The production and marketing of seedling pecans in extreme southwestern
Kentucky has been of major importance for many years.
This industry naturally extends into northwestern Tennessee and parts of Missouri directly across the state line in the Mississippi River bottom. It might be said that this industry was developed by nature, because in the Mississippi River bottoms we find seedling pecan trees which undoubtedly are more than 100 years old. Some native seedling pecan trees in this area are five feet or more in diameter; some have a spread of branches covering a radius of 60 feet, and are more than 100 feet in height.
This industry took on considerable momentum about seven years ago when a group of local business men at Hickman, the county seat of Fulton County, developed a cracking plant known as the Roper Pecan Company. They now have thirty modern cracking machines, with sorting belts, grading machines, and other complete equipment, so that they are in a position to receive and process a large tonnage of native seedling pecans, merchandise the kernels and other by-products and, therefore, are able to purchase a large quantity of seedling nuts and operate their plant for eight months each year. Not having sufficient local nuts ("Kentucky Kernels") to take care of their business, they also buy not only Kentucky nuts but also from Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas.
+Young Native Trees Top-Grafted+
Realizing that this industry is here to stay and that many farmers of that district have many young seedling pecans growing on their farms, the Kentucky Agricultural Extension Service, cooperating with some of the leading farmers of the district, has launched a program of top-working these native seedling pecans with some of the known, improved varieties that have a reputation for producing good yields of high quality nuts. The beginning of this top-grafting program was in late April of 1948, when some 200 trees were top-worked mostly on the farm of the late Roscoe Stone, a farmer in this area who had considerable land holdings. It is highly pleasing to our Extension workers to observe what we think is an outstanding success in this first year of development, for we find that over 90% of the five to ten year old trees that were top-grafted have developed a new growth from the spring grafting, to the extent of from two to eight feet of new growth. John Watts, County Farm Agent of Fulton County, who pioneered this pecan improvement development, tells me that we already have requests for top-working over 500 other trees in this area for the spring of 1949.
+Northern Varieties Preferred+
The best information available was sought from such pecan authorities as Ford Wilkinson of Rockport, Indiana, Dr. A. S. Colby, chief in nut culture, Horticulture Department of the University of Illinois, Bob Endicott of Villa Ridge, Illinois, and others. They are of the opinion that this southwestern Kentucky area approaches the northern limit of successful production of known southern varieties of pecans, and that our success in our pecan grafting program can best be assured by top-working to the hardy northern varieties of pecans such as the Major, Greenriver, Niblack, Giles, Goforth, and others.
Thanks to our pioneers of this generation who located some outstanding seedling pecans in the Ohio Valley, such trees as the original Major, Greenriver, and others have proved their worth as hardy northern pecans and they have been used for propagating purposes rather than being destroyed by farm hands who burned piles of debris left by high water around many of these early trees.
+Some Superior Local Nuts+
We are of the opinion that other seedling varieties are now growing in this Reelfoot Lake area, maybe in Kentucky, maybe in Tennessee, or across the line in Missouri, that are equally as good pecans, and, we hope, better, than the already named seedlings which have been mentioned above.