FARMERS' REGISTER— SOUTHWESTERN PRAIRIES. 



heavy growth of large timber. These lamls, as 

 Aveli a:5 some others, often present uniform ine- 

 qualities over their general levels, reseiultling the 

 lairs of large animals ; the Indians say they are 

 EuiTalo beds, they are called the Ilog-ljcd lands, 

 and are considered the evidence of superior rjuali- 

 ty. But small portions of these lands have fallen 

 under the stroke of the axe, from their difficulty of 

 clearing, and being liable to be overflowed by the 

 quantity of water which is precipitated on them 

 from the very broken country about them. 



This embraces the general character of the sur- 

 face of (he country. The soil presents on and below 

 its surface, oyster and other sea-shells, and the pc- 

 triiied remains of fish, and shews evidently that it 

 was once covered by tiie ocean. It is lor many 

 feet in depth a mass of rotten limestone, in all the 

 various situations in which it has been placed l>y 

 the chemical action of heat and moisture, and by 

 the decomposed vegetable matter. Those soils are 

 best where there is the most vegetable matter, 

 hence the woodlands that pay for their tenancy in 

 the soil the annual contribution of their leaves, are 

 better than the bald Prairies who receive only a 

 scanty contribution from their decayed grasses. 

 The soil is a powder which dries quickly on its 

 surface for an inch or two, and in dry ^^•eather is 

 all over in small cracks and looks very dry and 

 husky and unfit for vegetation; but below its sur- 

 face, two inches, or below where the plough has 

 reached, there is a perpetual moisture. The soil 

 works up under the fingers without grit and very 

 much like putty. From a casual observation of 

 the black light inland swamps of the lower coun- 

 try of this state, I would say , there was much resem- 

 blance between them as to apjiearance, but to ap- 

 pearance only. This quality in the soil causes the 

 Prairie to bear drought surprisingly, and good 

 crops of cotton and corn are made on tliem, in sea- 

 sons that cut short the product of other lands. 



This fineness of soil ])revents the percolation of 

 much water through it : hence, in the rains of win- 

 ter, when but very little evaporation is going on, 

 it makes the worst I'oads imaginable ; so much so, 

 that it is a material deduction from the value of any 

 plantation, that should be more than ten miles from 

 navigation. 



This fineness of soil, which prevents its absorp- 

 tion of water to any de]ith, I think the cause of 

 another mischief. It prevents the gradual feeding 

 of the wells and springs, and in dry summers they 

 go dry loan extent on some few plantations, to re- 

 quire water to be hauled to the people in the fields, 

 and in extraordinaiy years to be hauled to their 

 settlements. It is very common for stock to suffer 

 much for the want of water. So soon as the warmth 

 of spring is felt and exaporation begins, the roads 

 improve surprisingly and become good, and the 

 lands become dry ; and when once \v ell ploughed 

 up in the spring, become as light as an ash-heap, 

 or as lime itself, which it is, and no subsequent 

 weather ever puts them out of order, except for a 

 day or two from some great rain. You can gene- 

 rally plough the day after a hard rain. 



The soil Iveingso loose and light makes it "very 

 liable to run its surflice ofT with every rain, and I 

 do not think that horizontal ploughing would save 

 it, nor the means usualy considered etTectual here. 

 I have tried cotton stalks, and bushes up-a-slope 

 without effect that would have been sufficient here. 

 You cannot ditch with the spade in the Prairie, 



you would make as much and very similar pro- 

 gress in a 1)arrel of pilch. With all this liability 

 of your lands to wash, it will be a longtime before 

 you will lose its soil, for it is very deep. I find the 

 opinion entertained by intelligent gentlemen, that 

 the fertility may be restored by the chemical ac- 

 tion of the sun and air without putting vegtable mat- 

 ter tlicre. This looseness of sod and want of re- 

 tention of moisture at the surface during the crop 

 season, makes the Prairies the kindest and the 

 easiest land to work. I would prefer to make a 

 crop on them in an ordinarily good year, to pre- 

 paring for one here.* You can very well cultivate 

 one-fifth more land to the laborer, and gather 

 two thirds more of cotton. The reason v/hy you 

 can gather more is because the cotton pod in that 

 soil and climate matures perfectly, and opens so 

 wide, that ti>e whole contents of the boll comes out 

 at a touch of the fingers; when here, it is drawn 

 out at two pulls, and sometimes a third ; anotlier 

 reason is, that you commence picking about a fort- 

 night earlier than here, and this time in the long 

 days of August, is equal to one bale of our weights 

 to each laborer, and yet another reason is, that 

 knowing that the amount of the crop depends on the 

 gathering, all otlier works are so arranged as not to 

 interfere w'ith it. 



I think the country more healthy than this, ow- 

 ing in part to its being more high, dry, and bro- 

 ken, and more under the strong infiuenceof the 

 trade winds; b.ut there must be a farther reason, 

 because I have seen local causes enough to produce 

 sickness here, in spite of the general causes of sa- 

 lubrity, that difl not produce it there. Families 

 reskle with security on their prairie plantations all 

 summer, in themidst of extensive clearings of rich 

 land. I think it must come from some purifica- 

 tion of atmosphere arising from the immense quan- 

 tity of lime on and near the surface of the soil. 

 The other lands in that country under similar cir- 

 cumstances, are not more healthy than here. The 

 waters on the Prairie do not corrupt ; it is disa- 

 greeable to the taste, and both cathartic and diu- 

 rectic in its efTects on a new settler, but after a few 

 weeks he becomes reconciled to its taste, and many 

 prefer it to other good water. 



I have now given you a candid, and to the best 

 of my observation, a correct statement of the ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages of a Prairie plantation. 

 It is a disagreeable "winter country and a plea- 

 sant summer country. Your settlement would be 

 more agreeable off the Prairie, and the neai'er to 

 navigation the better; your cotton once on the ri- 

 ver bank, finds a ready and expeditious way to 

 market at a dollar a bale, for all distances above 

 one hundred miles in a direct line from iMobile. 

 Moliile furnishes a good market for its sale, though, 

 perhaps, not equal to that of Charleston. I think 

 it the most conveniently built town for business I 

 have seen, and destined to increase more rapidly 

 than any other in the South. The country is nei- 

 ther well wooded nor watered, and is rather liable 

 to the visits of hurricanes and tornadoes, and your 

 buildings and fences decay sooner than here. I 

 think tiiese objections overbalanced by having a 

 climate more pleasant, from having more air than 

 this, and you are secure in health to your family 

 and slaves, and can more easdy make much larger 

 crops, and get them as cheaply to the market of 



+ In South Carohna.— [£(/. Furm. Reg. 



