numbers of exceptions among the Negroes
as well as among the white school teachers, referred to above. That
there is much in the present situation, both of encouragement and
discouragement, is patent. Unfortunately, most of us shut our eyes to
one or the other set of facts and are wildly optimistic or pessimistic,
accordingly. That there may be no misunderstanding of my position, let
me say that I agree with the late Dr. J. L. M. Curry in stating that: "I
have very little respect for the intelligence or the patriotism of the
man who doubts the capacity of the negro for improvement or usefulness."

CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION.

The great Appalachian system, running parallel to the Atlantic coast,
and ending in northern Alabama, forms the geological axis of the
southern states. Bordering the mountains proper is a broad belt of hills
known as the Piedmont or Metamorphic region, marked by granite and other
crystalline rocks, and having an elevation decreasing from 1,000 to 500
feet. The soil varies according to the underlying rocks, but is thin and
washes badly, if carelessly tilled. The oaks, hickories and other
hardwoods, form the forests. In Virginia this section meets the lower
and flatter country known as Tide-Water Virginia. In the southern part
of this state we come to the Pine Hills, which follow the Piedmont and
stretch, interrupted only by the alluvial lands of the Mississippi, to
central Texas. The Pine Hills seldom touch the Piedmont directly, but
are separated by a narrow belt of Sand Hills, which run from North
Carolina to Alabama, then swing northward around the coal measures and
spread out in Tennessee and Kentucky. This region, in general of poor
soils, marks the falls of the rivers and the head of navigation. How
important this is may easily be seen by noticing the location of the
cities in Georgia, for instance, and remembering that the country was
settled before the day of railroads. In Alabama the Black Prairie is
interposed between the Pine Hills and the Sand Hills, and this prairie
swings northward into Mississippi. The Pine Hills give way to the more
level Pine Flats, which slope with a gradient of a few feet a mile to
the ocean or the gulf, which usually has a narrow alluvial border. Going
west from Alabama we cross the oak and hickory lands of Central
Mississippi, which are separated from the alluvial district by the cane
hills and yellow loam table lands. Beyond the bottom lands of the