imeographed sheet which
you hold.

I will first say that the abnormalities at Merribrooke this year were
three in number. First, a destructive invasion of the tent caterpillar
which attacked nearly all kinds of trees during its traveling stage.
Then came a canker worm invasion with partial or complete defoliation of
even the forest trees. Almost all of the whole leaves on any tree
represent the second set for the season. Then came a drought said to
have been the most severe since 1871. As a result of these three
influences most of the fruit trees and nut trees dropped their crops
this year.

Among the many introduced and grafted trees at Merribrooke only about
one hundred typical forms have been tagged for this occasion. The large
tags on the trees represent types, the smaller tags represent different
variations of the type. Numbers on the tags correspond to numbers on
this list.

We will begin with No. 1--Original Taylor Shagbark hickory. Nut large,
thin shelled, good cleavage and high quality. This is practically an
annual bearer. The weevil likes it because it is very thin-shelled.
Consequently we seldom get a good crop. Most of the trees were
defoliated. This is the best all-around hickory that I have found. I
gave prizes for years and got seedlings from all over the country, and
this is the best one that I obtained growing right here at my gate. It
is defoliated by both the tent caterpillar and the canker worm.

2. Buckley Hickory from Texas. Nut large, round, thick-shelled, peculiar
flavor and fragrance. This hickory was first described in 1872 in Texas
and then it was forgotten. Dr. Sargent was quite surprised when I told
him that I had one for the variety really passed out of history among
the botanists until the past two years. The bark is deeply ridged in the
older trees. The tree has been crippled by the twig girdler this year.

3. Carolina Hickory Seedling (scaly bark hickory). Nut small, thin
shelled, sweet. I think this is one of the most beautiful hickories we
have. It has been crippled this year but not enough to hurt. It has a
small, thin-shelled nut with sweet flavor. The older trees have the
scale on the bark.

4. Carolina Hickory grafted upon other local wild stock, and I do not
know whether it is macrocarpa or pignut.

5. Shagbark top-worked to Vest variety of shagbark from Virginia that
Mr. Bixby described yesterday as having a shell so thin that it could be
cracked with the hand.

6. Sh