98 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



their land for the timber. This has made "squatting" a 

 common practice in the past and one that has not entirely 

 disappeared. Many deserted squatters' cabins are to be 

 found in various stages of decay, while a few new ones have 

 been erected during the past half decade and are now oc- 

 cupied. 



The areas that have been entirely stripped of forest are 

 the broader flood plains such as those of the Mississippi and 

 Cache Rivers, the floors of the "hollows" and creek valleys 

 and the tops of the hills. These have not only furnished the 

 most accessible timber but have offered the only available 

 land for agricultural purposes. The Mississippi flood plain 

 has been very completely cleared, with the exception of 

 some islands, such as Devil's Island, that are rather inac- 

 cessible and about which levees, such as those protecting 

 the mainland, have not been built. Such islands are largely 

 covered with low flood plain forests. There are also some 

 imperfectly drained areas, such as those of Sections 14, 15 

 and 22 in Clear Creek Township, that are still covered with 

 a culled cypress forest. The cleared and drained flood plain 

 makes valuable farming lands. 



The level portions of the "Hollows" or creek valleys are 

 too narrow for anything except decidedly small farms and 

 the soil is generally poor in quality. 



The cleared hilltops have decidedly small areas of level 

 soil, the water supply is deficient, they are isolated, and al- 

 though the soil is fairly good they cannot afford more than 

 decidedly poor opportunities for general farming. The 

 most notable clearings of this sort are those of Dago and 

 Vick Hills in Sections 4 and 10 of Delta township (see 

 map), and portions of Sections 30, 31, 32 and 36 of the 

 same township. Considerable portions of these areas con- 

 sist of abandoned fields that on account of gullying have 

 proved unsuitable for tillage. 



The approximately 80 square miles included in this report 

 consists of 2 square miles of the Cache River flood plain, 

 28 square miles of Mississippi flood plain and 50 square 

 miles of uplands. Of the latter less than one-third has had 

 any attempt at cultivation, and an area of at least 35 square 



