Part 16

The Practical Answer—The Unit Plan

There are many people who know of the great successes made in pecan growing in this district, who would be glad to buy five, ten or twenty acres of our Pecan Orchard Plantation. The land in itself would undoubtedly be a good investment, because cases are on record showing increase of double and treble value on land which does not have an orchard. But this would not be of any great advantage in solving the problem of supplying more of the finest pecans unless the purchaser had the knowledge, skill and time to bring his trees to the bearing point.

Even assuming that he could himself bring the trees to bearing, his ability to market his product advantageously could not possibly equal that of a co-operative group of orchardists, who have the most skilled supervision service and the advantages regarding marketing which come from collective effort.

With several carloads to ship instead of a few barrels, the large orchardist is in a position to command the very lowest rate and to reach the market in just the right season.

Ask any member of a Citrus Fruit Exchange whether he has made more money since he joined that organization than he did before, and he will tell you an interesting story which cannot fail to convince you of the advantage of collective marketing. Yet oranges and grape fruit, the products of the members of these exchanges, are perishable in such a short time that the benefits derived are small compared with those gained by co-operative marketing of Paper Shell Pecans.

There are other advantages of collective effort which exceed even the advantages in marketing. Among them is the advantage of skilled supervision at minimum cost. The professional or business man can live in the North, enjoying the income which his specialized efforts assure, yet be growing his pecan orchard in the South under the supervision of expert pecan horticulturists whom he could not possibly afford to retain for a plantation of less than a thousand acres and with labor costs reduced to a minimum by such skillful management and the use of the most modern mechanical appliances such as tractors, etc.

He need not lose an hour from his regular business to supervise the gathering and marketing of his crop of pecans. While he makes money at his own business, his orchard unit also makes money for him without sacrificing his time.

Our Pecan Orchard Plantations Are Divided Into One-Acre Units

Each twenty-tree unit is platted off on the plan of our property and indicated with an Orchard Unit number.

In each of these units twenty pecan trees are planted.

=The purchaser of an Orchard Unit secures absolute ownership of his land=, but each entire plantation is operated as a whole. This plan has made it possible for us to clear the land, plant, cultivate and care for the young trees at a fraction of the cost which would be necessary if the units were operated separately.

Illustration at left: Upper picture shows James J. Best, Canton, Ohio, photographed June, 1918, at one of the newly planted trees on his 21 acre-units. Picture below shows same tree two years later. Great growth of head and thickening of trunk result from our intensive cultivation. ]

The cost of land, cost of clearing and cost of setting trees, etc., is of such magnitude as to be almost prohibitive to any person developing a small acreage. Under the Orchard Unit Plan this cost is reduced owing to the scope of the undertaking. It is generally conceded that when you develop orchards in large tracts of 1,000 acres each or more, the cost of machinery, equipment, live stock, management and other essentials—distributed over the whole area—is therefore far lower per acre than when you develop a limited area, such as five, ten or even fifty acres. A small orchard managed on a small scale cannot produce pecans nearly as economically as if that small orchard is a Unit under large plantation management.

The company gains also by the natural increase in value of the 2,000 acres of fertile pecan growing land which it is holding for itself under the same conditions which apply to any unit in the 5,400 being sold.

SERVICE Which Build Productive Orchards

Intensive cultivation by Mechanical Power—Mule Power—Man Power.

Two of our six tractors at work on one of the 51 acre-units owned by Mrs. C. J. Balliet, Lehighton, Pa., pulling Roderick-Lean 24 disk harrows. Note also on page 43 the mule drawn plows. ]

The Keystone Pecan Co. has set as its goal the production of pecan orchards second to none. To achieve this, all work is planned many months ahead of operations, every detail carefully considered and specifications drawn which cover every phase of the work from the planning of the tree rows, the planting of the young, dormant, budded, paper shell pecan trees, to the care and cultivation of these trees throughout the entire development period. These specifications cover the selection of trees of the standard varieties, the size and quality of the trees, the methods by which they are dug in the nursery, the size of the hole in which they are planted and the methods of planting; with especial attention to the character of the soil placed in the tree holes and the methods of replacing the same. The proper system of fertilizing when planting and at each subsequent stage is carefully outlined and all other work is done under the supervision of skilled experts.

Hoe hands augment the tractor and mule cultivation by hoeing around every tree on the plantation at approximate 10–day intervals during the growing season. ]

The cultivation at the various periods of the year and the various stages of growth is provided for and carried out with utmost care. The Keystone horticulturists insist upon intensive cultivation using mechanical, mule and man power, each in its separate sphere to complete their carefully planned system. The use of powerful tractors for plowing and harrowing with 24–disk Roderick-Lean harrows has produced results which would otherwise be unattainable. Throughout the growing season a thorough harrowing at ten-day intervals conserves the moisture, destroys noxious vegetation and so improves the condition of the soil that its sturdy, vigorous growth continues.

At certain stages tractor cultivation is augmented by mule drawn plows which in alternate plowings turn the soil to and from the trees. These are followed by Planet, Jr. Cultivators.

This work is further augmented by hoeing squads working under thorough supervision (see cut at right). The result of this intensive cultivation is growth—quick growth—substantial growth.

One of the Safest Industries—The Profit is O. K.

L. J. Cooper, President of the First National Bank of Waycross, Georgia, clearly states the whole proposition, when he says: “The pecan industry is in its infancy, but is being developed very rapidly in this immediate section. It is considered one of the safest industries in South Georgia, and the profit is O. K. once you get the trees in good bearing condition.”

Far-sighted business people are investing in pecan orchards because their investigation proves that the bearing pecan orchard is “=one of the most profitable and permanent of agricultural investments=.” See statement of Luther Burbank, the Edison of Agriculture on page 19.

=Below is a table showing a conservative estimate of the probable yield of an acre orchard unit in this district. The figures are not guaranteed, but are to the best of our knowledge and belief accurate and authentic.=

=The first column in this table refers to the number of years from planting in the orchard units.=

Per tree, based on Average yield per Average Income per average records of tree, nuts at 40c. income unit varieties developed a lb per tree