Part 3
=The seedling pecan= is the next step toward pecan perfection. Larger than the wild pecan, and thinner shelled, it equals or surpasses it in flavor, depending upon the variety of seedling under consideration. Selling at an average price of 35 to 45 cents per pound, which is double the cost of the wild pecan, it has so much more meat and it is so much more accessible, that it is always a better paying purchase for the housewife. So justly popular has the seedling pecan become that the wise dealer and the discriminating housewife will have nothing to do with the inferior, thick-shelled pecan, which is brightly tinted and polished to disguise the inferiority.
The Pecan Makes More Progress Than Other Nuts Made In Centuries
“With practically no improvement as a result of culture and breeding, but taken directly from nature, many of the wild pecans afford an exceedingly desirable product. Unconscious, and, therefore, unsystematic selection and planting of pecan seed about dooryards during a period of less than 200 years has developed varieties of such desirable quality that the pecans most successfully compete with other species, like the almond and the walnut which have been under cultivation for many centuries.”—Congressional Record for January, 1917.
The Paper Shell Pecan
Had the work of experts not gone further than establishing the improved Seedling Pecan, it would have justified all efforts—for the seedling pecan bore justifiable comparison with any other nut on the market in food value and accessibility; until =the Paper Shell Pecan was developed from budded trees=.
[Sidenote: The paper shell pecan—the queen of all nuts]
The Paper Shell Pecan has an air-tight shell so thin that it is easily broken in one hand by a gentle pressure. Kernel is large, easily removed, of flavor so much finer that any observing person can distinguish it from any other pecan by taste alone.
Instead of a bitter partition wall which imbeds itself in the nut when it is cracked, as in the wild pecan, the paper shell pecan has a thin, tissue-like membrane which is easily removed.
With the paper shell pecan a larger portion of the total weight of the nut is meat than with any other nut, with the possible exception of the finest almond. And this meat of the paper shell pecan contains seventy per cent. fat, while that of the almond contains but fifty-four per cent.
The paper shell pecan is the Queen of all nuts.
[Sidenote: Quality unequalled but supply is limited]
It has no equal from the standpoint of size, appearance, accessibility of meat, size of kernel, and fine flavor. The only disadvantage is the limited supply—for there is but a small territory in which soil conditions and climate are right. The walnut is raised in England, France, Italy and in large quantities in the three Pacific coast states, and in smaller quantities elsewhere. The paper shell pecan seems to flourish best within a forty-mile radius around Albany, in Southwest Georgia. Of the half million budded pecan trees in the world, two hundred and forty thousand, or practically half, are in this forty-mile radius. Were complete records of yield accessible, it would be seen that this half of the budded trees has produced far more than their portion of the crop.
While State Entomologist of Georgia, Mr. E. L. Worsham, wrote: “The Pecan Industry has developed beyond the point where it matters not what you or I believe. It is a success. Results are being produced of wide interest and of permanent character, and the industry in the Albany district in the hands of competent men has wonderful potentialities. The hundreds of thousands of dollars invested by shrewd business men in Commercial Pecan properties, after personal investigation, argues that the development being recorded in the Albany district is meritorious.”
The First Three Steps In Establishing Paper Shell Pecan Orchards
First, the Seedling Pecan Nut is Planted in the Nursery
A Few Years Later in the Same Nursery Corner
The Sturdiest Budded Trees are later Transplanted while Dormant, into the Orchard Units
Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans
[Sidenote: Selected for finest flavor—and superior quality]
are selected for their superior quality from among the finest nuts produced anywhere in the pecan district. They are the choice of thousands of satisfied customers, everywhere, because they are the finest flavored nuts which Nature produces.
They are uniformly large in size, thin in shell and well filled with nut meat, as shown by illustration in natural colors on outside cover.
Their plump kernels—of delicious flavor and wonderful nutritive value—are easily removed whole without the use of nut crackers. By following the simple directions in every box, the thin shell is easily cracked with your bare hand.
[Sidenote: Sold the world over—under this Money Back Guarantee]
They are packed in the beautiful 12–oz. Gift Box shown above; and sold at $1.25 per box, under this Money Back Guarantee:—“Eat six at my risk—if dissatisfied, return the balance within ten days and get your $1.25 back”; yet out of thousands of packages sent out, less than six packages have ever been returned.
We have Sold Tons of Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans
[Sidenote: The 12 oz. gift box leads to orders for 10 lb. cartons or 175 lb. barrels]
Though our Gift Boxes have enjoyed a remarkable sale during the Holiday Season, our business is by no means limited to that period. Orders for large quantities are received throughout the year from individuals for use in their homes; but since each year’s supply has been exhausted in a few months, we have found it necessary to refund money continuously month after month until the new crop was harvested.
