The Pecan

by James McWilliams

  Guthrie, William Keith, 38

  Halbert, Herbert, 107–108

  Hall, Grant, 17

  Hamilton, William, 28

  Hayes, Rutherford B., 57

  herbicides, 135, 147, 148

  hickory, 3, 145

  Holt, Jane, 125

  Hong Kong, 141

  horticulture, 65, 57

  Howard, N. B., 84

  Hume, Harold, 96

  Illinois, 3–4, 15, 17, 25, 37

  immigrants, German, 46, 63, 65, 75

  India, 53–54, 146, 154

  Indians. See Native Americans industrialization, 34, 112, 115, 147, 172

  insecticides, 88–89, 92, 93, 147

  insects, 9, 15, 55, 82, 86, 88, 91–93, 100, 104, 136, 138, 147–150, 154. See also pecan pests

  integrated pest management, 136, 147, 148

  intercropping, 104, 105, 106

  irrigation, 2, 52, 68, 69, 150

  Japan, 141

  Jefferson, Thomas, 28–31, 155

  Jim Crow, 109

  Juglandaceae, 3, 20

  Juglans Pacane, 28

  Karo Corn Syrup, 121, 132

  Keller, John, 83

  Kendall, G. W., 35, 45

  Kentucky, 37, 84

  Kline, John G., 84

  Klingeman, Emma B., 86–87

  labor, 7–8, 16, 44, 62, 68–70, 75, 81, 85, 101, 104, 113, 138, 150

  Landrum, Abner, 58–61, 88

  logging, 32–34

  Louisiana, 4, 8, 17, 32–33, 37–39, 42–44, 50, 61, 63, 71, 72, 78, 146. See also New Orleans

  mail-order, 126–127

  Manifest Destiny, 35, 42

  market (for pecans), 39, 40, 47–48, 55, 60, 98, 116, 136–138, 141

  marketing, 111, 116, 141

  Marshall, Humphry, 28

  masting, ix, 8, 9, 18, 47, 105, 110, 111, 139; and pigs, 41

  Meade, Mary, 120

  Mexico, 4, 20, 93, 136, 141

  Millicent, Elsie, 132

  Mississippi (state), 4, 8, 37, 61–63, 73, 77, 83, 106

  Mississippi River, 5, 11, 24, 26, 36, 61, 74

  monoculture, 38, 99, 147

  mutualism, 14, 18

  National Pecan Growers Association, 108, 109

  National Pecan Marketing Association, 112

  Native Americans, x, xvi, 5, 7–11, 12, 13, 14–17, 18, 19, 23–26, 33, 35, 41, 42, 54, 126, 158n7

  natural control, 15, 16

  New Mexico, 10, 55, 109, 136; as modern pecan producer, 20, 93, 142–143

  New Orleans, 26, 39–40, 47–48, 61, 65, 74, 83, 106–107, 113, 120–121

  New York, 26, 28, 71, 96, 119, 126

  Nickerson, Jane, 117

  Norfleet, Lizzie, 62

  Nueces River, 11, 25

  nursery business, 27, 67, 74–75, 78–79, 80–81, 87, 90, 95, 101, 107, 109, 136

  Ohio River Valley, 26, 27

  Oklahoma, 4, 17, 39, 109, 113

  Oliver, George W., 79

  Pacane, xvi

  Parker, A. A., 40

  peach, 19, 51, 53–54, 56, 64

  pecan farming, 100, 110, 135, 147–150; commercial, 20, 56, 61, 72, 92, 100–106, 163–164n23; density, 103; economics, 98; intercropping, 105–106; regions, 109; startup costs of, 68; subsidies, 111, 117–118. See also cultivation, passive; USDA

  pecan nut: as commodity, 39, 140; harvest techniques, 6, 45; kernel, 27, 48–49, 64, 138; mail-order, 126–127; marketing, 112, 115–117, 124, 140; meal, 8; as meat substitute, 16–17, 117, 125, 129, 158n3; nutritional values, 7, 17, 18, 124, 125, 144, 158n3; oil, 129; pie, 116, 119, 120–124, 127–128, 132, 139, 145; poaching, 45, 150; polished, 40; pralines, 26, 199, 121; preparation, 8, 24; recipes, 18, 116–117, 118, 119, 120–124, 127, 129; in school lunches, 118; shell, 1–2, 7, 17, 129, 133; storage, 16–17, 127; surplus, 134. See also cultivars, pecan

