CHAPTER VIII.

THE WALNUT.

Juglans. The ancient Latin name, first used by Pliny, contracted

from _Jovis glans_, the nut of Jove or Jupiter. A genus of about

eight species, three or four of these indigenous to the United

States.

=Order=, _Juglandaceae_ (Walnut family).--Medium to large deciduous

trees with odd-pinnate leaves; leaflets from fifteen to twenty-one,

serrate, mainly oblong and pointed. The sexes of flowers separate

(monoecious) on the same tree, the males in pendulous green

cylindrical catkins two to three inches long, solitary or in pairs,

sessile,--not stalked, as in the hickories,--issuing from the

one-year-old twigs, and at the upper edge of the scar left by the

falling leaf of the previous season (Fig. 73), showing that the male

organs emanate from an aggregation of bud-cells in the axils of the

leaves during the preceding summer and autumn. Female flowers

terminal on the new growth in spring, also single, in clusters, and

occasionally in long pendulous racemes with a four-cleft calyx, four

minute petals and two thick curved stigmas. Fruit round or oblong

(Fig. 74); husk thin, drying up without opening by seams, as in the

hickories. Shell of nut either rough and deeply corrugated, with

sharp-pointed ridges, or quite smooth, with an undulating, wavy

surface, very thick in some species and thin in others; kernel two-

or indistinctly four-lobed, united at the apex, fleshy, rich and

oily.

[Illustration: FIG. 73. PERSIAN WALNUT, SHOWING POSITION OF SEXUAL

ORGANS.]

=History.=--The common walnut, so long and widely known in commerce

under various names, such as Persian, English, French, Italian and

European walnuts, also as Madeira nut, and recently Chile walnut,

are now all believed to have descended from trees native of Persia,

most plentiful in the province of Ghilan on the Caspian sea, between

latitude 35 deg. and 40 deg., hence the old Grecian name of the fruit, viz.:

Persicon and Basilicon, or Persian Royal nut, probably because

either introduced by the Greek monarchs, or sent to them by the

Persian kings. Later,--according to Pliny,--the Greeks called the

trees _Caryon_, on account of the strong scent of the foliage, and

from this name Nuttall coined his word, _Carya_, for our indigenous

hickories, as explained in the preceding chapter. It should also be

noted here that the elder Michaux, in 1782-4, was the first modern

botanist to visit the province of Ghilan, and he determined, by

personal investigation, that this species of the walnut was really

indigenous to that region of country, along with the peach and

apricot.

[Illustration: FIG. 74. BEARING BRANCH OF ENGLISH WALNUT.]

Earlier European authors claim that the walnut was first introduced

into Italy by Vitellius (emperor) early in the first century of the

Christian Era,--but this is uncertain,--the Romans giving it the

name of _Juglandes_, or the nut of Jove or Jupiter, both being the

same mythical personage. The nuts, at this early day, were highly

prized, and also the wood of the tree, the latter being even more

valuable than that of the citron (orange and lemon). Ovid wrote a

poem about these nuts, entitled _De Nuce_, from which we learn that

boys were employed to, or did of their own accord, knock off these

nuts; and that at marriages walnuts were thrown by the bride and

bridegroom among the children, a ceremony which was supposed to

indicate that the bridegroom had left off his boyish amusements, and

that the bride was no longer a votary of Diana, and it is quite

probable that the French word for nuptials, _des noces_, was derived

from this ancient custom. The ancients also believed that walnuts

possessed powerful medicinal properties, even to the curing of

hydrophobia; but in these latter days they have lost most of their

curative virtues, in the opinion of the medical fraternity.

As with the chestnut, the planting of the walnut extended northward

into Gaul (France), hence the earlier name of Gaul nuts, which

became corrupted into walnuts by the English-speaking people. The

Italian name is _Noci_; in France, _Noyer_; and the Germans, with

their usual habit of compounding names, call it _walnuss-baum_ or

walnut tree.

Joannis De Loureiro, in his work on the plants of China, "Flora

Cochinchinensis," published in 1790, claims that this Persian walnut

is also a native of the northern provinces of China, with two other

species which he describes (p. 573), adding, however, that one of

these is cultivated in Cochin China, and the other is found wild in

the mountains.

The wild form of this world-wide-famous nut is, doubtless, quite

different from the varieties with which we are familiar, for two

thousand years or more of continuous cultivation and selections have

greatly changed the character of these nuts, as well as the habit of

the trees. The nuts from the wild trees are said to have a rather

thick shell, and to be much smaller than the best of the improved

cultivated varieties, or very like those we now obtain in China and

Japan. The Persian walnut, in its many varieties, has been planted

almost everywhere in Europe as far north as Warsaw, but does not

appear to have run wild and become naturalized, as with many other

kinds of fruit and forest trees. In Great Britain it has probably

been cultivated ever since the invasion of the country by the

Romans, although a much later date is named by some of our modern

horticultural authorities. Dodoens (1552), Gerarde (1597), Parkinson

(1629), and other of our early authors of works on cultivated

plants, speak of the Persian walnut as common in various countries

of Europe, Great Britain included. John Evelyn, in his "Sylva"

(1664), says:

"In Burgundy, walnut trees abound where they stand, in the

meadows of goodly lands, at sixty and a hundred feet distance,

and so far as hurting the crop, they are looked upon as great

preservers, keeping the ground warm, nor do the roots hinder the

plow."

Evelyn, no doubt, had read what Pliny had said on this point, viz.:

"Even the oak will not thrive near the walnut tree; which, if it

be true, may be owing to the interference of their roots in the

subsoil; but it is certain that neither grass nor field nor

garden crops thrive well under the walnut."

Evelyn was far too good a gardener and close observer to fall into

the error of attributing noxious properties to the walnut tree,

although Pliny's assertion, which has no foundation beyond his

imagination, has been many times repeated in these days of supposed

general intelligence. Small plants may fail, under the shade of

large trees, or when deprived of moisture by the roots of such

trees, but the walnut is no exception to the rule; in fact, such

deep-rooted kinds are less injurious than those with roots nearer

the surface. Evelyn, in continuing his account of the walnut in

Germany, says:

"Whenever they fell a tree, which is only the old, decayed, they

always plant a young one near him, and, in several places

betwixt Hanau and Frankfort, no young farmer whatsoever is

permitted to marry a wife till he bring proof that he is a

father of such a stated number of walnut trees; and the law is

inviolably observed to this day, for the extraordinary benefit

which this tree affords the inhabitants."

What a pity that some such custom could not have prevailed during

the past century in the United States. The author from whom I have

just quoted adds that the Bergstrasse, which extends from Heidelberg

to Darmstadt, is all planted with walnuts.

Cold winters, however, have occasionally played havoc with the

walnut trees in Europe, and one of these occurred in 1709, when the

greater part of the trees were seriously injured, especially in

Switzerland, Germany and France. Many trees were cut down for their

timber, which is always in great demand for gun-stocks and

furniture. Certain Dutch capitalists, foreseeing the scarcity of

walnut timber, bought up all they could procure, and years

afterwards sold it at a greatly advanced price. In the year 1720 an

act was passed in France to prevent the exportation of walnut

timber, and this led to the planting of these trees more extensively

than at any previous date; this practice has continued to the

present time, hence the immense revenue secured from the exportation

of these nuts. The people of the United States are good customers

for the surplus stock of Europe, and will probably so continue,

until we wake up to a sense of our folly of perpetually buying

articles that could be readily produced at home, and at a very large

profit.

=Persian Walnut in America.=--The date of the first experiment in

planting this nut in this country is now probably unknown, but the

oldest tree that I have been able to find with anything like a

satisfactory history, is still growing vigorously at Washington

Heights, on Manhattan Island, near 160th street and St. Nicholas

avenue. I gave a brief history of this noble monarch of its race in

the _American Garden_ for September, 1888, from which the following

account is condensed:

"In 1758 Roger Morris, an English gentleman, built a spacious

mansion on his estate, at what, in later years, became known as

Washington Heights. His grounds were well laid out for that

time, and many rare foreign trees and shrubs planted, among them

several, as then called, English walnuts. Whether these trees

were raised from the nuts, or plants of some size imported, is

not now known. Mr. Morris may have procured the seedlings from

the Prince Nursery, Flushing, L. I., for this famous garden was

established in 1713, or forty-five years previous to the

building of the Morris mansion and the planting of the grounds

about it.

"At that period no one doubted the hardiness of the so-called

English walnut in America, and as most of the nuts and trees

procured for planting came from acclimated stock in Great

Britain or the cooler region of Europe, success usually attended

such experiments. Our pioneers and horticulturists fully

expected that the trees would thrive and bear nuts in abundance,

and time has shown that they were not mistaken, although we

frequently see it stated at this late day, that the Persian

walnut is not hardy north of the latitude of Washington,

Philadelphia, or other cities south of New York.

