Shagbark hickory

“ Mr. D. C. Snyder, Center Point, Iowa, has a shagbark hickory some twenty-five or thirty years old which was top worked shortly after it had begun to bear. In 1913 the four top limbs were top worked to Fairbanks hickory, the rest of the tree being undisturbed. In 1915 these grafts bore nuts and have borne every year since. In 1919 they bore two quarts. Inasmuch as this was a year when the hickory crop in that section was a failure it was thought to speak well for the bearing of the Fairbanks hickory. In 1916 four grafts of Dennis hickory were put in and three of Cedar Rapids. ”

“ The bark of the shagbark hickory is so hard that new shoots are choked severely and many years are required before they have a secure hold upon the stock. My final conclusion is that we may cut shagbark limbs having a diameter of three inches or less for the purpose of leaving grafting stubs. If a large number of grafts are inserted in such a topworked tree or in stock sprouts which start and are grafted in the following year the work is successful. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The search for a large fruited beech is not going to be easy but it is believed that persistent work will eventually triumph, much as the 1929 contest brought more shellbark hickories of value to the attention of the association than all previous contests put together. The shellbark is a tree the best varieties of which it is difficult to learn about. Unlike the shagbark hickory it is not generally found growing near buildings or in fields or pastures. ”

“ Experimenters have long thought to reduce the time required by the hickory to reach maturity by grafting it to fast-growing hickory roots such as the bitternut or the closely related pecan. Both of these grow rapidly and the bitternut has the additional advantage of growing farther north and of being transplanted more easily. It has always been thought that when a good variety of shagbark hickory had been successfully grafted to bitternut root stocks, orchards of hickory trees would soon appear. ”

“ The fruit grows in clusters of from three to eleven, the number exceeding any other hickory. The nuts are four-angled, and long for their width.
The wood of pecan has disappointed those who have attempted to use it like other hickories. It does not differ much from them in appearance, but it falls low in mechanical tests. In strength, toughness, and stiffness it is inferior to the poorest of the other hickories. It has less than half the strength and half the stiffness of shagbark hickory. It is a fairly good fuel, but is high in ash. ”

“ The shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is the chief one of value for the production of edible nuts. It is confined to the St. Lawrence valley from Montreal westward and along Lakes Erie and Ontario for a distance of 40-50 miles back from the shore. It reaches a height of fifty to ninety feet and a trunk diameter of one to three feet and grows best on deep, fertile loams.
BITTERNUT HICKORY (Carya cordiformis)
This species has a wider range than the shellbark and is found in southwestern Quebec and throughout Ontario from the Quebec border to the Georgian Bay district. ”

“ The smooth bark of the mockernut hickory contrasts greatly with the shaggy bark of the shagbark hickory—members of the same family and yet how different. A wonderful opportunity is thus offered for a comparative study of human nature—individuality and community life, all reflected in trees. ”

“ The shellbark hickory is much less common and far less well known than is the shagbark. In its native range it appears in certain counties of central New York, eastern Pennsylvania and in parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. ”

“ The shagbark hickory has been extremely important in the economy of the United States during its period of early development. The handles of the axes which leveled extensive forested areas in Colonial days were frequently made from sturdy hickory wood. The nuts furnished food for man in the form of oil or nutmeats and often hogs were fattened on hickory nuts, beechnuts and chestnuts. ”

“ Let's get back to this seed propagation now. I am asking anyone here, can you throw any light at all on the need for stratification of pecan or hickory seed of any species.
MR. CALDWELL: I have read in several publications that hickories should be stratified over the winter period before planting for spring germination. I always find things a little bit different, so a year ago at the greenhouse I took seven different sources of seed of shagbark hickory, Carya ovata and one source of Carya ovalis. ”

“ The nut tree that grows best through our part of the country is the shagbark hickory. It is very much like the pecan tree here, but never grows to anything like its size, is not nearly so beautiful a tree and I don't believe it bears as heavily. ”

“ White-footed mice often store the nuts in their nests, in burrows, beneath rocks or in crevices. In summer, groves and isolated trees of walnuts are favorite haunts of the yellow-billed cuckoo, which finds concealment in the thick foliage, and probably feeds upon the tent caterpillars that commonly infest these trees.
Carya ovata.—Shagbark hickory is one of the more important hardwoods of the area. The trees are relatively small compared with the larger oaks, elms, ashes and hackberry. However, on several parts of the area this hickory is dominant. It grows mainly on north slopes and hilltops. ”

“ It is generally believed that any species of the genus hickory will catch on any other, though not necessarily that the union will be blessed. It is self evident that any hickory will thrive on any variety of the same species, shagbark on shagbark, pecan on pecan, though even here close observation will probably disclose differences of compatibility. Probably any hybrid hickory will thrive on either of its parents. ”

“ Hickory nuts have a husk as every country child knows; but the husk has a good-natured habit of splitting neatly into four equal parts which fall away from the nut when dry. There are several kinds of hickory which produce sweet, edible nuts, but the nuts of the true shagbark are the best. They grow on low hills near streams or swamps in good soil in the Eastern and Middle states as far south as Florida, and as far west as Kansas. ”

“ It thrives best on rich, damp soil.
The BARK of the trunk is rougher than on other hickories, light gray and separating into thick plates which are only slightly attached to the tree. The large terminal winter buds are egg-shaped, the persistent outer bud-scales having narrow tips.
SHAGBARK HICKORY (Leaf, one-third natural size; twig, one-half natural size; fruit, one-fourth natural size)
The LEAVES are alternate, compound, from 8 to 15 inches long and composed of 5, rarely 7, obovate to ovate leaflets. ”

