GIFT OF

>o .^

Issued October 21, 1911.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF SOILS— CIRCULAR No. 46.
MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau.

SOUS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE— XXIII.

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM.

BY

JAY A. BONSTEEL,

Scientist in Soil Survey.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1911.

BUREAU OF SOILS.

MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau.
ALBEBT G. RICE, Chief Clerk.

SCIENTIFIC STAFF.

FRANK K. CAMERON, in charge of Physical and Chemical Investigations.
CURTIS F. MARBVT, in charge of Soil Survey.
OSWALD SCHREINER, in charge of Fertility Investigations.
2

SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE-XXIII.

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam, in common with the other mem-
bers of the Orangeburg series, is found within the Atlantic and
Gulf Coastal Plains from southeastern North Carolina to west-cen-
tral Texas. By far the greater area of this soil occurs in two sepa-
rate belts in the east Gulf coast region and in one extensive region
west of the Mississippi River. The first of the eastern regions
marked by the widespread distribution of this type lies in northern
Florida, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, and adjacent por-
tions of Mississippi around Mobile Bay. Within this territory the
type is not one of the dominant soils, being exceeded in area by
members of the Norfolk and other series, although aggregating many
thousands of acres in extent. The second of the eastern belts extends
from south-central Georgia westward through central Alabama into
northeastern Mississippi. Within this region the Orangeburg fine
sandy loam and other members of the same series are widely distrib-
uted and in many of the soil survey areas constitute the dominant
soil types.

West of the Mississippi River there is a large area within which
the Orangeburg fine sandy loarn and members of the series occupy
important rank in _ point of area and agricultural value. This
region comprises the northern and northwestern portion of Louisiana,
southwestern Arkansas, the extreme northeastern portion of Texas,
and a broad belt extending from the vicinity of Shreveport, La.,
southwest to the vicinity of San Antonio, Tex. In this timbered
region, which separates extensive prairie areas, the members of the
Orangeburg series are important soils and the Orangeburg fine
sandy loam is the most important, both in extent and in agricultural
value.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is preeminently a Gulf region
soil type with only scattered occurrences along the Atlantic coast.
It has been encountered in 50 different soil survey areas located in
10 States, and has been mapped to the extent of 2,507,840 acres.
Since only about one-seventh of the total area of the Coastal Plain

3

4 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

region has been covered by surveys, it is probable that the comple-
tion of the work will show from 15,000,000 to 17,000,000 acres of this
single soil type within the Coastal Plain soil province. In this con-
nection it may be said that more than three-fourths of the entire
area of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam included in the completed
soil surveys lies in the four States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi-
ana, and Texas.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL.

The surface soil of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam to an average
depth of 10 or 12 inches is a gray or brown fine sandy loam. This
grades downward into a deep red sandy clay which extends to a total
depth of 3 feet or more and in turn may be underlain at still greater
depths by a stiff red clay. There usually is no well-defined boundary
between the fine sandy loam surface soil and the mortarlike sandy
clay subsoil. The latter frequently contains quite a proportion
of medium to coarse sand, which renders it somewhat friable
when partly dry. Wherever drainage is excessive, or where inter-
tilled crops have been grown for a long period of years without
proper attention to the restoration of organic matter, the surface soil
has a light gray color. In soils newly cleared, or upon fields where
the organic matter content has been maintained, the surface soil is
darker and usually of some tinge of brown or even chocolate.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam and its associated soils of the
Orangeburg series are easily distinguished from the soils of the Nor-
folk series, which are characterized by gray surface soils and yellow
subsoils, or from the soils of the Portsmouth series, which have a
dark-brown or black surface soil and gray or mottled subsoil. The
distinctive deep red coloring of the subsoils of the Orangeburg series
might be confused with that of the Greenville series but for the fact
that the surface soils of this latter group are distinctly red as con-
trasted with the gray or brown of the Orangeburg. The coloration
of the soils of the Guin series is light orange or pale red as dis-
tinguished from the deep red of the Orangeburg series. The Orange-
burg fine sandy loam may be distinguished from the Susquehanna
fine sandy loam through the fact that the subsoil of the latter type
is a stiff plastic red or orange clay, nearly always mottled at greater
depths.

SURFACE FEATURES AND DRAINAGE.

The general surface features of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam
are closely similar in all of the many areas where it has been en-
countered. There are minor variations, however, which have ai
important bearing, not so much upon the crop adaptations of the
soil type as upon the possibility of its use for any agricultural pur-

THE OBANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 5

pose. The surface of the type is generally rolling to somewhat hilly,
with level areas broken by low, rounded ridges, or bounded by sharp
hill slopes, often badly eroded. In the southern belt of the Gulf
regions where this type is prevalent there are few high hills or steep
slopes and the surface configuration is undulating to rolling. It
occupies the higher elevations and is surrounded most frequently by
soil types of other series, particularly the Norfolk.

In the more inland localities in the eastern Gulf region the type
is found at still higher altitudes and is rolling to hilly. A consider-
able proportion of the area of the type thus far mapped in central
Alabama and northeastern Mississippi may be characterized as hilly
to rough and broken with erosion as a marked feature on some portions
of each area. The Louisiana-Texas region is one of rolling to hilly
topography with numerous steep slopes, and a considerable propor-
tion of the area of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is either threat-
ened by erosion or actually eroded in all of its marginal positions.

