THE WALNUT. 257 



As a timber-tree, the Walnut holds a high rank : in 

 young trees the wood is white and comparatively soft ; 

 but in full-grown trees it becomes compact, and of a dark- 

 brown colour, beautifully veined and shaded with light- 

 brown and black. Before the discovery of mahogany it was 

 much used for furniture, and many a curiously-wrought 

 cabinet or book-case is still to be found in old-fashioned 

 houses : its principal use, however, at the present time is 

 for gunstocks, for which it is admirably adapted, com- 

 bining the necessary qualities of lightness and strength, 

 and being at the same time not liable to warp. " It is a 

 remarkable fact in the history of this tree," says Loudon, 

 "that in the winter of 1709 the greater part of the 

 Walnut-trees of Europe were killed, or so far injured as to 

 render it advisable to fell the trees. The Dutch at that 

 time, foreseeing the scarcity of Walnut-timber that was 

 likely to ensue, bought up all the trees that they could 

 procure in every direction, and sold them again, according 

 to the demand, for many years afterwards, at a greatly 

 advanced price." 



During the wars of Napoleon Buonaparte the demand 

 for Walnut-timber became so great and the price rose so 

 high, that 600. are said to have been given in England 

 for a single tree. 



The juice of the Walnut-tree, both that derived from 

 the leaves and the husk, especially the latter, imparts a 

 rich brown stain. Gipsys use this to dye their skin, and 

 it is also employed in the staining of floors to which it is 

 desired to give a dark hue and a high polish. 



The Walnut-tree sometimes produces a considerable 

 quantity of manna ; and it has been observed, in France, 

 that whenever the trees happen to yield more than ordi- 

 nary, they usually perish the following winter. 



