In Posey County, Ind., near Evansville, are hundreds of wild pecan trees, many of which produce good nuts. One of them, from which I propagated last year under the name of the "Hoosier," is a very prolific tree. The nut itself is of medium size, beautiful color and thin shell, but the kernel qualities are not nearly so desirable as many of the other of our Indiana pecans, and it does not take a very high rank in the estimation of some of our observers. I visited the tree in August, 1910, and at that time it had one of the most bountiful crops of nuts that I had ever seen growing on a tree. It was hanging full of clusters containing five and six nuts each. I visited it again an October and found that the nuts had ripened very early. This nut took the prize at the Mt. Vernon pecan show in 1910.
Crossing the river from Indiana, we have in the Major woods at the mouth of Green River, nine miles from Evansville, three desirable pecans—the "Greenriver," the "Major," and the "Hinton." The "Major" and the "Hinton" have been propagated by Mr. William N. Roper, at Petersburg, Va., for some time. They are round, well filled nuts, and are considered by confectioners as the most desirable type of pecan for many of the confectionery purposes. The "Major" is the best cracking pecan that I have ever seen, either North or South, and is a regular bearer, but not as high in flavor as some other varieties. The "Hinton" is an oval-shaped nut, having a corrugated shell, of fine cracking and kernel qualities, but I have not yet satisfactorily determined its bearing record.
The "Greenriver" is a little larger than either of the above nuts, and is one of the very finest medium-sized pecans that I have found. The tree is reported not to have missed a crop in eleven years, although the crop this year was very light, probably owing to the fact that it was cut pretty severely last year for grafting wood. All three of these varieties coming from the Major woods at the mouth of Green River give excellent promise, with perhaps the "Greenriver" in the lead for general qualities.
Down on the banks of the Wabash in Posey County, Indiana, and across on the Illinois side, are several very fine, large, beautiful varieties of pecans, which Mr. R. L. McCoy, of Lake, Ind., and myself are observing. Several of these pecans are as large as many of the standard southern varieties, and when I visited the trees this year in August, they were bearing good crops of nuts. We have not yet named these varieties, but expect to do so after we have observed them the coming year. There are one or two varieties in this neighborhood that may take rank over all the northern pecans that have been discovered. It is no longer a question of finding nuts in the North of good size, for we have already located some that rank well with many of the standard southern varieties in size, and one of the surprising and favorable points of the northern pecan is their fine filling qualities and high flavor. When placed on the scales their weight is most surprising to those who have not tested them.
The problem before the prospective pecan grower in the North is to secure good trees of these most desirable varieties. Seedling trees are not worth setting out. Until last year the successful propagation of pecans in the North was doubted by many, but the experiments conducted by myself and Mr. R. L. McCoy, at Lake, Ind., who worked in conjunction with me, have demonstrated that they can be successfully propagated. A number of points, however, must be carefully observed in this work.
First, in reference to grafting: The grafting should be done on northern two-year-old stocks. One-year-old stocks can be used, but two-year-olds are thought to be better. The stocks must be grown from northern seedlings. There is no place in the North for the southern stock, and right here let me suggest that the individual who buys northern trees grafted on southern stocks or southern trees grafted on northern stocks is throwing his money away. I set fifty trees last fall of the "Indiana" grafted on southern stocks, and the first freeze that came promptly killed them all. They put up a few new sprouts last summer, but finally the roots rotted, and this fall I dug them up. I have a neighbor who put out an orchard of southern grown trees. Some of them seemed to grow all right for six or seven years, and then froze down to the ground, and so far as I have been able to find out, experiments with southern trees in the North have been practically a waste of time and money. So it is necessary to bear in mind that these northern varieties must be grafted or budded on trees grown from northern seed.
The proper time for grafting in the Evansville latitude is the last week in March and the first week in April. The scions must be cut from thrifty growing trees and must be used immediately after they are cut. Experience has shown that scions kept in cold storage or stratified in sand for any length of time lose a very large part of their vitality, and success with them is very limited in that section. Last year I cut most of my scions in November and December, stratified them in sand until spring, and my percentage of success with them was very small, while on the other hand Mr. McCoy used scions directly off the tree and had a satisfactory stand. I am of the opinion that it will be proven later that the best method of grafting in the North is to graft above the ground and tie paper bags over the scions for two or three weeks until they start into growth. Our experiments so far have been confined to root-grafting, and while it has proven fairly successful under proper conditions, yet I believe that grafting above the ground will prove more successful. We have not done much budding in our section, but what we have done gives fair promise of success, and it may be that this will prove to be the best method of propagating nut trees in the North. In grafting we use both one and two-year-old wood, but one-year-old wood, if it is thrifty, is more desirable, although it is better to use thrifty two-year-old wood than to use weak scions of one year's growth. Either one or two-year-old growth can be used successfully.
My experiments and adventures in the work of propagating pecan trees were made for the purpose of securing enough of the desirable varieties of these trees to put out an orchard for myself. I found, upon inquiry, that it was impossible to buy hardy northern trees, and furthermore that but few of the desirable varieties had been propagated. In fact, I knew that some of the best ones had never been brought to the attention of the nurserymen, and being more anxious to risk my own judgment on this than that of anyone else, I started in to produce my own trees. Up to date I have accumulated a vast amount of experience and have a few trees to show for my work, but I would not take many times the cost and trouble of my work, for the information I have acquired. I have also sent to some of my friends bud-wood from our best trees for the purpose of getting these varieties propagated for the benefit of those who desire to grow them. My suggestion is that unless one is looking for the experience and enjoys a great deal of hard work and some expense, he had better buy his trees from some reliable person who has successfully propagated them.
If the farmers in the latitude of the good varieties of pecans were to put out ten to twenty acres on some corner of their farm and cultivate the trees properly, they would soon be surprised to find that this small piece of ground would be worth more money than all the rest of their farm, and they would leave not only a valuable estate to their children, but also a monument by which they would be remembered for more than a hundred years after they had passed from the toils of this earth. Ten acres of pecan trees can be cultivated at less expense annually than ten acres of corn, and if the grove consists of the right varieties and has been properly cultivated, it will be worth not less than $500 per acre in ten years. In fact, I do not know of a single grove of pecan trees in the United States—and I have seen many—of the right varieties that has been properly cultivated that can be bought for $500 per acre at ten years of age, yet the principal reason that this very thing has not been done by the farmers throughout the pecan belt is because they have not had sufficient information on the subject and have had no means of acquiring it.
I do not want to close this long paper without saying something about walnuts and hickory nuts in Indiana. While it is true that the pecan is unquestionably the most attractive and valuable nut that grows in the world, yet there is much profit and satisfaction in the culture of walnuts and hickories. In southern Indiana we have some very fine varieties of the shagbark, and I am making some experiments in propagating it. One of the advantages of this nut is that it will grow far into the north. In fact, I have had some specimens of very beautiful shagbarks sent me by Dr. D. S. Sager, from Ontario, Canada. The shagbark is a slower growing tree than the pecan, but when properly cultivated shows a very satisfactory growth.