48 The Bulletin. 



scale off, even in very old trees. Perhaps the most beautiful thing- 

 about the pecan tree is its handsome foliage. The leaves are com- 

 pound in form and made up of numerous sickle-shaped, shining 

 leaflets, which are symmetrically arranged, so as to give the whole 

 leaf a beautiful, long plume-like appearance. These long plumes are 

 so versatile that they are stirred by the slightest movements of the 

 air. On a hot sultry afternoon they are like the quakenasp — a 

 natural indicator of the slightest air currents. In light breezes they 

 are in constant graceful movement, like the long, waving plumes of 

 the ostrich. The shade afforded by a pecan tree is not the dense, 

 heavy umbrage that excludes the sun and harbors dampness, but 

 the light, dappled, mackerel shade that carpets the turf with wander- 

 ing patches of sunshine. Lawn grasses flourish on the filtered sun- 

 shine falling through pecan foliage, and even blue grass can be made 

 to feel at home in the Sunny South when grown under its protecting 

 shadows. The leaves of pecan trees all shed in the fall and do 

 not litter the grass during the growing season. The wood is tough, 

 strong and heavy, weighing in dry condition 45 pounds per cubic 

 foot. The limbs are seldom broken off, even in severe storms, and 

 I have yet to see a pecan tree that has ever been uprooted. At a 

 hundred years of age it is a mere juvenile, while during that period 

 it has marked the passing of three generations of men. It would be 

 difficult to find another kind of tree possessing, so many of the char- 

 acteristics of what might be considered the ideal shade tree. 



In addition to its value as a shade tree, the pecan is a fairly early 

 as well as a heavy producer of the finest kind of nuts. The beautiful 

 shade tree pictured in Fig. 4 produced in 1907 400 pounds of 

 nuts, which sold for $80. Fig. 24 shows a pecan tree in a back 

 yard at Plymouth, E". C, that, besides giving shade for almost the 

 whole premises, yields annually in the neighborhood of six bushels 

 of splendid nuts. Pig. 25 shows another fine tree in the lawn of Mr. 

 George N. Ives, at New Bern, N. C. How much better it would 

 be to have trees of this kind in lawns and house yards, rather than 

 the unsightly sterile mulberries that one so commonly sees. Many 

 of the useless and ugly shade trees seen, especially in the coastal 

 region of the Southern States, could well give place to the beautiful 

 and productive pecan. 



Nut trees about a home, in -addition to their beauty and utility, 

 are wonderfully dear to the heart of the small boy. They are some 

 of the strong links that bind the erring hearts of growing youngsters 

 to the dear old country home. How fondly I now remember the 

 hickory trees on our old homestead! What joys they brought to my 

 boyish heart each fall, and how eagerly I gathered their crop of 



