THE SPONTANEOUS FLORA OF ALABAMA IN ITS 

 RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 



The relation of flora to soil has long been recognized by the observing 

 agriculturist, who judges the fertility of the virgin soil by the quality 

 and vigor of the tree growth which it supports. The consideration of 

 the laws which control the distribution of species within certain limits 

 which are recognized as the boundary lines of the life zones of our 

 continent points at once to the crops naturally adapted to them. 

 Directing the attention to the influence of the secondary factors, by 

 which species and their associations are restricted to minor areas 

 within the principal zones, recognized as subordinate floral regions, it 

 becomes evident that among these factors the physical and chemical 

 conditions of the soil are most potent. The character of the vegetation 

 becomes thus clearly the indicator of the soil conditions. Guided 

 further by practical experience and the teachings of science, the fitness 

 of the land for the production of a special crop can often be ascertained 

 by the farmer from the character of the vegetation alone, without having 

 to resort to costly and time-consuming experimentation. In Alabama, 

 as well as in the adjoining States, where the efforts of the agriculturist 

 have been and still are almost entirely confined to a single crop (cotton), 

 recorded experiences of this kind are greatly wanting. The writer has, 

 however, made the attempt to bring together the facts observed by 

 him in this direction, which might serve to stimulate the further 

 investigation of a subject of great practical importance to the farmer. 



Beginning, in the consideration of the relations of the flora to the 

 agricultural interests, with the subtropical part of the State (the Loui- 

 sianian life area), the following facts, serving as unfailing guides, present 

 themselves. In the Coast plain, where the upland hammocks prevail, 

 with their growth of evergreen oaks (live oak, laurel oak) and mag- 

 nolias, with their variety of shrubbery where the Cuban pine in its best 

 development has replaced the original heavy growth of long-leaf pine, 

 with gallberry bushes for the undergrowth, and the ground covered by 

 a dense turf of horn rushes (Eynchospora), tall broom grasses (Andro- 

 pogon virginicus, A. glomeratus), Manisuris, Paspalum (P. praecox},wiih 

 golden-rods (Solidago stricta, 8. angustifolia, Euthamia graminifolia, E. 

 caroliniana), numerous Eupatoriums, blazing star ( Lacinaria spicata), 

 Aster (A. dumosus and others) there is always found a soil of light 



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