  pecan pests: aphid, 148; Asian ambrosia beetle, 148; fall webworm, 92, 148; fire ant, 148; pecan budmoth, 92; pecan leaf casebearer, 92; pecan nut casebearer, 91, 148; pecan phylloxera, 148; pecan weevil, 92, 148; soldier bugs, 86; spider mite, 148; spittlebug, 92, 148; stinkbug, 148; walnut caterpillar, 148; wood lice, 86; yellow aphid, 154. See also crows; raccoons; squirrels; wood rats

  pecan tree (Carya illinoiensis): as climax species, 3; as commodity, 30, 109, 136; disease resistance, 107, 152; diseases, 104, 149; failure to “come true,” 57, 60, 72, 79; felling for nuts, 36–37, 42; native range, 3, 68; passive cultivation, 33, 38, 42–48, 54, 73, 74, 79, 81, 91, 94, 101; pollination, 4; root system, 4, 94, 103, 104; wild, 33, 37–38, 75, 81, 147, 152–153; yield, 36, 43–44, 48, 51, 69–70, 75, 78, 81, 84, 94, 105, 107, 110–111. See also cultivars, pecan; genetic diversity; grafting

  pecan wood, 22; cabinetry, 23; drying methods, 22–23; flooring, 23, 130; furniture, 23; market, 130; trim, 23

  pest control, 52, 89–91, 92, 148, 149

  pesticide, 92, 99, 133, 135, 138, 154

  pig farming, 40–41

  pine, 18, 32–34, 42

  Planck, Max, 72

  plum, 57, 64

  Pollan, Michael, 130, 157n3

  Pope, J. D., 97

  Prince, William, 27

  protein, 7, 117, 125, 129, 158

  Prudhomme, Paul, 133

  Pyles, Stephan, 133

  raccoons, 15, 150

  railroads, 31

  Reed, C. A., 109

  resistance: to disease, 152; to pesticides, 149, 154

  Risien, Edmond E., 83, 34, 94, 107, 132

  Roberts, Oran, 41

  Roman, Telesphore J., 61–62

  Roosevelt, Eleanor, 124

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 113

  rooting, of figs, olives, and pomegranates, 57

  San Antonio, Texas, 39, 46–47, 48, 113

  San Saba, Texas, 74, 83, 107, 132, 140

  Scott, Willard, 137

  shelling machines, 111, 113

  slavery, 60, 61; and passive pecan cultivation, 61–62

  Snow, Charles Henry, 22

  soil: alluvial, 3; enhancement, 52; quality, 95, 103

  South Carolina, 53, 55, 60, 93, 96

  Southern Pecan Shelling Company, 113, 128

  Spanish explorers, 10, 19, 24

  sprayers, 92, 99

  squirrels, 11–12, 14, 17, 150

  Standard Brands, 128, 129

  Stevens, Walter Bigelow, 37

  Stuart, Archibald, 28

  Stuart, W. R., 84, 106–107

  Stuart Pecan Company, 3

  Stuckey, William, 128

  subsidies, 111, 117–118

  Szathmary, Louis, 129

  tariffs, 111

  Texas: A&M University, 93, 105; best cultivars for, 109; boll weevil, 93–94; Department of Agriculture, 93; as epicenter of nineteenth-century pecan industry, 32, 48; frontier, 41–43; logging in, 32–38; markets, 39–40; modern commercial pecans in, 20, 71, 136; modernization of pecan industry in, 95; wild pecans in, 3–4, 8–11, 17, 25, 33, 50

  top-working, 57, 58, 65, 86, 94–95, 101

  trade, pecan: export, 32, 40, 47, 96, 111–112, 140–143; Native American, 10; private, 96

  Tyng, George, 76

  USDA, 51, 64, 67, 82, 84, 87, 88–89, 106, 112, 116; Bureau of Plant Industry, 79; Division of Entomology, 90–92; Division of Pomology, 43, 72, 109; Economic Research Service, 140; Forest Service, 22; founding of in 1862, 89; and insecticides, 88; Recommended Dietary Allowances, 124; regional trade associations, 141; Targeted Export Assistance Program, 141

  varnish, 40

  vegetarianism, 129

  vertical integration, 135, 144

  vetch, 150

  vitamins, 7, 125

  Walnut, 20, 21, 49, 54, 58

  Washington, George, 28

  White, Gilbert, ix–x, 14, 151, 155

  wildcatters, 137–139, 140

  Williams, Callie, 122

  Wilson, Helen Van Pelt, 125

  wood rats, 15

  Worn, Jeff, 145

  McWilliams, The Pecan