GIFT OF

A Trie. I>nt.

Issued October 24, 1911.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF SOILS— CIRCULAR No. 43.

MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau.

THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR GENERAL

FARMING IN THE GULF COAST REGION

EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

BY

W. E. THARP,

Scientist in Soil Survey.

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of Tnt "

UNIVEF

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1911.

BUREAU OF SOILS.

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

SOIL SURVEY.

CURTIS F. MARRUT, in charge.

HUGH H. BENNETT, Inspector in charge Southern Division.
J. E. LAPHAM, Inspector in charge Northern Division.
MACY H. LAPHAM, Inspector in charge Western Division.

THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR GENERAL FARMING IN THE GULF
COAST REGION EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

INTRODUCTION.

The agricultural opportunities in this section of the South are
attracting many people from other localities, chiefly from the North-
ern States. In the last few years there has been marked activity on
the part of real-estate and colonization companies, as well as of rail-
ways and some industrial organizations, in advertising the resources
of this region and particularly in promoting the sale of the cut-over
pine lands.

The majority of the immigrants who purchase land for general
farming have had little or no experience with such soils as commonly
occur in this part of the Gulf Coast country. In too many instances
the choice of location is largely determined by considerations other
than the character of the soil or its adaptability to the kind of farm-
ing to be pursued. While accessibility to markets, the local facilities
for transportation, and communication, as well as the general social
conditions of a locality should be given due consideration, the soil
itself is of first importance in the selection of land for a farm home.

This paper discusses only the general soil characteristics, and but
little more than mentions the chief problems in southern agriculture.
It gives briefly such information as should be at the command of any-
one contemplating the purchase of farm land.

- The territory to which reference is made embraces the southern
third of Mississippi and the adjoining portion of Louisiana to the
south ; that part of Alabama below the " Black Belt " ; 1 the southern
counties of Georgia, and the northern ones of Florida. The peninsu-
lar portion of the latter State is excluded, since its main physio-
graphic and geologic features differ from those of the region to the
north and northwest. A line drawn from Vicksburg, Miss., through
Jackson and Meridian, thence a little south of Montgomery, Ala., to
Savannah, Ga., roughly marks the northern limits, although no sharp
boundaries are intended or even possible to outline.

1 The calcareous soils of south-central Alabama, forming an irregular belt 10 to 25 miles
wide across the State just below Montgomery.

6787°— Cir. 43—11 3

4 SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION.

The northern part of this region has a general elevation of 400 to
500 feet. While there is a gradual slope toward the south, it does
not in all instances extend entirely to sea level. In many places the
uplands have an average elevation of 100 feet or more to within a
few miles of the coast.

The topography is varied, ranging from very hilly areas to broad,
undulating divides which include considerable level land. In gen-
eral it may be described as hilly to rolling. The larger valleys usually
have considerable second bottom or bench land.

A magnificent forest of longleaf pine once covered practically all
the hills and well-drained areas in the valleys. Most of the low land
along the streams was covered with a mixed growth of deciduous
trees, pine, and underbrush, varied by comparatively open cane-
brakes. The cane has largely disappeared, but much of the low
land is still densely forested. The total area of true swamp is gen-
erally overestimated. Much of the so-called swamp is overflow land,
comparatively dry the greater part of the year.

While the physical factors governing so largely the permanent
agricultural value of soils, as herein mentioned., apply to old land
as well as new, the intelligent selection of the latter is of the more im-
portance to the average investor, as it is the cut-over lands that are
so generally being offered for sale.

In the selection of land for general farming, there are five im-
portant factors that should be given careful consideration. They
may be summarized as follows: (1) In all sections of this region
there are wide local variations in the soils; (2) on account of the
amount and distribution of the rainfall effective drainage is highly
essential; (3) the cost of clearing cut-over land is frequently under-
estimated; (4) with few exceptions the soils are deficient in humus;
and (5) artificial fertilization is required for most crops.

