52 AGEICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORCHARDS OF CHINA. 



WILD WALNUTS. 



[Chinese name, "Shan ho to."] 



At the present time the walnut is but very sparingly met with in 

 the wild state. Northern China has been settled too long to afford 

 us the opportunity of seeing much of her original wild arboreal 

 vegetation. In the Pangshan district, however, to the east of 

 Peking, one may still find a few specimens of the real wild walnut. 

 They are found in the mountains, growing in ravines among large 

 bowlders. The trees are smaller and less vigorous in growth than 

 the cultivated ones. The leaves and nuts are also smaller and the 

 latter less sweet than those from cultivated trees, but otherwise there 

 is little difference. (S. P. I. No. 21877.) 



CHESTNUTS. 



[Chinese name, "Litze."] 



The ordinary Chinese chestnut (Castanea sp.) grows wild on the 

 slopes of rocky mountains in northern China and southern Man- 

 churia. It is mostly found in groves, growing among rocks and 

 bowlders, and even in its wild state it varies considerably in the size 

 and flavor of its nuts and the spininess of the burrs. The Chinese 

 name for the wild form is u San li tze." (S. P. I. No. 21875.) 



The nuts have been planted to some extent on the mountain slopes 

 by the Chinese, where the trees receive more or less cultivation. All 

 the .trees being seedlings, there is very great variation among them 

 in regard to their productivity and the size and relative sweetness of 

 the nuts. • The nuts are sold extensively in autumn and early winter 

 in all Chinese towns, after being roasted in sand with which molasses 

 has been mixed. This roasting in sugared sand bleaches the nuts 

 somewhat, makes them shiny, and cracks them open but very little. 



The chestnut of northern China is quite distinct from that of Japan ; 

 it can stand great heat and drought, and may be especially useful in 

 the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. (S. P. I. Nos. 

 17876, 17877, and 17896.) 



There is a very slender-leaved chestnut found growing in some of 

 the ravines of southeastern Manchuria and northeastern Korea. 

 The nuts are small, but when the tree is in flower it is very ornamental, 

 its snowy- white masses of catkins contrasting vividly with the slender, 

 glossy, green leaves. 



In the more elevated mountain regions of China a dwarf chestnut 

 occurs, generally as a shrub several feet high. The nuts are small 

 but very sweet. The whole plant is very similar to the North 

 American chinquapin. It can be used as a fruiting shrub. Its nuts 

 are very sparingly seen in the markets of central China during the 

 early winter. 



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