108" 



the face of this whole country, but such a result can only be realized 

 by the construction of a railroad, traversing the whole length of the 

 prairie region of St. Landry and Calcasieu. ' % - 



The pine flats of Calcasieu, covered with the Pinus australis, pre- 

 sent the same soil ingredients as the sand prairies, and their botani-* t 

 cal features are almost identical. Here the Marshallia lanceolata, * 

 the Aletris farinosa and Aletris aurea, the Acerates paniculatus, the 

 Hymenopappus scabiosaeus and several species of Baptisias, as well 

 as the Erigeron strigosum are the predominant forms of the spring * 

 flora. The subsoil is composed of a sandy layer, which rests on a 

 bed of yellow loam, and is covered by a thin crust of vegetable 

 mould. 



The pine flat forests are without underwood, and the grass grows 

 there as luxuriantly as it does in the sand prairies, and they afford, 

 excellent pasture ground for live stock. Their level surface is broken* 

 every nine or ten miles by creeks and bayous and other small water v C; 

 courses, which form what the natives call hummockes, and are fertile * * 

 spots enriched by the sediment deposited during the prevalence of ?, , 

 high water in the spring. They are for the most part occupied by J. 

 small farmers, who cultivate a small patch of corn and cotton, and ** 

 other agricultural products, but who make the raising of live stock 

 their principal business. 



It is a question of some interest which presents itself in connec- 

 tion with the pine flats and the sand prairies. If they belong to 

 the same formation, and are composed of the same soil materials, 

 what natural causes were at work which covered the pine flats with 

 an abundant growth of the loftiest trees and left the contiguous 

 prairies unoccupied by forest growth ? The reason of this difference 

 becomes apparent, I think, from the following considerations: •' 



The pine flats were, probably, some thousands of years ago in the 

 same condition as the prairies are now. Being situated on a higher 

 level they were redeemed from the receding Gulf shore at a much 

 earlier period, and as their northern boundary touches the pine hills 

 cf the drift period of South Bapides the winged seeds of the long- 

 leafed pine were gradually disseminated throughout that region by 

 the winds, until a thick pine forest had covered the whole country 

 now constituting the pine flats. The pine forest would continue to 

 spread slowly but surely until the whole of the Calcasieu prairies is 



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