CHAPTER V 

 SOILS AND FERTILIZERS FOR PECANS 



The pecan adapts itself to a very wide range of soil con- 

 ditions, few other trees surpassing it in this respect. In the 

 early stages of the industry, however, very diverse opinions 

 existed. Some considered it impossible to grow pecans with 

 any degree of success except on soils similar to those on which 

 the indigenous forests were found. A few growers contended 

 that a pecan tree would not bear until its tap-root reached 

 permanent water. Others took the contrary view that the 

 pecan came into bearing earlier and was more prolific upon 

 the uplands removed from the alluvial soils of the river val- 

 leys. Subsequent experiences have shown that the better 

 classes of both these general soil types, the great areas of 

 uplands usually planted to corn and cotton and the flood 

 plains of the river basins, are well adapted to pecan-culture. 



The pecan requires a well-drained soil for the production 

 of maximum crops. It is acid-tolerant, making better growth 

 on soils slightly acid than on those neutral or alkaline. Pecan 

 trees cannot be grown successfully on wet ^ ^ craw-fishy ' ' ill- 

 drained land where stagnant water stands on or just beneath 

 the surface a greater part of the time. Because the pecan 

 grows so luxuriantly along banks where the river frequently 

 overflows for weeks at a time does not indicate the adaptability 

 of this nut to wet and sour soils. Careful observations show 

 that these lands are considerably above water level, except 



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