A120-1122-7000-L TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS_ W. B. BIZZELL, President ’ BULLETIN NO. 301 SEPTEMBER, 1922 DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY SOILS OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, "TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES B. YOUNGBLOOD, DIRECTOR, “COLLEGE STATION, BRAZOS COUNTY, TEXAS STATION STAFFT A DMINISTRATION B. YOUNGBLOOD, M S., Ph. D., Director CHARLES A. FELKER, Chief Clerk A. S \VAnE, Secretary A. I). JAChSON, Executive Assistant CHARLES (jonzvcm. Technical Assistant M. P. IIOLLl-IMAN. Jn.. Assistant Chief Clerk R N. Bunnoxvs, M A., Research Librarian VETERINARY SCIENCE *M. FnANcis. l). V. M., Chief ll. SCHMIDT, D. V. S., Veterinarian V J. BnAuNEn, D. V. M., Veterinarian CHEMISTRY G. S. FnAPs, Ph. D., Chief," State Chemist S Ii. Asnunv, M. S., Assistant Chemist S. LmuANITz, B. S., Assistant Chemist J. B. Smrrn, B. S., Assistant Chemist WALDO \VALKI-:n, Assistant Chemist HORTICULTURE II. NEss, M. S.. Chief W. S. IIOTCHKISS, Ilorliculturist ANIMAL INDUSTRY J. M. JONES, A. IVL. Chief; Sheep and Goat Investigations R. M Sherwood, B. S., Poultry Husbandman G. B. \\'Am\EN, B. S., Animal Husbandman ENTOMOLOGY M. C. TANQUARY, Ph. D., Chief; Slate Entomologist H. J. REINHARD, B. S., Entomologist H. B. PARKS, B. S., Apiculturist C. S. RUDE, B. S , Entomologist A. H. ALEx, B. S., Queen Breeder \V. P. TnIcE, B. S., Assistant Entomologist AGRONOMY A. B. CoNNEn, B. S.. Chief; Crops A. H. LEIDIGH, B. S., Agronomist; Soils E. B. REYNOLDS, 1\/I. S., Agronomist; Small Grains G. N. STROMAN, M. S., Agr0n0mist,' Farm Superintendent **PEARL DRUMMOND, Seed Analyst PLANT PATHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY J. J. TAUBENHAUS, Ph. D., Chief COTTON BREEDING G. F. FREEMAN, D. Sc , Chief FARM AND RANCH ECONOMICS **L. P. GABBARD, M. S., Farm and Ranch Economist SOIL SURVEY **W. T. CARTER, .13., B. S., Chief H. W. HAWKER, Soil Surveyor H. V. GEIB, B. S., Soil Surveyor FEED CONTROL SERVICE B. YOUNGBLOOD, M. S , Ph. D., Director in Charge of Swine Investigations Se-c-tghief Inspector J. L. LUSll, P11. D., Animal Hushandman J: Hogans‘: Inggector (ilellefm?) W. H. W001). Inspector L. M. IVIURPHY, lVool Specialist J. J. KELLY, Inspector SUBSTATIONS No. l. Beeville. Bee County No. 8. Lubbock, Lubbock County I. E. COWART. M. S., Superintendent No. 2. Troup, Smith County W. S. IIoTcniuss, Superintendent No. 3. Angleton, Brazoria County V. E. IIAFNER, B. S., Superintendent No. 4. Beaumont, Jefierson County A. H. PmNcE, B. S., Superintendent Temple, Bell County KILLOUGH, B. S., Superintendent No. 5. D. T. No. 6. Denton, Denton County P. B. DUNKLE, B. S., Superintendent No. 7. Spur, Dickens County R. E. DicnsoN, B. S., Superintendent TAs of October l, 1922. R. E. KARPER, B. S., Superintendent No. 9. Balmorhea, Reeves County J. J. BAYLES, B. S., Superintendent No. 10. College Station, Brazos County (Feeding and Breeding Substation) L. J. MCCALL, Superintendent No. 11. Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County G. T. McNEss, Superintendent **No. 12. Chillicothe, Hardeman County A. B. CRON, B. S., Superintendent No. 14. Sonora, Sutton-Edwards Counties E. M. PETERS, B. S , Su erintendent D. H. BENNETT, V. M. ., Veterinarian *In cooperation with School of Veterinary Medicine, A. and M. College of Texas. "In cooperation with United States Department of Agriculture. CONTENTS. _ PAGE. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5 Maintenance of Fertility. . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 How t0 Use the Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '7 Explanation of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8 Plant Food Required by Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 Average Composition of Soils of Counties Studied . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 Crop-production Power of Average Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11 Soils of Bell County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12 Description of Soil Types, Bell County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 16 Soils of Jefferson County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 23 Acidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 28 Needs of the Soils of this Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Alkali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Dscription of Soil Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3O Soils of Smith County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 35 Acidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Needs of the Soils of thisArea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Alkali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Description of Soil Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4O Soils of Taylor County. ._ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46 Needs of Soils of this Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46 Description of Soil Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4L9 Soils of Webb County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 56 Alkali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60 Pot Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 61 Composition of Onions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Fertilizers for Onions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Legume Rotation Important . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - -- 63 Description of Soil Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Summary and Conclusions. . . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 BLANK PAGE IN ORIGINAL Bulletin No. 301 September, 1922 COMPOSITION OF THE SOILS OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH , TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. BY G. S. FRAPS. This bulletin deals with the chemical composition of samples of typical soils from five counties in Texas, and is the eighth bulletin of the series dealing with the chemical composition of typical Texas soils. The preceding bulletins are numbers 99, 125, 161, 1'73, 192, 213, and 244. Most of the samples analyzed were collected by field agents of the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture but mine were collected otherwise. Detailed reports of the surveys, with maps showing the location of the various soil types, have been published by the Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, from which the descriptions given in this bulletin are taken, as follows: Soil survey of Bell County, by William T. Carter, Jr., H. G. Lewis, and H. W. Hawker. Soil survey of J eiferson County, by William T. Carter, Jr., L. R. Schoenmann, T. M. Bushnell, and E. T. Maxon. Soil survey of Smith County, by L. R. Schoenmann. Soil survey of Taylor County, by William S. Smith, in charge, A. E. Kocher, R. F. Rogers, and W. I. Watkins. Soil survey of Laredo area, by A. W. Mangum and Ora Lee, Jr. This is part of Webb County, being a detailed survey. Reconnaissance soil survey of South Texas; includes Webb County. Requests for copies of the soil surveys should be addressed to the Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, Washing- ton, D. C. This Division has no copies of these reports for distribution. Some of the analyses of the soils of Webb County published in this bulletin were published in Bulletins 125 and 161 of this Experiment Station, but both of these bulletins are now out of print, additional analyses have been made, and our methods of interpreting the analysis have been advanced by the research work done since these bulletins were published. MAINTENANCE OF FERTILITY The following are the chief essentials for the maintenance of soil fertility: ~ (1) The maintenance of vegetable matter and nitrogen by grow- ing legumes in a proper crop rotation and by turning them under or grazing them oif. (2) Correction of deficiency in phosphoric acid, if needed, by proper use of phosphates. (3) Correction for acidity, if present, by use of ground limestone or lime. Lime is also used to improve the physical character of the soil, or to supply the lime-needs of certain crops. 6 Texas AGRICULTURAL Exrnirrnnna‘ STATION. (4) Use of potash fertilizers for correction for deficiency of potash, if needed. Jllaiintezzztzzce of Vega/cable illatter and Nitrogen. The maintenance of vegetable matter in the soil is essential t0 the fertility of soils, though some soils produce well for a long time Without additions of vegetable matter, it they are liberally fertilized. Vegetable matter may be supplied in barnyard manure, which is excellent When sufficient quan- tities can be produced, but barnyard manure is usually not at hand in large enough quantities. Legume crops, in such case, should be grown i11 rotation with other crops, and either turned under or grazed off. Turning under a heavy green crop may sour the land; if the crop is heavy, it is best to allow it to become nearly mature before turning it under. The plant tissues are then harder, decay less rapidly,_and are 5e// Jéf/é/Ja/l i 'Dé”5f%””5 Any 1:4 /00fi7.»% mzzz A/i/‘ra/aen 5/17/76 5-7 / E/v/a/ W95 .6 a 4o a0 /20 n50 200 2/0 23v Cor/r Qrx/Z/fi/j/ Figure 1. Number of crops of 40 bushels corn which the plant food in two million pounds would produce. less likely to cause sourness. Grazing 0E the crop is better than turn- ing it under, as in this case some of its feeding value is secured, While the droppings from the animal, together with the liquid excrement, contain the bulk of the plant food taken up by the crop. To make the crop into hay and to save the manure from it, is not so good from a soil-fertility standpoint, as a large part of the fertility is lost in the process. When the legume is made into hay to be sold, the land gains little in fertility. While other crops than legumes add vegetable matter to the soil when plowed under or grazed off, the legumes are the only plants which can store the free nitrogen of the air and place it into the soil. Hence, a legume should be selected for the crop to be turned under or grazed off. The maintenance of the nitrogen supply of the soil is more impor- tant than the maintenance of the vegetable matter. The only prac- _ _»-¢;4.....,..‘.,..l-._.,_...._.._._ __ SorLs or PHELL, JEFFERSON, SIWITII, TAYLOR AND lVicizis COUNTIES. 7 tical way to do this for farm crops is to secure the nitrogen from the air by growing legumes. Nitrogen costs too much for the planter t0 purchase enough of it to maintain the nitrogen content of the soil. The purchase of a small supplementary quantity may be profitable, but the main supply for cotton, corn, kafir, etcJ, must come from the soil, which then loses in fertility, unless nitrogen is restored from the air by means of legumes. Information as to the kind of legumes suited to the different sections of the State should be secured from the Division of Agronomy. Corn grown in six-foot rows with cowpeas between, in some sections pro- duces as many bushels of corn the first year as corn grown in the usual way, and the second year, if the legumes are turned‘ under or grazed off, it often produces eight or twelve bushels more. A cotton crop fol- lowing the corn and cowpeas likewise is considerably larger. Crimson clover, velvet beans, peanuts, alfalfa, and vetches include some of the possible legumes. (2) Phosphoric Acid. Texas soils are often deficient in phosphoric acid. The deficiencies of various soils are described in this bulletin. For a discussion of the use of phosphates and other fertilizers, see Bul- letin No. 167. Deficiency of phosphoric acid may be readily corrected by the use of acid phosphate. i (3) zloidity. Seine soils contain organic or inorganic acids, and are acid in character. Certain crops do not grow well in acid soils, especially clover, alfalfa, barley, rye, etc. There are other crops, such as cowpeas and watermelons, which do well in acid soils. Acidity may be corrected by adding lime; either slaked lime, quicklime, or. ground limestone rock. The latter is usually the cheaper, and preferable in other respects. _The acidity or non-acidity’ of the soils is shown in connection with the analyses. Some of the soils of Smith County are acid. An acidity of 100 parts per million requires about 500 pounds of ground limestone per acre to correct itj Acidity of isoils is dis-" cussed in Bulletin No. 243. Ground limestone costs about $1.00 a ton in carload lots. (4) Potash. The soils of Texas as a rule contain an abundance of potash to produce good crops, though there is a tiariation in this respect. In general, potash is least often needed of any fertilizer and is often needlessly used in the South. The use of manure, the turning- under of green crops, and the use of lime xvhen needed, appear to assist the plants to secure potash from highly insoluble forms. The farmer should endeavor to secure the greatest benefit from his soil potash before undertaking to purchase fertilizer potash. The needs for potash are indicated in connection with the analyses of the various soils described. ' ~ HOYV TO USE THE ANALYSES Analyses are given in connection with the description of the various types of soil. The interpretation of the analyses is also given and will be discussed there also. * If the soil is well supplied with plant food, but does not give good yields, this indicates that its physical condition is poor, either in re- 8 Tnms AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. spect to cultivation, drainage, physical character, 0r in other respects, some as yet unknown. If the soil is Well supplied with total plant food, but low in active plant food, attempts should be made to increase the activity of soil agencies which make the plant food available, by means of additions of manure, oi’ green crops plowed under, or, if the soil needs lime, by additions of lime or ground limestone. If the crop yields are low and the total plant food is low, then fertilizers should be used to supply plant food and increase crop yields. EXPLANATION OF TERMS Total phosphoric acid is the entire quantity of phosphoric acid con- tained in the soil. It represents the entire quantity in the soil upon which plants can grow. It cannot all be taken up by plants at once, as only a small proportion is available for their use. i 5w J4/,"»;,_m,, j 1060504 ar/c A 07'0" Ii] I007?!‘ Mi/“fgéfl fm/(fi i Z 7;, if ZLLLLLM/J 4 W055 4 0 40 Q0 /z0 _ /60 200 240 29o Figure 2. Corn possibility of active plant food, bushels to two million pounds. Active phosphoric acid is the phosphoric acid soluble in N/5 nitric acid. As shown in Bulletins Nos. 126 and 267 there is a relation between the active phosphoric acid of the soil and the amount of phos- phoric acid which crops are able to take from the soil in pot experi- ments. There is a closer relation between the active phosphoric acid of the soil, and the needs of the soil for phosphoric acid as a fertilizer, than between the total phosphoric acid and the needs of the soil, as shown in Bulletins Nos. 126 and 267. Total potash represents the entire amount of potash in the soil. Some of this is locked up in highly insoluble silicates, and may not become available for the use of plants in many years. The total potash does not show what portion of this potash may be taken up. SorLs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 9 Acid-soluble pOtush is the amount which is dissolved by strong hydro- chloric acid, according to the former AOAC method. As pointed out by Hilgard, there is a relation between the acid soluble potash of the soil and the Wearing qualities of the soil (Fraps, Principles of Agri- cultural Chemistry, page 1'71). Active potash is a potash soluble in N/5 nitric acid. It represents potash which can be readily taken up by plants, as shown in Bulletin No. 14.5 of this Experiment Station with pot experiments (Fraps, Principles of Agricultural Chemistry, page 191). Total nitrogen represents the entire quantity of nitrogen present in the soil. As shown in Bulletin No. 151 of this station, there is usually a relation between the total nitrogen of the soil, and the nitrogen which can be taken from the soil by crops in pot experiments. The total nitrogen is, therefore, an index as to the needs of the soil for nitrogen, although with worn soils the nitrogen is not as available as in new soils. Acid soluble time is the lime which is dissolved by strong hydro- chloric acid, as in the former AOAC method. According to Hilgard, the amount of lime found by this method is a valuable indication as to the fertility of the soil (Fraps, Principles of Agricultural Chemistry, page 1'75). - Barsicity. This term is applied to the bases (chiefly lime) which neutralize the N/5 nitric acid in the method for determining active phosphoric acid and active potash, expressed as carbonate of lime. This term is used as a convenient one for the determination referred to, and does not intend to imply that it is the best method for the determination of basicity of the soil. If all the acid is neutralized, the basicity is 10 per cent. or 200,000 pounds of 2,000,000 pounds of the soil. Acidity is the amount of lime required to neutralize the soil as ascertained by the Veitch method. Acidity is discussed in Bulletin No. 243. Corn plossibility represents the amount of plant food which is with- drawn, on an average, in pot experiments from soils containing similar amounts of active phosphoric acid, active potash, or total nitrogen. It is based on 2,000,000 pounds of soil, which is approximately the weight of an acre of soil to a depth of 6% inches. The corn possibility is not supposed to indicate the possible yield from the soil, as this depends upon other conditions in addition to the fertility of the soil. The corn possibility is a convenient way of comparing the deficiency of various plant foods in the soil. For exam- ple, with the Abilene clay of Bell County, the corn possibility for active phosphoric acid is 12, for active potash 120, and for total nitrogen 38. The soil is probably deficient first in phosphoric acid, and then in nitro- gen; and it is much less likely to be deficient in potash. In a lime- stone soil like the Abilene clay, the interpretation of the active phos- phoric acid is more difficult than with a soil not so high in lime. The experiments on which this interpretation is based are published in Bulletins Nos. 126, 145, 151, 1'78, and 267 and the method is de- scribed in Bulletin No. 213. 10 TEXAS raciiiirirrxriinar. EXPERiiiENr STATION. PLANT FOOD REQUIRED BY CROPS Table 1 shows the estimated average quantity of plant food required by the yields given of certain crops. Table 1. Estimated quantity of plant food removed by crops. Phosphoric . acid Nitrogen Potash Corn, 40 bushels, grain and stalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 60 ' 42 Cotton, 20() pounds lint, seed and stalk (Bull. 247) . . . . . . . 14 5O 30 Wheat, 25 bushels, grain and straw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 42 22 Oats, 4O bushels, grain and straw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 35 28 Potatoes, Irish, 100 bushels, tubers and tops . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 27 40 Potatoes, sweet, 200 bushels, tubers and tops . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 37 65 Alfalfa, 4 tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 183* 143 Sorghum hay, 3 tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 84 134 15 153 144 "Sugar cane, 20 tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Onions, 30,000 pounds, bulbs and tops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 57 Rice 12 sacks, grain and straw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 *Part of this comes from the air. AVERAGE COMPOSITION BY TYPES OF THE SOILS OF THE COUNTIES STUDIED The average of the soils of the various types studied is given in Table 2. In order to secure the average, all the types were used, With- out regard to their relative abundance. The figures secured must be accepted with caution; one or two types with a high content of any substance may raise the average of the whole decidedly above the aver- age of the prevailing‘ types. Types of limited areas are given the same W61gl1tS as types of considerable extent, but it did not seem ad- visable, for this discussion, to prepare a Weighted average. Such an average, however secured, made up from soils of widely differing com- position, represents mcrclyf a basis for discussion and comparison. The averages for Bell County are probably lower than the prevailing types in Bell County; this has been indicated by + after the figures. Seine of the other averages are probably too high. These are indicated by - after the figures. This is especially the case with active phosphoric acid in Jefferson County soils. Four of the types are very high in active phosphoric acid, WlIllG the other eight are much lower. The ‘average for the eight is given by the figures in parenthesis (44). Table 2. Composition of soils of counties averagedby types (pounds in two million pounds surface so . Bell Jefferson Smith I Taylor t Webb Total phosphoric acid . . . . . . . . . . . 