305 



JUGLANS. 



JUGLANS. 



308 



the Romans, and the nuta were also eaten. There is no history of the 

 introduction of this tree into Great Britain, but it is now very com- 

 monly cultivated in this country, although it fails to propacrate itself 

 by its seeds. It is only however in the southern and middle parts of 

 England that the walnut brings its fruit to perfection. 



The walnut, when full-grown, is a large handsome tree with strong 

 spreading branches. Its trunk is thick and massive, and covered 

 with a deeply furrowed bark ; the branches are of a gray colour, and 

 smooth. The leaves, when bruised, give out a veiy peculiar aromatic 

 odour, and in the heat of summer this scent is sometimes so powerful 

 as to produce unpleasant effects on persons who approach these trees. 

 The fo iage is graceful and light, and of a bright yellowish-green 

 colour, which contrasts well with trees having foliage of a darker 

 shade. Its leaves are almost the latest to appear, and the first to fall. 

 It grows very rapidly and vigorously in the climate of London, and 

 trees will attain a height of 20 feet in ten years. It sends down into 

 the earth a large tap-root, with numerous branches, and, on account 

 of the size and strength of the roots, there is no tree more able to 

 resist the effects of wind, or better adapted for exposed situations. It 

 is said that plants will not grow under its shade ; this probably arises 

 from the bitter properties of its leaves : when they are not allowed 

 to accumulate, the shade of the walnut does not appear more injurious 

 than that of other trees. 



The use* of the walnut are very various. Before the introduction 

 of mahogany and other woods, the wood of the walnut was held in 

 higher estimation than that of any other European tree. It is on this 

 account that it was so extensively cultivated in this country and on 

 the continent three or four centuries since. The timber of the 

 walnut is light, a cubic foot weighing when green 58 Ibs., and when 

 dried scarcely 47 Ibs. When the tree is young, the wood is white, 

 and in this state very much subject to be worm-eaten ; but as the tree 

 grows older, the wood becomes more compact, and is of a brown 

 colour, veined and shaded with brown and black. In France and 

 Germany it is still much used by turners, cabinet-makers, joiners, 

 ooachmakers, and musical-instrument makers, who prefer the wood 

 which has grown on poor hilly soils. The wood of the roots is the 

 most beautifully veined. One of the most important uses of walnut- 

 timber is the making of gun-stocks. For this purpose it is well 

 adapted on account of its strong lateral adhesion, its lightness, and 

 its not being liable to splitting or warping in the working. The 

 demand for walnut-wood for this purpose was immense during the 

 last war on the continent, and it was stated in 1806 that France 

 required 12,000 trees annually for the making of guns. The govern- 

 ment of France still maintains large plantations of walnut-trees for 

 supplying her army with gun-stocks. In England the walnut has 

 seldom been used except for the higher-priced fire-arms, but such 

 was the demand for it for that purpose at the beginning of the present 

 century, that single walnut-trees were sold for as much a? 6001. 

 This led to the importation of walnut-timber from the Black Sea, 

 and also of the timber of the black walnut from America, so that 

 the cultivation of the tree as timber is almost at an end in England. 



The walnut is of more value at the present day on account of its 

 fruit than of its timber. In almost every stage of its growth the 

 fruit of the walnut is used for the table. When young, green, and 

 tender, it is pickled and preserved with the husks on. About the 

 end of June they may be preserved with or without their husks. 

 " The green and tender nuts," says Gerarde, " boyled in sugar and 

 eaten as suckade, are a most pleasant and delectable meat, comfort the 

 stomach, and expell poyson." When they are about half ripe, a liqueur 

 is distilled from them, which is considered to possess medicinal pro- 

 perties. In August, before they are quite ripe, the French eat them 

 in what they call 'cerneaur,' scooping out the kernel with a knife, 

 and eating it with vinegar, salt, pepper, and shallots. When the nuts 

 are fully ripe, which is generally at the end of September or the 

 beginning of October, the kernel, deprived of its investing skin, is 

 eaten in great quantities. As long as the skin can be easily removed 

 they are a nutritious and healthy article of diet ; but when they get 

 dry, so that their skins stick to them, they become indigestible. In 

 no part of England do they constitute an important article of diet, 

 but in many parts of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, people live 

 during the season of their ripening almost entirely on walnuts. A 

 great number of the walnuts consumed in England are of foreign 

 growth. In 1831 there were imported from France and Spain 23,578 

 bushels, which then paid a duty of 2s. per bushel. As they are now 

 free of duty, the importation is not registered. On account of the 

 large consumption of the fruit, both as an article of diet at home 

 and for exportation, the walnut-tree is still largely cultivated on many 

 parts of the continent. The district of the Bergstrasse on the Rhine, 

 between Heidelberg and Darmstadt, is almost entirely planted with 

 walnut-trees. Kvelyn states that such is the importance attached to 

 the growth of this tree, that " in several places between Hanuu and 

 Frankfort in Germany, no young fanner is permitted to marry a wife 

 till he brings proof that he is a father of a stated number of walnut- 

 trees; and the law is inviolably observed to this day for the extra- 

 ordinary benefit which this tree affords the inhabitants." The fruit 

 it' the walnut is commonly gathered by thrashing the tree with a 

 pole. By many this process is thought to be beneficial to the 

 tree, and barren walnut-trees are often thrahed to make them bear. 



