DISSECTED PLATEAUS 271 



culty of transporting crops and of finding anything but a 

 steep side hill on which to grow them. 



Railroads can get through only by following the princi- 

 pal valleys, and here, on account of the narrowness, the 



A Burro 



engineering of the roads is difficult. Unless the region is rich 

 in minerals, it can support only a small population, and that 

 will of necessity be poor. If the forests are cut off, the soil 

 rapidly washes down the hillsides and leaves naught but bare 

 surfaces. Regions of this kind are found in the Allegheny and 

 Cumberland plateaus, extending from New York to Alabama. 



