The Washington bee., 1907-05-04
TEXANS RAISE PECANS
NUT-GRoWING INDUSTRY SPREAD.
ING IN STATE.
Value of Product Proved by Late Gov
ernor Hogg-Northern investors
Enter Field and Begin Plant
ing Of Orchards.

austin, TC--Texas has at last
come tc realization of the pecan's
inn OTtance IS a revenue producer,
and the tree that once fell indiscrim-
iEately before the thoughtless wood
mans axe is now carefully protected.
More than $4,000, 900 worth of these
unimportant looking little nuts were
shipped out Of Texas during the year
1906, and there now are nurserymen
in Texas who devote themselves ex-
clusively to pecan propagation.
Texas is the chief pecan state of
the union, although the tree fourishes
in many other southern states, even
as far north as the southern part of
Indiana and the Egypt district of Hi
nois, and the culture is spreading
year by year.
There was a time not so very long
ago when all pecan trees were of the
wild variety, but the enterprising nuT-
seryman has brought about a marked
improvement, and statistics now show
that Texas has 358, ,955 artificially
planted trees, while the number of
wild ones in bearing condition is esti-
mated at nearly a million.
The late Gov. James S. Hogg, of
Texas, was among the first to appre-
2iate the commercial value of the
pecan, and on his plantation near the
historic old town of Columbia there
stands large and select pecan grove
as a monument to his planting.
1t is also a matter of official record
in Texas that in his dying moments,
Gov. HOgg directed his law partner,
his funeral was marked by simplicity,
and that his son, William, and his
daughter, Miss Ina, be requested to
plant as early as possible a pecan
tree at the head OF his grave and an
other at the foot, and that when these
trees reach a bearing state their
product be distributed so far as they
will go among the plain people of
Texas to be used as seed in spreading
pecan culture
1t is the rule rather than the ex-
ceptiOn for an ordinary pecan tree to
bear from three to five barrels of
nuts, hence it can be calculated at a
glance that in the course of time, an
immense quantity of pecan forestry
will result from the two trees that
stand as sentinels over Gov. Hogg's
grave in the Austin cemetery.
AS soon as practicable after the fu-
neral the trees of the most improved
variety obtainable, were planted in
accordance with the dying governors
request, and their growth thus far
has been entirely satisfactory.
Nuts grown from wild pecan trees
sell for about five cents per pound,
while the cultivated nut brings from
20 cents to so cents per pound. The
trees are long-lived, and it is not un-
usual for a ten or 12-year old tree
to produce a crop worth from $50 to
800. The average, however, is some
what below that figure, but 25 or 80
trees find ample room upon an acre
of ground, thus making pecan raising
a highly profitable industry.
Pecan growing has now reached the
dignity of classification as a horticul-
turai pursuit, and many northern in
vestOrs, appreciating the great profit
that is possible, are forming syndi-
Gates to plant and operate large com
mercial orchards
Since the nurseryman has taken
hold of the pecan, numerous varieties
are springing up. each vying with the
other in the matter of early produc-
ton. The best that has ever yet been
reached is a tree warranted to bear
fruit in four years from date of plant
ing, while others Of the improved va
rieties require all the way from five
to seven years. The wild tree is
much slower.
Hardness is one of the chief char
acteristics of the pecan tree It be-
longs to the hickory family. and grows
TO a large size. Almost any kind of
soil satisfies the pecan sapling, no diff
ference whether it be along the river
or along the high plains. It's roots
penetrate deep into the ground, and it
thus at once becomes able to with
stand the severest drought Owing
to its size and spreading branches, the
pecan tree serves well for shade. and
in many of the towns and cities of
Texas, pecans are being planted for
the dual purpose of ornament and
usefulness.
Experts who have INDUCED in vari-
Gus tests, assert that the pecan pos
sesses a nutritive value of great
merit and is more easily digestibIe
than most of nuts.