University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

Page 19 text:

Ellie Svtatifa limi Natural illeannrrv---iflimratnne JENNYE LEONA ROBINSON ISSISSIPPI has large areas of beautiful farming lands whose fertility is assured by the constant weathering of the limestone stratum just beneath their soilg but in some sections the yield of common field crops can be increased and the growing of the clovers can be accomplished only by the application of lime. That the lime-bearing formations in Mississippi are extensive enough to furnish material for the lime treatment of the acid lands in the State for an indefinite number of years has been demonstrated by our geologists time and again. Ground limestone is useful in correcting the acid or sour conditions existing in certain soils. Acidity not only checks the vital processes of most plants, but it prevents the growth and development of bacteria in the soil. Leguminous crops which are the great restorers of nitrogen to the soil cannot thrive under acid conditions. In the northeastern part of the State, particularly in Tishomingo County, there are beds of limestone belonging to the Devonian and the Mississippian periods. This limestone when crushed could be used to great advantage on the soils of the Tennessee Hills wherever erosion has robbed them of their fertility, and the farmers would save the freight rates by buying their lime from plants near by. A little to the west, extending from Corinth to Macon and beyond, underlying the Black Prairie Region, fshown on page 11,3 is a belt of Selma chalk, the most abundant lime- bearing formation in the State. Lying west of the Selma chalk, between Houston and Ripley, are the Ripley marls occupying the division known as Pontotoc Ridge, and west of these are found some outcrops of the Clayton limestone. These marls and limestone furnish abundant cheap material for liming the Flatwood soils, an area lying adjacent to Pontotoc Ridge and the Prairie Belt, and containing soils very deficient in lime. Through the central part of the State, extending from Vicksburg to Waynesboro, is the outcrop of the Vicksburg limestome and the marls which are associated with it. These formations make excellent material for the liming of the lands of the North Central Plateau, and are in easy reach of the Pine Hills, whose soils can be made more productive by the ad- dition of lime. The limestones and marls vary in the percentage of lime carbonate and also in the degree of hardness and the ease with which they can be crushed. As arule the Selma chalk is the most easily crushed and the others stand in this order: Ripley, Clayton, and Vicks- burg about the same hardness, and the Devonian the hardest. There are many localities of the State where limestone suitable for agricultural pur- poses may be obtained. On the other hand, there are many so-called lime deposits in the State which are not limestone at all, but are composed of white clay or white silica, and are utterly worthless for liming purposes. Two lime-crushing plants have been established in Mississippi. the operation of which is to be under the supervision of the Penitentiary Board of Trustees. One plant has been located at Waynesboro and the other at Okolona, both in the Selma chalk area. In the early part of April of this year, 1917, this statement was given out: The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Penitentiary are pleased to announce to the farmers of the State that shipments of fresh limestone can now be made from the Waynesboro plant. This can be shipped out at any time to those desiring it for their lands, at the rate of 60 cents per ton f. o. b. Waynesboro, or at actual cost of manufacture. Affairs will be in shape for shipment from the Okolona plant in the next 20 days, at the same rate per ton as noted above. The price offered above, together with the shipping rate obtained through the Railroad Commission, enables the farmer 100 miles from the plant to get his lime for 31.10 per toln, gvhile heretofore he has been paying from 33.50 to 85.00 per ton for that shipped into t e tate. 13

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Mighmaga ilirnm Mum? Material KATHERINE IVICCARTNEY L' .'--fa .U . ' Rock Road Through the Noxubee Prairie CCORDING to the census of 1915 Mississippi had 44,330 miles of public roads, of which 16,997 miles were improved. Of these 14,836 miles had been improved only by grad- ing, 1,347 were built of gravel, 588 were of sand-clay, 114 were surfaced with shell, and 98 were of Macadam and concrete. In 1916 the State Highway Commissioners recom- mended for Federal aid a system consisting of about 2500 miles, touching almost every county in the state. Three roads will run north and south and five or six east and west. The fol- lowing routes have been planned: Mississippi Travelers' Highway from Meridian to Vicksburg. Jackson Highway from Columbus to Logtown. Centennial Highway from Jackson to Gulfport. Spanish Trail from Bay St Louis to Pascagoula. Meridian Highway from Corinth, connecting Jackson Highway at Columbus. Jefferson Davis Highway from Osyka to Memphis. The building of this extensive system of good roads calls for cheap serviceable road metal, and the limestone, sandstone, ironstone, chert, clay, sand, and gravel, widely distri- buted over the state furnish an abundance of material of high quality. Tishomingo County is plentifully supplied with good structural material and claims it has enough gravel, limestone, and chert to build all the roads planned by the Commissioners. Tishomingo City Gravel Company works an immense pit with steam shovels, and ships gravel to Corinth and other points. Several hundred car loads of gravel have been shipped from Gravel Siding where one ridge alone contains 5000 car loads. According to Dr. Logan, thirty-two counties have in their deposits some or all of the road-building material. The Vicksburg limestone extends across the state from Vicksburg to Waynesboro, corresponding more or less to the Jackson Prairie Belt, as shown on page 11. The quartzite sandstone formation, on a line running from West to Kosciusko, has furnished one hundred carloads of road-building material for Louisiana. The largest deposit of gravel extends across the state from Natchez to Hattiesburg. Some of the largest and best gravels have been found in the Bluff Hills bordering the Delta. Dr. Lowe estimates that the beds around Rosetta can furnish thousands of car loads of gravel, and a Memphis Company owns sixty-five acres of gravel land in DeSoto County, operating one of the best equipped pits in the state. ' 1 Sand and clay are found in nearly all parts of the state and make in combination a satisfactory and inexpensive top dressing for roads that are dragged. 12

