Crops that pay : pecans, figs, mangoes, avocados, kumquats

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KUMQUATS 4 3 4

MALr waTURAL size j E af 10 CENTS
3 (Gey : are
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By H-ArtHurR DYGERT.
DREXEL BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.

Flnnouncement

Should the reader’s interest in “GROPS that PAY”
lead him to seek more detailed information than is herein
given, the author will be pleased to correspond with him
and answer all inquiries relating to the growing of pecans,
figs, mangoes, avocados and kumquats.

Gorrespondence is especially requested from profes-
sional and business men and women, who, with the means
and inclination to engage in horticultural pursuits, cannot
do so without interfering too much with their usual occupa-
tions. It is believed that there are many among them who
would welcome an opportunity to make moderate invest-
ments in a commercial plantation of these profitable crops
under conditions assuring the returns shown in the follow-
ing pages.

- But no matter what may be the interest that prompts
correspondence, all communications will receive the best

attention of
THE AUTHOR.

CROPS THAT PAY

PECANS, FIGS, MANGOES,
AVOCADOS, KUMQUATS

What they are; where and how
they grow; what profit they give;
history, commercial value and
trade statistics ; methods of cul-
tivation and preparation for mar-
ket: and evidence that their cul-
ture affords a safe, permanent

and very profitable investment.

TWENTY-SEVEN HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

H. ARTHUR DYGERT

DREXEL BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.

COPYRIGHT, 1906
BY

H. A. DYGERT,
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THE PECAN

(Hicoria pecan, Britton; Carya oltoaeformis, Nuttall.)

“The younger people making holiday
With bag and sack and basket, great and small,
Went nutting.” —Tennyson’s Enoch Arden.

When followers of Bienville, in 1740, explored the Iower valley
of the Father of Waters, they found the Natchez Indians using a
meal which their squaws prepared by grinding the dried meats of
a nut. This was “the pecan,” which, according to Bancroft, “with
the mulberry and two kinds of wild plums, furnished the natives
with articles of food.” From the hickory-nut, close kin to the
pecan, the Virginia Indians, by pounding the kernels, obtained an
oily liquor which they called “powcohicora,” whence came the gen-
eric name, Hicoria, including eight or ten species, among them the
pecan. Hickory-nuts, and all nuts having hard shells requiring a
stone or hamm r to crack them, were called “pacan” by the Indians;
and the French settlers of the Mississippi Basin appropriated this
word for the name of one species, the pacane, or in English, pecan,
which they found growing wild in abundance throughout Louisiana.

Hicoria pecan is a native of the United States and thrives best
in the rich, deep, alluvial lands bordering rivers and creeks of the
lower Mississippi Valley. A line drawn from Rock Island, Illinois,
to the Tennessee River, near Chattanooga, marks, approximately,
the northeastern boundary of the area in which it is found growing
wild. Throughout the region southwest of this line in Iowa, Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Indian Terri-
tory, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, it is generally distributed, find-
ing there the most favorable conditions for perfect development in
fertile river bottoms, and, in the last two States, exceeding all other
trees in size and value.

Sargent’s “Silva of North America” describes the pecan as “a
tree 100 to 170 feet in height with a tall, massive trunk occasionally
six feet in diameter above its enlarged, buttressed base, and stout,
stately, spreading branches which form in the forest a narrow, sym-
metrical and inversely pyramidal, or, when they find room to spread,
a broad, round-topped head. The bark of the trunk is an inch to
an inch and a half in thickness, light-brown tinged with red and
deeply and irregularly divided into narrow, forked ridges, broken
on the surface into thick, appressed scales. * * * The leaves
are from 12 to 20 inches in length and are composed of from 9 to
17 leaflets.”

As a shade tree the pecan has strong claims. With its tall,
shapely trunk, and well-balanced, ample head, and bold, handsome,
pinnated foliage, it has all the qualities necessary for a fine, graceful
park tree, and by right deserves a place in every considerable plan-
tation.

4 CROPS THAT PAY.

PECANS IN FOREST.

BY PERMISSION FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM

PHOTO BY C +r. MILLSPAUGH, CURATOR

Like other nut trees, the pecan has male and female flowers on
the same tree. The pistillate blossoms, which develop into nuts,
appear on the new growth of each season, while the male, or staminate

flowers, in the form of slender, pendulous catkins, or tassels, are
borne on wood formed the previous year.

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‘"NVOUd FHL

6 CROPS THAT PAY.

Pecan wood is close-grained, heavy and hard. In color it is
light reddish brown, with lighter brown sapwood. The layers of
annual growth are clearly defined. It makes excellent fuel on ac-
count of the brilliancy with which it burns and the ardent heat it
gives. Charcoal made of it is heavy, compact and long-lived. It is
frequently used in the manufacture of wagons, farm implements, tool
handles, etc. :

But, for its much-prized nuts, the pecan easily surpasses in
value any other tree of American nativity. These vary greatly in
size, shape, thickness of shell, weight and quality. Their commer-
cial importance is increasing yearly. At present practically the en-
tire pecan crop is the product of wild trees, less than five per cent.,
it is estimated, being from cultivated groves. Texas, Louisiana and
Mississippi, in the order named, produce the largest quantity. Lou-
isiana claims to give the biggest and best nuts, and to have originated
the most valuable of those very large, thin-shelled varieties which it
is the ambition of every nut-grower to reproduce, or excel, on cul-
tivated trees of his own. :

From the earliest times in the South the gathering and shipping
of wild pecans has been found profitable; but only in recent years
have efforts of skilled horticulturists been directed to pecan culture
as an established business, with the result that the size and quality
of the nuts have been greatly improved and the exceeding profitable-
ness of the new industry clearly demonstrated. As a consequence
pecans are being planted, more and more, not only in those States
which are rightly considered the natural home of the tree, but in
other parts, especially in Georgia and Florida, where much capital
has already been invested in commercial groves. However, it is
only in certain favored portions of those six States nearest the Gulf
that natural conditions are such as to insure the largest returns from
an investment in pecans.

While Louisiana was still a French possession and a territory of
vast and unknown extent, F. André-Michaux wrote in his “History
of the Forest Trees of North America”:

“These nuts have a most excellent flavor. They are an arti

commerce between Upper and Lower Louisiana. ee: Neg Oneene cer
are exported to the West Indies, and more often, to the large cities of the United
States. Not only are they preferable to all those which I have up to this
time, found in North America, but I believe them to possess a ‘flavor more
delicate than any we have in Europe, Moreover, one sometimes finds
varieties of the pecan which, although wild, bear nuts whose kernels are
much larger than are those of any of our nut-trees, which have not been
cultivated. I think, therefore, that on account of its fruit, this tree merits
the attention of Europeans. By means of careful cultivation it is certain
that very good nuts would be obtained; and especially is this true when
one considers that our nut-trees in a wild state produce nuts greatly i

ferior to those of the pecan.” aa

_ _Earlier mention of the pecan is found in a narrative of travel
in Louisiana by Charlevoix and Le Page de Pratz, “History of Lou-
isiana,” Vol. Il., page 26:—
“There are still other pecans whose fruit is a gs:

which one at first glance would take for the taeda cee ee Pa aa
the same shape and color and have shells as thin; but whatever oe ie d
ae, ponsluetss as ts: ney are more delicate in flavor than tie site
ess oily, and of such excellent taste that the French i <
equal to those of the almond.’”’ men make pralines of them

THE PECAN. 7.

a Ee

PECAN TAP-ROOTS* MALE FLOWERS OF PECANT

The author of “Nut Culture in the United States,” issued by the
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Pomology, with the
characteristic conservativeness of departmental writing, says:—

“Of the eight or nine species of the genus Hicoria, but four are worthy
of the special attention of the nut grower as trees likely to produce market-
able fruit in profitable quantities. First among these is the H. pecan.
Pomologically, this is scarcely less important than the Persian (English)
walnut or almond at the present time. With an area of adaptation in
the United States considerably larger than is found for either of the others,
and with a susceptibility to improvement by selection, in size of nut, thin-
ness of shell and delicacy of flavor that are very encouraging to those who
have attempted this work, the pecan is probably destined to become the
leading nut of the American market. If its cultivation is pushed with the
usual skill and energy of American enterprise, there is reason to believe
that it will not be many years before the pecan will become, not only an
abundant nut in our markets, but also an important article of export.”’

Since the Government published the quoted work on nut culture,
six years ago, our Southern friends have devoted much skill, energy
and enterprise to the pecan cause. As a result larger nuts with
thinner shells and finer flavor have been produced; new ideas in
budding and grafting from fine varieties to reproduce desired forms

*Two years old. The one at right entire; the one at left, cut at one year, shows
growth of lateralroots.
+tFrom Photograph by H. H. Hume, Fla Ag’l Experiment Station.

8 CROPS THAT PAY.

have been discovered; and improved cultural methods adopted. And
this good work is to be continued with the encouragement of the
National Nut Growers’ Association, lately organized, which means
that nut culture in the South, heretofore sadly neglected, will receive
the attention and support it so richly merits.

PECAN FOUR YEARS OLD

Many people in the Northern States do not know what a pecan
is. Those who do, however, are apt to call it the best of nuts, even
when they have never tasted one of those big, plump, grove-grown
fruits, so superior in every way to the common, wild pecan. Like
the early French explorers and writers we naturally compare the
pecan with the almond, walnut and chestnut, increasing quantities
of which are annually imported into the United States. These Euro-
pean nuts are very good, in their way, but nut eaters who know the
pecan at its best, unhesitatingly declare it a better nut than either
of the others; in short, the best nut in the world.

Pecan gathering in the South is a yearly event of importance.
In Louisiana and Texas the nutting is on a grand scale; it means
more than “the younger people making holiday.” The pecan crop
of these two States, alone, amounts to millions of pounds, and the
small army of men, women and children which invades the forest
“with bag and sack and basket, great and small,” in quest of Nature’s
bounty, find remunerative employment during the season. There
is great competition between rival “nutters.” To get the nuts the
trees are shaken, or their branches beaten with long poles. Such as
remain in the husks after dropping are tossed into a heap and
threshed to loosen them from their four-parted coverings, many of

THE PECAN. 9

BEARING PECAN FIVE YEARS OLD

PLANTED IN COTTON FIELD

10 CROPS THAT PAY.

FULL-GROWN PECAN

BY PERMISSION FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM PHOTO BY C.F. MILLSPAUGH, CURATOR

the larger and thinner-shelled ones being broken during this opera-
tion. To make this work more easy and to quickly secure the valu-
able harvest, it has long been a practice of the improvident and
reckless nutter to fell the largest trees. In a few hours his ruthless
axe has destroyed the growth of centuries. Then, too, pecan trees

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NOILVLS LNBWIHSdX3 TOV YNVISINOT NOISSINYSd AU

AYASUNN NVO3d

THE PECAN,

12 CROPS THAT PAY.

are often cut for timber and fuel. Cords of good firewood can be
taken from each stately shaft which rises fifty feet, straight as an
arrow, before branching into its magnificent leafy. dome. Many a
forest monarch has been laid low to feed the kitchen fires of eee
pioneers. Other pecan trees, thousands of them, are removed w fas
land is cleared to receive cultivated crops. So destruction of the
natural growth goes on from year to year, and the effect of it 1s seen,
more and more, in a steadily diminishing supply of the nuts and in
advancing prices. The product of many cultivated trees, not oe
planted, will be required to make good the shortage in the supply
of pecans, due to these several destructive causes. From the forest,
where the nuts are generally free for the picking, countless wagon-
loads are trailed to the nearest market town and sold to dealers.
These pack them in sacks and barrels and ship to the commission
men or nut houses in New Orleans, or some northern city, whence
they are distributed through wholesale and confectioners’ supply
stores to fancy bakers and candy makers, grocers and the various
other retail stores interested in their sale. —

But the progress of the pecan from forest to table is interrupted
at one stage of the journey. Large shipments may contain nuts of
many sizes; and the dull, gray-brown shells are most likely
streaked with black where the lining of the husk has stuck to them.
The trade demands uniformity in size, and smooth, clean shells. To
the grader and polisher, therefore, go the unsightly nuts for a
course of improving treatment to better their appearance. There
are “factories” which make a specialty of this work, and the grading,
cleaning and polishing are done by machinery, automatically, and at
no very great cost. In a revolving cylinder, or “rumbler,” con-
taining sawdust, chips of leather or other slightly abrasive material,
the nuts are slowly turned, over and over, until the rubbing they
receive has quite cleaned and polished them. This operation com-
pleted they are removed from the cylinder and dumped onto a
sieve set at the right angle to let them pass gradually downwards
and through its three or four sections. The smallest nuts drop
through first, then each larger size in turn, as the openings of the
sieve permit. Boxes are placed underneath the sieve to catch the
graded and polished nuts which are now ready to pack, but not,
in some instances, before they have received a final treatment with
rouge to make them more attractive for the fancy trade. The largest
and best nuts, however, are seldom polished, their size ensuring them
a quick sale whenever they are offered; but it is well worth noting
that pecans of this kind have never reached the market in quantities
great enough to supply the demand. The polishing process is not
without risk of loss through overheating the nuts while in tne
“rumbler.” When this happens the shells become greasy and the
meat liable to mould. According to a large dealer in pecans, the
St. Louis graders classify various sizes as follows :—

. NAMES. — NO. IN POUND.
Biggest Louisiana nuts.......... 33
JUMBO" joes deere eed en 75 to 80
Large BE Rha Peal Sarr Renee eget 110 “ 120
WGI 2 nests this torres a Gichadted oan hed 120 “ 140

180

13

THE PECAN

RUSSELL

FROTSCHER

WILD NUT

VAN DEMAN

FIVE FORMS OF CHOICE, THIN-SHELLED PECANS.
ALSO WILD NUT SHOWING DIFFERENCE IN SIZE

STUART

14 CROPS THAT PAY.

The largest pecans require only 24 to weigh a pound, and
measure 23 inches in length. But few nuts as large as 50 to the
pound are ever sent to market since there is always a demand for
them far in excess of the supply, for planting. Such nuts, sold for
seed, bring from a dollar to five dollars a pound, much of the
business in this line being done through the mails. The cultivator
of pecans aims to reproduce these large forms, and, if possible,
grow still bigger ones with thinner shells and having more delicate
flavor and better cracking qualities. That he is succeeding reasonably
well is evidenced by the growing interest in pecan culture, and the
ever increasing number who are planting groves of this tree.

While by far the greater quantity of pecans is sold in the shell,
the trade in the meats is constantly growing, and, for many uses,
the pecan is supplanting other nuts. Many chefs and good livers
think pecan oil better than olive oil for salads and for cooking
purposes. Only the smallest nuts are ground into oil. A wider
appreciation of the merits of the pecan in this respect would surely
benefit growers of the nut. That the sweet and palatable pecan
kernels excel other nuts in food value is interestingly shown by the
following analysis taken from Bulletin No. 54 of the Maine Agri-
cultural Experiment Station:

Edible Portion a
og a :
ie) ,2 ss
2:5 be s 6g >
ee | 3 g a | 22) 4 gB
at = 2 a3 | < 38

Ay s a

% % % % % % Calories

Pecans, kernels, 100.0 29 10.3 70.8 14.3 17 3445
Walnuts, ‘ 1000 2.8 16.7 64.4 14.8 13 3305,
Filberts, ‘“‘ 100.0 3.7 15.6 65.3 13.0 2.4 3290
Cocoanuts, shredded, 100.0 35 6.3 573 31.6 13 3125
Almonds, kernels, 100.0 4.8 21.0 54.9 17.3 2.0 3030
Shelled peanuts, 100.0 1.6 30.5 49.2 16.2 2.5 | 1955

* Calculated from analysis.

