Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-02-06
PECAN CULTURE.
PLANT THE NUTS AND NOT
YOUNG TREES.
A Pecan Grove More Profitable to lis Owner
Than California Orange Grove Some
Things 10 Be Careful About.

state. 1 VIII endenvur To give an out
line Of my success and failure This
nut bids fair TO outriyal the English
walnut, as it has q superior flavor and
will stand the rcverses Of the seasons
better The tree thnyes best ON allu-
vial valley lands. Ny orchard. which
consists Of nenrly 600 acres.
has 10000, from one to four year Old
trees. can safely say that the four
year old trees viii come into beaufrr
In another FIVE years
They have In this section of Brown
county, bordering on the Pecan BAYOU.
been known 10 have begun bearing nc
from seven to eight years old Very
few embark IN the enterprise from the
fact that IL takes so long for them to
come into bearing. But this eau be- OBJ
Waited 10y cultiyatiug the luud into corn
aud cotton until the trees begin bearing.
And then Ii ought 10 be- put into some
fore the nuts begin 20 fall. almost de-
fray the cost of gathering. Now this
gathering can be done boy machinery ON
order Of street swcepprs, 40 that the nuts.
when they begin TO fall. which they do
when the first heavy frost opens the
burrs, can be swept and thus bc gathered
Off the ground The trees will produce
from one 20 fifteen bushels of nuts, ac-
cording TO age There Is a tree I'm our
ncighbOrhoOd which began beuring at
eight years ana at sixteen years N pro-
duced ten bushels; now the tree is nine.
teen years old and produced last year
eleven bushels, for which the owner got
s. per bushcl / paid him. three years
ago, - per rushcl. OF $50 for the profit
Of the tree Now right In this connoc-
ton let me state, | have no nuts or trees
for sale, nor will ] have any nuts from
my orchard for market for -four or i've
years. As the supply of nuts Is scarce,
i may assert that VI there were one
thousand more orchards planted. as
large ~ mine, during the coming year.
the better it would be for the grower
of the nuts, as then they would be bet
ter known and the supply would be
great enough To create a demand. |
have known pecUus to sell at 81 per
bushel yeurs ago: but today choice nuts
command from 81 10 50. Now figure
the profits Of an acre Of nine year old
trees. which will produce q hushel to
the tree aud that at 50 per bushcl would
be SOS, ns IL takes twenty-suyyu irc'3
TO the acre, forty feet each way, Now.
as ] said before, the cost would Doe
nominal for gathering. So thnt SIS
would be more than enough to pay all
expenses, which would leave a net
profit of 500 per acre for the first year.
When the tree is eighteen ycurs old and
produces ton bushels to thu tree. that
will give $40 TO the tree, on JluSO To the
acre. Now deduct the cost of gather.
ing $50, which would leave net profit
of $1,000 per acre. But, say just half
of that, $500, what investment can beat
th0ti The editor of one Of our Texas
papers, after seeing my place, commented
on 1t by stating that he would rather
have my pecan farm than any national
bank.
Now, to plant an orchard, one must
begin by having the choicest nuts. us
they will always command the highest
scruhly pecnns viii hardly bring any
value.
My advice to those starting is 10 plant
the seed and not young trees, for they
are harder and will Withstand the re-
verses of the seasons better. Plant the
nuts three in hill aud about six inches
I'm the ground, then thin out 10 one and
protect from the rpvuges Of rabbits and
other rodents by Grated boxes made of
cypress wood, turred az the bottom.
DO not plant alfalfa or small grain
between the rows. lost the first year
/ planted nearly my entire lot Of trees
from rabbits, which are very fond of
the young sprouts To protect the trees
from their ruvuges put yellow Pine
stakes around them, but this was dctri-
mental In that as soon as they began to
root ut the bottom they harhorcd the
wood louise which made its way to tho
nut and thus injured the tree. ! then
made crates of Cypnpss wood and turred
bottom. aud from that day 20 this /
have not been bothered with the wood
louise or the rabbit After consulting
the agricultural department, | put in
100 acres in alfalfa, clearing the ground
around each tree about four feet. but
soon saw that that would not do, for
the alfalfa roots grew 81 thick, aud alb
sorbed all the moisture, 80 much SO that
Ii killed out good portion Of the trees,
and lust year ! cut up that hundred
acres of alfalfa and the trees that are
now set ont ON that patch are thriving
and doing well The balance OF the
trees where corn and cotton have been
planted. made rapid growth, some mea-
surfing from six to eight feet II Is true
that all things have their disadvantages
and enemies, and with the pecan the
above enumerated pests are all | have
had TO contend with I'm some sections
the squirrel will unearth the nuts before
they come up, but We DO not have them
in this vicinity, nor hcld rats II ~
important that these crates should be
cleaned out every year. us rubbish and
dirt from the plow accumulate so that II
will breed insects and grass viii grow
within the boxes. The ground naturally
forms a high place as the plOughs pluw
to the tree. This year ! am beginning
10 plow from the trees, which viii be
quite an advantage 10 them,
Now as 10 insects, the pecan tree has
only three that ! know of, the first two
are an advantage the third can easily
be eradirated They are as follows:
First, the bud worm, which deposits It's
eggs In the bud early in the spring, thus
injuriug the bud I'm which Il has been
deposited. But this is natures primer
and has a partial advantage and can be
got rid of by spraying the tree with
Paris green Second the saw beetle comes
along aud saws of a twig here and there.
which IL no disadvantage To get rid
OF them burn the twigs that they saw on
as they deposit eggs on same. Then the
third insect Is the catcrpiller which forms
web Of eight 10 twelve inches long
deposits eggs IN same, winch can DE
burned ont by applying a torch light.
They have never done any dgWoge my
where that I have heard Of Now, when
the tree gets 10 be two ar three feet
high. carefully tie some corn shucks
around them SO they will not rub against
the boxes. DO this every year and burn
the old shucks SO that IL will keep from
breeding insects These are the only
disadvantages / know Of, except the COM
plaint that In sections they don't bear
more than once In three yours, IhNl is
probably caused from the excessive
rains washing Oh the pollen SO thar II
does not come I'm contact with the stam-
ina ana thus fructify.
Plant an enr Of corn by itself and You
will have nothing hut nuhbn. ms
hull applies 10 all plants whose pollen IS
Wnfted