CHAP. CII. JUGLANDA‘CEA. CA‘RYA. 1447 
catkins, of which three are united on a common petiole, attached at the basis 
of the young shoots. The fertile flowers are of a greenish hue, small, and 
situated at the extremity of the shoots. The fruit is ripe about the beginning 
of October ; and in some years it is so abundant, that several bushels may be 
gathered from a single tree. It is round, with four depressed seams, and 
averages, in general, 54 in. in circumference. The husk separates entirely from 
the nut; and its thickness is so disproportioned to the size of the nut, as to 
form a character peculiar to this species and C. suleata. The nuts are white 
(whence the name of C. alba), compressed at the sides, and marked by four dis- 
tinct angles, which correspond to the divisions of the husk. The kernel is 
fuller and sweeter than that of any other American walnut or hickory, except 
that of C. oliveeférmis ; but it is inferior to the fruit of the European walnut. 
Though the shell is thin, it is hard, and cannot, like that of the European 
walnut, be erushed with the fingers. The nuts are in considerable request, 
both for consumption in the United States and for exportation. The Indians 
lay up a store of these nuts for winter, a part of which they pound in wooden 
mortars ; and, boiling the paste in water, they collect the oil which swims upon 
the surface, and use it as a seasoning to their food. The tree abounds on the 
shores of Lake Erie, about Geneva in Genessee, in the neighbourhood of 
Goshen in New Jersey, and on the banks of riversin Pennsylvania. It does - 
not extend farther north than Portsmouth and New Hampshire; nor farther 
south than Goose Creek, in South Carolina. It is found in company with the 
swamp white oak (Quércus Prinus discolor), the red maple (A‘cer ribrum), 
the sweet gum (Liquidambar Styracfflua), the button-wood (Platanus occi- 
dentalis), and the tupelo (Nyssa bicolor). The wood, like that of C. sulcata, 
is strong, elastic, and tenacious, but has the defects common to all the 
hickories; viz. those of —— 1270 
soon decaying, and of =e 
being eaten up by worms. 
It is seldom used in con- 
struction, either in civil 
or naval architecture ; 
but, because it splits 
very easily, and is very 
elastic, it is used for 
making whip handles 
and baskets. The whip 
handles are esteemed 
for their suppleness, and 
considerable quantities 
of them are annually ex- 
ported to England. In 
the neighbourhood of 
New York and Phila- 
delphia, it is much used 
for the back bows of 
Windsor chairs. Mi- 
chaux recommends the 
introduction of the tree 
into European forests, 
where it should be 
lanted in cool and 
umid places, analogous 
to those of its native 
habitats. In the north 
of Europe, he says, it 
could not fail of suc- 
ceeding, as it securely braves the severest cold. He mentions a variety which 
he saw upon a farm in Seacocus, near Snake Hill, New Jersey, with fruit 
