by October 30 indicates that in many seasons they may be relied upon to
mature their crop. No other data has been acquired on this variety and
we can only be thankful that we can expect it to do a little better in
size as successive crops appear, which is the usual way of nut trees.
Also, by fertilizing this tree we can expect bigger nuts, as is
generally the case. The shell of this pecan is so thin that it can be
easily cracked with the teeth, which I have done repeatedly, and
although small is thinner-shelled than any standard pecan.




Chapter 7

HICKORY THE KING


The acknowledged autocrat of all the native nuts is the hickory. Perhaps
not all the experts admit this leadership but it is certainly the
opinion held by most people. Of course, when I speak of the hickory nut
in this high regard, I refer to the shagbark hickory which, as a wild
tree, is native as far north as the 43rd parallel in Minnesota and
Wisconsin, and somewhat farther in the eastern states.

Wild hickory nuts have been commercialized only to a slight extent. Its
crops are almost entirely consumed in the locality in which they are
grown by those people who find great pleasure in spending fine autumn
days gathering them. The obvious reason why hickory nuts have not been
made a product of commerce lies in the nut itself, which is usually very
small and which has a shell so strong and thick that the kernel can be