1621 + 1356—— 1119-—— 1082 1428 Active phosphoric acid . . . . . . . . . . 62 + 166- 84— 175 369 Total potash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16160 9400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32540 Acid-solutile potash . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10587 + 5620 2907— 9168 10960 Active potash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 + 307 180— 652 825 Total nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2486 3043 1273— 2524 1812 Acid-soluble lime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304100 10430 4567 79144 36280 Basicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158571 1945 2964 107124 55160 SorLs on BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND “lune Counrrrns. 11 CROP-PRODUCTION PO\VER OF AVERAGE SOILS Table 3 contains the number of crops of 410 bushels of corn that the plant food in two million pounds (or an acre to the depth of Gig} inches of the average soil) would produce, provided all could be extracted by the plant. The total phosphoric acid could produce 4L3. to 65 crops of 40 bushels, the acid-soluble potash could produce 61 to 261 crops, and the total nitrogen 21 to 51 crops. Table 3. Number of crops of 40 bushels corn which the plant food in two million pounds soil would produce. Total Total County. phosphoric soluble- Total acid potash nitrogen Bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 + ‘Z52 + 41 Jefferson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54— 134 51 Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45— 69— 21—— Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 218 42 Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 261 3O —_ 1 Juuuua Ah/ene C/g/ it pfiogofior/c A c/d JLHLLLUIJ I 4 1 100/‘05/1 6/”/"/”"/ 6/4)’ N/Tfajén f7; 3 ] H0 us/‘on B/ac/i’ C70) 41141144414114 m‘ Haas/an 6/0) LULLHZU J fox; 505a (/0) zzzzzuu fimm on: C70) 0 3000 6'00 9000 A2000 /5000 /3a0 2/400 /D0u/20C¢ Figure 3. Pounds of total phosphoric acid, acid-soluble potash and total nitrogen to two million pounds of soil, Bell county. Table 4t- contains the corn possibility of the averages of the soils. That of the active phosphoric acid varies from 18 to 711 bushels, the active potash from 51 to 207, and the total nitrogen from 23 to 43. These figures show the importance of nitrogen and phosphoric acid in these soils. - 12 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Table 4. Corn possibility of average soils (bushels to two million pounds). Active County phosphoric Active Total acid potash nitrogen Bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 + 51 + 38 JcITcrson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45(18)—- 80 43 Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30— 37— 23- Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 207 38 Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 207 28 Q SOILS OF BELL COUNTY Bell County is in the black prairie and Grand Prairie regions of Texas and its soils are representative of those prevailing in 17,000 square miles in Texas. Its altitude varies from about 4:50 feet in the southwestern part to about 1200 feet in the extreme western part. The greater part of the county is gently rolling, but there are some deeply-cut stream valleys, with stony slopes and steep rugged bluffs. Cotton occupies the largest acreages, corn comes next, and oats third. Wheat and sorghum are also grown, together with some alfalfa, milo, Sudan grass, and alfalfa. Table 5 contains the acreage and the per cent. of the areas occupied. by the soil types of Bell County. The Houston black clay, which is a productive and durable soil, oc- cupies nearly 25 per cent. of the area. This soil is especially well adapted to cotton and corn. It is known as “black waxy” soil, and occupies a large area in Central Texas. The Houston clay, San Saba clay, Simmons clay, and Brackett gravelly clay each occupy about 8 per cent. of the area. The remaining area of the county is occupied by a variety of soil types. SoILs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 13 Table 5 shows the average number of pounds of plant food to the acre in the various soils analyzed in this county. Table 6 contains the interpretation of the analyses of the surface soils and estimated yields reported by the soil survey. An examination of Table 6 sl1oWs that all the soils except Bell clay are good in total phosphoric acid. The soils are Well supplied With acid-soluble potash, all except Wilson clay loam being good in potash. All the soils are high in lime except Miles fine sandy loam and Wilson clay loam. None of the soils are acid. The soils are limestone in character, and many of them are quite high in lime. :{ Afiv/ene C/a/y it? I ‘ 6/”"’f;’”/ 6k)’ i Bias/Jon‘; Add 3 ii] Poms/r ‘. mm M77???” Housfan 5/4627 gay 4“ _ Hourfm U/g/ -} 54/7 faéa [/0] p l 5mm 0/11 (/0) 0 Z0 40 6 0 80 I00 /Z0 CKO/fl parn$fifl Figure 4. Corn possibility of active phosphoric acid, active potash, and total nitrogen, surface SOIlS of Boll county, The soils of Bell County do not seem to be Well supplied With active phosphoric acid, although as stated above, the total phosphoric acid is good. However, it is difficult to judge of the quality of the phosphoric acid in limestone soils of this character. The availability of the phos- phoric acid depends not only upon the amount of active phosphoric acid present in limestone soils of this kind, but also upon the treatment given the soils. Proper rotation, good cultivation, and the turning- under of legumes will enable the plants to secure more of the phos- phoric acid than would poor methods of cultivation. Limestone soils of this character sometimes do not respond to applications of phos- phoric acid in the field, when apparently such applications are needed. This especially applies to the Houston black clay. When run down, this soil seems to need something else more than it does the phosphoric acid, and this something else is probably rotation with legumes. 14 TEXAS QAGRICULTLTIKKAL EXPERIMENT STATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Q §mwmé QQQQQ QQNQ Em PQQQH 0022 m0 52 .......QQQQ>Q QQQQQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Q QQQQQ: QQQQQQ QQQQ m? QQQS @003 Q2 Q3: ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QQQQQZW ‘.5225 . . . . . . . . . .. 0 00mg 00m0~ 00> “m; oowm 00mm i 0mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........:oQn:w QQ. . . QR Q Q 00mm: QQQQ 00»; 00m 00mm QQQQ QQ Q3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52: >20 $25» . .. . Q 000c0m QQSQQ QQQQ QQQ 003.0 . . . . . . .. Q2 0mg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r=anQm .. QQQ S Q 00000m QQSQQ 20 3% 2i . Q 00000m QQQQQ Qmfi 00m 00mg 030m :1 0300M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..0QQQ:w 0.0. . . .. 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Q . . . . . . - QQQQQQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>A.N_O >=0>dhM wawivdhm . . . . . .. 0 . 00000m 000000 002 . . . . . . .. ocmw 000k 0 00m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... downsm 0. . . . . . . 0 00000m 00+m0m 00wm 00 00mm 0000~ 0Q 000w . 1 . . 0 000mm 0000m 00- ...? 00.00 000mm wfifi 0mm w. A... . . . . . 0 A00~1wm 000M: 2.2 0Z0 0000 00w0m n: 0x0 . . 0 00mI§ 000wmm 00~m 00m 000m: . . . . . . . . 5 00ml fi w 3i 0m 0 00000m 0000mm 0m0m 31m oofififl . . . . . . .. 0m ommé mop.» hi oz: P1 u . o s om m o v2 0 Q o 0o Q33‘. hUZUTQ/w Jimmm 20:13 5m .0 4 TAU? 0 0 F .0 < _ H m. mQEMQ oamrfi 0:00 Sm 3.5. -0574 . swfiom 0G4 Qiosamonm 0 uficsoo zom 0o Qzomlcozmfi 9,5 .80 Q0525 5 omw~m>< Q. maze S01Ls OF BELL, JEFFERSON, Slxuurn, TAYLOR AND \\' 121m COUNTIES. 15 NH mm w? o 1 . om Q ow cm M; an F. M: w. + 3 c2 S w: fin >2 mm R mm Hm. m: . . . . . . . . wm 8 Qm ml ow m3 . . . . . . 1+5‘ . . M. . . . mv am o X mm n2 om wm o8 mfi . c3. wwuw 20:35 20:95 mfiwn [obi nmfiom 28.3 @2355 EoU ccfioU 13oF 9/504. |mO£Q o>fiu< wwnsoa 225E macaw? $.61» 9,5. wotmmfiwmoc F50 OOCOOOOOQOCO NCO hfiEu< £28m 3.8 322E Loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..NEQ@ Lfifliv cnvwz; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>_NTv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .»%N@U WCQHEE@Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>.N@U NQ.N% AM.N@ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qhufih; >@Q.NW Erma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>.N@U QCHMSCm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .L%.N@U Xnvflifi floflwfiwo: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.NQ@ >NTV ClTmm . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.NC_. Owhm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .--»>mjmv . . . .520 mzoifim Soxumhm ~ - ~ - _ - - . - . . . . . . . . - - . . . . - . . - . | . - . | - - ¢ - - . - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sm? sum l - » -. . . - - - - ~ . . . . . - . - ¢ - . ~ . - - 0- - » . - - - . - . - - - . . - domfiwcw Mo comfifiohapufifllqficsoo 5am mo $93 mom d Bank. 1o‘ “fnxas AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. The needs of the soil of this area are, first, nitrogen, properly secured by growing legumes and turning them under or grazing them off; second, phosphoric acid: at present there is little need for potash. A proper rotation of legumes is a necessity for permanent agriculture. Alkali Soils. The dying of cotton on soils of Bell County, caused by root rot, is some times ascribed to illkflll. Alkali is not the cause of this condition. We have analyzed a number of samples, taken from places when cotton died badly from root rot, and found no alkali in them. The trouble is caused by a fungus. POT EXPERIMENTS Pot experiments were made on Houston clay, one sample of surface and onc of subsoil being used. The results are given in grams in Table '7. The column headed KPN shows the weights of dry matter with complete fertilizer. The column headed KP shows the weights with potash and phosphoric acid but no nitrogen, and the difference between this and the KPN crop shows the effect of nitrogen. With corn on Houston clay, addition of nitrogen doubled the crop. The dif- ference between KN and KPN shows the effect of phosphoric acid. The addition of phosphoric acid increased the crop decidedly. While fertilizers increase the yield in pot experiments, they do not always increase the yield in the field. Table 7. Pot experiments, Bell county, weights in grams. n KPN KP I KN 12739 Houston Clay, Corn 1919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 20.0 10.1 7.8 Sorghum 1919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32.5 7.1 20.0 12740 Sullsoil to 12739, Corn 1919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 7.0 1.3 18.2 6.6 9.1 Sorghum 1919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DESCRIPTION OF SOIL TYPES IN BELL COUNTY Abilene Clay. The surface is a brown to a rather dark-brown clay, having an average depth of about 10 inches. The subsoil is a brown, chocolate-brown, or light-brown, stiff clay, passing at depths of 16 to- 36 inches into more friable, brownish or salmon-colored clay, with gen- erally a bed of rounded gravel at 3 to 6 feet. The Abilene clay is referred to locally as “chocolate land” or “red land.” It occurs in strips along the Leon, Little, and Lampasas rivers and adjacent to the bottom lands of Salado, Cowhouse, and Noland creeks. The surface in general is very nearly level to gently undulating. The soil dries out and warms up early in the spring, and crops grow more rapidly than on many other soils. Probably 9O per cent. of it is in cultivation. Yields of cotton, corn, and wheat are shown in Table 6. Oats yield 30 to 50 bushels or more. From 3 to 5 tons of sorghum hay per acre are obtained. Sudan grass gives three cuttings of 1 to 2‘ tons each. This soil is easily tilled, and is durable and productive. Bell Clay- This consists of a black to very dark-brown, surface soil‘ underlain at about 12 to 30 inches by a black, dark-bluish gray, or SoILs or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 17 brown, rather plastic clay. The subsoil is usually calcareous. The sub- stratum is a grayish, calcareous clay, frequently containing thin beds of limestone and chert gravel. The Bell clay is Widely distributed as second bottom in long narrow terraces along many of the smaller streams in the eastern part of the county flowing through large areas of Houston black clay. It has a nearly level t0 very gently undulating surface, and lies about 5 to 15 feet above the first bottom. Practically all of it is in cultivation. In average seasons cotton yields one-half to three-fourths bale per acre, corn 25 to 50 bushels, oats 30 to 60 bushels, and wheat 12 to 30 bushels. Sorghum gives good yields of forage. The sample examined is low in active phosphoric acid. Brackett Clay. This consists of a grayish to pale-yellow or brownish clay underlain at 6 to 10 inches by a layer ranging from pale-yellow clay to whitish, calcareous chalky material. Often the whitish, chalky material is mottled with pale-yellow. Frequently small, soft limestone fragments and shells occur on the surface and throughout the soil. This is widely distributed throughout the western part of the county in small areas. It occurs usually on narrow slopes. In general, the surface is undulating to gently rolling, but in places the slopes are sufficiently steep to cause erosion and gullying. Only a small propor- tion of the type is cultivated. It supports a growth of mesquite and other grasses, as well as scattered small mesquite, cedar, and live oak trees, and is largely used as pasture. The sample analyzed is low in active phosphoric acid and active potash, though well supplied with total phosphoric acid,‘ acid-soluble potash, and nitrogen. Brackett Gravelly Clay. This consists of light-brownish to gray chalky clay, grading at a few inches into pale-yellow and white. The chalky material increases with depth. Fossil shells and fragments of, limestone, both highly calcareous, are distributed over the surface and through the soil, being very abundant in some places. The Brackett gravelly clay is widely distributed in small areas over the western part of the county, occupying ridges and the borders of the higher slopes. There is a rather thin cover of grass. Prickly pear, cactus, and Spanish dagger are characteristic plants. The land is used principally for grazing sheep and cattle. Brackett Stony Clay. The surface soil is a gray, heavy clay, several inches deep, resting on highly calcareous, gray or white clay, or chalky material. Frequently, limestone lies near the surface. Hardened chalk fragments or hard, flat limestone fragments are scattered over the sur- face and through the soil. On many slopes the type simply represents exposures of chalk and soft limestone, with a scattering of stones over the surface. This is rather widely distributed over the western part of the county. The largest areas occur in the southwestern part, around Youngsport and Maxdale. Practically none of this type is cultivated but it is used principally for pasture. Crawford Clay. This consists from 6 to 1O inches of dull-red, red- dish-brown, or dark-brown clay, underlain by reddish-brown, rather stiff clay which frequently rests on limestone or soft, chalky material 18 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. at about 15 to 36 inches. In occasional small areas, the surface soil is nearly black, and the subsoil red or reddish. The surface soil and subsoil in many places contain small, irregular chert and limestone fragments, giving rise to the local name of “flint land.” More often, however, the type is called “red land.” Some small and medium-sized areas occur in the central part of Bell County in a belt several miles wide, extending from the northern border southwest. Good-sized areas occur near Belton, Salado, and Moifat. The surface ranges from gently undulating to nearly level. As a rule, the type occupies the nearly level tableland areas of the high plateaus or “mountains,” and high undulating to rolling prairie areas, just west of the Black Prairie. Probably 60 per cent. of it is in cultivation, the remainder support- ing a growth of small post oak, live oak, Spanish oak, elm, cedar, and other trees. Average yields of cotton are one-third to one-half bale per acre, corn 25 to 40 bushels, oats 35 to 60 bushels, and wheat 15 to 25 bushels. ‘ Sorghum and Sudan grass grew well, yielding several tons of hay per acre. The Crawford clay responds readily to cultivation. It is sticky when wet, but is inclined to crumble on drying. Crops make an early start in the spring, and if rainfall is not too light grow rapidly and yield well. It is good in plant food, high in lime, and needs legume-rotation first. Cm/wfwcl Stmzy Clay. This is a brown, red, or reddish-brown, heavy clay, 6 or 8 inches deep. The subsoil is a red or reddish-brown, stiff clay. Hard limestone or a chalky formation is frequently reached at only a few inches below the surface. Scattered very abundantly through surface soil and subsoil are irregular fragments of chert or limestone. Locally the type is called “flint land.” It occupies considerable areas throughout the central-western part of the county, principally south- west of Salado and north and northwest of Belton. Probably less than 5 per cent. of this soil is in cultivation, owing to its stoniness and in- ’ accessibility. The principal crops are cotton and corn, with some sor- ghum. Areas from which the larger stones have been removed yield fairly well, the yields of cotton, corn, and sorghum approximating those obtained on the Crawford clay. Oats and wheat do well, but are grown to a small extent. The type is largely devoted to pasture. This soil is apparently suited to cotton, corn, oats, wheat, and sorghum, the principal general farm crops, but under present conditions it could probably be used best for pasture. Darnoc Clay. This consists of a brownish or greenish-brown clay underlain at 8 to 1O inches by greenish-brown or greenish-yellow, plastic clay. Large and smallliinestone fragments are generally scattered over the surface. Greenish and slate-colored shale accurs in the sub-stratum. This type occurs in a few small, widely separated areas, extending in a general way, across the central part of the county from northwest to southwest. , A The type occupies rather steep slopes, and is more or less eroded and gullied. Probably less than 1 per cent. of it is cultivated. It has _. A. . , SorLs or BELL, Jnrrnnsorv, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 19 little agricultural value and should be used as pasture and woodland but it is well supplied with plant food. Frlo Clay. The Frio clay consists of a brown to a dark-brown fri- able elay nearly black along some of the smaller streams, underlain at 10 to 12 inches by brown or dark-brown clay which is moderately friable when dry and plastic when wet. a The Frio clay occurs along practically all the streams in the Western and southern parts of the county. The surface is nearly level, but drainage is usually good. The type lies about 15 to 3O feet above the river channels and is overflowed occasionally. This is an important soil in Bell County. Nearly all of it is in cultivation. The most important crops are cotton and corn. Crop yields in average seasons are approximately as follows: Cotton one-half to 1 bale per acre, corn 35 to 6O bushels, and wheat 15 to 20 bushels. Sorghum yields several tons of forage per acre and Sudan grass gives excellent returns. Alfalfahas been grown very successfully in a few fields, and the soil is evidently well adapted to this crop. _ Yields range from 1 to 2 tons of hay per cutting, and three or four cut- tings may be made in a year. Some large fields are devoted to J ohn- son grass, which gives good yields of hay. The soil is very friable and works into a good seed bed. The subsoil conserves moisture well. Oats and wheat sometimes grow too rank on this soil and lodge badly. It is well supplied with plant food and would probably need legume-rotation first. Frio Loam. This consists of a brown to a dark-brown, friable loam passing at about 10 to 12' inches into brown or yellowish-brown loam or friable clay. Near stream banks some small areas of sandy loam are included. This type occurs principally in narrow bottom-land areas along the Lampasas River in the western part of the county. Prac- tically all of this type is cultivated. The most important crops are cotton, corn, oats, wheat, and sorghum for forage. In average seasons, cotton yields one-half to three-fourths bale per acre, corn 30 to 5O bushels, oats 2O to 50 bushels, and wheat 15 to 20 bushels. Vegetables give good yields. The Frio loam is very easily cultivated. It needs legume-rotation first. - Frio Silly Clay Loam. This consists of a brown to a dark-grayish friable silty clay loam, underlain at 5 to 8 inches by dark-brown to nearly black silty clay loam which passes into lighter brownish, stiffer clay. This type occurs principally in a number of small areas along Leon River and Cowhouse Creek, in the northern part of the county. The type occurs in bottom-land situations in close association with the Frio clay. The same crops are grown under the same farming methods, and yields differ very little. The soil is well suited to vegetables. It needs legume-rotation first. _ Houston Black Clay. The surface is a black or very dark-bluish gray, heavy clay, averaging about 12 inches in depth. The subsoil is a heavy, dark-bluish gray, brownish-gray, or yellowish-brown, waxy clay. Both are highly calcareous and contain small lime concretions, small shells, and shell fragments. 