s in a sort of
perfunctory way, because they must have them.

If there is no further discussion, we will go on to the Indiana pecan,
by Mr. T. P. Littlepage, and this will be the last paper of the
afternoon.

THE INDIANA PECAN.

T. P. LITTLEPAGE, Washington, D. C.

The subject of the northern pecan is one that I have been interested in
for more than thirty years. Away down in Spencer County, Indiana, on the
banks of the Ohio River, stand many large native pecan trees, and some
of my earliest recollections and most pleasant experiences are connected
with gathering the nuts from under these large trees; and, without
realizing it, I acquired much of the information in those early days
that has of late enabled me to carefully discriminate between the
desirable and undesirable varieties of pecans, viewed from the
standpoint of one who propagates them for orchard purposes. My interest
in the various points connected with pecan growing was at that time a
very direct interest, and the only motive I had for determining various
facts was the fundamental motive which largely dominates the world
today, and that is the question of securing the thing we desire for our
immediate use.

The large, magnificent pecan trees growing on the banks of the beautiful
Ohio year after year became a matter of the deepest interest to me. I
have seen the Ohio surging swiftly through their branches in the winter,
have seen them withstand the storms and vicissitudes of snow and ice and
raging floods; and as the spring came on I have beheld them, with more
or less surprise and pleasure, laden with blossoms. As summer advanced,
I watched the growing clusters of delicious nuts; and as the nuts began
to ripen in the fall, I soon learned to pick out the best bearing trees.
It was not a matter of science or unselfish research that enabled me to
determine the fact that some trees rarely ever missed a crop, while
others were very uncertain; that some nuts were large, thin-shelled, and
of fine flavor, while others were small and hard to crack, and otherwise
undesirable; that some of the trees ripened their nuts early, long
before frost, while others seemed to hang on and resent the coming of
autumn with all their might. At the age of nine, I could take many
different varieties of Indiana seedling pecans, separate them, and
locate the trees from whence they came, and give the essential points of
their bearing record. I could also tell whether the r