CHAPTER II 

 HISTORY OF PECAN-GROWING 



Pecan is an American Indian word, originally paean, and 

 was used by the Indians to designate all nuts that were so 

 hard as to require a stone to crack them. This name was 

 appropriated by the French settlers of the Mississippi basin 

 for one nut in particular, Hicoria Pecan.^ The word hickory, 

 from which Hicoria is derived, is likewise from the Indian, 

 powcoMcora, being the name applied to the liquid obtained by 

 pounding the kernels of the nuts and throwing them into 

 boiling water. This powcohicora was used to thicken venison 

 broth and to season hominy or corn cakes, and in some in- 

 stances was allowed to ferment for an intoxicating drink.^ 



The first appearance of the pecan on this continent is un- 

 known. In Texas, fossil remains of trees have been found 

 embedded in the lower cretaceous formation in Lampasas 

 County. 2 E. E. Eisien, of San Saba, Texas, has in his pos- 

 session a perfect pecan fossil which was found thirty feet 

 below the surface in the San Saba Valley, being thrown out 

 by a blast from a well.^ 



This would at least indicate that pecan trees were growing 

 in the western section of the country during the cretaceous 

 period. However, many are inclined to believe that the pecan 



1 Trans. Amer. Philological Soc, 1872, p. 25. 



2 Pecans and Other Nuts in Texas, Bull. No. 2, Tex. Dept. Agric, 

 p. 17. 



3 American Nut Journal ; Topic, Pecan Pollen, by E. E. Risien. 



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