YT10, 741, 742] cause op "rust" m cotton. 33& 



that analysis will at once throw light upon their proper treatment ; 

 the region in which they occur deserves, and will receive as sodn 

 as possible, a detailed examination. So much appears with 1 gffekl 

 likelihood from observations 1 have made in this region, that 

 while cotton will succeed finely even in very heavy soils which 

 are simply calcareous (i. c. contain the carbonate of lime) and con- 

 tain an adequate amount of vegetable matter, the presence of' 

 gypsum in heavy soils seems to prove fatal to its growth. Hence 

 the distinction between the gypseous and the calcareous or black 

 prairie, acquires considerable practical interest, and planters have 

 it in their power to promote greatly the investigation of this 

 important subject, by paying attention to this point and noting 

 the results. 



740. With the portion of Rankin lying N. of the Peelahatchie, 

 I am but little acquainted as yet. It seems that prairies resemb- 

 ling in part " Barnes' Prairie " (1734), partly the black prairie of 

 S. Scott, occur interspersed with hilly uplands which are mostly 

 sandy, and timbered with a mixture of Oaks and Short-leaf Pine... 

 Such, at least, is the case in T. 7, R. 3 E., and adjoining region. 



741. The undulating oak uplands with yellow loam subsoil — 

 interspersed, in the depressions, with patches of black (in the 

 bottoms) and perhaps some gypseous prairie— which have been 

 spoken of as occurring near Brandon (which itself is situated on 

 a sandy ridge), and whose soil is so essentially improved by the 

 use of the white marls of the region (1733 ; 285), seem to continue 

 with little change, in the southern half (1739), of the belt of 

 Vicksburg strata (bluish-gray on the map), towards Polkville, and 

 beyond. This tract I have not as yet visited ; it is described as 

 being a rich agricultural region, and its marls will, it is to be 

 hoped, receive timely attention (11281). 



Of Scott county, N. of Morton, I have as yet no personal 

 knowledge. From specimens and information, received, both, 

 kinds of prairie seem to exist there, especially in the western 

 portion (1207). 



The " Flatwoods " of some portions of E. Scott seem, according to descrip- 

 tions given, to coincide in the main, with the "hog- wallow prairie" uplands of 

 Smith and Jasper (V746, ff.). 



742. In S. Scott, on the head-waters of Leaf and Strong Rivers, we find I 

 patches and strips of black prairie, along the valleys and water-courses, whose 

 bottoms possess to a great extent, the genuine prairie soil ; the intervening 

 ridge lands having a moderately fertile loam soil, are generally but gently, un- 

 dulating, and bear a growth of the usual upland oaks, mixed sometimes with 

 Hickory, sometimes with Scarlet (" Spanish") Oak, or Short- leaf Pine, 

 according to the quality of the soil. It is here, as well as in N. E. Smith, that 

 the benefit of the intermixture of the sandy hill soils with the heavy, prairie 

 soil (Tf419), is very commonly experienced. The latter, however, is not always 

 heavy naturally, but sometimes quite mellow and easily tilled, and always 

 very productive of corn — usually, also, of cotton. It seems, however, that 

 wherever the heavy, bluish or yellowish matrix of the Zeuglodon bones (1T207, . 

 208), is so close to the surface as to touch the plow, the cotton frequently shows 

 t disposition to rust — as it invariably does, and very badly, where that material 



