56 



RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA. 



put the lumbermen out of business in Houston County and 

 the eastern part of Geneva, however. Some of the shrubs 

 and herbs, such as the gallberry and tyty, are excellent 

 honey plants. 



POPULATION. 



No accurate estimates of population previous t o the 

 1910 census are possible, because Houston County was 

 not established until 1903, and it is difficult to identify 

 in the reports of previous censuses the beats that lie in the 

 lime-sink region, and especially to get any information 



FIG. 17. Small new farms in pine woods about 2% miles north 

 of McRae, Covington County. June 10, 1919. 



about their areas, which the census does not attempt to 

 give. It is very evident, though, that the increase in popu- 

 lation in recent decades has been very rapid. In 1910 there 

 were in the two counties used to typify this region Geneva 

 and Houston over fifty inhabitants per square mile, a 

 remarkable density for such a sandy region half covered 

 with forest, and with little manufacturing; and this appar- 

 ently indicates either pretty intensive farming or rather 

 low standards of living among the rural population. The 

 salient features of the 1910 population of the region and its 

 largest city are shown in Table 9. 



