dsome, of a
pale, reddish tint, and durable when exposed to heat and moisture. It
makes beautiful fronts for drawers and excellent light, tough and
durable wooden bowls. It is also used for the panels of carriages, as
well as for posts and rails. It is a more common tree than the walnut in
our part of the country; there is a large one in front of a house a few
miles from here which I will show you on our next drive."

"I am glad of it," said Clara, "for I can remember about the trees so
much better when I have seen them. I wish we could see every one of the
trees you have told us of, Miss Harson."

"Perhaps you will some day," replied her governess, "and you will then
find that a little knowledge of them before-hand is a great help."

"Are there any more of the walnut family?" asked Malcolm.

"Yes, the hickory belongs to it; and this is a tree which is peculiar to
America. The European walnut is more like it than any other. It is
always a stately and elegant tree and very valuable for its timber.
There are several varieties, which are much alike, the principal
difference being in the nuts. You have all seen most of the trees and
gathered the nuts. They are:

"1. The shellbark, with five large leaflets, a large nut, of which the
husk is deeply grooved at the seams, and a rough, scaly trunk.

"2. The mocker-nut, with seven or nine leaflets, a hard, thick-shelled
nut, and leaflets and twigs very downy when young, and strongly odorous.

"3. The pignut, with three, five or seven narrow leaflets, small,
thin-shelled fruit and a pretty hard nut.

"4. The bitternut, with seven, nine or eleven small, narrow, serrated
leaves, small fruit with long, prominent seams, bitter and thin-shelled
nuts and very yellow buds.

"The shellbark is often called 'shagbark,' and it is the finest of the
hickories and one that is seldom mistaken for any of the others. It may
readily be distinguished by the shaggy bark of its trunk, the excellence
of its globular fruit, its leaves, which are large and have five
leaflets, and by its ovate, half-covered buds. It is a tall, slender
tree with irregular branches, and the foliage seems to lie in masses of
dense, dark green. But in October, when the nuts ripen, the leaves turn
to orange-brown, and finally to the color of a russet apple; so that
they do not add greatly to the beauty of the forest."

"But the nuts are good," said Malcolm. "Didn't we have fine times
picking 'em up?"

"We did inde