ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 



Anne Arundel is the northernmost county of "southern Mary- 

 land." It lies wholly within the coastal plain area, and partakes of 

 the general nature of the coastal plain soil formation. Since the 

 northwestern part of the county lies adjacent to the Piedmont region, 

 the indigenous plant and tree life are in part characteristic of the 

 Piedmont, and partly of the coastal plain types. The main physical 

 features of the county are a succession of low, rounded hills and deep 

 ravines, particularly in the northern two-thirds of the county ; a large 

 per cent of sandy soil, and a long waterfront adjacent to Chesapeake 

 Bay on the east, the South River, the Severn and the Magothy form- 

 ing deep indentations from the Bay ; and the Patuxent River extend- 

 ing along almost the entire western boundary. 



The Forests. 



The wooded area of the county consists of thirty-four per cent of 

 the total land area, with a greater amount of woodland in the central 

 and north-central parts of the county than is found in the southern 

 and extreme northern parts, where the land is more generally culti- 

 vated. The most notable feature of forest distribution is that the 

 woodlands are invariably found along ravines and streams, occasional- 

 ly extending back upon the higher lands. The soil is usually very 

 light, and washes badly on steep slopes, so that the forests along these 

 streams and hollows are in reality protection forests, although serving 

 at the same time for the production of timber. 



The county's wooded areas have been continually reduced, and are 

 now confined in large part to non-ag-ricultural situations. As a rule, 

 the woodlands are in small, irregular patches which are almost ex- 

 clusively the property of farmers.. Originally, this county was prac- 

 tically covered with forests of hardwoods, with which were interming- 

 led small stands of pine. As the population increased, and the settle- 

 ments advanced from the watercourses, the first forests rapidly dimin- 

 ished in area until about fifty years ago, when the turning-point was 

 reached, and since that time more land has grown up in forests than 

 has been cleared. As a rule, pine forests represent the land that was 

 once cleared for crops, and later on abandoned ; the light-seeded pines 

 quickly took possession of such areas, and the age of the resulting 



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