The Bulletin. 21 



Test Farms have proved conclusively that the fall and early winter 

 plantings give more living trees and better growth than those set at 

 any other time. Since transplanted pecan trees are very tardy in 

 budding out, those set late hardly get started into growth before the 

 fall and winter overtakes them. The fall-set trees form calluses in 

 the mild spells in winter and spring and are thus able to make an 

 earlier and more substantial growth. There will be many less blanks 

 to fill after fall transplanting. 



SUMMER TREATMENT OF TRANSPLANTED TREES. 



As soon as preparation and cultivation begin for the cultivated 

 crops between the trees they should have the ground loosened about 

 them to retain moisture. This can be done incidentally in the tillage 

 of the maintenance crop. In this way the trees will receive numerous 

 cultivations throughout the season. The ground should never be 

 allowed to harden and bake about them any more than about the 

 plants of the crop between the trees. During the summer no pruning 

 at all should be done. The trees should be encouraged to make all 

 the leaves they will, no matter what their position on top or trunk. 

 The more leaf development we can get, the greater the root growth 

 and the sooner the tree becomes established. After a vigorous root 

 system is developed it is an easy matter to get the top into proper 

 form, for the leaders then shoot up very rapidly. From observing 

 the growth of our large variety collections on the State Test Farms 

 I find that pecan trees require very little pruning and shaping. Like 

 hickories, they have a fine, erect habit of growth, with just enough 

 branching and spread to give fine shade and at the same time expose 

 their developing fruits to the maximum of air and sunshine. It is 

 very seldom under conditions of nature that we find a pecan tree 

 whose form would have been improved by pruning. Fig. 3, 4, 24 

 and 25 amply illustrate this point. 



PECAN FERTILIZERS. 



The planter can easily tell from the amount of annual growth 

 whether or not his trees are making the increase in size that they 

 should. The yield of the maintenance crops between the tree rows 

 will also be a good indicator. If plenty of fertilizers are applied 

 and good truck crops raised, the question of fertilizing the trees 

 will not need to be considered. If on the other hand the soil is 

 poor it will be necessary to make a fertilizer application especially 

 for the trees. In any case they should not be allowed to starve and 

 become stunted. My observations lead me to believe that a pecan 

 tree does very little in the way of fruiting until it gets to a con- 

 siderable size. Small, runty trees do not fruit, no matter what 

 their age. We can hasten the fruiting. time by pushing the tree up 



