Class J2j$^2l 
 
 Boo k • *\ylj 
 GopyrightN? 
 
 COKRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
COL. W. R. STUART, 
 
 (The father of Pecan culture.) 
 Ocean Springs, Miss. 
 
THE PECAN, ttr 
 
 AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 WHERE THEY GROW WILD 
 
 WHERE THEY ARE BEING CULTIVATED 
 
 WHAT LANDS ARE BEST AND ALL ABOUT IT 
 
 BY THE STUART PECAN COMPANY, 
 OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 CHICAGO: /??n?\l 
 
 WOMAN'S TEMPERANCE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, 
 
 1393. 
 
Copyright 1893 
 By the Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 
 <=# 
 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the father of Pecan culture, 
 
 Col. TO. 1R. Stuart, 
 
 who has done so much for the people of the South, 
 
 and humanity at large, 
 
 by his numerous repetitions of success, 
 
 showing the practicability of growing and improving the Pecan, 
 
 this work is most respectfully dedicated. 
 
 The Author. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Col. W. P. Stuart Frontispiece 
 
 Plate I. Stuart Pecan Company's exhibit at 
 
 World's Fair, Chicago, 1893 - 8 
 
 Plate II. Trees with Tap-root Cut - 38 
 
 Plate III. Branch of Pecan Tree - - :>4 
 
 Plate IV. Pecan Nuts 59 
 
 Plate Y. Pecan Tree - - 60 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 History of the Pecan Tree - - - - 9 
 
 Copy of the Letter Addressed - - - 13 
 
 The Answers .... - 15 
 
 Tropical and Semi -Tropical Fruits and Nuts 
 
 in America - - - - - -32 
 
 Selecting a Site for the Grove - - 33 
 
 Setting Out the Grove - - - 35 
 
 Age of Trees for Setting Out - - 37 
 Cutting the Tap-root - ... 37 
 
 Care of Trees After Setting - - 40 
 
 Planting the Nuts -42 
 
 Will the Nuts Come True - 44 
 
 Grafting or Budding, the Remedy - 45 
 
 How to Secure Grafting Wood - - 50 
 
 The Fruitful and the Barren Pecan Trees - 51 
 
 Enemies of the Pecan - - - - 53 
 
 Fertilizers for the Pecan - - 56 
 
 The Ideal Pecan Nut - - 58 
 
 The Number of Trees per Acre - - - 59 
 
 What Others Say - - - 62 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tins treatise has been written and prepared by 
 us because the demand for this knowledge has been 
 persistent. We have been flooded with letters ask- 
 ing the questions herein answered. We fully real- 
 ize that it is very important to be able to have a 
 text-book for reference when engaging in any im- 
 portant industry ; which can be relied upon. Here 
 is our own experience, as well as a great many 
 others right to the point, and will be invaluable to 
 all who are not thoroughly posted. By all means 
 start aright; it will save years of time, as well as 
 money and perplexities. We wish to acknowledge 
 with gratitude the valuable assistance rendered us 
 by Col. W. R. Stuart, while preparing this work. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 May 1st, 1893. 
 
= i[6TUART\ ISVTS 
 
 ^^^j^iiiiiiHMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiim 
 
 THE STUART PECAN COMPANY'S EXHIBIT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR, CHICAGO, 1893. 
 
the rrain nriD now to qeqw it. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE PECAN TREE. 
 
 The Pecan tree is found growing wild only in 
 North America, and that principally between lati- 
 tude twenty-five to forty; therefore we have right- 
 fully a monopoly upon the nut. The trees grow 
 in greater abundance along the streams, in sags or 
 depressions, scattered here and there over the face 
 of the country, most probably from the fact that 
 there is more fertility and moisture in such loca- 
 tions than upon higher grounds. The tree resem- 
 bles very closely the Hickory (especially at the 
 age of ten or twelve years) by the fragments of 
 scale bark upon the surface of its trunk. The 
 limbs and foliage are almost identical in their 
 general appearance with the Hickory, the leaves 
 having that same pungent odor when bruised. It 
 is characteristic of the tree, when growing where 
 
10 
 
 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 it lias plenty of room, to be quite spreading in its 
 branches, forming a symmetrical head and making 
 a dense shade. Growing in the forest it attains a 
 height of sixty to one hundred feet, and from one 
 to four feet in diameter at its base, with a straight 
 trunk, presenting altogether a very pretty appear- 
 ance. The wood is quite valuable on account of 
 its great strength, it being about the same heft as 
 that of Hickory. It is used for tool handles, wagon 
 axle-trees, etc. ; in fact takes the place of Hickory 
 in the land of its nativity, although not considered 
 quite as reliable. The nuts are quite small, 
 usually; they are borne upon the extreme end of 
 the twig of the preceding year's growth, in clus- 
 ters of from two to eight. 
 
 It usually requires from eighty to one hundred 
 and twenty-five to weigh one pound; although 
 occasionally, a tree is found with large nuts, of 
 which forty to sixty will weigh a pound, and if 
 soft shell so as to crack readily by pressing two 
 together in the hand, they are held in high esteem, 
 as that is the variety sought after by those who 
 contemplate setting out a grove with an especial 
 view of growing nuts for market. When the wild 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 11 
 
 Indian had this country all to himself and roamed 
 through these vast forests, the Pecan tree furnished 
 him a very reliable source from which to lay up a 
 store of most excellent food. The white man has 
 never paid much attention to the nut until within 
 the last few years, and now they are proving them- 
 selves more worthy of cultivation each succeeding 
 year on account of their superior excellence. No 
 other nut, either native or imported, can compare 
 with it in flavor. And the end is not yet; by 
 making choice selections and giving them proper 
 cultivation, both size and flavor can be very ma- 
 terially advanced, judging from what has already 
 been done in that direction. There is a loud call 
 for further light upon Pecan culture, for general 
 information bearing upon it of a reliable charac- 
 ter, whereby the diligent may be hopeful of suc- 
 cess. Herein lies the true secret of writing and 
 compiling this book, inasmuch as we are propaga- 
 tors of this particular nut, it is our specialty; we 
 are making a determined effort to draw out the 
 very best results attainable in this line. Bearing 
 in mind the accepted truth of a noted writer who 
 said, " He who makes two blades of grass to grow 
 
1 2 THE PECAN AND HO W TO GRO W IT. 
 
 where but one grew before, is a public benefactor." 
 We plant only the very choicest nuts; and when 
 grafting or budding use scions from trees which 
 have borne the largest, thinest shell, richest rneatecb 
 finest flavored nut now known ; and by feeling our 
 way along with care, a crowning success must be 
 assured. Experience is the great teacher; with this 
 thought in view, we addressed the following letter 
 (which will explain itself,) to men in nearly all 
 the States to which the Pecan is indigenous; these 
 men all have some knowledge of the Pecan in both 
 its wild and cultivated state, the most of them 
 being the owners of tame groves. We sincerely 
 trust that the information received in answer will 
 be something of a help to those who contemplate 
 setting out a grove to start aright, that being a 
 very important point to insure success. 
 
Copy of Letter Addressed 
 
 Oceax Springs, Miss., Dec. 26, 1892. 
 
 Dear Sir: — Will you kindly reply to this in- 
 quiry, by furnishing us with what knowledge and 
 statistics you can in regard to the Pecan tree and 
 its nut in your State. In what part of the State 
 do they grow wild ? to what extent over the State ? 
 How large do the trees grow? Do they hear reg- 
 ularly, or do they miss some years ? 
 
 What number will it take to weigh a pound of 
 the largest you have ever seen growing there? 
 Are there any shipped out of the State? If so, 
 where do they go ? What is the wholesale price? 
 Are they usually thin or thick shell? What is the 
 character of the land where the trees thrive best? 
 Is it bottom or high land? To what extent will 
 they live with the land flooded? Can you esti- 
 mate the annual value of the crop in your State? 
 Is the Pecan tree cultivated in your State with a 
 
14 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 view of producing nuts? If so to what extent? 
 Are there any grafted or budded trees, or any 
 apparent interest in that direction when setting out 
 groves? The information herein ashed for will be 
 gratefully received, as we want to incorporate it in 
 a book which we are now preparing for publica-. 
 tion, bearing upon the Pecan nut industry of the 
 United States. Yours very truly, 
 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
Answers. 
 
 FROM KANSAS. 
 
 Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 2, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Dear Sirs : — The Pecan tree grows wild in the 
 southeast corner of this State, the largest growth is 
 three feet at the base, and sixty feet in height. 
 They do not bear full every year; there are no 
 large nuts — they would grade medium or small. 
 Think there are none shipped out of the State. 
 Do not know the wholesale price. They are thick 
 shell. The trees grow in the valleys bordering the 
 streams. The lands are frequently flooded, but the 
 water does not remain long. Cannot estimate the 
 annual value of the crop, it is not large, however. 
 There are no cultivated groves here yet. Some 
 have saved the Pecan trees, cutting away the other 
 timber. There are no grafted or budded trees. 
 This information was given me by my assistant, 
 
16 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 who recently traveled through the Pecan region in 
 search of general information on forest topics. 
 The trees you sent me last year have grown finely. 
 I should like to try them more fully. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 E. A. Popenoe, 
 Professor of Horticulture and Entomology, 
 Kansas State Agriculture College. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 17 
 
 FROM MISSOURI. 
 
 Bluffton, Mo., Jan. 3, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Dear Sirs: — I will answer your questions to 
 the "best of my ability. The Pecan tree grows 
 wild on all the bottom lands along the Missouri 
 River, but few are found elsewhere. I have 
 known trees three feet through, and one hundred 
 and forty feet high. They bear nearly every year. 
 I think of the very largest nuts, sixty would weigh 
 a pound. Some go out of the State, but mostly 
 find a market at home. The price paid is about 
 five cents per pound. Some are thick, and some 
 are thin shell, they also vary in quality, some being 
 very fine flavored, some are very smooth shell, 
 while others are rough. I know of no groves 
 being set out here. They are all wild, but some 
 men have had sense enough to spare the tree when 
 clearing the land. A friend of mine has eighty 
 trees in a field, the nuts from which brought him as 
 much money as the wheat off the field which the 
 

 1 8 THE PECAN A ND HO W TO GROW IT. 
 
 trees occupy. Have known water to cover the 
 land three feet deep around the trees, for a week 
 at a time, without their showing any injury. I 
 know of only a few grafted trees and these were 
 grafted upon small Hickory sprouts. I have tried 
 grafting them upon Hickory limbs, but only two 
 lived out of seven. I have two trees of a hybrid 
 Pecan grafted on Hickory trees that are large 
 enough to bear; they are grafted in the crown 
 system upon limbs an inch thick. Hoping this will 
 be of some use to you, I am yours truly, 
 
 Samuel Miller, 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 19 
 
 FROM ILLINOIS. 
 
