Part 1

Paper Shell Pecans

The first quarter of the east front of our bearing pecan orchard. As far as the eye can see, stretch row after row of fine, big pecan trees (compare with man for size); many of which have borne over two hundred pounds in a single season.

What better evidence could you wish of the adaptability of soil and climate to pecan growing?

_All illustrations of pecan trees in this book were made from photographs taken on our plantations of over 7000 acres in southwest Georgia—where pecans thrive best._

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Economic Value of the Pecan, 4, 10, 14, 15

Right Foods—The Increasing Demand, 5

Less Animal Flesh—More Pecan Meat, 5, 6, 16

Shall We Cease to Eat Meat?, 7, 8

Nut Meat Gives Fat and All Needed Protein, 9

Nuts a Staple Necessary Food, 11

Nuts Versus Beefsteak, 12

Nuts, the Safer Source of Protein, 13

Grow Pecans—the Ideal Fat Food, 14

Twenty Times as Much Food Per Acre, 15

The Finer the Nut the Greater the Demand, 17, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

The Pecan—the Year Round Nut, 18

What Is the Paper Shell Pecan?, 19, 21

The Hardiest of All Nut Trees, 20

Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34

Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans Please All Who Eat Them, 25, 26, 27, 28

We Have Sold Tons of Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans, 24

Nuts Meet the Demand for Uncooked Food, 30

Maximum Food Value in Condensed Form, 32

More Pecan Orchards—A Vital Necessity, 35

How Pecan Trees do Grow (Illustrated), 22, 36, 43, 45

Our Co-operative, Profit-Sharing System, 37, 38, 39, 40

Service—Which Builds Productive Orchards, 41

Each Acre-Unit Increases in Value $100.00 a Year, 46

Units Fully Paid in Case of Death, 70

One of the Safest Industries—the Profit is O. K., 42

Yield of Orchard Units, 42

Our Investors All Over the World, 48

Letters from Owners Who Visited Our Plantation, 49, 50, 52, 59

An Ideal Southern Home, 51, 52

Investigate the Company—Its Management and Its Officers, 53 to 65

No Investment Could Be Safer, 66, 67

Who Should Invest, 67, 68

Application Blank, 69, 70

A Few of the Noted Authorities and References

Government Statistics.

U. S. Congressional Records, 4, 5, 10, 30, 38

Alabama Dept. of Agriculture, 4

U. S. Census Bureau, 5, 6, 16, 30

President Wilson, 5

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 57

U. S. Food Administration, 8

Famous Food Authorities.

Dr. Graham Lusk, 7, 13

Physical Culture Mag., 8, 13

Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, 8

Dr. Gordon J. Saxon, 8

Dr. J. H. Kellogg, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 26, 30

Professor Cajori, of Yale, 11

Dr. Hoobler, Detroit, 11, 15

Alfred W. McCann, 13

Inter-Allied Scientific Food Commission, 13

Dr. Elmer Lee, 26

Prominent Magazines Quoted.

Literary Digest, 8

Good Health, 8, 11, 13, 14

Journal of the American Medical Association, 11

Noted Agricultural Authorities.

Luther Burbank, 4, 19, 26, 67

American Nut Journal, 19

Field Illustrated, 7

Prof. H. Harold Hume, 9

Prof. Henry, of Wisconsin Univ., 14

E. Lee Worsham, 18, 21

Copyright, 1921, Elam G. Hess, Manheim, Pa., Issued Jan., 1921.

FOREWORD

=Food is the need of the day—of every day.=

=Food is the need of the future.=

=From the beginning of the world food production= has been the most important of the activities of man—but food production has frequently taken uneconomic channels. Even before the war in Europe started, the tendency toward changing standards in food production was marked.

In one of America’s leading periodicals, we read: “=Tree crops is the next big thing in farming=,” says J. Russel Smith, after =an 18,000–mile journey through the nut growing countries=.

The man who is alert to changing food standards, who realizes how largely the cattle herds of the world have been depleted during the World War, who has learned how long it will be before they can be built up, will see in this condition an opportunity paralleled only in a small way by the noted investment opportunities of the past.

