There are some trees which are peculiarly American, being confined to the Western continent, and unknown in other parts of the world.  Among these is the Hickory, a well-known and very common tree, celebrated rather for its usefulness than its beauty.  The different trees of this family make an important feature in our landscape:  they are not abundant in the forest, but they are conspicuous objects in the open plain, hill, and pasture.  Great numbers of them have become standards; we see them following the lines of old stone walls that skirt the bounds and avenues of the farm, in company with the Ash and the Maple.  In these situations, where they would not “cumber the ground,” they have been allowed to grow, without exciting the jealousy of the proprietor of the land.  Accident, under these circumstances, has reared many a beautiful tree, which would in any other place have been cut down as a trespasser.  Thus Nature is always striving to clothe with beauty those scenes which man has despoiled; and while the farmer is hoeing and grubbing, and thinking only of his physical wants, unseen hands are draping all his fences with luxuriant vinery, and bordering his fields with trees that shall gladden the eyes of those who can understand their beauties.

The Hickory is not a round-headed tree; it approaches a cylindrical form, somewhat flattened at the top, but seldom attaining any strict regularity of shape.  It does not expand into a full and flowing head, but is often divided into distinct masses of foliage, separated by vacant spaces of considerable size, and presenting an appearance as if a portion of the tree had been artificially removed.  These gaps do not extend all round the tree; they are irregularly disposed, some trees having several of them, others none or only one; and they seem to have been caused, when the tree was young, by the dwindling of some principal branch.  The Hickory throws out its branches at first very obliquely from the shaft; afterwards the lower ones bend down as the tree increases in size, and acquire an irregular and contorted shape; for, notwithstanding their toughness, they bend easily to the weight of their fruit and foliage.

This tree is celebrated in the United States for the toughness of its wood; and the term Hickory is used as emblematical of a sturdy and vigorous character.  It possesses some of the ruggedness, without the breadth and majesty of the Oak, though it exceeds even this tree in braving the force of a tempest.  It is one of our most common pasture-trees, and its deep-green foliage makes amends for the general want of comeliness in its outline.