THE HICKORY-NUTS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



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be the pecan of Texas and Illinois, or the shell-bark or mocker-nut of 

 the Central or Eastern States, the amusement is the same. They are 

 the best nuts the forests of North America produce, and some of them 

 are thought to be superior in flavor to the much -esteemed English 

 walnut. 



Year after year have hundreds and thousands of bushels of the 

 shell-barks, the hickory-nuts par excellence, been gathered in various 

 parts of the country. Among these, few can have failed to notice the 

 many differences they present. Some are small and nearly round ; 

 some are long, narrow, and angular ; some have thick shells, and 

 some thin ones, as any one who has cracked his fingers along with the 

 shell can bear witness. 



According to evolutionary doctrines, variability in an important 

 feature is an indication either of a low state of development, or that 

 the organism is in a state of advancement. Various facts show the 

 latter to be the case with the shell-bark hickory. The first stages of 

 the onward march must be sought far back in prehistoric times, for it 

 boasts an ancient if not an honored lineage. Before the hairy mam- 

 moth roamed the forests of the Ohio Valley ; before the soil of Louisi- 

 ana was yet above the ocean's waters ; before the Ohio had become 

 tributary to the mighty Mississippi ; before even the Rocky Mountain 

 range had been elevated above the waste of waters, the ancestors of 

 this hickory flourished in the land. But, before we study the ancient 

 hickories, let us examine the living trees and note their peculiarities. 



Fig. 1.— White Shell-bark (Carya alia). 



"Were the same observers who saw the differences in the size and 

 shape of the nuts of the white shell-bark to direct their attention to 

 the husks of that fruit, they would find much variability there also. 

 But these are secondary considerations with the nut-gatherers. If a 