The cracking of nuts by machinery has become a recognized
industry during the past few years. In St. Louis, San Antonio,
Kansas City, Chicago and New York there are nut-cracking plants
in which considerable capital has been invested and many hands
employed. Pecans are the principal nuts used. Patented machines,
operated secretly, and run by electric power crack the nuts; and
an air-blast winnows shells from meats. These are sorted and sold
for 40 to 60 cents a pound for the whole meats to bakers and
confectioners by whose skill they are incorporated into the substance
of fancy cakes, or various toothsome delicacies such as pecan brittle,
mut bars, pecan creams and bon-bons, caramels and chocolates.
Salted pecans are beginning to rival salted almonds in popularity;

15

THE PECAN.

TYPES OF WILD PECANS.

FORMS OF CULTIVATED PECANS.
PECAN BRANCH AND NUT CLUSTERS. PROLIFIC FROTSCHER PABST

BY PERMISSION FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM VAN DEMAN STUART

PHOTO BY C, F, MILLSPAUGH, CURATOR,

16 CROPS THAT PAY,

and pecans glaceés rank among the most esteemed of dainty con-
fei. if is said that the nut cracking establishments prefer
Louisiana nuts, as they crack and work more easily than oo
Broken pieces sell for considerably less than wholes, and the
smallest pieces are made into oil. The shells are sold for fuel and,
like the wood and bark of the tree, make an especially fine fire.
As an illuminant pecan oil is too costly, but that it would serve
the purpose can be shown by lighting a kernel which will be found
to burn for some time with a clear, brilliant flame. Care must
be used in packing the meats for shipment in order that too great
pressure may not slowly but surely squeeze out the oil. And
to keep any quantity of the meats on hand they must be put into
cold storage or they will become rancid. As an industry the prepar-
ing of nut kernels for market is still young in this country, but
the time is coming when owners of commercial pecan groves will
operate their own cracking plant, pack and ship the kernels, under
private brand, direct from the plantation to consumers and dealers,
just as now do the more successful fruit growers. This could be
easily done, and the value of the crop would be greatly enhanced.

While the pecan harvest is one of considerable value it is of second-
ary importance when compared with that of any one of the leading
fruits grown in the United States, and almost of trifling proportions
when one thinks of the enormous production of various kinds of nuts
in other countries, or even in California. We have seen that André-
Michaux recommended the pecan for cultivation by Europeans, but
the French, Italians and Spaniards have been content, so far, to
grow chestnuts, walnuts and almonds as have their ancestors for
many generations. It is in the Mediterranean countries of Southern
Europe that the nut harvest is of greatest importance. A bad season
means loss and privation, if not want, to the thousands who depend
largely on these products for their principal food. In 1896, accord-
ing to official reports, Italy had 404,000 hectares (998,324 acres) of
chestnut plantations. U.S. Consul A. M. Thackara tells us in his
report to the State Department, October 2, 1902, that the yearly
crop of table walnuts produced in France from 1897 to 1900, in-
clusive, was 41,483,985 pounds, the yield for 1901 being estimated at
59,524,200. How small, comparatively, seem 3,206,850 pounds, the
total production of pecans in 1899, as reported by the Twelfth U. S.
Census. Europe sends us the fruit of her nut trees in annually
increasing quantities, the value of which has nearly trebled during
eight years ending June 30, 1904, as shown by the United States
Bureau of Foreign Commerce:

18907, total value of nuts imported into the United States. . .$1,728,774

1808, : : is 2,216,064
1899, , ‘ . = . “1.4. 2,727,542
a , fe ; ‘i a 27> BOTSSa4
1901, * : a 2 “12. 3,268,855
1902, (<7 (<7 ce “ rT 7 . oe 4,044,341
1903, “ce “ce “eb “ce “ce “ E see 4,860,398
1904, 5,471,166

California, with climate unsuited to the pecan, produces an ever

THE. PECAN. 17

increasing quantity of walnuts and almonds, 10,668,065 pounds of
the former and 7,142,710 pounds of the latter in 1899, according to
the Census Reports; and this entire product finds a ready market at
good prices in spite of the rapidly growing imports, as shown above.

But the pecan States of the South, where less capital and energy
than have been expended by California on her nut groves would
yield far better returns, with the added satisfaction of producing a
nut superior in every way to either walnut or almond, have almost
wholly failed to take advantage of their opportunities in respect to
this most profitable branch of horticulture, which, when fully de-
veloped, will go far toward bringing permanent prosperity to the
Southern planter.

Again referring to the Twelfth Census we find that pecan trees
were reported from 28 States. The following table gives the total
product for United States and the number of pounds of nuts as re-
ported from 14 States, in order of production:

STATES. POUNDS. PER CENT. OF

ENTIRE CROP.

HOKASi io ae ooe ie asoos tea ee 1,810,670 56.4
Louislanascd 2<eusded eceeekntes 637,470 19.9
MASSISSIPDI 22. aeelescs ace astenaecaiy ate ued 242,300 7.5
Arkansasias) seotieny aeaee den eaaes 86,050
MiSSOUTE.. b cisaoee cceweeteeysas 75,170
ReentuGheys a. : acacia cihotieiodhen 63,390
AMlaba triad! ccgetiiatencsnments Sard aly ae 60,670
Kansase.&: secsdoae dha vet eaeshe nga ee a 47,530
PMOMd iis. ale wecngre newer heat 46,800
Tin OrSiec. eres eileen ok a Okie es 41,380
GEOTSI A 2 os aveaatoneaaoneacr ea een 27,440
VMGIAN A se. ge 3225 weriesaredece nk ste aemeene-c 16,650
Indian Territory.......:........ 14,680
South: Carolina. (...02::. 04. ecte2> 13,020

3,183,220 99.2
From 14 other States............ 23,030 8
Total, United States ........... 3,206,850

From the foregoing it will be seen that 14 States produced 99.2
per cent. of the total and that 14 other States produced 8 per cent.;
Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the States of greatest production,
yielded 83.8 per cent. of the whole; Texas gave more than one-half
of the entire crop, and Louisiana nearly one-fifth.

Texas has been long considered the “Pecan State,” but does
not that honor really belong to Louisiana which, with an area one-sixth
that of the former, yields nearly one-third the quantity of nuts, a
production per square mile more than double that of the larger
State? Comparative production of the two States is as follows:

SQ. MILES POUNDS PON
STATE. Q. a F PER SO. MILE.
TEXAS es. aviea ve 262,290 1,810,670 6.9

Louisiana. ..... 45,420 637,470 14.0

18 CROPS THAT PAY.

If, therefore, the pecan crop of Texas, as compared pee that
of Louisiana, were proportionate to her size, the product of en
would be 10,448,065 pounds instead of 1,810,670 pounds, as reported,
and it is reasonably certain that if the larger quantity were pro-
duced of fine, large nuts it would find a ready market at remunerative
prices and the demand still be unsupplied. . ;

Such figures are interesting to one who thinks of ene 3
pecan grove and are quite likely to influence his _ decision. ¢
alluvial soil of Louisiana undoubtedly presents ideal conditions for
pecan growing. This land is the richest on the continent, unsur-
passed in natural yield, as productive as the far-famed Valley of the
Nile, and never requires fertilizing. Yet it can be truly asserted
that in either of the Gulf States, including Georgia, especially in
the southern part, wherever rich, deep, moist, alluvial soil is found,
the pecan will thrive well. And it is probable that the lighter
soil of northern and central Florida, with liberal use of the right kind
of fertilizers, will give results just as good. In both Georgia and
Florida, where more skill, energy and capital are devoted to fruit
growing, far more, indeed, than in other parts of the South, interest
in pecan culture amounts to genuine enthusiasm. Best of all, this
interest is based on evidence of success already achieved in the
business by those who have been engaged in it long enough to learn
its possibilities. Many commercial groves are being made and,
in Florida, not a few of the abandoned orange orchards which were
destroyed by the freeze in 1895, have been set with pecans in the
firm belief that within a few years they will become more profitable
to their owners than were ever oranges in the same State.

But the intending planter of pecans for profit will have other
questions to decide besides that of location. What to plant and
how to plant it? How to cultivate? When will trees begin to
bear? What will be the yield? The profit per acre? How to
make best use of the land before trees begin to bear? These are a
few of the inquiries that are sure to arise. Much information on
these subects is given in replies received to 100 circular letters of
inquiry sent to 19 States during the preparation of this article.
More than half was distributed in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Louisiana and Texas, where pecan culture is further advanced than
elsewhere.

These letters were addressed to leading horticulturists and
nursery men, seed houses, nut dealers and commission men interested
in the pecan trade; graders and polishers of pecans in northern
cities; owners of pecan trees and pecan groves; expert budders
and grafters of pecans who have spent years in actual field work;
and others whose study of the subject and whose personal experience
give weight to their statements. All replies, excepting such as are
on points strictly cultural, tabulated and condensed to show averages
and percentages are herewith given. They have been accepted by
the writer whose own interest in and investigation of the pecan date
back fifteen years, as a safe and reliable guide and as conservative
and perfectly fair bases for estimates of yield, income and profit :—

1. Which would you select for planting, seeds or budded trees?

Reply: 23 per cent. would plant seeds. 77 per cent. favored

THE PECAN. 19

budded, or grafted, trees. With preferences as indicated, a few sug-
gested the advantage of using both seeds and budded trees.

2. If you think best to use budded trees, at what age from
the bud, should they be planted?

Reply: At one year from budding, 51 per cent.; at two
years, 35 per cent.; at three years, 14 per cent.

3. If you prefer to plant seeds instead of budded trees, name
5 choice varieties of large, thin-shelled pecans, such as you would
recommend for planting?

*Reply: 36 votes were given, as follows: Columbian, 33 per
cent.; Van Deman, 22 pe~ cent.; Stuart, 19 per cent.; Frotscher, 14
per cent., and Centennial, 2 per cent. These are decidedly the
favorites. 23 other varieties were named in the replies. “Pride of
the Coast” and “Rome” are synonymous with Columbian, and votes
for both of these were credited to Columbian, the name most
frequently used to designate this variety.

4. What distance apart would you recommend for planting
pecans?

Reply: From 9 trees to the acre, or 70 feet apart, to 108 to
the acre, or 20 feet apart, d-pending on methods of culture and
richness of soil; fewer if the soilis very rich. Some advocates of the
greater number believed in thinning out by cutting down part of
the trees when the branches interlock; and others recommended
“heading in” the trees so as to control the size of top and the
spread of branch, and, in this way, retain permanently any desired
number. But for permanent planting, without pruning, a majority
of all the replies gave 35 feet apart, or 35 trees to the acre as the
best number on average land, and 50 feet apart, or 17 trees to the
acre on rich, alluvial bottor.s; while 25 feet apart, or 69 to the acre,
was preferred by those wo believed in “close planting,’ with the
intention of thinning out one-half, or even three-fourths of the
number first set whenever crowding should make it necessary to
do so.

5. Is the pecan injured by cutting its tap root in transplanting?

Reply: 80 per cent. of the replies, emphatically, no; 20 per
cent., yes, but most of these so qualified their replies as to
practically admit that the injury, if any, would not affect growth
of the tree. Many of those who said no, claimed that better results
would come from proper cutting of the tap root.

6. At what age from the seed will a budded or grafted pecan
bear its first crop, provided it be planted in the best soil and receive
the right care, fertilizing, etc.?

Reply: 6 years and 10 months* was the average of all the
replies. Remarks were voluminous on this subject. Several in-
stances were given of budded trees bearing a few nuts at three or
four years; quite a number gave five years as the age of first fruit-
ing; and many said that cultivated trees, under favorable conditions,
would bear their first crop at six years. Practically all admitted that
budded trees will bear two or three years earlier than seedlings.

* At the National Nut-Growers’ Convention held in St. Louis in 1904, the fol-
lowing nuts, in the order named, were those voted for by a majority of the mem-
bers of the Association as most worthy of cultivation for their superior quali-
ties: Stuart, Van Deman, Frotscher, Schley, Pabst, Georgia, Curtis and Russell.

20 CROPS THAT Pax.

7. How many pounds of nuts will such a tree yield in ah first,
second, third, fourth and fifth years after beginning to bear?

Reply: During the first 5 years each tree will give 153.09
pounds, as follows: First year, 4.07 pounds; second year, 17
pounds; third year, 20.09 pounds; fourth year, 43.4 pounds; fift
year, 74.77 pounds. These are averages, taking all replies. :

What is the present price of budded trees one year old?

Reply: $1.02 for small quantities. : a

9. What is the present price of choice, named varieties for
planting?

Reply: $1.20 per pound. :

10. What is the price of the average wild Texas pecan?

Reply: 7.2 cents per pound. ;

11. What is the price of best thin-shelled nuts now on the
market for dessert, confectioners’ and bakers’ purposes?

Reply: 24.4 cents per pound for best wild product, selected
large nuts; practically no cultivated nuts offered except for seed.

12. Has the pecan tree any serious enemies or diseases that
skilful care cannot conquer? i ee

Reply: The reply to this question was invariably “No,” indicat-
ing that, unlike the pear, peach, apple and other orchard trees,
the pecan is remarkably free from insect pests and liable to no
attacks that timely precaution cannot prevent.

13. What would you suggest as the best crop to grow in order
to prepare the land for planting pecans, and to continue to cultivate
between the rows to bring an income while waiting for the trees
to mature?

Reply: Depends on location, character of soil and facilities for
transportation. 28 per cent. of the replies named cotton as the
best crop for the purpose; 23 per cent. favored cowpeas, and 18
per cent., corn. 19g other crops were named, peanuts, melons, early
vegetables, small fruit and tobacco being preferred. 69 per cent.
of all replies, however, must be considered a decisive majority in
favor of cotton, cowpeas and corn in the order named.

14. From your personal experience in the business, or from
what you have learned through study of the subject, is the growing
of pecans for profit a safe and profitable investment, provided the
right location, kinds of nuts or trees for planting, management, etc.,
are available?

Reply: Nearly all replies to this question were made in a
single word, YES! The others are here given in full:

“Certainly.”

“T am sure it is.’’

“‘Very profitable.’’

“‘My impression, it is.’’

“Yes, I think highly so."

“Tt is, most positively so.”’

“I regard it as especially so.”

“From my own experience, it is,”

“Nothing to equal it that I know,”

“T know of nothing that promises more.”

“T consider it a very profitable business.”
“Yes, in proper location and on cheap land.”
“It is the safest, most certain, most profitable.”

?

THE PECAN. 21

“T think it offers the best investment I know of.’’

“‘We doubt it, except on land that is of no other use.”’

“Yes, I have thousands of trees and twenty years’ experience.”

