Prior to 1890 there had been little if any attempt to plant pecans in orchards but about this time a few scattering seedling orchards began to appear.
In October 1902 about thirty owners of small pecan orchards met in Macon, Georgia, and organized the National Nut Growers Association. Of those pioneer growers only three remain today as active members of the Association, Theo. Bechtel, H. C. White, and O. P. Mears.
By this time the art of budding and grafting having become reasonably well known several pecan nurseries came into bearing and orchards of budded trees began to appear and the foundations of a real industry were laid. About this time the nursery crook began to appear and sold thousands of worthless trees but despite this handicap pecan culture continued to spread and shortly thereafter attracted the attention of Prof. John Craig of Cornell who after investigation pronounced it safe sane and profitable. He also made a study of the various sections and decided that the Albany district was the ideal section for profitable pecan culture.
This announcement by Prof. Craig was sufficient to induce northern capitalists to begin developing the Albany district on a commercial scale and several companies entered the field planting many thousand acres to be sold in units. As an evidence of the lack of faith on the part of local land owners let me say that a few weeks ago I read the original contract between one of the pioneer development companies and the gentleman from whom they bought their land. This contract was dated early in 1908 and provided for the sale on time payments of several thousand acres of land closing with the limitation that unless as much us 100 acres of this land were planted in pecans and sold in 1920 the contract was to be null and void. As a matter of fact this company developed and sold about 4500 acres in less than five years. They have long since retired as developers and give their entire time to the care of their immense orchards and the sale of their nuts which annually run around two hundred thousand pounds.
More than one of these pioneer development companies found themselves in financial difficulties due to the fact that they had sold their orchards too cheaply. Pecan growing is expensive, much more so than the average man thinks and the pecan orchards in the Albany district today that do not meet the expectations of their owners are mostly those that suffered for lack of money. Those companies with financial resources and intelligent horticulturists have developed orchards that are a source of perennial pleasure and profit to their owners.
The cultivated paper shell pecan is as superior to the wild seedling as is American gold to Mexico's money. These wild seedlings are small in size artificially colored a bright red and have a sharp, astringent taste and have a commercial value only because they are used to lower the price of mixed nuts.
When the average man hears the word "pecan" be instantly thinks of the bitter red little nut which is ever present in the supply of Christmas goodies but which is religiously culled and fed to the glowing grate. Mr. Average Man never even heard of the southern paper shell pecan. In fact, up to the present time, the demand has far exceeded the supply and but little if any effort has been made to develop new markets. I think it a conservative estimate that not ten per cent of our population have ever tasted a paper shell pecan.
The paper shell pecan is our national nut and its only competition in the markets of the world is the ignorance of the public. Acquaint the public with its merits and there will be a demand for a million times our present supply.
Away with the thought of overproduction. The "avalanch of nuts" is an old wife's fable. Do not talk to us about overproduction, when the food problem is giving the gravest concern to the master minds of the world. With population increasing and food supply diminishing the gaunt specter of famine is creeping closer and closer to the homes of men even in our own favored land.
Hunger knows no armistice. It conquers amid the snowdrifts of the North, where the grand army of Napoleon found its winding sheet. It conquers amid the burning sands of the south where the phalanx of Alexander halted in mutiny. Away with such nonsense as overproduction in discussing this the choicest food product ever given by a gracious God to a hungry world.