THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 533 



of the loblolly pine is seen as Scooba is reached. The cold, wet, calcareous soil of the ilatwoods and prairies is 

 unsnited to the growth of all coniferous trees, with the exception of the cypress. Along the railroad, as it traverses 

 the flat prairie region, the country is sparsely wooded; large tracts of the prairie lands have always been destitute 

 of trees, and the woodlands with which they were interspersed were cleared at the first settlement of the country. 

 What remains of the original forest growth is now confined to localities too difficult of drainage to make agriculture 

 profitable, and to the banks of streams subject to inundation. More or less extensive patches of woods are found 

 also on the ledges where the limestone rock comes to the surface. In the swampy land the willow oak, the water oak, 

 the black gum^ sweet gum, white ash, and along the ponds willows and cottonwoods, prevail. The post oaks, white 

 oaks, and cow oaks are mingled more or less freely with these trees in localities enjoying better drainage. Black-jack 

 and black oaks, mixed with various haws, viburnums, and persimmons, occupy the rocky flats. No magnolias were 

 seen in this region. The red, willow, and water oaks, the sycamore, and the sweet gum abound along the streams 

 here, and are so common as to deserve special mention, while on the rolling uplands black oaks, post oaks, and 

 white oaks, with poplars^ shell-bark and pig-nut hickories, are common. From Tupelo toward Corinth the couutry 

 is poorly wooded. The ascent is constant, reaching the point of highest elevation between the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Ohio riverat Booneville. Corinth is situated on a wide pine plain, bounded on the west by the valley of the Tuscumbia 

 river and east by the ridges which mark the water-shed of the Tennessee. The soil is here a deep calcareous clay, " 

 very stiff and heavy, hard as brick in warm, dry weather, and suddenly becoming a bottomless, stiff mire in seasons 

 of rain. Below the valley of the Tuscumbia river the road passes over low and undulating ridges, of which the 

 higher and steeper are yet covered with the remnants of the old oak forest. Here the Spanish and post oaks 

 predominate in numbers ; then follow the black oak and the scarlet oak, while Ihe shell-bark hickory and the mocker- 

 nut form but a small part of the tree growth of these uplands. The bottoms of the Tuscumbia, although subject 

 to frequent overflows, are covered with a primeval forest not inferior in luxuriance and variety to that of the 

 Mississippi river bottom lands. White-oak timber of the finest quality is found here in the greatest abundance and 

 perfection. The most common species is the cow oak (Quercus Michavxii). I found that this river-bottom forest 

 contained, by actual count, an average of from twelve to fourteen trees of this species, from 30 to 35 inches in 

 diameter, to the acre. It is known to the inhabitants here by the name of cow oak or basket oak, being easily split 

 into narrow, thin strips. The wood is extensively used in the manufacture of baskets used by the negroes in 

 cotton-picking. These baskets are light, and of considerable strength and durability. Next in frequency follows 

 the willow oak, and then the over-cup swamp oak {Quercus hjrata), and finally the red oak, found especially on the 

 outskirts of the forest. 



"The white ash is not so frequently seen here as elsewhere in similar localities, and does not seem to thrive 

 on these stiff, cold soils. It is in part replaced by the green ash, which here attains the size of a large tree. The 

 black gum is very common, and where the soil is least subjected to overflow the true white oak is found, with fine 

 groups of beech, overtowered by large poplars. Among the smaller trees the mulberry, hornbeam, holly, and 

 abundant papaws must be mentioned. 



" The pine hills in the eastern part of Alcorn county are reached at a distance of 6 or 7 miles in a southerly 

 direction from Corinth. Pine occurs on the dividing ridges between the waters of the Tuscumbia river and Yellow 

 creek, or toward the south on those between the Tombigbee and the Tennessee rivers. A short distance west of 

 Glendale station the Cretaceous strata disappear under the ferruginous sands, and mixed with a stunted growth of 

 post oak and Spanish oak, pines appear, forming vast forests on the crests of the hills. This pine (Pinus mitis) 

 takes possession of all the old clearings and fields thrown out of cultivation. The rapid growth of the seedlings, 

 which spontaneously spring up thickly after the removal of the broad-leaved trees, leaves no chance for the seedling 

 oaks. It is therefore a certainty that in the future the short-leaved pine will be almost the sole forest tree in this 

 part of the state, outside of the bottom lands, and that it will probably extend its domain far beyond the original 

 limits of its growth. 



"The aspect of these pine woods resembles closely that of the lower pine region. The short-leaved pine 

 replaces here the long-leaved pine of the coast, the scrubby post and Spanish oaks take the place of the turkey and 

 the upland willow oaks, while the black jack is common to both these regions of identical geological formation. 

 The flora of the two regions also presents the same general features ; the asters, goldenrods, sunflowers, and various 

 leguminous plants are often the same or belong to closely-allied species. The pine-clad drift hills interspersed 

 between the Carboniferous and Cretaceous regions are parts of the northern interior drift belt which extends 

 throughout Alabama. The region of the short-leaved pine of northeastern Mississippi extends from the southern 

 border of the valley of the Tennessee river to the southern extremity of Itawamba county, and is on an average 10 

 miles in width, embracing an area of nearly 600 square miles. Of this region, after the deduction of the fertile 

 bottoms of the Tombigbee and Yellow Creek valleys, where no pines are found, two-thirds can be regarded as 

 occupied by the pine forest. As the sole supply of pine lumber in the northern part of the state, this region is of 

 great importance. Several saw-mills, none of which have an annual capacity of more than 3,000,000 feet, are 

 established on the railroad line at Glendale, Burnsville, and near luka; portable saw-mills are worked also tlirough 

 this forest in its whole extent, their product being hauled in wagons for miles to the nearest station on the Mobile 

 and Ohio and the Memphis and Charleston railroads. The largest shipments are made from Burnsville and Corinth. 