20 "Pisxz-xs AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. The surface soil when wet is very black and tenacious and termed “black waxy land,” but upon drying the soil assumes a characteristic dark ashy color and crumbles to a favorable tilth, especially if cultivated when the moisture conditions are right. This is a very extensive soil type, occupying about 25 per cent. of the area and the greater proportion of the eastern half of the county. The surface is undulating to gently rolling. The surface drainage and underdrainage are good in most places. Practically all of it is in cultivation. Cotton yields one-half to three-fourths bale, and occasionally over 1 bale per acre. Corn yields 35 to #10 bushels, and Wheat 15 to 2O bushels per acre. Sorghum yields 3 to 5 tons of hay per acre, and Sudan grass 3 to 4- tons. The gravelly areas apparently are about as productive as the typical soil. Most of the land has been in cultivation for a long time, some of it for forty years, Without the use of fertilizer, but the soil continues to be very productive, especially where the crops have been changed from time to time. It needs legume-rotation first. Houston Clay. This consists of a brownish-gray to dark-grayish, calcareous clay, 10 to 12 inches deep, underlain by a light brown to brownish-yellow clay which becomes lighter colored and more friable with depth. The lower subsoil is usually a yellowish and whitish, highly calcareous, chalky clay. When dry the soil has an ashy color. When wet, this soil is very sticky, but on drying it crumbles to a favorable tilth and is easy to plow. It occurs i11 a number of small bodies and in a few areas of several square miles’ extent. The largest of these are in the northeastern part of the county, in the vicinity of Temple and Pendleton. Its situation ranges from gently rolling to steeply sloping. It oc- cupies much of the high ridge extending northward a mile or two west of Temple. Practically all of the type is in cultivation. Cotton yields one-half bale per acre, corn 2O to 4L0 bushels, oats 30 to 60 bushels, and wheat 15 to 20 bushels. Sorghum gives good yields of hay. A shallow phase of the Houston clay represents eroded areas of the typical Houston clay. Generally, small fragments of whitish limestone are scattered over the surface. This phase occurs in a number of small areas which aggregate several square miles in extent. Probably 85 per cent. of it is i11 cultivation. The soil appears rather thin, but it is said to produce good yields. For good returns, it requiresample and timely rainfall. Yields in average seasons are reported as, corn 25 bushels, oats 30 to 60 bushels, and wheat 15 to 2-0 bushels, cotton one- fourth to three-fourths bale per acre. Sorghum and Sudan grass do well. The productiveness of the Houston clay, shallow phase, varies with the depth of the surface soil. The Houston clay needs first a proper legume-rotation for perma- nent soil-fertility. M iles Fine blandy Loam. The surface is a brown to slightly reddish- brown fine sandy loam or loamy fine sand 8 to 20 inches deep. In some places the immediate surface material is grayish when very dry. The subsoil is a red, stiff, slightly sandy clay. On some eroded slopes the f _ El‘ _.,___.. SorLs or BELL, J EEJEEEsoN, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB CoUNrrEs. 21 clay subsoil is exposed or lies very near the surface. In a few places the soil contains small gravel. This type is not extensive, but is widely distributed throughout the eastern part of the county along the Leon and Little River Valleys. The type occupies terraces lying 20 to 100 feet above the stream bot- toms. Probably 85 per cent. of the type is cultivated. Cotton and corn are grown to some extent and give fair yields, but the type is used largely for market gardening. Many vegetables, including water- melons, give good yields. Peaches, plums, and pears as well as various berries and grapes, are grown successfully and marketed with the vegetables. This soil is easily cultivated and responds readily to good farming methods. It needs legume-rotation first. Miles Gravelly Sandy Loam. This consists of a light brown to brown gravelly sandy loam, underlain at about 8 to 1O inches by reddish or brownish gravelly sandy loam, which passes at about 10 to 15 inches into red, stiff gravelly clay. This is often quite waxy in the lower part and mottled with yellow, and contains small rounded gravel, most abundant in the surface soil. Only a small proportion of the type is cultivated. San Saba, Clay. The surface soil is a black or very dark-brown clay, 8 to 15 inches deep. The subsoil is a black to dark-brown or dark- gray, heavy, tough, clay containing some fine chert particles and small calcareous concretions. In some places, a layer of hardened shell sev- eral inches thick occurs in the subsoil. The San Saba clay is rather extensive in the western part of the county. The largest areas mapped are around Killeen. The type oc— curs in a number of short valleys reaching back into precipitous areas of rough stony land, locally called “coves.” The type is also developed on the high plateaus in‘ close association with the Crawford stony clay. It is generally rolling to undulating in topography, and generally has good drainage. Probably 90 per cent. of it is cultivated. Where-the shell agglomerate lies near the surface, the land is rather wet and soggy just after rains, and in dry Weather is droughty, and crops suffer con- siderably. Vegetables, peaches, and plums do well, but are grown only in a small-way for home use. The fruit crop is uncertain, owing to late spring frosts. Cotton yields an average of one-half bale or slightly less per acre. Corn is estimated to yield 25 to 35 bushels per acre, and oats 25 to 4O bushels. Wheat ordinarily yields 12 to 15 bushels. This soil is quite sticky when wet, but in cultivated fields it assumes a very loamy structure upon drying out. A legume-rotation is needed first. Simmons Clay. This consists of a black or very dark-bluish gray clay, which, in the subsoil, may become a- somewhat lighter-colored, dark drab or grayish-brown. The soil pulverizes on drying, but is very sticky when wet. It occurs as a number of large areas near Little River, in the central part of the county. The type ranges from nearly level to gently undulating. It lies 10 22 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT Saizvrrorr. to 30 feet higher than the bottom lands. Practically all of it is in cultivation. Ordinary yields are reported as follows: cotton, one-half to one bale per acre, averaging probably a little more than one-half p bale; corn, 25 to 4:0 bushels; oats, 3O to 50 bushels; and Wheat, 15 to 25 bushels. Sorghum yields 3 to 4 tons of hay per acre. The yield of Sudan grass is large. This soil does not dry out so quickly as some of the adjacent types, especially the Abilene clay, and is somewhat later in getting into c011- dition for cultivation and planting i11 the spring. It is rather difficult to plow, and unless Worked when in the best condition as regards moisture, clods on drying. It needs legfume-rotation first. A high phase of the Simmons clay is a black or very dark bluish-gray clay, 10 to 12 inches deep, locally referred to as “black mesquite land.” Practically all the phase is in cultivation. Cotton in average seasons yields about one-half to three-fourths bale per acre, corn 25 to 40 bushels, wheat 15 to 30 bushels, oats 40 to 60 bushels, and a yield of 90 bushels has been obtained. Sorghum yields 2 to 3 tons of hay, and Sudan grass, which is grown very extensively, gives two cuttings ~of 1 to 2 tons each. The surface soil of this phase is rather sticky when wet, but upon drying crumbles to a desirable tilth. Trinity Clay. This surface is a very black, bluish-gray or brownish, friable clay, about 12 inches deep. On drying, the surface has an ashy cast and becomes crumbly. The subsoil is very similar to the surface soil, but somewhat lighter in color. Along the smaller streams, the soil is darker in color than along the larger streams. The Trinity clay is confined to the black prairie region in the east- ern part of the county. It occupies narrow land areas along the creeks. The surface is very nearly level. The type is subject to overflow in part. The subsoil is very retentive of moisture. This is an important soil type, though not extensive. Probably 9O per cent. of it is in cultivation. Corn and cot-ton are the principal crops. This soil is not used much for small grains, owing to the tendency of these crops to grow too rank, and to lodge, and because of the danger of destruction or damage by flood. Cotton yields about one-half to 1 bale per acre and corn 30 to 50 bushels. The soil is easily tilled if plowed and cultivated when the moisture conditions are favorable. The soil is well supplied with plant food. Wilson Clay Loam. The surface is a brown or light brown to brown~ ish-gray clay loam, about 6 to 10 inches deep. The subsoil consists of a light brown to dark bluish-gray, tough clay, underlain at about 20 to 30 inches by a dark grayish-brown to bluish-gray tough clay, con- stituting a clayipan. The local name is “pancake” land, owing to its peculiar property of baking after rains. If plowed or cultivated when wet, the soil upon drying forms very hard clods which are broken down with difficulty, and if not worked before thoroughly dry, it becomes too hard to cultivate. It occurs in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. A fairly large body is mapped around Althea, and smaller bodies occur near Vilas and two miles west of this place. The surface ranges from nearly flat to very gently undulating. The type yields, under good methods SorLs or BELL, JEFFERSON, Siurrir, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 23 of cultivation, an average of one-half to three-fourths bale of cotton per acre, 2O to 40 bushels of corn, 25 to 50 bushels of wheat. A legume- rotation is needed first. SOILS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY Jefferson county is in the Coast Prairie region, which borders on the Gulf of Mexico. The elevation is not high, and there is marshy land in part of the county. To the eye, the surface is largely flat, but really the land slopes gradually. Sand mounds one to three feet high and 20 to 60 feet in diameter are found in various places. Rice is the most valuable crop grown in the county. A small amount of corn Acaafo Vé/y /:%e i/mjv 104m I lpfiojpfiar/r flab’ I! @2256 EZZZZ A/if/ajen , 52f (row /ey f/a/ L 0/44? (bar/es C/a/v i Lake Cfiar/er lc/foe 5000/ Lake Chm/e; VeQ/ Ff/re fang/v Z 00m 0 40 50 x20 /50 Z00 (an? 5395/”? Figure 5. Corn possibilty of active phosphoric acid, active potash and total nitrogen " SOIlS 0 Jefferson county. , and cotton is grown, together with sorghum, and small amounts of oats and some vegetables. Sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes are grown to a considerable extent. Rice is usually grown from year to year on the same land, until the productiveness becomes too low, when the land is turned out to grow up in weeds. A rotation of crops, including a legume, is needed. Com- ‘ mercial fertilizer is used to some extent. Lake Charles clay occupies very nearly 30 per cent. of the area. 24 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Next in order comes Lomalta clay, which occupies 24.3 per cent. of the area. Lake Charles silty clay loam occupies 14.4 per cent.; Lake Charles very fine sandy loam, 9.4 per cent; and Crowley clay, 5.3 per cent. The remainder of the area is occupied by a variety of types of soil as shown in Table 8. 25 SOILS 0F BELL, J EFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND XVEBB OOUNTIES_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . - . . - - . . . . . . . . . .>.N@U QBTNEOQ was wnmm 3E woinnU oxmq mfionfioxo omw~o>< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M@.@QM@H~W UmNkQ>< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mom @423 Q32 mEm 8m omom .52 9: ma»; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28w 003.25 wm§o>< . . . . . . . . . ................oowom owmm ownm 51h oowo oowo mm ow: x . o 3m w o 83¢ ooomm oomm m2 oofi. ooww “m. comm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEQ amism . . . . . . . . . ................oovmm ooww ooom Nnm ooww ooomfi m2 oww o? o»; pm . . . . . . . . oogm ooww owwm . . . . . . . . oomn ooofi on ow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56$? 53b ciao/H . . . . . . . . . ..m............oomwm oomm oil ........oowm~ Iiiiowv ova fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QWNTv OH~NECA . . . . . . . . . Ihiioow oown oowm oow m: oomm oown o omw . . . 2w mm mom oowm oowm 9x: mfim oomm 8m» 3 o? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5E2 35mm 02o 23> 378:0 wand . . . . . _. . . . . oow ooowm oomfi oomm mam oowm oomw ow ooo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zzownsw #3 . in mm o oofim. 255 owom 2N ooom ooww om ooo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89: >20 5% 8:26 £5 J . . . . . . oomww oow: oww mnm ooom . . . . . . .. Kw owfi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Imownsw m o . N? H o 2i; oowo oowm 9% Q03 . . . . . . . . 8m owmm . . . . . . . . . ‘ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . imam 2E wozfiu avid . . . . . . . . ........wm ooomm oooofl oooH mmw oowo oommfi 3 ow: mam mmw. m: owm ooomm oom: owom mam 00$. o8: 9 oow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S20 8:26 mid o . o E? m. oom 252 oomw 8S mwm 8E Qofi: 2 2a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,35 ma . mmm Hm ooo 8E 8Q owmm NAN Co? 2a.: E omw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 >28EU . . . . . . . . II}lCIIleewH oomo ooww owm omm ooom ooooH o ooo m. w $5 3 0E oomm oohm omw 3w oom 8N» om 8w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252 hocnw use >.6> fiowo< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ioowm. oofimm oowmfi owo omm oowv coon 3 ooh mo. mmm. om oowm oommfi oowm. owom . . . . . . oomv ooon om oo: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52v fiowo/w 2c: @353‘. @323 130B o>$u< 139w no.8 Mo .354 >fiw€< wfifimmm oiizow com v64 26v 5m 304 AKSZ smfiom 39¢ odhosawonm .3550 somhowvw Mo wmow dnommE 9.5 5Q $5.3 E om§o>< .w 03am. 26 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Table 8 shows the average plant food in pounds per 2,000,000 of soil, which is approximately equal to the weight of one acre of soil to the depth of 6% inches. The average by types for the county has already been given in Table 2. The interpretation of the analyses of the soil is given in Table 9. SOILS OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 27 ...... s a 2 a5 0:0 0.06 ...........................w....m.1....dA..H££n»..@_m..0~m.._~m . . . . . . M; 3.. 08w 08.0 E50 .052 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. @OCU toco @OQU ................... .N@UOH@NEQA omlom . . . . . . .. mm Am w 0000 hum 30A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4002 3.0mm 02c 50> woimnU 31A S12... E13 mm S Q i5 Em E90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 >20 fififizfiu 0x5 000.0 . . . . . . .. wm mwA AR. A0006 0000 000.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vac @2520 310A 34a ~73 w», 5 X Em @200 080 ..........1Hfimxnmmmnnumhmuuuww . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...mm_.0.wca»0@v_~0 . . - . » . ...--...-.. -. .-....-.-.-.- . . . . . . Mm OM hmwrvw >rOwm hwhm EdO~%Uidm0i@~mh®\/N:udnv< . . . . . . .. ...... QMNHM hwflfvfl hwflfnw 5w . 30w 20x25 20:55 05E c0300 2:50 JCoU .025 130B o>$0< $23 E00 _ 0>S0< 25A smmAonA 28:0 -85 2500a 000320 E2? 025E 03A zflmfiwwon E00 .3550 sofiouow £33.23 A0 =00afi:0::=_ d 050k. \| 11W. 28 TEXAS Aenrcvnr/runar. EXPERIMENT STATION. The Lake Charles very fine sandy loam is low in total phosphoric acid, the Acadia clay and the Acadia very fine sandy loam are fair, and the remainder of the types are good. Five of the types are good in acid-soluble potash, four are fair, and one low. Five of the types are good in lime, three are high, and two are fair. The corn possibility for the active phosphoric acid varies from 12 to '74 bushels to the acre. The latter figure, which is for the Lake Charles fine sand, is probably higher than this type really averages. Several of these types are low in active phosphoric acid, and the needs for phosphatic fertilizer- is indicated. Phosphoric acid can easily be secured in the form _of bone meal, acid phosphate, or other materials. Fertilizers containing phosphoric acid are being used in this section. The active potash is not as high as one would desire. Potash is less likely to be needed than phosphoric acid or nitrogen, but the amount of active potash shown could be exhausted so that the soil would be- come deficient in a comparatively short time. As rice is the most im- portant crop grown in this locality, and as most of the potash taken up by rice is contained i11 the straw, the need of saving the potash contained in the straw is imperative. Rice straw ashes are quite high in potash, and if the straw stacks are burned, the ashes should be scat- tered up“on the land to be cultivated and not left to wash away or to fertilize waste land. Proper use of the ashes of rice straw will de- crease materially the loss of potash from the soils, and thereby decrease the needs of purchasing potash in the form of a fertilizer. For total nitrogen the soils have a corn possibility of 18 to 48 bush- els to the acre. This indicates that a shortage of nitrogen will occur after the land has been in cultivation for a few years. This shortage will occur more quickly, in the case of rice, on account of the condi- tions under which the rice is grown. The saturated condition of the soil does not permit the inactive soil nitrogen to become active, and available to plants, as readily as when the soil is in a cultivated con- dition. While it is practical to purchase small amounts of nitrogen to assist that contained in the soil, the price of nitrogen is so high, and such large amounts are needed to maintain soil fertility, that profitable farming; does not permit the purchase of enough nitrogen to keep soils in a fertile condition. It will therefore either be necessary to adopt some method by which the nitrogen content of the soils is maintained, or else to permit them to decrease in fertility until the production of rice upon them is no longer profitable. The nitrogen content may be restored to some extent by growing legumes, which have the power of taking" nitrogen from the air, and either turning them under or grazing them off. By this method of procedure, nitrogen will be secured from the air, and added to the soil, and if the legumes are grown often enough, it is possible to maintain the soil so far as nitrogen is con- cerned. Such a rotation would also aid in eliminating red rice and weeds. AGIDITY A number of the soils of Jefferson County is acid, and the use of lime to correct the acidity of the soil is desirable in some cases. Table 10 contains a number of individual soil samples with the acidity of SorLs oE BELL, JEEEERsoN, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 29 