remarks, and no doubt insist that I
am uninformed. Perhaps I am, but I am giving my convictions
nevertheless, and I ask you to withhold judgment for twenty years before
deciding against me.

Why has the pecan forged to the front as it has? Because the pecan is a
good food, easily available, of pleasant taste and presents a fine
appearance. From a commercial standpoint, after 20 years or more on the
pecan, there is only one really desirable variety available, namely the
Schley, and the fact that it readily sold last fall for 80 cents per
pound wholesale, while the choice of the other varieties brought 60 and
65 cents per pound, bears me out in this. I am not referring to the
greater productivity and other qualities of some of the other varieties.
Many of them are tolerated for various reasons.

How about the shagbark in the North? It is my belief that we do not have
at present a shagbark that will anything like meet the pecan of the
South, yet the consensus of opinion of the people I know who have eaten
both, decides in favor of the shagbark. The quality of a very ordinary
shagbark is better than the best of pecans. What then, is lacking? Size,
shape, thinness of shell, cracking qualities, color, everything but
flavor is lacking in most shagbarks. Don't misunderstand me. I am not
condemning what we have, for I believe that if as many years are spent
by as many people in finding or developing a shagbark, we will have one
that will surpass the pecan. But as the matter stands I am constrained
to say that I do not know of a really good nut today that will stand the
test of building an industry that will compete with the pecan. We must
find or develop a couple of really good nuts that will compete, nuts
that are large, smooth, shell thin enough to crack with the fingers, a
white kernel that is plump and easily extracted. I do not believe that
any thick shell nut will ever meet the favor it should or become
extremely popular. The Weiker, one of our best, is of good size, looks
fairly well, but the shell is thick and it is poorly filled. It will
never fill the place for a real industry, and yet they sell for a good
money-making price today.

If we build our groves after this standard we will be in the same place
in a few years that many of the pecan growers are now, namely, with a
lot of trees on hand that must be top-worked later on. But they are the
best we have and, like the old adage that it is better to love and lose
th