Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Dec. 23, 1902, edition 1 / Page 2
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2 THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER Tuesday, December 23, 1902. MORE ABOUT THE SOIL SURVEY IN NORTH CAROLINA. What Has Been Discovered About the Farming Lands of Alamance, Wake, Craven and Iredell and Adjoining Coun ties Different Types of Soils and Their Uses Better Farming Needed. The report of Hon. Milton Whit ney, Chief of the Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agri culture, gives much valuable inform ation regarding the North Carolina soil survey not contained in our arti cle on this subject in last week's Pro gressive Farmer. From this report a long, illustrated volume of 647 pages we have culled the following extracts that we think will be of in terest to all Xorth Carolina readers: THE STATESVILLE AREA The Statesville area comprises 7S4 square miles, or about 501,750 acres, including the greater part of Iredell County and portions of Rowan, Da vie, Catawba, Lincoln, and Mecklen burg counties, X. C. The area lies within the Piedmont Plateau and is eroded by the streams into deep val leys and broad, flat-topped uplands. The average elevation of the uplands is about 1,000 feet, and of the streams and valleys about 750 feet above sea level. The northeastern part of the area touches the foothills of the Brushy Mountains. It is esti mated that about 40 per cent of the land is farmed by tenants on the share system. The tenants are main ly white. The labor problem is a dif ficult one to solve and the scarcity of efficient labor has greatly retarded agricultural development. Cotton, corn, and wheat are the chief crops. Bright tobacco was formerly grown to a considerable extent on the Dur ham sandy loam, but the industry has been almost entirely given up on account of the better quality of leaf produced 011 the soils of the eastern part of the State. A number of cot ton mills have been erected, and this manufacturing industry has had a serious effect upon the quality and supply of agricultural labor. The farms are owned in rather small holdings from 100 to 200 acres. The average good upland soil sells for $10 or $20 an acre. There are some tracts of bottom land that are worth upward of $100 an acre. In the more hilly regions, where the soils are poorer, land bring3 from $3 to $5 an acre. TYPES OF SOIL The Cecil clay, covering 289,590 acres, or about 57M per cent of the area, has a stiff, tenacious clay sub soil, but nevertheless possesses good drainage. It is the characteristic "red land" of the South Atlantic States. There is considerable gravel and stone in the soil and subsoil, and there are some story areas of irreg ular distribution. The soil is gener ally thin, but can be deepened by proper methods of cultivation and by green manuring. When so deepened it assumes the properties of a heavy .clay loam and is very productive. It requires, however, considerable care and labor to maintain its fertility, and for that reason, as i3 common throughout the Southern States, it is not to highly prized, nor is it so successfully worked as the lighter types of soil. Corn yields very well upward of 50 bushels per acre ; cot ton from one-third to 1 bale per acre, according to the care given to the preparation of the land and the cul tivation of the crop. Wheat pro duces from 5 to 20 bushels, or even more under the most favorable con ditions; the average yield perhaps does not exceed 12 bushels. When in a fair state of cultivation the soil produces good crops of grass and clover. The Cecil sandy loam, covering 148,910 acres, or about 29V2 per cent of the area, has the same clay sub soil as the Cecil clay, but has a sandy loam soil to a depth of from 6 to 10 inches. It has excellent drainage, is easily cultivated, and is highly es teemed by cotton growers, the aver age yield of cotton being about one half bale per acre, although more can be produced bv thorough cultivation. Formerly some bright tobacco was grown on this soil, but little or none is produced at the present time. It is a good corrj soil, and might be adapted to truck and certain kinds of fruit. The soil is better treated than any other in the area, but still is not producing what it should. Iredell clay loam, covering 22,340 acres, or about 4 per cent of the area, is locally known as "black-jack" or "beeswax" land. It has an imper vious, waxy clay subsoil, and crops suffer alike from heavy rains and prolonged drought. It is cold and late and produces hardly more than half as much as the soils above named. It quickly deteriorates and is then difficult to improve. It is considered the poorest soil of the area. Meadow, covering 18,850 acres, or nearly 4 per cent of the area, occurs alontr the stream courses. It is con sidered the most valuable land in this region, and is adapted particu larly to corn and grass. Wheat make3 too rank a growth of straw and is not usually cultivated. The meadow would have far more value were it not for the danger of overflow, which not only destroys the growing crop, but often damages the soil by the deposition of sand. Little or no at tempt is made to protect these lands by diking, although in some instan ces this undoubtedly could be eco nomically done. The other soil types of the area occur only to a small ex tent and have little agricultural value. SOIL8 NOT SO PRODUCTIVE AS TIIEY SHOULD BE FARMERS CONTENT WITTI FIALF CROPS As a rule the soils of the States ville area are not producing what they should. It is probably safe to say that the yield of crops is only half as great as would be secured with the more thorough methods used in some other localities over which the soil survey has been ex tended. The plows used are light affairs and the cultivation is exceed