The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-22
PECAN GROWING
 H FINDING NEW
 FRIENDS YEARLY
Progressive Citizens Show New And Measurable
 Results

resulting from the belief that the earth was round and that to travel west was to end in the east.
 Columbus insisted that the earth was round, like a nut. and that 1t was his nut to crack. All the early ex- plorers were searching for new ways of getting at the rich meat in the nut, and on their return to their sover- eigns in Europe each carried with him such native products as gave promise for the future trade with the new country.
 These early adventures, for that was what most of the explorers were, thought first of gold as the one form of wealth to be sought, but in the mass of collected products other forms of possible wealth were included, Ra- leigh thus carried the potato to Eng land and it later became known as the Irish potato, although grown to greater extent in Germany than else where. He also is credited with intro ducing tobacco to the old world.
 Sent Native Products
 Finding no gold in the Alabama country, the early French explorers of this territory collected and forwarded to their sovereign such native prod ucts are were to be found. Among these were a supply of native nut, for which the Indians mad the name pakan. the French calling it Pakane. This nut was found on immense forest trees scat tered all over the coast country and far to the north. although the French explorers only knew of =. S local product of the new Mobile country.
 During nearly two centuries this nut was known to Indian and white alike, its richness valued as a food, but little attempt was made to commerciallze the growing of the trees for the crop.
 During the last quarter of the nine teenth century the value of the pecan as a marketable commodity began to dawn on the more open-minded farm CTS. and horticulturists and scattered planting of orchards were the result, all, however, being of seeding trees or orchards planted by seed in the place where they were to be allowed to grow Little choice of seed for i'm provement of product was made in the early days, but after a few years be- gan the evolution of the modern pa per shell pecan known to the world today as the king of nuts.
 It was found that not always did the seed come true to variety as the shape of the nut might differ from that of the seed planted, although the thin shell characteristic did carry to the new tree. Grating was the first method adopted for securing nuts true to type. But the early attempts at grating oceans proved to be failures 6a trio nY, selected young stock buds from pro- during trees, with the desired charac- teristics as to product were inserted under the bark, and when we'll grown to the trunk or branch the old growth was cut off, leaving the growth from the budded branch or trunk to carry the fruit of the trees.
 Thus by budding many new varieties were started and time was the next step to prove their value, New Varie- ties have been accepted and named by the officials in charge of that bu- reau of the United States agricultural department only after their worth had been demonstrated after a period of years. They must be true to type and distinct from others previously ac- cepted, be demonstrated as producers of well-filled nuts of value to com merce and otherwise give good reason for existing.
 After acceptance by the officials the new nut must pass the gauntlet of public favor, for without that no prod uct of an orchard could long survive.
 Sectioned Variations
 4 pecularity of the pecan is that it has many sectional variations. Nuts that grow we'll in Georgia and Flori- da may prove to be poor bearers in Alabama and Mississippi. Or those that fill out we'll with rich meaty ker- nels along the Gulf coast may produce dry. almost empty shells, farther in land. This characteristic is so pro- nounced in some instances that there are varieties that should class as dis tinctly local.
 There were early planting of seed ling orchards in Mobile and vicinity. in the neighborhood of the University Military school, around Ann and Dau- phin streets, are many large pecan trees which are the remnant of what was known as the Hall pecan grove. Farther out Dauphin the Rickarby orchard still bears it's annual crops. although the trees were too close ly planted for their present size, and that fact doubtless affects their. productiveness. On Fulton road is an other orchards planted by Mir. Rickar- by, who was an early believer in the value of the pecan.
 The late Judge Austill of Spring Hill, originator of what he called the Aurora pecan, planted extensively, al- though many of his trees were seed lings. It was Judge Austills custom to carry A number of oceans in his pockets as he strolled about his large place, and wherever he noticed an open space that invited the location of tree he planted a nut. As result there are hundreds of oceans scat tered about his place at Spring Hill that are coming into bearing trees during later years.
 Texas and Oklahoma are heavy pro- ducers of native or seedling oceans, and nuts are on the market from Vir- ginia and Indiana and all the states south of them. But Georgia has the honor of leading the way in the plant ing of budded varieties of oceans in commecial extent. Others at first were content with small local plant ings, but Georgia has benefited from her earlier realization that pecan growing was a businss capable of in- definite development and the recent carload shipments fro that state have demonstrated the fulfilment of the dream of the early pecan growers
 Better Varities
 The Gulf coast has been close to Georgia in the development of the bet. ter varieties of pecan, and the Stuart. Schley, Success, Dumas, Mobile, Big z. Pabst and others are strictly home prod ucts of the coast within the Mobile dis trict, the Mississippi coast being the birthplace, if the word may be used, of most of those named.
 The earliest attempts to graft the