338 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [1F738 1 , 738 2 , 739' 



subsoil is as near to the surface as in Hudriall's and McRae's Prai- 

 ries, Drainage, which will relieve ihe drouthiness ("1 t<>>), as well 

 as the saltiness and corrosive action of the surface soil (173 4). 

 Secondly, the. light and unretentive soil may, no doubt, lie greatly 

 improved by the application to it. a< a marl, of the gypsums inidtr- 

 clays, such as No. 3U1, whose action would be greatly improved 

 by the simultaneous use of some calcareous marl and vegetable 

 matter. It would seem, and the natural growth of these prairies 

 (among which there are numerous legvmmous plants). a| pears to 

 justify the expectation, that they would make better crops of red 

 clover and held pea, than any other (H43(>). 



738 1 The patches of gypseous prairie are generally bordered by a low, but; 

 dense-topped growth of the black Jack Oak. Further back, we find, undula- 

 ting lands, with a rather lank, unpromising growth of Post, Black Jack and 

 Spanish ( "itaf ") Oak, mingled with Short-leaf Pine. In this land, although 

 the surface soil is often white and ashy (being then occupied by huckleberry 

 bushes, and very unproductive), the subsoil is generally a heavy, "joint" clay, 

 •f a pale yellowish gray tint, which is very intractable and drouthy, and under 

 the usual alternations of wet and dry, olten shrinks and cracks to such an ex- 

 tent as to seriously impair the security of buildings (H727, note). 



"i3b 2 . Intei sperstd with these uplands and tbegypsec us prairies, 

 there occur patches of Hue, black prairie soil, on hilltops and 

 hillsides. It is a fine, productive soil, but drouthy and exceedingly 

 hard to till ; its subsoil at '0 to 12 inches, is a stiff vellow clay. 



No shells are found on this soil, which is evidently foimed by outcrops of 

 stratum (No. 5 of Section 29, (U216), and beai.s.a vigoious giowih ol Black 

 Jack and Post Oak, with an under gn wth ol Wild Plum, Pud Fiaw, etc. (H2U6). 

 "Where this soil occurs low dew n en ihe hillsides, it is olten of great depth, and 

 almost jet Hack ; tearing, at the present time, a dense grewth of joung Siceet 

 Qvm, with seme Cherry, Ash, Mullcny, Muscadir e, etc. 1 htse spots are 

 genei ally quite limited in extent; one, not exceeding I alf an acie, occurs near 

 Mr. John C. Parker's, not lar Inm McRae's prairie n734), on S. iO, T. 6, R. 

 4 E., Rankin county; anoiher extends along lie loiHm of the Okahay, in Smith 

 county, at Mr. L. E. Cock's pbee ; en S. 22, T. 3, R. 7 E., and on adjoining 

 ones. Here also, it adjoins a soil clescly reMmhlirg thegjpsecus jiairie of 

 Rankin ; which is to a gieat extent oAeigrcwn with small, sciubby Post, Black 

 Jack and Water Oaks, and seme Red Elm, and produces fine corn, lut invariably 

 rusts cotton — as also does tie black soil mentioned. In both, efflorescences of 

 salts are sometimes observed on the surtace. At Mr. Clock's, also, we find 

 some black prairie, and a heavy clay soil, on the hills ; the latter is here, however, 

 of a dark orange tint, and veiy productive, though somewhat stiff and drouthy 

 — a fault which could, no doubt, be greatly alleviated by the admixture of 

 Tegetable matter — green cropping or the bke, in which alone it seems to differ 

 from the black prairie. 



739. Do Gypsious Clay Soils Rvst Cotton ?— From what I have 

 heard, and the close correspondence of the great variety of soila 

 at the two points mentioned, it appears that lands ol a similarly 

 diversified character occur throughout Rankin and ^mitb, and 

 probably also in Jasper, Dear to the line, as given on the map, 

 between the Vicksburg and Jackson Groups (1215, 21b) ; in Rankin, 

 especially, S. of the Peelahatchie. In the absence, thus far, of 

 further analyses of these soils, it would be unprofitable at present 

 to dwell upon them ; from their extreme characters, it seems likely 