The belt immediately along the eastern Gulf coast which is occu-
pied by the Qrangeburg fine sandy loam rises to altitudes of 80 to 150
feet and constitutes the higher land of this section. The central
area where the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is strongly developed
rises from 200 to 500 feet above sea level and is deeply dissected by
the larger south-flowing streams of Alabama and Mississippi. In
the Louisiana-Texas region the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is found
at elevations ranging from 100 or 125 feet to 350 feet and occa-
sionally 500 feet along the western margin of the region in northern
Texas and southern Oklahoma.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is universally well drained, and
there are practically no swampy areas of any extent within the
regions of its occurrence. Its elevated position gives rise to rapid
gradients in the stream channels and to sharp slopes from the up-
lands down to the drainage levels. Erosion is everywhere active,
particularly along the borders of the type and is one of the greatest
menaces to agriculture.

LIMITATIONS IN USE.

The soft friaole surface soil of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam
is competent to absorb a large amount of moisture and to store it for
crop uses. The sandy clay subsoil also prevents excessive percolation
of soil moisture, making the type well suited to general farm crops
as distinguished from the market-garden or truck crops which are
best grown upon less retentive soils. For this reason it is considered
one of the best general farming soils of the Gulf Coastal Plain and
well adapted to upland cotton, corn, winter oats, cowpeas, and cer-
tain other staple crops.

6 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

In fields which have been long tilled the surface soil usually lacks
organic matter. The remedy for this condition lies with each in-
dividual farmer. Improvement with respect to the humus content
may be secured within short periods of time through the use of proper
methods for the restoration of organic matter to the soil.

The drainage of the type is excellent and only in a few cases ex-
cessive. In consequence, little attention need be paid to the construc-
tion of open ditches or to ridding the soil of excess moisture in the
majority of the areas where it is found. Erosion constitutes one of
the most serious dangers with which the farmers upon this type are
forced to contend. The elevated position and the rolling to hilly
character of the country where the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is
most widely developed, coupled with the normally heavy rainfall
which occurs during the earlier months of spring before vegetation
is fully developed, make erosion a serious problem in its cultivation.
It is desirable therefore that only the more moderate slopes within
the area of this soil type should be occupied for the intertilled crops.
Slopes of more than 10° declivity should be occupied by pasture
grasses, while the steepest slopes should be allowed to remain in
forest. Even over the more gentle slopes of the tilled fields it
is desirable that contour farming and terracing should be adopted
whereby the furrows are drawn around the circumference of the
slope with only slight inclination from a level position.

Upon all of the steeper slopes frequent terraces should be left in
sod, in order to intercept the flow of water across the surface. If
this method of cultivation is carefully followed and deeper plowing
practiced over the greater portion of the type, danger from erosion
will be minimized, although under no conditions entirely obviated.
Wherever possible some winter cover crop should occupy the surface
soil after the, picking of the cotton or the removal of the corn crop.
If these precautions should be adopted generally in the tillage of the
Orangeburg fine sandy loam, not only would the crop yields be
profitably increased, but thousands of additional acres might be
brought under cultivation.

Aside from the gullying of the steeper slopes through excessive
erosion, there are practically no obstructions to the tillage of the
Orangeburg fine sandy loam. Both soil and subsoil are stone free,
and upon all of the more gentle slopes heavier teams and implements
may be used, and should be used, for the preparation of the land and
the tillage of the crop.

All of the more extensive areas of this soil occur within the warm
temperate zone of the Gulf region. Rainfall is adequate and often
excessive, and in many instances the tempering influence of the Gulf
climate so modifies the growing season as to make possible the pro-
duction of all of those crops suited to a warm temperate climate.

THE OEANGEBUEG FINE SANDY LOAM. (

This favorable location of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, coupled
with its inherent individual characteristics, renders it one of the
most valuable of the upland soils of the Gulf region.

IMPROVEMENT IN SOIL EFFICIENCY.

The greatest improvement in the agricultural efficiency of the
Orangeburg fine sandy loam can probably be secured through proper
attention to the prevention of erosion of its surface. In many areas
where the soil has been mapped, particularly in the inland belts and at
the higher elevations, the deforestation of considerable areas has ac-
celerated erosion. The erosion has principally been marginal through
the cutting back of the multitude of smaller streams on the steep
slopes. This could be largely avoided by the construction of brjish
dams or other obstructions across the heads of gullies and around the
margins of tilled fields to prevent the bodily washing away of the
surface soil and subsoil.

The wasting of the land area of the type must be prevented. The
reforestation of considerable areas of the steeper slopes and the
prevention of additional gullying constitutes one of the most im-
portant needs of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam. Each individual
farmer should take the utmost care that all of his tillage operations
tend toward contour farming and the terracing of the fields to
prevent destructive wash across the surface of even gentle slopes.
Deeper plowing of the soil is imperative. The absorption of large
amounts of rainwater falling within a brief period of time is impos-
sible unless the surface soil is open and friable to a considerable
depth. The producing capacity of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam
is almost universally increased by deeper plowing, provided this be
done gradually at the rate of about 1 inch each year. Usually this
soil is not plowed over 3 inches deep on the majority of cotton farms
within the area where it is found. This depth should gradually be in-
creased until at each breaking the surface soil has been plowed to
at least 8 or 9 inches. Upon fields where this deeper plowing is the
common practice, and where other necessary precautions are taken,
there is little trouble from erosion, and the crop yields are very
decidedly increased.

