GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 



113 



Fig. 16. Scene in Choocochattee Prairie, about 2 miles south-southeast of 

 Brooksville, looking toward the sink which drains it. A few sheep can be 

 seen grazing. Feb. 11, 1909. 



below the, summit of a hill a few miles northwest of Brooksville, 

 and about 50 feet deep, was observed in March, 191 5, to be dry to 

 the bottom. 



There are quite a number of lakes, some of them small and 

 permanent, much like those in the lake region to be described pres- 

 ently, and others large and shallow, becoming prairie basins in 

 dry seasons or whenever their lime-sink outlets are sufficiently free 

 from obstructions. (Figure 16 shows the sink end of such a basin, 

 a type more frequent in the Middle Florida hammock belt and 

 Tallahassee red hills.*) To the former class belongs Mirror Lake, 

 previously mentioned. It covers a few acres near the top of a hill, 

 and if the water should rise only five feet higher than it was in 

 April, 1920 (which was probably about the average stage), it would 

 run over and down into a dry sandy valle}^ about 50 feet lower. 

 The lake doubtless has a relatively impervious stratum of clay 

 under it. 



Soils. Most of the soil seems to be above the central Florida 

 average in fertility. In the most typical portions, within a few miles 



*This type of lake basin was discussed at considerable length by Dr. Sell- 

 ards in the 3rd Annual Report, pp. 43-76, pi. 6-9. (Reprinted with a few ad- 

 ditions in the 6th Annual Report.) See also 6th Ann. Rep., p. 271. 