‘Yes, for a long time, low rate of interest. Grows better with age.”

“T should say yes, as the demand is great and is increasing every year.”
F ae: is the safest and most profitable branch of horticulture in the

outh.’"
‘ ak should say yes, provided the requisite conditions as named are fol-
iowed.”’

“Very profitable. A better legacy to leave your children than a big
bank account.”’

“Yes, sir. I have a 20-acre grove just coming into bearing that paid 4
per cent. on $6,000.’"

“‘We are of the opinion that a pecan grove, properly located, cultivated,
and the product properly marketed, would be a paying investment.”’

“TI believe an orchard of good quality grafted pecans, well cared for,
would be a very fine investment. I think it offers the best I know of.”

“TI have studied the subject carefully and am fully satisfied that pecan
growing is a good investment. Grafted trees will pay 10 per cent. on $1,000
per acre at 10 years from planting.’”’

“IT have been in the pecan business for 16 years and have between 400
and 500 budded trees. From my personal experience in the business, pecan
growing is safe and profitable as an investment for capital.’’

“It will not pay to raise the small nut and sell it in competition with the
wild product; but with a grove located in the right place and with good
Management and the right kind of nuts for planting, I consider the grow-
ing of pecans a profitable business and a safe one in which to invest capital.’’

“The growing of choice varieties of large, soft-shell, productive pecans
is bound to prove profitable in the South. Why? We have the climate and
the soil to produce the choicest nuts and we have the world for a market.
One of the most profitable trees in this vicinity has given its owner a net
income of over $100. per annum for many years. Last year’s product was
sold for $175. An acre of bearing trees of this variety, as well as some
other choice, productive sorts, would certainly be worth $5,000 to-day.’’

Every reply to this question, exactly as received, has been given
in the foregoing quotations. It is suggested that such unanimity is
remarkable. There is only one dissenter, and he has a “doubt.”

Is pecan growing profitable?

The first record we have of a transaction in pecans is that of
William Prince, nursery man, Flushing, N. Y., who, in 1772, planted
nuts which had probably been carried to New York by fur traders
from the Mississippi Valley. Mr. Prince succeeded in raising 10
plants, eight of which, according to Brendel, he sold in England for
10 guineas each. No one has ever expressed a doubt that the opera-
tion was profitable for the vendor. The sale of “plants”—budded and
grafted trees and seedlings—will always be a very paying part of
the pecan business. So, too, will the sale of choice varieties, or
forms, as they are more properly called, of the large, thin-shelled
nuts for planting. The owner of the up-to-date commercial pecan
grove of the near future will market his product, not necessarily in
the shell, through commission houses, nut dealers or wholesale
stores, but as prepared kernels in packages direct to the manufacturer
or consumer He may even become a manufacturer and produce
those simpler and more popular nut candies and salted pecans for
which there is an ever increasing demand, and thus add greatly to
his income

From the averages given in the foregoing replies, omitting
fractions, it is evident that a budded pecan, under favorable condi-
tions, will begin to bear profitably at the age of 7 years from the

22

CROPS THAT PAY.

CULTIVATED PECAN

TWIG OF WILD PECAN

WILD PECAN

THE PECAN. 23

seed; that the first crop will be 4 pounds; the second, 10; the third,
20; the fourth, 43; the fifth, 74; and the sixth, 100 pounds. Trees
may be set 50 feet apart, giving 17 to the acre; 35 feet apart, giving
35 to the acre; or even closer if on poor land where fertilizers must
be used. The planting distance will be determined by the character
of the soil and plans for interculture while the trees are small. In
the alluvial river bottoms of Louisiana and other Gulf States, where
the pecan finds all conditions exactly suited to its best growth, trees
should not be planted less than 50 feet apart and the space between
rows cultivated in cotton, or other field crops, until the trees shade
the ground too much. Planting in excess of this would prove a
serious obstacle to interculture and greatly shorten the time in which
it might be carried on. But what is of more importance, indeed of
vital importance, too close planting will surely prevent the trees from
forming fine, spreading heads and so yielding the much larger quan-

PECANS IN HUSKS

tity of nuts which trees permitted to develop naturally are certain
to give. Recent expressions of practical growers are decidedly
opposed to close planting with the thought of “heading in” the tops;
and the most successful planters favor permanent planting with
abundant space for perfect development. Nevertheless, if as many
as 35 trees to the acre were set at first on light, sandy soil, and it
should be found necessary, after a time, to cut out part of them to
prevent crowding and the consequent injury to the trees, those left
would undoubtedly be benefited by having more room in which to
expand, both above and below ground. The question of reducing the
number of trees in an orchard is purely one for the skilled horticul-
turist to decide. It requires more courage to cut down large, bearing
pecan trees than is possessed by the average grower. Yet, under
certain conditions, the axe should be vigorously used, for the gain
in growth and yield of the remaining trees will amply reward the
owner for his seeming sacrifice. ; tat)

The question of profit obtainable in pecan growing is of much
interest to those who are being attracted to this business. The
reports just quoted show that 24 cents is the average price for which
the largest, wild nuts are sold. These are good nuts, some of them,
but not for a moment to be compared with the finest of the thin-

24 CROPS THAT PAY,

i i Nuts
shell kinds now approved by growers of cultivated pecans.
such as would be produced in an orchard properly located, made and
managed, will probably never sell for so little as 124 cents : pou :
in the shell, or 30 cents a pound in kernels, the latter price cue
per cent. less than the average price paid for pecan meats by ES :
best retailers and inanufacturers of confectionery, bakers, etc. u
taking these prices as bases for an estimate, assuming that 17 bee
only, are set to the acre, giving a yield ten per cent. larger than t
average reported, because having adequate space for root and Bias
expansion and consequently making more rapid growth; and allow-
ing that three pounds of nuts in shell are required to make two
pounds of kernels, the following estimate of yield, and income per
tree and acre is submitted as conservative and sure of realization:

Nuts in kernels, 30 cts.

Nuts in shells, 1214 cts.

i
|
17 Trees to Acre Pounds | Income Income ! Pounds Income | Income
(50 feet apart) | trees tree acre ; tree | tree acre
| \
t 1 |
7th year, 1st crop! ¢ 44 | 55 $9.35 ' $293 | $ 88 | $1496
8th wn 2de 8 i ' 11 | : 1.37 23.29 33 | 2.20 37.40
9th “ Me 22 } 2.75 46.75 14,66 4.40 74.80
10th ‘“* 4th “ | 47.3. | 5.91 100.47 31.53 9.46 160,82
llth “ Sth “ | 81.4 10.17 172.89 | 54.26 16.28 276.76
12th “ 6th “ 110 13.75 233.75 73.33 22.00 374,00
i 586.50: 938.74

While such a showing of profit should satisfy almost anyone,
it would be easily possible for the pecan grower on a large scale to
considerably exceed the highest estimate given. The energy and
executive ability needful to make and maintain an orchard of say
a thousand acres of pecans, could undertake, with the certainty of
success, the manufacture and sale of its entire product in some of
the popular but simple forms of confectionery, and, where fruit suit-
able for the purpose could be had, nutted marmalades and preserves
would prove marketable delicacies of the most profitable kind. The
combination of pecan growing and the lines suggested is perfectly
feasible and should be seriously taken into account by those in posi-
tion to do so.

Such results as those shown in the above tables are likely to
make the northern farmer discontented with the comparatively paltry
returns from his acres which, according to statistics of the De-
partment of Agriculture, averaged in 1904, for corn, $11.79; for
wheat, $11.58, and for oats, $10.05. In the South the planter fared
better with $21.05 an acre for his cotton. But every Gulf State
plantation might easily increase its revenue by planting pecans. The
best cotton land is best for pecans, and the cultivation necessary for
the southern staple is also best for the nut trees. Moreover, the
planter who owns a few large, old pecans which bear undesirable
nuts may remodel his trees and make them yield desired varieties.
This operation calls for the removal of the larger branches and the
budding or grafting of the new shoots. An unprofitable tree, thus

THE PECAN. 25

worked, will give nuts of the highest market value.

It will be urged as a reason for not planting pecans that years
must pass before the time of the first harvest. That is true; but,
after planting, the land on which the grove has been started in-
creases in value each year as the growing trees approach the bear-
ing age. Nor is it necessary to wait more than a single year for
returns for, according to the character of the soil and facilities for
transportation, other crops may be grown on the same land during
the development period. And if such crops be selected with good
judgment and rightly managed they will pay the cost of establishing
the grove, and leave a substantial surplus.

Once established a pecan grove is a fixture, a heritage which will
bring an unfailing income to successive generations. Subject to only
trifling attacks from few insects or diseases, and these yielding
readily to skilful treatment, the mature tree is practically indestructi-
ble. Splintered by lightning or felled by the axe of the nut
gatherer who seeks in this manner to facilitate his work, new shoots
quickly spring up from blasted trunk or stump, forming in time
another tree. Several correspondents quoted in these pages have
facetiously remarked that they “never knew a pecan to die a natural
death.” One reports the counting of “six hundred rings just to
show what a Texas tree can do.” All agree that the yield of nuts
increases for 40 or 50 years, when the tree is thought to be full-
grown, and that it lives for an indefinite period, probably for several
hundred years, continuing to bear its valuable harvest of nuts.
As indicating the size attained by some of the old pecans, it is
recorded that a single tree has given 1,200 pounds in nuts in one
year! Think of the value of that tree had its fruit been Frotscher,
‘Van Deman, Stuart, or other of the highly prized forms, the average
price of which is $1.20 a pound!

The argument in favor of planting pecans may be thus summed
up:

1. The pecan is a nut of unexcelled qualities. By many con-
sidered the best of nuts. Choice forms are
(a) Large in size; 24 to the pound; 23% inches in length.
(b) Thin-shelled; may be crushed in the hand.
(c) Full-meated; delicate in flavor.
(d) Highest in food value.

2. Demand constantly increasing. Price advancing. Supply
diminishing, due to the inexcusable practice of cutting down large
trees to more readily gather the nuts; and also to clearing forest
land to make way for farm crops. ;

3. Crop increases for 50 years and continues for an indefinite
period thereafter.. Left to themselves nuts fall to ground; picked up;
barreled and shipped. No expensive handling as with fruit, or as
with some other nuts which require long drying, bleaching, etc., to
prepare them for market. ;

4. Not perishable. May be stored for better prices, or sent
to any part of the world without danger of spoiling in transit. _

5. Owner of grove may sell product in shells, in meats direct

CROPS THAT PAY,

26

“ANNYL ONV dOL JO NOINN ONIMOHS ‘dO YV3A OML ONINVIG ANNYL YVIA N3ARS

33uLINVOad? NVW3d NVA

NOILVLS LN3WIH3dX3 "19¥ “V14 '3WAH “4 “HAG OLOHd WOU
8aWWNS

Y3LNIM

THE PECAN. 27

to consumer, or he may manufacture the meats into simpler forms
of confections and so enhance value of crop.

6. Good profits will come from sale of nursery stock—fine
budded or grafted trees, or seedlings—and largest nuts for seed.

7. The pecan is a tree of unsurpassed value. Excellent for
timber and fuel. Most valuable for its fruit. Graceful in form;
of enormous proportions. Lives for centuries.

8. Costs little to establish and maintain grove of fine trees.
Crops grown on same land will yield good returns while trees
are maturing. a3

9. Important cultural points are well understood. Fine
varieties are reproduced at will and with absolute certainty by
budding and grafting. Field is new. First to enter sure to win
rich reward.

10. Evidence from those long engaged in the industry estab-
lishes the fact that under favorable conditions the growing of pecans
is a safe, permanent and very profitable business in which to invest
aaa in short, the most profitable branch of horticulture in the

outh.

The commercial future of the pecan is full of promise. Grown
nowhere in the Old World, nor in the southern half of the New,
it is strictly an American product. With the fulfilment of its prob-
able destiny, now near at hand, the pecan will have become “the
leading nut on the American market.”* None can then doubt its
superiority, nor question its right to conquer new markets. Cherish-
ing an ambition so reasonable as that suggested by this idea, and firm
in the belief that what is good enough for Americans cannot be
thought without merit abroad, the progressive cultivator foresees
the time when the fruitage of his pecan trees

“Winds and our flag of stripe and star
Shall bear to coasts that lie afar,
Where men shall wonder at the view,
And ask in what fair groves they grew.”’

But that day is distant when the product of Southern pecan
groves will be compelled to seek foreign shores for the market
denied at home; and pecan growers may plant and till and patiently
await the harves: with the gratifying assurance that the world is
theirs to supply with this best of nuts which, like many another of
life’s good things, is exclusively American in origin.

*From ‘‘Nut Culture in the U.S." See page 7-

THE FIG*

(Ficus Carica.)

“And they shall sit, every man under his own vine and under hts
fig tree.”’—Micah iv. 4.

The great antiquity of the fig tree 1s unquestionable. The Bible
contains the earliest references to it and_many passages of Scrip-
ture mention it; the first notice being in Genesis, where Adam and
Eve are described as sewing fig leaves together to make themselves
aprons. In Deuteronomy the fig is mentioned as one of the valued
products of Palestine. The spies who were sent out from the wil-
derness brought back clusters of grapes, pomegranates and figs.
Mount Olive was famed for its fig trees in ancient times, and they
are still found there. The old phrase for possession of a country
was that every man should “sit under his own vine and under his fig
tree.” Throughout the Bible the fig tree and the vine are spoken
of as the sign of prosperity. They typify peace and plenty; and the
failure of the fig harvest is noted as a portent of affliction. The
importance of the fig among staple articles of food in New Testament
times is shown by the fact that in case of fire on the Sabbath day
only three necessaries of life were to be rescued, viz. a basket of
loaves, a cake of figs and a jar of wine. Dried and pressed into
square or round cakes and allowed to harden, the fruit was thus
easily transported, forming ideal rations for soldiers. This method
of treating figs was known in Egypt from very early times. Two
hundred fig cakes formed part of Abigail’s present to King David
To this day, in the East, dried fig cakes, strung upon cords, make
an important article of commerce from Persia to India. The med-
icinal use of figs was known to classical and Arabic writers; Pliny
has much to say of their value in this respect, and we find Isaiah
prescribing a poultice of fig cake as a cure for Hezekiah’s boils.

From the time of its first economic use in Eden the fig tree has
been held in high esteem in all oriental countries, where it is still
extensively cultivated. From its original home in Persia, Arabia and
Asia Minor it has accompanied man in all his wanderings throughout
the warmer parts of the earth, becoming, wherever introduced, one
of the most highly prized fruits for its healthfulness and delicious
flavor. Grown for home consumption everywhere, the fig is a staple
article of diet in many parts of those countries bordering on the
Mediterranean.

