6G KEPORT 4j UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



Before proceeding to the description in detail of the agricultural re- 

 gions above enumerated, it will be convenient to give a short account 

 of the chief botanical characters of the different parts of the cotton-pro- 

 ducing area, and this I am enabled to do througli the courtesy of Dr. 

 Charles Mohr, of Mobile, Ala., special census agent, to whom I am in- 

 debted for the following notes. It is proper to state that these notes 

 refer particularly to the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala- 

 bama, and Florida. 



It will be seen that the regions of forest growth of Dr. Mohr corre- 

 spond in the main with the agricultural regions above given. 



REGIONS OF FOEEST GROWTH. 



a. More or less open oak woods, as they prevail on the highlands of 

 Alabama, with Pinus mitis and P. tceda ; the long-leaf pine, P. australis, 

 occurring on the cherty and sandy ridges and on the quartzose ranges 

 of the eastern part of the State. As upland oaks the following species 

 are included: Quercus prinus, mountain oakj Q. Mulilenhergii^ chestnut 

 oak ; Q, tinctoria, black oak; Q. stellata, post oak; Q. nigra, black-jack. 

 The hickories are Carya amara, C. tomentosa, C. porcina. 



The other accompanying trees are the various haws, the snow-drop 

 tree (Halesia), the sour- wood (Oxydendrum arboreum), and several spe- 

 cies of Cornus and Ilex. Various species of Azalea and huckleberries 

 make up the arborescent and shrubby growth. 



In the mountains bordering on the valley of the Tennessee and all 

 the deeper valleys of the mountainous region of !N"orth Alabama, where 

 the limestone prevails, large buckeyes (^sculus flava and glabra) make 

 their appearance, with the Magnolia cordata, and the cucumber trees 

 {Magnolia macrophylla and acuminata) find here their fullest growth; 

 and nowhere are found the black walnut, white oaks, black oaks, and 

 poplars {Liriodendron) in greater perfection, associated with the linden 

 or basswood. This region includes 6, 7, and 8 of the agricultural sub- 

 divisions given above. 



h. Eich bottom lands as represented by the alluvial lands of the 

 Mississippi Eiver and the Mississippi and Yazoo Deltas, and the less 

 heavily timbered flat lands of southwestern Louisiana. The cypress 

 swamps follow the banks of the rivers in their lower courses (mostly 

 below the 33d degree of north latitude, except in the extensive cypress 

 swamps of the Yazoo Delta, which reach as high as 35^). These swamps 

 have an average width of 3 miles on each side. In their courses north- 

 ward the bottoms are more restricted, and consequently the cypress 

 swamps are rarer and cover a smaller area. This region corresponds 

 with our division No. 1 a. 



c. The more or less level table lands, with rich soil, once covered 

 with heavy forests of oaks, poplars, and beech, like the rich lands be- 

 tween the pine hills and bluffs bordering the Yazoo Delta, in central 

 Mississippi. These are the table lands No. 4 b above. 



