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  Harper: 
  A 
  week 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  

  

  forests, 
  is 
  usually 
  a 
  pale 
  yellowish 
  loam. 
  The 
  Neches 
  River, 
  

  

  ■ 
  

  

  which 
  drains 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  region, 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  less 
  muddy 
  

   than 
  most 
  other 
  Texas 
  rivers, 
  however. 
  

  

  The 
  government 
  soil 
  survey 
  of 
  the 
  '*Woodville 
  area," 
  made 
  

   in 
  1903, 
  describes 
  an 
  area^ 
  ten 
  miles 
  square 
  in 
  Tyler 
  County. 
  

   There 
  are 
  notes 
  on 
  the 
  pine 
  timber 
  in 
  several 
  papers 
  on 
  forestry, 
  

   but 
  previous 
  descriptions 
  of 
  the 
  vegetation 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  are 
  not 
  very 
  

   satisfactory. 
  The 
  scene 
  of 
  Plank's 
  first 
  Texas 
  article, 
  in 
  Garden 
  

   and 
  Forest 
  (5: 
  399) 
  for 
  August 
  24, 
  1892, 
  is 
  laid 
  in 
  Tyler^ 
  County, 
  

   but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  mention 
  In 
  it 
  of 
  the 
  characteristic 
  herbs 
  of 
  the 
  pine 
  

   forests, 
  or 
  even 
  of 
  Finns 
  pahistris, 
  for 
  that 
  matter 
  (which 
  may 
  

   indicate 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  considerable 
  areas 
  of 
  hardwood 
  forest 
  

   in 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  long-leaf 
  pine 
  region) 
  . 
  Gow, 
  in 
  the 
  paper 
  

   already 
  cited, 
  listed 
  ii 
  woody 
  plants 
  and 
  lo 
  herbs 
  as 
  character- 
  

   istic 
  of 
  long-leaf 
  pine 
  fiats 
  in 
  winter 
  and 
  early 
  spring, 
  and 
  two 
  

   additional 
  trees 
  from 
  pine 
  uplands. 
  Bray 
  sketched 
  the 
  her- 
  

   baceous 
  vegetation 
  briefly, 
  on 
  pages 
  84-85 
  of 
  his 
  University 
  of 
  

   Texas 
  Bulletin 
  82, 
  but 
  listed 
  only 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  species, 
  and 
  regretted 
  

   his 
  unfamiliarity 
  with 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  state. 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  soil 
  if 
  seen 
  without 
  its 
  vegetative 
  covering 
  would 
  

   look 
  pretty 
  good, 
  it 
  is 
  evidently 
  below 
  the 
  average 
  in 
  fertility, 
  as 
  

   is 
  the 
  case 
  nearly 
  everywhere 
  where 
  Pinus 
  palustris 
  abounds. 
  Im- 
  

   provefl 
  land 
  constituted 
  less 
  than 
  4 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  area 
  

   in 
  1910, 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  farmers 
  that 
  cultivated 
  it 
  were 
  then 
  spending 
  

   about 
  30 
  cents 
  an 
  acre 
  for 
  fertilizers, 
  which 
  is 
  probably 
  more 
  than 
  

   in 
  any 
  other 
  equal 
  area 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  93d 
  

   meridian. 
  Over 
  70 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  farmers 
  were 
  white, 
  their 
  

   farms 
  averaged 
  about 
  25 
  acres 
  of 
  improved 
  land 
  each 
  (probably 
  

   the 
  smallest 
  in 
  Texas 
  outside 
  of 
  irrigated 
  districts) 
  , 
  of 
  which 
  about 
  

   three 
  acres 
  were 
  devot,ed 
  to 
  cotton 
  and 
  ten 
  to 
  corn, 
  and 
  the 
  yield 
  

   of 
  corn 
  was 
  about 
  15 
  bushels 
  per 
  acre. 
  

  

  My 
  observations 
  on 
  this 
  region 
  In 
  Texas 
  were 
  limited 
  to 
  near 
  

   Its 
  southern 
  edge, 
  In 
  Hardin 
  County. 
  As 
  in 
  near-by 
  parts 
  of 
  

  

  palust 
  

  

  hammock 
  

  

  dry 
  waterway 
  

  

  or 
  prongs 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  next 
  to 
  be 
  described. 
  The 
  following 
  list 
  

   is 
  based 
  on 
  my 
  walks 
  around 
  Kountze, 
  the 
  county-seat, 
  on 
  August 
  

  

  