NUTS. 319 



thick, and black. It encloses a four-lobed kernel, which 

 is large and sweet. 



USES. From the nut an oil is expressed equal to olive 

 oil for food, and useful for the painter. From the husk a 

 brown dye is procured, of different shades. The sap-wood 

 is white, but the heart is violet, becoming nearly black. 

 It is very strong, fine-grained, compact, and heavy, and ad- 

 mits a beautiful polish, and is employed for furniture, and 

 the stocks of muskets, and for the naves of wheels. It is 

 extremely durable ; and it is said to be never attacked by 

 the sea-worm. 



CULTIVATION, SOIL, &,c. The cultivation of this tree 

 is the same as the walnut. It flourishes in any good soil ; 

 but prefers the deep, fertile, and alluvial soils on the mar- 

 gins of creeks and rivers. 



BUTTERNUT. (Juglans catJiartica.) 

 OIL NOT, WHITE WALNUT. 



A large tree, with a broad, spreading head. In suitable 

 situations, it rises fifty or sixty feet, with a diameter of from 

 three to four feet at this distance from the ground. 



When young, this tree and its leaf strikingly resemble 

 the Black walnut; but when older, they are easily distin- 

 guished. The fruit is similar, in most respects, to that va- 

 riety, but is oval oblong ; and the nut which is enclosed is 

 oblong, rounded at the base, and pointed at its summit. 

 The kernel is sweet, and abounds in a valuable oil. 



USES. The fruit is eaten at the dessert : for pickling it 

 is superior, and is equally valuable as the walnut. Its fruit, 

 preserved in the same manner as directed for the walnut, 

 is equally excellent, and of equal medicinal efficacy. Pills 

 formed by evaporating a decoction of the inner bark to a 

 viscid consistence, are said to form one of the very best 

 cathartics known. The timber is of a reddish hue, not 

 strong, but light and durable. It is never attacked by the 

 sea-worms. It is not liable to split, and its uses are the 

 same as the bass wood. 



CULTIVATION. The cultivation of the Butternut is the 

 same as the walnut; it flourishes in any good soil, on cold, 

 unproductive, and rocky soils, on the steep banks of rivers. 



