ding, its nuts measuring over three inches in circumference and
about three inches long. Horticulturists believe that this hybrid is the
result of a cross between a shell-bark hickory, which produces the
largest nut of any hickory growing in the United States, and a large
pecan. I have experimented a number of times with the McAlester and my
conclusion is that it is not hardy enough to advocate its being grown in
this climate. There are other hiccans hardier than it is, however, such
as the Rockville, Burlington, Green Bay and Des Moines, and it is
certain that the North is assured of hardy pecans and a few hardy
hybrids, which, although they do not bear the choicest pecan nuts, make
interesting and beautiful lawn trees. Indeed, as an ornamental tree, the
pecan is superior to the native hickory in two definite ways: by its
exceedingly long life, which may often reach over 150 years as
contrasted with the average hickory span of 100 years, and by its
greater size. One pecan tree I saw growing in Easton, Maryland, in
1927, for example, was then seventeen feet in circumference at
breast-height, one hundred twenty-five feet in height and having a
spread of one hundred fifty feet. The wood of the pecan is similar to
that of the hickory in both toughness and specific gravity, although for
practical purposes, such as being used for tool handles, the shagbark
hickory is enough harder and tougher to make it the superior of the two.

I was pleasantly surprised on October 30, 1953 when a pecan seedling of
the Iowa origin, which had not yet borne any nuts, showed a small crop.
These nuts were fully matured and were of sufficient size so that they
could be considered a valuable new variety of pecan nut for the North. A
plate showing a few of these pecans illustrates, by means of a ruler,
the actual size of these pecans, and the fact that they matured so well
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

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