40 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDtNEN 
Jari-ary  18,  1900 
WALNUTS. 
Were  it  not  that  it  requires  a  good-sized  tree  to  produce  nuts  by 
anythinji  like  the  bushel  in  quantity,  it  would  seem  a  matter  ot 
wonder  that  the  Walnut  is  not  in  evidence  in  England  to  a  greater 
extent,  for  whether  as  a  fruit  or  fancy  timber  tree  it  possesses  a 
very  material  value.  Doubtless  the  imported  article  from  France  and 
Spain,  which  forms  part  of  our  winter  dessert,  is  superior  to  that  pro¬ 
duced  in  our  own  country,  and  apparently  has  infinitely  better  keeping 
properties,  to  which  latter  point  I  will  allude  later  on.  Wherever 
grown,  however,  the  Walnut  is  a  tree  of  fairly  rapid  growth  and  comes, 
comparatively,  very  early  into  bearing,  considering  the  enormous 
size  to  which  under  favourable  circumstances  it  may  eventually 
attain.  My  point,  however,  in  this  article  is  rather  to  remark  upon 
the  utilities  available  to  those  who  are  so  fortunate  to  be  the 
possessors  of  full-sized  park  or  orchard  trees  in  vigorous  bearing,  than 
to  advocate  the  advisability  of  planting,  however  desirable  in  itself, 
which  must  of  necessity  be  to  a  large  extent  a  case  of  doing  so  for 
one’s  heirs. 
Apparently  (I  speak  as  an  amateur  merely)  English  Walnuts  vary 
in  kinds  to  a  rather  unfortunate  extent,  that  is  to  say  the  several 
indifferent  species  are  hardly  compensated  for  by  their  sister  superior 
ones.  In  my  own  neighbourhood  in  the  Midlands,  where  fine  spreading 
full-sized  Walnut  trees  are  faiily  frequent  in  playing  a  part  of  park 
and  ornamental  timber,  several  different  kinds  are  represented. 
This  autumn  afforded  a  particularly  bountiful  yield  of  nuts  from  all 
trees.  The  best  perhaps  (though  I  think  only  from  a  mat  ket  point 
of  view)  w^as  the  Borenut.  This  is  in  my  own  case  a  really 
enormous  nut,  with  a  double  appearance,  of  a  rough  and'  angular 
shape,  but  withal  a  showy  and  handsome  fruit.  It  shells  itself,  more¬ 
over,  remarkably  clean.  I  have  found  it  for  an  English  Walnut  fairly 
easy  to  preserve.  Its  exterior,  however,  rather  beli-  s  its  interior,  for 
it  has  a  superabundance  of  pulp  besides  containing  much  less  kernel 
than  one  would  expect,  owing  to  the  space  and  angularity  of  its  shell. 
A  truer  type  of  Walnut  of  a  much  smaller  size,  of  which  I  have 
several  very  large  trees,  contains  certainly  more  kernel  than  the  above, 
though  not  halt  its  size  or  weight.  Nevertheless  this  Nut  only 
fetched  a  third  of  the  price  that  the  other  sold  for  in  the  market.  A 
third  kind  1  possess  in  my  grounds,  but  this  is  of  so  minute  a  size  as 
to  render  them  quite  valueless,  at  any  rate  for  market  purposes.  I  am 
inclined  to  thick  people  owning  Walnut  trees  do  not  sufficiently 
appreciate  the  value  of  the  crop  or  take  the  comparatively  little 
trouble  to  harvest  it.  My  own  trees  are  partly  located  in  the  park 
and  partly  in  the  orchard ;  in  both  cases  the  bulk  of  the  crop  is  secured 
by  assiduous  hunting  about  under  the  branches  after  any  wind  or 
frost,  and  if  indeed  fully  matured  a  careful  picking  up  every  morning. 
If  lelt  on  the  ground  to  accumulate  they  rapidly  become  black  and 
saturated  in  the  damp  and  dewy  grass.  This  process,  moreover,  is 
assisted  and  quickened  by  a  thoroughly  good  shaking,  sending  a  boy 
as  far  up  the  extremities  of  the  branches  as  is  sale,  and  where  he 
cannot  reach  or  the  Nuts  refuse  to  fall  from  insufficient  pressure, 
quite  a  little  sport  and  muscular  exercise  and  skill  may  be  developed 
by  shying  up  with  convenient  sized  and  sufficiently  heavy  pieces  of 
wood.  I  know  the  question  of  thrashing  Walnut  trees  is  a  some¬ 
what  vexed  one.  Personally  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that  not  only 
does  it  do  no  harm,  but  that  the  unusual  friction  is  beneficial,  though 
in  the  case  of  a  sound  and  good-bearing  tree  it  may  be  well  to  avoid 
the  sad  example  ot  the  flourishing  young  maiden  who  “was  well, 
would  be  better,  took  physic,  and  died.”  As  with  most  things  it  seems 
superfluous  to  do  other  than  leave  well  alone. 
