352 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [11768, 760. 770 



Insoluble Matter (clay and fine sand) 77.931 



Potash 0.266 



Soda 0.072 



Lime 0.152 



Magnesia 0.352 



Brown Oxide of Manganese 0.091 



Peroxide of Iron 5.456 



Alumina 11 870 



Phosphoric Acid 0.043 



Sulphuric Acid 0.035 



Water and Organic Matter 3.261 



99.934 



768. These analyses show, 1st. That both the soil and subsoil are considera- 

 bly below the average in native fertility, i. e., the absolute amount of nutritive 

 ingredients contained in them ; 2dly. That there is but a small difference in 

 this respect, between the soil and subsoil ; being, neverthless, decidedly in favor 

 of the subsoil, especially with regard to lime, in which the surface soil is 

 unusually poor. There is one important difference, however, in the retentive- 

 ness of the two materials, the surface soil being defective in this particular, while 

 the subsoil possesses the property in a degree somewhat unusual in materials 

 of equal lightness. 



These facts offer very important suggestions concerning the improvement of 

 these soils. They show that stimulant manures (H416), alone will be of little 

 avail on this soil, which, being naturally poor, will require nutritive manures 

 (ib.) to supply deficiency. They show that these manures will be but slightly 

 retained in the surface soil, but powerfully so in the subsoil ; hence deep plow- 

 ing and subsoiling (i[503), will be necessary in order not only to increase the 

 retentiveness of the surface soil, but also to make the subsoil accessible to the 

 roots — thereby diminishing, also, the liability to injury by drouth ; thus treated, 

 the land will be susceptible of profitable improvement to any extent. Without 

 deep plowing, the manure will, to a great extent, be carried beyond the reach 

 of plants. 



769. In stating, however, that stimulant manures by themselves will in 

 general be of little avail on these soils, it is not meant to imply that the use of 

 limes, and especially, of the calcareous marls of the State will not be highly 

 advantageous. Lime, as has been stated, produces other important effects 

 besides stimulation (H438), which will be highly beneficial, especially in con- 

 junction with the use of the natural fertilizer of the Long-leaf Pine Region — 

 Pine straw (concerning the use of which, see below — 1T790, fl'.) ; and the marls 

 contain other nutritive ingredients besides lime (H444), which are very much 

 needed in the " Pine Hills " soils. So far as the region immediately under con- 

 sideration is concerned, the marl beds at Byram (11223 ; 280), afford an excellent 

 opportunity of obtaining a supply of that valuable fertilizer. 



770. Between Summit and Holmesville, the Pine Hills are characterized by 

 an abundant growth of the Black Jack among the Pine ; the soil being partly 

 underlaid by the loam seen at Summit, in part directly by the reddish hardpan 

 underlying the latter, which is in its turn underlaid by loose sand and pebbles, 

 often causing deep washes on the slopes. At the foot of the hills, and in the 

 hommock of the Bogue Cnitto {% to 1 mile wide), at Holmesville, we find a 

 stratum of light, brownish yellow loam, 2 to 3 feet thick, which forms a fertile 

 soil bearing a siout Oak and Hickory growth ; while in the lower hommock and 

 bottom proper, there is a chocolate-colored, mellow soil, unchanged for a depth of 

 some 2 feet, and of great fertility and durability ; whose timber may serve as an 

 example, being the same as on the Tangipahoa, East fork of Amite, and the 

 larger streams of this region generally ; to-wit : Magnolia, Sweet Gum, "Poplar", 

 Sassafras, Shell-bark Hickory — all very large, stout trees ; some Beech, Horn- 



