Intercrops or cover crops are usually grown to increase the income of the farm. Cultivation programs vary according to the intercrop grown. Pecan trees are grown on various types of soil, which also vary greatly in their fertility. Different fertilizers are recommended for these varying conditions. Fertilizer is usually applied late in February or early in March, several weeks prior to the swelling of the buds. The exact time of application varies according to the area in the state in which the trees are grown. Many of the soils of the state are probably too acid for best growth of pecans and the necessary winter cover crops that should be grown in the plantings. In some soils that have been limed, or where the soil pH is 7.0 or approximately so, the application of zinc, to the soil has not eliminated rosette. Few such conditions exist in South Carolina, but where these conditions do prevail, zinc treatment is being tried in the form of sprays, using commercial spray materials.
Unfavorable weather at blooming time often prevents pollination. Instances of cross-incompatability occurring between the varieties grown in this state are practically unknown. Late spring frosts sometimes kill the male or female flowers or both.
The pecan in South Carolina is subject to attack by numerous insects and diseases, just as it is in other places. Scab is the worst offender. Several species of borers are found attacking the trunks, the twig girdler severing the tips of twigs, the shuck worm and case-bearer affecting the husk, and the pecan weevil affecting the nuts. Many of the trees growing in South Carolina are not planted in sufficiently large groves to justify the expenditure necessary for spray equipment. Contract spraying has been done to some extent and has possibilities in South Carolina. Where the number of trees is small this will be the only way in which growers can afford to obtain the use of high pressure equipment.
+Marketing Conditions+
South Carolina Circular 301 gives the following account of the pecan marketing situation in South Carolina. "Most of the pecans in this state are sold in small lots. The assembling at a number of locations of these small lots into lots large enough to make handling economical has been a great problem. It is believed that three auction markets properly located in the state would be the most satisfactory marketing arrangement. If each of these markets would have one sales day per week so that buyers could attend sales at each place, the cost of marketing could be greatly reduced." There are nine companies in five counties that handle pecans.
This is a rather brief discussion relating facts about the pecan industry in South Carolina, and most of the figures given are average figures. Those plantings receiving good cultural practices give more satisfactory returns. The pecans enterprise can be made a profitable one if the grower will carry out a complete program to overcome the problems of fertilization and control of diseases and insects and not just leave the trees to fight the battle alone.
+References+
Rawl, E. H. and Nettles, W. C.—Pecan Production, S. C. Circ. 183, 1940.
Musser, A. M., et al—Pecan Production and Marketing in S. C., S. C.
Circ. 301, 1947.
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