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Birds and All Nature, Vol. V, No 1, January 1899

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<h2>NUTS.</h2> 1. The English walnut (Inglandaceæ) has a thin shell. This nut is much esteemed and is an important article of commerce. It yields by expression a bland fixed oil, which, under the names of "walnut oil" and "nut oil," is much used by painters and is a common article of food. 2. The peanut (Arachis) is also called ground nut and earth nut. It is cultivated in all warm regions of the globe, and its usefulness is such that it is likely to extend. It was introduced from Peru into Spain, and thence into France. It succeeds in favorable situations and yields from eighty to one hundred fold. Its cultivation is so general in the eastern parts of Africa, and even in the interior, that doubts have been therefore entertained of its American origin, of which, the most eminent botanists seem to be quite satisfied. The fruit is sometimes eaten raw, but generally boiled or roasted. The importance of the plant is chiefly owing to the fixed oil contained in it, which is used for the same purposes as olive or almond oil. 3. The Brazil nut is the fruit of the Bertholletia excelsa, a large tree of the order Lecythidaceæ, found chiefly on the Orinoco. The shell is very hard, and contains a rich, oily meat in one piece like an almond. The Portuguese early carried on an extensive trade in these nuts. They are now chiefly imported from Para, and continue to form an article of great commercial importance. When fresh, they are highly esteemed for their rich flavor; but they become rancid in a short time from the great quantity of oil they contain. This has been largely extracted for use in lamps. 4. The hickory nut (Carya alba) abounds near the great lakes and in some parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The nuts are in considerable demand and are sometimes exported. The shell is thin, but hard, and the kernel sweet. The oil, which was used by the Indians as an article of food, was obtained from it by pounding and boiling. 5. The filbert is the fruit of the Corylus avellana or hazel. The kernel has a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable to the palate. In England filberts are usually large hazel nuts. The American hazel nuts are of two other species. 6. The chestnut (Castanea vesca) is eaten raw, boiled, or roasted, or is ground into meal and puddings, cakes, and bread are made from it. The tree is common to Europe and America. 7. The pecan (Carya olivalformis), sometimes called the Illinois nut, a species of hickory nut. The shell is thin and the meat well flavored. The tree grows in North America, chiefly in the Mississippi valley, and in Texas, where it is one of the largest of forest trees. 8. The almond (Amygdalus) grows on a tree about twenty or thirty feet high, a native of the East and of Africa, but has now become completely wild in the whole south of Europe. It is planted for the sake of its beautiful flowers, which resemble those of the peach in form and color. The wood of the tree is hard and of a reddish color, and is used by cabinet-makers. But it is chiefly valued on account of the kernel of its fruit, well known by the name of almonds, an important article of commerce. It is mentioned in the Old Testament, and appears to have been cultivated from a very early period. It was introduced into Britain as a fruit-tree before the middle of the sixteenth century, but it is only in the most favored situations in the south of England that it ever produces good fruit. It is successfully cultivated in southern California. Almonds are either sweet or bitter. The bitter appear to be the original kind, and the sweet to be an accidental variety, perpetuated and improved by cultivation. [Pg 27] <table class="sp2 mc w50 p2" title="NUTS." summary="NUTS."> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"> <ANTIMG style="width:100%" src="images/i_054.jpg" width="444" height="600" alt="" /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Almond.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">Life-size.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">COPYRIGHT 1899, NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Chestnut.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">Filbert.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Pecan.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Brazil nut.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">Peanut.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Hickory nut.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30"> </td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40"> </td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">English walnut.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr class="chap" /> [Pg 29] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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