176 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
bility of over-production and that the de 
mand could never be fully met. Perhaps 
this is true, but it appears to me that if 
the trees already planted and those in 
prospect of being planted in the next few 
years will yield half as well as is expected 
of them, the present market will have to 
be greatly enlarged and new markets 
created. With the entire world awaiting 
conquest there are vast possibilities for 
marketing; however, this is one of the 
problems awaiting our efforts. 
We can all remember the time when a 
few cars of pomelos would supply the en¬ 
tire market of the U. S., but a million 
boxes does not now appease our craving 
for this luscious fruit. When the general 
public is educated to the merits of the im¬ 
proved pecans, who can estimate what 
demands will be made upon the south for 
this incomparable nut? 
The control of insects and diseases both 
known and unknown will require our best 
efforts and ever keep us on the alert. Any 
tiller of the soil must engage in a battle 
royal. Nature seems pitted against him, 
yet nature supplies the weapons for its 
own undoing; the master mind must or¬ 
der the battle and in proportion as it is 
wisely exercised will success crown the 
effort. 
It has indeed required an abundance of 
nerve and faith to establish pecan or¬ 
chards. The long period of waiting, un¬ 
looked for difficulties and unexpected 
items of cost, have dampened the ardor 
of many who began with enthusiasm. 
Some have fallen by the wayside, giving 
up the fight, others have pressed onward 
and are now coming into a deserved and 
just reward. 
Ample evidence has been furnished the 
past two years to warrant the belief that 
orchards properly tended will come into 
satisfactory bearing at eight years from 
planting. New life has been put into the 
enterprise, and today this branch of horti¬ 
culture is attracting unusual attention. 
It is a noteworthy fact that many of 
the commercial orchard companies have 
taken hold of their properties with in¬ 
creased energy and are giving much bet¬ 
ter care to their trees than formerly. It 
appears that ample capital is available for 
extensive operations and we may confi¬ 
dently hope to see a vast source of 
wealth added to this southern section, al¬ 
ready so abundantly blessed with natural 
resources. The present need is efficient 
help, young men properly equipped and 
willing to push forward the work. 
It is safe to predict that pecan culture 
will prove similar to other forms of en¬ 
terprise. It will not give something for 
nothing but we will get out of it in pro¬ 
portion as we invest capital, energy and 
brains. 
Nature has been lavish in her gifts to 
man, but we of the south are face to face 
with an opportunity granted to few of 
earth’s peoples. I believe we are waking 
to the facts and that the day is not distant 
when pecan culture will be one of the 
chief industries of the south, and in lieu 
of the wild groves that are gone forever 
with their inferior nuts will arise, as by 
magic, innumerable orchards showering 
down their annual contribution to human¬ 
ities’ needs. 
