The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-03-24
THE PECAN INDUSTRY or MONTH
CELLO AND JEFFERSON
COUNTY
Monticello. March is. 1911.

pecan industry Of Monticello and JEFF
ferson county with great deal Of in
terest and pleasure. This industry,
which is growing in such leaps and
bounds, Is destined 10 become one of
the leading Industries of the state.
and will in few years place middle
Florida in the front rank Of the nut
producing countries.
AS probably little is known of this
growing industry in south Florida, a
short article on the subject may be of
interest to the Ocala Banner readers.
A few months ago Monticello enter
tanned the National Nut Growers As
ISOLATION, and since that convention
the eyes of the nut growers all over
the United States have been turned in
this direction. Many opinions were
exchanged at this convention, new
ideas advanced and helpful sugges-
tions made. and the best of these ideas
have found Judgment with the Month
cello planters, and will within the
next few years bear rich results.
The first grated pecan trees that
produced nuts in or near Monticello
are on the places of G. A. Bradley and
G. D. Shaw, and are fourteen to six
ten years old.
Jefferson county has given the va
rietaI group the following pecans:
Bolton, Clarke, Moore, Waukeenah,
Dewey, Seminole and Jefferson. The
first two are not very generally propo-
gated, but the Moore and Waukeenah
are very greatly in demand, on ac-
count of heavy, regular bearing and
fine table quality. The Dewey is very
fine in quality and the Seminole and
Jefferson promise we'll, but are still in
the experimental stage.
Nearly every home or farm yard
around Monticello has its group of ma
tive Seeding trees that produce small
to medium size nuts Of very fine quail
ity. Many of these trees, 10 to Is
years old, produce from 200 to 500
pounds of nuts. One tree, 20 years
old, produced 63S pounds of nuts, that
sold for 1919 cents per pound
In the fall of 1910 w. w. Carroll,
editor of the Monticello
News, now general manager of the
Jefferson County Pecan and Live
Stock Company, harvested 800 pounds
Of nuts from four trees in his yard,
which were all less than ten years old.
Mr.. j. H. Girardeau (now deceasedl
was the first man to propagate pecans
in Jefferson county by budding and
grating. Mr.. Girardeau was also one
Of the pioneers in the watermelon and
seed business in Florida.
The vigorous growth of pecan nur-
sery stock in this section soon attract
ed much attention and Monticello soon
became the shipping point for the
largest amount of pecan nursery stock
of any place in the pecan belt. Citrus
stock was also added to the pecans,
and there are now many large nurser-
les doing business here, among the
most notable being the Jefferson Pc
can and Live Stock Company, the Ar
cadia Nurseries,, the Standard Pecan
Company, the North Florida Company.
the Jefferson Nursery Company. the
Springdale Pecan Company, and 9TH
ers.
The development OF orchards was
first started by the Standard Pecan
Company in 1904-05. Next came the
Lake Valley Grove. W. w. Carroll,
manager. Then the North Florida Pc
can Company set out nearly one
Thousand acres, and several other pro-
noting concerns are setting out large
acreages for sale in five and ten-acre
groves. Some of the companies are
moving in a very conservative man
|ner, but, as in most ether industries,
some of the companies are rather
reckless.
If set on good land and well cared
/ for it can safely be assured that bud
ded pecan trees will bear in four or
i've years, and will bear profitably in
six or eight years. We are informed
that the pecan in Jefferson county
never makes total crop failure, so it
offers a splendid chance to the small
farmer and viii prove most satisfac-
tory.
There are now set in orchards in
Jefferson county about 5000 acres of
budded and grated pecan trees. Plant
ed correctly by reliable people and
rightly and assiduously cultivated the
pecan development will certainly
prove a bonanza for Jefferson county,
but if any crooked schemes are now
being worked it viii rear bitter fruit
in the future of the industry.
There are many fine pecan trees in
Jefferson county on sandy land. but