LIME-SINK REGION. 53 



two principal types of upland soil. One, which is wide- 

 spread in eastern Geneva County, is a brownish sandy loam, 

 passing into clay usually within a few inches of the sur- 

 face, and it is quite fertile, so much so that over many 

 square miles something like three-fourths of it is now culti- 

 vated. The natural vegetation remaining on it is a moder- 

 ately dense forest of pine and oak mixed. The other soil 

 type, common in Covington County, is a paler and deeper 

 sand, evidently less fertile, for it is hardly one-tenth culti- 

 vated, and one can still find whole sections covered with 

 unbroken long-leaf pine forests. Unimproved roads through 

 this sand are rather "heavy" in dry weather, but it is a 

 comparatively simple matter to dig down a few feet in 

 suitable spots and get clay, which makes an excellent road- 

 surfacing material when mixed with the proper amount of 

 sand. 



CLIMATE. 



Although there are no weather stations in this region 

 established long enough to give reliable records, it is evi- 

 dent that the climate must be a little warmer than in the 

 regions previously described, and the summers a little wet- 

 ter, which accounts in large measure for the leached condi- 

 tion of the soil. 



VEGETATION. 



Unlike most of the regions farther inland (but like 

 most of Florida), the prevailing type of vegetation is, 

 or was, open park-like forests o f long-leaf pine, with 

 a great variety of narrow-leaved herbaceous undergrowth 

 and many bright-colored flowers in summer, all subject to 

 ground-fires every few years, which keep other trees from 

 getting the best of the fire-resistant but sun-loving pine. On 

 the richer soils the vegetation approaches that of the neigh- 

 boring red hill belt, having many oaks and other hard- 

 woods and short-leaf pines mixed with the long-leaf pine, 

 and much less herbaceous undergrowth than in the pure 

 pine forests. Such places are less subject to fire than 

 the open pine woods, on account of having less grass and 

 pine straw to carry the flames. There are also many ponds, 

 swamps, and bays, with still denser vegetation, practically 

 exempt from fire. 



About half the area is now cleared and cultivated. In 

 the following list of plants the commoner herbs are includ- 



