THE HICKORY NUT 95 



veloper could not be regarded as a fault. If 

 through selective breeding a variety could be pro- 

 duced that would bear regularly and abundantly, 

 and in particular if the size of the nuts was in- 

 creased, this would be one of the most important 

 of all nuts. As yet, however, a variety that is 

 adapted to growth in this country has not 

 been produced. 



Some Foreign Possibilities 



A nut that has come to be fairly well known 

 in the market in recent years, but which has 

 hitherto scarcely been grown in tliis country, is 

 the Pistachio. The tree on which this nut grows 

 is a member of the sumac family. The nuts are 

 small, but on the best trees are produced in 

 profusion. 



In recent years the Department of Agricul- 

 ture of the United States Government has im- 

 ported a great number of plants and seeds of the 

 pistachio, wjiich are now being grown experi- 

 mentally, and which, it is hoped, will form the 

 basis of an extensive culture of this nut. The 

 experiment has not as yet progressed far enough 

 to make predictions possible as to the results. My 

 own experience with the nut is limited to the 

 growing of a few plants about thirty-five years 

 ago, which, after they had been cultivated for a 