 Bradfordton, III., Jan. 9, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan grows wild here in 
 the southern half of the State, in the valleys; 
 have seen them three feet in diameter. There is a 
 failure of nuts some years; it takes about one 
 hundred to weigh one pound; they are all used in 
 the State; the wholesale price is six to seven cents 
 per pound. The land is sandy where the tree 
 thrives best. Flooding the land does not seem to 
 hurt them. I think I am the only one that has 
 started a Pecan orchard here. Many who own the 
 land where the wild trees grow are beginning to 
 guard them with care. There are no grafted or 
 budded trees here that I know of. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Jas. A. Stone. 
 
20 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 ANOTHER ANSWER FROM ILLINOIS. 
 
 Flora, III., Jan. 14, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Dear Sirs: — The Pecan tree grows wild in 
 
 spots and patches upon most of the bottom lands 
 
 in the southern part of the State. The finest ones 
 
 are in the extreme southern part, and the farther 
 
 south, the more numerous the trees; some are three 
 
 feet in diameter. There are some nuts every year, 
 
 but the bearing is irregular; the nuts are of fair 
 
 size and good flavor. There are some sold in 
 
 Chicago and St. Louis, but mostly are used at 
 
 home. The price is from eight to ten cents per 
 
 pound. Some are thin shell, can be crushed in 
 
 the hand, are also rich and of fine flavor. The 
 
 trees do best on sandy land; flooding does not 
 
 seem to hurt them. The crop will average thirty 
 
 thousand dollars annually. Until within the last 
 
 five years there has been very little effort to save 
 
 the wild trees, much less to start new ones. I 
 
 know of no grafted or budded trees; I have a few 
 
 trees which grew from the nuts I bought of you 
 
 last year. Yours truly, 
 
 L. A. Michels. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 21 
 
 FROM ARKANSAS. 
 
 Gaines Landing, Ark., Jan. 4th, 1898. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan tree is indigenous to 
 this State. It is usually found in the valleys of the 
 streams. Some of the trees attain a diameter at 
 the base of five feet. They bear a full crop about 
 every three years. It would require of the largest 
 sized nuts, from seventy-five to one hundred for a 
 pound. 
 
 They sell at wholesale for live to twelve cents 
 per pound. They are usually thick shell. I think 
 they make the best growth upon alluvial soil. If 
 the young trees are flooded during their first year's 
 growth from the nut, while in leaf, they are killed, 
 but after first year, overflow does them no apparent 
 harm. Can give no estimate of the value of the 
 crop. Orchards are being planted here. There 
 are no grafted or budded trees. 
 
 Tours truly, 
 
 AV. G. McLendon. 
 
22 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 FROM TEXAS. 
 
 Dallas, Texas, Jan. 13th, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan grows wild upon the 
 valley lands along the streams; also upon the hill- 
 sides and the heads of streams. Large quantities 
 are shipped out of the State. Can give no definite 
 figures as to the amount. Many thousand bushels 
 go to the Northern States every year. Price aver- 
 ages from one -fifty to three dollars jDer bushel. 
 They mostly have a thick shell, although in some 
 localities very good thin-shelled ones are found. 
 Some trees grow to be three feet through and 
 seventy feet high. A few groves have been set 
 out in different parts of the State, but none are yet 
 in full bearing. There are some few grafted trees 
 in different parts of the State although none are 
 bearing yet. The tree does not bear full every 
 year as a rule. The desire for groves is increasing. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 A. A. Pillock. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 23 
 
 FROM MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Okoloxa, Miss., Jan. 2, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan grows wild and bears 
 an abundance of fruit in this latitude, eighty miles 
 south of the Tennessee line, the presumption is 
 that they grow all over the State. I see no reason 
 why the tree should not keep company with the 
 Hickory. I have seen them eighteen inches in di- 
 ameter, five feet from the ground. They bear every 
 year. The tree is rarely seen upon hills, or prai- 
 ries. Eighty to one hundred of the nuts will weigh 
 a pound; they are mostly used at home. There is 
 quite a manifest desire for groves. In the year 
 1860 I had made up my mind to clear and plant 
 one half section with walnuts, but my wise neigh- 
 bors actually laughed me out of the project; the 
 overflow spoiled it; if I had executed my project, 
 I should now be the owner of 320 acres of land 
 worth $200.00 per acre. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Dr. J. II. Greex. 
 
94 THE PECAN AND HO W TO GRO W IT. 
 
 ANOTHER ANSWER FROM MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Hollendale, Miss., Jan. 4th, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Dear Sirs: — The Pecan tree grows wild all 
 over the Delta section of this State. Some of the 
 trees grow very large and produce good size nuts 
 with fine flavor. The best bearing trees grow upon 
 the ridges which are sand loam. I am sorry to say 
 that it is a common way when gathering the nuts 
 to cut the tree. Flooding the ground does not hurt 
 the tree. There is now an effort being made here 
 as well as in other parts of the State, to propagate 
 a large, thin-shelled variety, the seed and trees of 
 which are obtained from the Stuart Pecan Co., at 
 Ocean Springs, this State; but as yet that is its 
 incipiency. I think there will be a growing de- 
 mand for trees, as they do so well here, and if fchey 
 can be grown successfully upon the Gulf coast, in 
 the sand, they ought to do wonders here when cul- 
 tivated, as the wild tree is often the monarch of the 
 forest. I have no grafted trees. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ' I. T. Casey. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. !>o 
 
 FROM ALABAMA. 
 
 Eufaula, Ala., Jan. 13th, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — I do not think there are any 
 wild Pecan trees in this State. Cultivated ones 
 grow very finely and bear nuts every year. I 
 think seventy -five would weigh a pound, as an 
 average; but there are some very large soft shell. 
 The nuts sell at wholesale from ten to fifty cents 
 per pound. The trees mostly grow upon sandy 
 soil. There are no grafted or budded trees here. 
 There is some interest beino; shown in starting 
 Pecan groves. I have planted a four-acre grove. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Cliff. A. Locke. 
 
26 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 Anthony, Florida, Jan. 1st, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Dear Sirs: — The Pecan tree does not grow 
 wild in any part of this State; but there 
 are some cultivated groves here. They are 
 mostly thin shell; there are not enough 
 raised yet to supply home demand; they 
 grow upon both low and high lands, but bear 
 earlier and produce better on upland. Cannot esti- 
 mate the value of the crop ; the industry is new. I 
 know of one tree growing on poor sandy soil fifteen 
 years old, which produces an average of three 
 bushels of nuts per year. I also know of trees 
 twenty years old producing as high as ten bushels 
 per year on clay land. There is a growing desire 
 for groves manifested. I have the largest grove in 
 the State; containing four thousand trees, all 
 grafted, now five years old; they are seventeen feet 
 high, and bear a few nuts; think they will bear 
 profitably in three more years. This grove is in 
 northwestern Florida, upon high clay land. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 . H. S. Kedney. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 27 
 
 FEOM KENTUCKY. 
 
 Moscow, Ky., Jan. 16th, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan tree grows wild in the 
 western part of the State. It bears very well, bat 
 the nuts are small ; not many sold out of the State. 
 Don't think the overflow of water hurts the tree, 
 excepting when in leaf. Cannot estimate the value 
 of the crop. They are rarely cultivated; do not 
 think there are any grafted trees here. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 James L, Beckham. 
 
28 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 FROM INDIANA. 
 
 Evansville, Ind., Jan. 12th, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — The Pecan tree is indigenous to 
 the southern part of this State ; the trees bear very 
 well, but the nuts are small. Of the crop, several 
 hundred barrels are shipped out of the State every 
 v ear; they go to Chicago, New York, and St. Louis, 
 They sell at from five to twelve cents per pound. 
 No groves are being set out here. Most of the 
 trees grow upon low land, yet I know of some 
 growing upon high land. I have never seen any 
 grafted trees, excepting in Florida. I have three 
 small trees in my yard which grew from large nuts 
 sent me by Colonel Stuart of your place. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Samuel Yickery. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 29 
 
 FROM GEORGIA. 
 
 Bain-bridge, Ga., Jan. 12, 1893. 
 Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Gentlemen: — Many cultivated groves of the 
 Pecan tree are to be found in this State. Mr. 
 Averitt of this county has one of forty acres, of 
 which two hundred trees bore last year. Some of 
 the trees yielded four bushels, and the nuts sold at 
 from fifteen to twenty cents per pound. This grove 
 is on high land. I have a grove, the trees of which 
 are three, four and iive years old, also upon high 
 land. New groves are being set out every year, 
 and so far as I can learn they all do well. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Jno. D. Wood. 
 
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 We have a communication also from Mr. Henry 
 E. Dosch, of Hillsdale, Oregon, who lias a few trees 
 growing there. He reports they do nicely. We 
 also have one from Gen. John Bidwell, of Chico, 
 California, a place in the Sacramento Valley. He 
 says he has trees thirty years old, and that they 
 nourish finely in that locality. 
 
 Verily it does look as though the planting of 
 Pecan groves would prove to be the solution of the 
 hitherto difficult problem of what to do with a cer- 
 tain vast acreage of land in the Great Golden State, 
 notably the San Joaquin, and Sacramento Valleys, 
 which are visited by an overflow every winter. The 
 soil is rich and deep, affording just the home in 
 which the Pecan is bound to nourish, and yield a 
 rich return to its cultivator. 
 
