THK WALNUT. 249 



ford, and are described as a long oval, with a shell so 

 very thin that the . slightest pressure of the fingers 

 crushes it. I find that this Highflyer walnut is men- 

 tioned in the recently published "Dictionary of Gar- 

 deniag," but whether obtainable in English nurseries or 

 not we are left in doubt. 



I refer to these English varieties mainly to show 

 that some of the very best and thinnest-shelled walnuts 

 have been grown in cool climates, and are not confined 

 entirely to the warm or semi-tropical, as many persons 

 seem to suppose and even claim to be the fact. It is 

 principally from these English walnuts, as they are usu- 

 ally termed, that our hardy old-bearing trees, referred 

 to elsewhere, have been produced, and, doubtless, many 

 more will be, when we begin to pay some attention to 

 this very valuable nut. It is also quite likely that when 

 our horticulturists look about for choice acclimated 

 varieties for propagation, they will be found right here 

 in the grounds of next-door neighbors, and there may be 

 no necessity of sending to Europe or elsewhere for either 

 nuts or trees. 



At present there is much confusion and uncertainty 

 in regard to the identity and nomenclatui-e of both spe- 

 cies and varieties of the walnut, and it must remain so 

 until they are collected from all counbries and climes, of 

 which they are either native or into which they have 

 been introduced, and when so collected, and fruiting 

 specimens produce, it will not be difficult to classify 

 and determine their synonyms. This will be an under- 

 taking scarcely to be expected of the individual nut cul- 

 turist, but is within the legitimate line of the arboretum, 

 and of public botanical gardens located in both cold and 

 warm climates, thereby securing a division of labor, and 

 at the same time avoiding the uncertainty of trying to 

 produce practical results under uncongenial conditions 

 and surroundings. 



