cessfully with the hydroelectric plants under some 

 conditions, are a source of power for this area. 

 Both coal and fuel oil are obtainable at the seaports 

 at favorable rates, but natural gas is not now avail- 

 able for fuel. 



As shown in table 1, 66 percent of the land sur- 

 face — 7 million acres in the southeast unit and 3 

 million in the southwest — is classified as forest land. 



Topography and Drainage 



This area, which lies entirely within the Coastal 

 Plain, has approximately 33 percent of its forest 

 area in the flatwoods, 36 percent in the rolling 

 uplands, and 31 percent in river bottoms, swamps, 

 and ponds. The flatwoods, forming a nearly 

 level, well-watered but poorly drained, sandy plain 

 with numerous wooded ponds and swamps, extend 

 inland on a long gentle slope for 60 to 175 miles 

 to the foot of the Tifton uplands, where the terrain 

 reaches an elevation of approximately 260 feet 

 above sea level. The flatwoods coincide roughly 

 with the longleaf-slash pine-cypress forest type 

 shown in the colored map at the end of this pub- 

 lication. North and west of the flatwoods country 

 are the Tifton uplands, a gently rolling to fairly 

 hilly country that rises to approximately 450 feet 

 above sea level. The country is drained to the 

 south and east by numerous rivers. 



Climate 



The climate is favorable to rapid forest growth 

 and is generally healthful for man. The summers 

 are long and warm, the winters short and mild; 

 the mean annual temperature is about 67° F. 

 June to August is the warmest season with an 

 average of 81°, and December to February is the 

 coldest with a mean of 52°. Periods with tempera- 

 tures below freezing are brief and infrequent. 

 Zero weather is almost unknown but — 2° has 

 been recorded in Dodge County. Snowfall is rare, 

 and frosts seldom occur after March 15 or before 

 November 15. The average growing season is 

 about 245 days. 



The average annual rainfall of about 50 inches 

 is rather uniformly distributed throughout the 

 year, except that somewhat more than the monthly 

 average occurs in July and August. Dry periods 

 are likely to occur in late spring or early fall. 

 Severe and protracted droughts resulting in very 



serious fire conditions can be expected at least 

 once in every two or three decades, while about 1 

 out of every 5 years may be dry with a high fire 

 hazard. Heavy windstorms resulting in wide- 

 spread damage to timber are infrequent and are 

 generally the result of tropical storms from the 

 Gulf coast. Prevailing winds are from the south- 

 west. 



Soils 



Approximately two-thirds of the land surface is 

 made up of well-drained sandy loams and sands. 

 Subject to long, hot summers, fairly heavy rainfall, 

 and year-round leaching, most of these light soils 

 require liberal and repeated applications of fer- 

 tilizer to produce good crop yields. The poorly 

 drained soils of the lowlands, which make up ap- 

 proximately one-third of the area, have little agri- 

 cultural value, but longleaf and slash pines thrive 

 here except in the few places where hardpan is 

 near the surface and is thicker and denser than 

 usual. 



Erosion 



Erosion is not serious in the flatwoods section, 

 because of the level nature of the terrain, but in 

 the rolling uplands where land clearing and cul- 

 tivation have developed more extensively much of 

 the exposed soil has eroded. Contour plowing, 

 terracing, and other soil-saving practices, however, 

 have done much to arrest and check erosion in this 

 area. The value of forest cover in the prevention 

 of erosion is clearly indicated by the fact that while 

 10 percent of the cultivated land shows evidence 

 of marked erosion, this is true of less than 2 percent 

 of the forest land. 



Agriculture 



Notwithstanding the. fact that 66 percent of the 

 southern area is in forest, the leading source of 

 employment is agriculture, which according to 

 the 1930 census furnishes work for half of the gain- 

 fully employed workers. In southwest Georgia the 

 Forest Survey classified 43 percent of the area as 

 agricultural, but in southeast Georgia, including 

 the flatwoods, only 24 percent. The agricultural 

 census of 1935 listed more than 83,000 farms in the 

 area. These average 115 acres, of which 59 acres 



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