The Pecan and its CultureHume, H. Harold (Hardrada Harold)
Philosophy
The Pecan and its Culture
Hume, H. Harold (Hardrada Harold)
Pecan
PECAN ROSETTE: [L]"The earliest symptoms are a peculiar
crimping of the leaves at the ends of the branches. These
leaves are smaller with crimped margin, and when held to the
light show light green or yellow streaks between the veins. The
leaf tissue in these light-colored areas is thin and
undeveloped and often breaks away leaving angular holes in the
leaves. A tree usually shows the disease over the whole top at
once, though sometimes only a single branch is affected at
first. As the disease progresses, the foliage assumes a bunched
appearance, due to the formation of tufts of leaves at the ends
of the branches. This characteristic has led us to use the term
"Rosette" as a name for the malady.
"The next stage of the disease which is observed the second
year or later, is a dying-back of the branches from the tips.
This is followed by the development of numerous small, lateral
branches from adventitious buds. These are short, producing
thick clusters of small, unhealthy leaves, sometimes reduced to
mere skeletons, so that the rosetted appearance of the tree is
intensified. This goes on from year to year. The growth of the
tree is checked and these abnormal branches are formed only to
die back each year. Trees in the earliest stages of rosette
have been observed to have light crops of nuts, but, when badly
diseased, are barren and unsightly or worse. Rosette has been
found in all ages, from nursery stock to trees forty feet high.
"The cause of the disease remains a mystery. No fungous or
other parasite can be detected in the earliest stages. The
appearance of the trees leads us to infer that the trouble is
internal, due to some derangement of the nutritive or
assimilative functions of the plant, but we are unable to
correlate this with any corresponding external conditions. That
is to say, that so many cases have been observed on fertile
soil, when cultivation, drainage and plant food had all been
provided, that it is impossible to conclude that the disease
could be due to starvation or to the lack of any single element
in the soil, nor can it be due to over-feeding, since it occurs
in light soils and in neglected orchards.
"It seems probable that it will be classed by the plant
pathologist with peach rosette, peach yellows, and related
diseases, the causes of which still remain unknown after years
of investigation. The indications are that it is contagious,
though a complete demonstration of this point remains to be
made; at any rate, it must be regarded with concern until more
knowledge is available."
The best recommendation that can be made in regard to pecans
affected by this disease is to dig them up and burn them.
BORDEAUX MIXTURE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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