CHAP. CII. 



.7UGLAND.VCE^>. Ca'rYA. 



U4-7 



1270 



catkins, of which three are unitecl 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, witli four depressed seams, and 

 av"erages, in general, 5^ 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. sulcata. 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. olivaeformis ; 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 crushetl 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 rivers in Penns\ Ivania. 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 (Quercus Prinus discolor), the red maple ( J'cer riibrum), 

 the sweet gum (Liquidambar Styraciflua), 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. tliose of 

 soon decaying, and of 

 being eaten up by worms. 

 It is seldom used in con- 

 struction, either in civil 

 or naval architecture ; 

 but, because it splits 

 very easil}', 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 

 planted in cool and 

 humid 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, wi'th fruit 



