THE WALNUT 



LAGENARIA 



VULQARIS 



Bottle Gourd 



J. glandulifera, Roxb. ; Idl-bherenda, undarbibi, addalai, dundigapu, etc. A 



small shrub common throughout the hotter damp tracts of India, often grown as 

 Dye. a hedge. Reputed to produce a green dye. The seeds afford a light yellow 



fluid oil, which has for long been used as an external application in rheumatism 

 Medicine. and paralytic affections, but is seldom administered internally, though spoken 



of as a purgative. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., 1892, iii., 272-3.] 



D.E.P., JUGLANS REGIA, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., v., 595 ; Gamble, Man. 



iv., 549-52. Ind. Timbs,, 662-3 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 619-20 ; JUGLANDE^EC The 



Walnut. Walnut Tree, akhrot, dkJior, kabshing, kol, dun, ughz, ihitcha, etc. A large 



deciduous tree of the Himalayan forests from Afghanistan to Bhutan 



at 3,000 to 10,000 feet, and the hills of Upper Burma ; also cultivated on 



the Himalaya, the Khasia hills, and occasionally in gardens on other 



temperate tracts. 



The utilisation of the walnut and, accordingly, its cultivation in India date 

 Timber. from very remote times. Its chief value lies in its timber. The most important 



use of the wood is for gunstocks, and as the European supply is becoming ex- 

 hausted, Gamble points out that it is a matter for serious consideration whether 

 the tree should not be more extensively and systematically cultivated in India. 

 In Kashmir and throughout the Panjab it is used for ornamental carving, turnery 

 and fancy work. The average weight is about 44 Ib. per cubic foot. The huge 

 Burrs. warts or " burrs " growing on the stem are also exceedingly valuable, the wood 



of which is prized by cabinet-makers for veneer work. It is said that a good 

 burr may be valued at about 20s. per cubic foot. These burrs have at times 

 been largely exported from Kashmir to France, and Lawrence ( Valley of Kash- 

 mir, 1895, 352-4) mentions that in one year countless numbers of trees were 

 destroyed by cutting out the burrs, for which a large demand then existed. 

 Dye. The bark is employed as a DYE and MEDICINE and is exported to the plains, where 



Medicine. it is used for cleaning the teeth. The fruit, which ripens in July to September, 



Food. is an important article of food in Kashmir and the North-West Himalaya generally 



and is largely exported to the plains. The kernel yields a good description of 

 Oil. oil, while the rind is employed for tanning and dyeing. Lastly, the twigs and 



leaves are utilised as FODDER. \Cf. Moorcroft, Travels Himal., 1841, ii., 

 145-50 ; Bentham, Rev. of Targioni-Tozzetti in Journ. Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 166 ; 

 De Candolle, Orig. Cult. Plants, 1884, 425-7 ; Ind. For. 1892, xviii., 383-5; 1896, 

 xxii., 48 ; Henry, Econ. Bot. China, 1893, 48 ; Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 54 ; 

 For. Admin. Repts.} 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 580-1. 

 Calabash. 



LAGENARIA VULGARIS, Seringe ; Fl Br. Ind., 

 Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, 1883, ii., 48-9, t. xlviii ; 

 Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. Plain, 1903, 365-6; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., 1903, i., 

 546-7 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, i., 519 ; CUCURBITACE^E. The kaddu, 

 lauki, tumri, kodu, tikta lau, tumba, irdo, kunddnuga, etc. A climbing plant 

 found wild in India, the Moluccas and Abyssinia. As a result of cultivation 

 the fruit assumes many different forms, the best known of which are the 

 Pilgrim's Gourd, the Bottle Gourd, the Trumpet Gourd, and the Calabash. 



Fruit. This plant is extensively grown in many parts of India for its FRUIT and 



succeeds best on heavily manured soil. Sowing may take place as early as 

 February or as late as July, but for rainy-season crops two sowings are made, 

 the first in April, the second in June. It is best to sow the seed where the plants 

 are to grow, and about six feet should be left between each. The cultivated 

 forms are all eaten both by Europeans and Natives. By the former, the fruit is 

 boiled when young and used as a vegetable marrow ; by the latter it is sliced and 

 cooked in curry, or the pulp is eaten with vinegar or mixed with rice. The dried 

 shell of the bottle-shaped gourd is used by the Natives for holding water or as 



Oil Bottles. oil bottles, while the small wild form, tumri, is used for making the stringed 



instrument, the aitar, and the wind instrument, bin. The seeds yield a clear, 



700 



