Captain John Smith mentions it in his account of his adventures among the 

 Indians. 



The hickories were much prized by the Indians, who made most of their 

 bows and arrows from their wood. They used hickory withes to bind their 

 wigwam poles together, and the nuts furnished a valuable part of their winter's 

 food. From the sap was made an ointment which they used to supple their 

 joints, and hickory ashes were used by them to preserve their meat. 



The wood is very hard and tough, which may be the reason the term 

 "Old Hickory" was given General Andrew Jackson by the soldiers, although 

 this nickname may have been bestowed during the war with the Creek Indians 

 in 1813 when he fed his men on hickory nuts when rations were short. 



The hickories have been called the "artist trees" because of their pic- 

 turesque appearance due to their shaggy bark, gnarled branches and stout 

 twigs. In the springtime they are beautiful with dainty leaves and tasseled 

 flowers, and in the summer their handsome light-green leaves cast a heavy 

 shade. When autumn comes the leaves turn to a clear yellow. There is an 

 old belief that if they are brilliant yellow, the next harvest will be a rich one. 



The hickories reach their best development in the southern Appalachians. 

 The most important one is the shag bark (Hicoria ovata), which attains a 

 height of 1 20 feet and a diameter of three to four feet. The long, ragged 

 strips of bark that clothe the trunk give it its name. 



All the hickories make their best growth in good, rich, bottom soil and 

 in sheltered situations. They are slow-growing, but form handsome broad 

 heads and live for many years. Very few hickories have been planted in 

 California, but there is no reason why they should not do well when planted 

 under proper conditions. 



PECAN 



The pecan (Hicoria pecan) is the most imposing of the hickories in its 

 native habitat in the Southern States, where it is found on low, rich ground 

 in the vicinity of streams. Near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a tree which 

 measures over eighteen feet in circumference at breast height and which is 

 over 1 50 feet in height. 



There is a weird story relating to a leafless pecan tree which formerly 

 stood near New Orleans. In the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, 

 the British lost a number of officers among them being General Packenham. 



(76) 



