Chapter 4

Thirty-five acres on the Prince place yielded at twelve years, twelve tons of fine nuts, which were sold at 18 and 20 cents a pound, two cents above the market price, making an average of $125 per acre. Another grove of two acres yielded in their ninth year two tons, or a ton to the acre, netting the owner $360 an acre.

Mr. A. A. Quarnberg's eleven-year-old trees averaged twenty-five pounds each. Mr. Henry J. Biddle's ten and twelve-year-old trees averaged thirty pounds each. One hundred fifty dollars an acre from twelve-year-old trees is a conservative estimate, though some groves not cultivated may fall under that figure, while others in a high state of cultivation will almost double it.

THE WALNUT MARKET

The very fact that in 1907 Oregon-grown walnuts commanded several cents a pound higher price than those grown elsewhere indicates their market value. When ordinary nuts sold for 12 and 16 cents a pound Oregon nuts brought 18 and 20 cents.

New York dealers who cater to the costliest trade throughout the United States, and who have never handled for this purpose any but the finest types of imported nuts, pronounced the Oregon product satisfactory from every standpoint--finely flavored, nutty, meaty and delicious. They were glad to pay an extra price to secure all that were available.

In the home market the leading dealers of Portland and Northwest cities readily dispose of all of the Oregon walnuts obtainable at an advanced price. In fact, the Oregon walnut has commanded a premium in every market into which it has been introduced.

California walnuts are largely shipped east, the percentage entering the northern markets being comparatively small. The annual sum expended in Oregon for imported nuts at the present time is $400,000. When the Oregon growers are able to supply the home demand alone, shutting out importations, the population of Oregon will have more than doubled, and the amount expended in this state for walnuts will approach if it does not exceed the million-dollar mark. In addition to this the eastern markets will be clamoring for Oregon walnuts, as they now absorb Hood River apples, Willamette valley cherries and Rogue River valley pears. With eastern buyers always ready to pay an extra price for extra grade products, superior grades of Oregon walnuts will undoubtedly be contracted for, leaving only the culls for home consumption.

It has been conservatively estimated that at the rate the population of the United States is increasing, and the rate walnut consumption is increasing, by the time every available acre in Oregon is in full bearing the supply will still fall far short of the demand. Judging by past experience in California this is no chimerical conception. Since 1896 the walnut crop in that state has steadily increased, and in like proportion has the price advanced, from seven cents in 1896 to twenty cents in 1907.

COMPARED WITH FRUIT

In comparing walnut culture with fruit, one must take into consideration the fact that distance from transportation facilities is not a detriment; that there is very little expense in putting out or maintaining a walnut grove; that insects, blight and disease are unknown to walnut groves of Oregon, thus obviating the cost of spraying; that the expense of harvesting is exceedingly light; that no nut-fruit perishes--that it does not need to be sold at once, but will keep indefinitely, making a lost crop practically impossible.

It is estimated by experienced walnut growers that the annual cost of cultivation and pruning should not exceed $10 an acre, while harvesting should not exceed 20 cents per hundred pounds. It is a simple matter to figure the profits.

The original investment in a walnut grove may be made a comparatively small amount; thus it appeals particularly to those of limited means.

THE POUND PACKAGE

It is difficult or impossible to establish a uniform package good for every year. Walnuts are not like other fruits; size is not a sure indication of weight. The pound package used by Mr. Thos. Prince is 3-3/4 x 4-1/2 x 5-1/4 inches, which in 1907 when filled weighed 17 ounces, in 1908 it weighed 16 ounces, and in the dry year of 1909 it weighed but 14 ounces.

WALNUT CONFECTIONERY

The cut on page 5 shows the best method of cracking walnuts to extract the kernel in halves without breaking. Grasp the nut between the thumb and forefinger at the seam, place on a hard surface of stone or iron and strike sharply with a light hammer only sufficient to crack the shell without crushing the kernel.

