FOREST TREES. 99 
seed, and grows rapidly. As a fruit-bearing tree it is 
not to be despised, The nuts are liked by most peo- 
ple, and it is extremely probable that they might, in no 
long period of time, be so far improved by cultivation 
as to become a market fruit. I have ascertained that 
a considerable improvement takes place from a single 
planting. The shell becomes thinner, the kernel 
larger, and of easier extraction. The European Wal- 
nut, in its primitive state, is said to be inferior to this 
in size and quality. The Butternut is propagated in 
the same manner as the Black Walnut. 
2 Juglans nigra—Black Walnut. 
Leaves, ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, somewhat 
heart-shaped, or unequal at the base, smooth above, 
the lower surface and the petioles minutely downy; 
fruit, spherical, roughly dotted; the nut corrugated. 
The Black Walnut is found in the Atlantic States, 
but is far less multiplied than in the Valley of the 
Mississippi. It grows on the river bottoms, and on 
the uplands wherever the soil is deep and fertile. In 
the State of Illinois, next to the Oaks and Hickories, 
it is one of the most common trees. The majestic 
trees of this kind which once adorned the Illinois 
forests, have, however, mostly disappeared, and Black 
Walnut timber is now scarce where it was formerly 
most abundant. 
The growth of the Black Walnut is quite rapid, 
and when fully developed, it becomes one of the 
largest forest trees, Thirty-five years since, speci- 
mens were frequent along the Bureau river, three to 