 But, while admirably fitted for the Pecan, the 
 land is too bountifully supplied with moisture for 
 fruit trees in general, and is altogether too wet for 
 creals. It will be readily seen on a careful review 
 
 of the foregoing, that the information covers a 
 
 30 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 31 
 
 broad field, extending as it does from Ocean to 
 Ocean, and latitudinally, from the Gulf to the 
 fortieth parallel, in a large portion of which the 
 Pecan tree is indigenous to the soil. We further 
 learn that the tree, when not in leaf, will survive the 
 floods ; that it thrives upon clay, sand, and alluvial 
 soils; and moreover that the people are becoming 
 interested in the Pecan, and are planting groves 
 with full confidence in a future and abundant re- 
 ward. It is also dawning upon the perception of 
 those interested in this subject, that the nut is capa- 
 ble of vast improvement, through wise cultivation, 
 in the line of grafting and budding, and that such 
 cultivation must yield rich returns in the enhanced 
 market value of the nut which is certain to follow. 
 In fact there is no ground for discouragement 
 appearing in the evidence. Taking it all in all, it 
 adds an encouraging chapter to the history of the 
 enterprise already so full of promise to the invest- 
 ors in the Pecan industry. 
 
32 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 TEOPICAL AND SEMI-TROPICAL FEUITS 
 AND NUTS IN AMEEICA. 
 
 Perhaps the extent of our resources in tropical 
 fruits and nuts, as reported by the Census Bureau, 
 will be something of a surprise to many. At the 
 time of the last census, there were exclusive of or- 
 chards intended only for private use, 13,515 acres 
 of almonds, 677 of bananas, 169 of citron, 9,864 co- 
 coanuts, 4,477 of figs, 550 of guava, 1,362 of kaki, 
 7,256 of lemons, 495 of limes, 12,181 of madeira-nut, 
 7,097 of olive, 184,003 of orange, 2,189 of pine- 
 apple, 171 of pomelo, and 27,419 of pecan trees ; 
 a total acreage of 221,068 given to tropical and 
 semi-tropical fruits and nuts. The reports on val- 
 uation of crops for the same year amounted to $14,- 
 116.59, divided as follows : Almonds, $1,525,109; 
 banana, $280,653; cocoanut, $25,217; fig, $307,271; 
 lemon, $988,099 ; lime, $62,496 ; madeira-nut, 
 $1,256,958; olive, $386,368; orange, $6,603,098; pine 
 apple,$812,159 ; pomelo, $27,216 ; pecans,$l,616,576. 
 In nearly every case the number of non-bearing 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 33 
 
 was double the number of bearing trees. Pecan 
 culture is recommended in the report, as an indus- 
 try from which future developments of a wonder- 
 ful nature may be expected. 
 
 SELECTING A SITE FOR THE GROVE. 
 
 A deep sand-loam is probably the best, as that 
 kind of soil is usually fertile, and the roots pene- 
 trate it quickly and with ease. Consequently, it 
 will grow very rapidly, and with the fertility such 
 soils usually have, you will save the expense of fer- 
 tilizing your grove for a good many years. Next 
 in order is clay-loam with a porous subsoil. 
 
 Many of those soils hold a rich store of fertility 
 for several feet in depth; although the roots are 
 liable to meet with much more resistance while work- 
 ing their way downward ; hence, growth may be 
 slow. 
 
 Next come common sandy soils, such as grow 
 the pine ; it is not uncommon to see fine cultivated 
 Pecan trees in bearing upon these lands ; but it 
 
34 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 must be borne in mind that all such lands will give 
 better results if they are fertilized a little each year; 
 but as soon as they come into bearing you will not 
 feel the expense, as they are sure to pay their own 
 way with half a chance, and leave a fine profit be- 
 sides. Groves will do nothing upon springy, boggy 
 soils, where the water stands near the surface ; the 
 roots will not penetrate the water ; they will only 
 shoot out laterals, which are not the main reliance 
 of the Pecan. Its stronghold is its tap-root, which 
 will go right into the bowels of the earth thirty 
 feet, and send out laterals all the way down. They 
 are diligent in their search after food, and the more 
 porous the soils the quicker they will find it. In 
 loose porous soils the feeding roots are much more 
 numerous than in the hard ; the farther down to 
 standing water, the better for the Pecan tree. 
 
 Neither will it do to set trees where there is 
 ledge rock near the surf ace, especially if solid, but 
 the tap-root will work its way down through frag- 
 mentary rock in a zigzag way ; it will also pene- 
 trate very hard clay, although slowly. There is no 
 limit to the growth of the roots laterally. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 35 
 
 SETTING OUT THE GROVE. 
 
 Pecan trees should be set from forty to 
 eighty feet apart, being equal distance from each 
 other, in straight rows both ways, standing north 
 and south, east and west. The distance must de- 
 pend upon the natural fertility of the ground, or 
 the anticipated treatment you propose to bestow 
 upon them year by year, as their interests demands; 
 always bearing in mind, the poorer the land, the 
 farther the trees should be apart. Even though 
 they stand at the farthest distance apart here 
 given, the feeding roots will in time, carry home to 
 the parent stem, plant food from the utmost limit. 
 Now measure off your ground^ the distance between 
 trees being decided upon, make' a hole where the 
 first tree is to stand, with an iron bar, four feet 
 deep, into which drive a stake eight feet long, leav- 
 ing three or four feeVabove the surface ; do the 
 same where each tree is to stand, over the whole 
 plat of ground ; this is your guide by which to set 
 your trees. Now take out the ground three or four 
 feet deep, and two feet each side of the stake all 
 around ; then fill in the bottom of this hole with 
 
36 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 surface dirt or good dirt drawn for that purpose, so 
 that the end of the tap-root after being trimmed, 
 when resting upon it will show the distance re- 
 quired for the root to set in the ground, when the 
 hole is filled to the surface. Now cut off the end 
 of the tap-root also those of the laterals with a 
 sharp knife, so as to leave a smooth surface ; don't 
 peel up the bark, nor let any bruised part remain. 
 Good work right here is very important to insure 
 new roots coming out from the end at the surface 
 so prepared. When all things are ready, take out 
 the stake, stand the tree where the stake stood, fill 
 in with good dirt, packing moderately, have the 
 lateral roots lay straight out, do not pack them 
 down against the tap-root. By this manner of 
 measuring off and preparing the ground you can 
 have them all straight in row and nice with very 
 little extra trouble. 
 
 The time to set out the trees is soon after they 
 shed their leaves in the fall, or just after the cold of 
 winter has passed. The tree rarely needs a stake 
 to hold it in an upright position, but in case one is 
 found leaning, give it attention immediately; keep 
 them growing; straight. 
 
 O O O 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 37 
 
 AGE OF TREES FOE SETTING OUT. 
 
 The Pecan tree if set out at the as;e of one and 
 two years is more likely to live and prosper than if 
 older. At that age they are easy to handle, also 
 cost less, and will make a larger tree at the age of 
 ten years, than if it was older when transplanted. 
 
 CUTTING THE TAP-EOOT. 
 
 This subject deserves more than a mere passing 
 notice, inasmuch as some people apprehend that 
 cutting the tap-root is injurious, when in reality the 
 reverse is true; it being a benefit according to ex- 
 perience and evidence. It is a well-known fact 
 with vegetable growers, that such as cabbage, cel- 
 ery, lettuce etc., will grow much stronger and larger 
 when transplanted, than if allowed to mature 
 where the seed was sown; as there will be numer- 
 ous new roots shoot out from the end of each 
 broken one. It is the same with corn in the early 
 stages of its growth. The Pecan is no exception to 
 

 I A 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 • 
 
■ 
 
 this ru - - — : a more 
 
 thorough and _ - _ 
 
 smooth cut of the ta aving 
 
 hes long, and there 
 r threi :.• tap-i ts tak< its | 
 shooting from the end whore cut S S 
 
 rhis sh - a photographic view of two 
 s, which had their tap-roots cut during 
 - ar of tl dsl i the nut: this 
 
 skive evid< I si s wheretln 
 
 - cut: also that one of the trees has thrown out 
 theri w tap-roots; such we be- 
 
 tter* I 
 
 : W. R Stuart. "The Fath< iij cult- 
 
 the trees in lii> _ had their 
 
 tap-i ts at; and he is s has been a benefit 
 
 to them. Mr, 11. C. Di ks a of G _ . writes. 
 
 that of I trees ] urchased from us tin 
 
 one ha ina ' s) rtesl *. has made 
 
 the best fi :li. 
 
 *: four hundred taken up out of our nur>- 
 set out _ . and then taken up to sell, 
 
 show there is not a failure to re< one of 
 
 - ade a new tap-root. There is id to 
 
40 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 the evidence in this line from all quarters, and not 
 a single failure from the thousands of trees which 
 we have sold, consequently it is a settled conviction 
 with us, that it is just as well, if not better, to 
 transplant the tree when one or two years old than 
 to have it mature directly from the seed without 
 transplanting. 
 
 CAEE OF TKEES AFTER SETTING. 
 
 For the first two or three years it will be best 
 to cultivate the land; don't crop heavy, but by all 
 means keep it free from weeds. It is best to grow 
 some hoed crop such as corn, cotton, beans, or pota- 
 toes one year, then the next, sow to clover or to 
 cow-peas, and plow under; be sure to keep the fer- 
 tility of the land well up; keep your thoughts 
 upon the interest of the Pecan tree; in starting 
 them you have laid the foundation of a great suc- 
 cess ; don't draw the fertility from close around the 
 tree by growing crops too near. When plowing, 
 turn the furrow towards the tree until the land is 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 41 
 
 well rounded up, so as to leave the dead furrows, 
 half way between the rows, two feet deep that the 
 water may drain away freely. This applies more 
 particularly where the land is flat with hard sub- 
 soil. 
 
