62 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA. 



sand, sandy loam, fine sand, loamy sand, swamp, gravelly 

 sand, and gravelly sandy loam. Clay and silt loam (two 

 of the best types of soil as far as texture is concerned) to- 

 gether make up less than 1 per cent, and with few excep- 

 tions the soils are below the average in fertility. This is 

 partly compensated, however, by the fact that they can be 

 plowed immediately after a rain, unlike the stiff er soils 

 further inland, and they retain fertilizers well on account of 

 the clayey subsoil not far from the surface. 



FIG. 20. Smooth graded road through almost uninhabited cut- 

 over land on high uplands about 5^ miles northwest of Bay Minette, 

 Baldwin County. October 31, 1919. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE. 



The topography varies from quite hilly near streams 

 and on narrow divides to nearly flat on the broader divides 

 and near tide-water, particularly on the west side of Mobile 

 Bay. On the average it is undulating, with well-developed 

 valleys something like 25 feet deep and half a mile apart. 

 Some of the 'smaller valleys are rather narrow and V-shaped, 

 while another type, commonest in Washington County and 

 southeastern Baldwin, is broad and savanna-like, with gentle 

 slopes perpetually moist. The hills are smooth and rounded, 

 except where rocks or pebbles occur, and the highest eleva- 

 tions are at least 350, perhaps 400 feet above sea-level. 



In some places, perhaps not as much in Alabama as in 

 other states, thougji, the inland edge of the region is 



