136 A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 



which the scion is cut with a bificuration or fork at the lower end, into which 

 the top of the stock is inserted, having been previously cut so as to fit exactly 

 into the fork.* 



The grafts must be well secured with ligatures and carefully covered with 

 grafting wax or similar air-tight material. 



The Walnut tree is by no means fastidious as to the soil in which it is 

 planted, and may be seen growing in ground of the most sterile character; but, 

 to thrive properly, it requires soil of a calcareous, schistous, or volcanic nature. 

 It will not grow in granitic soil, and damp", clayey ground is almost equally 

 unsuitable for it. A natiye of the mountains of Asia Minor and Central Asia, 

 it was introduced into Europe at a very early period, and was already natural- 

 ized in Greece when Theophrastus wrote his " History of Plants " (B. C. 314). 

 It seems to have been next introduced into Italy, whence it made its way into 

 other parts o& Europe. Resisting with difficulty the inclemencies of the more 

 Northern climates, it does not ripen its fruits beyond the fifty-fifth degree of 

 North latitude. 



Mons. Chas. Baltet, in his excellent treatise on the subject, gives descrip- 

 tions and illustrations of the best varieties of Walnuts. Besides the common 

 kind, he mentions and figures the noix a coquc tendre or noix a mesange, a 

 nut of medium size and elongated shape, the shell of which is easly detached 

 from the kernel; the noix a gros fruit, of which there are several varieties 

 with round or elongate.d nuts, desirable kinds, good for eating when freshly 

 gathered; the noix de la St. Jean, a medium sized nut with a hard shell, the 

 principal merit of the variety being that it is late in coming into growth, a 

 point of some account in making a selection of varieties, as the Walnut suffers 

 from late Spring frosts unless it is somewhat sheltered, and early growing sorts, 

 of course, suffer the most. 



Amongst the varieties grown in France, M. Baltet also mentions the 

 Chaberte, Franquette, Mayette, Parisienne and Barthere, the last named being 

 a very elongated, peculiar looking nut. Lastly, the Noyer Fertile (juglans 

 fertilis}, a variety highly recommended, which bears fruit at a very early age, 

 and comes tolerably true from seed. 



There are besides many varieties of ornamental foliaged Walnut trees 

 well adapted for pleasure grounds and also yielding good fruit, such as Juglans 

 heterophylla, J. lanciniata, and the Weeping Walnut (/. pcndula), which 

 when grafted as a tall standard forms a niagnificent tree of most picturesque 

 appearance. ED. PYNAERT, in Bulletin d } Arboriculture. 



*This is known in England as saddle grafting. 



