THE PECAN CATERPILLAR (Datana interrigma): A buff-colored moth, having a body about one-half inch long and a wing expanse of one and three-fourths inches, with four transverse brown stripes on the front wings, lays its greenish or white eggs in clusters of five to twelve hundred on the underside of the lower leaves of the pecan trees. These eggs hatch in less than a week, and the colonies of young caterpillars at first feed upon the undersides of the leaves. They cast their skins four times, each time increasing in size and changing their color somewhat. The last moult, and sometimes the last two, take place on the trunk of the tree, and the clusters of discarded skins frequently remain for several months afterwards. After the last moult they ascend the trees, remain feeding for a short while, then go down to the ground to pupate. When disturbed, the larvae raise both ends of their bodies from the twigs or leaves, on which they rest. They are easily recognized by this habit. When full grown they are one and one-half to one and three-quarters of an inch in length, covered with dirty white hair, and marked with two conspicuous longitudinal white lines, one on each side of the body. There are two broods, the last one hibernating in the ground in the pupa state.

The leaves on which the eggs are laid may be gathered and destroyed, or the colonies of young caterpillars may be gathered and burned. Later, they may be burned off with a torch, killed when clustered on the trunk during the last moult, or poisoned with an arsenical spray.

INSECTS ATTACKING THE TRUNK AND BRANCHES.

THE TWIG GIRDLER (Oneideres cingulatus and O. texana): These two insects frequently do considerable damage to pecan trees in late summer by cutting off the smaller branches. Branches from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch are usually the ones attacked. The insect is a beetle, and the two species closely resemble each other. They are dark gray in color, one half to five-eighths inch in length, with antennae longer than the body and provided with stout, powerful mandibles. The female insect cuts the branch by working round and round it until it is almost entirely severed. She then lays a number of eggs in it, usually one or two being placed near each bud. A small cut is made and the egg is inserted between the bark and the wood, and the opening is then sealed up with a gummy substance. As the insect moves along the twig a series of transverse cuts are made in the bark. The twigs usually drop to the ground. The eggs hatch as soon as the weather becomes sufficiently warm in spring, and the larvae feed in the twigs, making tunnels through them as they grow. Later, they pupate within the tunnels and emerge during August and September as fully developed insects, having spent one year in their growth from egg to mature insect. It is believed that in some cases the life cycle lasts two years.

The best and most effective treatment is to gather and burn all the twigs which have been cut from the trees. This should be done, preferably late in autumn after the leaves have fallen, as there is greater certainty of getting all the severed twigs than if left until a later date.

THE OAK PRUNER (Elaphidion villosum): Sometimes[M] pecan twigs, when smartly bent, will snap off with a clean, square cut across the branches, as if they were hollow-glass tubes, breaking at cracked or weakened places. An examination of such a broken stem shows "that its woody part, with the exception of a few fibers and the bark, has been cut across as if with a saw by a soft, yellowish-white grub, which can often be found in a burrow in the severed part. Since the uncut bark is the chief support left for the branch, any stiff wind or even its own weight will break it off as soon as it has become deadened. * * * * * *

"The adult is a longicorn beetle, of slender, cylindrical form, over one-half inch in length and about one-eighth of an inch in width. It is of a dull, black color, tinged with brown on the wing covers, especially toward their tips. The underside of the body and legs are chestnut colored. Over all parts of the body can be found short, grayish hairs. Some small, gray spots on the wing-covers and a whitish dot on each side of the thorax are formed by dense collections of gray hairs at these points. Coarse, round punctures are thickly sprinkled over the upper surface of the thorax and wing-covers.

"The larva, when grown, is about three-fifths of an inch long, tapering backwards from the neck. The body is divided by deep grooves into twelve rings or segments. There are three pairs of feet. The color is yellowish-white, the front of the head being blackish. Probably, about midsummer, with a possible variation of two mouths in each direction from this date, the parent beetle deposits her eggs, preferably on a small twig of the preceding year's growth. Upon hatching, the young larva commences to eat the tender wood just beneath the bark, and later enters the center of the twig and works toward its base. In this manner it works its way into the main limb, which may be of considerable size, and feeds within it for a period of about three years. The burrow thus becomes several inches in length, in many cases. Just before transforming to pupae some, but not all, of the larvae, cut the wood for the purpose of dropping the branches, as before described. Limbs in which the immature larvae are working often break off with ragged end when bent with the hand.

"* * * Pick up and burn all fallen branches. Similar attention should be given nearby oak and hickory limbs, which have fallen."

