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Nuts are grown all over the world. There are hundreds of kinds
of nut trees and shrubs. In the United States, nuts are grown
the most in Georgia, California, Texas, and Alabama. We mostly
grow peanuts, almonds,
English walnuts,
pecans,
black walnuts, hazelnuts, and macadamias.
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Different kinds of nuts
are grown in the following places:
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Peanuts:
China, India, United States [Georgia] |
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Almonds:
U.S. [California] |
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English
walnuts: U.S. [California] |
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Pistachios:
U.S. [California] |
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Pecans:
U.S. [Southern & western states], Australia, Mexico, South
Africa, Middle East |
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Black
walnuts:
U.S. [Midwest & East] |
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Hazelnuts
(Filberts): U.S. [Oregon], Italy, Spain, Turkey |
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Chestnuts:
China, Italy, Japan, Korea, Turkey |
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Macadamia:
U.S. [Hawaii] |
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Brazil
nuts: South America |
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Almond
grove
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The word 'nut' might mean the shell plus the inside kernel
or only the inside kernel. A nut is the dry seed that grows in
a woody shell. Peanuts, that people think of first as a nut,
are actually part of the pea family.
Nuts are grown on trees. The only way that
a tree can grow nuts is if the flowers of the same kind of tree cross-pollinate
with it. New trees are made by taking a piece from one tree
and attaching it to the roots of another. This is called
grafting. A new plant grows from this.
When growers start a nut farm, they need to know
if:
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The
climate is right for the trees they want to plant. |
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The
land slopes a little and drains water well. |
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The
soil is right. The grower will add what the soil needs
before the trees are actually planted. Many layers of
soil will be tested because limestone or heavy clay layers can
ruin the tree even if they are lots of layers down. |
Once all that is done, they space the trees in rows so that they can
cross-pollinate each other. The distance between the trees
depends on what kind of tree it is.
Nut growers have to deal with a couple of
problems. To keep weeds down, they sometimes have animals graze
between the trees. They protect their crops from disease and
pests by spraying pesticides. They also have to watch for
birds, mice, and squirrels who like nuts.
There are many uses for nuts such as:
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Snacks |
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Peanut
butter |
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Cookies |
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Candies |
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Oil
for machinery |
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Flavoring
for cooking |
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Sometimes
bread |
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Oil
for cooking |
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Furniture
polish |
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Varnish |
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to Crop Page |
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