354 



and they are often injured by cutting and lop- 

 ping the branches while growing. 



The largest plantation of walnut-trees in 

 England, at the present time, is in the county 

 of Surry. 



Gerard says, " the walnut-tree groweth in 

 fields neere common highwaies, in a fat and 

 fruitful ground, and in orchards/' It there- 

 fore appears to me, that it must have been in- 

 troduced earlier than the date mentioned in 

 the Hortus Kewensis (1562), as this was only 

 about thirty years before Gerard wrote his 

 account, when these trees seem to have been 

 very common in the fields. 



The walnut-tree was formerly cultivated 

 in England for the sake of the wood, which 

 was in great esteem for cabinet goods, before 

 mahogany and other curious woods were 

 imported from America into this kingdom, 

 which was about the beginning of the eigh- 

 teenth century, when the use of mahogany 

 was discovered by the following chance : 

 Dr. Gibbons, an eminent physician, was 

 building a Jhouse in King Street, Cownt 

 Garden. His brother, who was a West-India 

 captain, brought over some planks of this 

 wood as ballast, which he thought might be 

 of service in his brother's building ; but the 



