94 Pecan-Growing 



2 per cent of oil. Potash also resulted in nuts with clearer 

 meats having a lighter color than did either phosphate or 

 ammonia. 



In 1921, Skinner extended the experiment to include some 

 commercial orchards planted on Greenville, Orangeburg, and 

 Norfolk sandy loam soils. He used a fertilizer containing 9 

 per cent phosphoric acid, 5 per cent ammonia, and 3 per cent 

 potash, covering an area of about 100 acres. Twenty pounds 

 to a tree were applied, while a number of adjacent trees were 

 left unfertilized as checks. A cover-crop of cowpeas was 

 grown over the entire area. The yields from the Orangeburg 

 soil were representative of the results. Here the fertilized 

 area produced 330 pounds of pecans to the acre, while the 

 unfertilized area yielded only 260 pounds. Skinner says, 

 '^This is an average increase of 3.5 pounds of nuts per tree 

 or 70 pounds per acre. With the cost of the fertilizer at 

 $32.75 per ton, the amount applied, 400 pounds per acre, cost 

 $6.75. The 70 pounds of additional nuts secured from the 

 fertilized acre, cost slightly under ten cents per pound. ' ' 



Fertilizer mixtures for pecans. 



Pecan trees in Orangeburg, Greenville, Norfolk and 

 Tifton sandy loams or similar soils, up to seven or 

 eight years after being set to the orchard, should re- 

 ceive from five to fifteen pounds to a tree each year of 

 a fertilizer analyzing 8 to 9 per cent phosphoric acid, 5 to 6 

 per cent ammonia, and 3 per cent potash. After this age, the 

 ammonia may be reduced, using a mixture that will analyze 

 from 8 to 9 per cent phosphoric acid, 4 to 5 per cent ammonia, 

 and 3 to 4 per cent potash. The amount of fertilizer should 

 be increased two to three pounds each year, that is, a nine to 