"One hundred and thirty-eight years have rolled by since walnut

trees were planted at Washington Heights, and at least one of

the originals has escaped destruction and holds its head aloft,

defying the tempests which frequently sweep over that elevated

and exposed spot on Manhattan Island. This veritable patriarch

of its race in America is a monster in size, its stem between

four and five feet in diameter at the base and more than

seventy-five feet high, with wide-spreading branches.

"In the summer of 1776 the Battle of Long Island was fought, and

the American forces were compelled to retreat in confusion to

New York, thence northward up the island; but when they reached

Fort Washington, not far from the eleventh milestone on the old

Albany post road, they made a stand and proceeded to entrench

themselves at that place. This was in September, 1776, and

General Washington took possession of the Morris mansion near

by, making it his headquarters, and, as this was at the season

when the walnuts had reached an edible stage, we may safely

presume, from his well-known predilection for such delicacies,

that he tested the quality of the Morris walnuts. One hundred

and twenty years later I am writing this, with some fresh

specimens of nuts before me from that same old tree.

"This old patriarch has cast its shade over many a noted person

in its time, for in 1810 the Morris estate passed into the hands

of Madame Jumel, a lady long famous for her hospitality and the

good cheer she extended to the surviving patriots of the

Revolution. From 1810 to the time of her death, 1865, Madame

Jumel's household always had an abundance of walnuts from the

old tree, and one of the workmen on the place informed me that

about two cartloads was considered a fair annual crop."

It cannot be many years before this old tree will meet the same fate

that has overtaken many of its younger contemporaries which were

once growing in the neighborhood, for with the rush for building

lots and the opening of new streets and avenues, trees are usually

in the way, and in such cases even patriarchs are not sacred, nor do

they command much respect from our urban population.[2]

[Footnote 2: Since writing the above, and while these pages are

being put in type, accidentally I learn with regret that the old

Morris walnut tree has been destroyed.]

A half-century ago there was quite a large number of walnut trees

scattered about on the northern half of Manhattan Island, many of

these probably descendants of the old Morris trees, but of this

nothing definite is now known. A number of persons whose ages

permitted them to scan the early days of the present century, have

assured me that in their childhood they had often collected walnuts

from goodly sized trees on farms, from Harlem northward on the

island. The largest number of Persian walnut trees planted in any

one place was on the Tieman farm at Manhattanville, these being set

out as roadside trees, some of which are still standing, although in

the march of improvements they must soon disappear. These trees have

always been noted for their productiveness, bearing a full crop

every alternate year, and a lighter one in what is termed the "off

season."

While the old Morris walnut tree, and the large number growing on

the Tieman estate, and scores of others scattered about New York

city and its suburbs, have been, and many still are, living

witnesses of the fact that varieties of the Persian walnut will

thrive in this latitude, certain horticultural authors and essayists

have continually asserted the contrary.

Mr. F. J. Scott, in his superb and voluminous work, "Suburban Home

Grounds," in speaking of this species of the walnut, says, p. 351:

"Though greatly valued in England and on the continent for its

beauty, as well as for its nuts, its want of hardiness in the

Northern States, and lack of any peculiar beauty in the South,

has prevented its culture to any great extent in this country.

South of Philadelphia it may be grown with safety."

This seems strange language to have come from such an eminent

authority as the late Mr. Scott, inasmuch as he must have passed a

hundred times within sight, if not in the very shadow of the rows of

old walnut trees growing at Manhattanville, when going from New York

city to Newburgh, where he studied landscape gardening under the

lamented A. J. Downing, and to whom the work from which I have

quoted is dedicated. It is quite evident, however, that our author,

like many others, failed to see things that should have interested

him.

As an offset to Mr. Scott's idea of the northern limit for the

successful cultivation of this nut, I may refer to the work of Mr.

George Jacques, "Practical Treatise on Fruit Trees, Adapted to the

Interior of New England," published at Worcester, Mass., 1849. In

referring to the European walnut, p. 238, he says:

"It is perfectly hardy on Long Island, and to the south of New

York, and as far north as the city of Charlestown in this State

(Mass.), where there may be seen, in the enclosure of a

residence on Harvard street, two fine trees of this kind, either

of them much taller and larger than our large-sized apple trees.

We have eaten nuts from these trees well ripened and fully equal

to any of those imported. The trees often bear a crop of some

bushels."

It is unnecessary to search for further proof to show that certain

excellent varieties of the Persian walnut do thrive and bear

abundantly in our Northern States; not, perhaps, in the extreme

boreal borders of New England, nor in those of the northwest, but

the acclimated sorts are pretty safe as far north as 42 deg. of

latitude, and in protected locations may crowd up a half degree

more. I have found very productive trees of this nut in northern New

Jersey, several in Bergen county, others in Passaic, and thence

southward, and while they are few in number, they are sufficient to

prove that this tree is adapted to the soil and climate of the

entire State. We seldom find more than one or two trees in any

garden, and these are probably more the result of accident than

design, their owners seeming to be satisfied in possessing something

in the way of a tree not common in the neighborhood, never thinking

that it might be well to plant enough of such trees to have them

become a source of revenue. The parentage of quite a number of these

bearing trees is readily traced to the Morris and Tieman stock,

showing that these old trees are of a hardy and prolific race, which

are well worthy of perpetuation for cold climates. Very old and

large walnut trees are reported as growing in Pennsylvania and other

of the Middle States, but they are far from being numerous. It has

long been claimed that this species of nut succeeded best in the

Southern States, and it is probably true, especially with the tender

varieties; but for some reason, unknown to me, they have not been

planted there in sufficient numbers to have, as yet, become of any

commercial importance.

During the past twenty-five years these nuts have been more

extensively planted in California than elsewhere in the United

States, and we may expect soon to know something definite in regard

to results. Nearly all of the favorite French varieties have been

introduced, and are now being tested in different parts of the

State, and it is quite likely that the greater part will succeed,

although some of the early-blooming sorts may fail in localities

subject to late spring frosts. Previous to the introduction of

grafted trees of the named varieties, the only trees of this kind

planted in California were seedlings raised from the common imported

nuts; but I have no statistics at hand to determine the date of the

first plantings of this kind.

Of late years there has been received, at some of our seaports, and

especially at New York, some quite large consignments of walnuts

from South America, under the name of "Chile walnuts," but they are

only varieties of the Persian raised in Chile. They are generally of

good size, moderately thin shelled, with plump kernels of excellent

flavor. They are in great demand for confectionery, and are really

better for such purposes than the larger and fancy bleached walnuts

imported under the somewhat general name of Grenobles, or French

walnuts. Owing to the difference of climate, these Chile walnuts

arrive here late in winter, or about the time those coming from

European countries the previous autumn begin to become somewhat

stale.

Of our native species of this genus (_Juglans_), the almost

everywhere common butternut ranks first in flavor and general

estimation, but owing to its hard, rough shell, and the difficulty

in extracting the kernel, it has never become of any considerable

importance, although usually found in our markets in limited

quantities. Of course, it is a general favorite in the country, and

wherever found in sufficient quantities the boys and girls lay up a

goodly supply for winter use; and cracking butternuts during the

long winter evenings is a pastime and pleasure not to be ignored nor

forgotten. The flavor of the butternut is far more delicate, and

better, than any of the Persian species, but the difficulty in

extracting the rather small kernel is a serious objection.

The black walnut has a larger kernel, in proportion to its size,

than the butternut, and it is not so difficult to extract when the

nuts are dry, but the flavor is too rank for most palates, although

it has often been referred to as excellent by the earlier botanists

who visited this country; but it has never been considered of much

value until quite recently, or since the manufacturers of

confectionery discovered that heat somewhat subdued the rank flavor,

and now many tons of the meats are annually consumed in candies and

walnut cakes. I am credibly informed that cracking black walnuts and

shipping the meats to our larger cities has become quite an

extensive industry in several of the Middle and Western States. We

have two other but smaller native species of the walnut that will be

described further on, under the head Species and Varieties.

=Propagation of Walnuts.=--The propagation of the walnut in the

natural way, or by seed, is exceedingly simple, for the nuts grow

readily and freely if planted soon after they are ripe, or any time

before they become old and the kernels shriveled. It is, of course,

best to plant them while fresh, but they are not at all delicate,

and may be transported a long distance in a dry condition without

seriously affecting their vitality. If walnuts are given the same

care as recommended in the preceding pages for other kinds of nuts,

so much the better.

