Douglas Helms, Soil and Southern History Agricultural History Vol. 74, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 723-758

Helms suggests that the relative inability of southern soils to retain basic nutrients was a key explanation for lower population density in AL, GA, MS than in mid-west. (Basing this on population density.)

Helms questions the notion of "soil exhaustion," suggesting low fertility to begin with.

• Agricultural Improvement and Technological Innovation in a Slave Society: The Case of Early National Northern Virginia
• Author(s): A. Glenn Crothers
• Source: Agricultural History, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Spring, 2001), pp. 135-167
• Publisher: Agricultural History Society
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744747
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posted by Lloyd at 5:04 PM