56 BULLETIN 909, TJ. S. DEPAKTMEXT OF AGRICTJXTTTEE. 
each log and the general run of the lot. The company's log buyer 
usually proposes a lump sum after he has gone over the logs carefully. 
Some veneer companies buy both plain and figured logs and saw 
the plain ones into lumber. Others buy only figured logs. Most 
firms will take logs that are at least fairly clear and 16 inches and 
over in diameter at the small end. or as small as 11 inches if there 
is a sufficiently large portion of clear heartwood, or if the log is 
figured. They prefer logs that are 18 inches and up and clear of 
defects. Logs having more than a 2-inch ring of sapwood are not 
so well adapted for making veneer unless they are very large. 
Merchantable stump or " butt " wood should be at least 22 inches 
in diameter at the small end, and from 30 to 4Q inches long, according 
to the specifications of different buyers. Some manufacturers use 
lengths of 30 and 36 inches to correspond with the standard panel 
sizes. Figured stumps usually bring a price of $100 to $500 a thou- 
sand board feet, depending on size and figure. 
Veneer logs should have a minimum length of a little over 8 
feet. Some mills buy 6- foot logs, and some accept TJ-foot logs, if 
they are of exceptional size and quality. During the first half of 
1919 the price of walnut veneer logs ranged from $75 to $175 a thou- 
sand board feet, log scale, depending on size and quality. 
Walnut burls are very high in price, and, on account of their 
irregular form, are usually sold by the pound. Before the war the 
general range in price was 10 to 15 cents. Genuine burls are now 
very scarce. 
Two somewhat common grades for walnut veneer logs are as fol- 
lows : No. 1 logs, which may have one or two sound knots if the logs 
are 10 feet or over in length, but must be free from worm holes, bird 
pecks, and shakes; and No. 2 logs, which must have a clear length 
of at l^ast 13 inches. 
The waste in the manufacture of walnut veneer is mainly in the 
form of the loss that results from trimming down the flitch suffi- 
ciently for a sheet of merchantable veneer to be cut ; the " dog board." 
or core, left after cutting off as much veneer as possible; the defects 
trimmed out of the veneer, including pith center and sapwood; and, 
in the case of dimension veneer cut from rotary stock, the loss from 
cutting to size. 
The only data available on the amount of waste in different proc- 
esses are those derived from calculating the yield of average or 
representative logs, as given in the section on " Production." The 
proportions of waste in different processes, according to these cal- 
