BOWIE, MARYLAND 19 



AVOCATIONS THAT COUNTED 



In Harper's Weekly, September 12, 1914 



By J. Russell Smith 



"The tree is nature's real engine of production. Wild trees pro- 

 ducing barrels and barrels of fruit are not uncommon. We have 

 failed to develop a tree agriculture long ago because nobody hap- 

 pened to think of it. 



Mr. Thomas P. Littlepage, a lawyer, once of Indiana and now of 

 Washington, happens to have an enthusiasm for pecans that has 

 cost him thousands of dollars in time and traveling expenses. He 

 can never get the money back; but don't pity him, he has done 

 something. He has had lots of fun and he has brought us years 

 nearer the time when we can have a northern pecan industry on a 

 known and tried basis. 



While yet a boy he planted a pecan orchard. You might call 

 these first pecan trees, trees of knowledge, for that is all they pro- 

 duced. When he looked at the pecan with a man's eyes he realized 

 that he should have the best varieties before he set out his orchard. 

 He knew that every tree was a law unto itself. Where among many 

 thousands of trees in the nine frosty states was the best parent tree 

 for a northern pecan orchard? He has spent fifteen years in answer- 

 ing that question. 



He has paid annual visits to many isolated trees that were can- 

 didates for getting into the parent tree class. There are many 

 things that must be known about a tree before it is fit to be accepted 

 as the founder of a race. It must have a good sizeable nut, it must 

 fill well, and it must have a thin husk. It must ripen early and bloom 

 late to avoid frost, it must bear abundant crops and with a reason- 

 able regularity. It must be a vigorous tree. He insists that he has 

 found the best pecans in America, and he is now ready to set out 

 his orchard for the second time, after a recess of a quarter of a 

 century for investigation." 



"Paul White is well known, both in the North and in the South, 

 as a practical and experienced nut tree culturist." 



— American Nut Journal, February, 1916. 



