IT5 \n\ ANTAGCSl ITS CONDITIONS ! ITS PROSPECTS ! 



vidcMl Into throe classes -"saiifly, 

 '■i.iive^r' and '•slilV." Tliey vaiy only 

 ill tlio pivi'oili"" "^' ^'='>' f^'^y fontaiu— 

 (Ik.sc witli the least are called tjaiidy, and 

 lliose Willi the largest aiuount stilt. The 

 ailNed soils are iiiternuHiiate in eliaraeter. 

 As ■! rule the sandy soils are the most 

 es'teenied, being easier tilled and urained. 

 'llieir relation to heat is sneh that they 

 ;u- I he hist to start vesetation in tlie 

 spi-ins and the last in the fall to be 

 aneiied by frosts. The converse of this 

 is true in regard to the stilt .soils. Being 

 dark in color, they absorb lieat rapidly 

 in the spring, and thu.s force an early 

 vegetation. In the fall, on account of 

 rapid radiation of heat, they are the 

 lii-st to be hurt by the frost They are 

 dilUcult lo drain and cultivate, and hence 

 are not in high recjucst. On the otlier 

 hand, they usually give a sweeter cane, 

 but a lower tonnage per acre than other 

 soils. Mixed soils possess properties in- 

 tennediate between those described, and 

 are very valuable. It is proliable that for 

 all purposes they are tiie most vahmble 

 of the three. It fretiuently happens that 

 all three of tliese soils may occur in a 

 small held. In fact, so frequent in the 

 immediate past have been crevasses and 

 overflows that the entire alluvial soil 

 of south Louisiana may be ascribed to 

 them. The original deposits made by 

 the river wlien its banks were being 

 formed, and before tlie days of the levees, 

 are rarely within tlie reach of the plow. 

 Hence tlie diversification of soils witliiu 

 n small area. 



wunierous analys'-s of soils taken 

 throughout S(uith Louisiana h:ive been 

 made, covering every variety from the 

 sandiest to the stiffest clay, and they 

 all show them to be rich in the essential 

 elements of plant food, and, as a rule, 

 recpiire only physical amelioration (chief- 

 ly drainage and good culture) to produce 

 excellent crops. tsince all these lands 

 slope away from the river to the swamps, 

 they can, as a rule, be easily drained 

 by open ditches. Tiles have also been 

 used successfully and extensively. Their 

 great cost have prevented their general 

 use. 



ALLUVIAL PARISHES NORTH OF 



RED RIVER— EAST CARROLL, 



MADISON, TENSAS AND 



CONCORDIA 



are so nearly alike in all their charac- 

 teristics as to require uo sejiarate de- 

 scription. Tliey are all wholly alluvial 

 and are bounded on the east by the 

 Mississijipi river and on the west by 

 bayous Macon and Tensas. Tensas bayou 

 leaves the Mississippi river in the north- 

 eastern portion of East Carroll parish, 

 and flows in a southwesterly direction, 

 through Madison and Tensas, and forms 

 a part of the western boundary of Con- 

 cordia. A characteristic feature of these 

 paiishes is the presence of so many 

 lakes, cut-olfs from the Mississippi river. 

 The lianks of these lakes furnish desira- 

 ble sites for homes and many a handsome 

 building is to be found dotting the banks 

 of lakes Providence Palmyra, St. Joseph, 

 liruin and Concordia In Madison parish 

 fine plantations are located on the Mis- 

 sissippi and Tensas rivers, bayous Walnut 

 and Roundaway. In fact, some of the 

 best soils of tlie state are to be found 

 on the smaller bayous of this section. 



Tensas parish has comparatively little 

 cypress swamps, and wliile most 'of the 



plantations occupy the banks of the 

 bayous and rivers, on account of e;i.se 

 of culture and transporlalion, lucre is 

 vet a vast amount of back land occupied 

 by a den.se forest that but awaits the 

 woodman's ax, to be transformed into 

 excellent fertile plantations. In this 

 parish along the Tensas bayou may be 

 found the largest, development of the 

 rich buckshot soil. Tensas claims to be 

 the richest parisii in ihi^ stale and to ino- 

 duce the largest yield of cotton. While 

 the latter claim may hold good in other 

 years, yet the census of IS.SO shows Uiat 

 East Carroll led tlie state in the average 

 acre yields, averaging .95 of a bale per 

 acre, 'or 451 pounds of lint. Tensas and 

 Madison follow with S3 of a t>ah-, or 

 ii'J-i pounds of lint 



Lssaqueuji county, Miss., Chicot county, 

 Ark., and East Carroll, La., each aver- 

 aged about the same yield per acre, and 

 at the interseccion of these three states 

 may be located the point of maximum 

 production of cotton ou the globe. 



Concordia parisii is almost surrounded 

 by large streams, and, therefore, has 

 an unsiially large (luantity of excellent 

 lands. The black buckshot lands cover 

 the interior of the parish, sandy lauds 

 being found only ou the banks of the 

 Mississii>pi river. 



The other parishes, Ouachita, Caldwell, 

 Morehouse, Richland, Franklin and Cata- 

 houla, are only partially alluvial and will 

 be described under the hill and bluff 

 parishes. 



ALLUVIAL PARISHES SOUTH OF 

 RED RIVER. 



Immediately south of the mouth of Red 

 river tlie uppermost parish in this dis- 

 trict is situated. 



Pointe Coupee is regarded by many 

 as the most desirable parish in the state. 

 IJeing on the conliiies of the sugar and 

 cotton belt, with an equal capacity to 

 grow both, one will here tind what is 

 rare in other sections- ■immense sugar 

 and cotton estates contiguous. 



The elegant homes and well improved 

 plantations lying along "False river." 

 an old cut-off of tiie Mississippi river, 

 furnish pictures whvjh for attractiveness 

 and beauty are unexcelled in this or any 

 other state. Besides the large amount's 

 of cultivatable lands adjacent to the 

 Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, this 

 parish contains also considerable belts 

 along the bayous of Moreau, Telswortli. 

 Couteau, Cowhead, Latanacbe, Fisher's 

 and Fordoche In fact the lands along 

 the Fordoche .ire not only extensive, but 

 famous for their pi-ofuse fertility This 

 parish has the largesi; levees in the state, 

 and they protect from overflow thirteen 

 of the most fertile parisnes of the state. 

 Morganza and Grand levees, now solid 

 and substantial, have been in the past 

 the center of attraction during the flood 

 season of at least oju' thousand large 

 planters. Recently cane culture has beed 

 considerably exteude in this parish. 



liLniediaiely soutTi ol Potute (-oupee are 

 the parishes of West Batou Rouge and 

 Iberville. Both are wholly alluvial. The 

 former is included between the Missis- 

 sippi river o.i the east and bayou I'ovdias 

 and Grosse Tete on the west. The 'farm- 

 ing lands, cultivated chiefly in cane, are 

 mainly along the Mi.5sissippi river, though 

 bayous Poydras and Clause and lake 

 Clause furnish some handsome homes and 

 excellent plantations along their borders. 

 Iberville, between the Mississippi river 



