CHAPTER XV. 



THE NUTS. 



Comparatively little attention has been paid to the growing 

 of any of the nut trees in this country, with the exception of the 

 English walnut. Most of the American nuts, except the English 

 walnut, that reach our markets are the chance productions of the 

 wild groves. It is undoubtedly true that there is a large sec- 

 tion of this country where nuts of some kind might be grown 

 to advantage. This is especially true of rough land in some of 

 the Middle and Southern states. 



Nearly all of the cultivation of nuts in this country up to the 

 present time has been done by the growing of seedling trees, 

 and little attention has been paid to grafting, which for many 

 years was regarded as a very difficult matter with all nuts. Now 

 that successful grafting methods have been discovered, there is 

 less excuse for planting seedlings. The leading nurserymen now 

 offer named varieties of the principal nut trees, or else of trees 

 grown from selected seed. 



The Pecan. 



The pecan (Hicoria pecan) is an important native nut that 

 is used largely and gaining in popularity. It is a near relative 

 of the hickories, several of which produce edible nuts. In its 

 native habitat, the tree grows to a large size and the wood is 

 highly esteemed for the same purposes as the hickory. It is 

 native to a large part of the Mississippi Valley, Eastern and 

 Central Texas and a portion of Mexico. It is cultivated through- 

 out most of this section south of Central Illinois and also in the 

 Southern states south of the Potomac river. Further north it 

 is occasionally grown, but not profitably, and Central Iowa may 

 be regarded as its northernmost limit. 



The fruit of the pecan is borne on the new growth. The male 

 flowers are at the base of the shoot and the female flowers near 

 the end. The flowers appear with the leaves and are seldom 

 injured by spring frosts. Trees from seed generally bear when 



