Distributive Relationships of the Agricultural Pattern 106 
In the “‘Southwestern Area” wheat is the the most important money 
crop, although the acreage of corn is slightly larger.1 In contrast, the 
acreage of wheat is somewhat larger than that of corn in the American 
Bottoms, Aside from a similarity in the importance of wheat and corn, 
the American Bottoms differs substantially from the ‘Southwestern 
Area” in the slight dependence placed on livestock and livestock prod- 
ucts, “The poor drainage on many of the bottom land farms is unfav- 
orable to livestock production, as it frequently leads to insanitary con- 
ditions around barns and hog houses.” ? Although truck gardening 
s not important in the Southwestern Area at large, many farmers be- 
‘ween East St. Louis and the bluffs have truck farms, and many grain 
farmers of the American Bottoms raise truck products as “‘side lines.” 
THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 
TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 
Relief and drainage-—The most impressive characteristic of the 
American Bottoms, considered from the standpoint of a general pano- 
Fama, is the nearly level appearance of its surface.* In addition to 
numerous flats, detailed observations reveal, low ridges, slashes, and in- 
“onspicuous slopes. These minor variations, because of their effect on 
Surface drainage and the position of the water table, are exceedingly 
‘mMportant. Over twenty-two per cent of the farm acreage is not under 
Cultivation chiefly because of swamps, shallow lakes, and water-logged 
Soils. Where adequate drainage has been provided, former swamps and 
lake floors, Practically indistinguishable in appearance from adjoining 
areas, have been converted into cultivable land. 
Since the flood plain has been created chiefly through the deposition 
of sediments by the Mississippi River, no parts of it, with the exception 
of a few semi-artificial moundsé and several alluvial fans along the base 
of the blufis, are much above the mean stage level of 392.05 feet above 
mean sea level of the river at St. Louis. The river is at flood stage at 
"Case and Meyers, of. cit., pp. 182-84. 
*Ibid., p. 185, 
IN M. Fenneman, Geology and Mineral Resources of the St. Louis Quadrangle (Wash- 
ington: Government Printing Office, 1911), pp. 11-12. ] 
M “Warren K, Moorehead, Jay L. B. Taylor, and Morris M. Leighton, The Caho 
ounds (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1928), pp. 13-14. 
‘Unpublished chart, Engineers Office, Department of War, St. Louis, 1937. 
