IS 



The Bulletik 



The soil is a deep red to reddish-brown clay or clay loam grading into 

 a deep red, heavy, tough and fairly brittle clay. It is sticky when wet 

 and becomes hard upon drying out. It possesses the smallest content 

 of sand and gritty material of any type in the county, and this accounts 

 for the close structure. 



Its surface is gently rolling to rolling, with here and there a few steep 

 slopes. The rain water usually runs off rapidly and gullies are easily 

 formed; particularly is this true of the fields which have been plowed 

 shallow and have no cover crops. 



This red clay comes from the' weathering of dark colored rocks high 

 in iron and elements of plant food. It is naturally one of the strongest 

 soils in the region and one particularly suited to the growing of wheat, 

 clover, oats, corn, grasses, and alfalfa. 



Around Rock Hill, South Carolina, a soil similar to this is used for 

 the profitable production of alfalfa, and there is every reason to believe 

 that this crop could be grown advantageously on this soil in Gaston 

 County. It is the best wheat, clover, and oat land in the Piedmont 

 plateau. 



The soil should be plowed deeper and be more thoroughly pulverized 

 so that it will absorb more rain water and retain it for the use of plants 

 during dry periods. Any kind of coarse manures or green manuring 

 crops will be beneficial toward loosening up the soil and at the same time 

 supplying the needed nitrogen, thus greatly increasing the yields. This 

 soil requires heavy farm machinery and strong work stock to bring it to 

 its highest efficiency in crop production. 



The following table gives the average results of analyses of soil and 

 subsoil of Cecil clay : 



CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 



MECHANICAL ANALYSIS. 



Surface soil. 

 Subsoil 



Fine 



Gravel, 



Per Cent 



3.4 

 0.9 



Coarse 



Sand, 



Per Cent 



10.1 

 5.3 



Medium 



Sand, 

 Per Cent 



8.9 

 4.0 



Fine 



Sand, 



Per Cent 



20.8 

 0.8 



Very Fine 



Sand, 

 Per Cent 



8.4 

 5.6 



Silt, 

 Per Cent 



20.0 

 17.6 



Clay, 

 Per Cent 



28.5 

 56.7 



