An Enslaved Gardener Transformed the Pecan into a Cash Crop

https://lithub.com/how-an-enslaved-gardener-transformed-the-pecan-into-a-cash-crop/

by PaulHoule • 5 months ago

72 29 5 months ago

bdcravens• 5 months ago

If composed of two parts, there is often a scion—the upper or shoot portion of a plant—which is joined with a separate rootstock to produce, if successful, a healthy grafted plant.

And like that, I finally figured out why Toyota named their offshoot brand Scion.

stockresearcher2• 5 months ago

Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson planted pecans at their plantations

At the time of Washington and Jefferson, they were known in English as Illinois nuts. And, living in Illinois, a few years ago I bought a selection of 2-3 year old seedlings of Illinois-native trees from the state department of natural resources to plant on my property. Pecan seedlings were included...

When people say that pecan trees grow slowly, they are understating reality. Mine are growing at maybe an inch a year. I get one or two small leaves at the top. No branches yet. I planted a plum tree near one at the exact same time and it has doubled in height.

infinitewars2• 5 months ago

The natural range of the Pecan is somewhat limited, so unless you're in southern Illinois or by the river, it might not be its preferred habitat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan#/media/File:Carya_illino...

They're actually considered a fast growing tree when in the right place--1 to 2 ft per year at first.

stockresearcher2• 5 months ago

I had never heard about it being called a fast-growing tree :)

I am outside the natural range, but close to a [different] river and feel that with climate change it should be fairly ok. But it appears I am wrong!

burnt-resistor2• 5 months ago

Pecan trees grow best in hot climates. They can tolerate some freezes. In ideal conditions, they produce nuts in 4 years. I'm thinking in colder climates, greenhouse starting in larger containers for longer is basically required. My grandparents had 50' tall pecan trees in zone 8a that dropped about 8-10 lbs. of nuts per tree per year. I'd guess local critters walked off with a fraction small enough to not matter because cleaning up was a semi-nuisance but not as bad as cleaning up olive- and plum-like trees from sidewalks.

kleton• 5 months ago

Article doesn't say the "trick" - it was a technique now known as inlay grafting.

Arainach• 5 months ago

Is this article missing opening context?

First line:

Pecan nuts were already a dietary staple for Native Americans in various parts of what is now the United States before Antoine’s innovation established the basis for a commercial pecan industry

Who is "Antoine"? Is it a first name? A last name? It doesn't ever seem to say.

wswope• 5 months ago

The missing context is the title.

ceejayoz• 5 months ago

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-...

A lot of slaves had no last name, or only their owners’.

mathgeek• 5 months ago

Not to sound pedantic (I believe this is a very important distinction), but as far as I'm aware most slaves were not _given_ last names by their slavers. They often had (if taken into slavery) or were given (if born in slavery) their own names within their own cultures.

themgt• 5 months ago

This article from 2017 goes over the same story but provides better context: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/slave-gardener-turned-pec...

pcrh• 5 months ago

Thanks, that was a better-written article than the above.

svat• 5 months ago

At the bottom of the article, it says:

From When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery. Copyright © 2026. Available from Henry Holt and Co., an imprint of Macmillan

Usually this means that the article is actually a book excerpt (often the first chapter of the book), and in this case we can find online the book's table of contents:

    Preface
    Introduction: Life as Testimony
    1. Pecan Trees and the Roots of Stolen Botanical Knowledge
    2. Sycamore Trees as a Path to Freedom
    3. The Secret Lives of Willow Trees
    4. Poplar Trees Bear Strange Fruit
    5. The Sweeping Promise of Mulberry
    6. A Haven for Community in Historic Oak Trees
    7. Cotton Shrubs and Seeds of Subversion
    8. The Gift of Apple Trees
    Conclusion: Black Botanical Legacy Reclaimed

Usually the first chapter is self-contained, but in this case possibly there was some context about “Antoine’s innovation” in the Introduction that precedes the first chapter.

lostlogin• 5 months ago

‘working by candlelight would have provided Antoine a focused, well-lit environment for the delicate dissection of two seedlings’

I think the author needs to try using a candle for light.

dylan604• 5 months ago

Candlelight doesn't mean a single solitary candle. As an example, here's the famous scene Kubrik's Barry Lyndon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQE73GDo4So

_diyar• 5 months ago

Yet this is an infamously dimly-lit scene.

behringer• 5 months ago

Often a sign of AI writing.

seizethecheese• 5 months ago

To modern ears it seems dim, but to contemporary ears it would be very bright compared to normal nighttime!

gsf_emergency_6• 5 months ago

Similar, but also different, to the story of the guy who discovered how to scale vanilla pollination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Albius

burnt-resistor2• 5 months ago

Bittersweet sad-interesting.

Grandparents had 6 paper shell "Pawnee" trees producing 50 lbs. / 22 kg of nuts per year with no special maintenance. USDA hardiness zone 8A and humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). They fell on their own once a year.

An Enslaved Gardener Transformed the Pecan into a Cash Crop

Related Stories