104 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
information iis now available. Previously 
little that was authentic was to be found. 
Only in recent years has it been possible 
to secure trees of good varieties in quanti¬ 
ty and still the supply is short of the de¬ 
mand, on account of the scarcity of graft¬ 
ing scions and the difficulty of successful 
propagation. 
By means of improved methods of 
grafting and budding the output has in¬ 
creased very much in the past four years. 
In the attempts to grow trees from seeds 
the greatest variations were met with, 
few if any producing nuts like the one 
planted. In most cases the nuts were in¬ 
ferior to the original, the trees were of 
different character, some growing rapid¬ 
ly, others making ordinary growth, and 
still others very slow growers. On this 
account the seedling orchards present a 
very irregular and unsatisfactory appear¬ 
ance, with trees of same age ranging 
from a few feet to thirty feet in height. 
Equal variation exists in the time of bear¬ 
ing, some bearing at the age of five years 
and others still barren at twenty. Very 
different the results from varietal stock. 
With budded or grafted trees growth is 
more uniform and even faster than that 
of the parent tree. Bearing begins much 
earlier, generally at from three to six 
years from planting, and the nuts are 
uniformly like those from the original 
tree. Attention is here called to the fact 
that an opinion prevails, that nuts from 
an isolated tree will produce trees which 
bear nuts identical with the one planted. 
This is partly due to parties owning such 
trees advertising the nuts for seed, per¬ 
haps ignorant of the well established prin¬ 
ciple that a self pollenated tree is the 
surest one to yield inferior seeds. The 
range for pecan planting in this state ex¬ 
tends southward to the lake region. 
Planting south of this region should not 
be attempted, except in a small way, until 
a more thorough trial has been given. In 
selecting a soil for a pecan orchard pre¬ 
ference should be given to a sandy loam 
with a sand mixed clay subsoil, the richer 
the better. Success may be had on a great 
variety of soils, ranging from almost 
pure sand to rather stiff clay. A thirsty 
soil or one that is always wet is to be 
avoided. A soil that will admit easy pene¬ 
tration by the roots and retain moisture 
in liberal degree is to be desired. Plant¬ 
ing, care, cultivation and methods of pro¬ 
pagation will be discussed in papers by 
the other members of the committee. 
The parent trees of the named varieties 
of pecans were of course seedlings and 
it is rather strange that among the vast 
number of seedlings that exist through¬ 
out the south, such a small number have 
been found of sufficient merit to be given 
a name and be propagated. Among the 
older varieties Stuart, Van Deman and 
Frostcher represent the best. Van De¬ 
man is superior to the others for table 
use but for commercial purposes in the 
ordinary sense Stuart and Frostcher are 
in the lead. Among the varieties more 
recently introduced Schley, Success, Rus¬ 
sell, Dewey, Delmas, Georgia, Curtis and 
a number of others may be mentioned. It 
is beyond the scope of this paper to de¬ 
scribe the different varieties but among 
the ten above mentioned can be found 
varieties that are adapted to all require¬ 
ments. Proper appreciation for the dif¬ 
ferences existing between varieties is 
lacking, and the prospective planter might 
consider this subject thoroughly, with 
profit to himself. There are varieties 
that are worthless and it will be a happy 
day when all these are discarded. 
There are other varieties which are ex- 
