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Pecans Are Important Houston County Crop
Major Pecan Farming Operations Shown ..
Shaking, Picking Up Pecans, Harvesting
Depends On All of Us, I \
Working Together I
We Are Proud To Salute The Many Fine Farm | \ \ /
Families Who Have Helped Make Houston County
The Progressive Area That It Is. Farming Has Always
| Been Most Important To Our Development And Will
| Continue To Be So.
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1 Perry Chamber Os Commerce
I
By
R. L. Uvingston
Head Extension Horticulture
Department University
Os Georgia
The earliest plantings of
single pecan trees or nuts
themselves occurred from
1850 to 1900. In the teens,
twenties and thirties there
were several thousand pecan
trees planted as varieties in
peach orchards, usually 60’ x
60’. This is how most of the
pecan trees in middle
Georgia got their start. The
varieties, of course, are of
the old ones - Stuarts,
Schie ys , Mahans,
Moneymakers, Pabsts,
Frotschers, etc.
In more recent plantings
spacing has been closer, and
some have been planted to
solid pecans leaving the
peach trees out. These
spacings are usually 30 x 30
or 35 x 35 or 40 x 40 feet. The
varieties are of the new type
which come into bearing
earlier and produce more
nuts, such as Desirable,
Cape Fear, Wichita, and the
newest one yet which will be
planted is the Cherokee.
Since World War II there
has been a gradual increase
in the production of pecans.
In recent years most of the
varieties have become
susceptible to the fungus
disease called scab. It is now
generally necessary to spray
all pecan trees, regardless of
variety, for diseases and
insects. Likewise, of course,
it is necessary to fertilize
with liberal amounts to
produce good terminal
shoots and foliage. The
remaining factor that is of
importance is to control
weeds either by chemicals,
mowing or discing lightly.
Some growers are using a
combination such as
chemicals in the row and
mowing between the rows.
During the past decade
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, 31069, THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1972
growing pecans has been
mechanized one hundred
percent in Georgia. Two or
three workers can look after
and care for several hundred
acres of trees with the
proper machines. Hand
labor is a thing of the past
except as a machine
operator.
The outlook for pecan
nroduction continues very
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Spraying Pecan Orchard In Houston County
good. There is some increase
in plantings in Georgia, but
at the same time we are
losing some trees each year
to highway construction,
building sites and the
development of lakes. All in
all we are probably gaming a
few thousand trees in
number each year.
Pecans were number
seven cropwise and income
wise to Georgia farmers in
1971. Growers received
almost 30 million dollars for
their pecans compared with
about ten million ten to
twelve years ago. This is a
three hundred percent in
crease, of which growers can
be proud. Please take care of
those pecan trees and they
will take care of you.