The restoration of organic matter to the surface soil possesses a
double value in increasing its crop-producing power. In the first
place, it is essential in the constitution of a complete soil. In the
second place, the fibrous nature of the material tends to bind the soil
together, to absorb larger quantities of moisture, and to prevent
erosion. One of the most economical methods for the incorporation
of organic matter in the soils of the majority of cotton plantations of
the South is the production of a leguminous winter cover crop, which
prevents erosion through its matted surface vegetation during the

8 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

fall and winter rains and which may be turned under at a sufficiently
early date in the spring to permit of the seasonable planting of either
cotton or corn.

A wide variety of crops may be used for this purpos'e upon the
Orangeburg fine sandy loam. In all of the more elevated regions
crimson clover constitutes an excellent winter cover crop. It may
be sown between the rows of corn at the last working and will
make a good growth during the autumn months. In the milder
climate near the coast this growth may be continued throughout the
entire winter period. In all cases a heavy mat of vegetation is
formed over the surface of the soil, and this may be grazed by the
work stock without detriment either to the soil or to the crop. In
the early spring the green manure may be turned under to restore
organic matter to the surface soil.

Cowpeas make an excellent green manuring crop, which may be
sown in midseason and harvested for hay, leaving the stubble and
roots for incorporation in the soil or the crop may be sown at a later
date, left upon the ground during the winter months, and turned
under in preparation for spring planting. The velvet bean, soy bean,
bur clover, and even lespedeza all have their value for such purposes
in the different localities where they are easily grown.

In addition to these more valuable leguminous crops for green
manuring purposes, winter oats may be grown almost universally
upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, to be grazed off during the
winter and early spring or to be turned under bodily for the restora-
tion of organic matter. At the higher altitudes and in more northern
locations winter rye may be similarly used, or even winter wheat.
One or more of these crops should be grown upon every cotton plan-
tation for the protection of the surface soil during the periods of
winter rains and for the purpose of green manuring with the spring
preparation of the land. The application of lime will promote the
decomposition of the green manuring crop, and will assist in the
preparation of the soil for the succeeding money crop of the summer
season. The lime should be applied at the rate of 1,000 to 2,000
pounds per acre, depending upon the luxuriance of the growth which
is turned under.

It is somewhat difficult to recommend any exact fertilizer practice
for such a widely extended soil type, with such different conditions of
climate, tillage, and crop production. It has been found through the
experience of farmers and the work of agricultural experiment sta-
tions that the greatest increases in crop yields upon the Orangeburg
fine sandy loam and upon similar soils are secured through the liberal
use of those commercial fertilizers which contain high percentages of
nitrogen and of phosphoric acid. A smaller percentage of potash is
usually found adequate, and in some cases excellent crops have been

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 9

secured even when the potash was omitted from the fertilizer formula.
This is not generally to be recommended, although the percentage of
potash salts present may be somewhat small for this type. It has
frequently been found to be excellent practice to use a home-mixed
fertilizer consisting of one part acid phosphate and two parts cotton-
seed meal. This should be applied at the rate of 500 pounds per acre,
with the addition of 100 pounds of kainit. A somewhat smaller
application is sufficient for the corn crop, while one-half of this
amount is enough for winter oats. The cottonseed meal supplies a
considerable percentage of nitrogen in .such a form that the slow de-
cay of this organic manure maintains the supply against the per-
colation of excessive rainfall and thus favorably affects the crop
growth through a longer period of time than is possible when the
nitrogen is derived from other sources.

Wherever possible, all stable and yard manures should be saved
and applied to the tilled land for use with the chemical fertilizers.
The addition of organic matter in any form is one of the best means
of increasing crop growth upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam.
Usually the applications of commercial fertilizer to the cotton crop
upon this type are entirely too small to be effective. The addition
of 200 to 250 pounds of the cheaper grades of fertilizer can scarcely
be expected to produce any marked results either in the growth of the
-current crop or in the permanent increase of the producing capacity
of the soil.

LIMITATIONS UPON SPECIAL CROPS.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is not so well adapted to the
production of special crops as of the general farm crops. There are
two chief exceptions to this rule. It is preeminently the best peach
soil of the Gulf Coastal Plain region, owing to the inherent charac-
teristics of the soil itself and to the elevated and well drained posi-
tion which it normally occupies. The surface soil is easily tilled
and kept in condition. The subsoil is sufficiently retentive of mois-
ture to give good tree growth, and the elevation and slopes are such
as to give good air and water drainage over considerable areas of
the type. In consequence it has come to be the chosen soil for peach
orcharding, not only in the long-established Georgia peach region,
but also in the Alabama and Texas regions, where this industry is
rapidly becoming established. The Elberta peach is the variety most
commonly planted in the commercial orchards, but numerous others
have been found successful under varying local conditions. The
more elevated portions of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam which
possess an undulating to gently rolling surface configuration and
good air and water drainage are especially suited to peach pro-
duction.

