OF ARKANSAS. 331 



county. It is underlaid by the Subcarboniferous Limestone, has a deep, 

 grayish soil, which resembles the black mould of some marshes, mixed 

 with a subsoil of loam or argillaceous earth. The fertility of this prairie 

 is due to the great thickness of the soil, to its natural drainage, facilitated 

 by declivities, and perhaps also to a careful culture. The prairie being 

 now nearly all cultivated, and the plants growing on the still unfenced 

 parts of this prairie having been all cut to the root by the browsing of the 

 cattle, I could not observe whether there were any peculiar plants, which 

 could be accepted as characteristic of this soil. But I believe that the 

 original vegetation was just the same as that of the limestone fertile barrens 

 of Marion and Fulton counties. Some shrubs, the Sumach, the Persim- 

 mon, and the brambles, with the Blue Sage and the Horse Mint, are the 

 only species which could be recognized. 



The close browsing of the plants of the prairies around all the farms 

 cultivated, show that these plants, except the too hard grasses and some 

 Composite, are pretty good for grazing. From what I have seen of these 

 natural meadows, it is even evident that, when the ground is not too wet, 

 the species of grasses and other plants, like the Clover cultivated for hay, 

 invade the natural prairies, destroying some of the worst grasses, and thus 

 render them ultimately nearly as good for grazing as artificial meadows 

 could be. The manure of cattle has a powerful influence in promoting 

 this transformation. Thus it is most probable that the spreading of liquid 

 manure over the prairies would, after a time, kill the hardest and most 

 useless species of w^eeds, to let more delicate ones take their place. Another 

 reason why the prairies are invaded by very hard grasses and by coarse 

 plants of the family of the Composite is the annual burning of the surface. 

 This process apparently facilitates the growing of spring grass, but it kills 

 the delicate species, which are the best food for cattle. It is the strong, 

 hard, silicious weeds, those which have thick roots, or roots trailing under- 

 ground or deeply penetrating it, w T hich are left from year to year, and 

 invade the whole space. Salt alone has the property of killing some of 

 the large roots of the Composite. Liquid manure contains a good propor- 

 tion of it; but, generally, in well-managed farms, the active property of 

 this manure is increased by the addition of salt, a small expense, which is 

 repaid tenfold by the excellence of the grass and the richness of the crops. 



The formation of the prairies is beautifully exemplified in the woods 

 surrounding Huzza Prairie. This wood, being thick enough (mostly 

 species of oaks and hickory, with an underwood of Sumach, Dogwood, 

 &c), has here and there round spaces of twenty to one hundred feet in 

 diameter entirely deprived of trees and covered only by the plants of the 

 prairies. In carefully examining these naked places, I always found them 

 to be a little lower than the surrounding forest. They are certainly marshy, 

 and covered with water in the spring. 



