HICKORY. 



vania, and particularly in the county of Lan- 

 caster. Portsmouth in New Hampshire may 

 be considered as limiting towards the north the 

 climate of this tree. A little farther south it is 

 abundant, and in the Atlantic parts of the 

 Middle States it helps, with the Mockernut 

 hickory, white oak, swamp white oak, sweet 

 gum, and dogwood, to form the mass of the 

 forests. In the Southern States, especially near 

 the coast, it is less common in the woods, be- 

 ing found only on the borders of swamps and 

 in places which are wet without being abso- 

 lutely marshy or exposed to be long inundated. 

 This tree is met with in the western country, 

 but less frequently, I believe, than the Thick 

 Shellbark and Mockernut hickories. I have 

 observed that the last mentioned species grows 

 wherever the Pignut is found, but that the Pig- 

 nut does not always accompany the Mockernut, 

 which is satisfied with a less 'substantial soil. 

 This remark I have made more particularly in 

 the lower parts of Virginia, of the two Caro- 

 linas, and of Georgia. It appears, then, that, 

 with the exception of the States of Vermont 

 and New Hampshire, of the District of Maine, 

 of the Genesee country, and of the cold and 

 mountainous tracts along the whole range of 

 the Alleghany mountains, this tree is more or 

 less abundant in the forests throughout the 

 United States. 



" The Pignut hickory is one of the largest 

 trees in the United States. It grows to the 

 height of 70 or 80 feet, with a diameter of 3 or 

 4 feet 



" The nut is small, smooth, and very hard on 

 account of the thickness of the shell. Its ker- 

 nel is sweet, but meager and difficult to extract, 

 from the firmness of the partitions. These nuts 

 are never carried to market, but serve for food 

 to swine, racoons, and the numerous species 

 of squirrels which people the forests. 



"In the Pignut hickory the form and size 

 of the nuts vary more than in the other species. 

 Some are oval, and when covered with their 

 husks, resemble young figs; others are broader 

 than they are long, and others are perfectly 

 round. Among these various forms some nuts 

 are as large as the thumb, and others not bigger 

 than the little finger." 



9. Nutmeg Hickory (Juglans myri&ticaformis). 

 This tree, so named by Michaux from the re- 

 semblance of its fruit to the nutmeg, is found 

 in the Southern and Southwestern States. The 

 nuts are very small, smooth, and of a brown 

 colour, marked with lines of white. The husk 

 is thin, and somewhat rough on the surface. 

 The shell is so thick as to constitute two-thirds 

 of the volume of the nut. The kernal is there- 

 fore very minuie, and the fruit even inferior to 

 that of the Pignut. 



Properties and Uses of Hickory Wood. The 

 wood of all the species of hickory bears a 

 striking resemblance, both as to fibre and the 

 uniform reddish colour of the heart. It pos- 

 sesses great weight, strength, and unusual plia- 

 bility and toughness. When exposed to heat 

 and moisture it is subject to rapid decay, and 

 is peculiarly liable to injury from worms. 



"Throughout the Middle States it is selected 

 for the axletrees of carriages, for the handles of 

 axes and other carpenter's tools, and for large 



HICKORY. 



screws, particularly those of bookbinder's 

 presses. The cogs of mill-wheels are made 

 of hickory heart thoroughly seasoned ; but it 

 is proper only for such wheels as are not ex- 

 posed to moisture; and for this reason some 

 other wood is by many mill-wrights preferred. 

 The rods which form the back of Windsor 

 chairs, coach -whip- handles, musket-stocks, 

 rake-teeth, flails for thrashing grain, the bows 

 of yokes, or the elliptical pieces which pass 

 under the necks of cattle: all these are objects 

 customarily made of hickory. At Baltimore 

 it is used for the hoops of sieves, and is more 

 esteemed than the white oak, which is equally 

 elastic, but more apt to peel off in small shreds 

 into the substance sifted. In the country near 

 Augusta in Georgia, I have remarked that the 

 common chairs are of hickory wood. In New 

 Jersey it is employed for shoeing sledges, that 

 is, for covering the runners or parts which 

 slide upon the snow ; but to be proper for this 

 use it must have been cut long enough to have 

 become perfectly dry. 



"Of the numerous trees of North America 

 east of the Alleghany mountains, none except 

 the hickory is perfectly adapted to the making 

 of hoops for casks and boxes. For this pur- 

 pose vast quantities of it are consumed at 

 home, and exported to the West India islands. 

 The hoops are made of young hickories from 

 6 to 12 feet high, without choice as to the spe- 

 cies. The largest hoop-poles sold at Philadel- 

 phia and New York in February, 1808, at $3 

 a hundred. Each pole is split into two parts, 

 and the hoop is crossed and confined by notches 

 instead of being bound at the end with twigs 

 like those made of chestnut. From the solidity 

 of the wood, this method appears sufficiently 

 secure. 



"When it is considered how large a part 

 of the productions of the United States is 

 packed for exportation in barrels, an estimate 

 may be formed of the necessary consumption, 

 of hoops. In consequence of it, young trees 

 proper for this object have become scarce in 

 all parts of the country which have been long 

 settled. The evil is greater, as they do not 

 sprout a second time from the same root, and 

 as their growth is slow. The cooper cannot 

 lay up a store of them for future use, for un- 

 less employed within a year, and often within 

 six months after being cut, they are attacked 

 by two species of insect, one of which eats 

 within the wood and commits the greatest 

 ravages. 



"The defects which unfit the hickory for use 



in the building of houses, equally exclude it 



from the construction of vessels. At New York 



and Philadelphia the Shellbark and Pignut 



hickories have been taken for keels, and are 



found to last as long as those of other wood, 



j owing to their being always in the water. Of 



| the two species, the Pignut would be prefera- 



: ble, as being less liable to split, but it is rarely 



found of as large dimensions as the other. 



" In sloops and schooners the rings by which 

 ( the sails are hoisted and confined to the mast 

 ; are always of hickory. I have also been as- 

 sured that for attaching the cordage it makes 

 excellent pegs, which are stronger than those 

 of oak ; but they should be set loosely in the 



