HICKORY. 



HICKORY. 



ternut Hickory, Mockernut Hickory, SMlbark Hick- ] If the practice should be successfully adopt- 

 er?/, Thick Shellbark Hickory, Pignut Hickory, and ed of grafting the pacanenut on the black wal- 



Nutmeg Hickory. The three first-named species 

 bear the nearest relation with the black walnut 

 and butternut, their buds not being covered 

 with scales. 



The various species of hickory differ very 

 greatly from the black walnut and butternut in 

 the properties of their wood. The general form 

 and foliage of hickories, also, bear a striking 

 resemblance, though they differ in the number 

 and size of their leaflets. The fruit often varies 

 greatly in appearance. All the species of hick- 

 ory, together with the black walnut and butter- 

 nut, comprise an indigenous genus, no species 

 of which is met with in Europe, or any other 

 part of the old world. 



1. Pacanenut Hickory (Juglans olivcpformis of 

 Michaux; Carya angustifolia and Juglans angus- 

 tifolia of other naturalists). This species, which, 

 says Michaux, is found in Upper Louisiana and 

 Illinois, is called by the French Pacanier, and 

 its fruit Pacanes. On the borders of the rivers 

 Missouri, Illinois, St. Francis, and Arkansas, 

 it is most abundantly multiplied. It is also 

 common on the Wabash, and on the Ohio is 

 found for 200 miles from its junction with the 

 Mississippi. Higher than this it becomes more 

 rare, and is not seen beyond Louisville. This 

 trfee is partial to cold, wet grounds. On the 

 right bank of the Ohio, opposite the river Cum- 

 berland, there is a swamp of 800 acres, which 

 is said to be entirely covered with it. 



The Pacanenut is a beautiful tree, with a 

 straight and well-shaped trunk, attaining in the 

 forests the height of 60 or 70 feet. Its wood is 

 coarse-grained, and, like that of other hickories, 

 heavy and compact, possessing great strength 

 and durability, though in this last respect not 

 equal to some other species. The nuts, which 

 are usually abundant, are contained in a husk 

 from one to two lines thick, and have four 

 slightly prominent angles, corresponding to 

 their internal divisions. They vary in length 

 from an inch to an inch and a half, are pointed 

 at the extremities, of a cylindrical form, and 

 of a yellowish colour, marked, at the period of 

 perfect maturity, with blackish or purple lines. 

 The shell is smooth and thin, though too hard 

 to be broken by the fingers; the kernel is full, 

 and, not being divided by ligneous partitions, 

 is easily extracted. These nuts, which are of 

 a very agreeable taste, form an object of petty 

 commerce between Upper and Lower Louisi- 

 ana. From New Orleans they are exported to 

 the West Indies and to the ports of the United 

 States. They are not only better than any other 

 species of North American walnuts, but they 

 appear to be even more delicately flavoured 

 than those of Europe. And, besides, varieties 

 of the pacanenut are found whose fruit is far 

 superior to that of the European walnut unim- 

 proved by culture. This tree therefore merits 

 the attention of both Americans and Euro- 

 peans, that by assiduous cultivation it may 

 be brought to the highest degree of perfection. 

 These advantages, it is true, are balanced in 



nut, or on the common walnut, its vegetation 

 would be incomparably more rapid, and no 

 motive would discourage its propagation in 

 Europe. 



2. Bitternut Hickory (Juglans owara). This 

 tree is also called in Lancaster county and 

 some other parts of Pennsylvania and the 

 Middle States by the names 'of White Hickory 

 and Swamp Hickory, the latter name being de- 

 rived from its frequently flourishing on the 

 rich alluvium found in swamps and on the 

 banks of rivers subject to overflowing. Far- 

 ther south it is confounded with the Pignut 

 hickory. Its vegetation is more hardy than 

 that of other hickories. 



The Bitternut hickory, Michaux informs us, 

 is nowhere found much beyond the boundaries 

 of Vermont in the latitude 'of 45. " The fruit 

 is ripe about the beginning of October ; it is so 

 plentiful that several bushels are sometimes 

 gathered from a single tree. The husk is thin, 

 fleshy, and surmounted on its upper half by 

 four appendages in the form of wings. It 

 never becomes ligneous like those of the other 

 hickories, but softens and decays. The form 

 of the nut in this species is more constant and 

 more regular than in the others. It is broader 

 than it is long, being 6 or 7 lines one way and 

 10 lines the other. The shell is white, smooth, 

 and thin enough to be broken by the fingers. 

 The kernel is remarkable for the deep inequal- 

 ities produced on every side by its foldings. 

 It is so harsh and bitter that squirrels and 

 other wild animals will not feed on it while 

 any other nut is to be found. 



" In some parts of Pennsylvania, where this 

 tree is multiplied, an oil is extracted from the 

 nuts, which is used for the lamp and for other 

 inferior purposes. But from these experiments, 

 in which individuals have succeeded, it is not 

 to be concluded that a sufficient product of this 

 sort can be obtained to form a branch of in- 

 dustry. 



3. Water Bitternut Hickory (Juglans aqualica). 

 "No specific name," says Michaux, "has hither- 

 to been given to this species, which is confined 

 to the Southern States ; it is confounded with 

 the Pignut hickory, though differing from it in 

 many respects. The name which I propose 

 appears sufficiently appropriate, for I have al- 

 ways found this tree in swamps, and in the 

 ditches which surround the rice fields, where 

 it is accompanied by the red-flowering maple, 

 Tupelo, cypress, and Carolina poplar. The 

 Water Bitternut hickory grows to the height 

 of 40 or 50 feet, and in its general appearance 

 resembles the other hickories. Its leaves are 

 8 or 9 inches long, and of a beautiful green. 

 They are composed of 4 or 5 pair of sessile 

 leaflets, surmounted by a petiolated odd one. 

 The leaflets are serrate, 4 or 5 inches long, 8 

 or 9 lines broad, and very similar to the leaves 

 of the peach tree. 



"The husk is thin, and the nuts are small, 

 angular, a little depressed at the sides, some- 



part by the slowness of its growth; there are I what rough, of a reddish colour, and very ten 

 trees in France which have been planted more der. The kernel is formed in folds like that 

 than thirty years, and which do not yield fruit, of the Bitternut hickory: as may be supposed, 

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