8479°— Cir. 46—11 2

10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

With the introduction of the cultivation of Cuban cigar filler
tobacco it was found that the Orangeburg fine sandy loam and its
associated type, the Orangeburg sandy loam, provided those soil con-
ditions essential for the production of a large crop of tobacco with
the necessary body and aroma to constitute a suitable cigar filler.
In consequence, this special crop has been introduced upon this soil
in southwestern Georgia, southern and central Alabama, and in
eastern Texas.' These two soils are preeminently the best adapted to
the production of this grade of tobacco of any to be found within
the Gulf region of the United States. Under suitable climatic con-
ditions the extension of the production of the Cuban cigar-filler
tobacco upon these two types is to be recommended.

EXTENT OF OCCUPATION.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam has been extensively occupied for
agricultural purposes. Upon all of the more level to rolling areas,
particularly in the vicinity of the main routes of transportation,
this soil is considered one of the best upland cotton soils and as
such it is coming to be generally occupied for cotton and corn pro-
duction. In a large number of the soil survey areas where this type
has been encountered it is recorded as " chiefly cleared and esteemed
as one of the best cotton soils." There still remain thousands of
acres of the type, particularly in southern and central Alabama and
in northeastern Texas, which have not been utilized for agricultural
purposes and which may be occupied for the production of general
and special crops as transportation facilities in these regions are
improved. Wherever the surface topography is hilly or broken, and
in certain areas where transportation facilities are inadequate, a
considerable part of the type still remains in forest or is only par-
tially occupied for pioneer farming.

CROP ADAPTATIONS.

The most important crop produced upon the Orangeburg fine
sandy loam is upland cotton. Among the upland. Coastal Plain soils
the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, and its closely associated type,
the Orangeburg sandy loam, constitute by far the best cotton soils
of the timbered regions and are only equalled or excelled for the
production of upland cotton by the soils of the Houston series, which
are found in the black Cretaceous prairies of Alabama, Mississippi,
and Texas. The soil is sufficiently rolling to possess excellent natural
surface drainage without being so hilly as to offer any natural ob-
struction to the cultivation of large areas. The surface soil is mellow,
friable, and easily maintained in good tilth. It is open and absorbs
a large proportion of the rain which falls upon its surface. It is

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 11

sufficiently friable to prevent baking or clodding, and its internal
drainage is adequate, so that tillage operations may be undertaken
almost immediately after a season of rain. The presence of the
sandy clay subsoil, and even of clay at greater depths, retards the
percolation of moisture and holds an adequate supply within the
subsoil during the entire period of growth of the cotton plant. The
surface soil is sufficiently sandy to be warm and to force the plant
to early growth without being so heavily charged with organic mat-
ter or so moist as to make growth of " weed " at the expense of
fruiting. In consequence the Orangeburg fine sandy loam when
properly handled constitutes one of the best cotton soils to be found
in the Southern States.

In spite of the natural advantages afforded by this soil for cotton
production, there is such a wide variation in the efficiency with which
it is tilled and planted that there is a great range in the yields of
cotton secured from the type. In almost all cases new land of this
type when first planted to cotton yields in excess of one-half bale
per acre and upon the best tilled farms, even after generations
of cotton production, yields of one-half to 1 bale per acre are fre-
quent. On the other hand, upon farms and plantations where little
attention has been paid to the maintenance of organic matter in the
surface soil, where plowing is shallow, and where the subsequent till-
age of the crop is not properly conducted for the maintenance of an
adequate moisture supply in the surface soil the yields sink as low as
two-fifths bale per acre for a general average. The soil itself under
almost all circumstances can produce in excess of one-half bale per
acre. Any yield below this quantity merely marks inadequate man-
agement of the land. In the Gulf Coast region of southern Georgia,
southern Alabama, and western Florida, cotton yields range from
one-half to 1 bale per acre, and the type is esteemed as the best cotton
land of the section with the possible exception of small areas of the
Greenville fine sandy loam or the Tifton sandy loam.

In the interior belt of Alabama and Mississippi, where the Orange-
burg fine sandy loam is widely developed, there is a considerably
greater range in cotton yields, due to the fact that a larger propor-
tion of the type is hilly and broken. Many slopes too steep for any
cultivation are annually planted to this crop. As a result, the yields
frequently sink below one-half bale to the acre and seldom average
more than that amount. This is due in part to faulty methods of
tillage and in part to an attempt to till areas which should be in
pasture or in forest. In the Louisiana-Texas belt a smaller propor-
tion of the total area of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam has been
brought under cultivation than in the other two regions where it is
prevalent. As a result, there are even wider variations in the yields
secured, due to the causes already enumerated.

12 SOILS OP THE EASTEKN UNITED STATES.

The type will be found to produce about 300 pounds of lint cotton
per acre, which is easily exceeded by the best farmers and is rarely
attained by those using less efficient methods.

For increasing the efficiency of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam
as a cotton producing soil the following improvements must all be
adopted in the treatment of this type :

(1) The restoration and maintenance of organic matter in the
surface soil through the plowing under of leguminous green manur-
ing crops, the use of cottonseed meal as an organic manure, or the
production and application of larger quantities of stable and yard
manures upon the cotton lands.

