English walnut

“ This will husk them rapidly and well. We should promote the growing of more improved black walnuts. Most catalog nurseries still list seedling walnuts. We sold 3000 Thomas and Myers black walnut trees to one mail order nursery, and they could have used more.
English Walnuts
I tried all the California varieties, but these lacked hardiness. The Wiltz Mayette grew into a big fine tree but the 1940 Armistice Day freeze proved fatal. Breslau, Broadview, Schafer, and several others with some 25 Carpathian seedlings are just coming into bearing. Some give promise of adaptation here. ”

“ The white walnut, commonly known as the English walnut, is grown very extensively in France. All the departments of south central and southeastern France grow these walnuts as a valued crop. The best walnut orchards are at an altitude of from 600 to 900 feet. ”

“ The black walnut has a wider range than any of the other nut trees. Travel wheresoever you will about the country and you will observe wild black walnut trees growing almost on every farm. The planting of the Persian, or English walnut, as it is more generally known, has had more of a popular appeal, perhaps from the fact that we are accustomed to seeing clean, smooth nuts of uniform size of that variety in almost every grocery store, the kernels of which may be extracted without great effort. ”

“ Crossing often brings about great vegetative life at the expense of reproductive life, or the reverse. The young (second generation) hybrids of the black walnut and the English walnut show very great variation in their leaves, resembling neither parent. The hybrids of the English and California black walnuts are most rapidly growing trees and unusually productive. The first hybrid, of the English with the Japanese walnut, Juglans sieboldi, is largely like the Japanese in the nuts, but rather more like the English in foliage, the second generation being very variable as usual. ”

“ In some places they can only be cultivated with the hoe, a very distinctly un-American job, and yet the English walnut seems to pay the people under those conditions of labor. It is spreading over that peninsula and you find it spreading in the lowlands. ”

“ They do not grow only that we may have something delicious to eat. They ripen and fall on the ground, where some of them take root and grow up into trees themselves. If you plant a hickory-nut a little hickory-tree should come up, and it will if the conditions are all right. If you plant a walnut it will be a walnut-tree that will appear; so you see a nutshell is the seed-vessel of the nut-tree.
English walnuts do not grow wild in this country, but are cultivated here and you all know what the English walnut is like. Our American walnut is very hard to crack ”

“ That the age of bearing depends largely on the distance the tap-root has to grow to reach the sub-soil moisture.
Peculiarities of Growth
The growth of the English Walnut is different from that of most fruit trees. The small trees grow about six inches the first year, tap-root the same; the second year they grow about twelve inches, tap-root the same; the third year they grow about eighteen inches, tap-root nearly as much. For the first three years the tap-root seems to gain most of the nourishment, and at the end of the third year, or about that time, the tree itself starts its real growth. ”

“ Hershey. Mr. Greene said that the tree measured thirteen feet in circumference. You don't often see trees as large as that in any part of the country. That is in a part of the country where the English walnut has not done well. The tree must have been somewhere around 200 years old when it died. It was probably grown from a hybrid between an English walnut and a black walnut. Our American colonists brought the English walnut with them about the same time they brought our first apples and peaches and plums and everything else. ”

“ The fact is established that the Carpathian English walnuts have become aclimatized in South Ontario. This fall I had an opportunity to examine my walnut trees at many points in the Province. Everywhere I have seen the tree bearing. In Toronto in many a backyard, in Thorold South, in Welland, in Port Colboren, in Islington, near Port Hope on Prof. Currelly's estate, around Scarboro, Ont. and so on, the Carpathians are in good shape and all are bearing.
The more the trees mature, the better they look. On the average they are 20 years old, 20 feet tall and 6 inches thick. ”

“ The best territory to work in I find is the German settlements. They always were noted for their seed distributions in the early history of Pennsylvania. In justice to these frugal people, the Persian walnut should be called The Dutch nut. But the English were the great importers of these nuts and hence the name English walnut. The Germans today as they visit their Fatherland invariably bring a few nuts or trees with them, which keeps up the supply. Of course not all these seedling trees are [Pg 101] true to the variety desired. ”

“ English walnuts for dessert, walnut confectionery, walnut cake, walnuts in candy bags at Christmas time—thus far has the average person been introduced to this, one of the greatest foods of the earth. But if the food specialists are heard, if the increasing consumption of nuts as recorded by the Government Bureau of Imports is consulted—in short, if one opens his eyes to the tremendous place the walnut is beginning to take among food products the world over, he will realize that the walnut's rank as a table luxury is giving way to that of a necessity ”

“ The general tone of American black walnut is darker than that of the European species variously known as English, Italian, etc., they all being the same. But aside of the fact that American black walnut is darker, the degree of darkness varies considerably in various specimens. Walnut, especially black walnut, is a rather coarse, open-pored wood, with a heart growth which is well defined and of pleasing forms. The veneers which are sawed from walnut roots and forks of limbs, as in the crotch walnut, are very intricate and beautiful when all the details are well brought out by polishing. ”

“ I remembered from my boyhood that planting of English walnut seeds was surrounded by some mystery. It seemed to me that people in Ukraine regarded it as a very difficult matter to cultivate walnut trees.
Being under such a notion myself I asked a horticulturist how long the germination power of a walnut seed would last. He told me that it could prevail in a fresh walnut not longer than a week. He advised me in order to prevent walnuts from drying to dip them in melted parawax. Following that information I wrote my sister to parawax the walnut seeds before sending them to Canada. ”

“ Everybody must have noticed (in conducting his biological studies at dessert) that the distribution of the two lobes which make up the kernel in the walnut is extremely like that of the hickory; and the resemblance is equally close in all other important structural matters. The walnut shows decidedly more protective care in its coverings than any of the few and simple English nuts. Its outer husk is very bitter and nasty—so nasty that even a little of the flavoring matter off fresh walnuts clinging to one's fingers is enough to give a very unpleasant taste to any food one may touch afterward ”

