North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>]

Lucky didn't get the poem quite right, at least not the traditional version 
from Europe. It's donkeys, wives, and walnut trees that are said to improve 
from beating.  I don't know much about donkeys, will pass on that part.  I 
suspect you can get women to work harder by beating them, but it probably 
makes them a lot less fun to have around.  Walnuts are prone to excessive 
vegetative growth and prolonged juvenility.  The approved method was to beat 
them with iron chains, which should not break the bark but should reduce the 
sap flow enough to slow the tree growth and encourage it to begin bearing. 
Donna