Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/682

 664 MISSOURI range. That portion N. of the river is more level. An extensive bottom land lies along the Mississippi, commencing on the K at Cape Girardeau and extending S. to the Arkansas river. It includes many swamps which are ren- dered almost impenetrable by a dense growth of trees, mostly cypress. The most extensive of these, called the Great swamp, commences a few miles S. of Cape Girardeau and passes S. to the mouth of the St. Francois, penetrating far into the state of Arkansas. More than 100 m. of this swamp are in Missouri. Within the bottom are also many lakes and lagoons ; but it likewise contains many islands elevated above the reach of the highest floods. Since the earthquakes of 1811-'12 much of this tract has been inundated ; but it is capable of being reclaimed, and has a very fertile soil. The highlands along the Mississippi begin below Cape Girardeau, and extend to the mouth of the Missouri. Between Ste. Genevieve and the Meramec the banks, composed of solid masses of limestone, rise occasionally 360 ft. above the water. This high and undulating country extends across the entire breadth of the state, its rugged character disappearing as the Osage river is approached. This is one of the least populous sections of the state, but it is exceedingly picturesque. It has a mild, dry, and genial climate. Between the Gasconade and Osage, both of which are affluents of the Mis- souri, a range of low hills approaches that riv- er, rising from 150 to 200 ft. above its mean level. They are thinly wooded, and constitute the northernmost offset of the Ozark moun- tains, a region of which the undulating country on the east may be considered as the lowest por- tion. This elevated tract covers more than half of that portion of the state S. of the Missouri. The surface is extremely broken and hilly ; the hills, which rise from 500 to more than 1,000 ft. above their bases, are exceedingly numer- ous, but do not form continuous ranges, being divided into knobs and peaks with rounded summits, and presenting perpendicular cliffs and abrupt precipices of sandstone. The soil covering them is generally shallow, and over- frown almost exclusively with oak, and in the . counties with pine and cedar. West of this region the country, especially the basin of the Osage, is chiefly a rolling prairie, diversified with forests of stunted timber; and to the north, along both sides of the Missouri, extends a rich alluvial bottom. In the country N. of the Missouri, which comprehends about one third of the state, the surface is generally roll- ing or level. The bottoms along the Missouri and Mississippi are remarkably fertile. Be- tween these rivers the country is much diver- sified by the broad valleys of their subsidiary streams, and intervening tracts of undulating upland which are united with the valleys by gen- tle slopes. The woodlands occur only on the margins of the watercourses, and the uplands are extensive prairies completely destitute of timber. These prairies occupy at least nine tenths of the whole region, and comprehend some of the best lands of the state. The two principal streams are the Missouri, traversing the state from the N. W. corner to the middle of its E. boundary, and the Mississippi, form- ing its entire E. boundary, both navigable the whole year except when blocked with ice. The Osage, the next largest stream, is navigable for small steamboats half the year. Next in impor- tance are the St. Francois, White, Black, Cur- rent, Gasconade, Grand, and Chariton rivers, all navigable for small boats a few weeks in early summer. The other principal streams, not navigable, are Salt, Fabius, South Grand, Platte, Nodaway, Spring, Sac, Niangua, Piney, Maramec, Cuivre, and Castor rivers. The soils of Missouri may be divided into four classes, referred each to its particular district. The first class comprises all the bottom lands and the swamps of S. E. Missouri, which latter in- clude seven or eight counties, comprising large tracts of some of the richest lands in the world, yielding often 75 to 100 bushels of corn per acre. The S. E. counties produce fine crops of cotton. The next richest bodies of land yield 50 to 75 bushels of corn per acre on uplands, and include all N. W. Missouri, with five coun- ties S. of Missouri river. This district is most- ly underlaid by the upper coal measures, and for most farming purposes is the most de- sirable part of the state. The third class, or second class of upland soil, includes the re- mainder of N. and the border counties in S. W. Missouri. In these counties 30 to 50 bushels of corn per acre are produced, and in the east they give a larger yield of wheat per acre than any others of the state. The poorest class of soils is found on all the hills of southern Mis- souri, where the yield is rarely over 20 to 40 bushels of corn per acre. This part of the state is 1,200 to 1,500 ft. above the sea, and chiefly underlaid by primordial sandstones and mag- nesian limestones, with occasional porphyry or granite peaks in the eastern part, which sometimes rise 300 to 400 ft. above the unal- tered magnesian limestones, but their tops are probably not more than 1,500 ft. above the sea. While N. and W. Missouri has a gently undu- lating or rolling surface, with hills not often over 50 ft., and distant ridges 250 ft. high, in S. Missouri the stream channels have cut out their valleys 200 to 300 ft. below the hill- tops, and often 400 ft. below the tops of dis- tant ridges. Where the main streams are dis- tant, the country spreads out into a flat table land. South of the main Ozark ridge, where the hills are covered with either sandstone or chert, are extensive pine forests. The streams that traverse this portion of the state are clear, cool, and swift-running, and afford excellent water power. S. E. Missouri is heavily tim- bered, especially the swamp counties, which contain heavy forests of walnut, oak, cypress, poplar, gum, and sycamore. N. and W. Mis- souri is chiefly prairie, the timber being con- fined to narrow belts along the streams. The