June 10. 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



and situation may influence the work. Yet, it seems certain that cli- 

 mate must have something to do with the matter. The finely-figured 

 Circassian walnut is from trees grown among the mountains border- 

 ing the southern shores of the Caspian sea, in Asia. These trees, for 

 the most part, are from old orchards that were profitable a century or 

 more ago for the nuts they produced. The same walnut grows wild 

 in the region, and some of the fine figures come from the wild trees. 



The English, French and Italian walnuts of Europe are the same 

 species, the Circassian transplanted into those countries by the 

 Romans, or at earlier or later dates. The transplanted trees in 

 Europe do not produce the rich figures found in the wood from the 



-■ F fVl AX^ELU 



COMMERCIAL RANGE OF BLACK WALNUT 



This tree grows outside the shaded area of the map, but nine-tenths ot 



the supply comes from within that area 



Caspian region. The shades in the European figure is not so deep 

 as that from the mountains of Asia, and the contrasts are not so 

 striking. The difference cannot be due to the age of the trees, for 

 those in Europe are as old as any. This walnut was growing in Italy 

 and Greece, and perhaps in France, two thousand years ago, but for 

 some reason, the figure of the introduced tree is not so strong as in 

 the same species on its native hills. 



There are, of course, great differences in the figures of individual 

 trees in the same region, where environment, age, and size are the 

 same. That is as true of American walnut as of Circassian. It is 

 equally true of red gum, and is in even greater evidence there, for 

 some gum trees have finely figured wood while others like them in 

 every other respect, possess no figure. 



Woods With Pigment Figures 



A little of this figure is liable to occur at times in any wood. A 

 band or two or a splotch or cloud may form now and then, without 

 repetition. It takes repetition to produce figure. But, there are only 

 two woods of the United States where pigment figures of this class 

 are of commercial importance. One is walnut, the other red gum. 

 There are three species of black' walnut — that occurring in the East 

 and the Mississippi valley, which furnishes the black walnut of com- 

 merce; that in Texas, New Mexico and California, known as western 

 or Mexican walnut; and that confined to the Pacific coast and known 

 as California walnut. All of these possess the characteristic pigment 

 figure ; but the Mexican and California species are small of size and 

 few in number, and they amount to practically nothing as a source 

 of lumber supply. The common black walnut is the source of 

 American walnut figured wood. 



The other figured American wood is red gum {LiquAdam'bar Sty- 

 raciflua). Lumbermen sometimes speak of "gum" and "red gum" 

 when they refer to this tree. The light-colored sapwood they call 

 ' ' gum ' ' and the colored heartwood ' ' red gum. " It is not necessary 

 to make that distinction, in speaking of the figured wood, for it oc- 

 curs in the sapwood as well as in the heart, but the figured heartwood 

 is often preferred. 



There is room for confusion of species when speaking of gum. 

 Five kinds of trees bear that name in this country, black gum, water 

 gum, cotton gum, sour tupelo, and red gum. Though all bear the 

 same common name, red gum is not akin to the others. Not only are 

 their names the same, but there is a general resemblance in the ap- 



pearance of the trees of the different species. They look as much 

 alike as the different species of maple look alike. Red gum's only 

 near relative in this country is witch hazel, and these two no more 

 resemble than a mouse looks like a race horse. The gum is a tail, 

 shapely tree, and the hazel is a squat shrub. 



All red gum trees do not contain figured wood. Neither is it con- 

 spicuous in all walnuts. Certain trees of both species have the pig- 

 ment figures highly developed, while it is largely or wholly lacking 

 in others. 



The figure due to the deposit of coloring matter irregularly in the 

 wood of growing trees is found in some of the minor species of this 

 country, but the supply is not sufBcient to be attractive. The figure 

 in olive wood 4s often fine and the colors pleasing. It is shown to 

 advantage in small articles for sale on souvenir stands, and purporting 

 to come from Palestine. Some of them doubtless do come from there, 

 but others do not. Olive wood is grown in certain parts of the 

 United States, chiefly in California where trees a hundred years old 

 are pointed out in the vicinity of old Jesuit missions. The trunk of 

 the olive tree is usually deformed and irregular, and is not suited 

 to the cutting of veneers of appropriate sizes for use. Besides, the 

 fruit is worth more than the wood. The annual output of oil from 

 the fruit of a single tree in Italy or Palestine may be worth a hun- 

 dred dollars. It is evident that only dead trees wiU be cut for the 

 wood so long as the fruit pays well. No olive trees of the United 

 States yield that well, but they may do so when they reach full 

 maturity. 



A species of ironwood {LyonotJiamnus floribundiis) , which grows on 

 the Santa Barbara islands, off the coast of southern California, 

 yields wood of beautiful flgure due to the deposit of bands and streaks 

 of coloring matter ; but the trunks are disappointing because of their 

 smallness, and the tree 's range is quite limited. The best develop- 

 ment is on the island of Santa Cruz where trunks cling to the rocky 



PRINCIPAL REGION OF RED GDM 



Eighty per cent of the cut of this wood grows in the territory represented 



by the shaded area of the map 



slopes far up the mountain sides, and the clusters of small berries 

 furnish food for wild turkeys. No manufactured products other than 

 of small wares, need be expected from this tree. 



Future Supplies 



The future supply of figured wood of this class in this country 

 may be expected to come from red gum, black walnut, and possibly 

 Circassian walnut planted here. The Circassian 'walnut has been 

 growing in this country for more than a hundred and fifty years, some 

 trees having been planted near Philadelphia prior to 1750. More 

 than a million planted trees are under cultivation in this country now. 