Two  rather  serious  enemies,  in  common  I  suppose  with  most  others, 
I  have  to  contend  with.  Every  morning  as  I  dress  I  have  to  endure 
the  exasperating  sight  out  of  my  window  of  seeing  rooks  and  jackdaws 
in  large  numbers  and  endless  procession  journeying  to  and  fro  with 
Walnuts  in  their  bills.  The  quantity  they  carry  off  must  be  simply 
enoimous,  and  this  goes  on  not  only  in  the  early  morning,  but  if 
undisturbed  their  depredations  are  continued  pretty  well  all  day.  I 
am  told  these  winged  thieves  bury  the  Nuts  in  the  cow'  manure  on 
the  pastures,  to  find  them  later  when  they  are  pinched  for  food.  The 
other  enemies  are,  I  fear,  one’s  own  neighbours,  who,  as  in  the  case  of 
Mushrooms,  seem  to  regard  the  Walnut  pretty  w'ell  as  their  “little 
perquisite.” 
A  word  in  conclusion  on  the  question  of  how  to  store  Walnuts. 
Numberless  ways  are  advocated,  but  my  own  experience  is  the  follow¬ 
ing  as  the  simplest  and  most  effectual.  After  being  thoroughly  dried 
by  spreading  them  out  for  preference  under  a  bright  sun  and  breeze, 
place  them  in  not  too  thick  layers  of  perfectly  dry  sand,  sawdust,  or 
Iran;  the  latter  I  almost  think  is  the  best,  and  more  likely  to  keep 
the  nuts  freer  from  mildew.  This  method  hardly  seems  sufficiently 
well  known.  My  purchaser  this  autumn,  a  town  fruiterer,  seemed 
surprised  at  the  clean  and  well  groomed  appearance  of  the  fruit,  and 
was  evidently  glad  to  be  told,  and  recommended  this  manner  of  keeping 
it.  The  Walnut,  however,  in  a  special  degree  requires  considerable 
care  in  the  storing  process.  The  amount  of  inhererent  moisture  until 
thoroughly  dried  is  really  surprising,  and  its  extreme  tendency 
accordingly  to  mould  and  decay  a  source  of  difficulty,  making  th© 
fruiterer  very  shy  at  buying  unless  he  has  a  ready  and  immediate 
demand.  A  slight  overdoing  of  it,  moreover,  in  the  opposite  direction, 
may  very  easily  dry  up  the  kernel  altogether,  and  render  it  in  con¬ 
sequence  valueless. — J.  A.  Carnegie-Cheales. 
EARLY  TOMATO  CULTURE. 
Where  a  temperature  of  65°  to  75°  can  be  commanded  and  plenty 
of  light,  the  present  time  is  suitable  for  commencing  Tomato  culture. 
Plants  raised  now  and  grown  under  good  conditions  will  afford  ripe 
fruit  in  May  and  June.  Seeds  readily  germinate  in  the  temperature 
above  named.  If  sown  thinly  the  seedlings  grow  vigorously.  Heat 
and  light  are  essential,  as  w'ell  as  all  the  sunshine  available,  to  maintain 
the  sturdy  character  of  the  growth.  The  best  plants  may  be  obtained 
from  seed,  though  cuttings  are  relied  upon  for  the  first  crops  in  some 
cases,  but  the  plants  are  necessarily  rather  long  and  weakly  owing  to 
the  winter  growth.  Few  growers  rely  upon  cuttings  now.  The  red 
varieties  are  the  best  for  first  crops,  depending  chiefly  on  Early  Ruby, 
Earliest  of  All,  Winter  Beauty,  or  Ladybird. 
The  seeds  can  be  sown  either  in  pots  or  pans,  drained  well,  and 
filled  with  a  light  rich  compost  mainly  consisting  of  loam,  leaf  soil, 
and  sand.  The  seeds  are  so  certain  to  germinate,  provided  it  is  good, 
that  it  is  worth  while  to  sow  it  an  inch  apart  on  the  surface  of  the 
soil.  Cover  with  an  eighth  of  an  inch  of  fine  soil.  Until  the  seed¬ 
lings  appear  uniform  moisture  may  be  kept,  the  best  plan  being  to 
plunge  the  pot  in  cocoa-nut  fibre  iu  a  bottom  heat  of  65°  to  70°, 
excluding  light  also  by  covering  the  pot  with  glass  or  paper. 
