182 



FARMERS' REGISTER— PRAIRIES OF ALABAMA. 



ON THE PRAIRIES OP ALABA3IA. 



By W. W. M'GuiRE. (In a letter to the Editor.) 

 From Silliman's Jgurnal of Sciciices. 



From the period of the first settlement of this 

 state to the present tiipe, the prairies have been 

 objects of great curiosity and have attracted much 

 attention; still, although the field lor scientific 

 investigation is so rich and interestmg, no one has, 

 to my knowledge, attempted a minute examination 

 of it. The striking peculiarities of the soil, of ge- 

 ological configuration, and organic productions, 

 especially in shells and other marine substance, 

 which are found scattered indiscriminately over the 

 prairies, are well ada])ted to attract attention, and 

 to excite investigation respecting the period and 

 pauses of the Ibrmation of the prairies and their 

 ibssiis. Slany who have never conceived ol" the 

 possibility of any great change of the surliice of 

 the earth, except that produced by the deluge re- 

 corded in the pentateuch, attribute to that event, 

 the present position of these shells. Others, taking 

 a still narrov/er view, believe them to have been 

 removed by the agency of men from their native 

 beds to the place where they are now found. 



My own observations, ahhough hmited, have 

 eatisfied me that the prairies once consituted the 

 boundary of the Atlantic Ocean. In support of 

 this opinion there are still existing many satis- 

 factory proofs, although nges must have elapsed 

 since those changes took place; strong evidence 

 also exists that this great change has been afl'ected 

 by the elevating power ot earthquakes, volca- 

 noes and subterranean heat. The face of the 

 country, from the mountains to the prairies, is 

 rough and uneven, presenting an outline diifering 

 from all other hilly or broken countries which 1 

 have ever seen. It abounds in iron pyrites and 

 pebbi'.'s. Beds of good iron ore, of anthracite 

 and bituminous coal, and of limestone and sand- 

 stone, are found in several places. 



The country lying between the prairies and the 

 sea coast is generally, if not altogether^ of the 

 same character as that on the coast Irom the 

 Potonjac to St. IMary's, viz: level sandy plains, 

 some fertile, some sterile, either dry or swampy, 

 and covered with pine, oak, cypress, cane, &c; but 

 it generallyj perhaps universall}'', shows the dis- 

 tinctive peculiarities of the above named coast. 

 The changes in all places are sudden and abrupt, 

 changing from the peculiar soil and character 

 of the prairies, to that of the coast, which is sterile, 

 jn some places almost pure silica; or of alluvial 

 formation along the rivers, swamps and marshes, 

 differing in fertility, according to the portions in 

 which silica and vegetable matter are mixed in 

 their composition. Tliio tract of country is from 

 one hundred to one hundred and thuly miles wide, 

 perhaps more. 



In speaking of the prairies, the rock formation 

 claims particular attention. It is uniformly found 

 below the prairie soil, at various depths, ranging 

 from ten to fifteen feet, and it sometimes projects 

 above the ground. This rock is generally kno^vn 

 by the name of rotten limestone; when removed 

 lor several feet on the top, and exposed to the ac- 

 tion of the atmosphere for some time, it assumes 

 a beautiful white color. In its soft state it is easi- 

 ly quarried, and blocks of almost any dimensions 

 can be procured. li has been dressed by planes 

 pM other instruments, and used in building chim- 



nies, some of which have stood twelve or fifteen 

 years without injury or decay. A sunnner's sea- 

 soning is requisite to fit it for building. This rock 

 has been penetrated by boring to depths varying 

 fi'om one hundred to five hundred and fiflty leet; 

 after the first six or seven feet, it is of a blueish or 

 gray color, but still soft, except in a few instances, 

 where flint strata of a foot thick or more have been 

 met with. On perforating the rock, a fidl supply 

 of good water is always obtained, which unilorndy 

 flows over the top, I have heard of no constant 

 running stream of water over this rock, except one 

 in Pickens county, near the lower fine. The 

 superincumbent earth is for a few i'eet composed 

 principally of stiff clay, of whitish color; then 

 comes the mould or soil, wliich is very black — in 

 wet weather it is extremely miry and stiffj and in 

 dry, very hard and compact, 



Shells, such as the oyster, muscle, periwinkle, 

 and some other kinds, are found in great quanti- 

 ties throughout almost all the prairies of Alabamj^ 

 and Mississippi; the first named being the most 

 numerous, mixed in every proportion with thr© 

 others. The oyster shells are perfectly similar to 

 those now obtained from the ojster banks on the 

 shores of the Atlantic. The largest beds of shells 

 in the open prairies seem to occupy rather elevated 

 but not the highest places. They have probably 

 been removed from the more elevated situations 

 by torrents of rain. It may be that the lowest 

 places never contained any shells; or if they did, 

 as vegetable matter accumulates in greater quan- 

 tities in low situations, they may have been thus 

 covered. In some instances I believe they have 

 been found in such places, several feet below the 

 surface. They are not found in very large quanti- 

 ties in the timbered prairies; and indeed, so far as I 

 have observed, wherever the shells are numerous, 

 vegetation is not so luxuriant as where there is a 

 proper admixture of tiie decomposed or composing 

 shells and vegetable matter. 



These shells and other decomposing materials 

 appear to have given a peculiar character to the 

 prairie soil, which causes it to adhere so strongly 

 to the legs of horses and to the wheels of car- 

 riages as to remain several daj's in travelling, un- 

 less washed or beaten off'. Yet, when well broken 

 uj), at the proper season, and regularly ])loughed, it 

 remains quite mellow, producing corn and cotton 

 equalto the best allu\"ial bottoms, with, so far as it 

 has been tried, increased fertility; although from 

 the compact nature of the rock beneath, and the 

 tenacity with which it retains moisture, crops are 

 injured sometimes by rains, but seldom by 

 drought. 



There being no opening or fissures, except a- 

 bo\'e the rock, by which to convey the water di- 

 rectly to the channel of creeks and rivers, there 

 are consequently no reservoirs to contain supplies 

 lor fountains and springs. In the winter and sjjring 

 seasons the streams overflow and the land is literal- 

 ly submerged. In the summer and autumn neither 

 springs or wells are to be found, except below tlie 

 rock; yet notwithstanding this scarcity of water, 

 there is seldom a lack of moisture for the purpose 

 of vegetation. And at times when the drought is 

 such as to produce fissures two or three inches 

 wide and as many feet deep, the earth will be 

 found quite moist at the depth of two or threp 

 inches. 



As an evidence of the general moisture of the 



