Of the hiccans, hybrids between hickory and pecan, there are several varieties, as I mentioned before.  Of these, the McAlester is the most outstanding, 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

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.