May 25, 1872.J 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
059 
Small nuts, bushels .... 
294,236 
193,452 
Walnuts ,, .... 
Turnery and unenume- 
152,681 
42,638 
rated nuts . 
42,972 
Ground-nuts, tons. 
5,845 
94,419 
Other oil nuts, tons .... 
18,033 
231,123 
Nutmegs, lb. 
537,978 
32,510 
Palm oil, cwt. 
868,270 
.. 1,583,830 
Cocoanut oil, cwt. 
198,602 
392,657 
24,347 
Coir fibre, tons . 
1,105 
Cordage of ditto, cwt. .. 
11,407 
13,547 
Cable yarn ,, 
168,544 
177,956 
Myrobalans, cwt. 
56,610 
32,928 
Valonia, tons. 
25,718 
395,546 
Nutgalls, cwt. 
17,748 
54,169 
£3,524,657 
Edible Nuts. 
The commerce in edible nuts of various kinds forms a 
considerable item, and furnishes a carrying trade of at 
least 10,000 tons. The average annual value of those 
sold amounts to upwards of £500,000. There are hut 
five sorts specified in the official trade returns—almonds, 
chestnuts, cocoanuts, small nuts (hazel-nuts), and wal¬ 
nuts, hut there are various other kinds forming articles 
<of commerce in a minor degree, among which may he 
enumerated Brazil nuts, pistachio-nuts, cashew-nuts, 
souari and sapucaya-nuts, hickory and peccan nuts. 
Twenty years ago it was stated that the sale of filberts 
in Covent-garden amounted to 1000 tons in the year, 
and of walnuts, 25,000 bushels. Of the quantities grown 
in England there are no means of forming an estimate. 
The imports of nuts in 1848 were :— 
Bushels. 
Hazel-nuts . 150,022 
Chestnuts. 63,033 
Walnuts . 29,604 
The progress of the import trade in these is shown by 
the following figures, from which it will he seen what a 
great advance has been made in the consumption of sweet 
almonds, walnuts, small nuts, and cocoanuts:— 
Almonds (sweet), cwt. ... 
„ (bitter) „ 
Chestnuts, bushels. 
Cocoanuts, number . 
Small nuts, bushels . 
Walnuts „ . 
I now proceed to give a few details as to each of these 
kinds of nuts.— 
Hazel-nuts are the fruit of the wild hush of Corylus 
avellana , unchanged and unimproved by cultivation. 
They seldom attain to any size in this country when left 
wild. The fruit differs from that of the domesticated 
varieties only in being smaller, while the tree is more 
hardy. The plant, which is a native of all the cooler 
parts of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, is 
the parent of the many varieties of nuts and filberts now 
cultivated for their fruit. The trade in “small nuts,” 
as they are termed in the official reports, does not vary 
very greatly in this country, perhaps 10,000 bushels 
more may be imported in one year than another. The 
maximum never exceeds 300,000 bushels. Of 294,236 
bushels received in 1870, the bulk came from Spain, 
14,000 bushels from Sicily, and about 11,000 from 
Russia, Turkey, and other countries. Their import 
value is from 10$. to 13$. Qd. a bushel. In commerce, 
though both produced by the same variety, Jiarcelonensis , 
the nuts are classed into two kinds:—1. The Spanish, 
which arc the nuts coming from Gijon. They will not 
keep any time, and are said to be coloured by the dealers 
with the fumes of sulphur. They arrive in bulk in 
1855. 
I860. 
1870. 
24,581 
'7,366 
64,756 
2,217,350 
243,458 
21,949 
19,638 
7,361 
25,218 
2,479,251 
198,563 
52,090 
36,189 
7,618 
31,767 
3,546,276 
294,236 
152,681 
small schooners. 2. The Barcelonas, which are kiln- 
dried, and shipped from Tarragona to the extent of 
8,000 tons a year, in bags of about 128 lb. In Russia 
and Turkey large quantities of fine nuts are produced of 
the Constantinople variety (C. column ), which are roundish 
and very hard. 160,000 cwt. are annually raised at 
Trebizond and Ivuirasond. The filbert has been referred 
to a distinct species, Corylus tubulosa. The term was 
originally applied to those kinds of nuts which have 
very long husks, and in which the nut is also of a 
lengthened shape; but owing to the number of varieties 
that have of late years been obtained, this distinction, 
which was never scientific, appears to be nearly disre¬ 
garded, and nuts and filberts are almost synonymous 
terms, excepting that the wild, uncultivated fruit and 
those varieties which most nearly approach to it are 
never called filberts. 
The best known varieties of the filbert are the white, 
the red, and the frizzled. The white is the kind most 
commonly grown in this country. In Kent many hun¬ 
dreds of acres are planted with filberts, for which the 
county is celebrated, and whence the London market is 
principally supplied. As much as 30 cwt. per acre has 
been raised on particular lands. When quite ripe, fil¬ 
berts will keep for several years in a dry room, and if 
the air is excluded, or the nuts placed in an air-tight jar, 
they will be sound and retain their flavour for an indefi¬ 
nite period. The hazel-nut yields about 60 per cent, of 
a bland oil, which is used by perfumers. 
The cob-nut of Kent is a large, roundish, prolific 
variety— grandis —of the ordinary hazal-nut. 
In almost every stage of its growth, the fruit of the 
walnut-tree is used. When young, green, and tender, 
walnuts are pickled and preserved with the husks on. 
About the end of June they may be preserved with or 
without the husks. When the nuts are fully ripe, which 
is generally at the end of September or the beginning of 
October, the kernel, deprived of its investing skin, is 
eaten in great quantities. As long as the skin can be 
easily removed, they are a nutritious and healthy article 
of diet; but when they get dry, so that their skins stick 
to them, they become indigestible. 
The larger portion of the walnuts consumed in England 
are of foreign growth, and the imports are annually in¬ 
creasing ; for whilst a quarter of a century ago we only 
imported 20,000 bushels, now we have come to require 
153,000 bushels. The bulk of these come from France 
and Belgium, and small quantities from Holland and 
Italy. Their value is much less than that of small nuts, 
ing only from 5$. 6d. to 6s. 6 d. a bushel. 
The albumen, which constitutes the bulk of the seed 
of the walnut, contains an oil which is used in large 
quantities, especially on the Continent. It is obtained 
by reducing the seeds to a pulp by means of a stone 
wheel and basin, and then expressing the oil, first with¬ 
out heat, and then by the application of heat. 
In the provinces of the Peninsula where the olive 
does not grow spontaneously, and cannot be cultivated 
except in certain places having an equal temperature, 
as on the banks of the lakes, walnut-trees have been 
planted from time immemorial. They yield an oil 
which, when fresh, is used for food and lighting pur¬ 
poses, or for painting when it becomes rancid. In the 
north of Italy, in the valleys of the Alps, and also ot the 
Apennines, the walnut-tree forms and gives its name to 
a special botanical region. 
In Nassau and Switzerland this bland oil is much 
used, and is no bad substitute for olive oil in preparing 
salad. It is also expressed in Cashmere. The shells ot 
the large kinds of walnuts are often mounted with 
hinges, as fancy receptacles for miniature articles, such 
as tiny wax dolls, scissors, thimbles, etc. I he Limerick 
gloves are packed in walnut-shells, whilst rings, jewels, 
and other small presents are occasionally disguised in 
this rough case as an agreeable surprise. 
Our trade in foreign chestnuts, the fruit of Castanca 
