MISSISSIPPI: THE SETTING 



loam, but the long history of erosion associated with 

 cotton culture has consumed much of the fertility of 

 the land. 



The Survey region termed north Mississippi con- 

 tains a variety of physiographic areas extending north 

 and south in roughly parallel strips (fig. 6). There 

 is the Mississippi Delta, the Bluff and Brown Loam 

 area, and the Central Hills, all of which were noted 

 previously in other Survey regions. To the east, there 

 are the Flatwoods, the Pontotoc Ridge, the Prairie, 

 and the Tennessee Hills. 



The Flatwoods is a flat, poorly drained area. Its 

 soil is uniformly gray sticky clay that retains water 

 tenaciously. It is difficult to cultivate, and most of 

 the area is still forested. The soil of the Pontotoc 

 Ridge was originally a rich sandy loam that was exten- 

 sively cultivated, but as a result of severe erosion much 

 land has been abandoned and allowed to revert to 

 forest. The Prairie, a comparatively treeless, rolling 

 plateau with fertile soil, has a well developed dairy 



industry. The Tennessee Hills have long been settled, 

 but the steep slopes and coarse soils never permitted a 

 highly developed agriculture. Except for the stream 

 bottoms and the lower hills near the Prairie, the 

 Tennessee Hills are heavily wooded. 



The Original Forests 



In colonial times, Mississippi was heavily forested. 

 A great longleaf pine forest extended inland from the 

 coast covering the rolling hills of the entire Piney 

 Woods area and reaching into the brown loam soils 

 on the west. In mixture with various hardwoods, 

 mostly oaks, the longleaf belt extended into the Central 

 Hills as far north as Kemper County. Beyond the 

 longleaf pine, a forest of shortleaf pine in varying 

 mixture with hardwoods (mainly red oaks, and also 

 hickories, black gum, and chestnut) extended north 

 through the large areas comprising the Central Hills 

 and into the southern half of the Flatwoods. A similar 



F R3- 1 ^06 



Figure 5. — Central Mississippi is typified by a gently rolling terrain and a pattern of interspersed fields and pine-hardwood forest. 



