ON THE HICKORY NUT 



The chief reason why these nuts have been 

 overlooked, doubtless, is that the idea of making 

 nuts a cultivated crop, comparable to orchard 

 fruits, has only recently been conceived in America 

 or at all events has only recently been given 

 general recognition. 



It is not improbable that it may be found 

 feasible to hybridize the hickory with the black 

 walnut or the butternut. These trees, to be sure, 

 do not belong to the same genus, but they are not 

 very distantly related, and we have seen that 

 generic bounds do not necessarily constitute 

 impassable barriers. 



Could hybridization be effected between the 

 hickory and either the walnut or the butternut, the 

 product should be a nut of very great value. 



It would be necessary, of course, to breed 

 selectively, doubtless for a number of generations, 

 to secure size and quality, and in particular to 

 develop a race of thin-shelled nuts. But that all 

 this may be accomplished cannot greatly be in 

 doubt. In any event, the experiment is well worth 

 making. 



There is reason to expect that the next three 

 or four generations will see somewhat the same 

 rapid progress in the art of developing the nut- 

 bearing trees that has been witnessed in the past 

 three or four in the development of orchard fruits. 



[137] 