Numerous purchasers of Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans have re-ordered many times in a single winter—while many others who have first bought the 12–oz. box have ordered in large quantities up to 200 pounds, rather than be compelled to order so frequently.
We have customers who buy by the barrel for their own table, and some who have ordered two and three barrels in a single season. Each barrel contains about 175 pounds.
[Sidenote: America does not produce enough pecans of this standard]
Our experience selling these high quality pecans shows that there is no question whether the public will pay the increased price. The real problem is to secure more pecans to meet the constant increase in demand. The whole southern section of the United States does not produce enough paper shell pecans of this standard to fill the demand for them.
ELAM G. HESS.
A Few Typical Cases of Re-orders
Detroit, Mich., Jan. 30, 1919.
[Sidenote: Bought twenty pounds—orders 75 pounds for next season]
I enclose check for 10 lbs. of Hess Pecans. Could you still take my order for another 10 lbs.? I wish you to place me on your orders for 75 lbs. of the pecans from next fall’s crop.
W. H.
Sawyerville, Quebec, Mar. 18, 1919.
Will you please take my order for twenty pounds of Hess Pecans from the next crop? The nuts are just splendid, and we never tasted anything like them before for flavor.
R. G. B.
Reading, Pa., Jan. 6, 1919.
[Sidenote: Had 70 pounds orders 40 pounds more]
The 70 lbs. Hess Pecans received just before Christmas were eminently satisfactory and disappeared like hot cakes. I am enclosing check to cover the following order: 10 lbs. Ex. Fancy, 20 lbs. “A,” 10 lbs. “B.”
W. O. L.
Nov. 7, 1919.
[Sidenote: Orders 3 barrels later]
Please enter my order for 3 barrels of fancy grade pecans.
W. O. L.
Dec. 2, 1919.
The barrel of pecans arrived the day before Thanksgiving. The nuts are gone and I am ready for more; wish the entire order before the Xmas holidays.
W. O. L.
[Sidenote: Buying in 50 lb. lots]
F. B., Los Angeles, California (in the heart of the finest walnut district), ordered 22 oz. box for $2, Feb. 13th, 1917. March 11th, 1917, wrote: “They are unquestionably the very best I ever ate, and I am wondering if you have more to offer, and if so, the price in bulk.” Aug. 2, 1917, order booked for Fall, 1917, delivery, 50 pounds Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans.
Nov. 27, 1917, sent check for $50 in payment of 50 pounds.
February 26th, 1918, sent his third re-order for 50 lbs. of Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans for delivery, Fall, 1918, for $50.
In 1919, purchased 20 lbs., remitting $25.00; 1920, bought orchard units on our plantations.
[Sidenote: 16 pounds in less than three months]
Order received, Dec. 11, 1917, from Dr. M. B., Wabash, Ind., for $1 box of Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans.
Jan. 8, 1918, “Enclosed find check for $5 for which ship pecans like the 12 oz. box recently sent me. They are the finest I ever ate.”
Jan. 24, 1918, sent check for $10 for more nuts.
Feb. 9, 1918, bought orchard units.
[Sidenote: “Wish I had a barrel”]
J. C., Seattle, Washington, wrote Jan. 29, 1917: “The size, quality, and flavor are all of the very highest. They are richness itself. Regarding food value, I question if there is any nut on earth equal to it. I wish I had a barrel of them. You ought to plant at least 10,000 acres.”
April 10th, 1917, ordered 10 lbs. more for Fall, 1917, delivery, saying, “They are the very best on earth.”
“The Finest Nuts I Ever Saw”
Says the world famous food authority, Dr. J. H. Kellogg
Dr. J. H. Kellogg, head of the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium, is a world famous expert on nuts. His writings, based on a half century of research, have shown that =pecan meat is suitable for “every month in the year, for all climates, all work and all ages of mankind (except infants)”=, as Good Health stated. He has directed attention to the fact that pecans give all the food elements that animal flesh gives, in better proportion and with assured freedom from impurity and disease. He has made clear the vital importance of vitamines, found only to a very slight degree in animal flesh, but profusely found in nuts.
His unquestioned leadership in this field gives added importance to this letter:
Battle Creek Sanitarium
Battle Creek, Mich., Jan. 18, 1918.
Mr. Elam G. Hess, Pres., Keystone Pecan Co.,
Hess Pecans are the finest nuts I ever saw. What a blessing to the world it will be when these fine products of the vegetable kingdom come to be better appreciated by the public.
J. H. Kellogg.
From Another Food Authority
New York City, Dec. 27, 1916.
It is not strange that Hess Pecans are so much appreciated; they are so good to eat. I ate a dozen at my supper and feel that could everyone eat them every one would be benefited.
Dr. Elmer Lee (_Formerly Editor Health Culture_).
The Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecan is its own best advocate. Those who taste it, quickly see why such superior pecans sell readily at $1.25 per pound, while wild pecans are selling at 35c. per pound. The only difficulty is that =not one person in a thousand has ever tasted the improved Paper Shell Pecan=. Any thinking person, checking over the records of increasing sales year after year, is sure to agree with Burbank, America’s foremost horticulturist, when he says, “=We have now one pecan where we ought to have a million.=”
More Evidence of Superiority on Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans
Covington, Ky., Jan. 16, 1919.
[Sidenote: Over 200 pounds in a single order]
The barrel of Hess Pecans that you sent me got here in good condition, weight just as you say—202 lbs.—all right. They are certainly fine nuts and fine to eat. Nuts and apples make a fine meal, take that from me. Friends of mine think they are the best nuts (pecans) they ever came across. My advice to the public—more nuts, less meats and there would be less sickness. I have lived on nuts, fruit and vegetables for the last four years and never sick.
F. J. L.
Auckland, New Zealand, Mar. 8, 1920.
[Sidenote: “Perfect” says New Zealand purchaser]
Received safely the 12 oz. box of Pecans which you so promptly sent me on receipt of price. The pecan is unknown out here, and the arrival of this stranger caused no little excitement. The pecan is all you claim for it—we all pronounce it perfect.
F. L. G.
Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 29, 1919.
[Sidenote: Food value superior to beef]
The box of Hess Pecans arrived O. K., but they didn’t last long. I never saw such a wonderful product in my life, and as for food value—we need not worry about Beef becoming short or extinct.
H. J. W., M.D.
Goulburn, Jan. 14, 1918.
They are the first pecans that I have ever seen and I must say that they come entirely up to your description and are splendid nuts.
C. F. M.
Cleveland, O., Dec. 24, 1919.
[Sidenote: “The finest nut on earth”]
I am in possession of the 10 pounds of the Paper Shell Pecan. Without doubt it is the finest nut that exists on earth. I am happy I have bought 5 Units of your wonderful plantation.
M. M.
New Orleans, La., Dec. 30, 1918.
I have received the box of Hess Pecans. I like them so well that I enclose payment herewith, and request you to send a box to Mrs. G. D., New Orleans.
C. F. L.
South Bend, Ind., Dec. 13, 1919.
[Sidenote: Liked 10 lb. box, orders two more]
The 10 lb. Box of Pecans you sent me came to hand and are good, fresh, and very fine. I enclose you my check for $25 for two more 10 lb. boxes.
A. J.
San Jose, Cal., May 3, 1919.
[Sidenote: By all odds the best]
I received the box of Paper Shell Pecans, and enjoyed them immensely; would say they are by all odds the best I have ever eaten. I have also eaten the Creole Pralines of New Orleans, and the nuts used in that confection, although good, do not compare.
W. S. M., Jr.
Wharton, Tex., Dec. 4, 1919.
[Sidenote: Wonderful flavor; it is all that you claim]
I am in receipt of the 10 lb. package of Hess Paper Shell Pecans, and I wish to state that they are the very finest and best flavored that I have ever tasted. You have produced a wonderful nut and it is all that you claim.
R. A. G.
Quanah, Texas.
[Sidenote: More praise from Texas]
“Finest pecan I ever ate.”
E. S.
The Highest Priced Pecans—Yet Demand far Exceeds Supply
[Sidenote: A few more commendations from many received]
A high official of the city of New York wrote: “Such pecans never were seen before in our neighborhood. They are all you advertised them to be. I sent a box on to my daughter in Boston.”
[Sidenote: Re-orders and the cash—prove superiority]
From another, whose husband is at the head of a publication which enjoys national prestige as an exponent of the finest nuts and other foods by mail order, we received the following letter, along with the second order: “Enclosed find check for which send package of your Hess Pecans. Kindly ship these at once as we wish them for Thanksgiving.”
Why take more of your time with detailed copies of letters from customers ordering and re-ordering Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecans? Is not the fact that re-orders were received in itself the best evidence of superior quality when it is considered that the selling price of many of these shipments was $1.25 for 12 ounces, or at the rate of $1.65 per pound?
The man whose wife wrote the last letter questioned whether any one would pay this price—for an addition of fifty per cent. of the price of the average paper shell pecan was too much, in his opinion. He questioned the price =before= he sampled the nuts and noticed how much they were preferred in his own home and among his friends. =After= that the price was forgotten and the recollection of superior quality led him to re-order, just as it did many others.
[Sidenote: Impossible to supply dealers’ demands]
For the past several years we have had to confine our sales almost entirely to mail orders, because the supply has failed to increase quickly enough to meet the demand. But in 1914 we made a test in one American city of only 51,000 population (based on the 1910 census) through one wholesale grocery firm. Paper shell pecans had not been previously known in this section, their salesmen said that it was absurd to attempt to market a 12–oz. box of Hess Brand Pecans at the retail price of $1.00, then prevailing. Yet grocers re-ordered and re-ordered till our available supply was exhausted—=the demand created by the nuts themselves astonished all concerned=.