“ In southern Illinois I find that the bitternut hickory root for shellbark or shagbark don't seem to be satisfactory at all. With the shagbark on pecan, the variety of shagbark makes a difference. Some varieties of shagbark, and shellbark hickories seem to do all right, and then again others don't. It's going to need further study to determine what varieties will stand on pecans, what will stand on bitter hickories, or what will stand on regular ovata stock. I think that the nurseryman's wisest way is to use stocks of the same species as the scion and then he is on the safe side. ”

“ Hickory varieties established at Waseca by grafting are Beaver (1939) , Fairbanks (1939) , Burlington (1939) , Anthony (1947) , Billeau (1947) , Hagen (1947) , Wilcox (1947) , Last (1948) . Marquette (1948) and Stratford (1948) . A tree of Hales planted in 1921, which grew very slowly for several years has borne no nuts in 27 years. One tree of Fairbanks grafted in 1939 bore a few nuts in 1944 but has not borne since then.
There has been a long-standing belief among horticulturists that grafts of ~Carya ovata~, the shagbark hickory are incompatible on bitter hickory ~C. cordiformis~. ”

“ TREE STUDIES IN THE AUTUMN
[9] THE SHAGBARK HICKORIES
The best hickory nut tree that grows wild in our American forests is the shagbark, or shellbark. Who says that the pecan is better than the nut of the little shagbark? Southern people insist upon this, as the pecan is the pride of the Southern states. As a compromise we may place side by side the pecan of the South, and the little shagbark of the North, and challenge the world to produce a nut that is worthy to rank with these two in quality. ”

“ Littlepage: It is largely speculative. I suppose it is the province of every nut enthusiast to have an opinion about these things. In fact, I find it is encouraging to talk to the fellow who has an opinion. My notion is that there is a great future for topworking the various varieties of the hickory in the North to the desirable forms of the hickory, that is, of the hickory other than the Hicoria pecan. On my farm I expect next year to devote some time to topworking the various hickories I have to the desirable varieties of the shagbark. I think that can be done throughout the whole country. ”

“ Hickory (Carya) , is represented by ten species, exclusively of North America. Their timber is very heavy, strong, and tough, and is much used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, carriages, and hoops for casks. The fruit is a hardshelled nut, which in some species has an excellent flavor. The Shagbark or Shellbark Hickory is a large tree, sometimes one hundred and twenty feet high, growing in rich soils from Ontario and Minnesota south to Florida, Kansas and Texas. The nuts form an important article of commerce, though less used than the pecan. ”

“ Its bark strips are always thin and narrow, no matter how old the tree becomes. It is never as loose upon the trunk as the shagbark’s. The great buds and stout twigs of the hickory are entirely different from the slender spray and the very small buds this ironwood wears in winter. We may find on these twigs some remnant of the hop-like seed clusters which give this little tree its name, hop hornbeam. Inside its shaggy bark the lumbermen find wood so hard that it is very difficult to work, and when made into tools it lasts almost forever. ”

“ The hickory is a dense, hard wood, that has a short growing season, and matures its nuts early; the pecan is of the coarser, faster growing wood, whose nuts grow until late in the fall. This inconsistency of the growing habits of the two trees prevents the pecan top on the hickory from producing normal crops of nuts. The pecan topworked to the pecan, however, is a perfect success and there is no reason why the wild hickories of all descriptions cannot be successfully and profitably topworked to the better varieties of the good shagbark hickories. ”

“ Paul, uses bitternut largely or entirely; if it is a mistake, it will be expensive. Hickories are slow to grow and one gets too few nuts at best. It takes a lifetime to get even small crops, and for our part, we want no bitternuts on the place. Too often shagbarks fail to unite with bitternut and frequently they are short-lived.
In 1916 Mr. Jones propagated and introduced the Beaver hickory, from central Pennsylvania, a supposed bitternut-shagbark cross. It proved of little value and soon disappeared. The Fairbanks from northeast Iowa, a similar cross, was introduced the same year. ”

“ We have never had any experience with shellbark seedlings as stocks, but as it is so similar to the shagbark, I expect that it would make a good stock.
The production of grafted hickory trees is a serious problem in the nursery, taking many years to grow the stocks and the grafted trees are difficult to transplant, resulting in a high rate of mortality. ”

“ Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; grows almost anywhere, but prefers a rich, loamy or gravelly [Pg 57] soil. A most graceful and attractive hickory, which is transplanted more readily and grows rather more rapidly than the shagbark or pignut, but more inclined than either of these to show dead branches. Seldom for sale by nurserymen or collectors. Grown readily from seed. ”

“ And if the neighborhood zest was overfreighted with purpose to find such trees I had not found it out. It looked to me like a worthwhile endeavor not to let this neglect go further, even though chance finds were much lessened from what they probably once were.
Having three or four kinds of hickories is no doubt a fine thing for us. Nature cannot manage nearly so well with them as can man, but she makes something of a hit once in a while. More than we think for, perhaps, in the hickories we are using to graft from, there is quite likely, in the sizeable shagbarks, something besides shagbark. ”

“ Early in life they do a large part of their growing under ground, and when that growth is interrupted, as it must be in transplanting, the young tree seldom recovers. Those who would grow hickories for timber, nuts, or as ornaments, should plant the seed where the tree is expected to remain. Most of the planting of hickory in the forest is done by squirrels which bury nuts, with the apparent expectation of digging them up later. Occasionally one is missed, and a young tree starts.
The uses of this wood are typical of all the other hickories. Handles and light vehicles consume most of it. ”