158 



THE NUT CULTCBIST. 



FIG. 47. WESTEKN SHELLBARK. 



loose grayish scales ; the young twigs stout, with a gray 

 bark, most noticeable in winter. Fruit large, oval to 

 oblong, usually four-ribbed above the middle, with de- 

 pressions between; husk 

 thick, somewhat spongy, 

 l.rinking at matufi..y, and 

 I litting open from u,op down- 

 ird. Nut large, with prom- 

 ent ridges, and strongly 

 linted, hut slightly com- 

 ■essed at the sides, as seen 

 Pig. 47 ; shell thick and of 

 lull yellowish color ; kernel 

 oderately large, as shown 

 ross section of nut in Pig. 

 48, but much smaller in pro- 

 portion to the size of the nut 

 than in the two preceding 

 species, but ic is sweet, weU flavored, and easily removed 

 from the shell when cracked. The very large size of 

 these nuts makes them a favorite, especially where the 

 pecan and the true shellbarks are 

 not plentiful. These nuts were 

 formerly known as the Springfield 

 or Gloucester nut. A very large 

 tree, sixty to eignty feet high, and 

 two to four feet in diameter, with 

 thick, scaly- bark, the scales some- 

 what thicker than in tne common 

 shellbark hickory of the Atlantic 

 States. A rare tree, except in the 

 valleys west of the Alleghanies, ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ 

 although it is reported to have ern shellbark. 

 been found in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and thence 

 west to southern Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, eastern 

 and the Indian Territory. Plentiful in the 



