ral 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.

CHAPTER III.

PECAN BOTANY.

The aborigines of the country used hickory nuts of different kinds as
food, and in the region in which the pecan grows as a native tree, it
was valued by them above all its relatives.

Penicaut found in his travels that the Indians stored large amounts of
pecans for winter use. The scientific name of the pecan is appropriately
derived from two Indian words, "powcohiccora" and "pacan."

In 1785, the pecan was described under the name _Juglans Pecan_, by
Marshall in his Arboretum Americanum. In 1818, Thomas Nuttall, an
English botanist, separated the hickories from the walnuts and
butternuts, putting them under a new genus which he called _Carya_,
naming the pecan _Carya olivaeformis_. Nuttall's classification was
followed for many years until it was found that in the year previous to
the publication of his work, 1817, C. S. Rafinesque, a French
naturalist, had separated the hickories along the same lines as Nuttall
and published them under the name _Hicoria_. In accordance with the laws
of priority, Rafinesque's name, _Hicoria_, takes precedence over
_Carya_.

The family _Juglandaceae_, embraces but two genera, _Juglans_ and
_Hicoria_, the former including the walnuts and butternuts, and the
l