About a hundred years ago the =railroad= offered an investment opportunity which the Vanderbilts were wise enough to see—and to seize. You know that the Vanderbilt wealth has lasted through generations—increasing year by year.

About fifty years ago there was a similar opportunity offered in =steel=—demanded by the rapidly growing industries. The names of Carnegie and Schwab head the list of the famous “thousand steel millionaires”—made rich by foresight.

Forty years ago =electricity= offered its opportunities to Edison—and to many others who have become extremely wealthy because they combined courage with foresight.

Marvelous as have been the fortunes in =railroads=, in =steel= and in =electricity=, we are today, says the Luther Burbank Society in its book, “Give the Boy a Chance,” “facing an opportunity four hundred times bigger than the railroad opportunity was a hundred years ago, eight hundred times bigger than electricity offered at its inception, fifteen hundred times bigger than the steel opportunity which Mr. Carnegie found—=because agriculture is just by these amounts bigger than those other industries=.”

From land—the most permanent basis of wealth—immense fortunes of today and tomorrow are being drawn. America is beginning to see a new vision,—its agriculture is taking a newer, more profitable form.

=What is the Biggest Future in Agriculture?= When James J. Hill staked his all in apples and received in return a profit estimated at ten million dollars—he was merely a pioneer in the new type of farming.

Yet the pecan comes into bearing as early as the apple orchard and remains in bearing many times as long, says Bulletin No. 41, of the Alabama Department of Agriculture.

It is particularly significant that the strongest advocates of tree agriculture are those familiar with conditions in nut growing countries. Consider that fact in connection with this statement of Luther Burbank, the Edison of Agriculture: “=Paper Shell Pecans of the improved varieties are the most delicious, as well as the most nutritious nuts in the world. They are higher in food value than any other nuts, either native or foreign.=”

In a prominent agricultural weekly we read: “The tree that yields a pound or two of nuts at five years of age is counted upon for twenty to fifty pounds by the tenth year, and after that the yield grows beyond anything known in fruit trees, because the Pecan at maturity is a forest giant.”

In the face of such facts, is it not wise to consider carefully the interesting facts on Paper Shell Pecans found within?

=ELAM G. HESS, Manheim, Lancaster County, Pa.= =Keystone Pecan Orchard =President Keystone Pecan Company= Plantations= =in Southwest Georgia—Calhoun, =Pennsylvania State Vice President Dougherty, Lee and Mitchell of National Nut Growers Counties= Association=

“_Pecan production is destined to become one of the most important lines of orchard development in the United States._”—Cong. Record of the United States, p. 1101, Vol. 54.

Right Foods—The Increasing Demand

No matter what may happen, the demand for nourishing foods is sure to grow so long as the population increases. Railroads, steel, electricity—all are recent developments, none of them indispensable to mankind. =But existence itself depends on nourishing foods.=

“Then,” you say, “no business should be surer than that of supplying food to the growing population of America.”

Correct, provided you supply the right food.

[Sidenote: Food standards are changing]

For food standards are changing. Prove that fact, if you will, by the figures of the U. S. Census Bureau for the years 1900 and 1910, a period unaffected by the World War.

During that period the population of the United States increased from 75,091,575 to 91,972,266—an increase of virtually 22–3⁄10 per cent. Therefore, the production of any foodstuffs should increase by the same percentage during that period to provide for the same consumption per capita.

[Sidenote: Less beef, less pork, more nut meat]

Has the consumption of beef increased during that period? Apparently not—for there were 8.7 per cent. less cattle on the farms in 1910 than in 1900. Nor was there any material increase in imports. That there was not a corresponding increase in the price of beef during this period, is indicated by the fact that the value of all cattle on American farms increased only 1.6 per cent. between 1900 and 1910—an increase only one-fourteenth as great as the increase in population.

