The Pecan and its Culture Part 11

Too often but slight attention is given to this important piece of work.

There is too frequently a disposition on the part of the person setting trees of any kind to do the work as rapidly as possible without consideration for the future welfare of the trees. Few realize that time spent in careful, intelligent preparation of the soil and in setting the trees is time well spent, and well paid for in the after development of trunk and branch. Better a month spent in preparing the future home of the young tree, than years of its life spent in an unequal struggle for existence. More than that, the tree may die outright, and a year must elapse before it can be replaced. It is generally stated that the pecan is a slow grower, and yet I have seen trees from twelve to fourteen years old which measured from thirty-five to fifty-seven inches in circ.u.mference at the base, while under less favorable circ.u.mstances others stood still for a period of six or seven years, or until they had acc.u.mulated sufficient energy to overcome the untoward conditions of their environments.

_Time._ The best time to plant pecan trees is during the months of December, January and February. Planting should not be delayed until late in spring, as the percentage of loss will be very materially increased. Preference must be given to the earlier portion of the planting season, as the wounds on the roots will have had time to callous over, and the ground will be firmly packed about the roots by the winter rains. Then, with the opening of the growing season in spring, the trees will be ready to make a good, vigorous start.

_Distance Apart._ The distance apart at which the pecan trees should be set must depend upon the character of the soil and the amount of fertility and moisture it contains. If planted too close, the trees may become their own worst enemies. Too close planting will not prove satisfactory. It is doubtful whether the trees should ever be planted closer than forty feet apart even on light lands, while on heavier soils this distance should be increased to sixty, seventy-five or eighty feet.

TABLE OF DISTANCES

DISTANCE. NO. OF TREES NO. OF TREES Rectangular System. Hexagonal System.

40 x 40 feet. 27 31 40 x 50 " 21 40 x 60 " 18 50 x 50 " 17 19 50 x 60 " 14 60 x 60 " 12 13 60 x 70 " 10 70 x 70 " 8 9 80 x 80 " 6 100 x 100 " 4

To find the number of trees that can be set on an acre for any distance, not given in the above table, multiply the distance apart in feet together and divide the product into 43,560, the number of square feet in an acre. The result will be the number of trees which can be put on an acre of ground.

PLANTING SYSTEMS.

For setting orchards a number of different systems may be used, but the two best adapted to the pecan orchard, are the square or rectangular and the hexagonal or septuple. If mixed plantings, such as pecans and peaches, are to be made, then the quincunx system should be used and a peach tree set in the center of the square or rectangle formed by every four pecan trees.

_Square or Rectangular System._ In this system is included only the methods of setting trees in rectangles, either square or oblong. It is by far the most commonly used of all the systems, and the ease with which a field can be laid off in rectangles, is greatly in its favor.

The rows of trees intersect each other at right angles, and cultivation may be carried on conveniently either crosswise or lengthwise of the orchard. The planter has the choice of placing the trees the same distance apart both ways, or of planting them closer together in the rows than the distance between the rows.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 30. Rectangular Planting System.]

It has been argued that s.p.a.ce is not equally divided among the trees, and while this is apparently true, yet, on the other hand, the roots of pecan trees, in most cases, penetrate and permeate all the s.p.a.ce allowed in ordinary distances. The roots will certainly secure all the food and moisture in the top two or three feet of soil.

When trees are to be planted by this system, the stakes must be set so as to be exactly in line, whether viewed from the end or from the side of the field.

_Hexagonal, Septuple or Equilateral Triangle System._ By this system, six trees are set equidistant from a seventh placed in the center. The basis of the system is not the square, but the circle, since the radius of the circle is approximately equal to one-sixth of the circ.u.mference of the circle. The name septuple, sometimes applied to this system, refers to the fact that the number of trees in each group-unit is seven.

Equilateral triangle system refers to the planting of the trees in equilateral triangles, but is identical with the hexagonal or septuple.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31. Hexagonal Planting System.]

It is the only system whereby each tree is placed equally distant from each of its adjoining neighbors, and the only system which equally divides the s.p.a.ce among the trees. By this method about fifteen per cent. more trees can be set per acre than by the rectangular.

For permanent plantings, at regular distances, this system and the rectangular should be recommended before other systems.

LAYING OUT BEFORE PLANTING.

Level and smooth the ground, harrow and pulverize thoroughly, then proceed to stake the ground off, placing a stake for every tree.

_Laying Out Squares or Rectangles with the Plow._ If a good plowman can be secured, very satisfactory work can be done with the plow. In some cases a man can be found who needs nothing in the way of a guide, except two or three stakes. But with a sufficient number of stakes and a marker attached to the plow, good results can be secured by almost any plowman.

Furrows should be run both lengthwise and crosswise of the field, their intersections marking the place where the trees are to stand. At each one set a stake.

It is essential that a true, square corner should be secured.

This may be done by sighting with an ordinary carpenter's square set upon three posts.

_Laying Out in Rectangles with a Wire._ A wire, long enough to reach down one side of the field, should be provided. Stretch this straight out between two posts and mark off the distance which the trees are to stand apart, upon it. At each point marked, firmly twist a piece of small wire about the larger one. These should then be soldered in place. It will not do to have them shift. This wire may be rolled upon a roller when not in use.

