es, the old mansion
being on a slight knoll in the center of the planting. The original
dwelling of Brookfield is now crumbling ruins, part of the building
being more than 200 years old, according to Mr. Duvall, who lives in a
modern new country home across the road from the original mansion. The
three large trees have a diameter at breast height of approximately 4
feet and all of them have a branch spread of more than 150 feet. They
are 75 to 100 feet tall. All of the trees have very narrow and pointed
leaflets characteristic of Texas and southwestern varieties, and they
are remarkably free of insect pests and diseases.

The nuts from this group of seedlings are variable in size and
appearance as might be expected of those from any group of pecan
seedlings. However, one of the most striking characteristics of all the
nuts is that the kernels are solid and well developed. This is an
unusual characteristic for pecans grown in the latitude of Washington,
D. C. In all of the varieties that are usually grown in this area none
which regularly fill their nuts well are known. Another outstanding
characteristic of all of the nuts produced by these seedlings is the
bright, attractive color of the kernel. In fact, when the nuts of Duvall
No. 1 are promptly harvested and dried in the fall, the kernels are
almost white. Nuts that stayed on the ground 6 months during the winter
of 1951-52 were harvested in late March 1952 and the kernels were still
in good condition. Some of the nuts were on display at the Rockport
meetings. Small size of nut is without question the chief undesirable
characteristic of these trees. Duvall No. 5 produces the largest nuts of
all the seedlings but they are so small that more than 100 are required
to weigh a pound. Duvall No. 1 produces the smallest nuts and almost 200
are required to weigh a pound.

_Past Yields_: The one characteristic that sets these trees apart from
all other pecan trees that we have observed in the Maryland area is that
they yield heavy crops of nuts every year. We have known the trees only
since the fall of 1951 but have observed two crops and Mr. Duvall has
observed their performance for many years. In the fall of 1951 Duvall
No. 2 yielded an estimated 8 to 10 bushels of nuts. Mr. Duvall harvested
3 bushels and he knew that 3 bushels were harvested by friends of the
family. An unknown quantity estimated at several bushels was plowed
under when wheat was sown shortly before we vis