88 ELEMENTARY WOODWORKING 



Compare the leaf of the buckeye and the hickory 

 shown in Fig. 99. Both leaves are compound, and eacli 

 has five leaflets, but they are quite different, because the 

 hickory leaflets are arranged on opposite sides of the leaf- 

 stalk instead of radiating from one point. 



There are several varieties of hickory, including the 

 shagbark, or shellbark, the pignut, and pecan. 



The name shagbark hickory is taken from the peculiar 

 appearance of the bark, which hangs in loose pieces 

 nearly a foot long and gives the tree a very shaggy 

 effect. Shellbark is another common name for this tree. 



The nut which this tree bears is hard and thick, but 

 the kernel is very sweet, and is considered by some 

 superior to all other hickory nuts. 



The pignut hickory is so called because the nuts in 

 some parts of the country are used to feed the pigs. It 

 is also called 'broom hickory. The nuts are small and 

 become bitter after having lain awhile. The wood, 

 however, like all the hickories, is valuable, being hard 

 and tough. There is a difference between strength and 

 toughness. Oak is strong, but not tough. Hickory is 

 both hard and tough. A tough wood is one which will 

 stand bending without breaking. A wood which will 

 bend easily but is not strong cannot be called tough. 

 It must be both strong and elastic, and hickory has 

 both of these qualities. 