Measure off along both ends of the field and set small stakes on the tree rows, at the marked places on the wire. Tightly stretch the wire down the first tree row, attaching it firmly at the ground level to a pair of good, stout posts. Then plant a lath stake at each mark on the wire. Set all of them on the outside of the wire, so as not to interfere with moving it.

When this row in completed, lift the end stake with the wire attached, stretch on the second row, set the stakes as before and repeat the operations until the work is completed.

_Laying Out in Hexagons._ Stretch the wire down one side of the field and firmly set the tree stakes, or stake out the base line by any method, firmly setting a stake for each tree. Then procure two pieces of wire with rings at each end, the length of each wire and ring to be exactly the distance between the stakes as set on the base line. Stretch these wires out toward the side where the next tree row is to stand. At the point where the rings overlap set a stake for a tree. Remove wire number one and set it on the third stake in the base line, stretch the two tight and set a tree stake. Repeat as often as necessary. In setting the third row of stakes, use the second as a base line, and so on.

_Planting the Trees._ After setting a stake for each tree, the ground is ready for digging the holes and setting the trees. A planting board, such as is shown in the accompanying ill.u.s.tration, should be provided. It is made of a piece of inch board, four or five inches wide and five feet long. The ends may be notched or holes may be bored in them. In the center of one side, a notch, one and a half inches deep, should be cut.

Provide a large number of small wooden pins or sticks, about one foot long and well sharpened.

When ready to dig a hole, place the planting-board so that the notch in the side fits against the tree stake. Then place one of the small pins in each of the holes or notches at the ends of the board. Allow these to remain in the ground. Remove the board and the tree stake and dig the hole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 32. Planting-Board.]

The hole should preferably be dug just before setting the tree.

In some cases, however, it may be necessary to have all the holes dug in advance. Make them wide and deep, six or eight inches wider than the extended lateral roots and eight inches deeper than the length of the taproot.

In setting the tree, place the planting-board back on the pegs and place the tree at the right depth, against the notch in the side. It will then stand exactly where a stake stood, and if the stakes were in line, the trees will be also, if they are kept perpendicular while the earth is being filled in. The earth should be packed about the roots by hand, the tree being set no deeper than it stood in the nursery.

To start the trees off well, one pound to one pound and a half of a good fertilizer, a.n.a.lyzing about six per cent. potash, five per cent. phosphoric acid and four per cent. nitrogen, should be thoroughly mixed with the earth that is used in filling in the hole. Preferably, only surface soil should be used to place about the roots.

When the hole is filled in about three-fourths, water may be applied to advantage, particularly if the weather is dry. A good application should be given after the work is completed, so as to establish the capillary movement of the water in the soil.

The greatest care should be taken to prevent the roots from becoming dry, if they do, the chances of their living, after planting, are very greatly reduced.

From the time the trees are lifted from the nursery row until they are set in the orchard, the sun should never be allowed to shine on them. Neither should they be exposed to hot or drying winds. Should it happen that the trees are received before everything is ready for planting them, they should be unpacked and healed in, in a shady place.

The roots of the trees must be pruned before planting, but this should be done under a shed. All broken parts of roots should be carefully cut off, leaving good, smooth surfaces, and the taproot cut or pruned back, as described in the chapter on pruning. When the pruning is finished, _the trees should be wrapped in a damp blanket or in damp sacks and taken to the field_. When needed for planting, they should be removed one by one and set out.

CHAPTER XI.

CULTIVATION AND FERTILIZATION.

Too many of our ideas of fruit culture are borrowed from the woods, from the trees in the pasture lands and uncultivated places generally. As the pecan is a forest tree in many sections of the country, the inference is, that it needs no cultivation, no fertilizer, in short, is amply able to take care of itself. So it is, but not able to yield, at the same time, the large crops of nuts that are the object of its being planted.

From the woods, there is one lesson which it would be well for everyone to learn; a lesson, not of the trees, but of the soil, of the dense ma.s.s of mold, of partially decayed leaves, of vegetable matter, of humus that covers the forest floor. The soil in the pecan orchard needs humus, vegetable matter; so does the soil in any other kind of orchard, and to obtain results it must be provided.

Now, it is a well-known fact that a number of years (ten or twelve) must elapse before a pecan orchard will begin to give any adequate returns for the time and care bestowed upon it and the money invested in it.

During this period, if rightly handled, the ground may be made to produce something else than pecan trees, and that, too, without injury to them. But in growing a crop in the orchard, bear in mind that the trees need, and are benefited by, cultivation, and that fertilizer will make them grow.

But, as already noted, humus is needed, and since this is the case, corn or cotton or clean-culture crops, which leave little behind them to make humus after they are removed, should not be grown every year. Some of the legumes should be brought in. Cowpeas, soja beans, beggarweed, velvet beans, alfalfa and melilotus can all be grown in the pecan area.

Not all of them in every locality, but some one or more of them in every section. To keep up the supply of vegetable matter, grow one of these leguminous crops every two or three years, or oftener, and after they have died and dried on the surface, plow them into the soil. And when corn is grown, sow cowpeas at the last working of the crop, to enrich the soil. These legumes will add nitrogen to the soil and help to reduce the fertilizer bills, for nitrogen is the costliest of all the fertilizer materials which we buy.

Sometimes, it will not do to crop the orchard. A condition may have to be met, in which there is not enough water to supply both the trees and the growing crops and one or the other will suffer--the trees, usually.

In such a case the advisability of cropping is questionable unless, of course, water in sufficient quant.i.ty can be supplied by irrigation.