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s'lt^ismo^ias^ 



Circassian ^Valnut 



The Forest Service lias published circular 212 on Circassian walnut 

 {Juglans regia). It was prepared by George B. SudwortU and 

 Clayton D. Mell, and is replete with information for those who buy, 

 sell, or use this wood. Many persons have experienced difficulty 

 in their attempt to secure statistics on the quantity used, the sources 

 of supply, and the cost of placing it on the market. Several other 

 matters concerning this interesting wood have been little understood, 

 and confusion and misunderstanding have resulted. The circular 

 just issued will clear up many of these points, and will prove interest- 

 ing to the general public. 



One thing which will surprise most people is that Circassian walnut 

 now- grows entirely round the world in the north temperate zone, 

 following the region of mild climate from northern China across 

 Asia, Europe, and the United States, to California. In most parts 

 of this belt which encircles the globe it is a planted tree. It is not 

 known just how large its original range was; but apparantly it 

 included the region near the southern shore of the Caspian and Black 

 seas, and it is not improbable that it spread from that country 

 both east and west by means of planting. It reached Europe a long 

 time before the Christian era, and it now grows in most of the 

 southern and western countries of that continent. The different names 

 ^ by which the tree is known include English walnut, French walnut. 

 Italian walnut, and Austrian walnvit. It is the tree which produces 

 the English walnuts and the Manchurian walnuts of commerce. It 

 has been extensively planted in California and grows well in the 

 southern states, bearing nuts abundantly as far north as Washington, 

 D. C. 



It is the wood and not the nuts that interests lumbermen. Planted 

 trees have never developed wood with the beautiful figure obtained 

 from that which grows wild on the rugged mountains south of the 

 Caspian and Black seas. Some excellent material comes from the 

 region northwest of the Himalaya mountains in India where it is not 

 improbable the tree grows naturally. At any rate, specimens nine 

 feet in diameter and over one hundred feet high have been reported 

 in that region, and pure forests of considerable extent oecjir. That 

 timber is now a 'long distance from market. 



Circassian walnut is bought by the pound at shipping ports. The 

 weighing is done while the logs are in the rough, with the bark on, 

 and of course the sapwood is weighed also, though it is useless to 

 the purchaser. The sap is from four to six inches thick, and the 

 purchaser of the logs removes it and ships the heart only. He thus 

 leaves behind as useless about half the wood he buys at four cents a 

 pound equivalent to about $200 a thousand feet board measure. It 

 can be readily understood that the chips in a Circassian walnut ship- 

 ping yard constitute a very 'costly waste heap. 



After the purchaser has bought the logs and prepared them for 

 shipment, he must pay — if in Eussia — an export duty of $20 a ton 

 to the government. Next comes the freight charges on the long haul 

 to market. If the wood is for the United States where most of it 

 finds market, it must be shipped from 6,000 to 9,000 miles before it 

 reaches the factory where it is converted into veneer or other products. 

 It is believed that about 2,.50O,000 feet, log measure, of Circassian 

 "%valnut reaches the United States yearly. 



The cost of cutting the logs and delivering them at the seaports 

 or other points of shipment is high. They are hauled long distances 

 over poor roads. The green wood is too heavy to iloat, and log drives 

 of this walnut are unknown. So excessive is the labor which is 

 necessary in transporting the timber from the mountain fastnesses 

 to shipping points, that those who sell the logs at the high price of 

 four cents a pound make little more than living wages. 



No other timber tree has been exploited more than Circassian 

 walnut, and the demand for it has always been greater than the 

 available supply. Much of the Circassian walnut now used in 

 various parts of the world comes from the shores of the Black sea. 

 and from other regions as far as Persia. The greatest outlet of 

 soutliern Eussia is probably from Odessa. None of the wood grown in 

 western Europe is shipped to this country. That grown in Englaml is 



not equal in quality to the wood J'rom the Caucasus, though it is 

 nuich souglit after for furniture, and particularly for gunstooks. 

