T587, 588] platwoods hills. 281 



as the timber indicates, especially where the White Oaks are short and sturdy. 

 Its chief fault at the present time — "sobbiness" — can undoubtedly be remedied 

 without difficulty by either underdraining or surface draining — the former being 

 probably the better method. It seems to be peculiarly adapted to Sweet 

 Potatoes, and will also make fine Corn in favorable seasons. The region is thus 

 far but thinly settled, and until the soil is drained, it can hardly be considered 

 as having been fairly tested. 



587. The IIills op the Flatwoods Region. — The hills which 

 skirt the Flatwoods proper on the west, have so much in common 

 with these in their general character, that I have thought it best 

 to speak of them in connection with the Flatwoods. Since, 

 however, their soils have not as yet been analyzed, I shall conline 

 myself to such generalities as at the present time, may suggest 

 anything of practical importance. 



It would be difficult to circumscribe in any definite manner, the 

 district occupied by these hills, the character of whose soil is 

 dependent upon the underlying strata of the Lignite formation. 

 These (as has been mentioned in the Geological Report — IF 166. ff.; 

 16* to 176) are exceedingly variable from place to place ; some- 

 times consisting of gray or yellow sands, of gray sandy clays ; 

 finally, in the Flatwoods Region proper, of the gray or whitish 

 " Flatwoods clay," which when disintegrated, gives rise to the heavy 

 soils of which I have spoken above (1F566, ff. ; 579, if. ;). The 

 same clay forms the base, and sometimes the whole, of most of the 

 hills in R. 1 E., of the Chickasaw Survey, south of the Tallahatchie 

 River. Thence, numerous strips and scollops of the same kind of 

 land extend westward into R. 1 W.. in Lafayette and Calhoun 

 counties. 



588. On the Oxford and Tocapola road, the heavy clay soil gradually sets in 

 as we approach McLaurin's Creek ; and even on Pumpkin Creek we find hill- 

 Bides of a similar character ; their soil differing decidedly from the yellow loam 

 lands of Middle and W. Lafayette, (which it resembles in color — H630, ff.;), in 

 that it cracks open in dry seasons, and does not wash away. The Post Oaks 

 also, which on the Oxford ridge are of a sturdy growth, here assume the 

 Flatwoods character (l[568) — tall, slender trunks, with branches beginning low 

 down, forming an open crown somewhat of the shape of a long pecan nut. The 

 Spanish (" Red") Oaks are lank and thin, their bark whitish, their crowns 

 tattered and irregular, with long, straight, whitish branches. These characters 

 become more strongly pronounced as we approach the Flatwoods ; and a great 

 deal of Scarlet (" Spanish") Oak mingles with the other two. At first (as we 

 advance eastward) the hills are capped with strata of the Orange Sand forma- 

 tion, and these, as they are washed down over the heavy hillside soil, mitigate 

 its stiffness to some extent. But as the sand strata on the hills thin out and 

 finally disappear, the hills become less abrupt, the surface soil is of a gray tint, 

 and scarcely less heavy than that of the Flatwoods themselves. — Not unfre- 

 quently, ridges of the character just described, alternate with others which are 

 capped with Orange Sand strata ; and while it is not difficult to distinguish the 

 one from the other in the field, it would be almost impossible to map them out. — 

 Where the overlying mass of sand is somewhat considerable, springs may be 

 observed to flow out at its base, some distance up the hillside, where a terrace 

 is usually formed by the impermeable clay strata which shed the water. These 

 terraces have been found very convenient for the ridge-roads, as they do not 

 wash away ; but on the other hand, formidable mudholes are often found on 

 them even in the dry season ; they are fed by the springs just referred to. 



