Since these are gone she has had
very few or no fruit at all and the squirrels got them, if there were
any. I pollinated a lot of blossoms that I could reach from the ground
and in the fall they were quite loaded with clusters of fruit, but much
smaller than those on the first tree described. They were, however, of
better quality. There was also a small number of fruit in the high
branches of the trees and some of these the squirrels cut off, but
apparently just for fun as I did not see any sign of their eating them.

I am writing this in St. Petersburg, Florida. I boarded first with a man
who describes himself on his card as a tree surgeon doing grafting and
budding, spraying, fertilizing and pruning. This year he took the agency
for the Mahan pecan and has sold quite a number at $5 each, with one
order for twenty trees. These are put out by the Monticello, Florida
nursery. The history of their buying the Mahan pecan tree, and a picture
of the parent tree in its original home, is given in the files of the
American Nut Journal, an index of the seventeen volumes of which I
completed this year. Mr. Stewart sets out all the trees he sells and is
meticulous in doing so. Nearby is a good sized Mahan tree with still
quite a crop of nuts (in November) after a good many have been gathered.
Mr. Stewart speaks well of this pecan tree as a good bearer, with nuts
well-filled and of good quality. I haven't cracked enough of them to
verify these statements but they are offered by the Monticello Nursery
in fifty-pound lots. They sell at Webb's in this city for 65 cents a
pound. Schleys I believe sell for 45 cents at the same place. The Mahan
is, I think, the largest pure pecan, about a third larger than the
Schley and those I have seen were equally thin-shelled. I mention this
because I had supposed that pecans did not do well as far south as this.
Yet I see many trees about the city, some with fair crops on them and
some in good foliage, though many, or all of them I have observed, are
partially defoliated by the fall web worm. I saw one fine tree that I
was told was a Stuart. The Moneymaker also is said to do well here. I
speak particularly of the Mahan because it has not, so far as I know,
had the unqualified approval of the experts. But what has? And I don't
know that it deserves it.

It is a joy to be among the many citrus fruit trees, the guavas,
papayas, avocadoes, loquats, surinam cherries, new and strange fruits
and flowers