188 Nutting. 



it is then lightly balanced, and vibrates easily. The 

 magician wallvs slowly over the ground selected, 

 watching the tip of the wand ; and should it bend 

 downwards without volition on his part, it is a sign 

 that water is concealed beneath the spot. 



The nuts upon the bushes do not all ripen at the 

 same time : one or two bushes are first, and offer ripe 

 nuts before the rest have hardened sufficiently. The 

 leaves on these also drop earlier, turning a light 

 yellow. The size and even the shape of the nuts 

 vary too, some being nearly round and others roughly 

 resembling the almond. Their flavor when taken 

 from the bush is sweet, juicy, ' nutty.' When they 

 will ' slip udd ' is the proper time to gather them — 

 i.e. when the hood or outer green covering slips off at 

 a touch, leaving the light-brown nut in the palm : it 

 is a delicately shaded brown. Cut off just the tip of 

 the nut — the pointed keystone of its Gothic arch — 

 with a penknife ; insert the blade ever so slightly, and 

 a gentle turn splits the shell and shows two onyx- 

 white hemispheres of kernel. 



With a little care the tallest boughs ma}- be pulled - 

 down uninjured ; if dragged down rudely the bough 

 will be ' sprung ' where it joins the stole below, and 

 will then wither and die. The plan is simply to apply 

 force by degrees, pulling the main bough only so far 

 forward as to enable the hand to reach an upper 

 branch, seizing the upper branch, and by its aid 

 reaching a still higher one, and gradually bending 

 the central stem till it forms a bow. If done gradu- 

 ally and the bow not too acute, the tallest bush will 

 spring up when released without the least injury. 

 With a crook to seize the bush as high up as possible 



