WALNUT 



1999 



Walnut 



The walnut is the edible nut of any 

 tree of the genus Juglans, especially 

 Juglans regia and Juglans nigra. Gen- 

 erally in the United States Juglans regia 

 is called the English walnut, although 

 it is sometimes called the French walnut, 

 European walnut or Madeira nut. It was 

 cultivated in Palestine in the time of 

 Solomon, and was later known among 

 the Romans as Persian nut, Royal nut, 

 Eubean nut and Jove's nut. It is round- 

 oval, rather ellipsoidal in shape; is from 

 one to two inches long and has a thin 

 husk which shrivels away irregularly 

 from the light colored rather smooth, 

 thin shell. This shell incloses a kernel, 

 which is highly prized for eating and 

 yields an excellent oil. There is no place 

 known to the writer where- the English 

 walnut is so extensively and profitably 

 grown as in California. The tree grows 

 well in Oregon and in some parts of 

 Washington, but is not so extensively 

 grown in these states as farther south. 



If walnuts are to be grown successfully 

 for commercial purposes in the states of 

 Oregon and Washington, it would seem 

 to be necessary to plant the hardier va- 

 rieties, such as the Proeparturien, May- 

 ette, Chaberte, Parisienne, and especially 

 the Franquette. These varieties are said 

 to be hardier than most others, and are 

 often grafted on the black walnut stock. 



When dormant the walnut is hardy 

 and will stand considerable freezing, but 

 when growing it is tender. Therefore no 

 place subject to early warm weather and 

 late spring frosts can grow walnuts suc- 

 cessfully. It is also sensitive to ex- 

 tremely hot, dry weather, which scorches 

 the nuts and leaves, therefore it cannot 

 be grown in the extremely hot and arid 

 regions, but succeeds in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, if grown along the coast, where 

 the breezes from the ocean temper the 

 heat. 



*The English walnut is found growing 

 very extensively through Western and 

 Southern Oregon; specimen trees and 



small plantings are found from Portland 

 to Ashland. In nearly every city of 

 Western Oregon one will find bearing 

 trees; more especially is this true in the 

 Willamette valley. These plantings 

 vary from a few trees to 20 or 30 acres 

 of young orchards, and even much 

 greater acreage is found. These are also 

 found growing over parts of Eastern 

 Oregon as far as Baker City. Probably 

 the large commercial area of walnuts in 

 this state will eventually be found west 

 of the Cascade mountains. 



The root system is such that it requires 

 a well-drained alluvial soil. The trees 

 are heavy feeders and the soil must be 

 rich and porous. Heavy clay lands are 

 not adapted to walnuts. 



In the nursery the nuts are planted in 

 rows about like corn rows and the nuts 

 about one foot apart. They are then cul- 

 tivated to keep down the weeds, and if 

 the soil is sufficiently deep and loose 

 the tap root will penetrate to a depth of 

 six to eight feet, while the top will make 

 a growth of only two feet. Then, in the 

 winter or spring, they are grafted and 

 treated in much the same manner as ap- 

 ple trees. After removing from the nur- 

 sery and planting in the orchard, the 

 growth is slow for the first year, but by 

 the end of that time the root system has 

 a good start and the top grows rapidly. 



No one has so improved the walnut 

 as Luther Burbank, whose work has been 



* Oregon Experiment Station Bulletin 111, 



American Black Walnut. 

 Grown in Washington. 



