228 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



i 

 one of which, at West Medford, has a trunk cir- 

 cumference of about fourteen feet at five feet above 

 the ground ; another, at Saugus (Centre Village), 

 measures 60 feet in height. 



The compound leaf is composed of from fifteen to 

 twenty-three sharp-toothed leaflets on a stem (with- 

 out the horse-hoof base) which measures one to two 

 feet in length. The leaf* is thin, bright yellow 

 green above and somewhat downy beneath ; it turns 

 yellow in autumn. The splendid, large fruit is 

 rough, dull green, and generally round ; it has a 

 pleasant, aromatic odor. The nut, after the ripened 

 blackish husk is removed, reveals a dark-brown, 

 sharply cut, rough, hard shell ; the kernel has a 

 delicate but decided flavor. 



The English walnut (Juglans regia) is sparingly 

 cultivated in this country, but it is barely hardy in 

 the North. It has from five to nine ovate, pointed, 

 unevenly toothed leaflets which crowd the stem, and 

 a thin -shelled nut which the husk, becoming brittle 

 and open, soon sheds. The nut is the common Ma- 

 deira nut of commerce. The tree grows from 35 to 

 60 feet high. 



* I am told that in Bucks County, Pa., the leaves are often 

 stripped from the tree by caterpillars ; in the White Mountains 

 the trees are remarkably free from them ; probably a winter 

 temperature of 30° below zero is a trifle too strong for some 

 worms. 