[Sidenote: New York City can consume the world’s supply]
The city in which this test was made was not our home town. It does not stand above the average in per capita wealth—nor is there any evidence to show that the people of this city are more likely to be interested in pecans than any average American. To make such a test in a large city like New York was impossible—for the entire yield of a 100,000–acre plantation, planted twenty trees to the acre, could not supply a week’s demand there, if New York bought pecans in the same proportion as the city cited above.
A leading agricultural publication says:
“Tyler is a Texas town with about 12,000 people who eat a carload of pecans every year. If New York ate pecans at the same rate, it would consume our whole crop.” (“Whole crop” refers to all of America’s crops combined, which is also the world’s crop.)
Why This Phenomenal Demand for Finer Pecans
There are many reasons for this remarkable demand for the finest grade pecans—despite the higher price—which reasons are briefly indexed on the five following pages.
[Sidenote: The superiority of these finer pecans]
The greatest of these reasons is the superior quality of these pecans, as shown by tests on pages 33 and 34—the fact that they have a greater content of easily digested nut meat, of attractive appearance and greatest nutritive value, which nut meat is easily accessible, due to their thin shells.
[Sidenote: The movement toward nut meat as the “true meat”]
There is a strong movement the world over toward nut meat as the “true meat,” in which some have joined for religious reasons, some for ethical reasons, others from dietetic or hygienic considerations—and many others because of increasing knowledge of food values.
The Seventh Day Adventists will refer you to the twenty-ninth verse of the first chapter of Genesis, which reads:
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” They reason that according to this passage “true meat” grows on trees, and in this belief they are joined by many others for ethical, dietetic and hygienic reasons.
[Sidenote: By religious, ethical and hygienic organizations]
Everywhere in America there are large numbers of people, organized and unorganized, who will not eat the flesh of any animal. In sanitaria of all sorts there is a tendency to reduce to the minimum the use of all animal meat or do away with it entirely. In one system of forty sanitaria there are practically no drugs used because the patients are put on a perfected diet system in which nuts are substituted for animal flesh. At Battle Creek Sanitarium alone, under Dr. Kellogg, over 10,000 patients have adopted the meatless diet. Nut meat is largely used there to replace animal flesh.
Nuts Meet the Demand For Uncooked Foods
[Sidenote: The most perfect uncooked food]
Many physicians who specialize in diseases of the intestinal tract are advising the use of uncooked foods. Dr. Kellogg, in his book, Colon Hygiene, sums up one strong argument in simple, non-technical language when he says on page 223: “=Raw food resists the destructive changes which are produced by bacteria, while cooked food makes no such resistance.=”
Nut meat is practically the only source of both protein and fat, in large proportions, which it is safe to eat uncooked. This statement is readily proved by high authority.
In the Congressional Record for January 6, 1917, we read: “Nuts occupy a unique position in the list of important food products, in that, with the possible exception of a few other fruits, in =the raw condition they alone afford a fairly complete and balanced food for human beings=.”
The fact that nut importations in 1917 were nearly ten times as great in value as those in 1900—while the consumption of animal flesh had failed to even keep pace with the increase in population—is evidence of increasing public recognition of the great and varied advantages of nut meat over animal flesh.
[Sidenote: Less butter-fat demanded, more nut-fat]
Possibly you will find this increase in the consumption of nut meats even more surprising when you consider that there was practically twenty per cent. less butter sold from America’s farms in 1909 than in 1899, according to U. S. census figures. In other words, the consumption of butter, which is the principal table article competing with nuts in fatty content, was falling off to four-fifths during practically the same period while the consumption of nut meat was increasing so rapidly.
Perfected pecan nuts contain more protein than beefsteak, and almost as much fat as butter. Isn’t it only natural that people should want their nourishment and fat in this concentrated form—hermetically sealed and kept pure by nature? Is there any such assurance of purity and cleanliness on butter—or on beefsteak?
=Place a Hess Brand Paper Shell Pecan on a hat-pin, light the nut meat and notice that it burns like a candle because it is seventy per cent. fat.=
“At this age (eight to ten years) the best parts of the orchards under the most favorable conditions and in favorable years will not infrequently produce from twelve to fifteen pounds per tree. The average number of trees per acre of the orchards already planted is twenty. Twenty trees per acre, each averaging twelve pounds, yield two hundred and forty pounds per acre.” Speech of Congressman Frank Park, Jan. 6, 1917, as reported in the Congressional Record.
Pecans For Sundaes and Candies, Etc.