Kelly, Texas has a goodly range of woods including some unusual species. Depending on the work type, some of these woods are quite diversely different and must be used with slight caution. You have many of the more common species growing as native trees too. Red oak grows throughout east Texas and so too many pines. Naturally you have walnut and such but then there are woods not rare but not so common perhaps to other states such as Mesquite, Ashe Juniper, Pecan, Texas Cedar Elm. These woods are all uniquely different and fun to work with because they are so unpredictable. You probably gathered if you read any of my posts of my love for mesquite. When I designed the pieces for the White House five years ago I picked Mesquite. Seeing them in the Cabinet Room after completion and installation when we delivered them made me realise that my choice was perfect. of the 350 pieces in the Permanent Collection, my designs were the only ones made of mesquite.
One classic and out of print book was published by Texas A&M University called Early Texas Furniture. The book contains just about all of the Early Texas pieces made as Texas designs and gives some guidance to size. I wanted to do a follow up book and give details of joinery and how they were and could be made, but time ran out.

Hi Steve, Hope you are well. Sapwood is of course where all of the tree growth takes place. The main stem of the tree inside this growth band is in a sense actually dead wood in that it’s no longer growing or even increasing and serves only to support the outer ring that increases the tree’s girth, which in temperate zones is commonly annual growth governed in the main part by seasonal or annual growth, hence the common but not necessarily accurate term ‘annual’ ring. In general we use the more accurate term, ‘growth’ ring as in some regions of temperate zones the weather is so mild, say with little or no winter as such, continuous growth means a less prominent change in pattern in the growth ring.It is true to say that taking advantage of the slower growth periods when the sap rising is much slower or stopped means a more stable condition for seasoning and drying.

Thanks Paul

All that makes sense and I guess if I am going to harvest my own trees, I will try to do it in the winter. It is understandable that this is not a common practice today due to productivity. It is sad that what once was a common practice may be all but forgotten today.