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LOUISIANA, 



mined by its rice growth. A preponder- 

 ance of iiickory over oak, and oak over 

 short-leaf pine, are fair indices for guid- 

 ance in the purchase of laud. This parish 

 is filled with small but intelligent, pro- 

 gressive farmers, and is rapidly improv- 

 ing, both in material wealth and in social 

 and intellectual development. Uuston, Its 

 •county seat, is a thriving town, with ex- 

 •cellent churches and schools. 



JACKSON PARISH, 



lying south of Lincoln, is composed of oak 

 uplands and long-leaf pine flats. The 

 soil is chiefly of the yellow sandy clays, 

 but north of Vernon, the county seat, 

 occurs prominent red laud ridges, which 

 are very productive. Similar lands occur 

 southeast of Vernon on bayou Castor, 

 where a number of good farms occur. 



In the southern part of the parish the 

 long-leaf pine prevails generally on the 

 itops of the ridges, while their slopes are 

 timbered with onks, mixed with the 

 ehort-leaf pine, and are fairly productive. 

 A small exposure of cretaceous black 

 prairie, underlaid by limestones, is re- 

 ported near Rochester in this parish, 

 which is similar to those outcrops ia 

 Winn and Bienville. 



BIENVILLE PARISH 



!s mainly oak uplands, with the yel- 

 low sandy clay predominating. The 

 lands are gently rolling, somtimes 

 nearly level, especially in the west- 

 ern porion. The Arcadia clays are well 

 developed in the level portion of the 

 parish, and on them the water and 

 black oaks predominate. The bottom lands 

 of the streams and the flats bordering 

 lake Bristineau are of this character. 

 Where the country is rolling the red 

 subsoil appears, often with concetions 

 of llmonite (iron ore). In the extreme 

 southeastern part of the parish, as in 

 Jackson parish, are ridges with long-leaf 

 pine on their tops, but oaks with short- 

 leaf pine on their slopes. In Brushy 

 valley and northward red lands occur 

 and excellent crops are grown both on the 

 Lllls and in the valleys, which are here 

 not subject to overflow. In this parish 

 occur several salt licks, where much salt 

 was made during the war. These are 

 underlaid by gypsum and cretaceous lime- 

 stone, and from the latter good lime 

 could be burnt. Jt might be found profit- 

 able to use such lime on these soils. 

 There occur also in this parish outcrops 

 of calcareous and green sand marls, 

 which also might find utilization by ap- 

 plication to near-by lands. 



RED RIVER PARISH 



Is partly oak uplands and partly alluvial, 

 ■with a slight preponderance of the form- 

 er. The uplands form the divide be- 

 tween the waters of Grand bayou, of 

 Black lake and the Red river. They vary 

 in character from light sandy to reddish 

 sandy clays, the latter readily told by 

 the prevalence of Spanish oaks in the 

 timber. 



The front lands of the alluvial plain 

 are comparatively free from overflow, 

 while the back lands are less protected 

 on account of numerous bayous which 

 traverse them. Large plantations occupy 

 the banks of this river throughout this 

 parish. 



DE SOTO PARISH 



Is one of the best upland parishes. 

 The dividing ridge that lies between the 



waters of the Sabine and Red river 

 crosses this parish diagonally. Mansfield, 

 (be parish seat, is situated on it. Near 

 the Rod river the country is hilly aud 

 broken, constituting what is known as 

 the Dolct hills. The ridges have a red- 

 dish subsoil, and are not very thrifty, 

 I hough the valleys are fairly produc- 

 tive. Lakes and bayous interlacing each 

 other lie at the foot of these hills, against 

 the western edge of Red river. On many 

 of the bayous of this parish occur many 

 large, flat tracts of the Arcadia clays, 

 wh'ch, when well drained, make fairly 

 remunerative crops. On the Sabine slope 

 of the divide occur generally rolling pla- 

 teau's, with wide and fairly fertile val- 

 leys between. Grand Cane bayou fur- 

 nishes the richest part of the parish. 



NATCHITOCHES PARISH 



is made up of a variety of formations, 

 with the long-leaf pine hills constitut- 

 ing nearly one-half of the parish. The 

 river bottoms are next in area, fol- 

 lowed by oak uplands. Small outcrops 

 of central prairie region also prevail. 

 The long-leaf pine hills prevail in 

 the northern part of the parish, north 

 of Black lake. Here also occur the salt 

 rocks, underlaid with cretaceous gypsum 

 and limestone. Between Black lake and 

 the alluvial plain of Red river occurs 

 the ridge of oak uplands, running down 

 from Ited River parish. South and west 

 of the alluvial plain is another ridge of 

 oak uplands, coming down from De Soto, 

 which terminates a few miles below 

 Robeliue. South of this line, the long- 

 leaf pine continues to the lower end of 

 the parish. Natchitoches is one of the 

 oldest, largest and most productive par- 

 ishes in the state. The large areas of 

 cultivatable lands lying on the Red river. 

 Cane river and other old bods of the 

 river are all occupied by large planta- 

 tions and fine old homes. These lands 

 are as fertile as any in the state, and by 

 their large annual yields make Natchi- 

 toches one of the largest cotton-produc- 

 ing parishes of the state. Natchitoches, 

 on Cane river, is the oldest settlement 

 in the state, and is now connected with 

 the outside world by a branch "road t» 

 Cypress, on the Texas and Pacific Rail- 

 road. 



SABINE PARISH. 



The lands of this parish are divided 

 between the good uplands, central prai- 

 ries and long-leaf pine hills, with the 

 lirst largely predominating. The last 

 has only a small development in the 

 southern part of the parish. West of 

 bayou Toreau is a sudden transition 

 from long-leaf pine sands to the bet- 

 ter lands of the central prairie. 



On the hills, oaks, with short-leaf pine, 

 growing in a deeper colored soil, take 

 the place of long-leaf pines, while the 

 valleys exhibit true black lime prairies, 

 which indicate the presence of the ma- 

 rine tertiary formation. A belt of thia 

 character, six to seven miles wide, runs in 

 a northeastly direction across the par- 

 ish. Ridges, crested by long-leaf pine, 

 but sloped with oaks and short- 

 leaf pine, run out into the uplands north 

 of Many and continue to the edge of De 

 Soto parish. 



Bayous Negreet and San Patricio fur- 

 nish the best lands of the parish. 



Sabine is noted for numerous small 

 but thrifty farmers. It is said that 

 there is not a mortgage upon the record 