LOCAL, VARIATIONS IN SOIL TYPES

A glance at a detailed soil map of almost any area in the Gulf
Coast country will show the diversified character of the land. On
the scale of map used — 1 inch to the mile — the minor variations can
not be represented, although in most of the later surveys from 15
to 30 soil types and phases have been mapped and described. These
reports, as a rule, cover but one county.

Notwithstanding the similarity in surface features presented on
extensive tracts of arable land, the areas are comparatively limited —
usually less than a few hundred acres in an unbroken body — where
the soil is sufficiently uniform to be classed as one type. There are
generally several classes of soil, sands, sandy loams, and loams occur-
ring in the same locality, or even within the limits of a moderate-
sized farm.

SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION. 5

After leaving the rich alluvial soils of the Mississippi River bot-
toms and the loess area of the uplands east of that valley, the
traveler in proceeding eastward finds the prevailing soils to be gray-
ish sands or sandy loams. Clay loams are of rather limited extent
except in certain localities. He may also observe that the subsoils of
upland types, as exposed in road cuts and ditches, range in color from
yellow through various shades of brown to bright red. The colora-
tion is often remarkable in the sharp contrasts presented within short
distances.

An inspection of the uplands in almost any locality, or of the higher
bench lands on the larger streams, will show great variations in the
depth of the soil — or surface layer to that depth at which there is
noticeable change in color or composition when compared with the
subsoil — and in the physical characteristics of the subsoil itself. In
a part of a field the soil may consist largely of sand, graduating at a
depth of a few inches to clayey material, while near by the sand may
be 2 or 3 feet deep. Besides this difference in depth to the " clay
foundation," as southern farmers call the substratum, the sand itself
may vary greatly in texture, at one point being so fine that it packs
easily and has the physical properties of a loam, to a sand so coarse
as to be " leachy."

The variation in the depth, texture, and structure of the subsoils is
quite as frequent as the diversification in color to which reference has
been made. The extreme range is from a heavy clay, so dense as to be
nearly impervious, to a loose quartz sand of little agricultural value.
Such conditions are the exception, and not the rule, and the occur-
rence of substrata having undesirable properties is usually indicated
by the topography, character of the vegetation, or other surface ap-
pearances. There are, however, frequent developments of soil types
where, without marked surface indications, the subsoil so closely ap-
proaches these extremes as to impair the value of the land agricul-
turally or to render its successful management more or less difficult.

A clayey subsoil with enough sand to give it a somewhat coarse,
gritty feel and a " grainy " appearance in a hand sample is preferable
to a clay with but little sand or silt. Such material is crumbly rather
than plastic, and will absorb moisture rapidly compared with a ma-
terial composed largely of clay. The latter is less desirable here
either as a soil or subsoil than in a region where the rainfall is not
so heavy.

DRAINAGE.

Since the annual precipitation is about 60 inches, the necessity for
good surface drainage is quite obvious. It is equally as important
that the underdrainage, or, more correctly stated, the internal drain-
age, of the soil and subsoil should be so effective that a saturated

6 SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION.

condition of either can not long prevail in normal seasons. The soil,
on the other hand, should be sufficiently retentive of moisture to carry
a crop safely through a dry period should one occur. The ideal soil
in this respect is a loam or sandy loam, not less than 5 or 6 inches
nor more than 15 or 20 inches deep, overlying a moderately com-
pact sandy clay subsoil. The greater depth to which the latter
extends without essential change in character the better.

In a type of this kind a heavy rainfall is largely absorbed by
the soil and held, as it were, until much of it is diffused through
the subsoil. The excess water — gravitational water — in the soil sinks
downward with comparative rapidity, so that the saturated condi-
tion of the soil is of short duration, although a sufficient amount of
moisture — capillary water — is retained in the subsoil and under-
tying stratum to supply the soil with moisture as the latter is taken
up by the growing plants or lost at the surface by evaporation.

