and the
Kansas border, with heavy shipping section at Rockville and Schell City.

Missouri pecans are classed as Westerns in the commercial market. They
are favored by the confectionery trade. A great many native trees are
found in the south Mississippi section, but there is a growing interest
in budded pecan trees, especially around Caruthersville.

The total of the budded varieties of pecan trees in Missouri does not
constitute more than approximately one per cent of the total of growing
trees.

Many years ago a large acreage of the bottom lands along the Mississippi
river were thick with immense, heavy-producing pecan trees--but most of
this pecan timber was cut down either for fuel wood or saw timber.
Short-sighted people have been known to chop down trees simply to secure
the nuts.

THE HICKORIES

The native hickories of Missouri have been held in high esteem since
early settlements were established. They are notorious on account of
their slow rate of growth yet they offer greater possibilities to nut
growers than is usually believed. As shade trees they have a high
ranking.

Promising varieties may now be had by obtaining scions from superior
bearing seedling trees and from young named and grafted trees in the
nurseries of commercial concerns. Grafted trees may come into bearing in
three or four years after the operation.

Perhaps as many as five species are native of Missouri. The big
shellbark or kingnut is common to the south and southwest regions, but
its range is not as wide as others. The shagbark which is the most
valuable nut producer of all the hickories, is rather widely distributed
particularly in northern and central Missouri. Numerous varieties have
been described and named because of their particular merits. Shellbark
nuts may be large and attractive, but are often poorly filled.

The pignut, mockernut, and bitternut have a rather general distribution
especially in the central and northern parts of the state. These nuts
are not considered of great value except for their hybrids with other
species. Perhaps the most natural type of hybrid occurring among the
hickories is crosses between the shagbark and shellbark, one of the best
varieties of which is Weiker.

The pecan and shellbark hybrids include McAllister, Nussbaumer, and
Rockville, while the Burton is believed to be a pecan-shagbark cross.
The natural crosses of the pecan and hickory found in the wild have not
been entirely satisfac