The very rare occurrence, say once in twenty years, of cold waves 

 that drop the temperature for a night or so to the neighborhood 

 of zero seems to have little effect in determining the constitution 

 of the flora. Length of growing season, atmospheric humidity, 

 and mean lowest temperature are much more important. 



The climatic position of Hartsville may be understood best, 

 perhaps, when we consider the success or failure there of certain 

 well known cultivated plants. A number of half hardy sub- 

 tropical species such as camellia (Camellia japonica) , tea (Camel- 

 lia Thea) camphor tree (Cinnarriormim camphora), oleander 

 (Nerium oleander). Cape jessamine (Gardenia jasminoides) may 

 be successfully grown in the open, but our rarely occurring zero 

 weather will injure them if unprotected. Oranges and other 

 citrus fruits cannot withstand the average winters, but the new 

 citrus hybrids, called Citranges. such as Morton, Willits, and 

 Rusk, thrive and bear well. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 



Hartsville is situated on the exact inner edge of the upper drier 

 part of the coastal plain, marking, therefore, the northern boun- 

 dary of this great geographical division of the State. Just to the 

 north of the town proper is the rapid descent of about 50 feet into 

 the valley of Black Creek. This valley, with certain irregularities, 

 extends for approximately one-half mile and is terminated on its 

 northern edge by the outposts of the sand hills, which, gradually 

 rising in gentle undulations, extend their barren prospect for 

 miles to the northward. These sand hills are on the line that 

 separates the piedmont plateau from the coastal plain, and are 

 a transition from one to the other. In their vegetation and geo- 

 logical origin they approach more closely to the character of the 

 coastal plain. They were once much higher than they are at 

 present, as is evidenced by the occurrence among them of a consid- 

 erable hill, called Sugar-loaf Mountain, which rises to an eleva- 

 tion of 150 feet above the surrounding country and is capped by a 

 layer of sandstone of sufficient strength to resist the extensive 

 erosion that has elsewhere taken place. These hills mark the 

 coast line of a Pleistocene sea that, shortly before the glacial 

 epoch, halted here for thousands of years. An elevation then 

 took place and the sea receded southward, exposing its level floor 

 as our fertile and extensive coastal plain. 



A cross section of the coastal plain in the neighborhood of 

 Hartsville would show the following geological formations: 



