352 MISSOURI STATE HORTICHLTURAL SOCIETY. 



the main dependence for some years to come. Again, seeing is believing^ 

 and when one gets the nut he knows exactly what it is, and when he 

 plants that nut he can reasonably expect a tree that will produce, un- 

 der favorable conditions, as good fruit as he planted. Variations na 

 doubt do occur, but it has been my observation and I have repeatedly 

 demonstrated that the pecan reproduces its kind with remarkable uni- 

 formity. 



The questions are frequently asked, on what kind of soil should 

 they be planted and at what age do they bear ? They succeed here on 

 all kinds of soil; in the rich, moist creek bottoms they grow faster and 

 larger, while on the dry, poor, saridy uplands it bears a year or two 

 earlier, though there seems to be no difi'erence in the quality of the 

 nuts. On ordinary uplands thev usually bear in six or seven years. 



What are the propped s and profits of the business? is asked by 

 somf. Well, there are trees her.i fifteen years old that will shell out 

 eight bushels this year (forty-four pounds per bushel), or 352 pounds 

 per tree. There are usually forty frees planted per acre; the timber 

 is used for all purposes for which the hickory is adapted, and is equally 

 good for fuel. There are many pecan groves being planted in various 

 States. The oldest effort of which we have any knowledge was made 

 by a gentleman in Alabama more than filty years ago. lie carried 

 nuts to the vicinity of Mobile and planted them ; last year his daughter 

 stated in the columns of the Aew? York Sun that from these trees she 

 had repeatedly gathered three barrels of nuts (145 pounds per barrel) 

 from a single tree in one season; this would pay over .$1,000 per acre. 

 While we do not wish to awaken unreasonable expectations, we confi- 

 dently believe that pecan culture would pay hanlsomely anyone who 

 owns a farm or only a ievr rods of land. When not crowded by clo<5e 

 I^lanting, it is naturally of a spreading habit and makes one of the 

 most beautiful and symmetrically formed trees we have, and is fre- 

 quently planted in yards for this purpose. Many persons hesitate to 

 plant the pecans of this State in the North, but to such we would say 

 the (Madura) Osage Orange is also a native of Texas, and yet the seed 

 have been shipped to the bleak and cold prairies of Nebraska, Iowa 

 and Minnesota, and the industrious, enterprising farmers of those sec- 

 tions have made themselves hedge fences that will last longer than the 

 present generation. 



SCHOOL GARDENS. 



Is it not high time that our teachers were required to pass some 

 kini of an examination upon topics connected with every-day life in 

 the country? Children who grow up in the country and settle down 



