Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/315

285&#93; WAL we are informed by Bechstein, that sheep are so remarkably partial to the Codded Mouse-ear, as "to run after it." Wall-pepper, See Pepper- St ONE- CROP. Wall-wort. See Dwarf-EL- DER. WALNUT-TREE, or Juglans, L. a genus of exotic trees compre- hending 8 species ; the principal of ■which is the regia, or Common Walnut-tree. It is originally a native of Persia, and attains, in this country, the height of from 50 to do feet ; having a beautiful ere£l trunk, that branches out into a large spreading crown, which is furnish- ed with pinnated leaves. There are numerous varieties, generally raised for their palatable fruit, which ripens from the beginning of September till the end of October ; but the most esteemed are the Double Walnut, the Large Wal- nut, the French Walnut, the Thin- skinned, and the Late Walnut. The Common Walnut-tree is propagated by drilling the ripe, dry nuts, together v.ith their ex- ternal rind, at the distance of one inch from each other, and in rows nine inches asunder j in a light garden soil, that has been well ploughed or trenched. If the au- tumn be dry, they may be sown in that season ; in the contrary case, the nuts must be preserved in dry sand till the month of Fe- bruary, or early in March, when they may be set in the manner above directed. In the succeeding winter, it will be advisable to shel- ter the nuts either with rotten dung, decayed leaves, or with tan- •jier's waste, over which flat stones or slates may be placed, till they begin to shoot, when such cover- ins will become useless. Should WAL [285 the ensuing summer prove dry, it will be proper to water the young plants ; and those in a prosperous condition may be removed in au- tumn, into beds arranged in rows one foot asunder, and at the dis- tance of four inches from each other in the row : the weaker plants must be suffered to remain in the seed-bed for another year. Thus, the Walnut- trees ought tobe trained with single stems, till attaining the height of six or seven f( et ; when they maybe suffered to form heads j as the branches will then be above <he reach of cattle. The trees should now be trans- planted to a deep rich soil (though they also flourish on chalky lands), six feet asunder, and in rows at a similar distance, in the form of a quincunx, till they bear fruit. Such as promise to be the most produc- tive, may then be seletled, and left for bearing, while the others are to be planted out for timber : the for- mer must be thinned as they in- crease in size, by removing every intermediate tree, till they stand at the distance of from 24 to 4S feet from each other, according to the richness of the soil, and the progressive growth of the trees. In trimming the stems of Wal- nut-trees, Mr. Forsyth directs the shoots and small branches to be separated close to the hole, or trunk j but, when the operation of lopping is performed, or any diseased, da- maged, or cross branches, are to be pruned, he recommends the ex- cision to be made at a fork, or eyej as part of the branch will, other- wise decay, and thus materially injure the tree : in ' both cases, hovs-ever, it will be requisite imme- diately to apply the composition already described, vol. i. p. 88 } and 2:i3 of the present vol. The