PECAN (probably from the North American Indian name), Hicaria pecan. The common name of an American forest tree 75 to 170 feet high, and its fruit—a nut. ( For the botany of the pecan and its forestry value, see 11Ic•xottr.) The tree is native to river bottoms front Iowa and Kentucky southwest into Texas and Mexico, but is now grown commercially in a number of other southern States and in California. It has not proved commercially successful north of paral lel 40°.
The trees grow on nearly all soils, but for nut production a sandy loam soil with a clay sub soil has proved most satisfactory in the Southern States. The trees should be set about 40 feet apart. Clean orchard cultivation should be prac ticed. Through cultivation ainl selection a num ber of varieties have been originated, which, since they do not conic true to seed, are budded or grafted upon seedling stocks. Little pruning, ex
cept the removal of dead limbs, is required after the head has been formed. The trees come into bearing in five or six years, but paying crops can not be expected under ten year-. and full crops not tinder twenty. Mature trees sometimes yield as high as twenty bushels of nuts each, but two to three bushel, per tree is probably a good average. The nuts have a rounded oblong shape and vary in weight from 25 to 100 to the pound. The varieties called paper shells are considered most desirable, because their shells are very thin and are easily cracked between the fingers. The meat, are large and separate easily from the shell. At the present time Texas and Louisiana furnish the bulk of the commercial nuts, mostly from native trees.