This tree is common throughout the northern portion of the United States, from the Atlantic to the Rockies: it thrives best in a cold climate. Its wood is soft, finegrained, and of a light-brown color; is easily worked, and its uses are sufficiently varied to warrant its cultivation an object of pecuniary interest. It is also valuable for its fruit. From a single planting the kernel becomes larger, fuller, and easier of extraction, while the shell becomes very much thinner. New England has the largest butternut-trees to be found in this country.

A fluid extract of the inner bark of the root of this tree is used in cases of dysentery, habitual constipation, and other bowel complaints, and as a gentle cathartic, operating without producing debilitating effects. The preparations of the butternut are much used in domestic practice for the ailments of children, especially in throat disease.