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woods. Mahogany and cherry are now preferred, on account of their 
more striking reddish color, for these make a more pleasing contrast 
with the light-colored woods, oak and maple. Walnut is also much 
used in the form of panels for inside finish, especially in cafes and 
public buildings where fancy figured effects are in demand. Door 
stiles and rail stock are sometimes made of plain sawed veneer one- 
sixteenth to one-eighth inch thick. This thickness of veneer insures 
greater wear than can be obtained from the thinner sliced veneer. 
The door panels are of figured sliced stock. Walnut is well adapted 
for these uses, because it polishes to a smooth, even surface, takes 
stains and other wood finishes well, and has a wide range of possible 
effects in the finished state. Much of this class of material was ex- 
ported in former years because of the popularity of walnut finish 
in foreign countries. The demand in this country has been much 
greater in recent years than formerly. 
SEWING MACHINES. 
Walnut has been used in very large amounts for sewing-machine 
cabinets on account of its good qualities as a cabinet wood and be- 
cause of its fine appearance, which is very well liked abroad. Veneer 
is made use of very largely. The cabinet type of sewing machine, in 
which the working parts may be entirely inclosed, is most commonly 
finished in walnut. Eelatively small amounts have been used recently 
for this purpose, because exportations have been largely cut off, and 
the demand for walnut-finished cabinets in this country is very 
small. 
FIREARMS. 
Black walnut is particularly suitable for the manufacture of gun- 
stocks. The properties fitting it for this use are as follows: It is 
liable only in a slight degree to warp and check, and shows only a 
small amount of shrinking and swelling after it has been properly 
seasoned ; it is easy to work with tools to its final shape : it will hold 
metal parts with little wear: it possesses a uniformity and slight 
coarseness of texture which render it easily gripped and held by the 
hand : it has a good degree of strength without excessive weight : it 
will stand considerable shock without injury : on account of its dark 
color it is attractive in appearance and is not easily soiled. 
It is important that a wood used for gunstocks should " machine " 
well to insure the metal parts fitting satisfactorily. Warping is 
particularly objectionable in the stock of rifles (for example, those 
used in the Army) in which the barrel is incased in wood for prac- 
tically its entire length, because the warping of the wood is liable 
to spring the barrel out of a straight line, and thus interfere with 
the accurate shooting of the rifle. Cross grain is, therefore, objection- 
