not thrive and may die. I have lost a great many good trees, and a
great many nut trees, and have checked the growth of a great many by not
realizing this. I wish Mr. Reed would speak to us about it.

MR. POTTER: I want to state some experience I have had and when Mr. Reed
talks, I wish he would give me some information. I set out some pecan
trees on my lawn in the front yard, and of course there is not much
cultivation there except around the trees. It is like most other lawns
in southern Illinois, mostly clay and what other soil we put on top. Now
the clay is very hard and in setting the trees I had my man dig a hole
three feet deep and two feet across and in setting the trees I packed
good dirt around them. The question is how should I feed those trees? I
have put barn manure around them and they are now growing and doing very
nicely, I want to know if I have pursued the right course.

MR. MCCOY: I believe this question of growing trees in fence corners and
on hillsides is not so large a question. The main thing is to give them
plenty of water. There is very little land in the Mississippi valley
that won't grow pecan trees or most any other kind, if you will give
them sufficient mulch and plenty of water, because they take their food
in the form of soup. Unless they have water, they won't grow. I believe
the best cultivation you can give a tree of any kind is a good mulch of
straw and manure. You that have had experience in this part of the
country know that is the best way to cultivate trees.

I grew a peach orchard once in one year, but I have quit that, I have
learned better. It is simply a question of water and plant food. If you
will mulch any kind of a tree, nut tree or any kind, with ten or fifteen
inches of straw and stable manure, you will have a steady growth from
early spring until late in the fall, and it will make a strong tree.

PROFESSOR SMITH: While we are waiting for Mr. Reed I want to take up Mr.
McCoy's soup suggestion. Water doesn't make good soup without something
in it. Experiments show that you can mulch ground in some places and not
wake up the tree, but fertilizer will wake it up the first year.

MR. POTTER: What kind of fertilizer did you use?

PROFESSOR SMITH: One must experiment to see what his land is short on.
Sometimes you can fertilize your trees without any result. Sometimes
potash will not do any good and sometimes it will. You will have to see
what your ground needs. For young a