THE HICKORIES PECAN. 49 



PECAN (Hicoria pecan Brittou; Carya olivatformis Nuttall). 



The pecan is found native in the United States on the river bottoms of an obliquely 

 set area, having near its four extremities the cities of Davenport, Iowa; Chattanooga, 

 Teun. ; Laredo, Tex. ; and the region of the head waters of the Colorado River of Texas. 

 From Davenport to Chattanooga the northeastern boundary of this area is quite 

 irregular, the growth extending much farther north in the valleys of the larger 

 tributaries of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers than in the intervening higher land. 

 A few specimens are found as far up the Ohio as Covington, Ky. Prom Chattanooga 

 to a point on the Rio Grande below Laredo, the boundary is also irregular, reaching 

 but a short distance south into Alabama in the valley of the Tepnessee, then skirting 

 the easterly edge of the Mississippi River bottoms to Vicksburg, below which point 

 the tree is not found native along the Mississippi. From Vicksburg across to the Rio 

 Grande the pecan shuns the alluvial lands near the Gulf which are subject to long- 

 continued overflow. It does not reach the Gulf at any point, but is often found 

 within 75 miles of the coast, while in the valley of the Rio Grande it is not found 

 within 100 miles of the Gulf. The Mexican district is here adjacent to that of the 

 United States and extends an unknown distance up the Salado, a tributary of the 

 Rio Grande, and farther into the interior. From the mouth of the Salado, the southern 

 limit in the United States, to the head waters of the Colorado of Texas, the boundary 

 is not definitely known. Thence back to Davenport it is comparatively direct, though 

 fringed out toward the north where it crosses the streams. The tree shows its most 

 thrifty growth in the rich black soil of the river banks ill this area. It is found in 

 irregular, open groves and strips of woodland, bordering the streams and moist lands, 

 on slight elevations not long nor often inundated. Its abundance varies from a few 

 scattered trees on some of the river farms to groves of several thousand trees on 

 others. 



It is reported to do well on rich soil, both wet and dry, whether high or low, stiff 

 clay or porous sand, although best in rich, alluvial, creek and river bottoms. When 

 not crowded by other trees the pecan attains great size. Single trees are reported 4 

 feet in diameter, and 70 feet in spread of limbs. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, has photographs of very large forest pecan trees growing on either side 

 of the Wabash River. One on the Illinois side of the river in Wabash County is 

 16 feet in circumference above the swell ; another on the Indiana side is 30 feet in 

 circumference at the ground and 18 feet in girth above the swell, with a height of 

 50 feet to the lowest limb. Mr. Ridgway says: "The pecan tree is the largest of the 

 hickories, and one of the largest trees of the forest. With the single exception of the 

 white elm the pecan tree has the most widely expanded head of any tree, in proportion 

 to its size; while in altitude and majestic appearance, the largest and finest elms 

 are no comparison to it. The dome-like head may occasionally be seen reared con- 

 spicuously above the surrounding tree tops, some trees being as much as 175 feet high 

 with a spread of 100 feet or more. The trunk, like that of the shagbark hickories, 

 Hicoria ovata and H. laciniosa, is very long, often measuring more than 50 feet and 

 occasionally 80 or 90 feet to the first limb." 



VARIATIONS IN SIZE OF TREK AND IN SIZE AND QUALITY OP FRUIT. 



The largest trees are reported upon the northeastern area of its native growth. 

 But the largest and thinnest shelled nuts have been received from Mississippi, 

 Louisiana, and Texas. R. C. Koerber, a large dealer in pecans in New York City, 

 who has personal knowledge of the tree and its habit in Texas, says: "The largest 

 and best pecans come from Louisiana. They reach the market earlier than do those 

 from Texas and are of large size, measuring from 1| to 2 inches in length by three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, in the middle. The quantity marketed from this 

 State, however, is very limited. "In Bee County and adjacent territory in Texas 

 6480 1 



