waited too long to pick that nut and some smart squirrel, which had
probably been watching it ripen as diligently as I had, secured it
first. I made a very thorough search of the ground nearby to find the
remains of it, for while I knew I would not get a taste of the
kernel--the squirrel would take care of that--I was interested in
finding out whether it followed the exact shape and thinness of shell of
the first nuts I had examined. I finally did find part of it, enough to
see that it was similar to the nuts from the parent tree.

The grafts I made in 1932 have been bearing nuts every year since that
time. The Weschcke hickory makes a tremendous growth grafted on
bitternut hickory (Carya Cordiformis). The wood and buds are hardy to a
temperature of 47° below zero Fahrenheit, so that wherever the wild
bitternut hickory grow, this grafted tree will survive to bear its
thin-shelled nuts. The nuts have a fine flavor and the unusual quality
of retaining this flavor without becoming rancid, for three years. The
only fault to find with them is the commercial one of being only medium
in size, so that compared to English walnuts, for example, they become
unimpressive. I have noticed time and again that the average person will
pass over a small, sweet nut to choose a larger one even though the
latter may not have as attractive a flavor. This is noticeably true in
regard to pecans, when the large paper-shell types, which have a rather
dry, sweet kernel, are almost invariably preferred to the smaller ones
of finer flavor, which are plump and have slightly thicker shells.

Previous to finding the Weschcke hickory, I experimented with several
varieties of hickory hybrids. In March 1924, I purchased twelve Beaver
and twelve Fairbanks hybrid hickories from J. F. Jones. I planted these
trees in April of that year but of the lot, only two Beaver trees lived
to bear nuts. One of these is still growing on my farm, in thin, clay