“ The Santa Barbara English Walnut (soft-shell) variety is about ten days later than the Mission in starting growth and [22] in blooming in the Spring. It fruits from four to six years from seed and usually produces a full crop every year. It is not as strong a grower as the Mission and more trees can be grown to the acre. The shells are thin and easily broken, therefore the nuts are sometimes damaged in long shipment. ”

“ No one who grows English walnuts on their own roots need expect to be able to compete with those who grow them on the native black walnut roots, for when grown on these roots the trees will uniformly be larger and longer lived, will hardly be affected by blight and other diseases, and will bear from two to four times as many nuts, which will be of larger size and of much better quality. ”

“ In some Carpathians it was possible to detect cross-pollination with Asiatic walnuts by their harder shells, by partitions, by the shape of nuts, by the construction of the leaves and their odor, and in some cases by the color of bark.
By kernels all the Carpathian halfbreeds are English walnuts, differing group from group by the taste. I remember that only in 1898 in the bourg of Loubni, and in 1933 in the City of Kolomyja I came across two trees which resembled our black walnut. In both towns some people used to live in America, and coming home they could bring with them some American nuts. ”

“ When you plant another tree, why not plant the English Walnut? Then, besides sentiment, shade and leaves, you may have a perennial supply of nuts, the improved kind of which furnish the most delicious, nutritious and healthful food which has ever been known. The consumption of nuts is probably increasing among all civilized nations today faster than that of any other food ”

“ The walnut has adapted itself to the soil and climate of the British Isles in exactly the same measure as the Spanish chestnut—that is, it will thrive in all parts of the United Kingdom and grow to very large dimensions under reasonable conditions of shelter; but it will not produce fruit worth gathering in ordinary seasons north of the English Midlands. Its merit as a timber tree entitles it to far more attention from foresters than it now receives, for, indeed, it is one of the most valuable hardwoods that can be planted. ”

“ Any other small fruits may be planted in the orchard between the walnut trees or any cultivated crop can be raised satisfactorily on the same land, many orchardists gaining triple use of the soil in this way. Besides, the cultivation of the earth in proximity to the walnuts proves of great benefit to the trees. Before trees are planted the tap-root should be trimmed or cut back and most if not all the lateral branches trimmed from the tree. ”

“ Viewed as a comparatively new industry, the culture of the Persian or English Walnut is making remarkable strides in this country. Owners of farms and suburban estates everywhere are becoming interested in the raising of this delicious article of food, thousands of trees being set out every year. ”

“ The trunk of the largest one on the right is 10 feet in circumference, and is probably the largest English walnut tree in Oregon. They have some nuts every year, but are shy bearers, due no doubt to lack of proper pollination. The nut is not large, but is full of good meat and resembles the Parry. The trees are about two hundred yards from the Yamhill river, are hale and hearty and seem good for a few centuries. In fact, all of the seedlings examined in this county are healthy and vigorous. ”

“ Tulip Tree.—See Poplar.
Tupelo.—Same as Black or Sour Gum.
Ulmus.—See Elm.
Walnut.—Three species of walnut are used for road trees—black walnut, butternut, and English (Persian) walnut. The black walnut (Juglans nigra) makes a handsome tree when allowed to develop individually, from 90 to 125 feet high, and 3 to 8 feet in diameter with a normal spread about one-half the height of the tree. The edible nuts are the delight of the small boy and as they are usually gathered up from the ground after they fall their collection will not injure the tree. ”

“ It is a little difficult to understand why they should have been so neglected when there are records of single trees [7] bearing as much as 800 pounds of nuts in one year.
Six Year Old Bearing English Walnut Tree
In 1895 this country produced about 4,000,000 pounds, and more than 16,000,000 pounds of English Walnuts in 1907, with a proportionate annual increase each year to the present. ”

“ We also have some Japanese walnuts that are doing well indeed. One of these trees on the campus is 35 years old and produces a large quantity of nuts.
There are a number of English walnuts at various places along Lake Michigan in the fruit belt. Individual trees will often succeed, but the chances for success are not great enough to warrant a man putting very much money into a plantation. ”

“ English walnuts are not usually pruned much, though it is often desirable, and of course trees can be improved by removing undesirable branches and especially where too many branches have started from grafts, it is desirable that some be removed. ”

“ In California the nut industry is becoming a formidable rival of the orange; in fact, there are more dollars worth of nuts (all varieties) shipped from the state now per [8] year than oranges. One grower is shipping $136,000 worth of English Walnuts a year while another man, with an orchard just beginning to bear, is getting about $200 an acre for his crop. ”

“ A satisfactory start was made in propagating the prize-winning shagbark hickories of our 1932 contest and further work will be done with these kinds in the present season.
Good progress has been made in propagating our best varieties of black walnuts, English walnuts, and Chinese walnuts. We now have several trees some of which are quite large that have been top-worked to scions of Wiard, Allen, Grundy, Rowher, Ohio, Creitz, Carpenter, and Stambaugh black walnuts. In English walnuts we have Carpathian No. ”

“ Down they come glancing from bough to bough, and, striking the hard turf, the thick green rind splits asunder, and the walnut itself rebounds upwards. Those who buy walnuts have no idea of the fine taste of the fruit thus gathered direct from the tree, when the kernel, though so curiously convoluted, slips its pale yellow skin easily, and is so wondrously white. Surely it is an error to banish the orchard and the fruit garden from the pleasure-grounds of modern houses, strictly relegating them to the rear as if something to be ashamed of. ”