This method is used by most manufacturers of great varieties of walnut confectionery, some of which are shown in the picture. Walnut chocolates, walnut taffy, walnut log, panoche, nougat and many other articles, as well as walnut sundries to put on dishes of ice cream are among the tasty confections for which the demand is very great.

WALNUTS IN COOKING

A few of the delightful ways in which walnuts may be used on the table:

NUT BREAD

1 pound hard wheat flour. 1 pound whole wheat flour. 1 cup good yeast. 1 cup ground walnuts. 1 tablespoonful Orleans molasses. 2 tablespoonfuls melted lard or butter.

Mix with warm water; let it raise quite light, then mould, raise and bake as other bread.

GEMS

Graham, wheatlet or cornmeal gems are greatly improved by adding a few walnut kernels ground fine.

NUT CAKE

3 eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately, 1/2 cup--scant--butter, 3/4 cup milk, 1 cup walnuts ground or chopped, 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful each of lemon and vanilla, 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, flour to make a moderately stiff batter.

CHOCOLATE NUT CAKE

3 eggs, 3/4 cup each of brown and white sugar, 3/4 cup of coffee and milk mixed, 1 cup ground walnuts, 4 tablespoonfuls melted butter, 2 teaspoonfuls ground chocolate or cocoa, most of 1 nutmeg grated, 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, flour to make moderately stiff batter.

More satisfactory results are obtained by baking either of these cakes in two deep layercake tins and putting the two parts together with any good filling.

NUT COOKIES

3 cups sugar--Extra C preferred--3/4 pound of butter, 2 or 3 eggs, 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1/2 a nutmeg, a little ginger and cinnamon, 1 cup walnuts ground fine, 4 cups of flour. Roll thin and bake in a quick oven.

APPLE NUT SALAD

4 cups of good tart apples cut in small cubes or chopped not too fine, 1 cup of coarsely ground, or chopped nuts. Stir lightly into these 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 of a nutmeg grated fine.

DRESSING FOR SAME

2-3 cup of cold water, 2 tablespoons strong vinegar, 1/2 cup of sugar. Add one egg, well beaten. Put this on the stove and stir constantly until well cooked. If this is done carefully it will not curdle. Take from the stove and add a lump of butter the size of a walnut, grate in a little nutmeg and stir gently until the butter is well melted and mixed. Some whipped cream may be added to this when cool if desired or convenient.

BY-PRODUCTS

In addition to walnuts as nuts, they pay handsomely as pickles. For this purpose they must be picked green. This could be made a most profitable side industry in connection with large groves.

One grower had an inquiry for two carloads of green walnuts to be used for this purpose. Large quantities are imported annually and they sell at very high prices.

They are also used for dyeing purposes, giving a beautiful brown shade difficult to obtain except with walnut hulls.

Oil which is often substituted for olive oil is manufactured from walnuts, thus suggesting another commercial avenue. One hundred pounds of walnuts produce eighteen pounds of oil.

VARIETIES

The beautiful nuts shown on Plate 3 are seedlings from the orchard of Mr. Thomas Prince, of Yamhill county. They are probably the handsomest walnut as to size, form and color as well as taste that may be found anywhere. The tree has not had an orchard try-out yet. If it proves to be a good bearer with the other qualities suitable for this climate and soil condition, it will enter the field high up in the standard of excellence.

There is some discrepancy in what constitutes standard varieties of walnuts. We have endeavored to get nuts both from Oregon and California to fix a uniform understanding as to the different varieties. The types submitted by Mr. A. McGill of the Oregon Nursery Co., Plate 1, are No. 1, 1 Vrooman Franquette, No. 2, 2 Mayette, No. 3, 3 Mayette Rouge, No. 4, 4 Parisienne, No. 5, 5 Praeparturien, No. 6, 6 Chaberte, No. 7, Cluster.

