158 



THE WALNUT. 



not aware whether or not there are any grounds 

 for considering this opinion correct. The fertile 

 flowers are succeeded by bunches of smooth nuts, 

 which in their young state are firm but not hard, 

 and abound in juice of a strong and offensive 

 odour, which, on exposure to the air, turns dark 

 yellow, and subsequently black. In September 

 or October the outer case becomes mealy, and 

 splits irregularly, disclosing the nut, which is too 

 well known to need any description. The latter 

 then falls off, generally bringing the case with it. 

 About the same time the leaves turn yellow and 

 fall off, and the tree is more than ever marked by 

 its wide-spreading crooked arms, and its thick 

 terminal branches, plentifully furnished with the 

 conical flower-buds described above. 



The Walnut, besides being a native of Persia, 

 grows wild in Tartary, where a single tree is 

 said to produce as many as from forty to sixty 

 thousand nuts yearly ; and we learn from Dr. 

 Clarke that the Tartars pierce the Walnut-trees 

 in the spring, when the sap is rising, and put in a 

 spigot for some time ; and that when it is with- 

 draATO, a clear sweet liquor flows out, which 

 when coagulated, they use as sugar. The tree was 

 introduced into Europe at an early period, and 

 probably passed into Britain from France, the 

 first syllable of the word Walnut being a cor- 

 ruption of ^' Gaul," in accordance with an ety- 

 mological change observable also in the words 

 Wales" and " Cornwall." 



"It delights," says Evelyn, "in a dry, sound, 

 and rich land, especially if it incline to a feeding 

 chalk or marl; and where it may be protected 

 from the cold (though it affects cold rather than 



