The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-27
c
CULTURE: ITS RESULTS.
Young Georgia Man, Who
Tells How He Did 1t.

icdu Le itdtiifE pIUSItSslEt ISTlpiicdlS "
tie past ten years have TO doubt noticed
the increasing interest being manifested in
and about pecans. There are a great many
varieties of necans. They grow wild from
Pennsylvania Ohio. Illinois Missouri and
Indiana to the extreme South. are espec-
tally adapted to any OF the Southern and
states. or. 10 make il plain.
they will grow and do we'll wherever a COM
mon hickory will grow. and under the same
conditions. Texas. Louisiana and Missis-
ssppi formerly furnished NEST of the pecans
OF commerce. and at good prices. the trees
on a field often bringing more than the
crop planted. OF late years a great deal Of
interest Is being manifested in the improved
pecan and new methods OF fertilization and
cultivation.
Several years ago, while living in North
Carolina. 1 became interested in the pecan.
and have eagerly sought for all the infor.
nation on the subject that would be of benz
ef1t. and here Is my actual experience. In
1885 1 became convinced that a pecan ORCH
ard OF the improved kind was likely to pay
Tar better than anything else connected
with horticulture: l sent for all the large.
th!n-shell fine nuts advertised. ilso adver.
tised IN the leading papers for fine pecans
Tor seed. l received some very fine nuts
from dealers and private parties. but by far
the finest was received from Il lady in
Louisiana. They were extra large tabout
twenty-five nuts TO the pound and very fine
In quality. The largest / had ever seen be-
fore this went about forty to the pound.
and generally it takes about 10 of the ordin.
airy commercial kind TO weigh a pound. I
received these nuts in the spring, and I
Knew most people planted them in the fall.
But as the shell was very thin / did not SEQ
bow they could stand being wet and cold in
the soil all winter and terminate. Further
more 1 wanted to plant them at once. I
am something of a chemist. SO I went to
work and soaked the nuts in chemical water
to soften the shell. and put the kernel in ths
green state. as any seed has to get before it
will g~erminate- I first tried a very few nuts
and found that they cracked ready for
sprouting in about ten days. so I put the
whole lot through the process. planted In
tie first part Of May. and lad fine trees by
fall. twice as large as 1 have seen at one
year old from nurseries.
l used a small quantity OF muriate Of
potash in the nursery. l found out in this
way why there are so few fine soft-shell
pecans among the great variety OF wild
ones-that the squirrels have gathered and
planted the wild ones for ages for their
winter food: only the hard-Shell ones could
stand being water-soaked all winter and
terminate. and the reason that We have
a few fine ones. they happened to get on
a good. dry place. stood the winter all
right, terminated. grew and made the few
trees where We obtained our first fine ne.
cans Well. ! knew that potash was tho
principal fertilizer for pecans. OF course.
there are several different forms, more or
less expensive. and while some dealers sat
In offices and told how, I went to work
xperimenting. and found that the common
potash. or I've. such as soap is made from
In nearly every country home. was the best
and cheapest form Of potash. To every
pound OF the potash I put ten gallons OF
water. and in setting the one-year trees p
mat ran and after that I used one gallon
Oh the solution to each tree. pouring It In 6
as L nlied up the hole. The following sprine
one year l took an iron rod about four
1eet long. bent one end In shape Of an O fopc
a handle. sharpened the other end. and
made about a dozen holes one to three feet
from the tree and about three feet deem. !
gong al around the tree. 1 made up morO
OF the potash solution, same as when set.
ting. and poured in the holes. / never used a
any more potash, but tended the land IN ~
general crops. The first year the trees
grew D TO = feet, In four years they ware
~ to . feet high. well branche and bear
ing a Few nuts; in six years they were bear.
ing very nice crops Of nuts. and last year
some OF the trees bore about 80 pounds Of
nuts. Inc nuts reproduced themselves .pef.-
.ectiy' as the original seed were from fso.
Iaeeo trees. SO you may be sure Of thfS II
you get nuts that you are sure are from %
1soiated trees. as nuts will mix the same N y.
corn. inese fine fancy nuts bring an enof. ~
NOUS price Tor seed. and on the general ?
market will bring three times as much n
the ordinary wild nut of Commerce An
acre OF land In fine pecans IL worth fuI1vcl
si,W" at s years old. and as the pecan lvef
ior ages, OF course the value increases
every year for a long time. They will make
you a good living. and leave something for :
YOUR Family. and to educate generations to
that viii not be affected by alb
bank and insurance companies
Is not bothered by stock. rabbits.
droughts or floods, but Is furnished
by Nature and protected by the gfver Of
al good. while you sleep. I think IL every
reader OF The Republic who can spare the 2
amount would set ten acres to fine pecans
you would soon bless the paper that called
your attention to It.
Ten acres can be set for SIS or $40. fncIud.
lng the potash for fertilizer, the land can
De tended right on In ordinary crops and In
ave years you can send your editor Soma
.ancy pecans for his Christmas cake and :
oeg1n shipping TO the wholesale markets as
, good price. as they are always glad to
a fancy article for their rich CUSTOMERS
who want the best, regardless of price. hue =
aAtra fancy pecans will bring a fancy price
Ior SEED Tor many years. as we want to MI
up our country with pecans. as this Is the :
,niy country that grows them. and we have
whole world for our market. which wiz
De In no danger Of being overstocked, as the
'ecan Is deservedly the most popular nut.
'ho the demand Is steadily increasing, a. =
'ou can note In the market reports and SEQ
mat even the wild pecan is bringing twica
Is much as 1t did three years ago. II You
lave any creek or river bottom subject tn
or too wet for ordinary CROPS. is
VIII suit the pecan fine. and as stock VIII >
iot bite them any more than they would =
hickory. you can set on pasture lands. and
I you are too lazy to gather them they vim :
.atten your hogs quicker than corn. They
10 fne on upland also-in fact, on any sou
hat will grow anything else.
1 set my trees forty by forty feet. which .
'ives twenty-seven trees to the aero. I ses
healthy. strong trees. These have
! taproot about 3 feet long, so you canuoe
veil set an older tree. I could not be In. 9
iuced to set a grated tree. They are shorf-.a1'
wed, like any other grated tree, and the
iuts from a grated pecan will not germi.i :
iate well. and IL they do. are Just as ant =
o bear nuts like the parent common pecan
t was grated to as the bud, so natures r.
way is best all around. r.
I have a fine orchard In North Carolina POI
m buying lands here and will make a fine =
richard. / am still a young man and have
fortune in sight in pecans. Some told me :
would have to wait SO long. Well. 1ye y
ears is not long. and I would have had tn =
vait anyhow. \ gentleman wrote me- Re.
emily from Upper Georgia. saying he had g.
few pecan trees, one Of which bore fifteen 3
'ushels the past year, and that II he had