FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
103 
tion of this variety for its fruit profitable. 
The cheif value of the black walnut lies 
in the character of its wood which is 
useful for furniture. The high price of 
this timber it seems would induce a liberal 
planting for timber purposes on much of 
our waste land. The chief obstacle seems 
to be the long time necessary to grow 
salable trees. Little attempt has been 
made to improve the Black walnut or to 
made to improve the black walnut or to 
seems to be an inviting field for the plant 
breeder. 
HICKORY NUT. 
There are a number of species of this nut 
other than the pecan, which is by far the 
most important, and some are prized for 
their delicate flavor, yet, excluding the pe¬ 
can, very little has been accomplished in 
cultivating these native trees. The hicko¬ 
ries are for the most part of slow growth 
and the wood is useul on account of its 
toughness for manufacturing purposes. 
Some effort has been made at cultivating 
the shellbark and shagbark, but the trees 
are difficult to propegate and are slow 
growers, however, the nuts are of deli¬ 
cate flavor and the shells comparatively 
thin. Of all the species of hickory the 
pecan is easily the most important from a 
horticultural standpoint; indeed it may 
well rank first in cultural value of all our 
native nuts. Possessing as it does so 
many desirable qualities such as rapid 
growth, productiveness, hardiness, long 
life and comparative freedom from dis¬ 
ease and insect pests, and yielding a nut 
with thin shell having a plump, nutri¬ 
tive and delicately flavored kernel, it 
seems strange its possibilities were not 
earlier recognized. Only within the past 
thirty years has any systematic effort been 
made to establish commercial orchards, 
and even now, by far the greater part of 
our supply is derived from the wild trees 
of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Be¬ 
sides finding the pecan native in these 
states, it is also indigenous to the low¬ 
lands of the Mississippi river and its chief 
tributaries extending as far north as Indi¬ 
ana and Iowa. It has been introduced in 
the southern states east of the Mississippi 
and in general, where proper soil condi¬ 
tions prevail has been found to succeed 
throughout the cotton area. The tree 
under favorable conditions attains a 
height of one hundred to one hundred 
and seventy five feet with spreading 
branches so as to produce a majestic 
dome-like appearance. The foliage is 
bright and pleasing, thus making the 
in many of the southern states. These 
were set with seedling trees, and in many 
cases, the soil was not wisely selected. 
This with the prevailing notion that the 
trees required no attention, and hence 
neglected, resulted in disappointment in a 
majority of instances, and interest in 
planting almost died out. Still a few 
pioneers persisted in their efforts to mas¬ 
ter the situation. Grafted trees were sub¬ 
stituted for seedlings, which had proven 
so unsatisfactory, and greater care given 
to cultivation and selection of soil. So 
much better results followed that interest 
began to slowly manifest itself once more 
and has been steadily increasing. A num¬ 
ber of growers in different sections have 
been making special study of the pecan 
within the past decade with a view to solv- 
pecan one of our most valuable shade 
trees. The planting of orchards was 
undertaken some thirty years ago and 
rather extensive proportions were reached 
ing the problems involved, with such 
happy results that many of the barriers 
to success have been removed and reliable 
