The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-10-07
EMPORIA NEWS
Friday, October q, 1870.
OUR NUT TREES.

In nutting time these trees certainly
deserve grateful mention, and more ten
der usage than stoning and clubbing. FL
the boys would only be patient till the
nuts are ripe for dropping, and then let
the frost and wind bring them down as
they do in unfrequented places, till the
ground is Uttered, much hard work at
pounding and tearing open the green,
treacherous shucks and prickly briars
would be saved. But the eager young
sters can't "bide their time, /" and so must
needs bruise and batter and main every
nut tree they come to, to get a mere
handful, where by waiting they might
have gathered bag full.
Concerning the demand for nuts, it is
a wonder that the trees which yield
them do not receive more consideration
from US all. Who ever thinks of plant
ing q chestnut? 1t is taken for granted
that there will always be the usual pro-
portion of these trees in our woods by
self-propagation. But with the present
rate of depopulation, at no distant day
nut trees will be SO scarce that no one
can complain if chestnuts come to be
sold as high even as English walnuts
now.
Just think what q consumption there
is of nuts of various kinds, all the way
from filbert to cocoanut. ChesJnuts in
deed pass out of date, after being all the
rage for a season; butternuts last long
er, though never in fashion, while our
native walnuts vie with the foreign i'm
portations in popular demand, months
after the last winter apple is eaten or
decayed. And when our own product
is used up, we are sure to find some nut
to crack from over the sea.
They are as indispensable 70 the des-
s.v.k g. .kv
a romance has sprung from the double
kerneled almond, with its watchword,
philopena.
To be sure, nuts are not as wholesome
or tempting as fruits, but they are al
most everywhere associated with fruit
in the fresh or dried state, and the one
supplements the other. So, too, Yam
kee ingenuity has been taxed to facili-
tate their consumption, and nut-pickers
and crackers are devised of almost as
many patterns as carving-knives and
forks. Still, many people prefer the
natural mode of "tooth and NAIL" not
thinking how many teeth have been
mutilated by cracking nuts, and how
much waste of meat there is in simply
picking with fingers.
Now why should we not encourage
the supply as we'll as the demand, and
think as much of growing nuts as of
cracking them? One or two full devel-
oped trees on the homestead could sup
ply the family, and its neighbors besides,
and If such trees happen now to be
standing, let them be spared till they go
to decay.
On homo lot adjoining Mt. Holyoke
Seminary, and now included in its land
ed property, there has stood for more
than three score years, black walnut,
towering high as an elm, and as grace
full and majestic. To the writer it sug-
gests many pleasant "reminiscences of
boyhood, and it was sad the other day
to see the cherished landmark "going
the way of all the EARTH" But he never
thought of its nuts till year ago bar
rel of the same was sent him by a kins-
man in North Carolina, as one of the
most valued products of 'the old North
State" 1t never occurred to him while
sporting under the shadow of that grand
old tree, that its hard-shell products
were worth the trouble of gathering
more than horse-chestnuts, much less
the cost of transportation and unfor-
tunately he has at last made the discov-
cry when too late to profit by it. Per-
haps, however, its old age is better APP
preciated than were its earlier days, and
its autumn droppings may be growing
precious as they grow scarce.
Probably there are other black wal
nuts in New England, but this is the
only specimen l have seen. And as
now remember its stately growth and
majestic development, it is matter fer
surprise that such trees are not more
frequent here. How this one ever came
where it is, was a mystery to me until
recently an old friend, who had passed
more than fifty years in sight of it, told
me of the tradition that the late DIR.
Stebbins of Northampton, who built the
house, went out one morning and stuck
stick he had brought with him from
the South. in the edge of his moving
lot, little dreaming that it would take
root and develop Into the noble tree il
was.
Our nut trees have long been valued
for their wood, as we'll as nuts, and the
least appreciated in this respect are com
ing to be the foremost. In our costliest
and most elaborate structures, the chest
nut, which was once thought only fit to
be hewn into rough stills, fence posts
and rails, is the favorite material for in
terror finish and furniture, with trim
mings of black walnut; and even the
unpretending butternut is laid under
contribution by the architect and joiner.
The wood of cherry and birds eve ma
pie used TO rank next to mahogany for
tables, chairs, bureaus, and bedsteads,
and many choice family heir-looms OF
these materials are still precious. But
the other woods are gradually supplant-
ing these, and it is to be hoped that they
may at no distant day be afforded SO
cheap as to supersede many shams dis
guised by paint and varnish. W. E. B.
Nesc England Homestead.