ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS I ITS PROSPECTS 1 



latter. These soils are highly productive. 

 The allHvial lands of this parish are more 

 extensively cultivated than the hills. 



South of this parish, and adjoining it, 

 is Uicblaiid parish, similar in every re- 

 spect to West Carroll. Through this par- 

 isli the floods of the Mississippi river 

 pour whenever the levees of the Missis- 

 sippi river in lower Arkansas breali. By 

 tlie continual abrasion in the past the 

 hhiir lands of this parish have been dis- 

 integrated and spread over the entire 

 flood plain. Occasional islands ot blutr 

 formation. elcvat.Ml several feet al)ove 

 the general level of the country, are en- 

 countered This parisli has greatly suf- 

 fered in the past by these periodical 

 floods through Arkansas, and if the levees 

 now constructed at lue joint expense of 

 Arkansas and I.ouisian.i can be made 

 permanent, it 'will liecome one of the 

 most attractive parishes in Ihe state. 



Franklin parish, south a"d east of 

 Richland, is almost entirely of bluft for- 

 mation, with a narrow belt of alluvium 

 Iving between havou Macon and the hills, 

 and a similar belt on the west with bayou 

 B.ieuf. The lands of this parish imiirove 

 as we go «5onth and yield line crops of 

 corn and cotton. . 



Patches of bluff lands occur in Cata- 

 houla Rapides and Avoyelles, but no ex- 

 tensive tracts are encountered until we 

 reach St. Candry. the beginning of the 

 prairies of southwestern Ijouisiana. 



St Landrv parish is partly alluvial, 

 p.artlv prairie and partly bluff, with a 

 small" portion in the northern part of 

 long-leaf pine. The hills of the parish 

 are the remains of the western blutts of 

 the Mississippi river, while the prai- 

 ries are the spread-out materials from 

 these bluffs. The eastern part of St. 

 Landry is wholly alluvial, forming a part 

 of the great Atchafalaya ba.sin. Bayou 

 Courtabfeau, a tril)ntary of the Atchafa- 

 laya is navigable as far as Washington, 

 in' this parish. From Washington and 

 Opelonsas the prairies extend to its 

 western boundary. These prairies are, 

 in the extreme northwest, of the silty 

 character. South and east of this, run- 

 ning nearly to Opelonsas and Washing- 

 ton, are the brown loam; while in the 

 extreme southern part of the parish oc- 

 curs the black prairie. Belts of timber 

 extend only along the streams of this 

 parish. 



Bayous Cocodrie and Boeuf (which to- 

 gether form the Coutableau) and Teche 

 flow along the foot of the uplands of 

 this parish and have derived their waters 

 mainly from Red river, and the alluvium 

 along their banks are predominantly Red 

 river alluvium. 



Acadia parish, recently formed from 

 St Landry, is entirely prairie, the lat- 

 ter consisting mainly of the brown loam 

 an I blai k claaract' rs. This is one of the 

 most pro(5perous pa •ishes in the state, 

 anu when properly drained, as it will 

 be Id the near future, will be one of the 

 most fertile. Nearly the whole of this 

 praiiie is underlaid at a few inches with 

 a stratum of impervious clay, strongly 

 calcereous. which retains (he water fall- 

 ing on the surface, and on account of 

 the general level character of the prai- 

 ries, preventing drainage, this water has 

 to be evaporated. The result is seen iu 

 the numerous water grasses found every- 

 wh '-e. Running, however, through this 

 parish are numerous bayous and rivers, 

 ■which have cut channels 20 to 40 feet 



deep, which would, if utilized, furnish 

 drainage canals for the country. 



If a system of drainage litches were 

 established connecting every farm with 

 these water courses and ridge culture 

 with deep plowing [iracticed, (piarter 

 drains leading to ditches dug so that the 

 rains could be rapidly remov-'d and the 

 subsoils thoroughly aerated, these so. Is 

 could be made prof isely productive. The 

 rapid influx of intelligent immigrants to 

 this parish will soon realize the necessity 

 for such action and secure proper laws, 

 either through state, legislative or |)aro- 

 chial police jury. Li the underlying clays 

 are freciuently found white concretions of 

 nearly pure carbonate of lime. 



Lafayette parish consists largely of 

 bluff lands and rolling prairies o.'' the 

 brown loam type. In the southern por- 

 tion the black calcareous prairie oc<urs. 

 A belt of alluvium follows the Vermillion 

 river through the parish and another runs 

 along the entire lengtn of the north- 

 eastern boundary of the parish. The 

 bluff lands are well developed in the 

 Carencro and Cote Oelee hills. This is 

 one of the smallest but most fertile par- 

 ishes of the state. 



Vermillion parish, in the northern part. 

 Is mainly black prairie, where the allu- 

 vial lands lie along bayous Vermillion, 

 Queue de Tortue and Merraentau. These 

 lands have long been cultivated, and are 

 highly esteemed. Along the banks of 

 tne S'ermilliou river, which is navigable 

 as far as Lafayette, in Lafayette parish. 

 were once flue sugar plantations. A few 

 of the latter still survive, and more will 

 be resurrected now, since Abbeville, the 

 county seat, has recently been connecteo 

 by rail with New Iberia. The .southern 

 portion is mainly coast marshes, and, 

 with the exception of two islands with 

 cultivatable ridges, near the gulf, are 

 uninhabited and uncultivatable. This par- 

 ish is mainly occupied by the Acadlans, 

 of Frencn-Canadian origin, but large num- 

 bers ot western men have recently set- 

 tled therein, and, from present prospects, 

 will soon fill up this fertile parish. 



«7alcasieu parish has increased in tax- 

 able values and population in Last ten 

 yeras more than any other oarish in the 

 sta^^e. In area it is the largest parish in 

 the state. Its extreme southeastern por- 

 tion is black prairie, the northeast and 

 southwest portions are silty prairies, 

 while the northwest is pine flats. A small 

 portion of the extrenie south is coast 

 marsh and a similar portion of the ex- 

 treme northwest is long-leaf pine hills. 



The lumber trade of tliis jjarish is 

 enormous and finds an outlet through the 

 Calcafjieu river to the markets along the 

 gulf coast and by rail to the states north 

 and west. This parish has recently been 

 extensively stifled by intelligent farmers 

 from the northwest, who have established 

 farms all over the prairies and are grow- 

 ing rice and sugar cane, fruits, garden 

 trucks, etc. The thriving towns of Jen- 

 nings, r,ake Charles, Welch, Riwa City, 

 «tc., attest their thrift and prosperity. 

 The prairie soils, like those of Arcadia, 

 need drainage before they will show their 

 true productive power, and some general 

 system must be established for the bene- 

 fit of all concerned. In the w(>stern |)art 

 of the parish the soils are of the silty 

 order and less productive . All over the 

 parish mounds of 2 to 4 feet in height and 

 25 or more feet in diameter occur. These 

 are immense ant hills, made by animals 

 now extinct. These greatly interfere with 



