THE HICKORIES PECAN. 59 



priming. Failure appears due to a neglect to pack the earth closely around the roots, 

 but chiefly to exposing the roots too long to strong light, and particularly to not 

 setting the tree as deep as it grew in the nursery, thereby exposing to sunlight the 

 collar and crown of the roots. 



Of a lot of grafted and budded pecans sent in February, 1892, from Mississippi 

 to Texas, Mr. Tyng had the best results in transplanting with those whose taproots 

 had been cut in 1891, and which had been grafted near the crown. These all made 

 thrifty growth. The ring-budded trees came next in order of success, while those 

 having long taproots, and especially where the young tree was grafted some distance 

 from the ground, a very large proportion failed to start at all. 



CULTIVATION. 



This should be thorough during the first three years, or until the trees are of good 

 size. Cultivate as for the cotton crop and keep the grass and weeds from around the 

 trees by hoeing or mulching. Trees thus cultivated in Mississippi that are 13 years 

 old have grown to be 1 foot in diameter and yield from a barrel to a barrel and a half 

 of nuts annually. Other trees of the same age and not cultivated are but 4 inches 

 in diameter. To secure the best results, manure, care, and cultivation must be bestowed 

 upon the trees. 



FERTILIZERS. 



Good, well-rotted stable manure, ground bone, old bones crushed, or cotton seed 

 make acceptable fertilizers. A mixture of well-rotted stable manure and pure bone 

 meal has given excellent results. 



DISTANCE. 



Most cultivators agree that pecan trees should not be planted less than 40 feet 

 apart, and on strong soil a distance of 60 feet would be better. A young grove at 

 Morgan City, La., planted 50 feet apart, has branches intermingling and the owner, 

 B. M. Young, regrets they were not planted 100 feet apart. 



Mr. Tyng, of Texas, holds to the opposite practice of planting close together, 

 or at most only a medium distance apart, and thus writes: "Prune back to pollards 

 and you get the largest proportion of new wood to a given area of ground, because 

 trees can thus be set closer together, and the pecan produces its fruit only on 

 new wood. Some writers assert that the pecan will not stand such pruning; those 

 writers never tried to prune pecan sprouts out of a cotton field. Such experiments 

 as I have been able to make appear to show that the pecan tree can be pruned or 

 trained to any shape desired, whether low, spreading, pollard, or even flat espalier. 

 I do not know how it can be dwarfed, but hope to learn." 



AGE OF BEARING AND THE YIELD. 



The pecan occasionally bears a few nuts at an early age. A tree on the 

 plantation of H. J. Huck, at Austin, Tex., bore two perfect nuts at 2 years old 

 from the seed; others have borne at 5 years old. Nuts are often borne at 6 or 7 

 years of age, but a paying crop can not be expected at an earlier age than 10 years 

 under the most favorable circumstances. The crops usually increase until the tree 

 arrives at full bearing at the age of 20, 30, or 40 years. The tree grows rapidly, 

 reaching a height of from 20 to 25 feet within ten years. Trees 3 years old, when 

 taken from a nursery in 1873, began to bear in the garden of Charles Mohr six 

 years later, and the crop of less than half a bushel in 1883 has increased steadily 

 until 1890, when it was 2J bushels of nuts of a quality that would command 15 

 cents per pound. Another tree in his immediate neighborhood, from a nut planted 

 in 1867 and left undisturbed, now has a girth of 66 inches and yields from 3 to 4 

 bushels of nuts of a high grade, commanding a price of 20 cents per pound. 



The annual crop of a tree in full bearing is variously reported as from 1 to 20 

 bushels. 



