66 REPORT 4, 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 FOREST GROWTH. 
a. More or less open oak woods, as they prevail on the highlands of 
Alabama, with Pinns mitis and P. tccda ; 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 oak; Q. Muhlenbergii, chestnut 
oak ; Q. tinctoria, black oak; Q. stellata, post oak; Q. nigra, black-jack. 
The hickories are Garya amara, G. tomentosa, G. porcina. 
The other accompanying trees are the various haws, the snow-drop 
tree (Halesia), the sour-wood (Oxydendrum arboreum), and several spe- 
cies of Gornus 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 North Alabama, where 
the limestone prevails, large buckeyes (JEsculus flava and glabra) make 
their appearance, with the Magnolia cordata, and the cucumber trees 
(Magnolia macropJiylla 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. 
6. Rich 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. 
