Except as an ornamental, the almond does not offer a great deal for use in Michigan. It is sometimes said to be as hardy as the peach, but only as this refers to the tree and not to the fruit, is it true. Certain hardshell almonds edible, yet so inferior to the improved varieties as to have practically no market value, do sometimes succeed in lower Michigan but their value is limited to their beauty when in bloom and to the production of a low grade product. In form and general appearance these almonds are much like peach pits. Very often they contain much of the same bitter taste of Prussic acid common to the kernel of the ordinary peach. They are interesting to observe while growing especially as they begin to ripen. The covering outside the seed is thin and leathery and while ripening, splits and peels outward in curious fashion.
Perhaps the only recognized variety of almond of this class which is known to have fruited in the East is the Ridenhower from southern Illinois. Trees can be had from some of the nurserymen.
The Beech
One of Michigan's noblest, hardiest, and most often abused trees is the American beech. It is common from north to south. No tree is more handsome and none, unless possibly it be the white birch, is so often defaced. Dr. Robt. T. Morris, of New York City, reminds us that according to the scriptures, man, genus Homo, is a finished product made by and in the image of the Creator. A safe assumption is that the scriptural reference is not to the creature whose initials appear on the trunk of a beech or whose knife has removed bark from white birch. His genus is not Homo, and he is not scripturally recorded.
The beech is not directly important as a nut bearing tree, but indirectly it is as the nuts are rarely harvested. Indirectly it is of great value. No food is better for turkeys and hogs than are beechnuts. A bushel of beechnuts that can be used in this way replace at least a bushel of corn. The difference in cost of production should make beechnuts worth several times as much as corn.
In Europe a valuable oil used as a drug and for salads is expressed from beechnuts. Possibly individual trees could be found somewhere in Michigan which produce nuts large enough, good enough, and in quantity enough to justify their recognition and propagation as named varieties.
No matter whether distinct varieties appear or not, the beech is well worthy of planting in many places about both the farm and the city lot.
Butternut
A member of the walnut family known also as "long walnut" and as "white walnut" is the true butternut. It has a smaller range of adaptability than does the black walnut but is found considerably farther north. On the Atlantic coast, its native range extends into Nova Scotia. In parts of New York State and New England, it is one of the most common species. It is well known in Michigan where, to many people it is the favorite of all nuts. The tree is less durable and long-lived than is the black walnut. It is less well suited for use in the landscape and its timber value is probably the least of any native walnut.
Within very recent years one or two promising varieties have been introduced by the nurserymen. The first and only one now available is the Aiken from New Hampshire. The nut cracks well and the kernels are of pleasant flavor, but as a variety it has not been tested long enough to determine its adaptability to conditions in other states nor the extent to which budded trees will be productive.