THE SOILS OF FLORIDA. 
79 
i 
clearing land of this kind is considerable, and notwithstanding its 
fertility, very little of it as yet has been reclaimed. 
The alluvial valley of the Apalachicola Biver has a width of one 
to two miles. It has a rich sandy soil, but is flooded at the high 
stages of the river and has been but little used. The native vegeta¬ 
tion is a dense growth of hardwood timber. The Apalachicola, unlike 
the other rivers of Florida, receives its head waters from the Apa- 
lachian Mountains, and is less affected by the rainy season of Flor 
ida than by the melting of the snows of the mountains. 
Those streams which flow through limestone country carry little 
or no sediments in suspension. Their channel is cut chiefly by solu 
tion. Such streams have sandy banks and little or no alluvial lands. 
9 Fig. 3.—Swamp of St. Marys River. 
SWAMP LANDS. 
The term swamp is applied to overflowed lands supporting a 
growth of trees. The swamps of Florida were described and classi¬ 
fied in the preceding report of the Survey. It is probable that the 
total swamp area of the State aggregates not less than 3,000 square 
miles, much of which is capable of being drained and utilized. 
