orchard, they should be
fertilized, and if the crop is turned back into the soil, this may be
sufficient for the trees, particularly while they are young. For the
legumes, a good fertilizer to use per acre is:

Kainit, 100 lbs.; Acid Phosphate, 200 lbs.

or, High-Grade Sulphate of Potash, 50 lbs.
Acid Phosphate, 200 lbs.

In any case some allowance should be made for the amount of nitrogen
collected by the legumes. When corn, cotton or some other crops are
grown in the orchard, fertilizing may simply consist in distributing an
additional amount of the crop fertilizer for the benefit of the trees.

For the growth of the young trees, a larger amount of nitrogen and a
relatively smaller amount of phosphoric acid and potash are required,
while for older trees, the reverse is true. Phosphoric acid and potash
are required by bearing trees for the formation of fruit. Consequently,
when the pecan orchard comes into bearing, these materials should be
increased in the fertilizer applied. If the soil is not very rich at the
time of planting, good results will follow the use of a pound of good
commercial fertilizer at the time of planting.

A good fertilizer for young trees should analyze five per cent.
phosphoric acid, six per cent. potash and four per cent. nitrogen. For
bearing trees, one analyzing eight per cent. phosphoric acid, ten per
cent. potash and four per cent. nitrogen will give good results. If so
desired, well-known brands of commercial fertilizers, having
approximately the above analysis, can be purchased in the markets, but
if preferred, the several materials may be purchased separately, then
mixed and applied.

APPLYING THE FERTILIZER.

The roots of young trees do not extend to any great distance away from
the trunk. In distributing the fertilizer this fact should be
remembered. A safe rule for all small-sized trees is to commence just
outside an imaginary circle of two feet radius and apply the fertilizer
in a circular band extending out some distance beyond the spread of the
branches. Old trees, or those having a considerable spread of top, when
planted in orchard form, should be fertilized by broadcasting the
fertilizer over the ground. In the northerly pecan sections, all the
fertilizer should be given in one application, about the time growth
starts in spring, and plowed in, while farther south, two applications
may be made, one at the time mentioned above, the other from the