 When the trees are four years old seed down to 
 orchard grass, or whatever kind does Lest upon 
 your land for permanent pasture. As soon as it 
 has made sufficient growth turn in sheep and calves, 
 as they cannot hurt the tree now by browsing it; 
 in this way whatever is taken of the land's produc- 
 tion, will be left upon it; don't take off a crop of 
 hay unless the soil should be rich enough to spare 
 it; otherwise you will be robbing the trees of what 
 they will need to carry on their growth and fruit 
 production. It is well to have a light mulch around 
 the trees, just enough to keep the grass and weeds 
 down. If the land should be rather poor sand, 
 draw in marsh muck six inches deep around each 
 tree ; the rains will carry its fertility down to the 
 roots of the trees and greatly stimulate their growth. 
 Keep the trees trimmed to the height of eight or 
 ten feet before letting them branch; even at that 
 height, the weight of nuts in good bearing years 
 
42 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 will weigh the ends of the lower limbs down near 
 the ground, after the trees have attained an age of 
 fifteen or twenty years. There were trees near here 
 last year presenting that appearance, and some 
 limbs higher up the trees actually broke under the 
 weight of nuts. The growth of the trees will 
 depend very much upon the care given them ; their 
 needs must be supplied from year to year. Do not 
 be half-hearted about it, enter right in with a vi^or- 
 ous determination to accomplish the end sought for 
 and your hope will blossom into a reality more 
 bright than you ever dreamed of; but you must 
 not be caught napping. 
 
 PLANTING THE NUTS. 
 
 In preparing the plot of land for planting nuts, 
 plow it deep, have it of fair fertility and in a loca- 
 tion free from pests of all kinds if possible. Mark 
 off the ground in rows four feet apart, then make a 
 furrow four inches deep, drop the nut in this, 
 twelve inches apart, and cover so the ground will 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 43 
 
 be level. In case rats or squirrels find tliem they 
 will dig them out ; then there is an ant that is at- 
 tracted to the nut as soon as it opens to let out the 
 shoot ; they will also eat the kernel entirely up. 
 Plant in the winter. Be sure to get nothing but 
 the large thin shell variety, which has grown upon 
 isolated trees, standing rods away from any of an 
 inferior kind. This way of doing is far preferable 
 to planting, where you want the grove to stand, for 
 you can protect them in a nursery much better than 
 when planted on a large area of ground. Keep 
 them free from weeds and grass, and they will 
 make a growth of eight to fifteen inches the first 
 year. 
 
 Transplant them into the grove at the age of 
 one or two years, in case you are ready, but the 
 sooner, the better ; some report good success even at 
 the age of five and six years. All that are not set 
 at the age of one year should have the tap-root cut 
 fifteen to twenty-four inches below the surface of 
 the ground. 
 
44 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 WILL THE 1S T UT COME TRUE 
 
 The Pecan is no exception to the general rule 
 that seedlings are unreliable. It is now an estab- 
 lished fact that only a small per cent will come 
 true ; frequently the variation is very great; some- 
 times they degenerate ; then again, a better nut is 
 produced than the one planted. Col. AV. E. Stuart 
 says they will sport more or less, and his great ex- 
 jDerience cannot be questioned. The Pecan in- 
 dustry is not old enough yet to give even an 
 approximate estimate of just what can be depended 
 upon, yet when the best has been done in this line 
 of endeavor and it is not satisfactory, the question 
 is, what is the course to be pursued to make it sure 
 that the trees of your grove will produce what you 
 have worked for and expect. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 45 
 
 GRAFTING OR BUDDIXG IS THE 
 REMEDY. 
 
 By using cuttings from cultivated trees that are 
 known to bear fine nuts, and graft or bud the seed- 
 ling, you are absolutely certain of reproducing the 
 same variety. This is a more difficult operation 
 with nut-bearing trees than ordinary fruit trees, and 
 only a very small per cent live, except from the 
 hand of an expert. Trees which produce a first- 
 class nut are very few in number, consequently the 
 work of propagating from them goes slowly, as 
 the supply of cuttings are limited, yet this work has 
 been going on for three or four years, so the newly 
 propagated trees are now producing some cuttings. 
 There is a method known as " annular budding " 
 which proves quite successful. Proceed as follows: 
 
 Take a sharp knife, make two cuts completely 
 around the stock about one inch apart, cut only 
 just through the bark; make a straight slit through 
 this bark between the two circles, now slip off this 
 ring of bark and use it for a pattern to cut the 
 ring of bark by from the scion, which must have a 
 
46 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 well developed bud about in its center; cut close to 
 each end of the pattern ; now split this second ring 
 down as you did the first, slip it off from the scion, 
 put it in the place of the ring taken from the stock, 
 trim if necessary so that the fit will be perfect ; 
 now wrap with strips of waxed cloth all the 
 wounded parts, but do not cover the bud ; cover 
 over well the slit with wax, also tie two cords 
 around, one above and one below the bud, over the 
 waxed cloth just where the scion bark meets the 
 stock bark. In case it is a success, the bud will 
 show life in a few days, and after the shoot is out a 
 f ew inches, cut the cords, also the top, from the tree 
 a few inches above the bud ; let no sprouts grow on 
 the stock, as they would draw the support from the 
 bud. After the bud has grown ten inches, cut the 
 stock down to within one inch of the bud. Seed- 
 lings can be worked in this way after they are two 
 3^ears old up to live or six. The scion wood must 
 be full as large as the stock; the bandage and wax 
 must be well applied so as to exclude the air per- 
 fectly from the wound. In case new bark does 
 not form readily over the stock above the bud in 
 two years, trim down a little with a sharp knife. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 47 
 
 Some use the tongue graft ; it does very well 
 for one year old stock. The mode is to cut the 
 stock square off a little below the ground, place 
 your knife down on one side of the stock, one and 
 one-fourth inches from the end, draw upwards, 
 have the knife come out almost the center of the 
 stock at its top; this takes off a wedge-shaped piece; 
 now partly split, and cut a little across the grain 
 from the top of the stock down so far as the piece 
 is long that you shaved from the one side; thus you 
 have a wedge-shaped tongue upon one side of the 
 stock; now prepare the scion in a similar manner 
 only cut clear across the scion, having the knife 
 come out just at the inner edge of the bark at the 
 end; split the scion in the center, setting the knife 
 back from the end in commencing; now insert the 
 tongue of the scion into the cleft of the stock, being 
 sure that the edges of the bark of all meet nicely 
 upon one side, this makes it possible for a union of 
 the scion with the stock at four different* points. 
 Wrap with twine to hold the parts well together ; 
 bring up the earth to near the top of the scion all 
 around, no wax is needed. Scions should be cut 
 when the buds are dormant, and stored away in a 
 
48 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 cool, moist place until used. Trees to be worked 
 this way must be upon high, dry ground, as stand- 
 ing water would be death to the scion at any time 
 for the first six months after the grafting was first 
 done. The old-fashioned cleft graft is fully as reliable 
 as any; trees one inch in diameter are very favor- 
 able for that style of work; saw off the stock just 
 at the surface of the ground, with a fine tooth, 
 sharp saw, split the stock in the center; now put a 
 wedge in the cleft to hold the splits apart just the 
 distance of the thickness of your scion when trimmed, 
 wedge -shape at one end, ready to be inserted into 
 the cleft of the stock; which needs to be done with 
 great nicety. Where the scions are small enough 
 so they will not crowd each other, it is best to put 
 in two for each stock. Wrap a cord firmly around 
 and tie ; also use a liberal amount of wax upon the 
 sides of the cleft, also upon the top of the stock ; in 
 fact cover all bare places well over; then bring 
 up the earth to near the top of the scion, leaving 
 one bud out. The limbs of the tree can be worked 
 in a similar manner, with this difference ; more wax 
 must be used, and each scion must have a terminal 
 bud, so as to prevent evaporation. The new 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 49 
 
 growth of limbs of course are preferable as the 
 bark is more pliable; also has more sap which cir- 
 culates very freely. The old style way of propagat- 
 ing, by budding as we bud the peach, is a failure 
 with the Pecan. There is no question but what it 
 richly pays any one who contemplates putting out a 
 Pecan grove, to do it with budded or grafted trees, 
 even though you go very much more slowly, as it 
 is not the number of trees that count so much as it 
 is the good ones. Ten grafted or budded trees are 
 of more value in starting a grove than ore hundred 
 of the best seedlings you can get ; in the one 
 case you are certain that your trees will bear fine 
 large soft shell nuts (in case your scions were of 
 that kind, which are the kind to secure by all 
 means), while with seedlings you do not know what 
 the nuts will be. It costs no more to care for the 
 grove of choice trees than of poor ones; then again 
 the grafted or budded ones comes into profitable 
 bearing three years earlier than the seedlings. 
 Here is a case in point; last November we paid in 
 cash, $248.00 for the nuts which grew upon one 
 tree, the crop of one year. The tree is twenty 
 inches through at its base and forty-five feet high; 
 
50 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 such a size tree would grow in twenty or twenty- 
 five years. Now small nuts from the same size 
 tree will sell for not more than fifteen or twenty 
 dollars. Another tree only ten years old bore 
 $13.50 worth. These choice nuts are such as we 
 grow seedlings from, we sell a great many more 
 seedlings than we do grafted or budded trees, sim- 
 ply because they are so much cheaper, and people 
 in general do not realize that such a vast difference 
 exists between the profits of the seedling and the 
 grafted or budded; but such is the case, and such 
 it will always remain for aught that we can see. 
 
 HOW TO SECURE GRAFTING WOOD. 
 
 Those who contemplate establishing groves and 
 cannot afford to buy a sufficient number of grafted 
 trees with which to set it, can buy from one tree up 
 to as many as they can, according to their desire 
 and ability, of the very choicest variety, and a part 
 of each succeeding year's growth of new wood can 
 be trimmed off to craft or bud seedlings with. In 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 51 
 
 so doing you may be going a little slow, but you 
 can have the satisfaction of knowing that you are 
 on the right road, the one which leads to success; 
 you are growing your own wood for grafting and 
 may have some to sell, and it will sell at a good 
 price, because it is scarce; it need not be long be- 
 fore you will get back all your trees cost you, as 
 it is a very profitable business raising the trees, 
 just for the grafting wood alone. We appreciate 
 this condition perfectly, inasmuch as we never have 
 ben i able to get all the grafting wood which we 
 want to use in grafting and budding our seedlings. 
 
 THE FRUITFUL AND THE BARREN 
 PECAN TREES. 
 