THE PECAN TREE BORER (Sesia scitula): The moth of this insect is clear-winged and closely resembles the moth of the peach tree borer. Little is known of its life-history.

"It[N] is probable that the eggs are deposited by the female moth on the bark of a tree near a fresh wound. For example, near newly set buds. The eggs hatch and the larvae bore into the bark, and there live for a time, eating out the soft inner-bark and tender wood. It is certain that the borers live in these situations the over winter and change to pupae in the spring, from which the moths emerge in April. The moths I reared appeared April 3rd, 4th and 6th. The pupae are in cocoons, just under the bark. The cocoons are made from excrement and bits of bark that have been fastened together with silk similar to the cocoons of the peach tree borer. Whether these moths, that emerge in the spring, lay eggs and produce a brood in the summer, that in turn develops a fall brood of larvae, I am unable to say."

"The[O] young borer is apt to gain entrance to the sapwood through some wound in the bark, such as a graft-union, and here it feeds, sometimes completely girdling the sapwood above and below the wound. It is said to prefer to attack buds that have been budded on old, large trees. As a general rule the burrows ascend the tree in a spiral about the trunk, so complete girdling is unusual, but growth sometime ceases above the groove, new limbs being shot out from below."

The only satisfactory means of controlling this pest is to go carefully over the tree and dig out the borers. The trees should be examined from time to time in order to keep them free from borers.

INSECTS ATTACKING THE FRUIT.

THE PECAN WEEVIL (Balantinus caryae): In some localities considerable damage has been caused by the pecan weevil. The insect is a small, brownish-black snout beetle, somewhat less than one-half inch in length. The proboscis or snout is slender and as long as the body. With this proboscis the beetle bores a very small hole through the husk and shell of the immature pecan to the kernel, and at the bottom deposits an egg. This egg hatches into a larva, which feeds upon the kernel of the nut. In autumn the larvae, when full grown, bore holes through the shells of the pecan and enter the ground in which they pass the winter. The next season they emerge from the earth as fully-matured insects, and about the month of August deposit their eggs in the nuts.

After the harvesting of the crop the hogs should be allowed to feed under trees in which the weevil is present, so as to devour any infested nuts which may have been left on the ground. Poultry may also be of assistance in destroying the insects after they have entered the ground to pupate. It is probable that the larvae in the nuts may be destroyed by fumigating with carbon bi-sulphide. The nuts should be placed in a tight box, and one-half pound for each five hundred cubic feet of space used, allowing them to remain for forty-eight hours.

THE HICKORY SHUCK WORM (Grapholitha caryana): Sometimes pecan nuts are attacked, as they approach maturity, by a small, white caterpillar, which mines its way through the shucks of the nuts. This caterpillar is the hickory shuck worm, the larva of a small moth.

But little is known of its life-history, and until more is known of its habits, the best advice that can be given is to gather and destroy the infested nuts by burning them.

FOOTNOTES:

[M] Gossard.

[N] Hedrick. (See index of literature).

[O] Gossard. (See index of literature).



PART VI.

Uses. Literature.



CHAPTER XVI.

PECAN KERNELS.

Pecan nuts are used in a variety of ways. Not so very long since they were used almost entirely for dessert purposes, now they are largely used in making pastries and confections of different kinds. Based on these uses, new industries for supplying the kernels have been developed. The kernels are now put on the market in glass jars of different kinds and sizes, usually retailing at from 50 cents to 75 cents per pound. This is perhaps the most convenient form in which to buy them, but unfortunately, they are too frequently old and rancid. When stock is carried through the heat of summer in the ordinary jar, this is invariably the case, and some new method of packing them must be introduced if this way of disposing of the product is to increase in favor, as it should. Certain experiments now under way give promise that the kernels can be kept fresh and free from rancidity indefinitely.

For the present, at least, the only certain way of procuring good, fresh pecan kernels is to procure fresh nuts—those which have been kept over in cold-storage are good—and crack them at the time when they are needed. For the household, an ordinary pair of nut-crackers will answer, but they should be of a particular type. The jaws should be formed with sharp-cutting edges.

NUT-CRACKERS.

In the accompanying illustration, four kinds of nut-crackers are shown. The two at the right are reversible. The best pair is represented at the extreme left of the engraving. The bars are square, the grooves in them are curved inward leaving the teeth sharp and pointed out flush with the edge.



