5& 



of cultivated pecans. It is only a matter of fifteen or eighteen years 

 that the cultivated pecan has been commercially planted. 



I think our concern was among the earliest. I think we may 

 claim to be the very first who, in a large way, planted pecans. We 

 did not start with the intention of planting them in a large way. 

 It was a sort of natural growth. It was only sixteen years ago this 

 month, sixteen years ago, that I first heard of the paper shell pecan 

 from John Craig of Cornell University; right under the shade of 

 where we are meeting tonight I first heard of the paper shell pecan 

 and was induced to put a little money in planting groves. I thin! 

 I may say that New York State, through the instrumentality of old 

 John Craig, can take credit for the start of the great commercial 

 pecan groves of the South. Since that time pecan groves have been 

 planted very extensively, I don't think that any accurate statistic 

 are obtainable of the acreage planted to pecan groves in the district 

 in which we are located in southwest Georgia, but in an area of 

 probably forty or fifty miles I imagine there are seventy-five thou- 

 sand acres of pecan groves. They have not all proven successful. 

 Some have been planted on soil that was not adapted and there are 

 some cases of insufficient or unwise care, and some of not having the 

 proper stock to plant. For one reason or another a good many 

 groves have not proven successful today. Others have proven quite 

 successful. There is no quesion but what that which was a hope 

 fifteen years ago is today a realit}^ and that the cultivated pecan is 

 today an established industry. I do not mean by that that we have 

 reached the stage which our friend Mr. Taylor has reached with his 

 almonds or which the almond growers have reached. We are still 

 in our infancy and have many problems and the problems multiply 

 as days and years go by. Fifteen years ago we would have said 

 there were no insect pests nor any diseases of the pecan. They have 

 certainly made themselves known in the last few years. We have a 

 good many insect pests and we have some fungus. We do not believe 

 that any of these will be beyond the skill of scientific investigation 

 and that they will ultimately be brought into subjection. 



As an indication of the growth of the industry, eight years 

 ago the association of which I chance to be president gathered their 

 first crop of nuts of something like six thousand pounds. Last year 

 we harvested over four hundred thousand pounds of nuts. In eight 

 years of course there was an increased acreage but they were all 

 young groves. I tell you that fact just to show you that when you 

 do find a nut that is adapted to your soil and to your climate, as the 

 pecan is adapted to the climate and soil of the South, it will not 

 take many years to develop such a nut into a commercial proposi- 

 tion. 



I had the pleasure last fall of entertaining Mr. Pierce, the 

 president of the California Almond Growers' Association. Mr. 

 Pierce was very much interested in this young giant of the South in 

 the nut world. He had had a very unfortunate experience in the 



