454 NUTS. 



Shellbark Hickories. 



Of the several varieties of ordinarily so-called hickories 

 found growing wild in the United States as the shellbark 

 (Hicoria laciniosa), shagbark (Hicoria ovata), mocker-nut (Hico- 

 ria alba), pignut {Hicoria glabra) bitter-nut (Hicoria minima} 

 water hickory (Hicoria aquatica), and nutmeg-hickory (Hico- 

 ria myristicczformis} the first only has qualities which com- 

 mend themselves for cultivation. As this work is intended 



PiG. 599. Typical Thin-shell Shellbark. FIG. 600. Oval. 



to be strictly practical, only the shellbark hickory will there- 

 fore be treated of. 



Perhaps but one variety of this nut has been subjected to 

 cultivation and offered for sale (Kale's Paper-Shell). All 

 others are the product of wild trees. And yet the differences 

 in the sizes of the nuts, the thickness of the shell, the quali- 

 ties of the kernels, the cracking peculiarities, and the freeness 

 with which the meats may be extracted are very marked. 



While size undoubtedly has a large influence in the selling 

 of nuts, it is well known to all who have had any intelligent 

 experience that comparatively small nuts have frequently 

 disproportionately large and extremely high-flavored kernels. 



The slow growth of the shellbark has and will have a de- 

 terrent effect upon its cultivation, and while a wild two-year- 

 old will often be found four to five feet high, a trans- 



