GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 217

hundred miles farther north. The sweet gum, short-leaf pine and hickory are characteristic species. This is best seen in flat-bottomed valleys with dark loamy soil around Brooksville, and on uplands northwest of Ocala, for example around Fairfield.
 Such forests indicate pretty good soil for general farming, through the scarcity of running water might be a slight drawback.
 Red oak woods (fig. 41). On dry uplands with somewhat clayey soil rich in potassium, phosphorus and iron, in central Marion County, the red oak is the prevailing tree, as it is in, some places much farther north. Here it is commonly associated with sweet gum, hickory, and long-leaf pine. At one extreme, this grades into high pine land, and at the other into high hammocks, which have neither red oak nor pine. Fire goes into the red oak woods just about as far as the pine does. Further details can be found in the 7th Annual Report, pp. 168-169.
 This type of vegetation indicates a strong soil, on which staple crops can be raised for several years without fertilizer.