AGIUCULTiriUL APPROPRIATION BIU., 11»24. 



141 



in the ()r<jiini/(Ml [xm-iiii production lopionM is pocarj smh. a funijus 

 elisoasc which attacks the lonvcs and the hulls of the nuts. If ofton 

 causes a (h'fohation of the tree 



Mr. hi( MANAN. ^'ou mean the oiiicr hulls ^ 



J)o<tor Tavlok. ^'<>s. 



Mr. Hr( HANAN'. The pecan ha.** two hulls, one of theru (»penin«r. 



I)o<'tor Tayi.<)I{. The shuck, they call it. .Vnd where the attack i.s 

 severe the funi^us catises the l)rownin<; and «lietin^' of the outer skin 

 of the shuck, and a premature ripeiiinj^ of it. 



Mr. lU'ciiANAN. And premature adherin*; of the shuck to the pecan 

 itself^ 



Doctor Ta^i.ok. "^'rs. .Viid without lillin;;; the meal docs not hll; 

 and. wors(» than that, the fruit huds for the next year, if the tree is 

 hadly defoliated, do not set, so that the elVect on the next year's crop 

 is had. 



Mr. BrciiANAN. !)(» you know the reason wiiy the prcnn is so 

 stuhhorn ahout hearing onlv every otlier year? 



Doctor Taylor. No one knows with exactness. l)ut that seems to 

 he a clinra<'teristic wliicli practically all of our fruit and nut heariiij; 

 trees in the forests have. W'e rarely fjet two heavy cr(»[)s in suc- 

 cession under wild conditions. One of tlie main purposes of orchard- 

 in<; and of cultivation and of sprayin^; with the pecan, as with otlier 

 tn>e fruits juid nuts, is to steady tlie production ])y mainlaininf^ a 

 i)ahuice between vegetative growth and fruiting, so that a heavy 

 crop does not exhaust tlie tree beyond the possibdity of a reasonable 

 crop the next year. In orchard trees like the peach a good deal is 

 accomplished by th(> thinning of a too-heavv crop, reducing the load 

 and tlie draft on tlie vitality of the tree. NVitli tlie necan tliat is n»)t 

 pi'acticable. and we Iuinc to acct>mplisli it through more effective 

 tillage. fei"tili/,ing, and spraying where a disease like scab is involved, 

 to steady tlu' tree through its full-crop year. 



Mr. Bl'(1L\nax. It might need irrigation? 



Doctor Taylor. It might need irrigation at critical times in some 

 places; that is a possibility. 



Mr. BrciiANAN. 1 wish you would send me bulletins, if you have 

 them, on that, and a few copies of these bulletins on pecans, or any- 

 thing else relating to them. 



Doctor Taylor. I will send you what wo have. 



Mr. Jircii.v.NAX. A good many of mv constituents are deeply inter- 

 ested in that, and oui*s is a splendid region for them, and we are 

 trying to «jrow them. 



Doctor r.VYLOR. So that ihe net increas(^ proposed h(>re is S4,000 

 f(»r th(> enlargement of that citrus-disease work. 



CITRUS CANKER ERADICATION. 



The next appropriation is page 78, for citrus canker eradication. 

 I will tisk Doctor jvellerman to discuss that. There is an apparent 

 increase in it of S.'iO. ()()() over the regular appropriation of last year. 



Mr. Anderson. You had a deficiency appropriation of .S KM). 000 

 last year i 



Doctor Taylor. You recall that at the very end of the session 

 when the exigency developed, there was a deficiency appropriation of 



