The Pecan and its Culture

by H. Harold Hume

To find the number of trees that can be set on an acre for any distance, not given in the above table, multiply the distance apart in feet together and divide the product into 43,560, the number of square feet in an acre. The result will be the number of trees which can be put on an acre of ground.

Planting Systems.

For setting orchards a number of different systems may be used, but the two best adapted to the pecan orchard, are the square or rectangular and the hexagonal or septuple. If mixed plantings, such as pecans and peaches, are to be made, then the quincunx system should be used and a peach tree set in the center of the square or rectangle formed by every four pecan trees.

Square or Rectangular System. In this system is included only the methods of setting trees in rectangles, either square or oblong. It is by far the most commonly used of all the systems, and the ease with which a field can be laid off in rectangles, is greatly in its favor.

The rows of trees intersect each other at right angles, and cultivation may be carried on conveniently either crosswise or lengthwise of the orchard. The planter has the choice of placing the trees the same distance apart both ways, or of planting them closer together in the rows than the distance between the rows.

Fig. 30.
Rectangular Planting System.

It has been argued that space is not equally divided among the trees, and while this is apparently true, yet, on the other hand, the roots of pecan trees, in most cases, penetrate and permeate all the space allowed in ordinary distances. The roots will certainly secure all the food and moisture in the top two or three feet of soil.

When trees are to be planted by this system, the stakes must be set so as to be exactly in line, whether viewed from the end or from the side of the field.

Hexagonal, Septuple or Equilateral Triangle System. By this system, six trees are set equidistant from a seventh placed in the center. The basis of the system is not the square, but the circle, since the radius of the circle is approximately equal to one-sixth of the circumference of the circle. The name septuple, sometimes applied to this system, refers to the fact that the number of trees in each group-unit is seven. Equilateral triangle system refers to the planting of the trees in equilateral triangles, but is identical with the hexagonal or septuple.