Pistachio-nut.—Pistachio-nuts are the produce of Pistachia vera, u native of W. Asia, whence it has been introduced into S. Europe, and has there become very largely cultivated. The nuts are very generally eaten by the Turks, Greeks, and natives of S. Europe, either simply dried as a dessert-fruit, somewhat resembling almonds, or made into articles of confectionery. We import them iu small quantities, both shelled and unshelled. The exports from Aleppo in 1878 were :-7 tons, value 420/., to France ; 32 tons, 1920/., to Turkey ; and 8 tons, 480/., to Egypt. Bagdad in 1878 exported 9 cwt , value 521., to India and Europe.
Sapucaya-nut.—The seeda of Lecythis Zabucajo occasionally come in small quantities to this country. The tree is a native of Venezuela, Guiana, and Brazil, and grows indifferently on the terra firme, in the swamps, and on the edge of the flood-plains. The nuts are likely to supersede the closely-allied Brazil-nuts as a dessert-fruit, being far superior in flavour, and easier of digestion. They are more than 2 in. long and 1 in. wide. Our supplies are drawn from the Brazilian forests, and are shipped at Para. The seeds of L. ollaria, whose fruits are known as "monkey-pots," and sometimes used in ornamental turnery, are less palatable.
singhara-nut of India is the produce of two species of water-chestnut, Trapa bispinosa and 7'. quadrispinosa, which flourish in the lakes of Cashmere, and in the ordinary water-tanks all over the upper provinces of Bengal. In Cashmere, the cultivation of these nuts is a most important industry, and it is estimated that they feed 30,000 people far 5 months in the year. Their more extended growth in all lakes, peels, and inland waters in all parts of India is strongly urged as a step towards preventing future famines. The harvest or season when the nuts are mature lasts for 3 months, and the nuts may be stored for years in their horny outer skin, or the kernels may be taken out and sun-dried, and will then remain good for a long time. Another species, T. ratans, is cultivated in S. Europe, and its nuts are often ground, and made into bread. Yet another species, 7'. bicornis, is the ling of the Chinese, whose seeds also form a considerable article of food.
Soap-nut.—The name "soap-nuts " or " soap-berries " is applied to the seeds of several species of Sap/re/ills, from the fact of their being used in the tropics as a substitute for soap, their outer covering or shell containing a saponaceous principle in sufficient quantity to produce a lather with water. Among the species thus used are 5. Barmy and S. emarginatus in the Old World, and S. Saponaria and S. infrqualis in the New. The round, hard, black seeds are used for small articles of turnery, and S. emarginatus affords a medicinal oil in India (see Oils). The seeds of Acacia concinna are used in India in the same manner as the soap-nuts proper. Soap-seeds figure largely
in Chinese commerce. Hankow exported 1183 piculs, value 3441., in 1879. Shanghai, in 1879, imported 1788 piculs from Chinese ports, of which, 744 were retained for local consumption.
Walnut.—The fruit of the common walnut (Juglans regia) is too well known to need descrip tion. The tree is found native from Greece and Asia Minor, over Lebanon and Persia, along the Hindu Kush to the Himalayas, and from the Caucasus almost throughout China, besides having been introduced generally throughout temperate Europe. In portions of the Alps and Apennines, it is very abundant, and is fairly plentiful in the forests of Lazistan, on the Black Sea, but is perhaps most common in Cashmere, whence come the walnuts imported into the plains of India. The green nuts form an esteemed pickle, and the ripe ones an equally favourite dessert-fruit, while in some places they are treated for the extraction of a valuable oil (see Oils—Walnut). Our supplies come mostly from the Continent. China produces immense quantities : the exports from Hankow in 1878 were 10,560 piculs (of 133i lb.), and in 1879, 9766 piculs, value 12,829/. ; the exports from Chefoo fell from 5001 piculs in 1870 to 1693 in 1879.
Preparations of the walnut are included among medicinal agents on the Continent, notably an extract of the dry leaves. From experiments made with preparations from leaves collected in June, and in October, and leaves 12 months old, it would appear that the full-grown leaves may be collected at any period during fine weather, even as late as October, when they can be removed without injuring the tree. The extract should be prepared with such leaves recently dried. The leaves falling in autumn should not be used, though there is reason to suspect that they are often employed in preparing the commercial extract. When the leaves are of good quality, they have a fine green colour on the upper surface, and a darker green beneath, with brown petioles. They have a parchment-like texture, an aromatic odour, and a freely bitter and astringent flavour. Altered leaves lose most of their odour and flavour, and assume a brownish tint. Fallen autumn leaves sometimes show yellow spots.
Imports.—Our imports of nuts and kernels, mostly used for expressing oils therefrom, in 1879, were as follows :—From the W. coast Africa (foreign), 11,629 tons, value 158,571l.; Gold Coast, 9666 tons, 131,094/. ; Australia, 4845 tons, 95,319/. ; Pacific Islands, except Fiji, 3041 tons, 61,413/. ; British W. Africa, 2748 tons, 33,9941. ; other countries, 2437 tons, 41,379/. ; total, 34,366 tons, 521,7701.
Bibliography.—P. L. Simmonds„ Nuts, their Produce and Uses' (Jour. Soc. Arts., Vol. xx., No. 1014, London : 1872 P. L. Simmonds, ' Tropical Agriculture' (London : 1877).