WALNUT

the nut of a fleshy-husked fruit borne by a large tree extensively cultivated in many parts of the world. Those always implied commercially by the simple title of ‘‘walnut’’ are of varieties of Juglans regia, indigenous to the mountainous regions of Greece and eastward to the Him a lay as. Trees of this species were planted in California very early in its history and some of them thrived, but so significant was the crop, and so completely overshadowed by importations, chiefly by way of England, that until recently the type was distinguished from our native walnuts by the title of ‘‘Knglish walnut,’’ or, le frequently, ‘‘Persian walnut.’’? During the last few decades there has come about a radical shift in conditions. The United States now grows large quantities of ‘‘English walnuts,’? California’s orchards supplying more than half of our total consumption, and the change is recorded in the gradual dropping of the ‘‘English’’ qualification and the present practise of distinguishing the native nuts by qualified titles, as ‘‘black,’’ ete. In normal seasons, under general conditions, gathering the nuts consists chiefly of picking them up from the ground, the husks opening and permitting the nuts to drop when they are ripe. Those which do not are ‘‘poled’’ from the tree and husked. If the season has been an especially dry one, poling and husking may be nece ary for a large percentage of the crop. The gathering is followed by various proce es of cleaning, bleaching (if nece ary to remove discolorations and give the desired light tan color), and grading. The packing most sought consists of medium-large nuts of uniform size with thin, smooth shells. France furnishes about three-quarters of the walnuts imported (thirty million pounds or so a year), the bulk of the balance coming from China and Italy. The French are generally known as Grenobles, subdivided into two principal grades— pure ‘‘Mayettes’’ (the highest type of walnut) and ‘‘Commercials,’’ the latter including Marlots, Cornes, Lots, Cahors, etc. The best Italian are the ‘‘Sorrentos.”’ The two chief species of native North-American walnuts are the Black — with thick, heavily ridged shells, generally round, sometimes rather flattened, and occasionally pointed--which offers nut-meat excellent in quality but held within woody receptacles so strong that nut-picks may be required to extract it; and the (generally) oblong ‘‘White,’’ more commonly known as the Butternut (which see). The adjectives ‘‘black’’ and ‘‘white’’ refer to the comparatively dark and light colors of the barks of the trees—that of the Black walnut being brown and that of the White being grey. The nuts of both are dark-shelled when ripe. The native walnuts are not—as edible nuts—able to compete on even terms with those of the regia species, but four of them—the Black, of the eastern and central states, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and three others (two of California Drying walnuts, California a and the third of southwestern states)—have proved of great importance to the nut grower as they furnish the best stock on which to graft the regia scions. It is po ible that the future may see such improvement of native varieties that commercial walnut-growing may be extended throughout a wider range of conditions than is po ible with regia trees. The green whole fruits, gathered before the enclosed nut-shells harden, make excellent pickles. The husks and the juice of the green fruits are also used in the manufacture of hair and other dyes, and the bruised leaves have an aromatic odor which drives away moths. In some parts of the world the trees are tapped for their sugar-yielding sap as we tap the sugar-maple. See also the general article on Nuts and the color-page facing 346. Walnut Oil, a delicate oil of nutty flavor, holds in Germany and Switzerland much of the place filled by olive oi] in France and Italy. It is obtainable here, though it is not sold to any considerable extent. _ IMG:pg-711.jpg:illustration, p. 711 IMG:pg-717.jpg:illustration, p. 717