82 Pecan-Growing 



of soil rosette severely and sooner or later abandonment 

 becomes necessary. Occasionally a soil type is found which 

 apparently is suitable for growing pecans, but the subsoil 

 shows some form of impervious hardpan or soft leachy sand 

 entirely unsuited to the development of the trees. Pecans 

 should not be planted on wet sour lands, or badly eroded or 

 washed hillsides until they are put into condition to support 

 healthy vigorous trees. 



Lands which support only small scrubby forests should not 

 be expected to grow good pecans, but where good specimens 

 of hickory trees thrive without any special attention or fertiliz- 

 ers, it is fairly certain that the same soil will be suitable for 

 pecan trees. Field or truck crops are also good indicators 

 of the ability of the soil to grow pecans. In some instances, 

 however, soils which produce rather poor annual crops may 

 raise good pecans. This is thought to be due to a subsoil 

 containing an unusual amount of plant-food and moisture. 

 The pecan, being a deep-rooted perennial, can penetrate to 

 greater depth than the average annual which feeds chiefly 

 on the surface soil. Generally speaking, however, pecans 

 should not be planted on land unless it is known to be able 

 to produce from one-half to a bale of cotton and from thirty 

 to forty bushels of corn an acre in normal seasons. 



FERTILIZERS FOR PECANS 



In setting land to pecans, some definite and consistent 

 soil-building policy should be adopted, or better still, 

 soil improvement should be practiced for a year or two before 

 setting the trees. The deep rich alluvial soils of river valleys 

 do not present the same {fertilizing problems as do the light 

 sandy upland soils. 



