MICH AFX ON SOILS AND NATURAL GROWTH. 



481 



much) cypress (Taxodium disiichum), blue ash {Fraxinus caro- 

 liniana), etc. When cleared and well drained such land yields much 

 better crops of corn than can be had on any other soil of the region. 

 The corn crop of the Dismal Swamp lands is likely to prove peculiarly 

 valuable, as the product is mostly shipped abroad. Being within 

 10 to 20 miles of a seaport that is hardly surpassed on our coast, tins 

 region has a great advantage over the better known corn-produc- 

 ing country of the Mississippi Valley. The variety chiefly grown on 

 the swamp soils is known as horsetooth corn. It is a white dent 

 which possesses an unusually long kernel, and is largely exported to 

 German v for use as a seed corn. 



Fig. 85.— Mouth of main drainage ditch emptying into the Dismal Swamp Canal, Wallaeeton, Va. 



Irish potatoes and cabbage also give excellent results on such land. 

 It has lately been demonstrated that celery can be successfully and 

 profitably grown in black-gum land. And last, but not least, it is 

 probably better suited to the establishment of permanent meadows 

 than any other type of soil in 11k- Dismal Swamp country. 



ILLUSTRATIVE QUOTATIONS. 



It may not be out of place to quote in conclusion a- few published 

 descriptions of the natural growth on different types of soil in other 

 parts of the United Stales east of the Mississippi. They will serve to 

 illustrate how generally this means of distinguishin.u' good from bad 



soils is employed. 



The younger Michaux gives an interesting note on this subject in 



