6 CIECULAR 112, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



two reported very favorably on growing nursery stock. Some said 

 that during the first five to seven years the land would be quite as 

 valuable for cultivated crops as open land. It is obvious, however, 

 that after the trees reach bearing age the value of the land between 

 the rows for intercropping must depreciate rapidly. 



(7) Have you kept any record of the cost of cultivation? If so, about how much 

 has it been per acre each year, including both the cultivation of the trees and the 

 crops between the rows? 



With but one or two exceptions the replies to this inquiry were to 

 the effect that no record had been kept. Such records as have been 

 kept include the cost of cultivating the intercrops, and it was there- 

 fore impossible to determine the separate cost of cultivating the 

 trees. One letter stated that the annual cost of cultivating the trees 

 would not be more than $1 per acre; another, that this cost would 

 not exceed $5 per acre. 



The questions asked omitted a discussion of the price of the trees, 

 the cost of planting, the salary of a supervisor, the cost of replant- 

 ing dead trees, pruning, spraying, and harvesting the crop, and 

 many other items which must be taken into account when a com- 

 plete record of the cost of establishing and maintaining pecan orchards 

 is undertaken. As it is customary to plant from 17 to 20 trees per 

 acre, the cost of the trees can be quickly computed by consulting the 

 nurserymen's price lists. The other factors are all either very vari- 

 able or else few data are available. 



YIELDS THAT MAY BE REASONABLY EXPECTED. 



The gross returns which may be realized from an orchard at any 

 given age depend upon the size of the crop and the price received. 

 Considerable light upon the former may be obtained from a summary 

 of yield records already made, and such records as it has been pos- 

 sible to obtain are here included. The price which has been realized 

 in the past will, of course, have some bearing upon what may be 

 expected in the future, but it can not be taken as a safe criterion. 

 In the past pecans of named varieties have been grown in very 

 small quantities and have been largely utilized by nurserymen as 

 samples and by fancy confectioners, tourists, and land sellers. In 

 this way a high price has been maintained. Ordinarily the pro- 

 ducers have received from 30 to 50 or 75 cents a pound for nuts of 

 the best varieties. The demand for the best pecans can not become 

 general until prices settle to a uniform level within reach of the con- 

 sumer of average means. The present extensive planting insures 

 abundant production, and the need of a wide market is therefore 

 self-evident. With the disappearance of fancy prices, the general 

 demand will undoubtedly materially increase. Further, the prices 



[Cir. 112] 



