A REPORT ON THE PIEDMONT SOILS, PARTICULARLY WITH 

 REFERENCE TO THEIR NATURE, PLANT FOOD REQUIRE- 

 MENTS AND ADAPTABILITY TO DIFFERENT CROPS. 



Bt C. B. Williams, W. E. Hearn, W. F. Pate and J. K. Pldmmer. 



SUMMARY. 



In this report is given what has been done during the past fourteen 

 years in a systematic study of the soils of the Piedmont Section of the 

 State, with a view to ascertaining what the different Piedmont soils are, 

 where they are located, their extent, the amount of different plant food 

 constituents which they contain, their fertilizer needs for most profitable 

 crops and for permanent improvement, and the crops to which they are 

 best adapted. 



A clear description is given of each kind or type of soil so that the 

 farmer will know that he is operating on that particular kind of soil or 

 soils. As far as the work has progressed maps are available showing 

 the location and extent of the different type soils. 



A rather large number of analyses have been made of the various 

 types of soils in different parts of the Piedmont section. These analyses 

 show the total amount of the more important plant food constituents in 

 these soils. While there is considerable variation, all the Piedmont soils 

 have been found to be fairly high in potash, low in phosphoric acid, and 

 to contain a fair amount of lime. The amount of nitrogen is usually 

 very small but varies with the quantity of vegetable or organic matter 

 in the soil. In most of the Piedmont soils there is sufficient potash in 

 the surface soil to produce maximum crops for a hundred years or more, 

 while twenty to twenty-five such crops would entirely exhaust the 

 l)hosphoric acid. The experiments conducted at the Central, Iredell, 

 Monroe, Gastonia, and Charlotte fields No. 1 and No. 2 agree in showing 

 that as a general thing crops like com, cotton and wheat are not gen- 

 erally benefited by applications of potash, but that phosphoric acid first 

 and nitrogen second, except with the Iredell loam where it is first, are 

 the controlling constituents in increasing yields. In the use of fertiliz- 

 ers for the production of profitable crops or for the improvement of the 

 soil, liberal applications of phosphates must be made, and nitrogen must 

 also be supplied either in fertilizers or from soil-improving crops. 



Lime has not materially increased the yields of cereals and seed cot- 

 ton, but has seemed to prove beneficial in most cases with the legumes 

 grown on soils of this section to which lime has not been added in 

 recent years. 



The soil analyses and field experiments point the way to the proper 

 use of fertilizer on these soils and to their improvement. Phosphates 

 must he used liberally and nitrogen, either in fertilizers or as soil- 

 improving crops, or both, must be used with phosphates. How to 