_ * Besides a brief account of the introduction of the Smyrna fig into California,
this chapter has been written with special reference to the Fig in the South, where
its culture in commercial orchards offers profitable use for capital in the develop-

meet of one of the most promising of the many neglected industries in the Gulf
ates,

yet
wt

FIG ORCHARD IN THE SOUTH
8Y PERMISSION TEXAS AG'L. EXPERIMENT STATION

30 CROPS ‘THAT PAY.

A failure of the crop in any locality would be a serious calam
In the Smyrna diatneh oF Aes Minor, in_ Greece, hay
Spain and Portugal the business of drying figs for export 1s ote s
great importance. The total yearly shipments from these - a
considerably exceed 100.000,000 pounds. Much of the inferior re ‘
such as is not suitable to dry and sell in packages, is disposed OF
distillation and the adulteration of coffee. An excellent brandy 1s
said to be made from figs. ,

In France, as far north as Paris, the fig is successfully grown,
but only for consumption fresh, although the trees require much care
on account of the severe winters in that latitude. In the south of
England, however, are many large and very old trees growing in the
open unprotected. yielding regular and abundant_ crops which
are sold fresh at high prices in the London market. English garden-
ers make excellent incomes from potted figs, grown under. cover.
finding ready sale for the fresh fruit at very remunerative prices.

All figs may be roughly grouped as edible and inedible. The wild
fig, or caprifig, as it is called. is rarely edible; but it is the ancestor
of a numerous and noble race of edible figs which are classified as
Smyrna figs and Domesticated figs. Of the latter more than 400
species have been described. .

The cultivation of the Smyrna fig is practically confined to Asia
Minor, Syria, Greece, Northern Africa and California, where it has
very recently been introduced. Jt takes its name from Smyrna, city
of Asia Minor, where these figs are packed in largest quantity and
whence they are exported to all parts of the world. This is the
edible fig of commerce, familiar to all in its dried form.

Domesticated figs include all kinds except the Smyrna and the
caprifig. They are, with probably few exceptions, all seedlings grown
from the seed of the Smyrna fig. For consumption fresh or for can-
ning or preserving, many of the domesticated figs are fully as good
as the Smyrna, but the latter is the best fig for drying, superior to all
others in its delicious flavor when dried. The many varieties of figs
grown in our Gulf States belong to the domesticated class, having
been introduced by the early French settlers in Louisiana, just as the
Mission and other domesticated figs of the Pacific Slope were
brought to that region by the Spanish missionaries.

The fig, as we know it, is a sac-like, fleshy receptacle, open at
the end opposite the stem, and bearing flowers on its inner surface.
These are the only flowers produced by the fig tree, and to see them
it is necessary to cut open the fruit. The opening, or “eye,” is some-
times as large as a pea; often it is nearly closed, but enlarges some-
what as the fruit approaches maturity.

The different varieties of figs are distinguished by marked dif-
ferences in the nature and arrangement of the flowers. Of the
flowers there are four kinds:

1. Male, or staminate flowers, pollen-producing.

2. Female, or pistillate, perfecting seed only when pollinated.

3. Gall flowers, or imperfect female flowers, which have no
function other than to serve as a breeding place for the “fig-wasp”
(Blastophaga grossorum).

alamity.

THE FIG. 31

4 Mule flowers, also imperfect female flowers, which can
neither perfect seed, shelter the Blastophaga, nor perform any other
function.

The caprifig, or wild fig, bears all the kinds of flowers except
mule flowers. It is the only fig having male flowers; it alone has
gall flowers. Its stamens furnish the pollen absolutely essential in
fecundating the Smyrna fig; and its gall flowers afford a breeding
place for the Blastophaga, the sole agency by which the pollen can
be transferred out of the caprifig and into the Smyrna fig. The pro-
cess of pollination by means of the fig-wasp is called caprification.

The Smyrna fig has only female flowers. Were it not for the
caprifg with its pollen producing flowers, and the Blastophaga,
which is bred in it for the exclusive purpose of carrying that pollen
to the pistillate blossoms of the Smyrna fig, the latter would be abso-
lutely worthless. It would mature neither fruit nor seed.

_ Domesticated figs, comprising the hundreds of varieties so widely
distributed throughout Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, the South of
England and the Pacific Slope and Gulf States of the United States,
and which supply the naturally edible fig, so long utilized by man, do
not require caprification like the Smyrna fig; they mature their fruit
regularly without pollination.

_ The interdependence of the Smyrna fig and the caprifig upon the
instinctive act of the Blastophaga affords one of the most interesting
examples of the wonderful way Nature accomplishes her ends.

According to a high authority, the Semitic name for fig means
“the tree near which another tree is planted, or joined.” This defini-
tion is not self-explanatory, but will be readily understood when the
wonderful and very interesting method is described by which figs
are pollinated through the instrumentality of a minute insect whose
sole mission in life 1s to accomplish this act. Flowers of opposite
sex are often borne on different parts of the same plant, or tree, often
on different plants or trees; and the important part played by insects
in transferring the dust-like particles of pollen from the male or
staminate blossoms to the female or pistillate ones, and thus fecun-
dating the latter, which otherwise would never mature fruit or seed,
is well known, but it is doubtful whether in the whole range of
natural economy there is such a remarkable illustration of this as in
the case of the fig. :

Caprification is described_as follows by Prof. Hugh N. Starnes
of the Georgia Experiment Station:

“In the base or false ovary of the gall flowers, which are merely
degenerate pistillates, the egg of the Blastophaga grossorum or ‘Fig
wasp’—a minute insect—is deposited and develops to maturity. The
wingless males emerge first and, with their powerful mandibles, cut
into the flowers containing the female wasps, partially release them and
impregnate them. The gravid females shortly complete the liberating
process, and, being winged, at once seek to escape for the instinctive
purpose of laying their eggs. They emerge from the eye of the caprifig
after squeezing through the mass of pollen-covered anthers protecting
the exit, and seek other fruit in which to lay their eggs. Naturally they
would enter the nearest caprifig in the proper stage of development.
But meanwhile if the caprifig containing the colony has been plucked
from its stem and suspended in the branches of an adjacent Smyena tree,
the female, on emerging, forces her way in a fruit of the latter class,
losing her wings in the process, and at once begins a frantic scramble

around the interior, searching for the anticipated gall flowers in which
to deposit her eggs. Failing, necessarily, to find them, and incapable of

32 CROPS THAT PAY.

i i i dies, hea )
anil she cna Gee Be ee. beeneen them pollinated or
female flower in the cavity with the plentiful store of pollen oor, y
from the caprifig—thereby insuring the development of the fruit. ssful

Thus the presence of the caprifig is essential to the caer are
cultivation of the Smyrna fig. The caprifig produces eis
crops each year. The Blastophagas which over-winter in oy A =
from the first crop find their entrance into the cavity of a its i
fig timed to a nicety and just when the pistillate flowers a . ta
the right state to receive the pollen with which the bodies o e
visitors are covered. In the Smyrna district and elsewhere fig ann
ers at the proper season cut figs from neighboring caprifig ia ie
hang them in the branches of the Smyrna trees, whose fruit 2
deceived Blastophagas at once enter and fructify. Hence the Semitic

rtbroken, but not

BY PERMISSION CAPRIFICATION vu. 9. DEPT. AG'L.
HOWARD, YEARBOOK FOR 1900, DIVISION ENTOMOLOGY

name “fig,” which means “‘the tree near which another tree is planted
or joined,” referring to the act of caprification, as described. It is
estimated that about 400 females breed in a single caprifig and that
from 50 to Ioo figs per tree are needed to pollinate the crop.

Seed of caprificated Smyrna figs, even when dried, will grow and
produce new varieties. From this source it is reasonably certain
came all of the many varieties of our Southern fig.

THE FIG. 33

THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA.

_ When those latter-day crusaders, the Franciscan padres, carry-
ing the standard of the cross, followed the conquering arms of Spain
northwards from Mexico into our southwestern States and Cali-
fornia, they everywhere established missions which became cen-
ters of government over a mixed population of Spaniards, Mexicans,
half-breeds and Indian converts. The zealous mission fathers were
good farmers, too, so they at once proceeded to teach their docile
dependents the gentle art of husbandry by planting in the vicinity
of every mission seeds and plants brought from old Spain. Among
these were invariably the vine, the olive and the fig, all of which
throve in the new home where were found climate congenial and soil
suited to their best development. The oldest fig in this country,
called the “Mission,” was thus introduced.

Many years later, when the power of the padres was gone for-
ever, and when the feverish search of men for golden wealth in the
mines had somewhat abated, it first dawned on the minds of the
thoughtful few to exploit that greater and certain source of riches
in the soil by growing those wonderful fruits, the goodness of which,
more than anything else, has made California known throughout the
world. The fig came in for its share of attention at this time;
but after twenty years, unsatisfactory results with the domesticated
fig, prior to 1880, growers became convinced that the varieties then
being cultivated could not possibly produce a product which
would compare in quality or commercial value with the Smyrna fig
of commerce. Smyrna figs sold at wholesale in New York at
from Io to 20 cents a pound, while the California product would not
bring more than 75 cents for a 10-pound box, and when the Smyrna
fig arrived it was difficult to sell the others at any price. No argu-
ment is so strong with the consignor of fruit as the account sales,
and California fig shippers soon reached the point where they must
quit business or grow the Smyrna fig itself in California. Now the
Smyrna fig, dried, is a better article than any other dried fig; no one
questions this fact. But for canning, preserving or eating fresh,
the Smyrna is no better than other good figs. Smyrna figs can not
ripen nor produce seeds without caprification, therefore, wherever
they are grown, the necessary caprifig and equally necessary Blasto-
phaga or “fig-wasp” must be at hand. Other figs do not require
caprification, and are not botanically fit to respond to pollination;
they ripen perfectly, but never perfect seeds. And, since it has been
demonstrated that it is the seeds of the caprificated fig which impart
a rich, nutty, aromatic flavor and give it a marked superiority to
other dried figs, it follows that for drying the Smyrna fig must re-
main without a rival.

The introduction of the Smyrna fig into California is a horticul-
tural romance. The first attempt was in 1880, when the proprietor
of the San Francisco Bulletin, Mr. G. P. Rixford, with the aid of
the United States Consul at Smyrna and an American merchant
there, imported about 14,000 cuttings of what were supposed to be the
best varieties of Smyrna fig trees. These were widely distributed,
but when the trees began to bear the fruit always dropped off on or
before reaching the size of a marble. The generally accepted ex-

34 CROPS ‘THAT PAY.

planation was that the Smyrna fig growers, fearing American com-
petition, had sent worthless varieties. ; ,

Six years later Mr. F. Roeding, a San [rancisco banker aud
nursery proprietor, sent his foreman to Smyrna to buy cuttings. He
was suspected and watched by the people there and many obstacles
put in his way, but he finally succeeded in securing several thousand
Smyrna fig cuttings, and some caprifig cuttings as well. These ar-
rived safely and were planted near Fresno in 1888, 1889 and 1891,
making about 60 acres in all. ; ike

At this time there was a decided difference in opinion among
investigators on the subject of caprification. A publication of the
Department of Agriculture, issued in 1891, had this to say: “Now
that caprification, or artificial fertilization, of the fig through the
agency of insects has been fully investigated by the Italian Govera-
ment and proved to be a myth, it is plain that we have only to seck
the right varieties for drying to make the business a success, and no
doubt we already have some of these.” Nevertheless, the importa-
tion of the wild, or caprifig, cuttings at this time was the most 1m-
portant step which had yet been taken towards the solution of the
problem. This importation was due to the tardy recognition of the
fact that the peculiar flavor of the Smyrna fig is directly caused by
the many ripe seeds it contains and that these ripe seeds are the
result of caprification.

In 1890 there were caprifigs in bearing and Smyrna figs ready to
be fertilized, but no Blastophagas were available to serve as pollen
carriers, so at the Roeding orchard, artificial fertilization was re-
sorted to with the result that four Smyrna figs were produced that
year. To accomplish this a quill was used to draw the pollen out of
the caprifigs and introduce it into the young Smyrna figs. The year
following, by means of a specially formed glass tube, the second
artificial fertilizing gave a crop of just 150 fruits in the same
orchard. And then, we are told that Mr. Roeding, who must
have found something encouraging in the blowpipe method, at once
planted 20 acres more in 1892, making 80 acres in all. The quality of
the artificially caprificated figs was good and the success of the
process proven. In the meantime Dr. Gustav Eisen, probably the
best authority on fig culture among scientific men, had conclusively
established the importance of Blastophaga fertilization. From now
on it was merely a matter of importing the minute insect with
the big name, inducing it to breed in California caprifigs, and under-
take on a large scale, its wonderful service on behalf of Smyrna
fig growers there. This state of affairs led to the co-operation of
Prof. H. E. Van Deman, then Pomologist, and Prof. C. V. Riley,
then Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, in the im-
portation of cuttings of various kinds of wild and cultivated figs
from Turkey and elsewhere, for experimental planting in this coun-
try; and the practical work of introducing the Blastophaga by
the department was begun.

For almost ten years the record was one of discouraging
failure. Nothing had been accomplished. Orchards of Smyrna
fig trees in California; Blastophagas still in Asia. At last, in 1899,
a consignment of caprifigs (the fruit) containing Blastophagas was

THE FIG. 35

received by the department and sent at once to Mr. Roeding. All
the caprifigs were cut open and placed under a caprifig tree, which
had been closely covered with thin cloth. Although this experiment
was expected to turn out bad, like the others, the results were surpris-
ingly successful. The liberated Blastophagas left the imported capri-
figs and sought shelter within the fruits of the tented tree, laid their
eggs there, over-wintered. and next year the colony had become
established with the gratifying result that the Roeding orchard in
1900 bore from twelve to fifteen tons of good Smyrna figs.

In this manner was established the important Smyrna fig in-
dustry in California, the extent of which is best appreciated when
one is told that the shipments of California dried figs at the present
time approximate 600 carloads of 10 tons each, or 12,000,000
pounds yearly.

THE FIG IN THE SOUTH.

The fig tree is common in many localities in the Southern
States. Its rich, luxuriant foliage of broad, deeply-lobed, rough
leaves, makes it an attractive object in the landscape. one that is
sure to catch the eye of the visitor from the North. It adorns the
lawns and gardens of the rich and is seen beside the negroes’
cabins. Wherever the soil is adapted to its growth it thrives without
care, often in spite of neglect, bearing abundant and regular harvests
of delicious fruit, than which there is no more agreeable, wholesome
and nutritious food. From Texas to Florida in those States which
border on the Gulf of Mexico it flourishes; and up the Atlantic
Coast. as far as Philadelphia, some of the hardier varieties which
will stand considerable frost without harm, may be safely grown
if given moderate winter protection.

