8 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



new channels by the parent stream or through the undermining of the 

 banks in an effort to change the direction of the main channel. The 

 well-known cases of the Mississippi River, where that stream may cut 

 across the neck of a previously formed oxbow and bodily transfer an 

 area of land from one side of the river to the other, is merely typical 

 of the character of erosion to which meadowlands are most subject. 

 There is sometimes minor erosion of portions of the meadow areas 

 crossed by smaller streams, but this action is not usually so pronounced 

 as the deposition of coarse materials, including stone, gravel, sand, 

 and loam, well mixed, in the form of low cones or broad alluvial fans, 

 where these small streams come into full flood at more frequent 

 periods than the main stream. Local storms frequently damage the 

 meadow lands by such deposits, which may replace fertile loam with 

 barren gravel, obliterating any growing crop during the process. 



LIMITATIONS IN USE. 



By far the greater proportion of the Meadow in its natural condition 

 is covered with a heavy growth of forest. The undergrowth is usually 

 thick, and the luxuriant undergrowth of trailing vines frequently 

 forms an impenetrable jungle. In all of the more northern areas of 

 meadowland hornbeam, ash, red maple, alder, tamarack, white cedar, 

 and a variety of other water-loving trees abound in the more swampy 

 portions, while the black walnut, butternut, elm, and several species 

 of oak are found in the better drained positions. Farther south the 

 same trees are found at the higher altitudes, while near sea level mag- 

 nolia, bay, cypress, swamp pine, and a great variety of shrubby plants 

 flourish. The native bamboos, locally called switch cane, and the 

 saw palmetto are also abundant. 



All of these growths must be cleared from the land before the areas 

 of Meadow may be utilized for any intensive form of agriculture. The 

 cost of the clearing varies with the character and density of the forest 

 and of the undergrowth. In many instances tne value of the timber 

 and wood secured will pay for the cost of clearing. In others the 

 return in merchantable product is small. The destruction of the 

 stumps and the underground portions of the trees and shrubbery fre- 

 quently is more expensive than the removal of the tree growth itself. 

 The cost of clearing meadowlands varies, therefore, from $5 per acre, 

 when only small amounts of shrubby plants occupy the ground, to 

 $60 to $100 per acre where in extreme cases the soil is filled with the 

 roots, buried trunks, and underground stems of a rank vegetation. 



Meadowland areas may frequently be utilized without any special 

 attempt at perfecting the drainage. Pastures may become estab- 

 lished and may produce an excellent growth of grass by merely clear- 

 ing away the trees and shrubs and seeding in cultivated grasses. In 

 fact, the flooding of the meadow lands at frequent intervals serves to 



