The Bulletin. 11 



will be greatly extended. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland many 

 pecan trees are found growing which have been produced from planted 

 nuts. Some of these are of enormous size and produce small though 

 well-formed nuts. The southern limit of the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the pecan tree is not definitely fixed, though it is known to 

 extend into Mexico. In Texas the pecan grows wild in great pro- 

 fusion, especially along the river bottoms of the numerous water 

 courses flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. It is in this region that the 

 great bulk of commercial pecans are produced. In the deep alluvial 

 soils of Louisiana the pecan grows wild in the forest and is one 

 of the largest and finest timber trees. From the Mississippi Valley 

 trees and nuts have been carried to the east and the pecan has become 

 naturalized throughout Georgia, Florida, Alabama and the Caro- 

 linas. 



PECAN SOILS. 



In the matter of soils the pecan is almost as cosmopolitan as the 

 strawberry. It is found growing and thriving on almost every type of 

 soil in the South. In its native habitat, in the Mississippi Valley, 

 it is found on deep, rich alluvial soils. It is on such soils that 

 it makes its greatest growth. Fig. 2 shows veteran pecan trees at 

 Mound, Louisiana. These trees measured 107 feet high and 19 

 feet in circumference shoulder high. They are still in vigorous con- 

 dition, although they are considerably over a century old. Fig. 3 

 shows another veteran pecan tree at this place which is 125 feet 

 high and has a trunk measurement of 14 feet. The tree is as vigorous 

 as a ten-year-old. In black alluvial soil at Jeanerette, Louisiana, 

 there is a pecan tree that has grown up in the open which measures 

 16 feet around the trunk shoulder high. The branches of this tree 

 have a spread of 110 feet. This tree bears immense quantities of 

 small or pewee nuts. In the forests of Louisiana along the Missis- 

 sippi River pecan trees are the largest timber trees. In rich alluvial 

 soil the trees grow to be of large size, but are usually long coming 

 into bearing.. The tree in Fig. 4 was planted by S. H. James, of 

 Mound, Louisiana, in February, 1878. The photograph shows the 

 tree in its thirtieth year. It is 10y 2 feet in circumference at 15 

 inches above the ground and is 84 feet high. This tree was not espe- 

 cially precocious, but after coming into bearing has borne very 

 large crops. In 1907 the crop of this tree was 400 pounds of nuts, 

 which sold for $80. The same year a tree in the yard of Capt. B. P. 

 Williamson, at Raleigh, bore 400 pounds of nuts, which sold for 

 $100. 



Probably an additional reason why the pecan tree grows to such 

 great size and is so productive in alluvial soils is that it finds there 

 an abundance of moisture. Soils of an alluvial nature, which have 

 been deposited by the agency of water, are very apt to hold con- 