In  less  than  a  week  the  seedlings  will  push  through  the  soil,  so 
the  pots  must  be  examined  after  the  first  lew  days,  for  the  moment 
the  seedlings  appear  they  will  rapidly  elongate  if  light  is  not  admitted 
immediately.  Transfer  the  pots  to  a  light,  warm  position  on  a  shelf, 
where  they  will  be  prevented  from  drawing  out,  and  thereby  kept 
sturdy.  When  the  seedlings  have  formed  three  leaves  transfer  each 
plant  to  a  small  2-inch  pot,  sinking  the  seedling  down  to  the  lower 
leaves.  Return  to  the  shelf,  elevating  the  pots  closer  to  the  glass  if 
the  shelf  is  some  distance  below.  When  these  pots  become  filled  with 
roots  the  plants  must  be  shifted  into  two  sizes  larger.  Still  give  the 
plants  light  and  warm  quarters,  growing  them  steadily  and  sturdily 
until  by  their  vigour  and  abundance  of  roots  further  room  must  be 
given. 
They  may  pass  into  the  fruiting  pots  at  this  stage,  which  may  be 
for  early  crops  9  or  10  inches  in  diameter.  Drain  the  pots  fairly  well, 
placing  one  large  crock  over  the  central  hole,  and  a  few  smaller  pieces 
over  that,  covering  them  with  a  layer  of  fibry  turf.  The  compost 
should  be  good  and  substantial,  but  not  over-rich.  Two  parts  of 
fibrous  turfy  loam  and  half  a  part  of  decomposed  manure,  with  a 
similar  quantity  of  crushed  charcoal  and  wood  ashes,  also  a  dash  of 
bonemeal.  In  potting  place  the  plant  low  down  in  the  pot,  and  make 
the  compost  firm  round  the  ball,  just  covering  the  latter  with  soil 
after  the  side  space  is  filled,  'i'his  amount  of  compost  is  sufficient  for 
a  start.  The  pots  should  be  given  a  warm  but  sunny  position,  so  that 
the  plants  may  have  all  the  light  available. 
As  growth  proceeds  side  shoots  will  issue  from  the  axils  of  the 
leaves.  These  must  be  rubbed  out,  and  the  plants  confined  to  one 
stem,  training  this  to  a  stake,  eventually  to  a  wire  or  trellis  under  the 
roof.  Bunches  of  flowers  appear  on  the  stems  midway  between  the 
leaves.  When  the  individual  flowers  are  fully  open  the  pollen  should 
be  assisted  to  disperse  by  shaking  the  stem  at  midday,  so  that  the 
dust-like  particles  may  descend  upon  the  stigma  of  each  bloom  and 
fertilise  it,  causing  the  fruit  to  swell  rapidly.  The  house  must  be  dry 
at  the  time  the  pollen  is  wanted  to  disperse.  Continue  the  rubbing 
out  of  side  shoots,  and  water  sparingly  after  the  final  potting  until  the 
roots  work  freely. 
An  application  of  fresh  compost  may  be  afforded  soon  after  the 
first  bunches  of  fruit  have  set.  This  is  a  direct  encouragement  to  the 
surface  roots  to  multiply,  and  helps  the  fruit  to  set  and  swell  readily. 
Further  top-dressings  must  be  given  when  roots  appear  freely  on  the 
surface  of  the  last  application.  Addit  onal  assistance  is  given  by 
applying  liquid  and  artificial  manures,  but  it  is  better  to  give  small 
or  weak,  but  frequent  doses,  rather  than  strong  applications.  Heat 
must  be  given  more  or  less  artificially  to  flowering  and  fruiting  plants 
until  June,  after  which  sun  t  eat  is  sufficient,  though  in  cold,  dull 
weather  seme  warmth  in  the  p  pes  would  be  of  advantage  in  assisting 
the  flower  to  set.  Free  ventilation  is  required  by  Tomatoes,  a  constant 
circulation  being  necessary  in  summer. 
The  temperature  required  for  fruiting  plants  ought  to  be  from  55° 
to  65°,  ventilating  freely  on  sunny  days  with  a  warm  dry  atmo¬ 
sphere  in  the  structure.  A  tablespoonful  of  superphosphate  is  an  excel¬ 
lent  addition  to  every  bushel  of  compost  used  for  top-dressing.  If 
the  pots  stand  on  a  border  of  soil  after  a  good  crop  is  set  and  swelling, 
roots  will  pass  into  the  soil  and  assist  the  crop. — E.  D.  S. 
