62 
COMMON EUROPEAN WALNUT. 
ren ones in single, pendulous, imbricated aments ; the fertile ones on 
separate branches, at the end of the young shoots, and commonly in pairs. 
The fruit is green and oval, and in the natural state contains a small hard 
nut. In the most esteemed cultivated species, the fruit is oval and strongly 
odoriferous, about an inch and two thirds long, and from an inch and a 
quarter to an inch and a half in diameter. The nut occupies two thirds of 
its volume. 
Towards autumn, the husk softens, and decaying from about the nut, 
allows it to fall. The shell is slightly channeled, and so thin as to be 
easily crushed by the fingers. The kernel is of a very agreeable taste : it 
is large, covered with a fine pellicle, and separated by a thin partition, 
which may readily be detached both from the shell and from the kernel. 
The nuts are better tasted and easier of digestion, soon after their matu- 
rity, than later in the season, when the oily principle becomes perfectly 
formed; they are then oppressive if immoderately eaten. 
A dessert of an excellent relish is made by extracting the kernels a fort- 
night before they are ripe, and seasoning them with the juice of green 
grapes and salt. They should be thrown into water as soon as they are 
taken from the shell, and allowed to remain till the moment when they are 
seasoned to be set upon the table. They are sold in Paris by the name of 
Cerneaux, and a greater quantity of walnuts is consumed in this way by 
people in easy circumstances, than after they are perfectly ripe : the use of 
them is then almost exclusively confined to the lower classes. 
The Common Walnut is more multiplied in the Departments of France 
which lie between the 45th and the 48th degrees of latitude, than in any 
other part of Europe. In these Departments, it is planted in the midst of 
cultivated fields, like the apple tree for cider, in those of the north and the 
centre : the fruit, the oil, and the wood, may be considered as forming one 
of their principal branches of commerce. 
In extracting the oil of Walnuts, certain delicate attentions are necessary 
to insure its fineness. When the fruit is gathered, and the nuts are separ- 
ated from the husks, they should be kept dry, and occasionally moved till 
they are used. The proper time for the operation is at the close of win- 
ter, as in this interval, the change by which the mucilage of the fruit is 
converted into oil has become completely effected, and by longer delay the 
kernel grows rancid, and the oil is of a vitiated quality. The nut is crack- 
ed by striking it on the end with a small mallet, and pains are taken not to 
bruise the kernel. The slight ligneous partition is detached, and such 
kernels as are partially spoiled are selected and thrown aside. The sound 
kernels, thus cleared from every particle of the shell, should be sent 
immediately to the mill, as they soon become rancid by exposure to the 
air. They are crushed by a vertical stone which turns in a circular trough, 
and is moved by a horse or by a current of water. The paste is next enclosed 
