Mr. Hutt: I notice some trees here that are evidently two-year old pecans that have been cut back, and you notice that in every case several tap-roots have taken the place of the one. Here are some others that have not been cut. These have gone straight down. They are strong roots with few fibers on them. On these other trees that have been cut the formation of tap-roots continues. They will go down till they strike a permanent water-table and then the tap-root will stop. In Hyde County, North Carolina, near the ocean, the water-table is close to the surface and there is a deep black alluvial soil with a great deal of water in it. In order to grow anything there they have to put in ditches to get the water out. The pecan trees growing there have absolutely no tap-roots at all, it rots off as soon as it strikes the permanent water-table; and I think that's the reason they produce such enormous quantities of pecans in that county. In bottomless, sandy land where there is no clay the root keeps on going down till it finds the permanent water-table, even if that is six or eight or ten feet down. These roots, as you see, were going right down to China to look at that king on the other side if they got a chance. It's the same with the long leaf pine. It has a tap-root below ground thicker than the trunk above ground. The reason is that it grows naturally on those bottomless places; the root goes down till it strikes water, then runs off laterally. If you cut the roots they are bound to make new tap-roots. You can see the place where they have been cut and in place of one tap-root you have two, going right down into that sandy soil till they find a water-table. I believe that a nurseryman who will cut off the root of the pecan tree when it is transplanted, will cause it to form more lateral roots and make a better tree. There's a great number of vigorous roots in this tree than in this, and this tree whose root has been cut off will make a tree much easier to transplant and will be a better tree than those with great thick roots without the fibers that have the root hairs upon them. A member: You wouldn't recommend cutting back that tap-root too severely, would you? Mr. Hutt: In planting a tree of this kind, I'd cut off a foot or 18 inches. If you get about 24 inches in a specially good soil, or about 30 inches of root ordinarily that's all you want. A member: I should think that would depend quite a little on the height of the water-table. If you were planting on land where the water-table is low, you would leave more tap-root? Mr. Hutt: Yes. A member: That was the reason I brought up the point, because I think cutting so short would be too severe.