THE WALNUTS BUTTERNUT. 45 



Several instances of supposed hybrids between the butternut and the black 

 walnut and butternut and Persian walnut have been reported. Arthur K. Harrison 

 states there was at one time in Columbia County, N. Y., a butternut tree which bore 

 - fruit externally normal, but which contained a solid cylindrical kernel some three- 

 fourths of an inch long, pointed at the ends. This variation was possibly due to 

 abnormal blossoms, as is suggested in the case of the "peanut walnut" (page 47). 

 The tree is now dead and we have been unable to secure specimens of the fruit for 

 examination. A typical nut of the species J. cinerea is illustrated on plate 7, fig. 4. 



BLACK WALNUT (Juglam nigra L.). 



The black walnut is one of our most widely distributed and most valuable 

 forest trees. It is found native from southern Vermont, westward through New 

 York, Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin to St. Paul, Minn., southward across Iowa, 

 Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory to southern central Texas. It is not found along 

 the Gulf or southern Atlantic Coast. The forestry report of the Tenth Census states 

 that the tree reaches its greatest development on the western slope of the southern 

 Alleghany Mountains and in the rich bottoms of southwest Arkansas and Indian 

 Territory. The nut has an oily meat of peculiar flavor which is less popular than 

 that of many othe'r nuts. As expressed by a writer in Orchard and Garden, 1891, 

 page 69, "The black walnut is among nuts what bacon is among meats strong and 

 greasy." Doubtless part of the popular prejudice against it in the market has arisen 

 from the notoriously bad methods which prevail in gathering and marketing it. The 

 nuts are often left exposed to the weather for several weeks after gathering, either 

 before or after the hulls are removed, and in either case many of them become dis- 

 colored and moldy. The rough shell becomes filled with grit, so that it is very difficult 

 to keep the kernels free from sand while cracking and removing them. 



HARVESTING THE WILD NUTS. 



The nuts should be gathered soon after they fall from the trees, and the hulls 

 should be at once removed. This is easily done by running them through an ordinary 

 corn-sheller, which tears the covering loose, so that the nuts can be readily picked out 

 by hand. They should then be exposed to the sun on a clean roof till thoroughly dry, 

 and stored in a cool, dry place to prevent rancidity. Black walnuts thus handled 

 will be found to have a whiter, sweeter kernel than those commonly found in the 

 market. 



PROFITS FROM PLANTING. 



Concerning the possibility of reaping profits from black walnut plantations much 

 has been written and predicted, but very little has been actually proven except that, 

 for the nuts alone, such plantings have not been profitable. We give the conclusions 

 of two growers who have made field experiments that have continued long enough to 

 throw some light on this disputed subject. B. Hathaway, Little Prairie Eonde, Mich, 

 writes: "I have 100 trees, planted thirty years ago; I gather nuts generally from part 

 of them, though it seldom pays for the labor, so far as I gather foi market. There 

 seems to be but little demand; could I get 50 cents per bushel for them by the 

 quantity, barreled, on board cars, it would pay something, but less than apples by 

 half." 



J. V. Sweeny, Omaha, Nebr., says: "I have been experimenting iu walnut culti- 

 vation on a moderately large scale for the last eight years. I am located in central 

 Nebraska the land of the prairies where it was once thought that the trees would 

 not grow. I bought my walnuts ;rom a neighbor, who himself planted the seed only 

 twelve years ago from which these grew, I paid $1 a bushel for 25 bushels that were 

 produced on less than an acre of land. There are $25 per acre for his crop, in addi- 

 tion to a year's growth of the trees on land that could not be sold for $15 per acre 

 without the timber. No cultivation or care whatever after the first four or five years, 



