THE LOWER PIXE BELT, OR SAVANNA REGION. 



53 



Silica 



Alumina . ... 



Peroxide iron, and carbonate and phosphate 



lime 



AA'ater of absorption and organic matter. . . 



92.57 



91.641 94.00 

 .94 



1.70 1.70 



0.71 

 5.03 



93.00 



.81 



0.50 0.50 1.20 

 6.16' 4.56 4.09 



100.00 100.00 100.00100.00 



Dr. J. L. Smith furnishes, in the report cited, the following analyses of 

 cotton lands in this section. In 1,000 parts of surface soil : 



Sand 



Clay 



Moisture . , . . 

 A'^eoetable matter 



2 



760 



140 



30 



70 



900 i 800 680 800 



62 ! 165 270 170 



8 j 12 20 10 



30 I 22 I 30 20 



P-ortions of these soils, soluble in warm muriatic acid, were found to 

 contain })hosphoric acid. 



The 4,500 scj^uare miles of overflowed lands in the savanna region 

 present quite a variety of swamp lands. The most elevated of these are 

 cypress ponds — shallow flats, with an impervious clay bottom, thickly 

 grown with small cypress. Some of them contain a thick deposit of 

 vegetable matter, and, when drained, have proved very productive. Next 

 in order come the almost impenetrable bays, thickly set with a growth of 

 bay, gum and tulip trees, and a dense undergrowth of vines and bushes. 

 The soil is peat or muck, resting on blue mud, and underlaid by marl 

 and sand. Then come the open savannas and the river bottoms, a rich, 

 tough, loamy soil, having at times a depth of sixty feet, derived from the 

 denudation of the upper country, whose " richest possessions are found 

 in well-sifted purity in these vast swamps." These are the rice lands of 

 Carolina. Taken all in all, whether we consider the physical character 

 of the soil, the amount of organic matter it contains, the variety of its 

 mineral constituents, or the subtropical climate of the locality, with the 

 facilities for irrigation, either for culture or to renew the surface fertility, 

 they are, perhaps, excelled in productiveness by no lands in the 

 world. 



GROWTH. 



The characteristic growth of the uplands is the long-leaved pine, ex- 

 tending in open pine woods over the wide plain, with scarcely any 

 undergrowth except here and there the scrub oak and grasses of the 



