THE WALNUT. 255 



by its wide-spreading crooked arms and its thick terminal 

 branches, plentifully furnished with the conical flower- 

 buds described above. 



The Walnut, besides being a native of Persia, grows 

 wild in Tartary, where a single tree is said to produce as 

 many as from forty to sixty thousand nuts yearly. We 

 learn from. Dr. Clarke, that the Tartars pierce the Walnut- 

 trees in the spring, when the sap is rising, and put in a 

 spigot for some time ; and that when it is withdrawn, a 

 clear sweet liquor flows out, which, when coagulated, they 

 use as sugar. The tree was introduced into Europe at 

 an early period, and probably passed into Britain from 

 France. 



" It delights," says Evelyn, " in a dry, sound, and rich 

 land, especially if it incline to a feeding chalk or marl, and 

 where it may be protected from the cold (though it affects 

 cold rather than extreme heat), as in great pits, valleys, 

 and highway-sides ; also in stony grounds, if loamy, and 

 on hills, especially chalky ; likewise in corn-fields. Thus 

 Burgundy abounds with them, where they stand in the 

 midst of goodly wheat-lands, at sixty and a hundred feet 

 distant ; and so far are they from hurting the crop, that 

 they are looked upon as great preservers, by keeping the 

 ground warm ; nor do the roots hinder the plow. When- 

 ever they fell a tree, which is only the old and decayed, 

 they always plant a young one near him ; and in several 

 places betwixt Hanaw and Frankfort, in Germany, no 

 young farmer whatsoever is permitted to marry a wife till 

 he brings proof that he hath planted and is a father of 

 such a stated number of Walnut-trees : and the law is 

 inviolably observed to this day, for the extraordinary 

 benefit which this tree affords the inhabitants " 



In Evelyn's time there were extensive plantations of 

 Walnuts, particularly on the downs near Lcatherhead in 

 Surrey, at Godstone, and at Carshalton, " where many thou- 

 sands of these do celebrate the industry of the owners; " 

 and this is still the case in many parts of the Continent, 



