W A L N U T S. 
59 
mode is to deposit the seed in drills, two feet apart from each other, plac- 
ing the seeds at from three to six inches apart in the drills. If germinated 
in a heap before sowing, the points of the taproot may be pinched off before 
planting. Whether sown in drills or broad cast, almost the only attention 
required in their culture while in the nursery is, to shorten once a year, 
the tap, or main root, in order to induce them to throw out fibres, for 
the purpose of facilitating their transplantation, which if performed in the 
autumn, should be followed in the spring before the sap begins to rise, by 
cutting the head of the tree entirely off, leaving only a main stem, termina- 
ting in the stumps of the principal branches. The wounds of these stumps 
are carefully covered with plaster composed of loam and cowdung, or graft- 
ing clay, secured from the weather by straw and cords. Trees thus treated, 
push out shoots of great vigour the first year, and these being thinned out 
or rubbed off, the remainder soon form a head. 
Soil and situation. The Walnuts attain the largest size in a deep loamy 
soil, dry rather than moist ; but the fruit has the best flavour, and produces 
most oil, when the tree is grown in calcareous soils, or among calcareous 
rocks; in a wet-bottomed soil, it will not thrive^ The Walnut is not a 
social tree, and neither produces good timber nor fruit when planted in 
masses. The Walnut is generally considered injurious, by its shade, both 
to man and plants. 
Hickories planted in masses should be thinned when the plants have 
attained the height of from five to eight feet, the larger trees being left for 
timber, for ornament, or for fruit. Managed in this way, and gradually 
exposed to the action of the sun and air, they will have their peculiar 
beauties developed in the fullest manner. The wood which has grown 
most rapidly is the most valuable, having least of the heart wood. The 
ashes of the Hickories abound in alkali, and are considered better for the 
purpose of making soap, than any other of the native woods, being next to 
those of the Apple tree. The shellbark grows best on the border of culti- 
vated land, or on the edge of a forest. Some of our gardeners have paid 
attention to procuring the best nuts for cultivation, and the “true thin- 
shelled” may now be purchased from the nurseries ; the nuts, however, 
will differ in different soils and situations, and even on individual trees 
growing in immediate proximity.] 