(2) Of almost equal importance is the gradual increase in the
depth of plowing, so that instead of an average depth of 3 inches
or less, the surface soil shall be plowed at least an inch deeper each
year until the total depth of plowing reaches 6 inches, or more if
practicable. The increase in depth of plowing is most essential upon
the moderate slopes where some degree of erosion is experienced each
year and is less necessary upon the level areas at the foot of slopes
where soil eroded from higher-lying positions is accumulated. Upon
the steepest slopes cultivation should be attempted only in conjunc-
tion with contour farming and the terracing of the land.

(3) The adoption of a systematic crop rotation is also a funda-
mental requisite for increasing the productiveness of this soil for
cotton and other crops. At present there is too great a tendency to
plant every available acre of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam to cot-
ton each year. Cotton should be planted for one year upon a portion
of the acreage, to be followed by a winter crop of oats for forage
purposes, or of crimson clover for grazing, and later to serve as a
green manure. The following season corn may be planted upon the
same acreage, and cowpeas should be sown between the rows at the
last cultivation. It is then possible to return, for the third season,
to the beginning of the rotation and to plant cotton again, although
it would be advisable in many instances to devote the third year in
the rotation to the production of cowpeas, soy beans, or some other
leguminous forage crop, to be used to sustain the work stock of the
plantation. Where the necessary precautions of deep plowing, resto-
ration of organic matter, liming, and inoculation are practiced, a fair
to good stand of alfalfa may be secured upon this type, and in many
instances could profitably be introduced into the rotation upon all
farms and plantations of sufficient size to furnish an acreage large
enough to justify a five or six year rotation.

(4) It is also essential that intertillage methods should be adopted
for the cotton crop which will tend to the maintenance of moisture in
the surface soil and the immediate subsoil. The most essential of
these methods is the frequent stirring of the surface soil, not with

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 13

the small turn plow but rather with the spiked tooth cultivator and
the sweep, so that weed growths may be prevented and the surface
inch to inch and a half of soil may be kept thoroughly pulverized to
form a dust mulch for the prevention of excessive evaporation.
During the earlier period of growth of the cotton the older methods
of cultivation are not particularly harmful and deep tillage in the
center of the " middles " will not be detrimental, but after the cotton
reaches a height of more than 1 foot, shallow cultivation, especially
near to the rows, should be the only kind permitted. Otherwise the
surf ace- feeding roots of the cotton plant will be destroyed and the
power of the individual plant to secure moisture and nourishment
from the soil materially lessened.

It is true that these methods of tillage apply to practically all
sandy loam and fine sandy loam soils of the cotton-producing States,
but their greatest efficiency in increasing the yields of cotton is most
apparent upon such soil types as the Orangeburg fine sandy loam,
the Orangeburg sandy loam, the Norfolk fine sandy loam, the Nor-
folk sandy loam, and other types with sandy surface soils.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is considered better adapted to
the production of cotton than to the growing of corn, and the yields
of the latter crop are relatively low as compared with the average
yields for cotton. Nevertheless the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is a
fair corn soil if the average yields of corn in the cotton-growing
States are taken as a basis for comparison. The crop is seriously
neglected upon practically all cotton plantations, and the ability of
the Orangeburg fine sandy loam to produce corn under proper
methods of tillage has rarely been tested. In the coast region along
the eastern portion ef the Gulf of Mexico yields range from 8 to 30
bushels upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, while maximum yields
of TO and 80 bushels per acre have been reported. This variation in
yield in itself indicates differences in the efficiency of tillage rather
than any deficiency in the soil itself.

The requisites for cotton production, as given above, apply with
almost equal force to the growing of the corn crop. It should be
possible, with proper preparation of the land and proper tillage of
the crop, to maintain average yields of not less than 30 bushels per
acre. Wherever possible, corn should be planted upon those portions
of the type which possess the deeper surface soil, since corn in general
requires a deeper zone for root growth than does cotton. Thus level
or gently inclined areas of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, lying
at the foot of slopes, which have accumulated something of a wash
from higher lying soils, which usually show an organic matter content
in excess of the average of the type, and which possess a tendency
toward subirrigation through the seeping of water from higher
levels constitute the areas upon which corn will give its largest yields.

14 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

Since the higher lying areas are almost equally well suited for cotton
production, a selection should be made of the areas to be planted to
the two crops in accordance with the above directions.

In the inland belt of the eastern Gulf section, where the Orange-
burg fine sandy loam is widely developed, the yields of corn range
from 8 to 25 bushels, and about the same range is found in the
Louisiana-Texas belt. The lower yields are chiefly caused by exces-
sive erosion over some portions of the type, which unfits them for
corn. Wherever the seasonal rainfall is light, approaching the criti-
cal amount for corn production, only the areas with deeper surface
soil should be selected for this crop.

Oats constitute a very important crop for winter production upon
the Orangeburg fine sandy loam. In the cotton States the crop is
chiefly grown to be cut as hay for the feeding of work stock. It is
therefore difficult to estimate the possible grain yields per acre. In
many instances where the oats have been thrashed, yields have ranged
from 15 to 30 or 35 bushels, and the latter yield could easily be se-
cured with the adoption of a proper rotation and of that degree of
carefulness of tillage requisite for the management of this soil.

