and the Blue Ridge, a distance of 175 miles from Balcony Falls to Richmond. The rocks are mainly igneous, with some sedimentary deposits greatly changed or metamorphosed by pressure, heat, and moisture. The next great series of rocks in point of age is known as the Paleozoic, and is found between Chicago and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountains and valleys, west of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia and West Virginia, the hills and plains of Kentucky and Indiana, as well as the area underlying the drift of Illinois and Indiana, were formed from these sedimentary deposits. Great metamorphism, occasioned in the process of mountainmaking, has changed the sandstones to quartzites, the limestones to marble, and the shales to slates, in many places in the Appalachian mountains. The formations of the Mesozoic, the next great era, are represented in various places on the Piedmont (these were noted about Washington and Washington Junction), while the Coastal Plain exhibits the youngest sediments known as the Cenozoic. These newly formed rocks are but slightly consolidated sands, marls, and clays. Vegetation. The vegetation between Chicago and the Atlantic is characterized by a great sameness. Lists of trees and plants made at various places along the route are remarkable for their similarity, the differences being found in the addition or the subtraction of but a few species. Where trees abound one soon learns to expect oak, elm, maple, birch, sycamore, hickory, walnut, alder, willow, ironwood, ash, bass-wood, hackberry, beech, sassafras, chestnut, and pine. These are distributed along the streams or on the higher land, according to the habit of the tree. The holly, magnolia, and cypress, cultivated in Louisville, are abundant in the forests of the Coastal Plain. The wahu, whose fruit at this season resembles that of a small sour sop of the tropics, was common through West Virginia and Virginia. The pawpaw and persimmon, which appeared in central Indiana, continued in greater abundance into Virginia. The Ailanthus spreads from the Ohio to the coast. The uniformity of vegetation due to natural causes of distri bution was less surprising than the similarity of crops. From Chicago to the Atlantic one is practically immersed in a sea of corn. I believe that throughout the entire distance there is not a tillable area of any considerable size from which this beautiful tropical-looking plant is absent. The complete domination of corn was broken by an occasional field of wheat- or oat-stubble in Indiana, and by hemp and tobacco in Kentucky. Virginia, where once tobacco was riches and legal tender of the commonwealth, seemed to have submitted herself in servitude to King Corn. When inquiry was made as to the cause of the change in dynasties, the Virginian replied: "The exhaustion of the soil for tobacco, and the price of seventy-five cents per bushel for corn." Notwithstanding the untiring efforts of the United States Agricultural Department in finding crops best suited to various soils, the average farmer knows and loves corn and wheat, and is slow to change his affections. So much had we heard of the Blue Grass of Kentucky that our vivid imaginations pictured unparalleled horses and cattle standing side by side up to their necks in blue grass. A veritable agricultural and grazing fairyland! Hence the contrast with the reality was not a little disadvantageous to this famous historic, limestone district. In comparison with the fertile plains of Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana it yielded the palm to these rich prairie lands. Such must be the price paid for literary reputation. Even the famous Shenandoah Valley suffered in a similar manner. But after a few weeks spent in the less fertile regions of Virginia and the rugged, agriculturally inhospitable areas of West Virginia, the return to the Blue Grass district gave a much more favorable impression, for in comparison with hilly Kentucky and West Virginia it is rich beyond its enviable reputation. The acres of dark brown hemp tied up like shocks of corn, the tobacco curing in the fields and bulging from the great barns, and the golden corn were grateful to our eyes inured to rich western agricultural lands. Other occupations.-Agriculture is not the only occupation the region supports. At Lynchburg we visited a tobacco manu factory, where chewing and smoking tobacco are prepared for the market. The sorting and stemming of the tobacco leaves by the happy, singing negro men and women, was a sight to be expected in such a factory, but surprises lay in the manner of improving the flavor of the cigars and the taste of the chewing tobacco. The brown plugs and twists, seen in the stores, give no hint to the observer that the leaves have been soaked in a brown, dirty-looking syrup, and that licorice, powdered peaches, plums, apricots, or locust fruits veneer the tightly pressed leaves to improve the taste. In a like manner those ignorant of the allurements of smoking never dream that the flavors are obtained by the addition of various perfumes. Oyster industry.