WALNUT TREES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 8

WALNUT TREES.

Every one admires walnut trees, but. oddly, very few attempt to grow them. They are fairly quick in growth. They are generally seen with stems from five to eight feet in height, with a bushy, well-balanced head. Tho leaves are plentiful and luxuriant. Their colour is a pale green, and they are agreeably aromatic. The wood or timber of the walnut is amongst the choicest and most expensive grown in this country, and it is surprising that enterprising planters have never cultivated the trees as a timber crop. Then there i 3 the fruit. This is very valuable. There is a great demand for uin two ways. The first is to pickle when green. I need say nothing as to how acceptable they are in that form. "Where any choice pickles are put on ths table, the walnuts are preferred by 10 out of every dozen who eat pickle.«. They are an aristocratic pickle, and quite superior to the common mixture of little cucumbers, onions, and cauliflowers, which are generally served in a yellow, mustard-like sa\ice. The nuts themselves are always used amongst the best dessert fruits when obtainable, and if those who are fond of them in either of these ways would only grow their own,-rhey would be greatly pleased with the superior quality of the nuts when gathered at home to those bought in shops. The tree is; perfectly hardy in all parts. It has a constitution as robust as the oak. It will thrive in all ordinary soils and situations, and it never fails to bear as freely and as often as the ap^le or the pear. They may be planted in fields as orchard trees, or in kitchen gardens, but they are so ornamental whe.i in leaf that they ara exceedingly rppiopiiAte as la\>n ticct. Tiiey

are in n>, w:iy -nti of eiaiacter in such a position, if theie is not a disposition to plant many of them, one or two should bo introduced to all garden' of any pretension*. There is a Very large fruiting sort, but the ordinal y walnut is the best. — Exchange.