each, and the amount of limestone that should be added. Limestone may be secured in the form of screenings from limestone quarries at about $1.00 a ton when secured in carload lots. Table 10. Acidity of soils of Jefferson county. Average Number Number acidity of of acid acid soils samples per million Acadia clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 14-00 Acadia very fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 333 Crowley clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 600 Lake Charles clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4 350 Lake Charles fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O O Lake Charles silty clay loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 200 Lake Charles very fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 360 Sanders clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 O T The lime should be used in connection with a legume-rotation, as mentioned above. If the lime is applied without a proper legume- rotation, its application may result in a larger crop for a few years, but then the soil will be much poorer than it was at first. The lime and legume-rotation should go together and lime should not be ap- plied in the absence of such a rotation. The use of lime on Texas soils is discussed in Bulletin No. 243. NEEDS OF THE SOILS OFTHE AREA We would place as the first need for soil-fertility in Jefferson County, a proper legume-rotation, including a legume to be turned under or grazed off, for the purpose of securing nitrogen from the air and add- ing vegetable matter to the soil, eliminating rice weeds, and exerting other influences favorable to crop production. In order to prevent “straighthead” of rice following legumes or cultivated crops, it is rec- ommended in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1212 oi’ the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture to apply ivater when the rice is about 8 inches tall, and allow this water to dry otli” gradually. If there is any standing water five or six Weeks after irrigation, it should be drained olif and the land allowed to remain dry for two or three weeks. It the soil becomes dry enough to crack and the plants turn yOllOXX’ and start to Wither, the results will be better, says Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1212. r The second need is the conservation and use of potash in the ashes of the rice straw so that they will be returned to the soil and thereby reduce the need of buying potash. i The third need of the soils is the application of moderate amounts of phosphoric acid, in the form of acid phosphate. If the rice straw ashes are saved, there is little need for buying potash. As the fourth need, we recommend the application of lime upon land which is known to be acid but only in connection with a proper legume rotation. ‘ In the case of sweet potatoes, or other vegetables, the use of fer- tilizer containing some nitrogen and potash would probably be profit- able. With these crops, fertilizers often pay even on good soils;- 30 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Table 11. Pot experiments Jefferson county, weight in grams. KPN PK PN KN 46/14 Acadia very fine sandy loam. Corn 1911 . . . . . . . 47.7 19 2 49.1 37 6 Corn 1915 . . . . . .. 42.0 . . . . . . .. 39.3 . . . . . . .. Sorghum 1915.... 28.1 . . . . . . .. 29.2 . . . . . . .. Corn 1916 . . . . . .. 21.7 . . . . . . .. 16.2 . . . . . . .. Sorghum 1916.... 20.1 . . . . . . .. 12.2 . . . . . . .. 7613 Lake Charles (‘lay . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1915 . . . . . . . 132.1 13.1 . . . . . . .. 24.3 Sorghum 1915.... 33.5 17.2 . . . . . . .. 25.5 Corn 1916 . . . . . .. 33.2 14.4 . . . . . . .. 14.4 Sorghum 1916.... 34.2 7.0 . . . . . . .. 17.7 7614- Suhsoil to 7613 . . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1915 . . . . . .. 17.6 14.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Sorghum 1915.... 28.0 9.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1916 . . . . . .. 23.6 8.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sorghum 1916.... 20.8 5.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2410 Lake Charles clay, subsoil. . . Corn 1910 . . . . . .. 36.0 31.5 38.5 8.0 4186 Lake (Iharles clay . . . . . . . . . . Corn 1913 . . . . . . . 15.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 Sorghum 1913.... 12.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13.2 Corn 1914 . . . . . .. 36.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19.0 Sorghum 1914.... 37.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 27.7 4187 Suhsoil to 4186 . . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn $913 . . . . . .. 20.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9.6 Sorghum 19131.... 4.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4.9 Corn 1914 . . . . . .. 18.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3.1 Sorghum 1914.... 20.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12.0 Pot Experiments. The results of some pot experiments on soils of ~ Jefferson County are presented in Table 11. The column headed PNK shows the weight in grams of the crop which received phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen. The column headed PK shows the weight of the crop which received phosphoric acid and potash. The column headed PN shows the xveight of the crop which received phosphoric acid and nitrogen, and the one headed KN shows where the pot received potash and nitrogen. The diiierence between the PK pot and the KPN pot shows the effect of nitrogen. The test on the Acadia very fine sandy loam and the Lake Charles clay shows that these soils need nitrogen decidedly. The dilference between the column headed PN and the column headed KPN shows the effect of potash. Potash does not seem to be needed excepting with the last two crops on Acadia very fine sandy loam. The difference between the column headed KN and KPN represents the effect of phosphoric acid. The Lake Charles needs phos- phoric acid, although one sample, number 7613, needs nitrogen more than it does phosphoric acid. There was no test for need of nitrogen on soil 4186. ALKALI Sea‘water is sometimes driven on the soils located near the coast, during storms, thereby introducing salt, and giving rise to alkali in- jurious to crops. We have occasionally examined soils for the pres- ience of salt. One sample of surface soil secured three miles south- West of Port Arthur contained 1409 parts per million of chloride of soda, while the subsoil contained 1074 parts per million. In case of doubt as to the presence of salt in the soil, it is best to have a chemical examination made of it. DESCRIPTION OF SOIL TYPES, JEFFERSON COUNTY Acadia Clay. Much of the Acadia clay has a “hog-wallow” surface. On the°hummocks which lie about 6 to 10 inches above the depressions, the soil consists of a mottled yellow and gray plastic clay, marked by SorLs or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, Tinmou AND WEBB COUNTIES. 31 occasional mottlings of red and containing in many places a few iron or lime concretions in the lower depths. Over this clay there may be a layer of 2 or 3 inches of dark-gray silty clay loam. In the depres- sions between the mounds the soil is darker, consisting of a mottled dark bluish-gray and yellowish-brown, heavy, sticky, clay, the mot- _ tlings becoming lighter with depth. Some areas do not have a “hog- wallow” topography. This is a rather poorly drained type, water standing on the surface for considerable periods after rains. In general, the surface is nearly ‘fiat. It is an exceedingly difficult type to cultivate, with a pronounced tendency to puddle and bake. For this reason little of it is farmed. It is used for grazing and for its forest growth. The poorly drained phase has a “hog-wallow” topography a11d the uneven surface of this soil interferes with drainage. Much of this phase is situated so that it is flooded by back water from the bayous and under natural conditions the recurrent overflows make the type of value only for grazing and for forestry. Acadia Very Fine Sandy Loam. The surface consists of 2 to 4 inches of a yellowish-gray to grayish-brown very fine sandy loam, which grades into a subsurface layer of grayish or mottled grayish-yellow ma- terial of about the same texture. The subsoil begins abruptly, usually at a depth of about 12 to 16 inches, and consists of mottled yellowish, red, and bluish-gray clay, which becomes heavier with increase in depth, passing at about 24 inches into mottled gray, yellow, and brick-red, plastic heavy clay.. The above description applies to the‘ soil between the numerous sandy mounds. In the mounds, the soil is a brownish-yellow to yellowish~ brown loamy very fine sand to very fine sandy loam. The principal areas of this type are developed in the upland adjacent to the main- stream courses. The mounds a-re more or less circular in shape, 20 to 4O feet in diameter, and 1 to 3 feet above the general level of the intervening depressions. The soil, on the whole, has fairly good surfacedrainage. The type occupies the highest topography positions. Ditches can usually be de- pended upon to drain the cultivated areas properly. It has not yet been extensively cultivated. At present, it is used mostly for the pro- duction of corn and truck crops. The indications are that this soil will. prove to be better adapted to the production of truck than to general farming. The physical nature of the soil and its situation combine to make it an early soil. A poorly drained phase is most extensively developed at the heads of some of the drainage courses, where drainage is markedly deficient. Inundations are frequent enough to make this phase practically useless under natural conditions for any purpose except grazing. Crowley Clay. The surface is a bluish-gray to brownish-gray or brown to dark-brown silty clay, in many places slightly mottled, 4 to 8 inches deep. The subsoil consists of a bluish-gray to dark bluish-gray, sticky heavy clay, mottled with yellow or brown or shades of these colors. Most uncultivated types of this area are marked by slight hummocks not more than 8 inches high with shallow intervening depressions but a few feet across. On the hummocks the subsoil comes to within 2 or 32 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT SHIATION. 3 inches of the surface and consists of a mottled light bluish-gray and yellowish-brown clay. Where plowed this subsoil is turned up and causes light-colored spaces in the fields. Cultivation is difficult in such areas for a few years until the sub- soil has thoroughly Weathered and has had organic matter incorporated with it. Where the surface soil is deep, it Works up into a loamy, friable bed, evpn ‘Ehtqugh plowtlzd in a wet COllldltlfllll. Thils type OCCUPICS o..- per cen . of 1e area. occurs in moc era e y sizec areas in (lilfercnt parts of the county, The topography is nearly level. Drainage may be perfected by ditching. Much of the land is utilized for growing rice, to which it is well adapted. Yields of rough rice range from 35 to 65 bushels per acre, with probably an average of about 45 laushels. Few crops besides rice are grown. This soil needs legume-rotation, with phosphoric acid and, sometimes, lime. La/re Charles Clay. The surface is a dark gray or bluish-gray to black clay, frequently faintly mottled with yellowish-brown or rusty brown, 12 to 16 inches deep. The subsoil is similar to the surface soil, slightly lighter in color, which is generally a bluish-gray, more or less mottled With yellow and brown. Some iron or lime concretions occur in the subsoil, and gypsum crystals are occasionally present. The sub- soil is close to the surface in spots in certain areas. The clay soil of this type is very plastic and sticky When Wet, but usually crumbles and breaks down on drying, even when the land is plowed Wet. This is the most extensive and one of the most important soils in the county. Typical areas are found just west of Beaumont and in the vicinity of Port Arthur, Amelia, China, Nome, Fannett, Cheek, and Nederland. Since the surface is apparently flat and level, natural drainage is poor. It is considered the most valuable type in the county for rice- growing, for which it is utilized almost exclusively. Yields range from 36 to 72 bushels of rough rice per acre. Where the crop is grown con- tinuously’ several years, yields often fall to 25 to 30 bushels per acre or less. Some corn is grown, the yields ranging from 20 to 50 bushels per acre, but the soil is not adapted to this crop unless well drained and places in good condition. Cabbages, onions, turnips, and rutabagas make fair yields Where drainage is adequate, but as a rule thissoil is not well suited for vegetables. Forage crops, such as sorghum and Egyptian wheat, yield well. Pears, figs, plums, and blackberries are grown in a small way With fair success. This soil is naturally quite productive, and with adequate drainage it could be utilized for many crops. A phase of the Lake Charles clay consists of a heavy black clay, 10 to 14 inches in depth, underlain by a slate-colored or light bluish-gray clay, which becomes lighter in color with depth, and faintly mottled in the lower part of the pro- file with yellow and brown. p It is low in active phosphoric acid, good in nitrogen, likely to need potash, and sometimes acid. A legume-rotation, with the use of acid phosphates, is the first need. Lake Charles Fine Sand. This is a brown or dark brown fine sand, 8 to 15 inches deep, underlain by a lighter brown to yellowish-brown SorLs or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 33 fine sand. Sometimes the submil changes to gray to yellow in the lower part of the three-foot section. Shell fragments are present in the soil and subsoil in some areas. This is not an extensive type. It is found in a few narrow strips in the southeastern part, just west and southwest of the town of Sabine Pass. It occupies slight swells, locally called “ridges,” which lie a few feet above the Lomalta clay. These ridges are gently undulating and the drainage is good. The type is cultivated extensively. It is especially suited to the production of vegetables and is utilized largely for this purpose. Cotton and corn are also grown, and good yields of these crops are obtained. The principal vegetables grown are sweet potatoes, which yield 150 to 300 bushels per acre. Irish potatoes yield about 100 bushels per acre, and cantaloupes and watermelons are of fine quality and yield well. ~Cucumbers, peanuts, beans, peas, squashes, asparagus, and many other vegetables may be grown with success on this soil. The sample examined is well supplied with plant food and probably will need nitrogen first. Lake Charles Silty Clay Loam. The surface is a dark gray to nearly black, rather friable silty clay loam, underlain at 10 to 18 inches by a heavy, plastic clay, mottled bluish-gray, yellow, and yellowish-brown, or gray slightly mottled with yellow or brown. The subsurface has a lighter color than the upper portion. The soil clods when plowed but crumbles on drying to a better tilth than is usually the case with silty clay loam. No very large bodies of this type exist in Jefferson County, but there are many areas of moderate size scattered throughout the county. The surface is nearly level, though a little more sloping than the Lake Charles clay. The native vegetation consists of prairie grasses and broom sedge. It is well adapted to the production of rice, and is largely utilized for that crop. From 35 to 75 bushels of rough rice are laroduccrl per acre. This is also the best gruicrzil farming soil in the county, and it is utilized to a considerable extent for growing crops other than rice. Corn is said to yield 30 to 5O bushels and cotton as high as 1 bale per acre. With adequate drainage the soil may be used for the production of cabbage, beets, turnips, Irish potatoes, and other truck crops. It is also adapted to the growing of alfalfa, sugar cane, and sorghum. Blackberries, plums, figs, pecans, and pears grow well on the better drained areas. This type is capable of producing a great variety of crops and easily can be maintained in a high state of pro- ductiveness. A phase includes those areas of the Lake Charles silty clay loam in which hummocks of very fine sandy loam are sufficiently numerous to interfere with cultivation and the proper distribution of irrigated water for rice-growing. Much of the land is utilized for rice, but the crop does not yield well on the mounds, which it is impracticable to irrigate. It may be used for growing truck crops or general farm crops. This soil is likely to need phosphoric acid and nitrogen first. Lake Charles Very Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of a very dark grayish-brown or dark brown to nearly black very fine sandy, loam underlain at about 1O to 16 inches by a grayish-brown to brown very fine sandy loam or loamy fine sand, which is in turn underlain at 18 34 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. to 30 inches by mottled yellow and bluish clay, quickly passing into mottled bluish-gray and bright red, plastic heavy clay. Between the mounds of the typical soil described above there are frequent patches of the clay or silty clay loam members of the Lake Charles series. The soil clods to some extent, but is easily brought into good tilth. It occurs in strips and in small bodies in all sections of the county except in the marsh region. This type is slightly elevated above the heavier-textured prairie soils, and has somewhat better drainage. The mounds, which rise from 1 to 3 feet above the intervening depressions, make the surface in detail gently undulating. Probably 50 to '75 per cent; of the area included in this type is formed by these mounds. This is a prairie type. Much of this soil is in cultivation, as it is comparatively well drained. It is light and easy to cultivate and warms up early in the spring, producing a rapid growth of crops. The type is not considered a good rice soil, owing to the impractica- bility of irrigating the mounds. The soil gives good yields of cotton and corn and is adapted in texture and climatic conditions to the pro- duction of truck crops. Corn yields 20 to 50 bushels and cotton one- half to 1 bale per acre. Cabbage, rutabagas, and turnips are grown as winter crops, and sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, peanuts, watermelons, cucumbers, cantaloupcs, tomatoes, onions, s-quashes, beans, and peas are grown. Of these, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, watermelons, canta- loupes, and cucumbers are grown most extensively. The yield of sweet potatoes is ordinarily 200 to 250 bushels and of Irish potatoes about 90 bushels per acre. Some strawberries are grown, and yield early and abundant crops. The soil is also adapted to blackberries and dew- berries. Of the tree fruits, figs do well. Pear, peach and pecan trees make a thrifty growth. The soil needs phosphoric acid and nitrogen first. A legume-rotation is necessary for permanent fertility. Lomalto Clay. This consists of a bluish-gray to bluish-black silty clay, mottled with rusty brown, 12 inches deep, passing into dark bluish- gray silty clay, and this into light bluish silty clay, faintly mottled with yellowish or brownish colors. The lower subsoil is sometimes a greenish-yellow or yellow sandy clay containing concretions of lime and fragments of seashells. This is a very extensive type, occupying the entire southern part of the county in a large connected‘ area, 3 to 14 miles wide, which reaches across the county east to west but is confined to the low, fiat, semi- marsh area lying along the Gulf coast, and locally called “marsh” or “salt marsh.” It is almost flat and basin-like, and much of the time water stands on the surface, which is very little higher than the water of the Gulf at ordinary high tide. At present it is not pos- sible to cultivate any of the type owing to lack of drainage. It sup- ports a heavy growth of the vegetation found in brackish or fresh water marshes. The only way the Lomalto clay could be drained would be by diking and pumping. The gentle slopes are somewhat better drained than the Lomalto clay. The land is utilized with the Lomalto clay for grazing. SoILs on BELL, JEFFERSON, SBTITH, TAYLOR AND Win31; COUNTIES. 