274 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 



No. I. Prairie soil of the most productive kind in Alabama — a black clay, 

 with scarcely any sand, yet so far from being stiff, becomes too light by be- 

 ing tilled. Beais luxuriant crops of corn, oats, and cotton— but the last, 

 after a few years, becomes subject to rust. Contained 8 per cent, of car- 

 bonate of liine. All this kind of soil lies on a substratum of " rotten lime- 

 stone," (specimens of which contained from 72 to 82 percent, of carbonate 

 of lime) and which rises sometimes to the surface, forming the " bald 

 prairies." 



No. 2. Bald prairie soil—" comparatively poor— neither trees nor bushes 

 grow there, and only grass and weeds before cultivation— corn does not 

 grow well — small grain better— cotton crops soon become subject to rust." 

 Contained 59 per cent, of carbonate of lime. The general substratum of 

 rotten limestone in texture and appearance, as well as in chemical charac- 

 ter, approaches the chalk of Europe more nearly than any other earth known 

 in the United States. 



No. 3. Very rich cane brake land — a kind of prairie of a wetter nature, 

 from the winter rains not running off freely, and the tenacious soil not per- 

 mitting the superfluous water to sink through— contained 16 per cent. 



No. 4. From the valley cane land— very wet through winter, but always 

 dry in summer; after being ditched dry enough, and brings fine cotton, 

 &c. Contained no carbonate of lime. 



No. 5. From what is called the best " post oak land," on which trees of 

 that kind stand from two to four feet in diameter— but little underwood, and 

 no cane — nearly as rich as the best cane land. No carbonate of lime. 



No. 6. " Palmetto land," having that plant as well as a heavy and luxuriant 

 growth of large trees. A cold and wet soil before being brought into tilth, 

 but afterwards soft and easy to till, and produces corn and cotton finely. 

 The cane on it generally small. Soil from 4 to 10 feet deep. No carbonate 

 of lime. 



Selected by Dr. W. J. Dupuy — 



No. 7. Soil from the Choctaw Prairie in Mississippi, an extensive body 

 of fertile land. Contained 13 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 



Selected and sent by Dr. R. Withers, of Greene county, Alabama- 

 No. 8. From Kemper county, Miss., part of a " considerable body of 

 similar land, extending into Neshobakand Winston counties. Chocolate co- 

 lored sandy loam, very friable and easily worked— produces corn and 

 cotton well— growth, hickory, black-jack and some other oaks, principally 

 red oak, interspersed with a few pines." Contained no carbonate of 

 lime. 



No. 9. " Prairie soil from near Demopolis, Alabama, taken from the road 

 near the surface. The rock here is within a few inches of the surface, and 

 many small fragments are mixed with the soil. It is a dark calcareous 

 mould— produces corn finely ; but there is too much lime for cotton." 

 Contained 60 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 



No. 10. Subsoil of the common " open prairie" of Greene county, taken 

 from a foot or more below the surface. " The soil above is dark, and proba- 

 bly less calcareous. The rock is not more than two feet below the surface. 

 Lime was perceptible in this specimen in powder, in detached masses, be- 

 fore being pounded." Contained 50 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 



No. 11. "From the southern part of Noxubee county. Miss.— taken 4 

 inches below the surface, of land cultivated two years. It is a prairie coun- 

 try, but different from ours on this side of the Tombeckbe, in having the 

 elevated parts of it, which hardly amount to hills, covered with hickory 

 trees, interspersed with some black-jacks. Hence it is often called a 

 "hickory barren" country. Between the timbered portions, there are long 



