1593, 594J FLATWOODS SPRINGS A.ND WELLS. 283 



which they generally bear, is proof sufficient of their fertility. As 

 may be supposed, they arc usually somewhat heavy ; hence the 

 Chestnut White Oak is one of the prevalent trees, from Tippah 

 Creek to the Sucearnoche. Large Black and Sweet Gums, Shell- 

 bark Hickory, and Willow Oak, are rarely wanting ; the Ash, 

 Elm, and " Poplar ", also occur with frequency. 



It would be to little purpose, were I to go into any special descriptions of 

 localities, so long as no analyses have been made. As a general rule, the Flat- 

 woods bottoms arc wide, and habitually overflowed during wet seasons ; which 

 added to their heavy soil, indicates leveling and drainage as their first necessity. 

 Of the bottom soils of some of the Flatwoods streams, such as the Loosha 

 Scoona, I have been unable thus far to form any definite idea, never having 

 seen them save in a mushy condition. On the extreme headwaters of the 

 Yallabusha, where the light Flatwoods soil (H"572, ff.), prevails in the upland, 

 the bottom soils also are quite light and easily tilled. Whenever the Flatwoods 

 bottoms have been taken into cultivation, they seem to yield very fine crops ; 

 but the inhabitants complain of their unhealthiness, which is assigned as the 

 eause of their not having been more frequently settled. A great improvement 

 in this respect might no doubt be effected by proper drainage of the extensive 

 low swampy portions, in which the water remains stagnant during a large part 

 of the summer, causing offensive effluvia very perceptible to the passer-by ; and 

 also in some measure, no doubt, by marling (^[461). 



593. In the hilly portion of the Flatwoods Region, where the 

 Bottom soils are generally less heavy, they are often remarkable 

 for fertility, as evinced by the dense and vigorous growth of 

 timber they bear, no less than by the results of cultivation. 



The timber is sometimes a serious drawback to their being taken into 

 cultivation, on account of the great labor of clearing ; such is the case, for 

 instance, on the Potlockney, a southern tributary of the Yockeney Patafa, in S. E. 

 Lafayette. The soil varies considerably, some streams bringing in sandy 

 deposits, others clay ; the latter portions may be recognized by the prevalence 

 of the Chestnut White Oak, the latter by that of the Beech (forming " Beech 

 Eidges •')• Besides these, we find the Sweet Gum, both Shell-bark Hickories, 

 White Oak, Black Gum, " Poplar ", Ash, Maple, Hornbeam, Red-Bud, Holly, 

 Cucumber tree {Magnolia auriculata) and even the bottom varieties of the 

 Spanish (" Bed ") and Scarlet (" Spanish ") Oak.— Precisely the same timber, 

 and a very similar soil, occur on the Ocklimita, near Hickory Flat, Tippah 

 county ; and nearly the same may be said of the Tapashau (HG41), in S. E. 

 Calhoun. The White Oak, especially, is always abundantly present in these 

 bottoms of the hilly Flatwoods Pegion. 



594. Springs and Wells of the Flatwoods Region. — A. The 

 Flatwoods Proper. — It is obvious that in a region of the geological 

 constitution and surface conformation of the Flatwoods proper, 

 springs cannot exist ; for the rain water cannot percolate the soil 

 to any extent, and all is at once shed from the surface into the 

 water-courses. The latter themselves, while flooded during the 

 wet season, go dry as soon as the slowly subsiding surface waters 

 have found time to drain off ; and they remain so during the whole 

 of the dry season, save, when at times, heavy showers fill their 

 channels for a short period. Where the light soil prevails, wells 

 can sometimes be obtained at the depth of 15 to 20 feet. In this 

 case, either the gray Flatwoods clays (1165, ff.), or else the marly 

 or rockv strata of the cretaceous formation (•[116 to 139), form 



