20 LUTHER BURBANK 



THE CULTIVATION OF THE PECAN 



In 1899 the pecan ranked third among nut- 

 producing trees, both as regards number of trees 

 under cultivation and actual product. The pecan 

 trees in bearing at that time numbered 643,292, 

 with a net product of 3,206,850 pounds. 



In the ten succeeding years the pecan industry 

 came ahead very rapidly, and in 1910 the pecan 

 was second to the almond as to number of trees 

 in bearing, and second to the Persian walnut as 

 to weight and value of its crop. Moreover, the 

 number of pecan trees under cultivation, but not 

 yet of bearing age in 1910, was actually larger 

 than the number of trees in bearing; showing a 

 surprisingly rapid increase of the industry. 



The actual number of pecan trees in bearing 

 in 1910 was 1,619,521, and the number of young 

 trees under cultivation 1,685,066, making a total 

 of 3,304,587, a number in excess of the combined 

 numbers of almond and Persian walnut trees 

 under cultivation. 



The production of pecans in 1909 was 

 9,890,769 pounds, with a value of $971,596. The 

 total production of 1899 was only 3,206,850 

 pounds. Thus, as already noted, the production 

 increased by more than three hundred per cent 

 in ten years. There seems every prospect that 