 A Pecan tree standing alone may not bear nuts, 
 from the fact that it receives no pollen with which 
 to fertilize its blossoms. Herein lies the advantage 
 of having a number of trees together in the grove, 
 the wind and the bees carry the pollen from one 
 tree to another, the flowers are thereby fertilized 
 and production follows. Let one stalk of corn grow 
 
52 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 by itself and but few kernels appear upon the 
 cob. 
 
 Mr. George Tyng, of Texas (who has for years 
 been an extensive cultivator of the Pecan) says, 
 " Most Pecan trees bear both male and female 
 flowers upon the same tree." The male flower is 
 about three inches long, borne upon twigs of the 
 preceding year's growth ; the female flower resem- 
 bles a leaf -bud, and appears on new twigs of the 
 current year. I believe (but do not assert) that 
 some Pecan trees are male trees, bearing male 
 flowers, but never bearing nuts ; also that there are 
 female trees producing nuts only when the spring 
 weather has not been too dry or too stormy to pre- 
 vent fertilization of their flowers by pollen carried 
 by breeze or insects. 
 
 Nuts will mix when the trees stand close to- 
 gether, the same as corn, upon the same principle, 
 through the distribution of the pollen from one tree 
 to another, either by the wind or insects, such as 
 work upon the blossoms. Therefore when setting 
 out your grove, set each variety by themselves, and 
 have a double distance between the rows of each 
 variety, setting the space so left, with fruit trees of 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 53 
 
 some kind ; as by so doing you can keep each 
 variety comparatively separate. There are two 
 kinds of blossoms, the stamen and pistil; now in 
 order for a tree to produce, some of the pollen from 
 the stamen, must come in contact with that of the 
 pistil, thus fertilization is produced, and the 
 embryo nut is formed ; hence, the larger groves will 
 be more likely to bear, and every tree in them, than 
 smaller groves. 
 
 ENEMIES OF THE PECAN. 
 
 The Pecan has two enemies, the caterpillar, and 
 the saw-bug. The caterpillar forms webs around 
 among the smaller subdivisions of the boughs of 
 the trees. These webs are from one to two feet in 
 diameter. The caterpillars remain in these webs 
 some weeks, until nearly full grown, but eat only 
 few leaves. They then leave the web and come 
 down and settle in a mass on the body of the tree, 
 like bees on the outside of a hive in hot weather. 
 In this state they can be easily destroyed. After a 
 few days they ascend, and disperse themselves all 
 
54 
 
 PLATE III. PECAN BRANCH WITH EMBRYO NUT. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 55 
 
 over the tree, and feed upon the leaves. These 
 worms must be destroyed, either while upon the 
 body of the tree, or in the web. 
 
 Make a ball of old clothing, attach to the end 
 of a pole, soak the ball in coal oil, then set it on 
 fire and hold under the webs, and but few, if any, 
 will survive. The saw- bugs begin their depreda- 
 tions late in the summer and continue until frost 
 comes. They saw off very neatly, by their peculiar 
 process, the smaller limbs from one to two feet from 
 their ends. These limbs sawed off are punctured 
 at different points and an egg deposited at each 
 puncture; the remedy is to gather all these limbs 
 and burn them. The Pecan tree has no disease; it 
 is very hardy, while nearly every other tree, plant 
 or shrub of any value has some enemies. In case 
 the tree is small, and the worm should attack its 
 leaves, it is well to spray with a weak solution of 
 paris green. Keep the tree Avell looked over, and 
 in case there is anything wrong, right it at once, 
 before it has had time to g-et a foothold. 
 
56 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 FERTILIZER FOR THE PECAN. 
 
 Have a place to pile everything in a compost 
 heap that has any value as a fertilizer. The three 
 principal ingredients which the tree requires to 
 make its growth, also to produce well, is Potash, 
 Nitrogen and Phosphate. Potash is found in ashes 
 of all kinds; also kainite, a substance resembling 
 rock salt, which is shipped to this country from 
 Germany, contains about 14 per cent, of potash. 
 The cheapest source is to buy wood ashes even at 
 20 cents per bushel. Next comes kainite at about 
 $15.00 per ton. (Dealers in commercial fertilizers 
 usually handle it.) These should be sown in a 
 light dressing about the trees in the fall and 
 worked into the soil, then the fertilizer gets down 
 to the roots by tlie time the trees start to grow in 
 the spring. A little each year is better than a 
 large quantity at once. 
 
 Nitrogen comes from animal waste, guano, ni 
 trate of soda, blood, cotton -seed, etc. In case it exists 
 in quantity, it should not be composted, as the heat 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 57 
 
 that would be generated in the compost heap 
 would drive off a large per cent, of the nitrogen. 
 Such had better be mixed with marsh muck, leaf 
 mole, or humus of some kind, and kept under 
 rover. Apply this to the tree the same as the 
 potash. 
 
 Phosphate exists in the phosphate of lime, the 
 bones of all animals and the mineral phosphate 
 rocks, which are the ancient marine animals. The 
 last can be sown around the tree at any time and 
 worked into the soil, as there is no waste to it. 
 There is nothing better than barn -yard manure, but 
 as that is made only in limited quantities, and not 
 enough to go around, the deficiency must be supplied 
 from some other practical source. Your compost 
 heap will be a complete manure, having all the ele- 
 ments of plant growth. See that nothing goes to 
 waste that will add to the value of the compost 
 heap. Upon a farm of 160 acres there will be 
 enough each year to keep a good sized grove in tine 
 condition. It is only the naturally poor land that 
 requires to be fertilized; the valleys are always 
 rich enough in their natural state for the tree to do 
 its best both in growth of wood and nuts. The 
 
58 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 thin sandy soils require to be fertilized; and the 
 tree appreciates such treatment as you can readily 
 see by the way it grows, also in the extra crop of 
 nuts which it will produce. 
 
 THE IDEAL PECAN NUT. 
 
 There are about six important points in the 
 make-up of a really good No. 1. O. K. Pecan nut. 
 These distinct qualities taken as a whole, necessarily 
 cut a very important figure in the case of each 
 person who contemplates growing nuts for profit. 
 
 First. Is size; the larger the better, other 
 points being equal, inasmuch as large products sell 
 best as a rule. The largest nuts that we have been 
 able to find measure exactly two and one- eighth 
 inches in length, and one inch in diameter. 
 
 Second. Its general appearance; the nut should 
 be symmetrical and well favored, so as to please the 
 eye. 
 
 Third. Thinness with firmness of shell; thus 
 
FIG. I. STUART. 
 
 FIG. 2. VAN DEMAN. 
 
 FIG. t.. COLUMBIAN. 
 
 FIG. 5. 
 
 PLATE IV. PECAN NUTS. 
 
THE PECAN AXD HOW TO GROW IT. 59 
 
 making the meat easy of access without hammer 
 or nut cracker. 
 
 Fourth. Fullness of the interior or plumpness 
 of the meat. 
 
 Fifth. Fineness of the kernel with an abun- 
 dance of oil, causing crispness and leaving no fibrous 
 residue in the mouth after mastication. 
 
 Sixth. Is flavor, which must be fine and please 
 the palate; a nut having all these qualities in a 
 marked degree is the nut of all nuts, and is here 
 already. 
 
 NUMBER OF TREES PER ACRE. 
 
 We give in the following table the number of 
 trees or plants required for an acre of ground if 
 placed at an equal distance apart. 
 
 Distance apart each way No. of plan 
 
 1 foot 43,520 
 
 2 feet 10,880 
 
 3 feet 4,835 
 
 4 feet 2,720 
 
 5 feet 1,740 
 
PLATE IV. PECAN TREE. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 61 
 
 6 feet.,. 
 
 
 , , t , , 
 
 
 
 
 1,208 
 
 7 feet. .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 888 
 
 8 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 680 
 
 9 feet.. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 537 
 
 10 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 435 
 
 12 feet. .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 302 
 
 14 feet... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 222 
 
 15 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 193 
 
 16 feet... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 170 
 
 18 feet... 
 
 ..... 
 
 
 
 
 
 134 
 
 20 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 108 
 
 25 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 30 feet. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 35 feet . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 40 feet . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 If other distances than those given are required, 
 multiply the distance in feet between the rows, by 
 the distance the plants are apart in the rows and 
 the product will be the number of square feet for 
 each plant or tree. Divide this number into the 
 number of square feet in an acre, 43,520, and the 
 result will be the number of trees or plants required 
 for an acre. 
 
What Others Say, 
 
 TRANSPLANTING PECANS. 
 
 Our twenty-five or thirty years experience in 
 transplanting nursery-raised Pecan trees has been 
 entirely different from that of our correspondent, 
 "W. E. Freeman, as detailed in a late issue of our 
 journal; and with others whose success has come 
 under our direct observation, the Pecan tree has 
 been no more difficult to transplant than the pear 
 under the same circumstances. In fact, our per- 
 centage of loss from transplanting lias been less 
 with the Pecan than with the pear. But we speak 
 wholly of nursery-raised trees that have been 
 properly managed, that have been grown in not too 
 deep and rich a soil, and that have been root pruned 
 or transplanted every two years while growing in 
 the nursery. Transplanting from the forest or 
 from deep alluvial or clayish soils, where but few 
 lateral or fibrous roots are developed, would of 
 course, be attended with general unsatisfactory 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 63 
 
 results, and so would it be with the pear. We 
 should not have recurred to this experience of our 
 old friend and correspondent, had his communica- 
 tion not been calculated to deter many inexperienced 
 cultivators from planting out trees of what we con- 
 sider the most profitable fruit tree in cultivation. 
 And we would here enter our protest to the pre- 
 vailing opinion in regard to the extreme tardiness 
 with which the Pecan comes into bearing. Properly 
 transplanted and cultivated, Pecan trees will, in 
 most cases, come into profitable bearing in from ten 
 to twelve years ; many in seven or eight years after 
 setting out. There are not many varieties of the 
 pear that will do better. 
 
 PLANTING THE PECAN. 
 
