66 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA. 



Tuomey and several subsequent writers. The rivers 

 which traverse the region are bordered in most places 

 by ' steep bare chalk bluffs of striking appearance. 

 Swamps are comparatively infrequent. The rivers and 

 creeks fluctuate considerably with the seasons, and are 

 muddy most of the time. Small streams are rather 

 scarce, especially in dry weather, and the ground-water 

 lies at such a depth that shallow dug wells are not used 

 much. The inhabitants who cannot afford artesian wells 

 generally use cisterns. 



Climate, — The climate of this region is well illustrated 

 by the statistics for Uniontown and Selma. The average 

 temperature is about 65° (which is just right for human 

 comfort), and the growing season about 240 days. The 

 annual rainfall averages about 49 inches, most of it com- 

 ing in winter and spring, as in the regions previously de- 

 scribed. 



Forest types. — It is stated by several writers that 

 when this region was first visited by white men there 

 were many naturally treeless areas scattered over it; a 

 circumstance from which one of its names is derived. 

 But the greater part of the area has been under cultiva- 

 tion so long that it is well-nigh impossible to get any di- 

 rect evidence of the location and extent of the treeless 

 areas at the present time. The patches of Lafayette 

 loam were pretty well wooded with short-leaf pines, post 

 oaks, etc., and many of these forests still remain almost 

 undisturbed, because the soil of such spots is considered 

 so much less valuable than the residual calcareous soils 

 near by. The other remaining forests are chiefly con- 

 fined to the bottoms of creeks and rivers, and they in- 

 clude a considerable variety of useful hardwood trees. 



Fires are rare in this region now, bur may have been 

 more frequent originally, and may have had something 

 to do with the existence of the treeless spots, somewhat 

 as in the case of the better known prairies of the Missis- 

 sippi valley; which by the way resemble the region un- 

 der consideration a good deal in soil, topography, herba- 

 ceous vegetation and crops, though very different geo- 

 logically. 



