CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 305 



have been obtained from these logs, some of which have been converted 

 into large panels and used for decoration on the P. and O. line of 

 steamers, the rails and stiles being of the plainer variety of the same 

 wood. It has been used with success for the interior decoration of 

 automobiles. Handsome floors can be laid in the wood, and as flooring 

 it both wears and keeps its colour well. Only a small proportion of the 

 logs provide sufificiently handsome timber for decorative work, and it 

 should not be assumed that the name of African walnut alone will ensure 

 a satisfactory result, that being only obtained by careful selection. It 

 should be a very good substitute for French walnut for aeroplane 

 propeller blades and rifle butts, for when seasoned the wood stands very 

 well and is not brittle. 



The transverse grain shows irregularly-sized scattered pores. The 

 meduUary rays are parallel but uneven ; the annual layers of growth are 

 so obscure as to be almost untraceable. 



Walnut, Black. Juglans nigra, Linn. Weight, 37 lbs. 7 oz. North 

 America. 



This wood is so familiar in this country that a detailed description 

 would almost appear to be superfluous. The colour, which is of a more 

 uniform tint than is the European wood, is a rich purplish-brown. The 

 beauty of the colour is apt to deteriorate under the unfortimate and ill- 

 advised system of french polishing which obtains in this country, which, 

 though admirable for some woods, is quite out of place with black 

 walnut. The texture is hard and smooth and the grain generally straight 

 and even, though occasionally it displays all descriptions of beautiful 

 figure. A limited quantity of burrs are still obtainable, which realise 

 extraordinarily high prices. Black walnut is in good demand for all 

 descriptions of decorative cabinet work, and for telephone instruments 

 it is used almost exclusively. It possesses, though in a lesser degree, 

 those exceptional quaUties found in European walnut (q.v.) which give 

 the wood its pre-eminence in the making of gun and rifle stocks. 



The use of this wood for decorative work is of considerable antiquity, 

 and probably dates from the time of the early settlement of English 

 people in America. For instance, at Totteridge Park, Hertfordshire, which 

 in the early eighteenth century was in the possession of James Bridges, 

 first Duke of Chandos, are some doors of that period which have been 

 found to have been made of American black walnut of very high quality. 



At this time also a considerable number of trees were planted or 

 grown from seed in many parts of the United Kingdom. No American 

 timber could be bought of a better quality than that (quoted by Mr. 

 H. J. Elwes) of a tree blown down at Albury which was given to him 

 by the Duke'of Northumberland. 



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