The _heartwood_ is of superior quality and value. It is heavy, hard and strong, and its rich chocolate-brown color, freedom from warping and checking, susceptibility to a high polish, and durability make it highly prized for a great variety of uses, including furniture, cabinet work, and gun-stocks. Walnut is easily propagated from the nuts and grows rapidly on good soil, where it should be planted and grown for timber and nuts. It is the most valuable tree found in the forests of Illinois and originally grew extensively throughout the State. +BUTTERNUT+ _Juglans cinerea_ L. THE butternut, sometimes called the white walnut, is a smaller tree than the black walnut, although it may reach a height of 70 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. It is found all over the State, but the best is in the ravines of southern Illinois. The butternut is found from Maine to Michigan and southward to Kansas, Tennessee and northern Georgia. The trunk is often forked or crooked and this makes it less desirable for saw timber. [Illustration: BUTTERNUT Twig, one-half natural size. Leaf, one-third natural size.] The _bark_ differs from that of the black walnut in being light gray on branches and on the trunk of small trees, becoming darker on large trees. This tree may also be distinguished from black walnut by the velvet collars just above the scars left by last year's leaves. The twigs have chocolate-brown chambered pith and bear obliquely blunt winter buds somewhat flattened, brownish and hairy. The compound _leaves_ are 15 to 30 inches long, each with 11 to 17 sharp-pointed, oblong, finely toothed leaflets 2 to 3 inches long. The staminate and pistillate _flowers_ are on the same tree, the former in long yellowish-green drooping catkins and the latter are short with red-fringed stigmas. The _fruit_ is a nut enclosed in an oblong, somewhat pointed, yellowish-green husk, about 2 inches long, which is covered with short, rusty, clammy, sticky hairs. The nut has a rough, grooved shell and an oily, edible kernel. The _wood_ is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, light brown, and takes a good polish. It is used for interior finish of houses and for furniture. A yellow or orange dye can be made from the husks of the nuts. A KEY TO THE ILLINOIS HICKORIES A. Bud scales opposite; appearing somewhat grooved lengthwise; leaflets usually lanceolate, generally curved backwards; nut-husks usually winged; nut thin-shelled. B. Leaflets 5-9; leaves 6-10 inches long, winter buds bright yellow; nut gray globose, meat bitter C. cordiformis BB. Leaflets 7-13; leaves 9-13 inches long, winter buds dark brown, nut brown, pear-shaped, meat bitter C. aquatica BBB. Leaflets 9-17; leaves 12-20 inches long, winter buds yellow, nut elongated, meat sweet C. illinoensis