UTILIZATION OF BLACK WALNUT. 



21 



purplish tones being somewhat common. In the trees grown on the 

 heavier soils the heartwood is quite dark in color. In open-growth 

 trees there are often light and dark stripes of brown, which make a 

 pleasing figure. Texas logs have been in demand for many years for 

 making veneer if highly figured stock was desired. 



Computations were made on approximately 12,000,000 board feet 

 of logs purchased near the close of the war to show the average size 

 of logs from different States. The average number of board feet to 

 the log is shown in Table 4. These figures indicate that in the ex- 

 treme northeastern, southeastern, and southwestern portions of the 

 range the logs run below the average in size. With the exception 

 of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri, the States of the central and north- 

 western areas are above the average in footage. The small size of 

 logs from these States is probably the result of the extensive exploi- 

 tation of the timber there, particularly in Indiana. Walnut logs 

 from Tennessee and Kansas also have low values, particularly as 

 compared with values in the adjacent States, Kentucky and Nebraska, 

 respectively. In Kansas the best timber has been largely cut out in 

 recent years. In Tennessee and Alabama the trees run smaller in 

 size than they do farther north. The very high average shown for 

 Michigan is doubtless occasioned by the shipment of choice lots of 

 timber. 



Table 4. — Average number of board feet in walnut logs from different States. 



State. 



Board 



feet per 



log. 



State. 



Board 



feet per 



log. 



State. 



Board 



feet per 



log. 





106. 63 

 79.61 

 79.50 

 79.43 

 78.67 

 76.95 

 76.20 

 76.17 





76.02 

 75.12 

 75.06 

 73.10 

 70.37 

 69.37 

 66.59 





63.51 





North Carolina 





60.71 







55.10 









51.88 







Average for all 











Ohio .". 





76.38 















DEMAND. 



It is somewhat difficult to determine the total amount of walnut 

 timber used annually, because of the fluctuation from year to year. 

 Conditions prevailing during the war added greatly to the normal 

 demand. The total demand for walnut is made up almost entirely 

 of logs for export, logs for conversion into lumber and veneer, 

 and timber for use as railway ties, posts, and fuel. On account 

 of its high value, little walnut is used in rough building con- 

 struction. Prior to the war the exportation of logs amounted to 

 7 to 12 million board feet, equivalent to between 8 and 15 million 

 board feet of lumber; logs used for veneer amounted to 2J to 4 



