190 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



oak cannot be readily found, for axle-trees, saws it into planks 

 for barn-floors, and applies it to many other purposes. For tide 

 mills, it is preferable to oak timber, as it is not attacked by 

 worms when in salt water. 



Its defects are that it shrinks much and irregularly, and there- 

 fore warps, that it is liable to the attacks of worms, and decays 

 rapidly when exposed to moisture. As is the case with most 

 other woods, that is most valuable which has grown most rapid- 

 ly, and which, in consequence, has least of the red heart- wood. 

 That of the pignut is heaviest, next in succession the shellbark 

 and mockernut, in the proportion, when green, of 31, 29, and 25. 



As fuel, hickory is preferred to every other wood, burn- 

 ing freely, even when green, making a pleasant, brilliant fire, 

 and throwing out great heat. Charcoal made from it is 

 heavier than that from any other wood, but it is not considered 

 more valuable than that of birch or alder. The ashes of the 

 hickories abound in alkali, and are considered better for the 

 purpose of making soap than any other of the native woods, 

 being next to those of the apple tree. 



The shellbark hickory ought to be cultivated for its nuts. 

 These differ exceedingly in different soils and situations, and of- 

 ten on individual trees growing in immediate proximity. There 

 is a common idea, which seems to be well founded, that the ex- 

 cellence of the nut is proportioned to the roughness of the bark. 

 An observation of the elder Michaux encourages us to hope that 

 the fruit may be greatly improved by cultivation. He says that 

 the fruit of the common European walnut, in its natural state, 

 is harder than that of the pacanenut, and inferior to it in size 

 and quality.* 



The species of hickory common in Massachusetts, are four : 



1. The Shellbark, with five large leaflets, a large nut, of 

 which the husk is deeply grooved at the seams, and with a 

 rough, scaly trunk ; 



2. The Mockernut, with seven or nine leaflets, a hard, thick- 

 shelled nut, and leaflets and twigs very downy when young, and 

 strongly odorous ; 



* N. A. Sylva, I, p. 137. 



