14. THE MOBILE DELTA. 123 



shingles, more rarely into cross-ties, and some of the 

 hardwoods into veneers, baskets, chairs, etc. 



About 18 7o of the state's industrial plants for the util- 

 ization of trees (not counting those producing nothing 

 but rough lumber or naval stores) are in this region. 

 But many of them of course are in Mobile, where consid- 

 erable quantities of timber from other regions and even 

 from foreign countries are brought in. The rivers which 

 empty into Mobile Bay penetrate all the divisions of the 

 coastal plain, railroads radiate out from Mobile in sev- 

 eral directions, and steamers come in from many Gulf 

 and Caribbean ports. 



14. The Mobile Delta. 



(Figures 49, 50.) 



From the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee 

 Rivers to the head of Mobile Bay, a distance of about 30 

 miles in a straight line or about twice as far by water, 

 extends a swampy region covering about 300 square 

 miles, which is essentially a delta, though narrower in 

 proportion to length than most deltas, on account of be- 

 ing hemmed in by hills on both sides. It is almost com- 

 pletely surrounded by the southwestern pine hills, and 

 if it was considerably smaller it might be regarded mere- 

 ly as one of the forest types of that region. But it has 

 some peculiarities which are due much more to its prox- 

 imity to the coast than to the nature of the adjacent 

 country, so that it seems best to treat it as a separate 

 and distinct region. Its nearest counterpart is probably 

 in the swamps at the mouth of the Apalachicola River, 

 which have recently been described by the writer.* 



References.— Mohr 3 (525-527), Mohr 8 (124-125, 127- 

 128), Smith 6 (66-67), Smith 7 (290-292), Tuomey 2 

 (151). 



Geology and soils. — The soil of the delta is alluvium 

 of unknown depth, doubtless coarsest in the immediate 

 vicinity of the stream channels, and more or less peaty 

 in the interstream areas. It ought to be well supplied 

 with all the essential elements of fertility. 



*Third Ann. Rep. Fla. Geol. Surv. 235-237; Torreya 11:225-234. 

 1911. 



