76 BULLETIN 909, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
There has always been a big foreign demand for such walnut- 
finished articles as sewing machines and music cabinets. Many firms 
depended upon the export trade almost entirely to take their walnut- 
finished products. Formerly the dark-finished walnut of uniform 
shade was in demand, but now the foreign trade prefers the more 
natural color of the wood. The plain heartwood finished in a brown 
natural color is now well liked. 
WAR-TIME UTILIZATION. 
Two products made from walnut are used in warfare — airplane 
propellers and gunstocks. To obtain maximum production, both 
propeller and gunstock material should be cut, so far as possible, 
from the same log. High-grade stock, 1 inch in thickness, is required 
for propellers: and it should be 8 inches wide and over and 8 feet 
long and over, although a specified maximum proportion of the 
lesser widths and lengths is allowed, The propeller grade is about 
equivalent to firsts and seconds, but will include some of the large- 
sized pieces of Xo. 1 common. Gunstock material is sawed from the 
log in the form of flitches — that is, without the bark being edged 
off — and low-grade flitches may be used. Any piece is of value that 
will yield a gunstock blank free from all defects, including both 
cross grain and pith, the latter being called " heart." The flitches 
are 2^ inches in thickness. 
Small and defective logs do not usually yield propeller stock, but 
are sawed entirely into flitches. Large and mostly clear logs usually 
yield a high percentage of propeller lumber. Because walnut logs 
are apt to be defective near the center, the propeller lumber is usually 
sawed from near the outside of smooth logs; if serious defects are 
encountered, gunstock flitches are cut. 
Straight-grained material is particularly in demand for propeller 
laminations, and is more often obtained by sawing tapered logs with 
the grain — that is, in a line approximately parallel to the bark 
rather than to the central axis of the log. This generally leaves a 
wedge-shaped piece in the center, but does not increase the amount 
of waste, as logs from which propeller stock is cut are more liable 
to be defective toward the center. 
Some gunstock material is obtained even from practically clear logs 
in sawing on two parallel sides. By sawing from four sides of the log 
a larger yield of propeller lumber may be obtained from high-grade 
logs than from sawing from two parallel sides. This method, how- 
ever, reduces the yield of gunstock material, increases the proportion 
of waste, and makes narrower propeller stock. During the late war, 
manufacturers were required by regulations of the War Department 
to saw the logs with all cuts parallel, in order that the propeller 