There was a loss of 7.4 per cent. in the number of swine on American farms and a decrease of 14.7 per cent, in the number of sheep—the inevitable result of which loss while population was increasing to the extent of 22–3⁄10 per cent. was an increase in price per pound in pork, ham, bacon, mutton, etc., which automatically cut off a large part of the demand.

[Sidenote: A loss of twenty-nine pounds per capita on animal flesh]

When urging the necessity for close study of the food problem, President Wilson pointed out the fact that during a ten-year period there had been a loss of 29 pounds of animal flesh per capita per year. With such a record it is obvious that some foods to replace meats must be found.

Why Spend Millions For Imported Nuts?

“We are annually importing between 60,000,000 and 70,000,000 pounds of nuts at a cost of between $12,000,000 and $13,000,000, while we export nuts worth less than a half million dollars. _Why should we spend millions of dollars each year in buying nuts from foreign countries, when we can grow the pecan, the equal of any other nut, either native or foreign, in unlimited quantities?_”—Congressional Record of the United States, Vol. 54, No. 27.

Poultry Gains Fail to Equal Increase of Population

Poultry was the only exception among meats to this history of diminishing supply, increased prices and diminishing demand. Yet the gain in the number of all fowls on American farms was only 17 per cent., while the population was increasing 22.3 per cent. The American production of nut foods was increasing 55.7 per cent. in the same period without beginning to meet the demand.

Though the increase in value of the American nut crop was 128.1 per cent., still the increase in consumption required an increase in imports so great that in 1910 America was supplying only one-fourth of the nuts it was eating; while in 1900 it supplied half.

Government figures, taken from a leading nut publication, show that in 1900 the value of nuts imported into the United States was $3,484,651. By 1910 it had risen to $12,775,196, which is 365% of 1900 importations, although the population of the United States increased only 22.3% during that ten-year period.

In 1919 there were $57,499,044 worth of nuts imported, which is 450% of the importations in 1910, although the 1920 census shows an increase of only 15% in population since 1910. Nut importations in 1919 are 1650% of those in 1900, while population increased only 40% between 1900 and 1920.

We see, therefore, that there is a gain in nut importations between 1900 and 1910 twelve times as great as the gain in population; that the later increase is so great that this gain between 1900 and 1919 is 39 times as great as the increase in population. Surely this is conclusive evidence of the great increase in nut consumption in the United States, when we remember how greatly the American nut crop was increasing during this period.

[Sidenote: Nut consumption increases thirty-nine times as greatly as population]

These authentic figures astonish even the man who has learned by experience that “=nut meat is the real meat=” of greatest food value; for they show what great number of his fellow countrymen have proved their belief in the same fact. The man who has looked upon nuts as a holiday diet alone, cannot fail to see his error, when he realizes that this increase in the importation of nut meats in 1919 compared to 1900 is nearly nine times as great as the increase in population; despite the largely increasing American production.

Higher education in food values has led people to realize the necessity for different and more varied diet—and this educational development has been facilitated also by economic conditions.

[Sidenote: The public forced to cut down on animal flesh—grazing land scarcer]

As population increases, land becomes more valuable. As land becomes more valuable—intensive farming is practiced. Grazing becomes virtually impossible under such conditions; and, despite all the efforts of the Department of Agriculture experts, cattle raising is pushed farther and farther from the large centers of population. Increased transportation and costs of refrigeration mean increased meat prices—even the importation of large quantities of South American beef between 1910 and 1914, for instance, failed to keep meat at a price low enough so that it could constitute the large food element which it once was on the American table.

“Shall We Cease to Eat Meat?”

[Sidenote: Available supply of pork, beef and mutton shrinking]

asks Field Illustrated for March, 1919. A question of great significance, from a publication of unquestioned leadership on scientific cattle breeding. A question graphically illustrated by this self-explanatory chart.

