nut production, the
pecan hickory is the most important of all the hickories. For crop value
of nuts it rivals the Persian (English) walnut and the tree is one of
the largest east of the Rocky Mountains. The pecan tree is native to the
south and south central parts of the United States and it is found in
the forests as a native tree throughout Missouri.

Commercial production within the state may reach 800,000 pounds or more
in good crop years, and according to the State-Federal Crop Reporting
Service there are now about 88,000 pecan trees in the State of bearing
age. All of these consist of seedling groves except the comparatively
recent orchard plantings of the southeastern area. Commercial culture of
standard varieties in the United States is confined largely to Georgia,
Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

The natural habitat is along streams and on river bottom lands. At the
present time the commercial varieties consist mainly of the large
so-called "paper-shell" sorts of southern origin. These require a
comparatively long growing season for their development. Consequently
the southern types may not be productive in the more northern regions.

The cultural range of the pecan may be divided into two rather large
belts, known as southern and northern. In fact, pecan culture is
sometimes designated as "southern" and "northern" due to differences in
size of nut, thickness of shell, and time required for maturity of nuts.
The approximate northern limit of the southern area is near the extreme
southeastern boundary line between Missouri and Arkansas. The northern
belt extends into Nebraska and Iowa and includes approximately the
entire state of Missouri.

The chief difference between these areas is the length of the growing
season. In general, the southern or "paper-shell" varieties require from
240 to 250 days to mature their nuts, while the northern varieties which
produce usually nuts of smaller size with somewhat thicker shells need
from 180 to 200 days.

VARIETIES

There is no factor in pecan growing of greater importance than the
proper selection of varieties for planting. Fertile soils and good
culture will not make poor varieties profitable or low yielding kinds
fruitful.

Only in southeast Missouri are the southern varieties such as Stuart,
Pabst, Moneymaker, Success, Schley, and others a success. This is true
because the fruit buds of these varieties in other sections of Miss