In short, the soil and subsoil should have the power of main-
taining a reasonably uniform moisture content throughout consid-
erable extremes in precipitation. This is a principle in soil physics
of universal application, but particularly important in a region
where hard rains followed by comparatively high rates of evapora-
tion are the normal, rather than abnormal, weather conditions.

Such desirable qualities are possessed in high degree by all the
heavier types of the Orangeburg and Greenville soils.1 Some of the
Huston and upland Norfolk soils are also very satisfactory in this
respect.

The yellow or brownish-yellow subsoils of the heavier Norfolk
types have not, as a rule, such perfect underdrainage as the red or
reddish-brown material underlying the above-mentioned soils. Some
of the Norfolk and associated types are inclined to be too retentive
of moisture. In places this is due to the lack of surface drainage,
but more frequently there is a closeness of structure that admits of
only a rather slow reduction in any excess of soil water.2

In general all the gray sandy soils with yellowish clay subsoils
are safest as the coloration of the latter approaches reddish-yellow
or brown tints. Land having a pale yellow subsoil with tendency
to grayish mottling usually requires drainage. Very light gray, or
" putty colored," material almost invariably indicates badly water-
logged conditions during a part of each year.3 The occurrence of

1 See descriptions of the Orangeburg and Greenville types in soil survey reports of Butler,
Henry, Coffee, Pike, and Baldwin Counties, Ala. ; also reports on Gadsden, Escambia, and
Jefferson Counties, Pla.

2 See descriptions of Norfolk types in various soil survey reports of areas in the Southern
States. In the late surveys the types having light-red or reddish-brown subsoil^
assigned to the Ruston series.

8 See descriptions of the Myatt soils of northern Florida and southern Alabama, also of
the Kalmia, Waverly, and Ocklocknee series.

SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST EEGION. 7

small red or dark-brown iron concretions in upland types usually
suggests a heavy but well-drained subsoil.

Heavy clayey soils are more difficult to keep in good tilth than the
corresponding types in regions of less rainfall. Where the surface
is hilly terracing is necessary.

While deep sands are open to objection, except for special crops,
some of the gray upland sands having a sandy clay substratum at less
than 4 feet are very productive under careful management. The
cost of maintaining fertility is greater than on the sandy loams and
the liability of injury to crops in very wet or exceptionally dry
seasons is greater than on the heavier types.

Red sands x are more desirable, other conditions being equal, than
gray sands. Black sand, if the color is due to the large admixture
of muck, will assume a light grayish tint after a few years of cul-
tivation.2

Calcareous soils are limited to a comparatively few localities.
Some of them are very productive, but rather difficult to handle.3

As one becomes acquainted with the natural features of a locality
many variations in the character of the native vegetation may be
seen to be due to soil differences. Specific rules in this report can not
be given wide application, for there are too many factors besides soil
conditions affecting the distribution of the native plants. The most
important single element, from the standpoint of soils, is that of
drainage. The surface conditions are usually apparent at a glance,
but the average moisture content of the reasonably well drained lands
and their general agricultural value may be judged by the natural
vegetation.

On the sandy arid fine sandy loams of the uplands the longleaf
pines are generally larger and uniformly of better quality than on
either deep sands or shallow soils underlain by heavy clay. While
fine specimens of these trees may be seen on the latter soils, the forest
is scattering and irregular with respect to the size of the pine and
the character of the secondary growth. On the Susquehanna soils
the longleaf pine is generally smaller than on the Norfolk and
Orangeburg types or well-drained valley lands. A mixed growth
of good pine and large well-developed oak indicates a soil of high
agricultural value.

Where the soil to a depth of several feet is chiefly sand, scrubby
oaks are generally numerous. Such light soils are also favorite loca-

1 In the classification adopted by the Bureau of Soils material consisting of 80 per cent
or more of sand to a depth of 3 feet is classed as sand ; if from 20 to 50 per cent is silt
and clay, as sandy loam ; silt and clay loams consist of 50 per cent or more of the latter, or
finest, soil particles.

