he best time to prune back trees to start new
shoots for top-working is early in the month of March. In removing large
branches there is always danger of splitting, because of the weight of
the heavy branches. This may be entirely obviated by sawing upward from
the under side of the branch as far as possible, then cutting from the
upper side downward. A branch will split off and drop without injury to
the remaining parts. All cut surfaces should be well covered with white
lead paint to prevent decay.

The method of procedure depends upon the size and age of the tree and
whether the tree is to be budded or grafted.

In top-working old trees, only a portion of the branches should be
worked at one time. If the whole top be removed at once, the tree
suffers a severe shock. Two or three years are necessary to top-work a
large tree, a half or a third of the top being worked each year. If the
trees are of small size, the whole top may be removed at one time.

CARE OF TOP-WORKED TREES.

For several months after the new top has commenced to grow, the scions
have but a slight hold upon the stock. The leaf surface is often so
large that a slight wind may twist them off. To prevent this, a number
of branches may be tied together, or they may be fastened to stubs of
branches left temporarily. Posts may be driven into the ground close to
the growing scions, to which they may be tied. Use soft bandages and
burlaps.

[Illustration: PLATE VII. An old Pecan tree Top-worked in the
branches.]

CHAPTER VIII.

SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION.

The pecan succeeds on such a wide range of soils, that it is really
easier to list those on which it should not be set than it is to
enumerate those on which it may be planted. Of the soils not adapted to
it, deep sandy lands, soils underlaid with quicksand close to the
surface, soils with hardpan subsoil, wet, sour, poorly-drained lands,
and stiff, pasty clays, may be mentioned particularly.

If pecans are planted on land with a quicksand subsoil, the roots are
unable to make their way downward through the quicksand. So far as being
able to take a downward direction is concerned, they might as well be
planted on top of a plate of metal. The writer once planted a few nuts
on such a soil, to see what they would do. At the end of three years the
tops were about two feet in height; the taproot, while thick and stocky,
was not more than six inches long. It stopped abruptly after numerous