284 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



TABLE 39. 



Railroad Mileage in Central Florida. 1920, by Regions, Compared With Area and 



Population. 



ROADS 



In the early days in central Florida, as in other long-leaf pine 

 regions, roads cost practically nothing, for wagons could be driven 

 almost anywhere through the open pine forests. Where small 

 streams had to be crossed it was necessary merely to cut a right of 

 way through the swamp, and if the bottom was soft a layer of 

 poles could easily be put down. In the flatwoods and other low- 

 places ditches are often dug on both sides of the road to carry 

 off the water from heavy rains faster than it would flow natu- 

 rally, and the earth from them used at the same time to elevate the 

 roadbed a little. Little-used roads through the flatwoods are often 

 carpeted with a fine turf of a small sedge, Eleocharis Baldzvmii, 

 which is more agreeable for both pedestrians and vehicles than the 

 bare sand. 



On the uplands where the sand is deep and dry it soon becomes 

 loosened up by the wheels and rather difficult to pull through. 

 The simplest way of getting around this is to start a new trail a 

 little to one side, where the sand has not been stirred up. From 

 this practice there often results a maze of approximately paral- 

 lel roads, rather confusing to a stranger, who may have no way 

 of knowing whether a fork in the road indicates a junction or a 

 mere siding. (This of course is not peculiar to Florida, but can 

 be seen also in Michigan and elsewhere.) 



Where it is not practicable to make new tracks, as for example 

 where there are fences on both sides of the road (for wherever 



