Eons ago, the Mississippi River ended near Cairo Illinois. The land south of there was covered by a large shallow sea. As the land rose and the waters receded, the great river began to fill in the sea with rich alluvial soils. The Missouri boot heel, eastern Arkansas, western Mississippi, and parts of eastern Louisiana were all created in this manner. Today these areas are collectively known as the Delta. In places, the top soils here are over one hundred feet deep and as rich as devilÌs food cake. Ironically, this incredibly rich soil has been home to some of the poorest people in the country. It is also the birthplace of Robert Johnson, Son House, Ma Rainey, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and BB King, in short, the birthplace of the Blues. At the close of World War II, herbicides were not in general use and the mechanical cotton picker was in its infancy. Millions of acres of Delta cotton were chopped (weeded) and picked by hand. It was hard work, as hard as any you might imagine, but it was work. Agriculture is now highly mechanized and the machines that work the land are monstrous. One man, on a tractor that can cultivate eight rows at a time and cover 120 acres a day, can do the work that once was done by dozens of men, women and children. Small farms have been swallowed by big farms that have been swallowed in turn by conglomerates. People have almost become obsolete in this part of the country and, as a result, almost every county in the Delta has lost population in the past 20 years. The infrastructure of the region has suffered from these changes in agricultural practices. Without people to patronize them, the small businesses of the Delta have folded up right along with the little farms. The shells of small commercial buildings can be found in every community. In many towns, empty buildings outnumber occupied ones and vacant lots make up the majority of the former downtown shopping district. Neglect, decay, and the forces of gravity are bringing down the home of the Blues. David Malcolm Rose is currently working on a series of constructions in miniature based on this rapidly disappearing infrastructure. This series will include models of barbecue shacks, country churches, small time agricultural buildings, farm stores, juke joints and shacks in general. It will take three to five years to complete this series.