The seedlings of walnuts, like those of other species, usually

produce long taproots, and if grown in a compact soil, these will

have few small lateral fibers the first season, as shown in Fig. 75;

but when taken up and the vertical main root shortened at _a_, and

then replanted, they produce fibrous roots in abundance. The trees

of almost any age from one to twenty years old, are not at all

difficult to make live when transplanted, provided the branches or

tops of the trees are reduced, to correspond with loss of roots in

digging up at the time of removal. It may be well to give a word of

caution to the novice in nut culture about pruning nut trees in

spring, after the sap begins to flow; for if done at this time they

will bleed freely and leave unhealthy wounds and black, unsightly

spots on the bark. Prune walnuts in summer or early in winter, to

give time for the wounds to season before the buds swell in spring.

If young trees are to be dug up, prune after they are taken from the

ground, then the sap will not flow from the wounds. This is true of

all deciduous trees, vines and shrubs. If the trees have few small

roots when taken up, prune severely; but if roots are abundant,

little pruning will be required. It is seldom, however, in

transplanting walnuts, that the pruning need be as severe as

recommended for the chestnut; in fact, having transplanted walnuts

of various species, and of all ages from one to twenty years,

without the loss of a plant, I have come to the conclusion that they

are pretty safe trees to handle, in this climate, at least, if not

elsewhere.

[Illustration: FIG. 75. SEEDLING WALNUT.]

In seeking walnuts from a distance, for planting anywhere in the

Middle or Northern States, it will be well to learn something in

advance about the climate in which the nuts are raised; for it would

be folly to send for either trees or nuts to a warm or semi-tropical

region, like that of southern France or Spain, for a stock to

cultivate in a climate as cold as that of New York, New Jersey, and

States on the same line westward. We might, perchance, from such

importation, secure one hardy plant in a hundred or thousand, but

there would be no certainty of even this small number.

This idea of acclimation and adaptation of trees to conditions and

climate should not be overlooked by the nut culturist, no matter

from what source he procures his stock, whether from abroad, or some

distant region of his own country. If it can be obtained from a

region where it has been growing under conditions similar to those

to which it is to be transferred for cultivation, then the chances

of success will certainly be largely augmented. Acclimation is a

slow process; in fact, too slow for us to expect to secure any

appreciable advantages from it in a lifetime, but in nature we seek

final results, leaving time out of the question.

In raising seedling trees we cannot expect much more than a

reproduction of the species, and not that of the parent tree. Plants

that have been subjected to unnatural conditions and surroundings,

as usual under cultivation, are far more likely to show a wider

range of variation in the seedlings than those growing wild in their

native habitats; but even the latter cannot be depended upon to

reproduce exact types from seed. In other words, there is nothing

certain about seedling nut trees; the large nuts may produce trees

bearing very small ones, the early-ripening give late ones, the tall

dwarf trees and the precocious fruiting some of the most tardy

varieties; and yet, with all this uncertainty, we still think it

best to select for planting the best nuts obtainable, _i. e._, best

and most promising for the conditions under which the seedlings are

to be grown.

For the multiplication and perpetuation of choice varieties we must

resort to artificial modes of propagation, mainly by budding and

grafting. These modes, however, while the best at present known, are

so difficult and uncertain in cool climates,--even in the hands of

the most skilful propagators,--that grafted walnut trees have never

been very plentiful in the nurseries of this or other countries with

which we have commercial relations. In the south of France

nurserymen appear to have been more successful in the propagation of

walnuts by budding and grafting, than elsewhere; but in the northern

provinces, as well as in Great Britain, we hear little of this mode

of propagation. So difficult has this mode of propagating the walnut

been considered in England, that Thomas Andrew Knight, president of

the London Horticultural Society, early in the present century

discouraged all attempts to propagate this tree by such means; but

later, in a paper read before the Society April 7, 1818, he admits

to having changed his mind, especially in regard to budding the

walnut, and says:

"The buds of trees of almost every species succeed with most

certainty when inserted on the shoots of the same year's growth;

but the walnut tree appears to afford an exception; possibly, in

some measure, because its buds contain within themselves, in the

spring, all the leaves which the tree bears in the following

summer, whence its annual shoots cease to elongate soon after

its buds unfold; all its buds of each season are also,

consequently, very nearly of the same age, and long before any

have acquired the proper degree of maturity for being removed,

the annual branches have ceased to grow longer or to produce new

foliage.... To obviate the disadvantage arising from the

preceding circumstances, I adopted means of retarding the period

of the vegetation of the stocks comparatively with that of the

bearing tree: and by these means I became partially successful.

There are, at the base of the annual shoots of the walnut and

other trees, where these join the year-old wood, many minute

buds which are almost concealed in the bark, and which rarely or

never vegetate but in the event of the destruction of the large

prominent buds which occupy the middle and opposite end of the

annual wood. By inserting in each stock one of these minute buds

and one of the large prominent kind, I had the pleasure to find

that the minute buds took freely, while the large all failed

without a single exception."

From the above and other remarks of Mr. Knight, in the paper read by

him, I infer that he kept the stocks in pots stored in a cool place

in spring, until he could obtain shoots of the season from bearing

trees, and from these minute undeveloped axillary buds for inserting

in the stocks. These buds, as he informs us, are inserted in the

wood of the preceding season, and near the summit or top. He does

not give any directions for holding the buds in place, whether by

waxed or plain bass ligatures; the former, however, would probably

be preferable, for the purpose of excluding the air and water.

Some twenty years later (1838) J. C. Loudon, in "Arboretum

Britannicum," etc., refers to the propagation of the walnut as

follows:

"Much has been written on the subject by French authors, from

which it appears that in the north of France, and in cold

countries generally, the walnut does not bud or graft easily by

any mode; but that in the south of France and north of Italy it

may be budded or grafted by different modes, with success. At

Metz, the Baron de Tschoudy found the flute method (Fig. 76)

almost the only one which he could practice with success. By

this mode an entire ring of bark, containing one or more buds,

is removed from a twig on a tree to be multiplied, and

transferred to the stock, and made to fit as shown. If the ring

is too large, a slice may be cut off; and if too small, a piece

of the bark of the stock may be left to fill the space."

Both stock and parent tree must be in about the same condition or

stage of growth when this ring budding is done, in order that the

bark containing the bud may peel off freely from the wood, and this

is always in the spring, soon after the buds begin to unfold and the

sap is in motion. Loudon says that in Dauphine, France, young plants

in the nurseries are budded chiefly by this mode, which succeeds

best the closer the operation is performed to the collar of the

plant; and the same is true in grafting, the nearer the root the

better, as has been found by experience with hickories.

[Illustration: FIG. 76. FLUTE BUDDING.]

Charles Baltet, in his "L'Art de Greffer," recommends grafting in

the usual mode of crown grafting, also flute or ring grafting, in

April or May, and ordinary cleft grafting close to the root and at

the forks of the branches, etc. He says that the cion should be cut,

as much as possible, obliquely across the pith, so that it may be

exposed on one side only. He also advises using cions whose base

consists of wood of two years' growth, and these furnished with a

terminal bud. He cautions propagators against grafting early-growing

kinds upon those of later vegetation. If walnuts of any of the

native or foreign species have been successfully propagated by

budding or grafting, at any of the nurseries in our Eastern States,

it has not been made known in the nurserymen's catalogues.

Michael Floy, who early in the present century had quite extensive

grounds devoted to fruit and ornamental trees, near what is now the

center of New York city, as we learn from his "Guide to the

Orchard," published in 1833, claims, in this work, that the Persian

walnuts thrive well in this country, but admits that he had never

succeeded in grafting the trees, and with the hickories had no

better success, although he had tried them many times; but he adds:

"Still I do not say it is impossible either to bud or graft

them; but there is something peculiar about it, for both the bud

and graft turn black when cut, almost instantaneously. Others

may succeed better, but let them try it before they affirm it

upon hearsay; they may succeed very well by inarching."

Coming down to the present day, in our search for facts and

information in regard to the propagation of varieties of the walnut,

we may find it interesting to visit California, which, of all the

States of the Union, is perhaps the best adapted to nut culture in

general; besides, a larger number of nut trees of various kinds have

been planted there than elsewhere in this country. It is in

California that we find such men as Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, an

enthusiastic propagator and cultivator of fruit and nut trees, and

especially of the latter, if we may judge by his works and writings

on this branch of horticulture,--and so far as I have been able to

learn, he is the only nurseryman in the United States who has

grafted walnut trees of many different varieties for sale.