Cowpeas are coming to be extensively grown, both for hay and as
a green manuring crop. Wherever sown for hay the land is plowed
broadcast and the cowpeas are drilled or broadcasted in. Excellent
yields are reported, ranging from 2 to 4 tons per acre of cowpea hay.
The land is benefited not only by the growing of a leguminous crop
in proper rotation, but also through the plowing in of a large mass
of organic matter, consisting of the stubble and roots of the plants.
Upon plantations where cowpeas are annually grown for forage pur-
poses unusually large amounts of stable and yajrd manure are com-
mOnly made. Thus the supply of organic matter for the fertilization
of intertilled crops is doubly increased and the practice of producing
a considerable area of cowpeas for hay is highly to be recommended
upon all cotton plantations where the dominant soil is the Orangeburg
fine sandy loam, or one of similar characteristics. Cowpeas are also
sown between the rows of corn at the last cultivation and may be
either grazed off or turned under in the succeeding spring as a green
manuring crop.

Cotton, corn, winter oats, and cowpeas constitute the principal
staple crops which are well suited for production upon the Orange-
burg fine sandy loam wherever it is used for any system of general
farming, including cotton as the main money crop. The growing of
the other three in proper rotation will not only increase the cotton
yields, but will also decrease or eliminate the heavy annual expendi-
tures for grain and forage for the work stock and other farm ani-
mals and will ultimately reduce the heavy annual expenditures for
fertilizer.

THE OEANGEBUEG FINE SANDY LOAM. 15

Special crops. — During the past decade a strong effort has been
made to produce upon American soil a grade of cigar-filler tobacco
which would equal or approach in quality the Cuban-grown tdbaccos
of a similar class. The greatest measure of success in this direction
has been attained upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam and the
Orangeburg sandy loam in western Florida, southwestern Georgia,
southern Alabama, and portions of eastern Texas. The crop is grown
in the open field, without shade, and is best suited to the medium deep
phase of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam or to a somewhat shallow
phase of the Orangeburg sandy loam. Both soils are competent to
produce heavy yields per acre under proper methods of tillage and
fertilization, and both produce tobacco having the body, texture, and
aroma necessary for a good cigar filler. It is not possible to attain
success in the production of filler tobacco, even upon these types of
soil, unless the utmost attention is paid to the deep and thorough
preparation of the land, to the maintenance of a large supply of
organic matter in the surface soil, to the heavy fertilization of the
crop by the use of 500 pounds or more of special commercial fer-
tilizer, and by the thorough tillage and tending of the crop during
every stage of its growth. Tobacco is an exacting crop in regard to
land preparation and the labor which must be bestowed upon it
during its growth, curing, and preparation for the market. The
yields secured upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam range from 500
to 1,200 pounds or more per acre, and it may be characterized as tho
most valuable soil of the Southern States for the production of the
Cuban type of filler tobacco. In all three of the different regions in
which the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is characteristically developed
successful attempts at the production of this crop have been made.

In a number of scattered localities alfalfa has been successfully
grown upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam. The type lacks one of
the fundamental essentials for the easy and natural production of
alfalfa. It is not particularly calcareous either in soil or subsoil,
and in consequence land w^hich is to be devoted to alfalfa production
must be heavily limed. This is best accomplished through the appli-
\ cation of not less than 2,000 pounds per acre of burned stone lime,
slaked in the field, spread evenly over the surface, and harrowed in
to a depth of 2 or 3 inches at least two weeks before the crop is to be
seeded. Careful attention to artificial inoculation of the soil is
essential. This may be accomplished through the application of the
commercial cultures or by broadcasting from 500 to 1,000 pounds of
inoculated surface soil from an established alfalfa field. These are
the two chief precautions which must be taken for seeding to this
special crop. The soil which is selected for alfalfa growing should
be sufficiently productive to be able to grow more than one-half bale
of cotton to the acre or in excess of 30 bushels of corn. Otherwise

16 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

the production of alfalfa should not be attempted at once, and a
year or more should be devoted to building up the land, chiefly
through the incorporation of organic matter and the increase in the
depth of the surface soil. It is also essential that the area to be
devoted to alfalfa growing should be thoroughly summer fallowed
and cultivated at frequent intervals for the destruction of weeds be-
fore seeding is attempted. Where these precautions are taken, alfalfa
growing has proved successful on the Orangeburg fine sandy loam
and there are many scattered fields of small area located upon the
type which are cutting 3 tons or more of hay per acre each year.
With the present high price of alfalfa and other hay in practically
all of the cotton-growing States, yields of this magnitude compete
with cotton in acreage profit, while the labor required to tend and
harvest the crop is far less in the case of the alfalfa, as the greater
proportion of it can be performed by machinery.

Vegetable and fruit crops. — The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is
not a type suited to market gardening or trucking. It is sufficiently
valuable to warrant the more extensive growing of a few selected
vegetables, especially sweet potatoes, either for home use or for ship-
ment to the northern markets. Yields of To to 250 bushels per acre
are commonly reported, and with proper attention to the prepara-
tion and fertilization of the land an average yield in excess of 150
bushels per acre may be readily secured.

