380 



WALNUT. 



SECT. XXVI. 



OF THE WALNUT. 



Of this well-known timber and fruit tree little need 

 be said. The different sorts known in this country 

 are raised from seeds, of which there are many 

 varieties ; the principal kinds being the large double, 

 the thin-shelled, and the egg-shaped. But these, 

 even if sowed, seldom prove true to their kind, or 

 parent tree on which they were produced ; we have 

 consequently many intermediate varieties, differing 

 in size, shape, and quality. 



The soil most congenial to this tree is a light 

 sandy loam, on a dry bottom of either gravel or 

 chalk. On the chalk hills of Kent they are extra- 

 ordinarily prolific, and are disposed of in great 

 quantities at Croydon Fair : the prices there obtained 

 generally rule the London market. 



Threshing the nuts off the trees with poles or rods 

 is the common expedient; by which many of the 

 points of the shoots are broken, causing the produc- 

 tion of many spur-like shoots, which afterwards bear 

 the flowers and fruit. Hence the custom of beating 

 a barren tree to make it bear. 



The nuts should not be gathered till the outer 

 covering parts readily from the shell, which is before 

 the former becomes mealy. There is a critical time 

 at which the covering leaves the shell without 

 staining it, which they are apt to do if allowed to 