In regard to modes of propagation, Mr. Gillet says that the common

mode of shield budding, as employed on fruit trees, fails entirely

with small walnuts from one to three years from the seed, and it

does but seldom succeed even on larger stocks. When tried on large,

old stocks, he advises removing all the wood from the inner side of

the strip of bark on which the bud is situated, and at the same time

have this strip not less than two inches long and as broad as

possible. He describes his mode of grafting walnuts, which does not

differ materially from those already given. That he has never

attained any very remarkable results may be inferred from the

following:

"We will add that the 'grafted walnuts' that we offer were

grafted expressly for us, regardless of cost, by the most

reliable firm to be found in the walnut district in France,

through a process discovered several years ago, and which we

will briefly describe for the benefit of people who may be

inclined to try this new method of grafting very young walnuts.

"One-year-old seedlings of the size of the little finger, or

about one-half inch in diameter at the butt, are selected, the

root cut back short enough to permit the planting of the trees

in pots of three inches in depth; the trees, previously to being

potted, are grafted with cions exactly of the same size, whip or

cleft grafting being used; the pots are then taken to a hot or

propagating house, and a glass bell set over them to prevent the

outside air getting to the grafts, the temperature of the house

being kept day and night, at least for fifteen days, or till the

grafting has taken, to 70 deg. F. When the grafts are well taken and

growing, the glass bells are removed, and the grafts allowed to

grow three or four inches, before the little grafted trees are

set out in nursery rows; it may be preferable, especially in

certain parts of the country, to keep the trees in the pots till

the ensuing spring. Forty to fifty per cent of the grafts will

succeed, and it is the best that can be done.

"This mode of grafting the walnut, besides requiring a hothouse,

needs the care of a skillful person to make it succeed. So are

grafted the little trees that we import from France, and that we

plant in nursery rows and offer to the public."

For other modes of root grafting, I refer the reader to those

recommended for the hickories, in the preceding chapter. Propagating

walnuts by layers is practicable, where the small trees have been

cut down to force out new shoots near the surface of the ground,

then bent down and covered with soil in the usual method of layering

woody plants.

=Planting and Pruning.=--The plants will produce a greater number of

fibrous roots if the nuts are planted in light, loose, but rich

soil, than in a heavy, tenacious one; but with all kinds it is best

to transplant when one or two years old, and cut off a portion of

the taproots, as recommended for the hickories. When removed from

the nursery rows for final planting, prune away nearly or quite all

side branches, leaving only the terminal bud if the trees are not

more than six to eight feet high. After final planting where the

trees are to remain permanently, very little pruning will ever be

required, further than to cut away branches that may cross each

other, or to shorten some to give proper form to the head. No tree

in cultivation requires less pruning than walnuts.

As a genus of trees the walnuts flourish best in deep, rich loam,

rather light than heavy, and in this country require considerable

moisture at the roots, and some, like the butternut, succeed best in

bottomlands, near creeks and larger streams. If the soil is

naturally too dry for such trees, the fault can be readily remedied

by the use of some form of mulch applied to the surface of the soil

around the stem after planting, renewing this annually, or oftener

if necessary, until the trees are large enough to shade the ground.

Walnut trees, as well as the closely allied hickories, are well

adapted for roadside planting, and when set in such positions are

far less likely to be injured by insects than when planted in

orchards or large groups, besides serving a double purpose, being

ornamental as well as useful. They may also be planted around

buildings, and where other and less valuable trees are generally

grown. There are also millions of acres of rocky hill-sides and old

fields which might be utilized for nut orchards, and if rather

widely scattered over such land they would prove beneficial in

shading the pasture grasses. First of all, however, let us have rows

of these trees along all our country roads, after which it will be

time enough to begin planting them elsewhere.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF WALNUTS.

=Native of the United States= (_Juglans cinerea._ Linn.). Butternut.

White Walnut.--Leaflets fifteen to nineteen, oblong-lanceolate and

sharp-pointed, rounded at the base, downy, especially on the

underside, petioles covered with viscid hairs; fruit oblong, two or

more inches in length, with a clammy husk, not opening when ripe,

but closely adhering to the deeply corrugated and rough, thick

shell. Trees with wide-spreading branches, and of medium hight, or

from forty to fifty feet, but in deep forests sometimes sixty to

seventy, with stems two to three feet in diameter. A common tree in

moist soils almost everywhere, from the Canadas southward to the

highlands of northern Georgia, Alabama, and sparingly in Mississippi

and Arkansas, and all the States bordering the Mississippi river

northward to Minnesota. A valuable timber tree, with soft, light

wood, much used of late for furniture and inside house finishing. In

early times the inner bark was employed for making a yellow dye,

also as a medicine, the extract being a mild cathartic, hence one of

the specific names, _Cathartica_.

Synonyms.

_Juglans oblonga alba_, Marshall.

_Juglans cathartica_, Michaux.

_Carya cathartica_, Barton, 1818.

_Wallia cinerea_, Alefeld, 1861.

=Varieties of the Butternut.=--There are to be found many varieties

of the butternut, varying mainly in the size of the nuts, and only

slightly in the thickness of the shell; but I am not aware that any

of these have ever been propagated, all the trees in cultivation or

elsewhere having been grown from the nuts. This nut is, no doubt,

susceptible of great improvement, as well as others of the genus,

and it is worthy of being experimented with for that purpose,

especially in cold, northern climates, where there are few or no

other kinds of edible nuts. Probably the most direct and surest way

to secure improved varieties is by hybridizing, taking the butternut

for the female parent, and the Persian walnut for the male. Hybrids

between these two species are already known, and they will, no

doubt, become more plentiful as soon as skillful horticulturists are

encouraged to produce them. Several hybrid walnuts of other species

are figured and described by European horticulturists, but, so far

as known, they are mainly accidental productions, and not the result

of any direct effort of man; nature, in this instance, merely giving

a hint of the possible, leaving us to avail ourselves of the lesson

if we feel so inclined.

J. Le Conte, in a list of four hundred and fifty plants, collected

by him on the island of New York (Manhattan), and published in the

"Medical and Philosophical Register," Vol. II, 1812, mentions a

hybrid walnut among the number. Dr. John Torrey, in "Catalogue of

Plants," etc., 1819, refers to this tree under the name of _Juglans

hybrida_, and says that it is growing near where Eighth avenue

intersects the road called Lake Tours, about three miles from the

city, and is a large tree. This specimen probably disappeared long

ago, and we have no means now of determining its origin or between

what two species it was a hybrid.

Recently Prof. C. S. Sargent has discovered other hybrid walnuts in

the neighborhood of Boston, and figured and described one in _Garden

and Forest_ for Oct. 31, 1894. He says:

"My attention was first called to the fact by observing that a

tree which I had supposed was a so-called English walnut

(_Juglans regia_), in the grounds connected with the Episcopal

school of Harvard college, at Cambridge, was not injured by the

cold of the severest winters, although _Juglans regia_ generally

suffers from cold here, and rarely grows to a large size. This

individual is really a noble tree; the trunk forks, about five

feet above the surface of the ground, into two limbs, and

girths, at the point where its diameter is smallest, fifteen

feet and two inches. The divisions of the trunk spread slightly

and form a wide, round-topped head of pendulous branches of

unusual symmetry and beauty, and probably sixty to seventy feet

high. A closer examination of this tree showed that it was

hardly to be distinguished from _Juglans regia_ in habit, in the

character of the bark, or in the form and coloring of the

leaves, and that the oblong nut, with its thick shell deeply

sculptured into narrow ridges, was the slightly modified nut of

our native butternut, _Juglans regia_. Two other trees with the

same peculiarities were afterwards found. One is a large,

wide-spreading specimen, with a trunk diameter of four feet

three inches about two feet above the surface of the ground, and

just below the point where it divides into three large limbs.

This is on the grounds of Mr. Eben Bacon of Jamaica Plain, and

is supposed to have been planted between fifty and sixty years

ago. The other has a tall, straight trunk, with a diameter of

three feet one inch at three feet above the surface of the

ground, and is growing on a farm near Houghton's Pond, in

Milton, at the base of the southeastern slope of the Blue

Hills."

That there should be hybrid walnuts is nothing strange or wonderful,

and we often marvel that there should be so few of them in regions

where two or more species are growing in close proximity in the same

forest, or elsewhere, but from whence came these specimens in

Massachusetts is somewhat of a mystery. We may safely conclude,

however, that the hybridizing did not occur there, but somewhere

else, and either the nuts or small seedling trees were introduced

and planted where these hybrid specimens are now growing. It is

possible that they are descendants of the old hybrid walnut tree of

New York city, mentioned by Le Conte and Dr. Torrey, some one having

sent nuts or seedlings to friends in Massachusetts, and the three

trees described by Prof. Sargent are merely those which have

survived until the present day, these retaining the hybrid

characteristics of their parent. These hybrids may or may not

possess any special economic value, but they are of considerable

scientific interest, and for this reason alone are well worthy of

careful preservation and extensive propagation.

