420 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



the coniferous trees, from which the lateral branches come 

 out at first with a sharp angle, but soon bend downwards, so 

 as to make a number of twisted, rectangular junctions. The 

 white oak has a similar ramification ; but the lateral branches 

 of the hickory are comparatively short and small, and, with 

 the tall shaft, forma sort of columnar head, less rounded than 

 that of the oak. These trees are usually somewhat flattened 

 at the top, and assume a cylindrical form, when they make 

 any approach to regularity. They are often very irregular 

 in their growth, exhibiting frequent spaces which are not 

 filled with branches, and presenting several distinct masses of 

 foliage. These gaps do not extend all round the tree, and 

 seem to be occasioned by the shortness of the lateral branches, 

 which sometimes do not equal in length the distances between 

 their unions with the trunk. 



The hickory, therefore, except when young, is seldom an 

 elegant tree, as elegance requires the union of grace and sym- 

 metry. Its recommendations are its sturdy habit, its great 

 altitude, its dense and beautiful foliage, its approach to the 

 cylindrical form, and its dissimilarity to other trees. I have 

 never seen a hickory with broad spreading branches, like the 

 butternut, which is greatly inferior to it in foliage. The dif- 

 ferent species of this genus are so common in New England, 

 as to form, like the elm, one of the distinguishing features of 

 our landscape. In Massachusetts and the older settlements, 

 we see them following the lines of the stone-walls, by the side 

 of which they have sprung up spontaneously in that border 

 which generally lies fallow, because it is not within the reach 

 of the plough. We are indebted to this fortunate circumstance 

 for tens of thousands of valuable and beautiful trees, which, 

 but for this narrow strip of neglected land, would never have 

 been allowed to " cumber the ground." The trees that have 

 grown up in these situations have evidently had opportunity 

 to expand, and acquire their natural shape and full dimensions. 

 Hence as we see the majority of them running up to a great 

 height, with but little spread, like trees that have been left in 

 a clearing, we are justified in considering this shape as the 

 natural habit of the genus. 



