91 The Agricultural Economy of the American Bottoms 
of swamps and shallow lakes. Nearly all the timber, which formerly 
covered a large proportion of the area, has been removed except in some 
of the swamps. The surface drainage, naturally dependent on shifting 
meandering channels, has been improved by the construction of artificial 
and semi-artificial channels. Levees have been constructed to protect 
much of the flood plain from overflows of the Mississippi River; natural 
channels have been improved and artificial channels have been con- 
structed to facilitate the movement of upland waters across the flood 
plain. 
The soil types include loams, clays, and sands. The loams, consid- 
ered best from an agricultural standpoint, predominate. 
The salient features of the cultural pattern (Table 1) are: (a) twenty 
agricultural sections which comprise almost two-thirds of the total 
acreage; (b) two urban and suburban districts; (c) scattered small settle- 
ments including resort centers associated with lakes and streams; (d) 
railroads and highways, especially those which converge from breaks in 
the bluffs on the Southern Urban and Suburban District; and (e) ex- 
tensive levee and drainage systems. 
TABLE 1 
A CLASSIFICATION OF THE ACREAGE 
F THE AMERICAN BOTTOMS 
t of 
CLASSIFICATION Acreage sis ys 
Agrimiltaral settings. oo 64,749.5 64.19 
Southern Urban and Suburban District........ || || 22,640.0 22.44 
Northern Urban and Suburban District.......... | 6,170.0 06.11 
wamps and water bodies not associated with operated 
PAL ns SLOTS CE, Ae ge ueaesG, fcc oo. 2,526.0 02.50 
R enters and other small settlements.......___ 1,822.0 01.80 
Rural railroad property and highways.......... || 1,520.0 01.50 
ural areas occupied by levees and drainage ditches. . 1,420.0 01.40 
Total. NER are 100,847.5 99.94 
!Throughout the dissertation, unless otherwise se based on 
field work in Madison County in 1933 and in St. oar mercarog regis are 
