428 



is used for mixing delicate colours in painting, in cookery, for lamps, and 

 for polishing woodwork. The material left after the oil is expressed from 

 the kernels makes an excellent food for cattle, pigs, or poultry. As in 

 the case of the maple and some other trees, the Walnut contains a good 

 proportion of sugar in the sap, and this may be utilized if necessary by 

 tapping the trees in the spring when growth is most vigorous, collecting 

 the juice, and evaporating it in the usual way. It is not advisable. 

 however, to cultivate the Walnut as a sugar-yielding tree, as other plants 

 will give much more satisfactory returns. 



The wood of all the species is very valuable, and they are worthy of 

 cultivation as timber trees alone, without regard to their other qualities. 

 Walnut wood is hard, tough, fine grained, durable, is not liable to warp 

 or split, is not subject to the attack of insects, and takes a fine polish. 

 It is largely employed by cabinetmakers, and was still mere extensively 

 used in Europe formerly before the introduction of mahogany and other 

 -choice woods. The wood is also used to some extent by coachbuilders, 

 and for the making of gunstocks is employed almost exclusively. When 

 young the wood is white, but as the trees get old it becomes brown. As 

 regards its durability, specimens of Walnut wood are to be found in 

 Europe in churches and other buildings, also in furniture, which are in a 

 good state of preservation, though several hundred years old. Formerly, 

 the demand for Walnut wood was so great in England that single trees, 

 when large and in good condition, often fetched from a hundred pounds 

 upwards. It is on record that in one case a very fine tree realized six 

 hundred pounds sterling. Though Walnut timber is less valuable now, 

 it still commands high prices in Europe, and the demand exceeds the 

 supply. 



The Walnut is a tree well deserving more attention in Australasia than 

 it now receives as a commercial plant. Ther"e is a considerable local 

 demand for the ripe Nuts, and the greater portion of what we consume is 

 now imported from Europe and America. For pickles and the making of 

 sauces the demand will probably rapidly increase as the supply becomes 

 better and more regular. In time, pos.si.bjy oil may be made from th 

 Walnut, which yields a large percentage. Then, again, the trees are well 

 worth cultivating for their timber, which, though it takes many years to 

 produce, cannot scarcely fail to prove a profitable investment to the 

 planter, as each year a plantation increases in value. Being large-growing 

 .and stately trees, Walnuts may be planted with excellent effect in parks 

 .and shrubberies, and for avenues. They are also well adapted for street 

 (planting, and are worthy of special attention for this purpose. 



CULTIVATION. 



No fruit-bearing tree will adapt itself to the varying conditions of 

 climate better than the Walnut, which appears to be equally at home in 

 the medium warm as in the cooler districts. In fact, it will thrive in 

 most parts <>f Australasia, excepting tropical regions. Any moderately 

 good land will prove suitable to the Walnut, but it thrives to the greatest 

 perfection in a deep rich soil with a moderately dry and open sub-soil. 