The fig tree is easily propagated, usually from cuttings. It grows
rapidly. Precocious cuttings will sometimes set fruit the same
season they are planted and give a small crop the second year. From
the third year on it is a prolific bearer and lives to a good old age.
Trees 30 to 40 years old are still vigorous. From the attacks of in-
sect enemies and from disease it is singularly free. It requires little
cultivation after the second year and need never be pruned. The
bush, or shrub, form of growth is preferred in the South, while in
California the central stem is trained to become the supporting
trunk of a spreading top—the true tree form. The shrub form en-
sures the quickest product of fruit in a minimum time and, in the
South, has certain cultural advantages, as well. — ; ;

Figs are mostly used for home consumption. Besides being
served fresh with sugar and cream as dessert, thev can be stewed
and made into puddings and pies. Canned or preserved or made
into marmalade containing pecan kernels or the meats of other nuts,
they become an acceptable delicacy for the table throughout the
year. Figs make good pickles by adding spices and vinegar. “Skin-
less figs, spiced figs, brandied figs.” names from a dealer’s list, are
self explanatory. Other uses for figs in the household are known to
all good cooks throughout the South. A serious writer, speaking
of home uses for figs, says: “Their value as food for pigs and
chickens should not be forgotten. Both are very fond of them,

36 CROPS THAT PAY.

and in many places the waste figs form an important item aa
midsummer diet. In fact no cheaper food can be grown for t em.”
This, at least, is valuable evidence of the cheapness of fig pecan
and the pigs and chickens are surely no worse because they are nk
of such delicacies. But the foreign fig growers can teach the South-
ern orchardist. for here is what is done with the refuse of the fig
market in Mediterranean countries: “All inferior fruit from places
where first class figs cannot be produced, finds its way to the ue
trian ‘chicory coffee’ makers, or to the French distilleries, in whic

latter places figs are converted into fine champagne, wine, cognac
and vinegar. The liquor known as annisette is made in Spain from
figs, also the ardent spirit aguardiente.” It is even rumored that a
certain brand of Vienna coffee, famous for its fine flavor, owes its
reputation entirely to an admixture of roasted figs. Here is a sug-

BY PERMISSION TEXAS AG'L EXPERIMENT STA.
FIGS IN BOXES

gestion for some wideawake coffee concern—fig coffee! But this is
a matter for industrial enterprise rather than for the fig grower.
French and English gardeners, with much care, and no little cost
to over-winter their trees, have long been able to supply the markets
of Paris and London with fresh figs at good profit. Should our
gardeners near large cities go in for fig culture, they would at
first find but small demand for the fresh product. Few Northern
people know any other figs than dried figs. Of these we import
yearly 11,000,000 pounds besides consuming as many pounds more

THE FIG. 37

produced in California. But fresh figs are Practically unknown in
the North. Rarely are they seen, even in the best fruit stores of
our largest cities. There are two reasons for this: Ripe figs are
not good shippers. They are very soft and delicate. Only the most
careful packing and prompt use of the varieties now generally grown
will prevent the fruit from souring, or worse, after about 36 hours.
An enterprising Texas grower shipped a consignment of fresh figs to
Chicago. The commission firm wired back, “Fruit arived in good con-
dition. What are they?” Before a reply could be returned the figs
spoiled. If another reason were wanting it is found in the fact that the
unaccustomed palate must be educated to like fresh figs, just as most
folks must learn to like such good things as fresh tomatoes, olives
and pomelos. But the liking is not hard to acquire, and when
acquired it endures as one of the palate’s strong cravings, and with
good reason, for the ripe fig served with sugar and cream is one of
the most delicious desserts, with a flavor so delicate and agreeable
that few fruits can compare with it.

The case is different in the South. Few. indeed, are the
Southerners in those localities where fresh figs may be had
who are not fond of them; and as for the Southern darkey, it
would be as easy to find one without an ever-present, unappeas-
able hankering for figs as it would to discover one with a natural
loathing for watermelon on the Fourth of July, or ‘possum and sweet
potatoes at Christmas. Yet in the face of this condition Southern
local markets seldom afford the Southern housekeeper an oppor-
tunity to buy enough for household use to can or preserve, although
the fig may be grown with the greatest ease nearly everywhere in
any of the Southern States.

Of fig orchards in the South there are almost none, certainly
none on a commercial scale at all comparable with commercial
orchards of other fruits. In California figs are grown chiefly for
drying; but in the South, on account of the humidity in the air, it is
not practicable to dry the fruit. Nor has evaporating proven more
successful there than open air drying. In some other direction, then,
must the grower of figs in the South seek a market for the product
of his trees, a product that is obtained more easily and at less cost
than peaches or apples can be grown. The solution of this problem
lies in the operation of canneries. By this means all fruit which
may not be satisfactorily sold fresh can be saved from decay at small
cost and become a source of great profit. The taste for canned
figs does not have to be acquired; every one likes them from the first
acquaintance. This fact has led a few canning establishments on
the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and in Louisiana, whose chief business
is the canning of oysters, shrimps and vegetables, to put up a small,
but yearly increasing quantity of figs, canned or preserved, for which
there is always ready sale at good prices.

How ridiculously small is the quantity may be seen by a com-
parison. During the last census year 1,142,327,265 pounds of vege-
tables were canned in the United States, valued at $56,668,313. To-
matoes, of which there were 626,438,753 pounds, valued at $13,666,-
560, heads the list, with corn, peas, beans, pumpkins, sweet potatoes,
succotash and okra following in the order named. Of canned fruits

38 CROPS THAT PAY.

during the same year, there was a total of 293,637,273 pounds, worth
$11,311,062, of which peaches led, with 104,353,040 pounds, valued at
$4,283,165. d

The output of canned figs averages 250,000 pounds a year, an
during the same twelve months we consume 25,000,000 pounds of
dried figs! ;

Put a business proposition in the form of a question: If the
consumption of canned tomatoes yearly amounts to 626,000,000
pounds, and the consumption of canned peaches yearly to 104,000,000
pounds, why should not at least 100 times more than the compara-
tively insignificant one-quarter of a million pounds of canned figs
find willing buyers in our always widening home market? If the
reply to this question should be another inquiry: Why havent clever
business men gone into this seemingly attractive proposition? the
answer would be: Why has the South clung to cotton growing to
the exclusion of diversified farming with its greater safety and
assurance of profit and neglected those special crops of kinds so
well suited to her climate and soil? That the South has long
neglected her splendid opportunities is known to all; and that the
growing of figs for canning is one of the most important of these
neglected opportunities is admitted by all who have given the subject
serious study. But why should the farmer plant fig trees without
someone waiting to buy his fruit? Why should the man with means
build a cannery to can fruit that may never be grown? Useless each
without the other. And so it has come to pass that few figs are
grown and few canned where there should be millions of pounds
put up and sold, as will surely be the case when this undeveloped re-
source of the South shall be properly exploited.

The successful grower of figs in the South must establish his
orchard where soil and climate are favorable to the best growth of
his trees; he must plant those varieties which have been proven best
for canning and eating fresh; be near good local markets and within
easy reach of canneries where he can cheaply deliver the bulk of his
product.

A publication of the Department of Agriculture says: “In
Louisiana figs do especially well, requiring no care or cultivation,
and fruiting abundantly. In the pine lands of Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida and South Carolina they require more attention in
the way of fertilizing to produce the best results. In Southern
Texas, too, they succeed admirably.” All varieties do not require
the same kind of soil, but most do best on well-drained, very rich
land. Any good land capable of growing a bale of cotton to the
acre is well suited to the fig.

The planting of fig trees among other orchard trees is recom-
mended. They might be planted along with peach, or pear trees with
good results. An ideal combination for the orchardist, or syndicate,
on a large scale, would be a combined pecan and fig orchard, with
cotton between the rows. The best cotton land is best suited to both
kinds of trees. The pecan has a long tap root which goes deep into
the ground, while the root system of the fig tree lies always near the
surface. The fig trees should be planted between the pecans in one
direction only, and parallel with the lines of tillage.

39

THE, FIG,

FRUITING BRANCH OF FIG TREE

40 CROPS: THAT PAY,

When one year old trees are planted the first crop of figs will
come in the second year; when cuttings are planted, in the third aie
With cotton for interculture, giving annual crops, needing the kin
of cultivation most beneficial to the growing pecan trees, and hg
trees beginning to bear paying crops in the third year, such ne
orchard would be profitable from the very start—very profitable,
indeed, if capably administered in connection with a caning
factory controlled by the same management. There 1s a number o
marketable forms in which figs and pecans are prepared, separately
and combined and there exists no good business reason why the
grower of these crops on a large scale should not be manufacturer,
too, put up the entire product of his own orchard, and gain thereby
much additional profit. Of course, in an orchard of this kind the
growing of cotton would have to be discontinued when the pecans
begin to bear; and the fig trees would have to be thinned out and
eventually all removed, but this would be only after many years,
when the pecan trees become so large as to require all the ground.

The planting distance of fig trees varies greatly, depending on
kind of soil and variety grown. From 50 trees to the acre to 200,
or more, are approved by growers; the larger number being recom-
mended for light soil. Planted 30 feet apart, there would be 5o trees
to the acre, permitting unhampered interculture; or the same num-
ber could be planted on an acre among pecan trees with the inten-
tion of thinning out the fig trees at the proper time.

A bushel per tree for each year after the second is a common way
to estimate the yield of figs. That is 1 bushel in the third year, 2
bushels in the fourth, and so on with the maximum yield in the 1oth
or 12th year. The well informed assert that the first ten crops, from
third to twelfth year, inclusive, should average 150 pounds per tree
each year, and this is really a very conservative estimate when all
conditions favor the best results. There are old trees which bear
from 500 to 1,000 pounds each.

A well known canning company has made a standing offer of five
cents a pound for all the fresh figs it can get, although the general
practice of canners has been to buy on the market and pay consider-
ably more than this price when figs were not plentiful. From an
unquestioned authority comes this statement: “Five cents a pound
is low and affords big profits when preserved. Any canning factory
will pay this—bone fide.”

Allowances should always be made when estimating for the
guidance of investors. In view of the facts, as above, a statement
of profit obtainable from fig growing would be thought reasonable
if based on planting 100 trees to the acre, yielding an average of
150 pounds per tree, at 5 cents a pound. But at the risk of erring
on the safe side the following table of yield and income is based on
50 trees to the acre, an average of only 94.5 pounds per tree, and 4
cents a pound for the product:

THE FIG 41

Year. Pounds—tree. Income—tree. Income—acre.
3 10 40 $ 20
4 20 80 40
5 40 1 60 80
5 80 3 rs 160

95 3 190
8 115 4 60 230
9 135 5 40 270
To 150 6 00 300

x 150 6 00 300
12 150 6 00 300
Averages.... 94.5 at $.04= $3 78 $189

That this is a safe estimate, even for a small orchard, whose
owner must depend wholly on selling his fruit to the local cannery,
is a conclusion warranted by the expressions collected by the writer
through much correspondence and not a few personal interviews
with growers, canners and dealers in several States. By planting
more trees to the acre there should be a proportionate increase of
income; and by selling part of the product in local markets, when-
ever better prices can be had by so doing, the profit should be still
further enhanced. But these advantages, and more, would accrue to
the proprietor of a large commercial orchard should he also
operate his own canning plant. Such a combination would make an
ideal enterprise, one which, if managed with wisdom and energy,
would surely realize profits greatly exceeding those in the above
estimate.

There is scarcely a limit to the quantity of good cannned figs
which might be sold not only at home, but for export. The present
price for the few canned goods on the market is much too high to
encourage general use, and dealers agree that the lowering of the
price would bring greatly increased sales. The figs can be grown at
small cost, canning is not expensive, and the product would find
ready sale at good profit; therefore, all conditions favor the success
of the industry. The history of the introduction of the Smyrna fig
into California, and the remarkable success which immediately fol-
lowed, shows what persistent and well-directed effort can accom-
plish. But no such obstacles will be met in our Southern States,
where the drying of figs is not practicable on account of the moist
climate. It is in the growing of figs for consumption fresh, but
especially for canning, that the South offers one of the richest fields
for capital and enterprise along the lines suggested in this chapter.

THE MANGO

(Magnifera Indica.)

The mango, justly regarded as one of the most interesting and
useful trees of the warmer parts of the globe, is a native of South-
ern Asia, especially of India, where it has been known from a
remote epoch and where it is still extensively cultivated. In the new
world the mango first appeared in Brazil, whence it was soon brought
to Central America, Mexico and the West Indies, reaching Jamaica in
1782. “In 1782 Capt. Marshall, of Lord Rodney's squadron, captured
a French vessel bound from the island of Mauritius to Santo Do-
mingo, that had on board many valuable plants, among which was
the mango, said to have been in the form of grafted stock. These
were planted in the botanic gardens of Mr. Hinton East at Gordon
Town, Jamaica. Two kinds—one labeled No. 11 and the other No.
32—have since been known by these designations, No. 11 being one
of the most popular varieties in Jamaica at the present time.”
Nearly 100 years later, or in 1877, the first mango trees were grown
in Florida at Point Pinellas from seed brought from Jamaica. These
early plantings were successful. The trees grew fast, came into bear-
ing very young and their fruit brought high prices. As a result,
the mango was planted quite extensively in central Florida, then the
scene of the State’s most substantial development. But experience
soon taught growers that profitable culture of this newcomer from
the tropics, and some other kinds of fruit equally sensitive to frost,
could only be safely undertaken in the southern part of the State,
especially in Dade County. There, in the vicinity of Miami, and
southward, in that small, but climatically favored region, the only
part of the United States where certain kinds of.the more delicate
sub-tropical fruits can be grown to perfection, mango culture has
passed the experimental stage and the new industry is destined to
soon become one of the best paying branches of fruit growing.

But what is the mango? How does it taste? How does it
grow?

The high esteem in which this fruit is held throughout the
tronics is admitted by all travelled Europeans and Americans.
Wherever really good mangoes are produced they outrank in popu-
larity both the orange and the banana. Two hundred and thirty
million inhabitants of India consider it the best fruit in the world;
and many outside of India who have tasted the very best kinds agree
with this verdict. On the other hand there are not a few who think
differently. This difference of opinion is easily explained, since
mangoes may be sharply classified as good mangoes and mangoes
that are “not good.” The former have been produced through cen-
turies of selection and cultivation of the best varieties in India,
where the mango first attained its best estate. These varieties.
are propagated only by budding, grafting and inarching, methods
which are well understood and now practised in mango culture in

43

THE MANGO.

ESTIMATED YIELD 5000 FRUITS

ONLY PART OF TREE SHOWN.

JAMAICA MANGO TREE

44 CROPS THAT PAY.

Florida, The extent of mango culture in India is shown by the
number of varieties, of which 500 have been listed there. Of these
100 are characterized as “good.” The inferior sorts are the com-
mon, or jungle, mangoes and are seedling descendants of the native
or wild trees of India. Such have been aptly described as “a mix-
ture of tow and turpentine,” because of the mass of tough fibres
which is attached to the seeds and distributed in greater or less
abundance throughout the resin-flavored pulp. Now tow is not
good “eating,” nor is turpentine good drink; therefore it would
seem that the objection of some folk to the common, or turpentine,
mango is but reasonable and what might be expected, although the
mango lover unhesitatingly pronounces it better than no mango at
all. This inferior mango comes honestly enough by its turpentine
flavor, for a near relative of Magnifera Indica is the very tree
which yields turpentine; but why the fibre, or “tow” is one of those
things which passes human understanding. In its physical char-
acteristics the common mango differs more widely from one of the
better varieties than does a clingstone peach from a freestone. The
eating of such a mango calls for the exercise of rare skill, coolness
and good judgment, especially if the act be performed in public,
so elusive and uncontrollable is the fibrous, pulp-enveloped seed
when one tries to eat the fruit out of hand. It is not recorded that
anyone ever succeeded in doing this to his own satisfaction without
the comforting knowledge that an immediate bath and a convenient
dentist awaited him—the former to remove all external traces of the
deed, the latter to extract the fibre from between the eater’s teeth.
How different is the really good mango, a luscious “Mulgoba,” or an
indescribable “Alphonse,” as the best two varieties are named.
A writer of imagination says: “Compare the untidy act of suck-
ing the rich and spicy pulp from its mass of slippery, oozy fibre in a
seedling or jungle mango with that of dipping with a spoon from
the ‘half shell’ of a firm, beautifully colored peel of a ‘Mulgoba,’
its smooth, delicately blended, aromatic, custard-like pulp as the
modest feminine does the sparkling ices from a golden sauce dish.”
Surely the characterization of a good mango is in that sentence.
An official account of the “Mulgoba” mango in the Yearbook of the
Department of Agriculture for 1901 will serve to describe the better
varieties generally. It reads: ‘Fibre scanty, fine and tender; flesh
rich, apricot yellow, very tender, melting and juicy, sweet, rich,
fragrant; quality very good. The Mulgoba surpasses in flavor and
quality the seedlings previously grown, but its most distinctly marked
features of superiority are the tenderness of flesh and absence
of the objectionable fibre and strong turpentine flavor common to
most of the seedlings grown in this country.” It is the absence of
“tow and turpentine,” and the presence of the indescribable flavor
that distinguishes good mangoes from others.

