28 The Bulletin. 



is bound to go down into the soil until it finds the permanent water 

 table. The tap-root is necessarily shortened in transplanting, but 

 when the young tree begins to start, one or more new tap-roots are 

 formed and begin to grow downward. In a dynamited hole ])ecan 

 roots find a suitable place for rapid development. Fig. 10 shows a 

 diagramatic representation of a tree planted with and without dyna- 

 mite. In the entire process of transplanting pecan trees the roots 

 should never be exposed to sun and wind, but should be covered and 

 kept moist until they are finally planted in the orchard. Rich top- 

 soil should be used in filling in the hole and should be firmly packed 

 about the roots. 



SELF-FERTILITY AND SELF-STERILITY OF PECAN TREES. 



One of the points about pecan trees concerning which least is 

 known is the self-fertility and self-sterility of the bloom. From the 

 nature and position of the flowers it is evident that tliey depend very 

 largely on the wind for pollination. In Fig. 13 can be seen the long, 

 pendulous staminate catkins which produce the pollen, while at tlie 

 terminal of the new shoots are shown the pistillate flowers. All the 

 flower buds of the pecan are produced the year previous to fruiting. 

 The staminate ones are in small lateral buds and the pistillate ones 

 in the large terminal buds, which contain also the leaves. The stami- 

 nate buds start at the terminal and rang-e down the branches for a 

 distance of from 12 inches to nearly 3 feet. See Fig. 12. Since 

 these lateral buds are formed and matured before the terminals, there 

 is less danger of their being killed in the fall by early frost before 

 the tree becomes dormant. The terminal buds which contain the pis- 

 tillate bloom are always last to mature, and therefore run the great- 

 est risk. In late-maturing and therefore tender varieties the ])istil- 

 late flowers may be killed in the fall, while the staminate ones ma- 

 ture, go safely through winter, and bloom out normally the follow- 

 ing spring. A variety to be a satisfactory nut jjruducer must at 

 least be hardy for the locality in which it is growing. This explains 

 why many southern varieties, although vigorous, fail to produce nuts 

 in northern localities. Their pistillate blooms, which later become 

 the nuts, are killed in the fall because they cannot ripen and become 

 dormant before frost. 



When pecan trees begin to bud out i]i spring it will be noticed 

 that the terminals open first, and are followed a little later by the 

 lateral buds, which open first nearest the terminals and then in suc- 

 cession down the stem. This gradiuil ])rogressi(iu in llic budding-out 

 of the staminate catkins lengthens the pollen-producing period and 

 insures fertilization. There are many peculiarities of wind-polli- 

 nated plants that for the pecan have not yet been thoroughly worked 



