THE WALNUTS PERSIAN WALNUT. 39 



Sexton dries his walnuts in the sun, and they have given good satisfaction, and for 

 small orchards he thinks this the cheapest and best way, though where large quanti- 

 ties must be handled artificial heat must be used. Mr. Heath uses a simple drying 

 house, in which the nuts are subjected to a heat of 200 for six or seven hours, the 

 nuts not being removed until they are thoroughly cured. He affirms that this mode 

 of curing does not injure them for use as seed. 



MARKETING. 



The walnut is marketed in sacks, the greater portion in what are called walnut 

 sacks, which hold about 120 pounds. Some growers screen the nuts, assorting the 

 different sizes. The prices realized by growers, as recorded in different reports, range 

 from 4 to 20 cents per pound. A few nuts are gathered green for pickling and for 

 catsup. 



In France the cheap nuts are sold to the oil mills and the finer ones are shipped 

 to market. One hundred pounds of walnuts will produce about 18 pounds of oil. It 

 is said that half the vegetable oil used in France is walnut oil, or about three times 

 more than is used of olive oil. We are not aware that walnut oil has ever been manu- 

 factured in the United States. 



NAMED VARIETIES. 



Owing to the fact that the Persian walnut has been mainly propagated by means 

 of seedlings which exhibit many variations, it is difficult to select distinct types for 

 description. However, in regions where walnuts are largely grown, different strains 

 have been developed which are worthy of perpetuation, and the best of these that 

 have reached us have been illustrated and described. 



BARTH^RE. A French variety recently introduced by Mr. Gillet, described by 

 him as follows: "A singularly shaped nut, elongated, broad at the center, and taper- 

 ing at both ends; the shell is harder than that of other sorts." 



CHABERTE (pi. 5, fig. 5). An old French variety named after its originator. It 

 is rich in oil and is cultivated on a large scale in the east of France for the oil mills. 

 The tree is said to thrive on less fertile soil than is necessary for Mayette and Fran- 

 quette. It is late in starting growth in the spring. 



CLUSTER (pi. 6, fig. 1). This variety is noted for its habit of growing in clusters of 

 8 to 15 nuts, and in some cases even 20 to 28 nuts. 



DREW. From William P. Corsa, Milford, Del. Size of nut above medium; form 

 oblate, with roundish base and compressed apex; surface moderately smooth, yellow- 

 ish; shell quite thin, cracking qualities excellent; kernel short, thick, plump, light 

 yellow; meat yellowish white; flavor sweet, rich, slightly astringent; good to very 

 good. The nuts are self-hulling, and ripen with or without frost about October 1. It 

 is a seedling grown from a nut, probably imported, planted about 1875 by the late 

 Andrew Corsa (for whom it has been named), and by him given, when one year old, 

 to his brother on whose farm in Sussex County, *~el., the original tree now stands. 1 



The tree remains dormant until late in May, the blossoms thus escaping injury 

 by frost. It commenced bearing in 1890, and has yielded an increasing quantity 

 each year since. 



FORD (Softshell) (pi. 6, fig. 3). Illustrated from specimens received at the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture from George W. Ford, of Santa Ana, Cal., by whom they are 

 being propagated. From selections made in 1880 of some of the best and largest 

 nuts from trees previously introduced into Santa Barbara County, Mr. Ford has 

 grown orchards of bearing trees which have gained considerable reputation among 



tree twice transplanted, and being injured while yonng by sun scald of the trunk, was 

 cut back to the ground line when 6 years old. A sprout from the stump was protected from the sun's 

 rays by two boards nailed together at their edges, placed oil its southeast and southwest sides and 

 left until the tree made top enough to shade its trunk. Since then no protection has been needed. 



