A peek inside Jeremy’s latest newsletter is always worthwhile…
An extract from a book usually needs a bit of context if it is to make much sense. Alas, How an Enslaved Gardener Transformed the Pecan Into a Cash Crop lacks a bit of context. It explains how “Antoine’s successful inosculation … ultimately supported the production of up to ten million pounds of pecans annually by the early 1920s, resulting in a multimillion dollar pecan industry,” and that’s good. But the extract alone tells us nothing about the enslaved man Antoine or his enslaver Roman. Still, it isn’t hard to find out more without having to read Beronda L. Montgomery’s book in its entirety, if you wish.
This also gives me an opportunity to remind you about an episode from way back in the mists of time: Pecans and history, in which I spoke to Professor James McWilliams about his book The Pecan: A History of America’s Native Nut. Chapter four is all about Antoine’s graft, though I failed to ask about that.
…see what I did there?