_Butternut Sugar._--It has often been claimed that sugar can be made

from the native butternut tree, and while it is true that the

sweetish sap flows readily from wounds made in this tree in early

spring, the amount and quality of sugar to be obtained from it is

scarcely worthy of serious attention. In my boyhood days butternut

syrup and sugar were considered as "sticky jokes" of the sugar camp.

[Illustration: FIG. 77. FLOWERING BRANCH OF HYBRID WALNUT.

_J. regia_ x _J. Californica_.]

=Hybrids in California.=--Mrs. Ninetta Eames, writing, in the

_American Agriculturist_, of new varieties of walnuts in California,

refers to certain species and varieties growing in that State, as

follows:

"On one of the avenues in Santa Rosa there are some dozen or so

ornamental shade trees, which invariably attract the passers. It

is not only that they are uncommonly beautiful, but that there

is something unfamiliar about them. One unhesitatingly

pronounces them 'walnuts,' from their unmistakable likeness to

both the English walnut and the native species found growing

along the streams of middle and southern California. They are,

in fact, a cross between the _Juglans regia_ and _J.

Californica_, the wild black walnut of this State. In its

appearance, this magnificent hybrid is nicely balanced between

both parents, but it is superior to either of them in beauty and

luxuriance of foliage, and in its phenomenal growth. There is,

indeed, but one tree, the eucalyptus, that grows more rapidly.

In speaking of this quality in the new walnut, Mr. Luther

Burbank says: 'It often excels the combined growth of both

parents, adding twelve to sixteen feet to its hight in one year.

Given like conditions, a budded six-year-old hybrid is twice as

large as a black walnut at twenty years of age.'

[Illustration: FIG. 78. HYBRID WALNUT. _J. nigra_ x _J.

Californica_.]

[Illustration: FIG. 79. HYBRID WALNUT, SHELL REMOVED. _J. nigra_ x

_J. Californica_.]

"The clean cut, bright green leaves make a remarkable showing,

being all the way from two feet to a yard in length, and of

graceful, drooping habit (Fig. 77). They are sweet-scented,

too,--a delightful fragrance, resembling that of June apples.

Another admirable feature of this hybrid walnut is its smooth,

grayish bark, with white marblings not unlike the Eastern sugar

maple. The wood is compact, with lustrous, satiny grain, and

takes an elegant polish, which gives it unmistakable commercial

value. Like the majority of hybrids, though blossoming freely it

yields a scant crop of nuts, one or two annually on a single

tree, and this only after twelve years of persistent barrenness.

The seed, when planted, goes back to its parent

distinctiveness,--one-half turning out to be English walnuts and

the other half black walnuts,--the true hybrid being only

reproduced by grafting on a thrifty young _Juglans Californica_.

"Another handsome novelty in shade trees, is a hybrid from the

_Juglans nigra_, or well-known Eastern black walnut, and _J.

Californica_ (Figs. 78 and 79). It makes a charming ornamental

tree, and bears, in its season, a prolific crop of unusually

large nuts, which have little value except in the eyes of school

children. Several of these hybrids are growing in Santa Rosa,

and present an interesting study to the pomologist.

[Illustration: FIG. 80. JUGLANS SIEBOLDIANA RACEME.]

"A still more unique species of the walnut genus is the _Juglans

Sieboldiana_, a Japanese walnut which grows abundantly in the

mountainous districts of the island of Yesso, and also in the

more southern divisions of the empire. Several of these

remarkable trees are to be found in the Kew gardens, but only

one specimen is said to be growing in America, and this has

recently come into profuse bearing on the Burbank experimental

farm, eight miles from Santa Rosa, California. According to good

authority, this Japanese walnut not only attains its greatest

perfection in this favored climate, but it thrives equally well

in countries too cold for the common walnut, _J. regia_. In its

wild state in Japan, the _Juglans Sieboldiana_ (whose curious

raceme of nuts is shown in Fig. 80) makes a wide-spreading tree

about fifty feet in hight, with pale, furrowed bark; nuts an

inch and a half long, with a diameter one-third less, and a

kernel having much the flavor of the common walnut. The tree

bearing so thriftily on California soil, suggests its possible

value as a marketable nut, while it already furnishes a

remarkable addition to horticultural interests."

[Illustration: FIG. 81. BLACK WALNUT IN HUSK.]

JUGLANS NIGRA, Linn. Black Walnut.--Leaflets eleven to seventeen,

rarely more; ovate-lanceolate, smooth above, moderately pubescent

beneath, pointed, somewhat heart-shaped at the base; leaf-stalks

slightly downy, usually of a pale purplish color early in the

season, especially on young trees; fruit large, mostly globose (Fig.

81); husk thin, roughly dotted; shell thick, hard, deeply and

unevenly corrugated with rough, sharp ridges and points (Fig. 82);

kernel large, sweet, but usually with a strong, rather rank taste,

but less oily than the butternut. Trees grow to an immense size,

with deeply furrowed bark; wood dark colored, valuable for cabinet

work, inside finishing, gun stocks, etc. Common in deep, rich soils,

from western Massachusetts west to southern Minnesota, and southward

to Florida. Most abundant west of the Alleghany mountains, and

especially in the rich valleys of the Western States distant from

railroads and water communication; elsewhere the trees have long

since been cut for their timber. I have only one synonym to record,

and this is scarcely worthy of notice, viz.: _Wallia nigra_.

(Alefeld in "Bonplandia," 1861.)

[Illustration: FIG. 82. JUGLANS NIGRA, HUSK REMOVED.]

=Varieties of the Black Walnut.=--As with the butternut, there are

no varieties of the black walnut in cultivation; at least, none

propagated by means which will insure the perpetuation of their

varietal characteristics. It is true that there are plenty of wild

varieties to be found, these varying widely in size and form, and

somewhat in thickness of their shell, as well as the ease with which

the kernels may be extracted, but none of these have been

perpetuated by artificial means. Among the earliest varieties

recognized by botanists, one was called Oblong Black Walnut,

_Juglans nigra oblonga_, by Miller, 1754, and perhaps in earlier

editions of the "Gardener's Dictionary." He says this is from

Virginia, and only a variety of the common black walnut. Marshall,

in 1785, describes this "black oblong fruited walnut," and adds:

"There are, perhaps, some other varieties." These oblong, or, more

correctly speaking, oval nuts, often sharp-pointed at both ends, are

rather plentiful at this time. There are rarely any considerable

number of bushels reaching market from Virginia and adjacent States,

among which these oval or oblong nuts cannot be found. I have a

number before me measuring from one inch to one and a quarter in

diameter, and from one and a half to nearly two inches in length.

Other varieties found, perhaps, in the same lot, are broader than

long, or one and seven-eighths inches broad, by one and one-half in

vertical diameter. These measurements are of the cleaned shell,

after the husks have been removed.

For several years a "thin-shelled black walnut" has been offered by

at least two nurserymen, in whose catalogues they are described as

"with unusually thin shells, the kernels coming out whole." I have

endeavored to ascertain the origin of this variety, but failed, for

both of the nursery firms who advertised the frees for sale admit

that they do not know from whom they obtained the nuts planted, or

where the original tree is growing. As the trees offered are only

seedlings, there is no certainty that they will produce nuts with

"thin shells." We can safely drop this supposed variety from the

list until something definite is known about it.

JUGLANS CALIFORNICA, Watson. California Walnut.--Leaflets in from

five to eight pairs, more or less downy, but sometimes smooth,

oblong-lanceolate, sharp-pointed, narrowing upward from near the

base, two to two and a half inches long. Male catkins much larger

than in our Eastern species, or from four to eight inches, often in

pairs. Fruit round, slightly compressed, three-fourths to one inch

and a quarter in diameter; husk thin, slightly dotted or roughened;

shell dark brown, very faintly sculptured (Fig. 83), almost smooth,

thick, the kernel filling two broad cavities upon each side; edible

and fairly good. A tree or large shrub in the vicinity of San

Francisco and along the Sacramento (where it is sometimes

cultivated), growing to the hight of forty to sixty feet, and two to

four feet in diameter; ranging southward to Santa Barbara, and

eastward through southern Arizona to New Mexico and Sonora (Thurber,

"Botany of California"). This species has been considered by some

botanists as only a variety of the next, or _Juglans rupestris_,

var. _Major_, Torrey. Scarcely hardy in the latitude of New York

city, except an occasional seedling from nuts gathered along the

northern limits of the species, or from the cooler elevated regions

of the Pacific slope. It is of no special value, only adding one

more edible nut tree to the list.