OUR AVAILABLE MEAT SUPPLY (PER INDIVIDUAL)

IN 1880 WAS HOGS CATTLE SHEEP 1 7⁄10 7⁄10

IN 1900 8⁄10 9⁄10 6⁄10

IN 1917 6⁄10 6⁄10 ½

SHALL WE CEASE TO EAT MEAT OR DRINK MILK OR WEAR WOOLEN CLOTHES

Copyright 1919, Field Illustrated

Field Illustrated shows that, the country over, it takes an average of three acres to support a single full grown cow through the summer season alone. It shows that wheat is the great competitor of the meat crop, that wheat has driven livestock from the western ranges, and that during the past four years wheat has been driving the dairy cows and the beef steer from the eastern and middle western farms.

[Sidenote: Animals must not compete with human beings for cereal foods]

“Whenever there is pressure for food,” concludes Field Illustrated, “and animals must compete with humans for the cereal products of the fields, then animals are pretty likely to lose out. =An acre of corn will feed ten times as many people in the form of Johnny Cakes as it would if converted into meat.=”

This statement is in striking accord with the conclusions reached by Graham Lusk, one of the two American representatives to the Inter-Allied Scientific Food Commission, who wrote in December, 1918, “=It is, therefore, axiomatic that in times of scarcity one must not give to pigs food which can nourish human beings.=” For further data, see pages 14 and 15.

Why America Must Eat Less Animal Flesh

The call of the United States Food Administration for =meatless days=, for =porkless days= and for =every day a fat saving day=, taught a lesson that America will never forget.

[Sidenote: Americans use twice as much animal flesh as any European nation]

Food experts have for years emphasized the fact that Americans eat too much animal flesh. Physical Culture says:

“About forty per cent. of our American bill of fare is of animal origin. In England the percentage is but twenty per cent. of the total food, in Continental Europe it is less, and in Japan it is not more than five per cent. Yet the Japanese have astounded the world in every test of endurance.”

[Sidenote: Excessive in cost, wasteful, and the cause of illness]

“‘The American soldier is eating 100 per cent. too much meat,’ said the world famous Dr. Wiley; while Dr. Gordon J. Saxon, director of the laboratory for cancer of the Oncologic Hospital, Philadelphia, was quoted by the Philadelphia North American as ascribing the wonderful resistive powers of the French soldiers to the fact that they lived on a meagre supply of high protein foods, like animal flesh, and were given an abundance of fats and carbohydrates. He laid stress on the excessive cost of our American diet with its high ‘animal intake,’ and this was also emphasized by the booklet, ‘War Economy in Food,’ issued by the U. S. Food Administration, which characterized animal flesh as the most expensive of staple foods in proportion to food value.”

[Sidenote: Fat is needed; securing it through eating animal flesh is the source of trouble]

Americans are just learning that the cause of most of their bodily ailments is the securing of fat by eating animal flesh. As the Literary Digest well says in its March 9th, 1918, issue:

“_Fats are chiefly valuable as fuel for the body. But in addition to being consumed and turned to energy, fats are also readily stored away by the body, alongside muscle and bone; as a reserve in times of illness or physical exertion._

Chief among the functions of protein is its importance as a builder of bodily tissues. It is structural. The part it plays is like that of iron in a locomotive.”

Once built, the body, like the locomotive, needs only sufficient building material (protein) to rebuild wornout portions; but it needs motive material (fat) in far greater proportion. =Yet high animal flesh diet=, which has been the American custom, =puts into the system a far greater amount of protein than is needed and too little fat=. The system cannot absorb this excess protein, and sluggishness, intestinal derangements, autointoxication and flesh-borne diseases are the inevitable result.

[Sidenote: Fat is essential to withstand exposure]

“=Fat is fuel for Fighters=,” said the U. S. Food Administration. It urged civilians to avoid waste of fats because fats are necessary to those who must withstand extremes of climate, stand in water-soaked trenches and indulge in extreme physical activity.

[Sidenote: Two to four ounces daily are needed]

As Good Health for March, 1918, pointed out, “=Fats are fuel foods! The daily requirement is two to four ounces.=”

There is a way to get this required quantity of fat without the excessive protein intake which is the inevitable result of our high animal flesh diet. By following this plan America can multiply its industrial efficiency, and benefit the physical welfare of all.