Plate No. 2, by Mr. Ferd Groner, No. 1, 1 Franquette, No. 2, 2 Glady, No. 3, 3 Payne, No. 4, 4 Mayette, No. 5, 5 Meylan, No. 6, 6 Parisienne, No. 7 Cluster, No. 8 Praeparturien, are about as near uniformly correct as we have.

The Chaberte nuts, which confectioners use, are a special industry, the kernels being slipped out of the shells without breaking, and sold in this form. All the smaller nuts, the imperfect ones--the culls--find ready sale both shelled and unshelled for the manufacture of walnut candy, walnut cake, etc.

WEIGHTS, KERNEL AND TASTE

The first Walnut Show was held at McMinnville, November 1, 1907, and was judged by H. M. Williamson, Secretary of the State Board of Horticulture. Most of the following memoranda on weights are taken from his report:

James Morrison, Franquette 32 to the pound F. W. Myers, Mayette 34 " " " F. W. Myers, Seedling 35 " " " James Morrison, Seedling Franquette 42 " " " James Morrison, Grafted Mayette 38 " " " D. H. Turner, Seedlings 42 " " " James Morrison, Blanche Mayette 34 " " " James Morrison, Grenoble Mayette 32 " " " D. H. Turner, Parry 48 " " " Mayette Shaped Praeparturiens 64 " " " R. P. Ungerman, Seedlings 50 " " " Bland Herring, Praeparturiens 38 " " " Bland Herring, Bijou 22 " " " Pleasant Cozine, Seedlings 42 " " " Casey tree, Seedling 55 " " " E. Estes, fourth generation from Casey tree 52 " " " Thos. Prince Seedling 40 " " " Derr Tree, Parry 60 " " "

The investigations in regard to relative weights of kernel and shell of the different varieties is made up from an article read by Mr. Ferd Groner before the State Horticultural Society, December, 1909.

The Vrooman Franquette shell and kernel weighed equal.

The Payne Seedling gave slightly more kernel than shell.

The Mayette slightly more shell than kernel.

The Meylan, shell and kernel equal.

The Gladys, shell and kernel equal.

Franquette, near Salem, shell weighed two and one-half times that of kernel.

Other experiments show that the Praeparturien shell and kernel are about equal.

While the weight of the kernel is of great importance to the consumer, the taste and digestibility is still more so. In this is the food value of the walnut. The food value will in time be the commercial value. There is very little variation in the taste of any one variety of wild nuts or fruits, but the cultivated walnut, as well as the cultivated peach and apple, has a great variety of tastes, and it does not require an expert to distinguish the good from the poor qualities.

Walnuts should be graded as to variety, the varieties should then be graded as to size, but the paramount duty of the grower is to produce a creamy, delicious walnut of excellent flavor. The soil and climate has proven their excellence, and it is now for the intelligent grower to do his part.

WHO SHOULD INVEST

Professional men and women, business men and women, those living in cities and towns and confined to offices, stores and factories, will find an investment in forty or fifty acres of walnut land at the present time wholly within their possibilities. Special terms can be arranged and their groves planted and cared for at small cost. While they are working their groves will be growing toward maturity, and in less than a decade they may be free from the demands of daily routine: the grove will furnish an income, increasing each season until the twentieth year, and will prove the most pleasant kind of old age annuity, and the richest inheritance a man could leave his children.

The practical farmer, or the inexperienced man who desires to escape the tyranny of city work by way of the soil will find that a walnut grove offers an immediate home, a living from small fruits and vegetables while his trees are maturing, and at the end of eight or ten years, the beginning of an income that will every year thereafter increase, while the labor exacted will gradually lessen until it amounts to practically nothing. Like rearing children, a walnut grower's troubles are over with the trees' infant days.

The capitalist can find no better place for his money than safely invested in Oregon walnut lands; the rise is certain and near.

Some years ago "Outlook," a most conservative publication, spoke of the English walnut as "a tree of vast commercial importance in the far west."