 Dick Naylor, of Scottsville, Texas, writes Farm 
 and R.aneh, that if any man in Texas upon the birth 
 of his first son would plant twenty acres of good 
 land in Pecan trees and set it aside for him, that 
 boy, when he attained to his majority, would have 
 
64 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 an independent income of $5,000 a year, and merely 
 the trouble of picking it up. This might be a bad 
 thing for the boy, but the income would be there 
 all the same. When the universal popularity of the 
 Pecan nut is considered, he adds, we must conclude 
 that a grove of Pecan trees would be one of the 
 safest investments a Texas farmer could make. If 
 the land was not needed for other purposes, the 
 trees could be planted two or three times as thick 
 as they would stand when grown, and the surplus 
 trees cut out for fuel as they grow large enough. 
 There is no better fuel than Pecan wood. A pecu- 
 liar advantage in planting such trees is found in the 
 fact that very little cultivation is necessary. Yet, 
 it might be better to use the land for crop purposes 
 while the young trees are growing, taking care not 
 to plow too close to them. Those who would start 
 a grove of Pecans should lose no time in getting 
 ready, as fall or winter is the best time to plant. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. (?o 
 
 PECAN CULTURE. 
 
 I have been long impressed with the fact that too 
 many of our people are flocking to the cities and 
 towns, to the injury of health, to the hurt of morals 
 and the sacrifice of personal independence. If tens 
 of thousands now in the crowded cities were in the 
 country cultivating small farms, (such are in the 
 reach of nearly all,) they would have better sani- 
 tary conditions, less temptation to sin, and more 
 personal liberty. With these convictions, I am 
 prompted to write a brief article on one of the 
 methods of securing a comfortable support in the 
 country. Our country industries are not sufficiently 
 diversified in this South-land. We confine our 
 rural industries to too few things, to cotton, sugar 
 and rice, important but laborious and overdone prod- 
 ucts. Many, especially those of smaller means, 
 could find easier and more profitable modes of cult- 
 ure. Many things suggest themselves; but I will 
 confine myself in this article to the growing of 
 Pecans. The Pecan tree is indigenous to the Gulf 
 States, and found growing wild in Texas, Louisiana, 
 
66 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 Mississippi, and Alabama and Southern Arkansas. 
 In their wild state they are generally found on rich 
 and moist soils, which suggest that such soils are 
 the best for planting and rearing Pecans. These 
 trees will grow on clayey, sandy soil, and where the 
 land is quite free from much moisture and by fer- 
 tilizing will grow to a large size and yield profit- 
 able crops but they will do better on rich bottom 
 lands. Where the land is rich they ought to be 
 sixty feet distant from each other; certainly not less 
 than forty feet. 
 
 A plot of ground can be cultivated for several 
 years after the Pecans are planted before they will 
 shade the ground too much for croj3s; after that the 
 Pecan grove will be an excellent pasture. The 
 cattle must not be allowed to browse anions the 
 young trees, as they are fond of the leaves and 
 limbs, and will soon destroy them. Be sure to 
 plant the largest and best Pecans you can find. 
 Large Pecans will command in the market three 
 times as much per pound as the smaller ones. The 
 young Pecan tree needs little pruning, and if in rich 
 soil, only needs to be let alone. Pecans bear from 
 the planting from seven to twelve years. Now a 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 67 
 
 word as to the advantage of their peculiar cultiva- 
 tion : While the trees are growing to the bearing 
 period, they need almost no attention, and will not 
 occupy time or hinder any other business you may 
 wish to pursue. Trees after getting into bearing 
 will yield from a bushel to three barrels. Average 
 Pecans are worth from twelve to fifteen dollars per 
 barrel. If you raise peaches, pears, strawberries, 
 tomatoes, and the like, they must be handled with 
 great care, and promptly disposed of or they are 
 spoiled and lost. Pecans can be kept for months 
 and shipped anywhere without injury or loss. I 
 don't know anything that a young man who has a 
 few hundred dollars can do that will pay him so 
 well as to buy some good land near navigation or a 
 railroad, and plant it in Pecans. In a few years 
 when his domestic circumstances demand a lar^e 
 income, he will have it. It's light work; little 
 children can gather Pecans. 
 
 J. B. Walked 
 
 P. S. — I have no Pecan trees nor seed Pecans to 
 sell; — no axe to grind by this article. 
 
68 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW III 
 
 THERE ARE MILLIONS IN IT. 
 
 To the Editor of the News and Courier: 
 
 There are more developed industries in the 
 South than are thought of, and it seems strange 
 that so few have thought of starting a Pecan grove. 
 The cultivation of the Pecan is not a new industry, 
 as many may suppose, as there are a great many 
 people in this country, and indeed all over the 
 State, who have a few bearing trees. Even in 
 Florida, where the golden fruit can be so profitably 
 raised, they are putting out Pecan trees. Two gen- 
 tlemen in the town of Micanopy, Fla., have each 
 several acres of Pecan trees adjoining their orange 
 groves. If Pecan culture did not pay, these gen- 
 tlemen would not set them on land that is so valu- 
 able for orange growing. There are a great many 
 varieties of the Pecan. One kind is so insipid that 
 it cannot be eaten. Hence it is of great importance 
 in securing trees to get the best varieties by pur- 
 chasing from reliable dealers. It has been fully 
 demonstrated right here, in Barnwell county, that 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 69 
 
 the native South Carolina Pecan is superior in size 
 and flavor to those grown West. It is therefore no 
 experiment to plant Pecan trees. I have seen vig- 
 orous trees, bearing plentifully, in the different 
 soils of this and adjacent counties. It succeeds ad- 
 mirably wherever the hickory grows, and it resem- 
 bles somewhat the latter. It is very tough and 
 hardy, and its long tap-root seems to render it inde- 
 pendent of the seasons. The young trees are not 
 troubled by stock of any kind. It can be planted 
 in a pasture if desired. It commences to bear at 
 seven or eight years old, and continues to increase 
 its stock every year thereafter. The trees are very 
 symmetrical in shape, and constitute as handsome 
 a^ I efficient shade tree as any other. A grove of 
 these valuable trees would add much to the beauty 
 of the home. Here is an opening for those who 
 own only a few acres of land, to plant trees that 
 will in a few years enable them to supply an ever- 
 increasino; demand. There is no danger of over- 
 supplying the market, there are too many " doubt- 
 ing Thomases " in every community to be in any 
 danger of planting too many. If Pecan trees could 
 be planted in the spring and a crop of nuts har- 
 
70 THE PECAN AXD HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 vested in the fall, the business might be overdone; 
 but as the harvest is eight years ahead, only those 
 who can " see ahead " and are willing to wait for a 
 good thing, will plant out Pecan nuts to any extent. 
 It is not likely that there will be a general' planting 
 of the trees for some time, until the doubting ones 
 see what their neighbors are doing. Corn, cotton, 
 or any other crop may be grown upon the land 
 until the trees pay enough to give the land up to 
 them. Who would want to plant the land in cot- 
 ton when it pays $200.00 per acre in Pecan nuts? 
 They bear paying crops as early as the pear, apple, 
 or orange, and a Pecan grove will be as valuable 
 here as an orange grove in Florida, and not liable 
 to the same disasters that afflict the orange. 
 
 My trees at ten years old bore at the rate of 
 $150 per acre, and at fifteen years old the yield was 
 $300 per acre. There is more money from a single 
 acre than a hundred acres of land would rent for. 
 But assuming the product is but half that, what 
 other crop affords so great and so reliable a profit ? 
 A ten -acre grove would pay better than a ten -horse 
 cotton farm, and a grove once set is a lifetime thing. 
 
 A gentleman who lives only a few miles from 
 
THE PECAN AXD HOW TO GROW IT 71 
 
 this place has two bearing trees, from which he 
 gathered and sold last year 847.50 worth of nuts 
 with still enough left for family use. Think what 
 an acre of such trees would pay. It is surer than 
 life insurance or a hank account. You can't spend 
 it in a few years, nor do you have to die to win. 
 It pays an enormous interest and pays it promptly 
 and surely on the first day of every November. 
 Forty trees are usually put on an acre. My plan is 
 to check off the land thirty by thirty-five feet. 
 This gives about thirty-six trees to the acre, which, 
 in my opinion is near enough. They should be 
 set at one year old and not later than two, as it 
 is not unusual for a year-old tree to have a root 
 twice as Ions: as the tree is tall. Good mulching 
 and fertilizing is about the best thing; for the first 
 year or so. After that any of the high grade fer- 
 tilizers will produce astonishing results. Experi- 
 ence has proven the fall planted trees will grow 
 more in two years, than those planted in the spring 
 will in three. So the sooner they are set after they 
 stop growing in the fall the better. They will then 
 have formed new roots enough to enable them to 
 stand the summer. If any one will, for experi- 
 
72 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 ment, take and transplant a tree in September and 
 dig it np in November, the number of small roots 
 that have been formed will surprise him. Com- 
 mence now young man, and put out a grove of the 
 best paying and most reliable of all trees, the Pecan. 
 Pecan nut& are not perishable like pears, plums, 
 oranges and other fruit. Ten years more, will pass 
 as swiftly as the past, and in all probability your 
 neighbor will have a bearing grove ahead of you. 
 In the South no industry pays better than a Pecan 
 grove. To give some idea of what I think of the 
 business after fifteen years experience, I will say 
 that I have a thirty-five-acre grove and am only 
 sorry that I did not put out one hundred acres in- 
 stead of thirty-five. I will put out sixty acres more 
 this winter, making one hundred acres in what I 
 consider the most valuable and reliable trees one 
 can plant. O. D. Faust, 
 
 Bamberg, S. C. 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 73 
 
 PECAN CULTURE. 
 
 BY PROF. F. S. GARD. 
 
 Suppose a party with some means purchase 
 1,000 acres of good Pecan land at say $5 per acre 
 (and good lands at present can be had for that) the 
 cost of the land will he #5,000. To inclose this 
 with good cypress fencing, cost (material and work) 
 $4,000; seed, planting of the same 52 feet apart 
 each way (making 16 to the acre), and putting cy- 
 press stakes around the seed planted, $1,000; total, 
 $10,000. 
 
