CHAP. Cri. JL'GI. AND A C [•:/!•:. JV GLANS. 1427 



Boulogne, and raised in it upwards of 30,000 walnut trees, for transplanta- 

 tion, which, at the time he wrote, were from 20 ft. to 30 ft. high. 



In England, formerly, Evelyn informs us, " there were considerable plant- 

 ations of this tree, particularly on the chalk hills of Surrey." He instances 

 those of Sir Richard Stidolph, near Leatherhead ; Sir Robert Clayton, at 

 Morden, near Godstone, once belonging to Sir John Evelyn ; and the country 

 about Carshalton. During the late war, great numbers of walnut trees, 

 in different parts of England, were cut down for the purpose of supplying 

 gun-stocks; till the price of walnut timber rose so high (GOO/, having been 

 given for one large tree), as to induce its importation from the Continent, 

 and the substitution of the wood of the black walnut of America. In 

 the present day, when mahogany and other tropical woods are substi- 

 tuted for walnut wood by the cabinet-makers, and when wood for gun- 

 stocks is imported from the Black Sea, and also from North America, the 

 profits attending the culture of the common walnut tree are greatly dimi- 

 nished ; and it is, accordingly much less generally planted as a timber tree. 

 As a fruit tree, its planting is, perhaps, on the increase ; the improved varieties 

 becoming better known. In North America, the European walnut has been 

 planted for its fruit; and Michaux recommends it to be budded on the black 

 walnut ; but, as the wood of the former is considered as being far inferior to 

 that of the latter, he does not recommend its introduction into the United 

 States as a forest tree. Walnuts for the table are now annually imported from 

 France and Spain ; and pay a duty of 2s. per bushel. The quantity imported 

 in 1831 was 23,578 bushels, of which 100 bushels were exported, and the 

 remainder retained for home use. In 1832, only about two thirds of the 

 quantity were imported; but 551 bushels were exported. (M'Cultoch's Comm. 

 Diet., p. 1218.) This variation, in respect to the importation and exportation 

 of the walnuts, is owing to the variations in the crop on the Continent and in 

 Britain. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the walnut weighs 58 lb. 8 oz. in a 

 green state; and when dried, 46 lb. 8oz. It is white in young trees, and in 

 that state is subject to be wormeaten ; but, as the tree grows old, the wood 

 becomes solid, compact, easy to work, and acquires a brown colour, veined, 

 and agreeably shaded with light brown and black. In this state, it is considered 

 the most beautiful wood produced in Europe; and, being neither subject to crack 

 nor twist ; it was employed in preference to every other for the best kinds of 

 furniture, before the discovery, in America, of other kinds of wood still more 

 beautiful. In France and Germany, it is still much sought after by turners, 

 cabinet-makers, joiners, coachmakers, and millwrights, for screws to presses ; 

 by the makers of sabots, or wooden shoes, or clogs, musical instrument 

 makers, and, above all, by the manufacturers of arms. For solidity and beauty, 

 the wood of those trees is preferred which have grown on hilly and poor soils; 

 that grown on plains, and in rich soils, being of a much coarser grain, and 

 being less beautifully veined, and less durable. The smallest size of trunk 

 that can be employed in making furniture with advantage, in point of beauty, 

 is l|ft. in diameter. The white, or soft, wood may be rendered fit for use by 

 immersing it in boiling walnut oil. The most beautiful veinings are in the 

 roots of the tree ; which are much sought after by cabinet-makers, and, when 

 they can be found of large size, bear a high price. The younger timber, 

 Evelyn says, is held to make the better-coloured work ; but the older, and 

 especially the firm and close timber about the root, is best adapted for " flaked 

 and cambleted works." Those trees, he says, which have small and thick- 

 shelled fruit produce better timber than the large-fruited or thin-shelled kinds. 

 Evelyn strongly recommends walnut timber for household furniture, utensils, 

 and wainscoting walls, " instead of the more vulgar beech, subject to be weak 

 and unsightly ; but which, to counterfeit and deceive the unwary, they wash 

 over with a decoction of the green husks of walnuts, &c." In France, he says, 

 it may be seen in every room, both of poor and of rich ; but he is in raptures 

 with the cabinet-works which he has seen made of the walnut wood of 



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