LUTHER BURBANK 



I have now little doubt that some of the variant 

 hickories that I knew as a boy were hybrids. 



The two species of hickory are closely related, 

 and I have reason to believe hybridize not infre- 

 quently in the wild state. I have received speci- 

 mens of hickory nuts from different parts of the 

 United States that I feel certain were natural 

 hybrids. And I entertain no doubt that such 

 hybridization occurs not infrequently. 



It is probable that when the attempt is syste- 

 matically made to develop the hickory nut the 

 method of hybridizing the two species will be 

 employed to give still wider variation and to 

 facilitate a wider selection. 



SOME ENORMOUS HICKORIES 



There is a variety of the hickory nut that grows 

 in the valleys of the Mississippi and the Ohio that 

 is of relatively enormous size. The shell of this 

 variety, however, is thick, and the meat is not 

 generally as fine in flavor as that of the eastern 

 shellbark hickory. But the size of this wild variety 

 gives assurance that under cultivation and selec- 

 tion the nut may be made to take on proportions 

 that will be very attractive. Doubtless the com- 

 paratively small size of the wild hickory nut has 

 led to its neglect, although we must recall that the 

 walnut and the butternut have also been neglected, 

 notwithstanding their much larger size. 



[136] 