To remove the kernels without breaking, grasp the nut with the crackers as close to the end as possible, and gently but firmly apply sufficient pressure to force the sharp teeth of the crackers into the shell. Revolve the nut and repeat the operation until the end is marked with a ring of indentations. Then apply a little greater pressure to start a slight crack, and follow the crack around until the end of the shell drops off. Treat the opposite end in the same way. Next, place the nut lengthwise between the crackers, so they will grasp the side, having the backs of the two halves of the kernel, not the space between the halves, towards the bars. This must be emphasized, because, if pressure is applied at right angles to the edges of the halves instead of against their backs, the chances are that they will be broken when the shell is broken. Having the crackers in position, apply sufficient pressure to crack the shell. Shift the crackers a little to one side of the crack, apply pressure again and a piece of the shell breaks out. A few gentle squeezes will remove the remainder of the shell and the kernel drops out intact.

A hand-power cracker, capable of quite efficient work, is manufactured by Thomas Mills & Bro., Philadelphia, Penn. It has a capacity of one hundred pounds per day, and is capable of giving ninety per cent. of perfect halves.

For factory use, two machines, for extracting kernels at a rapid rate, have been invented, one by Mr. Robert E. Woodson, St. Louis, Mo., and the other by Mr. Grim, New York city. These make it possible to extract pecans in large quantities for commercial purposes. The nuts are fed into a hopper and the machine then takes care of them. In regard to the Woodson machine shown in the adjoining illustration, the inventor says that "in cracking one hundred pounds of nuts there were obtained 39-1/2 pounds of perfect halves and 3-1/2 pounds of broken pieces. This test shows 92 per cent. of perfect halves. I do not claim that this result may be obtained at all times and under all conditions, for the hardness of the shell and the dryness of the nuts make a difference in the results."

Pecans which have become somewhat dry should be soaked in water over night. This renders them much more easily cracked.



PECAN OIL.

Oil extracted from almonds, peanuts, cocoanuts and other nuts is now used for various purposes, and at no distant time it is probable that pecan oil may also be placed on the market. Only the cheaper, inferior grades of nuts can be used in oil-making, as the larger and better quality of nuts are worth too much for dessert purposes.

Ordinary nuts will run about fifty per cent. kernels, and these kernels analyze about seventy per cent. oil or fat. On this basis one hundred pounds would give approximately thirty-five pounds of oil. Of course the better grades of nuts will give sixty per cent. kernels, and would consequently yield more oil.

Pecan oil might be used as a salad oil. It might be put to other culinary uses, as well as finding a possible place among medicinal oils.



CHAPTER XVII.

PECAN LITERATURE.

But little has been written on the culture of the pecan. The following brief list of bulletins, articles or chapters in general works, comprises practically all that has appeared from the pens of American writers:

Budd, J. L. and Hansen, N. E. The Hickory Nut; Pecan Propagation, in American Horticultural Manual, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright 1902, 1904. Part I, pp. 301-303.

—— The Pecan, in American Horticultural Manual. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright 1903; Part II, pp. 452-454.

Burnette, F. H., Stubbs, Wm. C, Morgan, H. A. Pecans. Baton Rouge: Truth Book and Job Printing Office, 1902; Illustrated; pp. 847-884. Bulletin No. 69, Second Series, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.

Corsa, W. P. Pecan, in Nut Culture in the United States. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896. Illustrated; pp. 49-64. Bulletin Division Pomology, United States Department of Agriculture.

Fuller, Andrew S. Hickory Nuts, In the Nut Culturist. New York: Orange Judd Company. Copyright 1896. Illustrated; pp. 147-202.

Goff, E. S. The Pecan, in Lessons in Commercial Fruit Growing. Madison: University Co-Operative Association. Copyright 1902; pp. 110-114.

Gossard, H. A. Insects of The Pecan. St. Augustine: The Record Company, 1905, Illustrated; pp. 279-320. Bulletin No. 79, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.

Hansen, N. E. See Budd, J. L.

Harcourt, Helen. The Pecan, in Florida Fruits and How to Raise Them. Revised and Enlarged Edition. Louisville: J. P. Morton & Co. Copyright 1886; pp. 207-214.

Heighes, S. B. See Corsa, W. P.

Herrick, Glenn W. Insects injurious to Pecans. Agricultural College, Miss.: Tucker Printing House, 1904. Illustrated; p. 42. Bulletin No. 86, Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station.

Hume, H. Harold. Pecan Culture: a Preliminary Report. Jacksonville: H. & W. B. Drew Co., 1900. Illustrated; pp. 181-212. Bulletin No. 54, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.

—— Top-working Pecans. Gainesville: Hill Printing Co., 1901. Illustrated; pp. 357-380. Bulletin No. 57, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.

