36 
January 13, 
PECAN POSSIBILITIES ON POOR SOIL. 
Investor, West Virginia. —Five northern 
men have purehnsed 150 acres of land in 
southern Georgia. The land is as good as 
any in that section. It is beautifully lo¬ 
cated on a railroad, one-half mile from a 
station and five miles from a large city. The 
land is supposed to be ideal pecan land. 
There are a few voluntary trees, also a few 
that are supposed to be budded or grafts, 
that are bearing in that section, and within 
* a mile a small land company have set out 
this Winter 30 acres in pecans. This 
company claims to have the advice of the 
best pecan experts in the South regarding 
their plans. These five men have ample 
means to put in operation any plans they 
may enter into. They intend to clear the 
land this Sprjng and Summer. The whole 
150 acres will not all be ready before Oc¬ 
tober 1. Half of it will be ready by July 
1. They expect to plow and plant to some 
crop as soon as possible. Next Fall at the 
proper planting time they expect to plant 
the entire 150 acres in pecan trees, buying 
the most advanced and very best stock. 
They will plant 20 trees to the acre and in 
between the pecans they will plant peaches. 
Four of these men expect to always live in 
the North. The fifth man will live fully 
nine months of the year within five miles 
of the tract, and will have ample time and 
inclination to look after the details. He 
expects to manage personally every opera¬ 
tion, thinks he will like and enjoy this sort 
of work. While these five men have ample 
means, they are entering into this as an 
investment and expect it to pay them a good 
profit. They can afford to put in what 
money is needed to make it a success, but 
they expect a fair return on their invest¬ 
ment. They do not look for extraordinary 
things or for a profitable crop before it is 
due, but they feel that these plans, well car¬ 
ried out, should be more profitable than an 
apple orchard in New York, or an orange 
grove in Florida. We would like your opin¬ 
ion of the plan as a whole, and your sharp 
criticism of each detail, as we are just 
starting to carry out the plans, now is the 
time to avoid mistakes. We would like you 
to tell us whether you know of any com¬ 
mercial pecan groves, and if any are- suc¬ 
cessful. We would like to know if the suc¬ 
cessful growing of a grove of 150 acres of 
budded or grafted trees would be a very 
doubtful undertaking, or with reasonable 
care and mor^ than ordinary intelligence 
and the same business judgment that has 
made money in other business lines, it 
could be profitably carried out. We would 
like to know, if as a general thing, budded 
or grafted trees come true to name. If 
crops are apt to be regular or irregular. 
We would like advice as to the best crops 
to plant this year, also what crops to plant 
between the trees next year and the year 
after. We understand that this land needs 
a fertilizer and both trees and crop will 
have to be well fertilized. It was our in¬ 
tention to consult with the Georgia Experi¬ 
ment Station regarding this feature. We 
have been It'd to believe from what we have 
read that this plan is practical, and after 
six years will begin to pay a small income, 
and by eight years pay us a good dividend 
on the pecans. We also understand that 
the crops we could raise between the trees 
for the first three years would more than 
pay for the fertilizer and cultivation : that 
the peach crop we would get. after the third 
year, would pay a good dividend above all 
expenses up to the time the pecans would 
come into bearing. 
Ans.— There is no doubt of the suc¬ 
cess of the pecan in Georgia under pro¬ 
per conditions, for there are many bear¬ 
ing orchards of this nut in that State. 
The region mentioned may be one of 
good soil for the pecan, but if it is ideal 
for the peach it surely is not for the 
pecan. Peach trees flourish best in a 
light sandy loam and pecan trees in 
rich river and creek bottoms of allu¬ 
vial soil. They are native only in very 
rich soil, but may be made to grow and 
bear well in some other soils by proper 
treatment. In Georgia nearly all the 
land is of a light, sandy character and 
requires heavy fertilizing to produce 
good crops of any kind, and a pecan 
orchard would need to be given especial 
attention to enable the trees to bear 
good crops of well filled nuts. The 
piney woods land is the poorest for the 
pecan of any that I have seen anywhere. 
