AKBOIIETUM AND FRUTJCKTUM. PAHT1II 



soil, dry rather than moist; but the fruit has the best flavour, and produces 

 most oil, when the tree is grown in calcareous soils, or among calcareous 

 rocks : in a wet-bottomed soil, whatever may be the character of the surface, 

 it will not thrive. The walnut is not a social tree, and neither produces good 

 timber nor fruit when planted in masses. Both on the Continent and in 

 England, it succeeds well as an avenue or road-side tree; and it forms an 

 excellent shelter for orchards and kitchen-gardens, when planted at such a 

 distance as not to injure them by its roots or by its shade. In ornamental 

 grounds, the somewhat light yellowish and shining green foliage of the walnut 

 forms a fine contrast with that of other trees, throughout the greater part 

 of the season ; and the symmetrical form of the head accords well with 

 buildings. 



Gathering and keeping the Fruit. The fruit of the walnut, both in France 

 and in England, is commonly knocked down from the tree by thrashing 

 the extremities of the branches (on which alone it is produced) with 

 long poles. By this process, Mr. Rogers observes, "many of the points 

 of the branches are broken, which causes the production of many spur- 

 like shoots, that afterwards bear flowers and fruit. Hence the custom 

 of beating a barren tree to make it bear." (Fruit Cult., p. 380.) Bosc con- 

 siders that beating down the fruit with poles is injurious to the tree ; but, 

 in France, he adds, as the trees are not in enclosures, this barbarous practice 

 is altogether unavoidable. If the trees were enclosed, he continues, or if pro- 

 perty exposed by the road sides were sufficiently respected, it would be unne- 

 cessary to beat down the nuts at all, as the wind alone, when the fruit is com- 

 pletely matured, would be quite sufficient to detach it from the tree. This 

 has suggested to us the idea of using long rods, with a contrivance at their 

 extremities for taking fast hold of the branches, so as to admit of shaking 

 them powerfully, and thus obtaining by art the effect of a violent wind. In 

 gathering up the fruit which has been either beaten down, or fallen naturally, 

 those nuts which have separated from the husks are kept by themselves, taken 

 home, and spread out on a boarded floor in an airy shed or granary, to the 

 depth of 3 in. Here they are turned over daily, till they become perfectly 

 dry. Those fruits from which the husks have not separated in falling are 

 placed in little heaps on the ground, but still under cover; and turned over, 

 and gently beaten, till the husk separates. In France care is taken to prevent 

 these heaps from fermenting, or sweating, as it is called ; because that occa- 

 sions a change in the kernel, and gives a taste to the oil. When the nuts have 

 been thoroughly dried, those not wanted to crush for oil are laid by, often in 

 wooden boxes or chests, where they are not subject to the vicissitudes of the 

 atmosphere ; in which state they will retain all their good qualities for about 

 twelve months. In Britain, the nuts of the walnut may be preserved fresh and 

 fit for the table, or for sowing, for a year; either by burying them in dry soil or 

 sand, so deep as not to be reached by frost, by the heat of the sun, or by rain ; or 

 by placing them in dry cellars, and covering them with straw. The latter mode is 

 that most commonly adopted by the growers of this nut for the London market. 

 Walnuts, Rogers observes, should not be gathered till the outer covering parts 

 readily from the shell, which is before that covering becomes mealy. There is 

 a critical time at which the covering leaves the shell without staining it, which 

 it is apt to do if allowed to remain on till it becomes soft. After being shelled, 

 the nuts should be well dried in the sun for a day or two, and then stored 

 away, either on shelves in an airy room, or packed in jars or boxes, among dry 

 white sand, which improves the colour of the shell, and keeps the kernel more 

 moist. When the nut is to be preserved through the winter, for the purpose 

 of planting in the following spring, it should be laid in a rot-heap as soon as 

 gathered, with the husk on ; and the heap should be turned over frequently in 

 the course of the winter. We have entered into greater details respecting 

 the various uses of the timber and fruit of the walnut, partly because they 

 are less generally known in Britain than those of most other fruit-bearing 



