GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 175 



It is characterized by hammock vegetation with evergreen and 

 deciduous trees approximately equal in numbers, as described far- 

 ther on. A considerable portion of it is under cultivation. Sala- 

 manders seem to invade this soil only where it has been cleared and 

 abandoned a short time, perhaps indicating that they do not like 

 shady places. 



Calcareous uplands. Where the soft Ocala limestone crop J out, 

 as near Ocala and in southeastern Citrus County, it grades into a 

 black sticky soil rich in humus. One such area a little south of 

 Ocala has been mapped as "Fellowship clay loam," and a somewhat 

 similar soil occurs farther north near Mcintosh, where no rock 

 outcrops are in evidence, and in and around lime-sinks in the Her- 

 nando hammock belt. It is represented by mechanical analyses 

 15, 16 (perhaps also 17 and 18), 25 and 26, and chemical analyse? 

 T and U. 



The vegetation is of the hammock type, with the great major- 

 ity of the trees deciduous. The hackberry and a few other plants 

 of the same or allied families are very characteristic. Although this 

 is a very rich soil, it is usually too hilly or rocky to be cultivated 

 much. Lettuce and other vegetables are raised on or near it on the 

 west side of Orange Lake, where there is very little rock. 



Clay soils. Upland soils distinctly clayey at the surface, and 

 containing as much as one-fourth clay, are rare in peninsular Flor- 

 ida. The mechanical analyses farther on which show high percent- 

 ages of clay are nearly all calcareous hammock soils, and the ''clay'* 

 in them is probably mostly humus and marl. In the Middle Flor- 

 ida hammock belt, north of the "Ocala area" (e.g., around Fair- 

 field), and in the central part of the Hernando hammock belt, there 

 are some soils clayey enough to form clods when plowed. No me- 

 chanical analyses of these are available, but chemical analyses of 

 two of the Hernando County soils are given under V and W. On 

 such soils short-leaf pine, sweet gum and hickory are characteristic 

 trees, and a good deal of corn and other staple crops are raised, 

 with little or no fertilizer. The whole aspect of the country strongly 

 suggests some places in Georgia and Alabama. 



DAMP SOILS 



Sandy. Under the head of damp sandy soils are classed most of 

 the soils of the Gulf hammock region and the three flatwoods re- 