The mango tree and its fruit are subjects about which travellers
in the East have written interestingly.

THE MANGO. 45

_ Elphinstone, the famous historian of India, says, “The mango
is the best fruit of India, at once rich and delicate, and all other
fruits are dull and insipid beside its intensity of taste. There is
something in it that is nothing less than voluptuous.”

BY PERMISSION u. >. OEPT AG'L,

MANGO PARTLY PEELED
COLLINS, BUL. 28, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY.

Mr. Kirk Monroe, the author, on a trip around the world in

1903, wrote home:

“Everywhere from_Tuticorn to the high foothills of the Himalaya,
and from Bombay to Calcutta, the mango tree, stately, wide-branched
and luxuriant, lining the dusty roads or shading the mud-walled, palm-
thatched, native hovels, is an ever-present feature of the landscape, and
in its season, which is the same as in South Florida, viz., from May until
August, all native India finds in the mango a welcome addition to Its
scanty menu. At the same time, save in a few widely scattered locall-
ties, and notably in the vicinity uf Bombay, the mango must grow as It
can without the least assistance in the way of cultivation or fertilizer
from the proprietors of the soil. As a result, the ordinary mango of
India is as much a thing of ‘tow and turpintine’ as is the same fruit
without intelligent supervision in the West Indies or South Florida.
Only in the vicinity of Bombay did I find mangoes receiving a certain
amount of intelligent treatment, and even there so little is done that one
regards with amazement the results achieved. Selection, propagation by
the clumsy and antiquated method of inarching, irrigation during the
dry season, and in a few cases a scanty supply of stable manure, ap-
plied once a year. That is all; but the result is the production of more

46 CROPS THAT PAY.

than twenty varieties of the finest fruit in the world, absolutely free of
turpentine and tow, full-meated, luscious, exquisitely flavored, of great
size, having small seeds, and of exterior coloring as richly varied and
attractive as that of the American apples. The Bombay mango has thus
become the mango of India, and it is shipped to all parts so far as trans-
portation facilities will allow. Of the better Bombay varieties the
‘Alphonse,’ in native vernacular the ‘Abooz,’ is easily the best; but we
already have it, as well as the Mulgoba, in South Florida. If we can
obtain and domesticate the Cowassje, the Pirie, and the Bottle varieties,
as well, we shall be thoroughly equipped for supplying our own market
with as good mangoes as can be grown.”

BY PERMISSION U >. DEPT. AGL.

MANGO SEED

COLLINS, BUL. 28, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY.

Mr. Monroe’s Florida home is near Cocoanut Grove, south of
Miami, where his grove of citrus and tropical trees has been for
years the show place of that section.

A government expert on tropical and subtropical fruits writing
in Bulletin No. 1, issued by the Division of Pomology, U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, says, “Next to the finest varieties of pineapples,
and perhaps also the mangosteen, there is no more delicious fruit
in the world than the mango.”

Mr. O. F. Cook, Botanist in charge of Investigations in Tropical
Agriculture, writes in the U. S. Yearbook for 1901: “The better
varieties of mangoes stand in the highest rank of tropical fruits.”

Woodrow, writing of the “Alphonse,” the most noted of man-
goes, says: “It is universally admitted to be the best of all
mangoes. In flavor its fruit is indescribable; it seems to be a subtile
blending of all agreeable flavors.”

Such distinguished testimony as the foregoing in favor of the
mango should convince anyone that this new fruit from the tropics
is worthy of at least a fair trial on its merits. The quantity
of good mangoes produced in Florida so far, has been very small.
Indeed, prior to 1899 there were no budded or grafted trees in the

THE MANGO. 47

State, only seedlings of the common, or turpentine mangoes having
been grown up to that time. The high grade fruit has practically
all been consumed in the localities where it was produced, so that
really none but the poorer varieties have found their way to a few
northern cities in the sample lots occasionally shipped from Florida.
The result of selling these inferior kinds has, no doubt, been to
create an unfavorable impression among those persons who tasted
the fruit, which only the introduction of the better varieties will
eventually dispel. An interesting illustration of the favorable re-
ception which awaits the improved mangoes now being grown, was
reported to the writer in a recent letter from Mr. M. S. Burbank,
of Florida, an expert mango propagator: “I think this mango
(the Mulgoba) will be liked by most people when first tasted. A
friend of mine who grows mangoes, had a lot of Mulgobas sent to
him in North Carolina last summer. Twelve persons were present
when we opened the box, and all but one one of them pronounced
the fruit the most delicious they had ever eaten.”

The mango has a firm foothold in England, and the demand
there for it is increasing yearly, the only present source of supply
being far away India. This, at least, demonstrates the shipping
qualities of this fruit. and incidentally indicates that the market for
the mango in the United States is likely to be a good one in the
near future for all the mangoes that can be produced in the extreme
south of Florida, to which its culture is necessarily limited for climatic
reasons.

In view of the facts, we may readily accept this statement by
Lyster H. Dewey, Acting Botanist in the Office of Botanical Investi-
gations and Experiments, Bureau of Plant Industry. It occurs in
the preface to the comprehensive Government publication, “The
Mango in Porto Rico.”

“The mango is as yet little known in the United States, having
been represented in our markets only by fruit of inferior varieties.
These give no suggestion of the qualities of the better sorts, and
tend rather to discourage than increase the demand. If an_effort
similar to that which brought the banana into favor in the United
States, could place an adequate supply of good mangoes before
the public, there is no apparent reason why this new tropical fruit
should not repeat the history of its now popular predecessor.” The
importation of bananas now amounts to about eight million dollars
a year. Truly a promising outlook is here for Florida mango
growers should this remarkable prediction be but partly realized.

The mango is an evergreen. In Florida it varies in height
from 30 to 60 feet. It forms a dense dome-shaped top with a spread
equal to about one-half the height of tree. The leaves are lance-
shaped, about 10 inches long and two or more wide, with a smooth
and shining surface. The young leaves are first pink, then red be-
fore turning green. The bark is gray and smooth. Its flowers are
reddish white and not particularly attractive. They are borne at
the end of the branches. . ;

The fruit may be red, green or yellow, beautifully blushed with
red, sometimes dotted with little black or brown spots. A striking
peculiarity is the long willowy stem. The mango is usually kidney-

48 CROPS THAT PAY.

shaped, but sometimes spherical, again long and narrow like a cucum-
ber, crooked or straight. It varies from two or three inches in
greatest diameter to three or four times that size, and in weight from
one to four pounds, or more. The pulp is yellow.

The entire tree, wood, leaves and fruit, have a sweet, resinous
smell which suggests turpentine, but after a few trials it becomes
an agreeable fragrance. In India every part of the tree serves
some economic purpose, while the fruit possesses medicinal value
of an unusual range, if we may believe the account in Watt’s
Dictionary of the Economic Plants of India. A summary of its
uses would make a long list. Here are a few:

The wood of the mango is white and soft and of little value in
manufacturing; but it is highly prized for burning with sandal wood
in cremating the bodies of great personages. The bark yields tannic

BY PERMISSION uv S. DEPT. AG'L.

FRUITING BRANCH OF MANGO TREE.

GARDNER, REPORT OF PORTO RICO AG'L. EXPERIMENT STATION, 1902.

acid used in tanning, and a resinous gum which is sold as a sub-
stitute for gum arabic. The leaves and bark yield a yellow dye;
and a permanent black dye is made of mango bark with that of other
trees. Mixed with lime and beaten the bark produces a “fleeting”
green dye which, by adding tumeric, becomes a bright rose-pink.
Indian yellow, a familiar water color paint, is an indirect product
of mango leaves. Until very recently the origin of this coloring
matter was unknown, the process by which it was produced being
a guarded secret in India.

The ripe fruit is not only a delicious dessert, but a wholesome
food highly recommended for its medicinal qualities. It is con-
sidered to be “invigorating and refreshing, fattening and slightly
laxative and dipurative.” But the rind and fibre, as well as the
unripe fruit, are acid and astringent. One of the most popular prep-

THE MANGO. 49

arations is made by drying the unripe fruit. In this form it is con-
sidered the best antiscorbutic, curing scurvy, it is said, when lime
juice and all other remedies have been tried in vain. The unripe
fruit, roasted, dissolved in water and made into sherbet with sugar,
: thought to prevent sunstroke; and the pulp is rubbed on the body
tee Same purpose. The kernel of the seed and the blossom and

» aS well, dried and made into a powder, are a valuable astrin-
gent, and much used in treatment of dysentery and diarrhcea. Steeped
in water and reduced to a paste, the kernel is a remedy for
burns and inflammations of the skin. The gum-resin from the
bark when mixed with lime juice or oil is used in scabies and
cutaneous affections. A fluid extract of the bark is useful in
hemorrhages of the lungs. A gruel made of the seeds is effective in
treating asthma and the smoke of burning leaves cures throat
affections. The calcined midribs of the leaves are said to remove
warts from the eyelids. But perhaps the most curious use for the
miango 1s in tune of plague, or cholera, when the Hindoos make a
confection of the baked pulp of the unripe fruit mixed with sugar,
which they eat and also apply externally by smearing it all over the
body. It is well known, however, that the ravages of the plague
have not been stayed among the class likely to make use of this pre-
ventive.

_ Mangoes are eaten unprepared, or they may be peeled and
sliced and served with wine or brandy, sugared and spiced. Young,
green mangoes make excellent pickles. Mangoes stewed have
been pronounced “as good as peaches.” Marmalade and jelly of
superior quality and attractive appearance are made from them; and
a very delicious dish can be prepared by baking the unripe fruit,
well piled with sugar, in a slow oven. Mangoes form one of the
chief ingredients of chutneys, large quantities of which are im-
ported into the United States and England from India.

While it is not likely we shall ever emulate the Hindoos in the
many uses they find for the mango, it is certain that this new
fruit will become as familiar in our homes as are any of the other
fruits now in common use among us. On its merits as a fresh fruit,
it deserves to be as popular as the orange or the banana, and the
writer doubts not that time will see this prediction fulfilled.

The growing of mangoes in the United States is necessarily
limited to Southern Florida and to the frostless belts of Southern
California. Florida has made a good start, many trees have been
planted and the best methods of propagation are successfully prac-
ticed. There is no thought among orchardists there of planting any
but the budded, grafted or inarched trees, which will always do
what seedlings will not, viz., certainly bear the desired fine varieties
of mangoes. Transportation is in favor of the Florida grower, and
against the California competitor. When the supply shall be ade-
quate, Florida mangoes will be largely shipped to Cuba and other
of the West India islands as well as throughout the United States
and to Europe. But that will be far in the future, for the demand
at home will be greatly ahead of the supply for many years.

With such an encouraging outlook, the profits of the Florida
mango grower may be almost counted in advance. Nor need these

50 CROPS THAT PAY.

In a Bulletin of the Division of
cal and Semitropical Fruits in
ld that prior to 1886 all man-
$5.00 a hundred. The
1 planting of three

be a mere matter of conjecture. :
Pomology on the Condition of Tropi
the United States in 1887, we are to
goes sold in Florida brought from $2.00 to $5
same publication relates the history of the origina
seeds at Point Pinellas, and as follows:

“Three seeds were planted, of which two grew. One of them
fruited in its fourth year; from the sale of fruit and seeds $0.15 was
realized. The other fruited in the fifth year. In their eighth year
an experienced orange grower who saw them, estimated that there
were 19,000 mangoes on the two trees. Some of the fruits weighed
a pound.” Trees were grown from the seeds thus furnished, and,
the report continues, “In all cases when the trees were well cared
for they produced from 4,000 to 9,000 mangoes each, when once well
in bearing. One grower sold from eleven trees in the fourth year
from the seed fruit which brought him $219. In their sixth year
he shipped bushels to various places, realizing 60 cents a dozen, the
fruit shipping well. Another grower received from the produce
of one of his bearing trees $66 in its sixth year.” And all these
mangoes were of the “tow and turpentine” varieties, grown on
seedling trees. Experiences of growers generally apply only to the
seedling varieties, so few have been the better kinds produced up to
this time. But from reports of growers and dealers it is known
that crates of about 100 mangoes have averaged at the orchard $1.50,
or one cent and a half for each fruit. The budded trees will
begin to bear at four years and double their crop for two or three
years thereafter, sometimes starting with several hundred fruits at
the first crop. All accounts agree that the mango is not a “shy”
bearer. An estimate for the intending planter of mangoes would
unquestionably err on the side of conservatism should it be based on
a yield of 200 fruits in the fifth year (first crop), increasing to 1,200
in the tenth year and thereafter. So, too, the price, if we assume
that only one cent were received for each mango, might be thought
entirely below the average for the fine varieties obtained from
budded trees. Not more than 35 trees to the acre should be
planted, in order to allow ample room for the old trees to spread.
On these bases, the following yield and income would certainly
be very conservative: 5th year, 200 fruits at 1 cent, $2.00 per tree, or
$70 an acre; 6th year, 400 fruits at 1 cent, $4.00 a tree, or $140 an
acre; 7th year, 600 fruits, $6.00 a tree, or $210 an acre; 8th year, 800
fruits, $8.00 a tree, or $280 an acre; 9th year, 1,000 fruits, $10 a tree
or $350 an acre; and in the roth year, and thereafter, 1,200 fruits,
$12 a tree, or $420 an acre. These returns are Jess than are obtained
from good orange, pomelo or apple orchards under most favorable
conditions, and they may be accepted as below the average profits
from mango orchards of the improved varieties for a great many
years to come.

Extracts from letters written by mango growers in Florida,
are convincing as to the prospects ahead for the new industry:

“We grow better mangoes than Cuba or the Bahamas, and our

fruits will bring better prices in Key West and Havana.”
“The planting of mangoes is bound to be very profitable. Our

THE MANGO 2

Florida fruit is ahead of that grown in the West Indies and we would
have - eeo8 ae even in those islands.”