Luther Burbank states: "The consumption of walnuts is increasing among all civilized nations faster than any other food."

CONCLUSION

B. M. Lelong, Secretary of the California State Board of Horticulture, wrote in 1896:

"California growers have had a long and varied experience with many failures, and when they finally began to place their walnuts on the market they were obliged to accept the humiliating price of from 3 to 6 cents a pound less than that paid for imported walnuts."

In Oregon the reverse is true. Our walnuts command a price above that paid for walnuts raised anywhere else. The size, cracking-out quantity, delicate flavor and delicious creamy taste, are the qualities that give the Oregon walnut its surpassing excellence. If we have this pre-eminence at the beginning of the industry, what may we expect when intelligent cultivation has produced the best grade of walnuts of which our soil and climate are capable?

To Oregon, then, with its vast areas adapted to this industry, must the world look for its great annual walnut harvest in the years to come. The far-seeing man will secure an interest in Oregon walnut lands now, before speculation and a general awakening to their real value have boosted the price to that of walnut lands elsewhere.

OREGON WALNUT AREA BY COUNTIES

Note: The price of land varies according to location; the cheaper land is not all cleared.

Groves now Bearing trees. Available land. Price County. planted. per acre.

Washington Many young A number bear Thousands of ones. full crops. acres. $25 to $200. Multnomah Several young Many scattered. Several groves. thousand. $50 to $200. Yamhill 3,000 acres. 5,000 trees. 40,000 acres; every quarter section has suitable land. $50 to $250. Clackamas 100 acres. Many scattered; Several one grove. thousand. $20 to $500. Polk Several hundred 100 trees. Many thousand. $25 to $100. acres. Marion A few A number in Hundreds bearing. of acres. $20 to $500. Benton No record. No record. Many acres $20 to $100. Linn Several young Several Many hundred groves. scattered. acres. $20 to $500. Lane 300 acres. A few scattered; 10,000. $60 to $125. bear heavily. Douglas None. Many; loaded Thousands $25 to $100. with nuts of acres. Josephine No record. A number; Hundreds scattered. of acres. No record? Jackson 30 or 40 acres. Hundreds Several scattered thousand. $25 to $225. through valley loaded with nuts. Baker A few groves. Many producing Thousands of (Eastern Ore.) trees. acres. $25 to $150?

GOLD MEDAL WALNUT EXHIBIT (See cut on following page)

Last year the Walnut club of McMinnville made an exhibit of home grown walnuts at the A.-Y.-P. Exposition and was awarded a gold medal. They have a very attractive and artistic way of putting up an exhibit, classifying and arranging the different varieties in glass cases in such a manner as to attract universal attention and call forth the heartiest exclamations of admiration. The accompanying cut shows one of their exhibits in position. It is nine feet high and nearly five feet wide and is faced alike on both sides.

This club was organized for the purpose of studying the walnut industry in all its details. They employ scientists and experts to tell how and to demonstrate the various methods of walnut culture. There are scores of 5 and 10-acre tracts planted to walnuts in the vicinity, as well as experimental trees on the lots in town and along the streets. They call McMinnville "The Walnut City."

RAILROAD REPRESENTATIVES

Who will take pleasure in giving all desired information as to rates, routes, train schedules, hotel accommodations, etc., and make advance arrangements for trips.

EAST.

New York: J. B. DeFriest, Gen. Eastern Agt., U. P. R. R., 287 Broadway

New York: L. H. Nutting, Gen. Pass. Agt., S. P. S. S. Co., 366 Broadway

Boston, Mass. Willard Massey, N. E. Frt. & Pass. Agt., 176 Wash. St.

Philadelphia, Pa.: S. C. Milbourne, G. A., U. P. R. R., 830 Chestnut St. R. J. Smith, Agent, S. P. Co., 632 Chestnut St.

