"Your tone is almost a challenge, 

 Walnut Tree." 



''Perhaps; but I must tell you of our 

 ancient lineage; we, too, existed in the 

 tertiary period. We were beloved by 

 the ancients, my branch of the family — 

 the Black Walnut — was dedicated by 

 the Greeks to the goddess Diana, whose 

 festivals were held beneath our shade. 

 Greeks and Romans alike used our nuts 

 at their weddings ; we were called the 

 nut of Jove — the king of the gods." 



"Your nuts do have a fine, rich flavor, 

 but then, so has the butternut." 



"The butternut is the White Walnut 

 of our family. We embrace eight 

 branches ; the hickory nut and the pig- 

 nut also are members, as well as the 

 mockernut, with its fragrant, resinous 

 leaves." 



"I am glad of that ; do you know the 

 only thing which I do not like about you 

 is the fact that your hulls turn my 

 fingers brown." 



"That fact made me very useful to 

 the wife of the pioneer. She used our 

 husks and a portion of our bark to dye 

 the wool she made into clothes for her 

 family." 



"I've heard, too, that your shade was 

 injurious to grass and grain, in fact, that 

 nothing thrived beneath your branches." 



"Oh ! that is owing to carelessness on 

 the part of our owner. If he would 

 gather our fallen leaves and remove 

 them, instead of allowing them to lie 

 and decay where the rain and melting 

 snows would wash their astringent 

 properties into the soil, it would be all 

 right. 



"Our wood is of a beautiful dark 

 brown color, strong and heavy ; it takes 

 a high polish and for that reason is used 

 in cabinet work and interior decora- 

 tions. It is also very durable, but that 

 is not to be wondered at, as, like the oak, 

 it takes us a long time to reach matur- 

 ity. It is estimated that we require fully 

 one hundred years growth, before we 

 are valuable as a timber tree ; how long 

 our life might last, man does not allow 

 us to know, for he comes with his ax 

 and lays us low for the monev we bring 

 him." 



Mabel was sitting quietly in the warm 

 sunshine, watching the light wind as it 

 scattered the leaves, making a carpet of 



many hues for the sloping hillside, 

 watching too, the quick motions and 

 bright eyes of the squirrels, so intent on 

 filling their granaries for the days when 

 there would be no smiling sun nor 

 balmy air. Presently she roused from 

 her reverie to ask: 



"Have you no legends to tell me. Wal- 

 nut Tree?" 



"No; our family is singularly free of 

 legends and devoid of interesting bits 

 of history; although Loudon claims that 

 Carya — the name by which the hickory 

 was known to the Greeks — was also 

 given by them to the White Walnut, in 

 honor of Carya, daughter of Dion, king 

 of Laconia, who was changed by Bac- 

 chus into a walnut tree. The goddess 

 Diana, it is claimed, bore also the sur- 

 name Caryata, from the town of Carya, 

 in Laconia, where her rites were always 

 celebrated in the open air, beneath the 

 wide-spreading branches of a walnut 

 tree. But Plutarch claims the name was 

 given us because of the effect which the 

 smell of our leaves has on the head." 



"Do you know I always liked the odor 

 of your leaves?" 



"There are some who like the odor, 

 but you must remember that all peo- 

 ple are not constituted alike." 



"Another thing which I like about 

 you is the glint of gold which your 

 leaves always have. I've often thrown 

 myself down beneath your low, sweep- 

 ing branches, in midsummer, and your 

 sparse foliage — for I can always trace 

 your branches through your foliage — 

 seems to catch and hold the sunlight, 

 making of your very shade a golden 

 glow." 



"I've often noticed you here. Unlike 

 our wood, that of the hickory is light, 

 but it is elastic, tough, and strong." 



"That is the reason no doubt why 

 father is so particular to have his ax- 

 handles made of hickory. Oh, Tree! 

 that reminds me of the fact that I've 

 often heard father speak of President 

 Jackson as 'Old Hickory.' " 



"Yes, he was generally spoken of in 

 that manner ; not in terms of ridicule, 

 but because the people were fond of 

 him and appreciated the sterling qual- 

 ities of his good strono: character. 



"The nuts of the hickory are held in 

 high esteem by the red men of the forest 



221 



