14 



LOUISIANA. 



(ios( riborl elsewhere. There are some 

 •'Ijrauies" scattered through these 

 ridges, with soils varying from jdire sand 

 to wbitisb clays. lu Ashley county, Ark., 

 similar praines. with the iatt-n- soils, 

 have, by drainage and tiUage, been made 

 highly prolitable. 



«eyu)our"s and Dnbull's in northern 

 Jlorehouse, and Trairie du Kois, in south- 

 ern fiuacliita. are of sat^icU'nt eiV'.i <o 

 ■merit ;i distinct .'oloring on ii:e agricnltu- 

 ral map of the state. Prairies .Mer Rouge 

 and .leirerson lie at the eastern foot of 

 the ridge in M.ueliouse parish. They are 

 exircineiv ferrile iracts of a few thousand 

 i'cres eaV-h, and properly be-long to the 

 "bnlf formation." Ihe name of the for- 

 iiii>r, Mer Uouge (lied sea), is derived 

 from the prevalence of a sumac (Khns 

 copallin;'), who^e berries in autunm are 

 brilliaully red. This shrub and a few haw- 

 thorn are the only tree growth on these 

 prairies. 



Descending the western banlis of the 

 Miss ssippi river from the Arkansas line 

 to the gulf, no uplands are found, and 

 the entire country adjacent is wholly al- 

 luvial. Levees constructed and maintained 

 at public expense extend this entire dis- 

 tance, and lu-otect tlie lands from over- 

 flow in high water. Examination will 

 show that tlie liighest lands of this allu- 

 vial region are immediately on the banks 

 of the "river. This is true of every stream 

 that overllows its banks in high water. 

 It is accompanied thror.ghont its couitse 

 by a ridge, the resultant of the debris de- 

 poriifed Iiy it in each successive overflow. 

 From this ridge the lai'.ds slope gently to 

 a low-lying cypress swamp, which is usu- 

 ally the drainage basin \ietween the two 

 streams. 



The bank of the Mississippi river in 

 Ijouisiaiia, opposite Vicksburg, Miss., is 

 8 fec't above the banks of the Tensas, 20 

 above the Lafourche and 10 above Mon- 

 roe on the banks of the Ouachita. Before 

 the davs of levees, every overflow car- 

 ried the waters to these lower levels and 

 frequently lilled the entire alluvial dis- 

 trict, even u]) to the banks on both 

 streams. These floods restricted settle- 

 ment on these lands in the past, but 

 now, with our svstem of levees perfected, 

 it is expected that they will be rapidly 

 occupied. 



The .soil next to the river is not only 

 the highest in elevation, but is, as a rule, 

 the lightest, or sandiest— the amount 

 of sand depending largely upon the size 

 and velocity of the stream depositing it. 

 Hence, on the Missi!<sii)pi river, soils too 

 sandy for profitable cultivation are some- 

 times found. These sandy or loamy 

 front lands can easily be distinguished 

 from the stilT back lands by tlie tree 

 growth. In north Louisiana the tree 

 [growth of the front land is cottonwood, 

 i which is supplanted by the willow on 

 similar lands in .soutli Louisiana. As 

 explained elsewliei'e, tlie front lands are 

 formed of the deposits from the present 

 river, while the back lands are the de- 

 posits from an ancient stream which an- 

 tedated our present river, and one wliich 

 possessed little or no current. They 

 closely iTsemble the clay soils now being 

 formed in our swamps. They are uni- 

 versally known in north Louisiana aij 

 "buckshot" lands, on account of the ex- 

 cellent quality which they possess of 

 crumbling into small roundish fragments 

 on drying— a property which gives tlieui 

 the highest agricultural value, since they 

 combine the high fertility of clay soils 



w'th the easy tilth of light, loamy ones. 

 The dark, buckshot soils are esteemed for 

 permanent productiveness tiie liuest 

 soils in the world. 



Analyses made of similar soils from 

 Idississippi by Dr. Hilgard show tlioni 

 to contain the largest amount of plant 

 food, and "justify the reputation of be- 

 ing the most productive and durable soil 

 of the Mississippi bottoms. Unlike most 

 other clay soils, they may be tilled at 

 almost any time when the plow can be 

 propelled through them, because, on dry- 

 ing, they crumble spontaneously into a 

 loose mass of better tilth than uany 

 an elaborately tilled upland soil. It is 

 of such a depth that the deepest tillage, 

 even by the steam plow, would not reach 

 beyond the true soil material; and its 

 high absorptive power secures crops 

 against injury from drought. At the 

 s.tme time (owing doubtless to its being 

 traversed by innumerable flue cracks and 

 underlaid by gravel or sand) it drains 

 quite readily. The front lands are also 

 highly esteemed, and but for the prox- 

 imity of the "buckshot lands," with 

 whicli they are compared, they would 

 be held of the highest value. Drainage 

 and proper tillage will always evoke 

 from these soils the highest yields. 



SOUTH OF RED RIVER 



the scene changes. Both the crops 

 and the landscape vary from those de- 

 scribed. Sugar cane now becomes the 

 chief crop, while the cultivatable soli 

 adjacent to the banks decreases in width 

 as we descend the river. Above the 

 Red River all of the so-called bayous 

 became ultimately triluitaries of the 

 Mississippi. Below Red river there is 

 a perfect network of bayous leavi;ig the 

 river, outlets to the gulf for the 

 enormous volumes of water pouring 

 through the Mississippi in times of (loodl 

 Along these bayous lie extensive areas of 

 arable land, cultivated in sugar cane, 

 corn, rice, etc. Here, as well as on the 

 banks of the Mississippi, extensive and 

 highly improved sugar plantations, witli 

 palatial homes, large and splendidly 

 equipped sugar-houses and well arranged 

 laborers' quarters, are everywhere to be 

 found. Between the bayous and back 

 from the main river occur extensive 

 swamps of cypress and swainp cane, the 

 latter less abundant near the coast. The 

 land cultivated on the river varies in 

 breadth from one to three miles, wliile 

 on the bayous it is from a few iiuudreil 

 yards to one or two miles. Back of th r 

 cultivated lands are the wooded swamps, 

 into which tlie drainage of the plantation 

 is s-ut. 



Sometimes detached jiortions of higli 

 land, iiaving no jiresent refci-euce to any 

 of the existing streams, ar3 found four ' 

 to ten miles from the present water 

 cours(\s. They are usually coveied \\itli 

 timber and in clefiring, the latter is burnt, 

 hence .siicli clcari"gs are usually known 

 as "Briilees." Again small islands jut 

 up out of the niarsli ami abound in 

 swamp caiKs Avhich furnishes excellent 

 grazing for stock in the winter. To 

 tb^te islands cattle wore formerly sent 

 iTi large numbers, and hence were called 

 '•\'aclieries.'' 



As we descend the Mississippi, the .soils 

 nre less varied in character. As ;i rule 

 they are less sandy and true buckshot 

 roils are rare. The latter are probably 

 too deep to take part in soil formation. 

 Usually the soils of this region are di- 



