80 Tecan-Growing 



should contain a considerable amount of organic matter, which 

 will enable it to retain sufficient moisture to keep the trees 

 supplied even in times of drought. 



Coarse and deep sands, especially where the water table is 

 low, and clay soils w^here the subsoil is near the surface, are 

 not suited for pecans and should not be utilized for this 

 industry. 



The alluvial soils of the flood plains of the Mississippi 

 Valley, where pecans are native and which have been utilized 

 to some extent for planting the improved varieties, are entirely 

 different in character from those of the uplands just described. 

 The principal soil types are the Yazoo and Sharkey series. 



The surface soil of the Yazoo series ranges from gray, 

 slightly darkened with organic matter, to light brown, while 

 the subsoils are mottled grayish, rusty-brown, and sometimes 

 bluish. These soils constitute the best drained types of the 

 flood plains. The sandy loams and fine sandy loams are un- 

 derlain at a depth of about twelve inches by a brown fine 

 sandy loam and at about twenty-four inches by a bluish col- 

 ored clay loam. It is a productive rich soil. 



The soils of the Sharkey series are of a yellowish-brown to 

 drab color with mottled, rusty-brown, bluish, drab, and yellow- 

 ish subsoils of plastic structure. These soils contain a high 

 percentage of clay. They occur as bottom lands subject to 

 overfiow. They are poorly drained, and on drying, the soil 

 cracks readily and forms small aggregates, which has given 

 rise to the name ^^ buckshot" land. 



There is a rather broad strip of country lying between the 

 coastal plains and Appalachian Mountains extending from 

 southern Virginia through the Carolinas, Georgia, and a part 

 of Alabama, which has not been generally recommended for 



