Issued July 20, 1909. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF SOILS CIRCULAR No. 19. 

 MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau. 



SOILS IN THE VICINITY OF SAVANNAH, GA.: A PRELIMINARY REPORT. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION. 



In order to determine the character of the soils in the vicinity of 

 Savannah, Chatham County, Ga., and the adaptation of the different 

 soils to the production of staple and special crops, a preliminary 

 examination of the region immediately around Savannah was made 

 in April, 1909. 



Chatham County, Ga., lies along the south Atlantic coast, which 

 forms the southeastern boundary of the county, and between the 

 Savannah and Ogeechee rivers, which form its northeastern and 

 southwestern boundaries. The county thus extends as a long penin- 

 sula or " river neck " between its boundary rivers and fronts for a 

 distance of more than 20 miles on the Atlantic Ocea'n. 



The principal city within its boundaries is Savannah, which in 

 1900 had a population of 54,244 inhabitants a number considerably 

 increased since the taking of the last federal census. The total popu- 

 lation of Chatham County in 1900 was 71,239. It is thus apparent 

 that more than 75 per cent of the population of the county is gathered 

 within the limits of the city. A considerable part of the remaining 

 population is also to be found in the small towns along the various 

 railroads. There is thus a very sparse rural population, compared 

 with the dense urban population of the county. Savannah is one of 

 the most important shipping centers on the south Atlantic coast, and 

 in addition to regular ocean steamship lines to domestic and foreign 

 ports it is served by four main trunk railway lines which give rapid 

 transit to all the more northern seacoast and inland cities. 



The highest altitudes in Chatham County do not reach more than 

 100 feet above tide level, and the altitudes given for the different 

 railway stations indicate that the general range in height is from tide 

 level to about 40 or 50 feet for the summits of the higher ridges, 

 although the railroad altitudes are naturally at lower points than the 



88559 Cir. 1909 1 



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