The USDA standards for shelled kernels published in 1969 and reprinted in 1997 describe #1 kernels as those that are either "well developed" or "fairly well-developed," with fairly well-developed defined as kernels that have at least a moderate amountof meat in proportion to their width and length. The accompanying figure drawings for those definitions show some allowance for air cavities within the cross-section of a kernel half, but I've never met a pecan grower who didn't strive for producing completely filled-out kernels. The greatest payoff at the end of a long season of fertilizing, spraying, mowing and picking up limbs is a tree that produces kernels that have no air spaces or shriveling; what we call "solid nut meat".
展开▼
