ck walnut. The reason for
this is the high value placed on this wood and the planting of these
trees for shade and nut production, although the consumption of native
nuts is comparatively low. The black walnut grew, originally, south of a
line from Toronto to Sarnia. It has been planted as far north as Ottawa,
and is distributed quite widely in Old Ontario now--being planted
largely as shade trees. These shade trees are producing nuts, and with
the aid of squirrels, the walnuts are seeding up along fence rows,
around farm homes, and in woodlots. Walnut has been observed coming up
in a woodlot, and the only possible source is a shade tree half a mile
away. The walnut caterpillar defoliates the trees but seldom kills them,
although it does lower their value as shade trees.

Walnut has been a favorite species for forest tree planting. It is
planted in pure stands and in mixtures. The largest and best known
walnut plantation was put out by Sir William Mullock in 1926 on the
highway north of Toronto. There are numerous small plantations
throughout the province. Foresters in Ontario generally recommend mixing
walnut with other hardwoods and evergreens rather than planting in pure
stands.

It has been advocated to plant walnuts with white spruce. The idea is
that spruce will shade the ground, kill the side branches of the walnut,
and help to force the walnuts to grow long slender poles. It is
understood, and expected, that the spruce will be ruined, as their
leaders would grow into the branches of the walnut. As far as we know,
this experiment has not been undertaken.

The butternut tree is found growing naturally farther north than the
walnut tree. Its northern boundary is roughly a line drawn from Midland
on Georgian Bay to Ottawa. It is widely distributed, but is not in large
enough quantity to have commercial value for lumber. An expert wood
carver, who is employed by the Department of Lands and Forests, uses
butternut largely in his work.

The shagbark and bitternut hickories make up the large percentage of the
hickories growing in Ontario. The northern limit of the bitternut is
approximately the same as the butternut--that is, Midland on Georgian
Bay and Ottawa on the east; while the northern limit of the shagbark is
thirty to forty miles south of the bitternut. The pignut and the
mockernut hickories are found in the southern hardwood belt along Lake
Erie.

The American chestnut was quite plentiful in different sec