1426

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

Greeks afterwards called the walnut tree Caryon, on account of the heavinessof the head produced by its strong smell. When the walnut was introducedinto Europe is altogether uncertain; but it was cultivated by the Romansbefore the death of the Emperor Tiberius, and is supposed to have beenbrought from Greece by Vitellius. Strabo informs us that in Rome, at onetime, tables of the wood sold at a higher price than those of citron. Ovidwrote a little poem, entitled He Nuce, by which it appears that then, as now,walnuts were knocked down from the trees by boys; and that, at marriages,walnuts were thrown by the bride and bridegroom among the childrenwho surrounded them; a ceremony which was instituted to show thatthe bridegroom had left off his boyish amusements; or, perhaps, to signifythat the bride was no longer a votary of Diana. (See p. 1430.) Hence, pro-bably, is derived the French word for nuptials, des noces. In France, at thefestival of the Rosiere at Salency, in the department of the Oise (see p. 792.),in the sixth century, it is directed that an offering be presented to theyoung maid who is crowned, composed of walnuts and other fruits of thecountry. The walnut tree is now to be met with in every part of Europe,as far north as Warsaw; but it is nowhere so far naturalised as to produceitself spontaneously from seeds. In Britain, it has been in cultivation fromthe earliest period of botanical history, and, in all probability, since thetime of the Romans. It ripens its fruit in fine seasons, in the neigh-bourhood of Edinburgh, as a standard; and it lives against a wall as farnorth as Dunrobin Castle, in Sutherlandshire. It is much cultivated, in someparts of Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland, as a road-side tree.Micbaux says that it is more abundant in those parts of France which liebetween 45° and 48°, than in any other part of Europe; and that the fruit,the oil, and the wood may be considered as forming, in that region, some ofthe principal branches of commerce. This corresponds with what is statedby Evelyn. “Burgundy,” says that author, “abounds with walnut trees,where they stand in the midst of goodly wheat lands, at sixty and a hundredfeet distance; and so far are they from hurting the crop, that they are lookedupon as great preservers, by keeping the ground warm; nor do the rootshinder the plough. Whenever they fell a tree, which is only the old anddecayed, they always plant a young one near him ; and, in several places,betwixt Hanau and Frankfort, in Germany, no young farmer whatsoever ispermitted to marry a wife, till he bring proof that he is a father of such astated number of walnut trees; and the law is inviolably observed to thisday, for the extraordinary benefit which this tree affords the inhabitants.”{Hunter's Evelyn , p. 168.) “ The Bergstrass,” he adds, “ which extends

from Heidelberg to Darmstadt, is all planted with walnuts.” {Ibid., vol. i.p. 168. and p. 170.)

At different periods, there has been a great dearth of the wood of this tree inFrance, where, as in England, in time of war, it was much in demand forgun-stocks. It is a remarkable fact in the history of this tree, that, in thewinter of 1709, the greater part of the walnut trees of Europe, and moreespecially of Switzerland, France, and Germany, were killed ; or so far in-jured, as to render it advisable to fell the trees. The Dutch, at that time,foreseeing the scarcity of walnut timber that was likely to ensue, bought upall the trees that they could procure, in every direction, and sold them again,according to the demand, for many years afterwards, at a greatly advancedprice. In the year 1720, an act was passed, in France, to prevent the ex-portation of walnut timber, on pain of confiscation, and payment of a fine of3,000 livres. A great many walnut trees were, at that time, planted in ‘theroyal demesnes. In 1806, the manufacture of muskets required about 12,000trees yearly. In consequence of this, a great many plantations were made byindividuals; and a prize was given for the cultivation of the tree by theSociety for the Encouragement of Arts, in Paris. We have been informedby M. Michaux, in a letter dated December, 1834, that in 1818 he formed anursery of between five and six acres, for government, in the Bois de