Part 7 (1/2)

_Plumpness_--The kernel should fill the sh.e.l.l and must be smooth, externally, with solid meat of fine and uniform texture, free from internal cavities and with high relative weight of kernel to sh.e.l.l.

_Color_--The kernel should be uniformly bright and attractive in color.

_Quality_--The flavor should be sweet and rich, free from bitterness or astringence of either meat or skin.

PART III.

Cultural.

CHAPTER VI.

PROPAGATION OF THE PECAN.

The pecan tree is difficult of propagation by budding or grafting.

Skillful propagators are satisfied with seventy-five per cent. of living buds or grafts, while very many have to be content with less. The difficulty is due, in part, to lack of skill; in part to lack of judgment in selecting good material with which to work; but in some regions it is due to the attacks of the bud-worm, _Proteopteryx deludana_, more than to anything else. The buds are eaten out and destroyed by this insect at the time they start into growth. In certain sections spring working of pecans has been abandoned entirely owing to the destruction wrought by this pest. But notwithstanding all the drawbacks, pecan trees can be, should be and are propagated in large numbers by budding and grafting, and the seedling is becoming more and more a thing of the past.

SEEDLING VS. GRAFTED TREES.

It is a fact worthy of note that the beginning of every tree-fruit industry is marked by the use of seedling trees. In the later stages of the development of the industry the seedling, owing to a more intimate knowledge of its failings and shortcomings, gives way to the grafted[I]

tree. This stage has already been reached in pecan orcharding.

It has been stated that a certain percentage of pecans would produce nuts identical with those of the parent tree. The author has yet to find the first instance in which this was the case. This truth is borne out by the observations of others.

In view of the fact just stated, if a planter desires to secure a certain definite fixed variety of pecan, it can only be done by planting grafted trees. Even though all the seedlings were of good size, yet the variation in time of ripening, quality, prolificness, form and size would be against them. Take a certain quant.i.ty of each of a number of our largest pecans--Stuart, Van Deman, Centennial and Frotscher for instance--mix them together, and under average circ.u.mstances the mixed lot will sell for less money in the open market than the same varieties and the same nuts would if marketed separately. Mixed nuts, no matter how good the quality, cannot compete successfully in the market with a single uniform sample of the same or nearly the same quality.

Grafted trees will come into bearing at an earlier age than seedlings.

In the case of seedlings it is very difficult to say when they will begin to bear, while grafted trees of the more precocious varieties may be expected to bear quite a little fruit in six or eight years from the time of planting.

The great objection to grafted trees is the first cost, and yet, in the face of that objection, it is best to plant grafted trees even if fewer of them are planted. If grafted trees are out of the question, then plant seedlings and top-work them. Grow the seedlings from nuts if necessary; but to those who live in sections where pecans can be grown, let me say, _plant pecan trees_; plant budded or grafted trees if you can--but plant pecan trees.

PECAN STOCKS.

Nursery trees are propagated entirely on pecan stocks, and in the present state of our knowledge, it is the best stock to use. It may be that the pecan will grow and thrive as well on a number of different species of hickory, but definite information bearing on this point is lacking. _Hicoria tomentosa_, _H. alba_, and _H. aquatica_ have been used for stocks in North Carolina, Florida, and other States, the pecan being top-worked upon them. But for the present, at least, until our experimental knowledge is farther advanced, the safest advice is to use pecan stock only.

Too little attention on the part of propagators has been given to the kind, source and quality of the seed used to raise stocks for propagation work. The main object held in view in making a selection for seed purposes is to get just as many nuts as possible in the pound. The result of this policy is, that, without question, inferior seedlings are often used for stock; they lack stamina and vigor. Frequently in a nursery of budded or grafted stocks, or in a young pecan orchard, a wide variation in the size and vigor of the trees can be noticed. No satisfactory explanation has ever been offered, but there seems little reason to doubt that it is due to the use of heterogenous lots of seed for stock purposes. _The point must be emphasized, that greater care should be exercised in the selection of the seed used in nursery work._ Nuts from rapid-growing, vigorous, healthy trees only should be used. It is best to plant in spring only nuts which matured the previous autumn.

Preferably these nuts should be of fair or medium size for the variety to give the young seedling a fair start in life.

As already pointed out in regard to pecan shade trees for more northerly regions, so in the case of pecan nuts for use in raising stocks in northern sections. It is best to secure nuts from trees near the northern limits of nut production.

STORING AND PLANTING SEED NUTS.

If pecan nuts, intended for seed purposes, are stored and kept as nuts ordinarily are kept, they become dried out. Before they will germinate the following spring they must absorb all the moisture lost and considerably more; in consequence of which they are slow in starting. If too thoroughly dried out, many may fail to germinate.

To obviate this, and to insure better and more prompt germination, it is best to keep the seed nuts in moist sand or clay during the winter months. Procure a sufficient number of shallow boxes or trays; three feet by one and a half feet by six or eight inches will answer nicely.