1T337 1 , Ml' 2 , 319] judging ok land by its vegetation. 203 



347 1 Judging of laud by its natural, vegetation. — The distinction just 

 mentioned, so far from being of merely theoretical value, is of the highest 

 practical importance. Agriculturists are accustomed to judge of the quality of 

 lands by the natural vegetation which they find upon it ; and they rarely direct 

 their attention to anything but the forest trees. Yet these are, for the most 

 part, indicative rather of what, in the agricultural sense, is termed the subsoil, 

 than of that of the surface stratum usually turned by the plow, in the shallow 

 tillage prevailing at present — which may be of a totally different character. 



As a general thing, the forest growth, when considered not only with regard 

 to the kind (species), but also to the form and size of the trees, is a very safe 

 guide in judging of the quality of land; and the systematic study of the subject, 

 in connection with analyses of soils, promises results of the highest practical 

 importance, which it is intended to communicate more fully in a future Report. 

 But this criterion may not unfrequently lead to grave mistakes, unless a proper 

 examination of the character of the soil and subsoil be made at the same time. 

 Of cases of this kind, it may be well to give a few examples. 



3472 The Black Jack Oak, when forming large, well-shaped trees, with 

 regular, and especially, tall trunks, and closed tops, is justly considered a sign of 

 no inferior soil. As a species, the Black Jack occupies some of the poorest, as 

 well as the richest soils of the State. We see it in the prairies of Monroe, in 

 the rich, mellow Table-lands of Marshall, on the best yellow loam uplands of 

 Yallabusha, Holmes, and Madison ; while on the other hand, the hopeless infertility 

 of the sandy " Black Jack ridges" of the hilly counties is familiar. In each of 

 these localities, the tree has its characteristic features peculiar to the soil, and 

 easily recognizable by an attentive observer. In the Long-leaf Pine Region of 

 the South, c. g., in the counties of Pike, Smith, and Simpson, land has frequently 

 been bought on the faith of some large Black Jack Oaks scattered among the 

 Pine ; yet the land, on cultivation, yielded no better results than adjoining- 

 tracts on which no Black Jack was to be seen. And in truth, there was no 

 perceptible difference between the character of the soils, such as the shallow 

 tillage exhibited them. Yet, on examination, I found the tree to have given a 

 correct indication ; for at the depth of 8 to 12 inches (to which the plow had 

 never penetrated), the white ashy soil is underlaid by a good yellow loam, which 

 when turned up, proves to be quite fortile. It was, of course, from this 

 stratum, that the tree had derived its nourishment ; having little or nothing to 

 do with the surface soil. Had the purchaser noted this fact, or paid rnore 

 attention to the character of the smaller plants, the roots of which do not 

 extend beyond the arable soil, he could not have been thus misled. 



348. Another case in point occurs in the Southern River Counties, in the 

 hilly, fertile loam lands bordering on the Mississippi River. Here the " Poplar" 

 or Tulip Tree (Liridendron tulipifera) is quite common among the hills, and 

 knowing the habits of this tree, we should at once conclude the soil of these 

 hills to be very calcareous. Yet it is found that most of these very soils are 

 much improved by the application of lime ; analysis, moreover, does not allot 

 to them any unusual percentage of that substance. — A little attention, however, 

 will show the tree to be consistent in its indication nevertheless. The main mass 

 of these hills, as has been elsewhere stated (327), consists of the highly calca- 

 reous silt or loam of the Bluff formation ; in most cases, however, the latter is 

 overlaid, and the soil is formed, by a brown loam, of a different character and 

 more modern age. It generally caps the hills, and also forms their talus, while 

 on the brow of the hills, where the level breaks off, the calcareous loam of the 

 bluff formation is generally near to, and sometimes at, the surface ; the same is 

 the case, of course, in washes and gullies on the hillsides. Now, these are 

 precisely the spots on which the " Poplar" is most frequently seen, viz : on the 

 hillsides rather than on the level area on top, which is chiefly cultivated. And 

 when the " Poplar" is found on the hilltops, as is frequently the case where the 

 ridges are high and narrow, examination will generally show that the brown 