—— Pecans, in Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Report, 1900-1901. De Land: E. O. Painter & Co., 1901. Illustrated; pp. 77-84

Merrill, L. H. See Woods, Charles D.

Morgan, H. A. See Burnette, F. H.

Oliver, George W. Budding the Pecan. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. Illustrated; p. 18. Bulletin No. 30, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture.

Parry, John R. Pecan (Hicoria Pecan, etc.), in Nuts for Profit. Parry, N. J.: John R. Parry. Copyright 1897. Illustrated; pp. 93-118.

Risien, E. E. Pecan Culture for Western Texas. San Saba: E. E. Risien. Copyright 1903-1904. Illustrated; pp. 6-55.

Stuart Pecan Company. The Pecan and How to Grow It. Chicago: Woman's Temperance Publishing Co. Copyright 1893. Illustrated; pp. 9-80.

Stubbs, William C. See Burnette, F. H.

Taylor, William A. Pecan, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1893. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894, pp. 295-296.

—— Pecan, in Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Horticulture. New York: The Macmillan Company. Vol. III. Copyright 1901. Illustrated; pp. 1252-1256.

—— Pecans, in Yearbook, United States Department of Agriculture, 1904. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905. Pls. 2; pp. 405-416.

Van Deman, H. E. Nuts, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1891. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892; p. 395.

—— The Pecan, in Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1890. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890. Pls. 2; pp. 415-416.

Wood, Wm. H. S. Pecans, in The American Fruit Culturist, by John J. Thomas. Twenty-first Edition. New York: William Wood & Co., 1903. Illustrated; pp. 449-453.

Woods, Chas. D. and Merrill, L. H. Pecan (Hicoria pecan) "Food Analysis" In Nuts as Food. Orono, 1899; pp. 74-75. Bulletin No. 54, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station.



INDEX.

Acrobasis nebulella, 138

Analysis, 12

Annular budding, 78

Balantinus caryae, 146

Bogus trees, 99

Bordeaux Mixture, 133

Botany, 19

Broken trees, 118

Budd, J. L. publication by, 153

Budding, 78

Budding knives, 72-74

Bud-sticks, 77

Bud worms, 137

Burnette, F. H. publication by, 153

Care of top-worked trees, 87

Caseworms, 138

Catocalas, 140

Classification, 27

Chip-budding, 79-80

Cleft grafting, 80

Corsa, W. P. publication by, 153

Cross pollination, 23

Cultivation, 109

Cultivated range, 16

Curing, 124

Datana interrigma, 142

Diseases, 130

Elaphidion villosum, 144

Exports, 15

Fall webworm, 142

Family—Juglandaceae, 20

Fertilization, 112

Fertilizers— applying, 115 bearing trees, 114 nursery trees, 112 young trees, 114

Flowers, 22

Food value, 12

Fuller Andrew S. publication by, 153

Genus—Hicoria, 20

Goff, E. S. publication by, 153

Gossard, H. A. publication by, 153

Grading, 124

Grafting, 80

Grafting iron, 72 time, 77 wax, 74

Grapholitha caryae, 146

Hansen, N. E. publication by, 153

Harcourt, Helen publication by, 153

Heighes, S. B. publication by, 154

Herrick, G. W. publication by, 154

Hexagonal— planting, 104

Hicoria, 20

Hicoria minima, 61

High-headed trees, 116

Hume, H. Harold publication by, 154

Humus, 109-110

Hybrid pecans, 57

Hyphantria cunea, 142

Imports, 15

Insects, 135

Judging pecans, 62

Kernels, 148

Laying out, 105

Leaf blight, 130

Literature, 153

Low-headed trees, 116

Marketing, 126

Merrill, L. H. publication by, 154

Morgan, H. A. publication by, 154

Native range, 16-21

Number per acre, 103

Nursery cultivation, 70

Nut-crackers, 14

Oak pruner, 144

Oil, 151

Oliver, G. W. publication by, 154

Oneideres, 143

Orchard crops, 110

Packages, 125

Parry, John H. cultivation by, 154

Patch budding, 78

Pecan botany, 19 caterpillar, 142 diseases, 130 Insects, 135 tree borer, 145 kernels, 148 oil, 151 outlook, 11 stocks, 68 varieties, 26 weevil, 146

