RECAPITULATION. 
91 
insect ; one of these, which eats within the wood, and commits the greatest 
ravages, is represented on the Plate of the Mockernut Hickory, the wood 
of which species I have observed to be peculiarly liable to its attacks. 
The defects which unfit the Hickory for use in the building of houses, 
equally exclude it from the construction of vessels. At New York and 
Philadelphia, the Shellbark and Pignut Hickories have been taken for 
keels, and are found to last as long as those of other wood, owing to their 
being always in the water. Of the two species, the Pignut would be pre- 
ferable as being less liable to split, but it is rarely found of as large dimen- 
sions as the other. 
In sloops and schooners, the rings by which the sails are hoisted and 
confined to the mast, are always of Hickory. I have also been assured, 
that for attaching the cordage it makes excellent pegs, which are stronger 
than those of Oak: but they should set loosely in the holes, as otherwise 
for want of speedily seasoning, they soon decay. For handspikes, the 
Hickory is particularly esteemed on account of its strength : it is accord- 
ingly employed in most American vessels, and is exported for the same 
purpose to England, where it sells from 50 to 100 per cent higher than 
Ash, which is brought also from the north of the United States. The 
Hickories are cut without distinction for this use, but the Pignut, I believe, 
is the best. 
All the Hickories are very heavy, and in a given volume contain a great 
quantity of combustible matter. They produce an ardent heat, and leave 
a heavy, compact, and long lived coal. In this respect, no wood of the 
same latitude, in Europe or Arnerica, can be compared to them such, at 
least, is the opinion of all Europeans who have resided in the United 
States. At New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, people in easy cir- 
cumstances burn no other wood, and though it is sold 50 per cent higher 
than Oak, it is found profitable in use. It sold at New Yojk, the 20th of 
October, 1807, at 15 dollars a cord, and Oak wood at 10 dollars. From 
its superior quality, the Hickory is always sold separately. I have noticed 
that at New York, the Shellbark predominated in the fuel, and at Philadel- 
phia and Baltimore, the Mockernut. At Baltimore, the Shellbark, easily 
recognized by its scaly bark, is never seen. 
The quantity of the respective species of Hickory consumed in the cities 
is regulated by a soil and climate, more favorable to one than another, 
and not by an opinion entertained of their comparative excellence ; though 
experience shows the Mockernut to be the best and the Bitternutthe poor- 
est. This difference, however, is too slight to be generally regarded. 
Of the uses to which the Hickory is devoted in the United States, two 
will principally contribute, together with the slowness of its growth, to its 
entire extermination ; these are, the cutting of the saplings for hoops and of 
the trees for fuel. These considerations,_independently of many accessory 
