1057, 658, 659, 060] soils of the scoona and yockeney. 307 



generally come down in short slopes into the bottom proper, though in Marshall 

 county, there is in some points a more gradual " hommock " slope. 



657. The Yockeney-Patafa, so far as I know it (in Lafayette 

 county, (1631), bears throughout the character of a Flatwoods 

 stream (1592) ; its bottom being usually wide (one and a half to 

 two miles), lor a stream of its size, and its soils generally heavy and 

 disposed to be " cold ", and late in spring, in consequence of the 

 slowness with which the water recedes after an overflow, and the 

 great retentiveness of the soil. 



In consequence of these inconveniences, the Yockeney, notwithstanding its 

 fertility as demonstrated by its vigorous growth of timber (among which the 

 Chesnut White Oak is prominent, while the Holly and Beech are not common), 

 has not been cultivated very extensively in the upper portion of its course. 

 Lower down in S. W. Lafayette, where the soil is lighter, it is better settled. 

 The sluggishness of the current explains the fact that the bottom is but little 

 cut up with sloughs. The Yockeney, also, has little or no hommock. — The soils 

 in the bottoms of some of its tributaries (e. g., the Potlockney), are rather sandy 

 than otherwise, and very heavily timbered, so much so as to make the labor of 

 clearing a serious drawback. 



658. The Loosha Scoona River (1631), is even more than the 

 Yockeney, a genuine Flatwoods stream. It has little or no second 

 bottom, for although the slope of the hills in N. W. Calhoun is 

 rather gradual, and is occupied by settlements, this slope has 

 essentially the upland growth, to the edge of the bottom proper. 



The latter is of extraordinary width — two to three miles in Calhoun county — 

 and its soil is gray and heavy like that of the streams in the Flatwoods proper 

 (IT 592), like which it forms, during the rainy season, a mire which for tough- 

 ness and depth, has a well-merited reputation among those who have attempted 

 to cross the bottom at such times. The sloughs, though so shallow that one 

 might overlook them, require solid bridges more than many of five times their 

 apparent width and depth, in other bottoms ; for the quagmire is as deep in 

 them, as the water is in the others. The sluggishness of the stream, and the 

 tenacity of the soil may be judged of by the fact that after several weeks sub- 

 mergence, wagon-tracks previously made on the general level will still appear 

 with sharp angles. The bottom is, however, finely timbered (the Chestnut White 

 Oak being prominent among the trees), and the soil is undoubtedly very fertile ; 

 but the late spring overflows, together with the heaviness of the soil, renders 

 crops somewhat precarious thus far, and in consequence, it is very difficult to 

 obtain a stand. The first step in the reclamation of the Scoona bottom lands, 

 therefore, must be to exclude the late overflows. 



659. I am not acquainted with the features of the Yallabusha 

 River, as exhibited in S. Calhoun ; it appears however, from the 

 sand-drifts which its banks exhibit in Yallabusha county, that its 

 bottom soils must differ sensibly from those of the Scoona. 



Its extensive, fertile hommock or second bottom, which gradually slopes 

 down into the first, has already been mentioned (1[632). The Yallabusha is a 

 rapid stream near Grenada, and like the Tallahatchie, has cut deep and exten- 

 sive sloughs in its bottom, which is subject to frequent overflows ; but from the 

 comparative lightness of its soil (slightly heavier than that of the hommock) 

 crops are not so frequently injured as on the Scoona. 



660. On the Big Black, above the Cane Hill Region (1674), we 

 generally find a second bottom on one side at least, from which 

 there is a descent of 3 to 4 feet to the first. The soils of both are 



