THE ORANGEBUEG FINE SAND. 5 



carefully handled in all of the tillage operations to the end that the 

 largest possible amount of soil moisture may be retained in the sur- 

 face zone for the use of crops, especially during the latter portion 

 of the growing season. 



Where such tillage methods are employed the staple farm crops 

 of the region may be grown to fair advantage, but without these 

 precautions the type is somewhat too well drained to constitute a 

 general-purpose soil of the highest value. It may thus be ranked as 

 a fair general farming soil, but one somewhat better suited to the 

 production of vegetables and fruits, which require a well-drained, 

 warm, and easily tilled seed bed. 



Because of its sandy character there is a constant tendency with 

 the Orangeburg fine sand toward the complete oxidation and destruc- 

 tion of the organic-matter content. This has been emphasized in 

 many areas through the constant planting of the type to intertilled 

 crops, with little or no attempt to produce green crops for the pur- 

 pose of incorporating organic matter in the surface soil. As a result 

 all of the fields which have been tilled for any considerable period 

 of time are somewhat deficient in organic matter, as is shown by the 

 light-gray color of their surfaces, while in extreme cases of destruc- 

 tive one-crop tillage the efficiency of the soil has been so impaired 

 that after 8 to 10 years of cultivation the organic matter has been 

 almost completely eliminated and the general farm crops are no 

 longer profitable. This process of taking up new land, of tilling it 

 until the organic matter is destroyed, and of abandoning the fields 

 for other new land is a common pioneer method in regions where 

 land is cheap and where careful tillage, crop rotation, and the restora- 

 tion of organic matter are not rendered necessary through lack of 

 available land. 



The largest areas of the Orangeburg fine sand occur in territory 

 but recently cleared of its pine timber and in pioneer communities 

 where careful rotation of crops and the restoration of organic matter 

 have not been prevalent. As a result the type has suffered materially 

 under these methods of occupation, and its true value either as a 

 general or special purpose soil is frequently not appreciated. Ex- 

 cessive erosion in numerous areas interferes seriously with the pro- 

 duction of many farm crops upon this soil. In general the surface 

 conditions of the Orangeburg fine sand permit of its rough classifi- 

 cation into two classes of land so far as erosion conditions are con- 

 cerned. Upon the one hand lie the steep slopes from the upland to 

 adjacent streams, where the declivity is greater than 10 or 15 and 

 erosion is always active, especially during the heavy winter and 

 spring rains. These slopes are too steep for cultivation and should 

 never be included within the tilled areas. On the other hand are the 

 undulating to rolling upland portions of the type, with slopes of less 