Irish potatoes, for local consumption or for shipment during mid-
season to the northern markets, are also profitably grown on the
Orangeburg fine sandy loam. The yields are about the same as for
sweet potatoes or a little less. With greater attention to the prepa-
ration of the land, the incorporation of organic matter in the sur-
face soil, and the heavy fertilization of the crop, coupled with
proper tillage and, in some instances, with the spraying of the vines
to combat insect pests and fungous disease, this soil would prove
admirably adapted to potato growing.

Among the special crops for market-gardening or trucking pur-
poses, tomatoes probably constitute the crop best suited to the Or-
angeburg fine sandy loam. Considerable areas of the type in central
Mississippi and in northeastern Texas are already devoted to the
production of this crop, with excellent results, and large additional
areas with proper transportation facilities might well be occupied
for tomato growing. Wherever possible the portion of the crop not
shipped in baskets to the northern markets should be canned at local
establishments. The yield per acre ranges from 100 to 150 bushels
under normal conditions, or to double that yield where conditions are
exceptionally favorable. Watermelons and cantaloupes are grown
locally and produce fair yields of good quality. It is probable that
the more sandy soils, such as the Norfolk fine sand, the Norfolk sand,

THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 17

and the Orangeburg sand and fine sand, are better suited to the pro-
duction of melons as a trucking crop.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam constitutes one of the best of the
Coastal Plain soils for the production of peaches. The most suc-
cessful areas devoted to peach orcharding in central Georgia are
dominated by this type. Commercial orchards have also been planted
in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas; and in all instances where
proper attention has been paid to the selection of sites which, through
their elevated and rolling nature, possess good air and water drain-
age, the orchards have been successful. The trees make good healthy
growth, come into bearing at an early date, and produce peaches of
exceptionally fine flavor and color. The Elberta variety is favored
for the principal plantings, but several others are also grown in
different localities. It is probable that no other Coastal Plain soil
type can compete with the Orangeburg fine sandy loam for the pro-
duction of this fruit.

It is evident from a consideration of the Orangeburg fine sandy
loam, either as a general farming soil or as a vegetable and fruit
producing soil, that the type is exceptionally valuable in all areas
where it occurs with undulating to rolling surface topography. In
the hilly and broken regions its use for agricultural purposes is not
yet required, and such areas should remain in forest, or wrhere cut
over should be reforested.

Both the longleaf and loblolly pine are indigenous to the type,
and the latter tree readily reseeds upon all deforested areas which are
not at once overgrown to scrubby hardwoods and are reasonably
well protected from accidental fires. The time has arrived when the
timber crop must be considered as an essential part of the revenue-
producing resources of many Southern farms. It should be possible
for the majority of farms and plantations located in the more rolling
sections occupied by the Orangeburg vfine sandy loam and its asso-
ciated types to foster a growth of these Valuable species of timber
trees and, through properly directed management of wood-lot and
forest areas, to increase the revenues derived from annual crops by
the sale of selected timber.

FARM EQUIPMENT.

Farm equipment ranges from the light-weight one-mule hitch to
the three or four mule hitch used for hauling the heavy disk plows
and disk harrows. With a better understanding of the capabilities of
this soil and with increased prosperity of the farmers, leading to the
introduction of more adequate and modern farm machinery, there
will undoubtedly be rapid improvement in the farm equipment over
areas occupied by the Orangeburg fine sandy loam.

For the proper tillage of this type upon any large scale, medium
to heavy weight work stock should be employed, and the greatest

18 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

economy in the preparation of the land and its subsequent tillage,
together with increased crop yields, will be secured by the deep-cut-
ting disk plow and disk harrows which plow the land broadcast and
throw the loose surface material into a mellow, even mass. By the
use of such machinery the land is more quickly prepared and cotton
in particular may be planted seasonably upon a larger acreage. The
trash of the preceding summer's growth is thoroughly chopped down
and incorporated in the surface soil to add needed organic matter,
and through the use of disk cultivators a shallow dust mulch is
easily maintained during the latter part of the growing season.
There is a rapidly increasing tendency toward the use of such tools
and equipment in the tillage of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam,
and the average crop yields of the type will be increased with the
extension of their introduction.

SUMMARY.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is one of the most extensively
developed of the Coastal Plain soils. It is found chiefly in the Gulf
Coast region, although scattered areas exist in the Middle Atlantic
States. It occurs in three extensive belts — the first extending from
southwestern Georgia and northern Florida westward through south-
ern Alabama near to the Gulf coast, the second extending from
west-central Georgia through central Alabama into eastern and
northeastern Mississippi, and the third covering the greater portion
of northern Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, and northeastern
Texas and extending across the Red River into southern Oklahoma.

It lies at altitudes ranging from 80 to 250 feet in the eastern Gulf
region and from 150 to 500 feet in the Louisiana -Texas region. The
surface features of the type are either gently undulating to rolling
or steeply sloping and hilly in the higher lying portions of the type
near its inland margin. Drainage is generally excellent.

