THE WALNUTS AND HICKORIES 



by the walls and fences bordering open pastures 

 and farm lands, and in these surroundings it 

 seems pleasing and appropriate; but when we 

 find it planted in parks and cultivated grounds 

 it seems commonplace and insignificant. It is 

 found in all the New England States, in New 

 York, and in Pennsylvania. Very large speci- 

 mens grow in the valley of the Connecticut 

 River. 



The wood of the butternut is light brown 

 in color, it is light, soft, and easily worked, 

 and is much used for furniture, gunstocks, 

 and for the interior finish of houses. The 

 inner bark is used medicinally, and a dye is 

 made from the bark and nutshells. An ex- 

 cellent pickle is made from the young nuts, 

 and the kernels are sweet and edible, although 

 rather rich and oily. Professor Gray tried the 

 experiment of making sugar from the sap of the 

 butternut. He found that it took four trees to 

 yield nine quarts of sap (one and a quarter 

 pounds of sugar), the amount that one sugar 

 maple yields. 



The generic name, Jiiglans, comes from 

 Jovis glans, the nut of Jove, in reference to 

 the excellence of the fruit, and the specific 

 name, cinerea (ash-colored), probably alludes to 

 the color of the bark. 



4J 



