TlIK JjLfM.KTlN. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The (Stale DcpailiiiL'iiL ui' Agriculture began a systeuuitie study of 

 the soils of the State in the spring of 1900. The methods of investi- 

 gation iiichide three distinct lines of work : 



1. A soil survey of the individual counties is being made showing 

 the location, extent and boundaries of each different soil type. This 

 division of the work has been carried on in co-operation with the 

 United States Bureau of Soils. 



2. Samples of the various soils found in each county are collected 

 and analyzed in order to determine what amounts of the different 

 ehnients of plant food are contained in each type. 



3. Test farms and experimental plats have been established on the 

 more important soils, where crops have been grown under field con- 

 ditions with various fertilizer applications. By the combination of 

 these plat results with the analyses of the soil types, we hope to de- 

 termine definite methods of crop rotations combined with the best 

 fertilization for each soil type, which shall be profitable and at the 

 same time increase from year to year the productivity of the soil. 



The detailed soil survey has included all of Transylvania and Hen- 

 derson counties, and parts of Buncombe, Madison, Haywood, Yan- 

 cey, Mitchell and IMcDowell counties. 



This report deals largely with the chemical composition of the 

 more important soils, and the results derived from the plat experi- 

 ments. 



LOCATION AND EXTENT. 



That part of North Carolina known universally as the Mountain 

 region, includes approximately the western one-sixth of the State. It 

 lies just west of the Piedmont Plateau section into which it merges so 

 gradually that it is impossible to draw a sharp division between them. 

 The division passes through Surry, Wilkes, Caldwell, Burke, Mc- 

 Dowell, Rutherford and Polk counties, as they form the foothills. 



Besides parts of these counties, the Mountain section includes all 

 of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Haywood, Tran- 

 sylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Wa- 

 tauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties. 



GEOLOGY AND SOIL FORMATION. 



The soils of this region are all of residual origin, that is, formed 

 from the decay of the underlying rocks. In some ancient period of 

 the earth's history, probably as it was cooling and contracting, this 



