282 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [1589, 590, 591, 592 



589. Very nearly the same state of things obtains in E. Calhoun, 

 and the adjoining hilly portion of Chickasaw, as well as in the N. 

 E. corner of Choctaw county. Further than this my investigations 

 in that region have not extended. It must be observed, however, 

 that where the White Oak Flatwoods intervene between the hills 

 and the Flatwoods proper, the White Oak is also more or less 

 prevalent in these hills, and the soil is on the whole superior to 

 that above described, in E. Lafayette. 



590. In Winston county, we find the " Noxubee Hills" bordering 

 the Flatwoods on the west. Their clay soil, of a deep orange tint, 

 which bears the White, Black, and Post Oak, with sturdy Hickory, 

 and some Short-leaf Pine ; with " Poplar" on the hillsides and in 

 the hollows, more nearly resembles that of the " Pine Hills" of N. 

 Holmes and Attala counties, and will be described in connection 

 with these (1637 ; 644). 



This soil occurs as far S. as Winstonville ; further S., as has 

 been mentioned (H 563), the hills bordering the Flatwoods are 

 sandy like those of the Gholson ridges. In E. Kemper county, 

 however, where the Flatwoods " run out "— on the Bodka, and 

 headwaters of Succarnoche River — we once more find hills of the 

 Flatwoods character, similar to those of Lafayette (1588). 



Leaving out of consideration, for the present, the red soil of the Noxubee 

 Hills, which seems to be of a peculiar character, it seems highly probable, both 

 from the evident origin of the soils of the hills in question, and from the growth 

 they bear, that the}' are similar in composition to those of the Flatwoods, and 

 will require a similar treatment to render them productive. Drainage having 

 in this case been, to some extent, provided for by nature, the super-addition of 

 Lime and of Vegetable Matter would here, also, be the remedy indicated ; so 

 likewise is the intermixture with sand or sandy soils, which can very frequently 

 be effected with facility, by directing properly the hillside drainage, wherever 

 sand exists on the hilltops. 



Unfortunately, Lime is not as easily accessible to the inhabitants of these 

 hills, as it is to those of the level Flatwoods ; the application of Vegetable 

 Matter will therefore be more generally resorted to, to remedy the defects of the 

 soil — if, as is probable, they are the same as those of the heavy soil of the 

 Flatwoods proper. 



591. North of the Tallahatchie River, in Tippah and Marshall 

 counties, the hills bordering the Flatwoods (which here gradually 

 lose their peculiarities) are of a different character from those 

 described above. As a general thing, the Orange Sand, with its 

 accompanying yellow loams, is much more prevalently the surface 

 formation ; the Lignitic formation itself [as may be seen on the 

 bluffs of Ocklimita Creek near Hickory Flat, (1159)] is generally 

 composed rather of sandy materials, and does not change essentially, 

 the character of the soil. In N. Tippah, it is only near the head- 

 waters of Muddy Creek, that Flatwoods soils prevail on the hills 

 to any extent; though it is rather in isolated patches, than in 

 large bodies. 



592. Bottom Soils of the Flatwoods Region. — Of these, no 

 specimen has as yet been analyzed ; but the fine growth of timber 



