62 BULLETIN 909, II. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the obtaining of new supplies of the wood. On account of the high 
price of oak and the relative scarcity of mahogany that resulted 
from restricted imports during the war, walnut has recently dis- 
placed these woods to a large extent for furniture. 
There are several reasons for the high value placed upon walnut 
as a cabinet wood. It has good seasoning properties, will hold its 
shape well, and will not deteriorate after it is properly seasoned; 
it has an attractive appearance, may be polished to a smooth sur- 
face, and will take stains and varnishes very well; it may be cut 
easily with tools, and is thus adapted to carving and veneer making; 
it may be glued with very satisfactory results ; it possesses moderate 
strength and weight. 
To a degree equaled by few other woods walnut possesses all the 
different qualities that are essential to a first-class cabinet wood. 
Greater strength would be of advantage, but this would involve 
greater weight and greater hardness, and the greater hardness would 
interfere with its being easily worked with tools. 
The principal articles of furniture made of walnut are dining- 
room and bedroom suites. Dining-room tables of walnut are much 
in demand, because they are very serviceable and do not show to the 
extent to which some other woods do the hard usage to which such 
tables are subjected. Bookcases, desks, living-room tables, and 
many other pieces are commonly made of walnut. Recently, on 
account of its serviceability, there has been a considerable demand 
for office furniture of walnut. 
There are three general classes of furniture — that made along 
plain lines and of figured wood; that characterized by elaborate 
design and made almost altogether of plain wood; and cheaper 
grades of furniture, simple in form and of plain wood. 
The greatest demand now is for walnut furniture of plain lines 
and finished to show the natural figure of the wood. Much plain 
walnut furniture is made, but usually some figured wood is employed 
for the most conspicuous parts. Large-figured effects in walnut are 
not so popular now as formerly. The highest class of walnut fur- 
niture generally has stripe and cross figure, and often some crotch 
and burl-wood pieces. Some large, heavy walnut furniture of an- 
tique design, usually with large carvings, is also made. These pieces 
are for large rooms of expensively furnished houses, and are gen- 
erally copied after the early-period designs of walnut furniture. 
Dining-room tables of walnut are manufactured in large numbers. 
They are generally finished in plain wood, because the only conspicu- 
ous part is the top. and this is often kept covered. Table tops are 
generally made of three or five plies, with a core of solid wood and 
one or two sheets of veneer on either side of the core. Occasionally 
table tops are made with the upper ply of sawed veneer one-sixteenth 
