GEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTHERN STATES

foreign places such as Ray Alabama the first capital of the Confederates and an important part of bay of America The Hermitage in Nashville Tennessee the home of President Andrew Jackson and Stratford Hall the birthplace of Robert E Lee in Virginia these places are part of the history that has influenced life in the southern states in the Southeast portion of the United States we find the 11 states in which we are interested Virginia Kentucky Tennessee North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana and Arkansas notice the Ten of these states were once included in the Confederate States of America more than a century ago these states shared an Agricultural Economy based on the plantation system vast numbers of negroes imported 150 years ago to do the work became a large part of the population and so the history of the Old South has had a lasting influence on life in the southern states besides sharing a common history these states have much in common in their climate and soil for instance most of these states are included in a region of light-colored Forest soils also included in this area which is a region of humid subtropical climate a wet climate with a growing season of 200 days or more a humid subtropical climate is very favorable for culture in the wet bottom lands we'll find rice being grown by farmers in Louisiana and Arkansas rice grows well in the hot Wetlands of the South sugar cane also grows well in a humid subtropical climate the subtropical climate of the South especially in Florida is good for growing citrus fruit Groves of oranges and grapefruit are an important part of Southern Agriculture this agriculture is related not only to the warm climate but to the soil the light-colored Forest soils of the South are favorable to the growth of many kinds of trees Rose upon rows of peach trees are a common sight in Georgia and South Carolina many people in the South work in the peach industry growing harvesting and selling the fruit we'll also find forests of Oak and Hickory hardwood trees most common trees in the South are pine trees many Pine forests grow in the light-colored Forest soils that are common in the south Forest soils especially when fertilized can produce many kinds of crops crops such as tobacco the tobacco farm of Lawrence Corbett in North Carolina is typical of many in the southern state in fact the Corbett family including young Barney lend a hand at Harvest Time in August producing tobacco still requires a lot of hand labor here the whole Corbett family is tying the ripe leaves into bunches to get them ready for curing and so tobacco has been for several centuries an important product of the Southern States but the greatest source of wealth is the production of cotton on the William Morgan Farm in Mississippi cotton is still the main crop as it has been for Generations Mr Morgan who runs the farm will someday turn it over to his son it takes many workers to pick the cotton to weigh it and to haul it to the mill in the story of the cotton industry today we see the story of the new South it is a story of modern methods machines and industries we can sum up the story of the new South in the word change yes the word change is another key to understanding the Southern States today the changes are related to problems this abandoned Farm represents the problem of soil that has been exhausted by growing one crop on it year after year cutting the pine forests of the South has left in some places the serious problem of erosion the land is worn Away by wind and rain a change to better use of the land is part of the new South the people are planting trees to replace the cut forests they are developing conservation to inscrop production another change in the use of the land is the change from single crops to Diversified farming dairy farms are increasing corn is producates soybeans have replaced cotton in many fields soybeans and other legume crops such as velvet beans cow peas and peanuts are valuable because they put nitrogen into worn out soil mechanization in farming is another part of the change this is a mechanical rice Harvester here a machine is harvesting sugar cane along with mechanization has come a tremendous development of Industry canning citrus fruits is an industry that we can relate to the Citrus crop we saw being harvested in a similar way the hardwood forests of Oak and Hickory have made possible the furniture industry when we remember the pine forests we saw it's easy to understand why lumbering is one of the leading industries of the South trees Supply not only Lumber but wood pulp which is used in the growing paper industry it is in the cotton industry textiles are produced in textile mills in the south militarys are rising on land once largely agricultural and rivers are being harnessed to provide electrical energy Douglas Dam is part of the TVA power development that is helping to make possible the industrialization of the new South industrialization that we can see in an aluminum plant in Arkansas a Furniture Factory in North Carolina a vast oil refinery in Louisiana and a cotton mill in South Carolina and so in our study of the Southern States let's remember such key ideas as history climate and soil and change the history of the South has left its influence in many ways such as in the plant system which long affect the southern states how make agriculture important change from a region that was almost completely agricultural to a region in which industry is becoming more and more important these are ideas we'll meet when we read and study the geography of the Southern States [Music]