35 Marsh. The surface is a dark bluish-gray to bluish-black silty clay, 12 to 15 inches deep, grading into a somewhat lighter-colored subsoil, usually a bluish-gray silty clay, slightly mottled with yellow or brown. This type is found in a number of large areas along the Neches River, reaching from just below Beaumont to Sabine Lake. Marsh is a very low and fiat or slightly basin-shaped land. It lies but a few inches above the streams and is overflowed by a slight rise above their normal levels. Water from rains remains on the surface until evaporated and the surface is wet for months. In fact, the soil is usually in a sat- urated condition; The only practicable method of drainage would be that of diking and pumping. In its present condition Marsh is utilized for grazing. If properly drained, the soil would probably be capable of producing good yields of rice, cotton, corn, and other crops, including probably sugar cane. Sanders Clay. This consists of a brownish-gray to dark bluish-gray silty clay, often mottled with yellowish-brown or rusty brown, under- lain from about 2 to 6 or 8 inches by bluish-gray or gray plastic silty clay, mottled usually with yellow. The Sanders clay lies in the first bottom of the Neches River and its main tributary, Pine Island fBayoiL The principal areas arc found in the northeastern part of the county. It is 15 to 20 feet below the general level of the upland and is comparatively flat, except for rather shallow, slough-like channels through which the run-off from the ad- joining mainland finds its way to the main stream. The entire area of the Sanders clay is usually covered with water two or more times a year by overflows which take from one to several weeks to subside. The Sanders clay is heavily timbered. The soil is not suited to any agricultural use in its natural condition. SOILS OF SMITH COUNTY Smith County is located in the northeastern section of Texas, in the district commonly termed East Texas. The elevation is 800 to 600 feet ‘above sea level. The surface is mainly gently rolling to mod- erately hilly. The three types of soil most widely distributed-are the Ruston fine sandy loam, which occupies 22.’? per cent. of the area; the Susquehanna fine sandy loam, 21.9 per cent. ; and the Norfolk fine sand, 18 per cent. The other types occupy small proportions. Table 12 shows the average pounds of plant food in the soil per two million pounds of soil, which is approximately equal to the weight of one acre of soil to the depth of 6?, inches. The average composition of the soil has already been given in Table 2. The interpretation of analyses of the soil of Smith County is given in Table 13. _ Three of these soil types are classed as good in total phosphoric acid, eight are classed as fair, and four as low. Five soils are classed as good in acid-soluble potash, three as fair, seven as low. One type is considered high in lime, five are good, seven are fair, and two low. A number of the soils are acid, but the acidity is usually not high. The corn possibility for active phosphoric acid varies from 6 to 45 bushels. The corn possibility of the active potash varies from 29 to 80 bushels. The corn possibility of the total nitrogen varies from 36 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION.‘ 13 to 45 bushels. It is evident from the above that the soils of this county are generally only fairly Well supplied With plant food. An examination of Table 2 shows that this county averages lower in plant food than any of the counties discussed in this bulletin. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 60/0/0 f/f/re jlv/raj/ [0001 ' i/LDAw/“DJWV? AWI/ - Mf/a/aen éciqrfasfi No/ /0//f Fm? 5on0’ {y 7 h. 5 ficfi/or/Foneé H”? 50/2/yi 104/17 P1157210 5n? fond) Z 00/71 ’ jgjfuefid/Ifia f/T/‘k’ 540/)’ Add”? A o /0 20 .30 4d 50 an? Qis/A/fifl/ mm Figure 7. Corn possibility of active phosphoric acid, active potash and totals nitrogen, SOIlS of Smith county. Fertilizers are needed, are generally used in this county, and crops respond Well to them. Phosphoric acid and nitrogen are needed most of all, and potash is needed to the smallest extent. The use of proper fertilizers and a good legume-rotation are very important to the agri- culture of this county. AOIDITY A number of the soils of this county are acid, and the use of lime to correct the acidity of these soils is desirable in some cases. Table 14 shows the number of samples of each type examined for acidity, and the number found acid, and the average acidity of those Which Were acid. The use of lime on soils is discussed in Bulletin No. 243, and one should Write for that bulletin for a complete discussion. We do not recommend the use of any lime except in connection With a proper legume rotation. 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TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONp 38 . . . . . . .... @OOQ UOOU 80g god god . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.NO.@ >figfiw ~%.=Q>.NH% @ M@Nm hwflm Mfiflm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.NQ@ xéwuflmflw QH~@ QQAMNZUDQWQZ . . - - . . . - N\H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . - - . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . ‘P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . 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QUQNM Q~M€ .N@E—.NM h.@.flm aQW% god . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . -E.No.—_ cfiwvmwu @QQ.U H.@flrv% ,:.U.Nm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E . . ..@HH.NW Ugwnv U:.t/H~mw@m com Bum Eosmsn @015 -05? swmgoa 25am 5.50 éofioU REP ozfiw éozm 225cm 3am @234 0E5 251cm uicna v6.4. $23 mUQDOQ Fworfi 8E2“. 252V 20:35 025 hfimnmmmoa F50 dvwfimcm we nomfifiofiiognfl Sgcsoo nfifimwo $93 mom M; Q33. SoILs or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB CoUNTIEs. 39 Table 14. Acidity of soils of Smith county. Average Number of Number acidity 0f samples acid acid soils per million Bienville fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0 Caddo fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 230 almia fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . 1 0 0 Norfolk fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0 Ochlocknee clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 2100 Ochlocknee silty clay loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1100 . Orangeburg fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 230 Ruston gravelly sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0 Susquehanna fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 0 Susquehanna gravelly sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0 Trinity clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0 _ NEEDS OF THE SOILS IN THIS AREA The following suggestions are made for improving the fertility of the soils of Smith County: . _ a _ The first suggestion is a proper legume-rotation, including a legume to be turned under or grazed off, for the purpose of securing nitrogen from the air and adding vegetable matter to the soil, and having other favorable, influences upon the soil. Soils of this county are low in nitrogen, and a rotation of this‘ kind is practically needed. The second suggestion is the use of phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash, in fertilizers, varying in composition and quantity With the treatment that the soil has received and its character. After the legume- rotation has been established, the amount of nitrogen purchased in fer- tilizer should be limited. Nitrogen is too expensive to buy in large amounts for ordinary farming. The chief need of these soils for plant food, after the legume-rotation is established, ‘is phosphoric acid. Potash will be needed, but in less quantities. All manure and vegetable matter possible should be saved and re- turned to the soil. Wood ashes should be used as a fertilizer Whenever possible, also ashes from cotton gins or sawmills if these ashes have not been exposed to rain. Lime may be used on soils which are known to be acid, or which are heavy clay in character, but only in connection with a proper legume-rotation and for crops which respond to lime. Lime alone may result in increased crops on some of the soils for a few years, but the final result would be impoverishment of the soil, unless used with a- legume-rotation. Watermelons, cowpeas, Irish potatoes, and some other crops receive little benefit from lime. Limestone screenings may be bought for about $1.00 a ton in carload lots. ' Legume-rotation, proper fertilizer, and proper use of lime sum up the needs of the soil of Smith County for the increase and maintenance of fertility. ALKALI Although Smith County is in a section of the State which receives an abundant rainfall, alkali is sometimes found in low, poorly drained spots. A sample of soil taken from a garden at Tyler which appeared to be subirrigated, and on which vegetables died with no apparent rea- son, was found to contain, in parts per million, the following amount 40 ‘Pnxxs AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. of salts soluble in water: carbonate of lime 225, sulphate of lime 81, calcium chloride 105, chloride of magnesia 132, chloride of soda '71. Other samples of soil containing alkali have also been secured from East Texas. The remedy is underdraiiiage, either by tile drains, or by an open drainage ditch extending through the center of the spot. It should not be difficult to wash out the alkali with proper drainage conditions. The water ‘must pass through the soil and into the drain- ‘ age ditch, thereby carrying the alkali with it. DESCRIPTION OF SOIL TYPES, SMITH COUNTY Bicnoille 1911116 Send. This consists of brown or grayish-brown fine sand, underlain at about 8 inches by light-brown fine sand, which grades below into yellowish-brown fine sand. It occupies only a small area, mainly in and along the bottoms on the Sabine and Neches Rivers and their principal tributaries. This type occurs on low hummoeks or swells and terraces standing above normal overflow. _ - A small part of the type has been cleared and is cultivated principally to corn and cotton. Oowpeas are grown to some extent in conjunction with corn. Crops are subject to injury by drought during protracted dry periods. Oorn yields 8 to 20 bushels, and cotton one-fourth to one- half bale per acre. Oowpeas give fair yields. This soil needs legume-rotation and phosphoric acid first. Uacldo Fine Sandy Loam. The surface is a gray or dingy gray loamy fine sand, which grades into yellowish fine sandy loam. The sub- soil, beginning at about 12 to 18 inches, is a yellow fine sandy clay, whichpasses below into rather compact fine sandy clay, mottled with grayish and yellowish or grayish-yellowish and reddish colors. Low, dome-shaped or irregular mounds, 2 to 3 feet in height and about 15 to 60 feet in diameter surrounded by poorly drained depres- sions, givc some areas of this type a hummocky surface. It is mod- erately extensive, but widely distributed over the county, particularly in the southwestern and southeastern parts. It occupies the undulat- ing tops of comparatively broad divides, the gently sloping valley sides and loxv-lyiing approaches to streams, and the slightly depressed areas around stream heads. The surface drainage and internal drainage are not well developed. A fairly large part of the type is under cultivation. Gotten produces about one-fourth to two-thirds bale and corn 15 to 30 bushels per acre. Owing to the prevailing poor drainage, it is considered advisable to plant corn and cotton on ridges. This soil needs legume-rotation first, phosphoric acid second, and it will probably need potash also. Ifalmia Fins-e Sand. The Kalmia fine sand consists of a grayish loose fine sand, overlying at about 6 inches a yellowish-gray to pale- yellow fine sand. This type occurs on stream terraces, standing 5 t0 15 feet above the first bottom. It is relatively unimportant in extent. The principal area mapped is in the Neches River bottoms between Wallace and Lake Bridge crossings. SoiLs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 4:1 The topography is generally level, but loW mounds, small depressions, and slight ridges occur. This type possesses good natural drainage. About 25 per cent. of this type is cultivated, mainly to corn and cotton. Newly cleared land is productive, but yields decline With con- tinued cultivation. Cowpeas are grown to some extent. Corn yields 8 to 20 bushels per acre and cotton one-fourth to one-half bale, with- out fertilizers. This soil needs leguine-rotation first, phosphoric acid next, and potash will be needed alm in a comparatively short time. A Norfolk F/me Sand. This consists of a gray loose, fine sand, which passes at 5 or 6 inches into pale-yellow, yellowish-gray, or gray, loose fine sand. Ordinarily the fine sand subsoil continues without change into a depth of 36 inches or more, but in places the lower subsoil is somewhat loamy, and in some spots the deep subsoil is a yellowish, friable sandy clay, such areas representing a deep phase of Norfolk fine sandy loam. The Norfolk fine sand is Widely distributed in this county. The largest continuous bodies extend from just north of Tyler nortl1east- Ward for a distance of about ten miles. Small isolated areas are found in all sections of the uplands. It occupies nearly level to undulating plateau-like areas on the tops of ridges or divides, gently sloping areas on the lower slopes or ap- preaches to stream bottoms, and gently rolling to rolling or hilly areas, where it occurs in large tracts. The open or porous structure of this soil gives good drainage. Probably less than one-half of this type is in cultivation. The principal crops are cotton and corn. Cotton is the money crop and corn is grown chiefly for the work stock. Peaches, strawberries, blackberries, and dewberries are grown locally for market. Cotton yields about one-fifth to one-third bale per acre, and corn averages 5 to 20 bushels per acre. Sweet potatoes yield 75 to 125 bushels per acre. This is a good soil for early truck, and it is used in many parts of the South for trucking. This soil needs legume-rotation, phosphoric acid, and evidently potash; a complete fertilizer is needed for truck. Norfolk Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of 6 to 8 inches of fine grayish sand, which grades into pale-yelloiv to yellowish-gray loamy fine sand to fine sandy loam, and this at a depth of about 12 to 24 inches grades into yellow, friable fine sandy clay. The largest areas occur in the vicinity of Tyler. This type is not extensively developed, but a number of isolated areas of about 10 to 400 acres occur throughout the county. The type occupies divides and gently sloping valley-sides. Some of the slopes need terracing to pre- vent erosion The clay subs-oil is retentive of moisture, a property which makes this type one of the most drought-resistant soils of the county. The soil can be Worked under a Wide range of moisture con- ditions. _ It is a good farming soil. The principal crop is cotton. Corn yields about 15 to 40 bushels per acre, and cotton about one-third to three- fourths bale. Sweet potatoes yield about 100 to 200 bushels per acre. The type is considered well adapted to strawberries, tomatoes, black- berries and dewberries. Peanuts, coWpe-as, sorghum, oats, rye, and inilo are grown for forage. ' ' 42 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. This soil needs legume-rotation and phosphoric acid, and it will need potash in a comparatively short time. Ochlockonee Clay. This is a brown to mottled brown and drab silty clay, which grades at a depth of about 2 to 5 inches into yellowish, plastic silty clay, usually mottled with light drab. The subsoil becomes more compact and more conspicuously mottled with drab as the depth increases. ' It is the most extensive bottom-land soil in the county. It occupies a greater part of the Sabine River bottoms. The type is subject to deep overflow, and owing to the generally level surface and the impervious nature of the subsoil, drainage is poor. Owing to the probability of overflow, this type is not cultivated. It supports a large forest growth. This soil is well supplied with plant food. Ochloclironiee Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of stream-bottom land varying widely in texture. The dominant soil is a brownish-gray to brown or dark-brown loamy fine sand to fine sandy loam, underlain at about 1O inches by brownish fine sandy loam to sandy clay usually mot- tled with rusty brown, or in places with yellowish and gray colors. Near the larger streams and the low-lying areas and depressions where drainage between the overflows is poorest, the subsoil is in places a sticky, mottled, fine sandy clay, while along the smaller streams the texture varies to loamy fine sand or loam. It occurs along most of the streams of the county. The surface is nearly level. Drainage is fair. The soil is productive where protected from overflow, except in years of abnormally heavy rainfall during the growing season. The most important crops grown are corn, cotton, and sugar cane, with Bermuda grass for pasture and hay. In favor- able years, where protected from overflow, corn yields 4O to 65 bushels, cotton as much as one bale, and sugar cane as much as 200 gallons of syrup per acre. Corn does much better than cotton on unprotected areas. Bermuda grass and other grasms furnish good pastures through the greater part of the year. This soil is well supplied with plant food. It will need a legume- rotation for permanent fertility. Ochloclconee Silty Clay Loam. This is a brown or mottled brown, rusty drab silty clay loam, grading at about 8 to 10 inches intomottled brown, yellowish and drab, silty clay, which shows more yellowish and drab and less brown in the lower part. Strata of gray fine sandy loam and fine sand a few inches in thickness are often encountered in the subsoil. i This is an important bottom-land soil. The surface is comparatively level and subject to short periods of overflow. The drainage is slow, owing to the level surface and to the retentive nature of the subsoil. ‘ Owing to the probability of damaging overflows during the growing seasons, only a very small acreage of this type is cultivated. Corn, cot- ton, and sugar cane are the only crops grown. Corn does fairly well, yielding 15 to 40 bushels per acre. Cotton does best in seasons of mod- erate rainfall. Yields range from one-third to one-fourth bale per acre. Sugar cane is grown for syrup. Yields range from 100 to 250 gallons of syrup per acre. SorLs onBnIJn JnrrnnsoN, SMITH, “Farrier. AND WEBB COUNTIES. 