Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1880 — Nuts and Nut Trees. [ARTICLE]

Nuts and Nut Trees.

From Jlefs Monthly we copy the following, which will give oar yoang read-" 1 era something to think and talk about: An abundance of not trees in the forests and by the banks of the streams, in all parts of the country, supplied the aborigues with a dainty and nutritious article of food, and although the forests are now mainly felled, supply is still lane for the present population. The Hickory nut, on account of its delicate flavor and excellent keeping qualities, is the most highly prized of our native nuts. The best kind is the Bhagbark, or Shell-bark, Hickory. The tree is readily recogtiizid by the old bark hanging loosely all over its trank; it attains a height of sixty to eighty feet. The leaf usually consists of five leaflets, two pain and an odd, or terminal one; the end leaflet is much larger than the otherawhich are from six to nine inches long. The leaves are dark green, smooth ana shining, on their upper surface; when bruised, they emit a peculiar, aromatic odor. The bruit is globose in form, borne on the ends of the young wood, singly, or two or three in acloater, and consists of an outside husk, or bull, almost woody in texture, and which, when ripe, opens by four equal parts or valves. By examining the outer covering of Walnuts and Butternuts, it will be perceived that their outer covering -has no regular opening, but, drying, it cracks irregularly by coutraction, allowing, in the case of the English Wslnut, the not to fall out, but that of the Butternut and Black Walnut adheres until forcibly removed, or until it foils away by decay. This difference in regard to the outer covering or husks of the nuts is a conspicuous and distinguishing feature of the two genera. The Hickory nut is roundish in form, but compressed sideways, and mors or lees four-angled. The shell, which is whits and of a bony hardness, is thin in comparison with the nuts of some other species of Hickory, but requires a sharp stroke of tits hammer to crack it. When well cracked the nut dividea into two equal parts each exposing half of the seed. Squirrels are very fond of hickory nuts, and store away large quantities of them for their winter's provision. In this way the nuts are more or less scattered, and conveyed in all directions from the spot where they grew. A favorite hiding-place is in stone walls, and it is quite common to find hickory trees growing here and there along the coarse of these walls, where a nut has fallen, germinated ana made a successful growth. As the trees are all raised from seed, there is considerable variation in the sixe of the nuts, the thickness of the shells, and quality of the meats. Occasionally, a tree will be found bearing nuts of large rise, with thin shells and of great excellence. The question is how to propagate the variety; grafting and budding are both difficult with this tree, but they may be practiced on it. Possibly an active demand for a particular variety would have the effect to awaken the dormant genius of some Ktical horticulturist and discover to a method of rapid propagation. This tree has tbs reputation of being hard to transplant, and no doubt this is the case with seedling trees that have attained considerable rise on the spot when they germinated. If transplanted wlien yoang, and in tbs usual manner of narsery trees, and the top root shortened, it is quite probable that they could be afterwards removed with comparative safety. The beat way of propagating by seed Is to sow the nuts where the trees ere to stand. This can be dons by tiHug the nuts as ahUl77h!?t& SlSto themselves, all bat one am U removed.

