THE WALNUT. 215 



culty in extracting the rather small kernel is a serious 

 objection. 



The black walnut has a larger kernel, in proportion 

 to its size, than the butternut, and it is not so difficult 

 to extract when the nuts are dry, but the flavor is too 

 rank for most palates, although it has often been referred 

 to as excellent by the earlier botanists who visited this 

 country ; but it has never been considered of much value 

 until quite recently, or since the manufacturers of con- 

 fectionery discovered that heat somewhat subdued the 

 rank flavor, and now many tons of the meats are annu- 

 ally consumed in candies and walnut cakes. I am cred- 

 ibly informed that cracking black walnuts and shipping 

 the meats to our larger cities has become quite an exten- 

 sive industry in several of the Middle and Western States. 

 We have two other but smaller native species of the wal- 

 nut that will be described further on, under the head 

 Species and Varieties. 



Propagation of Walnuts. The propagation of 

 the. walnut in the natural way, or by seed, is exceedingly 

 simple, for the nuts grow readily and freely if planted 

 soon after they are ripe, or any time before they become 

 old and the kernels shriveled. It is, of course, best to 

 plant them while fresh, but they are not at all delicate, 

 and may be transported a long distance in a dry condi- 

 tion without seriously affecting their vitality. If wal- 

 nuts are given the same care as recommended in the 

 preceding pages for other kinds of nuts, so much the 

 better. 



The seedlings of walnuts, like those of other species, 

 usually produce long taproots, and if grown in a compact 

 soil, these will have few small lateral fibers the first sea- 

 son, as shown in Fig. 75 ; but when taken up and the 

 vertical main root shortened at a, and then replanted, 

 they produce fibrous roots in abundance. The trees of 

 almost any age from one to twenty years old, are not at 



