Histonj of Pecan-Growing 19 



great forests of these trees along the river valleys of the 

 western and central sections. The nuts Avere gathered and sent 

 to the eastern markets in such quantities that their very num- 

 bers impressed the general public, and seedling orchards were 

 planted from Texas to Maryland. Koerber said, ''But for 

 this industry of nut gathering, the people of some localities 

 must have starved for lack of remunerative labor. Hundreds 

 of both white and colored people go out with horses and 

 wagons to gather these nuts." In 1880 San Antonio, Texas, 

 was the most important center of the pecan trade, and during 

 that year over 1,250,000 pounds of nuts were marketed, the 

 price ranging from 5 to 6 cents a pound in wagon-load quan- 

 tities. The commercial value of these AA^ld seedlings aroused 

 the public to the advisability of growing pecans in commercial 

 orchards.^ 



In 1871 a pecan orchard of 150 seedling trees was planted 

 in Hinds County, Mississippi, by George Whitfield. In the 

 next twenty years orchards rapidly increased in number. 

 W. R. Stuart of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, set out 100 trees, 

 and Chas. E. Pabst of the same place also planted an orchard. 

 Capt. Sam H. James, of Mound, Louisiana, started the first 

 large commercial orchard of seedling trees about 1879, and 

 T. W. Oliver set out a seedling orchard near Montgomery, 

 Alabama, in 1882. G. M. Bacon of DeWitt, S. W. Peek of 

 Hartwell, J. P. Gill and James Tift, both of Albany, were 

 pioneers in Georgia. F. A. Swinden of Brownwood, Texas, 

 planted 400 acres to seedling trees in 1888. Large nuts with 

 soft shells were selected and set where the trees were to gi'ow. 

 Louis Biediger, Idlewild, Texas, planted 500 trees, using the 



^ Xut Culture in the United States, T. S. Dept. Agr., Division of 

 Pomology. 



