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OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 257 
i was not a little surprised at first to find such soils exhausted, and in many cases abandoned. 
An instance of this sort, on a considerable scale, occurs at Cambridge, and No. 3 is another. The 
abundant crops that they yield at first, and subsequent bad managament, soon removes the organic 
matter; the arable soil becomes thin by washing, and defective drainage accomplishes the rest. But 
as these soils are among those denominated naturally fertile, they are soon restored by rest and pro- 
per treatment; for, as I have heard it sometimes expressed, they are not exhausted but tired. 
The hornblende slates are found out cropping in the direction of the trap dykes, and the soils may 
be mistaken for each other. Ihave already said that their color is sufficient to distinguish them. 
They are much lighter in texture, although ranking among stiff soils, and they never rest upon a 
subsoil at all resembling that of the trap soils. 
I give three analyses of hornblende slate soils. No. 1, is from Laurens near the Saluda; No. 2, isa 
soil from the slates extending from Spartanburg across Greenville, below the mountains; and No. 3, 
is from Pendleton, near Sloan’s ferry. 
INo. 1 No. 2. No. 3 
Orpanic matter,s “2 <=. eo Gib0 eee 1) he 5.00 
SINC ie pa ieee i Ae a eee 60:0425=222 68:40ES a 70.10 
Alumina, ------ ae eeee 0! Se VeisGeceee— 14.202 -22— 5 12:00 
Gedo qi tton! ae ee oe 630 === = 7.004seS 2 8.00 
(DON Bye a ee tere ee oo 2 ee 2008 aa 1.60 
WEY) Shee one eee ae aoe See G0 ase 0.50 
Potash and.sSoda, 45. AS ee 0:50. 252 (U0 S ee trace 
Phosphate of lime,.---.--.---------- ——------ PEACOS == sr 
Wiateriand sl0ss;22 2 nee eee CM Sears = CAO eee 2.80 
100.00 100.00 100.00 
Soils of the Mica Slates. 
These soils, in South Carolina, are in general pretty good, where quartz is not too abundant. 
The plantations along the road between Edgefield and Abbeville present opportunities of observing 
the character of these soils. Mica slate lands are not subject to be broken up by ravines, to the same 
extent as those of the granite. 
Where these slates rest upon gneiss, or alternate with it, they form a good subsoil by disintegration, 
and having more feldspar in their composition, they give rise to better soils than the same rocks in 
some of the upper districts. 'The mica slate soils of Abbeville are for this reason good soils, while the 
soils in Spartanburg, in the region of the Cowpens, are thin and unproductive. On examining the 
subjacent slates it will be found that they are filled with lenticular quartz grains of various sizes ; 
when the rock is disintegrated, these, being indestructible, remain on the surface and often cover it. 
A similar structure to this may be seen in the slates west of Oconee mountain ; and towards Brass- 
town, the hills are covered with these lenticular pieces of quartz, coated with mica. Of course a poor 
soil must be the result. Between the mountain and Chatuga the slates are soft, and the soil good in 
proportion. ; 
I give the analyses of three specimens of soils from these slates. No. 1, is from Abbeville, below the 
Court House; No. 2, is from Greenville, near Tiger, and No. 3, from Pickens, above Oconee station. 
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