k' ’■£ : >’2' z "• J inalfSftb?sssfcsralstatss, ami thSTof the cost of Lake Eria, bat is not common elsewhere west of the Alleghenies. At meat inferior to the Shag-bark nut. This spades te commonly known as the Thick Shell-bark. The only other spedee of this genus worthy of mention, as an edible not, 1c the favorite Pecan not, growing plentifally in the valley of the Mtedsaippi, from Illinois southward to Texas. It does not grow wild in the Atlantic States. The not is enclosed ia a bode, and te from an inch to an inch and a half long, eyliudric and pointed at the mads, and of the general form of the fruit « the Olive, whence its specific name. The seed is sweet, of a dousato flavor, and. by ■any considered superior to the Hickory not; but as this is a matter of taste, there te a diffarenoe of opinion in reference to it Tba Pecan tree grows from sixty to ninety feet high, straight and well shaped. It lies to acquire considerable age before fruiting, or not until thirty or forty years old. This drawnstance alons forbids its profitable cultivation. Immense quantities of Pacta nets are gathered in Texas, for more than the needs of the inhabitants, and hundreds of thousands of bushels are annually sent north to all parts of the country and to Europe. In fee latter country, they have been largely used in the manufacture of oil, in the manner that the English Walnat te so used. The English Walnut is largely raised in many parts of Europe. It is not, as one would infer from its name, a native of Great IJri tain, but is originaUy from Persia, and was introduced into England in 1562. The trete grows to a height of forty to fifty feet, and, when young, is of very handsome appearance. Its leaves usually consist of two pain of leaflets and an oda one, the odd one being much the larger. The leaves when bruised emit a very strong bat agreeable odor. Almost every one can attest to the excellence of the nuts, as they are laigely imported into this country, and are to be found in every fruiterer’s shop. That this tree is very well adapted to cultivation in many parts of this country is as yet hut little Known. Such, however, is the fact, and in time there will probably be a large produce of the nut here. It appears to be about as hardy as the Peach, and to succeed where that fruit can be successfully raised. On this subject of its liardiness, however, for various localities, we are quite in the dark, and probably it will be eventually found that it is not suited to some places where we should naturally expect it to do well; for instance, by the Kansas Agricultural College, at Manhattan, it is reported to be a failure; but all kinds of Arbor vitse are reported failures on the same grounds, although more than a hundred acres of Peach orchard are bearing fruit in that country. Some parts of California are admirably adapted to thia nut, and it is there being cultivated with much success and profit. A tree two or three yean old, transplanted from the nursery grounds, will bear in five to eight yean, and our English authorites state they continue in bearing for a period of twenty yean. A dry limeetone soil is best suited to it, and on light lands it commences soonest to bear. When cultivated in plantations or groves, the trees should stand about forty feet apart, and receive such attention in the way of tilling and cropping the ground as would be necessary in an Apple orchard. The tree requires no pruning, nor nny especial attention, and when too old for fruiting profitably, their timber ia very valuable, and feespectally prized for gunstocks, as it is strong, light, and susceptible of a high polish. In some parts of Europe where Walnnts are raised in large quantities, they are used for making oil as we have noticed in the case of the Pecan not, which is used when it can be had to advantage. On an average a bushel of nuts yield seven or eight pounds of oil. Green Walnuts before the shell has hardened, are highly prised for pickling. The usual mode of propagation is by planting the nuts. For this purpose the best nuts should be selected, and, without allowing them to become dry, should be placed in layers of moist sand and kept in a cool place until early in the spring-then they should be sown,or planted, so as to be covered abont two inches in depth. If the nnts are planted where the trees are to stand, it is said, the best and tallest trees are obtained, but if first raised in narrow rows and transplanted, they will come sooner to bearing. The Black Walnat is one of the moat valuable of oar native trees. It is a rapid grower, and attains a height of sixty to ninety feet. The largest Black Wasnut tree in the country is said to be growing at Roalyn, Long Island, on the estate of W. C. Bryant. It grew from seed in the year 1713. It is twenty-five feet around it. three feet from the ground. Fifteen feet from the ground tne tree divides into several large branches, and spread* out into a large head, covering a space of a hundred and fifty feet in diameter. Usually, in the forests, or where these trees grow together in groups, the trunk is a single column to toe height of thirty to fifty feet, without bran oh ea. Although the Black Walnut is found to a limited extent in almost every section of the country, it is only in the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries tost it becomes a prominent feature of forest scenery. From Ohio, westward to Colorado, it is one of the most important trees; or, at least, such was its rank before fee native forests were leveled. At present, it is comparatively scarce in the States east of the Mississippi, and, at the rate it is now disappearing, another quarter of a century at most will exhaust the supply for mechanical purposes. In view or the Kit value of this tree for its timber, the uty and elegance of which for cabinet and other fine work is so well known, and understanding the absolute certainty of its high price in the market of the next generation, it will be an act of only ordinary prudence, for those properly situated to do so, to plant it As a nut, the fruit of the Black Walnut is of little value, although its peculiar flavor is enjoyed by some. _ The Butternut te very commonly scattered over the northern States and Territories of this country, and extending to the Rocky Mountains. It grows from fifty to sixty feet high, and when standing alone, has a wiae-branching head. The nut te very rich andof excellent flavor.