FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
119 
of the beautiful driveways we would then 
have, which in itself would cause tourists 
to drive miles to enjoy, and also think of 
the large revenue such plantings would 
bring to the roadside farmers. 
In Jefferson county, Florida, there are 
many fine pecan trees in yards from 25 
to 35 years old, that have borne all the 
way up to 90 pounds to a tree. The pecan 
is the most beautiful shade tree, that will 
not only keep you cool in the summer 
time, but will also keep you warm in the 
winter time with its richest of foods. 
About 6,000 acres has been planted in this 
county, of the better varieties, and these 
orchards are now of all ages up to 17 
years old. The better trees in these or¬ 
chards have borne as much as 200 pounds 
of pecans, for which the consumer pays 
from 60 cents to $1.50 per pound, depend¬ 
ing on the variety. One grove of ten 
acres this past season earned for its owner 
8 % on a valuation of $3,000.00 per acre, 
and the nuts were sold at wholesale prices. 
Last season Jefferson county shipped 
about 100,000 pounds of cultivated pecans 
and about 200,000 pounds of seedlings, 
valued at about $75,000.00 and the indus¬ 
try is hardly started there. 
At present there are 15 to 20 nursery¬ 
men in Florida propagating pecan trees, 
who have furnished trees for the planting 
of at least 30,000 acres in Florida, of the 
better varieties, and the acreage is being 
increased very considerably each year. In 
fact within the past few years there has 
been a wide awakening to the great possi¬ 
bilities of the pecan industry. It is very 
probable that last year our State gathered 
500,000 pounds of the cultivated pecan, 
and probably 1,500,000 pounds of seed¬ 
ling nuts. I tried to get definite data on 
the yield by writing to each county agent, 
but I did not receive enough replies to 
make an accurate statement, but believe 
my estimate is conservative. For the 
1920 season the Florida Department of 
Agriculture made a report showing that 
there were then in Florida 65,000 bearing 
pecan trees and 200,000 non-bearing trees 
and which produced 1,680,000 pounds of 
pecans valued at $415,000.00. This re¬ 
port checks up very closely with my esti¬ 
mate for this year. 
The pecan is not limited to the northern 
counties of the State. While it has not 
yet been tested on a commercial scale much 
below Marion county, yet it is quite likely 
it will be found they will do well, under 
proper conditions as far south as Polk 
county. I had a letter just recently from 
a man in Sarasota, stating he knew of 
some pecan trees there eight years old 
that were bearing very satisfactorily. 
Last summer I saw a few small orchards 
at St. Petersburg, that were ten to four¬ 
teen years old, that contained fine pecan 
trees, and I was told by people there that 
they bore well. I saw some good trees 
planted on the streets of St. Petersburg, 
too. I have seen young plantings in Polk 
county, and one six-acre orchard at West 
Palm Beach of four-year-old trees, and 
all seemed to be doing well. However, 
until the districts below Marion county 
have been thoroughly tested, it probably 
would not be wise to make any extensive 
plantings in such districts. 
For an orchard, the pecan trees in Flor¬ 
ida should not be planted closer than 50 
10 