If I lived on such land in any of the 
Gulf States, Georgia or the Carolinas, 
and did not want to leave the place for 
any very good reason, and still was 
anxious to have some pecan trees, I 
might plant them and face the fertilizer 
bills; but if I wanted to go into pecan 
orcharding as a business I surely would 
not choose such land or such a region. 
I would go to where nature had pro¬ 
vided the right climate and soil for this 
tree and its crops. That is just what I 
did. There is nothing more certain 
than a continuous and never-ending 
succession of fertilizing bills to be met 
by anyone who grows pecan trees in 
any but the richest of soils. I had the 
whole South to choose from when I 
started to look out a location for a 
pecan orchard, and I did look it over, 
from Georgia and Florida to Texas and 
chose the lower Mississippi River valley 
in Louisiana, where the pecan has grown 
for untold ages to its greatest perfec¬ 
tion. There are no wild pecan trees 
east of Alabama and but few there. I 
would never choose a peach region for 
a pecan orchard. It might pay to make 
the best of a poor location after it had 
been selected and the land bought, and 
the case in point may be one of that 
kind. I think it is so from the descrip- 
THI5 RURAL 
tion. I do not say that it cannot be 
made to pay from pecans, but it will 
be an uphill haul. I would rather row 
down stream that up stream if as good 
a port can be reached, and in this case 
it is the better one is down stream. 
But to answer the questions asked: 
Peach trees will pay something, per¬ 
haps, for the first six or eight years, 
although they have not paid much net 
profit to the Georgia growers lately. The 
pecan trees ought to pay from that time 
on. Cotton or other farm crops may be 
grown among the trees for about three 
years and probably to some profit. The 
plan is all right if the land is not too 
poor. If the land is poor the whole 
scheme will have to be worked out un¬ 
der disadvantages. The manager ought 
to live on the farm. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ INSTITUTES. 
List of places, dates and local corre¬ 
spondents for Farmers’ Institutes in New 
York State: 
District No. 1, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., 
conductor, Lawyersville. 
Uicero, Feb. 1, L. II. Shepard, Clay, R. D. 
Onondaga. Feb. 1, Mrs. Nettie Fenner Rob¬ 
inson, Onondaga. 
Otisco, Feb. 2-3, Albert Edinger, Lafavette, 
R. D. 
Mandana, Feb. 5, Fred Ilowkcr, Skaneateles. 
Jordan, Feb. 6, H. J. Rickard, Jordan. 
Lafayette, Feb. 7, George L. Hoyt, Lafay¬ 
ette. 
Manlius, Feb. 8, C. F. Ferris, Manlius. 
DeRuyter, Feb. 8-5), John E. Hinds, DeRuy- 
tef. 
Earlville, Feb. 9-10, Robert Williams, Earl- 
ville. 
Brookfield, Feb. 12-13, William S. Whitford, 
Brookfield. 
Madison, Feb. 14-15. L. R. Bridge, Solsville. 
Hamilton, Feb. 15-10, W. F. Ingalls, Hamil¬ 
ton. 
Stockbridge, Feb. 10-17, C. E. Love, Munns- 
ville. 
Canastota. Feb. 19-20, George Lawrence, 
Canastota, It. D. 
Floyd, Feb. 19-20, Mrs. A. B. Klein, Stitts- 
ville. 
Knoxboro, Feb. 20-27, E. P. Richmond, Sols¬ 
ville. 
Westernville, Feb. 27-28, Stanley Warcup. 
Western ville. 
Remsen, Feb. 28, R. B. Jones, Remsen. 
Clinton. Feb. 28-29, W. R. Giannis, Clinton. 
Prospect, Feb. 29, Mrs. II. D. I’ugh, Pros¬ 
pect. 
District No. 2. Edward Van Alstyne, 
conductor, Kinderhook. 
East Nortliport. Jan. 31-Feb. 1, F. B. 
Smith, Fort Salonga. 
Bridgehampton, Feb. 2-3, H. T. Haney, 
Bridgehampton. 
Rivcrliead, Feb. 5, H. R. Talmadge, River- 
liead. 
Soutliold, Feb. 6-7. G. II. Smith, Peconic. 
Tallmans, Feb. 8-9, H. II. Brown, Spring 
Valley. 
