There is a common persuasion amongst country people that whipping a
walnut-tree tends to increase the produce, and improve the flavour of
the fruit. This belief is embodied in the following distich:
A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut-tree,
The more you whip them the better they be.
And also in this quatrain:
Three things by beating better prove,
A nut, an ass, a woman;
The cudgel from their back remove,
And they'll be good for no man.