ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS! ITS PROSPECTS! 



2:5 



rainfall abundant and the climate most 

 <'ongcnial to health and outdoor exercise 

 the year round. The greatest variety of 

 crops can be grown here. Churches are 

 abundant and schools numerous and well 

 attended. Lumber abundant and cheap. 



The best of springs and wells are to be 

 found almost everywhere. 



The following description of the eioils 

 of this section is taken from a rcccu! 

 report of the geological survey uiadt- by 

 Dr. Leieh, unlar the au.-spices of llie 

 state experiment stations. 



soms OF THE Hiuu liahds | 



<;, 



OF Not^THEHN liOUisiArifl ^y 



Red Sandy Clay Region— These soils, 

 occupying the hills of north Louisiana, 

 may be classified into — 



a. Black sandy. 



b. Gray sandy. 



c. Yellowish red sandy. 



d. Deep red sandy loam. 



These varieties graduate the one into 

 the other almost imperceptibly. Yet in 

 the central portion, from north to south 

 and in the Dolet hills, the red sandy loam 

 predominates. These varieties are de- 

 .ived from the immediately underlying 

 geological formations, the red sandy clays 

 and the drift, or a mixture of the ma- 

 terial of both. Occupying, as they do, 

 hillsides of more or less declivity, they 

 drain well. Of sufficient porosity to 

 permit of a thorough percolation through 

 them of water, they may be classified as 

 dry soils. With a clayey subsoil under- 

 lying them at shallow depths, they ob- 

 tain and appropriate fertilizers with 

 great facility. The "black sandy soils" 

 of this division, occurring particularly 

 in the eastern and western portions of 

 this district, owe their peculiarity of 

 color to the presence of humus. They 

 are derived mainly from the "drift" anil 

 underlaid by the red sandy clays, and 

 vary in thickness from a few inches to 

 many feet. They consist mainly of round- 

 ed quartz grains, with small proportions 

 of humus and mineral matters. They 

 are poor, droughty and easily washed 

 away by heavy rains under improvident 

 culture. They are cold soils, and hence 

 bring better crops of corn than cotton. 

 The plowing In frequently of crops of clay 

 peas, the application of mineral ma- 

 nures, together with a proper system of 

 terracing, will add materially to the pro- 

 ductive capacity of these soils. 



The gray sandy soils possess in an in- 

 tensified form the properties described 

 under the "black saudv soils." Being 

 more deficient iu hunnis, the remedies 

 there prescribed, will apply with greater 

 force here. Composts of cotton seed. 



stable manure, pine straw and acid plios 

 phate, are especially valuable on these 

 soils. In the neighborhood, marls may 

 be used with great success, in qimntities 

 of fifty to one hundred bushels per acre. 

 Both physical and chemical benefits will 

 thus be obtained. 



I'he yellowish red sandy soils occur in 

 patches over the entire district, grad- 

 uating on the one hand to gray snnrly 

 and on the other to sandy loams. They 

 are superior in quality to either of the 

 above and may be made very productive. 

 They are mixtures of the "red sandy 

 clays" and the "drift" and their physical 

 properties are good, therefore they re- 

 tain moisture fairly well and are not so 

 subject to wash as those al)'eady de- 

 scribed. 



The red sandy loams, occupying chiefly 

 the central portions of the district, but 

 occurring elsewhere in patches of vary- 

 ing size, are the characteristic "red 

 lands" of north Louisiana. They are de- 

 rived from the underlying "red sandy 

 clays" wherever the overlying sands have 

 been washed away. Magnificent fields of 

 th's class of soils are found in many por- 

 tion of this part of Louisiana, and, al- 

 though long in cultivation, are still yield- 

 ing profitable crops. Its color is due to 

 iron oxide, and with this latter is usually 

 associated goodly percentage of phos- 

 phoric acid. This is an ideal soil, sus- 

 ceptible of the highest improvement and 

 capable of producing enormous crops. 

 With a similar subsoil, deep plowing, 

 if gradually performed, will greatly en- 

 hance fertility and crop producing power. 



The crying want of all these soils as 

 demonstrated by the experiments at the 

 noi'th Louisiana experiment station at 

 Calhoun, La., is nitrogen. To supply this 

 Ingredient, in its cheapest and best form, 

 recourse may be had to some of our 

 running varieties of cow peas. A rota- 

 tion of oats, cow peas, cotton, corn (the 

 latter also with cow peas), as prac- 

 ticed and recommended by the north Lou- 

 isian experiment station, will improve 

 all of these soMs and most rapidly, if 

 each crop be fertilized with a suitable 

 manure. The soluble phosphates used in 

 conjunction with nitrogenous manures 



