To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] Beating walnut trees
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 21:21:45 -0600
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
[NAFEX] Beating walnut trees,
Donna &/or Kieran, 12/07/2006