WALNI;T TREE. 



(be United States it belongs to extend their ob- 

 servations and experiments on this subject, 

 after the example of our ancestors, to whom 

 we are indebted for a rich variety of fruits, 

 equally salutary and beautiful. 



The walnuts of North America appear to 

 present characters so di.-tinct as to require 

 n into two sections. These cha- 

 racters consist principally in the form of he 

 barren amems or catkins, and in the greater or 

 .-gelation in the trees. The 

 : -M posed of walnuts with sin- 



#e amenis. and includes two species, the 

 black walnut and ihe butternut ; to which sec- 

 | the European walnut The second 

 . consists of such as have compound 

 , and comprises the 8 species already 

 described under the name of HICKORY. 



The black walnut (Juglans ntgra), is known 

 by no other name in all parts of the United 

 States where it grows. East of the Alleghany 

 mountains, the most northern point at which it 

 appcai Michaux, about Goshen in 



tbe state of New Jersey, in the latitude of 40 

 SO*. West of the mountains, it exists abun- 

 dantly 2 farther north, in that portion of Ge- 

 nesee which is comprised between the 77th 

 and 79th degrees of longitude. This observa- 

 ! all have occasion to remark, is ap- 

 phraMe to several other vegetables, the north- 

 ern limit of whose appearance varies with the 

 eiimate, and this becomes milder in advancing 

 Is the west. 



last observation of Michaux in respect 

 to the amelioration of climate in going west, 

 -n ascertained, from exact thermometri- 

 --ervations, to be applicable only to those 

 : country situated sufficiently near the 

 Lakes, and to the eastward of them to be in- 

 fluenced by the greater equality of temperature 

 maintained by bodies of water than by land. 

 The proximity of those great internal seas have 

 a similar effect in modifying climate to that 

 manifested on the Atlantic border, where many 

 trees and plants creep up several degrees higher 

 than they can be found further in the interior. 

 (8ce CtiMATK or THE USITKD STATES.) 



walrnr is multiplied in the forests 



about Philadelphia, and, with the exception of 



the lower parts of the Southern States, where 



-nndy, or too wet, it is met with to 



the banks of the Mississippi, throughout an 



extent of 2000 miles. East of the Alleghany 



mountains in Virginia, and in the upper part 



and of Georgia, it is chiefly 



confined to the valleys, where the soil is deep 



and which are watered by creeks 



and rivers: in the western country, in Ge- 



of Ohio and Kentucky, 



i! in general is very rich, it grows 



-.with the coffee tree, honey-locust, 



hellbark-hickory, black 



maple, hackberry, and red elm; all 



which trees prove the goodness of the soil in 



which they are found. 



in these countries, says Michaux, that 

 the black walnut displays its full proportions. 

 On the banks cf the Ohio, and on the islands 

 of that beautiful river, I have often seen trees 

 of 3 or 4 feet in diameter and 60 or 70 feet in 

 UeighL It is not rare to find them of the thick- 

 1102 



WALNUT TREE. 



ness of 6 or 7 feet. lis powerful vegetation 

 clearly points out this as one of the largest 

 trees of America. When it stands insulated, 

 its branches, extending themselves horizon- 

 tally to a great distance, spread into a spacious 

 head, which gives it a very majestic appear- 

 ance. 



The leaves of the black walnut when bruised 

 emit a strong aromatic odor. They are about 

 18 inches in length, pinnate, and composed in 

 general of 6, 7, or 8 pair of leaflets, surmount- 

 ed by an odd one. The leaflets are opposite 

 and fixed on short petioles ; they are acuminate, 

 serrate, and somewhat downy. The barren 

 flowers are disposed in pendulous and cylin- 

 drical aments, of which the peduncles are 

 simple, unlike those of the hickories. The 

 fruit is round, odoriferous, of rather an uneven, 

 surface, and always appears at the extremity 

 of the branches: on young and vigorous trees, 

 it is sometimes 7 or 8 inches in circumference. 

 The husk is thick, and is not, as in the hicko- 

 ries, divided into sections; but when ripe it 

 softens and gradually decays. The nut is hard, 

 somewhat compressed at the sides, and sul- 

 cated. The kernel, which is divided by firm 

 ligneous partitions, is of a sweet and agree- 

 able taste, though inferior to that of the Eu- 

 ropean walnut. These nuts are sold in the 

 markets of New York, Philadelphia, and Bal- 

 timore, and served upon the tables. The size 

 of the fruit varies considerably, and depends 

 upon the vigour of the tree, and upon the na- 

 ture of the soil and of the climate. On the 

 banks of the Ohio, and in Kentucky, the fruit 

 with the husk is 7 or 8 inches in compass, 

 with the nut proportionally large : in Genesee, 

 on the contrary, where the cold is intense, and 

 in fields exhausted by cultivation, where these 

 trees have been preserved since the first clear- 

 ing of the land, it is not of more than half this 

 bigness. Some variations are observed in the 

 form of the fruit, and in the moulding of the 

 shell; but these I consider as merely acci- 

 dental differences. Indeed, there is no genus 

 of trees in America, in which the fruit of a 

 given species exhibits such various forms as 

 in the walnut; and doubtless this circumstance 

 has misled observers, who, being acquainted 

 only with the small number of trees existing 

 in European gardens, have described them as 

 distinct species. 



The bark of the black walnut is thick, black- 

 ish, and on old trees deeply furrowed. When 

 the timber is freshly cut, the sap is white and 

 the heart of a violet colour, which after a short 

 exposure to the air assumes an intenser shade, 

 and becomes nearly black: hence probably is 

 derived the name of black walnut. There are 

 several qualities for which its wood is princi- 

 pally esteemed; it remains sound during a 

 long time, even when exposed to the influences 

 of heat and moisture ; but this observation is 

 applicable only to the heart; the sap speedily 

 I decays. It is very strong and very tenacious : 

 when thoroughly seasoned it is not liable to 

 warp and split ; and its grain is sufficiently 

 fine and compact to admit of a beautiful polish. 

 It possesses, in addition to these advantages, 

 that of being secure from worms. On account 

 of these excellencies, it is preferred and sue- 



