COMMON WALNUT. 145 



imposing and at the same time picturesque. Its trunk, 

 with its deeply furrowed, light-coloured bark, possessing 

 that strength and massiveness of character necessary to 

 support the thick and spreading limbs which form its 

 lofty and, almost invariably, well-balanced head 



Its foliage, like that of most pinnate-leaved trees, is 

 graceful and light, and its bright yellowish green contrasts 

 well with trees of a darker shade. The principal, indeed, 

 the only objection to it, is the short period it remains in 

 leaf, the foliage not being expanded before the season is far 

 advanced, and cast off with the first autumnal frosts ; this 

 deficiency is, however, in a degree, compensated by its rami- 

 fication, which, as Gilpin observes, is generally beautiful. 



The form and growth of the Walnut, which indicates 

 great power and strength of resistance to the elements, 

 and the enormous and deeply-penetrating roots it is pro- 

 vided with, evidently mark it as an unsocial tree, impatient 

 of interference, and requiring ample room for its full de- 

 velopement. On this account it is ill-calculated for mixed 

 plantations or close groves, but should be cultivated singly, 

 or planted at distances of not less than thirty or forty feet 

 apart. It is, therefore, well-adapted for a park tree, the 

 hedgerow, and as a wayside tree, in which latter capacity 

 it abounds in Switzerland, France, Germany, and other 

 parts of the European continent. 



The species is propagated by the nut, which, in cases 

 where the tree is intended as an ornamental feature or 

 for timber, had better be sown in the place where it is 

 intended to remain, as the tap root, which in the young 

 plant is very large, thus remains uninjured, and the plant 

 escapes that check which must always, to a greater or less 

 degree, attend the act of transplantation.* 



* It may, however, with care and attention, be planted successfully, when of a 

 considerable size. 



