44 



long to the Abbots of Glastonbury has a roof of Spanish Chestnut 

 made like the beams of a ship and pegged together. 



The former existence of the chestnut in the New Forest, 

 according to Wise, " is shown by the large beams in some of the 

 old forest churches, as at Fawley ; but none now exist, except a 

 few comparatively modern, though very fine, at Boldrewood." 

 This statement may have been true fifty years ago, but according 

 to Mr. P. Trentham Maw there are plenty of Spanish Chestnuts 

 now in the New Forest. " One enclosure adjoining Knightwood 

 is nearly all Spanish Chestnuts." 



Walnut. 



The walnut, as its name implies, is not a native, for in Anglo- 

 Saxon speech, according to Sir Herbert Maxwell, it was the 

 Wealh Knut, or the foreign nut. The Romans may be safely 

 credited with having introduced this valuable tree. It has become 

 thoroughly adapted to the soil and climate of the British Isles, 

 as in the case of the Spanish Chestnut. Apart from its fruit, it ha # s 

 distinct merits as a timber tree, yielding valuable hard wood. 



Of the many fine walnut trees in the southern parts of Eng- 

 land there is a noble specimen growing at Barrington Park, Ox- 

 fordshire. In 1903 it was between 80ft. and 85ft. high, with a 

 girth of 17ft. The bole and main branches were covered with 

 burrs, showing that the timber would make beautiful panelling 

 ancl veneers. In the " Guide to Dorset " (1908) Mr. Frank R. 

 Heath writes: ''Just N.W. of Cranborne, on the Wiltshire bor- 

 der, on the fringe of the famous Chase at Woodyates, is Lord 

 Londonderry's famous ' hundred pound ' walnut tree, a pretty 

 good annual yield from a solitary contributor." Mr. C. J. Salway 

 Waters, the squire of Woodyates Manor, where this fine walnut 

 still flourishes, informs me that it measures 17ft. in girth, with 

 an approximate height of 90ft. The crop of fruit, just gathered, 

 is not so large as usual. At the Moot at Downton the tallest of 

 several walnut trees there is about 100ft. in height. Another, 

 about 80ft. in height, has a girth of 17ft. 2in. 



Mr. E. S. Wilbraham, agent to Lord Shaftesbury, recently 

 sent me specimens of leaves and nuts from an exceptionally large 

 tree of the American Black Walnut, 70ft. high, with a girth of 

 13ft. 3m. The diameter of the area covered by the branches was 

 70ft. The American Black Walnut is sometimes confused with 

 one of the Hickories, but it is easily distinguished by the pith of 

 the growing shoots being .arranged in thin transverse plates. In 

 the Hickories it is continuous. 



Pea Flowered Trees. 



Among trees bearing pea flowers (Leguminosae) there are a 

 few that deserve mention here. Among the first is what is known 

 as the "Judas Tree," so called because it was the tree on which 

 Judas was supposed to have hanged himself. Shakespeare, how- 

 ever, entertained other views, for in " Love's Labour Lost " he 



