SOME LEADIXG KtJT TREES. 299 



285. Possible Increase of Hardiness. — The varieties of 

 English walnut so far cultivated in this country have come 

 to us from the equable and rather moist climate of west 

 Europe. At Ames, Iowa, they have proven far more 

 tender than peach-trees. But a variety grown from nuts 

 gathered at Saratov in south Eussia has proven far hardier 

 than the peach and perfectly hardy in Missouri. As noted 

 on former pages of the orchard fruits, we now have 

 access commercially to central Asia. In this dry interior 

 climate, walnuts with thin shells are grown extensively, 

 and beyond doubt they will prove worthy of trial in our 

 interior States. 



286. Black Walnut. — The native black walnut {.Juglans 

 nigra) has a wide distribution in the Northern States. It 

 is one of our largest trees and its lumber is so valuable for 

 gun-stocks, furniture, and other uses, that trees of large 

 size are becoming scarce in every locality. Along streams 

 in the prairie States it was a common tree in the early days 

 of prairie settlement, but most all the trees have been cut 

 latterly for export of the logs to Europe. 



The nuts of our native walnut are beyond doubt the 

 largest and best wild ones of the earth, but as yet no move 

 has been made for their improvement. In Europe and 

 Asia the wild walnuts of Armenia, north India, Burmah, 

 Japan, and central Asia are vastly inferior to our best 

 native types. But they have been improved by selection 

 and culture until we have the modern walnuts of com- 

 merce. 



As found in the prairie States the nuts are more variable 

 than in other parts of the Union observed by the writer. 

 In a few cases varieties are found with relatively thin shell 

 that splits readily and the meat parts from the shell divi- 

 sions freely. But as yet they all have the peculiar flavor 

 that many like and a few dislike. Burbank, of California, 



