274 



THE P E CA N 



Fig. 3. Van 

 Dem AN. 



even seventy feet between the rows is not too much, and 

 even on quite poor land thirty feet should be left 



between the 

 trees. These 

 eventually 

 grow to be 

 very large, and 

 ample room 

 should be given 

 them. 



Fig. 2. Van Deman. 



While the 



trees are young, crops may be grown between the rows, 

 and this cultivation will also benefit the grove. When 

 the trees are older it is a good plan to turn the orchard 

 into a pasture, and thus the fertility 

 of the land will, in a degree, be 

 maintained. But the treatment of 

 a pecan orchard should not differ 

 very much from that given an apple 

 orchard or an orange grove. It 

 should be regularly fertilized in 

 order to be most profitable. 



The pecan is a very rapid grower 

 and it bears much earlier than is generally supposed. 

 It blossoms when si,\ or seven years old, and nuts are 



usually produced the fol- 

 lowing year. When first 

 coming into bearing only 

 few nuts are borne, but 

 the number produced 

 rapidly increases. Under 

 ordinary circumstances an 

 untransplanted tree ten 

 years old will bear per- 

 haps one-half bushel of nuts. At fifteen years it should 

 bear from two and one-half to three bushels, and at 

 twenty years 

 this amount 

 should be 

 doubled. A 

 tree in full 

 bearing yields 

 from two hun- 

 dred to three 

 hundred lbs. 



of nuts, and one in Texas which is several hundred 

 years old and six feet in diameter, yields annually about 



four hundred pounds. 



The easiest way to 

 harvest the crop is to 

 pick up the fallen nuts 

 about once a week. 

 Shaking them down is 

 often a difficult opera- 

 tion, but if squirrels, 

 etc., are abundant, it 

 may be necessary to do 

 this in order to get the crop. After gathering, the nuts 

 should be dried and put into barrels, when they are 



Fig. 



Meat of Van 

 Deman 



Fig. 



Stuart. 



Fig. 6. Turkey Egg, Sr. 



Fig. 7. Turkey Egg, Jr. 



Fig. 8. Turkey 

 Egg, Jr. 



ready for shipment. They are often polished before 

 they reach the retail trade. This is done by putting 



them in rapidly-revolv- 

 ing iron cylinders. Here 

 the black markings are 

 soon worn off and the 

 nuts come out smooth 

 and clean. They some- 

 times receive a coat of 

 shellac, and this gives 

 them a rich, dark-brown 

 color. 



Daring the past few 

 years pecan culture has received much attention, and 

 now several varieties of large size and superior quality 

 are offered for sale. I am indebted 

 to several men in the south for their 

 kindness in sending me samples of 

 their best paper-shell varieties. The 

 accompanying illustrations, all 

 natural size, show the form and size 

 of the principal ones. The Van 

 Deman, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, grown by 

 W. R. Stuart, of Ocean Springs, 

 Mississippi, is probably the largest and the heaviest 

 variety. The nuts average thirty-five to the pound, and 

 three of them have weighed two 

 ounces. The one illustrated 

 weighed one-third of an ounce. 

 The shell is thin, but the flavor 

 of the meat is not quite so rich 

 as that of some of the other 

 varieties. The Stuart, Fig. 5, is 

 another very large variety grown 

 by the same man. The nut is 

 more oval in form ; it has a 

 slightly thicker shell, but the 

 flavor is better — an important merit. 



Arthur Brown, of Bagdad, Florida, also grows several 

 excellent varieties. The variety 

 called by him Turkey Egg, Sr., 

 Fig. 6, is very large and quite 

 thin-shelled. It is very full of 

 meat, which is finely flavored. 

 Turkey Egg, Jr., Figs. 7 and 8. 

 is not so large, but the shell is F""'- Criglar. 

 thinner, and the flavor is excellent, probably not sur- 

 passed in this respect by any other variety. Georgia 

 Melon, Fig. 9, is more round 

 in form. It is of medium 

 size, rather thick-shelled, but 

 full of meat. Criglar, Fig. 10, 

 is a medium sized nut having 

 a more irregular meat, but 

 its flavor is excellent. Among 

 the other varieties grown by 

 Mr. Brown may be men- 

 tioned Petite (Fig. 11), Repton, Riberia (Fig. 12), and 

 Helen Harcourt. They are all of medium size except 



Fig. 



ij. Georgia 

 Melon. 



Fig. II. Petite. 