Pittsburg, Pa.: G. G. Herring, General Agent, 707 Park Bldg.

Cincinnati, Ohio: W. H. Connor, General Agent, 53 East Fourth St.

Detroit, Mich.: J. C. Ferguson, General Agent, 11 Fort St., West

MIDDLE WEST.

Chicago, Ill.: W. G. Neimyer, General Agent, 120 Jackson Boulevard

St. Louis, Mo.: J. G. Lowe, General Agent, 903 Olive St.

Kansas City, Mo.: H. G. Kaill, Asst. Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agt., U. P. R. R., 901 Walnut St.

St. Joseph, Mo.: S. E. Stohr, Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agt., St. J. & G. I. R. R.

Leavenworth, Kan.: J. J. Hartnett, Gen. Agt., Rooms 9-11 Nat. Bank Bldg.

Council Bluffs, Iowa: J. C. Mitchell, City Ticket Agent, 522 Broadway

Des Moines, Iowa: J. W. Turtle, Trav. Pass. Agt., 313 W. Fifth St.

Minneapolis, Minn.: H. F. Carter, Dist. Pass. Agent, 21 South Third St.

Lincoln., Neb.: E. B. Slosson, General Agent, 1044 O St.

Omaha, Neb.: E. L. Lomax, General Passenger Agent, U. P. R. R.

Pueblo, Colo.: L. M. Tudor, Commercial Agent, 312 N. Main St.

Denver, Colo.: Francis B. Choate, General Agent, 941 Seventeenth St. Wm. K. McAllister, Gen. Agt., S. P. Co., Suite 313 Railway Exc. Bldg.

CANADA.

Toronto: J. O. Goodsell, Traveling Pass. Agt., Room 14 Janes Bldg.

SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST.

Atlanta, Ga.: A. J. Dutcher, General Agent, 121 Peachtree St.

New Orleans, La.: J. H. R. Parsons, Gen. Pass. Agt., M. L. & T. R. R., 227 St. Charles St.

Houston, Tex.: T. J. Anderson, Gen. Pass. Agent, G. H. & S. A. R. R.

EUROPE.

London, England: Rudolph Falck, General European Agent No. 49 Leadenhall St., E. C. No. 22 Cockspur St., N. W.

Liverpool, England: No. 25 Water St.

Antwerp, Belgium: 11 Rue Chapelle de Grace

Hamburg, Germany: Amerika Haus, 23-27, Ferdinand Strasse

PACIFIC COAST.

San Francisco, Cal.: Chas. S. Fee, Pass. Traffic Mgr., S. P. Co., Flood Bldg.

Lewiston, Ida.: C. W. Mount, District Freight & Passenger Agent

Los Angeles, Cal.: H. O. Wilson, Gen. Agt., U. P. R. R., 557 Spring St. T. A. Graham, Asst. Gen. Pass. Agt., S. P Co., 600 S. Spring St

Olympia, Wash.: J. C. Percival, Agent, Percival's Dock

Salt Lake City, Utah: D. E. Burley, Gen. Pass. Agt., O. S. L. R. R.

Seattle, Wash.: W. D. Skinner, Gen. Frt. & Pass. Agent, O. & W. R. R. E. E. Ellis, General Agent, 608 First Ave.

Tacoma, Wash.: Robt. Lee, Gen'l Agt., Berlin Bldg., Eleventh and Pacific Ave.

Walla Wala, Wash.: R. Burns, District Freight and Passenger Agent

Wallace, Ida.: G. A. Marshall, Commercial Agent

Astoria, Ore.: G. W. Roberts, Commercial Agent, O. R. & N. Dock

Portland, Ore.: C. W. Stinger, City Ticket Agent, 3d and Washington Sts.

R. B. MILLER, Traffic Manager ... WM. McMURRAY, Gen. Pass. Agt.

JOHN M. SCOTT, Assistant General Passenger Agent

Portland, Oregon