Geography and Commercial Importance of the Pecan 9 



especially pronounced on the Moneymaker and Russell No. 3 

 varieties. 



COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF THE PECAN 



The pecan does not rank very high in the United States in 

 commercial importance when contrasted with some of the older 

 and more important horticultural crops. However, when com- 

 pared with other nuts its ranking is exceptional, especially 

 w^hen one takes into consideration the limited time it has 

 been under cultivation. 



It is significant that the native pecans are more valuable 

 and require less expense to growers to produce and harvest 

 than any other wild or uncultivated horticultural crop. In 

 addition, thousands of acres planted to improved varieties 

 now coming into bearing will within the next decade compete 

 strongly with the native product even on a basis of tonnage. 

 The commercial status of the pecan may be seen from a study 

 of the following tables taken from the United States Census 

 report for 1920 : 



TABLE I 



Total Xut Pkoduction ix United States 



(pounds) 



1909 1919 



Almouds 6.793,539 15.852,965 



Pecans 9,S90,769 31.S0S.54S 



Walnuts 22.026.524 59,840.470 



This table shows that the pecan easily ranks next to the 

 walnut in commercial importance, and that it is gaining on 

 that important nut. 



Table II gives the imports of nuts into the United States. 

 These figures clearly indicate that there is little danger of 

 serious foreign competition in the domestic market for pecans. 



