? 
™,¢ No. 1 was 
a tage to both these 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 261 
4 
suffering from imperfect drainage. A dose of marl would be of great advan- 
; that, together with a thorough breaking up and exposure to the atmos- 
phere, cannot fail to ieee such land productive. 
For the composi 
of the soils of the islands along the coast, appropriated to the growth of Sea 
Island cotton, see Prof. Shepard’s Report, in Appendix. 
The mud from the salt marshes is applied just as it is taken from the marshes, 
And the tall 
marsh grass, (Spartina glabra,) is frequently placed in the drill, and, it is said, with good effect. 
Alluvial Soils. 
The alluvial soils of the State are exceedingly valuable—of which the rice plantations present 
magnificent examples. 
Taken altogether, there are no lands in the State, or perhaps in the country, 
cultivated with greater care, so far as manual operations are concerned, than these plantations. It 
is true it is at the expense of much labor, for ploughs are seldom used—the whole being strictly 
hoe culture. 
These soils are often of great depth, amounting, in many cases, to from ten to twenty 
feet. On some of the rivers the whole is composed of black mud—being decomposed vegetable 
matter, mixed with sedimentary matter; and although differing entirely from it, in chemical compo- 
sition, it bears a strong resemblance to the mud of peat bogs, and, like it, too, it has a vast quantity 
of wood buried in it. 
“ The composition of these soils will appear from the following analysis by Prof. Shepard. The 
specimens analyzed are from the Tide-swamp piantation of Col. R. F. W. Alston. 
The quantity of organie matter is quite large, both in surface and sub-soil; indeed the two are 
but rarely distinguishable in soils derived from deposits of fine sedimentary matter. 
Sou. No. 10. Lis No. 4, No. 13. No. 7. No. 10. 
| [From the subsoil, Taken f from field) From field No.13, from field No. 7,| Surface soil No, 
many feet deep. |No. 4, about two| two and a half|Exchange Plant-| 10, two inches 
inches dee p- inches deep. ation, deep. 
Water expelled by heating at 300° F. 7.00 “6.00 6.00 7-20 6-80 
Organic matter with remainder of | ‘ 
water (not previously expelled at 27.00 24.00 14.00 27.00 27 .20 
300° F.) driven off by full ignit’n 
LIL pep aels | ee a a 55.00 60.00 70-00 55 00 | 57.00 
Peroxide of iron-_---------- Ss 4.00 4.00 5.00 4.00 500 
Lime (with traces of magnesia)---- 1.00 0-80 1.00 1.00 0-50 
Alumina and loss, (the latter may be f 
reckoned at fm. 1.50 p.c. to 0.50 p.c. 6.00 5.20 4.00 5.40 3-50 
100.00 100.00 100.00 | 100.00 100.00 
The dry soil, No. 4, on being thoroughly wetted, gained a a= ee 101.4 per cent. 
: No. 13, SE SS ee on 99 
No. 7 = tS og a eS. ey ie, eM. eS ee 102.8 
No. 10, (top soil.) “ a ee re 103.3 
The following table shows the composition of these soils. 
No. 1 is from the rice land on Comba- 
hee ; No. 2 is from Mazyck’s Ferry ; and No.3 from a reclaimed swamp, on S. Edisto, above Rocky 
Swamp. 
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