298 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [1634, 635 



this soil " wears " very well even on the ridges, producing 900 to 1000 lbs. of 

 seed cotton for 10 to 12 years. Near Middleton, and beyond, between Middle- 

 ton and Shongalo, the pine is scarce or altogether wanting, the Oak growth 

 Spanish (" Bed ") Post, Scarlet (" Spanish ") the true Red, and an occasional 

 Black Oak and Hickory, improve its character, and the soil increases in depth, as we 

 advance southward ; only occasionally there is a higher, sandy ridge, on which 

 the Black Jack and Post Oak exclusively prevail. 



Near Shongalo (1183, ff.), we have gently rolling yellow loam 

 uplands, well timbered with the growth above given, and sloping 

 down rather gradually into the hommock of the Big Black River, 

 of whose soils I shall speak later (1660, ff.). 



634. I have not personally examined the more westerly portions 

 of Carroll county, but I am informed that their general features 

 resemble very much those observed along the line of the R. R. 

 until we approach within a few miles of the Mississippi Bluff ; the 

 surface being considerably broken. 



The higher dividing ridges arc of inferior fertility, while the lower are thickly 

 covered with productive yellow loam, which seems not only to increase in 

 thickness, but also in the amount of lime it contains, as we advance westward. 

 It appears that the Big Black River in Carroll and Holmes is generally bordered 

 on the W. within a few miles, by a gently rolling tract of yellow loam oak 

 uplands (as those in which Emory and Richland are situated) ; beyond which, 

 the country is more broken and in consequence, less convenient for cultivation, 

 though not, in itself, less fertile. The Richland region in S. E. Holmes, on the 

 Big Black side of the dividing ridge, is separated from the hommock lands of the 

 latter stream, by a strip of hilly country, on which Pines are occasionally seen ; 

 north of Goodman Station, the Pine uplands remain constantly within sight of 

 the R. R. nearly up to the Carroll line. Near Richland, the country is gently 

 undulating, the yellow loam stratum 15 to 20 feet thick without much change 

 from top to bottom ; the timber large Post, Spanish (" Bed ") and Scarlet 

 ("Spanish") Oaks, accompanied very generally by large Black Jacks, of the 

 same type as that of the Madison loam lands. From the aspect of the loam 

 stratum, and the indications of vegetation in all its different points, there appears 

 to be very little difference between its upper and lower layers, provided the 

 latter have been exposed to the atmosphere, and somewhat mixed with vegetable 

 matter. In all respects, this soil resembles very much that of the Marshall 

 county table-lands — it is at all events little inferior to them in thriftiness and 

 durability (1T616, ff.). Fresh lands produce nearly a bale of cotton (1200 lbs. 

 of seed cotton) per acre, and after 9 or 10 years incessant cultivation, will still 

 yield about 750 lbs. of seed-cotton, with the usual shallow tillage. 



The loam contains very little coarse sand, but enough of fine, to render it 

 very mellow and easily tilled ; hence subsoiling will be comparatively easy, and 

 doubtless very effectual in renovating the soil, which is in many places becoming 

 very much worn. The clay marls of Madison (1[281, ff.), could be used abun- 

 dantly on this soil, without much danger of impairing its good physical qualities. 



The same soil precisely prevails in N. E. Yazoo generally, save 

 that the face of the country is rather more undulating than near 

 Richland, and on the higher ridges, where the loam has had a 

 chance to wash away, the stratum of course is thinner. Still 

 further southward, especially along the Big Black River, the in- 

 fluence of the calcareous silt of the Bluff formation on the soil and 

 vegetation, becomes apparent. 



635. Such, according to L. Harper's account, is more especially the case on 

 the W. slope of the dividing ridge between Big Black and Yazoo waters, which 