[Illustration: FIG. 83. JUGLANS CALIFORNICA.]

[Illustration: FIG. 84. JUGLANS RUPESTRIS, SHOWING SMALL KERNEL.]

JUGLANS RUPESTRIS, Engelmann. Texas Walnut. New Mexico

Walnut.--Leaflets thirteen to twenty-five, smooth, bright green,

small, narrow, and long-pointed; male catkins short, or about two

inches long, and quite slender; fruit round or oblate; husk thin,

nearly smooth; nut small, one-half to three-fourths of an inch in

diameter; shell very thick, rather deeply furrowed, the narrow

grooves on the greater part continuous from base to apex, the broad

edges of the ridges smooth, not jagged as in the butternut and black

walnut. Kernel sweet and good, but so small (Fig. 84) as not to be

worth the trouble of extracting. A small and neat tree twenty to

forty feet high, native of the bottom lands of the Colorado in

Texas, and throughout the western part of the State, extending

through southern and central New Mexico to Arizona. In New Mexico it

reaches an elevation of seven or eight thousand feet, though the

climate is often severe, the temperature dropping to zero and below

during the winter. Seedlings raised from nuts obtained near the

northern limits of this species in Texas and New Mexico would

probably be hardy in most of the Northern States, but they are

scarcely worth cultivating for their nuts, owing to the small size

and thick shell; but as the trees are neat and graceful they are

worthy of a place among other useful and ornamental kinds. An

occasional bearing tree of this Texas walnut may be seen in the

gardens and parks of the Eastern States, and probably in some of the

Western, but I have no direct information in regard to their

locations or age.

Synonyms:

_Juglans rupestris_, Torrey.

_Juglans Californica_, Watson, Bot. California.

=Oriental Walnuts.=--How few or many species of the walnut are

indigenous to China, Korea, Japan and other Oriental countries it

would be very difficult to determine, with our present limited

knowledge of the forests of that part of the world. The few

botanists who have had opportunities of studying the flora of those

regions do not agree as to names or number of species of the genus.

Loureiro, in his "Flora Cochinchinensis" (1788), names three species

as indigenous to China, viz.: _Juglans regia_ in the northern part,

but this is now considered very doubtful; _Juglans Camirium_,

Rhumphius, a medium-sized, heart-shaped nut, the trees found in the

forests, and also under cultivation; _Juglans Catappa_, a large

forest tree in the Cochin China mountains, with oblong, edible nuts,

with husk and shell of nuts of a reddish color. Many years later

Siebold describes a Japan walnut under the name of _Juglans

Japonica_, and still later the Russian botanist, Maxiomowicz,

renames this, in honor of Siebold, _Juglans Sieboldiana_, and

describes another native of Japan as _Juglans cordiformis_. But

prior to any of the authors named, Thunberg had described a Japan

walnut under the name of _Juglans nigra_, probably the same as

Loureiro's species, with reddish husk, but as this name had already

been given to an American species it had to be dropped. Maxiomowicz

also describes what he supposed to be a distinct species, found in

the forests of Mandshuria under the name of _J. Mandshurica_ (1872),

but it is doubtful if it is anything more than one of the many wild

forms of the species found widely distributed over eastern Asia. The

red or black fruited walnut of Loureiro (_J. Catappa_), and

Siebold's black walnut (_J. nigra_), are probably the same as the

Ailantus-leaved (_J. ailantifolia_), recently described in

Nicholson's "Dictionary of Gardening," London, Eng., 1884, the

origin of which is said to be uncertain. It is _Juglans

Mandshurica_, Maxim, in Alphonse Lavallee's "Catalogue of Arboretum

Segrezianum." As described in this work, the young fruit is

violet-red, and produced in long pendulous clusters, the latter

being one of the marked characteristics of these Oriental walnuts.

But whether we admit that there is but one or a dozen species of

these Eastern walnuts, it cannot be of any special interest to the

practical nut culturist, for to him their economic and commercial

value is of more importance than scientific nomenclature.

Up to the present time we have only succeeded in obtaining two

species of these walnuts, or perhaps only one species and one

variety; but we certainly have two distinct forms, both coming from

Japan, and distributed under the names given them by Maxiomowicz,

viz.:

JUGLANS SIEBOLDIANA (Siebold Walnut).--Leaflets sessile, usually

fifteen, five to seven inches long, oblong-pointed, thin, soft,

downy, serratures very shallow, pale green above and somewhat

lighter beneath; footstalks densely clothed with clammy hairs; fruit

in long pendulous clusters of a half dozen to a dozen, one and a

half inches or more long by a little more than one inch broad in the

middle; husk thin, downy or clammy; nut somewhat compressed, the

point usually bending to one side; shell smooth, with two shallow

grooves from base upward on the sides opposite to the sharp,

prominent ridges at the seams of the two lobes, the shell ending in

a strong, sharp point (Fig. 85). The shell is very hard and thick;

the kernel small, sweet, oily, resembling in taste our common

butternut; tree a rapid and stocky grower, the coarse shoots and

large leaves resembling those of the Ailantus tree at first, but

soon spreading branches appear, forming an open, roundish head. The

seedlings, as raised here, are abundantly supplied with small

fibrous roots, which insures transplanting with safety. Apparently

perfectly hardy in our Northern States, as I have heard no

complaints of winter-killing of the young trees, although they are

now widely distributed and in considerable numbers, but none, so far

as I have been able to learn, have reached a bearing age here in the

North.

[Illustration: FIG. 85. JUGLANS SIEBOLDIANA.]

Mr. P. C. Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., in writing me under date of

Dec. 3, 1894, says:

"Last year we fruited _Juglans Sieboldiana_ trees four years

from the seed. Fruit was produced in long clusters, and trees

exceedingly ornamental, but this year these same trees were

killed to the ground on the 26th of March, after they had set a

crop of fruit and made a young growth of more than twelve

inches. This untimely frost may not happen again in years, but

it goes to show that many varieties of trees which are

considered hardy further north, are sometimes destroyed here by

spring frosts."

As these Japanese and Chinese walnuts are natives of cold climates

they may be better adapted to the Northern than Southern States, but

there is no locality entirely exempt from late spring frosts, as

most farmers and fruit growers learned to their cost the past

season. There can be little doubt of this species of walnut being

the one described by Rhumphius under the name of _J. Camirium_, and

more fully later by Loureiro, as already noted; but having come to

us from Japan as Siebold's walnut, this name will answer as well as

any other, even if it is not the proper one.

[Illustration: FIG. 86. JUGLANS CORDIFORMIS.]

JUGLANS CORDIFORMIS, Maxim.--In foliage and growth of tree this is

almost, if not absolutely, identical with the last; the difference

observed is in the nuts, which are also produced in pendulous

clusters. The form of the nut is almost round (Fig. 86), rather

blunt-pointed, but the shell is deeply and unevenly furrowed, and

indented somewhat like our black walnut; the ridges, however, are

not as sharp. The specimens I have received from various sources are

not as large as the Siebold, and the shell not quite as thick, but

the kernel is small. I may note here that there appears to be some

confusion in regard to this variety or species, for in several

nurserymen's catalogues this form of nut is figured as Siebold's,

and the one that I have described under that name is called

_Cordiformis_. The specimens received from California, Japan, and

also from Mr. Berckmans, correspond with the names here given, but

further investigations may show that they should be reversed. The

one I have received as _Cordiformis_ is, doubtless, the nut

described by Loureiro as _J. Catappa_, as an ovate-oblong nut, with

a fibrous, leathery, reddish husk.

While I do not suppose that these Oriental walnuts will ever become

of any considerable commercial value, they are worth planting for

shade and ornamental trees. They are rather precocious, coming into

bearing at an early age, and the nuts are not only edible, but will

always be an acceptable addition to the unimportant although

agreeable household supplies.

=Persian Walnuts.= _Juglans regia_, Linn. Royal Walnut, Madeira Nut,

English Walnut, French Walnut, Chile Walnut, etc.--Leaflets five to

nine, oval, smooth, pointed, slightly serrate; fruit round or

slightly oval; husk thin, green, of a leathery texture, becoming

brittle and cleaving from the nut when ripe and dry; nut

roundish-oval, smallest at the top; shell smooth, with slight

indentations, thin, two-valved, readily parting at the seams; kernel

large, wrinkled and corrugated, the two lobes separated below with a

thin, papery partition, but united at the top; sweet, oily, and

generally esteemed.

