HORTICULTURE 315 



wax it to keep it dry, as exposed pith will rapidly decay. The walnut 

 trees do not all begin fruiting at the same age. In Oregon the 

 average is from four to ten years, but some trees that are considered 

 to be barren at ten years old, later come into bearing. The yield of 

 nuts the first year is very light probably four or five nuts to the 

 tree. The second year, two to five pounds ; and trees from fifteen to 

 twenty years old yield as high as three bushels on the average, while 

 old trees yield from fifteen to twenty bushels. The walnut, if given 

 proper treatment, will live to a ripe old age. There are trees in parts 

 of Europe that are known to be three hundred years old ; but some 

 California trees have been removed when they were thirty years of 

 age, it being claimed that they had outlived their usefulness. This 

 was probably due, in every case, to too close planting. When proper 

 distances are allowed and the air circulates freely in among the 

 trees, they live naturally for centuries, and this is one of the most 

 attractive features of the walnut industry. In establishing orchards 

 the foundations for prosperity are laid for a great many generations. 



The nuts are not harvested until fully ripe and the husks begin 

 to split open. Light shaking of the trees will then cause most of the 

 mature nuts to drop. As the walnut does not ripen uniformly, it 

 will be necessary to gather the fruit at intervals for several weeks. 

 In some countries it is the practice to beat the fruit from the trees 

 but the California growers believe that this is more of an injury than 

 a help as it often seems to knock off a great many buds. With care, 

 however, a long, light bamboo pole may be of some service. When 

 the nuts are gathered, the husks should be removed and the nuts 

 washed and rinsed, for, if the hulls are allowed to remain on the 

 nuts, they will cause a staining, thus depreciating the market value 

 of the nuts. Where only a few nuts are grown, probably the husks 

 can be removed by hand ; but where nuts are grown on quite a large 

 scale it may be necessary to make some kind of barrel or drum in 

 which the nuts can be churned. One of these can be easily made by 

 taking a common water barrel and making an opening on the side 

 through which the nuts can be put in, and then revolving the barrel 

 on some form of axis. In some cases it is the practice to add a little 

 sand, and in France it is sometimes customary to give them a soap- 

 stone polish, which makes the shells very smooth and gives them 

 somewhat of a greasy feeling. After the nuts are washed they must 

 be cured. 



They are then allowed to remain out in the sun until properly 

 cured, which will take about three days. It will be a good plan to 

 stir the nuts several times each day, and, where they are left out at 

 night, to have some kind of covering of canvas to throw over them 

 to keep away the dews. In some cases they are dried by artificial 

 heat, being placed in a temperature of at least one hundred degrees 

 Fahrenheit for a number of hours, depending, of course, upon the 

 degree of heat. After the nuts are cured they should be placed in 

 a rather cool, dry atmosphere, where they can be kept until shipped. 

 If not cured and kept in good condition the nuts will become rancid 

 and be unsalable. It is the practice in some parts of California, and 



