THE PORTERS LOAM AND PORTERS BLACK LOAM. 7 



the tillage of the more gently sloping areas. A part of the damage, 

 however, has been inevitable, particularly upon the steeper slopes, 

 since no agricultural methods lying within the means of the indi- 

 vidual farmers could prevent the erosion of tilled soils upon slopes 

 in excess of 20. Forestation is the only remedy for erosion 

 upon these steeper slopes, and such lands should never have been 

 cleared of their entire forest growth in the first place. Thus the 

 areas of the Porters loam and Porters black loam, which may be 

 tilled with any profit, are decidedly limited by the slopes and the 

 resultant erosion effects of rapidly flowing water. 



There are other tillage difficulties in connection with the cultiva- 

 tion of the Porters loam and black loam. In general, the individual 

 areas capable of cultivation are of small extent, and even in the 

 more gently sloping portions of such fields the use of power ma- 

 chinery is totally eliminated both by the small size of the field and 

 by the considerable slope of the surface of the land. Throughout a 

 considerable portion of the area where both types occur, the use of 

 the one-horse or one-mule plow is prevalent and the majority of 

 such plows have the movable moldboard which enables the operator 

 to plow back and forth across the field, always turning the furrow in 

 one direction. Similarly the majority of other tillage operations 

 must be carried on through the use of a single animal for motive 

 power and through the employment of the light-weight, small-sized 

 tillage instruments. Both seeding and planting must be done largely 

 by hand, and the grain crop must be secured through the use of hand 

 implements. Even the thrashing of the grain becomes a matter of 

 some difficulty, since only small-sized oufits can travel the moun- 

 tain roads to thrash out the grain. There are thus topographic 

 limitations upon the cropping of these soils which not only decrease 

 the efficiency of both types in the production of the common crops, 

 but also, over a considerable proportion of their extent, prevent 

 the introduction of special crops suited to these soils and to their 

 climatic environment. 



Although the Porters loam and black loam occur only over a 

 narrow range of latitude, the great range in altitude occupied by 

 the types gives rise to considerable differences in the climatic sur- 

 roundings. At the lower altitudes in South Carolina and in North 

 Carolina the Porters loam is frequently planted to cotton and a fair 

 crop is produced. At higher altitudes and in more northern sections 

 this crop is totally eliminated and only the grains and the grasses 

 may be grown. In the higher altitudes the production of any crops, 

 except rye, buckwheat, potatoes, and grass, is made impossible be- 

 cause of climatic conditions, while at the highest altitudes, as on the 

 flanks of Mount Mitchell, not only are farm crops eliminated, but 

 the mountains themselves are bare of practically all tree growth. 