 A smaller grove might be taken as a sample, but 
 what is true of a large one will be more fully true 
 of a small one, which can be kept up in connection 
 with the regular work of the farm without the pur- 
 chase of additional mules or farming implements 
 for the special work of cultivating the grove. Thus 
 far we have the cost of land, fencing, and putting 
 the seed in the ground and proper guards around 
 it, at a cost of $10,000; size of grove, 1,000 acres; 
 trees in rows 52 feet apart, or 16 to the acre, giving 
 the whole grove 16,000 trees. Now, for the culti- 
 
74 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 vation of the trees planted in a proper soil: The 
 Pecan needs no cultivation for its own sake; it will 
 grow from the seed to a full -sized tree without the 
 use of a plow or hoe. 
 
 It is a forest tree with long roots, and capable 
 of making their way through the soil, and gather- 
 ing up food like other forest trees, without the help 
 of man. But being comparatively a slow grower 
 at first and therefore liable to be smothered to 
 death by the rank growth of weeds, etc., natural to 
 our warm climate and prolific soil, the Pecan tree 
 for the first few years of its growth needs the assist- 
 ance of the plow and hoe to make it a decided suc- 
 cess. This assistance if given with reference to 
 nothing else than the keeping of the trees of the 
 grove clear will cost some money. But there is no 
 necessity that this outlay for cultivation should be a 
 dead expense, as the land planted to trees can be 
 planted in cotton, sugar, corn or almost anything 
 that will pay expense of cultivation; there is no 
 necessity that the Pecan grove should cost anything 
 more to its owner. Thus the first cost of the land, 
 fencing and planting, and even part of this, can be 
 made to come back before the trees can be bearing, 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 75 
 
 by the judicious management of the working or 
 leasing of the land planted in Pecan trees. 
 
 Assuming that $10,000 to be the first cost of the 
 16,000 tree grove, and that no further outlay is 
 needed, by a judicious management of the place, to 
 bring the grove up to bearing, Ave are theoretically 
 at least prepared to determine whether the enter- 
 J3rise will pay, and if so what per cent, on the cap- 
 ital invested. The money invested in a Pecan 
 grove will give no returns under twelve years from 
 the date of planting the seed. Some Pecan trees 
 bear before they are twelve years old, but not 
 enough to pay much. I have seen trees bear as 
 much as one-fourth of a barrel at twelve years from 
 the seed; at sixteen years from the seed a Pecan 
 tree will bear from one-half to a whole barrel of 
 Pecans; at a more advanced age the tree will 
 double or treble this amount. Put the gross prod- 
 uct of a Pecan tree at twenty years of age at $5 — 
 and this is about the average yearly crop for a 
 number of trees taken together — this gives for an 
 annual income from 16,000 trees, $X0,000. Before 
 the grove is twenty years old it will have yielded 
 fruit enough to repay first-cost of the orchard and 
 
76 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 interest on the same up to that date. So that after 
 that time, the net income from an investment of 
 ^10,000; or in other words, a net income of $40,000 
 on a capital of $10,000 invested. Will this pay? 
 This is not all theory. The figures can be realized 
 if the planting and cultivating be done on strictly 
 business principles. While some are developing 
 the corn, cotton, rice and sugar interests, let others 
 whose tastes lead in the direction of fruits, develop 
 the Pecan, orange and other fruit interests of our 
 State. 
 
 PECAN TREES. 
 
 INFORMATION OF VALUE TO PERSONS INTERESTED 
 IN THE CULTURE. 
 
 Rockingham, N. C, Aug. 22, '91. 
 Editor Morning Starr 
 
 Dear Sir: I notice a good deal being .said 
 about Pecan culture and would like to have my say, 
 too, and at the same time get all the information I 
 can. I got seed from Arkansas and planted about 
 twelve years ago and the trees are now from twenty 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 77 
 
 to twenty -five feet high, and from six to fifteen 
 inches in diameter, and have been bearing for four 
 years. I can say little about the profit of the crop 
 as I have only a few trees bearing and have put no 
 fruit on the market; but the nuts are fine and well 
 flavored. I send you by this mail an average sam- 
 ple of the nut at this stage of growth; there are 
 clusters on the trees having eii^ht nuts in a bunch. 
 The trees are planted in ordinary soil, with barely 
 ordinary cultivation. About four years ago I 
 planted a nursery, the seed also from Arkansas. 
 The trees are about a foot apart in the row and the 
 rows four feet apart. They are now an inch to two 
 inches in diameter and from ten to twelve feet 
 high. 
 
 I transplanted fifty last spring without the loss 
 of a single tree. In every excavation from which 
 I took the tree to be transplanted have sprung up 
 three, four, and sometimes half a dozen young trees 
 from the roots of the adjacent trees left exposed. 
 The young trees are now two feet high, vigorous 
 and perfect in shape as if from seed. My bearing 
 trees and nursery are in the town of Rockingham, 
 and worth a visit of inspection to those interested. 
 
78 THE PEC AX AXD HOW TO GROW IT 
 
 I expect to plant a grove of four or five hundred 
 trees; will begin this fall. I have seen a Pecan, 
 called the " paper-shell, " about twice the size of the 
 ordinary nut with thinner shell. I would like to 
 know if any one is familiar with the nut and where 
 to get the seed. I saw the nut at the Exposition in 
 Ocala, Florida. 
 
 I expect to have on exhibition at the fair in 
 Raleigh this fall a specimen of the nuts on my 
 trees. I can sit under Pecan trees of my own 
 planting and eat nuts of my own production and 
 clo not "mumble them without the teeth either." 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 T. J. Steele. 
 
 JS T UTS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 The Massachusetts Ploughman says: In the 
 South the raising of nuts for profit is a foregone 
 conclusion. The Pecan is the nut preferred, from 
 its large yield, and from the oil which the nut 
 holds. This when pressed can be used for table or 
 cooking purposes, and the demand for it is steadily 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 79 
 
 increasing. Chief Van Deman, of the Department 
 of Agriculture, believes firmly in the cultivation of 
 the nuts as a profitable industry. Colonel Stuart, 
 of Ocean Springs, Miss., who has made a wide rep- 
 utation as a successful cultivator, says: "I planted 
 those large paper-shell Pecan nuts when I was fifty- 
 seven years old, and now I am sixty-one, I tell you 
 they help me live. I got 117 pounds from one tree 
 last fall, sold 105 pounds for $105 and planted the 
 remainder of them, and have raised a fine lot of 
 young trees, which are for sale. Pecan culture, 
 planting the very large nuts, I consider one of the 
 safest and best paying industries a man can engage 
 in. One of the highest priced nuts in Europe is the 
 Pecan, shipped from New Orleans but grown in 
 Texas. This tree is the Hicoria Pecan, growing 
 from southern Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 New varieties are obtained by grafting, and these 
 bring fancy prices. The nuts are oblong, smooth 
 and thin -shelled, with sweet and delicious kernels. 
 The tree is beautiful, symmetrical, and rapid-grow- 
 ing, with abundant light green foliage, narrower 
 than that of the hickory. There is a tine specimen 
 tree in the grounds of the Capitol at Washington. 
 
80 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 IS PECAN GEO WING PROFITABLE. 
 
 Our New Orleans market seems to be a favorite 
 for shippers of Pecans, as large quantities are re- 
 ceived at this point from various places throughout 
 the Gulf States, and especially the State of Texas, 
 where they are mostly gathered from natural groves. 
 These nuts range in size and quality from the small- 
 est, which sell at wholesale at about four cents, to a 
 fair quality, which range from seven to twelve and 
 a half cents per pound. In Louisiana and Missis- 
 sippi however, where the trees have been mostly 
 planted and cultivated, the product is generally of 
 a much better quality, and it is from these States 
 the large paper-shell variety come which sell at 
 wholesale from forty to fifty cents, and even more, 
 if very choice. This fact clearly demonstrates the 
 necessity to such readers of The Times- Democrat 
 as propose investing in a Pecan orchard, the wisdom 
 of propagating not from the medium but from the 
 very best nuts that can be purchased. To illus- 
 trate: A barrel of Pecans will weigh, let us say, 
 
THE PECAN AXD HO IV TO GROW IT. 81 
 
 160 net. If tliey are small and inferior, the pro- 
 ceeds at 4 cents, will be $6.40; if medium, 7 cents, 
 or $11.20; if fairly large at 12 cents, or $19.20; if 
 very large with soft shells, the highest market price, 
 which we will say is 30 cents, or $48 per barrel. 
 And the latter, it must be remembered, cost no more 
 to grow than the most inferior sorts. Now there 
 are many persons who would plant Pecans but are 
 deterred from it, first, upon the area of land neces- 
 sary to establish a large orchard ; secondly, upon 
 the length of time elapsing before such an orchard 
 would produce a profit. 
 
 To the first objection we will say, there is no more 
 handsome ornamental tree than the Pecan, either 
 for the house, yard, or lawn, and it is always pref- 
 erable to grow a nut-producing tree, all things be- 
 ing equal, than one valuable for shade and ornament 
 alone. Again, there are very few farmers who do 
 not own a piece of land which is utilized as a past- 
 ure for stock, and which for argument's sake, we 
 will say contains ten acres. This planted in Pecans, 
 at the rate of sixteen trees to the acre, and protected 
 four or five years from browsing by cattle and sheep, 
 may be returned to its former use as a pasture to the 
 
82 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 equal benefit of both trees and stock. To the sec- 
 ond objection, to wit, the length of time neces- 
 sary to wait before an orchard becomes profitable, 
 we answer: The Pecan being a forest tree and very 
 long-lived, its progress is necessarily slow. This is 
 especially the case with the natural growth. But it 
 is being clearly demonstrated that by selecting, 
 first, only the best varieties; second, by fertilizing 
 and cultivation this time may be reduced, say four 
 or five years, perhaps more. To illustrate: On our 
 little farm in the pine woods, was a group of three 
 trees fifteen years old, each producing three-quar- 
 ters ©f a barrel of superior nuts, the income from 
 which amply repaid for the room they occupid be- 
 side paying taxes upon the farm. Second, a lady 
 who resides in Plaquemines parish gave us a quan- 
 tity of Pecans produced from trees ten years old, 
 from the seed. Third, a gentleman living in the 
 vicinity of Mobile, reports several of his fifteen - 
 year-old trees yielding one barrel each. Fourth, 
 a correspondent of the Orlando (Fla.) Reporter 
 showed extra fine nuts from trees fifteen years old, 
 producing at the rate of two bushels each. Fifth, 
 Col. W. R. Stuart, of Ocean Springs, Miss., a gen- 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 83 
 
 tleinan well-known in New Orleans, lias quite a 
 number of fine trees from which he is receiving a 
 large income. These trees are quite large and 
 twelve years old from the seed. We might multi- 
 ply these instances, but they are sufficient data 
 upon which to calculate the age at which the Pecan 
 begins to become profitable. Lastly, a thrifty 
 Pecan grove upon the farm undoubtedly adds to its 
 value, whether the trees are large or small. It is 
 also an investment for the young man that will re- 
 turn him twenty -fold at middle age and fifty -fold 
 should he live to grow old; a future endowment 
 for his children and grandchildren, one that will 
 pay better and is more sure than stocks or bonds or 
 business enterprises of any kind, if ever so promis- 
 ing. — Editorial in The Time*-I>emocrat* New 
 Orleans. 
 
