7	27.0	97	—3.0	85.0	6 shr., 8 bnd. qtrs., 5 halves
7	Dry	16.0	25.7	25.7	94	—3.5	86.1	7 shr., 6 halves, end reversed in cracking
22	Dry	17.4	24.1	25.8	94	—2.5	85.4	5 shr., 8 bnd. qtrs.