OCR Text |
Show -13- spects the time of year chosen was unfortunate, in that the season of vegetation was passed and everything showed to its worst advantage. I must say, however, that in every respect I found things as you represented. The soil is of a rich alluvium, annually enriched by a deposit (slight) from the river, and a still greater deposit of carbonaceous matter from the decay of the rank vegetation. In no portion of North America have I seen a soil that will at all compare with this in fertility. It closely resembles, however, the soil of the delta of the Nile. As to the flora observed by me, I herewith append a list; I am sure it is at best a meager list, as compared with what might be found in the proper season of the Gra-mincese. I have added nothing, as both flowers and seeds were absent, and consequently the species were not de-terminable. At one or two places I saw the alfalfa thriving without irrigation; of the Crystogams I saw but few, and those as yet I have not determined. The more useful plants, which abound, are the various species of the Prosopis, Par kins onia, Sesbania, Philibertia, Tessaria, Sales, and Populus. No one who rides through the rank growth of Sesbania, Philibertia, and Tessaria can deny the evidence of his senses, that in this tract is to be found as rich soil as earth affords, capable of supporting as dense a population as any region on the globe. I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that any and all semi-tropical plants may there be grown to the greatest advantage and with the certainty of a large yield. Of the climate, I can only say that it resembles that of the countries of the Old World lying on the same isogeo-thermal line. |