The pecan is found as a forest tree in the moist bottom lands along the Mississippi river and its tributaries, from Indiana southward to Mississippi, and from Iowa to Texas and Mexico.

This region (see Fig. 1) in which the pecan is, or has been found, native, reaches its northern limit at Davenport, Iowa. It skirts the Wabash as far north as Terre Haute, Indiana, and along the Ohio river nearly to Cincinnati, Ohio. From thence its range extends south to Chattanooga, Tenn., and on to Vicksburg, Miss. From Vicksburg it skirts the Gulf of Mexico at a distance of seventy-five to one hundred miles to Laredo, Texas; thence along the Salado river into Mexico. The western boundary embraces the headwaters of the Colorado river and returns more or less directly to Davenport, Iowa. On the outskirts of this area, it extends farthest in all directions along the streams and rivers, while on the drier intervening ground the line does not extend so far from the center of the region. Particularly is this true in Southwestern Texas, where the pecan is confined almost solely to river bottoms.

Cultural Area.

The area in which the pecan is cultivated as an orchard tree is not confined to the limits of its native range. Plantings have been made outside its native home in New Mexico, California and Oregon in the West, and in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Southern Alabama and the Gulf regions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In many other States experimental plantings have been made. Leaving these out of consideration, however, it will be seen that in about twenty States the pecan is either found as a native tree in the forests or is cultivated in orchard form. The area corresponds in some measure with that in which cotton is grown, though it extends farther north and west than the cotton region.

The attempts which have been made from time to time to cultivate the pecan in the more northerly States have not proved successful. The tree has, in many cases, grown well, but fruit has not been produced. The pistils and stamens of the pecan are not found in the same flower but in different flowers borne some distance apart on new and one-year-old wood, respectively. Consequently, it frequently happens that the flowers are not matured at the same time, as a result of which pollination cannot take place. Moreover, late spring frosts often destroy one or both sets of flowers, and the result, as far as fruit is concerned, is the same in either case. As a result of these experiences, the pecan cannot be recommended as a nut-bearing tree north of its natural range in the Mississippi Valley, neither will it succeed at the high elevations in the Alleghany mountains. It reaches its most northerly cultural extension in the Mississippi valley and in the coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard. But it grows well and makes a good shade tree farther north, and at elevations far above its native range. Even then, however, the nuts from which these seedling shade trees are grown should be brought from the northern sections of its natural distribution. They are much more likely to withstand the rigorous cold of winter.

Frequently the question is asked as to whether the pecan can be grown in a certain given locality. Such a question can be answered only in the most general way. The presence of the larger species of hickories in the vicinity may be used in some parts of the country as an indication of the success which might attend the planting of pecan trees, but such a guide should not be followed too implicitly, and even if the pecan tree should grow well, fruit might not be secured.

The presence of pecan trees, single specimens perhaps, or two or three, in yards or about buildings here and there throughout a region, may be taken as a guide in the matter of planting, and no better can be had. Nothing will take the place of a practical demonstration in the way of a vigorous fruiting tree.