2 BULLETIN 909, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



total cut was approximately 125,000,000 board feet. During this 

 period a large part of the walnut timber was removed from the region 

 east of the Mississippi River. 



The past six years have seen a revival in the walnut-furniture 

 industry, and large amounts of the wood have been called for. The 

 greatest use of this timber recently, however, has been for rifle stocks 

 and airplane propellers for the Great War. On account of the un- 

 precedented demand for walnut for these uses, the sawmill cut in 

 1918 was about 100,000,000 board • feet. The entire country was 

 searched for available material, and even small and defective trees 

 that had been considered unfit for lumber were taken. 



Walnut has never been plentiful in the sense that large amounts 

 of the timber were available in any one locality. Its scattered 

 growth is the reason for this. The exhaustion of the available sup- 

 ply has been repeatedly announced. Nevertheless, during the war 

 large supplies were discovered that no one thought existed, and 

 many lots of large-sized trees were found that were equal in quality 

 to those of the period when walnut was most popular. The annual 

 cut of walnut timber is comparatively small, but a fairly steady sup- 

 ply is available because of the wide distribution of the tree. 



Black walnut (Juglans nigra Linn.) is a very near relative of the 

 Circassian walnut (-/. regia Linn.) of the Old World, which is 

 highly prized as a cabinet wood. It is also closely related to the but- 

 ternut (J. einerea Linn.) of eastern United States. This last wood 

 is less valuable, however, than the black walnut. There are two 

 other walnuts native to the United States. These are the Mexican 

 walnut (/. nt'pestris Engelm.) and California walnut {/. calif ornica 

 Wats. ) . These two species grow in southwestern United States. The 

 timber is of little importance even locally, and the trees are usually 

 less than 12 inches in diameter, with a clear length of trunk ordi- 

 narily not more than 8 to 10 feet. 



This bulletin deals with the characteristics, properties, uses, manu- 

 facture, and market values of black-walnut wood, and particularly 

 discusses the uses for which walnut is best adapted, 



PROPERTIES OF THE WOOD. 



GENERAL APPEARANCE. 



The heartwood of black walnut is light brown to darK brown or 

 chocolate-brown. The sapwood is nearly white. In forest-grown 

 trees the heartwood is generally a rich chocolate-brown. The sap- 

 wood is narrow in such trees, usually 1 inch wide or less. In open- 

 growth trees the heartwood is lighter in color; the sapwood grows 

 to about 3 inches in width, and is white or discolored to yellowish or 



