BLACK WALNUT: ITS GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT. 13 



springs or seeps. Small streams usually have the most favorable 

 bottom lands; such rivers as the Kansas and Arkansas deposit too 

 much sand along their bottoms. 



SOUTHERN STATES. 



Arkansas. — Walnut is widely distributed in Arkansas, usually in 

 the deep rich soils of the stream bottoms; but its growth in large 

 quantities is mostly confined to the northern part of the State. In 

 the northwestern region, known as the Boston Mountains, the physio- 

 graphic and climatic conditions are such that walnut ceases to be 

 a river-bottom tree and appears upon the level terraces and mountain 

 tops, which alternate with steep escarpments. Here the soil is rich 

 and deep, of limestone and sandstone origin, and bears a blue-grass 

 sod in most places. The rainfall is greater than in other regions west 

 of the Mississippi River and conditions more closely resemble those 

 of central Kentucky and Tennessee. In much of Arkansas the walnut 

 is difficult of access, as the stands are far from railroads and hauling 

 is expensive. 



Oklahoma. — Walnut is of considerable importance as a bottom- 

 land tree in Oklahoma. In the western part of the State it is scat- 

 tering or only locally abundant; but in the eastern part, the old 

 Indian Territory, it is still very common, although a great deal was 

 recently cut, and the remaining timber is therefore mostly small. 

 This region contained the last of the virgin walnut. The wood is con- 

 sidered inferior to walnut grown farther north and is little sought 

 for milling. 



Texas. — Conditions are widely variable in Texas, and the develop- 

 ment of walnut is correspondingly irregular. The species is found 

 over the whole eastern part of the State, though it is nowhere very 

 abundant at the present time, the region having been worked heavily 

 for export during the last 20 years. On the lower stretches of the 

 rivers the prevailing forest is of the southern hardwood bottom- 

 land type, consisting mainly of gums, oaks, and cypress and contain- 

 ing little walnut ; but toward central Texas the southern species drop 

 out one by one, and walnut becomes increasingly important until the 

 western limits of its range are reached, where it associates with 

 Mexican walnut (Juglans rupestris). In the black-soil region the 

 wood is dark and uniform, producing veneers of a deep brown color 

 with even a purple or dark-greenish shade. Toward the limestone 

 region of the Edwards Plateau, where the conditions of growth are 

 severe, the wood is light in color, streaked with darker shades, and 

 sometimes so variable and so dark lined as to pass for genuine Circas- 

 sian walnut. Valuable burls also come from this region. Texas 

 walnut is defective in general and at present is not often cut for 

 milling. 



