130 Journal of the Department op Agriculture. 



Wlien the seedling is about a foot above ground, the tap root, 

 which is enormous, will be found to be from 2h to 3 feet long ; during 

 the season, when the tree is dormant, this root may be severed at 

 about 1| foot below the surface, and the tree allowed to remain in 

 the ground for another year and then planted out in the orchard a1 

 distances of from 30 to 60 feet apart, according to the type of soil 

 in which the tree is to remain. It reaches in 10 to 15 years under 

 favourable conditions a height of 50 to 70 feet, and specimens are in 

 existence 9 feet in diameter and 100 to 170 feet high. Although a 

 few nuts are borne after 4 to 5 years of growth, anything like a crop 

 is not expected till the tree reaches the age of from 8 to 12 years, 

 when the yield may reach anything from one to three bushels of fruit, 

 increasing as the tree gets older, up to say 20 bushels. 



The pecan, like the walnut, is very long lived, and in dee\) fertile 

 eoil will grow and bear for a century or so. 



Soil. — It thrives best in deep fertile sandy or clayey loams, 

 l>ottom lands near river-beds and on alluvial deposits. But althoTigh 

 it favours this type of country, it has a fairly big range of growth, 

 and fine specimens are found where the soil is deep and of sTich a 

 nature as to admit the roots easily, on foot hills, and even up the sides 

 of what may be termed mountains. Though partial to fairly moist, 

 the soil must be well drained and the water-content always kept on 

 the move. The tap root has the reputation of seeking water at great 

 depths. 



Planting.- — If the rainfall is not abundant, moisture must be 

 supplied by irrigation. In planting out, a hole 3 feet square and 

 about the same depth should be dug, the best soil being placed in 

 contact with the roots and well stamped throughout, except the few 

 inches of the uppermost layer. Care must l)e taken that the trees are 

 not planted too shallow. The nursery mark should even be a little 

 below the general surface of the ground and the soil piled somewhat 

 up the stem and allowed to remain so. 



Grafting and Budding. — As with most other trees, the product 

 of seedlings, however carefully selected, is variable, so that the work- 

 ing over of proved varieties is resorted to. In the infancy of what 

 might be called the domestication of the pecan, great difficulty was 

 experienced in obtaining a fair percentage of "takes" in either the 

 grafting or budding method of working over varieties to seedling 

 stocks. This difficulty has now Ifeen practically overcome, and with 

 a little extra care good results are obtainable. After some study and 

 experimentation it was found that bud-wood should be taken from 

 the previous year's growth, that the bud should be surrounded by a 

 large area of bark and that the plate or patch bud gave better results 

 than almost any other kind of bud, and instead of the T slit, as used 

 for shield budding, the H or side W gave the best results. The old 

 annular ring or flute bud is also good. The science and art of the 

 whole operation consists in cutting the buds exactly to fit the incision 

 made on the stocks. The " Metrogreffe " or bud-cutting calipers 

 might be used effectively in this operation. The patch or plate bud 

 is simply a square or parallelogram of bark cut from the stock, and. 

 a similar piece cut from the scion, with the bud in the centre and 

 fitted exactly into the wound made by removing the piece of bark 

 from the stock. In the upright H bud the flaps of bark from the 



