102 
ORCHRRD 
CARDEN \ 
> AA «v ^yvw v^o) 
June, 1891. 
Nut Trees on the Lawn. 
We have for many years favored com- 
bining the useful and the ornamental in 
lawn making where the conditions were 
favorable, especially on small places. A 
good deal may be said in favor of it and 
but little against it. There are a goodly 
number of fruit trees that are strictly beau- 
tiful in outline, foliage, and expression, 
without regard to their fruit, and such 
may properly be employed, if used with 
judgment. We do not propose to dis- 
cuss the subject in detail at present, but 
wish simply to allude to what may be 
thought a valid objection to the use of 
nut trees on the lawn. When proposing 
their use we have been met, among oth- 
ers, by the objection that they are dan- 
gerous. This, in a degree, is true as re- 
gards the Black Walnut, the Butter nut, 
and the Madeira Nut, especially where 
children are about. We never felt the 
full force of this objection till our own 
skull was pretty soundly “cracked’ by 
a nut falling from a branch that over- 
hung the roadside. For the moment we 
felt as if a “solid chunk'’ of the firma- 
ment had fallen down, and we thought 
we saw stars. Besides, we have seen 
children hurt and horses badly fright- 
ened In* falling nuts, and are willing to 
concede this point. 
Notwithstanding, we have often seen 
large lawns where these useful trees 
could be safely planted. Their adop- 
tion in such cases is worthy of consider- 
ation. They should be planted some- 
what remote from the house and at some 
distance from the drive and the walks. The 
trunks should be trimmed sufficiently high 
to prevent children from climbing them. 
As the nuts always fall when ripe, they 
should be gathered from the ground, with 
one exception, when it will be necessary to 
gather them from the tree. The exception 
is when the nuts are used for making pick- 
les and catsup, when they should be gath- 
ered sufficiently immature to allow a nee- 
dle to penetrate them easily. Green or 
unripe Butternuts have long been used for 
making pickles, which many much prefer 
to pickled cucumbers. The famous Walnut 
catsup is made from immature Maderia 
Nuts, sometimes called English Walnuts, 
though the tree is not a native of England, 
but of Persia. The Butternut is Juglans 
cinerea; the Black Walnut is J. nigra ; and 
the Maderia Nut is J. regia. J. regia prepar- 
turiens is a spreading, dwarf variety of the 
last, and bears fruit when quite small. It 
is particularly adapted for a small place. 
In regard to the hardiness of J. regia, we 
know of trees in Westchester Co., N. Y., 
upward of sixty years old that ripen their 
crops quite uniformly. 
All the Walnuts above named are large, 
majestic trees with a somewhat tropical 
foliage, and are very effective objects in 
any landscape. The accompanying illus- 
tration, Fig. 511, is a fine portrait of the 
Madeira Nut, which the reader will at once 
see is a noble-looking tree. The man ab- 
surdly poking a stick up the tree and the 
figures under the tree, as well as i he frag- 
ment of a cottage, were put in by the ar- 
tist for effect. 
The Pomegranate. 
Those who read the Bible (as all Orch- 
ard and Garden people do, of course) will 
remember how the Pomegranate is praised 
for its beauty, and how it figures in the 
An English Walnut Tree. Fig. 511. 
building of Solomon’s Temple. Doubtless 
many have never seen a Pomegranate; but 
there is no reason why they should longer 
deny themselves that pleasure. A’l that 
would seem to be wanting is simply calling 
attention to it. The Pomegranate is sup- 
posed to have been originally found near 
Carthage, and hence received its generic 
name, Punica. It is now common in South- 
ern Europe and the West Indies. The fruit 
is not unfrequently seen for sale in New 
York and other large cities. The Pome- 
granate is hardy in our Southern States, 
and in Florida grows to be a tree of consid- 
erable size. It is esteemed not only as a 
beautiful ornamental plant, but also for its 
fruit, which is about the size of an orange, 
and coutains a pulp which is highly valued 
for its delicious acid. This pulp, reduced 
with water, makes a refreshing acid drink in 
warm countries. The species and varieties 
of the Pomegranate are limited. They 
are all handsome plants for the lawn, and 
at the North should be grown in large pots 
or tubs, which may, if desired, be plunged 
in the ground. In the winter they may 
be kept in the green-house or in a cool cel- 
lar. They are all deciduous. Punica Gra- 
natum bears handsome bright red or scarlet 
flowers and fruit, and grows to be a large 
shrub or small tree. P. rubrum fl. pi. bears 
scarlet flowers, but no fruit. P. albescens 
bears whitish flowers, but is not often seen. 
There is a double variety of this. P. nana 
is a handsome dwarf dou ble-flowering vari- 
ety, bearing scarlet flowers, and is perhaps 
the best plant, on account of its size, for 
growing at the North for the lawn. It is 
the variety most commonly grown at the 
South. Some years ago P. nana, under 
another name, was sent out here as a new 
plant; but it has been in cultivation for up- 
ward of a hundred and fifty years, and its 
identity was not long in being discovered. 
The Pomegranates are readily propagaty 
^ ed from young wood, and may also be 
grown from layers. They need a rich 
soil. As they are easily grown, they 
should be more frequently used as or- 
namental plants for the lawn. Plants 
may be obtained of the Messrs. Parsons 
and a few others who prcpagate half- 
hardy woody jil ants. The accompany- 
ing illustration, Fig. 896, is a very good 
portrait of the flower. In the West In- 
dies and Southern Europe the Pome- 
granate is used as a hedge plant, and one 
can easily conceive what a beautiful 
hedge it must make. 
Dutchman’s Pipe. 
The Aristolochias are very singular 
and interesting plants, the colored calyx 
or perianth assuming a variety of cur- 
ious forms. They are apetalous or des- 
titute of a corolla or floral leaves. They 
are mostly hot-house plants. One of our 
natives, however, Aristolochia sipho, or 
Dutchman's Pipe, is hardy in most parts ^ 
of the United States. It has a twining ' 
woody stem, and grows to a height of 
forty or fifty feet. The leaves are alter- 
nate, somewhat heart-shaped, often ten or 
twelve inches in diameter, and are covered 
with soft hairs. The flowers appear singly. 
The long, brown-colored tube is bent in 
such a way as to resemble a tobacco pipe; 
hence the common name of Dutchman’s 
Pipe. The accompanying illustration, Fig. 
17, gives an excellent idea of the form of 
the flower and the leaf. In some of the 
tropical species the flowers are six to eight 
inches in diameter, and one closely resem- 
bles a duck brooding on a nest. For cover- 
ing a large trellis there are few plants bet- 
ter than the Dutchman’s Pipe. Its massive 
foliage is very dense and imposing, and the 
plant is a strong and rapid grower when 
once established. Though a native, a few en- 
terprising nurserymen propagate it for sale. 
— y 
The Crab Apples are both ornamental and 
useful, and may justly claim a place in or- 
namental gardening. The single and dou- 
ble flowering varieties from China and 
Japan are splendid when in flower. 
