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23 Aug 13 - 07:58 AM (#3552060) Subject: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: The Sandman the more you beat them the better they be. as regards walnut trees i understand its the end of the branches that are whipped, to make them fruit plentifully, has anyone tried it? |
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23 Aug 13 - 08:08 AM (#3552062) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST,henryp No, but I enjoy a Walnut Whip. |
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23 Aug 13 - 08:16 AM (#3552064) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: IanC Far as I know, it was always "a woman, a whelp, and a walnut tree". No idea about the first two but it was traditional to harvest walnuts by hitting a tree violently to shake the walnuts down. I've seen it done. It was also supposed to improve the walnut harvest (often a bit patchy) but I can't see any reason why it would, really. :-) |
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23 Aug 13 - 08:17 AM (#3552065) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: IanC A whelp is a puppy. |
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24 Aug 13 - 12:32 AM (#3552274) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: Crowhugger Generally, damage to growing tips of a plant cause it to branch--one always "pinches back" things like petunias,, tomato vines, marigolds, zinnias, coleus to name but a few, specifically to create more growing tips, which then bear more flowers. So I guess damage to the tips of walnut branches could promote similar branching, thus more flowers followed by fruit. This providing that no significant infection enters through the wounds and causes dieback. |
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24 Aug 13 - 12:40 AM (#3552276) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST walnut whips have diminished in size since I was a boy, or is it just my imagination? |
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24 Aug 13 - 03:18 AM (#3552292) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: MGM·Lion IanC ~ "it was always"...?! Surely you know better than to claim definitiveness for any variant of any traditional saying &c. Though 'whelp' has of course the advantage of alliterativeness, I must admit I had never come across it: a dog where I come from -- tho I have a dim recollection of once hearing someone substitute 'horse'. ~M~ |
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24 Aug 13 - 06:51 AM (#3552326) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: The Sandman , a story i was told by an old farmer,"i remember small boys throwing sticks at a walnut tree [branches ]to get the walnuts down, when the foot path was no longer used and boys did not walk that route and throw sticks at the branches the tree eventually stopped fruiting" |
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24 Aug 13 - 10:03 AM (#3552354) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: Lighter The "dog" version appears in America in The Red Badge of Courage (1894). |
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24 Aug 13 - 05:57 PM (#3552482) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: gnomad As a child I was told "A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree," etc, but I have no idea why that particular selection. As I understood it the tree was to be beaten around the trunk, but I cannot remember whether I was told so, or merely inferred it. |
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25 Aug 13 - 01:14 AM (#3552550) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: MGM·Lion Gnomad ~~ Because spaniels are proverbially so faithful that they respond to ill treatment with increased affection. See A Midsummer Night's Dream: Helena & Demetrius ~M~ Demetrius: Do I entice you? do I speak you fair? Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you? Helena: And even for that do I love you the more. I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you. |
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25 Aug 13 - 02:07 AM (#3552556) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST,henryp According to enthusiasts like Clive Simms, anyone in England, or even southern Scotland, with a reasonably-sized garden could plant a walnut, provided that it is sheltered from cold winds and not subject to spring frosts. As for "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree; the harder they are beaten, the better they be", he thinks the phrase originated on the Continent where long poles were used for harvesting nuts. These knocked down both the walnuts and any dead branches, limiting the spread of fungal infections. This beating would have also stimulated late-summer shoot formation - useful for a plant that flowers at the tips of stems formed the previous year. From The Daily Telegraph |
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25 Aug 13 - 02:14 AM (#3552557) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST,henryp The Isle of Capri `Twas on the Isle of Capri that I found her Beneath the shade of an old walnut tree Oh, I can still see the flowers bloomin' round her Where we met on the Isle of Capri |
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25 Aug 13 - 02:27 AM (#3552558) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST,Allen in OZ I think it was George Orwell who suggested that the kindest thing you could do for future generations was plant a walnut tree AD |
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25 Aug 13 - 04:16 AM (#3552574) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: gnomad Well there's a little mystery explained. Not being an enthusiast of any dogs I would be unlikely to have reached that (or any other) conclusion. Thanks Mr G-M. |
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23 May 19 - 03:40 PM (#3993626) Subject: RE: woman a dog and a walnut tree From: GUEST Best line of the movie by far!!! |