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    260 FRUITS IN THEIR SEASON.

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    $. Pheasant Are The Fresh Fruits That De...

    it with the idea of a yellow color in the fruit , without considering that the ancients applied this poetical term to whatever was excellent

    of its kind , Venus even being called by Homer , ' Golden Venus / so that in fact the word is only used to express that Hercules brought

    to Greece some very superior kind of fruit . Being regarded as the atron of agricultureand more particularly of fruit cultureit was

    p the custom to offer to , this divinity the tenth of all fruits , but , the white poplar , the quince , and a certain hind of acorn , were peculiarly

    consecrated to him . Now in all probability this acorn so specially devoted to himwas merely a fruit with a hard shella nutin fact ,

    for we learn from , Theophrastus that the Greeks classed , nuts , and acorns together as of one family , from their similar nature , each

    having a kernel within a shell . One of the best of this family bore the name of Jupiter ' s Acornand was also termed the Nut of

    Hercules , a conjunction which fairl , y leads to the supposition that the former name may have been bestowed because it was brought to

    Greece from the garden of the gods , and the latter because Hercules was the bringer-while the descrition given of it by Theophrastus

    and other ancient , writers _sufficientl p y identifies it with our modern walnut . " The notion of its being the same fruit which had been

    presented as a marriage gift to Juno is certainly countenanced by the universal classical custom of strewing the nuts at weddings ,

    though this use for them is thought by some to have been derived from the fact of the tree itself being dedicated to Dianathe

    nut-, strewing therefore having been an allusion to the bride ' s taking her leave of the vestal goddess . The opinion entertained of the

    tree fully justified its being consecrated to celibacy , for * it seems to have been considered onlfit to grow by itselfsinceaccording to

    Pliny , nothing else could y thrive near it , its shade , being , as baneful to man as to vegetationcausing head-ache and other ill effects .

    This , however , is flatly contradicted , by Evelyn , who held the walnut in peculiar honor , and after asserting that it was doubtless looked

    on as a symbol consecrated to marriage , for the amiable reason that it protected its offspring in such manifold ways , alluding to the

    coverings of the nut , declares further , that so far from causing headache it is rather a specific against it , while to show the fallacy of

    the other part of the libel he adduces Burgundy as an instance where these trees may be seen standing amid thriving crops of

    wheat . Later writers seem rather to side with the classic authority upon the subject , but it is agreed , that whatever injurious effects

    may be produced by the tree , in all probability they arise chiefly from . the decaying leavesand that if these be carefully removed as they

    fallno harm will , then ensue . Travellers on the Continent especiall , y in Germany , have many opportunities of testing whether ,

    its shade ought to be shunned , though it would sometimes be no matter to avoid itsinco it is often found bordering the high

    road easy for an extent of m , any miles ; and in the _neighborhood of

    Frankfort it was held in such special esteem that the young

    260 Fruits In Their Season.

    260 FRUITS IN THEIR SEASON .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1860, page 260, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121860/page/44/