ON THE CHESTNUT AND WALNUT.
The Chestnut and Walnut are here brought together, not only as producing
two useful kinds of hard-wooded timber, but from the fact of both being
bearers of esteemed kinds of fruit. They are neither grown to the same
extent in England as on the Continent, and probably neither of them is
indigenous to this country, although it is stated by Sir W. Hooker to
grow in woods apparently wild, in the south and south-west of England.
As regards the fruit of the former, it may be said that in parts of
Spain “Spanish Chestnuts” are a staple article of food. In England they
are sometimes brought to table as a stuffing for turkeys, or roasted for
dessert; but their greatest consumption among us is with the poor, who,
in winter, with a halfpenny-worth of roasted chestnuts enjoy the double
luxury of warm fingers and a sweet nutritious diet. Walnuts, as a fruit,
are highly esteemed by all classes: as much by those who crack and peel
them in a second or third class railway carriage, as by the squire who
takes them as a concomitant with his glass of port. With us they are
only cared for while they can be peeled, but abroad they are carefully
dried, in which state they form an important article of commerce. In the
Portuguese court of the International Exhibition of 1861, in our
capacity of juryman, we had brought before us specimens of dried walnuts
from as many as fifty exhibitors.
The Spanish chestnut (_Castanea vulgaris_) has no relationship with the
so-called horse-chestnut, which latter, we might just mention, is solely
employed as an ornamental tree, if we except its occasional use in
cabinet-work. Evelyn, sixty years ago, speaks of it as being “all the
mode for the avenues to their country palaces in France.” It has been
much used for this purpose with us, and its magnificent flowers and fine
foliage will ever recommend it as an ornament about country residences.
But to return to the Spanish chestnut. This tree is planted with us both
for the growth of timber or as underwood for poles; for the latter
purpose it answers well, as it soon grows up again after cutting, and in
its young state it goes so soon to heart-wood that the poles are
remarkably strong and tough.
As a timber tree, the chestnut has been very extensively extolled both
in this country and on the Continent; it may, however, be concluded that
although its wood is exceedingly useful, it has never been put to the
important uses which have been claimed for it.
Evelyn, speaking of chestnut-wood, says:—“I had once a very large barn
near the city, framed entirely of this timber.”
Sir T. D. Lauder tells us that the roof of the Parliament House in
Edinburgh is constructed of chestnut, and we have often seen it stated
that the magnificent roof of Westminster Hall has been framed of this
timber;[28] but to quote from Selby’s admirable “History of British
Forest Trees”:—
The fact is, as Buffon first observed, the wood of the oak, more
particularly that of the sessile-fruited variety, assumes, in
course of time, a near resemblance in colour to that of the
chestnut in its best condition, or when young and untainted at
heart; and as few chestnuts could have acquired the scantling
frequently observed in the timbers of these ancient buildings at
the age dialling or decay almost invariably commences, this in
itself furnishes a strong argument against the use of chestnut
timbers and beams by our ancestors, inasmuch as the trees must
become unfit for the purpose long before they had attained the
necessary dimensions.—P. 326.
[28] Many of the most ancient houses in London were built of its
(chestnut) wood, as is the roof of Westminster Hall, built by William
Rufus, in the year 1099, still free from any appearance of decay.—_Sylva
Britannica_, p. 81.
But although we may safely dismiss the notion that chestnut is of the
value formerly supposed, yet its timber is not without its uses; it is
employed for smaller beams, gate-posts, piles, and other purposes where
large timber is not required. Its best use is for poles, for which
purpose chestnut may be employed as nurses to oak, thinning out the
former as growth advances.
Dismissing, however, the subject of the economic value of the chestnut,
whether for timber or fruit, as an ornamental tree it has few equals.
There are many fine chestnut-trees in our country, but perhaps the
finest, as it is supposed to be the oldest, sylvan veteran in England is
the one at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, of which Strutt says:—
In the reign of Stephen, who ascended the throne in 1135, it was
deemed so remarkable for its size, that, as appears upon record,
it was well known as a signal boundary to the Manor of Tortworth.
At the time that it was thus conspicuous for its magnitude and
vigour, we may reasonably suppose it to have been in its prime; if,
therefore, we pay any regard to the received opinion which is
applied to the chestnut, equally with the oak, that it is three
hundred years in coming to perfection, this calculation takes us
back to the beginning of the reign of Egbert, in the year 800, for
the commencement of the existence of the Tortworth Chestnut.
Well then may we exclaim with the poet—
Hail, old patrician trees, so great and good!
The Walnut (_Juglans regia_) is supposed to have been introduced from
Persia by the Romans; but although we can have no claim to it as a
native, yet it has thriven so remarkably well, as for many years since
to have furnished us with a large quantity of a highly valuable timber.
So much indeed is its wood esteemed, as to have caused its use only in
the better kinds of cabinet-work, such as drawing-room furniture,
internal fittings, and where mahogany would now be considered as
somewhat common; it has, too, been ever esteemed as a wood for
gun-stocks, as it combines hardness, toughness, and an agreeable colour
with a great degree of lightness—being of a less specific gravity than
that of any other kind of hard wood.
Fowling-pieces, gentlemen’s rifles, pistols, and all the finer kinds of
small arms, usually have stocks of walnut, as its texture, colour, and
the sharpness with which fancy carvings can be worked, peculiarly adapt
it for the purpose.
During the continental war, English walnut fetched an enormous price.
Selby tells us that a single tree was sold for £600, owing to which
many of the noblest specimens were sacrificed; and Loudon tells us that,
about 1806, no less than 12,000 trees were annually required for these
uses in France.
In England this tree is principally grown for its fruit, which is a
great favourite when ripe as an adjunct to the social glass. Still
enormous quantities are never allowed to attain to ripeness, from their
being used in a green state for the purposes of pickling, sauces, and
the like; indeed, so much is the green part of the walnut esteemed for
its flavouring properties, that the very “hulls,” or coverings to the
ripened fruits, are employed as an ingredient in the preparation of
sauces and flavourings.
Another use of the fruit, especially on the Continent, is that of making
oil, which is considered to be little, if at all, inferior to fine
olive-oil.
The walnut-tree, then, may be considered as offering many claims for its
more extensive cultivation, for although native growths of timber have
been of late years in a measure superseded by American walnut and
hickory wood, still it offers no mean inducements to the planter upon
this score alone, at the same time it must be allowed that with us the
chief inducement to the culture of this tree is the value of its fruit
and the handsome tree which it makes.
In the growth of this and the preceding, it is always best to procure
good, healthy, young trees from the nurseryman; indeed, in planting all
forest trees this may be considered as not only the best, but usually
the cheapest mode of proceeding.