ROSETTE OF PECAN TREES 5 
The soil for the analytical work was taken from the middle of tree 
rows in order to avoid as much as possible locations where fertilizers 
had been applied. The large number of samples taken were com- 
bined to make a composite sample representative of the entire 
orchard. 
The organic matter (carbon) was shown to have increased from 
0.64 per cent in 1918 to 1.39 per cent in 1923, or more than double. 
The nitrogen increased from 0.031 to 0.061 per cent, just about 
double. The soil had an acidity (P H ) value of 5.4 in 1918, 6 in 
1921 and 1922, and 5.8 in 1923, which shows it had been slightly 
acid, as determined by its hydrogen-ion concentration, since the be- 
ginning of the experiment. Its acidity was less in 1923 than in 1918. 
The physical condition of the soil has improved considerably. In 
the beginning it was rather compact and became hard and baked in 
the summer. As a result of growing and turning under cover crops 
for six years, it is more open and porous and does not become so hard 
and dry in the summer. 
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONDITION OF THE TREES 
The entire orchard was very badly rosetted in 1918, and the trees 
were in such poor condition that it was ready to be abandoned. 
Photographs of each individual tree taken at that time and again 
four years later, serve as records of the effect of the soil treatment 
on the condition of the trees. Girth measurements of the trees were 
taken each winter, and records of the nut yields have been made 
from the beginning. 
Since the limbs of badly rosetted pecan trees die back each year 
in proportion to the degree affected, the weight of dead twigs each 
season was considered an important measure of the improvement or 
deterioration of a badly rosetted tree. The dead wood from these 
trees has been removed and weighed during May or June of each 
year. These data are the most striking of all the records taken. The 
comparison of photographs of the individual tree, descriptive record, 
girth growth, and the dead-wood record indicate a most decided 
improvement in the rosette condition of all the trees in the orchard 
each year since 1918. 
The records fail to show any relationship between the improve- 
ment of the trees and the chemical fertilizers used. On the con- 
trary, the controls, or trees not receiving chemical fertilizers, show 
as great improvement so far as rosette is concerned as do the fer- 
tilized ones ; in fact, the condition of the entire orchard has improved 
in the same proportion as have the trees receiving chemical fertilizers. 
The records do not show that any one chemical fertilizer or fertilizer 
combination had any advantage over another when used with the 
intention of curing rosette. As the improvement of the orchard 
seems to be due to the general improvement of the soil by means of 
growing and plowing under cover crops as practiced, the records 
given below are for a total of all the trees under observation. Records 
for individual trees variously fertilized are omitted. 
The condition of the orchard each year is shown in the following 
tables. Records were kept of 62 Frotscher and 54 Moneymaker 
pecan trees. The number of trees rosetted and the quantity of dead 
wood cut from the Frotscher trees annually are given in Table 6. 
