MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 139 



the main streams and along the upper courses of the majority of the 

 smaller ones. The headwaters of the St. Mary's Eiver drainage, found 

 in the forest area around St. Andrew's Church, illustrate this condition 

 markedly, though many other localities are ven- similar. 



The surface in this forest area is slightly irregular and consists of 

 Leonardtown loam and JSTorfolk sand. The hollows in both of these 

 formations are swampy and grown up to gum trees. In wet seasons 

 small ponds exist, which become dry, or nearly so, during the latter part 

 of each summer. A slight clearing out of the natural drainage ways, 

 connecting these ponds with stream courses, would destroy the ponds 

 in most cases. Frequently the obstruction to drainage consists of a 

 rank growth of vegetation, fallen tree trunks, and the accumulation 

 of dead leaves and soil wash. In some few cases the grading up of 

 highways or embankments constructed for proposed railways through 

 the county has caused accidental artificial ponding of waters. These 

 are of small extent and may be easily remedied by imderdrainage. 



The Agricultural Conditions. 



The condition of agriculture in any community depends upon four 

 factors — soil, climate, transportation facilities, and the mental and 

 physical energy of the population. The first two of these factors are 

 natural, while the last two are to a great degree artificial. Usually 

 it does not lie within the power of any community, however energetic, to 

 modify the soils or the climate of a region to any marked extent. The 

 great exception to this statement is in the arid states, where irrigation 

 has been introduced, transforming desert areas into fertile farms. 



The actual conditions of the soil, the climate, and the transportation 

 facilities of St. Mary's County have been treated separately in other 

 chapters, but a general resume of the interrelationships of these factors 

 and a slight reference to certain social and economic conditions prevailing 

 in the county are necessary to a full appreciation of the present status 

 of the county by its own inhabitants as well as by strangers. 



The usual farm practice in St. Mary's County is based on a rotation 

 of crops, including tobacco, corn, wheat, and grass, or a season of fallow- 



