My shagbark (paper shell) hickory tree was on my farm when I bought it
in 1868. It had been noticed by the neighbors as bearing a fine nut and
was watched by them for the nuts, but they did not appreciate the value
of them. The late Andrew S. Fuller had not seen them, but asked me to
bring him a few. When he saw them he was surprised and at once
pronounced them the finest hickories he had ever seen, and named them
"Hales' Paper Shell." The hickory is one of the most valuable of North
American nuts. It is of a variable nature. I have over twenty old trees
on my place, and no two bear nuts of the same shape or size, and
although some neighbors planted some nuts from the old tree and produced
fruit from them they were only ordinary sized, so that it is necessary
to propagate them to retain their value. About 1880 Parsons & Son, of
Flushing, N. Y., grafted some in pots under glass, from which trees
these nuts sent are the product. The fruit is fully as fine as the
original tree. Prof. C. B. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum has taken
great interest in the nut. I have two trees grafted on wild saplings by
Jackson Dawson near bearing size.

Those are the only trees successfully grafted, out of thousands done in
the North outside, from which I am afraid grafting outside in the North
is a failure on hickory stocks. There may be a better chance on pecan
stock, which I have not thoroughly tested under favorable circumstances.
I have been sending northern pecan nuts and had them planted, and sent
scions for working on them in the South; had some failures from natural
causes. Simpson Bros. of Monticello, Florida, have had fair success
there. My share of two year old trees are on the way here. Of the value
of these nuts too much cannot be said. Mr. Fuller ranked them superior
to the Madeira nut. It has remarkable keeping qualities.

It has taken from eighteen to twenty-five years for my grafted trees to
come into bearing.

I earnestly hope that with the knowledge gained so far, the means of
propagation on a large scale will soon be discovered and successfully
carried on. What a gain it would be to the wealth of our food production
and luxury. The American hickory would then stand highest on the list of
our native nuts.

* * * * *

President Morris: Are there any comments upon this paper of Mr. Hales?
So much is being said about the Hales hickory, it seems to me that
possibly we ought to put on reco