STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



mo- of the hickories in winter. Its bark has a 

 peculiar wavy appearance, entirely unlike any 

 other member of the family. The hollows are 

 close together in sinuous, shallow furrows, and 

 the bark is so smooth over these fissures that 

 it looks as if the ridges were trying to grow 

 over and close up the hollows, the effect is 

 that of a thin, silk veil drawn over the trunk. 

 The twigs are large and heavily moulded, with 

 large oval buds, but they produce a pleasing 

 effect of strength, instead of seeming ugly and 

 coarse, like those of the horsechestnut. The 

 curves and irregularities the stem takes in 

 growing, and the general alternate plan of 

 branching save the mockernut from being rigid 

 and upright like the horsechestnut. 



The mockernut is easily distinguished from 

 every other hickory by its peculiar bark, its 

 smooth, large buds, and coarse stems. 



Its wood is used for the same purposes as 

 that of the shagbark and is equally valuable. 

 Its nut is large and sweet, and if the tree were 

 put under cultivation, it would probably equal 

 that of the shagbark in commercial value. As 

 it is now, however, the shell is too thick, hard, 

 and difficult to crack, and the kernel too small 

 in proportion to the shell to make it market- 

 able. The experiment of cultivating the mock- 



5 2 



