Excerpt from Socialism and the Survival of the Fittest The Mississippi delta is a triangular stretch of country beginning at the seashore at either side of the river's mouth. And extending. Or rather narrowing. To a point some two hundred miles up the stream. It is formed of alluvial matter deposited in a manner about to be described. The Mississippi. With the Missouri. Is the longest river in the world. And is fed by numerous tribui[.y streams. Ll. In fact. Drains an immense area. At some part or other of this area floods are constantly occurring. Everybody knows that floods of even moderate dimensions wash away river banks and bottoms and carry the solid matter downward towards the'sea. Thus is the Mississippi constantly being charged at some point with leaves or grass or earth. As the river and its tributaries take their rise in high altitudes. The water flows rather rapidly and carries the solid matter along. This happens until a point is reached about two hundred miles from the sea. Here a level country is encountered. The river widens. The water flows sluggishly. And the solid matter is gradually but surely deposited on the bottom. Lt happens that this part of the world is peculiarly adapted for the production of cypress trees. If an area be cleared it will be found to be covered with a cypress forest in a very short time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.