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



woods. Mahogany and cherry are now preferred, on account of their 

 more striking reddish color, for these make a more pleasing contrast 

 with the light-colored woods, oak and maple. Walnut is also much 

 used in the form of panels for inside finish, especially in cafes and 

 public buildings where fancy figured effects are in demand. Door 

 stiles and rail stock are sometimes made of plain sawed veneer one- 

 sixteenth to one-eighth inch thick. This thickness of veneer insures 

 greater wear than can be obtained from the thinner sliced veneer. 

 The door panels are of figured sliced stock. Walnut is well adapted 

 for these uses, because it polishes to a smooth, even surface, takes 

 stains and other wood finishes well, and has a wide range of possible 

 effects in the finished state. Much of this class of material was ex- 

 ported in former years because of the popularity of walnut finish 

 in foreign countries. The demand in this country has been much 

 greater in recent years than formerly. 



SEWING MACHINES. 



Walnut has been used in very large amounts for sewing-machine 

 cabinets on account of its good qualities as a cabinet wood and be- 

 cause of its fine appearance, which is very well liked abroad. Veneer 

 is made use of very largely. The cabinet type of sewing machine, in 

 which the working parts may be entirely inclosed, is most commonly 

 finished in walnut. .Eelatively small amounts have been used recently 

 for this purpose, because exportations have been largely cut off, and 

 the demand for walnut-finished cabinets in this country is very 

 small. 



FIREARMS. 



Black walnut is particularly suitable for the manufacture of gun- 

 stocks. The properties fitting it for this use are as follows: It is 

 liable only in a slight degree to warp and check, and shows only a 

 small amount of shrinking and swelling after it has been properly 

 seasoned ; it is easy to work with tools to its final shape ; it will hold 

 metal parts with little wear; it possesses a uniformity and slight 

 coarseness of texture which render it easily gripped and held by the 

 hand; it has a good degree of strength without excessive weight; it 

 will stand considerable shock without injury ; on account of its dark 

 color it is attractive in appearance and is not easily soiled. 



It is important that a wood used for gunstocks should " machine " 

 well to insure the metal parts fitting satisfactorily. Warping is 

 particularly objectionable in the stock of rifles (for example, those 

 used in the Army) in which the barrel is incased in wood for prac- 

 tically its entire length, because the warping of the wood is liable 

 to spring the barrel out of a straight line, and thus interfere with 

 the accurate shooting of the rifle. Cross grain is, therefore, objection- 



