JUGLANDACE^. 



SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



139 



The wood of Hlcoria Pecan is heavy, hard, not very strong, brittle and close-grained, with 

 numerous thin medullary rays and bands of one or two rows of large open ducts marking the layers of 



annual growth. 



It is light brown tinged with red, with thin lighter brown sapwood- The specific 



gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.7180, a cubic foot weighing 44.75 pounds. Less valuable than 

 the wood of most of the other species of Hickory, it makes excellent fuel, and is now occasionally used 

 in the manufacture of wagons and agricultural implements. 



The nuts, which vary in size and shape, in the thickness of their shells and in quality, are an 

 important article of commerce. They are usually gathered for market from wild tiees, Texas producing 

 the largest quantity ; but in recent years orchards of Pecan-trees raised from selected nuts have been 

 planted in many of the southern states.^ 



Growing remote from the Atlantic seaboard, Hlcoria Pecan was not known to the early Europeans 

 who explored the American forests ; in 1704 Penicaut, a follower of Bienville, noticed the nuts among 

 the fruits used in the village of the Natchez Indians on the Mississippi/ and they were described by 

 Charlevoix ^ and Le Page du Pratz ^ in the narratives of their travels in Louisiana ; and, according to 

 Aiton, the tree was introduced into European gardens in 1766. 



splitting nearly to the base, remains on the branch after discharging broad, with a prominent basal point. Van Deman is a broad obo- 



the nut ; this is oblong, two inches long, two thirds of an inch broad, vate nut short-pointed at the full apex, gradually narrowed at the 



short-pointed, slightly compressed, slightly or conspicuously angled, rounded base, about two inches long and two thirds of an inch 



and light reddish brown, with thin walls and partitions, large irreg- broad. Stuart is rather fuller below than above the middle, nearly 



ular lacunae, and a sweet kernel. 



equally short-pointed at both ends, very symmetrical, one and one 



^ Deep sandy loam, into which its long roots, sometimes descend- third inches long and three quarters of an inch broad. Beauty is 



ing to a depth of twenty feet, may penetrate freely, is best suited slightly obovate, somewhat angled at the full short-pointed apex, 



for the cultivation of the Pecan-tree, while boggy land with water gradually and regularly narrowed at the base, an inch and three 



standing near the surface is least favorable to its vigorous growth. quarters long and three quarters of an inch broad. (See The Pe- 



The trees are usually set from forty to eighty feet apart in straight can and How to Grow It, 58, t. 4 ; see, also, Molir, Garden and 



rows, according to the quality of the soil, the best soil supporting Forest, ii. 669. — Van Deman, Rep. U. S. Dept. Agric. 1890, 415, 



the greatest number of trees. Seedling trees one or two years old t. 1, 2.) 



are generally used ; and some of the most experienced Pecan 



In the forest the Pecan-tree, like other Hickories, does not grow 



planters recommend cutting back the tap-root to the length of fif- rapidly. The log specimen in the Jesup Collection of North 



teen or twenty inches to make it branch and thus increase the num- American "Woods in the American Museum of Natural History, 



ber of roots. In order to keep the ground clear of weeds, a crop New York, grown in Missouri, is twenty-four inches in diameter 



of cotton, corn, or potatoes is often grown among the trees during inside the bark, and shows one hundred and twenty-nine layers of 



their first year ; and a crop of clover or cow-peas may be plowed annual growth, of which twenty are of sapwood. In cultivation, 



under the second year with advantage to the young trees. Wlien however, and when abundantly fertilized, it grows rapidly and 



the trees are three or four years old the ground can be laid down begins to produce fruit in small quantities at the end of eight or 



to permanent pasture and grazed with sheep or calves, and the ten years. Two Pecan-trees, planted in 1872, when two years old, 



orchard will require no further care beyond the fertilization of by Dr. Charles Mohr in his garden in Mobile, in sandy land origi- 



the trees to increase their productiveness. The seedling trees are nally covered with Pine-trees, are now from sixty-five to seventy 



raised from selected nuts planted as soon as ripe, in rows four feet feet high, with trunks five feet eleven inches and five feet eight 



apart, and are covered with three or four inches of soil ; during inches in circtm^ference three feet above the ground ; and four 



the first year they grow from eight to fifteen inches in height. trees in the same garden, planted in 1880, are all about fifty feet 



Seedlings vary in the size and quality of the nuts they produce, high with trunks which, at three feet above the ground, girth four 



and even when raised from the finest nuts produce small and infe- feet nine inches, four feet five inches, four feet eight inches, five 



rior fruit. The best results are obtained by using plants grafted feet nine inches, and five feet five inches, 



with scions taken from selected trees, although the first cost of ^ » Ug out de trois sortes de noyers ; il y en a dont les noix sont 



such plants is high. The Pecan can be grafted by a ring-graft grosses comme le poing, et qui servent h faire du pain pour leur 



of the bark, by tongue and by cleft-grafting ; but the operation is soupe, mais les meilleures ne sont gu^res plus grosses que le poulce ; 



delicate and difficult, and often fails unless performed by an expe- ils les appellent pacanes." (Margray, Memoires et Documents, v. 



rienced hand. 



445 [Description du Village de Natchez].') 



A pound of Pecan nuts usually contains from eighty to one hun- 



une Noix de la longueur & de la figure 



dred and twenty nuts, although forty to sixty of the largest nuts gros Gland. H y en a dont la coque est fort mince, d'autres 



sometimes weigh a pound. Several named varieties, selected on I'ont plus dure & plus dpaisse, & c'est autant de ddfalqud sur le 



account of their size, the thinness of their shells, and the quality fruit : elles sont meme un peu plus petites. Toutes sont d'un gout 



of their kernels, are now cultivated. Columbian is slightly broader fin and delicat ; I'Arbre, qui les porte, vient fort haut : son bois, 



above than below the middle, short-pointed at the apex, full and son dcorce, I'odeur & la figure de ses feuilles m'ont paru assez 



romided at the base, sometimes two inches and a quarter long and semblables aux Noyers d'Europe." (Journal d'un Voyage fait par 



one inch and an eighth broad. Jewett is a slender acuminate nut ordredu Roi dans VAmtrique Septentrionale, vi. 141.) 

 nearly two and one half inches long and seven eighths of an inch ^ "II y a encore les Pacaniers dont le fruit est une esp^ce de 



