SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN REGARD TO PECAN TREES 
Should the spring following- the transplanting be dry, 
or the tree backward in startiuir growth, make a cone- 
shaped cavity about the tree extending down to the roots, 
into which pour one or two buckets of water. When this 
has thorougYiiy soaked in, pull the dirt back around the 
tree. 
TIME TO TRANSPLANT. 
The sooner trees are set after the leaves shed in th:j 
fall, the better will be their prospects of living, and the 
more Aigorous the growth the following year. December 
isj probably the best tiuK to transplant : January is almost 
afe good. Later than March the first is not recommended. 
I'rees should not be dug and transplanted before they are 
thoroughly dormant, which in the Southern pecan belt is 
rarely before the last of November or the first of Decem- 
ber. 
CAKE OF TREES AFTER SETTING. 
Keep the trees well cultivated. Don't allow the ground 
abont them to become covered with grass and weeds. Al- 
.so keep the ground for several feet about them pulverized 
with plow or hoe. 
Land on which pecans are growing can be made to 
yield paying crops (and should be made to do so), until 
the ( oes come into profitable bearing. It is not best to 
plant small grain among the trees: and don't allow any 
crop to grow too near the trees. 
After the trees are bearing well, land may l>e annual- 
ly sown, in peas, soy beans, or some other leguminous 
crop which improves the soil, adds humus to it and makes 
the trees more vigorous. 
FERTILIZING. 
The best fertilizing for pecans is to make rich the 
land on which they grow. Big crops of cotton or peas or 
potatoes or vegetables, grown on the land, will insure a 
sa^factory growth of trees; but special applications of 
mannre or guano about the trees mav be advantageous^. 
PROVIDED THEY ARE NOT PLACED TOO NEAR TO 
THE^f, .so as -to cause a congestion of the roots in the 
fertilized area. Apply fertilizers well out from the body 
of the tree, and the roots will find them. As a general 
rule, any fertilizer that will make other crops grow will 
do likewise for pecans. Ammoniates should predominate 
in fertilizers for young trees; phosphoric acid and potash 
for trees that are in bearing. 
'0\ 
FRUITING. 
How soon will trees bear? That depends on several 
factors : 
(1) Some varieties bear earlier than others. Where 
well cared for, trees will begin bearing in from three to 
five years after transplanting; though five years is a 
reasonable time in which to expect fruit. Ten years af- 
ter setting, when well cared for, trees should bear from 
fifteen to forty pounds of nuts. Much better records 
than this have been made where trees have had the best 
cf attention. 
(2) Seedlings may fruit in from six to eight years 
from the ijut, or they may never bear. Pew things are 
more imeertain than when or what a seedling pecan will 
prodnr-e, tree agents to the contrary notwithstandin<f. 
(3) The age of profitable bearing depends entirely 
upon the attention given the trees. Even with best care 
the age of profitable bearing should not be expected in 
I 
le.-..^, than eight or ten years after an orchard -is set. 
PRUNING. 
'\ Little pruning of the pecan is ne,eessary. it should 
be allowed to branch at from five to seven feet from the 
ground. Low heading is best, only keeping sufficient 
space under the trees for plows to do their work. When 
it becomes necessary to cut off limbs of any size, it is 
best to cover the wounds with a thick application of 
paint. This protects from decay until the wound heals 
over. 
SIZE OF CROPS. 
With a proper selection of varieties and intelligent 
care given the trees, one may rest assured of a harvest 
ill due time. At twenty years of age one hundred to one 
hundred and fifty pounds of nuts per tree is a reasonable 
expectation. Under the best conditions this is surpassed. 
Mr. K. Powell, ex-mayor of Cairo, has in his yard a tree 
which when fifteen years old from the seed, bore one hun- 
dred and fifty pounds of nuts. When twenty-six years 
old he gathered five hundred pounds from this tree. 
Mr. L P. Delmas, Pascagoula, Miss., reported two 
hundred and thirty-five pounds of pecans as gathered in 
.1913 from a thirteen-year old Delmas tree. 
But the size of crop borne by an individual tree is not 
a safe basis on which to estimate the crop that will be 
prod.uced by a whole orchard. Suffice it to say that if 
one will care for his orchard in the best manner, he will 
in time be abundantly rewarded with fruitful harvests. 
OFF YEARS. 
A full crop of nuts cannot be expected, erff^fear_j£reni-' — ' 
pecaas, nor from any other fruit tree unle&lr it be the 
fig. Barring an occasional short crop cause|| by unfav- 
orable seasons at the blooming time, a full 'crop may be 
counted on every other year, with one-half to two-thirds 
of a crop the intervening years. This is likely caused 
from exhaustion incident to yielding a heavy crop, and 
may be overcome, to some extent, by the liberal use of 
fertilizers and an abundance of water. 
HARVESTING. 
The main harvest season is from October fifteenth to 
December the first. When mature, the burr surrounding 
the nut cracks open, and the nut falls to the ground, 
where it may be gathered up. Harvesting may be has- 
tened by shaking or thrashing off the nuts. One great 
advantage possessed by the pecan is that it may be har- 
vested and marketed without the rush incident to ordi- 
nary fruit crops. 
O^^ERPRODUCTION. 
Will not the market be overstocked when the tree.') now 
being planted come into bearing? I answer emphaticajj^^ 
NO. The Southern States are the only commercial pro- 
ducers of these nuts. We have the world for a market 
and twelve months of the year in which to sell them. 
Furthermore, nuts and nut products are every year be- 
coming more and more popular; and the finer varieties 
of the pecan are the best nuts that grow. There is a fair 
profit in growing pecans at ten to fifteen cents per pound, 
while the best varieties of nuts now sell at wholesale at 
from twenty-five to fifty cents per pound. It is only the 
small, inferior seedlings that bring from eight to twelve 
cents. Physicians and scientists are telling us ^that 
if we would eat more nuts and fruits and less meat^ that 
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