scale off, even in very old trees. Perhaps the most beautiful thing about the pecan tree is its handsome foliage. The leaves are compound in form and made up of numerous sickle-shaped, shining leaflets, which are symmetrically arranged, so as to give the whole leaf a beautiful, long plume-like appearance. These long plumes are so versatile that they are stirred by the slightest movements of the air. On a hot sultry afternoon they are like the quakenasp—a natural indicator of the slightest air currents. In light breezes they are in constant graceful movement, like the long, waving plumes of the ostrich. The shade afforded by a pecan tree is not the dense, heavy umbrage that excludes the sun and harbors dampness, but the light, dappled, mackerel shade that carpets the turf with wandering patches of sunshine. Lawn grasses flourish on the filtered sunshine falling through pecan foliage, and even blue grass can be made to feel at home in the Sunny South when grown under its protecting shadows. The leaves of pecan trees all shed in the fall and do not litter the grass during the growing season. The wood is tough, strong and heavy, weighing in dry condition 45 pounds per cubic foot. The limbs are seldom broken off, even in severe storms, and I have yet to see a pecan tree that has ever been uprooted. At a hundred years of age it is a mere juvenile, while during that period it has marked the passing of three generations of men. It would be difficult to find another kind of tree possessing so many of the characteristics of what might be considered the ideal shade tree.

In addition to its value as a shade tree, the pecan is a fairly early as well as a heavy producer of the finest kind of nuts. The beautiful shade tree pictured in Fig. 4 produced in 1907 400 pounds of nuts, which sold for $80. Fig. 24 shows a pecan tree in a back yard at Plymouth, N. C., that, besides giving shade for almost the whole premises, yields annually in the neighborhood of six bushels of splendid nuts. Fig. 25 shows another fine tree in the lawn of Mr. George N. Ives, at New Bern, N. C. How much better it would be to have trees of this kind in lawns and house yards, rather than the unsightly sterile mulberries that one so commonly sees. Many of the useless and ugly shade trees seen, especially in the coastal region of the Southern States, could well give place to the beautiful and productive pecan.

Nut trees about a home, in addition to their beauty and utility, are wonderfully dear to the heart of the small boy. They are some of the strong links that bind the erring hearts of growing youngsters to the dear old country home. How fondly I now remember the hickory trees on our old homestead! What joys they brought to my boyish heart each fall, and how eagerly I gathered their crop of

clean, spicy nuts. In my leisure hours I looked after their drying, and counted and weighed them out as carefully as a miser his gold. Pecan trees should be planted about every southern home for the small boy alone, if for no other reason. They are a continuous delight to growing children and do very much to endear them to the old home. I fully believe that if there were less poplars and Oderhoet mulberries and more pecans about farm homes there would be more farm-bred boys and girls in the country.

NOTICE.

WANTED. A NATIVE NORTH CAROLINA VARIETY OF PECAN WORTHY OF BEING NAMED, to be propagated and planted in this State.

As has been said in previous pages of this Bulletin, we doubtless have in North Carolina individual pecan trees worthy of propagation. Like the North Pole, all they need is discovering. For the discoverer of them there is fame and fortune. Meritorious seedling pecans from different parts of the State have already been received at this office, but as yet the ideal nut, worthy of the Old North State, has not come to light. This Department is willing to receive, classify, list and appraise all varieties of pecans sent in, especially those originating or grown in this State. We will test and hold subject to the originator's or discoverer's order any meritorious native varieties sent to this office. W. N. HUTT, State Horticulturist.

Characteristics of the Ideal Pecan.

Tree-1. Hardy, vigorous and free from disease. 2. Ripens early, both wood and fruit.

3. Begins bearing early.

4. Bears regularly and heavily.

Nuts-1. Large, not more than 80 per pound.

2. Well filled.

3. Thin-shelled, crack out freely.

4. Flavor rich and fine (oily rather than starchy).