UTILIZATION OF BLACK WALNUT. 59 
to turn this kind of stock into ties. There is, however, a larger per- 
centage of overrun in sawing into ties, and for this reason the manu- 
facture of ties is often profitable, especially if the mill is in a region 
where the best prices are paid. Defective ties are sometimes cut 
into mine caps about 6 inches thick if there is a demand for such 
material. 'Wedges to be used with the caps are also sawed out of 
waste walnut. 
POSTS. 
Close utilization may be effected by sawing small and defective 
walnut into fence posts. Although it is not so durable as locust and 
some other woods, walnut is suitable for posts and is in demand for 
this purpose. A common size for posts is 5 by 5 inches at the bottom 
and 2 b}^ 5 inches at the top. This manner of sawing is advantageous, 
because the yield is greater than it would be if the posts were of the 
same size throughout. 
SECONDARY INDUSTRIES. 
Walnut is manufactured by factories mainly into three classes of 
products — cabinetwork in general, interior finish, and firearms. 
Under cabinetwork are included furniture, fixtures, chairs, cabinets 
and cases for musical instruments and sewing machines, and caskets. 
Inside finish includes products of the planing mill, doors, and panels 
for stores, offices, and railway cars. Gun and rifle stocks and pistol 
grips are the parts made for firearms. Of minor importance are 
such small articles as handles of various kinds and fancy boxes. 
Table 22 gives the annual consumption of walnut, as reported by 
factories and grouped according to classes of products. These figures 
apply to the years 1909 to 1913 and represent the pre-war consump- 
tion. There has probably been an increase over these figures in the 
use of walnut for general cabinetwork, on account of the great recent 
demand for walnut furniture. This increase in the use of walnut for 
furniture has been largely offset by the greatly lessened demand 
for certain kinds of cabinetwork, such as sewing-machine cabinets, 
which were made almost entirely for supplying the foreign trade. 
In other classes of products lessened foreign demand is also gen- 
erally more than balanced by an increased use of similar products 
at home. It is believed, therefore, that the figures shown in the 
table are somewhat representative of the importance at the present 
time of the different industries in walnut utilization. The figures 
on the cost of material are of value only for the purpose of 
comparison. 
