138 Eleventh Annual Report 



Horticultural value. The pecan like the other hickories de- 

 velops a large tap root, which makes it difficult to transplant. It 

 should be propagated if possible by planting germinated nuts. It 

 is the most rapid in growth of any of the hickories. The cultiva- 

 tion of the pecan for the nut crop has received considerable atten- 

 tion in the Gulf States for many years and improved varieties have 

 been secured by selection. Pecan culture has proven profitable in 

 the southern States, especially when the improved varieties have 

 been grown. 



It is doubtful if pecan culture would prove profitable in Indiana, 

 since when the cost of production in Indiana is compared with that 

 of the Gulf States it will be found that our land is much higher in 

 price, labor, which is an important item, is also much higher priced 

 and that the crop is more liable to fail on account of climatic con- 

 ditions. 



Information from reliable people who reside in Posey County 

 and who are familiar with the fruiting of the pecan in that part of 

 the country, shows that only about one-fourth of the native trees 

 ever bear fruit, and only about one out of every ten trees is a profit- 

 able nut bearing tree. While a few trees bear nuts every year, it 

 is, however, the exception. They say, also, that the winters in In- 

 diana are too severe to make pecan culture profitable. 



2. Hicoria cordiformis (Wangenheim) Britton. Pignut. Pig 

 Hickory. Tight Bark Hickory. (Carya cordiformis (Wangen- 

 heim) K. Koch.) Plate 27. Bark on the trunk thin, tight, usually 

 a light gray, sometimes darker, with shallow fissures, rarely sepa- 

 rating into thin, short plates; twigs at first greenish, somewhat 

 hairy, soon becoming smooth or nearly so and a yellowish-brown, 

 often a reddish-brown by the end of the season, becoming before 

 the leaves appear usually a light gray brown or the same tinged 

 with red; winter buds oblong-ovoid, flattened, taper-pointed and 

 oblique at the apex, scales 4-6, in pairs, valvate, covered with yel- 

 low glandular scales, somewhat pubescent; leaves 1.5-2.5 dm. (6-10 

 inches) long, petioles and main axis more or less pubescent; leaf- 

 lets 5-9, lanceolate to oblong or obovate, 4-15 cm. (2-6 inches) long, 

 more or less curved, sessile or the terminal one sometimes stalked, 

 narrowed to the oblique base, taper-pointed, yellow green and 

 smooth above at maturity, paler and more or less pubescent beneath 

 especially along the prominent veins, generally covered with glands; 

 fruit globose or slightly obovoid, 2-3.5 cm. (34-13^ inches) long, 

 generally 4-winged from the apex to about the middle, sometimes 

 the wings extend nearly to the base, more or less thickly covered 



