574 



MISSISSIPPI. ' 



tion to the fruits that grow in great perfection 

 in this country, this soil, under good husband- 

 ry, yields sugar-cane, rice, jute, peanuts, and 

 winter as well as summer grasses, and vegeta- 

 bles of numerous kinds, all favorable to fruit- 

 growers and gardeners and to the future inter- 

 ests of the country. Stock-raising, sheep, wool, 

 hogs, domestic fowls, butter and other indus- 

 tries, may aid the farmer and the railroad. 

 Canned fruits and preserves, dried fruits, canned 

 milk, wines, cider, and vinegar, all furnished 

 pure, and unadulterated, and wholesome, may 

 be produced by the farmers and fruit-growers 

 on this railroad for other markets and as ar- 

 ticles of commerce to be carried off on these 

 trains. 



Throughout the State sheep husbandry is 

 beginning to receive much greater attention, 

 and the importation of improved breeds has 

 been largely increased. The number of hogs 

 raised during the year is greater than at any 

 period since the war. Efforts have commenced 

 to raise improved horses and cattle, under the 

 conviction that it can be done more cheaply 

 and more profitably than in more northern 

 States. 



The climate of the State, although a hot one, 

 is relieved by cool nights and a dry atmosphere. 

 The temperature of the same months in suc- 

 cessive years is very uniform. As an agricul- 

 tural State, Mississippi is divided into several 

 portions, according to the peculiarities of the 

 soil or the natural advantages of location. That 

 part called the " yellow-loam region " com- 

 prises the greater portion of Tishomingo, Al- 

 corn, Prentiss, Tappah, Benton, Marshall, Tate, 

 De Soto, Panola, Lafayette, Calhoun, Yalo- 

 busha, Tallahatchie, Grenada, Montgomery, 

 Carroll, Choctaw, Sumner, Attala, Winston, 

 Leake, Neshoba, East Holmes, East Yazoo, 

 North Madison, and a large part of Kemper, 

 Lauderdale, Newton, Scott, and Rankin Coun- 

 ties. The soil consists of a brownish-yellow 

 loam underlaid by loose sand, on a red hard- 

 pan. The fertility depends upon the thickness 

 of this stratum of loam, which varies from a 

 few inches to several feet. Throughout this 

 vast territory there are very rich river and creek 

 bottoms, easily cultivated, and that will pro- 

 duce 40 to 60 bushels of corn and a bale of 

 cotton per acre, while the good uplands will 

 average about one half bale of cotton and 15 to 

 20 bushels of corn, with intelligent cultivation, 

 without manure. These bottom lands are heav- 

 ily timbered with white, overcup, willow, and 

 water oaks, hickory, walnut, ash, poplar, elm, 

 holly, maple, cypress, etc. The best ridges 

 and table lands are covered with black, red, 

 post, and white oaks, hickory, dogwood, and 

 chestnut, in many sections mixed with short- 

 leaf pine ; while the poorer and higher sandy 

 ridges are covered with a heavy 'growth of 

 short-leaf pine in some localities, in others with 

 a dense growth of scrubby black-jack and scrub 

 oak. The soil of this large portion of the State 

 is well adapted to the cultivation of oats, corn, 



wheat, cotton, sorghum, peas, grasses of va- 

 rious kinds, vegetables of all kinds, stock-rais- 

 ing, and fruit-growing. The " central region " 

 embraces South Madison, East Hinds, South 

 Leake, Rankin, and portions of Scott, Smith, 

 Jasper, Newton, Lauderdale, and Clarke Coun- 

 ties. The forest trees of this section are red, 

 black, white, and post oaks, hickory, poplar, 

 with an undergrowth of dogwood, buckeye, 

 crab-apple, black and red haw, etc. Alter 

 crossing Pearl River, which runs south into 

 the Gulf of Mexico, the pine-trees predomi- 

 nate and the land is thinner. This section is 

 well watered by small creeks, running through 

 wide bottoms of rich soil, of great and lasting 

 fertility. The soil of this region is generally 

 fertile, and produces fine crops of cotton, corn, 

 oats, and sugar-cane; all the grasses grow lux- 

 uriantly, and it seems to be the home of the 

 peach and the strawberry. The " long-leaf 

 pine region " includes the southern parts 

 of Hinds, Rankin, Smith, Scott, Jasper, and 

 Lauderdale, the counties of Copiah, Simpson, 

 Clarke, Wayne, Perry, Greene, Jones, Marion, 

 Lawrence, Lincoln, Amite, Franklin, Pike, and 

 the greater portion of the Gulf coast counties, 

 Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. The im- 

 mense forests in this region of the best heart- 

 pine timber have already attracted the atten- 

 tion of capitalists and lumbermen. While the 

 greater portion of the soil in this region is light 

 and sandy, yet much of it is very productive 

 and easily cultivated, yielding remunerative 

 crops of corn, peas, sweet potatoes, upland 

 and lowland rice, cotton in the northern por- 

 tion, and sea-island cotton along the Gulf coast. 

 Vegetables and fruits of all kinds are grown 

 in great abundance. All the bays and rivers 

 along the Gulf coast abound in the finest oys- 

 ters and fish, and oranges, melons, figs, grapes, 

 peaches, etc., are raised in great perfection. 

 The " prairie region " was called the granary 

 of the South during the late war. Portions of 

 Tishomingo, Alcorn, Itawamba, Tippah, Pren- 

 tiss, and Union, with the larger part of Lee, 

 Monroe, Chickasaw, Oktibbeha, Lowndes, Clay, 

 and Noxubee Counties, and a good portion of 

 Kemper County, are included in this region. 

 A large portion of this fine prairie soil is under- 

 laid with rotten limestone, and is rich and very 

 productive, resembling the prairie country in 

 Illinois. Wheat, corn, oats, cotton, clover, sor- 

 ghum, and the various grasses are cultivated, 

 and yield very large and remunerative crops. 

 Peaches, pears, apples, and the various small 

 fruits, and vegetables of all kinds, grow in 

 great perfection, and are shipped to a consid- 

 erable extent to Western cities. The " basin 

 region " embraces over four million acres of 

 land. lying between the Mississippi River on 

 the west and the Yazoo and its tributaries on 

 the east, including much of the bottoms of the 

 latter streams. The counties of Issaquena, 

 Washington, Bolivar, Goahoma, Tunica, Shar- 

 key, and the western parts of Holmes, Carroll, 

 Leflore, Tallahatchie, and De Soto, are em- 



