s state. Here, as nut growers, you will find much of interest.
This is the only state in the Union producing almonds commercially. Our
1919 crop was worth approximately $4,000,000.00 and represented 7000
tons of nuts. Here in this state we also produce the California Walnuts
which in 1919 brought a return of approximately $20,000,000.00. Both of
these industries are in their infancy, particularly is this true of the
almond. It is estimated that there are 100,000 acres in California
planted to almonds, the major portion of which is non-bearing.

We are now preparing for the future through an energetic sales campaign
and by making plans for manufacturing by using almonds in new and
attractive preparations. In 1919, the California Almond Growers
Exchange, a non-profit association of 3800 farmers, spent approximately
$208,000.00 for National Advertising and the expenditure in 1910 will
exceed a quarter of a million dollars. This is done not only to sell the
crops of 1919 and 1920 advantageously, but to educate the consumer up to
the high food value of the almond and incidentally to lay a substantial
foundation for future business.

We believe that the outlook for the California Almond is promising, but
it is only as promising as the growers co-operate to that end. We
believe that by a strong association of growers, quality and grades can
be improved, distribution widened and the public made acquainted with
the value of our product through the medium of our advertising.

We are also taking up at this time the cultural question endeavoring to
eliminate the undesirable varieties and improve those which are
commercially profitable.

We have some eighty odd varieties of almonds in this state, many of
which are not known commercially. You will thus see that we have quite a
problem in cultural lines.

The principal object of the Northern Nut Growers Association, I believe,
is the diffusion of knowledge on cultural questions, but a word of
co-operative marketing may not be amiss.

Our investigations have shown that for twenty-five years before the war
Nonpareil Almonds (our highest priced variety) retailed at about 30c per
pound. The grower received from 7c to 10c per pound, the average being
close to 8c. This was before the association was formed. After the
association was organized, the grower received, through co-operative
marketing and by the elimination of speculation and waste in
distribution, a range of from 14c to 20c