88 
ORGH IV R DIrndIGRR D E 
April, 1889- 
Japan Walnut. 
(Juglans Sieboldiana.) 
This species is found growing wild in the 
mountains of northern Japan, and is, with- 
out doubt, as hardy as an oak. The leaves 
are of immense size, and a charming shade 
of green. The nuts, which are produced in 
extreme abundance, grow in clusters of 
fifteen or twenty, have a shell thicker than 
the English walnut, but not as thick as the 
black walnut, very much resembling Pecan 
nuts. The meat is sweet, of the very best 
quality, flavor like butternut, but less oily, 
and much superior. The trees grow with 
great vigor, assume a very handsome form, 
need no pruning, mature early, bear young, 
and are more regular and productive than 
the English walnut. No tree on my 
grounds has attracted more attention 
than the Japan Walnut. 
Juglans Sieboldiana constitutes a spe- 
cies clearly distinct from all others; not- 
withstanding its affinity with J. Mand- 
schurica. Maxim., the differential char- 
acters are too distinct to permit them to 
be confounded. But it is above all, its 
fruit that presents distinctive charac- 
ters; those of J. Mandschurica have, in 
fact, very thick shells, oblong, terminated 
in an obtuse point at both extremities, 
marked with eight projecting edges, and 
presenting deep, angular wrinkles with 
sharp edges; in J. Sieboldiana, on the con- 
trary, the shells are ovoid, globular, acu- 
minate, with very obtuse, reticulated 
wrinkles, without distinct edges. The 
nuts of the first have almost the appear- 
ance of those of J. cinerea, while it is 
with those of J. regia that one would 
compare those of the second. 
Two other species, yet little known, also 
observed in Japan by Mr. Maximovicz, 
appear to resemble in their fruits these 
two species; J. Stenocarpa has nuts still 
longer than J. Mandschurica, acuminate 
at the summit and not marked with project- 
ing edges. In./, cordiformis, although some- 
what resembling the form of those of Sie- 
boldiana, they are terminated in acute points 
at both extremities, completely smooth, and 
much less lacunose internally. 
The Siebold walnut has a thick foliage, of 
the handsomest green, which is really mag- 
nificent; and finally, the long, pendant male 
catkins, as well as the clusters of female 
flowers crowned with purple stigmas, add 
further beauty to this remarkanle species. 
Its wood appears to be similar to that of the 
common walnut, although a little less vein- 
ed. The nuts, united into long clusters to 
the number of 15, or even 20, are extremely 
abundant. The shell is a little hard and 
bony, without, however, being more so than 
in certain varieties of our common walnut, 
of which it has exactly the taste. They of- 
fer the important advantage of uniformly 
containing a kernel that is so little divided 
by partitions that it is possible to extract it 
in a single piece. 
The species is of easy culture: it accom- 
modates itself to the same soils as its con- 
geners, and grows with great vigor. It is 
easily grafted by approach upon our com- 
mon walnut, and its trunk retains the same 
dimensions as the stock; but it is by seed 
that it should be multiplied. It reproduces 
itself perfectly true, and if the young plants 
remain bushy during the first years, the 
tree shoots afterwards, and, thanks to its 
r-i pid growth, promptly assumes large di- 
mensions. 
J. Sieboldiana came originally from the 
north of Japan, where Thunberg appears to 
have confounded it with J. nigra, of North 
America. It is probable that Siebold also 
observed it, but without describing it. and 
included it among the undetermined species 
of Juglans. This opinion appears to have a 
foundation, because it is to this great ex- 
twenty-four hours before feeding them out. 
When ground they make excellent food for 
both horses and cattle, being very rich in 
what are called carbohydrates but poor in 
albuminoids — A. S. F. 
Japan Walnut. (Juglans Sieboldiana.) 
plorer of Japan that we owe the introduc- 
tion of this new species; it was, in fact, cul- 
tivated in his garden in Leyden, from 
whence he sent it to Sagrez, in 1866, tinder 
the name of J. aliantifolia. 
Mr. Maximovicz discovered this walnut in 
the mountainous region of Kiusiu, at Miad- 
zi, then, like Thunherg, in the environs of 
Yeddo; in fact, near to Yokohama and Ka- 
makura; but its spontaneous growth in these 
two last localities appears doubtful. Dr. 
Savatier called attention to the same tree at 
Yokoska, then at Hakodadi, Island of Yes- 
so, planted around the temples. — Luther 
Burbank, Sonoma Co., Cal. 
As you take so much interest in nut cul- 
ture, perhaps you can inform us of what 
use wormy or dried chestnuts can be put 
to.— C. W. I. 
Stale chestnuts make excellent food for 
cattle, either ground or merely soaked for 
I will give you my way of handling or 
growing nut trees. After one year’s growth 
from the nut, in March, I take a sharp spade 
and at about 6 or 8 inches from the tree 
stamp it into the ground slanting so as to 
strike and cut the tap root 8 to 10 inches 
below the surface. Then putting my foot 
against the soil on top of spade I hold the 
ground firmly against the tree at the same 
time withdrawing the spade and so con- 
tinue to the end of the row. Then I wa'k 
back and stamp the earth firmly on both 
sides of the row. 
If this simple operation is well done no 
trees will be lost by the cutting of the tap 
root. The next spring at two years of age 
they will have a fine lot of fibrous toots 
and treated in this way, I can transplant 
all nut bearing trees with as much cer- 
tainty of growing as I can do with peach 
or apple trees. — J. R. Pierce, Kansas. 
The Grafting: of Nut Tree*. 
Grafting large nut trees in the open air 
is not so likely to be successful as with 
fruit trees, but it is certainly worth try- 
ing wherever possible to do so. We 
have seen large chestnut trees grafted 
successfully, with both the splice and 
cleft graft. The best method is perhaps 
to splice or whip graft on branches of 
small size. There are thousands of native 
chestnut trees of moderate size now 
growing in the fields of our farms that 
might be grafted with the large foreign 
varieties and so bring in quick and re- 
munerative returns. In like manner 
may be found large numbers of young 
hickory trees, with stems from an inch 
to six inches or more in diameter, grow- 
ing on farms, which might be grafted 
with pecans or with choice varieties of 
the shellbark hickory that would yield 
in time, handsome incomes. 
The successful grafting of hickories is not 
an easy matter, and there have been many 
failures, but persistent continuance in ex- 
perimenting will we hope enable our nut- 
culturists to overcome the difficulties in 
this direction. Not long since a correspon- 
dent wrote us that he had been successful 
in grafting the shellbark hickory and pecan 
and that in a few instances the grafts has 
made a growth of from three to four feet. 
In every instance of success the grafts had 
been set in the stock either below the sur- 
face of the ground or the soil banked up 
around the grafts leaving only the top bud 
exposed. The grafting was performed late 
in spring. Another correspondent tells us 
that he has been very successful in top- 
grafting pecan on hickory by the ordinary 
cleft graft method. The grafts nearly all 
lived and made a splendid growth; at two 
years old one of them measured three inch- 
es in diameter at the junction. 
