1426 ARBORETUM AND FUUTICETUM. PART III. 



Greeks afterwards called the walnut tree Caryon, on account of the heaviness 

 of the head produced by its strong smell. When the walnut was introduced 

 into Europe is altogether uncertain ; but it was cultivated by the Romans 

 before the death of the Emperor Tiberius, and is supposed to have been 

 brought from Greece by Vitellius. Strabo informs us that in Rome, at one 

 time, tables of the wood sold at a higher price than those of citron. Ovid 

 wrote a little poem, entitled De Nuce, by which it appears that then, as now, 

 walnuts were knocked down from the trees by boys ; and that, at marriages, 

 walnuts were thrown by the bride and bridegroom among the children 

 who surrounded them; a ceremony which was instituted to show that 

 the bridegroom had left off his boyish amusements ; or, perhaps, to signify 

 that the bride was no longer a votary of Diana. (See p. 1430.) Hence, pro- 

 bably, is derived the French word for nuptials, des noces. In France, at the 

 festival of the Rosiere at Salency, in the department of the Oise (see p. 792.), 

 in the sixth century, it is directed that an offering be presented to the 

 young maid who is crowned, composed of walnuts and other fruits of the 

 country. The walnut tree is now to be met with in every part of Europe, 

 as far north as Warsaw; but it is nowhere so far naturalised as to produce 

 itself spontaneously from seeds. In Britain, it has been in cultivation from 

 the earliest period of botanical history, and, in all probability, since the 

 time of the Romans. It ripens its fruit in fine seasons, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Edinburgh, as a standard; and it lives against a wall as far 

 north as Dunrobin Castle, in Sutherlandshire. It is much cultivated, in some 

 parts of Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland, as a road-side tree. 

 Michaux says that it is more abundant in those parts of France which lie 

 between 45 and 48, than in any other part of Europe ; and that the fruit, 

 the oil, and the wood may be considered as forming, in that region, some of 

 the principal branches of commerce. This corresponds with what is stated 

 by Evelyn. "Burgundy," says that author, "abounds with walnut trees, 

 where they stand in the 'midst of goodly wheat lands, at sixty and a hundred 

 feet distance; 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 plough. Whenever they fell a tree, which is only the old and 

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

 betwixt Hanau and Frankfort, in Germany, no young farmer whatsoever is 

 permitted to marry a wife, till he bring proof that he 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." 

 (Hunter's Evelyn, p. 168.) " The Bergstrass," he adds, " which extends 

 from Heidelberg to Darmstadt, is all planted with walnuts." (Ibid., vol. i. 

 p. 168. and p. 170.) 



At different periods, there has been a great dearth of the wood of this tree in 

 France, where, as in England, in time of war, it was much in demand for 

 gun-stocks. It is a remarkable fact in the history of this tree, that, in the 

 winter of 1709, the greater part of the walnut trees of Europe, and more 

 especially of Switzerland, France, and Germany, were killed ; or so far in- 

 jured, as to render it advisable to fell the trees. The Dutch, at that time, 

 foreseeing the scarcity of walnut timber that was likely to ensue, bought up 

 all the trees that they could procure, in every direction, and sold them again, 

 according to the demand, for many years afterwards, at a greatly advanced 

 price. In the year 1720, an act was passed, in France, to prevent the ex- 

 portation of walnut timber, on pain of confiscation, and payment of a fine of 

 3,000 livres. A great many walnut trees were, at that time, planted in the 

 royal demesnes. In 1806, the manufacture of muskets required about 12,000 

 trees yearly. In consequence of this, a great many plantations were made by 

 individuals; and a prize was given for the cultivation of the tree by the 

 Society for the Encouragement of Arts, in Paris. We have been informed 

 by M. Michaux, in a letter dated December, 1834, that in 1818 he formed a 

 nursery of between five and six acres, for government, in the Bois de 



