'7712, 713, 714] bottom soils of "cane hill region". 32T 



nevertheless, to be recommended, so long, at least, as the color of the material 

 brought up is not a great deal lighter than that of the surface soil. 



712. Level hommocks of considerable fertility, but differing in 

 their growth and character of soil from the bottoms, are often found 

 intervening between the latter and the hills ; sometimes also they 

 extend up to the very banks, to the exclusion of any bottom, for a 

 short distance. 



Such is the case on the South Fork of Homochitto, near Meadville ; the 

 hommock or second bottom is elevated from four to six feet above the first 

 bottom, which has a rather light colored, sandy soil, about 2 feet deep, timbered 

 as before mentioned ; while the soil of the hommock is moderately light, of a 

 buff color, about ten inches in depth, underlaid by a rather pale yellow loam, 

 its timber being the Beech, White Oak, Hickory, Holly, Sweet Gum, Cherry, 

 "Sourwood, etc. This soil will, on an average, produce a bale of cotton per acre 

 when fresh, and very good corn also ; but there are portions of it which are 

 from the outset unsuited to cotton, and others become so after a short period of 

 cultivation, while they will still produce corn very well. — A similar complaint 

 is made with reference to some of the hommock lands of the Bayou Pierre. It 

 is hoped that comparative analyses of these soils will develop the cause, as well 

 as the remedy of these defects. 



While the average width of the valleys in this region is probably 

 the same as usual iu the interior of the State, the great width of 

 the shallow sandy beds which the streams excavate for themselves, 

 often diminishes seriously the amount of valley land suitable for 

 cultivation. The smaller streams especially not unfrequently 

 occupy in this manner, a large part, or even the whole of the space 

 included between the slopes. 



713. Tracts of superior bottom land are also found, to some 

 ■extent, between the foot of the hills and the Mississippi River ; 

 they are mostly in bodies comparatively small, but of very great 

 fertility, especially where the calcareous silt of the hills has been, 

 and is being washed down upon them. The difference caused iu 

 the productiveness of the soil, by this natural marling process, is 

 very marked, and should be a strong hint to those whose location 

 enables them to produce the same effects by artificial means. 



714. Springs, Wells and Mineral Waters. — The Cane Hill 

 region proper, is on the whole poorly watered — a natural conse- 

 quence of the entire uniformity of the material of which the hills 

 are composed (1675, if.). It is only when the calcareous silt is 

 underlaid by other, denser strata at or above the level of the 

 drainage, that permanent springs exist. Even in this case, however, 

 the water is usually very limy ; and the same is true of the well 

 water which may often be obtained, after passing through the silt, 

 on the surface of the tertiary clay or sandstone strata. The water 

 of the streams themselves, where the material of the Bluff formation 

 forms their bed, is often very limy ; as may be judged from the fact 

 that many of them form calcareous incrustations and masses of 

 tufa, where a log or a ledge of rock causes the water to drip, so 

 as to aerate it. A striking instance of this kind has been mentioned 

 .in the Geological part of the present Report (1330), while calca- 



