OPPORTUNITIES IN PECAN CULTURE. 1 



By C. A. Reed, Scientific Assistant in Pomology. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The demand for authentic information pertaining to pecan culture 

 was never so great as at present. Much has been said in a speculative 

 way regarding the commercial future of the industry, the suitability 

 of various localities, the probable bearing age, the size of crops, their 

 immunity or susceptibility to disease and insect pests, then* relation 

 to the weather, and many other matters, but with the industry still in 

 an experimental stage such statements have been necessarily based 

 largely upon limited experience and are therefore subject to revision 

 on short notice. 



The feature of the industry concerning which there is the greatest 

 interest is its commercial future. This information can be gained 

 only through a full knowledge of what it has cost to establish and 

 maintain pecan orchards properly, what the crops of nuts have been, 

 what prices have been realized, the influence of increased production 

 upon future prices, and the possibility of increasing the market 

 demand for the nuts. 



DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING ACCURATE DATA. 



Although the planting of pecan trees was probably begun in the 

 eighteenth century, or perhaps even earlier, their planting in orchard 

 form is comparatively recent. Some pecan orchards are known to 

 have been planted prior to 1880, but until about 1905 practically all 

 consisted of seedling trees. In the planting of these early orchards 

 little attention was paid to such matters as seed selection, the adapta- 

 bility of locality and soil to the species, proper distances between 

 trees, their cultivation, etc., the importance of which is now well 

 understood. A few such seedling orchards when kept under culti- 

 vation have begun to bear crops of more or less importance at 15 to 

 25 years of age, but few orchards have made records as to bearing 

 which would be of interest even if obtainable. The chief value of 

 such orchards is in the opportunity they afford of quick transforma- 

 tion by top-working to named varieties. 



The growing of named varieties — trees propagated by budding and 

 grafting with scions from individual parent trees — began to be active 

 about 1890. At that time comparatively few varieties were known, 



1 Issued Feb. 8, 1913. 

 [C3r. 112.] 3 



