2 
regularity and the nipping off of its tender 
•wood by frost in the fall. Fourth, it is a 
very hardy kind, being seldom frostbitten, 
and maturing its wood well before winter. 
Fifth, it is very productive, and on that 
account was first named "Fertile " walnut. 
This tendency to bear large crops at an 
early age is, in fact, the most important 
character of the Proeparturiens. 
As to the "genuineness" of our second 
generation trees, we will say that 70 % have 
been bearing nuts at four and five years, 
30 % at three years, and 10 % at 2 years, not 
transplanted; while 50 % of 2-years old 
trees, and 75 % of 3-years old trees, also 
not transplanted, but in nursery rows, had 
flowers on in the spring. However, as sur- 
prising as this precocity is with trees of 
that species and age, we must state that the 
Proeparturiens does not go into regular bear- 
ing, that is, does not grow any staminate 
buds or catkins before it is eight to nine years 
of age. Such young Proeparturiens that 
bear pistillate blossoms or nuts, with a 
complete absence of staminate or male blos- 
soms, must have the nuts fertilized by the 
catkins of larger walnuts in the neighbor- 
hood. 
The Proeparturiens reproduces well from 
the seed, at least as far as its chief charac- 
teristics — earliness in going to fruit, and 
productiveness — are concerned, provided, 
that the nuts from which such seedlings 
are obtained have been borne on the orig- 
inal tree, or trees grafted from the original, 
as are all our second generation trees; other- 
wise at each successive generation those 
characteristics will wear out, so much so 
that at the third and fourth generations, the 
trees will have gone back to the mother 
type, or Juglans Regia, from which the 
Proepaturiens originated. 
In habit, size, form and foliage, the Proe- 
parturiens is exactly like the English wal- 
nut, only it has a great tendency to spread 
out, which makes it go to fruit earlier and 
bear larger crops at the start, though at the 
expense of the top which, if the trees are 
allowed to spread out, will shoot up more 
slowly than that of other kinds. 
The Proeparturiens trees that we offer for 
sale are regular standard trees, and have 
nothing whatever to do with the "Dwarf 
Prolific " walnut, Proeparturiens so-called, 
said to be in full bearing when at six feet! 
Large-Prnitcd Prooparturiens Wal- 
nut. — This sub-variety of the Proepartu- 
riens has been originated by us here, in 
California. We propagate it solely by graft- 
ing. (See fig. 22.) 
^^'^ Late Proeparturiens.— Also originated 
by us in California. This is a very valuable 
kind, especially for its lateness in budding 
out, which is four to five weeks after the 
Los Angeles walnut; it is therefore seldom 
injured by frost. The nut is of medium 
size, shell thin, kernel full-fleshed and very 
sweet. 
^' Cluster Walnut, or Juglans Racemo- 
sa. — This remarkable kind of Walnut, also 
introduced into California and the United 
States by us, is a worthy rival of the Proe- 
parturiens, and whose planting is warmly 
urged in France by the leading horticultu- 
rists of that country. The Juglans Kace- 
mosa derives its name from the Latin word 
racemosus, meaning abundant in clusters, 
full of clusters, which is the main charac- 
teristic of the Cluster Walnut, whose nuts 
grow on the tree in clusters of eight to fif- 
teen nuts, and even twenty to twenty- 
eight. Otherwise, in habit, size, form, and 
foliage, the Cluster Walnut does not differ 
from the Juglans Kegia, or English Walnut. 
We have in our possession, and taken by 
our order, a beautiful photograph repre- 
senting a cluster of fifteen nuts, taken from 
one of the trees whose crop of nuts we had 
secured. The cluster of nuts is seven 
inches long, by three and a half wide, and 
looks more like a bunch of short bananas 
or very large grapes, than nuts, so rare is 
it to see nuts growing in such long, im- 
mense clusters. (See on back cover, an 
outline of that cluster of nuts.) 
The Cluster Walnut, like the Proepartu- 
riens, reproduces itself well from the seed, 
provided, that the nuts be gathered from 
trees grafted from the original type. The 
nut is peculiarly shaped, quite broad at the 
point (see Fig. 16), so that fraud may easily 
be detected whenever unscrupulous people- 
would try to pass other nuts for this one^ 
When getting to bear, the nuts are first 
found in bunches of two or three, which 
number is increased every year, when finally 
the tree gets to bearius those astonishing 
clusters of nuts from twelve to fifteen, and 
even more. 
Mr. Huard Du Plessis, in his work on the 
Walnut, page 9, expresses himself as follows 
on the Juglans Eacemosa: 
"Among the various kinds of Walnuts 
there are few that deserve to be so exten- 
sively planted as the Cluster Walnut; its 
fruit, as large as the common kind, is found 
in bunches of twelve to fifteen; we have 
counted as many as twenty-eight on one 
single cluster. The crops of that variety 
are simply astonishing; we have seen one of 
those trees, the only one to be found upon 
our place, for it is yet a rare kind, give in 
ordinary years as many as fifteen to twenty 
double decalitres of nuts (a double decalitre 
is a measure of five gallons) ; and in good 
years, as many as thirty." 
Mr. Bertin, a well known horticulturist 
of France, states that he did see on the 
originator's place in Belgium, one of those 
trees, quite young yet, which had 110 clus- 
ters of 8 to 12 nuts each, besides smaller 
ones. 
