feet long and 15 to 30 inches square. However, 30,000,000 feet B. M. 

 of walnut were sawed in this country during the year 1905. 



The price of walnut lumber is little, if at all, higher than it was 

 twenty-five years ago; about $100 per thousand is paid for the best 

 grades and $50 to $70 for medium grades. The average value of the 

 lumber manufactured in 1900, as given by the last census, was $37 

 per thousand. Logs of unusually fine grain sometimes bring high 

 prices for veneer manufacturing. 



Walnut under favorable condition will reach post size in from ten 

 to twelve years. However, timber of this size contains so large a 

 percentage of sapwood that it is not first class for fence posts. If 

 durable fence-post material is desired, the rotation should not be less 

 than twenty-five years, and forty years would be more profitable, 

 since the trees must have time to mature a considerable amount of 

 heartwood. 



The greatest returns will be realized from this species when it 

 is planted with a view to growing saw timber. If a walnut planta- 

 tion is established for this purpose, it is advisable to underplant 

 with some tolerant tree that may be cut with profit in twenty or 

 twenty-five years, leaving the walnut as the permanent stand until 

 merchantable size is attained. As this will require a period of about 

 seventy-five years, extensive walnut plantations are not advisable 

 unless a long-time investment is sought. 



METHODS OF PROPAGATION. 



Under natural forest conditions the black walnut does not repro- 

 duce readily, and becomes almost extinct wherever lumbered clear. 

 The tree does not reproduce by suckers and only sparingly from 

 stump sprouts; squirrels usually destroy many of the fallen nuts 

 and young trees are killed by dense shade. 



The nuts may be stored over winter by stratifying them in moist 

 sand or leaves in a sheltered place out of doors. In stratifying, 

 3-inch layers of sand should alternate with single layers of nuts. 

 Boards should be placed around the edge of this store of nuts and the 

 top protected against burrowing rodents. The sand should be kept 

 moist, and the whole mass allowed to freeze. 



For extensive and satisfactory propagation of the species, artificial 

 planting is the only sure method. Because of the long taproots and 

 consequent difficulty in transplanting, nursery culture is in general 

 not advisable. It can, however, be made successful if root pruning 

 is practiced and great care taken in moving the plants. Nursery 

 culture, if .attempted, should be conducted as follows : 



The nuts should be planted at 6-inch intervals in nursery rows 3 

 feet apart, and covered 1 to 1J inches deep. A preliminary freezing 



[Cir. 88] 



