﻿Harper: 
  A 
  week 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  307 
  

  

  My 
  lack 
  of 
  books 
  and 
  collecting 
  apparatus 
  on 
  this 
  trip 
  is 
  

   reflected 
  in 
  the 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  interrogation 
  points 
  in 
  the 
  fore- 
  

   going 
  list, 
  which 
  however 
  is 
  probably 
  the 
  most 
  complete 
  hitherto 
  

   published 
  for 
  this 
  region. 
  If 
  there 
  had 
  been 
  any 
  descriptions 
  of 
  

   pnie-barren 
  vegetation 
  in 
  either 
  Texas 
  or 
  western 
  Louisiana 
  to 
  go 
  

   by 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  facilitated 
  the 
  identification 
  of 
  the 
  species, 
  but 
  

   previous 
  botanical 
  explorers 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  either 
  

   visited 
  it 
  in 
  winter, 
  or 
  concentrated 
  their 
  attention 
  chiefly 
  on 
  the 
  

   trees, 
  or 
  merely 
  collected 
  plants 
  without 
  trying 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  

   vegetation. 
  The 
  great 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  identified 
  grow 
  

   also 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River, 
  where 
  there 
  are 
  scores 
  of 
  pine- 
  

   barren 
  plants 
  that 
  do 
  riot 
  reach 
  Texas. 
  Consequently 
  the 
  Texas 
  

   pme-barren 
  flora 
  is 
  much 
  less 
  attractive 
  to 
  taxonomists 
  than 
  that 
  

  

  farther 
  east, 
  which 
  probably 
  explains 
  why 
  so 
  little 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  

   about 
  it. 
  

  

  The 
  hammock 
  belt, 
  or 
  Finns 
  Taeda 
  region, 
  — 
  The 
  long-leaf 
  pine 
  

   region 
  is 
  bordered 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  and 
  west 
  by 
  a 
  belt 
  of 
  varying 
  width 
  

   containing 
  what 
  are 
  probably 
  the 
  densest 
  upland 
  forests 
  in 
  Texas,* 
  

   in 
  which 
  Pinus 
  Taeda 
  is 
  more 
  abundant 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  tree, 
  and 
  ' 
  

   than 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  equal 
  area 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River, 
  

   apparently. 
  This 
  belt 
  or 
  region, 
  which 
  extends 
  across 
  two 
  or 
  

   three 
  geological 
  formations 
  without 
  much 
  change, 
  has 
  been 
  

   mapped 
  pretty 
  well 
  by 
  Zon 
  in 
  Bulletin 
  64 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Forest 
  

   Service, 
  and 
  by 
  Foster 
  and 
  Krausz 
  in 
  their 
  State 
  Forester's 
  

   Bulletins 
  3 
  and 
  5, 
  previously 
  mentioned. 
  The 
  boundary 
  between 
  

   this 
  and 
  the 
  long-leaf 
  pine 
  region 
  is 
  very 
  sharp 
  where 
  I 
  crossed 
  it, 
  

   about 
  twelve 
  miles 
  southeast 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Kountze, 
  even 
  if 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  less 
  sharp 
  at 
  other 
  points. 
  There 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  any 
  

   marked 
  difference 
  in 
  topography, 
  and 
  the 
  change, 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  

   correlated 
  with 
  geology, 
  but 
  there 
  must 
  be 
  a 
  considerable 
  difference 
  

   in 
  soil 
  fertility. 
  

  

  909-1 
  

  

  im- 
  

  

  tw^ 
  

  

  and 
  the 
  farmers 
  spent 
  about 
  7 
  cents 
  an 
  acre 
  for 
  fertilizers, 
  which 
  is 
  

   above 
  the 
  Texas 
  average 
  but 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  third 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   long-leaf 
  pine 
  region. 
  Nearly 
  half 
  the 
  farmers 
  we 
  re 
  negroes, 
  and 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  term 
  "Big 
  Thicket" 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  applied 
  locally 
  to 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  region, 
  in 
  

   Hardin 
  and 
  Liberty 
  Counties. 
  

  

  