Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-08-27
certainly would have abandoned the enter

certainly would have abandoned the enter
prise from the rebuffs l met with, and
this enterprise, though in its infancy,
promises to be one of the leading in
duStr1es OF the state. So with these ideas
before me, went to work and gruboed and
broke up 400 acres, this operation taking
me nearly year, as the trees were very
large and thick on the ground. And let me
state, IN this connection, that pecans need
rich, alluvial bottom valley lands, and the
deeper the soil the better, for tree will
thrive better and bear twice as much on
rich valley than on poor land. l then pro-
cured the finest nuts that could be obtained at
cost OF s. per bushel. from tree that
bore ten bushels that year Now, the Sc
lectlng OF the nuts is one of the main points
to start right with, for nut, when large,
full meated and soft shelled, will always
bring high price, and the tree takes the
same amount OF care as q suall-nut tree,
consequently be sure TO get none but the
best
would advise those contemplating plant
ing to write TO Col. Stewart of Ocean
Springs, MISS, who has nursery and some
nuts. etc,
The nuts ought to be planted as soon as
gathered or if not planted Immediately
Soah IN water for four or five days before
planting. l have in an article published
little after ! had gone into the business,
SAID that It would not do to transplant, but
since then have seen trees that were trans
planted bear and do well, but would advise
when possible plant the nuts, as the tree
viii live longer and be able to stand dry
weather great deal better Some think
that the pecan will not produce the same
kind OF nut and that the only way to have
the original nut IS to graft. This may be
the case In few instances, but 80 per cent
OF the line, large nuts will reproduce the
identical nut when n1nTp1 from
the seed. Well, as / went on
to give you my experience, I
planted forty feet each way, and l soon
found out that the yellow pine stakes had
put By each hill where the nuts were
planted were attacked by the wood-louse,
ard they made their way to the nut and
eventually to the tap root, aud thus killed
the tree by their depredations. l lost nearly
half OF the l1.GO0 trees | had put out. To
obviate this, ! took out the yellow pine
stakes and pat cedar stobs about foot
high and painted the tops so that they could
|. be seen, but this too had to be taken away,
as the rabbits in the winter fairly cleaned
up the balance Of the trees by rnawlng
them to the ground. These trees never did
come up again, and as have said before, if
did not have the natural gift of perseyer-
ance would have given up the enterprise
in perfect disgust; but BEGAN again. and
this time made a box crate eighteen inches
iLA-II VI ~ PRESS NOttl, anu LdCTtu lHG DOL
toms, and this put an end to both
the woOd-louse and rabbit My trees
since then have been growing well, and
as | look out of my window and see the
beautiful avenues, three fourths of mile
long, of trees from three TO four feet high
l am amply repaid for the trouble. l have
also had the same land planted these last
three years IN cotton, corn and alfalfa,
which has been quite source of revenue
TO me, and the pecanS have not been much
in the way, but this fall will have to plow
out the alfalfa on account of its detrIcting
SO much moisture from the ground and
sapping the pecan tree, and Will event
ually Kill the trees, no matter il You were to
dig ten feet round them. l have lost some
800 or 400 trees that were planted III the
alfalfa, but not a single tree in the corn and
cotton. I am so wen pleased with the sue
cess of the trees that have bought another
tract adjoining me, and am going to put out
200 more acres in same.
The pecan tree, however like'every other
tree, has its enemies, which one must fight
If person wishes to be successful, and If
anyone thinks that all one has TO do is to
sit down and watch it groTing, he will very
soon find out he is mistaken. They need
attention for at least three or four years,
and then they are able to take care
of Themselves, and need no further atten-
ton than cultivation and to be kept clean.
The first year while they grow in the boxes
they must be closely watched to keep spi-
ders or any other webbing insect from
webbing i'll the boxes, SO that the tree may
get chance to live. These boxes should
not be over eighteen inches high, and the
second year there won't be much damage
done by them, but the second and third
years the bud worm in the early
spring works into the bud and kills same.
This worm although it kills the top or first
bud and retards the growth OF the tree
somewhat, still makes the buds come out at
the end Of each and every leaf, and thus
produces bushy tree. which saves SO much
pruning. And, in this connection, would
add that the less pruning pecan
tree gets the better it IS for it, as they do
not stand much pruning. To get rid
of the bud worm, spray the tree with So
luton OF London purple and Paris green.
My orchard now consists Of II coo trees, and
| do not know OF any enterprise that would
pay better interest, for in six or seven
years will begin to set the returns. NJ 4
bushel tree / would have II 900 bushels,
which, at So per bushel, would be s55, 600
Say $500 for gathering, hauling, polishing,
would leave me net profit of $50, 900.
So many people ask the absurd
erations to Gomez Indeed, not; the returns
for the past three years have paid me 20
per cent on my investment, and still another
20 per cent On the increase of the value of
my land; ard right in this connection l
would not miss stating that where one has
an orchard where the trees are forty feet
each way, he is insured of good crop
every year, as the light breezes will blow
the pollen about so that it will adhere TO
the stamina and thus produce an abund-
ant harvest. Plant a hill of corn by
itself, and you will have no corn, but sim
ply nubbin, but plant the same grain in a
field, and it will have a full, heavy ear of
corn, and as l have already said enough
will wind up ey stating that think exactly
like the editor of the Texas Stockman,
when he said he would rather have my or
chard than any national bank, for two rea-
sons, as it would return a larger income
and very little trouble, and secondly, it
would give the owner clearer conscience.
+. a. SwINDES,
Brownwood, Brown County Texas.