WALNUT. HICKORY-NUT. 227 
239. The WAIL NUT is a well-knozon shell fruit, produced 
by a tree (Juglans regia, Fig. 69), which grows wild in the 
northern parts of China and Persia, and has winged leaves; 
the leaflets, about nine in number 9 large, oblong, smooth, thick; 
and the end one with a stalk. 
Although greatly admired, both for the beauty of its 
foliage, and for the excellence of its fruit, the cultiva- 
tion of the walnut-tree in England is by no means at- 
tended to so much as it was formerly, when its wood 
was considered the most ornamental timber produced 
in our island. It is pleasingly veined, and admits of a 
fine polish, but its colour is much less rich than that of 
mahogany ; and consequently, except for the making 
of gunstocks, it has, of late, been wholly superseded 
by that more favourite wood. On the Continent, how- 
ever, the walnut-tree is still in request for furniture of 
various kinds. 
The fruit of the walnut-tree is covered externally 
with a thick and smooth green husk, the juice of which 
stains the fingers black. In an unripe state, before the 
shells are formed, the whole fruit may be made into a 
pickle, and also into ketchup. In medicine the unripe 
fruit is considered of use for the destruction of worms, 
and is usually administered in the form of an extract. 
Walnuts become ripe about the beginning of Octo- 
ber ; and, as they grow in clusters, generally at the 
ends of the branches, it is customary to beat them down 
with long poles. The kernel, which is covered with a 
tough, yellow, and bitter skin, is more esteemed than 
that either of the hazel-nut or filbert. It yields, on 
pressure, a sweet kind of oil, which, in quantity, 
amounts to about half the weight of the kernel. 
There are several varieties of walnut, which are well 
known to the cultivators of that tree. 
240. The HICKORY-NUT (Juglans alba) is a 
North American species of walnut, the shell of which 
is very hard, does not split asunder like that of the wal- 
nut, and is of smoother and lighter colour than that. 
