The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1898-11-26
RAISING PEcANs in TEXAS.
Profitable Industry Suited to the Arid ne.
sions OF That State.

After a careful investigation in 1866,
says a writer in the Irrigation Age, /
bought land for pecan culture on Pecan
bayou, in Texas, where l found the tree
growing in its native state. Inow have
an orchard of 1900 trees on my 400
acres that are from one to six years old.
AS 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 us well as for its nuts. AK aud hoe
handles, gunstocks, furniture, and va
rious other useful articles are made from
the wood. The nut, besides being used
as u dessert, is made into cakes and
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
othe height Of eight or more feet. and
its nome is in the rich alluvial valleys,
and will not succeed where the soil is
not rich and deep.
There are two distinct varieties,
known as tho soft and hard shell. The
best among the soft shell varieties are
known as the Swinden aud Stuart. The
wild varieties are hard shelled.
l have nearly II, 600 trees on my 400
acres, planted forty feet apart each
way. AS there is ut enterprise but has
its drawbacks, must say l 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 vas obviated by Cypress
boxes, eighteen inches high. ta.red 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 tho
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 ut that age
will produce t bushel or forty-two
pounds and sell readily at SIS. At ff-
teen to twenty years the yield will be
ten bushels or more to the tree. / have
seen trees produce as high as forty
bushels, and | have paid $15O for the
product of one tree. Thus we can
readily draw the conclusion that the
profits of the pecan will 5000 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 So, while
the extra large ones are in demand at
as high as So. 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 no safer life in
surance than a well-estab!ished pecan
orchard. There are men today deriving
good living from a few trees planted
by them, and others I know of who are
getting fran 8 1000 to s., 1000 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. Ihave netted
on an average over 1880 per year for
the last six years from my land. lad
wise no n to plant in localities where
there is toom much rain, as the pollen is
liable to be washed away, and thus
keep the tree from fructifying and maxi
ing fruit.