 In fact, the demand for these purposes in western Europe is so great 

 that the domestic supply invariably fails to meet it, and at times there- 

 has boon great dearth of the wood there. Realizing the importance 

 of a home supply, France passed an act in 17:10 prohibiting the 

 exportation of Circassian walnut. The shortage of supply in Europe 

 has been due chiefly to the enormous demand for guustocks in times 

 of war. The wood of approximately 12,000 trees was required early 

 in the nineteenth century for this purpose alone. In consequence, 

 large numbers of plantations were established throughout England, 

 France, and Germany. Some of these were very extensive ; one founded 

 in 1818 near Boulogne, France, contained about 30,000 trees. 



Widespread consumption of Circassian walnut for gunstocks and 

 furniture continued in Europe until its cost became very high and 

 importation began from the Orient. Liverpool and London were 

 then, and still are, the chief ports of entry from which Circassian 

 walnut is reshipped to continental Europe and to some extent to the 

 United States. 



Profit from growing Circassian walnut in Europe for timber is 

 much less than it once was, both because large quantities (about 

 20,000,000 feet) of our native black walnut are annually shipped 

 there, and because the wood is now coming from the East. 



Dry Circassian walnut weighs about forty-five pounds per cubic 

 foot, is hard, compact, easy to work and split, moderately tough, 

 and durable in contact with the soil. It shrinks very little in season- 

 ing and does not crack or warp. The heartwood is dark chocolate 

 brown, often shading from light brown to black. Burled and other 

 highly figured forms of the wood take a beautiful finish. Eadial 

 (edge-graiu) and tangential (bastard) cut boards are always lighter 

 in tone than transverse sections. In light-colored sticks the annual 

 rings of growth are clearly but not strikingly defined, but in dark 

 specimens are very indistinct. The pores are irregidarly scattered. 



The wood of trees grown in poor upland and hilly soils has a 

 beautiful fine grain and texture, while the wood grown in rich low- 

 land soils is much coarser and less beautifully marked. The hest 

 qualities of timber are obtained from vigorous sound trees over 

 one hundred years old, which rarely have a clear length of more than 

 twelve feet. The most beautifully veined wood is in the roots and 

 burls, the latter being particularly common on trees near the Black 

 sea. The grain in such growths is so interwoven and twisted as 

 to produce the most curious and irregular figures, giving the wood an 

 unequalled value for veneer. A single tree of fine figure sometimes 

 sells for several thousand dollars. Expert agents who are em- 

 ployed by large dealers in this wood are constantly in the prin- 

 cipal markets on the lookout for exceptionally fine logs, and when 

 one is discovered it is purchased without inuih rc^aril for the 

 price asked for it. 



Various woods are sold as substitutes or imitations of Circassian 

 walnut. Although it is usually easy for expert buyers to recognize true 

 rircassian walnut in the logs, it is often difficult to distinguish the 

 wood from some of its substitutes when these have been skillfully 

 stained and finished. There are many good African, Asian, and 

 South American woods which are similar in structural qualities to 

 Circassian walnut, though none possesses the magnificent figure, 

 delicate tones, and velvety texture of the walnut. Chief among the 

 woods which resemble Circassian walnut in general appearance is 

 the so-called satin walnut, tussel wood, hazel pine, or red gum 

 {Liquidambar .itiiraciflua) of the United States, the wood of which 

 has been .sold as Circassian walnut both for furniture and for interior 

 finish. The wood from butt logs of red gum is often handsomely 

 veined and mottled, and is strikingly similar in general appearance 

 to Circassian walnut. Butternut is so similar in color and grain to 

 Circassian walnut that it could be substituted for the less handsomely 

 figureil wood of the latter. The light and dark browns, and the 

 black veining of the Oriental wood, however, readily distinguish it 

 from the solid brown shade of butternut. 



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