Erosion is the greatest menace, and all of the steeper slopes should
be carefully tended to prevent an almost imperceptible wash of the
finer grained material to lower levels.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam lies within the belt of the warm
temperate Gulf region of abundant to even excessive rainfall, al-
though the western extension of the type lies within a region of
moderate to light precipitation. Throughout the entire extent of its
development the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is favored with a long
groAving season.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is particularly adapted to uplanc
cotton, being equaled in efficiency only by the Black Prairie soils.
Yields of two-fifths of a bale to one bale per acre are secured, and
the general average for the type is in the vicinity of one-half bale per
acre. The average production of the type may be considerably in-
creased by the general adoption of proper methods of the preparatioi

THE ORANGEBURG PINE SANDY LOAM. 19

and tillage of the land, regular crop rotations, and by increasing the
organic-matter content of the surface soil.

o

While not so well adapted to corn production as to cotton growing,
the type is a fair average corn soil when its yields are compared with
those of other types in the upland portions of the Southern States.
To increase the corn yields requires about the same methods as are
used for increasing the production of cotton.

Winter oats are commonly grown as a forage crop, producing good
yields. In a few instances the grain is thrashed, giving about 25
bushels of oats per acre. The crop should be grown in regular rota-
tion with cotton and corn.

Cowpeas are coming to be more extensively grown as a principal
hay crop upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam. Excellent yields of
hay are secured, and the acreage of this crop should be widely ex-
tended.

The Orangeburg fine sandy loam and its associated type, the Or-
angeburg sandy loam, are the best soils for the growing of the Cuban
cigar-filler tobacco. Yields of 500 to 1,200 pounds per acre are
obtained upon properly prepared and fertilized land in all of the
regions where the type is characteristically developed.

It is the best Coastal Plain soil type for the production of peaches,
particularly the Elberta. Elevated areas with good air and water
drainage must be selected. Increasing acreages are being planted.

Among vegetable and truck crops, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes,
tomatoes, watermelons, and cantaloupes are quite extensively grown*
and are the best truck crops for this type.

There is a wide variation in the adequacy of farm equipment upon
the type, ranging from the most primitive in pioneer communities
to the most modern improvements on well-regulated plantations.
The use of heavier work stock, and particularly the introduction of
disk plows, harrows, and cultivators for the broadcast preparation
and tillage of the land are to be recommended.

The reforestation of denuded hills and the steeper slopes should
be carefully undertaken, since the soil is well suited to the growing
of its native trees, the longleaf and loblolly pine.

Wherever transportation is adequate the greater portion of the
total area of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam is occupied for some
form of crop production. In more remote localities, particularly in
the west Gulf region, thousands of acres of the type still remain in
forest or in scrub timber and constitute cheap areas of highly effi-
cient cotton soil, \vhich still await development.

Approved.

JAMES WILSON,

Secretary of Agriculture.

WASHINGTON, D. C., August 30, 1911.

APPENDIX.

The following table shows the extent of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam in
the areas surveyed to this time.

In the first column is stated the particular survey in which the soil was
encountered ; in the second column, its extent of development in acres ; and in
the third column, the volume of the Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils
in which the report upon the area may be found. Those desiring a detailed
description of the soil and of the general conditions which surround it in
any particular area may consult these volumes in almost any public library.

Areas of tJte Orangebiirg fine sandy loam encountered in the soil survey.

Survey.

Area
of
soil.

Year of
publica-
tion,
Field
Opera-
tions.

Survey.

Area
of

soil.

Year of
publica-
tion,
Field
Opera-
tions.

Alabama:
Autauga County

Acres.
51,328
22,784
74,496
89,856
159,040
86,592
26,880
6,208
196,288
107,264

224,640

37,248
29,568
73,920
25,728

36,480
24,896
32,256
53,760

12,288
30,144
6,976
3,968
172,800
84,672
5,440

1908
1909
1908
1907
1905
1909
1903
1905
1902
1904

1903

1903
1907
1905
1909

1904
1903
1908
1908

1908
1906
1904
1909
1903
1905
1907

Mississippi:
Biloxi area

Acres.
3,008
4,352
17,280
4,800
Si. 1S4
92,992
46,144
14,784
3,072

7,616
1,536

53,888
3,072

102,080
17,216
42,688
57,088
18. 752
57,920
6,400
16,320
69,184
29,888
77,056

1904
1909
1905
1908
1907
1908
1906
1907
1909

1905
1908

1906
1909

1904
1907
1906
1905
1903
1905
1903
1903
1903
1907
1907

Baldwin County

Clay County

Bibb County

Crystal Springs area

Butler Countv

Holmes County. .

Dallas County

Jasper County

Hale County

Monroe County

Mobile area .

Montgomery County
Oktibbeha County

Montgomery County
Perry County1

Soranton arpa

Sum ter County

North Carolina:
Duplin County. . .

Arkansas:
Miller County.

Rooeson County

Florida:
Gadsden County1.

Oklahoma:
Tishomingo area

Jefferson County

South Carolina:

Leon County

Marianna area . .

Texas:
Anderson County

Georgia:
Bain bridge area ... .

Bastrop County

Fort V alley area1

Henderson area

Gradv County

Houston County

Thomas County

Jacksonville area

Louisiana:
Bienville Parish

T*e County ,

Lufkin area

Caddo Parish.. .

DeSoto Parish

Paris area

Lincoln Parish

Robertson County

Ouachita area

Wilson County

Tangipahoa Parish

Winn Parish

20

1 Mapped as Orangeburg sandy loam.

o

RETURN TO the circulation desk of any

University of California Library

or to the

NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS
2- month loans may be renewed by calling

(510)642-6753
1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books

to NRLF
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days

prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

20,000 (4/94)

_U