2 See descriptions of Portsmouth soils of Georgia and Florida.

8 See descriptions of the Houston soils in soil survey reports of Montgomery County,
Ala., and Jasper County, Miss. Some phases of the Susquehanna soils of Pike and Coffee
Counties in Alabama are derived from limestone.

8 SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION.

tions for the dogwood, although this tree is often seen on the best
land. The extensive occurrence of small blackjack oak is indicative
of some extreme textural conditions — usually a dense clay, but not
infrequently a deep, loose sand.

On the second bottoms, where the soils are well adapted to general
farming, there is a mixed growth of longleaf and shortleaf pine, with
more or less hardwood. On the poorly drained portions of the bench
lands the shortleaf pine is generally the dominant timber tree. Gall-
berry bushes are an indication of acid soil.

CLEARING NEW LAND.

On most of the cut-over pine lands some of the original forest
remains, consisting of saplings and more or less large timber of in-
ferior quality, much of the latter being dead. There is usually a
good deal of fallen material, wind-blown trunks, rejected logs, and
the heavier parts of the tops, or " slash," that remain unburned by
the annual fires which consume the light trash and grassy under-
growth.

The remaining pine makes excellent fuel, fencing material, and
rough lumber for building. On some land there may not be much
more of it than will be required for such purposes. In many places,
however, the ground is heavily encumbered with fallen logs, as in
old turpentine orchards, and wherever storms have blown down hun-
dreds of the tall pines.

Near the towns cordwood, both green pine and " light wood knots,"
as the resinous heart wood of limbs and old logs is called, may be
marketed at fairly remunerative prices.

There is also a limited demand for this fuel by railways and steam-
boats. In some localities the distillation of turpentine from pine
wood is a commercial success, the tops and stumps being used. The
utilization of all material left by the sawmills is increasing very
rapidly, but in sections remote from the railways it has no present
value.

The pine stumps are the chief obstacle in the cultivation of the
cut-over lands. They vary in number from a very few to upward
of 50 or 75 to the acre, generally less than the latter estimates. The
diameter at a foot or so above the ground ranges from 6 or 8 inches
to 2 feet. The average may be placed at about 20 inches, increasing
on good land.

Since they are highly resinous the stumps burn readily, and this is
one of the most practical means of getting rid of them. It is necessary
to dig a hole at one side to a depth of a foot or so and put some dry
wood against the taproot, otherwise the fire will go out after the
surface of the stump becomes charred. A hole bored obliquely
through the main root just below the ground facilitates the burning.
The large lateral roots require grubbing.

SELECTION OP LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION. 9

Dynamite has been used to a limited extent, the most satisfactory
results being attained on land having a heavy clayey subsoil. A
large stump puller will handle any of the pine stumps, but the cost
of the machines, and also the difficulty of disposing of the stumps
after they are out of the ground, deter many of the smaller land-
owners from employing this method.

Roughly estimated, the cost of clearing cut-over pine land may
be placed at about $20 an acre. In one county where many northern
people have recently settled, the cost is said to range from $10 to $20,
the latter figure in some instances including fencing. Land may be
quite satisfactorily tilled, however, where only the fallen wood,
small stumps, and the laterals of the larger ones have been removed.

In most of the well-settled counties stock is not permitted to run
at large. Where large tracts of open land remain there is generally
no stock law, so all fields must be fenced before a crop can be safely
planted.

DEFICIENCY OF ORGANIC MATTER.

Practically all the well-drained soils are deficient in organic
matter. This is true not only of the ground that has been in culti-
vation many years but of virgin land as well. In the latter there is
a small store of decaying vegetable matter, but it is very meager
compared with that in the northern prairie soils. This is due chiefly
to the climatic conditions, and also in some measure to the character
of the native vegetation.

