SOILS FOR THE WALNUT. 97 



height of twenty feet in twelve years, if its progress is 

 not checked by transplantation. It is all the better, 

 however, for the production of fruit, that they be 

 transplanted, for trees that have never been removed 

 seldom ripen their fruit so early in the season as 

 those whose growth has been checked by transplan- 

 tation, which has been attributed by some to result 

 from the roots of the moved trees ranging nearer the 

 surface of the ground, and so getting the benefit of 

 showers and sunshine. At twelve years of age the 

 walnut tree generally begins to bear fruit, when its 

 branches begin to ramify, and its upward growth is 

 more slow. 



There are some kinds of soil for which the walnut 

 tree is eminently fitted. Those with poor surface 

 soils, but where there is a subsoil of good quality, 

 suit the walnut better than almost any other tree. 

 Its strong tap-root dives deep down into the ground, 

 its propensity in this way even exceeding that of the 

 oak, and it thus finds nutriment for the maintenance 

 of its growth in situations where other trees would be 

 unable to procure it. In the roughest situations it 

 maintains a well-balanced head, and when raised 

 from seed, and not transplanted, it is less likely to be 

 uprooted by the wind than any other tree. Old trees 

 in a late climate ripen their fruit better than young 

 trees in the same situation. 



There are many varieties of the common walnut 

 which are cultivated for certain qualitie's which dis- 

 tinguish them specially, as early maturity, size of the 

 tree, thinness of shell, or some other quality peculiar 

 to the fruit, which in a green state is frequently 

 pickled. 



