318 NEW AMERICAN ORCHARDIST. 



odor. The fruit is roundish oblong, smooth, green, enclo- 

 sing a nut of a yellow color and irregular form, which con- 

 tains a four-lobed kernel of an agreeable taste. 



USES. The walnut is an esteemed dessert fruit ; it also 

 forms an excellent pickle when gathered, while it is yet so 

 tender as to be easily probed with a needle. In France, 

 an oil equal to the oil of almonds is drawn from them. 

 This oil does not congeal by cold, is highly prized by the 

 painters for mixing delicate colors and varnish, and is ex- 

 cellent in medicine. The young preserved nuts are an 

 excellent sweetmeat; good to be eaten in the morning, in 

 time of pestilential distempers, to prevent infection. A 

 most superior family medicine when eaten in the small quan- 

 tity of a single nut. They are prepared as follows : Green 

 walnuts, in the state fit for pickling, are boiled till tender ; 

 then take them out, and to every pound of nuts add a pound 

 of moist sugar, a little water, lemon peel, mace, cloves, and 

 simmer till the sirup is thick, and let them stand ten days ; 

 then clarify half as much more sugar, and boiled as before; 

 and when cold, cover them close for use. 



The decoction of the leaves annoys or destroys noxious 

 insects and worms. 



The timber is dark and beautiful, and is very extensively 

 used for gunstocks, being deemed lighter, in proportion to 

 its strength and elasticity, than any other wood. 



CULTIVATION, SOIL, &/c. The walnut is raised from 

 the seed, planted in autumn ; the second year, they are 

 transplanted, and deprived of a portion of their tap root. 

 They require a rich soil of loam and sand rather than clay. 

 The varieties may be inarched or budded from the mi- 

 nute buds at the base of the young shoot, inserted in the 

 summit of the two years old wood. 



BLACK WALNUT. (Juglans nigra.) 



A majestic tree, with a round, spreading head, which 

 sometimes rises to the height of seventy feet, with a diam- 

 eter of from four to seven feet. The leaves are pinnate, 

 and consist of six or eight pair of leaflets. They are acu- 

 minate, serrate, and downy. The fruit is large, and sur- 

 rounded with a thick, globular, smooth, green husk ; the 

 shell is rough, uneven in its surface, odoriferous, hard, 



