()8 IM..\>T l-IFIi OF ALABAMA. 



(iiiioiiiii, /'. iiKii-iiliilii, iiiid /'. il/ I'liririi/ii. the (la/./liiiu <»i!iii<ic ol" the Imt- 

 Icrtly wtM'd ( . \sil, jiliishilh royd), llir |)iiik ot" Maini i-</<i iishil<)s<ixi\\i\ M. rics- 

 stllidiKi^ tlio Idiif ot" SciitiUorld rcrs'iciildr and J*/i(i<-rli(i l)lj>lini(if((^ jind 

 the g()ld(Mi lltiwt'is of Stiu'clo hulstniilf(it\ S. citrlrt^ uiid ('orrt>j>sts 

 iinrlciiliitii. while later in (lie season SnltihK/n (implexlcnulix^ S. lati- 

 follii, S. ciirfisn. and S.c(i(sl(i <i,riH<irl.s cnlivdi thoso low hills. 



'V\\v ])(M'tVctl\ level tracts of a cold. <:ray, iiii|)ei-\ioiis soil, a ju-it'cct 

 mire dmine' the season of rain and a hard crusty nia>s torn l)y iiiaiiy 

 lissures while haUiii*;" in the siiiiiiiiers sun, form a peculiar featui'e in 

 the t()])o<:i"ai)hy and flora of the Coosa Vall(\v. These flats extend for 

 many miles in the main \alley where the inipeiA ious Camhiian slates 

 form its floor. They ai'e foi' the oreater })art covered witii ii low 

 forest of dwarfed trees, black jack, Texan oak, post oak scarcely over 

 '2(» feet hjoh. with eciually stunted loblolly — more rarely shoitdeaf and 

 scrul) pines scattered amono- them. These dwarfed woods are ren- 

 dered truly impenetra))le by the multitude of shiubby hawthorns 

 [Crataegus crua-gallK ('• xjxdhulata^ 0. ajnifoUd)^ South(>rn ci'ab apple, 

 persimmon, and black «»-un) {Xi/sm multifoni)^ entangled with the 

 tough x'ines of bam))oo briers {SunJax hona-no.i'^ S. hiiirlfol /<i) and 

 forming a perfect ma/e of green. In the ])are openings the following 

 form the very open vegetation upon the ashy gray Hats: 



Roii'i humilis. Cracca vlrguiiana. 



Kneiffia suffruticosn. Coreopsln rrassifoiid. 



Asdepias variegaia. Juncua ucuniinotUH (Irhilin. 

 Apoojnum carnuibimim . 



Th(> last of these is the most frequent. liosa ]niiiiUts is here reduced 

 to a height of «j to K) inches. 



No grasses or cj'peraceous plants inliabiting a damp soil are uK^t 

 with, a faet readily accounted for when the sharp extremes of wet and 

 dr}' to which these Hats arc su])jected and the total absence of decayed 

 vegetable matter are considered. 



Cultural plant formations. — A)K)ut 25 per cent of the area of this 

 su))division is farm land more or less subjected to the plow; the rest is 

 under tree covering. High forests in their original condition prevail 

 on the steep mountains, which are not profitable for tillage, and in 

 valleys remote from the highways of traflic. In the metamorphic area 

 the lower hills and valleys with a warm loamy soil, resulting from the 

 decomposition of the more basic schists and softer shales and augitic 

 or feldspathic gneiss, worn down far beyond their original level, are 

 of high and lasting fertility and almost entirely under cultivation, 

 which is also to be said of the fertile lands of the Coosa Valle\'. Over 

 one-half of the tilled lands are devoted to cotton, broad fields of which 

 alternate with smaller ones of Indian corn [Zea tiiays).) of small grains 

 (mosth' oats, wheat, and rye), and forage crops (clover and meadow 

 grasses), with patches of the Chinese sugar cane or sorghum {Sorghum 



