The butternut trees are stripped of their fruit in October by boys who
have visions of long evenings, such as Whittier describes in “Snow
Bound,” with nuts and apples and cider, by a roaring fire. Some boys
leave the black walnut trees to others, and fill their bags entirely from
the low, broad butternut trees, that have more nuts in each cluster, and
they are not so hard to reach. Many will say that they are much sweeter
and richer than black walnuts. Others do not care for them because they
are so oily. Indeed, they are called “oil-nuts,” and woe to the youngster
who has eaten “all he wanted”!
The butternuts are oblong and pointed at one end, and sticky to the
touch, differing in this particular from the globular fruits of the black
walnut. The same clammy feeling makes it unpleasant to touch the leaves
of butternut tree. The resinous sap seems to ooze out through pores along
the hairy leaf veins.
In summer time, when the fuzzy, green butternuts are scarcely larger than
olives, and their shells are so soft that a knitting-needle goes through
without any trouble, the time for making pickled nuts has come. The
gathering of the clustered green fruit is fun, but as soon as they are
scalded, the “fur” has to be rubbed off of each, before the nuts, husks
and all, are put down in spiced vinegar, to be used as a relish for
serving with meats the following winter. The “furring” usually falls to
the children, and they get very tired, for it is a slow and monotonous
job, whether one uses a coarse towel or a brush. However, it would be
unpleasant to eat a furry nut, no matter how carefully the spicing was
done.