THE KNOT OVER WASHINGTON'S TOMB 



BY GAYNE T. K. NORTON 



'Y^ 



'ES sir, dat ole black walnut am two hundred years ole, 

 an I done cry when she die las spring," repeated the 

 aged and wrinkled black man who stands guard over 

 the tomb of George Washington, at Mount Vernon, Vir- 

 ginia. A quarter wormed more of the tree's history from 

 him, but a refusal the day- 

 be fore of $2,800 for his 

 house could not be driven 

 from his mind and speech, 

 talk of it he would, toying 

 my quarter the while. Still, 

 what I saw, gathered and 

 heard, not of the colored 

 gentleman's realty, but of 

 the black walnut, was most 

 interesting. IP. 



Certainly the old veteran 

 was an aristocrat of tree- 

 land, and its "knot" many 

 traveled far to see. As it is 

 a growth of extreme rarity 

 on a famous tree, soon to be 

 no more in its present con- 

 dition, and as it has never 

 been "written tip," a de- 

 scription should prove inter- 

 esting. By the time these 

 lines travel the long road to 

 print the tree will have been 

 cut, andtheknottransported 

 to the National Museum as 

 an exliibit. 



The tree was planted by 

 John Augustine Washing- 

 ton, father of George, on the 

 2,500-acre farm granted him 

 by Lord Culpepper, in 1674. 

 Until the fall of 1915 it grew 

 as only a black walnut can 

 grow, bearing fruit, giving 

 shade, and lending dignity 

 and beauty to the historic 

 and picturesque home on 

 the banks of the Potomac. 



As it stood in the fall of 1916 it had a diameter of more 

 than three feet and a height of ninet>-. Hanging like a 

 huge nut from the under side of a heavy limb, 25 feet from 

 the ground and 12 from the tnink, was the strange growth, 

 an organic disease, timior, or cancer, that perhaps caused 

 death, and which certainly made the tree famous. 



When viewed from a distance the "knot" has some- 

 what the appearance of a walnut grown to immense pro- 

 portions; when silhouetted against the sky from below it 

 gives the impression of a jagged relief map of a strange 



THE 



The cancer or tumor, a large and rare growth on a famous tree. Offers of hun- 

 dreds of dollars are made for the "knot," but it is destined to go to the National 

 Museum as an exhibit. A swarm of honey bees have been the occupants for 

 twenty-five years, and some claim the honey stored by them has caused the 

 death of the tree by stopping the flow of sap. 



continent. Accurate measurements are impossible, but 

 it is well over four feet high and more than five feet 

 through ; the weight cannot even be guessed, for the con- 

 dition of the interior is not known. When viewed from 

 directly beneath, the bulk does not hang evenly, rather it 



bulges far to one side, as 

 if North America — the 

 "knot" — was suspended 

 from a straight rod — the 

 limb — which touched New- 

 foundland, and California at 

 Los Angeles. 



About two-thirds of the 

 surface is covered with very 

 rough bark. On the portion 

 nearest the ground is a 

 whorl, almost a cowlick. The 

 bark runs around and up 

 and down, is very thick and 

 distinctly that of a black 

 walnut. The portion not 

 covered by bark is deeply 

 lined, weather-beaten, dis- 

 colored wood, pricked with 

 innumerable holes, yet 

 sound. It appeared like a 

 flesh wound healed without 

 attention, a bit"^ of living 

 dead-wood. The Hues run 

 up and down, are deep and 

 uneven. Around the edge 

 the bark is smooth, humped 

 and rounded. This portion 

 of the knot faces southeast. 

 On the upper portion is a 

 depression into which many 

 of the lines curve, like a 

 miniature whirlpool. 



The "knot" began to 

 grow more than 100 years 

 ago, when the supporting 

 Umb was a slender branch, so 

 the colored guard affirmed, 

 though he was hardly there 

 there 86 vears ago and has 



ON THE BLACK WALNUT THAT SHADES GENERAL 

 WASHINGTON'S TOMB 



at the time. But he was 

 watched the steady development. 



After watching the barkless portion insect actixnty was 

 discovered, and the sunlight glistened upon the wings of 

 hundreds of Chinese honey bees. The swarm took posses- 

 sion 25 years ago and is still using the "knot" as a hive. 

 Some lay the death of the tree to the bees, reasoning that 

 so much honey has been stored within that the flow of sap 

 has been prevented. None have been allowed to mar or 

 even examine the tree, which accounts for the lack of 



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