Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report: at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948
Science
Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report: at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948
Northern Nut Growers Association -- Periodicals; Nut trees -- Periodicals; Nuts -- Periodicals
Now, I might mention something about the size of the black walnut
industry in this state. We estimate that there are eight million pounds
of uncracked whole walnuts produced on the average in a normal crop year
in Tennessee, and there is another five million pounds that is never
gathered, never hulled, never enters the market, never used, and the
value of this crop in a normal year would be around $750,000. That is
for the nuts, the fruit, the kernels. If you speak of timber it will
amount to $960,000. That is in the form of lumber and veneers, and if
you figure that in the form of a log at the shipping point, we'd reduce
that figure and say it would be $480,000.
I think to understand this state you have to give some consideration to
physiographic regions, and if you will bear with me I'd like to sketch
through these regions of the state, because they have a bearing on
production of black walnut. Here in the east we have the East Tennessee
Mountains, and proceeding westward we have the Great Valley of East
Tennessee. It goes all the way down to Chattanooga, up through Bristol,
on up through Virginia to Hagerstown, Maryland, all the way up to
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
We have fine soil, and we also have different kinds of shale in that
valley. Then we proceed westward. We come to the Cumberland Plateau, and
the elevation of this plateau is around 2,000 feet. It is higher than
this valley. Then we cross that and we reach this area (indicating on
map). That is what we call the Highland Rim. That is made up of
limestone soil of a different character, usually, than that in this East
Tennessee valley. That is what we term the Eastern Highland Rim, and
this around here (indicating) we term the Western Highland Rim. And this
red portion would be the Central Basin in which Nashville is situated.
Then you would travel through this central elevation, come up on the
Western Highland Rim, and then you come up here and you cross the
Tennessee River flowing north. Then you get into West Tennessee.
Now, that is coastal plain soil, and as you approach the Mississippi
River here you have a covering of what the Germans call loess, fine,
wind-blown material, silt loam. So that very sketchily gives you some
idea of the physiographic regions in this state.
Now you want to know where these black walnuts are grown. Well, up about
here (indicating the northeast) we have the towns of Greeneville and
Rogersville and Morristown and Jonesboro, the counties of Washington
County, Greene County, Hawkins County, say, ten counties; radiating
around those ten counties you have in the past had great quantities of
walnut kernels produced and sold. Now, go on down this valley past
Knoxville, and McMinn County (southeast) has some years produced heavy
crops of walnuts. So you have heavy production all through the valley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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