4-3 Much of this type is capable of cultivation if protected from over- flows. The main-stream channels can be straightened and lateral ditches constructed to provide for more rapid and complete removal i of excess drainage water. This and the diking of the cultivated areas have been successfully employed in reclaiming a considerable area. This soil is well supplied with plant food. It will need a legume- rotation first. Ora-ngebnrg Fine Sandy Loam. This is a gray or slightly brownish- gray fine sand, which grades through several inches of pale-yellowish or reddish-brown fine sand or fine sandy loam into red, friable fine sandy clay at about 1O to 20 inches. In places a few iron concretions are present in the surface soil. The principal areas are associated with the Greenville soils in the southern and southwestern part of the county. Other areas of importance occur near Whitehouse and on both sides of Harris Creek, near Winona. A number of small isolated bodies are scattered over the remainder of the county. This type occurs on broad divides and gentle slopes. The topography varies from almost level to undulating and gently rolling. Cultivation can be safely carried on within a day or two after heavy rains. The soil is quite retentive of moisture and crops do not stiffer from drought, except during exceptionally long dry periods. It is easily cultivated. Practically all of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is under cultivation. This type is considered one of the most important soils of the county for general farm crops, vegetables, strawberries, and peaches. Cotton is the principal crop grown. It yields one-fourth to one bale per acre. Corn produces 15 to 2O bushels per acre. Oats are usually cut for hay, and produce good yields. Several peach orchards are located wholly or partly in this soil, and the growers consider it one of the best peach soils in the county. This soil needs a legume-rotation and nitrogen first, phosphoric acid next, and it will need potash in a comparatively short time. Rnston Fine Sand. This consists of a gray loose fine sand, which passes at about 12 to 16 inches into reddish-yellow and then into yellow— red or dull red fine sand, usually slightly loamy in the lower part of the three-foot section. Ordinarily this type is very uniform in char- acter. ‘ - It occurs mainly in the western half of the county, on relatively broad ridges and gently sloping sides of valleys. The surface features vary from undulating to gently rolling or gently sloping. During dry periods the crops often suffer from lack of moisture. Cultivated areas are devoted mainly to the staple crops, cotton and corn. Peaches, blackberries, dewberries, and strawberries are grown to some extent. Newly cleared fields give moderate yields of cotton and corn for several years, but under the prevailing methods of growing clean cultivated crops without rotation, the yields decrease rapidly. Cotton averages about one-third bale per acre on new land, and about one- fourth to one-fifth on old. The yield of corn ranges from about 8 to 20 bushels per acre. Peaches do well in favorable years. This soil needs a legume-rotation first. It will need both phosphoric acid and potash in a short time. Rusion Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of 6 to 12 inches of gray or slightly brownish-gray fine sand or loamy fine sand, grading below 44 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. ' into pale yellow to slightly reddish or buff fine sandy loam. The sub- soil is a dull red or brownish-red to yellowish red, friable fine sandy clay. There are many places in which mottlings of yellow and red appear in the lower subsoil. Fragments of iron sandstone and iron concretions are often encoun- tered in small amounts in the surface soil. The Ruston fine sandy loam is the most extensive type in Smith County. The principal areas occur near Whitehouse and the Cherokee County line and to the east and north of Arp, but the greater part of the type occurs as relatively snrall areas, separated or interrupted by other upland soils. This type occurs both on rather broad, undulating ridges and on moderately slop- ing valley sides. The surface features vary from undulating to gently rolling and sloping. Considerably more than one-half of tho type has been cleared and put into cultivation. It is considered a very desirable soil for the general farm crops of the region. Cotton is the main crop; corn yields about 15 to 30 bushels per acre Without fertilization. Cotton yields range from about (me-third to three-fourths bale per acre. Sweet potatoes yield from 100 to 150 bushels, and Irish potatoes from 8O to 100 bushels per acre, but these are not very important crops. This soil needs legume-rotation first. It will need phosphoric acid and potash in a short time. Ruston Gra-aellg/ Sandy Loam. This consists of grayish to brownish gravelly fine sand. The subsoil, beginning at about 8 to 16 inches, is a yellowish to dull red, moderately friable fine sandy clay. The subsoil is usually compact in the lower part of the three-foot section, and is mottled with shades of red and yellow. Small angular frag- ments and pebbles of ironstone and iron sandstone are plentifully dis- tributed over the surface and disseminated through the soil< This is not an extensive type, but it is rather widely distributed through the eastern half of the county. It occurs on the tops of rather narrow divides, on knolls, and along abrupt slopes and bluff lines. Cultivation is confined to the few smooth areas and the moderately sloping areas. The type is fairly productive. Cotton, peaches, and early tomatoes are the crops most commonly grown. Cotton yields about one-half bale per acre. This soil needs phosphoric acid, legume-rotation first, and will shortly need potash. ifitsqtiiehtmoza Fine Sandy Loam. This surface consists of a grayish fine sand or loamy fine sand grading quickly into pale yellow to reddish loamy fine sand to fine sandy loam. The subsoil, beginning at a depth of about 6 to 20 inches, is red, plastic, heavy clay, which becomes in- creasingly mottled with drab or yellow or both colors as the depth in- creases. The texture and structure of the subsoil continue uniform to a depth of three feet or more. It is an extensive and important soil widely distributed over the uplands of the county. The principal areas occur in the southeastern- part of the‘ county, east and northeast of Troup, and in the north- western part between Starrville and the Sabine River. There are many smaller areas associated with the other upland soils of the county. The type occurs mainly on valley slopes and varies from undulating and gently sloping to steep and hilly. The chief ditfictilty in the cul- SorLs or BELL, JErFERsoN, SMITH, TAYLOR AND “T121313 COUNTIES. 45 tivation arises from erosions on slopes. The heavy subsoil absorbs water so slowly that the loose, sandy surface soil is soon saturated dur- ing heavy rains. When it is in this condition, the drainage water fiow- ing down the slopes carries xvith it large quantities of the surface soil and frequently develops pronounced gullics. Less than one-half of the type is in cultivation. Fanning is largely on newly cleared land and yields decrease with cultivation. Cotton a11d corn are the principal crops. Cowpeas are grown in the small acreage. Corn yields about 1O to 20 bushels and cotton one-fourth to one-half bale per acre. Winter oats are grown to a small extent for forage. Sorghum for forage yields moderately well but is not extensively grown. This soil needs phosphoric acid and legume-rotation first, and will need potash soon. Susquehanna Gnwelly igan-dy Loam. This is a gray to brownish- gray gravelly fine sand, 6 to 8 inches deep, passing into a brownish to reddish brown gravelly fine sandy loam. The lower subsoil con- sists of a red, plastic, heavy clay, usually mottled with yellow and gray in the lower part. The surface soil and, in places, the subsoil, is slightly gravelly, - The gravel consists mainly of fragments of ironstone, iron sandstone, and iron concretions, usually less than two inches in diameter. It occurs principally on the tops of hills, knolls or ridges, and on the abrupt slopes to the stream bottoms. The most pronounced slopes are in many places badly eroded and gullied. This type is fairly extensive and is widely distributed over the plains. Some of the principal areas are found west of Swan, in the vicinity of Red Springs school in the north-central part of the county, along the east side of Harris Creek, and in the southeastern section at Troup. Cultivation is confined to the smoother areas. The cultivated areas are devoted largely to cotton, which ranges in yield from one-fifth to one-half bale per acre. Corn and oats are of some importance. Corn yields about 1O to 20 bushels per acre. Winter oats make good yields when cut for hay. The type is considered a good early soil for vegetables, such as toma- toes. Crops requiring a long growing season frequently are injured by drought in the latter part of the summer. Tomatoes are also grown. Sweet potatoes are grown for home use. This soil needs phosphoric acid and legume-rotation first, and will need potash soon. Trinity Clay. This is a dark-drab to nearly black silty clay, 4 to 6 inches deep, occasionally mottled with brown or rusty brown. This is underlain‘ by a drab or a mottled drab and yellowish-brown, plastic, heavy clay, passing below to a lighter drab clay with little or no mot- tling. The soil cracks or crumbles when drying out. When wet, it is extremely tenacious and sticky, and travel over roads in areas of this soil is very difficult in rainy seasons. Only one area of Trinity clay is mapped in Smith County. This consists of a strip ranging in width from a few yards to over one mile, in the Sabine River bottom, extending from the International & Great Northern Railway crossing to the northwestern corner of the county. The type is fiat to nearly level, and much of it is poorly drained. It is an alluvial soil. It is subject to overflow and remains wet for long periods after heavy rains or overflows. n-:~~— Q.3Q Q2332 Q QQQQQQ QQQQ QQ33 QQ3 QQQQ 3 Q~Q3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QQQQQQ Q QQQQ QQQN QQQ QQQ QQQQ QQ QQQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..EQQ3 QQQQQ Q53 $333 Q QQQQQ QQQQQ QQQN QQQ QQNQ3 3R QQQ3 ....KHHiHwihpmuum3H¢>Hm3mxQ3QwQQQ Q QQQ3Q QQ3QQ Q3Q3 2Q QQQQ QQQ Q33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 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O UOOU 000w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0306A: 03003034 00m 0300 . 000030000 0003?». 0.000 00303 -0530 300000 000030 0000.0 00300 3000 B 030.04 10030 0300 02004 00.00004 0933 300000 000030 -00 0003030 030W? 000000 00330 0B0. 3m 00303330000 0000 $00000 0000B .030>3000 .30 00000000000000 .03 030B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .W+%OMQH~W .%o wxfivmu>< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - .W+.@OW @U.N%H:w .%o U%.NHU>< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Io 000m: oommm 00w 0mm 00003 0mm QNmH fi . %\ O - . . - . . - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . Io comma oowmfi 0003 .. 00003 w 00w I. N O . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . - . . . . . . . . . - - ~ . . . - - - 02004 030300 030.04 0000 B 00.00 00 0003 50 0004 0000 .000 00.004 030304 00300000 030300 10.0373 0304 3000003 0300 0000300030 .00000~000|;$00o0 00000 B 00 0000 00330 0B0 .000 000000 0m 00000004 d3 030 B . SoILs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 49 DESCRIPTION OF SOIL TYPES, TAYLOR COUNTY Abilene Loam. This consists of a dark reddish-brown to dark-brown or chocolate-brown friable loam, underlain at about 6 to 8 inches by dark reddish-brown to chocolate-brown clay, which passes into a dark yellowish-brown or chocolate-brown, tough clay. At about 24 to 86 inches hardpan of whitish chalky material is encountered. The hard- pan is of two kinds: a limestone conglomerate and a clay pan frequently containing gravel. This type is found in scattered areas in the lower or terrace-plain part of the county. The surface is fiat to gently undulating or gently sloping. About one-half of the type is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, and Johnson grass are the principal crops, and some wheat and oats are grown. Yields of cotton vary from one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre. The grain sorghums yield about 10 to 3O bushels, wheat 5 to 2O bushels, oats 10 to 30 bushels, and Johnson grass about 1 ton to 3 tons of hay per acre. This type, although loamy, becomes rather compact after heavy rains. A good organic-matter content would make the material mellow and more absorptive of water. . This soil is well supplied with plant food. Abilene Silty Clay Loam. This consists of dark reddish-brown to dark-brown silty clay loam, underlain at about 6 to 10 inches by dark reddish-brown to brown clay, which passes into dark yellowish-brown or chocolate-brown, tough clay. The lime hardpan or gravel clay pan of the series is usually reached at about 24 inches. In some places only the whitish chalky material is encountered within the three-foot section. In some places gravel is present on the surface, but not in quantities suficicient to interfere with cultivation. It is quite extensively distributed throughout the plain-like lower part of the county. The surface is flat or undulating to gently sloping. This is the most extensive soil in the county. Because of its heavy texture, it is more or less subject to drought, but injury from this cause can be materially reduced by proper cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, Johnson grass, and sorghum cane are the principal crops. The yield of cotton ranges from about one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre. The grain sorghums yield about 10 to 3O bushels, and oats 10 to 30 bushels, wheat~5 to 20 bushels, while the yield of Johnson grass ranges from about 1 ton to 3 tons per acre. The soil is inclined to pack, and to ameliorate this condition the soil should be plowed deep in fall or early winter and organic matter should be added. This soil is well supplied with plant food. Bastrop Fine Sand. This consists of pale yellowish-brown to light reddish-brown, loose fine sand 1O to 15 inches deep, underlain by yel- lowish to reddish loose fine sand. Some included areas show a fine sandy clay in the lower part of the three-foot section. In the vicinity of Abilene there are some areas having a red mottled and yellow, stiff plastic subsoil. 5O TEXAS AomoLrLtrURAL Exrnnrixrnivr STATION. It occurs in a few scattered areas of relatively small total extent on the old-stream terraces. The surface varies from hummocky to nearly level. This type is of importance in the production of peaches and vege- tables, especially near Abilene. In other localities it is used for the production of cotton, corn, and grain sorghums. ‘ It is_ retentive of moisture. Some trouble is caused by drifting, which at times makes replanting necessary. This tendency to drift can be combated by applying well rotted manure or by plowing under green cover crops. This soil is low in phosphoric acid and nitrogen, and will probably need potash. Bastropi Fine Sandy Locmn. This consists of a brown to reddish- brown loamy fine sand or fine sandy loam, which is underlain at about 15 to 24L inches by a moderately friable, chocolate red sandy clay, be- coming stiffer with increase in depth. In places the chocolate red is reached at 5 to 8 inches. This type is widely distributed over the stream terraces of the county. The surface is level to gently undulating. It is one of the most desirable soils of the county. Owing to its naturally friable structure, it is easily cultivated, and by reason of its ability to absorb and conserve water, crops seldom suffer from drought. Probably one-half or more of the type is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, Johnson grass, sorghum, wheat, oats, and corn are the important crops. In places, as near Abilene and Merkel, vegetables are grown for local markets. Cotton produces one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre, the grain sorghums yield about 10 to 30 bushels, and Johnson grass 1 to 3 tons of hay per acre. a A The soil examined is low in nitrogen and needs a legume-rotation. It may also need phosphoric acid and potash. Bastrop Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown or chocolate-brown mellow loam, 6 to 10 inches deep, overlying a chocolate-brown or dark reddish-brown clay, which grades into a reddish-brown clay, containing frequently some whitish chalky lime. In places there is some gravel. This type occurs in several bodies on the old-stream terraces. The sur- face varies from level to gently undulating. - Cotton and the-grain sorghums are the principal crops. Johnson grass, sorghum, oats, and corn are also grown. The soil is easy to work and to keep in a good condition of tilth. It gives good yields of the crops grown. Bastrop Silty Clay Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown or choc- olate-colored silty clay loam, underlain at 6 to 8 inches by a chocolate- red to chocolate-colored clay, which is rather stiff in the lower depths. In places whitish, chalky lime is present in the subsoil. The type occurs in both large and small areas on the stream terraces. The surface varies from level to gently undulating, and the drainage is adequate though seldom excessive. Probably-one-third or more is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, Johnson grass, and sor- ghum for forage are the principal crops. Wheat, oats, and corn are of minor importance. The raising of beef cattle and hogs is important. _ The yield of cotton ranges from one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre. The grain sorghum yields 10s to 30 bushels, wheat 5 to 20 bushels, oats SoILs or BELL, J EFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 51 about 10 to 30 bushels, and Johnson grass 1 to 3 tons per acre. The yields of garden crops are uncertain and variable owing to the sus- ceptibility of the type to drought. This soil is well supplied with plant food. Brackett Fine Sandy LOa/nz. It consists of grayish-brown fine sandy loam, underlain at a depth of 8 to 12 inches by gray to yellowish-gray, calcareous clay of fairly compact structure. The subsoil in places is somewhat sandy, and sometimes it has a pinkish hue. The surface ma- terial includes small limestone fragments, and quartz, chert, and other gravel. The substratum consists of massive limestone and soft, or “rotten,” limestone, which is encountered at depths of 1 to 2 feet or more. This type occurs almost exclusively at or near the base of the rough stony land escarpments of the plateau areas. It occupies fairly steep to long, gentle slopes. The areas are never very large, and the aggre- gate area of the type is relatively small. Possibly more than one-half of this type is in cultivation, the remainder being largely in pasture. Much of the land is covered with catclaw, cedar, shin oak, and grasses. The principal crops are cotton and the grain sorghums with some corn and small patches of garden crops. The crop yields are one-fifth to three-fourths bale of cotton and 1O to 3O bushels of grain sorghums x per acre. The minor crops produce variable yields, the returns depend- ing largely 011 the amount of rainfall. This soil is low in nitrogen, and will need phosphoric acid after a few years’ cropping. ' Brackett Gra-velly Loam. It consists of brownish to light gray loam, i silty clay loam or clay, underlain at about 3 to 10 inches by whitish, chalky material consisting of soft, partially decomposed limestone. In places yellowish clay is present in the subsoil. Small and moderately large angular fragments of limestone and chert are abundant over the surface and are present throughout the soil section. Limestone ex- posures are of common occurrence. The type is found in considerable extent at or near the base of the rough, stony land escarpments. Other areas occur mainly in the eastern part of the county. Nearly all of this type is used for grazing. It is low in phosphoric acid. Brackett Loam. This consists of a grayish brown to dark ashy-gray loam, underlain at about 6 to 8 inches by grayish to yellowish-brown clay, which, in turn, passes into grayish-yellow or whitish, calcareous material. The surface material in places is somewhat sandy, being in- fluenced by colluvial wash from sandy types, and in places it includes an admixture of small limestone fragments, quartz, chert, and other pebbles. It occurs almost exclusively at or near the base of the rough, stony land escarpments. The surface varies from gently sloping to nearly level. One-half or more of this type is in cultivation, the remainder being largely included in pastures, used mainly for cattle. The prin- cipal crops are cotton, the grain sorghums, and hay or forage crops, such as Johnson grass and sorghum. Relatively small quantities of wheat, oats, corn, and garden crops are grown. Its rather light, friable structure causes the greater part of the type ‘ to be easy to work. The soil warms up earlier than the heavier-textured 52 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. soils, and crops mature earlier. Crop yields are about the same as those obtained on the Brackett fine sandy loam, and the land is han- dled in about the same way. This soil will yarobablyr need nitrogen and phosphoric acid first. Brackett Stormy Loaone. This surface consists of a brownish to dark gray loam to silty clay loam, grading into whitish, calcareous material, and undorlaiifi lay’ limestone, at (hapths varying from about 2- to 2-0 inches. In most places angular fragments of limestone and chert are very abundant, and there are occasional exposures of limestone. This type is found in the tops of the plateaus, remnants occurring as gentle slopes and relatively flat to gently rolling areas. This land supports a scattered growth of cedar, live oak, mesquite, and shin oak. It affords good pasture in favorable seasons, and is largely used for cattle pasture. It is not used for cultivated crops. Crawford Siltg/ Clay Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown to chocolate-brown friable, silty clay loam, underlain at a depth of5 to 8 inches by a dull red clay, which becomes quite stiff in the lower part of the three-foot section. Massive limestone is encountered at a depth of about 2 or 3 feet or more. Between the subsoil and the massive limestone there is a layer of several inches of friable chalky material. It occurs in the top of the plateau remnants as gentle slopes and in flat to gently rolling areas. This type, though not very extensive, is quite important. It includes the greater part of the tillable land of the high plateaus. The principal crops grown are cotton, the grain sorghums, such as milo, kafir, and feterita, and corn, oats, and wheat. The yields of cotton range from one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre. Cornyields from about 5 to 25 bushels, grain sorghums 1O to 30 bushels, wheat 5 to 20 bushels, and oats about 10 to 20 bushels per acre. This type includes a number of stony areas in which the bed rock is encountered usually at 5 to 36 inches, and slabs of limestone are scattered over the surface. These areas afford valuable grazing. This soil is well supplied with plant food. Fr/io Clay. This consists of dark-brown to black clay, underlain at 1 inch to 3 or 4 inches by black or very dark-brown calcareous clay. The subsoil is lighter colored in the lower part, usually being brown. This type is encountered in several areas within the stream bottoms. The surface is fiat. Cotton, milo, feterita, kafir, Johnson grass, sor- ghum cane, wheat, oats, and corn are the principal crops, together occupying about one-third of the total area. This is a very valuable bottom-land soil, well suited to cultivation. The low-lying areas most subject to overflow or with poor drainage are best used as native pasture. This soil i.s rich in plant food. ‘ Fri-o Loam. This consists of a dark-brown to black loam, 6 to 15 inches deep, underlain by brownish-coloredto dark drab clay. The lower subsoil in places is calcareous. This soil forms part of the bot- tom lands. The surface is ordinarily fiat, though the area includes hummocks and broad swells. - While of moderate extent, this is one of the more desirable soils of the county. It is easy to till, and with proper cultivation fairly re- SoILs or BELL, J nrrERsoN, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB CoUNTIEs. 