WOLFE'S PECAN NURSERY 
11 
FERTILIZATION 
If one fertilizes the recently set tree, he should apply one and one half buckets 
of well rotted barnyard manure. This can be put into a shallow circular trench around 
the crown of the tree but not in contact with the tree. The inside edge of this circular 
trench should not be closer than six inhes or more than a foot from tree. 
The trench should be made large and deep enough to cover with two or three inches 
of dirt. This will wash down with each rain or irrigation. Fertilizer should not be piled 
around the root of a tree. Begin well away from root and spread in a circle, making 
the drip of the branches the center of application. In most of the soils of the West, 
which have deteriorated with annual crops, barnyard manure is better than commer¬ 
cial fertilizer. Use commercial fertilizer only on soils that have plenty of humus or on 
cover crops in orchards. 
STRAW MULCH 
Straw mulch has many advantages in the handling of young trees. It is more es¬ 
pecially to be desired in river bottoms and in poor upland soils where there is no ir¬ 
rigation. It has some good points even under irrigation, especially where there is 
excessive heat in summer. A cover crop or weeds, winch have been mowed and placed 
around the tree, make an excellent mulch which helps to conserve moisture, keep 
down weeds, thereby eliminating the cost of cultivation, supply humus, and lower 
soil temperature making it more favorable for root growth. This mulch should be 
about eight inches thick and in a circle around tree five feet in diameter. 
