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OHIO TREES SERIES

No. 1.—Black walnut (Juglans nigra):—Black walnut is one of the most valuable of the forest trees native to the United States. It is regarded as the country's premier tree for high grade cabinet wood; it produces valuable nut crops; and under certain conditions is highly effective as an ornamental shade and pasture tree.

~Lumber~—As lumber, black walnut is used principally for furniture, radio cabinets, caskets, interior finish, sewing machines, and gun stocks. It is used either in the form of solid wood cut from lumber or in the form of plywood made by gluing sheets of plain or figured veneer to both sides of a core. Black walnut veneer is made by the slicing method and to a limited extent by the rotary-cut method.

~Nuts~—In recent years the black walnut has gained an important position in the kernel industry. There has never been a market surplus of black walnut kernels. The demand, mostly from confectioners and ice cream manufacturers, has steadily increased while the supply has been limited largely by the labor of cracking and extracting the kernels. The process of cracking the nuts and separating the kernels from the shells has been mechanized by a farmer in Adams County, Ohio, to the extent that he uses over 4,000 bushels of walnuts per year. He sends the kernels to markets in New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Chicago. The facts all emphasize the economic importance of the black walnut in a market that is still far from saturated.

~Ornamental Value~—There are few trees whose utility is as great as the black walnut, that can rival it in beauty as a lawn tree. Its long graceful leaves provide a light dappled shade and grass will grow luxuriantly up to the very base of the tree. In its pleasing form and majestic size the black walnut can be a great addition to any landscape. Any tree yielding such fine timber and nuts, yet possessing beauty and utility for yard and pasture, can be nothing but a sound investment.

~Soil Requirements~—Black walnut grows best in valleys and bottom lands where there is a rich, moist soil but well drained. It does not generally grow on the higher elevations nor on wet bottom lands. It usually occurs as a scattered tree in hardwood stands and along roadsides, fence rows, and fence corners.

~Distribution and Growth~—The botanical range of this tree covers most of the eastern half of the United States. It is among the more rapid growing hardwoods. On good sites trees 10 years old will be about 20 feet high and in 40 years will reach 60 feet in height and 12 inches in diameter at breast height. According to Forest Survey figures, the estimated merchantable stand of walnut in Ohio in 1941 was 112,275,000 board feet while the cut during the same year was slightly over 3 million board feet.

~Pests~—The most serious pest is the walnut datana whose larvae eat the leaves. Other leaf-eating insects include the fall web worm and the hickory-horned devil. Several leaf spot diseases have attacked the leaves, also causing early defoliation. Leaf eating insects and leaf spot disease can be controlled by the application of one spray in June. This is composed of three pounds of arsenate of lead, ten pounds of powered Bordeaux mixture, and a good sticker in one hundred gallons of water.

~Selected Varieties~—Walnut trees vary greatly in the type of nut they produce. The most popular strains have been selected for propagation. The varieties which have been propagated by nurserymen are the Thomas, Ohio, Stabler, Ten Eyck, and Elmer Myers. Since the cost of grafted nut trees is rather high, many people are interested in planting the nuts of the better varieties for large scale planting. Seedling trees may be raised easily by anyone, whereas much skill and practice are required to produce grafted and budded trees. The degree to which the desirable characteristics of selected varieties are transmitted through seed is now being studied by the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.