ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS ! ITS PROSPECTS I 







ftflriGulturai Dliisioiis o! \% State. 



The state may be diviilod agrieultTirally 

 into live pai'ts: First, alluvial region; sec- 

 ond, bluff soils; third, good uplands; 

 fourth, long-leaf pine region; fifth, cen- 

 tral prairie region. 



FIRST ALLUVIAL REGION. 

 This region may be conveniently sub- 

 divided into three parts: 



First— Alluvial of Mississippi river and 

 its outlying bayous. 



Second— Alluvial of Red river and its 

 outlying bayous. 



Third— The marshes of the coast and 

 lakes. 



As before remarked, this region oc- 

 cup'i3s about 10,OUO square miles, and its 

 vast possi!)ilities in the near future for 

 supporting millions of beings are simply 

 inconceivable. The lands of this section 

 are now leveed against the annual en- 

 croaching floods of the rivers which 

 tra\erse them. S( vera! millions of dollar.s 

 are annually spent in enlarging and 

 strengthening these protecting earth 

 wails. When these streams, as they wiil 

 be \\\ a few years, shall be safely con- 

 rrolied in tlieir annual rises and tli<' con- 

 fidence of tlie people established in tli« 

 ability of levees to thorouglily protect, 

 then will a full appreciation of the in- 

 trinsic merits of these lands be realized 

 and high values be established. 



Dr. Hilgard speaks of this region a.s 

 "the most fertile agricultural lauds of 

 the state, equaled by few and surpassed 

 by none in the world in productive 

 capacity." 



ALLUVIAL REGION OF THE MISSIS- 

 Sirri RlViDH AND ITS OUT- 

 LYING BAYOUS. 



The parishes of this region north of 

 the mouth of Red river are East Carroll, 

 Madison. Tensas and Concordia entirely 

 and parts of Morehouse, Ouachita, Union, 

 West Carroll, Richland. Franklin, Cald- 

 well and Catahoula. South of the mouth 

 of Red river the \\hole of the following 

 parishes are included in this region: 

 I'ointe Coupee, \v est Baton Rouge, 

 Il)erville, Ascension, Assumption, St. 

 James, St. John, St. Charles, Jefferson, 

 Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines. La- 

 fiuirche and Terrebonne. Parts of Avov- 

 elles,West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge 

 arc also alluvial. In treating of the soils 

 of this region it would be best, perhaps, to 

 adopt the local custom and call all of 

 that portion north of the mouth of Red 

 river north Louisiana and all south of it 

 south Louisiana. This should be done also 



from an agricultural standpoint, since the 

 soils of the northern section are of a 

 lighter, sandier character than those of 

 the southern section. Cotton is the chief 

 crop in the former, while sugar cane 

 dominates among crops in the latter. 



ALLUVIAL LANDS OF MISSISSIPPI 

 RIVER IN NORTH LOUISIANA. 



Crossing the state from the Mississippi 

 river westward along the Arkansas line, 

 one encounters alluvial bottoms sei)arated 

 by spur.s of hill land running down from 

 Arkansas, until the hills west of the 

 Ouachita are eucoimtered. Bayous Macon 

 and Tiger are encountered after a jour- 

 ney over alluvial bottoms of eight miles 

 from the river. Westward of these bayous 

 begin the bayou Macon hills (bluff' for- 

 mation), which are here about eight miles 

 wide. They extend in a widening belt to 

 the southward eighty-five miles, terminat- 

 ing in Sicily Island. Their widest extent 

 occurs just north of Winnsboro. . in 

 Fi'anklin parish, and is here nearly 

 twentv-five miles. 



Descending from these hills, going west- 

 ward along the Arkansas tine, the valley 

 of the Boeuf river is entered. This ex- 

 tremelv fertile valley is here also about 

 elgl;t miles wide and extends southward, 

 wfth about the same width until it 

 mer8;es into the valley of the Ouachita 

 river, eightv miles distant. 



Westward of +he Boeuf river "allu- 

 vials" we encounter a true ridge of tlie 

 tertiarv formation stretching out from 

 ArUan.><as well down into Louisiana, and 

 cut off at some remote day from the 

 main hills by the Ouachita river and its 

 tributaries. 



This ridge has been intersected l)y baye-j 

 Bartholomew (which empties into A'i 

 Ouachita), leaving a narrow tongue 'oe- 

 tween it and its confluent. This riclge 

 varies in width from four to thirty-five 

 miles, and is known locally as Bastrop 

 hills, the town of Bastrop, the county 

 seat of Morehouse parish, being situated 

 thereon. 



The Ouachita river forms the western 

 boundary of the flood plain of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley and borders the hill coun- 

 try (good uplands) of Union. Ouachita, 

 Caldwell and Catahoula parishes. Along 

 thi-s river and its tributaries, bayous 

 d'A.'bonne, De Siard and Bartholomew, 

 some of tlie finest cotton i>lantations of 

 the state are situated. Tliese alluvial 

 lands are in many respects most desir- 

 able, since their easy culture, profuse 

 fertility and absence of levees (the upper 

 Ouachita being above the highest over- 

 flow) all conspire to give profitable re- 

 turns under good culture and managf- 

 ment. The tertiary ridg.^s mentioned 

 above are similar to the good uplands 



