464 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



to thirty-six inches in diameter. Many of the old trees 

 were sixty feet or more to the first limb. 



As with all trees, the stem or trunk of the walnut 

 tree is usually the most valuable. Generally, the trunks 

 of walnut trees are straight-grained and show but a small 

 amount of figure. 



In the average tree the only place where a decided 

 figure is found is in the stump. Most every stump 

 shows a wavy grain at a point where the roots begin 

 to spread out from the base of the tree. It is therefor. 1 

 a fact that most of the 

 figured walnut used 

 comes from the stumps, 

 though it is doubtful 

 whether ti.ore than one 

 stump in a hundred is 

 suitable for this pur- 

 pose. 



Such stumps are 

 carefully dug from the 

 ground and transported 

 to the mills where they 

 are trimmed and quar- 

 tered. These quarters 

 are then placed upon 

 veneer machines where 

 they are cut in such a 

 manner as to take ad- 

 vantage of the peculiar 

 grain of the wood. 



Another form of fig- 

 ured walnut is to be 

 found in what is com- 

 monly known as a 

 burl. These burls are 

 huge growths which 

 may be found at any 

 point on the trunk of 

 the tree, but more com- 

 monly at the roots. 

 They often weigh from 

 500 to 2,000 pounds, 

 and are prepared and 

 cut in a manner very 

 similar to that in which 

 stumps are handled, 

 but only an occasional 

 specimen furnishes sound wood. A very notable example 

 of a burl was to be found at Mount Vernon a few years 

 ago on a large walnut tree growing at the side of Wash- 

 ington's grave. This particular burl, however, had been 

 used as a bees' nest for many years, which made it 

 worthless. 



The regard in which walnut is held is shown by the 

 care given the walnut trees that come up wherever a 

 seed gets a chance to grow. Walnut reproduction has 

 been protected more than that of any other American 

 tree, and as a result there are millions of trees growing 

 up Which will some day produce good timber. With all 



this haphazard care, however, enough importance is not 

 attached to the encouragement and planting of this 

 ^rand tree. No farm should be without its clump or 

 row of walnuts, and the life of no child is complete 

 without having gone "walnutting" after the first heavy 

 frost in the autumn. 



The story of the use of walnut for furniture is in- 

 tensely interesting. 



The earliest recorded use of walnut was in Nineveh 

 and in King Solomon's time when ebony, teak and Indian 



walnut were used. - 



There is in the Brit- 

 ish Museum the re- 

 mains of the oldest 

 piece of furniture in 

 the world. It is the 

 throne of the mighty 

 Queen Hatshepsu who 

 ruled Egypt in the far- 

 off days of the eigh- 

 teenth dynasty. This 

 chair has legs carved 

 to represent bulls and 

 a cobra wrapped around 

 each leg. The British 

 Museum also has turn- 

 ed chairs and stools 

 made about 1500 B. C, 

 which show that the 

 artisans of ancient 

 Egypt well understood 

 turning, veneering and 

 inlaying. 



The Romans, during 

 the time of the Empire, 

 used walnut probably 

 in considerable amounts 

 as a veneer over cedar. 

 Veneers were cut, not 

 for the purpose of 

 economy, but because 

 by this means the most 

 beautifully marked or 

 figured specimens of 

 the wood could be ap- 

 plied and a much rich- 

 er and more decorative 

 effect could be produced. It is only by the use of veneer 

 that the wonderful figure in walnut grain can be justly 

 shown. It is of importance, however, to the buyer of 

 furniture, that walnut veneer for beauty should be used 

 only with solid walnut for true value as a basis, because 

 that is the only way to be sure of getting real walnut 

 furniture. 



This is of enough importance to justify a definite 

 guarantee from maker and seller that the veneer by its 

 beauty does not mask an inferior and less valuable base 

 wood, but that the buyer may be assured of securing the 

 utmost and rightful value which can come only from 



HUGHES SAMBIN STYLE WALNUT CABINET. FRENCH, CIRCA 1550. METRO- 

 POLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK 





