6 The Bulletin. 



quantities of otherwise inert mineral plant foods inherent in the soil 

 itself. The latter adds plant food and corrects certain deleterious soil 

 conditions. 



Practically the whole of the coastal plain lying between the eastern 

 black-land district and the lower piedmont section is covered by the gray 

 sandy soils. Robeson County produces more corn than any other county 

 in the State, and it is composed almost entirely of the gray sandy loam 

 lands. The leading corn-soil types found in this section are the Norfolk 

 fine sandy loam, the Norfolk sandy loam, and one or two members of 

 the Portsmouth series. 



THE RED SOILS. 



Lying to the westward of the gray-soil region we find a large develop- 

 ment of red lands. Some of these have red soil and red subsoil. They 

 grade in texture from sandy loams to clay loams and clays. Most of 

 these soils belong to the Cecil series, though not an unimportant area 

 is comprised in the strong corn soils of the Mecklenburg group. 



All of these soils, like the gray lands of the coastal plains section, 

 will do their best only in the presence of liberal amounts of vegetable 

 matter. These red lands are generally well suited to the growth of red 

 clover, tall meadow oat, orchard and some other grasses, and produce 

 highest yields of corn when these grass and clover sods have been plowed 

 under the previous fall or winter. 



YELLOW A^'D DARK SOILS OF THE MOUXTAIXS. 



In the mountain section corn docs especially well in the bottom-lands 

 of the New, the French Broad, and the Swannanoa rivers, along which 

 deep, rich deposits composed of fine sand, silt, and clay, intermingled 

 with organic matter and soluble fertilizing materials washed from the 

 mountain-sides, have been laid down during the annual flood seasons. 

 The Porter's loam and clay loam of the uplands produce good corn when 

 properly handled, but the leading corn lands of this region are found 

 in the Toxawav soils alone; the above-named streams. 



The Toxaway soils are generally of a dark color, due to the presence 

 of large amounts of organic matter. The surface is generally level to 

 gently rolling, a characteristic of alluvial soils everywhere. Where 

 poorly drained, tiling is generally feasible. They are subject to over- 

 flow, but this fact does not deter the farmer from pitching his crop on 

 them, because, in spite of the susceptibility to overflow, good crops are 

 nearly always grown on these rich bottom-lands. 



The Porter's soils of the uplands usually have a yellowish colored 

 soil and subsoil, the latter frequently grading into a reddish-brown color. 

 Though generally steep-sided, fields of this soil do not erode so rapidly 

 as one not accustomed to these mountain lands would imagine. The 

 rains soak rapidly into the soil and break out at lower levels as mountain 

 springs. Clover and grass do exceptionally well on these lands, and when 

 corn is grown in a rotation with these crops good yields are obtained. 



