Maladjustments in Land Use 



29 



Atlantic and Gulf Cut-Over Region 



The Flat Coastal Section. — Along tlie Atlantic coast 

 the land slopes inland from sea level at a rate not ex- 

 ceeding 1 or 2 feet per mile. Even at the inner margin 

 of the region, 50 to 75 miles from tlie coast, the eleva- 

 tion above sea level is only 50 to 1 50 feet. Consequently, 

 since land slopes are very feeble, and since the annual 

 rainfall totals 40 to 60 inches, drahiagc conditions arc 

 poor. In localities where river development is |)oor, 

 the rainfall accumulates in extensive swamp areas, 

 such as the Everglades in Florida, the Okefenokee 

 Swamp in Georgia, and the Dismal Swamp in \'irginia. 

 I'pland swamps, locally called "pocosins", are also 

 common. Tidal marshes occur along the coast and 

 extend inland for some distance from the lagoons 

 which lie behind the low sandy barrier islands offshore. 

 The swamp areas, \\-ith their mnck and silt soils, 

 originally supported forests of cypress, gum, and 

 tuj)elo. The sandy interstream areas were, however, 

 covered with extensive pine woods, which possessed 

 locally an undergrowth of saw palmetto. 



The Rolling Pine Lands. — Inland from the \\cc 

 coastal section, lie the rolling pine lands. In general, 

 the surface appears to be absolutely flat, but in certain 

 sections there are low hills, hununocks, and generally 

 rolling plain. In parts of these interior flatwoods of 

 east Texas some localities are steep enough to be 

 subject to rather severe erosion. 



The prevailing soil type is a fine gray sand or sandy 

 loam, none too fertile at best, and in many places 

 underlain by impervious clay subsoil. Where this 

 latter occurs, drainage is apt to be rather poor. Here 

 and there are areas of almost pure sand, and less 

 frequently of good silt or clay loam soil. Most of tins 

 section was originally covered with a forest of long- 

 leaf, loblolly, or slash pine. Tliis forest has in large 

 measure been removed. Where it still exists and in 

 localities where second growth has matured, logging 

 activities are being pushed vigorously. In these 

 southern cut-over districts conditions generally re- 

 semble those in the Great Lakes cut-over region. 



Settlement. — Owing to forest cover, poor drainage, 

 generally infertile soil, and imfavorable health condi- 

 tions the ilatwoods pine lands were long avoided by 

 agricultural settlers. Small amounts of land hi South 

 Carolina and Georgia were cleared and planted during 

 colonial times, hut these were exceptions to the general 

 rule. Prior to the Civil War, however, there had been 

 a gradual infiltration of "poor whites" into the flat- 

 woods of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and 

 the Carolinas. They were referred to as "crackers", 

 "tar heels", "pine woods folk", or similar terms of near 

 contempt by the mhabitants of adjacent regions. 



Wliite yeoman farmers in the South could not readily 

 secure land which was capitaUzed on the basis of Negro 



labor and plantation management. The submarginal 

 flatwoods therefore furnished a retreat for such people. 

 An environment of this kind is not conducive to a high 

 degree of initiative and other qualities that make for 

 successful living. Undoubtedly, the sandy pine lands 

 have also attracted to themselves those who were 

 unable or disinclined to make a living in regions of more 

 commercialized existence. 



In southeastern Mississii)pi the rmal families on the 

 poorer lands are mostly squatters, deriving their living 

 from livestock grazed on the unfenced cut-overs and 

 from the sale of wood cut from forests under absentee 

 ownership. The number of both squatters and careless 

 owners is still increasing, partly through the sale of 

 cut-over land to city people, lai'gely ignorant of farm- 

 ing, and partly tlu'ough the gravitation thence of 

 people from adjacent areas. 



Agriculture.— Perhaps the best agricultural section 

 of this region Ues in central Florida. Mucli of the land 

 appears flat, and is in part poorly drained. There are, 

 however, numerous low hills and gentle swells known as 

 hammocks. On some of these, good soils replace 

 the customary sand, and hardwood forests rather than 

 pine woods constitute the llora. Many of these have 

 been cleared and now support orange and pomelo 

 groves, the estates of winter residents, and tourist 

 hotels. Outside of this section, however, agricultural 

 land use is slight. 



While local bodies of desirable agricultural land do 

 exist, a large part of the region is either poorly di'ained 

 or has relatively miproductive sandy soils or both. In 

 attempts to settle or colonize cut-over timber lands 

 there was failure to discriminate properly between 

 desirable and less desirable land. It lias been com- 

 monly supposed that the long frost-free season and 

 mild winter chmate adequately compensate for any 

 deficiency in soil productivity. In a measure it is true 

 that climate is a compensating advantage, but, on the 

 whole, agricultural settlement in this region has not 

 been notably successful. After 200 years, during which 

 the rest of the country was agriculturally appropriated, 

 it remains almost wholly in forest. 



Only a small part of the Atlantic and Gulf cut-over 

 region is in farms, and the amount of land in crops is 

 very small indeed. Owing to infertility or poor drain- 

 age of soils, cotton and corn yields from much of the 

 land are not high. Of late years, therefore, the region 

 has tended toward the production of early vegetables 

 and small fruits, items for which it is in some respects 

 admirably adapted. Such crops, however, require not 

 only abundant fertilizer but a progressive type of farm 

 management. Many farmers of the flatwoods liave 

 been unable to supply eitiier, but have adhered to 

 traditional pi-actices. It is therefore believed desirable 

 to eliminate some of the most scattered settlement on 