53 tentive of moisture. Cotton yields about one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre, the grain sorghums about 1O to 3O bushels, wheat 5 to 2O bushels, and oats about 1O to 3O bushels. Johnson grass yields about 1 ton to 3 tons per acre. Garden crops are uncertain. This soil is well supplied With plant food. Miles Fine Scmcly Loam. It consists of reddish-brown fine sandy loam or loamy fine sand about 8 to 2O inches deep, underlain by reddish- brown to pinkish, compact fine sandy clay to clay with frequently con- siderable White, powdery to compact lime layers in the lower subsoil. Some quartz, chert, and small limestone fragments are present in the surface soil of some areas. In the subsoil or substratum, gravel is frequently present as a hardpan or heavy material, forming “concrete” beds. i This type occurs in the lower plain section of the county, where it forms low knolls and ridges and relatively fiat to gently sloping areas. The natural drainage is adequate. Like the other sandy soils, it is better able to withstand drought than the heavy textured soils. Prob- ably.two-thirds of the type is in cultivation. Cotton, grain sorghums, and Johnson grass are the chief crops, with relatively small acreages in wheat and oats. This soil warms up earlier in the spring than do the heavier soils, and crops mature somewhat quicker. Cotton yields about one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre and the grain sorghums about 10 to 3O bushels. This soil is low in nitrogen and needslegume-rotation. Miles Gramelly Clay Lea-m. It consists of a reddish-brown gravelly clay loam 6 to 10 inches deep, overlying reddish-brown to pinkish gravelly stiff clay. Gravel clay pan or a calcareous conglomerate usually is reached at about 2O to 3O inches. The soil contains in some places such large accumulations of quartz, chert, and other non-calcare- ous gravel that cultivation is impracticable. It is encountered in scattered areas within the terrace-plain section of the county. It includes steep slopes, low knolls, and ridges, with occasional areas of relatively flat to gently sloping surface. Only about 10 per cent. of its area is in cultivation. Cotton, grain sorghum, and Johnson grass are the principal crops. It is fairly well supplied with plant food. Miles Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown, rather mellow loam, 6 to 1O inches deep, underlain by reddish-brown to pinkish, compact- clay," which becomes stiffer with increasing depth. Like the other Miles soils, this type in many places contains lime conglomerate hardpan in the subsoil. In some areas a clay pan is present. It is found in some fairly large areas scattered through the terrace- plain portion of the county. It occupies low ridges and relatively fiat, gently rolling country. It withstands drouth well and is easy to cul- tivate. Probably three-fourths of it is in cultivation, the remainder being mainly in pasture. Cotton, according to local estimate, yields about one-fifth to three-fourths bale per acre, and the grain sorghums about 1O to 3O bushels of grain. This soil is Well supplied with plant food and will probably need nitrogen first. 7A ’J.‘nx.-1s .~~\(:u1c*L'1.'r1'1i.\1. Exrnnrixinnr STATION. Zlliles Silzfy Clay Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown compact silty clay loam, underlain at an average depth of about 6 inches by brownish-red t0 pinkish-red clay, but at about 24 inches there is a whitish lime hardpan, or mortar-bed layer, containing gravel in places, or a reddish gravel clay pan and whitish chalky material. T11c type is quite extensively distributed throughout the terrace-plain a section of the county. The surface is for the most part level to gently undulating‘. This type is one of the n1ost extensive members of the ‘series. Probably one-third or more of it is i11 cultivation, the remainder being user largely for grazing. The common staple crops, cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, and Johnson grass, are grown, with some wheat and oats. The yield of cotton ranges from about o11e-fiftl1 to three-fourths bale per acre. The grain sorghum yields 1O to 30 bushels, wheat 5 to 2O lnisliels, and oats about 10 to 3O bushels per- acre. The soil packs after heavy rains and the maintenance of a good supply of organic matter is necessary to keep the soil i11 good tilth- This soil will probably need nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Zll/illei‘ Clay. This is a reddish-brown or dark brownisl1-red clay somewhat silty a11d friable i11 some arcas, but grading at a depth of 4 or 5 inches i11to larownish-red, stiff clay. This is a11 important stream bottom soil in the eastern part of the county. It forms large areas west of Abilene. It has a level surface favorableto cultivation, though its heavy texture makes tillage someivhat difficult, and heavy teams and implements are necessary. Most of the type is i11 cultivation. Good yields of the various crops of the region are obtained. Alfalfa succeeds on it. This soil is well supplied with plant food. M "iZZer Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown to brown, friable sandy loam, 6 to 15 inches deep, underlain by reddish clay. In places the subsoil consists of fine sandy loam. This soil is limited to a few scattered areas, within the alluvial bottoms. The type is subject to overflow, but crop injury from this source is of rare occurrence. This is one of the desirable soils of the county, in that it is easily cultivated and has good drouth-resisting qualities. Most of it is in cultivation for staple field crops and some truck crops. This soil will need nitrogen first, and then phosphoric acid. ZII/iller Loam. This consists of a reddish-brown to chocolate-brown mellow loam, 6 to 10 inches deep, overlying brownish-red clay. The _ lower subsoil is a stiff clay, usually of a lighter shade of red than the upper subsoil. This type occupies a few areas i11 the stream bottoms. The surface is generally level and drainage is good. The Miller loam, although 11ot extensive, is one of the important types of the county. It is easy to cultivate and very productive. The greater part of it is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, feterita, kafir, and Johnson grass are extensively grown and sorghum for forage, wheat, oats, and cor11, to a less extent. This soil is well supplied with plant food. JIIiZZe-r Silty Clay Loam. This consists of a reddish-brow11 silty clay loam, underlain at 5 to 8 inches by brownish-red clay, which becomes n 44l>lh é.__.____.,(.__r_.r._=~_.@_.-<¢+:; -. . SoILs or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB Courvrrns. 55 compact and of a light red color in the lower part. In places the sub- soil is calcareous. It has a comparatively extensive occurrence in the overfiowed bot- ' toms. The surface is generally level, but the areas for the most part are Well drained. It is an important soil. The heavy texture makes the cultivation somewhat difficult, but the natural productiveness is recognized and possibly one-half of the type is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, Johnson grass, sorghum cane, Wheat, oats, and corn are crops of more or less importance. Some alfalfa is grown. The yield of cotton ranges from one-fifth to three-fourths bale, grain sorghum 10 to 3O bushels, wheat 5 to 1O bushels, oats 10 to 30 bushels, and Johnson grass about 1 to 8 tons per acre. The yields of garden crops are uncertain, except where irrigated. This soil is well supplied with plant food. It will probably need nitrogen first. y Simm-Ons Ola-y. This- consists of dark brown to black clay, usually somewhat silty and friable at the surface, but stiff and plastic below. Frequently there is little change in color throughout the three-foot sec- tion, but ordinarily the lower subsoil is somewhat lighter brown or drab. There are in places spots of lJTOWH to dark-brown clay overlying a brown clay, which becomes lighter-colored below. When wet, the soil is sticky, but it is crumbly when dry. Small rounded quartz is frequently present on the surface. The surface is level; so the natural drainage is imperfect, although under existing climatic conditions the soil dries out sufficiently. About one-third of it is in cultivation. Cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, Johnson grass, and sor- ghum cane are the most important crops. Wheat, oats, and corn are grown to some extent. A large proportion of the type is used for cattle raising. Raising hogs is also important. Cotton producesone-fifth to . three-fourths bale per acre. The grain sorghums yield 10 to 30 bush- els, wheat 5 to 10 bushels, and oats 10 to 3O bushels. The yield of Johnson grass hay ranges from 1 to 3 tons per acre. Garden crops give uncertain and variable yields, owing to the occurrence of drouths. Owing to the tendency of this heavy- soil to pack on drying and to form intractable clods if plowed when wet, care must be taken to plow when the material is in the most favorable conditions as regards 1nois- ture. Heavy teams and implements are needed to plow the land prop- erly. Plowing should extend to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Frequent ‘ shallow cultivations must be given to prevent loss of moisture. This soil is well supplied with plant food. It will probably need nitrogen first. - A Simmons Fine Sandy Loam. This consists of dark-brown to dark- gray friable fine sandy loam 6 to 10 inches deep, underlain by dark- drab or dark-brown, stiff clay. In the more poorly drained situations the subsoil is bluish. After heavy rains, or in the absence of cultiva- tion, the soil becomes compact, but with cultivation under normal mois- ture conditions it has a good tilth. ~ It occurs in a few small areas within the lower or terrace-plain por- tion of the county, mainly in the eastern part. The surface is level to slightly depressed. The type is of relatively small extent. Most of it is in cultivation, being used mainly for the production of staple field crops. This soil will need nitrogen and phosphoric acid. 56 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Vernon Clay. It consists of a chocolate-red or reddish-brown clay about 5 to 10 inches deep, underlain by chocolate-red clay or rather compact structure. When dry the surface is usually compact and hard, and when wet the soil is sticky, though tinder normal moisture condi- ' tions the cultivated soil is mellow. This type occurs at or near the base of the plateau, occupyingsmall knolls, ridges, and slopes. About one-third of the Vernon clay is in cultivation. The principal crops are cotton, milo, kafir, feterita, and Johnson grass. Cotton yields less than one-fifth to three-fourths bale, grain sorghums 5 to 30 bushels, and Johnson grass 1 to 3 tons per acre. Wheat and oats, which are of minor importance, yield 5 to 25 bushels per acre. Owing to its heavy character, the soil requires deeper plowing and more thorough cultivation than the lighter textured soils. This soil will need nitrogen first. Vernon Fine Sandy Lea-on. This consists of reddish-brown to brown- ish fine sandy loam, 8 to 20 inches deep, underlain by red or chocolate- red, rather compact fine sandy clay to stiff clay. There are some in- eluded areas of loamy fine sand and also eroded spots of clay loam. In places small, angular fragments of limestone and chert, and occasion- ally rounded gravel are present. Under normal moisture conditions, thistype is loose and friable when cultivated. It occurs along the base of plateaus. It occupies slight knolls, ridges, and slopes, though there are some fiat areas. One-half or more of the type is in cultivation, the remainder being used for pasture. Uncleared areas support a growth of catclaw, prickly pear, scrub oak, and various grasses and weeds. The principal crops are cotton, grain sorghums, and some corn. The type withstands drouth better than the heavier soils. Cotton yields about one-fifth to three- fourths bale and the grain sorghums 10 to 30 bushels per acre. This soil will need nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Vernon Gra-eelly Clay Loam. This consists of a chocolate-red clay loam, underlain at a depth of about 5 or 6 inches by a chocolate-red clay of a stiffer nature, with some whitish, powdery,_limy layers and lime nodules in the subsoil. Rounded chert and quartz gravel, and angular fragments of red shale and sandstone are thickly scattered over the surface, and to a less extent through the soil. Bedrocks of the parent shale, sandstone, and conglomerate are present within the three- foot section in places. This type adjoins the base of the plateaus and occurs as detached areas throughout the terrace-plain section. It occupies steep slopes, low ridges, and some rather large level areas. Practically all of this land is used for pasture. It is low in potash and will also need nitrogen. SOILS OF WEBB COUNTY The soils around Laredo were mapped in the soil survey of Laredo area, and included in the reconnoissance survey of Southwest Texas. Webb county is located in the southwestern part of the State, on the Rio Grande River, and the land i11 cultivation is chiefly irrigated from this river. Probably the most important crop consists of onions, al- SoILs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 5'7 though other crops are grown, including alfalfa, sweet potatoes, and various vegetables. The average composition in pounds per two million in the soils of Webb County is shown in Table 1'7. An examination of Table 2 shows that Webb County averages highest in active phosphoric acid, total potash, acid-soluble potash, active potash, and next to the highest in total phosphoric acid of any of the counties reported on in this bulletin. The total nitrogen, however, averages lower than the other three counties. 5S TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 0 0 owmmm 00000“ $03 x0“ 00H»; 000mm H3» 0m3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rmowfia omm~w>< N. 0 0050 0wm0m. ma: mmw 0002 ouwmmm 00m $3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28m oomfsw omwpo>< N Q » ~ - - . . 0 . - - u o | - - - ¢ Q ¢ - ¢ - - n - - - c . u u n. ¢ u ¢ n Q u - n a I - ¢ < o u a a N. 0 08mm QQE; Qowm 0% Qowfi comma Nw 2a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Ems 065R >=w>wa Eu? w 0 002m 00uvmH 00mm 0>> 000$ 000mm 3m 00: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Imownsw w 0 00mmm 0003 003 00w 0000 03mm g0 aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 62x2 35mm 2:0 00¢? w 0 203m 0002 $2 00h 0000H @003 0N. 000H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R . . . .. 00305 m 0 000ml 0000 000m 0F. 000w 000mm C. 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65$ Q50 .395 0H 0 0000~ .532 0w: om» 000wH 003%.. Q10 £2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £0205 2 0 000$; 00:0 003 000 000% 00000 000 Q05 . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2.5mm: 20w 2.83 N. 0 030w 00000 0¢0~ 000 ofiwmfi 020v $0 00w~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fiownsm 0 0 00m0 00000 000~ 00w 0000~ 8N2 000 000m . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5G2 >30 0093A i5“. .52 E d d $>$u< 633cm 030B o>So< 13oF 335mm 0E: 5w 064 0o kmfi3u< kflmumwmm 223cm 5.554 HUQHCZZ 0E4 130E smfionw Eva ofigoaawcsnm qfinsoo snug 0o wmow 5023b 9,5 .60 wwcsoa E swim om§o>< .2 BQFH SoILs or Bnrm, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 59 The interpretation of the analyses of the soils of this county is given in Table 18. The soils are fair t0 good in phosphoric acid, four types being good and one fair. They are all good in potash, and good to high in lime. Not any of these soils are acid. The corn possibility ~ for the active phosphoric acid varies from 24 to 50 bushels to the acre, of active potash, 150 to 18,?» bushels to the acre, and of total nitrogen, 18 to 38 bushels to the acre. The soils apparently need nitrogen first, Za/éa/a f/a/v lay/n i A La/eo/a f,” Loam ip/zmyofiur/c 40/ , IJ/O0f0$fi A/i/f/gae/r '5? 5 lA/ebé Foe 50/76/ A lA/efifi 5/79 Ia/mQ 100/77 i l j iVVPifié §_/are/§/ 50/70} Z 0am 0 40 /ZU' /i6.0 i Z00 50 6b”? fafiis/fi/Zy Figure _6. Corn possibility of activ_e phosphoric acid, active potash and total nitrogen, SO1lS of Webb county. phosphoric acid second, and active potash least. They contain an abundance of lime, and do not need lime. The Webb fine sand aver- ages lowest in phosphoric acid and nitrogen, the Laredo silt loam and the Webb fine sandy loam are nearly the same, the Laredo clay loam is somewhat better, and the Webb gravelly sandy loam appears to be best in nitrogen, although lower in phosphoric acid. Table 18. Interpretation of analyses soils of -Webb county. Corn possibilities two Q million pounds Phos- phoric Potash Lime Acidity Active _ acid phos- Active Total phoric potash nitro- acid gen Laredo clay loam . . . . . . . . Good Good High O 50 182 28 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . " Good Good High O 50 182 22 Webb fine sand . . . . . . . . . . Fair Good Good 0 24 157 18 Webb fine sandy loam.. . . Good Good High 0 45 182 23 Webb gravelly sandy loam Good Good Good 0 3O 182 38 60 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. ALKALI IN SOILS OF WEBB COUNTY a» At the instance of Mr. F. W. Mally, and with his co-operation and assistance, the Writer collected a number of samples of soil of Webb County for alkali during an epidemic of pink root of onions. The alkali determinations are presented in Table 19. Dr. J. J. Taubenhaus has shown in Texas Bulletin No. 272 that the pink root of onions is due to a plant disease, but, as he points out, the presence of alkali in the soil may decrease the ‘resistance of plants to the disease organism, and thereby aid in spreading an attack of this disease. Six soils were sampled Where ‘onions suffered from pink root and five Where the onions did not suffer. Of the six soils Where the onions suffered, four contained more alkali than any of the soils Where the onions did not suffer. This indicates that alkali may contribute to the disease. Two of the samples Were high in nitrates. Table 19. Alkali in parts per million of soil, Webb county. _ Sul- Nitrates phates Chlorides Total Pink root present. 11528 Webb fine sandy loam, 0-6 inches. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050 237 114 1401 11529 Subsoil 11528, 6-12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 258 125 1123 11530 Subsoil 11528, 12 to 24 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050 95 166 1201 11531 Subsoil 11528, 24 to 36 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 208 197 705 11533 Webb fine sand, near flume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 286 284 680 11534 Subsoil 11533, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 204 148 462 11535 Subsoil 11533, 12 to 24 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 201 99 300 11540 Laredo silty loam . