crests of the more pronounced ridges. No accurate figures are avail- 

 able for the highest points in the county. 



The general surface features in the vicinity of Savannah are those 

 of a low plain, having an average altitude of 15 to 35 feet above tide 

 level. This plain is surrounded by low, rounded ridges having a 

 general northeast and southwest direction, interspersed with plains, 

 hollows, and " bays " of all sizes and of intricate boundary. The 

 river fronts in all cases rise from 5 to 15 feet above high tide, and 

 particularly along the Savannah River are found level terraces 01 

 front lands which were the sites of extensive plantations during the 

 earliest periods of colonial settlement and even to the time of the 

 civil war. 



Some of the river islands, and particularly the tidal marshes along 

 the rivers and their principal tributaries, were diked and ditched a 

 an early date for the reclamation of these soils for rice production 

 For the last forty years these improvements have been practically 

 abandoned and have lost their efficiency coincident with the discon 

 tinuance of rice production as an extensive industry. Slight repairs 

 and the restoration of flood gates and ditches would in many instance 

 reestablish these fields in cultivable condition. 



The fertility of these tide-marsh soils is beyond question, and with 

 reestablished drainage they should ultimately constitute a valuable 

 addition to the farm-land area of the county and State. 



Only a small part of the rural section of Chatham County is occu- 

 pied for agricultural purposes. In the immediate vicinity o: 

 Savannah and elsewhere along the principal railroad and highway 

 routes some general and special farm crops are grown, but in the 

 main the land is chiefly occupied by pine forest on the uplands anc 

 by hardwoods in the drainage ways and at lower levels. 



With the exception of the river-front plantations and the aban- 

 doned rice fields there is little evidence of former agricultural occu- 1 

 pation, and the majority of fields now tilled have been cleared of for- i 

 est growth during the last forty years and occupied with market 

 garden or general farm crops. As a result only small quantities of 

 farm crops are produced for shipment, and in regard to many farm 

 products the city of Savannah is dependent upon supplies shipped in 

 from other sections of the State and the United States. This is 

 especially true of dairy products and meats. 



CLIMATE. 



The following tables give the normal monthly and annual tem- 

 perature, rainfall, and frost records for Savannah, and, for the sake 

 of comparison, for Jacksonville, Fla., Charleston, S. C., and Wil- 

 mington, N. C. 



[Cir. 19] 