ingly superficial. The fields wash badly, and when so washed, or when the yields fall off, the land is aban doned and new fields are cleared. With the present low value of land and the low price obtained for prod ucts this may seem the best course to pursue, but in the long run it is ex pensive, as the lands suffer seriously and the returns under the. methods at present used are small and unprof itable. The country, both from its soils and physical aspect, should be adapted to stock raising, and this would tend more than anything else to increase the fertility . and permit the adoption of better cultural meth ods. The argument is frequently advanced that the rather unfavorable conditions of agriculture in these Southern areas are due to the cli mate. One has but to observe, how ever, the success that has been at tained by a few farmers who have used careful and thorough methods to see that the trouble can hardly be attributed to this. It can safely be said that with careful methods the soils are as productive as the cor responding types in more northern localities. SOIL SURVEY IN ALAMANCE COUNTY Alamance County comprises 233, 820 acres, or about 365 square miles. It has the rolling and hilly charactei of the Piedmont Plateau, through which the streams flow in steep-sided valleys. The average elevation of the upland portion is about 650 feet. There are three small mountains, so called, within the area. This is one of the chief manufacturing counties in the State. The principal crops are wheat, corn, tobacco, oats, and some cotton, clover, and grass. To bacco was formerly a much more im portant crop than at present. Bright yellow tobacco was prown extensive ly at one time, especially on the Dur ham sandy loam, and in consequence of the growth of this industry the lands rose from $2 or $3 an acre to $20, or even $100 where the finest quality of leaf was produced. At present the industry is hardly one third as great as it was at its max imum, owing to the shifting of the industry to the light sandy soils of the eastern part of the State. The average price of land in the county is perhaps $10 per acre sometimes considerably more and sometimes much less. ALAMANCE SOILS Cecil clay, covering 101,370 acres, or about 43 per cent of the area, is one of the most productive soils. It is adapted to wheat, corn, oats, and clover, and is used to some extent for cotton. The average yield of wheat is about 12 bushels per acre, but with thorough cultivation this can be very materially increased. It is decidedly the strongest soil in the area, but is rather difficult to till and is not as well appreciated as it de serves on this account. Durham sandy loam, covering 84, 900 acres, or about 36 per cent of the county, f orm3 a part of what was once known as the "golden tobacco belt" of the State. It produces a fine grade of the bright-yellow cigarette and smoking tobacco, and is still used to some extent for this crop Where tobacco has been given up the land has been devoted mainly to wheat, oats, and corn, particularly in the southern part of the countv, but the yields are light and the soil is not well adapted to general farm ing purposes. It contains but little organic matter, leaches easily, and the fertility is difficult to maintain. It would be adapted to many kinds of truck crops, but the climate con ditions and market facilities are not especially favorable for this indus try. Iredell clay loam, covering 18,760 acres, or 8 per cent of the county, is the poorest soil found in the area. The subsoil is very impervious, and the crops suffer in both wet and dry seasons. When first cultivated it produces fairly well under favorable conditions, but it soon wears out and is abandoned as waste land. Herndon stonv loam, covering 4,960 acres, or about 2 per cent of the area, is rough and hilly, and only small patches are capable of easy cultivation to grain crops. A fair quality of fruit, especially peaches, may be grown. At present the area is mostly forested. The Alamance silt loam, covering 7,860 acres, or a little over 3 per cent of the county, has a rolling, hilly surface, and while not naturally a strong soil, may be made to yield fair crops, with the exception of to bacco. At the present time it is largely in forest. Meadow, covering 15,970 acres, op nearly 7 per cent of the area, occurs along the streams, especially the smaller ones. It is particularly well adapted to corn and grass, but is sub ject to overflow in time of freshets and the crops are therefore more or less uncertain. Farm labor is scarce within the area surveyed, and the farm imple ments are not well adapted. to the heavy clay lands. Commercial fertil izers are depended upon where bet ter methods of cultivation would give even larger returns. The farmers seem to be realizing that more inten sive methods wTill improve conditions, and that they should practice the adaptation of crops to their several kinds of soils. THE CARY AREA. A small area of about 63 square miles, or 40,320 acres, within the Piedmont Plateau, was surveyed be tween Raleigh and Cary at the re quest of the North Carolina Depart ment of Agriculture. The principal crops are cotton, corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, with some market-garden products near Ra leigh. The Cecil sandy loam, cover ing 26,090 acres or about 65 per cent of the area, the Cecil clay, covering 2,960 acres or 7 per cent, the Dur ham sandy loam of 8,090 acres or 20 per cent, and Meadow covering 3,180 acres or about 8 per cent of the area, were the only soils recognized, and these have already been described m connection with the Statesville and Alamance County areas in the same State.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 23, 1902, edition 1
2
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