The Walnut Tree. 



now for that purpose, and never was fit for it. The BtACK 

 Walnut of America is famous for its timber, and also for 

 its immense size; and for the soundness and durability of 

 its wood. I have frequently seen this tree sixty or seventy 

 feet high, and so large round the trunk, that I should be 

 afraid to say how large, if MrcHAux had not told us, that it 

 is by no means rare to see them six or seven feet in diame- 

 ter, at several feet from the ground. There is now at New 

 York a part of a Black Walnut Tree trunk, which had 

 been scooped out, and was used as a bar-room^ and after- 

 wards as a grocer's shop, having a door and two windows 

 in it. A little pamphlet published at New York, where 

 this trunk is now exhibited, as serving for a parlour or 

 dining-room, states the trunk to have been thirty-six feet 

 round at the base ; and of course twelve feet through ; 

 it states, that the height of the tree previous to branching 

 was very great, and that the height to the tops of the 

 branches was one hundred and twenty feet, and that the 

 spi'ead of the branches was in proportion to the height. It 

 further adds, that had the tree been sawed into inch boards 

 at a saw mill, it would have yielded fifty thousand feet of 

 board, worth, at the wholesale price, one thousand five 

 hundred dollars, or about 350/. sterling. 



554. This however must be regarded as a singular in- 

 stance of grandeur ; but it is quite common, even in the 

 light lands of Long Island, to see this tree of immense size 

 in the trunk, lofty in proportion, and extending its branches 

 to a distance that strikes the beholder with wonder. Shade 

 is a valuable thing in a hot country; and one of these trees 

 very frequently forms a complete shade to a house and 

 other buildings of a considerable size. 



555. But it is for its timber, after all; that this fine tree 