NAT. HI8T. DIV. VOL. III. 



But although barren trees may be made to bear by reducing the 

 excessive growth of their shoots by breaking them off, it is no proof 

 that the same process is good for healthy-bearing trees. The natural 

 process of separating the fruit from the tree is undoubtedly the best, 

 and gently shaking the branches till the fruit falls has been recom- 

 mended by many walnut-growers as much preferable to thrashing. 

 The nuts should be gathered at the time they easily fall out from 

 the husk, and then exposed to dry for a day or two in the sun. The 

 best mode of keeping the nuts fresh for eating is to bury them in, 

 dry soil or sand, so deep as not to be reached by frost or the heat 

 of the sun, or by rain : or they may be placed in dry cellars, and 

 covered with straw. " When the nut is to be preserved through 

 the winter for the purpose of planting in the following spring, it 

 should be laid in a rot-heap as soon as gathered, with the husk on ; 

 and the heap should be turned over frequently in the course of the 

 winter." (Loudon.) 



The albumen which constitutes the bulk of the seed of the walnut 

 contains an oil, which is used in large quantities, especially on the 

 Continent. It is obtained by reducing the seeds to a pulp by means 

 of a stone wheel and basin, and then expressing the oil, first without 

 heat and then by the application of heat. The oil requires great 

 care in keeping, as it becomes tainted by slight changes in the state 

 of the atmosphere. That which is cold-drawn keeps best, and is 

 alone used for the purposes of diet. It has however always the taste 

 of the walnut, which is to some persons disagreeable. The oil 

 obtained by heat is used by artists, and also for lamps. Artists use 

 this oil in mixing white, or any delicate colour ; and they prefer it 

 on account of the rapidity with which it dries. In copper-plate 

 printing also, in Paris, walnut-oil is considered indispensably neces- 

 sary in order to obtain a fine impression, whether in black or in 

 colours. For this purpose the oil is prepared in various ways, 

 according to the several colours with which it is to be mixed. In all 

 cases it is reduced in bulk by boiling or by setting fire to it, so as 

 to reduce it to the required consistency. One bushel of nuts, it is 

 said, will yield about 7 Ibs. of this oil. The mass which is left after 

 the oil is expressed is made into cakes, and used as food for swine, 

 sheep, and poultry, and in some places it is made into candles, which 

 give a tolerably good flame. 



The husks and root of the walnut both yield a dye, which is much 

 used by gipsies and theatrical performers for staining the skin brown. 

 It is also used by cabinet-makers and joiners to stain white and yellow 

 woods of a dark-brown or black colour, like that of the walnut. In 

 the preparation of the dye from the husks they should be allowed to 

 rot, and then boiled in water, adding to the decoction fresh water, 

 according to the colour required to be produced by the solution. The 

 sap of the walnut-tree contains a large quantity of saccharine matter ; 

 and in some countries the trees are tapped for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing the sap, which by evaporation is converted into sugar. It is also 

 in many parts of Europe and Asia fermented and made into wine, and 

 a spirit is also distilled from it. The leaves of the walnut, as well 

 as other parts of the tree, contain a large proportion of alkali in 

 them ; and in some parts of France they are collected and burned for 

 the sake of the potash contained in the ashes. 



The bark of the leaves, the husks, and the oil of the walnut have 

 all been used in medicine, and had at one time a great reputation. 

 All parts of the plant, excepting the albumen of the seed, possess a 

 bitter principle, which acts as a tonic and an authelmintic, and hat 

 been its great recommendation as a medicine. Cowley, in his ' Plants,' 

 sums up the virtues of the walnut in the following lines : 



" On barren scalps she makes fresh honours grow. 

 Her timber is for various uses pood : 

 The carver she supplies with useful wood. 

 She makes the painter's fading colours last. 

 A table she affords us, and repast. 

 E'en while we feast, her oil our lamp supplies. 

 The rankest poison by her virtues dies ; 

 The mad dog's foam and taint of raging skies. 

 The Pontic king, who lived where poisons grew, 

 Skilful in antidotes, her virtues knew." 



Anglers employ an infusion of the leaves or huskd for pouring upon 

 the earth, in order to procure worms, which it speedily brings to the 

 surface. 



There are several distinct varieties of the walnut cultivated. The 

 /. maxima is known by the large size of its nuts, and is called the 

 Double Large French. The nuts are twice the size of any other ; but 

 in drying the kernels shrink to half their size, so that they ought 

 to be eaten as soon as they are gathered. This is a fine handsome 

 tree with large leaves, but its timber is not so durable as that of the 

 Common Walnut. 



/. r. tenem, the Thin-Shelled or Titmouse Walnut, has very thin 

 shells, so much so that birds of the titmouse family pierce them 

 with their bills, and cat the kernel. The fruit of this variety is con- 

 sidered the best for eating, and it also yields the largest quantity of oil. 



J. r. tcrotina, the Late-Leaved Walnut, is a very desirable variety 

 in districts where the frosts are severe in spring. Its leaves do not 

 appear before the end of June, and it ripens its fruit as early as the 

 other varieties. There is a variety known in Norfolk and Suffolk by 

 the name of the Highflier, which h said to yield the best nuts of 



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