the finest
of the nuts as far as the fruit is concerned, and is a handsome tree
growing to immense size with large spreading branches and almost
tropical foliage. For over 150 years this tree has been growing and
thriving in our immediate neighborhood, producing bushels of nuts
annually, yet few people whom we have met will hardly believe that the
English walnut will thrive in this northern latitude. There is one
specimen of this tree today with which I am familiar in Tarry town, N.
Y., which is over 2 feet in diameter, with a spread of 75 feet or more
and nearly 100 feet in height. While the tree has not produced regularly
yet it bears a few nuts each year and sometimes numbers of bushels.

The English walnut always attracts attention on account of its
symmetrical growth and its luxuriant foliage. As a shade tree there are
few better.

Of the nut family the one truly American tree of which we should be duly
proud is the hickory, this tree being found in no other part of the
world, with the exception of China, but North America. As a park or
roadside tree there are few trees that can compare with it,--upright in
growth with a beautifully rounded head, sometimes growing to immense
size and producing nuts almost annually. Of this group of trees we have
the shellbark, shagbark and pignut. The pignut being of little value as
far as the nuts are concerned, yet having smaller and possibly more
luxuriant foliage than the shagbark or shellbark. The shagbark is the
nut most sought for by the younger generations and bids fair to become a
nut of considerable importance.

It seems strange that in the long history of the hickory or shagbark
more has not been done in the improvement of the nuts in the growing of
large thin-shelled and sweeter nuts. Trees bearing such nuts do exist
and I think most of us can recall certain trees in our boyhood days that
produced nuts of far superior quality than are ordinarily found from the
common tree. At least, I can recall one tree from which twenty-five
years ago there was produced a very large fine sweet nut which was
sought by all the children in the neighborhood. This tree, however, has
passed away with hundreds of others, either by the hickory bark beetle
or the axe.

It is well to mention the filbert and hazel. While not really trees the
filbert sometimes reaches a height of 5 ft. or more with very luxuriant
foliage in the summer and in the early spring the catkins are very
prominent a