WALNUT 295 



may be rendered more durable by smoking over a fire of Beech, or 

 by boiling in the juice of the green fruit ; but the Hability to worm- 

 attack prevents Walnut being used in building. English-grown 

 Walnut, coming mostly from rich plains, is pale, coarse, Httle figured, 

 and perishable ; French is better ; that from the Black Sea, some- 

 times known as Austrian and Turkish, but grown partly in Servia, 

 which is imported in waney logs 6 — 9 ft. long, squaring 10 — 18 in., 

 is still more valuable ; whilst that from Italy, which comes in planks 

 4 — 9 in. thick, 10 — 16 in. wide, and 5 — 12 ft. long, is the best. 

 At the beginning of the eighteenth century Walnut became very 

 fashionable as a furniture wood, marking the first departure from 

 the previous universal use of Oak. The severe winter of 1709 

 killed most of the Walnut-trees in Central Europe, the dead trees 

 being bought up by the Dutch, who thus secured a " corner " in 

 this wood. So scarce was it in Erance that its exportation was 

 prohibited in 1720, and Mahogany, imported by the Dutch and 

 Spaniards, largely replaced it for furniture. N"o wood, however, 

 equals it for the manufacture of gunstocks, so that the wars of the 

 eighteenth century created a great dearth of this timber, and we 

 read of France consuming 12,000 trees a year in 1806, and of as 

 much as £600 being paid for a single tree. European Walnut is 

 still in use for the best gunstocks. The burrs have realized £50 

 — £60 per ton, and veneers, some of which are of a beauty unsur- 

 passed by any other wood, as much as two or three shillings per 

 square foot. These are used in the pianoforte and furniture trades. 

 Swiss carvings are mostly in Walnut, and the wood is also used in 

 turnery, for screws for presses, musical instruments, sabots, etc. 

 European Walnut is now, however, so scarce that it is being largely 

 replaced in all its uses by the American. 



Walnut, American or Black {Mglans nigra L.). Eastern North 

 America. Height 60—150 ft. ; diam. 3-^8 ft. S.G. 611. W 30— 

 55. R 856 kilos. Sapwood narrow ; heart violet-brown or choco- 

 late-brown, blackening with age, heavy, hard, tough, strong, rather 

 coarse in grain, checking if not carefully seasoned, easily worked, 

 susceptible of a high pohsh, very durable in contact with the soil. 

 More uniform in colour, darker, duller, less liable to insect-attack, 

 and thus more durable than Earopean Wahiut. Formerly used on 

 the Wabash for " dug-outs," 40 ft. long and about 27 in. wide, 

 and also largely for fence-posts, shingles, building, naves of wheels, 

 etc, this wood has now become too valuable as a cabinet and veneer 

 wood to be used for these purposes. Before the middle of the 

 nineteenth century it was only used in England for carcase ends, 

 frames for veneering, and other inferior purposes ; it has now in- 

 creased four-fold in price, and is more used than European wood, 

 its uniform colour recommending it to shop-fitters and as a basis 

 for painted or other ornamentation in the cabinet-trade. It is 



