so that the fruit is now the primary crop and any wood
materials that may be derived are the by-product. This production of
valuable food and necessary materials of high quality for the building
of quality furniture and interior finish is a combination that will work
well together.

Black walnut, the most highly utilized of any of our native timber for
furniture, veneer, and cabinet work is becoming increasingly more
difficult for the mills to obtain in larger sized logs. Native chestnut,
almost completely destroyed in our timbered areas by the chestnut
blight, is in demand for interior finish. Pecan, which has had only a
limited use in the past, is now enjoying a market for the manufacture of
flooring.

The production of nuts from plantations or orchards of these three
species will no doubt produce greater economic returns for many years
after the initial planting than could be derived from the sale of the
trees for the wood they contain. There will come a time in the life of
any tree when it is no longer a profitable producer and should be
replaced by a younger, more thrifty tree. When that time comes, the tree
to be removed will have no economic value unless it contains products
that industry can use. With the thought in mind that the wood from the
tree is to have some future economic value the trunk of the tree should
be kept free of all limbs to a height of about nine feet above the
ground. The development of a large spreading top above that point will
be desirable for nut production. The space below that top will give
ample head room for maintenance work in the orchard and that clear
length of trunk will produce a high quality log eight feet long. That is
the minimum standard length normally used by the lumber industry. Some
shorter lengths are utilized by the veneer industry but those lengths
usually command a lower unit price.

The production of figured walnut could be combined with the production
of one log per tree but it would take several more years to bring the
trees to nut producing age. Mr. Wilkinson has successfully demonstrated
that the figure of the Lamb Walnut does carry over through a graft or
bud.

A double budding operation should not be difficult to perform. It would
simply consist of budding the figured stock on the root at as low a
point as possible, then when the figured growth has reached sufficient
height, of budding again to the desired variety for nut production. This
procedure would