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A ilivuelutinn tn the Hninitiatvh---lgurtlanh Glmnvnt HE South is advancing more rapidly along many lines than any other section of the United States. But in manufacturing this section is not keeping pace, especially in the cement industry, although the South offers the most lucrative opportunities to the cement manufacturer. In no section are there greater possibilities in cement than in Mis- sissippi--the section which has no cement plant, but which has an inexhaustible supply of raw materials and uses an immense amount of the finished product. Mississippi is a very progressive state. It has many developing towns and communi- ties which annually use thousands of tons of cement. Many miles of road and pavement are built every year, and the progressive farmers are beginning to use cement in building silos. It has become one of the most useful constituents for building purposes where strength, economy, and durability are required. To quote Dr. Crider: It is used alone, or as a re- inforcement in the construction of bridges, business and dwelling houses, aqueducts, sewers, pavements, large foundation walls, and dikes such as the Galveston wall, docks, wharves and levee work, besides in many minor ways, such as in making telegraph poles, fence posts, monuments, and in various other lines of construction work. Most of the raw materials for Portland cement manufacture are located in the eastern and northeastern, south central, and western sections of the State. The principal deposits in the eastern and northeastern sections are found in the counties which include what is known as the Black Prairie Belt. In the south central section the main deposits are found within a radius of fifteen miles from Jackson. In the western section the largest deposits of raw materials are found along the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. According to analyses of manufacturers, the principal constituents which enter into the manufacture of Portland cement are silica, alumina, lime, and iron oxide. By a compari- son of the following tables it is easy to see that the raw materials from the principal deposits of Mississippi compare very favorably with the raw materials actually used by manufacturers in other sections of this country and England: Analyses of six samples taken from different sections of the State, made by Dr. Logan, Dr. Muckenfuss, and others: Silica Alumina I 9n Lime Volatile .Ma9n?S' Sulphur Water oxide matter lum oxide Starkville 25.27 4.81 10.35 32.85 25.60 .84 .02 .40 ViCkSbl1I'g' 14.86 5.46 5.46 42.04 32.84 1.37 .63 .51 TiSh0mlHg'O 48.8 3.43 3.13 39.47 5.06 3.19 2 23 .40 TLIDCIO 22.76 4.56 6.-I6 34.41 28.25 .05 .43 2.10 Byram 26.42 3.25 5.20 27.77 26.00 14.4 2.00 3.00 COI'1I1th 25.40 6.88 9.62 20.37 23.70 .58 .64 Analyses of natural cement rock used in American and European plants. QE. C. Eckel, analyst.l : Rosedale N. Y. 10.90 3.40 2.38 29.57 37.90 1-1.04 0.451 nd. Ill-Jfiance, 0. 42 00 7 00 7.10 9.91 11.18 5.91 nd. 14,00 Copley, Pa. 18.34 7.40 7.49 37.60 31.06 1.38 Hd. 3.0-1 Utica., Ill 17.01 3.35 2.39 32.85 34.12 8.15 1.Nl Milwaukee, WIS. 17.00 4.25 1.25 24.64 32.46 1 1.00 nd, England 18.00 6.60 3.70 30.64 29.-L6 .10 nd. nd. There are four localities in Mississippi where Portland cement could be advantag- eously manufactured. In Tishomingo County near Bear Creek is a favorable location for a plant because of the amount of raw material convenient, and of the good facilities odered by the Tennessee River and the Southern Railway for cheap transportation. West Point and vicinity offer the best advantage of any locality in the State. The Alabama coal fields are only about one hundred miles away, and there is an inexhaustible supply of raw material near by. In bulletin Number 1 of the Mississippi State Geological Survey Dr. Crider says: There is a bed of limestone 800 to 1000 feet thick, underlying Noxubee, Clay, Lee, eastern Oktibbeha, and Chickasaw Counties, and an inexhaustible supply of clay just west of the limestone area. There is asufficient amount of raw material to supply the Portland cement trade of the entire United States for an indefinite length of time. Jackson offers good advantages as it is a good distributing point of natural deposits within easy reach, which can be used in the manufacture of Portland cement. Vicksburg has the best natural advantage to offer, because of the large deposits of raw material, which are near, and the cheap transportation and numerous railways which connect it with other points of the United States. 14