SOIL 



215 



places the^e rich flats are of small extent, being 

 limited by hills on one side, and the river on the 

 other. A large proportion of the hills and moun-- 

 tains are unfit for agricultural purposes, being either 

 too steep, or faced with rocks. On the various 

 streams falling into the Ohio, there are large level 

 bottoms or natural meadows, from twenty to fifty 

 miles in circuit, affording a rich soil, and may be 

 reduced to proper cultivation with very little labour* 

 Very little waste land is to be found in any part of 

 this tract of country. There are no swamps, but 

 such as may be easily drained, and converted into 

 arable and meadow land ; and though the hiils are 

 frequent, they swell gently and admit of tillage. 

 They are of a deep rich soil, covered with timber^ 

 and well adapted to the production of grain. 



Soil of Tennessee* 



The farmers on Cumberland river (Tennessiee,) 

 for the sake of describing their lands, distinguish 

 them by first, second, and third qualities. Land of 

 the first quality will bear Indian corn, or hemp ; but 

 it will not bear w^heat without great reduction. 

 Land of the second quality does not bear wheat to 

 advantage until it has been reduced by two or three 

 crops of corn, hemp, tobacco, or cotton. ..Land of the 

 third quality bears every kind of grain that is usually 

 sown on dry grounds in the Atlantic states. It is 

 agreed by all who have visited Cumberland settle- 

 ment, that 100 bushels of Indian corn are frequently 

 gathered from an acre of their best land. Sixty or 

 seventy bushels from an acre is very common; but 

 the farmer who e^cpects to gather such a crop must 



