More attention to the cultivation of nuts, would add materially to our
domestic luxuries. There are so many nuts in market, that are the
spontaneous productions of other countries, or raised where labor is
cheap, that we can not afford to raise them as an article of commerce.
But a few trees of the various kinds, would be a great addition to every
country residence. We could always be certain that our nuts were fresh
and good. A small piece of ground devoted to nuts, and occupied by
fowls, would be pleasant and profitable. English walnuts do well here.
We have varieties of hickory nuts, native in this country, which, to our
taste, are not surpassed by any other. Chestnuts are easily grown here
(see our directions elsewhere in this volume). Butternuts, filberts,
peanuts (growing in the ground like potatoes), and even our little
forest beechnuts, are easily raised.
The dwarf chestnut of the Middle and Southern states is decidedly
ornamental in a fruit garden. Its qualities are in all respects like the
common chestnut, only the fruit is but half the size, and the tree grows
from five to ten feet high. In all our landscape gardens, and in all
places where we retain forest trees for ornamental purposes, it is
better to cultivate trees that will bear good nuts. The varieties of
nut-bearing trees, interspersed with evergreens, make a beautiful
appearance.