Part 12 (1/2)

The superintendent of the packing house said that nearly all of the raisins that we import come from Spain, and that they are exported chiefly from the city of Malaga.

The purple and other _wine grapes_ are taken to the wineries and sold by the ton, to be made into wine.

There are many other things that I should like to write about, but my letter is a pretty long one now, so I will close.

Your loving friend, FRANK.

NUTTING

Have you ever gone into the woods on a beautiful autumn day? The bright, warm suns.h.i.+ne floods the earth where the trees are far apart and sifts down through the branches. All nature seems to invite you to lie down under a tree and dream. It was on such a day that Rip Van Winkle fell into his long sleep.

How pretty the trees look in their fall suits of yellow, crimson, red, and brown! What a rustling is made as your feet tread the carpet of leaves!

The breezes pa.s.s among the branches and whisper a message to the bright-colored leaves. They understand and obey. Singly, in groups, and in showers, they silently float downward. By night and by day they fall, but soon this carpet will be changed for one of white.

Listen! The leaves are not the only things that are falling. You can hear the _thump_, _thump_ of nuts as they drop from their lofty perches in the walnut and hickory-nut trees.

Sit down quietly on that log and you will soon see the busy nut gatherers. With their tails curled over their backs, they race up and down the trees, or spring from branch to branch, carrying their precious burdens to their homes in the hollows of trunk or limb. Now one sits up straight, holding a nut between his paws, and turning it slowly as he cracks and eats it. If he sees you, he whisks out of sight, or scolds you from a safe place far above the ground.

When the winter winds are whistling through the leafless trees, and snows are drifting over the ground, these little nut gatherers feast to their hearts' content.

The squirrels do not gather all of the nuts. Children and grown people enjoy nutting. When there are not enough nuts on the ground, the men and boys climb the trees to shake them off. Then everybody hunts among the leaves for the treasures.

Some of the most important nuts are walnuts, hickory nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, chestnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, and peanuts.

Many of the hickory nuts fall out of their coverings bright and clean.

Walnuts generally have to be _shucked_, and the juice stains the hands almost black.

As hazelnuts grow on bushes, they can be easily picked. They usually drop out of their burs after there have been a few frosts.

Many nuts are gathered in the woods, but in some places the trees are cultivated just as fruit trees are.

We usually eat nuts between meals, or as a dessert. They are not simply dainties, but are very valuable articles of food. In some countries the poor people depend upon them for food.

In almost any city of our country are to be found the nuts that I have mentioned, with perhaps several other kinds. These have come from different states, some from Canada, some from Brazil, and some from Spain.

I am sure you will enjoy gathering nuts of different kinds, so let us set out on a nutting expedition.

A WALNUT VACATION

How would you like to have your school close for two weeks, so that you could gather walnuts? Every year many of the boys and girls of Southern California are given a vacation just for this purpose. It is called the ”walnut vacation,” and occurs in the month of October.

These children do not take their baskets and go off to the woods where they can romp and play, watch the squirrels, and gather beautiful autumn leaves. They gather nuts from the trees which their parents own, for in Southern California there are many walnut ranches or groves. You see the vacation means a vacation for work instead of for play.

Walnut trees are set out in rows just as apple trees are, but their roots and branches extend to such a distance from the trunks that they need to be about twice as far apart.