-The Chesapeake Bay region has long been famous for the production of oysters. The life and culture of these bivalves proved very interesting to the party of inland dwellers. The black stakes, peering above the water in the lower York and James Rivers, marked the limit of acreage rented from the state by the oyster farmers. We were told that the best seed oysters are obtained from the James River and are transplanted into the York, allowing from five hundred to a thousand bushels to the acre. After growing for about eighteen months, they are harvested and prepared in the factories for the market. History. The historic aspects of the region visited were in charge of Miss Emily J. Rice, head of the department of history in the School of Education. We saw the beginning of the Virginian comonwealth in the low church tower and the graveyard at Jamestown; followed its development at Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Richmond; reviewed the Peninsular Campaign; learned the meaning of Hampton Roads, Arlington, Mount Vernon, and the Shenandoah Valley; and traced the "Westward Movement" across the mountains into the wide, fertile plains of the Mississippi Valley. Method. The day was spent in the field, followed by a conference at night. At the conference the past observations and experiences were discussed and interpreted as far as possible. The students prepared for the work of the following day by the use of maps or other material at hand. From information thus obtained they predicted the appearance of the country, the geologic and cultural aspects, suggesting problems which would arise for solution. Notes were kept in the field, and, after the close of the field course, reports of the entire trip were written. Expense. The expense for the trip was one hundred and five dollars. This is exclusive of the tuition fee. MATERIALS USED ON THE TRIP FROM CHICAGO TO WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND RETURN INSTRUMENTS: Hammers, clinometers, compasses, aneroids. MAPS: United States Geological Survey. Topographic. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad 1. Kenova Quadrangle, Kentucky, West Virginia. 2. Huntington Quadrangle, West Virginia. 3. Charleston Quadrangle, West Virginia. 4. Raleigh Quadrangle, West Virginia. 5. Kanawha Falls Quadrangle, West Virginia. 6. Hinton Sheet, West Virginia. 7. Lewisburg Sheet, West Virginia, Virginia. The maps are listed in ** appear the country is Clifton Forge & Richmond Division, Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 8. Natural Bridge Sheet, Virginia. 9. Lexington Sheet, Virginia. 15. Richmond Sheet, Virginia. 16. Bermuda Hundred Sheet, Virginia. 17. Norfolk Quadrangle, Virginia, North Carolina. 18. Washington Quadrangle, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia. Main Line, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (returning from Washington)— 19. Mount Vernon Sheet, Virginia, Maryland. 20. Warrenton Sheet, Virginia. 22. Gordonsville Sheet, Virginia. 23. Harrisonburg Sheet, Virginia. 24. Staunton Sheet, Virginia, West Virginia. 25. Monterey Quadrangle, Virginia, West Virginia. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia (route to Luray) 18. Washington Quadrangle, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia. 19. Harper's Ferry Sheet, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia. Norfolk & Western Railroad from Shenandoah Junction to Basic City via Luray 20. Winchester Sheet, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia. 21. Luray Sheet, Virginia. 22. Woodstock Sheet, Virginia. 23. Harrisonburg Sheet, Virginia. 24. Staunton Sheet, Virginia. At Basic City the Main Line of Chesapeake & Ohio is reached, and maps read forward beginning with Staunton Sheet, No. 24, to No. 25. 25. Monterey Quadrangle, Virginia, West Virginia. After leaving Monterey Quadrangle, return trip maps read backward from Natural Bridge Sheet, Virginia. UNITED STATES GEOLOGIC ATLASES: Folios Huntington, West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia. Monterey, Virginia, West Virginia. Raleigh, West Virginia. Norfolk, Virginia, North Carolina. Washington, District of Columbia. Harper's Ferry, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia. Staunton, Virginia, West Virginia. NOTE.-Topographic maps may be obtained by addressing the Director of the Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia, for three cents each by the hundred, or five cents apiece singly. Stamps are not accepted in payment. Maps should be described as in the list given above. Folios may be ordered in the same way, price twenty five cents. Other Maps Geologic Maps of the United States. State Maps of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky. Map showing occurrence of coal, oil, and gas in West Virginia by I. C. White, State Geologist. Map showing the location of the battlefields of Virginia, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, 1906. General Map of the Drift of the Northeastern United States, Sixth Annual Report, Plate XXIII. BOOKS CARRIED FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS: Geology and Geography Chamberlin and Salisbury, Geology. Dana, Textbook in Geology. Davis, Physical Geography. West Virginia Geological Survey, Vol. Ia, 1904. Froehling and Robertson, A Hand Book of the Minerals and Mineral Resources of Virginia (Richmond, Va.). Shaler, Dismal Swamp. Physiography of the United States. Book Co.). (American |