Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-05-11
Profitable Industry Suited to the Arid Re-
gions Of That state.

After a careful investigation in 1865,
says a writer in the irrigation .1ge, |
bought land for pecan culture on Pecan
bayou, in Texas, where / found the tree
growing in its native state. Inow have
an orchard Of IL, 900 trees on my 400
acres that are from one to six years old.
A. nut culture is attracting attention in
the arid region, and the pecan should
thrive wherever the English walnut
does, my experience may be of inter-
est.
The pecan tree is valuable for its tim
Der as well as for its nuts. AK and hoe
hI idles, gunstocks, furniture. and va
rious other useful articles are made from
the wood. The nut, besides being used
as a dessert. is made into cakes aud
candies, and its oil brings the highest
price in the market for clockmakers.
g%unsmiths. etc. The tree is of slow
growth and long lived. The tree grows
to the height OF eight or more feet, aud
its nome is in the rich a%lluvial valleys,
and will not succeed where the soil is
not rich and deep.
There are two distinct varieties,
known as the soft and hard shell. The
best among the soft shell varieties are
known as the Swinden and Stuart. The
wild varieties are hard shelled.
| have nearly IL, 900 trees on my 400
acres, planted forty feet apart each
way. As there is no enterprise but has
its drawbacks, / must say | had them
to begin with-the first thing being the
wood louise or ant, which attacked the
yellow pine stake placed by every nut.
They then went from the stake to
the tree, and thus killed the young
stem; but this was obyiated by cypress
boxes, eighteen inches high. tarred at
the bottom, which also served the pur-
pose OF protecting the young tree from
the depredations of the rabbits and 9TH
er rodents which did me considerable
damage. Squirrels will unearth the
nuts when planted. and rabbits will
gnaw the back and cut off the tender
sprouts.
The tree will come into bearing in
eight or ten years. A tree at that age
will produce one bushel or forty-two
pounds and sell readily at s.. At tf-
g to twenty years the yield will be
ten bushels or more to the tree. | have
seen trees produce as high as 70 .ty
bushels, and | have paid $3.50 for the
product of one tree. Thus we can
readily draw the conclusion that the
profits of the pecan will soon rival that
of the famous Florida and California
grapes. The price of pecans varies
with quality and size. The small wild
ones are sometimes less than 81, while
the extra large ones are in demand at
as high as IS. There is no fear Of glut-
ting the market with these extra sizes,
as few are willing to wait till they come
into bearing. There is NJ safer life in
surance than q well-established pecan
orchard. There are men today deriving
q good living from a few trees planted
by them, aud others | know of who are
getting fran 81, 900 to s., 900 per year
from trees planted by their fathers.
The land between the trees need not
lie idle while the tree are coming into
bearing, but can be planted to hoed
crops and made to pay. have netted
on an average over 81, 800 per year for
the last six years from my land. ad.
wise no one to plant in localities where
there is too much rain, as the pollen is
liable to be washed away. and thus
keep the tree from fructifying and max.
Ing fruit.