Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-05-07
THE BLACK WALNUT.


sylvia"
This tree is known in all parts of the
United States where it grows, and to the
French of Upper and Lower Louisiana
by no other name than black walnut.
East of the Allegheny mountains-the
most northern point at which it APP
pears is about Goshen in the State of
New Jersey. in the latitude of 10 de
grees. West of the mountains it exists
two degrees farther north.
in that portion of Genesee which is com
prised between the 18th and 18th degrees
of longitude. This observation, as |
shall have occasion to remark. is appli-
cable to several other vegetables the
northern limit of whose appearance va
rieS with the climate and this becomes
milder in advancing toward the west.
The black walnut is multiplied in the
forests about Philadelphia: and. with the
ern States. where the soil is too sandy.
or too wet. a. in the swampS. it is met
with to the banks of the Mississippi.
throughout an extent of two thousand
miles. East of the Allegheny mountains
in Virginia, and in the upper part of the
CarolinaS and of Georgia. it is chiefly
confined to the valleys where the soil is
deep and fertile. and which are watered
by creeks and rivers; in the western
country. in Genesee. and in the States of
Ohio and kentucky, where the soil in
general is very rich. it grows in the for
ests. with the cofiec-trec. honey locust,
red mulberry. locust. shellbark hickory.
black sugar maple. blackberry and red
elm-all which trees prove the goodness
of the soil in which they are found.
1t is in these countries that the black
walnut displays its full proportions. On
the banks of the Ohio, and on the islands
of that beautiful river. have often seen
trees three or four feet in diameter and
sixty or seventy feet in height. 1t is not
rare to find them of the thickness of six
or seven feet. Its powerful vegetation
clearly points out this as one of the larg-
est trees of America. When it stands in
sulated. its branches spread into spa
ciouS head. which gives it very maies-
tic appearance.
The leaves of the black walnut when
bruised emit a strong aromatic OdOr.
They are about eighteen inches in length,
pinnate. and composed in general of six.
seven or eight pairs of leaflets surmount-
ed by an odd one. The leaflets are OPP
poSite and fixed on short petiole>; they
are acuminate. Serrate. and somewhat
downv. The barren flowers are disposed
in pendulouS and cylindrical ament,, OF
which the peduncles are simple. unlike
those of the hickorie>. The fruit j.
round. odoriierou>. of rather an uneven
surface. and always appears at the eN-
tremity of the branches: on young and
vigorous trees it i sometimes seven OF
eight inches in circumference. The husl
is thick. and j. not, a. in the hckorieS
divided into sections. but when ripe il
soften> and gradually decays. The nu
Is hard. somewhat compressed at the
sides. and sulcatcd. The kernel. which i,
divided by firm ligneouS partitions, j. OF
sweet and agreeable taste. though infe
rior to that of the European walnut
These nuts are sold in the markets OF
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore
and served upon the tables. The size o.
/ al al
ponds upon the vigor of the tree and up
on the nature of the soil and of the eli
mate. ON the banks of the Ohio, and il
Kentucky. the fruit with the husk is sew
en- or eight inches in compass, with thu
nut proportionally large; in Genesee. OF
the contrary, where the cold is intense
and in fields exhausted by cultivation
where these trees have been preserved
since the first clearing of the land it i
not of more than half this volume. SOM
variations are observed in the form of tn
fruit and in the moulding of the shell
but these | consider as merely accidental
differences. Indeed. there is no genus o
trees in America in which the fruit of
given species exhibits such various form
as in the walnut; and doubtless this eli
cumstance has misled observers. who
being acquainted only with the SINAI
number of trees existing in Europea
gardens, have described them a distinC
species.
The bark of the black walnut is thicl
blackish, and, on old ltrees, deeply fun
rowed. When the timber is freshly cul
the sap is white and the heart of viol,
color. which. after short exposure to IN
air. assumes an intenser shade and be
comes nearly black; hence probably
, derived the name of black walnut. Their
E are several qualities for which its WOO
is principally esteemed. ltremains SCUM
during long time, even when expose
to the influence of heat and moisture
but this observation is applicable only
= the heart; the sap speedily decays.
is very strong and very tenacious: whe