196 THE MANAGEMENT OF [CHAP. VII. 



In modern times, the wood of the walnut tree 

 has obtained rather an unpleasant kind of 

 celebrity, as being generally used for making 

 the stocks of muskets. In villages and country 

 places, however, the walnut recalls more agree- 

 able associations, as its noble leaves and 

 spreading branches render it a delightful tree 

 for shade, and formerly it used to be frequently 

 found at the doors of cottages and farm-houses. 



There are several kinds of walnut trees cul- 

 tivated for their fruit; all varieties of one 

 species, and differing principally in the hard- 

 ness or comparative softness of their shells. 

 Walnut trees are generally propagated by sow- 

 ing the nuts ; and, if the young trees are 

 planted in a light, sandy, and well-drained soil, 

 they will grow rapidly, and bear at an early 

 age. 



The custom which prevails among the 

 country people in some parts of England and 

 France, of beating a barren walnut tree to 

 make it bear, is efficacious ; as the beating 

 breaks off the points of the too luxuriant 

 shoots, and makes them send out those short 

 spurs which alone produce fruit, though the 

 end would be attained with more certainty by 

 pruning. A decoction of walnut leaves and 

 husks is said to be very efficacious in pro- 

 tecting plants against insects, if sprinkled on 

 the leaves. 



The nut of the black walnut (Juglans nigra) 

 is so hard as to be of little use for the table ; 

 and only the nuts of two or three kinds of the 

 hickories can be considered as fruit. The best 

 of these is the peccane nut (Carya olivseformis), 