[Illustration: FIG. 87. SMALL FRUITED WALNUT.]

This species has been in cultivation many centuries, and in

different countries and climates, and under such variable conditions

that many of the varieties have departed widely from the normal

type. There are now an almost innumerable number of varieties,

varying greatly in size and form. Some are not larger than a

good-sized pea, as seen in the "Small Fruited Walnut" (Fig. 87),

while others are nearly as large as a man's fist, as in the

thick-shelled or "Gibbous Walnut" (Fig. 92), while in others the nut

is greatly elongated, as in the "Barthere Walnut" (Fig. 88), and

hundreds of other intermediate forms. There are also varieties that

bloom early in spring, others late. Some are very hardy, others

quite tender in cold climates. There are also dwarf and

tall-growing, as well as the precocious and tardy fruiting

varieties. But very few of these have ever been cultivated in our

Eastern States, consequently little is known of their value here;

but more may be in the near future, when our horticulturists and

farmers begin to plant nut trees as freely as they have other kinds,

or are awakened to the fact that such trees can be made a source of

pleasure and profit.

Here in the Northern States our main dependence for hardy and

productive trees of this species will be upon seedlings or cions

from those acclimated specimens which have already been thoroughly

tested and found to be both hardy and prolific. There are plenty of

these, as I have stated elsewhere, and they are well worthy of

attention and multiplication until something better is produced or

discovered. In the meantime, the most promising European varieties

could be imported and tested, although it is not probable that those

originating in southern France and Italy would be of much value for

planting in the latitude of New York city or north of it, but south

of this line the chances of success would be somewhat greater; and

to escape injury from late spring frosts, the more elevated regions

are preferable to the lower and warmer anywhere in the Southern

States. In anticipation of the question being asked, I will say

that, at present, I do not know of any nurseryman in the Eastern

States who propagates or imports named varieties of walnuts for

sale. Of course, seedlings of these are offered, but it is well

known that there is but a remote chance of these coming true from

seed. Even the little dwarf French walnut _Praeparturiens_, or Early

Prolific, cannot be depended upon to produce dwarf or early bearing

trees beyond the first generation from the nut, and these must be

the product of grafted trees, to insure this much. The following

list contains the names of only a few of the most noted varieties,

the greater part having originated in Europe.

AILANTUS-LEAVED WALNUT. See Oriental walnuts.

[Illustration: FIG. 88. BARTHERE WALNUT.]

[Illustration: FIG. 89. CHABERTE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 90. CHILE WALNUT.]

BARTHERE WALNUTS. See Fig. 88.--A very long nut, pointed at both

ends. Shell thin; kernel large and of excellent flavor. Named after

M. Barthere, a horticulturist of Toulouse, France, who discovered it

growing among a number of other trees; consequently, its origin is a

mystery. M. Barthere says that it is very productive, and even the

seedlings of this variety begin to bear very early.

CHABERTE.--An old standard French variety, of an oval shape; medium

size, with very full and rich flavored kernel (Fig. 89). The tree

buds and blooms late, therefore especially valuable in localities

where late spring frosts are likely to occur.

CHILE WALNUT.--This name is given, in a general way, to all the

walnuts received in our markets from South America. The nuts are

usually of good size, with a dark grayish shell; thin but firm, with

plump kernels of excellent flavor. These nuts arrive in February and

March. Many of the Chile walnuts have three valves (Fig. 90),

instead of the normal two. Such freaks are occasionally found among

the European varieties, also in the native hickories, but these

tri-valved nuts appear to be very abundant among the Chile walnuts.

CLUSTER WALNUT. RACEMOSA OR SPICATA.--Described by Mr. Gillet as a

variety of the Persian walnut, producing medium, thin-shelled nuts

in long clusters of from eight to twenty-eight. He also says that he

introduced it into this country, but from whence we are not

informed. Lavellee (1877) records it as a variety of _J. regia_,

under the name of _racemosa_, giving its synonym as _Juglans

Californica_ of the horticulturists. I have not found it mentioned

elsewhere.

[Illustration: FIG. 91. CUT-LEAVED WALNUT.]

CUT-LEAVED WALNUT.--A variety with deeply cut leaves; very

ornamental, as seen in Fig. 91. Nuts quite small, but of good

quality.

FRANQUETTE.--Another old standard French variety, with large,

elongated-oval nuts with a distinct point. Shell thin; kernel large,

and of rich flavor. The tree blooms late; valuable for planting in

the South.

GANT OR BIJOU WALNUT.--A remarkable variety on account of its

extraordinary size. The shell is thin, with rather deep furrows,

those of the largest size being made into ladies' companions, where

to stow away gloves or handkerchiefs, hence the name "Gant" walnut.

The kernel, though, does not correspond to the size of the shell

(Gillet).

GIBBOUS WALNUT (Fig. 92).--This is a very large variety, supposed to

be a hybrid, raised in France many years ago. It is of little value,

as the shell is very thick and kernel small. Valuable mainly for its

immense size.

[Illustration: FIG. 92. GIBBOUS WALNUT.]

KAGHAZI.--This is supposed to be a variety of the Persian walnut, of

fair size, with a very thin shell. The tree blooms very late in

spring, and for this reason is recommended for localities where

there is danger from injury by frost. The tree is said to be a very

rapid grower, and much more hardy than the general run of varieties

of this species. I have been unable to learn its origin, but it has

been planted quite extensively in California, and some of our

Eastern nurserymen are offering the seedling trees for sale, but

whether they will possess the merits of the original or not must be

determined by experience.

LARGE-FRUITED PRAEPARTURIENS.--A sub-variety of the Praeparturiens,

originating with Mr. Felix Gillet of California.

LATE PRAEPARTURIENS.--Also originated with Mr. Gillet. Valuable

because the trees bloom late in spring. Nuts described as of medium

size, but with full kernels of excellent quality.

MAYETTE.--Very large (Fig. 93), with a light-colored shell of

moderate thickness. Kernel plump, readily extracted whole, as shown

in Fig. 94, sweet, and a rich, nutty flavor. Tree blooms late and is

very productive. An old and standard French variety.

[Illustration: FIG. 93. MAYETTE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 94. KERNEL OF WALNUT.]

[Illustration: FIG. 95. J. REGIA OCTOGONA.]

[Illustration: FIG. 96. CROSS SECTION.]

MESANGE OR PAPER-SHELL.--This nut has the thinnest shell of any

variety known; it derives its name of Mesange from a little lark of

that name, that goes to the kernel through the tender shell. Tree

very productive, and the kernel quite rich in oil. We do not,

however, recommend the growing of this variety for market, on

account of the thinness of the shell, which breaks off too easily in

handling the nuts, or even when they drop on the ground (Felix

Gillet).

MEYLAN WALNUT.--A French variety that originated near the little

village of Meylan, in the vicinity of which it is quite extensively

cultivated for home use and export.

OCTOGONA.--Of uncertain origin, but very much resembles one of the

Oriental species in the form and sculpture of the shell (Fig. 95).

The shell is also very thick, as shown in the cross section (Fig.

96). Of no special value.

PARISIENNE WALNUT.--Although this was named for the city of Paris it

did not originate there, but in the South of France. It is a large

and rather broad variety, with a firm but thin shell (Fig. 97) and

excellent flavored kernel. It is reported that this variety succeeds

in California, also in the South wherever tried. The trees leaf out

late in spring and are rarely injured by frosts, and are remarkably

productive.

[Illustration: FIG. 97. PARISIENNE.]

PRAEPARTURIENS. Precocious Dwarf Prolific.--A French variety of a

dwarf habit, and the plants noted for bearing when very young. A

correspondent of _The Garden_ (London, Eng.), referring to this

variety some years ago, says:

"It is precocious on account of the singular and exceptional

fact that it is born almost an adult; in fact, it is nothing

uncommon to see a tree in its third year bearing excellent

fruit."

He does not say, however, whether he refers to seedlings or grafted

plants, but we may presume the latter or those raised from layers,

for cultivators who have experimented with seedlings have found that

they possess a strong tendency to revert to the original or tree

form. This may not show itself very strongly in the first generation

if the nuts are obtained from grafted trees of some age, but in the

second and third generation the early-fruiting and dwarf are usually

entirely lost. The only certain way of securing the true variety is

by grafting or layering, but it is to be feared that very few trees

propagated by these modes are in cultivation, at least in the

Eastern States, although nurserymen have been offering Praeparturiens

walnut trees in their catalogues during the past fifty years. In one

now before me, published in New York city in 1844, trees of this

walnut are offered at one dollar each, or about what is charged for

seedlings at the present time. As nothing is said in the catalogues

about the mode of propagation, we infer that they are seedlings, as

grafted trees would be worth more than one dollar. The nuts of this

dwarf walnut are of medium size, thin-shelled and of excellent

flavor; valuable for gardens of limited extent.

