66 NUT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



sippi, Alabama, Georgia, and northern Florida. The outer bark of the tree breaks at 

 varying angles into broad, thick layers or strips which remain attached to the trunk 

 sometimes by either edge, sometimes by the top or bottom, and stand out from the 

 body presenting a very shaggy appearance. The leaves of this species have five to 

 seven leaflets, in two or three pairs with serrate edges, tapering to a sharp point, with 

 a terminal leaflet of the same general character. The hull surrounding the nut is 

 very thick and the four sections of which it is composed separate freely from tip to 

 base. The nut is angular with a hard though thin shell, and in form varies from long 

 ovate to quadrangular. (See pi. 10, figs. 1-4.) The kernel is plump, sweet, and 

 delicious, and in many cases parts readily into halves, free from the shell, under a 

 moderate hammer stroke upon the edge of the nut. A like result is obtained by the 

 ordinary simple nutcracker. This cracking quality is one of its most desirable points 

 from a commercial standpoint, as it makes possible at a moderate expense the placing 

 on the market of this excellent fruit, in an attractive form, for use by the confec- 

 tioner, or as a "nut-meat" for dessert. 



Yield and price. The age of beginning bearing ranges in the various reports from 

 5 to 30 years. There are very few reports of profitable crops, although it is believed 

 that when choice varieties are cultivated this will not be the case. The annual yield 

 of trees in full bearing ranges in reports from one-eighth of a bushel to 40 bushels. 

 Where the reports have placed the yield of the hickory at from 20 to 40 bushels they 

 probably refer to nuts in the hull, but we lack definite replies 011 this point. The price 

 per bushel at place of harvesting, as reported, ranges from 20 cents to $3. Through- 

 out New England and the Middle States, where the shagbark is most abundant, few 

 farmers protect nut-bearing trees. The nuts are in most places free to children, and 

 relatively few are sold. In the central Western States the price of the shagbark is 

 from 75 cents to $1 per bushel for the smaller nuts, and $1.25 to $2 for the finer 

 sorts. In Wisconsin hickory nuts sell at $1 per bushel of 40 pounds. 



Choice shagbarks. Though not many have been propagated except by seed, many 

 variations showing superior size, thinness of shell, good cracking quality, plumpness 

 and quality of kernel, have been noticed in different parts of the country. Almost 

 without exception they belong to this species. The naturalist, Michaux, who wrote 

 on this subject in the early years of this century, mentions a variety of this nut that 

 he saw on a farm in " Seacocus, near Snake Hill," N". J., with fruit nearly twice as large 

 as that of the species, and having a white shell with rounded prominences, instead of 

 angles. A century of cultivation, he says, would perhaps not advance the species 

 generally to an equal degree of perfection with this accidental variety. Careful 

 inquiry fails to disclose any more recent information concerning this tree. It was 

 probably destroyed before its value became generally recognized. 



Correspondents report as follows: Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan, Conn.: "We find 

 some very good-sized nuts that would be profitable if grafted in groves." 



A. J. Coe, Meriden, Conn., sends a nut (pi. 10, fig. 4). Medium size, compressed, 

 obovate; rather smooth shell, of medium thickness; cracking quality, good; flavor, 

 rich. Mr. Coe says of it: "A large tree, very productive; of high flavor." 



George H. Ayres, Allamuchy, if . J. : "I have a variety with thin shell, kernel 

 free, and of good flavor." 



G. S. Snyder, Middleburg, Pa. : " We have some that are nearly the size of walnuts." 



John D. Souder, Telford, Pa.: "I have 50 trees of small shellbark that yield 100 

 bushels annually." 



E. B. Clark, Fay, Pa. : " I have rich, sweet nuts, rather small in size, from a tree 

 1 foot in diameter. It is a good annual bearer." 



Emory A. Pryor, Akron, Ohio, sends some rather small ovate nuts that have thin 

 shells, crack well, and yield good kernels in perfect halves. (See pi. 10, fig. 1.) 



William Pryor, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, sends a nut of medium size and quality, 

 which we have illustrated (pi. 10, fig. 3), as the quadrangular type of this species. 



