TREES OF AMERICA. 45 



" Yes, for some things it is better ; and I 

 dare say it will be cultivated very extensively 

 by-and-by. It is a very beautiful tree, in the 

 first place ; and so are all the walnuts. The 

 nut is decidedly better for eating than that of 

 the black walnut, and it makes a much finer 

 oil ; but the wood is neither so good nor so 

 handsome." 



" Oil, Uncle Philip ! Do they make oil out 

 of walnuts ?" 



" Yes ; and it is chiefly for the sake of the 

 oil that the tree is so much thought of in 

 France, where it is most plentiful." 



"How do they get the oil, Uncle Philip? 

 and what is it good for ?" 



" To get the oil, they take out the kernels 

 carefully from the shells, and grind them in 

 a mill like a cider-mill; then they put the 

 paste into bags of strong linen, and press 

 them in a very strong press, and the oil is 

 squeezed out. It is very good to eat, and the 

 people of that country use a great deal of oil 

 with their food ; much more than we do, for 

 we use it only in dressing salad and lobsters, 

 arid such things, but they eat it with all kinds 

 of meat, and even with bread, as we do 

 butter : but it is for another purpose that the 



