356 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



Mississippi River itself. The Talla- 

 hatchie flows into the Yazoo, which in 

 turn flows into the Mississippi at the 

 southern end of the delta. This region, 

 much of whose lands are perennially 



MAP OF A 

 PART Ol 



MISSISS1 



THE DELTA AND VALLEY OF THE YAZOO 

 RIVER. 



inundated, is naturally of a remarkable 

 fertility, and the Yazoo Delta has be- 

 come famous for its cotton crops. 



The census of 1900 showed that the 

 Yazoo Valley, which in its larger di- 

 mensions is 200 miles long by 65 miles 



wide and contains about 6,200 square 

 miles, contains 20 per cent of the im- 

 proved lands in Mississippi, which yield 

 30 per cent of the total crop value of 

 the state. It is pointed out by the 

 Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, that agricultural condi- 

 tions of the region can be very much 

 improved, so that it will far surpass 

 present conditions. 



As early as 1718 the French recog- 

 nized the agricultural value of the Yazoo 

 country, settlements being made at that 

 time. Again, under the sovereignty of 

 England, in 1763, there was a new in- 

 flux of colonists, and during the Revo- 

 lution the settlements afforded a safe 

 harbor for refugees from both parties to 

 the conflict. During the earliest colonial 

 days agriculture was subordinated to the 

 fur trade, but it was not long before 

 many crops were raised, tobacco and 

 indigo being the staples. With the 

 English occupancy- the cultivation of 

 cotton was adopted, and from that time 

 to this it has been the staple article and 

 has been grown to the exclusion of 

 almost every other crop. 



Even now, with a soil and climate 

 adapted to a most extensive range of 

 products, and with every assurance that 

 stock raising, truck farming for the 

 early northern markets, or the cultiva- 

 tion of rice would produce a greater 

 revenue and in other ways be distinctly 

 advantageous, it remains a fact that 

 many important articles of home con- 

 sumption are brought into the country, 

 including foodstuffs inferior to those 

 which might be raised at home. Even 

 the corn to feed the necessary farm ani- 

 mals is not produced in sufficient quan- 

 tities to supply the local demand. In 

 addition to this, much of the cotton land 

 is deteriorating in value from too long 

 a consecutive period in one crop. 



Conditions in the Yazoo Delta are those 

 which pertain to almost all regions where 

 there is an annual overflow from a river 

 bearing large quantities of silt. The 

 banks of the streams from continual de- 

 posits are higher than the interior coun- 

 try, forming natural dikes on which the 

 cultivated areas are found. The back 

 country, which is perennially inundated 

 by the water which backs up from the 



