PECAN ROSETTE IN RELATION TO SOIL DEFICIENCIES. 3 
clay, and clay soils of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, where 
the disease is so widely prevalent. 
Quite as striking a difference in the distribution of the disease was 
found within the States of Georgia and Florida. A very large pro- 
portion of the diseased trees, probably 90 per cent or more, was 
found on the hilltops and slopes. Occasional cases or groups of cases 
were on bottom lands, but all of these that have been examined have 
been found to be growing in deep sand or else in a clay or sand clay 
underlain at 2 to 3 feet by sand. It was observed also that wherever 
the conditions were such as to produce any quantity of rosette, the 
weeds or crops grow- 
ing in the tree rows 
had a stunted, yel- 
low, unthrifty ap- 
pearance as com- 
pared with those 
growing among 
healthy trees and 
that large, healthy 
trees, 5 to 10 years 
old, frequently 
showed marked signs 
of the disease the first 
year after being 
transplanted. On the 
other hand, trees 
planted in low places 
in which humus and 
fertility had accu- 
mulated from year 
to year were uni- 
formly yigorous, Fic. 2.—The tree shown in figure 1 after receiving the 
> y] ‘ 4 
2 stable-manure treatment for one and one-half seasons. 
thrifty, and free July, 1917. 
from the disease. 
While apparently contradictory cases occasionally are seen, 90 per 
cent or more are surrounded by conditions that plainly indicate a de- 
ficiency of humus, plant-food material, and moisture. Either where 
the soil or topography is such that there is a deficiency of this com- 
bination, or where the tree’s condition is such as to interfere with its 
obtaining an adequate supply of plant-food material, the result ap- 
pears to be the same, i. e., a yellowing of the foliage, a shortening of 
the internodes, a pushing out of dormant buds, and in many cases a 
dying back of the twigs and branches. 
The facts pointed very strongly to the rosetting of pecans being an 
evidence of bad soil conditions—a deficiency in humus, fertility, and 