On account of the high average temperature, the humidity, and
the absence of a winter season, the decay of organic debris is com-
paratively rapid. The process takes place faster in light-colored
soils of open structure than in heavy, dark-colored types. Or, more
correctly stated, perhaps, the products of decomposition are lost in
the former a little faster than in the latter.

This lack of organic components should not be considered a seri-
ous or permanent defect in any type. There is such a great variety
of minor crops, as cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, vetches, and
grasses, besides fall-sown grains, that can be easily and profitably
grown that at no season of the year is it necessary for land to be
without vegetation of some kind upon it. There is ample oppor-
tunity for pasturing off or plowing under a heavy covering of this
kind without interfering in the least with the production of a staple
crop on the same land.

By this means the fertility of any type having desirable physical
properties may be economically increased and the necessity for com-
mercial fertilizers correspondingly reduced.1

1 The results of crop rotations and the beneficial effects of green manuring are discussed
In many of the publications of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the State experi-
ment stations.

10 SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GTJLF COAST REGION.

THE USE OF FERTILIZERS.

Commercial fertilizers are in universal use throughout this sec-
tion. Recently cleared land, some of the valley soils, and a few up-
land types of exceptional fertility require no artificial enrichment,
but on most types an application of some kind of fertilizer is consid-
ered necessary. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash are the substances
to be supplied. To these lime may be added, but it is not generally
used. A complete fertilizer is one containing at least some quantity
of each of the first three elements.

Nitrogen is the most expensive. In the manufactured goods com-
monly sold the guaranteed percentage of nitrates is secured by the
use of cottonseed meal, nitrate of soda, or some kind of slaughter-
house refuse. While enormous quantities of nitrogenous substances
are annually purchased by farmers, the requirements of all the staple
crops could be largely met by the methods of soil management sug-
gested in the discussion of the organic soil components. The increas-
ing demand for nitrogenous fertilizers is due in a large measure to
the prevailing system of farming.

Phosphorus, or phosphoric acid, the latter the form in which this
element is obtained, is finely ground rock phosphate treated with
sulphuric acid to render the phosphorus more soluble. It is prac-
tically indispensable in southern agriculture, and most of the brands
of fertilizer used on corn and cotton land contain relatively high
percentages of this element.

Nearly all the potash used in the manufactured fertilizers comes
from Germany. Muriate of potash, potassium chloride, potassium
sulphate, and kainit are forms of this material. It is omitted from
many grades of commercial fertilizers. Potash is considered more
necessary on light, sandy soils than on heavy ones.

As a very rough approximation of the outlay per acre each year for
ordinary crops, it may be stated that from 200 to 400 pounds of com-
mercial fertilizer, costing from $20 to $25 a ton, is used. Of course,
many farmers apply much greater quantities and others less. Land
devoted to grass and forage crops is not generally fertilized. Light
sandy soils usually require higher fertilization than the heavier types.
When fertilizer is used more durable results are noted on the latter.
On poorly drained or indifferently tilled soils fertilizers are of little
benefit.1

With few exceptions the maintenance of fertility is a fixed charge
that must be met as long as the land is cultivated. With the increas-

1 The literature relating to commercial fertilizers is voluminous. The results of many
experiments on different soils and with various crops are given in the publications of the
State experiment stations. A summary of much of this information on cotton, corn, pota-
toes, and some miscellaneous crops may be found in Bulletins 62, 64, 65, and 67, respec-
tively, of the Bureau of Soils.

SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION. 11

ing cost of producing all the staple crops it is of the highest impor-
tance that the purchaser of land for general farming should select
those soils on which fertilizers may be used with the greatest degree
of economy and efficiency, conditions determined chiefly by the
physical properties of the type.
Approved.

JAMES WILSON,

Secretary of Agriculture.
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 3, 1911.

o

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