Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-02-19

EAHIa8 aHH MGliaWas 70 HDQHt
ha eastern line Of the town Of 6a-
artia. Here, crossing Brazlei creek,
be line passes through The planta-
Of eagle aud Kelley 10 the
Liverpool hills. Rhese hills are In
measure avoided BY q reverse
suFve, locating the line between the
liver and bluff bank. Thence
through the plantations Of
Winsted, Roach and Judge
Notwithstanding Short Greek
near its embouehment at the
hills; thence through the plan
tati0ns Of Holt for a distance of25
TO q point within the south
corporate limits Of Yazoo City. The
traverse, or preliminary line,
40 :65 miles, but reduced In location
to As 20 miles.
FEATURES OF THE YAZOO
VALLEY.
The area of the entire YazOo Ba-
sin comprehends 1850 square
miles that portion, however, which
lies between the ridge aud the river
on the east and west, and YaZoo
City and Vicksburg on the north
and south, amounts to about 100
square miles. To this limited &c.
ton l will confine my outline Of
physical characteristics as being ap.
purtenant TO the route surveyed.
The soil is. generally, Of an allu-
vial formation, having a sub stra.
tum of clay, varying from Is TO 10
feet in thickness, and resting upon
a stratum of gravel and sand. 1t
Is hardly necessary to remark that
these lands are unsurpassed in fer
tility. The timber is in great va
riety and Of the most luxuriant
growth. The lowest lands grow an
abundance Of cypress, many varie.
ties Of water oaks, swamp ash, hack.
berry, etc. The middle or second
bottom lands produce the ash, gum,
OVercup-Oak, blackjack and hack
berry. The western slope of the
ridge, on the cast of the line, sus-
tains a heavy growth Of cane, gum,
white-Oak, white, black and red
hickory, walnut and pecan.
The natural system Of drainage
Of that portion Of the YazOO bot.
tom which lies west Of the river 10
very favorable 10 its protection
against ordinary Over1ows from the
Mississippi river, and to the con-
version of the swamp lands into
cultivable ground. While the va.
ZOO flows nearly South. II receives
comparatively little of the drainage
west of il, and above the mouth OF
the SuDfower river. The Missis-
sippi river, IN annually filling and
spreading over the banks Of the
great swamp drains, deposited sed-
iment upon them, and thus formed
a system Of high banks or natural
levee, extending In a general direc.
ton from north to south through
the swamps. The annual supply Of
sediment bearing water Is now cut
OF by the Mississippi levee, except
in great food years, but the uatu.
raj swamp levees remalny and serve
q useful eud in restricting the lin.
It's Of overflow when crevasses do
occur. 1t Is known that at the tima
Of the April rise in-lS5S, the high
banks of Deer Greek almost entire-
ly protected the swamps cast col
them from Mississippi water.
The natural advantages presented
by this system of drainage for pro.
tecting the country from overflow
are apparent. The whole region Is
supplied with natural drains, hav-
ing ample slope to carry of It's
downfall ; provided the Mississip.
pi water can be excluded. Since
none Of these drains discharge into
the Mississippi, they do not pre-
vent q continuous chain of leVees
upon It's banks. Should crevasses
occur, the water poured in the
swampSis confined by natural le.
wees TO comparatively narrow belts
Of land, and large areas arc left un.
flooded.
The geological features Of the
country are of q varied character
For q distance Of about ten mile.
above Vicksburg there Is an abun,
bancc Of mari, which Is pronounced
by Prof. George Lftte, the present
State Geologist, to be Of a superi,
or quality. AT Snyder's Bluff there
Is good solid limestone. At Haynes
Bluff mari. Black prairie land ap.
pears at Bruce's place; and imme.
diately above the clay and lime.
stone alternate. Atthe county lin
the limestone ceases aud the sol
becomes sandied. At Mai. Wildly
there is a Ignite formation, esti
mated to be about IA inches ; also
mineral springs. Three miles be.
You'd are fossils iu great variet !
The Satartia formation is Of tough
white and blueish clay. The L'v
erpOol hills are ofthe Jackson clay
Yazoo City blue clay. The United
States census of 1860 presents iul
and complete statistics of popula
ton and agriculture. From this Il
will DO seen that the YazoO Valley
lands are unsurpassed In their ca.
pacity for the production of cotLol
aud corn.
ROAD BED.
In the location of the route, upon
the lower bench of rocks along the
Mississippi river, north OF Vicks.
burg, | am sustained BY the scicnti,
tlc Judgment OF Prof. L. w. Hill.
gard, the former State Geologist
This bench is broken into longitu.
dinal assures, which vary In widtl
from six inches TO one foot. The
same causes which operate to pro.
duce the subsistence Of the ground
in front of Vicksburg, do not, ]