678 



PECANS IN THE NORTH. 



try cutting. You could easily push down your finger 

 and break off at the crown. 



Gray, in the Garden Magazine ^vo\. IV., page 246, says. 

 Do not cut the stems down in the fall until all the sap 

 has returned to the roots. Others say. Cut as soon as 

 they begin to turn. 



Gathering and Marketing. — In the use of theknife, 

 care must be taken that injury is not done to the start- 

 ing buds, and to use the draw cut as much as possible. 

 Where the ground is loose enough to push the fingers 

 down by the stalk, by all means twist or break the 

 stalks instead of cutting. Cut the stalks when from 

 two to four inches above the ground. Do not try to cut 

 longer than two months, or about the middle of June. 

 If the cutting season is made longer than this, the next 

 year's crop is injured, as the plant has not had sufficient 

 time to recuperate and lay up stores for the next year's 

 crop. Sort out the uniform lengths, and make up in 

 circular bunches that weigh from one to two pounds- 

 Place the tops even, and then even the bottoms by cut" 

 ting Bunching machines are in the market, or you can 

 easily construct one. Rubber bands are often used 

 instead of raffia for tying the bunches. Stalks can 

 be kept for several days by placing in a cool room and 

 immersing the butts in an inch or so of water. For 



shipping short distances you can use trays, but for longer 

 distances you must use boxes that are a little deeper 

 than the length of bunches. Be sure to pack them in 

 firmly and fill in about the tops wtth some soft padding 

 to prevent injury to the asparagus if boxes should be 

 turned upside down. 



Varieties. — The chief colossal varieties are Cono- 

 ver's, Barr's Mammoth, Moore's Hybrid and Argenteuil. 

 Palmetto is a southern variety for which much is claimed. 

 New sorts are frequently announced, which as a rule are 

 somewhat superior strains of the varieties named. It 

 is indeed doubtful whether they are not all one and the 

 same thing developed and improved by selection. 



Enemies. — The Asparagus beetle has been trouble- 

 some about Long Island and some other locations. The 

 color is a combination of yellow, red, light blue and 

 glossy black ; virtually it is a yellowish beetle with black 

 stripes. When it is fully grown it is about one-half inch 

 long. The egg is laid along the sides of the young stalks. 

 When the insect is disturbed, he ejects a drop of black 

 liquid. Mr. E. S. Carman discovered the most effective 

 remedy of rubbing off the eggs by passing the hand 

 lightly up the stalks. Do this early and the insect is 

 effectually checked. 



F. E. Rupert. 



PECANS IN THE NORTH. 



HAT there are valuable 

 varieties of this nut 

 in the north we can 

 testify from observa- 

 tion and experience. 

 Those from Texas 

 and Louisiana have 

 been tried here and 

 found tender ; but we 

 have them here of a 

 large size and of ex- 

 cellent quality. Trees grown to an enormous size, 

 near 100 feet high, and over two feet in diameter, are 

 common on our Missouri bottoms ; and a grove of 

 fifty trees, which the pioneer had sense enough to 

 let stand, is a very profitable piece of land. 



I know of one such about six miles from here, from 

 which the owner realized more money one year than 

 from the rest of his farm. I paid him eight dollars for 

 part of the yield of one tree that season. The trees are 

 scattered over several acres, and he farmsthe land nearly 

 the same as that which is clear — raises wheat and corn. 

 To go through this pecan orchard and examine the 

 difference in the nuts was quite a treat and curiosity. 

 There are not any two exactly alike ; some long and 

 thin, pointed at both ends, others short and nearly round. 

 The surface of some is rough, while others are quite 

 smooth. The same difference is found in their flavor, 



and the amount of meat and quality of what is in the 

 shell. Some shells are pretty hard, with thick lining 

 partitions, while others are so thin that they can be 

 crushed with the hand. Those large ones that I bought 

 were packed in sand in a box with holes in the bottom 

 for drainage, let stand on the ground out doors all win- 

 ter, and in the spring, just as they began to sprout, were 

 planted out in a row three inches apart, covered one 

 inch deep. 



I don't believe three per cent, failed. They were in 

 good soil and made tops of from six inches to one foot. 

 But when I got to digging them, something was learned. 

 Many of them had roots twenty inches long, and to get 

 them out entire was no small job. The idea that nut 

 trees are very difficult to transplant is erroneous ; the 

 only trouble is, persons don't do it right. I raised of that 

 lot alluded to about 1,000, all of which were sent out all 

 over the Union. In all my obser\ ations I have never 

 found one on upland. River and creek bottoms are their 

 home. An impression generally prevails that this class of 

 nuts must be planted before they get dry, or of any age; 

 but this is wrong, so far as the history is concerned, for 

 a few years ago I planted some paper-shell hickory nuts 

 that had lain in a drawer for three years. They were 

 planted in the fall and every one grew. But they grew 

 very slowly in the first two years, and it is not likely that 

 I will ever see them bear nuts. There are thousands of 

 acres in the south, the land of which is not used for 

 farming, that would become very valuable in course of 

 time if planted with the best pecans, or planted with 



