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ci.i] industry; certain enthusiasts soon become enamored with the 

 possibilities in the southern parts of the United States for pecan cul- 

 ture, and they immediately transplant it into new and untried regions, 

 and as a result their problems have become legion. 



The work of the Department of Agriculture in nut culture has de- 

 Ncioped really around' the growing indtistries of the country ; primarily, 

 around the pecan, and secondly, around the almond and the walnut, 

 for these are the more important, commercially. Naturally, the most 

 pressing problems arise in connection with growing industries ; they 

 have growing pains which have to be eased the same as with small boys. 



The Department of Agriculture has therefore found itself in the 

 position of seeking answers to numerous questions which have been 

 made in connection with these developing industries. I believe that 

 we have contributed verj^ materially to the knowledge of varieties, 

 particularly as regards their adaptation to different geographic loca- 

 tions. Wc have also as.sisted the industries to solve some of their 

 probleniis of cultivation, particularly of propagation, :\nd also the 

 problems growing out of the maintenance of soil fertility. With a new 

 cro]), in a new environment, it is always a problem to know how to 

 manage the soil, and this is one of the leading lines of activity in 

 the field', at the present time. In the Bureau of Plant Industry, two 

 offices, that of Horticulture and Pomology and that of Soil Fertility, 

 arc co-operating in the solution of the soil fertility problems in the 

 pci-an regions. 



Of course, as the industry developed and became establislied, the 

 n itural enemies of the pecan and of tlie other nut trees asserted them- 

 selves, as a result of which there have been set u|) iinestigations in 

 tiie Bureau of Pl.int Industry to study the life histories of the various 

 fungi that attack pecans; and outside of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 the Bureau of Kntomology has been devoting time to the study of the 

 control of insect enemies. So that, at the present, the department is 

 so organized that three or four important lines of attack are being 

 made upon problems of these industries. Thus, while at the beginning 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in 1901, there was no single, in- 

 dividuil person devoting his time and attention to the problems of 

 nut culture, .it |)resent there are quite a group of individuals giving 

 their whole time. I feel we are making progress in the work, and 

 wliile we may be lagging very much behind what we should like to 

 do, we are assisting as best we can, and are at least keeping in sight 

 of the industry, as it goes forward. 