Phosphoric acid, 113

Picking, 123

Planting-board, 107

Planting distances, 102

Planting nuts, 69

Planting systems, 103

Planting time, 102

Planting trees, 106

Planting Systems— square, 104 Hexagonal, 104

Pollination, 22

Potash, 113

Proteopteryx deludana, 137

Pruning, 116 time, 117

Propagation, 66

Purchasing trees, 97

Planting trees, 102

Quicksand, 89

Rectangular planting, 104

Risien, E. E. publication by, 154

Root pruning, 119

Rosette, 132

Scab, 131

Scions, selection of, 75

Seedling trees, 66

Selection of varieties, 93

Sesia scitula, 145

Shuck worm, 146

Soils, 89 preparation, 91

Stocks, 68

Storing, 127

Storing seed nuts, 69

Stuart Pecan Company, publication by, 154

Stubbs, William Co. publication by, 154

Taproot, 120

Taylor, William A. publications by, 154

Top-working, 84

Twig girdler, 143

Van Deman, H. E. publication by, 155

Varieties— Alba, 28 Alley, 28 Atlanta, 28 Bacon, 28 Bacon's Choice, 28 Bartow, 29 Beauty, 29 Belle, 29 Biediger, 29 Biloxi, 29 Black Jack, 29 Bolton, 29 Bourgeois, 55 Brackett, 30 Bradley, 30 Briden, 30 Bullets, 30 Capital, 30 Carman, 30 Castanera, 52 Centennial, 31 Century, 49 Chiquita, 31 Clark, 31 Colorado, 31 Columbia, 49 Columbian, 49 Curtis, 31 Curtis No. 2, 31 Curtis No. 3, 48 Curtis No. 5, 38 Daisy, 32 Dalzell, 32 Deimas, 33 Dewey, 33 De Witt, 34 De Witt Mammoth, 44 Domestic, 34 Duminie Mire, 55 Early Texan, 34 Egg, 34 Eggshell, 34 Eggshell, 35 Excelsior, 34 Extra Early, 34 Faust, 35 Favorita, 35 Floyd, 57 Franklin, 35 Frotscher, 35 Frotscher's Eggshell, 35 Georgia, 36 Georgia Giant, 36 Georgia Melon, 36 Giant, 37 Gonzales, 37 Graff, 37 Halbert, 37 Hamilton, 37 Harcourt, 37 Havens, 37 Hollis, 37 Hume, 38 Hybrids, 57 Ideal, 38 Idlewild, 38 Jacocks, 38 Jacocks' Mammoth, 38 James' Giant, 39 James No. 1, 39 James' Paper-shell, 39 James' Perfection, 47 Jewett, 40 Jumbo, 40 Kate Schaifer, 50 Kennedy, 40 Kentucky Gem, 40 Kidd, 40 Kincaid, 41 Krack-Ezy, 41 Ladyfinger, 41 Lamar, 42 Lewis, 42 Longfellow, 42 Louisiana, 42 Majestic, 35 Mammoth, 49 McCallister, 57 Magnum Bonum, 43 Mammoth, 43 Mantura, 43 Mexican Paper-shell, 44 Meyers, 44 Monarch, 44 Money, 44 Money-maker, 45 Moore, 45 Morris, 45 Nelson, 46 Nigger, 46 Nussbaumer, 58 Olivier, 35 Pabst, 46 Pan-American, 46 Paragon, 55 Pearl, 47 Pegram, 47 Perfection, 47 Petite, 47 Pooshee, 57 Post, 47 Post's Select, 37-47 President, 47 Primate, 47 Pride of the Coast, 40 Randall, 48 Repton, 48 Ribera, 48 Risien, 48 Robson, 48 Rome, 49 Russell, 49 Russell No. 1, 50 Russell No. 2, 50 San Saba, 50 Schaifer, 50 Schley, 51 Schneck, 59 Senator, 52 Senator Money, 44 Southern Beauty, 55 Southern Giant, 49 Sovereign, 52 Steckler's Mammoth, 43 Stevens, 52 Stuart, 52 Success, 53 Sweetmeat, 54 Texas, 54 Texas Prolific, 54 Thomas, 54 Turkey Egg, Jr., 54 Turkey Egg, Sr., 54 Turner, 54 Twentieth Century, 49 Valsies, 55 Van Deman, 55 Westbrook, 61 Willingham, 56 Young, 56

Varieties recommended, 93 Alabama, 95 Florida, 95 Louisiana, 96 Mississippi, 95 North Carolina, 94 South Carolina, 94 Texas, 96 Virginia, 91

Veneer Shield-budding, 78

Waxed cloth, 75

Weevil, 146

Whip-grafting, 81

Woods. Charles D. publication by, 155

Woods, W. H. S. publication by, 155

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