BUTTERNUT. (Juglans cathartica.)

OIL NUT, WHITE WALNUT.

A large tree with a broad spreading head. In suitable situations it rises fifty or sixty feet, with a diameter of from three to four feet at this distance from the ground.

When young, this tree and its leaf strikingly resemble the Black Walnut; but when older they are easily distinguished. The fruit is similar in most respects to that variety, but is oval oblong; and the nut which is inclosed is oblong, rounded at the base and pointed at its summit. The kernel is sweet and abounds in a valuable oil.

USES.-The fruit is eaten at the dessert: for pickling it is superior, and is equally prized as the walnut. Its fruit preserved in the same manner as directed for the walnut, is equally excellent, and of equal medicinal efficacy. Pills formed by evaporating a decoction of the inner bark to a viscid consistence, are said to form one of the very best cathartics known. The timber is of a reddish hue, not strong but light and durable. It is never attacked by the sea worms. It is not liable to split, and its uses are the same as the bass wood.

CULTIVATION.-The cultivation of the Butternut is the same as the walnut; it flourishes in any good soil, on cold, unproductive, and rocky soils, on the steep banks of rivers.

CHESNUT. (Castanea.)

The European Chesnut was so named, from Castanea, a city of that name in Thessalia, from whence the Romans first received them. The chesnut is a large tree, of a fine form, rising sometimes to the height of eighty feet. The leaves are of an elongated form, coarsely serrated, of a fine shining green. A large globular prickly burr incloses two or three nuts of a dark brown color.

USES.

The fruit is used either boiled, roasted, or in a raw state. Phillips informs us that in the south of France, in Italy, and Savoy, they are made into puddings, cakes, and bread. And "chesnuts stewed with cream make a much admired dish; they make excellent soup; and stewed

and served with salt fish they are much admired." We are also further informed that there is now at Fortsworth, in Gloucestershire, a great chesnut tree, fiftytwo feet round; I which in 1150 was so remarkable that it was called The great Chesnut of Fortsworth. And Marsham states that this tree is 1100 years old. Lastly, the timber of this tree is almost incorruptible, and more durable than oak. Its durability is commensurate with the long life of the tree. Corsica, it is said, exports annually of this fruit to the amount of 100,000 crowns. The American Chesnut differs very little from that of Europe. The fruit is smaller but equally good. Its growth is very rapid. The bark for tanning is superior to oak.

CULTIVATION. The Chesnut is raised from the seeds planted in autumn the second year they are transplanted, and fine varieties are extended by grafting. A sandy or gravelly loam with a dry subsoil best suits them.

CHINQUAPIN. (Castanea pumila.)

The Dwarf Chesnut rises to the height of ten or twelve feet, but sometimes thirty or forty feet. The tree and its fruit are with but little variation, a miniature of the Chesnut just described. But the timber is finer grained, more compact, heavier, if not more durable. It flourishes in any dry soil. Its cultivation is the same as the walnut and chesnut. It is not found wild, north of Pennsylvania.

SHAGBARK HICKORY. (Juglans squamosa.)

The Shagbark or Shellbark is an elegant tree of a tall and stately form, rising to the height of 80 or 90 feet. Its height is very tall in proportion to its dimensions near the base; often from forty to fifty diameters.

The leaves are oval, acuminate, in five leaflets, of a beau tiful shining green above, glaucous beneath. When it has arrived to middle size, the outer bark separates in long thin plates or scales, warped out at the ends, giving the tree a shaggy and bristling appearance. In this respect it differs not only from other trees, but from other hickories; also in the fruit, which is round or oval, its hull very thick, covering a nut whose shell is always thin, and four lobed kernel, sweet. The timber of the shagbark always splits clear; it

works smooth; it is very compact, strong, and elastic, and is preferred to any other wood or hickory for axe handles, ox bows, and various domestic utensils where all these qualities are required.

CULTIVATION, SOIL, &c.. The cultivation of this tree is the same as the walnut. It flourishes in any good soil, even in low wet land.

PACANE NUT. (Juglans olivaformis.)

A beautiful tree, rising with a straight, well proportioned trunk, to the height of 60 or 70 feet. Each leaf consists of six or seven leaflets. The nut, which is encompassed with a thin hull, is an inch and a half long; cylindrical, pointed at its extremities, and has four slightly projecting angular ribs. The shell is smooth and thin, the kernel four lobed, and sweet.

FILBERT. (Corylus.)

