Attractive Surroundings of a Plantation Home 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY 



It will be noticed by a glance at the map of Louisiana that the State is inter- 

 sected by numerous rivers. The Mississippi River forms the eastern border 

 down as far as the mouth of the Red River, and then runs diagonally through 

 that portion of the State lying south of the State of Mississippi. The Red River 

 cuts diagonally through the State from northwest to southeast; the Atchafalaya 

 River, flowing south from where the Red River enters the Mississippi, divides 

 the southern part of the State into the eastern alluvial delta section and the 

 western prairie section. The Sabine River separates it from Texas on the west. 

 The Ouachita River separates the alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi in the 

 northeastern part of the State from the upland pine area between it and the Red 

 River; and numerous smaller rivers, bayous and canals traversing other parts 

 of the State, added to these, give it a total mileage of navigable waterways 

 unequaled by any other state in the Union. There are forty-eight navigable 

 streams, with a total mileage of 4,794 miles. 



Reference to a map of the United States will suggest to one at a glance that 

 the State of Louisiana occupies a remarkably advantageous position geographi- 

 cally. It stands at the natural gateway through which must pass the vast 

 tide of commerce, which, originating in the fields, the forests and the mines of 

 thirty states, or nearly half of the total area of the United States, flows seaward 

 in its course to the markets of the world. 



The total land area of the State amounts to 45,400 square miles, of which 

 nearly 15,000 square miles, or one-third of the total area, is alluvial soil or "made 

 land," brought down by the flood waters of the Mississippi River in centuries 

 past from the fertile lands of the 1,238,000 square miles of territory comprising 

 the Mississippi Basin. 



In addition to that portion of the State comprising the Valley of the Missis- 

 sippi there are about 3,000 square miles of exceedingly rich bottom lands of 

 the other rivers that flow through the State, and about 1,500 square miles of 

 level coast marsh land lying between the Atchafalaya River and the western 

 border of the State and adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Next to these lands in point of fertility are the open, rolling, high prairie 

 lands in the southwestern part of the State, known as the Atakapas Prairies, 

 where rice is grown to such a large extent and with such wonderful success. 



The bluff or hill lands are located partly in the northeastern part of the 

 State, just west of the alluvial portion, and designated as the Bayou Macon 

 Hills, and partly in that portion of the State lying east of the Mississippi River, im- 

 mediately south of the Mississippi State line and north of the city of Baton Rouge. 



