History of Pecan-Growing 15 



acorn. There are some whose shell is very thin ; some others 

 have it harder and thicker, this is to the detriment of the 

 fruit ; they are even somewhat smaller. All have a very fine 

 and delicate taste. The tree which bears them grows very 

 high ; its bark, the odor and form of its leaves have appeared 

 to me similar to those of the European walnnt trees.'' ^ 



In 1758, in a history of Louisiana, Le Page du Pratz, a 

 French explorer in America w^ho visited New Orleans in 1720 

 and who spent eight years exploring the Mississippi Valley, 

 also described the pecan very accurately and in praising its 

 flavor mentioned the very delectable pralines that the French 

 colonists made out of the kernels. This confection is still 

 made extensively around New Orleans.^ 



It was not until peace was declared with the French and 

 Indians in 1762 that the pecan was known to the English col- 

 onists on the Atlantic seaboard, some of the nuts being carried 

 to New York by fur traders from the Mississippi Valley. 

 "William Prince in 1772, so it is recorded, planted thirty nuts 

 and succeeded in raising ten plants, eight of which he sold 

 in England for ten guineas each.^ 



In 1782, a Frenchman serving with Washington, DeCourset 

 by name, brother of the famous botanist, left the record that 

 ^4he celebrated General always had his pockets full of these 



* ''Le Pacane est nne Noix de la longueur «& de la figure d'un gros 

 gland. II y en dont la coque est fort mince, d'autres V ont plus dure & 

 plus epaisse, & c'est autant de d^falque sur le fruit; elles sont m^me 

 un pen plus petites. Toutes sont d'un gout fin and delicat ; I'Arbre, 

 qui les porte, vient fort haut : son bois, son ecorce, I'odeur 8c la figure 

 de ses feuilles m'ont paru assez semblables aux Noyers d'Europe." 

 Journal d'un Voyage fait par ordre du Roi dans TAmerique Septen- 

 trionale. Vol. 1, p. 141. 



^Historie de la Louisiane, ii. 26. 



^Brendel, Amer. Nat., xiii., p. 575. 



