The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-10-31

prairie. In the shallow water such
trees as the cypress often grow to
large size, forming, with vines and
underground, a dense forest. Invarl-
ably, these swamp lands are covered
to the depth of one or more feet with
impure vegetable matter in the form
of dark-colored muck or peaty ma
terial which would, no doubt, add
considerably to- the fertility of such
lands in case they were properly
drained.
Overflow lands are the low lands
along streams which become covered
with. water during foods. They al
WAYS form shallow valleys and are
the direct result of stream. erosion.
Overflow lands are met with in all
parts of the state, but are especially
abundant in South Georgia where the
geological conditions are exception
ally favorable for the formation of
wide fiood-plains.
Streams, when swollen by heavy
rainfall, spread out their fiood-plalns
and deposit mud and sand more or
less mixed with vegetable matter,
which usually form remarkable fer
tile soils. This class of lands in the
state is undoubtedly increasing in ex-
tent, due, in part, to the increasing
frequency of floods brought about by
cutting away the forests but more
largely due, perhaps, to the over
loaded condition of the streams which
causes the filling and the clogging of
the channels by the accumulation of
sands washed from unterraced up
land fields.
Another condition which has a
tendency to augment the area Of
overflow lands, especially on small
streams, is the accumulation of logs
and drift-wood in the channels. In
conditions can often be effectuany
the last named instance the overflow
overcome by removing these obstruc-
tions, and by the cutting away of
the cane, willows and other small
growth which often rapidly encroach
upon and obstruct waterways.
Wet lands, as used in the above
classification, include those lands
which usually lie at higher eleva-
ton than the swamp land, but are so
poorly drained that during an ex-
cessively rainy season they produce
little or no crops by reason of the
excessive moisture of the soil. The
uncertainty of crops from this class
of lands is often too hazardous to
warrant the expense of preparation
and planting. During dry seasons
they generally produce excellent
crops, but should the growing sea
son prove to be too wet the crop is
often a complete failure.
Wet lands are almost invariably
level, the slope of the surface being
insufficient to allow the water to es-
cape by run-off. Furthermore, these
lands are often underlain Iby i'm
pervious subsoil which retards, to
some extent, the flow of the water
by downward seepage Wet lands
are widely distributed throughout
the state, but they are especially
abundant near the coast and in the
wiregrass section where the surface
is nearly level and where there is but
little variation in the topography
Such wet lands as here referred to
are usually quite readily recognized
by their growth of gallberry bushes,
short-stemmed palmetto and stunted
long-leaf pines.
Salt marsh lands are low mud flats
and marsh grass lands along the coast
between low and high tide. They are
usually covered twice daily by the
tide and as a consequence they can
only be reclaimed for agricultural
purposes by the construction of bikes.
These lands, built up, as they are, by
fine Sits and clays brought down by
the inland streams, invariably carry
ample plant food for the production
of luxuriant crops. Salt marsh lands
form many thousand acres fringing
the sea islands and the adjacent main
land from Savannah to st. Mary's.