A large shrub, with wood of an ash color; leaves alternate, roundish cordate. Its fruit is well known and highly esteemed. They are extensively cultivated in Europe. "In the neighborhood of Avelino, in Italy," says Swinburn, "the whole face of the neighboring valley is covered with them, and in good years they yield a profit of 60,000 ducats. And from a single wood near Recus, in Spain, sixty thousand bushels have been gathered in a single year and shipped from Barcelona, whence they are called Barcelona nuts." Phillips.

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Phillips further informs us, the produce of a single acre planted with filberts, has sometimes been sold for fifty pounds. And Loudon states that its returns are very profitable.

VARIETIES.

1. FRIZZLED FILBERT. Pom. Mag. One of the very best. The fruit is produced in threes or fives, sometimes more; rather small, oblong, flattened, the shell moderately thick, filled with the kernel, which is of good flavor. Very productive.

COSFORD NUT. Pom. Mag. A large oblong nut; shell

thin; kernel white, sweet, and of excellent quality. Very productive.

RED FILBERT. Loudon. Pom. Mag. Very fine flavored, but not productive.

COBNUT. Loudon. A large nut, shell thick, kernel sweet. PEARSON'S PROLIFIC. Pom. Mag. A great bearer. SPANISH or BACELONA. A large nut with a thin shell; this is the sort we usually import.

KNIGHT'S LARGE. Pom. Mag. Very fine.

AMERICAN FILBERT or HAZEL NUT. C. Americana. This native variety is small but sweet, and very productive, and by cultivation it may undoubtedly be wonderfully improved in size.

CULTIVATION. By seeds is not the best mode of raising, except to produce new varieties; by layers is best, as this preserves the kinds. A deep, dry, sandy loam, on a dry subsoil, is the best; according to the English writers, a well manured soil. In a rich moist soil they grow too luxuriantly to produce fruit. They require pruning and trimming to be kept low; the leading shoots are every year to be shortened two thirds or more.

SOUTHERN FRUITS.-CLASS I.

FRUITS WHICH MAY BE CULTIVATED IN THE SOUTHWESTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES TO THE LAT. Of 25o.

Most of these however may flourish in the Middle States, and a small portion may succeed in the Northwestern and Eastern States to the latitude of 43o.

FIG. (Ficus carica.)

THE Fig tree is a native of Asia; a deciduous tree in the temperate climates, but an evergreen within the tropics. In a warm climate it grows to a very large size. The branches smooth, of a dark ashen color; the leaves are cordate, ovate, three or five lobed, thick; the fruit grows on

the wood of the former year in the axils of the leaves; its form is turbinate; it contains a pulp of a sweet and delicious flavor. The fig forms an important article of culture in Barbary, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the south of France, for drying, and on the coasts of the Mediterranean and its Isles. In these countries it grows to a large size. It is also cultivated pretty extensively near Paris, for the supply of its markets. Here they are kept low, that they may be with the greater ease protected in winter. They are planted on the south sides of walls, buildings, and the southern declivities of hills. Phillips informs us that there is an orchard of a hundred standard fig trees near Worthing, in Sussex, England; its extent is three quarters of an acre. The trees are of the size of large apple trees and ripen their fruit as well as in any part of Spain. They are annually productive, and very profitable, ripening in August, September and October.

USES. The fig is a wholesome and delicious article of the dessert; and in those countries where it is extensively cultivated, it is not only eaten in a green or dried state, but fried or stewed, and in various ways, with or without bread or meat, as food. Figs are prepared by dipping them in scalding ley, made of the ashes of the fig tree, and then dried in the sun. And according to Dambourney, [See Dom. Enc.]" in dyeing, a decoction of the green branches and leaves imparts a deep gold color of a brownish red shade; but the leaves alone impart a very deep yellow color. And the substances thus dyed, retain a very agreeable fragrance for many months, even after being washed. "The wood of the fig tree is almost indestructible, and was formerly much employed in the East, for the preservation of embalmed bodies.' [Ib.]

VARIETIES.

ANGELIQUE. Lindley. Bon Jard.

MELITE, COURCOURELLE BLANCHE. Hort. Soc. Cat.

YELLOW ANGELIQUE. Bon Jard.

The fruit is small, its color yellow; form pyramidal; its pulp is white, but red at the centre, and of excellent flavor. This sort is cultivated in the neighborhood of Paris. COMMON BLUE. Mr Neill.

Sometimes called the Purple Fig, is of an oblong shape, and the tree is a great bearer. August.