WALNUTS— \\iisliiri;,'l()ii's iiitorost in the so-called ImikHsIi or Kreiioh 

 Walnut (JiKjIans retjia) is shown by the fact that on September If), 1763. 

 lie •■planted in eleven holes on west side of {garden twenty-two l^nplish 

 Walnuts," and on March 28, 1770, he "planted three French walinits in 

 new fjarden and on that side next the Work House." On February 9, 1785, 

 hv "transplanted l-lnplish Walnut trees from corner near where the old 

 .schoolhouse stood to the upper side." Nothing is left from these plantings 

 and there are now only two young English Walnut-trees at Mount Vernon. 

 No. 03 is 41 feet tall with a trunk 14 inches in diameter and stands in the 

 enclosure south of the Flower Garden used by \\ ashington as a botanical 

 garden or trial ground for plants sent him from dilVerent parts of the 

 ^oimfry and from the \\ est Indies. No. 68. which is in the Kitchen Car- 

 den, is 42 feet tall with a trunk 15 inches in diameter. 



Washington makes no mention in his Diary of the Black Walnut 

 (Jufilana nigra) and it is not probable that lu; planted the two trees now 

 growing on the East Lawn, but as this tree is a native of the region 

 these two Walnuts may have been growing there during his lifetime, 

 although as the trees are not large this is not probable. No. 113 is 74 

 feet tall with a trunk 3 feet in diameter, and No. 135 is 81 feet tall with 

 a trunk 2 feet 6 inches in diameter. 



A young Butternut {Juglans cinerea). No. 100, stands between the 

 Butler's House and the Smokehouse, and is 18 feet tall with a trunk 5 

 inches in diameter. 



LOCUSTS — Although there are two brief mentions of this tree in the 

 Diary, it is not probable that Washington neglected so valuable a tree 

 as the Ijocust {Bobinia Pseudacacia). Young Locust-trees are now com- 

 mon at Mount Vernon, but none are old enough to have been of Wash- 

 ington's time. The positions of three of these trees are shown on the 

 plan. No. 75 is now 66 feet tall with a trunk 24 inches in diameter; No. 

 104 is 61 feet tall with a trunk 2 feet in diamett^; and No. 105, which is 

 only 19 feet high, was planted in the autunm of 1916 to take the place 

 of a Locust-tree which stood in Washington's time at the corner of the 

 Kitchen and was used as a hitching-post for visitors' horses. 



MULBERRIES — It is natural that Washington should have been in- 

 terested in Mulberry-trees on account of their fruit and probably with the 

 idea of providing food for siUc-worms and the making of silk. As early 

 as March, 1765, we find him "grafting fifteen English Mulberries on wild 

 Mulberry stocks." There is no Enghsh Mulberry and his scions may 

 ha\e been from a Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) from southeastern 

 Europe and Asia Minor, or from a White Mulberry (Morus alba), the 

 Chinese tree which furnishes the principal food for silk-worms. On 

 February 28, 1785, he "planted all the Mulberry trees, Maple trees and 

 Black Gums in Serpentine W alk." Only one Mulberry-tree (No. 20) is 

 now standing in the area covered by the plan; it is a White Mulberry 60 

 feet tall with a trunk 3 feet 3 inches in diameter. This is probably one 

 of the trees planted by Washington. 



8 



