1668 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Time of Bearing and Yield 



Seedling trees especially are often in- 

 termittent bearers. The main crop is 

 heavy about every third year. The stand- 

 ard varieties often have better years than 

 others. There are several reasons for 

 this. Frosts may occur at the blooming 

 period, also heavy rains and high humid- 

 ity may prevail at the same time. If the 

 trees pass through a drought all the 

 energy is necessarily directed to the ma- 

 turing of the present crop. The forma- 

 tion of buds for the next season's crop 

 must suffer. The pecan demands a con- 

 stant, regular supply of moisture, and 

 without it we must expect irregular 

 crops. Some years the insect pests are 

 more troublesome than others. 



Ninety per cent of the trees which fail 

 to mature profitable and regular crops 

 may be traced to the selection of im- 

 proper varieties, to trees improperly 

 planted, and to the trees being improp- 

 erly cared for after planting. 



It will take from 8 to 12 years to 

 bring an orchard into commercial bear- 

 ing. There is a Mobile tree on record 

 which produced 20^4 pounds the fifth 

 year after planting. Much depends on 

 the variety, the soil and its treatment 

 and the management of the orchard. A 

 tree from 4 to six years old comes into 

 bearing and from 8 to 10 years will 

 be profitable, and between the ages of 12 

 to 15 years should bring a net income of 

 $100 per acre. Ten to 25 acres of pecans 

 should produce a good living; 100 or 

 200 trees properly cared for and planted 

 on congenial soil will be far more prof- 

 itable than ten times as many trees not 

 properly cared for. 



CracMng the Pecan 



For table use the pecan is readily 

 cracked and the kernels extracted with 

 the use of the common two-handled crack- 

 er which can be secured at the stores for 

 25 and 30 cents. By grasping the pecan 

 firmly in the hand and crunching down 

 on the ends of the pecan snip off these 

 ends first Then place the nut longitudin- 

 ally in the cracker and just press suffi- 

 ciently to crack the shell. Then turn the 



nut and crack it once more. AVhen this is 

 practiced a few times there will be little 

 difficulty in removing the kernels either 

 whole or in halves. For candies, cake, 

 etc., the housewife will find this method 

 a great time saver. In snipping off the 

 ends care should be taken not to en- 

 deavor to remove too much shell, as in a 

 well-filled nut the ends of the kernel will 

 be broken, spoiling the appearance of 

 them. It is better to take a little time 

 and not try to get into the tempting ker- 

 nel too quickly. Cracking the nuts in 

 the hands or placing them in the cracker 

 either sidewise or lengthwise generally 

 results in picking out irregular-shaped 

 pieces which taste just as good but are un- 

 fit for the candies. 



A well-filled nut is less apt to retain 

 the "peel" which tastes so bitter. This 

 clings to the sutures of the poorly filled 

 nut and helps to score against it. 



There are numerous devices for extract- 

 ing the kernels of pecans, one of which 

 is a small vice with cup-shaped caps. The 

 pressure on the nut generally splits the 

 shell in the center and the two halves are 

 pulled apart. With some varieties this de- 

 vice works very well. 



Pecans as Food 



Many years ago, before the study of 

 human foods took its true place as a 

 thing to be considered in the economy of 

 nations, the value of foods was a matter 

 of conjecture. Now scientists can tell a 

 man with a perfect digestion almost to a 

 grain what nourishment he will get from 

 any given food. Among the surprises that 

 food chemists have given the world none 

 are of more interest than those that re- 

 late to the value of nuts as a food. Every 

 one has heard of lost persons existing for 

 many weeks on the nuts of the forest, but 

 the average mind until a few years ago 

 associated them only with the joys of cir- 

 cus day or the delights of a winter night 

 before the fire. Now we know that they 

 are more than condiments or accessories 

 to the menu and must be regarded as very 

 real foods. Indeed, bulk for bulk, nuts 

 are among the most nutritive foods that 

 we possess All nuts yield high food 

 values, and when properly eaten or pre- 



