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We have in the South two pecan organizations, one of which 

 we call the National \Nut Growers' Association. You will notice the 

 word National Nut Growers' Association. The association is com- 

 posed wholly of pecan growers. Many of us recognize that the name 

 is a misnomer. We have been hoping that the time would come 

 when we could have the name of that organization changed to the 

 Southern Pecan Growers' Association, but we have one old member 

 who has one English walnut tree in his orchard, who says we are a 

 national nut growers' association and he objects. Some time that 

 English walnut tree will die or he will "die, and then we will be able 

 to change the name. Then we have the Georgia-Florida Pecan 

 Growers' Association. There is a California Walnut Growers' Ex- 

 change and a California Almond Growers' Exchange, and I am 

 hoping to see a time when this Northern Nut Growers' Association 

 will have discovered some real commercial nut, and then we will 

 have complete the organization of the nuts of this country, the 

 Almond Association, the Walnut Association, the Pecan Association 

 and then the filbert, or whatever nut you discover here. We will 

 bring them all together in one great national organization, and we 

 will have an organization of real nuts. I am expecting to see that 

 day. (Applause.) 



I read a criticism the other day of a book that was published in 

 which the reviewer said : " It is well for a man when he sits down to 

 write a book that he know something of the topic on which he is 

 going to write." I know very little about the possible nuts that may 

 become commercially important in this section of the world. If it 

 wasn't for the fact that when I come North here I like to meet some 

 fellow nvit, we wouldn't care very much whether you fellows ever 

 discover a commercial nut in this part of the world or not, because 

 the Lord has been so generous to you. The Lord has not given us 

 a perfect climate. He gives one climatic feature here and another 

 one there and another one some place else. He distributes his bene- 

 factions. It seems to me he has been lavish with you people, espe- 

 cially in New York and all through the middle West and the East. 

 You have so many things. Why should you want to grab off the nut 

 business? But just for the sake of letting you have a little variety 

 and having some real good things to eat, I am willing to have you 

 discover some real good commercial nut and then the time will come 

 when we will have this national organization. 



I am going to tell you a little bit about the history of the pecan. 

 I think you would be interested in that. The cultivated pecan is of 

 comparatively recent history. It is not so long since those who were 

 in the South dreaming of a commercial nut were in very much the 

 same position as this association is here, although the South seemed 

 to be the natural place for the pecan. There were no commercial 

 pecan orchards twenty years ago. There were wild groves in the 

 river bottoms of Texas which there are today, but there were practi- 

 cally no cultivated pecans. There were actually no bearing groves 



