160 PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



tensively used for gun-stocks, hand-rails, floors, stairs, and in- 

 side finishing generally. One of our most valuable timber 

 trees, once so abundant in some of our Western States, as to 

 be employed for fencing, and many farms have been enclosed 

 with fences made of black walnut rails. If the trees had 

 been left standing, they would now be worth many times 

 more than the land is, from which they were so ruthlessly 

 destroyed. The Black Walnut is a noble tree with a very erect 

 straight stem, often reaching a hight of sixty to ninety feet, 

 and from four to six feet in diameter. The bark is usually 

 rough, dark-colored and deeply furrowed. If raised in nur- 

 sery rows, and the seedlings transplanted, and roots pruned 

 when young, the Black Walnut may be moved without danger 

 of loss, when from four to six feet high. For planting, the 

 nuts should be gathered in the fall, mixed with soil or sand, 

 and left in heaps exposed to frosts during the winter. In 

 spring plant them in rows, covering them with an inch or two 

 of soil. The Black Walnut is a rapid-growing, hardy tree, 

 commencing to bear nuts in eight to ten years, but will require 

 from twenty to forty years to reach a size large enough to pro- 

 duce boards or planks. It is widely distributed over the United 

 States, from Vermont to Florida, and westward to Texas, 

 thence northward to Nebraska, but now more abundant west 

 of the Alleghanies than east of them. 



J. rupestris, Engelmann. Leaves composed of from six to 

 twelve pairs of leaflets, usually short-pointed. Nut very small, 

 round, very thick, nearly solid walls. A small tree or shrub, 

 ten to twenty feet high, in Western Texas, New Mexico, and 

 Arizona. 



FOREIGN SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 



Jnglans regia. English Walnut, French Walnut, Madeira 

 Nut. Leaves composed of from five to nine oval, smooth leaf- 

 lets. Fruit round or oval, and when ripe, the husk becomes 

 friable and brittle, opening and allowing the nut to fall out. 

 The shell is thin, kernel large, with a rich, oily, but rather 

 strong taste. A well-known nut in our markets, and through- 

 out those of the greater part of the whole world. Although 

 often called English or French Walnut, the tree is not a native 

 of these countries, but is found in Persia, and according to some 

 authorities in China. It has been cultivated for so many cen- 

 turies in Europe, that a large number of varieties have been 



