, and the
rest of the farm makes a good return in pasture and hay. He also has 51
acres that often makes a return of $50 per acre in pecans, besides
pasturing 20 Herfords. Mr. Kramer destroys trees by girdling. Mr. Pfile
makes it a business to buy farms on which there are pecan thickets. One
farm has 70 acres, all top-grafted to improved varieties. Trees were
small and no production for five years, supporting production for the
next four years. Tenth year grossed $8,500; eleventh year, $5,400;
twelfth year, $1,800, and this year his conservative estimate is
$10,000. Mr. Camp has 600 acres in pecans, 90% improved varieties. He
planted 50 acres on upland sandy land on terraces, with pecan trees 40
feet apart and an apple tree between each two pecan trees. The tenth
year he produced 8,000 pounds of paper-shells and 4,000 bushels of
apples. More recently he planted 125 acres on upland, but planted the
pecans 60 feet apart on terraces with an apple tree between. In this
orchard he produces 3/4 of a bale of cotton per acre and plants vetch in
the fall between cotton rows. In October he had four crops on this land,
cotton, vetch, apples and pecans. He says apple trees alternated with
pecans on terraces are OK. Cotton, potatoes and sweet potatoes between
the terraces for the first ten years are OK, but vetch as a winter cover
crop to improve the soil must not be neglected. Grover Hayden has the
largest native pecan grove in the world--1,800 acres fenced hog tight.
He started 31 years ago as a farm hand. He had rather have 500 acres of
pecans than 1,000 acres of alfalfa. Now after 30 years he owns the place
at a purchase price of $90,000, not counting improvements and equipment.
His average production is about 300,000 pounds per year. In 1935, he
produced 400,000. He held back his 1941 crop and together with his 1942
crop, he sold both for $61,000. Think of the faith a man must have in
pecans in Oklahoma to go in debt for $71,000 as Mr. Hayden did! He rode
a pony that was mortgaged for all it was worth from Arkansas to this
ranch.

Those of us who do not have native or seedling pecan trees to work with,
must develop orchards from nursery trees. I was raised on a poor farm in
Missouri. I always had a desire to take a poor piece of land and see
what I could do to improve it. Consequently, I planted 225 improved
pecan trees of 25 different varieties and all other kinds of nut trees,
fruit trees and a variety of berries on a piece o