White or butternut Cordiformis (Japanese) 
Growing Walnuts for Pleasure and Profit—By J. W. Kerr, 
Persian (English) 
SIX WALNUTS WORTH EATING. ACTUAL SIZE 
California black 
Sieboldiana (Japanese) 
Common black 
Mary- 
land 
THE REAL FACTS ABOUT THE PECULIAR MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE SIX DIFFERENT WALNUTS BY ONE 
WHO HAS DEVOTED A LIFETIME TO THE STUDY OF NUTS—WHAT THE AMATEUR MAY DO WITH THE TREES 
gee different species of walnut growing 
at the present time in North America 
are six in number. Of these four are 
natives — the black walnut, the white walnut 
or butternut, the California black walnut, 
and the Mexican walnut. Add to these 
two foreigners, the Persian walnut (com- 
monly misnamed English), and the Japa- 
nese walnut, and the list is complete. 
The common black walnut must stand 
first in consideration from the fact that of all 
the species it is most valuable for its timber. 
Its nuts, although a market staple, are too 
low in price to be considered as an asset by 
the man in whose lot or fields stand a few 
walnut trees. Yet the nuts are delicious, 
rich, and full-flavored, and they would 
surely be missed by the children of the 
country. Well made molasses taffy, full of 
black walnut meats, rivals any French bonbon. 
THE SIX SPECIES 
The black walnut grows abundantly 
through the East and Middle West, but 
it only appears occasionally in the extreme 
South. Almost any soil suits it and I have 
seen big, fine trees on heavy ironstone, 
slate, and sandstone soils, and on heavy, 
medium, and light sandy loams. Disease 
and insect pests do not touch it. 
In appearance the tree is more upright 
than spreading, very clean and vigorous in 
growth, and a joy to the tree-lover’s eyes 
for its stately beauty. The timber is one 
of our finest hard woods, and brings a high 
price because of its use in the making of 
high grade furniture and fine interior 
finishing. 
Some small and scattered efforts to improve 
the black walnut have been made, but they 
have been by selection alone and amount 
practically to nothing. Propagation either 
by grafting or budding requires a much 
higher standard of skill and judgment by 
the operator than the propagation of fruit 
trees. Annular budding is the usual method 
of propagation. The tree grows fast and 
freely and comes into bearing at ten years 
of age, bearing thereafter every year, but 
alternating light and heavy crops. 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the states 
of the Middle West furnish the principal 
market supply, and the method of preparing 
the nuts for market is very simple. -After 
they are gathered they are left in heaps on 
the ground until the thick outer hull begins 
to rot. These hulls are then rubbed off 
by hand or the nuts may be put through the 
corn-sheller, a quick and satisfactory way 
of getting through a dirty job, since the 
hulls are full of black dye. After the nuts 
are hulled, they should ripen for a few 
weeks in a dry place, when they will be 
ready for market or for eating. They do not 
bring a high price, as I have said, but every 
man who owns a piece of land that is big 
enough, should plant a few walnut trees 
in the pasture or along the fence rows for 
the enjoyment of his family. 
The white walnut or butternut grows 
mostly in the mountainous sections of the 
Northern states, and shows a _ decided 
preference for a moist soil. The tree is 
less stately in appearance and more irregular 
Sieboldiana Butternut 
Common black 
in habit of growth than the black walnut 
and its timber is not so valuable. Yet 
the tree is not unattractive and its wide- 
spread branches offer an inviting shade. 
A fine butternut tree stands a little way 
inside my meadow gate and I notice that 
my photographer friends usually want to 
get some views of it. 
The nuts of the white walnut are longer and 
less round than the black, with a very rough, 
corrugated exterior, and thick shells, diffi- 
cult to crack. The outer shell is compara- 
tively thin and easy to remove and practically 
falls off of itself when the nuts are ripe. 
The meat is rich and oily, nothing extraor- 
dinary in flavor, though the Vermont native 
esteems it a delicacy. 
The commercial value of the white walnut 
is so slight that nothing has been done 
toward its improvement. Sentimental rea- 
sons are the only ones for its propagation, 
and it is far from easy to propagate, too. 
But if you must have a few butternut trees 
to take to plant on the farm to remind you 
of your youth, you will find root-grafting 
or tongue-grafting the preferred method. 
| 
California black 
Cordiformis 
The different walnuts vary merely in the proportion of hard shell and edible meat 
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