THE PECAN. 21 



"I think it offers tlie best investment I know of." 

 "We doubt it, except on land that is ot no other use." 

 "Yes, I have thousands of trees and twenty years' experience." 

 "Yes, tor a long time, low rate of Interest. Grows better with age." 

 "I should say yes, as the demand is great and is Increasing every year." 

 "It is the safest and most profitable branch ot horticulture in the 

 South." 



"I should say yes, provided the requisite conditions as named are fol- 

 lowed." 



'"Very profitable. A better legacy to leave your children than a big 

 bank account." 



"Yes, sir. I have a 20-aere grove Just coming into bearing that paid t 

 per cent, on $6,000." 



"We are of the opinion that a pecan grove, properly located, cultivated, 

 and the product properly marketed, would be a paying investment." 



"I believe an orchard ot good quality grafted pecans, well cared for, 

 would be a very fine investment. I think it offers the best I know of." 



"I have studied the subject carefully and am fully satisfied that pecan 

 growing is a good investment. Grafted trees will pay 10 per cent, on Jl.OOO 

 per acre at 10 years from planting." 



"I have been in the pecan business for 16 years and have between 400 

 and 500 budded trees. From my personal experience in the business, pecan 

 growing is sate and profitable as an investment for capital." 



"It will not pay to raise the small nut and sell it in competition with the 

 wild product; but with a grove located in the right place and with good 

 management and the right kind of nuts for planting, I consider the grow- 

 ing of pecans a profitable business and a sate one in which to invest capital." 

 "The growing of choice varieties of large, soft-shell, productive pecans 

 Is bound to prove profitable In the South. Why? We have the climate and 

 the soil to produce the choicest nuts and we have the world for a market. 

 One of the most profitable trees in this vicinity has given its owner a net 

 Income of over $100. per annum for many years. Last year's product was 

 sold for $175. An acre of bearing trees of this variety, as well as some 

 other choice, productive sorts, would certainly be worth $5,000 to-day." 



Every reply to this question, exactly as received, has been given 

 in the foregoing quotations. It is suggested that such unanimity is 

 remarkable. There is only one dissenter, and he has a "doubt." 



Is pecan growing profitable? 



The first record we have of a transaction in pecans is that of 

 WilHam Prince, nursery man, Flushing, N. Y., who, in 1772, planted 

 nuts which had probably been carried to New York by fur traders 

 from the Mississippi Valley. Mr. Prince succeeded in raising 10 

 plants, eight of which, according to Brendel, he sold in England for 

 10 guineas each. No one has ever expressed a doubt that the opera- 

 tion was profitable for the vendor. The sale of "plants" — budded and 

 grafted trees and seedlings — will always be a very paying part of 

 the pecan business. So, too, will the sale of choice varieties, or 

 forms, as they are more properly called, of the large, thin-shelled 

 nuts for planting. The owner of the up-to-date commercial pecan 

 grove of the near future will market his product, not necessarily in 

 the shell, through commission houses, nut dealers or wholesale 

 stores, but as prepared kernels in packages direct to the manufacturer 

 or consumer He may even become a manufacturer and produce 

 those simpler and more popular nut candies and salted pecans for 

 which there is an ever increasing demand, and thus add greatly to 

 his income 



From the averages given in the foregoing replies, omitting 

 fractions, it is evident that a budded pecan, under favorable condi- 

 tions, will begin to bear profitably at the age of 7 years from the 



