THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig. 



142H. — Pkrsian' or English Walnut Tree (.T. kegia) 



of St. Barnabas (nth of June) had 

 been observed. At Welwyn in Here- 

 fordshire a walnut tree once stood 

 whose branches covered an area of 2,000 

 square yards (more than 2-5 of an acre). 

 Though thus appearing in English Folk- 

 lore and flourishing on English soil, the 

 term Welsh nut or foreign nut (A. S. 

 Wealch ; foreign) corrupted into the 

 form of the word walnut, clearly shows 

 that this tree is not a native of England. 

 It IS mentioned by i6th century writers, 

 however, and was probably introduced at 

 a much earlier date by the Romans. ;^6oo 

 (nearly $3,000) was the price for which 

 a walnut tree was once sold to be used 

 for gunstocks, at the time of the war 

 with Napoleon. A single plank of wal- 

 nut wood was large enough to serve as a 

 table for a banquet given by the Emperor 

 Frederick III. Now, however, it is 

 cultivated solely for its nuts in Europe. 

 Spain and the South of France boast 

 walnut trees said to be over 300 years 

 old which bear from 15 to 18 bushels of 



nuts each, and in the Crimea there is a 

 tree held to be more than 1,000 years 

 old, which yields on the average 80,000 

 nuts a year, and has even produced 

 100,000 nuts in oneseason. Walnut trees 

 line the roads in Germany and Northern 

 Italy sheltering the wayfarer and gratify- 

 ing his eye and palate. Near Frankfort 

 in the former country, in days gone by, 

 no young farmer was allowed to marry 

 till he had shown his desire to promote 

 the general welfare by planting some of 

 these trees. The old Romans whose 

 rural tastes restored what their armies 

 destroyed, were the distributors of the 

 walnuts through Europe. Highly did 

 they prize the walnut's wood and the 

 nuts they imagined would cure hydro 

 phobia. At marriage feasts the bride- 

 groom, to show he had done with 

 boyish sports, would scatter walnuts 

 among the children. To this refer the 

 lines : 



" Now bar the door the bridegroom sets 

 The eager boys, to gather nuts." 



In Roman times walnut trees grew in 



376 



