The butternut tree is one whose lumber may be put to many uses.  It is light but very tough and stringy and when planed and sanded, it absorbs varnish and finishes very well.  Although not as dark in natural color as black walnut, butternut resembles it in grain.  When butternut has been stained to represent black walnut, it is only by their weight that they can be distinguished.  In late years, natural butternut has become popular as an interior finish and for furniture, being sold as “blonde walnut,” “French walnut,” or “white walnut,” in my opinion very improper names.  I see no reason for calling it by other than its own.  Depletion of forests of butternut trees brings its lumber value up in price nearly to that of fine maple or birch, approaching that of black walnut in some places.

I have run several thousand feet of butternut lumber from my farmland through my own sawmill and used it for a variety of purposes.  It is probably the strongest wood for its weight except spruce.  I have used it successfully to make propellers which operate electric generators for deriving power from the wind.  Because butternut is so light and, properly varnished, resists weathering and decay to so great an extent, I have found it the best material I have ever tried for such construction.  In building a small electric car for traveling around the orchards, I used butternut rather than oak or metal, which saved at least 100 pounds of weight, an important matter since the source of the car’s power is automobile storage batteries.

Butternut is very durable in contact with the ground and is used for fence posts on farms where it is plentiful.  Bird houses built of this wood will last indefinitely, even a lifetime if they are protected with paint or varnish.  Butternut is like red cedar in this respect, although much stronger.  Stories have been told of black walnut logs which, after lying unused for fifty years, have been sawed into lumber and found to be still in excellent condition.  It is quite likely that the same could be said of butternut for these woods are very much alike in the degree of their durability and resistance to weather.

An incidental value butternut trees have is their ability to bleed freely in the spring if the outer bark is cut.  Therefore, they can be tapped like maple trees and their sap boiled down to make a sweet syrup.  It does not have the sugar content that the Stabler black walnut has, however.  Another possible use is suggested by the shells of butternuts which, even when buried in the ground, show great resistance to decay.  I have found them to be still intact and possessing some strength after being covered by earth for fifteen years.  This indicates that they might be used with a binder in a composition material.  Their extreme hardness also offers a good wearing surface.

[Illustration:  Electrically operated wagon constructed of native butternut wood known for strength and light weight as well as durability.  Author’s sons aboard.  Photo by C. Weschcke 1941.]