209 



been considered worthless, present indications are ttiat all will be reclaimed 

 and made to yield good returns. The nearness to Chicago maizes the region 

 of special value for truck farming and the growing of small fruit. 



3. Sand Plains of the Waljash Valley. — All along the course of the 

 Wabash from its source to its mouth are found deposits of gravel and sand 

 which are of great importance. From Parke County to the mouth of the 

 river are extensive level stretches of sand occupying tlie area between 

 the lower bottoms of the river and main tributaries and the higher uplands 

 to the east. These sand tracts have the widest development and the most 

 even topography through Vigo, Sullivan and Knox Counties ; in tlie greater 

 part of the widest expanse being from two to five miles in width and with 

 a very even surface. This part of the area consists of a sandy loam with 

 a high percentage of organic matter, giving the soil a very dark color and 

 rendering it of high agricultural value. It is devoted chiefly to the grow- 

 ing of corn. In the region about Carlisle in Sullivan County the sand is 

 built up into hills and ridges rising in some places to considerable lielght. 

 This region is devoted chiefly to the growing of cowpeas. They make .i 

 very ranl-c gi-owth of a good quality. A very similar type of topography is 

 found in the region about Emison in Knox County and in the ]»;irt of the 

 county to tlie south of Merom and extending southward past Decker into 

 the region about Owensville in Gibson County. Melons are grown on all 

 these sandy soils, but the great melon producing part of the State is in 

 the vicinity of Decker and Owensville. The growing of melons has in- 

 creased the price of the sand land in the past ten years from about .$20 

 an acre to $100 or more. 



From tlie neighlwrhood of Decker southward the sand is of a coarser 

 quality than tliat farther to the north. In the coarser sands the soils nre 

 so porous and so well drained that they are pooi'ly adapted to the general 

 farm crops. Much of the sand strip from Hazelton to New Harmony has 

 in many places a tyi»ical dune topography, but in general it lias been sonie- 

 \\hat modified by tlie reworking of the surface and by the effects of the 

 natural growth of vegetation. Low swales are also present which are 

 difl^eult or impossible to drain. These dune deposits are due either to 

 recent agencies or represent a transitional stage between tlie deposits from 

 the flood waters of the Wisconsin stage and the recent stages. The ma- 

 terial of the dunes is a coarse quartz sand which in some places shows 



[14—290341 



