The use of walnut wood for gun-stocks began in Europe, the demands early becoming so great that, until the general peace following the battle of Waterloo, the greater part of the French product was diverted for that purpose, while prices rose in England so that six hundred pounds sterling is reported to have been paid for a single tree. In spite of the innumerable woods that have since been introduced, this one is yet regarded as best for gun-stocks.[30] Walnut is a firm, hard, chocolate-colored wood, with pores not arranged in rings but scattered somewhat irregularly. The sombre, although rich, color has been objected to for some positions. Large excrescences or "burrs" are common on foreign trees, particularly those near the Black Sea and in Italy. The grain in such growths is beautifully irregular, and the wood, known as "burl," is prized for veneers. Trees are very scarce, and walnut is now seldom seen save in cabinet work or gun-stocks. The related White Walnut or Butternut (_Juglans cinerea_) affords a less-prized and [p048] lighter-tinted wood. The nuts of the walnuts are a source of profit. Black walnut trees seldom form forests by themselves, but occur generally in mixed growth. They grow quickly, but the heartwood for which the tree is valued begins to form only when the tree is at a considerable age, so that a number of years must elapse before a tree can produce wood of the desired quality. Trees one hundred years old furnish the best quality of wood. Walnut trees may be known by their nuts, the husks or pods of which adhere unbroken, instead of loosening, completely divide into four sections, as with the hickories. Juglans is from _Jovis_, signifying Jove's, and _glans_, signifying acorn. This nut, not the fruit of the oak, was the acorn of the ancients.[31] [p049] FOOTNOTES [Footnote 29: About the middle of the seventeenth century.] [Footnote 30: France used twelve thousand trees in 1806. (Stevenson's "Trees of Commerce," p. 77.)] [Footnote 31: The ancients considered the shade of the walnut as harmful to all life. It is certain some vegetation is affected, probably by properties in fallen leaves.] BLACK WALNUT. _Juglans nigra Linn._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Black Walnut (local and common name). Walnut (N. Y., Del., W. Va., Fla., Ky., Mo., Ohio, Ind., Ia.). Locality. Ontario and Florida, westward intermittently to Nebraska and Texas. Features of Tree. Ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet in height, three to eight feet in diameter. A tall handsome tree with rough brownish, almost black, bark. Large, rough-shelled nuts. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood dark, rich, chocolate-brown. Thin sapwood much lighter, rather coarse-grained. Structural Qualities of Wood. Heavy, hard, strong, easily worked, durable, susceptible to high polish. Representative Uses of Wood. Cabinet-making, gun-stocks, also formerly furniture and decoration.