84 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 PKOGKESSIVE PECAN CULTUKE. 
 
 THE GOOD POINTS OF A NEW INDUSTRY ABLY SET 
 
 FORTH. OF GREAT INTEREST TO TEXAS 
 
 CULTIVATORS. 
 
 A paper read by Col. W. R. Stuart, of Ocean Springs, Miss., before 
 the Mississippi S'ate Horticultural Society. 
 
 I have been requested by your honored secre- 
 tary to prepare a paper on " Progressive Pecan 
 Culture,'" to be read at the Ninth Annual Meeting 
 of your Society, which is ordered to convene at 
 Booneville, Mississippi, December 16, 17 and 18 ; 
 1891. 
 
 If I fail to interest you, please attribute the 
 failure to my inability to properly treat this impor- 
 tant subject, rather than lay the charge at the door 
 of that much -abused individual, " Old Father 
 Time," at whose threshold has been piled the short- 
 comings of many a brilliant orator and writer. And 
 I claim that the subject of " Pecan Culture " is an 
 important one. It is so recognized by very many of 
 the leading horticulturists of the South, and its im- 
 portance is further attested by thousands of enter- 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 85 
 
 juising men and women throughout the country, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, who are eneraerinff 
 in the work. Besides, we have the unqualified in- 
 dorsement of Prof. H. E. Van Deman, the United 
 States Pomologist, Washington, D. C, as to the in- 
 comparable value of the Pecan. Fifteen years ago 
 (at the age of fifty-six years) I was impressed with 
 the belief that Pecan culture in the southern half 
 of the United States promised vast possibilities, if 
 due care and attention were given it. 
 
 I purchased and planted the largest and best 
 flavored Pecans that could be found, without regard 
 to price. 
 
 Experience lias demonstrated the correctness of 
 this theory. And it was in this way that a new 
 industry (Pecan culture) was begun; an industry 
 new not only to myself, but new to the country at 
 large. During the years that have followed I have 
 felt a deep interest in this work, and have used 
 every honorable means at my command to advance 
 the cause by improving the varieties grown and by 
 bringing the subject prominently before the Ameri- 
 can people. Some writers have been pleased to 
 call me " The Father of Pecan Culture." If my 
 
86 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 humble efforts have been instrumental in giving 
 this branch of horticulture the prominence it has 
 attained, surely those years were well spent, and I 
 have reason to be proud of the distinction accorded 
 me. For the Pecan has taken its place in the front 
 rank as the best and most profitable nut-bearing 
 tree, while the nut itself, where its merits are fully 
 known, is pronounced superior to all others. And 
 this industry must go on from year to year increas- 
 ing in popular favor as well as in profit to those en- 
 gaged in its pursuit. The pride felt in this work 
 has been seasoned by a reasonable admixture of 
 profit and pleasure, but there is even greater pleas- 
 ure in the thought that I have rendered valuable 
 service to those of my fellow -beings whom I have 
 induced to engage in Pecan culture. Having on 
 former occasions given figures showing actual re- 
 sults of my experience, that feature will not be 
 treated in this paper. However, it is desired to 
 refer, in passing, to one tree of the variety known 
 as the " Stuart Pecan," soft shell, which has yielded 
 this year over $250 worth of nuts, at the price read- 
 ily obtained from them. What branch of horti- 
 culture will pay better? It is truly gratifying to 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 87 
 
 note the widespread and ever- increasing interest in 
 Pecan culture as well as the growing demand for 
 the l>est varieties. The tendency to-day is to begin 
 right. New beginners, real or prospective, are 
 seeking information as to the best varieties and the 
 best methods, so that no time or labor may be 
 wasted in unnecessary experiments. Nor do these 
 inquiries come from any particular locality, but 
 from all parts of the country, from Florida to Cali- 
 fornia and from Maryland to Texas. 
 
 In all portions of the United States, south of the 
 fortieth parallel of latitude, Pecan groves are being 
 started, and some enterprising gentlemen risk the 
 business even farther North. The importance of a 
 correct beginning cannot be overestimated. The 
 best results can only be had by planting the best- 
 varieties, and by thorough cultivation while the 
 trees are young. The grower's bank account will 
 be materially affected by the price obtained for the 
 product of the grove; there will be greater profit in 
 producing nuts that will find a ready market at one 
 dollar or more per pound, than in those which sell 
 for only ten cents per pound. I am selling one 
 variety at ten cents each and will not have half 
 
88 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 enough to fill the orders that will be received dur- 
 ing the next sixty days. Mr. J. T. Quigley, of 
 Aransas Harbor, Texas, a gentleman of clear, 
 practical views, and who is a close student of Pecan 
 culture, recently procured some of my best varieties 
 for planting. Under date Dec. 7, he writes, u To 
 the investor of to-day these nuts are cheap at a dol- 
 lar a piece.' ' 
 
 I could add dozens of similar testimonials, but 
 merely give the above as it forcibly expresses the 
 value of the best seed, and the importance of plant- 
 ing only the best. Hence it may be assumed that 
 the secret of success in Pecan culture is found in 
 planting the best varieties of Pecans in good soil, 
 and in the thorough cultivation of the trees until 
 they come into bearing. While the trees are young 
 they will not interfere with the growth of any crop 
 it is desired to cultivate. The Pecan tree thrives 
 best in a generous soil, and unless the soil is very 
 rich, it will be found advisable to stimulate the 
 trees by the use of muck, mulch or fertilizer. Bear 
 in mind that the attention bestowed upon your 
 young trees will be richly repaid in their rapid and 
 vigorous growth. But here we are met by the irre- 
 
THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT 89 
 
 pressible croaker who, in tones of despair, exclaims. 
 " Oh, it is too long to wait; it will be eight or ten 
 years before we get any returns for the labor and 
 money expended." Too long to wait? Why, my 
 good friend, will you not have to wait whether or 
 not you plant the Pecan trees? 
 
 And your land will not produce less of the reg- 
 ular crop you rely on for a support, because of the 
 small trees, which will, with due attention, soon 
 grow into a bearing condition and render you inde- 
 pendent the balance of your life. As to transplant- 
 ing trees, my experience has convinced me that it is 
 better to transplant the Pecan tree at the age of one 
 or two years. Avoid older trees, for they are not 
 apt to do so well, unless they have been highly cul- 
 tivated and well cared for in the nursery. 
 
 Indeed the one-year-old trees are most desirable. 
 In conclusion, I desire to express a willingness to 
 impart in the future, as in the past, any information 
 or assistance in my power to those who exj^ect to 
 engage in this industry. I do not claim to know all 
 about Pecan culture, for I am learnino; something 
 new on the subject everyday. But what I do know 
 I have learned by practical experience, and I will 
 
90 THE PECAN AND HOW TO GROW IT. 
 
 most cheerfully give my friends wlio are interested 
 in the subject the benefit of that experience if they 
 will apply to me. Pecan culture is in its infancy 
 to-day and will make rapid advancement within the 
 next ten years. There is no danger of overdoing 
 the business, for the demand will keep pace with 
 the production; and the man who plants now will 
 doubtless not only reap the reward in person, but 
 will leave a rich legacy to his children or those 
 who succeed him. We have record of one wild 
 Pecan tree which has produced more than 1,000 
 pounds of nuts in one season. Please estimate the 
 value of that tree had it been of the choice varie- 
 ties. Hence plant the best; it will repay you many 
 fold. "Progressive Pecan Culture " is a subject 
 that will soon interest the young and old through- 
 out our grand country. I confess that my interest 
 increases with each succeeding year. I am now in 
 the 7 2d year of my age, and as an evidence of my 
 faith in this industry, will state that I have just fin- 
 ished clearing up a piece of new ground in which I 
 will plant a young grove this winter. 
 Ocean Springs, Miss., Dee. 11, 1891. 
 
The Pecan 
 
 
 O 
 
 Is 
 
 Our 
 
 Specialty... 
 
 Perhaps you are looking for a location upon which to 
 set a Pecan grove? In case you don't find what suits you 
 write us, we can give you points that may lead you to it. 
 
 Do you want to sell a Pecan grove ? 
 
 Do you want to buy a Pecan grove ? 
 
 Do you want anything that pertains to the Pecan in- 
 dustry ? If so, by all means write us without delay. 
 
 Tell us just what you want, and if we can't help you 
 out we will put you in correspondence with some one who 
 can, we are at your service. Address 
 
 The Stuart Pecan Co. 
 
 Ocean Springs, Mississippi. 
 
BRITISH-AMERICAN 
 
 REAL ESTATE AGENCY. 
 
 This agency is established to deal with 
 every class of Real Estate property... 
 
 LARGE TRACTS OF LAND 
 
 AT A FAIR flARKET VALUE. 
 
 It can undertake negotiations forthwith, and anyone placing 
 
 property in our hands, however small or large, 
 
 will always receive prompt attention. 
 
 GULF COAST LAND A SPECIALTY 
 
 LAND FROM THREE TO ONE HUNDRED 
 DOLLARS PER ACRE. 
 
 For further information call on or address 
 
 J. HARLAND COATES, 
 
 12 Godliman St., St. Pauls, 
 London, England. 
 
 F. L. DRINKWATER, 
 
 Ocean Springs, 
 
 Mississippi. 
 
 L«BF 
 
 Ztc