454 



tfVTS. 



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 myristicm/ormisy — the first only has qualities which com- 

 mend themselves for cultivation. As this work is intended 



PlO. 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 (Hale'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- 



