8 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



advantage. Upon the lower lying and less well-drained portions of 

 the Carrington loam cabbages and onions might be introduced as 

 supplementary crops. 



In general only limited portions of the Carrington loam should 

 be considered for orcharding, although the home orchard may be 

 located upon the more elevated and rolling portions of the type. 

 Throughout the general region there usually exist other soil types. 

 like the Knox silt loam, which are better suited for orcharding upon 

 a commercial scale, both by reason of their inherent characteristics 

 and from their location with regard to air and water drainage. It 

 is thus probable that the Carrington loam will remain for a consid- 

 erable period of time one of the leading soils for general farming 

 purposes in the regions where it occurs without being developed to 

 any extent for the production of special crops, except the vegetables 

 and fruits required for home use. 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



Throughout the region of its occurrence the Carrington loam is 

 practically all occupied for agricultural purposes. It ranks high as a 

 general farming soil and its crop efficiency, coupled with fair natural 

 drainage and a somewhat elevated position, led to its early occupation 

 by the pioneer farmers. In the more eastern regions, where the type 

 was originally timbered, the forest growth was cleared at an early 

 date, and the land was plowed and cultivated in preference to the local 

 prairie soils. This preference arose chiefly from the fact that the 

 Carrington loam was more easily plowed than the matted prairie- 

 grass sod. Also it was usually better drained and the timber upon 

 it was available for the construction of buildings. Throughout th 

 more western region, where the Carrington loam constituted a prairie 

 type of soil, the heavy prairie sod was broken by the pioneer farmers 

 to a shallow depth and corn, wheat, and oats sown upon this sod. 

 Only small portions of the type were cultivated in the early days and 

 the prairie grasses which made luxuriant growth upon the remainder 

 furnished excellent pasturage for the grazing of beef cattle. With 

 increasing density of population the entire extent of the type was 

 placed under cultivation, and the grazing of cattle was discontinued, 

 to be replaced by the production of grain crops. At a later period, 

 in nearly all instances, grain growing was supplemented by the 

 feeding of beef cattle and of dairy cows maintained in inclosures 

 and supported by the pasturing of native grasses grown in regular 

 rotation with other crops. Under this system of occupation increas- 

 ing areas of the Carrington loam have been occupied during the past 

 50 years until practically none of it either remains in timber in the 

 more eastern States or in prairie sod in the more western region. 

 The land is considered highly desirable for general farming purposes 



