336 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [1733, 734 



733. Beyond, we find a more gently undulating country, possess- 

 ing a thick covering (7 to 10 feet) of rich yellow loam, and a fine 

 Oak and Hickory growth on the higher hills, while its depressions 

 exhibit various soils formed out of the different strata of the 

 Tertiary, which are given in detail in Sec. 30, p. 140. A glance 

 at the great variety of materials mentioned in this profile, and 

 their inconsiderable thickness, will readily explain the diversity of 

 soils existing at different levels, on the hills and in the valleys 

 which ascend and descend to all the various strata, at different 

 points. 



The lands which lie at and below the level of strata Nos. 2 to 4, are frequently 

 of a " black prairie " character, and very productive — as, for instance, those 

 lying at the foot of the ridge capped with white limestone and marls (if 224, 225). 

 The soil, however, is not heavy — being simply the yellow loam of the hills 

 which has been thoroughly marled in the course of time, by natural means. In 

 view of the great productiveness of these lands, the fine effects observed by 

 Mr. A. P. Miller, as following the artifical application of the same marls to his 

 hill lands, cannot be surprising, and would no doubt have been greatly enhanced 

 by the contemporaneous application of vegetable matter, in imitation of what 

 nature has done in the valleys. A dressing of 200 to 400 bushels per acre, of 

 marls similar to Dr. Quin's (1[285) has made the exhausted ridge soils produce as 

 freely as when fresh, and after the lapse of twelve years, the effect still continues 

 the same. 



734. Gypseous Prairies. — Besides the two soils already referred 

 to, two other chief varieties are found, e. g., at Jos. Jayne's place, 

 viz : a " prairie " soil (called so only because it bore no timber), 

 appearing in depressions, which is quite light, of a brownish-buff 

 tint, and produces finely ; and a pale, " crawfishy " soil, full of bog 

 ore or black pebble (1387), which is quite poor, though situated, 

 with reference to the hills, precisely as is the "prairie" soil before 

 mentioned. 



The latter resembles closely, in its aspect, that of other, larger bodies of 

 prairie existing further N., and especially that of " Barnes' Prairie ", which 

 skirts the Pearl River hommock in T. 7, R. 3 E. The surface soil of this tract, 

 which is about 8 to 10 inches deep, is of a chocolate color when moist ; its 

 subsoil, to the depth of about 4 feet, is a loam of yellowish buff tint ; neither 

 soil nor subsoil are heavy, and the land is very productive ; its vegetation does 

 not indicate any large amount of lime. Below 3 or 4 feet, however, the material 

 becomes quite clayey, as may be observed in the bottom of washes ; and in 

 digging cisterns, heavy gray clay with crystals of Gypsum is found. 



Barnes' Prairie is very nearly on a level with the hommock of Pearl River, 

 (•[663). Further inland (S.), we also find tracts of land destitute of timber, 

 such as Hudnall's or Race Prairie, McRae's Prairie, etc., whose soil and vegeta- 

 tion at first sight greatly resemble that of Barnes' Prairie ; there being, however, 

 this essential difference, that the soil does not produce well — it is drouthy, and 

 — on McRae's Prairie, S. 17, T. 6, R. 4 E. — the spattering water during heavy 

 rains seems at times to corrode the leaves of plants. Whitish efflorescences of 

 salts sometimes appear in shallow washes ; in those of several feet depth we 

 find (especially on Hudnall's Prairie, SS. 12, and 13, T. 6, R. 3 E.), heavy gray 

 clays with abundant crystals of gypsum, the latter being sometimes observable 

 in the subsoil at 15 to 18 inches. The soil of these prairies differing so essentially 

 from that of the "black", "calcareous", or "shell" prairies, I shall distinguish 

 them as the " Gypseous prairies" (1[215), according to their characteristic 

 material. The following analyses will show some of the characteristics of these 

 soils. 