“I do not like to report ‘profits’ for others. Some years my original
Mulgoba tree has yielded me about $100, but in no ee have F SGuERE
to keep a close account. This fruit has sold to parties in the north at
$2.00 a dozen. Such mangoes in their native home, Bombay, India, will
bring $1.40 a dozen.”

“In my experience and judgment the culture of mangoes will prove
most profitable and I should certainly recommend the planting of
orchards of this fruit.”

_.. “My opinion is that the pioneers in this line, planting budded trees,
will have the greatest bonanza in sight in horticulture.”

_, The mango is going to be one of the most profitable of tropical
fruits grown in the United States. Southern Florida and Southern Cali-
fornia are the only sections where it can be cultivated. I am not sure
of any success with it in California, but here in Florida we have large,
handsome trees that bear thousands of mangoes on each tree.”

“There is no fruit tree in this southern section of Florida that is so
easily grown as the mango, except the avocado. ‘i‘hey grow ‘without
let or hindrance,’ and are not particular so long as the soil is high and
dry. I have been advising the planting of mango trees in large quanti-
ties, and after nearly seven years of experience and observation, I have
no cause to change my advice; but on the other hand I would emphasize
it and say plant more mango trees.”

Rarely do our conservative government writers so strongly
endorse and recommend a new industry, as is done in the following
extract taken from Bulletin No. 46, published by the Bureau of Plant
Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture:

“There is every probability that the finer varieties of Asiatic origin
will soon be grown in the south more extensively than heretofore. Not
enly has the Department of Agriculture had its agents on the lookout
for improved varieties in India and elsewhere, resulting in several con-
signments to the Department greenhouses of many kinds reported to be
of great value, but a few private growers have also been importing some
varieties which are highly praised. ; ' :

“The acquisition by the United States of tropical possessions will
render tue cultivation of the mango of greater importance than ever.
The fruit can’t be imported from the Philippines, but it will be an easy
matter to import the young plants of the best varieties grown there.
In Porto Rico the tree aoe eg luxuriantly and fruit grown there can

in New York in five days. :
es ange there is a large tract of land in Southern Florida where the
mango thrives to perfection, and when once the growers become
acquainted with the best methods of propagation, so that only the finest
kinds shall be grown, the establishment of a large and profitable indus-
try may be expected, for it is reasonably certain that the demand for
mangoes of good varieties will always keep pace with the supply.

It is thought that enough has been said to convince anyone that
mango growing affords one of the best opportunities for profitable
orcharding. All conditions are just right to engage in this industry
at this time, and those who do so under the right auspices will
surely be richly rewarded.

THE AVOCADO

(Persea gratissima.)

One of the latest pomological debutantes brought out by the
enterprising planters of Southern Florida, is sure to have a career
of lasting success. This is the avocado, or alligator pear—the
“aguacate’ of Mexico and Central America. Any leading fruit
dealer in the very few large cities where avocados have as yet been
seen, will tell an inquirer that the demand for them is steadily
increasing. and that prices range from 25 cents to one dollar for a
single fruit, according to size. season and supply. The better hotels
and restaurants have “alligator pears” on their menus in season, but
at a cost practically prohibitive to moderate purses. First taken
up as a novelty among the wealthy and fashionable, as was the
grape fruit, the real merit of the avocado will gain for it the appre-
ciation of the general public, just as soon as an adequate and regular
supply will permit its sale at popular prices. When this time comes,
avocados will be plentiful in every market and on every fruit stand
throughout the land, and one of the most wholesome and nutritious
of fruits will have secured deserved recognition; while those for-
tunate planters whose orchards supply the demand, will be enjoying
the just reward of their far-sighted enterprisc.

Though technically a fruit, the avocado is no more a fruit than
is the tomato or the cucumber. Generally speaking a “fruit” has
something sweet or acid in it, or a combination of both, witn a
characteristic “flavor;” but the avocado is neither sweet nor acid.
The edible part of the fruit, the pulp or meat, in the good varieties
is a smooth, bland, buttery substance of the consistency of cream
cheese, or well-frozen ice cream, and having an agreeable nutty
flavor. Words rarely convey a correct notion of the real
taste of a fruit. The avocado is not a dessert fruit. Its place
among fruits is unique, for it is served almost exclusively as a
salad. In the tropics, where the use of the avocado is general, it is
often served, unprepared, to be eaten with salt, before or after
soup, or cut into small pieces and crushed in the soup, to which
it adds a delicate and agreeable flavor. The northern visitor at a
hotel in Havana, Mexico City, Managua or San Jose during the
season of avocados is sure to find a single fruit lying at the side of
his plate at dinner. The unfamiliar object is usually pear-shaped,
about the size of one’s fist and weighs a pound or more; it may be
green, yellow, brown or dark purple, like a ripe egg plant, or a
combination of two or more of these colors, tinged with red. If
the new arrival follow the example of the initiated, he halves his
avocado lengthwise, removes its large seed, adds a little salt to the
creamy or greenish yellow meat, which he then dips with a spoon
from its leathery shell and eats as he would a Rocky Ford cante-
loupe at home—that is if he eats his avocado at all; for, as is the

53

THE AVOCADO.

vu. 9. DEPT. AG'L.

BY PERMISSION

AVOCADO TREE.

COLLINS, BUL. 77, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY

54 CROPS THAT PAY.

case with many another of the “good” things we eat, a liking for
the avocado is usually an acquired taste, calling for two or three
attempts before the unaccustomed palate approves the strange
flavor of the new fruit. But during a brief stay in the land of
avocados the habit of eating them becomes fixed, and, when that
traveler returns to the North, he never tires of dwelling on the
goodness of his tropical discovery and recommending it to his
friends, who invariably fail to gain from his enthusiastic descrip-
tion the slightest notion of what an avocado really is.

Other methods of preparing and eating the avocado are inter-
estingly told in Bulletin No. 77, “The Avocado, a Salad Fruit from
the Tropics,” issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture:

“Few salads are so easily prepared as the avocado. Usually the
fruit is simply cut in half by passing a knife through the skin and flesh
until it comes in contact with the seed. It will then separate into two
cups, forming convenient receptacles for the seasoning, which is added
a little at a time to suit the taste, and the flesh is scooped from the
inside of the cup with a spoon. One-half of the fruit is usually sufficient
for a person at a meal. The most common dressing is salt, pepper and
vinegar. Oil is often added, but unless the oil and vinegar are beaten
jnto a mayonnaise this would seem superfluous, as the fruit itself is very
oily. Lime or lemon juice is often substituted for vinegar.

“While the novice usually considers some form of acid necessary
to add piquancy, those better acquainted with the fruit frequently eat
it with salt alone, and many think that even salt tends to mask the
delicious nutty flavor and prefer it in its natural state without any
seasoning whatever. There are a few people, probably of New England
origin, who eat the fruit with sugar and vinegar, and some even profess
fondness for it with a dressing of sugar and cream.

“If it be desired to more thoroughly incorporate the dressing the
flesh can be removed from the skin and, after mixing the whole, can be
returned to the skins for convenience in serving.

“In French countries the avocado is customarily served as an ‘hors
dceuvre.’ E. Roul states than an exquisite dessert is made by covering
the fruit with a dressing of cherry brandy, sugar and cream beaten
almost to an emulsion.

“In St. Thomas the fruit is eaten with Port or Madeira wine and
lemon or orange juice. 7

‘In Brazil the fruit is made into a sort of custard pudding.

“The following methods of preparing the fruit, as well as that for
extracting the oil, were kindly furnished by Mrs. William Owen, of
Sepacuite, Guatemala:

. 1. Divide in half and serve in the shell, as many prefer them
without the addition of salt.

“No Cut the meat into cubes, mix with sufficient mayonnaise to
coat it well, put in a platter, pile high in the center and sprinkle over
hard boiled egg chopped fine.

“No. 3. Divide in half and carefully remove the meat. Add the
yolk of a hard boiled egg and one tablespoonful of French dressing for
each fruit. Press through a sieve and pile in the half shells. Garnish
the tops with the white of the eggs chopped fine, a sprig of parsley and
one small red pepper.

“Sandwiches. Use thin slices of bread buttered thinly; spread on a
paste prepared of mashed avocado mixed with a dressing of oil, salt,
tarragon vinegar and _a little nutmeg.

“Avocado Oil. Divide the fruit in half and remove the seed. Place
the two halves together again and lay them in a large basket. Cover
with a cloth and keep in a cool, dark place until the meat turns black;
then put them into a coarse cotton bag. Sew up well and put into a
press. The oil is very clear and all the Ladinos say it will never become
rancid. They never use it in cooking, though it*has a pleasant flavor,
but say it is fine for the hair. *

“The following method is given in The Cooking School Magazine for
October, 1904:

THE AVOCADO. 55

“Cut three ripe aguacates in halves, take out the stone or seed, and
scoop the pulp from the skin. Add three tomatoes, first removing the
skin and core, and half a green Pepper pod cut in fine shreds. Crush
and pound the whole to a smooth mixture, then drain off the liquid.
To the pulp add a teaspoonful or more of onion juice, a generous tea-
spoonful of salt, and about a tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar.
Mix thoroughly and serve at once. This salad may be served at break-
fast, luncheon, or dinner.”

_An analysis of the avocado made at the Maine Agricultural Ex-
perimental Station showed that one pound of the edible portion

contained the following weights:

Nutrients. Pound.
ECD 0 cosy Sie aeeaavecglannars, swt eh neve sh vada nd oli tedenmae enlahakias 811
POLE « solr citer sane ths scieaniask hatnepiesonigatwonre wr eaten, O10
aE scapes ais hc cect ia aiheaseslin ane caadiegtncn cana ae wesoieen tas 102
Carbohydrates. situ: ccduicvaeuns pereshacte cate oc cece .068
PST oe raceanain ee ches Aces cane ce ee wall, yea eet .009
1.000

At the Florida Agricultural Experiment Staticn an analysis of
the composition of the edible portion of the avocado and other
foods shows that in the amount of water it contains the avocado
more nearly resembles the succulent fruits and vegetables than it
does bread; that in the proportion of water, protein, crude fibre and
ash it is similar to such fruits as the apple, banana and pear; while
in fat it suggests the olive, which is very rich in this constituent,
the percentage in pickled ripe olives, pickled green olives and avo-
cados being 25.5 per cent. 12.9 per cent. and 17.3 per cent. re-
spectively; and that in fuel value per pound, the avocado exceeds
pickled green olives, bananas, potatoes, pears and apples in the
order named, although less than either cocoanuts, fresh chestnuts,
wheat flour or pickled ripe olives. The analysis warrants the con-
clusion that the avocado is a considerably more valuable food than
other fruits having similar proportions of water, especially when it
is considered that its energy value exceeds that of pickled olives by
reason of the greater proportion of fat in the former. a.

To the general public far more important than such scientific
conclusions is the knowledge, gained by the practical experience of
those who know, that an avocado and two or three slices of toast,
with a cup of coffee, make a delicious and complete breakfast; and
that a pound-weight of avocado in the lunch box of the laboring man
would go far towards restoring his wasted energy after a morning’s
toil in shop or field. ;

The avocado tree is a native of the frostless regions of South
America from the Amazon northwards, Central America and Mex-
ico. It is now found throughout the West Indies and in some other
equatorial countries, including the tropical possessions of the United
States. Whence, when, where and by whom it was introduced into
Florida, the limited literature on the subject does not definitely
state. But it is safe to say that during many years the usual ups
and downs attending the naturalization of a foreign plant were ex-
perienced in Florida by experimenters with the new tree, until the
methods of propagation and cultivation are at last well understood
and orchards on a small scale have been established which pay their

56 CROPS THAT PAY.

owners handsome incomes. The systematic and intelligent attention
of the American growers has resulted in producing in Florida a
better avocado than can be had in Cuba, Porto Rico, or elsewhere,
whence our markets have been in part supplied; and it is an inter-
esting fact that Florida avocados are regularly shipped to Key
West and Havana, where they sell for much higher prices than the
native product. In many large cities in the United States the
avocado is unknown, nor will such places have a chance to test the
new fruit so long as the supply is unequal to the demand in the few
centers which are now able to handle all the avocados they can get.

There are some quaint descriptions of the avocado, the first of
which in all probability was sent in Oviedo’s report to Charles V, of
Spain, in 1526:

“On the mainland are certain trees that are called pear trees
(perales). They are not pear trees like those of Spain, but are held in
no less esteem; rather does the fruit have many advantages over the
pears of that country. These are certain large trees, with long narrow
leaves similar to tne laurel, but larger and more green. This tree pro-
duces certain pears, many of which weigh more than a pound, and some
less; but usually a pound, a little more or less, and the color and shape
is that of true pears, and the skin is somewhat thicker, but softer, and
in the middle it holds a seed like a peeled chestnut; but it is very bitter,
as was said farther back of the mammee, except that here it is of one
piece and in the mammee of three, but it is similarly bitter and of the
samc form; and over this seed is a delicate membrane, and between it
and the primary skin is that which is eaten, which is something of a
liquid or paste that is very similar to butter and a very good food and
of good flavor, and such that those that can have them guard and
appreciate them ; and they are wild trees in the manner that all those that
have been spoken of, for the chief gardener is God, and the Indians
apply no work whatever to these trees. With cheese these pears taste
very well, and they are gathered early, before they are ripe, and stored;
and after they are collected they mature and become in perfect condi-
tion to be eaten; but after they are ready to be eaten they spoil if they
are left and allowed to pass that time.”

Another account by Hughes in “History of the Indies,” describes
the type than known in Jamaica:

“This is a reasonable high and well-spread Tree, whose leaves are
smooth, and of a pale green colour; the Fruit is of the fashion of a Fig,
but very smooth on the outside, and as big in bulk as a Slipper-Pear; of
a brown colour, having a stone in the middle as big as an Apricock, but
round, hard and smooth; the outer paring or rinde is, as it were, a
kinde of a shell, almost like an Acorn-shell, but not altogether so tough;
yet the middle substance (I mean between the stone and the paring, or
outer crusty rinde) is very soft and tender, almost as soft as the pulp
of a Pippin not over-roasted.

“It groweth in divers places in Jamaica; and the truth is, I never
saw it elsewhere; but it is possible it may be in other Islands adjacent,
which are not much different in Latitude.

“T never heard it called by any other name then the Spanish Pear,
or by some the Shell-Pear; and I suppose it is so called only by the
English (knowing no other name for it) because it was there planted
by Spaniards before our Countrymen had any being there; or else
because it hath a kinde of shell or crusty out-side.

“T think it to be one of the most rare and most pleasant Fruits in
that Island: it nourisheth and strengtheneth the body, corroborating the
vital spirits; the pulp being taken out and macerated in some convenient
thing, and eaten witn a little Vinegar and Pepper, or several other ways,
is very delicious meat.”

Sir Daniel Morris, British Commissioner of Agriculture for the
West Indies, writes in his book, “The Colony of British Honduras;
its Resources and Prospects”:

THE AVOCADO.

U.S. DEPT. AGL.