Nut Meat Gives Fat and all Needed Protein

In his speech to the National Nut Growers’ Association, at Biloxi, Mississippi, Dr. Kellogg emphasized the necessity for fuel foods and the need for less proteins and albumens. He said:

[Sidenote: Nut production destined to exceed animal industry]

“To nuts, then, we must look for the future sustenance of the race.... Half a century hence the nut crop will far exceed in volume and in value our present animal industry.”

He emphasizes the fact that all experiments have proved that “Nut protein is the best of all sources upon which the body may draw for its supplies of tissue building material,” while at another point he adds, “On account of their high fat content they are the most highly concentrated of all natural foods.” At great length, he compares the ease of assimilation of nut fats with that of the other source of fat, and concludes, “nut fats are far more digestible than animal fats.”

[Sidenote: Pecans supply the proper ratio of fat and protein]

Necessity is the mother of invention. If America had utilized in the past its full opportunities to grow pecans—the best of all nuts in high fat content with the perfect ratio of protein—we could have shipped to our soldiers abroad the nourishment most needed in most condensed form, protected from all contamination and free from all putrefactive bacteria. It would require approximately a tenth of the cargo space and would need no refrigeration. It would require no cooking; could be munched on the march, and would be assimilated more readily than animal fats and proteins.

[Sidenote: The public is changing from animal fats]

It requires but a glance at any newspaper or magazine to realize that vegetable fats are taking the place of animal fats—and that the source of virtually all the new products along this line is nut oil, peanuts and cocoanuts being the largest sources of supply to date. Our 1915 Pecan Book quoted Prof. H. Harold Hume, then State Horticulturist of Florida, Glen St. Mary, Fla., as saying:

“According to analysis, the Pecan is richer in fat than any other nuts—70 per cent. of the kernel is fat. The pecan may at some time be in requisition as a source of oil—an oil which would doubtless be useful for salad purposes—but it is never likely to be converted into oil until the present prices of nuts are greatly reduced.”

Since then pecan prices have had a decided tendency to increase because the demand is growing more rapidly than the supply; and the chances of the pecan being used for oil are more remote than ever. Yet one of the great reasons for the increase in demand is increasing public knowledge of the pecan and its wonderful food value. For the pecan is proved richer in fat than any other nut, with the right proportion of easily assimilated protein, and free from any irritating membrane such as makes some nuts difficult of digestion by those who have weak stomachs.

Nut Meat is Superior to Animal Flesh

Nut meat is Nature’s food product for supplying fats and proteins, superior in every way to animal flesh. Dr. Kellogg, of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, said:

“Nuts are rich in fat and protein. On account of their high fat content they are the most highly concentrated of all natural foods. _A pound of nuts contains on an average more than 3,000 calories or food units, double the amount supplied by grains, four times as much as average meats and ten times as much as average fruits or vegetables._”

For example, according to Jaffi’s table, ten different kinds of our common nuts contain on an average 20.7% of protein, 53% of fat, and 18% of carbohydrate. Among all nuts the pecan has the largest percentage of fat and the best balanced proportion of protein, analysis showing 12% protein, 70% fat, and 18% carbohydrate.

Meat (round steaks) gives 19.8% of protein and 15.6% of fat, with no carbohydrate. =A pound of average nuts contains the equivalent of a pound of beefsteak and, in addition, nearly a pound of butter and a third of a loaf of bread.= The nut is, in fact, a sort of vegetable meat. Its composition is much the same as that of fat meat, only it is in much more concentrated form.

Knowing that the nut is a highly concentrated food, the question naturally arises, can the body utilize the energy stored in nuts as readily as that supplied by meat products?

[Sidenote: Nut meat is readily digestible]

The notion that nuts are difficult of digestion has really no foundation in fact. The idea is probably the natural outgrowth of the custom of eating nuts at the close of a meal when an abundance, more likely a superabundance of highly nutritious foods has already been eaten, and the equally injurious custom of eating nuts between meals. Neglect of thorough mastication must also be mentioned as a possible cause of indigestion following the use of nuts.