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4200 0 472 4672 11541 Subsoil to 11540, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1500 54 417 2071 11543 Laredo clay loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 438 429 870 11544 Subsoil to 11543, 6 to 12 inches. I . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 302 261 563 11559 Webb fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 298 289 596 11560 Subsoil to 11559, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 217 256 483 11557 Laredo silty loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 0 226 170 396 11558 Subsoil to 11557 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 233 117 350 No pink root 11536 Webb fine sandy 10am, no pink root . . . . . . . . . . . 30 300 191 521 11537 Subsoil 11536, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 296 172 498 11538 Webb fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 216 147 383 11539 Subsoil to 11538, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 200 218 426 11545 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 320 244 579 11546 Subsoil 11545, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 237 241 483 11547 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 176 203 382 11548 Subsoil to 11547, 6 to 12 inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 138 219 357 11549 Webb fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 213 180 396 11550 Subsoil to 11549, 6 to 12 inches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 160 201 361 11588 Soil near peeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9950 11589 Subsoil to 11588 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3298 11532 Alkali scrapings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5650 1465 2501 11542 Alkali scrapings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 570 345 The ordinary precautions for preventing accumulation of alkali in irrigated land are to irrigate only as often as may be necessary, in quantities sufficient to penetrate the soil, and carry off the alkali into the country drainage; to cultivate the surface and prevent evaporation from the surface With consequent rise of alkali; to put in drainage ditches where necessary, so that the Water can pass through the soil, and into the drainage ditches, carrying the alkali with it. These drain- age ditches may be open, or some form of tile drain. Nitrate of soda shouldbe used with caution on the heavier soils of this area, through which the irrigation water does not pass so rapidly, especially when there are indications or appearance of pink root. When nitrate of soda is used by the plants, the nitrogen is taken up, and the soda is left be- hind, for the most part as carbonate of soda. This acts physically .u_u~|-;-" ' SorLs 0F BELL, J EEEEEsoN, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB OoUNTIEs. 61 upon the soil grains, defiocculates them, and causes the soil to run together and pack, thereby hindering the irrigation water in passing through it. This, together with the actual amount of soda left in the soil bythe nitrate of soda, renders its use not so desirable upon heavier irrigated land in this section. It would be better to use sulphate of ammonia, cottonseed meal, bat guano, or some other form of nitrogen on such soils. On the other soils, such as the Webb gravelly sandy loam, the Webb fine sandy loam and the Webb fine sand, the nitrate of soda is much less likely to give rise to alkali, but even here it should be used cautiously when there are outbreaks of the pink root. POT EXPERIMENTS The results of pot experiments on some soils of Webb County are given in Table 20. The difference between the column headed PKN and the column headed NK gives the effect of phosphoric acid. The difference between the column headed PN and column headed PNK shows the effect of potash. The difference between the column headed PK and the column headed PNK is the effect of nitrogen. On Laredo fine sand the phosphoric acid increased the corn from 3.7 grams to» 16.2 grams or a total increase of 12.5 grams, due to the addition of phosphoric acid to the pot. The potash had no efiect, but on the other hand the crop without potash was somewhat larger than the one with potash. The addition of nitrogen increased the crop- from 12.5 grams to 16.2 grams, an increase of 3.7’ grams. There is a decided increase from the addition of phosphoric acid on all of the soils used in the pot experiments, with the exception of the Laredo silt clay. There were only a few experiments for potash, but potash was apparently not needed. There were a number of tests for the need of nitrogen. In some cases the nitrogen had little effect but with others there was a decided increase in crops caused by the addition of nitrogen. Tablei20. Pot experiments on Webb county soils, Webb county. Weight of crops in grams NK_ PNK PN PK 816 Laredo fine sand, surface soil. Corn 1907 . . . . . . . . . 3 .7 16.2 22 .2 12.5 . Sorghum 1908...... . . . . . . .. 25.0 22.2 18.4 827 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . . . Corn 1907 . . . . . . . . . 4.3 15.5 20.3 10.3 Sorghum 1909...... 4.8 13.3 13.1 8.1 962 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . . . Corn 1914 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 . . . . . . . . 21 .5 Sorghum 1914...... . . . . . . .. 15.5 . . . . . . .. 5.1 Corn 1915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15.6 . . . . . . .. 4.5 Sorghum 1915...... 22.5 . . . . . . .. 1.5 877 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11.8 ....'.... 10.0 Sorghum 1914 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3.3 . . . . . . .. 5.8 Corn 1914 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 20.9 . . . . . . .. ‘13.4 869 Laredo silt clay . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8.8 . . . . . . . . 8.6 Sorghum 1915...... . . . . . . .. 15.4 . . . . . . .. 21.2 Corn 1916 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 20.5 . . . . . . .. 5.9 Sorghum 1916...... . . . . . . .. 15.3 . . . . . . .. 4.0 831 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Corn 1907 . . . . . . . .. 53.3 60.0 . . . . . . .. 26.3 - Corn 1908 . . . . . . . .. 48.9 46.9 . . . . . . .. 14.0 830 Laredo gravelly loam . . . . . . . Corn 1908 . . . . . . . . . 4.5 . . . . . . . . 17.5 17.2 833 Laredo fine sandy loam. . . . . Corn 1907 . . . . . . . . . 13.0 29.0 24.8 22.5 872 Laredo fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . Corn 1914 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.8 . . . . . . . . 15.5 COMPOSITION OF ONIONS Table 21 contains the analysis of a number of samples of onions, col- lected partly in connection with the pink-root study, and partly for (52 TDEXAs AGRICITLTFUIL-kl} PJX1>11R11v11rNT STATION. the purpose of ascertaining the amount of phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogciii removed from the soil by onions 1n this district. The average estimation of plant food removed by onio11s 1s given in Table 1. On reference to this table we find that a crop of 20,000 pounds of onions removes approximately the same amounts of phosphoric acid and nitro- gen as a crop of 40 bushels ofcorn, but about 50 per cent. more potash- 'l‘able 21. Composition of onions as dried for analyfsis.—Per cent. Moisture Phos- Nitro- Insol- Lime Mag- lost in phoric gen Potash _ uble nesia prepar- aoid ash ation Bulbs normal ‘ 4745 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.03 2.50 2 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.1 4746 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .94 2.42 2 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91.6 11515 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.61 1.85 1 65 0 43 0.28 0 22 93.8 11520 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.50 1.20 1.40 2 60 1.93 0 49 90.8 7209 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.00 1.80 185 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91.1 7210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.84 1.56 1 99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91.0 7211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.73 1.61 1.70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91.1 Bulbs pink root 11518 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1 52 3.75 2 46 1 89 0.43 0 2O 87 0 11522 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.55 3.97 2.66 7 67 0.26 0 32 89 0 11516 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.54 3.60 2.69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81 Tops, normal 11521 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.14 0.55 1.32 . . . . . . .. 4.45 0.36 86.8 Tops, pink root _ 11517 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.60 2.18 2.98 5.60 0.17 0.28 72 7 11519 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.59 2.12 4.00 1.56 0.19 0 23 83.0 11523 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.46 1.85 2.79 . . . . . . .. 1.82 0 58 78.3 FERTILIZERS FOR ONIONS IN WEBB COUNTY A crop of 30,000 pounds of onions takes about '7 pounds of phos- phoric acid, 5'7 pounds of nitrogen, and 60 pounds of potash from the soil. Soils of Webb County are high in potash, and much lower in nitrogen and phosphoiricacid. Table shows the onion possibility of the average soil of this county, assuming that onions have the same power of taking plant food as corn and that an acre-foot weighs two million pounds. The table shows that the soil contains an abundance of potash and is not likely to need nitrogen. The Webb fine sand is low both in phosphoric acid and nitrogen. The. first need for onions as a fertilizer on these soils is nitrogen, next is phosphoric acid, and last is potash. A liberal application of fertilizer would consist of 25 pounds of phosphoric acid, 100 pounds of nitrogen, and 30 pounds of potash to the acre. With applications of barnyard manure and a legume-rotation, the amount of nitrogen need not be near the quantity stated. Table 22. Onion possibilities of Webb county soils, pounds per two million of soil. Active phosphoric Active Total acid potash nitrogen Laredo clay loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35000 91000 21840 Laredo silt loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35000 91000 ' 25740 Webb fine sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16800 78500 14040 Webb fine sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31500 91000 17940 Webb gravelly sandy loam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21000 91000 29640 -__. So1Ls or BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND “T121313 COUNTIES. 63 A good fertilizer Would be 1000 pounds containing about 5 per cent. phosphoric acid, 5 per cent. nitrogen, and 8 per cent. potash. The nitrogen could then be supplemented by a top dressing of 100 to 200 pounds of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia. The above fertilizer Would supply 50 pounds of phosphoric acid, While the onions require only '7 pounds. It Would seem that the. amount of phosphoric acid supplied could be reduced. A fertilizer containing 6 per cent. phosphoric acid, 8.3 per cent. nitrogen, and 3.3 per cent. potashis used by some onion growers at the. rate of 1000 pounds to the acre Withsupplements of nitrate of soda. This fertilizer supplies, 60 pounds of available phosphoric acid, While onions need only 7’, so that about eight times as much phosphoric acid is supplied as is needed. It Would be better to reduce the phos- phoric acid and increase the nitrogen. ~ _ Consideration of the composition of the soil and the analysis of the nitrogen lead to the opinion that the best fertilizer should be 500 pounds of a 5-5-5 fertilizer, supplemented by 25 to 50 pounds nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda or cottonseed meal or sulphate of ammonia. LEGUME-ROTATION IMPORTANT A proper legume-rotation is important for the soils of Webb County. Where alfalfa does Well, it Would be a good renovating crop. A legu1ne- rotation is important not only for the purpose of sup-plying vegetable matter and nitrogen to the soil, and placing it in better physical con- dition, but also for eliminating or reducing insect pests an.d plant dis- eases, such as the pink root of onions. As recommended by Dr. Tauben- haus in Bulletin No. 273, a rotation of crops Would be a great help in reducing the action of this disease. A good rotation is, therefore, highly to be recommended. A A . DESCRIPTION OF SOIL TYPES OF WEBB COUNTY Laredo Clay Lea-m.‘ The surface to an average depth of 10 to 12 inches, cansists of a heavy light broWn loam, Which contains enough clay to make it sticky and tenacious When Wet and to cause it to bake and sun crack on drying. This soil grades into a heavy broWn silty loam, of slightly heavier texture, Which becomes heavier, until at an average depth of about 20 inches it changes to a stifi, compact, silty clay of a dark-broWn color. The Laredo clay loam, though of very limited extent, is considered one of the most productive soils. The surface soil, When properly cul- tivated, breaks up into a friable loamy condition. The heavy subsoil is retentive of moisture, and the effects of fertilizer are lasting. The type occurs in tWo narroW strips, seldom more than a quarter of a mile Wide, located in the valley of the Rio Grande. One is sit- uated a feW miles north of Laredo, and the other in the extreme north- Western part of the area. The Laredo clay loam is an alluvial soil, formed from material deposited in the old flood plain of the Rio Grande. This soil is Well adapted to the production of onions Which are grown under irrigation. The average yield is about 20,000 pounds per acre. If heavy rains occur about the harvest season, the Water Which collects in the shalloW depressions ‘occupied by this soil, damages the crop. 64 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Alfalfa has been grown to a limited extent on the irrigated lands. Cab- bage and beets have also been successfully grown, but Irish potatoes do not do well. Corn has been grown on the irrigated areas and has yielded 15 to 2O bushels per acre on unirrigated lands. Sorghum pro- duces fairly good yields on irrigated soil. Cowpeas do exceedingly well on both the unirrigated and irrigated land, and where this crop has been grown and turned under the physical condition and general productiveness of the soil have been greatly improved. Sweet potatoes have been grown under irrigation with yields of about 150 bushels per acre. This soil is good in plant food; it is weakest in nitrogen. Laredo Silt Loam. The surface soil to a depth of about 12 inches consists of a gray to very light-brown silt loam, which usually contains a considerable amount of fine and very fine sand. The subsoil, from 12 to 36 inches, similar to the surface, usually contains less fine sand and is slightly lighter in color. The silty to very fine sandy texture of this soil makes it easy to cultivate, and the surface of the areas which have been cultivated, is friable and loamy. The surface of the uncul- tivated land is very dry and compact and often. has the general appear- ance of a soil of heavier texture. The Laredo silt loam occurs in one continuous strip, which borders the Rio Grande and extends along the entire western boundary of the area except in the extreme northwestern and southwestern corners, where the rolling hills extend down to the present channel of the stream. The topography as a whole is almost level. Because of its favorable situation and almost level topography, irrigation is prac- ticable over nearly all of its area; it is one of the most valuable soils of the area. The soiLQriginated as an alluvial deposit of the Rio Grands. A large percentage of the type is cultivated under irrigation. When irrigated, it produces very profitable yields of all the crops grown, but on the unirrigated areas the yields are usually light and the crops are often a total failure. The type seems well adapted to the production of onions and a very large proportion of the cultivated land is used for this crop. The aver- age yield has been estimated at about 18,000 to 20,000 pounds per acre, but during a favorable season 25,000 pounds per acre have been se- cured. Cotton has been grown under irrigation. Sweet potatoes have produced yields of 150 to 200 bushels per acre. Sweet potatoes, how- ever, require a large amount of water, and it has been found necessary to irrigate them very frequently in order to get the very best results. Some corn has been grown on the irrigated land and produced a yield of about 4L0 bushels per acre. . Cabbage produced about 18,000 pounds per acre. Beets and turnips do exceedingly well, and when irrigated and properly cultivated, fair yields of Irish potatoes have been obtained. Alfalfa is grown under irrigation, but it does not do well for more than one season. This soil is good in plant food; it needs nitrogen most. Webb Fine Sand. The Webb fine sand, to a depth of about 12 inches, consists of a fine sandy loam of red to reddish-brown color. The top 2 inches is usually a loose incoherent fine sand, but the struc- SorLs OF BELL, JEFFERSON, SMITH, TAYLOR AND WEBB COUNTIES. 65 ture of the soil as a whole is very compact. The subsoil is similar to the surface in color and texture, but usually becomes more loamy in its lower part and from about 20 to 36 inches becomes a very light sandy loam of a red to reddish-brown color. Two small areas of the Webb fine sand occur in the northwestern part of the survey. They occupy comparatively level to gently rolling country in the uplands, and often have an elevation of 50 feet or more above the level of the stream valleys. The soil is easily eroded. The native vegetation consists mainly of cactus and mesquite. The soil will need nitrogen and phosphoric acid first. Webb Fine Sandy Loam. The surface is a light-brown to reddish- brown fine sandy loam 10 to 12 inches deep. A few round gravel are sometimes found but the type is very uniform in texture, color, and general topographic features. The subsoil consists of a very sandy clay, which varies from brown to reddish-brown in color. This soil before being cleared supports a heavy growth of cactus and mesquite, but when cleared the fine sandy texture of the soil makes it ‘easy to cultivate, and the heavy subsoil enables it to conserve moisture. For this reason, the crops grown on the irrigated areas of this type do not require as much water as those grown on the soils underlain by a lighter-textured subsoil. The type is found occupying valleys and more level areas in all parts of the area surveyed. It also occupies that portion of the Rio Grande Valley that lies between the silty deposits bordering the stream and the foothills of the rolling uplands. The soil is productive and under irrigation gives very profitable yields of all the crops suited to the climatic conditions of the area. The irrigated land is used mainly for growing onions and seems well adapted to this crop, the average yield being about 20,000 pounds per acre. Cabbage, turnips, and beets have been grown. A few fruit trees planted on the type in recent years are in good condition. Sweet potatoes have been grown, the average yield being about 150 bushels per acre. Sorghum is grown for feed purposes and does fairly well without irrigation. A very large percentage of this type is still un- developed agriculturally. This soil is good in plant food. Nitrogen is needed most, according to our analyses. Webb Gravelly Sandy Loam. The surface soil consists of a light- brown to reddish-brown fine sandy loam containing large quantities of rounded, water-worn gravel, with an average depth of about 1O inches, but on the steep hill sides the fine sandy loam is eroded and is seldom more than a few inches deep. Rounded gravel left on the steep slopes cover 40 to 60 per cent. of the surface. The subsoil consists of a very sandy clay, brown to reddish-brown in color. It is sticky and tenacious when wet. It covers large portions of the area. It occupies uplands which extend from the northern to the southern boundary of the sur- vey in an almost unbroken series of rounded hills and narrow ridges. It is not well adapted to agricultural purposes, as it would be im- practicable to attempt its irrigation. 66 TEXAS AGRICIJIXFURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. A(JKNO\VLEDG1\IENT Chemical analyses and other work involved in the preparation of this bulletin has been taken part in by S. E. Asbury, T. L. Ogier, S. Lomanitz, and other members of the stafi. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS This bulletin deals with tl1e chemical composition, fertility; and pos- sible chemical needs of various types of soils from Bell, Jefferson, Smith, Taylor, and Webb Counties.