Walnut Growing in Oregon — Walnut Confectionery through Weights, Kernel and Taste
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.
[Illustration: _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 One] [Illustration: _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.
_ Plate Two] [Illustration: Plate Three _The "Prince of Yamhill"_] 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.
