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United States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF SOILS CIRCULAR No. 16. 

 MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau. 



MANURIAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE CECIL SILT LOAM OF 

 LANCASTER COUNTY, S. C. 



Lancaster County, S. C., lies in the northern part of the State, for the 

 most part in the geological province known as the Piedmont Plateau. 

 The soils of the Piedmont Plateau belong chiefly to the Cecil series. 

 I In Lancaster County the Cecil silt loam is the second soil of impor- 

 tance and embraces an area of 75,000 acres, or approximately 117 

 square miles. The soil proper varies in color from a light gray or ashy 

 white to a yellowish brown and contains a high percentage of silt, 

 as is shown by the results of mechanical analyses given in tabulated 

 form on the next page. It usually occupies the undulating and well- 

 drained uplands and is locally known as "white land," probably because 

 of its light color, or as "black jack land," because the black jack oak 

 forms the characteristic forest growth. The soil varies from 6 to 15 

 inches in depth, and is usually underlain by a stiff yellow or red clay 

 that continues to a considerable depth. 



The soil for which the manurial requirements have been determined, 

 as reported in this circular, was taken from a plantation situated about 

 3 miles east of Lancaster. Little can be said in regard to the history 

 of the plantation, for it has been in the hands of the present owner but 

 a few years. Prior to that, part of it had been rented to tenants and 

 badly treated, while much of it had been out of cultivation for many 

 years and was grown up in pines and undergrowth. Cotton and corn 

 had been the only crops' grown, and these had been given but slight 

 attention and imperfect tillage, while the land had received little or 

 nothing in the way of manure. Under the present management con- 

 siderable improvement has been made through the raising of live stock, 

 diversification of crops, better cultivation, and the construction of ter- 

 races and ditches to prevent destructive washing. 