Brookside, Feb. 10, C. O. Warford, New¬ 
burgh. 
Balmville, Feb. 12, Nat C. Barnes, Middle- 
hope. 
Plattekill, Feb. 13, C. M. Dayton, New¬ 
burgh. 
Lake Katrina, Feb. 14, C. E. Davis, Saugcr- 
tios, R. 4. 
Ulster Park. Feb. 15, Geo. E. House, Ulster 
Pa rk. 
Highland, Feb. 10-17, Moses G. Young, High¬ 
land. 
Kinderhook, Feb. 19, Eugene Merwin, Kin- 
derliooR. 
Claverack, Feb. 20, Homer J. Miller, Clav- 
erack. 
Germantown, Feb. 21, Henry Fingar, Ger¬ 
mantown. 
Montgomery, Feb. 22, George Mould, Mont¬ 
gomery. 
Florida. Feb. 23-24, Edgar A. Houston, 
Florida. 
Otisville, Feb. 26. L. II. Mapes. Otisville. 
Bullville. Feb. 27. George Ayres, Bullville. 
Unionville, Feb. 28, Mrs. M. B. Stoll. Union- 
ville. 
Slate Hill. Feb. 29. Frank Romey, Slate Hill. 
District No. 3, I). P. Witter, conductor, 
Berkshire. 
Fredonia. Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Richard Hall. 
Fredonia. 
Sheridan. Feb. 2-3, Bessie A. Merritt, Dun¬ 
kirk, R. D. 
Hume. Feb. 5, J. P. Mills, Fillmore. 
Angelica, Feb. 6. D. C. Evans, Angelica. 
Black Creek, Feb. 7-8, L. D. Stowell, Black 
Creek. 
Scio, Feb. 8. T. C. Kane. Scio. 
Almond. Feb. 9, I. D. Karr. Almond. 
Wellsville, Feb. 9-10. Thomas O’Connor, 18 
Fassett St., Wellsville. 
Alfred. Feb. 12-13-14-15, C. O. DuBois. 
Alfred. 
Stephens Mills. Feb. 15. L. K. Robinson. 
Hornell, R. D. 2. 
Canisteo, Feb. 16. Ira Allen. Canisteo. 
Addison, Feb. 16-17, L. J. Haynes. Addison. 
Savona, Feb. 19, L. W. McDowell, Savona. 
North Urbana. Feb. 26, II. M. DeGraw. 
Ilammondsport. R. D. 4. 
Bath. Feb. 26-27. IT. S. Emerson. Bath. 
Thurston, Feb. 28, C. N. Risiey. Campbell. 
It. D. 
Beaver Dams, Feb. 29. Dennis Sehuvlor, 
Beaver Dams. 
District No. 4, Fred E. Gott. conductor. 
Spencerport. 
Locke, Feb. 1. W. H. Conklin, Locke. 
Owasco, Feb. 2. James S. Kenyon, Owaseo. 
Sennett. Feb. 2-3. E. D. Crocker, Scnnett. 
Ira. Feb. 5, J. A. Goodrich, Ira. 
F'air Haven, Feb. 6, Richard Forscutt, Fair 
Haven. 
Oswego, Feb. 7, Tra Pease. Oswego. 
Mexico. Feb. 8. W. A. Robbins. Mexico 
Pulaski. Feb. 0, John Trumbull. Pulaski. 
R. D. 3. 
Laoona, Feb. 9-10. A. R. Stevens. Laconn. 
Williamstown. Feb. 12. Elmer N. Harris. 
Willinmstown. 
Parish. Feb. 13. W. C. Richards. Parish. 
Central Suare. Feb. 14. C. B. Allen. Central 
Square. 
Pheonix. Feb. 15. W. H. Carrier. Pheonix. 
Fulton. Feb. 16-17, W. II. Pollard. Fulton. 
R. 7. 
Palermo. Feb. 19, Martin Dolbear, Fulton, 
R. D. 4. 
Rod Creek, Feb. 20, E. L. Rodeget, Red 
Creek. 
Wolcott. Feb. 21. J. S. TyrelJ. Wolcott. 
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