140 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



The white walnut, or Hickery, is a native of North 

 America, where it grows to be a timber tree of con- 

 siderable dimensions. The nut is rather smaller 

 than that of the common walnut; it is lighter hi the 

 colour, and not furrowed in the shell. The kernel 

 is edible, and yields an oil similar to that of the 

 walnut. 



One part of the wood is more porous than that of 

 the walnut, but the other is more compact: this gives 

 the grain of the wood something the appearance of 

 that of ash; and where it abounds, it is used for 

 similar purposes, the small shoots for hoops, and 

 the grown trees for agricultural instruments. Hickery 

 is very tough and elastic; and therefore it answers 

 remarkably well for fishing rods, the shafts and poles 

 of carriages, and other purposes where a slender sub- 

 stance of timber has to resist sudden jerks or strains. 



In favourable situations, the hickery grows well 

 in England; the specimens in the arboretum of the 

 Royal Botanical Garden at Kew are of great size for 

 their age, and very handsome trees. The trunk 

 rises to a considerable height, of nearly uniform thick- 

 ness, as straight as a line, and without any lateral 

 branches; and it is thus very probable that, if the 

 tree were more generally cultivated, it would make 

 one of the most valuable in the country. 



There are two other descriptions of foreign trees, 

 which, though they belong not to the same genus with 

 hickery, are applied to purposes almost similar in 

 the arts; and therefore this is the proper place in 

 which to notice them. They are Lance wood, and 

 the Hassagay wood, of which the natives of Southern 

 Africa make the stems of their spears. 



Lance wood (Guaiteria virgata) is a native of 

 the island of Jamaica; and though it does not grow 

 ot a very great size, it is perhaps one of the most 

 valuable timber-trees in the island. No timber pos- 