BY PERMISSION

FRUITING BRANCH OF AVOCADO,

ROLFS, BUL. 61, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY,

58 CROPS THAT PAY.

“The avocado or alligator pear (Persea gratissima) is a well-known
vegetable rather than a fruit, which might be extensively cultivated
both for home use as well as for exportation. There are two well-
marked varieties—the green and the purple, the latter, from its larger
size and finer flavor, being generally preferred in the West India Islands.
The edible portion of the fruit is the firm pulp, enclosing the single
large seed, which possesses a buttery or marrow-like taste and hence
called ‘subaltern’s butter.’ The popular names of this fruit are _sup-
posed to have been derived from the Mexican term ‘ahuacatl;:’ the Span-
iards corrupted this to avocado, which means an advocate; and the
English still further to ‘alligator pear.’ A quantity of very superior
oil, useful for illuminating and other purposes, may be obtained from
the pulp by expression.”

In the Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for
1901, Mr. O. F. Cook, Botanist in Charge of Plant Investigations,
Pareat of Plant Industry, writes of the avocado in Porto Rico, as
ollows:

r “The alligator pear, also called butter pear, aguacate and avocate,
is a tropical fruit now relatively little known, but with every prospect
of a gradually increasing popularity. It is a pear only in shape, and
might better be compared to the olive, because it serves as a salad or a
relish rather than a fruit in the ordinary sense, and frequently becomes
a favorite even with those who do not like it at first. The flesh has a
delicate buttery consistency, and is eaten with vinegar, salt and other
condiments, or is used as an ingredient of other salad compounds.
The promise of agricultural and commercial importance for this fruit
lies in the fact that it already has a distinct, if limited, place in the
markets for larger cities at from 30 to 60 cents apiece, prices which
might be halved or quartered, and still leave good profits for both
grower and dealer. Moreover at these prices the supply of first-class
fruit seems to be unequal to the demand.”

M. S. Burbank, of Florida, a recognized authority on the avocado
and a successful propagator, wrote in a recent letter:

“The avocado is by no means a new fruit. We find it mentioned
as long ago as the early part of the 16th century, although only during
the last few years has it been cultivated. On account of its great food
value, and the many ways the fruit may be used, the avocado promises
to become one of the most important orchard products. To-day it is the
highest priced fruit in northern markets. The fruit from seedling trees
varies the same as with other fruits, except that all avocados are good,
the difference being that some are beter than others. We are, of course,
propagating only the best, particularly the late varieties, so that we can
put fruit on the market when other fruits are scarce, thereby securing
far better prices. In my opinion the prices in the north are now too
high, but this will be regulated when more fruit is produced and its
use becomes popular. We want everyone in the country to have a taste
of the avocado—some will need a second taste, it is so entirely different
from any other fruit; but nearly all become passionately fond of it after
a time.

“The avocado thrives here in South Florida and makes a large hand-
some tree with abundant foliage of dark green.

“The fruit ships well and arrives in market in good condition.”

The following extracts from “The Homeseeker,” Miami, Flor-
ida, give enthusiastic endorsement of the avocado and the business
of growing this fruit. The editor, E. V. Blackman, is familiar with
the orchard interests of Southern Florida and well qualified to
speak with authority on this subject :—

“A tropical fruit that is meeting with an increased demand every
year is the avocado, or alligator pear, grown in Southern Florida.
Among the great variety of fruits produced here in Dade County, take
it on the whole, there is none that equals the avocado. Our avocados
are far superior in quality and flavor to those of Cuba and bring a much
better price in Key West than those grown in Cuba, although Key West
is but a few hours’ sail from that Island where the avocado is abundant.

THE AVOCADO. 59

“Throughout the northen States the avocado is almost a stranger.
ew York City is becoming a most excellent market for the fruit. It
only has to be known to be loved and appreciated. I am firmly of the
opinion that the avocado is the coming fruit, and eventually the demand
will be greater than for any class of tropical or semi-tropical fruit.

7 the avocado is found on all the older places throughout the
Biscayne Bay country, and on all the places more recently settled thou-
sands of trees are coming into bearing. The avocado is one of the staple
crops of this section, and one that pays the farmer more clear money
to the acre than any other fruit crop known.”

During the preparation of this chapter, correspondence with
growers and others familiar with present conditions, has resulted
in the collection of some interesting and valuable data. Without
exception the practical men of greatest experience in Florida horti-
culture, who have answered the writer's questions in the circular
letter addressed to them, are emphatic in their expressions that large
returns await the successful grower of avocados. Some of the replies
are here quoted. They show the prevailing opinion held by all who
are best acquainted with the facts:

“The culture of this fruit is a profitable business. It certainly pays

me. I advise planting commercial orchards of the avocado.”
“JT think the culture cf the avocado could be made very profitable.”

us S. DEPT.
BY PERMISSION

LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF AVOCADO.

“Yes, very profitable; but more rests with the man than with the

rE a i i i i fitable to
ae the time will come when it will be very pro 2 to
Gedeacne bee varieties of this fruit, but it is a question how rapidly
i we?” .
ies See eons profitable. Methods of propagation now well
understood; market waiting.”

60 CROPS THAT PAY.

“I recommend the planting of avocado orchards. In_the right place
and well managed they will be scarcely excelled in profit by any other
product, unless it be mangoes.” | .

“It is certainly profitable, and the demand for the fruit promises to
increase, as people learn about it.’’ .

“I certainly am of the opinion and this is based on the prices
received for this fruit, prolific bearing, healthfulness of the tree, that
growing the avocado will be extremely profitable, far surpassing that of
citrus fruit growing. I can conscientiously recommend the planting of
large commercial orchards.”

In Florida, the choice of a location for a commercial orchard
of avocados is necessarily restricted to the southern counties. Soil
and climate suitable for the mango are equally adapted to success-
fully growing the avocado. In the Yearbook of the Department of
Agriculture for 1901, on page 391, referring to the mango, the plant-
ing of this fruit is recommended in eastern Florida, south of latitude
27°, and on the Keys, as well as in the frostless belts of California.
The same applies to the avocado.

Only budded or grafted trees should be planted, and these, to
become profitable, should be given the best treatment and sufficient
fertilizing. The methods of cultivation of both mango and avocado
are not yet so generally known as are those suited to success in grow-
ing some of the other crops of this section, therefore the planter of
avocados on a large scale, unless himself a practical grower, should
be guided by the experience of one who has already made a success
of this particular kind of planting.

The cost of land, clearing, cultivation three years, fertilizer, etc.,
would not materially vary from the cost of making a citrus orchard
in the same locality and cultivating it for the same number of years;
but the avocado trees will begin to bear earlier than the citrus,
which is of course an advantage in favor of the former. Roughly
estimated, the cost of bringing an acre of avocado orchard to the
bearing age is from $250 to $300.

The budded avocado tree (and no others should be planted)
will begin to bear in the fourth year, and give a profitable crop in
the fifth under favorable conditions. The yield of fruits per tree
in a series of years, may be estimated as follows: 40, 80, 120, 160.
200, 240, 240, 240 in eight successive crops from the fifth to the
twelfth years, inclusive. The quantity of fruit depends largely on the
care given the trees and the free use of fertilizer. A single limb of
a large avocado tree at Cocoanut Grove, Florida, broken off by the
weight of its fruit, bore 100; and trees at eight years have been known
to vield several hundred. The above estimate is conservative and
low enough to allow for the smaller crops in the off years.

The price received for the fruit varies considerably, being gov-
erned by the size and the season. Avocados which ripen late in
the season always command a much higher price. Northern dealers
sometimes keep choice fruits in cold storage until after the season,
when they readily sell for a dollar each. The high price, however,
does not mean correspondingly high profit, for dealers declare that
the refrigerated fruit does not keep perfectly, and their loss is con-
siderable on this account.

_ Shipped to the north generally in crates, which contain a vary-
ing number according to the size, but averaging 72 fruits, avocados

THE AVOCADO. éi

U. S. DEPT. AG'L.

BY PERMISSION

YOUNG AVOCADO TREE.

ROLFS, BUL. 61, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY

are sold for the shipper’s account at prices ranging from $4.50 to
$12.00 a crate. Really fine fruit sometimes reaches market badly
packed and much damaged, resulting in very low prices. The sell-
ing price for good fruit and bad fruit as it runs, averages $6.50, from
which must be deducted 10% commission for selling, and eighty
cents a crate for freight and cartage, leaving the shipper $5.05, net,
or 7 cents for each fruit. It is certain that no grower of choice
avocados of the late varieties, who grades his fruit carefully and
packs it right, has ever received anything like so low a price as
this. Avocados, of the late crop of 1905, were sold in Miami and
Palm Beach at $6.00 a dozen—not crate. Any company or individ-

62 CROPS THAT PAY,

ual operating a commercial orchard on a large scale would be in
position to market the product much more profitably than could the
small grower, who must generally take what he can get. In view of
the facts, as stated, it will seem very conservative indeed to take
five cents as the average price the grower will receive. The margin
between this price and the higher price the fruit will probably always
bring, is sufficient to offset any of the “unforeseen contingencies” that
may arise to affect the plans and calculations of the most careful
grower. :

The planting distance for avocados varies greatly, some varieties
growing much larger than others. As many as 100 budded trees
may be set at first, but with the certainty of having to thin them out
later when the growth of the tops causes their branches to approach
too closely. Some of the larger kinds should not be planted less
than 35 feet apart, giving 35 trees to the acre; and this distance
is recommended when interculture is intended. Without leaving
space between for the cultivation of other crops to any extent, double
this number of trees of the smaller kinds might be set on each acre.
But whatever may be the number decided on by the planter, the
estimate of his profit from each tree would not be materially affected.
Assuming, as already said, that the yield per tree would be 40, 80,
120, 160, 200 and 240 fruits, commencing in the fifth year, the
returns per tree, at five cents for each fruit, would be $2.00, $4.00,
$6.00, $8.00, $10.00 and $12.00 in a series of years from the fifth to
the tenth, inclusive. If only 35 trees were set to the acre, the income
would be $70.00, $140.00, $210.00, $280.00, $350.00 and $420.00 per
acre from the fifth to the tenth years inclusive, and this is certainly
a very conservative estimate, although large enough to induce prompt
planting of many avocado orchards.

*KUMQUAT
(Citrus Japonica.)

The kumquat is the smallest citr i ich i
se : I trus fruit; the tree on which it
jae paue AS aa ones ies ue is os bay of that gold-standard
pomio Albnerer ae ie Pao the lime, the orange and the
fanny Gecca. - ne of the highest respect because of its
Hon. Bose Gk he kumquat has stronger claims to considera-
Gaied 4. eae pos in these parts, its acquaintance is still
Homer tb f6o cere ae ew woes having been properly introduced,
lmiaats and ’ ne. “he pomelo taste takes kindly to the

; and those who are “passionately fond” of the former are
sure ie soon, become at least reasonably fond of the little relative.
" Beas hes oval or round. When oval is about an inch
a : cae 1% inches long; when round, about one inch in
rameter. The trees which produce these two shapes are of differ-
ent varieties, but the difference seems to be observable in nothing
but the shape of fruit. The color of the kumquat is a deep orange-
yellow. Its delicate rind is sweet and spicy; the pulp very tender
and agreeably acid. Eaten out of hand, rind and pulp are bitten
through and the fruit eaten whole. The combination of spicy sweet
and agreeabie acid is delicious and refreshing. Excellent pre-
serves are made of the fruit or it can be crystallized in sugar.

Brought into the United States from Japan, as its botanical
name, Citrus Japonica, indicates, the kumquat is a a native of China,
where, as in Japan, it is highly appreciated and extensively cultivated.
In Japan it is called kinkan, which means “Gold Orange ;” kumquat
is Chinese for the same meaning.

The tree is really a dwarf orange. It may even be grown in
pots and tubs, when it becomes, with its white flowers, glossy,
green leaves and beautiful golden fruit, a unique and extremely
handsome ornament for house or lawn. The diminutive trees begin
to bear almost as soon as their tiny twigs will support the weight of
the little golden balls, and continue to flower and fruit freely every
year. Fortunate, indeed, is the “new fruit,” which possesses all
these qualities that bespeak for it public favor. Such an introduction
will soon spread afar the excellencies of the kumquat as deserving
recognition of its merits and gain for it a large and loyal constituency
among the lovers of good fruit.

Well cared for, under favorable conditions in the orchard, the
kumquat grows to a height of ten or twelve feet, forming a compact,
symmetrical and handsome head. Its small size makes the tree
peculiarly adapted to interculture among other trees that eventually
require much more space in which to expand their branches. In time
these will completely overshadow the more lowly kumquat, which, as
the orchardist says, has served as a “filler” during the early years
of its slower growing, but much bigger, neighbors. But, if the

*For picture of fruiting branch of Kumquat see first page of cover.

64 CROPS THAT PAY.

kumquat be used advantageously in secondary planting, one should
not infer that this tree is not deserving of the planter's best_atten-
tion as a money maker. Whether intentional or not, the Chinese
name “Gold Orange” is significant as a pleasing allusion to the value
of the kumquat for its rich and abundant harvest of fruit; for one of
the most remarkable things about the kumquat is its agreeable habit
of bearing in the greatest profusion those delicious little balls of gold
which are so readily exchanged for coins of gold in the northern
mid-winter markets. It is indeed prolific beyond the wont of the
other trees in its own family, a family which is noted for the
quantity as well as quality of its fruit product. :

The kumquat is an early bearer too. A few fruits are almost
sure to appear on the new wood of the tree in the same year it is
planted; while in the third year a yield of 20 to 30 dozens may be
expected. After that the yearly increase will be constant and give
a product of 150 to 200 dozens, at least, in the tenth year.

The fruit is generally packed in quart boxes and shipped in
crates of 32 quarts. As the kumauat, on account of its handsome
appearance, is much used for table decoration, it is the practice of
shippers to send a supply of the leaves packed in with the fruit. The
guileless packer is nothing loth to do this, for foliage fills up amaz-
ingly when skilful and willing hands do the packing, and kumquat
leaves are cheaper to grow than kumquat fruit.

Shippers report that during the season of 1905 kumquats brought
an average of $8.50 a crate of 32 quarts. Now a quart of kumquats
contains an average of forty-five fruits, which makes an average
of seven cents a dozen paid to the shipper. The value of a kumquat
tree in its third year on this basis, assuming that the yield of the
tree is 25 dozens, would be $1.75, and in the tenth year, should the
same prices be obtained, the value of the tree yielding 175 dozens,
would be $12.25. Kumquat growers, who have realized as much as
this, would, it is safe to say, be glad to take much less for a series
of years, and then consider themselves better paid than many other
kinds of fruit culture could possibly pay them.

For the purposes of a conservative estimate, five cents a dozen for
the fruit and a yield of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 160, 160 dozens
in the third and intervening years to the twelfth, can be accepted,
and this should allow amply for the expenses of the orchard.
Figured on this basis the income per tree would be. for the corres-
ponding years, $1,00, $2.00, $3.00. $4.00, $5.00, $6.00, $7.00 and $8.00—
the last in the 1oth year, and as much thereafter for many years.
From 100 to 200 trees may be set to the acre.

The grower who can market his product in the form of pre-
serves will add greatly to his profit.

The future of the kumquat is bright and the planter of citrus
fruits will do well to diversify his orchard products by liberally plant-
ing the “Gold Orange.”

CULTIVATED PECANS
one-third
natural size