Walnuts, by the way, have been roundly accused in the
public Press of being hostile to their neighbours. The same accus- ation is made against the elder. I doubt whether there is much, if any, justification for either charge, though the elder is greedy and therefore exclusive. It is true that you seldom find any other tree or any bush growing under a walnut ; and it may be that the black leaves which seem to " deli- quesce," almost like the mushroom of which the word is technically used, may be slightly poisonous. Nevertheless, great trees of many sorts will grow almost cheek by jowl with walnuts and as near as one tree ought to grow to another. Not nearly enough walnuts are planted in England. The crop is quite valuable and fairly regular. Doubtless the reason why the population of walnuts is going down is that the tree is slow to fruit. It often does not begin to bear for some fifteen years and does not become free-bearing for very many years more. But what a prize, aesthetically and in every other way, a good walnut may be !
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