LOUISIANA. 



large. In places llicse l)liil'l's consist of 

 an uppoi' stratum of lirown loam, under- 

 laid Ijy the ealcare()u.s silts of tlie loess 

 formation, which in turn overlie the bine 

 cla.vs of the Mississippi bottoms. In the 

 general degradation of these western 

 bluffs and their subseijueut transporta- 

 tion, assortment and depos.tion by run- 

 ning water, soils of all grades frotu a 

 rich, stiff blacl< prairie to a poor, gray, 

 silty piny woods, have been formed. Ac- 

 cordingly we tind, to the east and south, 

 in southwest Louisiana, extensive develop- 

 ments of the black prairie, changing 

 gradually westward and northward into 

 the brown loam prairie, and this in turn 

 giving away to the gray, silty pines of 

 the extreme western portion. 



These prairies lie in Calcasieu, Acadia, 

 St. r>andry, I^afayette, Vermi.lion, 

 lueria, St. Martin, St. Mary and a small 

 portian of (jameron. This section in- 

 cludes wliat was originally known as thf 

 Attakapas and Opelousas prairies, ana naa 

 been rendered famous by Longfellow, who 

 has styled it the "Kden of Louisiana." 

 Until recently it was occupied only by 

 count'.est: hordes of cattle and ponies, 

 but now it is entirely under fence, and 

 most of it under cu.tivation, and happy 

 homes and thrifty towns are everywhere 

 to be seen. Over 7UD0 families from the 

 prairies of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and 

 Illinois have enthroned their "Lares and 

 Penates" in tliis balmy lanr' and more 

 prosi)erous agriculturists cannot be found 

 anywhere on earth than these recent 

 settlers upon southern soil. 



BLUFF PARISHES OF ■] HE STATE. 



West Feliciana, adjoihing the state of 

 Mississippi, has alluvial, bluff and good 

 oak and hickory uplands. The bl ill' lands 

 largely predominate. They lie between the 

 aliuviai lands on the river and the hdl 

 lands of the extreme east, and ire 'piile 

 hilly and broken, with ridges rising sev- 

 eral hundred feet, w.^a ravines or narrow 

 valleys between. In some places there are 

 tracts of level or slightly rolling plateaus, 

 with the brow;n loam on the top, find on 

 their sides a mixture of the loam with the 

 calcareous silts, which gives an excellent 

 soil. In the southern portion of the par- 

 ish the ridges are not so elevated— the 

 level areas more ext.^nsive and large 

 tracts are cultivat'jd. The oak uplands 

 are similar to thosi in the adjoining par- 

 ish of East Feliciana. 



East Feliciana has its southeastern ex- 

 tremity composed of bluff lands— the di- 

 viding line between them and the oak 

 uplands crossing from West Feliciana to 

 East Baton Rouge parish, a few miles 

 south of Jackson. This belt is here 

 about twelve miles wide, and has the 

 same characteristics as similar soils in 

 Bast Baton Rouge. Beyond the line de- 

 Fcribed alternations and intermixtures 

 of bluff and pine soils prevail for a 

 short distance, when the latter continues 

 on through the parish. East of the 

 Comite the lands are more broken, the 

 short-leaf pine predominating in the 

 woods. The appearance of the long-leaf 

 pine is first encountered near the Amite, 

 which, after passing this stream, is the 

 prevailing timber. A small section of 

 this parish in the northeast corner may 

 be classified with the long-leaf pine re- 

 gion. 



This is one of the best hill parishes in 

 the state. 



East Baton Rouge is emphatically the 



bluff parish of the state. A small por- 

 tion of the extreme iioithwest corner 

 IS of the oak autl pine upl;inds. It has 

 two tracts of allii\ial lands, one board- 

 ing the .Mississippi and the other along 

 bayou Manchac. The bluff soils of this 

 parish are light loams, with the dark 

 orange colored subsoil near the surface. 

 These soils were originally covered with 

 a forest of maguolia, beecli, swamp chest- 

 nut, oaks, sweet gum and sas.safras. witb 

 an undergrowth of swamp caue every- 

 where. 



The original soil was a black, deep, 

 easily tilled loam of such profuse fertil- 

 it.v that few settlers could be [lersu.-ided 

 to leave it for the bottoms, I'.nt the re- 

 moval of the timber and caue and general 

 improvident cultivation has caused much 

 of the original soil to be washe<l a way- 

 Bermuda and carpet grasses ha\e taken 

 possession of these lands and checked the 

 denudation by rains, at same time fur- 

 nishing excellent pasturage for stock of 

 all kinds. These soils retpiire only deep 

 and thorough tillage and rational rcttation 

 of cr<)ps to more than restore the original 

 fertility. 



As the river lands were reclaimed from 

 the floods they were occupied by the 

 large planters fioin the hills, and henco 

 this parish liecaine more and more the 

 abode of small farmers and under their 

 thrifty maaigement it is fast becoming 

 one of the most productive parishes of 

 the state. One would not wonder at this, 

 when the many advaiitages of rich soil, 

 easy tillage, nigh elevation and enlighten- 

 ed yoeinaury ail conspire to make it one 

 of the liuest farming countries in the 

 world. 



Livingston Parish— Undoubtedly a part 

 of this parish is bluff formation. How 

 much a detailed survey will have to de- 

 cide. Lockett, in Ills topographical map, 

 makes over one-half of this parish of this 

 formation, the rest being long-leaf pine 

 flats and alluvial bottoms along the Amite 

 river. Hilgard in his report on the cot- 

 ton production of Louisiana, makes the 

 larger part long-leaf pine flats and the 

 rest long-leaf pine hills and alluvial bot- 

 toms. 



The alluvium along the Amite are sec- 

 ond bottoms, elevated from 25 to .iO feet , 

 above the river bottom, and cov(!red, 

 where not cleared, with jaks, beech, 

 gUMis. dogwood, short-leaf pine, and a 

 few magnolias. The surface sou. is gray- 

 ish brown, or 1 own overlying a red 

 sandy clay subsoil, and is good. The 

 grass on these bottoms when abandoned 

 furnishes excellent pasturage for stock. 

 Tlie rest of the parish is divided l)etweeii 

 the bluffi formation, long-leaf pine hills 

 and flats. 



Along the tributaries of the Amite and 

 Tickfaw are small bottoms densely cov- 

 ered with swamp cane, which furnishes 

 food for cattle during the winter. This 

 parish is noted for its fine timber, tur- 

 pentine and cattle. 



West Carroll parish lies between bayous 

 Macon and Boeuf, and consists of binlf 

 and alluvial soils. On the east a narrow- 

 belt of the Tensas bottoms fringes th(! 

 parish, while on the west a larger belt 

 of the Boeuf bottoms runs the entire 

 length of the parish. On the banks of 

 th(> Macon Ihe bluffs of I en reach the 

 height of L'O feet, sloping gradually to the 

 westward, the lands gradually improve 

 as we descend, the loam of the blufl; 

 often penetrating the Boeuf bottoms, 

 forming frequently the subsoils of the 