SEROTINA. Late Walnut, St. John Walnut.--A very peculiar sort,

inasmuch as it is the latest of all to bud and bloom in spring, and

yet it pushes forward so rapidly that the nuts are ripe with others

in the fall. They are of medium size (Fig. 98), with a rather hard

shell, but the kernel is plump and good flavored. The tree is very

productive, and sure to escape late spring frosts.

[Illustration: FIG. 98. SEROTINA OR ST. JOHN.]

VILMORIN.--This is claimed to be a hybrid between some variety of

_J. regia_ and our native black walnut, _J. nigra_. Scarcely known

outside of France.

VOUREY.--A new and splendid variety raised near Vourey, a small town

in southeast France. It has much the same shape and qualities of the

Parisienne walnut (Gillet).

VARIEGATED WALNUT.--A handsome variety, with young branches covered

with dark-green bark spotted with gray, and often striped

longitudinally with yellow. The leaves resemble those of the common

walnut; the fruit is of a light yellowish-green streaked with darker

green, and reminds one closely of certain varieties of pears which,

in common with this variety, frequently have their young branches

striped in a similar manner. Propagated by grafting or layers. (_The

Garden._)

WEEPING WALNUT.--A tree with pendulous twigs and branches. Quite

ornamental, but not especially valuable for its fruit. Hardy in

England.

In addition to those described, there are a large number of

varieties, which may be worth importing and testing in this country,

by those who may feel inclined to make experiments with these nuts.

Probably some of those highly extolled by earlier writers are now

lost, but this cannot be determined until a careful search through

the old European gardens has been made.

Among the early-fruiting or precocious varieties we find an account

of one raised by Anthony Carlisle, of England, as recorded in a

paper read at a meeting of the Horticultural Society of London,

March 3, 1812. Mr. Carlisle planted six nuts in March, 1802, these

having been received from Mr. Thomas Wedgewood of Blandford. Six

years later, or in 1808, one of the seedlings bore and matured ten

walnuts, and the next season (1809) upwards of fifty, and in 1810

one hundred and twelve, the tree at that age being nineteen feet

seven and one-half inches high. Another variety, under the name of

Highflyer walnut, is described in the Transactions of the same

society, Vol. IV, 1822, p. 517. The nuts sent to the society were

grown in the town of Thetford, and are described as a long oval,

with a shell so very thin that the slightest pressure of the fingers

crushes it. I find that this Highflyer walnut is mentioned in the

recently published "Dictionary of Gardening," but whether obtainable

in English nurseries or not we are left in doubt.

I refer to these English varieties mainly to show that some of the

very best and thinnest-shelled walnuts have been grown in cool

climates, and are not confined entirely to the warm or

semi-tropical, as many persons seem to suppose and even claim to be

the fact. It is principally from these English walnuts, as they are

usually termed, that our hardy old-bearing trees, referred to

elsewhere, have been produced, and, doubtless, many more will be,

when we begin to pay some attention to this very valuable nut. It is

also quite likely that when our horticulturists look about for

choice acclimated varieties for propagation, they will be found

right here in the grounds of next-door neighbors, and there may be

no necessity of sending to Europe or elsewhere for either nuts or

trees.

At present there is much confusion and uncertainty in regard to the

identity and nomenclature of both species and varieties of the

walnut, and it must remain so until they are collected from all

countries and climes, of which they are either native or into which

they have been introduced, and when so collected, and fruiting

specimens produce, it will not be difficult to classify and

determine their synonyms. This will be an undertaking scarcely to be

expected of the individual nut culturist, but is within the

legitimate line of the arboretum, and of public botanical gardens

located in both cold and warm climates, thereby securing a division

of labor, and at the same time avoiding the uncertainty of trying to

produce practical results under uncongenial conditions and

surroundings.

=Husking Walnuts.=--The husks of nearly all the varieties of the

Persian and Oriental walnuts part from their shells freely when

fully ripened and dried, but in a few varieties the husks are rather

persistent, requiring force and friction for their removal. This may

be accomplished by placing them in bags and shaking, or in barrels

and rolling, until the nuts are scraped clean. But the better way,

where there is any considerable quantity of nuts to be operated

upon, is to take a strong barrel or cask, and so arrange it on

standards that it can be rapidly revolved with a crank attached to

one end. Of course, the cask must have its two heads left in place,

and an opening made in the side to admit the nuts and remove them

when cleaned. Almost any man handy with tools can make such a

cleaner and polisher in a few hours, and if stored in a dry place it

will last for several years. With butternuts and black walnuts the

husks are much tougher, and they should be thrown into heaps in the

open air, and turned over occasionally until the husks become

softened sufficiently to permit of their removal, in case they are

to be sent to market. Ordinary threshing machines may be used for

cleaning the husks from black walnuts, by removing about one-half

the teeth, or enough to allow the nuts to pass through without

breaking their shells.

Most of the hickories drop from the husk, leaving the nut clean; but

in some varieties of the pecan the inner part of the husk adheres

rather tenaciously, and they sell better if cleaned; besides, some

have rather rough and thick shells, and a little scraping and

polishing adds much to their appearance. The revolving cask, either

worked by hand or other power, is an excellent implement for

preparing these nuts for market, and if the husk is very persistent,

a little dry sand thrown in will aid in cleaning and polishing.

Sometimes these nuts are subjected to what is called the soapstone

polish, leaving the shells very smooth, with a greasy feel. The

French walnuts, which are extensively imported under the general

name of Grenoble walnuts, are usually bleached with sulphur before

they are shipped, and while this adds nothing to the quality of the

kernel, the sulphur is an excellent insecticide and fungicide, and

may be of some use on that account; but otherwise it is likely to be

more injurious than beneficial. As bleaching both walnuts and

almonds is often insisted upon by dealers, I give the process

suggested by Director Hilgard, of the California Agricultural

Experiment Station, which he believes will prove more satisfactory

than the one usually employed, and is as follows:

"The nuts, placed in small baskets (such as the Chinese use for

carrying), are dipped for about five minutes in a solution

containing to every fifty gallons of water six pounds of

bleaching powder and twelve pounds of sal soda. They are then

rinsed with a hose, and after draining, again dipped into

another solution containing one per cent of bisulphite of lime;

after the nuts have assumed the desired tint, they are again

rinsed with water and then dried. Instead of the second dipping,

the nuts may be sulphured (fumigated) for ten or fifteen

minutes. The cost of fifty gallons of chlorine dip will be about

forty cents; the same bulk of the bisulphite dip, probably

considerably less. The time occupied in handling one batch (two

dips) is from twelve to fifteen minutes."

[Illustration: FIG. 99. THE CATERPILLAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 100. THE REGAL WALNUT MOTH--CITHERONIA REGALIS.]

=Insect Enemies.=--The walnut is attacked by the same kinds of

insects that infest the hickories, with, perhaps, a few exceptions;

as, for instance, the bark beetles and the nut weevils. The leaves

appear to be more or less acceptable food for the caterpillars that

feed on the hickories, and the same insecticides and means employed

for destroying these pests on one will answer for the other.

The caterpillars of some of the smaller kinds of moths are, as a

rule, far more destructive to the leaves than the larger, and their

ravages often escape notice until it is too late for the use of

preventives, or for their destruction with insecticides.

Ever since I became connected with the New York city press, some

thirty odd years ago, scarcely a season has passed during which one

or more specimens of the Regal walnut caterpillar (_Citheronia

regalis_), shown in Fig. 99, have not been received from some

correspondent who had found them crawling down the stem or on the

ground near a walnut tree. Such a large caterpillar would naturally

attract the attention of almost any person, but to the timid its

appearance is exceedingly ferocious and repulsive, while to the

entomologist it is a beautiful and interesting creature, and far

more likely to be handled with care than injured. This caterpillar

is of a green color, and transversely banded across each of the

rings with pale blue. The head and legs are of an orange color, also

the long spine or horns, with the points tipped with black. It is

certainly very formidable in appearance, but perfectly harmless, and

may be handled with impunity. The parent moth (Fig. 100) has fore

wings of an olive color, ornamented with small yellow spots and

veined with red lines. The hind wings are orange-red, with two large

irregular yellow patches before, and a row of wedge-shaped olive

colored spots between the veins behind. Although this insect appears

to be widely distributed over the country, and the caterpillars feed

on the walnuts and occasionally on the hickory, it has never been

known to be sufficiently numerous to attract any special attention.